Books Read in 2012

So, it's almost the end of 2012! :) I put together a list of all of the books I've read this year! I am 2 books away from 90, and so I'm going to try to read two books by 11:59 PM tomorrow! Wish me luck! And until then, check out the list!

1. Running from Solace-Nakia B. Loushaul
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns-Khaled Hosseini
3. The Summer I Learned to Dive-Shannon McCrimmon
4. A Long Way Gone-Ishmael Beah
5. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children-Ransom Riggs
6. Divergent- Veronica Roth
7. Insurgent- Veronica Roth
8. Where the Heart Is- Billie Letts
9. Sisterhood Everlasting- Ann Brashares
10. The Unseen-Luke Alistar
11. Drew in Blue- J.M. Kelley
12. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake- Aimee Bender
13. Remembrance- Michelle Madow
14. Vengeance- Michelle Madow
15. Timeless- Michelle Madow
16. The Hunger but Mainly Death Games- Bratniss Neverclean
17. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins
18. Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins
19. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter- Seth Grahame-Smith
20. Learn Me Gooder- John Pearson
21. When I Found You- Catherine Ryan Hyde
22. Don't Shoot! I'm Just the Avon Lady!- Birdie Jaworski
23. Raising Able- Carolyn Nash
24. Elephant Girl- Jane Devin
25. Ain't No Sunshine- Leslie DuBois
26. Into the Free- Julie Cantrell
27. Ketchup is a Vegetable- Robin O'Bryant
28. Scorpio Rising- Monique Domovitch
29. Breaking Twig- Deborah Epperson
30. Anywhere but Here- Jenny Gardiner
31. The Day We Met- Dusti Bowling
32. Ten Things We Did- Sarah Mlynowski
33. The Yellow Wallpaper- Charlotte Perkins Gilman
34. The Color Purple- Alice Walker
35. Thirteen Reasons Why- Jay Asher
36. Dream Land- Sarah Dessen
37. Gerald's Game- Stephen King
38. The Memory Keeper's Daughter- Kim Edwards
39. Okay for Now- Gary D. Schmidt
40. Please Ignore Vera Dietz- A.S. King
41. Flowers for Algernon- Daniel Keyes
42. Midnight Sun- Stephanie Meyer
43. Breaking Dawn- Stephanie Meyer
44. It's Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini
45. The Night Circus- Erin Morgenstern
46. Snow flower and the Secret Fan- Lisa See
47. Damned- Chuck Palahniuk
48. Angel- Mary E. Kingsley
49. A Prayer for Owen Meany- John Irving
50. My Name is Mina- David Almond
51. Will Grayson, Will Grayson- John Green
52. The Knife of Never Letting Go- Patrick Ness
53. The Fault in our Stars- John Green
54. Paper Towns- John Green
55. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight- Jennifer Smith
56. We the Animals- Justin Torres
57. Wintergirls- Laurie Halse Anderson
58. White Oleander- Janet Finch
59. Playing with Matches- Carolyn Wall
60. Coraline- Neil Gaiman
61. The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
62. The Notebook- Nicholas Sparks
63. The House of Scorpion- Nancy Farmer
64. Kristy and the Snobs- Ann M. Martin
65. Spirits in the Trees- Morgan McDonald
66. The Phoenix Rising- Olivia Burgess
67. We Need to Talk About Kevin- Lionel Shriver
68. Never Let Me Go- Kazuo Ishiguro
69. The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky
70. Dr. Franklin's Island- Ann Halam
71. The Fifth Child- Doris Lessing
72. The Kingdom of Childhood- Rebecca Coleman
73. An Abundance of Katherines- John Green
74. Looking for Alaska- John Green
75. The Lover's Dictionary- David Levithan
76. The Host- Stephanie Meyer
77. The Almost Moon- Alice Sebold
78. More Tales to Chill Your Bones- Alvin Schwartz
79. The Talk Funny Girl- Roland Merullo
80. 13 1/2- Nevada Barr
81. Carrie- Stephen King
82. The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood
83. The Realm of Possibility- David Levithan
84. Revoltingly Young- CD Payne
85. Wonder- RJ Palacio
86. Red Run- Rob Cornell
87. The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden- Jessica Sorensen
88. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Jonathan Safron Foer

Short, Sweet, and to the Point!

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been so long and I hope you all had a merry Christmas! I don't have much to say today, except that I got an iPad mini for Christmas (with which I am currently typing this blog post) and I love it! It's very cute and I've found lots of apps on it that have come in handy with writing and such.

Also, I used the Christmas money I received to buy 5 new lalaloopsies (did I ever tell you guys I collect them?) and I ordered a sixth which is on her way! All in all I had a fantastic Christmas, and loved spending time with my family. I hope you all did too! What did you get for Christmas? Tell me in the comments below!

I'm a failure (kind of)

So I have a quick, (and embarrassing) update for you guys.

I'm most likely not going to finish my novel by the 30th.

At this time, I'm 31,051 words in, and I only have three days left. I'm trying to be realistic with myself. I'm hoping that I'll be able to pump out a couple thousand more words tonight, but I'm having a really hard time with my plot! I know where I've been, I know where I want to go, but I have no idea how to get there!

I've made a new goal for myself though. I want to have my book absolutely and utterly finished by the end of December, and totally and completely edited by the end of January! My third and final goal will to be published (even if it's only as an ebook on Amazon) by my birthday at the end of February!

Although I'm a little upset that I won't be able to declare myself a winner, I can safely say I've accomplised quite a bit in the 26 short days that I've been at it. I'm really proud of myself, and I can't wait for next year's NaNoWriMo to work on another idea I have. However, for now, I just want to finish the book that's looming over my head.

As we speak, I can practically hear my character's groans of disapproval as I use my blog as an avoidance tactic. So, I guess I'll go continue their story before they get too unhappy.

THANKS FOR READING!

NaNoWriMo!

I'm letting you know right now that this is going to be a crazy month for blogging and I.

I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo (a totally lame way of saying Nationaly Novel Writing Month) and so I'm not going to have time to read much more than my novel over and over. I'm 8,770 words in and my goal is 50,000 by the end of the month. I'm pretty far ahead, given my word goal per day is only a little over 1,600 and right now I'm averaging about 2,923 per day. So I've had time to go back and revise and edit a little bit.

I must say, I'm on to something. I'm going to use Winter Break in December to do the rest of my heavy editing and then I'm thinking about publishing it through Amazon.
My boyfriend has helped a lot, and I have to give him credit for a lot of the most complicated concepts that are involved, but the basic plot and characters were my idea. I'm going to post the prologue here, but I want to keep the rest of the book under wraps until I get it perfected.

We mill about, shoulder to shoulder. There is nowhere we can go to be alone, because there are so many of us. The grocery store your grandma frequents so often? Yeah. We’re packed in there like sardines. The park you used to love as a child? We love it there too. Football stadiums, ballet studios, gas stations. We are everywhere. We stand where you stand and sometimes you sit where we stand. You don’t even realize we’re there. We whisper to each other, and sometimes to you.  You don’t hear us…usually. Sometimes, we get you when you’re vulnerable. When you’re almost asleep or when you’re really relaxed. We say things to you like, “Hey, how goes it?” and sometimes when we’re feeling rambunctious we are able to manipulate energy. It’s really fast, like a fissure in the space time continuum that’s able to repair itself before you even notice. And sometimes you get lucky and capture these “phenomenon” on camera and blame it on your recently deceased grandma or as a sign from angry spirits. You’re partially right, but honestly, we don’t care if we were once related to you. We’ve been watching you for so long, we feel like we know you. And we love you. Sometimes, we just want to say Hi. And we’re really not picky. We’ll talk to anyone who will listen. And as far as the angry spirit thing goes, no. That’s not how it works. We can only talk to you when we’re elated. Feeling the highest level of happiness there ever was. Strong emotions like love help too. So, when you see us, you should feel grateful. Because it means we love you. All the good things that happen in your life happen because of us.

But somehow, you don’t get that. And you run away screaming.

I considered giving you a plot summary, but I think I want that to be a surprise too. :)
There won't be anymore book reviews for November, as my number one goal is finishing this book, but I'll check back and let you guys in on my progress as often as I'm able!

THANKS FOR READING!

HOORAH FOR MICHELLE MADOW!

So guys, I finished Timeless, the final installment of the Trancend Time Saga.
I gotta say guys, after reading Vengence, I was pretty much dying to read this book. And it did NOT disappoint.

As far as my taste in books go, I'm not typically a fan of fantasy type stuff. However, every once in awhile a book or series will inch it's way into my heart. And this was one of them.

Michelle's utilization of 'common' language makes her books seem like they're being told from one friend to another without being overly complicated. There's no unnecessary information and everything is sort of straight to the point, which I ALWAYS appreciate in an author.

In regards to the whole series in general, I really enjoyed the slight romantic aspect. It's romantic without being overly cheesy and I really appreciated Lizzy as the heroine. I know that at first I thought that she was annoying and rude but once I realized that you can't fight fate, I decided she was alright.

As you know from my reviews of her last two books, the story revolves around the main character, Lizzy Davenport (who, granted, was not my favorite. But she ended up growing on me). Lizzy's seemingly uncomplicated life is thrown into chaos when Drew Carmichael transfers to her highschool. She feels connected to him deeply despite the fact that he is dating her best friend, Chelsea (formerly my favorite character of the series, but not anymore), and despite the fact that she has a long standing boyfriend.

Seems totally typical of any other YA novel, right?
Wrong.
Because Lizzy and Drew ARE meant to be. They shared a past life together...in Regency Era England! Lizzy's untimely death tore them apart then, but fate wants them back together again.

However, as we know from Vengence, Chelsea is REALLY mad about the whole "You stole my boyfriend" thing, so she accidentally puts a curse on Lizzy which she doesn't realize will eventually kill her. That's where book #2 ends.

NOW TO TIMELESS.

Lizzy and Drew are offically together now. Chelsea is still not on speaking terms with Lizzy and is being really lame about the whole situation. (Side note, ladies, holding grudges like this is NOT HEALTHY). Lizzy is under the impression that she and Drew have escaped their tragic past and therefore have escaped her untimely death. However, Chelsea has thrown a wrench into this whole situation.

Lizzy's happiness is cut short when she becomes aware of a dark energy surrounding her. She's attacked by birds, pictures of her fall off of the wall, and she has a general feeling of eerieness.
In order to put things right, Lizzy and Drew have to time travel back to Regency Era England to ensure that Lizzy does not die. The thing is....Chelsea has to go. It was a little awkward, but Chelsea was able to put her anger aside after discovering that she put her former best friend's life in danger.

All in all, the book had some pretty great twists, particularly towards the end. For something inspired by a Taylor Swift song, Michelle has really come up with a great series. I would have to rate this book as an 8/10 and the series in general an 8/10 as well. I look forward to what Michelle will produce in the future and I am SO SAD that this adventure is over. I felt as though I had to wait so long for this book to come out and now it's just done! Luckily, I can re-read them time and time again. I guess the book is just TIMELESS that way, eh guys? (I know, cheesy book puns are the worst.)

The book will not be released for purchase until November 20th, but I was lucky enough to recieve an early copy for review. I hope that you guys will give the series a shot because it is really, really great.

THANK YOU FOR READING!

CATCHING UP!

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you guys! I have a couple little review/catch up things for you guys today.

 I finished The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood on Thursday afternoon. I had started to review it but then my boyfriend came to get me right after school so we could go see Sinister. Which, by the way, was terrifying. It wasn't so much scary as it was disturbing. But I would recommend it if you're into that sort of thing. And then I was out of town from Friday until last night at which time I began watching The Walking Dead. VERY distracting.

Anyway back to The Handmaid's Tale. It's the story of a woman named Offred (Of-Fred) and takes place in a dystopian society not too far in the future. After a (possibly staged) terrorist attack, women are forced to give up their rights and become concubines to high-society men for the purpose of reproduction. Many women at this time have become infertile due to a strain of infections and so fertile women are in high demand.

Offred is an impressive narrator. She jumps around quite a bit and it was slightly confusing towards the start so after I finished the novel I went back to review the first few chapters, just so I could be clear. Other than the confusion at first, Offred has a very honest and clear voice. The story is HER story, but it doesn't come across as conceited, if you get what I mean. It gives a clear impression of what she's feeling without seeming too whiny. I really enjoyed that. It was like she was just thinking things, and as she thought them they were put on paper. Little details were recalled and tied into her present situation. All in all, it was haunting.

I would give this book a 9/10. For it to have been a 10/10 I would have wanted to know a little bit more about Offred's past 'employers'. JUST SO YOU'RE AWARE the ending has made people unhappy in the past, however I felt it wrapped up nicely. :)

Moving on.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON I STARTED THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY BY DAVID LEVITHAN.

 

 

It was a book written in an eloquent and beautiful way. It was written in free verse poetry most of the time and it was just really unique. Every poem/chapter changed narrators, and they all tie in together. You kind of have to use context clues to see where each person/story fits in which could be confusing at times but then again, it's such a quick read that you wouldn't have too much time in between each chapter anyway. So it's quite easy to remember who is who.

 

I really liked the honesty of it. Each different poem is relatable, especially to high school students, and I really appreciated the hopeful tone of even the most depressing poems.

 

I'm a huge fan of David Levithan and would rate him a close second behind John Green on the list of my favorite authors. I would seriously beg you to give either of them a try. They're a breath of fresh air in comparison to any other YA authors.

 

 

ALSO

 

 

I re-read Revoltingly Young by CD Payne over the weekend. The Youth in Revolt series is so great. It's really funny and just so awkward that sometimes you have to just slap your forehead and cringe internally because it's just that bad. I would also recommend this series, especially the first two books. The others can sort of get repetitive but in an endearing way.

 

Anyway, that's all I have for you right now. :) Currently I'm reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

 

THANKS FOR READING!!!

Carrie

So yesterday after I posted, I read Stephen King's classic thriller, Carrie. I've wanted to read it for awhile and I've never seen the movie so I thought I'd give it a try. :)

All in all I thought it was decent. The story was sad and kind of scary. King has a way of taking normal daily things and making them very frightening. We've all been in the position of either the bully or victim. Sometimes things that seem harmless to say can really affect someone in a terrible way. It is absolutely not OK. Now, what if the girl you were picking on turned out to have telekenisis? And what if you set up a seemingly harmless prank at prom? What if that was the last straw?

That's the basis of Carrie. What I found to be the most sad part of the story was the characters of Sue and Tommy. They truly had the best intentions and unfortunately suffered for it in the end. That was senseless. And kind of sad.

What I didn't like about the book was the scientific aspect of it, I guess. How randomly King would place a paragraph or two out of a science journal that was just boring and took away from Carrie's story. I could have done with a little less of that, and a little more of Carrie's childhood. The book was an excellent idea that just fell a little short of spectacular. However, I will say that King did a pretty good job and the book left me a little disturbed.

I think I would have to give it a 7/10. It wasn't that bad, but like I said there were a few things that fell below my expectations.

Right now I'm reading a book called The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I'm sort of interested. It's a little weird and I'm not sure what it's getting at yet, but I'll let you know. :)

THANKS FOR READING!! :D

13 1/2

Hi guys! I finished a book this morning called 13 1/2 by Nevada Barr. I just wanted to let you guys know what I thought of it. :)
Basically, it's about a little boy named Dylan who is 11. He is charged with the brutal murder of his parents and baby sister although he has no recollection of the crime. His brother, Richard, was the sole survivor of the attack because he was at the neighbor's house. This part of the story takes place in the early sixties.

Now, fast forward to what I assume to be present day Louisiana. A woman named Polly who was introduced in the first chapter as an abused teenager living with her mother in a trailer park, has now made a life for herself and her two daughters. She meets a man named Marshall who is almost too good to be true. They are married and all seems well.

All through the story, there are flashbacks to Dylan living in a youth detention center. He doesn't remember anything from that night, all he knows is he loved his family very much. However, due to the fact that he was found covered in their blood with the murder weapon, an axe, in his hand, it's highly improbable that he didn't do it.

The thing I like about the story is it's such a mystery. You want Dylan to be innocent due to how young he is and how unlikely of a murderer he seems. However, right when you begin to think he WAS innocent, something in the story happens to leave you doubtful again.

I would give the book a solid 7/10. The only thing about it I wasn't so sure about was the way the story was told. It was told very shallowly. The dialect was very basic and the climactic scene at the end could have used a little more drama. All in all though, the book kept me engaged. :)

Also, last night was homecoming! It was a ton of fun! :)

That's all I have to say! I hope you guys had a great weekend! :)

Extremely Sad and Incredibly Fantastic

                So first of all, I have to confess to a sin. A horrible book related sin. I judged a book by its movie. I know, I know. I’m a horrible person. I saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in January when it came out without reading the book first. To be quite honest, I didn’t like the movie. Not in the slightest. It wasn’t successful in capturing Oskar’s unique voice and the young actor who portrayed him came off as obnoxious. The movie seemed rushed and I couldn’t understand why the book was so highly regarded.

And then on Sunday I was going through my library’s ebook collection and came across Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel and decided to give the story a second try. I fell madly in love with it. The way the story was told from the 3 perspectives of Oskar, his grandmother, and his grandfather was amazing. The language was intoxicating. And I just was completely engrossed. The use of photographs and other imagery to backup the story was also really effective. The last few pages gave me chills and there wasn’t even writing on them.

To be honest, it wasn’t Oskar’s story that had me so involved. It was the story of his grandmother and his grandfather that was even more sad than Oscar’s. Love, loss, and horrifying acts of terrorism are consistant through the novel. Even the most innocent of people can cause pain and heartache.

The book is very sad and relatable, particularly if you remember 9/11 and fully understand the sadness that came from the event. Please please PLEASE give it a shot. :)

ANYWAY THANKS FOR READING! <3

The Talk Funny Girl

Hi guys! I'm actually updating my blog! Whoot!
:)
So today I finished up a book I've been reading for a couple of days called The Talk Funny Girl by Roland Merullo. At first, I wasn't sure that I liked it. It was good, but it didn't have the WOW factor right away.
It starts out with an introduction by the narrator, a woman who grew up in the New Hampshire hills. She hints at being mistreated as a child and teenager, and how all negativity in every one's life is kept inside of themselves in a sort of museum that people pretend doesn't exist, but that she found a way to deal with those things. Then the book starts.

On the day that Marjorie Richards turns 17, her parents tell her that it was time to get a job. Right away, although this is a common and normal occurrence, you can tell that something's not quite right with her family. They talk in a sort of back-woods dialect that uses far too many prepositions and doesn't make much sense. (Which is where the title of the novel comes from). Later on in the book you find out that Marjorie and her parents belong to a very cultish church where the children are 'filled with sin' and must pay severe penance for it. It's all very scary, and the so called 'penance' that Marjorie has to pay is difficult to read about. She is starved, beaten, and doused with cold river water among other very traumatizing things. Apart from all of this, Marjorie is very intelligent even having been kept out of school until the age of 9, and seems to be very caring and sincere.

Reasonably enough, Marjorie is a little weary of adults. Not only is she mistreated by her parents and the congregation of their church, but while the story is taking place, there is a serial killer on the loose who preys on young girls who travel alone. Marjorie is constantly on edge and worried that someone will try to hurt her.

Early on in the story, Marjorie finds work with a man named Sands who is rebuilding a church and knows her (normal) aunt. She finds solace in the hard work and a friend in Sands. Their relationship is awkward because he is very shy and she has a difficulty expressing her emotions.

So, that should set up the novel pretty nice for you guys. It's very well worth reading. The novel shows that although terrible things happen TO you, they don't BECOME you. And the most beautiful things come out of dirt and neglect.

ANYWAY overall I'd give this book 9/10. I would give it a 10/10 but there was something slightly lacking in the characters, they weren't quite as dimensional as I would have liked. :)

THANKS FOR READING! Check this book out if you get the chance!

BOOKS BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS

So it has been a really long time, guys! I'm so sorry I've been gone for so long. The end of August was a rather busy time. I began my senior year of high school! And I pretty much put reading on the back-burner from the excitement of it all. Not saying that I haven't read at all. :)
I have read quite a bit. I'm not sure if I'll review the books I finished up reading towards the end of the summer or even the books I've read since then. But I will say this:

John Green is possibly the best author in the whole world.

Seriously, the man is awesome. I've read all of his novels and they are absolutely fantastic. Ranking them in order I would have to say....
1.The Fault in Our Stars
2. Looking for Alaska
3. Will Grayson, Will Grayson
4. An Abundance of Katherines
5. Paper Towns

I own 3/5 and I seriously need to finish my collection.

Also, Michelle Madow sent me a PDF copy of the final installment of her trilogy, Timeless. She's asked me to post a review during the book's release week in November. I'm halfway through and I'm trying super hard to pace myself so I can finish the ending right when I need to post my review.

On the subject of reading, my final summer reading list was as follows:
1. The Night Circus-Erin Morgenstern
2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan- Lisa See
3. Damned- Chuck Palahniuk
4. Angel- Mary E. Kingsley
5. A Prayer for Owen Meany-John Irving
6. My Name is Mina and I Love the Night-David Almond
7. Will Grayson, Will Grayson-John Green
8. The Knife of Never Letting Go-Patrick Ness
9. The Fault in Our Stars-John Green
10. Paper Towns-John Green
11. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight-Jennifer Smith
12. We the Animals-Justin Torres
13. Wintergirls-Laurie Halse Anderson
14. White Oleander-Janet Finch
15. Playing with Matches-Carolyn Wall
16. Coraline-Neil Gaiman
17. The Time Traveler's Wife-Audrey Niffenegger
18. The Notebook-Nicholas Sparks
19. The House of the Scorpion-Nancy Farmer
20. Kristy and the Snobs-Ann M. Martin (I know I'm silly)
21. Spirits in the Trees-Morgan McDonald
22. The Phoenix Rising-Olivia Burgess
23. We Need to Talk About Kevin-Lionel Shriver
24. Never Let Me Go-Kazuo Ishiguro
25. The Perks of Being a Wallflower-Stephen Chbosky
26. Dr. Franklin's Island-Ann Halam

So I was a long shot off from my goal of 60 books, but I have a new goal!! You see, I have this notebook that I started keeping February 2012. In it, I write the title and author of every book I finish. I am up to 85. So my new goal is to read 15 books by February 28th, 2013. That will be 100 books in one year!
Exciting.
Recently I've read:
The Fifth Child-Doris Lessing
The Kingdom of Childhood-Rebecca Coleman
An Abundance of Katherines-John Green
Looking for Alaska-John Green
The Lover's Dictionary-David Levithan
The Almost Moon-Alice Sebold
More Tales to Chill Your Bones-Alvin Shwartz (so 3rd grade)

I'm going to start reading a lot more in my free time and spending less time on Tumblr. I don't have much homework (Perks of only taking a few honors classes) and so I should be able to accomplish my goal. :)
Thanks for sticking around!!

-Kayla

Brain Melting Cuteness.

So I have a dog. His name is Roscoe. And I love him. Like I seriously would not hesitate to say that he is my best friend. We've had him for a little over 2 years. He is great. So, because I love my dog so much, I thought I would dedicate a whole post just for pictures of my awesome dog.

Roscoe had a great time at the beach. Except he was not a fan of the sand up his nose.

He might be slightly scared of me. But I don't care.

I don't know if he was posing for the photo op or if he was vehemently protesting bath time.

He wasn't feeling picture time that morning.

He really is this cute.

He's a 'super' dog. HAHA.

So anyway. That's all I really had to say today. I woke up with a huge appreciation for my dog so I thought I'd share his awesomeness with you guys!

Have a great day!



Never Let Me Go.

I just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'm....on the fence with this one guys. Usually I can say one way or another: I LOVED THE BOOK or EH.
But this time, I can't say. I was very into it in the beginning. I really liked the tone. I liked all of the characters. I thought that the whole thing was a little off (never expecting, however, how right I was) but regardless, I liked it.

It is narrarated by a woman named Kathy. She reflects on her life at a school called Hailsham. Her friends, teachers, classes. Things that amused her or stood out to her as a child.She talks a lot about a boy named Tommy who is prone to tantrums (but later she and him become close) and her best friend Ruth.
Throughout the whole thing, you just assume that the kids are at some sort of british boarding school. Until it gets to the part of the novel where the kids kind of age out of the school. They go to a place called The Cottages. And that's when you start to GET IT. These aren't normal kids.

All in all, I can say...good. Okay. But I didn't LOVE IT. And this is why. The author is Japanese, and I'm not sure if the book was translated from Japanese. Because sometimes, it got awkward. Like...The Catcher in the Rye is the closest thing I can compare it to. You know how Holden will repeat things? Like he'll say something and then in the very next sentence he repeats it? It's a lot like that. But it doesn't seem to fit the tone of the book.

Also, I'd like to call this a romance novel. I'd really like to. And if it were, I think that it would have left  larger impact on me. If Kathy and Tommy had really, REALLY, been in love, then perhaps I would have loved the book. It would have been touching. Instead it was just another sci-fi distopian...I can't even say thriller. It was very casual. And now that I think about it, that is what kind of made it so sad. Because although they know what will happen to them, they just kind of embrace it.

Overall, I'd give the book an 8/10. It really did end up being a book that makes me kind of think. But it didn't make me cry or anything.

ANYWAY. I thought I'd leave a quick review. Give it a try if you'd like to. I don't regret it. :) And I'm very excited to see the movie. Can I get a 'woot-woot' for Andrew Garfield, anyone?

Okay guys! I'm all done. Have a nice night!

I'M FINISHED WRECKING THIS JOURNAL!

GUYS I'VE FINISHED MY WRECK THIS JOURNAL! I got it back in February and I finally finished. I decided to post a few of my favorite pages for your viewing pleasure. (Note: please ignore my hideous ugly disgusting abhorable nails. Please.)

This is my cover. I like princesses. And blue paint. And my initials.

This is my coffee page. It smells like coffee.

These are the things I find. I find a lot of playing cards and random things.

This is my gum page. A page where my friends and I put our gum.

This is the page I painted. Obviously.

This is my hand.

These are things I found around my home.

I painted this picture with a penny.

This is my stain page which smells like mustard

Anyway this is what I do with my life. HAVE A NICE DAY!

We Need to Talk About Kevin...and School.

SO IT'S BEEN FOREVER...AGAIN! I know. I kind of suck at this whole 'blogging over the summer' thing. But guess what guys? SCHOOL starts here in 2 weeks. Well...15 days.
15. Tiny. Little. Days.
Which means I have to start waking up before 12:00 pm every day. Which will not be easy.
Here's the good news: I'm kind of excited. I wasn't before, but now I kind of am! I am going to be a senior! I'm absolutely thrilled. However, I haven't felt the need to make any huge deal out of things. I got one new pair of shoes and a few shirts. And then as far as supplies go, I just decided to use last year's backpack and get new notebooks. That's it.
My class schedule should be pretty easy.
I took Zoology, Personal Finance, Government Honors, English 12 Honors, and of course.....my favorite. Creative Writing. However this year it's going by the rather cheesy name: Imaginative Writing.
So in 15 days, that's what I'll be doing with my time.

But recently, I've been reading. And the book I've been reading is We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. It was basically the scariest book ever.
It's about a woman who decides she wants to have a baby. However, when she finds out she's pregnant, she kind of...doesn't want to be pregnant anymore. Call it "Mother's Intuition" because her son Kevin turns out to be psycho. Like...crazy. From the time he is born he is evil. But evil in backwards ways. So that when she would tell her husband "Oh Kevin does not stop crying from the time he wakes up to the time you get home." He's like...well yeah. He's a baby. Stop whining. But the thing is, Kevin IS JUST INSANE. I can't even describe. Eventually he goes from a crazy baby to a crazy child to a crazy teenager. And bad things just always seem to happen when Kevin is around. But it could all end up being just unfortunate coincedences...right? Well, it seems so until Kevin takes a crossbow to school...

It has an intense shocker of an ending that left me paralyzed. Like I don't want to sound overdramatic, but I couldn't move. And then the last page was even worse. I had to read it twice. Like really, lady?? Really?? If you read the book, you'll know what I mean. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. In fact, I may go read it again. It definately makes you think twice about wanting kids someday.

Anyway. What else have I read recently? I found a pretty good book on PixelOfInk.com but I can't remember the name right now. It was a romance, but it was a scary ghost book...I usually don't like either of those types of books but this one was great. Next time I blog...IF I EVER BLOG AGAIN...I'll let you know what it is called. :)

I hope everyone's summer has been great so far!

P.S: Here's the movie poster for Kevin. I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't say if it's good or not.

Oh, Be Quiet.

Yeah. I went missing for 20 days whatever have I been up to?
Reading.
And playing Pokemon.
So shut up.

Here's a list of books I've read and the score OUT OF TEN I gave them.
1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern-10
2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan-9
3. Damned-4
4. Angel-8
5. A Prayer for Owen Meany-8
6. My Name is Mina-9
7. Will Grayson, Will Grayson-10
8. The Knife of Never Letting Go-9
9. The Fault in Our Stars-Over 9,000
10. Paper Towns-7
11.The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight-6
12. We the Animals-9
13. Wintergirls-10
14. White Oleander-9
15. Playing with Matches-8
16. Coraline-10
17. The Time Traveler's Wife-10

17 books. I'm over halfway through the summer and I'm nowhere near my goal of 60 books. :'(
I suppose it was a hefty goal to begin with.
Right now I'm reading The Notebook. I'm not that far in, but so far I don't love it. Too simple. But I love the movie so I guess I'll truck on.

Regardless. I got a tumblr. batsby.tumblr.com. You may follow me, or not, but that's where I've been doing my reviews. I'LL BE BACK I SWEAR.

I'M ALIIIIIIIIVE

My, my, my.
It's been over a month, hasn't it?
I apologize for my absence. But it's SUMMER TIME. And as much as I love writing these blogs, it's hard to tempt myself into dedicating even a few minutes to writing. At all.
But here I am!
I'm not dead.
I'm here.
I have done some reading. Obviously. I read The Host by Stephanie Meyer which was one of the best books I've read in awhile. It had a slow start but once you get into it, it's fantastic. I read A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving that was also very good. It was VERY long, but still very good. I've read a few random books here and there that I don't have much of an opinion about. And, just now, I finished My Name is Mina by David Almond which was really really good. I love books like Mina...it was very dreamy and beautiful. But still very simple, if that makes any sense.
Next on my to-read list is The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness which I have heard amazing things about so I'm very excited about starting that.

Other than that, what's new? With me? Not much. I did get a new phone. It's a Nokia Lumia 710 and it's white and I named it Mina (after the book, obviously) and I love it. The end.
I'll try to write more, more often. :) Sorry it's been so long!
I hope you all are well!

Lazy blog post.

So, here's the thing.
I just finished The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.
And, as always, I am madly in love with this book.
I have a theory, by the way, that if books were people, I'd have a hard time remaining faithful to just one.
I fear occasionally that I am just merely easily impressed.
But that is not the case with this novel.

It started out slightly confusing, and I was sure that I would not love it as much as I thought.
However, about 1/4 of the way into the book, things started to tie in together.

It was an exceptional love story on top of a wonderfully magical story. About what? Dueling magicians.

Okay I know. Dueling magicians? Really Kayla? Come on.
But I'm telling you, this book is really excellent.

Because I cannot find a way to put the plot into words, I'll copy the description straight from Amazon.

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart."

 

Anyway, I must go now. Everyone have a nice night, and PLEASE read this book if you get the chance.

Good night!

GIVE ME YOUR SUGGESTIONS!

So, I have 2 full days left of school and then 3 days of final exams. AND THEN SCHOOL WILL BE NEVERMORE, NEVERMORE, NEVERMORE! Well. Until August.
I'm shockingly thrilled with the idea of summer vacation. I have never looked forward to it before. (I know, I'm a 'weirdo'). However, this year has been a crazy overload of work and stress, so I think that adds to my excitement level just a tiny bit.

So, since it's (almost) summer, I decided to set a goal. I want to read 50 books before summer is over. Too much? Maybe. But I'm hopeful that I can acheive it. If not exceed it.

I'm going to count the books I'm reading right now (The Night Circus and The Host) towards my summer quota. The rest will be the 8 on my Kindle I've neglected to read, library books, and Pixel Of Ink finds. I'm up for any suggestions, so leave a comment with your favorite books!

I'm about 17% through The Host, but I've taken a break from it to start The Night Circus. I love them both so far, and the only reason I even put The Host down was because I was on a waiting list at the library for The Night Circus and it finally came through. I want to make sure I have enough time to read it twice if I so desire and then return it. Since I own The Host, I'm not in much of a hurry to read it.

ANYWAY.

I'm rambling.

I hope everyone is well! Please please PLEASE leave book suggestions in the comments. I IMPLORE YOU!

Good night!

Bribery.

Do you want to know a little secret?
I'm using bribery to write this blog.
With what am I bribing myself with?
The opportunity to pee.
That's right, I'm not letting myself pee until I have a substantial post written.

Not because I dislike writing these, but because I am lazy.

So, I drank two bottles of water, and waited until I had to use the bathroom.
Then I started typing.

So I last left off with Where the Heart Is. Good book, loved it. Excellent.

And then I said "Blah blah blah, I'm reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Blah blah, pretty good."

OMG GUYS THAT BOOK WAS SO GOOD. So good, in fact, I had to just get so totally 8th grade on you and say OMG and then proceed to type in all caps.

I loved the book. It was so full of whimsy and cliff hangers and awesome that I almost died. True story.

No sooner did I finish reading the book did I google the author's name, Ransom Riggs. I clicked on his blog. I read the first post. And I discovered that he recently sold the rights to turn this glorious book into a movie to none other.


Than.



TIM BURTON AKA MY FAVORITE DIRECTOR EVER.

True story.

I died twice.

This little tidbit of information nearly made me sing with joyful glee.
(One can only hope that Helena Bonham Carter will play Miss Peregrine. However, I'm not sure my heart could handle it.)

So now, I'm reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I'm so excited to have this book in my hands! I've wanted to read it for years and I found a woman selling it for $5 at a rummage sale. SCORE.

That's all I have to say. I have to pee very bad now.

BYE!

Short. And. To. The. Point.

So I believe I last left you when I started Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts. Like I may have mentioned before, the movie based on this book is one of my all time favorites. (By the way, guess what I'm watching right now?)

Without going too far into things, the main character is Novalee Nation. She's a seventeen year old girl from the south who made the bad choice of procreating with a good for nothing slime bucket named Willy Jack Pickens. This bad choice is made obvious when Willy Jack abandons Novalee, who is nearly 7 months pregnant, at a Walmart in a town far from her home.

Basically, life is hard for Novalee, but remarkably full of whimsy.

I would recommend this book to anyone. (And the movie, which is on watch instantly on Netflix!)

Shortest review ever, right?

I'm sorry. Like I said I'm in the middle of watching a movie so I don't want to do anything too in depth.

At the moment, I'm reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. This book is already proving to be a favorite of mine. It's hard to put it down. After I finish that, I am starting The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin which is a book I've been dying to read for months.

So, needless to say, I will be getting absolutely nothing done for the rest of the week. Oh well.

I hope everyone is well and powering through the rest of the school year! Which is the exact opposite of what I'm doing.
BYE!

Sisterhood Everlasting

So, I finished this book in record time, wouldn't you say? I'm rather proud of myself. But it's hard to put down a book that is so much a part of yourself that you have a hard time remembering whether or not your life is here or if it's there.

Like I said yesterday, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series was MY THING from the 6th grade and forward. My mom bought the book for me around the time the first movie came out and I was infatuated with it. It was so believable and the characters were so dimensional that it was impossible not to feel their emotions along with them.

I bought each book in the series as it came out. But somehow, I never heard about the release of Sisterhood Everlasting.

This book picks up with the Septemers when they're around 28ish years old. Carmen is now a size 0 actress, Lena is living on her own in an apartment teaching art classes 4 days a week, Brigette is kind of all over the place, and Tibby? Well, Tibby is a mystery.

All I can say about this book is it is not for the faint of heart. If you were a die hard fan of the series, it is a must read. But if you've never read the series I must implore you not to read this book until you read the previous books to gain background knowledge.

I feel as though this book made me so emotional because the girls have been a part of my life for nearly 8 years. This was my series. These books were a part of nearly every road trip, vacation, and summer of my life. Sometimes it was hard to tell when reality ended and the Septembers began.

Maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but I think not.
I'm just sayin' it how it is.

I don't want to give away much about the book, because things start getting emotional from the beginning. I most certainly will be ordering a hard copy of the book since it is one of those books you want to physically hold in your hands.

ANYWAYYYYY.

I'm starting Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts next. I'll review it sometime this week. :)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL OF YOU AMAZING MOTHER'S OUT THERE! <3

Guess who's baaaaack?

Oh my goodness, it HAS been a long time, hasn't it? Almost a month. I apologize for my absense. As always, I shall use school as my excuse. I have been reading as much as usual, but not anything new. I've read The Help (again) Water for Elephants (again) Thirteen Reasons Why (again, and I can't remember if I reviewed this book. If not, PLEASE DO YOURSELF THE BIGGEST FAVOR EVER AND READ IT) Also, last weekend was prom, and every girl knows that means I was in a mad bustle to get things done. Boys just wake up on prom day and throw on a suit. It took me two weeks of preparation to get ready.

So. What is new?
Well, I saw Dark Shadows last night and practically died because it was so good. It had a few of my favorite things ever.
1. Johnny Depp
2. Tim Burton
3. Johnny Depp
4. Helena Bonham Carter
5. Johnny Depp
6. Humor
7. Johnny Depp
8. Vampires
And did I mention Johnny Depp? I sincerely plan on buying this movie when it comes out on DVD.

So back to books. I currently have 2 books on my Kindle that want to be read and read FAST.
The first is Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts. I can safely say I've watched the movie this novel is based on HUNDREDS OF TIMES IN MY LIFE. It is me and my mom's favorite movie and in one summer alone we can watch the movie 10+ times without ever getting tired of it.

The second book is Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares. Because the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series was my favorite series (next to Harry Potter, of course) when I was a preteen. Ann Brashares and Judy Bloom are the authors that every girl in middle school and up need to read to learn about what life is REALLY like. So when I discovered that there was another book in the series, I nearly peed my pants. I've never been so excited about a book.

Now the question is...which one to read first?
I hope you all are well, and I'll be back sometime this week to let you know how the reading is going.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND KISS ALL OF YOUR AWESOME MOTHER FIGURES!!!

Sweet, Sweet Vengence.

So remember a few weeks ago I reviewed Michelle Madow's Remembrance? Well, Michelle was kind enough to email me a PDF version of the second book in the Transcend Time Saga, Vengence.

So remember how much I hated the character of Lizzie? How I described her as a boyfriend stealing brat? Well, this book is thankfully NOT from her point of view.

What I discovered is Michelle Madow is actually a fantastic writer. While in Remembrance I was often annoyed, In Vengence, I was absolutely not. I think I was more frustrated with the character of Lizzie than the actual style of the book.

Let me just say...I like Chelsea MUCH better. Now, so you can keep up, Chelsea is...WAS... Lizzie's best friend. Put 2 and 2 together yet? That's right. Chelsea is the friend Lizzie stole Drew from.
Vengence is written from Chelsea's perspective and I like how Michelle completely changed the way she wrote this book from self-centered-brat to angry-betrayed-friend. It is very telling of how good an author is if they can do this. Think of how in Breaking Dawn Stephanie Meyer was able to change the feelings you got from Bella's perspective and Jacob's perspective of the same event. It's not easy. As a writer, I can attest to this.

ANYWAY I'm getting off track.
Chelsea finds a way to turn things back in her favor. Let's just say there's a sort of spell involved and then it ends in a crazy cliff hanger. It was one of those things where you read the last line and then you are torn between wanting to punch the author in the face, or hug them. I am so JAZZED to read the third and final installment in the series...when it comes out. I will have to wait. Patiently. Patience is not my thing.

GET THAT BOOK OUT, MICHELLE.
I would give this book 5/5 stars.
I'm assuming the third book will, once again, revolve around Lizzie. But it will be more tolerable. I know this is bad, but I tend to root for the 'bad guy'. And I will continue to hope that Chelsea gets Drew.

Sorry, but it's the truth.

HAPPY READING EVERYONE! Please support Michelle if this book sounds like something you're interested in. Don't forget that you can buy both Remembrance and Vengence for $0.99 on the Kindle until Michelle's US tour ends.

BYE!

Quick Kitty Update!

Hi guys! Okay so remember a couple of posts ago I wrote about my anatomy cat Mr. Mittens? Well. His name has been changed.
In my mind it happened like this:
I was dillegently working away at my cat's thigh when suddenly, it hit me. In a spark of mad genius, I removed my oh-so-cool darkly tinted sunglasses and made eye contact with both of my lab partners at once because I'm that cool and uttered the word....Katniss......Then our cat sprang to life and danced the tango whilst my partners hoisted me onto their shoulders and our entire class burst into a dubstep rendition of "We are the champions." At that precise moment Johnny Depp burst in the room and declared his undying love for me and asked me to prom and I denied because I'm too cool for Johnny Depp.

In reality it happened like this:
I had just finished wrapping the removed integument around our cat so he doesn't dry out or become moldy. I was lowering him into the first of 3 plastic bags when I said, "Why didn't we name the cat Katniss? Like the Hunger Games?" and my partners said, "That's a good idea." And then I remembered our cat was a boy but by then it was too late because I had scribbled out Mr. Mittens and was writing Katniss in sharpie on our bag. Why didn't I spell it Catniss? I don't know. Good question.

So anyway that's my story. Mr. Mittens is now Katniss Evermeow. I made up the last name just now.
I'm that cool.

That's really all I have to say for today. Right now I'm reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter. It's really good so far. :)

Have a grand day!

Lemon Cake? Sad? Bah.

I must quickly review an amazing book I read last week for spring break. It's the kind of book you always keep with you.

The book is called The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. It is so poetic. I know, using the word poetic to describe a book is slightly pretentious. But I assure you it is true. It was beautiful and awesome.

It starts with an 8 year old girl named Rose whom, on her 9th birthday, discovers that she can taste feelings in food. That is, when she's eating food, she can taste the emotions of whoever made the food. It's difficult to describe, but long story short it's amazing. From the first page it drew me in and I fell in love. I would recommend this book a thousand times over. Take my word for it and read it.

I'm sorry this review sucks. I'm really tired. It was my first day back at school from spring break and quite honestly, it's a miracle that I'm still awake.


Please read this book. It will bring you wonder and happiness and joy.

There. I've said it all in 13 words. Now do it.

Marriage, Dance Moms, and Thank You's

OH HI GUYS.

Sorry I haven't written every day, I've been too busy partying hard during spring break. JK. I've been hanging out with my mom and playing Harvest Moon like my life depends on it.

But today something exciting happened! I went to the library and got my OWN library card! This is a huge milestone in the lives of nerds everywhere. I got it mainly because my local library has ebooks that you can 'check out' and then after 21 days they magically disappear off of your kindle and are 'returned' to the library. Unfortunately, all of the books I want are already checked out. So, I had to be added to a waiting list. Stupid, I know.

This little discovery of mine couldn't have come at a better time because I'm just a couple months away from summer, and this will be the first summer I've spent with my Kindle. We have big plans.
I wish I could marry my Kindle sometimes. We're so compatible.

On a completely seperate and probably unmentioned note, I may or may not have told you that I am completely and utterly addicted to the tv show Dance Moms. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's because I like dancing. Maybe I like catty women. Maybe I like DRAMA. I think that's it. Regardless, I don't want to give away what happened on last night's mid-season finale (whatever that means), but I do want to just say that Abby Lee is a jerk. Really, I knew this before, but last night really took things to a whole entirely new level. I was so disappointed in her conduct, and if I were her I would look back on how she handled herself and I would write formal letters of apology to every child I ever came in contact with. And their mothers. And their great aunts.
I don't think that one should be allowed to teach children unless they have put aside all of their immature qualities first. Abby most definately hasn't.

And don't even ask me about Dance Moms Miami. I don't even know what went on that whole show. There were a lot of accents and bad haircuts and it completely lost me about halfway through.

ANYWHOOOO. Thank you to Catherine, the only one who ever comments on my blogs aside from my mom. It's nice to know some one is out there who actually cares about what I have to say!

Have a great day! :)

Mr. Mittens

I refuse to apologize for my absense. No, I will not do it.

I have 6 classes and aproximately 9 years of homework every night. You do the math.

I have no time for frivolities like reading, especially the last two weeks because my teachers really like to lay things on thick before spring break. I feel like most teachers become teachers so they can torture children and make them want to cry.

So what have I been up to, if I haven't been reading?
Well. I've been dissecting cats.

WHAT?!

That's right. I dissect cats now. Or a cat. A black cat that my lab partners named Mr. Mittens. (I had no hand in this, I think naming things you are going to cut up and study is sadistic and weird.) Non-the-less, until the end of this quarter, AKA the end of Junior year, I will be dissecting this cat. I have already participated in the removal of the cat's skin and fur. And while the saying may go, "There is more than one way to skin a cat", as far as my teacher is concerned, there is just one way. His way. And I can't imagine why that saying came to be. Was it invented by frustrated anatomy students, fed up with their proffessors micromanaging their every move in the science lab? Did they finally lose their cool and shake their fist at the oh-so-mighty teacher? This is what I like to think.

I may sound completely unfazed by the fact that I am butchering an animal that many people consider a member of their family, but this is untrue. In fact, the first two days I came in contact with my 'cat' (it's more of a mountain lion, and roughly the size of a large german shepard), I cried like a baby. In fact, I cried as if I were dissecting my own cat.
The only thing that helped me to cope was a short story. A short story I wrote. It's all about a cat...named Mr. Mittens. He was born in a filthy ally in the rough streets of LA. His mother was a Kitty prostetute. His father was a cat burgeler. He grew up to become a hardened criminal, and he murdered a family of 7 squirrels in cold blood. He was eventually given the lethal injection and his body was donated to science. I know, silly. But it makes me feel less bad about what I'm doing.

I think that's enough for one day. Since it is now spring break, hopefully I'll be able to read and review again. I have a ton of homework however, so we shall see.

Have a great day!!

My Love Affair Continues...

Oh, hi guys!
I've finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and yeah, it was great. What can I say?
As you may or may not know, I 've always had a major crush on the 16th president of our United States. Why? Because look at him, he's gorgeous. Tall. Distinguished.

And a vampire hunter.
Yes.
I am a believer. I don't feel like I should review this book the way I reviewed all the other books. THIS particular book is far too important. It was amazing.
All I can do is beg you to read the book. I cannot give you a rundown without feeling like I'm ruining the book. I really don't want it to seem cheap...because I honestly have no idea how to give it the proper respect that it deserves.

I don't know what I'll read next. This book was one of those books that makes every book you read after it seem mediocre. Maybe I'll re-read it just so I can get my fill.

I've been writing a lot though! I finished chapter 4 of my 'novel', as well as a few rather interesting poems. I wrote one about Elisabeth Bathory that has a whole lot of potential. (Hint hint...she's in my NEW favorite book!)

Anyway, I hope you all are well, and I hope at least one of you will read this book! And if you do, please comment on this post telling me what you thought!

Have a great day!

Still a Better Love Story than Twilight

As you all know, I recently started reading the book, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. Let me just say that, no, I haven't finished the book. I am taking my sweet time. I waited until I was exactly 50% through the book before I wrote this. I NEVER blog about a book until I have completed it, therefore I can get all of my thoughts into one blog without getting all over the place.

I like organization. (Ask my mom about this and she'll say that I am the farthest thing from organized. I guess I should rephrase and say that I like organized writing. It's my thing.)

But, alas, I could not wait a single day more to express to you my complete and utter infatuation with this book. IF I COULD MARRY IT, I WOULD. True story.

I knew after I read the first paragraph that this book would suck me in. I knew I would not make it to the book's end before I shared my love of it with you. So, as I often do, I recorded some notes in my Justice League legal pad to better organize my thoughts. So, I will write them, as they are, for you. If there is any confusion, fear not. I will explain things to the best of my ability when I finish the novel completely. :) If you have any questions, PLEASE COMMENT. I want to answer questions about this book. I want to go to Hawaii on a romantic honeymoon with this book. I'll answer all your questions, plus some.

FROM THE SACRED JUSTICE LEAGUE LEGAL PAD OF KAYLA JOY:
-Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter...written by the same guy who wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Interesting.
-I was expecting a comedy. This is not a comedy.
-Captivating from the start...don't even want to look away to take these notes. And knowing I'll have to to go to my next class in a few minutes has me in a panic. TOO. MUCH. HOMEWORK. NOT. ENOUGH. BOOK TIME.
-"In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with the bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares." -Abraham Lincoln
-Made out to be a completely true story. I believe it. WOW.
-Historically accurate information.
-Infant mortality rate was 10% in the early 1800s.
-"I hereby resolve to kill every vampire in America."
-POST PICS TO BLOG! (Don't worry, I'm getting there.
-This book is truly amazing. It ties strange and true events in history back to vampires. Example: the disappearance of the Roanoke settlers. OMG I LOVE THIS BOOOOK.
-Henry...is Henry...DUH.
-Edgar Allan Poe is in this freakin book. YESSS!!!
-Poe's poems came from a better understanding of darknesss and life beyond death, thanks to Guy de Vere (see poem: Lenore) who was a vampire.
-And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear? -weep now or never more!
-"So long as this country is cursed with slavery, so too will it be cursed with vampires."

these are my initial unedited thoughts from this book. I am so unbelievably in love. (STILL a better love story than Twilight, might I add).

I'll end with a photo from the book, and then I must go off, into the wonderous unknowns of the Kindle world. :)

When I Found You

So, I FINALLY finished When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde. The book revolves around Nathan and Nat. Nathan is an older gentleman in his 40s when he happens across a baby in the woods. It is late October and very cold. At first, Nathan thinks the baby is dead, until he sees him move his mouth. It is an immediate connection for Nathan, and he is determined that one day he will be a part of his life.
Nat, the baby, turns into a sullen and troubled teenager. When he is 14 years old, his grandmother decides she's had enough and drops Nat on Nathan's doorstep. Nathan vows that he will never turn his back on Nat, no matter what. Despite Nat's trouble making, Nathan never goes back on his promise.

I loved that the character of Nathan is very realistic and dimensional. His speech and actions are all reminiscent of a grandfather. He is kind, caring, and generous without being a push over. In fact, it seems that all characters over the age of 30 are believable. I'm not sure if it's because the author is older or not. However, the younger character's were not always so realistic. They seemed forced and their speech was irregular and strange. Maybe it's because I am a teenager, but I found it extremely odd.

The book overall didn't have an outstanding effect, but it didn't leave me with a negative one either. I would recommend this book if you have a lot of time on your hands or you have read books by the author and liked them. I would give the book 4/5 stars, but I probably wouldn't read it again.

Immediately after I finished When I Found You, I started Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. So far, I am in LOVEEEE with this book. It is realistic and awesome. I half expected a comedy, but it is anything but. I'm excited to review it as soon as I've finished.
(PS, the movie is coming out soon, so read it ASAP!)
Talk soon!

I Love This Movie....Like Crazy.

SO. Apart from reading, I have quite the thing for movies. Any movie. Mostly, sappy romantic so-girly-you-wanna-puke movies. Like Crazy starring Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones is one of those movies.

I should start by saying that the previews for this movie started playing around October or November. The first time I saw the preview for the movie, it made me cry. So you'd think that by the second or third time, I'd be fine. I would handle it. BUT NO. NOT ME. It made me cry EVERY TIME. And not just tear up, dab the tears away before everyone can see. I mean like full blown cry like my cat just died.

I don't know why.
I'm a girl.

So, last night I rented the movie from Redbox, genuinely expecting the worst. If the preview made me cry that hard, the real thing would surely kill me.
I was right.
I have never cried like that over a movie. Not when Mufasa died, not when Rose let go, and not even when Andy gave his toys to that little girl. This was on a whole new level. I thought I was going to die from dehydration. These also weren't the silent and graceful type tears, mind you. They were the whole face scrunched up, sucking air, asking WHYYYYYYY over and over.

I don't even think the movie was that sad, to be honest. I don't know what it was about this movie that touched me so completely. It was so genuine and real. There were no happily ever afters, only reality. It was so real. I think maybe that's why it upset me, because it was just like watching real life.

UGH.

Anyway. Be forewarned that the ending is one of those endings that after the credits start rolling, you rewind to make sure you didn't miss something. It was a little weird, but like I said it was very realistic.

I WOULD GIVE THIS MOVIE 5,000,999,554,333,234,543,673,675,000/5 stars. AMAZING.

On the book front, I'm about halfway through When I Found You. So far, so good! It's really touching, and I'm excited to see how it ends.

TALK SOON! :)

Don't Shoot!

I am becoming slightly amazed at my ability to read entire books so quickly. I've always been a quick reader but it seems like since I got my Kindle, reading is far too accessible. I download up to 2 books per day and I read them immediately! But it's a nice break. :)

Last night after my post I started Reading Don't Shoot! I'm Just the Avon Lady! by Birdie Jaworski. It's another autobiography type book that follows an animated and funny Avon representitive who lives in SoCal with her two young sons.

All in all, it was very comedic and touching. Birdie was raped in college and became pregnant with a daughter she was too poor and emotionally scarred to raise. The story begins with Birdie recieving a call that her daughter wants to know a little bit about her. Birdie is understandably afraid of the questions the young woman may ask, but she agrees to the meeting. The whole book comes back to this daughter she never knew, and her fear of meeting her.

 What I find interesting about this book is that people will divulge the strangest information, even with their Avon lady. Birdie meets the most amazing and interesting people in her life, all of which have stories that she can tie back to her past in some way.

It sometimes got a little 'dreamy' and wordy, going off on strange tangents and such. But I found that sometimes this was pretty nice. It was like the author literally just let her fingers do the writing, without thinking about things too hard. Sometimes, however, it was a little annoying.

I would give the book 4.5/5 stars. :)

Now I'm moving on to either another Distopian novel or a book by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Pay It Forward) called When I found You. I guess I'll start one of those tomorrow depending on my mood.

My mind is filled with other people's stories and words, and I'm loving it. :) I want to just talk to someone about all of the amazing things I've read lately, and how I carry each and every character with me everywhere I go, and relate every little seemingly insignificant detail of my life to them. It's glorious. It's hard to get lonely when you have so many friends.

That got creepy for a second there, but it's true. :)

I hope you all are having a great night, talk to you tomorrow!

Raising Abel

I realize that yesterday I said that I was reading Zomblog, but I'm sorry to say the book seemed to lose me. I made it over halfway through and I mentally couldn't do it anymore. There were too many names and not enough of a plot. It was zombie fight after zombie fight after zombie fight. I realize that if it were really the zombie apocolypse, this is how things would be. But does it make for a really interesting book? Not necissarily.

So, at about 4:00 pm yesterday, I picked up Raising Abel off of the EVER so wonderful site, Pixel of ink. It is told from the perspective of the author, Carolyn Nash. She gives an inside look at what it's like to adopt and raise a severely traumatized child, a boy named Abel.

The first thing that struck me is how it seemed that the author was a friend, just telling me her story. It didn't seem written, somehow. It just seemed like a conversation between good friends. I mentally and sometimes VERBALLY reacted to the things she said in her book.

THIS IS HOW YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE READING SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT.

I barely have the words to describe it.

Carolyn doesn't attempt to gain any sort of sympathy, she just states the facts. She was lonely, a coworker recommended she become a foster parent, and she decides to go for it. She was completely unprepared for what would come her way. She is called almost immediately after her application is put in to go meet 3 year old Abel. A sweet, shy, caring boy who was sexually and physically abused by both of his parents.

Carolyn describes Abel in such detail, and I could practically see him in living room. I cheered along with his every triumph, and my heart ached every time he seemed to regress. This book even moved me to TEARS. That is something that never happens. It is extremely disturbing to think that this small little boy had to live through such trauma, a trauma that he never forgets.

The book follows the Nash family for 15 years, and in that time you grow with them. I walk away from this book feeling as if I have known them my whole life, and I've 'known' them for less than 24 hours! I would strongly recommend this book, but I warn you now, it is anything but a light read. It will leave you an emotional wreck, but the positive feeling that things can change with a little love far out weighs any tears that you'll shed.

150/5 STARS!

Anyway, I'm not sure what to read next! I have quite a few options. I got a 'young adult' novel off of POI today that seems pretty good, but I also purchased We Bought a Zoo. I have about 7 books in my Kindle library begging for my attention, and it's getting pretty out of control. :)

I'll talk to you guys again tomorrow! Good night!

Remembrance

Hello all!
It took me about a day and a half to get through Michelle Madow's novel, Remembrance. I will first start by saying that it wasn't a disappointment. And for the $0.99 it cost me, I would buy it all over again. It is a light read, it doesn't take much thinking. (However I found it inexplicably difficult to remember all of the cliche names of all of the different characters).

The basic rundown of the story line is as follows:
There's a high school junior named Lizzie who has been with her boyfriend for 3 years. However, all coincidence aside, he has been changing. He has become more 'rude' and 'distant'. Luckily for Lizzie, a hot new guy transfers into her school in the nick of time. She begins to notice that they have a strange sort of electric connection and she can't seem to get him out of her mind, regardless of the fact that he's dating her BEST FRIEND. As time passes, Lizzie realizes that her and Drew shared a life together...in 1800s Regency era England. Weird...right? Through a series of flashbacks and with the help of a creepily awesome shop owner named Alistair, Lizzie is able to piece together what happened in her past life with Drew...and what can happen now.

There were a few negatives I found in the novel. One was that there were a few scenes that very closely resembled Stephanie Meyer's novel, Twilight. For example, Drew gives Lizzie mixed messages. With lines like, "It's not a good idea for us to be friends.", Drew's old romantic nature mixed with his infuriating ability to be SO IRRISISTABLE while being so INCREDIBLY CRYPTIC draws too many parallels to Edward Cullen's nature. There was a second scene in Drew's car when he goes to turn on the seat warmers at the same time Lizzie goes to turn on the seat warmers. Their hands collide, and Drew pulls his hand away. HELLO! REMEMBER THAT SCENE FROM TWILIGHT WHERE THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENS? OR AM I JUST INCREDIBLY OBSERVANT? While I know Michelle Madow is a huge Stephanie Meyer fan, I don't think that these similarities were intentional.

The second complaint I have isn't specific to this novel. I just get irritated by this in ANY book written for teenage girls. How come everything just always works out? Lizzie is a brat. In the real world, if you're with a guy for 3 years and he goes through a rap music phase and gets some friends, that doesn't mean you have to dump the guy! So he isn't exactly what you remember him being. THAT DOESN'T MAKE HIM A LOST CAUSE. And if your friend is dating a really nice, hot guy: BE HAPPY FOR HER AND HANG OUT WITH YOUR OWN BOYFRIEND. You don't have a weird romantic fling with her boyfriend. That's strictly against girl code. If they were never together, it's different. But if your friend tells you that she's in love with the guy, you need to get a schedule change so you don't have to be anywhere near him. Michelle tried to make Chelsea out to be a little trampy and a little obnoxious, but come on. She's your best friend. I just feel like if any of these things happened in the real world, Lizzie wouldn't just get away with it. She would be tormented the rest of her cheating life.

Just saying.

I would still give this book 4/5 stars. It's not in any way my usual style, but it allowed me to escape and relax. I know that Michelle worked her butt off to write this novel because she came to my school to talk to us about it, and she has every right to be proud of this book. I would read it again. :)
So there's Remembrance for you! If you're into Twilight, give the book a shot. It wasn't half bad. :)

Right now I'm reading yet another Pixel of Ink freebie called Zomblog by TW Brown. I'm not sure I'll review it though. I'm about 24% through (according to my Kindle) and so far it's just a lot of blood and gore. However, the narrator is inexplicably lovable and relatable, so I guess we'll see.
Talk soon!!