To Kill A Mockingbrid is Getting a Sequel?!?!

Today, Tuesday February 3, 2015, Harper Lee announced that she will be publishing a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird! This book is called Go Set a Watchman and will be released on July 14, 2015 and you bet I will be on the e-mail list and pre-order it as soon as possible. If you want to get it too I suggest you do the same because apparently only 2 million will be published! (There will be lots of exclamation marks in this post so brace yourselves!) I loved the first book and cannot wait until this one comes out!

The first thing I thought of when I first heard of this was: why now after 55 years? So I did some research on this an it turns out that Lee actually wrote this book before To Kill a Mockingbird but her editor was especially interested in her writing a novel of a flashback in Scout's perspective, so that was the birth of To Kill a Mockingbird. So why now? Lee thought she lost the original manuscript until about three months ago when her layer and friend Sonja Carter found it. Wow! What a wild story! I expect this to be a masterpiece, just like To Kill a Mockingbird and now have another reason to look forward to the summer! Who else is excited? Let me know in the comment below!

Every Day by David Levithan: A Review!

        I recently mentioned this book in my latest library haul. There I mentioned that this was the book I was most excited to read because it was the most unique book as far as I could tell. It is about a person who wakes up in a different body every day. I have never thought of anything like that and when I first heard of this book I was so amazed by such creativity. We don't know as much about this character as we usually do in other books. For example, we don't know it's sex; we have no idea about whether this character is male or female. Since s/he has been waking up in a different body, since s/he was born we don't know how s/he was born, who his/her parents are, or how  s/he looks like. We have no idea how this happens or why this happens.

        The plot of the story consists of the main character falling in love with the girlfriend of Justin, whose body he wakes up in one day. Her name is Rhiannon. And every day after that day, he is still in love with Rhiannon and he struggles to be with her, despite the body he wakes up in. This proves to be a struggle, with an interesting ending that I could not believe. I just Found out that their is a prequel called Six Earlier Days and I plan on reading it. There is also a sequel coming out called Rhiannon. I am beyond excited for that to come out, which is supposed to be in 2015 (It's so far away!). Some people are not happy about having a sequel, but when I finished this book, I really wanted to know what happens next. I am not that type of person that thinks every book needs a sequel and I love books with no sequel, but for this book in particular I really wanted a sequel.

I really loved this book and actually read the entire thing in one sitting (which I never do). I think everybody should read this and that a lot of people will like this book, even if you don't like to read. Thank you for reading this review and I hope you have a good day. Bye!

June 2014 Library Haul!

I went to the library! The thing I love about the library is that it's free and I have a deadline, so I am forced to finish these books in a month. Whenever I buy books, it takes me forever to start reading them, so that's one reason why I don't often buy them. And of course, there will be a review on each and every one of these books whether I like them or not. Since these are from the library, they show where I live on the back, and you don't need to know where that is so I censored it with a black bar. So that's why that's there. 

Every Day by David Levithan:

This is actually the one I was excited for the most. It's about a boy who is in a different body every day, and one day he falls in love... which is sure to be interesting.  

The Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal :

In the words of Hank Green: "It's like Jane Austin, but with magic in it." So I was immediately intrigued when I saw him talk about this in a Vlog brothers video. 

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay:

I'm not entirely sure what this book is about, I think it's about a journalist who learns about Sarah who is a 10 year old girl who was arrested,along with her family, in France in 1942. I could be wrong, but I saw it on Good Reads and it looks like a really good and unique story.

Scarlet Nights by Jude Deveraux:

This is one of the two books that I did not originally request in this haul. I found this on a bookshelf, read the description on the inside cover (above) and thought this story sounded cool.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell:

The inside cover sounded hilarious! And this will also be the first Rainbow Rowell novel for me to read.

Another Life Altogether by Elaine Beale:

Notice anything similar about the fonts?

This is the other book I did not request, but found on a bookshelf. I had never read anything similar or anything about coping with mental disease. I have been wanting to read new types of books that I never had before and I figured this was a good book for that.

Thanks for reading this blog post, I actually already finished Every Day and will have a review on that up in the next few days. I hope to see you soon and have a good day! Bye!

The Book Blogger Newbie Tag!!!!

Hi everyone! I just would like to mention that this is my second blog post in a week! Somebody write that down because that is a record for me! So today's blog post is a bit different than usual, but I want to do a lot more of these in the future. Today I am doing a tag! This is my very first tag and I thought it would be very fitting for it to be a tag for newbies! This is actually called the Booktube Newbie Tag and it is from youtube, but I figured I could do it here too. Why not? I saw my friend Cassie from Cassiebooks (subscribe to her because she's awesome!) do this I thought "What a fun set of questions!". I also saw Bunny's Book Corner and Alex Hayton  do this tag and really liked their videos. This tag was created by Brenda C. So without further ado, here are the questions:

1. Why did you start this blog (originally channel, but we're changing it up a bit for our purpose)? I actually never thought of starting a blog until I had to for a class in school. We had to talk about certain chapters in a book. I started this blog with the intention eventually deleting the assignment posts and having this be a place for me to review and talk about about books.

2. What are some fun and unique things you can bring to Booktube (Again, I'm going to be talking about Blogger)? Nothing. I am boring and completely ordinary. Next question... JUST KIDDING! In all seriousness, I have no idea. I would like to eventually be an author, as that has been my dream job since I was six, and so I thought maybe I could show some of poems or short stories here. But I'm not too sure about that, especially because I hope to be anonymous here for the near future (and I don't want anyone to take credit for my creativity). But who knows, maybe I will show you guys some of my writing  here in the future.Or maybe I can write on my opinions and experiences here, maybe someone can relate to or enjoy what I have to say.

3.  What are you most excited for about this new channel (ahem... blog)? I am really excited to be able to interact with people that have similar interest to me. And to share my thoughts and words with others; the fact that people are talking time out of their days to read something that an ordinary person like me wrote is really exciting.

4. Why do you love reading? Finally, a question I didn't have to change! And what a good question it is, where do I possibly start? One thing I love is that as soon as I start reading, I am no longer an average, ordinary girl, but I am Katniss Everdean. Or Harry Potter. Or a girl falling in love with the funny and oh-so charming Augustus Waters (but let's face it, even that average, ordinary girl was falling in love with Augustus Waters. I mean, who could resist his charm?). I am on an adventure, and learning new life lessons and am just in another world (not that I live in a terrible world or anything, but it is still nice to escape). And I also love how I get to see different scenarios from other, and sometimes completely different, perspectives. To me it is incredible how powerful a story can be, and there are just so many other things I love about reading that I can't even explain. Somebody told me that people who read live a thousand lives, while people who don't only live one (Which is why at the top of the my blog it says "Living a Thousand Lives..."). That is so true.

5. What book or book series got you into reading? Even before I could read, my parents would read to me so I always loved books. There were two book series that I especially loved. One of them was Amelia Bedelia, and I don't actually remember the name of the second one, but it was about an old man who had a orange tabby cat and his spunkier female neighbor who had a bulldog. And they went on what I thought were crazy adventures, but really they were just riding trains, and giving each other Christmas gifts, and other wild things like that. If anyone knows what I'm talking about and remembers what that series is called please leave it in the comments below, because I loved them and I bet I still would. Update! So after a bit of research I found out that my favorite children's boo series that I was just talking about is called Mr. Putter and Tabby

6. What questions would you ask your favorite booktuber? One of my favorite booktubers is polandbananasbooks and I would ask her to answer the last two questions I just answered.

7. What challenges do you think starting a booktube channel (blog) will be the hardest to overcome? If you have been following my blog posts so far, then you would know that I have a big issue with posting regularly, so I would say uploading constantly might be difficult to overcome.

So that's it! I hope you enjoyed reading this, make sure to check out the booktubers I mentioned above because they are all so great! What booktubers or book bloggers do you like to watch or read?

Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn

I got this book over a year ago and I have no idea why I waited an entire year to read this book...

(Excuse any white stuff on the book, that is just paint) Before any spoilers come (because they're coming), let me give you a little overview. First off: the cover. In one word, interesting? *shrugs because she doesn't know if that's a good or bad thing* It consists of a face (which I don't usually like on book covers, but this is okay because it's a drawing and not a photo of a face) with some scribbles surrounding it. It is written by Alex Flinn, who also wrote Beastly. Essentially, this book is about a sixteen year old boy who gets a restraining order from his ex-girlfriend for domestic abuse. This is one of the best books I've read in a while. I enjoyed it so much that it was actually painful to close the book, both at the end and when I had to do something else. It was very clever and well-written and I just couldn't believe some of the things Nick (the main character) would do. I would recommend this book to everybody. I was reading a lot of reviews on Good Reads and one thing I kept reading was that teachers would keep it in their classrooms or make their students read it because it is so well-written and developed. So if you're a teacher, this book might be something you would want to look into. The ex-girlfriend's name is Caitlyn and there is a sequel called Diva which is about how she is coping with the situation at a performing arts school. I look forward to reading it.

The review is essentially over, and now I just want to talk about what happens (which means spoilers), so if you haven't read it then you are not invited past the end of this sentence.

To all those people who have not read the book, shame on you. I just want to let you know what you are getting yourself in to: spoilers, spoilers, and more spoilers. In the court, when the judge ordered Nick to keep a journal of his experience, I thought that was such a clever way of letting the reader know what had happened between him and Caitlin. It was much more creative than constant flashbacks (I know that when he wrote in journal, his entrees were essentially flashbacks, but he was having them with and on purpose. It wasn't just a random recollection of memories the character decided to remember with no clear rhyme or reason). I looked forward to the journal entrees more than what was happening in the present.

I think the author did this on purpose, but my perception of Nick greatly changed while I was reading this book.At the beginning I was thinking along the lines of his ex-girlfriend being a little over dramatic. But as I continued reading the journal entrees Nick was writing, I started thinking, "What a jerk this guy is! I don't know how his girlfriend stayed with him for so long!" Which I really didn't. I just couldn't understand how Caitlyn didn't just stand her ground and say "Enough!". But I'm sure she had a reason, whether she was afraid or didn't know how to end it, or something else entirely. Towards the end, I could tell that Nick really understood what he did to this girl and he takes responsibility for his actions, which I like. I also liked that he decided to retake the anger management class.

So that's it for today. Did you like the little one way conversation I added at the end or should I omit it completely in future reviews? I hope you enjoyed this review and choose to join me again in the future!

My Summer Reading Checklist: 2014

I know it has been forever since I last posted on either of my blogs, but I have been just so busy.But I have had some extra time lately and now with summer coming up I will definitely be reading and blogging more often.  I just finished Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green  so I will be doing a review on those soon (by the way, they were both fantastic) and am currently reading Sharing Sam by Katherine Applegate so a review on that will be up in about a week or so. Anyway, that's a little off topic. The point of this post is to show you guys what books I am planning to read over the summer. I am a slow reader so hopefully I will be able to finish all the books on this list quickly enough to regularly have new (or new-ish) content on this blog. Most of these books i bought a while back but haven't had the chance to read and the books at the bottom of the list are books that I don't have yet, but am planning to check out of my local library. Also, I will not be reading the books necessarily in this order.  Well, here we go...

The Kiss Murder by Mehmet Murat Somer

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain- I actually started reading this book in December, but never got the chance to finish it so I will probably be rereading it from the beginning. So far, I really like it.

The Book Thief By Markus Zusak- Agin another book I started in 2013, but never finished, so I will also be rereading this from the beginning.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Allegiant by Veronica Roth (sorry I couldn't find a picture for this one)

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (This is where the books I do have end and I have to get the rest of these books at the library. Sonce some of these books are pretty popular I might not be able to get them in time for the summer, but oh well. I'll try.) (couldn't find a picture for this one either)

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Mathew Quick

Every Day by David Levithan

Ask the Passengers by A.S King

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

So there you go; those are the book I want to read in the next three months or so. I will have a review on every book I mention whether I like them or not. In total, there are 12 books on this list so I ought to start reading now... Bye!

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Back Cover:

 

 

Inside cover:

 

 

 

 

A lot of people have heard of and read 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. If you haven't, it's about a girl (Hannah Baker) who commits suicide because of 13 people and she sends a shoebox filled with cassette tapes for the people to listen to. She sends it to the first one, and then they send it to the next one on the list. The book follows Clay as he listens to the tapes for the first time, but he is confused. Why is he on this list? What did he do? Is he the last one on the list? If so, what does he do with the tapes if he has no one to pass it on to? So many questions will be answered by the time you reach the end of the book.

I really enjoyed the book and I think she had a reason to commit suicide, even if the reasons in particular seem unimportant, she explains to an extent that you (or at least I) understood why she wanted to commit suicide. Some people are saying that her reasons weren't enough for someone to commit suicide. Whether she had a good enough reason or not, that's up to you. I think she did.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially to someone of at least thirteen years old. I think a lot of people would enjoy it (even the people that have told me that she didn't have a reason to commit suicide said that they enjoyed it and that they would recommend it to others). I also think that some people who might have been depressed or suicidal in the past would be able to relate to this book. This is just a guess though; I wouldn't know because I have never been suicidal or depressed before.

I really like this book because of the moral behind it. Basically, this revolves around the fact that you never know how your actions (even the smallest or "unimportant" ones) can affect someone else's life. I think people should read this book for that reason alone. If we really took that into account the next time we spoke or interacted with others, we would have no bullying or suicide (especially amongst teens). There would be a lot less racism, homophobia, and just plain old judgment towards others. People would feel a little more free to be themselves because there would be less fear of someone judging you and hurting you; we'd be a little more confident, comfortable, and proud to be who we are. If you get anything out of this book, it should be to really think about how your words and actions can affect others, even if they are done in a "jokingly" manner (because we know that every joke has a little bit of truth in it).  It really opens up your eyes on how what you do or say can really have an impact on someone's outlook on life and I think Jay Asher did a beautiful job of getting that point across. And for that, I applaud him.

P.S: A movie is going to be made for this book and I heard that it will be staring Selena Gomez as Hannah Baker and hopefully she will do an amazing job.