Saturday adventure #2.

Posted on January 31, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

I love living in Florida because the beach is always a good idea. It was super windy today and kind of chilly, but it was perfect. I decided to grab Ender’s Game to try to finish at the beach. It’s my last book for January, so I have to finish it today! I have family visiting from out of state, so I didn’t read much yesterday or today. I took tons of pictures at the beach, so here are some of the pictures I took. 🙂

Stopped by an observation tower before heading over to the pier. I climbed to the top and snapped some pictures.

The water at this particular beach was so beautiful! The color of it was so pretty. I loved it here. It was a really nice day out, so it was great.

Pelicans everywhere and they got really close. There were tons of people fishing on the pier, so they were probably hoping they got lucky and got some fish or bait. hah 😉

Using my Doctor Who bookmark. It was a tag from my TARDIS hoodie 🙂 lol

Overall it has been a good Saturday. Off to finally finish Ender’s Game and get ready for a cookout with the family. I was having fun taking pictures that I didn’t get to read that much. I got a chapter finished, oops! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and getting lots of reading done or having tons of fun! ❤

January reads recap.

Posted on January 30, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

I have a page on my blog titled “2015 Read Books“, but I’m going to recap the books that I read this month in a blog post. Some were audiobooks that I listened to at work, but I included those too. I have an office job and I have zero contact with customers, so it’s nice that I can listen to books at work! It’s sometimes hard to stay focused when listening, but if you have a good narrator, it’s so easy and enjoyable! Anyway, onto the books and Goodreads links in the titles. 🙂

Shiver. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about this book, but I started to really like it the more that I read it. I’ll probably get around to the others next month. I hinted to my boyfriend that I wanted them (and by hinted I mean I actually showed him the pictures of the books and said I really wanted them, lol 😉 ), so hopefully he’ll buy them for me.

Wayward Pines trilogy. I wrote a blog post for these books here. I really enjoyed these books a lot! These are books I listened to and had the perfect narrator and they were great. Excited about the Fox special based off of the books coming soon!

Water for Elephants. I absolutely LOVED this book. This was also one that I listened to at work and the narration was PERFECT for all the characters. I think that is why I loved it so much. I was literally crying at work and praying no one would see me, lol.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I also wrote a blog post on this book here. I’ve never read the Harry Potter books, so I figured I would give them a chance now. I started the second book, but sadly stopped reading it. I’ll probably pick it back up in February. I’m not sure why I stopped reading it, to be honest. I liked the first book, but I wasn’t in love with it.

Coming Clean. This book is a memoir and sometimes I have a love/hate relationships with memoirs. This particular one was one of those love/hate situations. It wasn’t a horrible book or anything, but I just found it kind of boring. It’s hard to talk about books like this because of the subject matter of the books sometimes and fear of offending people. It’s also weird (probably not the right word to use) to say you really enjoyed a book when it can sometimes be about something that is wrong or bad. It’s hard to explain, but I’m sure you might get the idea about what I am trying to say.

Alex. I also wrote a blog post on this book here. I’ve never really read books like this, but I really loved this book. I think because I liked this one so much, I see myself reading more horror/suspense type books in the future. I think also because I am obsessed with Supernatural (the TV show), it made me grow to love books about ghosts and stuff like that.

Witching Savannah series. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this series when I was reading the first book. The Line wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t amazing either. It was an in between for me at first. It did start getting better in the other books though and I started to actually enjoy them. I’m still on the fence about the ending of the last book (The Void), but overall it wasn’t a horrible series. I enjoyed it and was even tearing up during some parts.

Ender’s Game. I technically have not finished this book yet, so I can’t say too much about it. I plan on finishing it before February 1st though…probably tonight since I only have about 100 pages left. So far though…I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. I know a lot of people have said it was such a great book, but I don’t know. I’m over halfway done and I’m not amazed by it. I don’t hate it at all though, it’s good and I do like it, but it’s not “omg this is the best book ever“…at least not yet. We’ll see how it ends and if my feelings change. I’ll probably do a post about it at some point in my blog.

I got 12 books read/listened to in January and overall I am beyond happy about that. I wish I would have subscribed to Kindle Unlimited last year because there are tons of books on there for $10 a month and so many have audio versions that come along with it. It’s nice that I can listen to books at work.

I didn’t get around to Artemis Fowl, which I am kind of disappointed about, but I have the book checked out until February 14th, so I’m not worried about it. I’m still trying to decide which books that I want to try to read in February, a lot of them I have to buy, so I’m trying to space them out. This month I only spent $1.99 on books and that’s insanely amazing. Last year I spent around $300 (total for the entire year) just on books and that’s kind of a lot.

This was a pretty amazing month since last year I only got through three books in January. It’s a huge difference. I wanted to read 50 books last year, but ended up only reading half of that. I blame Netflix and all of the concerts I went to; they pretty much took over my life last year. 😉

What were some of the books you read in January?

A favorite series.

Posted on January 28, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

It is so hard to pick a favorite series. I loved so many that I have read so far. I’ve mentioned it before that I usually always find myself reading series books. Here is a series that I loved so much and plan to read again.

Book 1: The Giver
Book 2: Gathering Blue
Book 3: Messenger
Book 4: Son

These books were so great for being so short! I read them all except Son in a day (a day each book). I loved the entire story and how they came together in the end. Honestly, after I read The Giver and started the next one, I was so confused. It didn’t start off where The Giver left off. It was a new set of characters and a new story. I went into the series without reading the descriptions (besides the first book), so I honestly had no idea.

I’m glad I continued reading the books though, because every story plays a part in the bigger picture and it was fantastic! (as the ninth doctor would say) 😉 It comes together nicely and I love the way that it turns out in the end. I was a little disappointed with the very ending of Son; I wanted more!

Messenger tore me apart though! My older sister and I both. I think I cried as much as I cried after I read Allegiant. You just get so attached to the characters and they become a part of you. I thought about this book days and days after I read it. Here is the picture I took after I read Messenger. lol.

My Instagram caption said how it made me a wreck and how I didn’t think another book could do that to me after Allegiant. lol. Anyway! The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry was so great and I loved every single book! Read them, you’ll love them! – at least I really hope you love them. ❤

What is one of your favorite series?

A BOOK OF POEMS.

Posted on January 26, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

I’ve been sick in bed all Sunday 😦 but I had my kitten ColbyJack to keep me company (he’s 1.5 years old now). I managed to read half of Ender’s Game when I wasn’t sleeping or having my furbabies wanting attention or food. I was actually eating something in the picture. They seem to love me the most when I have food. I was kind of disappointed that I didn’t get through at least a full book, but that’s okay. It’s a new week!

Anyway! A book of poems. I stumbled across this book a couple years ago on Amazon and I was intrigued by it, because it was written by pleasefindthis. If you seen a book by a name like that, you wouldn’t be curious? I did research after I read it though, but that caught my eye and I was interested. It was a book of poems (long and short) and pictures that were so amazing.

Goodreads description:“I need you to understand something. I wrote this for you. I wrote this for you and only you. Everyone else who reads it, doesn’t get it. They may think they get it, but they don’t. This is the sign you’ve been looking for. You were meant to read these words.”

I Wrote This For You. The poems were amazing and even the short ones were so powerful. I loved every single one of them and I love going back to reread them and look at all the pictures. Below I’ll post a few of my favorites and I recommend reading it! It’s a GREAT read! Absolutely loved it and I’m not usually one for poetry.

“The bad news is, your choices and intentions, some people and places, those nights spent awake and all you’ve done, can lead you to the bottom of the pit. The good news is, this wouldn’t be the first time someone’s crawled, tooth and nail, out of hell.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re one of those people that believes that sometimes, the most reckless thing you can do with your heart, is not being reckless with it.”

“All the hardest, coldest people you meet were once as soft as water. And that’s the tragedy of living.”

Honestly, I can post these for days. They are so great even being so short. 🙂 I must stop myself and get to work!

What is a book of poems you have read?

Saturday Adventure and Weekend Reads.

Posted on January 24, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

One day on the way home from work, my boyfriend and I turned down the wrong road and ran into a library! It looked fairly close to our house too and I was pretty excited about that. Today I decided to walk with my younger sister and my niece and nephew to the library.
We came across this pretty awesome sidewalk on the way. That’s my nephew skipping down it. And just so you know…the library wasn’t as close as I thought it was! We walked for what seemed like forever. I guess it seemed close because I was in the car last time I seen it, lol.
I also seen this really cute mailbox! Just in time for Valentine’s Day? Or maybe it’s their everyday mailbox. Who knows! It’s cute though. ❤ We finally get to the library and I was kind of disappointed with the size (it was such a small library) and the book selection. This is the second library I’ve been to in my area and both experiences weren’t that great.
Once we left the library we decided to get something to eat at Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant and that was pretty good, but kind of pricey. You get a lot of food though, so I can see why it would be as much as it was.
On the way back the walk was not as great. It started to rain and we were carrying books and leftover food boxes! Not to mention we were all stuffed from lunch! We took a different route home and it still felt like forever to get there. Finally made it home and crashed on the couch.

In the end, I left the library with these two books to read over the weekend!

Ender’s Game & Artemis Fowl

I am pretty excited about reading them because they’ve been on my TBR list. It’ll also be a change reading an actual book. I mostly read on the Kindle app on my iPad, so it’ll be a change. I’m 90% sure that reading so much on my iPhone and my iPad is what caused me to now need glasses.

What are some of the books on your weekend reading list? 🙂

Kindle Unlimited find #1.

Posted on January 23, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Kindle Unlimited is a magical thing. Buying books is great, but we all know it can get pretty expensive. There are tons of books you can read for just $10 a month! So far this month I have spent no money on books and managed to read 9 books so far! The downside is the majority of the books that I do want to read I have to actually buy copies, but I guess that can be a good thing too. It’s nice owning your favorite books.

Kindle Unlimited is great though, because it’s giving me a chance to read and find books that I never would have read on my own or even give a second glance. In this post I’m going to share a book that I found while looking through books in the Kindle Unlimited section and ended up really liking.

Goodreads description: “An empty house. A bereaved father. Alone with his loss, Ian Colmes has driven away everyone he loves. But when he begins to see his dead son again, is it because the boy is reaching out from beyond? Or has Ian’s anguish finally given way to dementia? With a masterful hand, suspense newcomer Adam J Nicolai paints a picture of grief, madness, and the furious strength of a father’s love for his son.”

This book was a really great read. Without giving too much away (I’m kind of bad at this): Ian’s son Alex died and now Ian starts to see him again. He’s unsure if he’s losing his mind or if Alex is really there. The book goes on to explain why he is there and what Alex wants. It’s interesting though because Alex could only use words and events that previously happened when he was alive to communicate with his dad, so it gets frustrating at times. Ian has to figure out why he is seeing his son again and what Alex wants.

I really liked reading the book and it kept me interested throughout the entire book. It was hard to put down because you really wanted to find out what was going to happen next. The chapters were short, which also made me want to continue to read and get “one more chapter” in. I thought it was well written and it got kind of scary at times too. It was sad, but it was a great story. It really showed the love a father has for his son.

I honestly don’t think I would have found this on my own had I not been looking through the books on Kindle Unlimited. It was a great find for me and I liked reading it.

What is a book that you randomly came across that you might not have ever read otherwise?

Wayward Pines.

Posted on January 22, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

I was scrolling through Amazon for a new book to read (even though my TBR list is forever long and continually growing by the second) and came across the Wayward Pines trilogy. I will list the books with pictures below…

Book 1: Pines
Book 2: Wayward
Book 3: The Last Town

I honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about these books at first. I read them all back to back in three days this month (a book a day)! I absolutely loved them, but the ending was kind of a “what the hell, that can’t be it” type thing. I had my older sister read this series too and she had the same reaction. I am sitting at work and I receive a text that says “what? there has to be more.” Sadly, the author says he will not be making anymore.

It gives you something to think about though. I think my mind will always come back to these books. I think they’ll always cross my mind and I will always wonder what else. I like when a book can do that to you. It means it left its mark and it was memorable. Forever engraved into your mind and that’s always fun. Some books you read and just forget about and others you remember for the rest of your lives.

I am really glad that I came across these books and read them. I am also beyond excited that FOX is making a 10-episode series (event – their term for it) based off these books and it’ll be airing in May! I had no idea until I actually got to the second book and realized that it would be a special on FOX. I am really excited to see how it comes out on TV. I’m not usually a fan of movies/TV shows based off books, but I do like watching them to see differences and similarities. You all should check out this trilogy and let me know what you think! 🙂

What is a trilogy that you have read? Any that are not so popular?

Goodreads description below. FYI: this is the description of the first book only. I have a feeling that if you read the first book, it’ll suck you in!

“Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.”

A BOOK “EVERYONE’ BUT YOU HAS READ.

Posted on January 21, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. This might come as a shocker to a lot of people, but I have never read any of the Harry Potter books…until now! I recently (like a few days ago) finished the first book. My taste in books used to be kind of horrible? I swore that I would never touch any of the Harry Potter books. I refused. I strictly read non-fiction books only. I was never one for magic and make believe, sad, I know.

One day I decided to read the Hunger Games series and it changed my book tastes forever (maybe even opened my eyes and my mind to watching things on TV that I normally wouldn’t have). I read anything and everything now and prefer magic and make believe. I recently got Kindle Unlimited (because let’s face it, buying books can get expensive and I was constantly buying books) and all of the Harry Potter books are free on there, so I decided I would give them a chance.

I can’t say I am in love with the first book, but I didn’t hate it. I liked it enough to start the second one. It did have me laughing at a lot of parts, smiling, and sometimes even getting a little annoyed. It kept me interested and I can see why “everyone” read it and most loved it. I think the series will grow on me and I’m kind of excited about that!

What is a book that you haven’t read that “everyone” has read?

Top 5 non-series books.

Posted on January 18, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

I love a good series. I always find myself wanting to read series books. I’ve been looking more into single books and trying to read more of those. These are not in any order; below are my top five favorites. Eightysixed: Life Lessons Learned. I learned of this book because the author Emily Belden commented on one of my pictures on Instagram suggesting that I should check it out. I went on Goodreads and read what it was about and I instantly decided to buy it! It had me laughing out loud and tearing up. I would have never read this on my own had she not suggested it, to be honest. I’m glad she did; it was a great read. We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I was scrolling through Pinterest, like I do every day (addicted, remember?) and I came across this book. I was drawn to it by the cover of the book. It looked like it would be interesting, so I bought it. It was such a strange book, but in the best possible way. I highly recommend this book to everyone. The Time Keeper. Mitch Albom is one of my favorite authors, so it was no question that I was going to read this book. I counted down the days and the wait was well worth it. It really made me question things in life and it had me thinking about it days after I’ve read it and I still do. I absolutely loved this book and read it in a day. The Book of Lost Things. I randomly found this book on Pinterest and added it to my “to be read” list. It sat on that list for awhile. I finally decided to get to it and I am so glad that I did. This is one of my all time favorite books I’ve ever read! That’s huge to say, but it totally is! The storyline is great and I love the twists of different fairy tales that are put into it. It’s so amazing and it’s a book that I would read a million times over and over. The Witch’s Daughter. I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to feel about this when I came across it. When I read the description it did sound interesting. I decided to give it a chance after it was on my “to be read” list for awhile and I decided that I would go through my list and read the books that have been on there the longest. I ended up loving the book so much. It switches back and forth between 1628 (when being a witch was against the law and they were trying to find and kill witches) and present day. It was definitely a great read.

What are some of your favorite non-series books? 🙂

Here we go again!

Posted on January 17, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

I completely fail at keeping up with my blog! I never really had a set theme for this blog, so it was easy to fall off the face of the earth when it comes to this. I also got further sucked into my books and of course, Netflix! I have spent the last couple months watching Supernatural with the boyfriend, so that has taken up a good amount of my time. We are both currently obsessed with it almost as much as we are with Doctor Who! We still have about four seasons to go with Supernatural.

Anyway, here I am once again! This time I have a plan and I hope I stick with it. I am in love with books and I have already read five books just this month. I came across some book reading challenges and I figured that I would make this blog about books! It’ll be fun to talk about books and share books that I love and give reviews. I just finished Water for Elephants today and I absolutely loved it! More on that another time though. 🙂

I also plan to post about music and reviews on that; share some of my favorite bands and talk about concerts I’ve been to or plan to go to. Last year I went to about seven concerts! I will probably also post pictures I take. I love taking pictures and sharing them. I religiously use Instagram on a daily basis. It’s probably all I use other than Pinterest (which I am beyond addicted to) and Goodreads. Links to all in the About the Blog section.

Hopefully I’ll get to my 642 Things to Write About book too. A lot of the topics seem fun and will definitely challenge me and push my mind and creativity to places I’ve never gone before. I’m not the greatest writer in the world, but it’ll help me to get better at it. Who knows! I mostly prefer to be on the other side of writing; the countless hours of reading.

So there’s that. I’ll probably go through some of the book challenge topics over the weekend and set up a better plan for it. I also want to look up some other book and music questions that I can answer and share in here too. There may also be random blog posts about random things. Right now I don’t have a working computer, so I’m using my iPhone or my iPad. It’ll make things difficult, but that’s life.

Off to lose myself in another book! I am currently reading the first Harry Potter book. I actually have never read any of the books or seen any of the movies. I feel like everyone in the world has, except me. Better late than never? 🙂

socially awkward bookworm.

Monthly Archives: January 2015