What To Read Next?

If any of you are like me, you probably have a huge pile of books waiting to be read. Sometimes there are so many that you don't know where to start with so many options, and eventually you lose motivation to even pick one up. So I am here today to offer a solution:

1. Take a box, jar, or anything you can use as a container.

2. In little pieces of paper, write the title of each book on your to-be-read list.

3. Place these pieces of paper in whatever form of a container you have picked, move them around, and pick a piece of paper out.

Whatever book is on that piece of paper is your next read. 

Happy reading. =]

March Book Haul

Another month means more books to buy, and this month I've gone a bit to the entrepreneurial side of literature. I'll admit that I bought two of these books because I am studying entrepreneurial development, but that does not mean I am not as excited to read them as I normally would be. So here we go:

1. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot By The Taliban by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb

2. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

3. Yes Please by Amy Poehler

4. Business Plans That Work by Andrew Zacharakis, Stephen Spinelli, and Jeffry A. Timmons

Book Review: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

Author: Leslye Walton
Length: 320 pages
Age Group: Young Adult
Published: 2014

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is the debut novel by author Leslye Walton, and it is full of great storytelling. Different things you will find in this book are history, love, fantasy, and supernatural elements. All of these being things I love.

The book tells the story of Ava Lavender, a girl born with wings, and her family. While growing up, she was secluded from the world in her family's house because her mother wanted to keep her safe. However, she eventually starts sneaking out at night with her only friend and gets a taste of the real world. 

The book takes place in different time periods of the twentieth century so you witness important events from each generation of the Lavender family's lives. You first learn about her grandmother Emelienne, her mother Viviane, and then the most important one, Ava's story. That is something I enjoyed about the book: Just because her name is in the title, it isn't just Ava's story. Not only do you get to see what her family went through, but you also get to know the town full of colorful characters with their own stories.

The book gets its title from the tragic love stories that you read throughout the book, but although the book is filled with some tragedy, it is also full of hope. Not just hope in love, but also hope in life.

Favorite Quotes:

"Love can make us such fools."

"She is the glorious reincarnation of every woman ever loved. It was her face that launched the Trojan War, her untimely demise that inspired the building of India's Taj Mahal. She is every angel in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel."

Find the Author:

Twitter

Website

February Book Haul

Another month starting means more books! At least this month it does.

This month's choices are:

1. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

2. Girl Before a Mirror by Liz Palmer

3. Seventh Son by Joseph Delaney

4. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

5. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Liebster Award

First of all, I would like to thank Sophie from Sophie's Signature Style for nominating me for the Liebster Award, which is given by bloggers to new and upcoming bloggers with less than 200 followers to help them get recognition. I am super grateful for the nomination, and I shall answer the nominee questions now.

QUESTIONS

1. What countries have you been to, and which was your favourite?

• I have been to the United States, Canada, and Dominican Republic! My favorite so far has been the United States, specifically the states of North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

2. If you could be a celeb for a day, who would you be and why?

• Either Emma Watson or Mila Kunis.

3. If you could eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?

• Pizza! Or rice and beans, which I already eat every day.

4. What is a long term goal of yours?

• To travel as much as I can.

5. If you won £1 million, what would you do with it?

• Travel and buy lots of books! Also pay for my education.

6. What beauty/skincare product do you swear by?

• Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm.

7. How would you describe yourself?

• By using adjectives.

8. What would you do if you could be invisible for a day?

• Probably think I'm crazy.

9. What is your worst habit?

• Assuming things.

10. What is your favourite memory from 2014?

• Going to see the 1964: the Tribute show with Michael.

11. What's your favourite film and why?

• Boondock Saints because everything in it is perfection.

Rules of The Award:

• Thank as well as link the blog(s) who nominated you. 
• Answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominator(s).
• Link and nominate other blogs to receive the award
• Create your own 11 questions for the new nominees to answer
• Notify new nominees and link them back to your blog to answer your questions

My Liebster Award Nominations

Papersblood (Although she's slightly over the 200 mark)

The Bookish Owl

Mixed Book Bag

Death, Books, and Tea

Between the Pages

My Nominee's Questions

1. What is your favorite book and why?
2. What is your dream place to live?
3. If you could speak to anyone, alive or dead, who?
4. What is your favorite song?
5. Is there any quote you live by?
6. What was your favorite movie as a kid?
7. What is the strangest thing you have in your closet?
8. What is your favorite TV show?
9. Weirdest thing you have ever seen?
10. Favorite video game?
11. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?

Thanks again to Sophie for nominating me.

Book Blind Date

So today, on the eve of Valentine's Day, I decided to go on a blind date...

... with a book. My usual book store, The Bookmark, was having a Blind Date with a Book event during the week of Valentine's Day. My friend Jennifer and I decided to give this a try since it was something we had never done before.

The book I chose is the one you see at the top. The description said: "I am at a crossroad. I am a story full of love and enlightenment."

It ended up being Girl Before a Mirror by Liza Palmer, and it looks like a book I wouldn't usually read, but this makes me more excited to read it. Sometimes changes are good, and I look forward to getting into it.

Book Review: The Lightning Thief

Author: Rick Riordan

Length: 377 Pages

Age Group: Middle School

Published: 2005

Despite what the age group indicates, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is for everybody. The series in general is the story of Percy Jackson, a twelve-year-old kid with ADHD and dyslexia who is also the demigod son of Poseidon, and his adventures as he tries to defeat the Titan Kronos.

In this book, Percy finds out who he actually is when he almost gets killed on a field trip by a monster disguised as his math teacher. After finding out the truth, he goes to Camp Half-Blood, a summer/all-year camp for demigods like him, for safety, but ends up leaving on a quest to get back Zeus' lightning bolt which was stolen and all the gods think it was him who stole it, which explains why his math teacher tried to kill him.

The book is in Percy's point of view, and you will be so glad that it is because he will make you laugh many times, and he will keep you entertained. 

I have reread this book numerous times, and each time it never fails to make me laugh. Even though I have read it before and know what happens, it still keeps me hooked. The book is not that long, especially when compared to its spin-off series Heroes of Olympus so it is good for a quick, fun read.

I find it hard to pick my favorite books, but the entire Percy Jackson series is definitely in the Top 2.

Book Review: Chasers of the Light

Author: Tyler Knott Gregson

Length: 144 pages

Age Group: Anyone

Published: 2014

Modern poetry is not something you are used to seeing around a lot, but now thanks to social media sites like Tumblr and Instagram it is becoming more common. That is how I found out about Tyler Knott Gregson. He has a way with words that will leave you wanting to read more, which is exactly what happened to me. I was not a big fan of poetry until I started going through Tyler Knott's poems on his Instagram account, and I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to start reading poetry.

Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series is Tyler Knott's first book, and it is a compilation of poems he has written on scraps of paper with his typewriter. The writing is simple so you will not be spending a long time trying to decipher the meaning of the poem or what it is trying to say, but it is still moving and will leave you thinking about life and love.

The author is also an amazing photographer, and the book includes some of his beautiful photographs that are a great complement to the poetry.

The book will leave you wanting to read more of his work, and luckily his poetry does not end with this book. He is constantly posting poetry on his Instagram and Tumblr (you can expect a daily love haiku from him), but it is not so much that you will find him overwhelming.

Where to find TKG?

Instagram

Tumblr

Chasers of the Light

My favorite TKG poem

Book Review: Gone Girl

Author: Gillian Flynn

Length: 415 pages

Age Group: Adult

Published: 2012

If you like books that make you feel a lot of feelings and keep you wondering, Gone Girl is the book for you. 

It is the story of Nick and his wife Amy and of her disappearance/possible murder on the morning of their fifth anniversary. Nick is accused of murdering his wife, and he claims he did not do it so he tries to figure out what actually happened to her and at the same time solve the annual scavenger hunt Amy does for their anniversary that leads up to his anniversary gift. Throughout the book you switch from Nick in present day and Amy's journal telling you about moments in their relationship, and you learn that their marriage is not exactly the best example of a healthy relationship and you don't really know who you can trust, but that only motivates you to keep reading.

What I loved most about the book is that not one of the main characters is generally likable. I actually spent the majority of the book angry at either one of them, and I could not put it down. It's twisted, but it definitely is a fun read. It's the kind of book you can immerse yourself into, and you get pretty into it because you will start analyzing everything and try to solve the mystery yourself. 

There is not one boring moment in the entire story. It is well-written and will keep you hooked and wondering what's next. By the end of the book, you will want to throw it against the wall and never pick it up again. But trust me, you will. 

Book Review: Eleanor and Park

Author: Rainbow Rowell
Length: 325 pages
Age Group: Young Adult
Published: 2013

Eleanor & Park is a love story about two outcast teenagers living in Nebraska in the 80s. They bonded in the school bus over comics and good music, and they dealt with what most teenagers deal with when they are in love for the first time. Even though the book centers around their relationship, it also speaks about important topics like racism (Park is Korean-American), domestic abuse (Eleanor's home situation), and bullying (as I mentioned before, they were both outcasts). 

It is a great book to read if you are looking for a quick, easy read. However, in my opinion, I found the writing boring at times, and there were many moments where I lost interest in reading it. I had to force myself to finish it. While it brings up interesting topics, not just the big ones like bullying but also music and comics many of us know and love, the plot was kind of slow up until the end when big stuff actually happens.

The book also seems very cliche, which is not necessarily a bad thing, with the two main characters being misfits who fall in love, and while reading I did not feel much for the characters' relationship. Yes, I sympathized with their situations, but I did not feel any connection between the two of them. In my opinion, the development of their relationship could have been written better so that the reader will actually want them to be together. By the end of the book, I could not care less about the status of the relationship, and if the book is a love story, I feel like that is an important thing to care about.

My not liking the book, however, will not stop me from watching the movie. I think it could be possible that seeing the characters come to life will help me care more about them since I did not connect with them through writing.