Buying Books VS Getting From Your Local Library: Which Is Better?

I was watching an older video of one of my favorite booktubers doing a bookhaul. A bookhaul is when someone shows the books that they have recieved over a period of time. Jessethereader had someone give him a Barns and Noble Collector's Edition of Elenor and Park. At first I was kinda indifferent (although just hearing the names Elenor and Park made me smile). But then he opened it up and I was just floored. Inside the cover pages they had included fan art. Not just normal fan art, beautiful fan art taking up the entire page, depicting some of the best moments in the story. This got me thinking, what other collector's editions are there? Are they just as nice or are they a money sucker meant to suck the money from young people? I did a little more research and long story short I have a list of collector's editions of books that I now have to have. This got me thinking how much is too much to pay for a book that you know you love? Can you own too many books? When is enough enough? Should you buy a book if you know you might not read it again soon? These questions are tough, and each one has different answers based on personal preferences and opinions. I am going to go over some of them and some of the answers may make others mad, so take what I say with a grain of salt. What works for me may not be the best thing for you. It seems like more often recently I have been buying books. In the past I would hardly ever buy them because I could always get them for free from my local library. But there are some books that I am proud to want to own and want to display.
There are also some books that have different covers based on what country they are from. Is it right to pay twice as much for a copy of Fangirl because its the exclusive cover and collectors edition? I'm not sure. But I will still keep doing what I'm doing right now, getting the books I read from the library and if I love it so much then I will buy them.
What do you guys think? Do you have any must buy books? 

Nanowrimo 2014

Nanowrimo: When I first heard this word I giggled. It didn't make any since to me. It seemed like a long made up word. But after hearing more information I finally got it. Nanowrimo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It runs each and every November and the goal is to write as much as you can towards your novel. Each day will have a word count goal on total words in your novel so far. The total goal for the 30 days is 50,000 words with one day having a total of 10,000 words. It is a goal that I think very highly of because I am very horrible writer. I love to read and I love stories but when it comes to actually writing I think that I have little to no writing skills. Plus its hard for me to actually commit to writing a story, I always want to change the names of the characters or how its written (1st or 3rd person), or the plot itself. Sometimes I think the stuff I've written is too rough or violent or at other times too soft and cheesy. I can never commit. Its sad but its true. Plus I always start to write and then forgot where I'm at and lose the drive or the focus that I had. Its very frustrating. So because of these reasons I really respect the people that do Nanowrimo. I wanted to join this year but I forgot about it until it was too late to sign up. But the nice thing is that Nanowrimo is inspiring me to write more and just play around with writing. Who knows, maybe I can publish a short story or some form of book or ebook.

 If you would like to get more information on how Nanowrimo works click the link below:
http://nanowrimo.org/how-it-works

Veronica Roth wrote a very great pep talk, to get readers inspired to be writers. I really recommend reading it if you get the time:
http://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks/veronica-roth

The Heir by Kiera Cass Cover Reveal

If you have not read the Selection Series please note that there are spoilers below:

If you ask almost any young adult book fan if they have either heard of or read the Selection Series most of them would say yes. In fact the Selection Series is one of the most popular series besides the ones that have been made into movies like Divergent, The Mortal Instruments and anything by John Green. Walk into any ya section in a bookstore or library and they proudly have either The Selection, The Elite or The One on display. If you go on popular entertainment news sights they usually have some articles about the series or the plans that failed to make it into a TV show. It has a large fanbase built into the stories of America, Maxon, Aspen and Marley as well as other great characters. Its not my favorite series, but its one of my favorites.

A short story was posted online at  http://unlockmoreselection.com/ that was set after The One ended. The story revealed that America was pregnant with the heir of the kingdom! Plus it went into details of other characters after the last book. It made me so excited. So when it was announced that the series was continuing the series past the end of the last book I was so happy. I was a little worried about quality of the books, but was happy that I was able to read more into the world. A while later they announced the cover of the new book The Heir. I wasn't expecting much but when I saw it I almost cried with joy.

 

I cannot get enough of this cover. This has to be the best cover I have ever seen out of any book, ever! The cover just tells so much of the story without saying a single word. The colors are amazing. I will be preordering this book in hardback once that becomes an option. When it was announced all I could do was stare at the cover and try to figure out the story with the cover. In the past covers except for The One the dresses have always been bright and colorful. Princess Eadlyn's dress is a light grey. Maybe she is not as happy as her mother was. Maybe she is a little more quite, a little sadder. Maybe she is more of an introvert. The dress though is absolutely beautiful, making her look like a true princess. The other clue that she may be a little sadder or a different mindset than her mother is the background. In the Selection, The Elite and The One the backgrounds had the lights/ shimmer effects on a white background while The Heir has a black background. While it is so beautiful it helps to show that Eadlyn is a different person than her mother America. Also with the other books the reflections in the background always reflected America and in The Heir they still do. Even though Eadlyn is in front of them. This is a major change which has me thinking that Eadlyn lives with the inner expectation of being as great of a queen as her mother. It also could be the public putting on the expectation on her as well, which would make sense because America would be a great Queen and they may be afraid of losing her in the future. The Goodreads synopsis also confirms some of what I've said as well.

"Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon’s heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn’t expect her Selection to be anything like her parents’ fairy-tale love story. But as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she always thought."

 

But wait, Eadlyn has a twin brother Ahren. Is Eadlyn older than her brother? Women in that world can't have their own selection, so what happened to cause that? Also I thought Maxon said that he was going to get rid of the selection. What happened to bring it back? Does Eadlyn have any other siblings? Kiera said in her blog that Ahren was not exactly like his twin. What does that mean? Is he more evil or crueler? Also (and this is important) does America survive the birth of the twins? The more and more I think about it the more I think that its a possibility that she dies in childbirth. I really hope that doesn't happen. Only time and The Heir will tell.

 

What questions do you want answered with The Heir? What other books are coming out in 2015 that you are looking forward to?

For more info on The Heir covershoot and to see the video of the shoot click the link below:

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2014/10/23/kiera-cass-the-heir-cover-exclusive/ 



Spooky Halloween Reads

Its that time of year. Time to pull out the warm, cozy sweaters, eat anything and everything pumpkin or pumpkin spice flavored, and curl up with a spooky book. If you are looking for some good suggestions based on how scary you want it then you have come to the right place. Here are some spooky suggestions based on the fear level:

Most scary

The Madman's Daughter By Megan Shepard

The dark retelling of The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells tells the story of JulietMoreau living in the shadow of her fathers dark legacy. Her father was a Doctor in London but was thrown out of the community due to his questionable practices and techniques. This book at time is dark, scary and will keep you at the edge of your seat. This is the first book in a three part series that is sure to entertain if you want your heart to race and to not be able to put down.

Middle of the line

Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

I probably talk about this book too much but that is because I love it so much. It is by far my favorite book listed out of the four. It tells the story of Jeremy Johnson Johnson , a boy who can hear voices that he finds out are ghosts. He lives in a small town that shuns him because he can hear the voices of things that are not there. While I can't go into very many details without spoiling it but it is very much worth reading. It kept me at the edge of my seat. In fact, I was so entranced that it made me late getting back to work on my lunch break.

Least Scary

The Graveyard Book by Neal Gaiman

This book tells the story of Nobody (Bod) Owens, a boy who grows up in a graveyard surrounded
by ghosts. This story is more light than the others, focusing more on Bod and his family and the issues of growing up surrounded by the dead. In my opinion this is a classic book for any middle schooler and is definitely middle grade.

Or

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

 

Coraline tells the story of a girl who moves into a new home. She is bored of her family, bored of her neighbors, and stuck inside on a rainy day. She finds a door in her home that leads to a new world. A world that is strangely familiar to her own, except her parents let her do whatever she wants, and they have buttons for eyes. I enjoyed this book more than the Graveyard Book, it seemed more creepy and a better story overall (but other book lovers love the Graveyard Book, so that is why I chose to include it in this list.). I read the graphic novel version of this one and while the story was good, the drawings and art were not the best. I would like to read the actual real version of this book. There was also a movie made (which was good, but confusing at times).

 

Hope these suggestions make your Halloween even spookier than normal! What are your favorite Halloween reads? Leave a comment below sharing your favorite.





End of Summer Reads

Summer is coming to an end on September 23rd this year. I myself am looking forward to everything fall like the cool weather, pumpkin flavoured foods, cute boots and sweaters, and of course Halloween. If you want to squeeze in some last minute summer books to remind you of what is ending (hot weather, sandy beaches, summer flings) then I recommend the following short summer reads that I have read this summer:

Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Second Star is a Peter Pan retelling that is set in the surfer towns in California. It follows the story of Wendy looking for her two lost bothers. While it may not be the best book on this list, it is the one that I think of first when I think about summer because of the sand, surf and the summer love.

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

I just finished this one up today, while writing this post. While it is the darkest book on this list it still made me think of summer, due to the summer parties, the summer romance and the happiness towards the end of the book.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

This book is the least upbeat compared to the others on this list. There is alot of swimming and summer activity here which makes it a good summer book. Plus, its set in the whole summer from start to finish.

Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I know this book is not set in summer but I love it anyways. Most of the best scenes are outside and there is a great romance. It's a good short summer read.

Hopefully these books will fill up your summer meter for the rest of 2014. If you aren't already sick of it.

10 Books that have changed my life

I posted this on my facebook and wanted to share it here. Warning this post is super long! Here are my 10 books that influenced me in my life:

1.  The Bible: No matter how many times I open that book I'm surprised that I can always learn something new and feel something different. No matter my mood, my attitude and whatever is going on in my life I always read what I need to read to fill me up spiritually. 
2. James Herriot's Cat Story's by James Herriot: Anything by James Herriot has a special place in my heart. I received a bunch of his books from my Great Grandma. She loved reading and always sent me books. She introduced me to the Harry Potter Series, but the ones by James Herriot were our favorite to talk about and read together. Whenever I see those books (which I still have and still love) and anything Harry Potter I always think of her and those memories.
3. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein: I have vivid memories as a kid. I loved all of Shel's books. In fact its one of my favorite memories as a kid involve me reading this book. I remember living in Texas as a kid and we had one giant tree in our backyard. I would climb up as high as I would go with a stack of Shel's books and read. Sometimes I would drop a book all the way down and I would laugh, climb down and get the book, and then climb right back up
4. Far Far Away by Tom McNeal: This book is one of my favorites. It surprised and shocked me in ways that I have never experienced. It made me love reading more than I thought was possible.
5. Beauty for Ashes: Receiving Emotional Healing by Joyce Meyer: This book deals with  healing from God after times that you think that God may have abandoned you. If you have ever dealt with anything like that then I highly recommend this book. It helped me see that even though bad things happens God still has a plan and he still loves and cares for you.
6. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull: In high school I stopped reading. I lost my passion. I only read the minimum needed for school. Then a friend of mine recommended this series to me and I adored it. Its full of action and adventure. It was technically the first Young Adult book I read as an adult (except for Twilight and Harry Potter) and it made me fall in love with the genre. The story is told by a Christian author about two kids who find that their grandparents have a backyard that doubles as a hidden magical creature sanctuary. Its not very popular but one of my favorites.
7.  The Nancy Drew Series by Caroline Keene: I have memories of reading this series with my mom. We would go to Goodwill and find the ones that I didn't have and read them and talk about them. Such classics :)
8.  Vermillion By Phyllis A. Whitney: This was another one that both me and my mom both loved. I love anything by Phyllis A. Whitney but by far this is my favorite one. Her books are mystery/ adventure/ love story. They opened up my vocabulary and opened my mind to new stories in different worlds. 
9. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom: This is the real life story of Corrie and her sister during Nazi times. She ended up in a concentration camp but her faith never wavered and God protected her the entire time.
10. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer: Love this book. Its part of a retelling of classic fairy tales mixed with Sci Fi. This book is one of my all time favorites and made me fall in love with re-tellings of classic stories. Plus next month I'm going to a meet and greet with the author and getting all my books of hers signed. I can't wait! 

The Half Life of Molly Pierce

You take it for granted. Waking up. Going to school, talking to your friends. Watching a show on television or reading a book or going out to lunch.

You take for granted going to sleep at night, getting up the next day, and remembering everything that happened to you before you closed your eyes.

You live and you remember.

Me, I live and I forget.

But now—now I am remembering.  

 Add To Goodreads 

 

The Half Life of Molly Pierce is about a girl who loses blocks of time in her life with no memory of what happened during the time she blacks out. She feels like she is going crazy and no one can give her an answer why. She tries to hide it as much as possible but life forces her to confront her past and to not hide anymore.
I love this book, I'm on a mental health in books kick right now. The last three books I read were about some mental condition and this one is no less different. I won't go into a lot of details but this book really made me think. There are times in every person's life when they feel like they are going crazy, like if one more thing happens they are going to snap. Or what if you are already crazy and everyone else knows but you don't know. I love this book for not being afraid to address the issue.
This book also had a way of writing characters that even though you may not trust them you still end up loving them.
This is a five star book for me. I hope you give it a chance.

Ebooks vs real books

Let me start of saying that I enjoy reading both Ebooks and real books. With Ebooks I seem to read at a faster pace and I can read while I work and get away with it. Also I get almost all of my books from my local library and with Ebooks I don't have to worry about bringing the book back and I don't have to carry it around in my purse the whole time. Plus in some cities your local library may partner with an online ebook website that has thousands of books for free that can be transferred to a kindle or ereader or read on their website. I use one named Overdrive but talk to your local library to see if they partner with an online ebook provider.

Real, physical books have their own benefits too. For one, when you are done you can put it on your shelf and display it to anyone who comes into your house. It's your way of saying "Here are my favorite books. I am proud of them and I think you should read them too.". Another reason is that books have that book smell when you open them. Book nerds know what I'm talking about. That smell that tells you the history of the book without even looking at the cover. Some books you can smell the age on them, some smell like they came from a place surrounded by other books, and some smell so fresh, so new, like it was created just for you to read. Also, you can enjoy the cover more if its a real book. With an ebook you get a tiny cover that you only see when you first read it or when you click on the icon to select the book. With a real one you can feel the cover, see the effects like raised font, shimmer and glitter, the details that the author designed for you to see up close and in person, not from far away or a small version of. Also sometimes the hardback books have a better cover without the jacket on it. I always look and see when I'm reading a hardback.

The reason I go into this debate is because a while ago I picked up some Janet Evanovich paperback books at my local library's booksale. It was every almost every title in the Stephanie Plum series (except for like 4 or 5 of them). They take up almost a full shelf on my favorite shelf. I adore the series and want to reread them again after I whittle my to be read pile down a little bit. But the issue is that I found out that my local library now has her books online, so I can just check out a ebook whenever I want. This leaves me at an impasse. Part of me wants to keep the books just to display and read at pleasure. But another part of me wants to give them away to another reader and open up that shelf. I know its a stupid dilemma, but it brings up an important point... should we have a digital library instead of a physical library? There are some books I will never get rid of (One in particular is my signed copy of The One by Kiera Cass, even though I bought it presigned).

 I don't know what I will do, but I am leaning towards donating them. Let me know in the comments your thoughts on ebooks and whether or not I should keep them.

About me

“She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.” – Annie Dillard

 

I had a family member post that on my Facebook wall, and I fell in love with that quote. It describes me perfectly. Well, who am I?

I am a 25 year old girl who is obsessed with books. Anything and everything, but young adult is my favorite. The reason I started reading it is that I wanted something clean, something where I don't have to worry about getting half way through a book only to find out that there is some crazy sex scene (Yes, I'm talking about you Wicked). I wanted to read a book with relatable characters and good story lines. That's when I found YA and fell in love. 

 About my reviews, I don't get paid for reviewing books (though I may be considering adsense in the future, but it doesn't affect my reviews). Everything I say is my opinion and my views. I'm also sorry in advance if you get a book based on my reviews and didn't like it. Liking a book is based on personal choice and as much as reviews can help, I cannot make you see why I love something.

At this time I am not open to reading books from others for reviews. I haven't had the best luck doing that in the past and my to-be read list and to-be watched on Netflix list is too long to do that now. Plus I also work full time (plus overtime) so whatever time I have is valuable to me. 

I hope everyone enjoys these blogs. If you have any suggestions please comment below or you can email me at jlwalk905@gmail.com

God bless you and have a great day!

Working on the blog

You may see some weird looking posts in the next couple of days. I'm trying to get a navigational bar set up and to do that I have to make the posts I need for the tabs. Its not how my blog will normally work, but it will have to do for now.
Thanks everyone for your patience.

The Silver Linings Playbook



This is one of those books that has been on my to-read list since I started Goodreads. My best book friend (or BBF for short) has been trying to get me to read this for over a year. Everyone online has loved this book, so much so that a movie was made about with book with two of my favorite Hollywood people (eyecandy Bradley Cooper and the amazing Jennifer Lawrence). But I kept putting it off and saying"I'll just read it later". Well, later has finally come and I am glad it has. The Silver Linings Playbook is the story of Pat Peoples. I don't like to know anything about a book before I read it except a general synopsis, so if you are like me and haven't read it yet then leave not. No spoilers but I will talk about the plot so if you want to avoid it that then you have been warned. (You can also skip to after the picture of the cover if you like to see the recap).

First lets talk about the updated cover. Since the movie came out they changed the cover for the better. While I haven't seen the movie I am in love with this cover. Its kinda hard to see, but while the cover is in black and white (except the title), the eyes of both characters are shown. While it has little affect in photo form it has a major affect on the cover. In fact, every time before I would read I would stare at eyes on the cover. I know its kinda creepy, but I love the eyes. I even had a photo I edited a couple years ago in B/W with just my dog's brown eyes showing. Its one of my favorite pictures of him.
This book takes you on a roller coaster ride through the eyes of Pat, who happens to be one of the nicest people who I have read as a main character. He is kind and caring and all you want is for him to get the happy ending that he deserves. I adore the kind of stories that keep you guessing, wondering what is true, what is real. This book only tells you what you need to know when you need to know it and I love it so much more for doing that. Its torturous at the time because you want to know what is happening right then and now, but at the end you respect the author and enjoy the suspense and the thrill of not knowing and waiting.

Overall, if you haven't read this yet then its worth reading. Even though it's not a Young Adult book it still reads as one. The story of Pat and his friend Tiffany are very entertaining. In fact, I loved this book so much that it was the reason I wanted to start a blog. I wanted to tell others who were maybe on the fence how much I love this book. Please check it out if you get the chance.

Everyone has to start somewhere

Some of my earliest and most favorite memories as a kid were when I was reading. If I didn't have a book I was reading the back of a cereal box or the label of a ketchup bottle. I even remember getting in trouble for reading too much. My most favorite memories though of reading were when I go to the tallest tree in my backyard, climb as high as I could, find a comfortable branch, and just sit up there and read for what seemed like hours. It felt like I was at the top of the world doing what I love the most. Looking back on it as an adult I can't believe I didn't fall or that I could even do that at all. Sometimes I would accidentally drop a book from that height, laugh and then climb down to pick it up and go back up to continue reading it. 90% of the time when I was up there I was reading a Shel Silverstein book. He made me not only enjoy reading but was the first one to transport me to another world.

I stopped reading as much as a teen, I had friends and people close to me tell me that "reading was dumb and only nerds read for fun". I don't remember exactly when I stopped but a part of me died when that happened. I only read every once in a while and usually only when required (the big exception would be Harry Potter). I also developed a habit of speed reading. Just glancing at the words, trying to get through it as fast as possible. Not absorbing what I was reading just trying to finish it so I could say that I read it.

This all changed for me starting in 2008. I started working in a retail store with some book lovers. One of them suggested that I read a series that they adored. It was a kids series so deep down I snubbed it a little, thinking "I'm too old for a children's series". But I read it anyways because she seemed to love it so much and I didn't want to hurt her. The series was Fablehaven, a fantasy series about a brother and sister who find that their grandparents have a sanctuary for magical and mythical creatures. I was pulled into a world full of color, fun and adventure at a time in my life when I needed it the most. Slowly as the years went by I started reading a little more and more. I became discovered young adult in 2013 after finding out that most of what I've enjoyed reading falls under that category. I didn't like that young adult had the reputation of "being a teen's book" and "spinoffs of Twilight full of vampires and werewolves" and was wary because of that, but I found that almost all of the books were unique, each one with its own soul and own world. I found that feeling again of being sucked in to a place that I had never been before. Fell in love with people I had never met and places I had never seen.... and I loved every minute of it. I even starting reading outside, in the woods or on a park bench, just reading outside restored me to what I missed before. I can't explain it, but there's something so great about reading in the outdoors, seeing the beauty and reading a good book.

I had never thought of writing a blog until the last book I read, The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick . There are books that are so great, that make you think about them after they are all said and done. Books where you don't think you are going to relate to them, but you end up doing so in a way you can't imagine. Books that are perfect (well as close as they possible can be) and you want to tell everyone about this book. This book made me want to blog and share my opinions on books and how I feel and love for them. Even if no one else cares its still nice to know my thoughts are recorded somewhere.
Hope you guys enjoy what is to come.