part one

May 20, 2015 Emily 13 Comments

Hey, guys! I decided to do another part one of two posts, but this time I’m doing my bookish pet peeves. (Because these are issues I face every day, peoples! It’s tough being a bookworm!) Today, I’ll be talking about the book itself, rather than its plot/characters/etc. (If that makes sense; you’ll see what I mean when you read the list!)

1) Book Jackets
Ugh, can we just all agree that book jackets are such a nuisance?! Pretty, yes. I do want to keep them in tact and not ruined, but I don’t even keep them on while I’m reading the book! And don’t even get me started on library books – the taping of the book jacket. So annoying! When you open the book, the jacket is completely in the way.

2) The spine “peeling”
This is hard to explain, but you know how the bottom of the book spine starts to peel? So when you hold the book, your fingers sort of rub the spine up and it just makes it worse. Argh. Of course, being the perfectionist I am, I hate the way it looks on my bookshelf!

3) Dog-Earing
Alright, so this doesn’t bother me as much as it should. I was a serious dog-ear(er?) back in the day. BUT I’m working on it! You wouldn’t believe how many bookmarks I have. I keep them all in a little tin beside my bed – and when I don’t have a bookmark on hand, I use whatever works! Tissues, receipts, insurance cards. (Thanks, mom.)

4) Spine Bending
Again… serious spine-bender back in the day. It was a horrible habit, really! But so hard to break. I’d bend the spines all the way back, and still hate the way the spines were. Nearly all of my books on my shelves were spine-bent. It was awful! I still have a handful of books from when I was nine and ten years old and I was so mean to my books.

5) Paper backs not closing
You know how you hold the book open for so long (NOT spine-bending!), and when you close the book, the paperback cover won’t shut? I end up putting a dozen heavy books on top, because I hate that!

6) Fingerprints on my Kindle
I had to include my Kindle in the fun, because I have been using it a lot more recently. (Thanks to BookBub – I just can’t bring myself to pay full price for an e-book!) Finger prints are so bothersome. Especially at night, when I’m reading by the light of my Kindle, and the fingerprints are really noticeable. Good thing for screen cleaner!

7) People on book covers
I can’t stand dramatic-looking people staring into the camera on the cover of the book. It’s a popular cover trend these days, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why! It really doesn’t draw my attention of the book. However, I do love covers where only a part of the person is showing. (It sounds weird, but it actually looks pretty good.)

Like The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson – isn’t the cover so pretty? I just got in the mail yesterday from a giveaway, and I’m so excited to read it!

Those are all of the pet peeves concerning the physical (or e-read) book. Tune in next week for my pet peeves on plots, characters, and cliche story lines. I’m telling you, guys, one day I’m going to go bald from all the stress under being a bookworm!

what are your pet peeves?

reviews

princess academy by shannon hale

May 18, 2015 Emily 23 Comments

Princess Academy, we finally meet! After about three years of hearing about you, I’ve FINALLY opened your wonderful pages. And I was not disappointed! I don’t know why I would be, though. So many people have been telling me to get you! It took me a while to get through the first few chapters, I will admit, but it was well worth it.

About the book:
Title: Princess Academy
Series: Princess Academy #1
Author: Shannon Hale
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: April 17th, 2007
Source: Purchased at 2nd & Charles (local chain used book store)

Synopsis: Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king’s priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year’s time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king’s ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess.

Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.

Basically: this book was creative master-mindedness. Sometimes, I really don’t know how authors come UP with this stuff! Does it just pop into their little brains, or do they spend years mastering the art of making up highly intelligent imaginary worlds and sciences and stuff? I SHALL NEVER KNOW. But I do know that Princess Academy was amazing.

So, little mountain girl named Miri can’t work in the quarry that her whole town, Mount Eskel, works at, because she’s too small. Then one day a prince comes a’calling, and all the girls ages 12-17 in Mount Eskel are required to attend the princess academy, because one of them will be the Prince’s bride! BOOM. Miri’s world flips upside down, secrets unfold, you get the gist of it.

Only you don’t! Because unless you’ve read the book, you don’t understand how (secretly) awesomely powerful Mount Eskel is. It’s INCREDIBLE. Again, how, Miss Shannon Hale?? I was shocked at everything that happened in Princess Academy. Totally wasn’t expecting it. I admit I pre-judged this little ~~gem~~ linder (if you’ve read the book you’ll understand that reference!) 😉

I was told that the book was like a Middle Grade Selection series, so I was really hyped up about that. There was a little romance sprinkled in – you know, 15-year-old school crush type thing, but I’m excited to see where that goes in the next two books, as Miri gets older. It definitely wasn’t exactly like the Selection because a) this is an MG, The Selection is YA (Young Adult), and b) both of these books are incredible, but are both unique in their own rights. The Selection is 400 years or so into the future, but I got the feeling that maybe Princess Academy took place a long time ago. It was more a traditional fairy tale, if you know what I mean.

emily — fun fact: that shirt’s on backwards because it had the name of my school on it.

I was also expecting there to be more meetings with the prince as the girls learned more and more about being a princess. That way the prince could get to know each of the girls. But, as it turned out, the girls didn’t meet the prince until a year had passed, and they were ready to meet him as princesses. And then the prince was to choose his bride after one meeting with the girls. I was like “WHHAAAT? Surely he won’t make someone his bride after only one 2-minute dance with each of them.” But never fear, Shannon Hale had the whole thing in her hands. Everything ended perfectly.

The book ended with a lot of questions hanging in the air, but the kind that are sort of answered, so it’s left to the reader’s imagination. With that type of ending, Princess Academy could be a one-stand book. But noooo, there are TWO MORE BOOKS. TWO more books in the series. I’m delighted!

Princess Academy gets 4 stars!

I know several of you have read this book! What are your thoughts, now that we can gab about it?? Is the rest of the series good? (I’m SURE it is!) Any books like this one? Do you think Princess Academy is like The Selection? Do you think this one could have ended differently? And do you want to read it?! I MUST KNOW!

blog segments

stacking the shelves & the teenage girl tag

May 16, 2015 Emily 17 Comments

Hi, everybody! Today I’m doing yet another Stacking the Shelves, in which I talk about the books I’ve acquired or read this week, whether hardbound, e-book, etc. But first, I’d love it if you’d check out my guest post on Inside Out Magazine here. I had such a fun time writing it and hope to do another one soon. I highly recommend checking out Inside Out Magazine’s website, too. There are tons of great posts and inspiring thoughts.

My mom took me to the library on Thursday, and you know what happens when I get free books…

I’m so excited to have so many great books! All of which I’ve either wanted for a while, heard great things about, or love the author. Plus I’ve got a nice and even amount of books (6) and three weeks to read them. (Haha! I just realized how dorky that sounds, but it’s true! It makes me happy. It really kind of bugs me when I have 7 or 9 books to read…)

Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfield: This is #9 in The Shoes series, and I’m debating whether or not I should read it since I’ve only read #1, Ballet Shoes. I’m trying to figure out if it’s one of those series where you can skip around, or if it will only make sense if you read it in a row? Have any of you read this series?

The Romeo and Juliet Code by Phoebe Stone: I’ve wanted to read this for so long! It looks so intense and sweet, and it’s the first in a series. (I love series!)

Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli: Yes, a Jerry Spinelli book! I tried Eggs, and it wasn’t my taste… (ahahahaha), but Stargirl was amazing. I hoping that Jake and Lily is more my style.

The Secret Language of Girls by Frances O’Roark Dowell: This looks so good. Another one I’ve seen around online or wanted to get but didn’t… plus, I think I’ll really be able to relate.

Finding Ruby Starling by Karen Rivers: Long-lost twins that discover each other at long last! What’s not to love? (And find each other online, too.)

Chasing the Milky Way by Erin E. Moulton: Ooh. Deep subjects, with a light, child’s point of view. My favorite. Plus the title reminds me of Chasing Jupiter by Rachel Coker. And the cover is so pretty!

Most of them are contemporary, because I’ve been in the mood for some light, summery contemporary books! It’s that time of year again! Although Chasing the Milky Way isn’t so light thus far…

So as you could probably tell from the title, I’m also doing The Teenage Girl Tag! I’ve been tagged by Daisy @ A Bookish Flower and Trisha @ Forever Trisha. It’s taken me so long to finally get to do this, and I’m pretty excited! Thanks, Daisy and Trisha, for tagging me! 😉

So first up the rules…

Thank the blogger who tagged you (and if you’d like, like their post, comment or for full support follow them!) (check)
Post the featured picture on the tag post (check)
Copy and paste the rules (check)
Answer the following 10 questions
Use up to 2 gifs 😉 (or more)
Tag up to 6 other bloggers
Let the blogger know you tagged them

1.) Are you a girly-girl or a tom boy? What makes you a girly girl or tom boy?
Definitely girly. Nail polish, shopping, dresses, pink – the whole nine yards. I get disappointed when I break a nail (what?! I’m not gonna lie!) and I don’t like sports. I do like to run, and can shoot a basket if I need to (one place where my height comes in handy), but anything else? Naughta.

2.) Texting or talking?
It depends on the person. (And my mood.) Let me explain something about my personality: sometimes, I can be so done talking to someone, I want to scream. There are people I could talk with for hours about anything and everything, but sometimes I just want to be left alone. That’s what I like about texting – if I leave the conversation, it doesn’t have to be explained. And it’s easy to do so! ;P

3.) Favorite Starbucks drink?
Ooooh. In the fall, the pumpkin spice latte. Winter, the white peppermint mocha, with one less shot of everything. (It’s much too sweet for me!) In the spring/summer, I usually try out different frappuccinos. I like the strawberries and cream, and the caramel ribbon crunch. So good!

4.) Do you like your hair long or short, straight or curly? You can provide a picture of your hair too! (Front or back)
Most of you know that back in April, I cut off about eight inches of my hair. I LOVE IT. Ask my mom; I say “I love my hair!” at least once a day. My hair is so thick and curly, when it’s long it’s just frizzy. But it’s so easy to fix short! And I can wear it naturally curly more often.

5.) Pink or purple?
Pink. I like pastel and light pinks instead of hot pinks, but definitely pink.

6.) Who is your favorite female singer/s and what are your favorite songs by these singer/s?
I like (some) songs by Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor, and Sara Bareilles. I also love Francesca Battistelli!

7.) How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
Usually thirty minutes to an hour. It depends if I’m going somewhere special and decide to wear a little makeup, whether I curl or flat iron my hair, etc.

8.) How often do you do your nails?
I’ll go a few weeks where I repaint them all the time. And then it’ll come off and I’ll just leave it for a while.

9.) Do you wear make up every day?
No. It depends on where I’m going, for one thing, but I won’t wear makeup everyday because a) I don’t need to put on makeup to go to the grocery store or sit around the house, and b) I want to keep my skin clear.

10.) Are you a burgers and fires kind of girl or salad and fruit?
Burgers and fries. I do love me a salad, though.

Alright, I tag… Olivia @ Writer’s Digest, Hannah @ Hannah Everly, and Audrey @ The Measure of a Book. And everyone else, too!

Feel free to answer any of the questions from the tag and let me know what books you’ve gotten this week!

blog segments

the find me tag

May 15, 2015 Emily 17 Comments

Hey, everyone! Recently, I’ve seen this tag floating around on several blogs I read, and it looks so fun! I was so excited when Trisha tagged me. But I’m going to add my own spin to the tag: I’m going to try to find books in each category on my own bookshelf!

Rules:
1) We are going to list ten categories, and you will have to find one book for each category!
2) You can either list the title of the book, or the picture, really whatever you want to do.
3) You can also tag as many people as you want, but those who are tagged are not obligated to do it.
4) Make sure to link back to Novel Ink!

a book with the word “gone” in the title

Well, this is embarrassing. The first category and I seriously do not have a book on my shelf with the word “gone” in the title. (Or subtitle!) I even cheated a little and looked at my sister’s bookshelf! Help me out here – what books have you read with “gone” in the title?

a book with a weapon on the cover

Hm… this might be another tough one. But I shall look! … oh, ha-ha! A bow and arrow counts, right?

Thanks, Dauntless!

a book with a moon on the cover

Of all the books I own with stars on the cover, none have a moon! But I’m a rebel, so here’s some books with stars instead. Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass and Interrupted by Rachel Coker!

a girl in a white dress

Ugh, I don’t own The One by Kiera Cass! Luckily, I do have Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauk and Keep Smiling Through by Ann Rinaldi.

Honorable mention goes to Mr. Jellybean, who lives next door – a wonderful model for my pictures when Mittens isn’t cooperative… 😉

a couple on the cover

(originally a couple kissing, but I typically avoid those books.)

Pride & Prejudice counts! At least, my copy (Barnes & Noble Classics – the covers are so pretty!) has a couple on the front. The infamous Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth… *swoons*

a book with a sunset

Well… I’m gonna cheat again, since I own Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson on my Kindle Library. (What?? It counts!)

a book with headphones

Urm. Another one I can’t think of… help me out, everyone!

a book with water

I have a lot of these! Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord, Out of my Mind by Sharon M. Draper, The Other Half of my Heart by Sundee T. Frazier, and When the Butterflies Came by Kimberley Griffiths Little.

a book with a flower

I had a lot to choose from with this one! A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner is sooo pretty; and a stunning story! Also Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr. (Which I’ll be posting a review for soon!)

a book with a heart(s)

Serendipity and Me by Judith L. Roth. (The cat’s collar.) =) Such a sweet book!

So that’s the find me tag! Thanks again, Trisha, for tagging me! Be sure to check out Trisha’s blog over here. =)

Oh, and as for who I tag… YOU! Feel free to do the tag and have fun with it!

Have you read any of the books I mentioned? What books do you have for ‘headphones’ and ‘gone’?

Until Monday!

reviews

three mini reviews + two five stars!

May 13, 2015 Emily 25 Comments

I read a lot. Sometimes, it’s so much I can’t even keep up with all the reviews I need to write! This morning, I had five or six reviews on my hands, and with all those books having just read, you can imagine that all the books were sort of blurred together in my head! I haven’t done one post with several “mini” reviews in a while, so I thought today would be a great day to do that.

This Means War by Ellen Whittlinger

Wow, what a sweet book! This Means War was a short read – but certainly not light, as it seems in the beginning of the book. At first, I was just kind of like “This book is good… BUT IT’S NOT GOING ANYWHERE!” And it totally went somewhere. Why do I doubt?

I give this book five stars! Yep. It’s made its way to my favorites shelf! 😉

Keep Smiling Through by Ann Rinaldi

This one was kind of sad… alright, a lot sad. I mean, really depressing. But no tears were shed! It was too short for me to really get into the book… and the characters were… well, bland. The story itself was great, though. Plus I love a good WWII historical fiction. 3 stars!

Serendipity and Me by Judith L. Roth

Ohmigosh, I LOVED this book! I have to admit, I kinda-sorta pre-judged the cover. I mean, it seems kind of silly. A book about a girl trying to convince her dad to let her have a cat? But I totally shouldn’t have. There was so much more to the plot than that. Plus, it was written in poetry, which is always refreshing. I need to read more books like that. And can we just talk about Sara’s crush, Garrett? *sigh* FIVE stars!

So, have any of you read any of these? Did you like them? Do you want to read them? =)

lists

currently…

May 12, 2015 Emily 24 Comments

Currently loving:

The Heir’s book cover (by Kiera Cass)
being home
spring weather
pajama days

Currently Reading:

The Art of the Handwritten Note by Margaret Sheperd
Cast Two Shadows by Ann Rinaldi
Peter and the Starcatchers (listening to it on audio)

Currently Buying:

paying off the $15 my dad loaned me {read: I am utterly and completely broke.}

Currently Writing:

lists
a fairy tale short story
blog posts

Currently Listening to:

Honey I’m Good – Andy Grammer
Something in the Water – Carrie Underwood
everything by Michael Buble
old Taylor Swift songs

Currently Waiting for:

letter from my pen pal
The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson (won in a giveaway)
Happily Every After by Kiera Cass (coming out in October!!)
Inside Out (new movies I can’t wait to see!)
Rachel Coker’s dream factory workshop in June

Currently…

unpacking from my trip
writing a blog post about my trip
doing chores

What are you guys up to? =)

reviews

the heir by kiera cass

May 8, 2015 Emily 18 Comments

First of all, if you haven’t read The Selection by Kiera Cass (or the first three books in the series, don’t read this review! There are spoilers everywhere! (This is the fourth book in the series.) I was really excited to get The Heir, and even more excited to meet Kiera Cass the day after it came out! 🙂

This… was… mildly stressing. At first, Eadlyn came off as a total brat. I’m just going to be honest here. She was whiny and controlling and everything everyone said she was. But under the pressures of the future queen and having to deal with 35 unwanted suitors, I gave her some grace. Besides, I felt the same way about her mother, and in the end, she came around. (:

Speaking of Eadlyn and America. They were similar in more ways than one, yet so very different. The Heir is Eadlyn’s story, not America’s, but I have to talk about the differences in the two girls. Eadlyn did come off kind of bratty, but I think part of the reason was she was guarded. Even though Eadlyn and America are very feisty, America wears her heart on her sleeve, and Eadlyn is a bit of a tin man when is comes to her heart. America is a more of a romantic, and in the beginning of The Selection, she’s already in love with someone. Eadlyn has no interest in love, and she had a lot more on her shoulders than America did.

The romance was iffy, but I’m sure it will get better in the fifth book. (Keep in mind that the novel is finished, but the story isn’t.) There’s 35 suitors. 35! Of course, as the book progresses Eadlyn eliminates most of them (well not literally!) (; and even then, 6 or 7 of them stand out. (Like in Maxon and America’s selection.) Even still, I found myself wishing Eadlyn would hang out with someone else! I was like “No, he’s not your soulmate! He is! Go, shoo, talk to HIM!” Although Eadlyn had no interest in marrying any of them!

Which brings me to the fact that she uses a few of them, and I really didn’t like that. She didn’t love them, and she had no intentions of anything but throwing them out once the 3 months was up, yet she would get romantically involved in one of them to “escape” from having to pretend that she’s romantically involved! It was all very… backwards. But of course, in doing that, in the end Eadlyn STARTS to come around… But we won’t know what happens for another year!

I really have no idea who will end up being Eadlyn’s true love. (Though I know who I’m rooting for!) Or do I?! Eadlyn’s right: there are SO many good choices! It was really cool being on the other end of the selection this time around. All of the boys are so sweet, cute, and funny. I feel for Eadlyn right now!

One relationship I loved was between Eadlyn and her family. They were so cute! They all clearly had a really strong bond. And I LOVED seeing how Max and Mer ended up. (Still just as in love as ever!) I also loved the little snippets of conversation and things that Eadlyn couldn’t understand about her parents’ past, but we, as the reader can. (Cause we were there!) But honestly, I was surprised at how much Eadlyn didn’t know. I understand certain things, but I wish Eadlyn knew more about her parents’ selection.

I was so so so happy to see that Marlee and Lucy were living in the palace with America! Again, I wish Eadlyn knew more about the previous selection, and “Miss Marlee.” Even Kile, Marlee and Carter’s son, didn’t know his parents’ story! Eadlyn grew up with her three brothers, Kile, and his sister Josie. But she was really a stranger to Kile, and Josie was bothersome to her. I hope that Josie and “Eaddy” can patch things up in the 5th book!

The ending… The ending ticked me off. I mean, it was a BIG surprise at the end! TWO big surprises! And here I was freaking out about surprise #1 and boom surprise #2 comes around and I’m freaking out and having a heart attack and I’ve got to wait a year to find out what happens next. Thanks a lot, Kiera.

So many things were packed into one book. Fantastic turn of events, no idea who’s winning the selection… Kiera Cass has done it again!

5 stars!

So tell me, everyone, have you read The Heir yet? Do you want to? And check out my post about meeting Kiera Cass here! 🙂

miscellaneous 'bookish' things

meeting kiera cass (!!!!!!!)

May 6, 2015 Emily 16 Comments

OHMIGOSH I seriously can’t believe this has happened! I met THE Kiera Cass today! And I got to ask her a question during her Q&A! So I want to tell you everything that happened, and tell you a few things you might need to know if you’re planning on meeting her (I know one of you might!) So here goes…

We got there two hours early. Yes, two hours. (The time flew by for me, really!) We got the book at Barnes & Noble the day before, but copies of The Heir were available at the library. (Though I can’t say that for sure about every location for the signings. However, buying the books from the library did benefit the library, so either way.) There were only four or five other girls who got there that early, but at first it was just me and my family hanging out at the library for a while. Then a line started to form and I stood there for a minute. The people at the library kept saying the signing would be in one room, and then it was another… so it was a bit hectic.

About 6 o’clock, an hour before the event started, they started setting up chairs and the few girls and I who were there early grabbed some front row seats. (I was in the second row.) Let me tell you, talking to the girls there was half the fun! We all gabbed about The Selection (scenes we loved, the possible movie, and Kiera herself!) and even some other books. We got talking about other things as well, like the fact that most of us were awkward bookworms and how excited we were to see Kiera. For several of the girls I was sitting with, it was our first author signing! I even got one girl’s phone number. 🙂

Love my dad for snapping so many good pictures! ;) — Love my dad for snapping so many good pictures! 😉

It started getting busier and busier, and I was SO glad to have gotten there early, because I got a front row seat. Most of us didn’t realize Kiera was going to be doing a Q&A as well, so that was exciting! You can watch a few minutes of the Q&A I videoed below, or here.

She talked for about twenty minutes, and took questions from the crowd. I did get to ask her a question!! There were a lot of people who didn’t get to ask her anything, but being up front definitely helped get her attention. She was talking about the original ending to The Selection, and guess how it originally ended?? MAXON DIED, Clarkson died (not much of a loss there…), but Amberly lived and adopted America? So I asked her if America’s family was any different because Amberly adopted her… I said “Because I loved America’s mom!!” and she agreed. “And her dad, too, I LOVED her dad!” She said that yes, her parents probably wouldn’t have been in the picture, but her siblings would still be around. You can watch the video here, or below. (You can’t hear my question, but you can hear her answer.)

After that, a lady went up and said that they needed to get Kiera to the back where she would be signing books, and for everyone to stay seated and calm… that didn’t happen. It was very chaotic! So here was the handful of girls (myself included) who got there two hours early to be in the front of the line, and Kiera was going all the way to the back of the library and we were still upfront! Thankfully, some of our parents talked to someone and we ended up in the front of the line.

Here’s a picture someone tagged Kiera in on twitter! Do you see me?? I wasn’t smiling there, but I was grinning like an idiot (almost) the whole time!!!! =)

It went really quickly, because there was a lot of people. Kiera didn’t have time to personalize the books, so they had her sign your books while you were next in line. Then you got your turn with her! When it was my turn, I said “Ohmigosh!!” and she said “Hi!” Then it went like this:

Me: I read The Heir already!
Kiera: Really??
Me: YES!
Kiera: Are you okay?
Me: NO!

More video! Watch me freak out and jump and down and hand flail here, or below!

Then I gave her a big side hug and my parents took the pictures!

I was so happy, and my smile was SO big. I had a BLAST!

P.S. The Heir book review will be up Friday! 😀

reviews

dauntless by dina l. sleiman

May 4, 2015 Emily 22 Comments

Ohhh my gosh, but I LOVED this book! My mom knows me so well. She got it for me for Easter (yep, this review’s a little late!), and I loved it so much. I may just have to let her pick out all of my books for me! Dauntless reminded me of Melanie Dickerson’s books (check out my reviews for The Princess Spy and The Captive Maiden), but longer – which of course, I loved!

Christian//Medieval times/Love story books are just the best. They’re always so intense. Like chocolate is for chocoholics is this genre for romantics. (Aka, me.) I was pretty impressed with Dauntless.

It was the perfect length. I hate it when books like Dauntless are too short. It was so intense, and things in the book kept taking a turn from good to bad from better to worse. I’ve noticed that other books in the same genre as this one can either be too short or drag on forever, and Dauntless was a great balance!

The main character, Merry, definitely had a lot on her shoulders. Heck, I felt stressed and nervous for her. It was definitely a lot for one book! I was wondering how in the world all of the problems in the book could be solved in those short pages, but the ending turned out beautifully. Actually, it looked like things were going to end one way, which was still a fantastic ending, but then it ended a completely other way, which was even better!

Alright so the romance.

It was just so. Good. The timing and development of the romance in Dauntless was rather impeccable. As a writer writing a love story at the moment myself, relationships are HARD to write – especially ones that need time to develop as the book goes on. But in Dauntless, this was done wonderfully. Plus, this is a Christian fiction, so all the romance was light but just enough to get my heart fluttering. Like “EEKK! They kissed! Just… be together FOREVER, okay??! Never mind the war or the fact that at any moment, you could have your heads cut off. Just LOVE.” Agh.

Dauntless gets 4 stars!

Have you read Dauntless? Do want to?

blog segments, discussions, miscellaneous 'bookish' things, personal life

monthly recap!

May 2, 2015 Emily 12 Comments

Hey, lovelies! Apologies for not posting yesterday. I haven’t had time to write a whole bunch of May posts in one day like I did last month, but I GOT THROUGH EXAMS. Also this next week is VACATION TIME (!!!!) for my family and I, so that’s exciting! Good thing though – I’ve got all the book reviews for May written. So you won’t run out of book recommendations! And one post has got three in one. Like those shampoo, conditioner, and body wash soaps at the store.

the books!

I read seven books this month, and I should like to include Code Name Verity in this stack, which makes eight, because I finished it on May 1st. If I started it on May 1st, then it wouldn’t be counted. Make sense? No. Well too bad. Oh, oh – and I re-read FOUR. FOUR glorious re-reads. Re-reads are very important to me. If a book isn’t worth a re-read, then it isn’t worth the read. Of course, the re-reads this month were all Kiera Cass books in preparation for the HEIR, which debuts May 5th, which will be signed by the Kiera Cass and given to a #1 fan named Emily on May 6th (eeek!! Still can’t believe that!), but it still counts for something.

Lovely stack, really. If you notice one missing, it’s because I read Crunch on my Kindle. I do use my Kindle, I do. It’s not my best friend, as you can see, but I do use it. I’m adding a drop-down bar for where I talk about the books since it takes up too much space of the post. 😀

[learn_more caption=”Click to hear about the books!”]#1: Crunch by Leslie Connor: First book read in April! I reviewed it last week and gave it 3.5 stars! I don’t like using half stars, but I felt like it wasn’t a three star, and it wasn’t a four star, so what else I could do? It was teetering between “I loved this book!” and “Kind of mediocre.” (As seen on my review policies page here.)

#2: Dauntless by Dina L. Sleiman: You’ll be getting this review this Monday, folks, and I do believe I added some really pretty pictures of Dauntless hanging out in my dad’s garden. Tell me, WHAT is more beautiful than flowers and books?? No, don’t answer. (EDIT: That would be cats and books.) Pretty good, pretty good. Dauntless got 4 stars!

#3: This Means War by Ellen Wittlinger: I don’t want to give away too much, since I did a mini review for this miniature book (it was really really short!), but short doesn’t mean bad. It most certainly does not. 5 stars! Plus this was a historical fiction (cold war vibes, people!) so that was fantastic.

#4: Keep Smiling Through by Ann Rinaldi: Moving onto WWII historical fiction. I love a good WWII historical fic. I do mean LOVE. I DEVOUR THEM. Buuuutttt but…. not this one. I gave it 3 stars. But does that mean I don’t want you to read it?? NOOOO. You must, you must read it. It got 3 stars for the… well, I’ll explain in the review. Still. Read it for yourself, alright?

#5: Serendipity and Me by Judith L. Roth: Awwww. Sweet, sweet, sweet! Just so sweet! And can we admire the cover? ADORABLE. Get a lollipop and maybe some tissues and get reading! 5 stars!

You knew I had to include my cat in the fun.

#6: Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr: Oh. Um… this was really sad. The whole book was written in a sad mood. But it was so BEAUTIFUL. Why do I choose books that make me cry?! I gave it 5 stars, but… buuut… it was so saaaad. I also took some beautiful pictures for this review, though, so that’ll balance it out, yes?

#7: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale: Sweet flying pancakes. This was awesome!! I haven’t reviewed it, but I’ll probably give it 4 or 4.5 stars, because it was so creative! So… so wonderful! Agh! So glad I read it.

#8: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: Holy cow holy cow holy cow holy cow holy cow holy cow holy cow. My brain hurts from thinking. My eyes hurt from crying. My heart hurts from breaking. WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF. This is THE best historical fiction I’ve read since The Book Thief. Yes. That good. Very heavy material. Little bit of language. But AMAZING. 6 stars. What? That’s not a rating? OH WELL. (And in case you were wondering why I haven’t been answering any comments… I WAS BUSY READING & THEN RECOVERING FROM FINISHING THIS BOOK!!)[/learn_more]

the blog posts

What were you guys excited about this month?? Well, let’s see. Well, you LOVED For the Bookish’s blogoversary, but I think you reeaallly liked my first-ever-giveaway (of course you did! Who doesn’t love free BARNES & NOBLE GIFT CARDS??) annnnd in second place for the most views, What The Mother/Daughter Book Club Taught Me. That’s exciting! I loved that post! My personal favorite post was Authors Appreciating Readers. What about you? Which was your favorite post from April?

Also, because I’m nice and I LOVE reading other people’s blogs (turns out I’m not just a blogger, I’m also a blogling! (aka: person who reads blogs)), here are some of a few of my favorite posts on blogs I follow from April!

Jessica @ Bookish Serendipity has some wonderful advice for new bloggers!
Cait @ Paper Fury has ten things we SHOULD tell writers. (Which I LOVED.)
Daisy @ A Bookish Flower tagged me in The Teenage Girl Tag. (Which I love and need to do!)
Audrey @ The Measure of a Book has a list of WONDERFUL children’s books that I’ve grown up on!
Ana @ Butterflies of the Imagination took a hiatus this month, but SHE WROTE 50K IN 18 DAYS & I’M SO PROUD. (And a teensy bit jealous!)
Trisha @ Forever Trisha reviewed One for the Murphys which I was so excited about because I loved it and she loved it and YAY!

upcoming in may…

(april showers bring may flowers!)

As I mentioned before, I AM MEETING KIERA CASS IN FOUR DAYS. FOUR. DAYS. Which means The Heir comes out in about THREE. And can you just all stop and watch the beautiful trailer for The Heir that came out on Thursday?? (You can also watch it here.) I ~~think~~ know my mom is sick of hearing it, but it’s SO EXCITING.

Do you think I’m excited? I’m pretty excited.

Also all of the books mentioned that I read in April will be posted with their reviews here in a few weeks… and I’m doing a guest post on Inside Out Magazine in their culture & creativity section soon! Not sure when, but I’ll keep you posted. That was pretty exciting, as it’s one of my favorite blogs and I was so excited when the executive editor emailed me! I also hope to have a few guest posts of my own (well, from other people, of course), visiting with us in May, so stay tuned!

I hope everyone had a lovely April and an even better May!

I want to hear from you – what books have you read in April?? Favorites? Favorite blog posts? (On FTB and other blogs!)