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