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! 

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.