Bloggin 'Bout Books Blog

Hello Lovelies!! Sorry I've been away. I thought I was gonna be better when my semester finished, but it turns out the condensed summer classes are even more intense than regular semester classes. So I've been prioritizing my education. Of course, now that I have two papers due this week, I have no interest whatsoever in working on them, so I thought I'd catch up on a few reviews. So in this particular post, I'm going to sum up my rereads of Harry Potter: Sorcerer's Stone, and Chamber of Secrets, and Goblet of Fire. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling Published: June 26, 1997 Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books Received: I own the whole set, but I borrowed this particular copy from the library Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone introduces readers to Harry Potter--a young orphan taken in by his aunt and uncle. The Dursleys are terrible people and Harry suffers under their upbringing until his 11th birthday, when he receiv...

Hello Lovelies! I'm going to a two-books-one-post today. I had to read both of these for a class, and I wasn't impressed with either of them, so I thought I'd just stick them together here, okay, alright? A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn Published: April 28th, 2009 Publisher: HarperTeen Received: Borrowed from the library "Can pity be turned into love?" Apparently, yes, according to Alex Flinn. First of all, this is a Sleeping Beauty retelling. And let's be honest, Sleeping Beauty isn't really the best fairy tale to start with (cause of its creepy rapetastic plot line), and then Flinn's characters are just awful--not to mention the frankly, amateur writing.  Talia is a spoiled brat of a princess in the early 18th century. She hasn't been allowed to leave the castle because of the looming spindle in her future. Of course, she was destined to prick her finger on one, so one finds her. Three hundred years later, we meet up with Ja...

Four Seconds to Lose by K.A. Tucker Published: November 4, 2013 Publisher: Atria Books Received: Bought for my Kindle! "It's about trying to balance out the good with the bad. I don't believe in second chances" Cain has been owning and running a strip club for years. He takes care of the dancers: makes sure they don't have to do anything more than dance to get money, makes sure they aren't harassed in or out of the club, and never takes advantage of them. Then Cain's bartender Ginger brings a new friend to the club for a job: Charlie.  Charlie is living a lie. She's working for her step-father as a drug runner, but she hates it. She's just trying to make enough money to disappear for good. She never expected to meet someone who could make her want to stay. Tucker once again makes me want to crawl inside her characters. She does a great job of making the characters real and believable. Even though her love stories tend to ...

   Fables Volume 1: Legends in Exile Fables Volume 2: Animal Farm Published: Dec. 1, 2002 and August 1, 2003 Publisher: Vertigo Received: Borrowed from the library "Once Upon a Time..." After the Adversary attacked the land of fables and fairy tales, a few of the characters made it out to the real world. For the last couple centuries, they've been living among mankind. Now, Rose Red has been murdered, and it's up to the Wolf to figure out who did it and why. Then Snow White must check out the Farm--where they send those fabled creatures who are inexplicable to humankind. Something's going on up there, and it's up to Snow White to figure out what it is and put an end to it. I was required to read these two comic collections for a Fairy Tale course. I enjoyed them to a certain extent, but they also frustrated me. I love seeing fairy tale characters in real life situations. I think retellings can be super fun and enjoyable (I'm obse...

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen Published: May 5th, 2015 Publisher: Viking Juvenile Received: Bought!! "There's no shame in trying to make broken stuff work, is how I see it. It's better than just accepting the broken." Sydney's family is broken. Her brother Peyton was sentenced to prison for hitting a person while driving under the influence. Sydney's mother is desperate to keep up with Peyton in prison--visits, phone calls, everything she can possibly do. Sydney's father throws himself into work. Sydney just feels guilty. She needs a major change. So she switches school. "You only really fall apart in front of the people you know can piece you back together." Sydney has no friends at her new school. And it's a change to go from an elite private school to a regular public school. She finds herself visiting the pizza place against the way. Just to waste time. She ends up befriending the brother and sister whose famil...

Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar Published: August 4th, 2015 Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers Received: E-galley from Publisher--Thank you, Delacorte!! Tamaya Dhilwaddi is in the fifth grader. She loves school. She loves learning. She doesn't love walking home with her neighbor Marshall, who used to be her friend before starting seventh grade. Marshall's been dealing with a bully. And when Marshall tries to take a shortcut through the wood to avoid his bully, that's when everything falls apart. I loved Holes --but then again, who doesn't? And in comparison to Holes , Fuzzy Mud  falls dreadfully short. Sachar's writing is equally as fantastic. However, the plot doesn't weave together as perfectly as Holes . Fuzzy Mud  leaves a lot to be desired plot-wise. There are a lot of unanswered questions.  Overall, I found Fuzzy Mud  to be an entertaining read. It would be a decent book for middle-grade readers and fans of environmentally based ...

Persuasion by Jane Austen Published: 1817 Received: Bought for my Kindle "If there is anything disagreeable going on men are always sure to get out of it." Anne Elliot is 27 years old. She's becoming an old maid, destined to live as the supporter for her father and sisters without ever managing a match of her own. Her younger (and much more annoying sister) Mary has managed to find a man and have several children. Her older sister is guaranteed to find someone soon. And all Anne wants is to remember the man with whom she was betrothed eight years ago. She seems to be getting along, when none other than that man, Captain Wentworth comes back to town.  I read this several years ago for class. It was my favorite of Austen's novels (yes, I'm that weird person), and as I reread it, I enjoyed it even more. As I'm quickly approaching Anne's age, I see both her despair and wish for her ease. I was also struck by how little has really changed. ...

Hello Lovelies!! Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish ! This topic is a little hard for me because I try not to deal in absolutes, but here we go... Top Ten Books I Will (probably) Never Read The Lord of The Rings (1-3): Sorry everyone! I read The Hobbit, and I wasn't a fan. And I've tried to start FotR like three times and I just can't. I can't do it. I'm a failure. Take away my nerd cred. The Magician King and The Magician's Land(4-5): Considering how much I hated The Magicians, I have absolutely no interest in continuing the series. Blue Bloods series(6): I had the first book in this series for like six years and never read it. I started it, but I just couldn't do it. And now it just sounds like I wouldn't like it anymore. Whoops. The Immortals series(7): I just don't think this one sounds that good. I'm way more interested in her other series. The Gone serie...

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire S áenz Published: February 21, 2012 Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR Received: Finally got a copy from my wonderful friend Melissa at Christmas! "The summer sun was not meant for boys like me. Boys like me belonged to the rain." Angel Aristotle Mendoza hates a lot of things. He hates his name. He hates that his father doesn't talk to him  and that his mother is strict.  He hates that his siblings are much, much older than him. He hates being fifteen.  He hates not being able to swim. But Ari finds out that he doesn't hate Dante.  "I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got right off the bat.  Some people you just didn't get--and never would get." Ari has always felt misunderstood. He doesn't like to talk about his feelings either. But somehow, Dante gets him. Dante talks enough for both of them, and finally Ari fi...