Monthly Archives: April 2015

Celebrity Book Tag.

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Hey 🙂

I was tagged by Analee at Book Snacks to do the Celebrity Book Tag. You should definitely check out her blog, because it’s really great! This looks like such a fun tag, so let’s get started!

1. Emma Watson — A book with a hot kick-ass female character

+ Aya from The Glass Arrow. She was a total badass and I loved her so much!

2. Ryan Gosling — A book with the hottest male character

+ I was totally in love with Levi from Fangirl.

3. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt — A book with your favorite fictional book couple

+ Can we change Angelina’s name to Angelo? My favorite fictional couple (newly favorite) is Simon and Blue from Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.

4. Shailene Woodley — Author you’ve recently discovered and loved

+ I recently discovered Rainbow Rowell. I’ve heard a lot about her and her books, but never read any of them until this year. I am really excited to read Attachments and Landline – these are the ones I haven’t read yet. I am also totally excited about Carry On to be released this year!

5. Josh Hutcherson- Favorite short story or novella

+ The Day Boy and the Night Girl by George MacDonald. It’s perfect.

6. Dwayne Johnson AKA The Rock — Favorite Big Book (over 500 pages)

+ I haven’t read too many big books (like 600+ pages)…I plan to tackle Outlander at some point this year though! A favorite book over 500 pages though would have to be Insurgent. It was my favorite book from the Divergent series and it’s definitely one of my favorite books overall.

7. Leonardio DiCaprio — A series with the most upsetting death (NO SPOILERS)

+ Allegiant, for sure! I still can’t get over it and it’s been so long since I read it. I would also like to pick Messenger by Lois Lowry (it’s the third book in The Giver Quartet). My sister and I still can’t get over it. I don’t think I’ve cried harder than when I read these two books.

8. Kristen Stewart — A book you found boring

+ The Curse Keepers by  Denise Grover Swank – I couldn’t even finish the book. It was just so horrible.

9. Ian Somerhalder — Cutest book on your shelf

+ I haven’t read this book yet, but the cover for Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend is SO CUTE! I can’t wait to read it!

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10. Jennifer Lawrence — Perfect book or series

+ The Maze Runner. It’s definitely one of my favorites. I really really really want to say Penryn and the End of Days series, but the third book isn’t out yet….so I can’t say that it’s perfect, not yet anyway! 😛 I am impatiently waiting for End of Days…you have no idea! I’m pretty sure whatever book I am reading at the time will be put on hold once this book is released!

I am going to tag:

Feel free to skip if you don’t want to do it or if you have already done it. If I didn’t tag you and you want to do it, you totally should! Link me to your post and I’ll check it out if you do! 🙂

Here are some of my other recent posts in case you missed them and want to check them out!

I hope everyone has a great Thursday! ❤

WWW WEDNESDAYS #6.

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WWW Wednesdays is a weekly MEME hosted by Taking on a World of Words. Simply answer the following questions. 🙂

The three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

*Goodreads links in the covers.

Currently Reading:

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I am a little over 100 pages into Red Queen and I am really enjoying the book so far. I think it’ll be a book that I can easily fly threw. I just started House of Secrets and I am not exactly sure how I feel about it yet. I have high hopes for it though and I am not sure if that scares me or not. I don’t want a let down! I guess we’ll see how it goes!

Recently Finished:

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I did individual posts for each of these books and I will link them at the end of this post in case you want to check out more about them and my thoughts. A quick thought about each though: Talon, I really enjoyed reading; great book and excited about Rogue. Throne of Glass, it took me a VERY long time to get into the book and for that I didn’t really enjoy it as much. I had high hopes for Throne of Glass and it sucked when it wasn’t as great as I thought it would be or as great as everyone I’ve seen think about it.

Reading Next:

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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. This was the book chosen for the May read for the book club I am in (Bloggers’ Book Club). I am really excited about reading this book, because it sounds so good! I ordered the book yesterday, so I am impatiently waiting for it to be delivered…along with a few other books. I don’t have an audiobook set for listening to next yet. I haven’t looked, but I have a few on hold at the library and crossing my fingers they become available soon.

What are you currently reading? Finished reading? Reading next? Or link me to your post!

Sometime over the weekend I’ll have my recap post up with all the books I’ve read and listened to in the month of April. That’s always exciting!

Here are some of my other recent posts in case you missed them and want to check them out!

Off to work for me! I hope everyone has a great day! ❤

Talon.

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Talon by Julie Kagawa
4 OF 5 STARS.

I finished this audiobook today and it was pretty great. It was a pretty interesting read and I loved that the dragons were able to hide in human form. It was exciting and it kept me interested. There were some pretty good characters in the book, but Ember and Dante both annoyed me at times. I also wanted to punch Dante in the face a million times. I still want to punch him in the face when I think about the book. I am really curious as to how this is all going to play out. It ended at a point that makes you want to know more. I am really excited that the second book; Rogue was released today! Now I just need to buy it ASAP or cross my fingers that the library gets the audiobook ASAP! 🙂

Goodreads Description: Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they’re positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser. Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George. Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon’s newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember’s bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

What are some of your favorite books that are one-word titled? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

Short post, so here are some pictures of my furbabies. You can never see enough of them…at least I can never see enough of them, lol.

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Here are some of my other recent posts in case you missed them and want to check them out!

That’s all for me tonight! It’s kind of getting late and I have to work in the AM! Goodnight! ❤

Musing Mondays #1.

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Hey! 🙂

I’ve never done this post before, but I decided to try it out this week. See below for details:

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme (hosted by A Daily Rhythm) that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

  • I’m currently reading…
  • Up next I think I’ll read…
  • I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
  • I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
  • I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
  • I can’t wait to get a copy of…
  • I wish I could read ___, but…
  • I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Do you prefer Hardcover, Trade Paperback, or Mass Market Paperback? Why?

I’m currently reading…

Since I finished Throne of Glass (you can check out my post on it over here), I decided to draw a book from my book jar (bowl). The book that I got was…

I am excited that this was the book drawn, because I’ve been really wanting to read it. I bought it back in March and never got around to it yet.  I can also use this book for one of the Popsugar challenge topics, so that’s cool too. Random: my nails are red too, so it was pretty perfect. 😛 I’ve read a few chapters last night and so far I like it. I can’t really say much about it yet, since I’m only 25 pages in. So far though, it’s fine.

As far as my book jar goes, I decided that I would allow myself to draw a second book IF I am not into the book that I drew first. I will have to read one of the two that were drawn and no other draws. The other will go back into the jar once I finish one of them. I don’t think I will be making a second draw for this time around, because I have a feeling I will really like Red Queen. Hopefully this book jar helps with not buying book as much (maybe 😛 ), get through the books I own, and to help better choose what to read next, because we all know that is a hard decision!

I am also currently listening to Talon by Julie Kagawa as my audiobook at work. I started it the end of last week and so far it’s interesting and I like it.

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This week’s random question is: Do you prefer Hardcover, Trade Paperback, or Mass Market Paperback? Why?

This is actually kind of a tough question for me, because I love them all. I guess I prefer hardcover more. I go back and forth between though, because hardcovers are so much more money and I sometimes don’t like to spend the extra money on it. It’s so much easier to read a hardcover though, because you’re not worrying about bending the paperback covers or messing up the spine of the book so much. As far as me buying, if I start a series in hardcover, then I will continue in hardcovers. If I start a series in paperback, then I will continue in paperback. I want everything to match and look the same.

What are you currently reading? Which do you prefer more: hardcover or paperbacks? Link me to your post if you’ve done one or answer in the comments! 🙂

Here are some of my other recent posts in case you missed them and want to check them out!

I hope everyone has a great Monday! Bye! ❤

Bloggers’ Book Club: April – Throne of Glass.

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Hi 🙂 I hope every has been enjoying their weekend and any of the books that you are currently reading! I’ve mentioned this quite a few times, but I am in a book club over at Goodreads called Bloggers’ Book Club with some awesome bloggers. I decided to do small little posts that basically just show you guys the book and how I felt about the book. The book chosen for April was…

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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
3 out of 5 stars.

I was so excited that this book was chosen for the book club, because I had recently discovered it before I joined the book club and seen that so many people loved the book and the series. As you can see by my star rating…I didn’t love it. It took me almost all of April (I just finished today 4/26) to get half of the book read! I was just so bored and I didn’t want to read it. I ended up taking a break and reading something else. It took 250 pages of the book until I finally started to enjoy it. I flew threw the last half of the book this weekend! It just sucked that it took me so long to get into it…250 pages (the book is 404 pages), that’s crazy. I finally did though and I flew threw to the end. Celaena was a total badass and I loved her so much. Chaol and Dorian were also so great too. They were completely different, but they were both great characters and I especially loved Dorian.

Even though I didn’t like most of the book, I am glad I stuck through and finished it. I do plan to eventually read the entire series, because I did like the last of the book enough to want to see what happens next. It just took me so long to get into it as you can see and for that, I rated it 3 out of 5 stars. I am excited about the next group chat in the book club to discuss the rest of the book! If book clubs are your thing and you love chatting about books, then you should totally join the book club! The book for May hasn’t been chosen yet, but I am excited about all the choices! 🙂

THE END.
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**let’s pretend ColbyJack was going to give me a high five for finishing the book and not that he was actually getting ready to bop me. 😉

Goodreads Description: In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass–and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

Here are some of my other recent posts in case you missed them and want to check them out!

I am off to catch up on some TV shows until the boyfriend gets home. I’ve been struggling trying to get this book read and binge watching The Office (thank you, Netflix!) that my DVR is now almost full! I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend! ❤

Friday Finds #11.

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). Hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

Hey! 🙂 Happy Friday!

Can I just have a million dollars, so I can buy all of the books on my TBR? There are so many books that I want to read and probably thousands and thousands that I want to read that I haven’t come across yet! Below are ten of the books that I found this week and they are all linked to their Goodreads descriptions.

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A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway
Still Waters by Ash Parsons
A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall
It’s a Wonderful Death by Sarah J. Schmitt

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The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows
None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio
The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun Hutchinson
Girl Underwater by Claire Kells

I think I say this every Friday, but covers, the COVERS! I also think I say this every time that I am a sucker for a pretty book cover. All of these books having such a amazing book covers is not doing bank account any good. Let’s talk about A Whole New World though (this is not the final cover), but….Aladdin is pretty much my number one favorite Disney movie and this is a reimaging of that movie. The entire series is going to be reimagines of classic Disney stories. I am very excited about this book! All the other books sound just as great too, of course!

I actually did not get any free Kindle e-books this week, kind of shocking! I actually didn’t even attempt to look at BookBub this week, because I would have been on there for hours. I did buy three books for my Kindle though.

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Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Duff by Kody Keplinger
Alienated by Melissa Landers

I’ve been wanting to read Looking for Alaska for years now, so I seen that it was only $2.99 for Kindle, so I decided to get it. I seen a lot of people reading The Duff and they really liked it, so I decided to give it a chance since it was only $2.99 and Alienated sounded good and it was only $0.99. Good deals and potentially good books.

What are some of the books you added to your TBR list? Link me to your post or leave a comment! 🙂

Here are just some random pictures from the last week or so. I haven’t really been posting too many of those lately! They can also be seen on my Instagram too.

I found a tiny dandelion puff! I was going to blow the seeds off, but accidentally held it in front of the air conditioner vent in the car. I’m sure you can imagine how sad that was for me. Yesterday was World Book Day, so I took this picture. I tried to get more of Throne of Glass read. I am sadly not enjoying the book as much as I thought I would and I am halfway through it. It sucks that it took me almost an entire month to read half of it. I could have read so many more books in the time that it took me to get halfway through this one. I am determined to finish it this weekend. I am also crossing my fingers that maybe it won’t be so bad toward the end. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. :/

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My furbabies! I love these two so much! They are so cute and perfect! I’m sure all furbaby owners say this about their pets though, lol. 

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And here is my bookcase that is pretty much out of space, but I bought a new one and just need to put it together and actually find a place to put it, lol. I have no space in my tiny apartment, so this will be a mission. I also need to buy more wallpaper, so I can wallpaper the shelves like I did this one. Oh! And I have a kitty on my bookshelf. 🙂
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Here are some of my other recent posts in case you missed them and want to check them out!

I have to get off here and get to work. I am totally going to be running late if I don’t. Bye! ❤

And Then There Were None.

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And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
FOUR STARS.

I’ve never read a book by Agatha Christie, but this one sounded really interesting. My library had the audiobook version, so I decided to listen to it at work. The audiobook version the library had made it seem like I was listening to a movie. Each character had their own narrator and it just seemed like it was being acted out as a movie. You can hear all the sound effects and things going around in the background; like the ocean, the rain, crashes, glasses clinking, screaming, etc. All kinds of stuff. It was so fun to listen to!

The story itself was great and so interesting. It was quick, but it was really good. I kept going back and forth with myself trying to figure out who the killer was. I love “who done it” type mysteries, so this was great. I was totally thinking “it was Colonel Mustard in the library with a lead pipe“…hah. 😉 But really, I definitely enjoyed this book and I really want to look into more books by Agatha Christie.

Goodreads Description: First, there were ten – a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal – and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

Here are some of my other recent posts in case you missed them and want to check them out!

I hope everyone is having a good day! Bye! ❤

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares.

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Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
FIVE STARS.

“We believe in the wrong things, that’s what frustrates me the most. Not the lack of belief, but the belief in the wrong things. You want meaning? Well, the meanings are out there. We’re just so damn good at reading them wrong.”

This book was set during Christmas and ended during New Year’s. I wasn’t really sure I would find a book to fit this category without it being some really Christmassy (is this even a word? lol) type story. I do LOVE Christmas, but too Christmassy can be a little much. This had the perfect amount of Christmas and cookies. I wasn’t actually looking for a book set during Christmas for this particular challenge yet, but hey, it fell into my lap…well my headphones. This book sounded like it was going to be a really fun read and it totally was!

I listened to the entire audiobook today at work and it was great. It was hilarious, fun, and cute! I loved the whole concept of the story with leaving the notebook in a bookstore for someone to find. If I didn’t already have a boyfriend, I might have given this idea a try. 😉 It would totally be fun running around New York passing a notebook around and looking for clues and doing silly things! I loved Lily so much and she was so hilarious. Dash was so great and his best friend Boomer was the best, he was always so happy about life. So many great characters in this book. I really loved this book and I am glad I found it!

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 Goodreads Description:“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

“There are just lots of possibilities in the world…I need to keep my mind open for what could happen and not decide that the world is hopeless if what I want to happen doesn’t happen. Because something else great might happen in between.”

What are some books that you read set during Christmas? I don’t think I’ve read too many of them. Leave a comment below!

Here are some of my other recent posts in case you missed them or want to check them out!

I need to get some reading done tonight and also Supernatural is on tonight. 🙂 I’m off to go read until then! I hope everyone had a great day! Bye! ❤

Book Haul Part Two: 10 Books.

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Hey 🙂

I am back to do part two of my book haul! I decided to break it down into two different posts, because I recently purchased so many books! You can check out part one over here: Book Haul Part One: 13 Books. I’ve been waiting for these to be delivered and the wait has been horrible (because I am so impatient), but totally worth it!

I recently discovered a website called Book Outlet and I fell in love. The books are ranging from $1.99 to $5.99 that I purchased and of course there are some that are more money on the website, but most of them (especially if you like YA) are between this price range. I got these 10 books for $54 (the total includes the shipping) and they are all books that are on my TBR! Anyway, let’s get started!

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How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

These are the paperbacks that I got and I am really excited about the Nick Offerman book. I love him so much! I am very excited to read all of these.

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Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
The Tomb of Shadows (Seven Wonders Book 3) by Peter Lerangis
Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn
Extraction by Stephanie Diaz
The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donohue
Landline by Rainbow Rowell

These are the hardcovers that I got and I am of course excited about all of these too. I am really excited about The Tomb of Shadows, because I love the Seven Wonders series and I was so happy that they had the third book, since that is the next book I’m on in the series! And below is a picture of all the books together. 😀

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I am already itching to place another order, but I am trying to hold out on doing that. lol. I made a wishlist on the website of all the books that I want and will eventually want to buy and then I added the majority of them to the check out. I then started adding and eliminating from the check out, so I didn’t end up with over $200 in books. HAHA! 🙂 I am so happy with these and I can’t wait to order more! There are also so many books that I have already read and want to own physical copies, so I eventually plan to buy those too since they are so cheap and the website has a lot of them.

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I redid my book jar, so I am hopefully going to start using that in May. I spent a lot of money on books this month alone, so I really need to try to control myself in the coming month! My boyfriend and I really want to plan a trip to Washington DC this year, so I need to try to just read the books I have and save some money! I can’t promise I won’t buy some books, but I need to not buy as many or spend as much money! I am pretty happy about Book Outlet though, because at least I can get lots of books for cheap! 🙂

That’s all for this post! I am starving, so pizza should be here soon. I hope everyone had a great day! BYE! ❤

Book Haul Part One: 13 Books.

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Hey 🙂

I’ve mentioned a few times that I was going to have a book haul post coming up, so I decided to just do it in two parts, because this post is going to be pretty big as it is. I bought 23 books over the last week or two. Twenty-three books is kind of insane, but in my part two post in the next day or two, you will see why I couldn’t help but buy more! I am impatiently waiting for those ten books to be delivered, ahhhh! lol. Anyway, all will be linked to Goodreads, so let’s get started!

The following 13 books are the books that I got from Barnes & Noble (online and then a trip to the actual store) and from Goodwill. My boyfriend actually bought me four books when we went to Barnes & Noble, so that was really nice of him! I’m glad he supports my addiction….lol! He told me he will tell me when it becomes a problem, lol.

GOODWILL BOOKS:

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The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Green River Rising by Tim Willocks

I was so excited that I found Catching Fire and Mockingjay at Goodwill. I own the e-books of the series, but I really want to own the physical copies too. They were only $1.50 each!! Now I just need to get The Hunger Games and everything will be right in the world….well right with my bookshelf anyway! The Five People You Meet in Heaven is the only Mitch Albom book that I didn’t own (physical or e-book), so I couldn’t pass it up and I love the book so much!

BARNES & NOBLE ONLINE:

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Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

My Barnes & Noble online purchase was only supposed to be for Simon vs., but if I added another book I would get free shipping, lol! I also had a coupon code, so I added another. It’s to the point that I have to justify and reason, haha. I am excited about all of these and I am sure you have already seen my excitement over Simon vs. I’ve been wanting to buy Attachments, but I could never find it in any of the stores I have gone to, so I had to order it.

BARNES & NOBLE STORE:

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Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Asylum by Madeleine Roux
Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier
All the Rage by Courtney Summers

These are the books that my boyfriend bought me. I picked them out and he paid for them. 🙂 I am excited about all of these, because I really want to read them. Although, I guess I really want to read all of the books on my TBR, lol. These are the books that I actually went into the store looking to get. I added Asylum, because I’ve been wanting to read it and both Targets I go to only have the sequel! So I just added it to the three.

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So this was part one of the book haul and part two will come sometime in the next day or two. I can’t wait to get started on reading these books! I decided to redo my book jar and only include the books that I own, that way I can start reading more of those! I am hoping it also helps with not buying a lot of books again or as often….even though I am sure it won’t help. lol! I can try and hope though, right?

Here are some of my other posts from this week in case you missed them or want to check them out!

I have a date with Throne of Glass now. I am excited to get back into it, because I have a feeling that it will start picking up. Here is a picture of the sunset from yesterday on the way home from Barnes & Noble. It’s a perfect way to end this post. ❤ bye!

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Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.

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HEY 🙂

I am trying to work through more of the 2015 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, so here is another post for that. You can find other books I’ve read/listened to for the challenge over on my blog. There is a category for them! I am really excited about this next book that I just finished and I am sure you all have seen my excitement in posts or on social media.

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Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
FIVE STARS.

“He talked about the ocean between people. And how the whole point of everything is to find a shore worth swimming to.”

I just finished reading Simon vs. and it was SO GOOD! I loved it so much and it’s definitely moving up in the list to being one of my favorite books. It was perfection! I flew through the book in three days (basically two days though, since on the first day I only read the first chapter), which was awesome. It was also sad that I flew through the book, because I didn’t want it to end! It was hard not to fall in love with all of the characters in the book, especially Simon and Blue! I laughed so much throughout the entire book and I smiled and giggled like a huge dork! So much cuteness that you really could not have had that reaction! I definitely recommend this book to everyone! It was such a great read and I am sad that it’s over! I think I will always be wondering what the characters from the book are up to! I don’t want to say too much about the book, because I don’t want to risk spoilers! So just take my word for it and read the book! 🙂

Goodreads desciption: Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

“The way I feel about him is like a heartbeat — soft and persistent, underlying everything.”

Here’s something totally exciting! Becky Albertalli tweeted me. 🙂

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Are there any books that you read that were published this year? Or are there any that you are excited about that will be coming out this year? Let me know in the comments! I know I have tons of them that I am excited for!

Book Haul post Monday or Tuesday. I was really hoping I would get to do it this weekend, but it looks like my books won’t be delivered until Monday or Tuesday. 😦 I was crossing my fingers, because they are at the post office in my area…just not at my front door! UGH! I did go to Goodwill today and found six books, which will be included in my book haul post next week. I am totally excited about my Goodwill finds today, but more about them in my book haul post. This post is actually becoming super long already, lol!

Here are some random pictures featuring Simon vs. since this post is about the book and I was fangirling like crazy over it and ended up snapping a lot of pictures throughout the three days I was reading it. lol. I’m a tad bit crazy, ask anyone! 😉

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Here are some of my other posts from this week in case you missed them or want to check them out!

Happy reading & weekend! I hope everyone is enjoying it! See you next time! 🙂

Friday Finds #10 & Kindle E-books.

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). Hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

Hey! 🙂 Happy Friday!

I hope everyone had a good week! The week seemed to drag for me, but it was good nonetheless. Here are some of the books that I found this week that I added to my TBR. They’ll all be linked to Goodreads, so you can check them out.

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Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider
Hold Me Like a Breath by Tiffany Schmidt
Anything Could Happen by Will Walton
Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
The Novice by Taran Matharu

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The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
In the After by Demitria Lunetta
Black City by Elizabeth Richards
After the End by Amy Plum

Below are some of the free books that I added to my Kindle, thanks to BookBub; WARNING: addicting and dangerous. I added about 17 free books to my Kindle this week!! YIKES! Here are three of the books that I added to my Kindle and as of right now, they are still free!

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Everflame by Dylan Peters
Dying for a Living by Kory M. Schrum
Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic by Meghan Ciana Doidge

What are some of the books you added to your TBR list? Link me to your post or leave a comment! 🙂

This weekend I am really going to try my hardest to finish Throne of Glass or at least most of it. I do like the story so far, but I am only a little over 100 pages in. I am kind of having trouble getting myself to read it though. I do like it, but I guess I am not in the mood for this type of book. It’s for the book club, so I am going to try to read half of it at least, so I can participate in the group chat. Maybe finishing Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda will get me to get more into Throne of Glass; they are two completely different books, so WHO KNOWS!? I guess we’ll see how things go! I am totally in love with Simon vs. though and I’m not even that far into the book yet! You all should definitely add it to your TBR if you haven’t already!

That’s all for this post, I have to get to work! You can check out some of my other posts from the week below:

See you guys later! ❤

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock.

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Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
5 STARS.

Goodreads Description: Today is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 pistol. But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate, Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school’s class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches. In this riveting look at a day in the life of a disturbed teenage boy, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made—and the light in us all that never goes out.

“So the key is doing something that sets you apart forever in the minds of regular people. Something that matters.”

I’ve never read a book by Matthew Quick, but I was scrolling through books to see what I wanted to listen to next, because I was bored of one of the others I was listening to. I was kind of drawn to it by the cover, even though it is a simple cover. I am really glad I chose it, because this book was SO GOOD! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was a good read. It had its funny moments and its really sad moments. It was a mix of both and I love the way it all came together. I really enjoyed listening to this book and it’s a book that I would definitely purchase, just so I can reread it again on my own. I would also highly recommend it! I love Leonard and his neighbor, Walt. They are perfect together and their time together was some of my favorite parts in the book. I definitely want to check out what other books Matthew Quick has written.

Is there a book that you’ve read recently by an author you’ve never read before?

I got some books in the mail today! I will do a book haul as soon as I get the other books I ordered. I hope that I get them by the end of this week/early next week. I am just so excited about them. I will share one book that I got of the three right now, because I am so excited about it! I read the first chapter and I know this will be a book that I end up staying up all night reading! 🙂

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Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

I’ve been waiting for this book to come out and heard a lot of good things about it, so I ordered it and I am so glad that it is here! I am having a debate in my head on if I want to pause reading Throne of Glass, so I can read this. lol. If you have me on Twitter (whoa_itsashley) or Instagram (heyyitsashley), then you may have seen that I posted a picture of the book, because I was so excited. 🙂 Anyway, expect a book haul soonish!

I am off to go watch Supernatural before bed. I miss my boys! I hate when there is a week without them! In case you missed it, you can check out my last post over here: Teaser Tuesday – there are some pictures I took in that post. Pictures are always fun! Goodnight! ❤

Teaser Tuesdays #1 & Stuff.

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Hey! 🙂 It has been a few days since I’ve done a post. I’ve slowly been getting through my reading, which is kind of disappointing. If I’m not reading, it’s hard to come up with post ideas! I’m actually really disappointed in myself, because it’s the middle of April and I’ve only gotten four books done so far. 

Anyway! I decided to participate in Teaser Tuesdays today, since I haven’t posted in awhile and it sounds like a fun post. This is the first time I’ve done this meme, so let’s go!

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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

“Princes are not supposed to be handsome! They’re sniveling, stupid, repulsive creatures! This one…this…How unfair of him to be royal and beautiful.”

“You are each competing for the title of my Champion- my right hand sword in a world brimming with enemies.”

I “cheated” and chose a sentence from two different pages. I am actually not very far into the book like I hoped I would be. I got so distracted over the weekend with other things, that I simply did not read as much as I hoped. I am really liking the book so far though and I’m hoping to have it finished this week.

I am really excited about getting some books in the mail this week and I am hoping to get some others in the mail next week! Expect a book haul this week or next week when I get the others. Depends on if I can contain my excitement, lol. It’s a total of 13 books! AHHHHHH! I am excited just thinking about it! I am going to Target today to buy my nephew the first Harry Potter book and I am hoping I don’t end up buying myself a book too. I am going to keep thinking about the fact that I have 13 books coming to me in the mail over the next two weeks and hopefully that will be good enough to make me not buy another. *crossing my fingers*

Anyway though…I was so excited when my nephew asked me for a Harry Potter book, because he usually wants video games. It was totally random. Yesterday morning I went to walk Dax and my nephew was waiting to go to school and he asked me if he could have my Harry Potter book (I don’t have one), so I told him I would buy him one and he got so excited about it. He also asked me this morning where it was, lol. I told him I was getting it today.

Here are some pictures before I end this post. 🙂

Me reading over the weekend before all the distractions occurred.
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Distraction number one: I’m not quite finished yet,  but I’m pretty stoked about my coloring skills on this. lol. My younger sister did one with me too, so we chilled and colored.
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Distraction number two: getting frozen yogurt with the boyfriend and younger sister. We usually go every Saturday.
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Distraction number three: Dax being cuddly. It’s rare that he is cuddly like this. He usually just likes to chill at the end of the bed. I can’t pass up moments like this.
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Distraction number four: I painted my nails. It had been awhile since I painted them and it needed to be done, lol.
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And ColbyJack is always a distraction. 😉
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The boys. Dax looking for a toy to play with and ColbyJack being nosy watching him.
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Well there you go! I hope you enjoyed this post and as you can see, I had a ton of distractions, lol. I won’t even include Pinterest, because we all know that is forever a distraction. I have to get ready for work and walk the pup. Hopefully I get some books read, so I can do some reviews! Or maybe I’ll go back and review some of the other books I have read so far this year that I haven’t done a review on (which is probably more than half of the 39 books!).

In case you missed it, you can check out my last post over here. I answer bookish questions – The Ultimate Book Tag.

Link me to your Teaser Tuesdays post or leave a comment with a teaser from the book you are currently reading! I am always looking to add books to my TBR, of course! BYE! ❤

The Ultimate Book Tag.

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Hey 🙂
I noticed that a lot of you that I follow have been doing this tag and Marie at drizzle and hurricane books tagged me to do it. Go check out her blog, I love it!

Do you get sick while reading in the car?
+ I do not get sick reading in the car and I am so thankful for that. I love reading in the car!

Which author’s writing style is completely unique to you and why?
+ I love Mitch Albom’s style of writing, especially when he wrote The Time Keeper.

Harry Potter Series or the Twilight Saga? Give 3 points to defend your answer.
+ I haven’t actually read Twilight and I never will. I have only read the first two Harry Potter books so far, but if I had to choose, then I would choose Harry Potter.

Do you carry a book bag? If so, what is in it (besides books)?
+ I do not carry a book bag. I do carry a purse, if that counts. It just has the essentials that probably most girls’ purses contain, lol.

Do you smell your books?
+ I do sometimes, but not usually. If I am totally excited about getting a book, then I usually do in my excitement. lol.

Books with or without little illustrations.
+ I haven’t really read many books with illustrations, so I would choose books without.

What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn’t quality writing?
+ I can’t think of any for this. I love all the books I read regardless if it is was bad quality or not. If I love it, then I love it.

Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share!
+ None that I can really think of. I have such a horrible memory, especially of my childhood though. So I really have no clue, lol.

What is the tinniest book on your shelf?
+ The tinniest would probably be Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

What is the thickest book on your shelf?
+ The thickest would probably be Ash by James Herbert. This is by number of pages; if I went by actual thickness, then Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty wins.

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Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future as being an author?
+ I do not write. I am probably a horrible writer. I did buy this book called 642 Things to Write About that I was planning to use on my blog to inspire me to be more creative and to attempt writing. You can see how well that worked out….aka it didn’t. I still want to try the book out though! I’ve had it for a few years and haven’t done any writing prompts from it, oops.

When did you get into reading?
+ I’ve had this on/off relationship with reading throughout my entire life. It was probably 3-4 years ago that I really got back into reading and never looked back since.

What is your favorite classic book?
+ I haven’t read too many classic books, but one of my favorite ones is Of Mice and Men. I really want to read more though. I am going to challenge myself to try to read more classics.

In school what was your best subject Language Arts/English?
+ I wasn’t a fan of these classes when I was in school; I actually wasn’t a fan of school at all when I was in school. My best subject was probably science or any computer class.

If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated, what would you do?
+ I would probably act like I totally love it and then re-gift it to someone else. “OMG THIS IS THE BEST EVER” and then wrap it up and put it in my closet for Christmas time. My luck I would probably end up re-gifting it to the person that gave it to me. 😉

What is a bad habit you always do (besides rambling) while blogging?
+ I constantly edit posts over and over again. I’ll re-read it a million times and fix it a million more. I also tend to get distracted by looking at other websites as I am typing up a post. Pinterest is evil I tell you!

What is your favorite word?
+ I actually really dislike talking, lol. Umm….I guess “forever”. I say it a lot when I’m talking. Like “forever reading” “forever tired” “forever hungry”….FOREVER EVERYTHING! 😉

Are you a nerd, dork, or dweeb? Or all of the above?
+ Probably a nerd. My boyfriend always calls me a book nerd. He’s a Call of Duty nerd, so BOOOOM!! He gets to be a nerd too.

Vampires or Fairies? Why?
+ Fairies. They can be totally cute, but then also totally crazy and scary.

Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?
+ This one is kind of tough. I guess I would choose Angels. The badass kind though, like in the book Angelfall or the TV show Supernatural. Castiel ❤ Love my boy.

Spirits or Werewolves? Why?
+ Hmm….maybe werewolves more than spirits. Werewolves seem a lot cooler than a spirit.

Zombies or Vampires? Why?
+ Zombies, for sure. I do like the occasional vampire, but I love reading about zombies. Here’s a fun fact: I hate zombie TV shows (besides that new show iZombie and yes that means I hate The Walking Dead) and I hate zombie movies, but I am a sucker for a good zombie book. I have no clue why I rather read about them than watch them.

Love Triangle or Forbidden Love?
+ I hate love triangles so much! I would rather read about forbidden love.

And finally: Full on romance books or action-packed with a few love scenes mixed in?
+ Action-packed with a few love scenes mixed in. I hate when a book has so much romance in it. I tend to really hate those and end up not finishing the book if it’s too bad. I guess I just prefer action-packed books more than anything else.

This was fun, wasn’t it? I tag anyone that hasn’t done it already, because most of the people that I follow have already done this tag. So if you haven’t done it, GO DO IT! Also, link me to your post in the comments if you choose to do it, so I can see your answers! 🙂

It’s Saturday, which means I probably will clean the apartment and read. Try to clean anyway; I always end up just reading or watching tv. I’m horrible, lol. Here is a lovely picture from last night to show you how awesome my Friday nights are….and I am not being sarcastic. This is the perfect Friday night for me. I am totally anti-social and I get anxiety when people try to make small talk with me. I am that person that will pretend to be focused on my phone and pretend not to hear you.

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Perfection in all its glory, just saying. 😉

You can check out some other posts I’ve done recently over here:

That’s all for me today. Let’s see if I can be productive today. Get through a little over half of Throne of Glass or clean my apartment. Both would be ideal. BYE ❤

Friday Finds #9 & Kindle E-books.

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). Hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

Hey! 🙂 Happy Friday!

Another week gone by and another set of books added to my TBR list. I also have some more Kindle e-books that I got this week to share with you all too! I think this week I went a little crazy with adding a lot of books, so I am only going to share 10 of them. I found a lot on Pinterest this week and last week and I finally decided to go through my book board again and add to Goodreads. I haven’t even tackled the pins that have multiple books on them to see if I will like any of those. I am kind of scared of those right now, to be honest. Hahah. Maybe one day. I think I should probably focus on what I have right now, lol. Anyway, onto the books I found this week! **all linked to Goodreads**

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Things I Can’t Explain by Mitchel Kriegman
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier
The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough
Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Grandall

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Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley
Orphan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
Iluminati by P.J. Webb
Love in a Time of Monsters by Teresa Yea
Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

I am really excited about all of these, especially Things I Can’t Explain and Magonia. One of the bloggers that I follow made a post about Things I Can’t Explain and basically…do you all remember Clarissa Explains It All? It’s a re-imagining of that! It follows her in her twenties. I am totally excited about it and it’s supposed to be released in September of this year!

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I am excited about the other books too, because they all sound like they will be really great reads and all the covers of the books are so pretty! It’s hard not to want to buy and read them all! Hah. I am a sucker for a good book cover!

Below are some of the Kindle e-book I got for free this week. I’ll only share three of them (and then one of a book that I really love and is free), because I added quite a few.

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Perception by Lee Strauss
The Annihilation of Foreverland by Tony Bertauski
Evensong by Krista Walsh
The Mind Readers by Lori Brighton

I took a break from looking at free Kindle books for awhile and last week I started to do it again. YIKES! lol. BUT FREE! Anyway, these are some of the books that I found this week that were free and as of right now, they are still free! I haven’t read any of these yet (except one), but I’m sure I will eventually. I have read The Mind Readers and I thought I would share this book with you all, because I LOVED THIS SERIES SO MUCH! I read it a few years ago and it is definitely one of my favorite series and since the first book is free, you should totally check it out! The second and third book in the series is $2.99 and the fourth book is $0.99! Super cheap and in my opinion, it was such a good series. 🙂

What are some of the books you added to your TBR list? Link me to your post or leave a comment! 🙂

That’s all for this post. You can check out some of my other posts from the week below:

I hope everyone has a great day and weekend! 🙂 I am off to work and then I plan on taking a much needed nap when I get off work. Bye ❤

Small Book Haul & Random Pictures.

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HEY! 🙂

So I recently ordered some books online (delivered today) and I also got a book at Target. Target is totally my go to grocery store now (I find it to be so much cheaper and better quality than most places, besides Publix) and that has its good and bad. The bad being I can’t help but always look at the books and I always end up leaving with at least one of them! I also wanted to order a book online and they were like “if you add $13 more, you can have free shipping” and I used that as an excuse to get another book, which turned into three, because I found a coupon code online, lol! There is seriously something wrong with me, hah.

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A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige
Dorothy Must Die: Stories by Danielle Page
We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

Dorothy Must Die: Stories has the three novellas (No Place Like Oz || The Witch Must Burn || The Wizard Returns) in one book. I really wanted to order The Wicked Will Rise, so I added the stories book with it. I also really want to read A Thousand Pieces of You and I am in love with the cover, so I decided to get that one too. I got We All Looked Up at Target, which I am so excited about. It sounds like such an amazing book!

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OH HEY, it’s ColbyJack! He loves books and boxes and he got both of them. If you follow me on Instagram, then you might have seen some of these pictures already. If you’re not, you should totally follow me! 🙂 —> heyyitsashley

GOOD NEWS, GUYS! I finished Dorothy Must Die! YAY! I loved it, so I am excited to eventually read these other books. It took me so long to read it, because of the reading slump.

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My boyfriend sent me this picture of ColbyJack today at work. He said he was looking everywhere in the apartment for him and then finally found him sleeping under the blanket. Pizza & beer = perfection & dinner tonight. 🙂

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Dax has my heart, seriously. I love my pup so much! Books & beer = perfection too! I am off to start Throne of Glass tonight. New book, means new bookmark. SHERLOCK ❤

Alright…that’s all for this post. I did a post earlier today that you can check out over here: WWW Wednesdays. You can also check out my post from a couple days ago over here: Creative Blogger Award. Fun stuff! 🙂 I hope everyone has a good night! I’m totally crossing my fingers that my reading slump is slowly letting up. Let’s see how that works out when I start this book tonight! BYE! 🙂

WWW WEDNESDAYS #5.

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This is a weekly MEME hosted by Taking on a World of Words. Simply answer the following questions. 🙂

The three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

*Goodreads links in the covers.

Currently Reading:

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So I’ve been going through this kind of big reading slump and I think it might be slowly going away? I sure am crossing my fingers. Technically I haven’t started Throne of Glass, but I am starting it today and I am really excited about it. Beautiful Chaos I am currently listening to the audiobook. The series was so promising, but honestly, I am halfway through and I am kind of bored of the Caster world and I really don’t like Lena and Ethan deserves better. Ethan and Lena’s relationship is SO annoying. He should totally be with Liv. I actually stopped listening to Beautiful Chaos for awhile and listened to something else. If it wasn’t for the book having to go back to the library in a week, I would listen a different one.

Recently Finished:

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So I technically did not finish Dorothy Must Die, but I have 50 pages left and I am finishing it today. I am so glad I am almost finished with it, because this reading slump has totally sucked and I have been trying to finish it since the beginning of March! I really love the book and it’s been sad that I have been taking so long to finish. I finished the Linger audiobook yesterday and I loved it so much! I actually loved Linger more than I loved Shiver. I have the next two books waiting to be listened to after Beautiful Chaos.

Reading Next:

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I got The Lie from Netgalley and I am going to be reading it after Throne of Glass and doing a review on my blog about it. I am excited about reading it, because it sounds like it’ll be really good. I read a couple chapters of it, but it’s not enough to really say if I like it. Forever will be the next audiobook I listen to at work, which I seriously can’t wait for since I loved Linger so much.

I plan to start doing more reviews on books on my blog, because I really haven’t been doing much of that and that’s what I really wanted to do when I first started doing this blog. I also need to check out the 2015 reading challenge (the POPSUGAR one), because I haven’t been keeping up with that either and I really wanted to do that this year as well! I got some of them done (there is a category for them on my blog), but no where near where I should have! I’ll have to look at everything again and figure out a plan for the both of these!

Anyway, I really have to get to work! You can check out my last post here – Creative Blogger Award. Some facts about myself and pictures I’ve taken. 🙂 I hope everyone has a great day!

What are you currently reading? Finished reading? Reading next? Or link me to your post!

Creative Blogger Award & Stuff.

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Hey! 🙂 I was nominated for the Creative Blogger Award by Rachael at Reading Rachael. Thank you again for the nomination! Definitely go check out her blog!

The Rules:

  • Nominate 15-20 blogs and notify all nominees via their social media/blogs
  • Thank and post the link of the blog that nominated you (very important)
  • Share 5 facts about yourself to your readers
  • Pass these rules on to them

I’ve been nominated for other awards that have wanted me to give facts about myself. Trying to come up with some more facts that I haven’t mentioned before is always hard. Let’s see if I can do this. It’s only five, so maybe it won’t be as hard? lol 🙂

The Facts:

ONE: I have a horrible memory. I keep a journal and have for about 11-12 years and when I go back to read it, I have no memory of anything I wrote happening to me or things I did. I also remember very little of my childhood. If someone mentions something I did or what I was like, I really have no clue what they are talking about. I also can’t remember most of what happens in the books that I read once I finish and move on to a new book. It’s one of the most annoying things I have to deal with.

TWO: I am currently obsessed with bagels from Starbucks and I get one every single Monday. I used to do it four times a week, but it started to become costly, so I decided to make Monday Starbucks Monday. I’ve never missed one in about six months.

THREE: Since we are talking about Starbucks, I guess I should tell you that I don’t like coffee. I also don’t understand how coffee wakes people up or gives them energy. The times I have drank it (which is seriously like once or twice a year), it makes me want to instantly go to sleep. I will literally be falling asleep at my desk at work after I drink it.

FOUR: I don’t like staying at other people’s houses overnight. When my family goes back to Cape Coral (some more of my family live there) to visit, I never go with. Staying at other people’s houses just really bugs me and gives me anxiety. I like being at my own house, among my own things, and in my own bed. I think the only times I ever really go overnight is if my boyfriend and I stay overnight at his parents’ house. Even that is kind of awkward for me even though him and I been together 7.5 years and I love his parents so much!

FIVE: I love Cherry Coke. It’s my favorite soda and usually what I always get. It’s totally heaven and if heaven was real, it would be in my heaven. Every faucet, every lake, every ocean, would just be Cherry Coke. It’s perfect. Remember that time when Percy Jackson ordered Cherry Coke? Yeah…he totally had the right idea.

In all its goodness. ❤

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Coming up with new facts was kind of hard! I guess there really isn’t much to me? I like the little things, mostly. I also don’t ever really do much except read and watch my TV shows. At least most of the time, anyway. I’m simple. I always have been. I do want to travel the United States (and eventually the rest of the world). SAVE SAVE SAVE!

The nominations:

I didn’t check beforehand if you have already been nominated for this and have done it, so feel free to ignore if you have or if you want to do it again, that’s cool too. 🙂

So I mentioned it a few times that I was seeing Taking Back Sunday and they played with The Menzingers (which I love) and letlive. (which I wasn’t too big a fan of their performance). The concert was great and Taking Back Sunday and the Menzingers played so many songs and all that I loved. I love concerts so much and I am thinking of getting tickets to see The Story So Far again. I’ve already seen them three times, but I love them so much and they are so great live.

Taking Back Sunday. I love this venue, because they have a bar. So I chill back by the bar and drink beer and listen to my favorite bands. It’s so perfect!

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All the excitement. 😀

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I finally got my new debit card, but I am having some issues as a whole with my bank right now, which is totally lame. I did buy this app that was recommended to me called ReadMore and it times you as you read and at the end it gives your reading patterns, how many pages you read and how many are left, how long you read, random other stats, and also if you read at the same pace how long it would take you to finish the book. It’s pretty neat so far and I was able to actually read a lot more of Dorothy Must Die. I only have 166 pages left in the book! I hope I finish it this week, so I can try to start Throne of Glass. I’m really hoping that this app helps me out of my reading slump or I hope finishing this book does. I don’t want to force it, but I also don’t want to just not read. I started to listen to Linger again today and was actually starting to find interest in it, so that’s a good thing. I’ll have it finished by tomorrow and then I’ll probably jump back on to listening to Beautiful Chaos, before it gets returned back to the library.

Here are just some random pictures I’ve taken and then I am off to find something on TV until the boyfriend gets home. He is bringing Taco Bell home, which I am totally excited about. I am STARVING!

Enjoy the little things: pretty flowers, reading by the pool, and ring pops – one of the greatest parts of being a kid, or a grown up kid. Ring pops are good at any age, especially now that they have tons more flavors now than they did when I was a kid.

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And this is my side of the bedroom, which is totally colorful and FULL of stuff! I love stuff, lol. You can see my furbabies in there too. They like my side of the room. I actually have the side of the room that has the most space, because I have so much stuff. Remember awhile back when I said the majority of the stuff in my boyfriend and I’s apartment was mine? Yeah…totally true statement.

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Holy massive post, right? I probably should have saved some pictures for another post. OOOPS! This post is fun though and maybe even full of some creativity? It is the creative blogger award. 😉 I really should go now though. It’s Monday, so that means Bates Motel and The Following and ahhhhh! I read too much and watch too many television shows. Total fangirl when it comes to fictional anything though. Rambling again. I need to shut up, but before I do, you can check out my last post over here – reading slump chump. bye! ❤

Reading slumps are for chumps….I might be a chump.

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It is April 4th and I haven’t even gotten one audiobook listened to or one book finished; this is not good! I may be all booked out right now. I can’t believe I even said that, but my older sister mentioned how sometimes she gets like that and she stops reading for a month. I’ve already gotten through 35 books so far this year and maybe my mind is just telling me to stop for a minute. This is kind of the saddest thing I’ve ever written.

Currently I have been listening to Beautiful Chaos and I started to get so bored of it. I decided to stop listening to that and start listening to Linger and I ended up getting bored of that too. NOOOOOOO! This is not good news at all! I tried to continue to read Dorothy Must Die; let’s face it…this book is giving me nightmares at the fact that I still haven’t finished it after what…a month maybe? And I love the book so far, which makes it worse and totally not fair!

So I was trying to read Dorothy this morning and then my kitten was being totally cute and trying to steal my bookmark, because it had a pretty red ribbon attached to it. I didn’t even start the chapter, I take out my phone and snap pictures instead and then I’m like “hey, I’ll just check what is going on on Pinterest for a minute while I have my phone out” and then thirty minutes later. AHHHHH!

It’s hard to read when you have this cute furbaby in your face; like “mom, that’s mine, give me that“.
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Here I am distracting myself again and waiting for the bank to open. I could be reading, you know? I’m pretty sure I mentioned the words “reading slump” about  a million times on here and Twitter, and probably Instagram too….I apologize. BUT HOLY CRAP THOUGH! I looked up tips to get me out of this reading slump. The boyfriend told me that reading should be fun, not a chore. Totally agree! So maybe I’ll take a small break from reading….I can’t believe I said that either….and see what happens? I have books coming in the mail soonish, so maybe that’ll make me excited! Or probably stress me out even more how I still have hundreds of other books I own that I haven’t touched. Loving books can be so hard sometimes.

If you have any tips to solve or help this problem, please feel free to share!

I have to get ready to go to the bank now though. I wish my new debit card would get here already. I never realized how much I needed it until it was gone. I guess that saying is true; you never know what you have until it’s gone. 😉

In case you missed it; you can check out my Friday Finds post with books I recently added to my TBR list and books that I recently added to my Kindle. If I read as much as I found books in the last month…I would have gotten through probably a hundred. I hope everyone has a great weekend! Ten hours until I see Taking Back Sunday…wooooooo! I love seeing them live! ❤ BYE!!

Friday Finds #8 & Kindle E-Books.

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). Hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

Hey! 🙂 Happy Friday!

I was debating on if I was going to do this post or not, since the Top Ten Tuesday was about books that I recently added to my TBR list. I haven’t added too many since that post, but I figured I would share some of the ones that I have since that post. There will be a link to that TTT post at the end of this one, so you can see more if you like. Also, all books are linked to Goodreads.

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Immaculate by Katelyn Detweiler
The Unquiet by Mikaela Everett
We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey
Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

All of these books sound like they could potentially be really amazing reads and I am excited about all of them. I also love all the covers of the books. My Goodreads TBR list is currently at 277, but that doesn’t count the probably 100+ that I haven’t even added to Goodreads! Kind of insane right now, yes? It’s forever growing and I am pretty sure that will always be the case.

I say this a lot, but….so many books, so little time.

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One of my favorite bloggers on here did a post about books she got on Kindle and about a website called BookBub. It’s been awhile since I’ve browsed the free books on Kindle, so I decided to look at some of the ones that BookBub showed were free this week and I found seven books that I liked. I probably could have looked for hours and got a bunch more had I not been at work. I took a short break to check out the website. Anyway, here are 3 of the 7 that I got.

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Andromeda by Amy Bartelloni
The Arch of Avooblis by Charles Streams
Rippler by Cidney Swanson

Once again, amazing book covers! I remember when I first started to use Kindle, I would spend hours looking for free books and also buying so many books. You can’t beat cheap books! I also found some of my favorite books through Kindle by getting a free copy. Most series will offer the first book in the series for free and the next books in the series are usually $0.99 to $2.99. HELLO?! That’s pretty awesome!

Just in case you missed them, here are a few recent posts I’ve done:

Off to work for me; it’s going to be pretty busy today. Tomorrow is the Taking Back Sunday concert though and I can’t wait! They are playing with The Menzingers and letlive. I’m so excited! I hope everyone has a great Friday and a great weekend! I wish I had a picture to share (since I usually post some at the end of my posts), but I think I posted all the ones I’ve taken this week. You can add me on Instagram if you like though: heyyitsashley. 

What are some of the books you added to your TBR list? Link me to your post or leave a comment! 🙂

March reads recap.

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HEY! 🙂

The month of March went by so fast it seems like. I got through eleven books in March, which is one book short from the last two months. These are books I physically read myself and audiobooks that I listened to at work. These aren’t really in the order that I read them, but you can find them also listed over here along with all the other books that I have read so far this year. All will be linked to Goodreads below.

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Angelfall by Susan Ee
World After by Susan Ee
5 stars for both.

These books were SO great. I actually loved them a lot more than I thought I was going to. I am impatiently waiting for the last book to come out; End of Days. I loved the whole apocalypse and angels mix. I am also totally in love with Raffe. I would definitely recommend this series. I was desperately looking for a new series to absolutely fall in love with and this has been it so far!

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A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davis
5 stars.
You can also check out my post on this book here.

I really loved and enjoyed this book. It was different and really interesting. It was a really good mystery/thriller type book. I loved the idea of the book and it came together so nicely. I loved that it had a touch of supernatural to it too. It was a good find and read for me.

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Monstrous by Sean Platt & David W. Wright
3 stars.

The book sounded like it was going to be a really interesting and good read, but I ended up not liking it as much as I thought I would. It annoyed me more than anything and I almost didn’t want to finish it. I pushed through it though and it just wasn’t something I loved.

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Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
4 stars.
You can also check out my post on this book here.
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
5 stars.
You can also check out my post on this book here.

For so long I went back and forth deciding if I ever wanted to read Fangirl. The hype was kind of crazy and the description sounded like something I wouldn’t like. I ended up enjoying the book and I am really excited about the Simon Snow spinoff book to be released in October: Carry On. Eleanor & Park was a book that I had on my TBR and I LOVED IT! It was perfect, it had me crying, and it had me so happy. The ending though, I didn’t really care for it that much.

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The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons
4 stars.
You can also check out my post on this book here.

This book was chosen for the March read in the book club that I am in. I was excited to read it, because it sounded like it would be a great read and it was! I loved the story and a lot of the characters were so great. It is also one of those books that make you really think about society and what it is and what it could be. ALSO…Kristen Simmons totally tweeted me a smiley face. 😉

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Lost in Babylon by Peter Lerangis
4 stars.

This is the second book in the Seven Wonders series and one of three started but never finished books I had. I decided to get the audiobook from my library, so I could finish it by listening to it at work. The book was great and I really enjoyed it. I wish I didn’t ever stop reading it before, but I am glad I was able to actually finish it. The characters are great and it has it’s funny moments. The kids in these books are dying and have to travel to the seven wonders looking for Loculus that will save their lives. So far I have really enjoyed the Seven Wonders series, so I am looking forward to reading the next book.

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Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
4 stars for both.

For a few years now I have been going back and forth on if I wanted to read this series or not. I finally decided to give it a chance when I seen the audiobooks available at my library. My library had these enhanced versions, so it was pretty interesting. I could hear all the thunder storms, listen to the songs (16 Moons, 17 Moons, 18 Moons), hahaha. Or if things were being thrown and breaking. It was fun! The story itself has been good and enjoyable, so I am glad I decided to give them a chance. I think the enhanced audiobooks have helped with me liking them a lot though. It really made me feel like I was right there with them. I watched the movie for Beautiful Creatures and was so disappointed with it though.

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
4 stars.

I was able to get the second Harry Potter done this month and I enjoyed it. It was another of the three on my list of books I started, but never finished. I gave it four stars, because it was really enjoyable and I never got bored of it. I still don’t understand why everyone is so obsessed with the series though. Maybe my opinion will change as I read the other books. Or maybe it’s something I should have read as a kid and might have really loved it even more if I did. I don’t know! But I didn’t hate it and it was really enjoyable and I do want to continue with the series.

I sadly did not finish Dorothy Must Die this month like I really hoped I would. This reading slump kind of took away from that and I had a lot of my TV shows started back up this month too, so that also didn’t help. I love the book so far though and the worse part of a reading slump is when you actually enjoy the book, but still can’t get yourself to read it.

Can he just exterminate my reading slump?
Look at all these wonderful books waiting to be read!

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I am really hoping that April will be better and I can get through a lot of the books that I really want to get through. Most of the books this month were audiobooks and I do love audiobooks at work, but I also enjoy physically reading books myself too and I have TONS that I bought that I want to read. So let’s hope April is a lot better with reading more books myself versus audiobooks. I’m going to try to stick with a list and my book jar once I get my list done.

Just in case you missed them, here is the last post I did and my recap post from February and January.

  • Top Ten Tuesday: Books recently added to my TBR list. There is also some random pictures I’ve taken too.
  • February recap post. This post has random pictures I’ve taken too.
  • January recap post.

I can’t wait to start reading and listening to some more books in April. I am currently listening to Beautiful Chaos and next Linger. As for physically reading books, I am currently finishing Dorothy Must Die and then going to read The Lie by C.L. Taylor (which I will have a review on afterward) and Throne of Glass. These are books that I for sure want to get done in April along with plenty of more (I just need a starting point). Once I get caught up on everything that I know I need to read ASAP, I want to start doing more reviews on my blog. As for right now, I am off to go lay down and attempt to read. I am actually sick, so I am thinking about going to sleep early tonight. Terribly sorry for the kind of massive post, lol. 😉

What were some of the books that you read this month? Or if you have a recap post, link me! 🙂 It’s always nice seeing and hearing what others have read. What books are you looking forward to reading in April? ❤