Friday, October 1, 2010

Mnnndghm. Wake me up when October ends, mkay?

This is me right now. *Yawn*
Well guess what? The  month of school is over and I am piled with things to do. I guess I never really expected Sophomore year to be that much different than freshman year but was I wrong. 

In fact, I don't have time to read much at all. Most days of the week, it goes like this. Wake up at six, school till three, then work from 4-7. After all that, the homework. And if I have time, hanging out with friends. Or not. Depends on time. Damn time.

Anyway, I did do a little reading. I know, I know: Yay for me! :)
 Waiiittt....I just counted and apparently, I've only read 7 books this month! WHAT? Really, what is this? Am I getting older or something?

I think I know what the culprit is: school. Keep on shaking your head, like it's the obvious that I simply hadn't seen. I want a time turner.

What I did read:

The Queen of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #2) by Megan Whalen Turner The Queen of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #2)

Mockingjay (Hunger Games, #3) by Suzanne Collins Mockingjay (Hunger Games, #3)

The King of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #3) by Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #3)

To Kill a Mockingbird (Paperback) by Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird

White Cat (Curse Workers, #1) by Holly Black White Cat (Curse Workers, #1)

Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl, #7) by Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl, #7)

Black Hole Sun (Hardcover) by David Macinnis Gill Black Hole Sun

This is all good and well, but I hope October turns out better than September, readingwise.My favorites among these were the Queen's Thief series and Black Hole Sun. As sequels to absolutely amazing series, Artemis Fowl and Mockingjay were both ones I was looking forward to extremely yet fell considerably short of expectations. To Kill a Mockingbird was enjoyable but the fact that I had to read it for school and deadlines made it not so fun.

On another note, DO NOT TRUST PLASTIC. I just realized this when I checked my bank account online, and holy crap did I spend a lot. Every time you hand out the plastic, even if it's only two bucks, it adds up. This sound like a 'duh' statement but the reality of it never really hit me until I noticed that in one week I spent 150 dollars on tiny, non-essential things. Whoa.

Well, I shall give you reading update on Saturday so be on the lookout for that.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Where are you, oh magical Green Scarf?

I caved.
I finally caved. I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic today and this film is chick flicky, girly, and... Oh, I give in. It was awesome, so sweet, and magical. Eh, maybe not magical but it did have a magical green scarf that I would love to buy. Might even pay 300 dollars for it.

The thing about this movie that made it so intriguing and awesome was that magical green scarf, the actors, and the all together adorableness. I've now watched it five times in one day, so that should give you some indication about it's awesomeness.

Although I don't have a green scarf, I do have remarkable good luck lately. On Monday, I got my first job at the most magical place ever. Are you guessing the mall? How about Dairy Queen? Nope. The library. I have my first job at my local library, and I feel like a million dollars. Feels like I'm making a million too, though in reality, it's on just above minimum wage.

I also made a huge discovery: audiobooks. Actually, I should say rediscovery, because I have known about them for a while but never experienced them without reading a hard copy of the book first. If you listen to a book first, there's this heightened 'reading' experience because the anticipation of the events and you can't just read faster to find out what happens. Quite the adrenaline rush, I must say. :D I first experienced this while reading Blood Promise by Richelle Mead. Great book, 4.5 stars out of 5. Check it out on goodreads.com. 


I'll post a review about this entire series, so be on the look out for that. Cheerio!

Friday, July 2, 2010

A Melee of *Stuff*

Before you start throwing the tomatos at me, let me explain about my month long absence. I've been....too lazy to post BUSY. Busy. Definitely busy. I've had my youth group, helping out at my parent's restaurant, signing up for driver's ed, looking for a job, going crazy over the World Cup, catching up my tv shows. So stressful, let me tell you.

While I was gone, I did read. I did keep that one promise to you all. Here is a list of what I've read. If you want to see what the synopsis and stuff are, just click the links and it'll take to the all amazing Goodreads.com. :)
  1. Birthmarked (Hardcover) by Caragh M. O'Brien Birthmarked
  2. The Necromancer  (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #... by Michael Scott The Necromancer (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #4)
  3. Lies (Gone, #3) by Michael  Grant Lies (Gone, #3)
  4. Blue Bloods (Blue Bloods, #1) by Melissa de la Cruz Blue Bloods (Blue Bloods, #1)
  5. Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1) by Richelle Mead Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1) 
Aside from reading, I have been catching up on my tv shows like Doctor Who and Pretty Little Liars, both awesome and so different shows. Check'em out, yea?

Oh, and on a world cup moment, as of 10:51am , according to google, Brazil is getting their ass handed to them by the Netherlands team. Who would have thunk? O.o

2010 FIFA World Cup™: Quarter-finals

Netherlands2:1Brazil-Live update (90')  



Who do you think is going to win this Cup? Do tell!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson and Doctor Who!

Hai! So this blog post is coming to you in two different parts. Part one, the review of Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson .

I. Bloody. Loved. This. Book. Serisouly, I give it a 4/5 stars. It's just too...adorable! Why, you say? We'll get to that in a little bit.

Synopsis:
Ever since Mrs. Amberson, the former-aspiring-actress-turned-agent, entered Scarlett Martin's life, nothing has been the same.

She's still in charge of the Empire Suite in her family's hotel, but she's now also Mrs. Amberson's assistant, running around town for her star client, Chelsea - a Broadway star Scarlett's age with a knack for making her feel insignificant.

Scarlett's also trying to juggle sophomore year classes, her lab partner who is being just a little TOO nice, and getting over the boy who broke her heart.

In the midst of all this, her parents drop a bombshell that threatens to change her New York life forever...

Also, you should know that this is the second book in the Scarlett series. The other one is Suite Scarlett.

Mrs.Amberson is just as crazy but lovable as usual and Spencer Martin is still the adorable actor that is so nice to his sister. Ol' Chipper is back and the big deal happens. Oh, and Marlene is actually nice! Shocker.

I could go on and on and on about all the amazing stuff so I'll just tell you why this is a   4 star instead of a five.  It's all Scarlett fault. She is CONSTANTLY mooning about Eric the entire book and I felt like that was what killed the book. Espceially since Max is what I would call the 'anti-Eric' and she falls for him. Max is great Scarlett, Eric is not. Get over him by the next book please.

Oh, and Maureen? A shirtless Spencer would be great sometime soon. Just sayin'. : D


Okay, now the second part of this post. The 'SQUEEE Fangirl!' part. It's about Doctor Who. I can hear the loud "Oh, now I understand.":)

See, I hadn't watched the 4th series finale that came out in January, practically six months ago. Until Yesterday. I must be the last D.WHO fan who still hadn't watched it. Wanna know why? It's because I knew David Tennant was going to die/regenerate. The amazingly hilarious, badass, intelligent, adorable, and caring Doctor. My Doctor. Going to die. Aw, hell naw. You see the dilemma I was in? To watch or Not to watch, that is the question.

In the end, I gave in. I watched "The End of Time, Part One". I did it. And holy crap, it was good. The writers really out did themselves. Master race? Wowie. And the Master in a dress? Even better! There were so many great quotes from this episode, here are a couple:

The Doctor: Ah. Right. Yes. Bigger on the inside. Do you like it?
Wilf: I thought it'd be cleaner.
The Doctor: Cleaner? I can take you back home right now.
Wilf: Listen, Doctor. If this is a time machine, that man you're chasing, why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?
The Doctor: I can't go back inside my own timeline. I have to stay relative to the Master within the causal nexus. Understand?
Wilf: Not a word.
The Doctor: Welcome aboard.
Wilf: Thank you.
Wilf is so amazing in this episode. I'm glad the writers gave him such an important role, the Doctor's Companion. Another quote:

The Doctor: Hold on, better lock the TARDIS.
[the Doctor holds up the TARDIS key, points it at the TARDIS, and gives it a squeeze. The TARDIS light flashes as it makes a "chirp chirp" noise, followed by the sound of a lock engaging]
The Doctor: See? Like a car. I l-locked it like a car. That's... funny. No? Little bit? *pbbbt* Blimey, try to make an Ood laugh.
 And one last one:

"Shimmer" Scene from Dr. Who End of Time Part 1
This one's a link because it would be so hard to explain the hilarity of this clip with out watching it. So go on, watch it! And stay tuned for the next review and the End of Time part 2 review as well. Ciao!

Friday, May 28, 2010

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan and Gives Me Hope.com

This blog is coming to you in two parts, the review and the GivesMeHope.com part. Review first: I finished The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan a couple days ago, but I never had a chance to blog about it, so here we go. Synopsis below, like usual. 

Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

Most of you probably have read the Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan as well. This book...it's like the Lightening Thief all over, but with Egyptian gods rather than greek ones.It did take a while to get into and sometimes it felt like certain parts were just draaaaggginng on.


Don't get me wrong, this book did have it's high points- like the character of Bast. I love her. She's a complex character and so very there for Sadie and Carter. And some of the humor was awesome though there were some cheesy one liners.The one thing that just annoyed me throughout the book was the way the recording/story was interruppted by Carter and Sadie, often for no reason.

All in all, I'd rate this a 3.5/5. It is worth the read, definitely.

Now, the second part of the post is about GivesMeHope.com. For those of you who don't know what that is, quote from their about page, "GMH is where people share with the world their most hopeful, uplifting moments and allow others to draw strength from their experiences. It's like Chicken Soup for the Soul - the 21st Century, Twitter-style version. Because with all of the hurt and suffering in the world, who couldn't use a few more reasons to hope each day?"

Awesome, awesome site. It's like the Anti-FML. Whenever I'm not feeling too good, I go to GMH. Gives Me Hope gives me hope about our world. Also, a couple videos I found on their blog and so amazing.Check them out!
Shadowchef's Video about GMH     
HPTwiligter's Video about GMH

Quote of the Day:
"Oh no." I said panic rising in my chest. "No, no, no, Somebody get a can opener. I've got a god in my head!!"
Rick Riordan (The Red Pyramid)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Inferno by Robin Stevenson- A review and Glee Stuff!

So...Having recently watched the new episode of Glee which you can watch here on hulu, if you missed it for a limited time. I have to say, this one of my favorites, mainly because of Will Schuester's cover of "Dream on" by Aerosmith. I. Loved. That. Song. *Shiver* They way that they sang that song...especially with the acting...wow. Favorite Glee song right now! Since we're talking favorites, I'll list my favorite Glee covers.
  1. "Dream on" by Aerosmith 
  2.  Rose's Turn 
  3. True Colors
  4. Piano Man
  5. Bad Romance
Love these! And now, on to the book review.

Inferno by Robin Stevenson is another one with high expectations that fell short. I give this one a two out of five. In case you're wondering what this is about, here's a synopsis/ summary before I 'start' the review. It is from the B&N site.

Synopsis:
Dante is a city girl at heart. She hates living in the "burbs" with their cookie cutter houses and precisely manicured lawns. And do not even get her started on her high school, which feels like the set of a Hollywood movie with everyone playing his or her role in the appropriate stereotypical clique. Last year her soul mate Beth made it tolerable but Beth has moved away and Dante must face her junior year alone. With one look at her class schedule she realizes that will be no easy task. Mr. Lawson, the English teacher who gave her so much grief last year, is teaching her eleventh grade English class, and worse yet, he is also her homeroom teacher. No doubt about it, junior year is going to be hell on earth. Then Dante meets Parker, a strange girl who hands her a flyer saying, "Woof, woof. You are not a dog. Why are you going to obedience school?" Like Dante, Parker does not fit into the typical suburban high school scene (in fact Parker is a high school dropout) and the two soon become fast friends. Along the way Dante is introduced to a whole new world, must make some tough decisions, and learns to accept herself for who she is, not what others want her to be. Dealing with issues of dangerous choices, nonconformity, and sexuality, this well written book is a sure contender to join the ranks of quality fiction on banned and challenged book lists across the country. Reviewer: Pat Trattles

    Dante's character was one I immediately liked. She seems down to earth and funny, but as the story progressed, she was just so uncertain of her actions that they seemed contrived. The plot also dragggged on, with indescion effecting every character. This could have been better written. The book did have it's moments however. This quote from Dante's original inferno, was very well used. It also has such a ring of truth.
    "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."
    Dante Alighieri (Inferno)
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