Libraries: My Home away from Home

Recently, Amber over at The Mile Long Bookshelf made a post about libraries, and how important they are to our world. (You can visit that post here.) Today I'm writing about my own experience with libraries, and why I, too, believe they are a very important part of our world.


I had been members of my public library since as long as I can remember. Even before I could read my mother was checking books out to read to us, and I'd been attending library programs from an early age. But when I was in the second grade, (so age seven or) I got my own library card.  From there on out I was checking out my own books, placing holds on all the things I wanted to read and reading them all before the deadline. I was an avid participant at my library, and soon got to know all the librarians by name, and them me (and my family). When I was ten, I was asked to join a panel of people my age to run and create programs for the children's section of the library, and I switched to a different, more advanced panel when I was older that worked on grant writing and funding for the YA part of our library. You could say I was very involved. I got to experience so many great opportunities through my library as well. I got to be part of a focus group for a magazine company, and ended up writing an article for them about a personal tour I got of Jim Davis' studio, and I met people I never would've met if it hadn't been for my library. Plus I was part of a writers group that met at the library, which helped me so much with my writing. Now that I no longer live in that city, I'm less involved in my public library, mostly because I didn't grow up here. However, my love for libraries hasn't been terminated. I'm still endlessly grateful for libraries, and everything they do for my and others lives.

For one thing, there's an endless supply of books. If I want to check something out, and my library doesn't have it, they'll get it in from another library. I often put ten or so books on hold, and then pick them all up and read them when they're ready. (Although currently all the books in my TBR pile I own.... but whatever.)

Plus libraries offer a safe space for teens to study and work! I love walking downtown after school with some of my friends and grabbing a cup of coffee from a coffee shop before heading up to the second story study rooms to prepare for tests or do homework with the others. It gives us a distraction-free place to focus on school work while having access to the wi-fi and printers. I find that I can often drift from my work while at home, so being in a productive environment with other people is a great way to get stuff done.

Libraries essentially encourage all things that are good! Literature and academic success, as well as community involvement are all promoted by both libraries I've been apart of, and so many others. I would be such a different person if it wasn't for my library. Firstly, I wouldn't be a reader. I just wouldn't. I wouldn't have been exposed to all the different books I've read, nor the programs that made me excited about reading. I wouldn't be the writer I am today, because I wouldn't have been in a group that encouraged interaction and constructive criticisms between both middle school and high school writers. I wouldn't have known anything about grant writing, nor all the effort that goes into funding, running, and maintaining libraries and summer reading programs. I wouldn't have aced my English midterm, because I spent four straight hours prepping in a library for that. And lastly, I wouldn't have started this book blog. And through blogging so many amazing things have happened that I'm forever grateful for.

So thank you, libraries, for making me the person I am today.

How have libraries affected your life? 

Ruin and Rising

Title: Ruin and Rising (The Grisha #3)
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 417
Rating: 4 Stars
Purchase this book:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Book Depository

Alina knows that Ravka will be at unrest as long as the Darkling remains in power. So, she and her makeshift army travel across the country, searching for the third amplifier that will give Alina the power to defeat the Darkling once and for all. However, nothing is as simple as everyone thought, and as events unfold, Alina's plan begins to unravel.

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This concluding novel really resonated with me. I was hit with so many different emotions when I turned the last page that I wasn't really sure what to do next. I'll just tell you that I was very satisfied with this conclusion. It felt complete and whole. (Even if I didn't like everything that went down.)

I was really pleased with how all the characters have developed through the series. If you read any of my previous reviews for this trilogy, you'll know that I wasn't all that big of a fan of Mal's. I still don't like him with Alina, but I do like him as a person. (Team Nikolai!) I finally see Mal's purpose as a character, and I do appreciate his friendship with Alina. I liked some of the new characters we meet as well, for example, Harshaw was an adorable little character and I loved his devotion to his pet cat, Oncat. And the Darkling remained ever the complex character that nicely symbolizes Alina's dark side. 

This novel was really epic, too. If I had to sum this book up in one word it would be epic, because it is! There were times during the book that I honestly felt like standing up and cheering because it was just so awesome. (But of course, I had to be content with mentally cheering. ((Which didn't keep a smile off my face.)) I found all the fight scenes to be action packed, and every plot twist tore my heart in two. 

I've honestly been so surprised by how much I've enjoyed this series. I truly expected to find these to be less than average, for all my reviews to be three stars, and for me to ultimately dislike them. I checked out the whole trilogy from the library, because that's how sure I was that I wouldn't enjoy them. However, that evidently was not true. And I must say that for a high fantasy series, it's really not all that hard to get into. It takes off running from the get-go. 

Would I recommend this book to you? Yes! A hundred yeses because it was really, truly great. I had so much fun reading this entire series, and I'm super excited to jump into Six of Crows and immerse myself back into this world that I've grown to love. A solid four stars to Ruin and Rising. 

See other reviews from this series:

Shadow and Bone

Siege and Storm

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Take me to a random post! 

Conversations: What the Blogs I Follow MUST Have

Hello! Another fortnight has passed, which means it's time for Conversations, a bookish feature hosted by Joan @Fiddler Blue and Geraldine @Corralling Books. This feature is supposed to inspire interaction between bloggers and readers, as well as discussion. You can find out more about Conversations here 

This discussion's topic is "what are the essential things the blogs you follow have to have?" I'm so excited to talk about this one, because I'm super picky when it comes to blogs.

• • •

Number one! The theme must be inviting and nice on my eyes. If you've got a super dark theme with messed up graphics and major coding problems, I'm sorry, but I'm inclined to turn away. It's said that darker colors are less inviting than lighter colors when it comes to profiles/blogs/websites, so if you're going for a less intimidating blog that doesn't scare away new readers- keep that in mind! (However, I do love that classy, white with black accent look, just not the ###DEaTh #DeSTRucTIoN *##EVIL###SCArY look.) But even just when your graphics are blurry, pixelated, sized incorrectly, it ruins my viewing experience. The same goes for coding errors. (Of course, everyone has some coding errors, but I'm talking major ones that the blogger doesn't want to take the time and effort to fix.)

Number two! Content! If your blog is all book reviews or all memes/features, I probably won't read it. While the particular feature I'm a part of at the moment is different, as it's discussion post-centered, most bookish features are not, and tend to be redundant and empty. I just don't like reading blogs that are only memes, because I feel like I'm not getting any original content from the author. Same goes for book reviews- I don't want to follow a blog that's just book reviews, because it gets boring after a while.

Number three! I love when the author of the blog actually comments back and interacts with you, the reader. I spend quite some time writing out most of my comments, and it makes me so happy when I get a reply. Discussion posts are meant to start a discussion, so let's discuss! Active bloggers are the best bloggers, because they put a real person and face behind the blog.

Number four! Ads, ads, ads. I'm okay with ads on the sidebar or footer or something, but I hate when they're smack in the middle of the body or floating around the screen. Most book blogs really don't have this problem, but when a page is overwhelmed with ads, it turns me away.

Number five! Multiple bloggers. There are some exceptions, but I typically steer away from blogs that have multiple authors. I think the main reason for this is that I just get confused, and I struggle to differentiate between the authors, and then I can't keep the personalities straight and.... it's just kind of a mess. So yeah, unfortunately I prefer not to read blogs with multiple authors.

Number six! Going with number five, if your blog just confuses me in general, I won't read it. I need things to be user friendly for me to want to read it. I spend enough time figuring out how to layout and construct my own blog- I don't need to take more time figuring yours out.

Number seven! I love when the blogs I follow have easy ways to find the author on social media, as well as recommended content. I love recommended content buttons, because they keep me engaged and introduce me to old blog posts that I wouldn't have seen anyway.

Number Eight! (Last chance to negotiate.) Oh, and the author must love Hamilton. Just kidding. Or am I. *evil laugh*


So this kind of became a list I guess. Oops! Anyway, thanks for reading and let me know if you participated this fortnight!

Event Recap: BOOKCON 2016

Hey everybody! If you didn't see my excessive tweeting on Saturday, I did indeed go to BookCon 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. In today's post I'm recapping my day, and sharing all the awesome experiences I got to have!

• T h e  D a y •

We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to drive down to Chicago. It was very scary, and most of the drivers were, well, for use of a better work, incompetent. However, we did make it to McCormick Place safely.

We got inside and got our badges, then jumped in the security line which was enormous. Along the way, I was rapidly snapping pictures.

Here's my lanyard with my badge, along with all the pins I collected during the day!

Standing in the long, long, loooooong security line.

Yes, we are currently waiting in line for an eternity. 

Still waiting in line, but doesn't Replica look awesome?! Wish I'd gotten a copy...

Random Lady Midnight sighting! (Also, we made it to the next floor of the line.)

After security, we walked into the que for the showroom. I made the decision not to fight for wristbands for the autographing sessions. (But mostly because all the autographs I wanted were going to be in booth and did not require a wristband.) Then, at 10:30, the doors to the floor opened and we streamed in.

Streaming into the show floor. 

I knew I absolutely needed to get to the Disney booth for the Alexandra bracken signing half an hour later, so we immediately went there and lined up. We probably waited for an hour before it was my turn, but meeting Alex was so, so awesome. She's my favorite YA author, and it was just so surreal getting to actually talk to her. She was super nice. I ended up buying another copy of the Darkest Minds while I was there to get signed, and everyone who made it into the signing got a sampler of Wayfarer signed as well. I also made away with some pins with the cover image from Passenger, Wayfarer, and The Darkest Minds, along with two nice quality bookmarks that match Passenger and Wayfarer.

Meeting Alex!!!

Signed Wayfarer Sample!

Signed copy of The Darkest Minds!!! (My favorite book of hers.)

After meeting Alex, we walked around the floor a little bit, and wandered into the Harry Potter section. 

Awesome wall where you wrote what HP means to you- wish these people weren't in my shot but whatever. 

I also picked up some great promotional stuff!

Sample of the Illustrated Edition of the Chamber of Secrets, promotional card for COS, Hedwig coloring page, and promotional bookmark for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. 

After that, we ate lunch and I attempted to do a panorama of the convention center. (Didn't really work.)

Like I said, didn't really work. This is, like, one half of what I could see from the stairs. 

After lunch I left for the Friendship is Magic Panel hosted by Alex Bracken, Susan Dennard, and Sarah J. Maas. (With surprise guest Victoria Aveyard.)

Here's a three minute clip of the panel, which talked all about female friendships in YA. It was really funny and great to listen to. 

After the panel we walked around the floor some more, and then headed over to the Epic Reads lounge. (Where I met Margot!!!) The rest of my family lounged there while I headed back out to the floor. 

Waiting in line at the Owl Crate booth and look who's unboxing they were playing!

(It's Caz @LittleBookOwl if you didn't know.) 

Then, at 2:30, I snagged my brother and we rushed over to the Penguin booth. I knew the author signing with Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff where they were passing out ARCs of Gemina was at 3:30, so we got there an hour early. Unfortunately, we didn't figure out where the line was until 2:45, and there already was an enormous amount of people waiting. So we jumped in line and it turned out to be fine. We were behind this great lady waiting in line for her son, and in front of this 20-something year old girl who I later found out was a librarian for the YA section. We all got into a great conversation, and it made the time fly by. Which is saying something considering we stood in line for two hours. But yes, shoutout to our line buddies. After a bit of waiting, someone started going down the line with tickets for Gemina. Every ticket equaled one book, so if they ran out of tickets before they got to you, you weren't getting a book. I swear my heart rate increased 100 BPM.... but it all worked out.

My Gemina ticket! 

We waited in line for two hours, but the time passed quickly. At some point the two walked by, Jay holding up his phone as he walked down the line, filming how many people had come to their signing. Jay came by again, and talked with our little group. The lady in front of us, laughing, said, "Can you believe this is all your you?" In which he responded something among the lines of, "it's crazy! I can't believe so many of you are even reading our book." Cassandra Clare also walked by me as we were waiting in line and said hello. 

Made it to the front of the line! 

Then I was given my copy of Gemina, and I walked up to the table where I got to meet Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff!

My signed ARC of Gemina!!!!!! 

After the Gemina singing we headed up to the panels for the Booksplosion panel with Christine, Kat, and Jesse. The panel was great, and I got to meet them, along with Sasha and Natasha. 

I'm super flushed and I don't want this to be the picture you all remember me by. 

Sasha, Tasha, Zoe, and someone else? Anyway, casually editing my face out there. 

And that concludes my day at BookCon! I was there for a total of 10 hours, and each one of them was absolutely amazing.

• H a u l •

All right! Now for the fun part! I got home late that night with three full tote bags full of stuff I lugged back with me. 

- B o o k s -

As you can see, I came back with 6 books in total. I know plenty of people average 40+ books, but I really wanted to see some panels and those are an hour each. Priorities, priorities! 

(All titles link to corresponding Goodreads page.)

Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia is an ARC I picked up at the Disney Hyperion Booth.

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson was something I got from the Epic Reads lounge.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken was the result of me deciding last minute that I wanted to get a copy of my favorite book by her signed.

Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman is an ARC I received courtesy of the Penguin booth. Two hours people. Two. Hours.

Razor Girl by Carl Hiaasen is another ARC I got from the Penguin booth.

- T o t e  B a g s- 

Okay so I got a ton of tote bags, so I decided to devote a section of this haul to the bags. 

From Epic Reads is this awesome black bag with titles of some of their books, as well as a *book shimmy* on the back. 

From Owl Crate I came this black bag with an OWL. 

Random House handed out black bags as well, with "I read BLANK before you did." 

Riveted gave out really sturdy, nice canvas bags with their logo. 

And Penguin had an assortment of totes with book quotes- I picked the TFIOS one! 

Harlequin passed out these lovely bags!

And Quirk Books gave away Miss Peregrine's themed bags. 

- O t h e r   R a n d o m  S t u f f   I   G o t -

I ended up with quite a few awesome bookmarks, including Passenger/Wayfarer bookmarks I got at the Alex Bracken signing, Illuminae/Nevernight bookmarks from the Gemina signing, and a Zenith bookmark, which is signed by Sasha and Lindsay! 

Towards the beginning of the day, I picked up these city guides to London and New York. 

London! 

NYC! 

Epic Reads passed out these magazine-ish things that are basically a condensed version of their site.

The Penguin Teen booth passed out most of this- just little quote cards, and that KOA thing. (I have no clue what it is.) The magnet came from something else, but I love it. 

At the Owlcrate booth you spun a wheel and received the corresponding prize. I won this adorable bookish to-do list! I'm a sucker for stationery, so this was perfect. I also got some cute sticker things, along with the tote bag you saw above and some pins you can see in my lanyard picture wayyyy at the top. 

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Going to this convention was a really, truly awesome experience. It was so great to be in a place that brings so many like-minded people together. It's amazing to be surrounded by people who all love and crave books just as much as you, and it makes it so easy to start a conversation with literally anyone. If you ever get the chance to go to a bookish convention- take it! Not only do you get to meet so many new people, but you'll see tons of authors, celebrities, and awesome cosplayers. I'm so happy I got the chance to meet all the people I did, and I'm very thankful for this experience! 

I believe that concludes my BookCon recap! Thanks so much for reading this enormously long post, and let me know if you went to BookCon or hope to go in the future. BookCon 2017 will be in NYC for those who don't know! 

Siege and Storm

Title: Siege and Storm (The Grisha Trilogy #2)
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 432
Rating: 4 Stars
Purchase this book:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Book Depository

Plagued with guilt for the lives she helped in taking on the fold, Alina finds herself sailing the true sea on an unknown ship. She begins to form friendships and alliances, but soon discovers that not everyone has been entirely truthful. All the while, she suffers from an uncontrollable connection to the Darkling, thanks to the collar she wears around her neck.

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With trilogies, I think many of us can agree that the second book tends to be the worst. I actually found that I liked Siege and Storm better than book one! My hopes are high for book three, and that it will be my favorite of all. I found this novel to be even more enjoyable, fast paced, and developed than Shadow and Bone. 

Of all the characters newly introduced in this novel, my favorite had to be Sturmhond, the captain of the ship Alina wakes up on. He was so witty, confident, snarky, and complex. I really enjoyed every interaction we got with his character. If you read my previous review of Shadow and Bone, you know that I really wasn't that big a fan of Mal. I have to say that that statement is still pretty much true. I liked him a little bit more, but honestly he's such an underdeveloped character. I feel like he has the potential to be so much more, for his friendship with Alina to become much stronger and prevalent- but he just kind of exists in the background and is annoying. I just can't bring myself to like him all that much. I am quite interested in the sibling duo we meet though- Tamar and Tolya. I feel like they'll have a bigger role in the next book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It full of unexpected twists and awesome characters. I find the whole concept of the Grisha, and the political aspect to be very entertaining as well. I do love YA books with political conflict- and this is choke full of it. I feel like in lots of these books with two groups of people- the gifted and ungifted- the people with powers (so the Grisha in this trilogy) are automatically superior to the ungifted. However, it's not that black and white in this series. In some places, the Grisha are revered. In others, they are burned at the stake. Other than that, though, there's not much more for me to say. I would recommend this book to you if you're interested in continuing on with the series, and if you've yet to start it, what are you waiting for? It's a great high fantasy series that's fairly easy to get into and nicely paced!

Discussion: Mental Illness in YA

Hello my lovelies- today I want to talk about something that's a little different from the typical post around here.

So today we're going to talk about mental illness in the media. Recently, one of my peers committed suicide. I've known him since I was in second grade. And sure, I don't see much of him anymore, considering my life has taken me elsewhere, but the fact still remains that he was someone who's always been there. When the news reached me that he'd killed himself, I was shocked. And it really, truly upset me. There was no way for me to fix this problem. And the truth was that this had really happened- to someone I knew- and it's happening everyday, all over the world.  That thought overwhelmed me. 

So that's what sparked this discussion post. I want to discuss the underrepresentation of mental illnesses in the media, and why it's not acceptable. 

Most people simply don't understand what mental illnesses are. A mental illness isn't just being "really sad", "really anxious", "down in the dumps" "insecure", "unhappy with yourself" or any of those ridiculous things. A mental illness is the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain. Exercising, spending time with friends, or buying new clothes won't just heal someone. It takes more than that. But, truthfully, the people who believe these things aren't at fault. They simply just don't know. Let me repeat that- they simply just don't know. So one of the easiest ways for us to raise awareness for mental illnesses is through educating people about them. Accurately educating people about them. And that's where books and the media kick in.

When we read about a main character with, say, cancer, we get begin to truly understand what it's like to deal with cancer, because we're inside the main character's head. Before The Fault in Our Stars swept through, I think a lot of people who'd never been exposed to the true horrors of cancer only ever heard about the survival stories, the donations, or the fundraisers. After the Fault in Our Stars, a lot of young adults suddenly understood that not all cancer stories have a happy ending. It can be similar with mental illnesses. If we expose young readers to main characters with mental illnesses, they will finish the book understanding mental illnesses so much more. Because, when you read a novel, you get inside the main character's head. You feel what they feel, you hurt when they hurt. So if we want to spread awareness for what it's really like to have social anxiety, writing characters with anxiety is a great way to do it.

But what's the big deal- why do we care? Well, 1 in 5 teenagers ages 13-18 suffer from a mental illness. Wherever you are in the world, there is somebody you know suffering from some type of mental illness. Just because no one's informed you of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. However, most teenagers turn to their peers when experiencing suicidal thoughts, and we should be concerned about the peers of these young people suffering from mental illness. By teaching them what it means to have a mental illness, we are preparing them for what could come down the road later. Plus, identifying signs of depression can make a huge difference- in their life or somebody else's. Nothing could be worse than a suicidal teenager confessing to a peer what was happening, and that peer not knowing what to do about it. We just need to educate them.

But the sad thing is that we aren't taking advantage of the media to educate teenagers on mental illness. Did anyone see the video recently uploaded on Jesse's channel? If not, a topic was shouted out, and the first player to find a book that fit the topic won that round. The first topic was dead parents, and all four players immediately grabbed books. The second topic was mental illness, and all four players stood in front of Christine's shelves, staring until one of them picked up Allegiant. Why is it so difficult to find books that include mental illness? Why is it so underrepresented in Young Adult Literature? Whatever the answers to those questions are, the truth remains that we need more representation of mental illness in YA, and it's not happening.

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Thanks for reading through my whole post (rant?) here! I feel like I maybe didn't get my point across as clearly as I wanted to, but hopefully you get where I'm coming from. What are your thoughts on this subject? Comment below!

Shadow and Bone

Title: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Trilogy #1)
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 356
Rating: 4 Stars
Purchase this book:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Book Depository

Alina and Mal have been a duo since the two ended up in an orphanage around the age of 8. Some amount of years later, neither could imagine ever leaving the other. But, when Alina begins to show signs of being a Grisha, she's whisked away from Mal into the world of these gifted people, where the Darkling, the second most powerful man in the kingdom, takes a special interest in her.

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I truly do love going into books with low expectations, because I always seem to like them more than I thought I would. I've heard countless mediocre things about this trilogy, but I actually really enjoyed Shadow and Bone. High fantasy is always so fun to read. Sure it can be a bit of work, but starting a new high fantasy series is full of excitement and novelty. Learning all the new terms, laws, and customs is just so fresh and fun! 

So I did really like reading this book. I thought the plot was unique and new. Unlike plenty of fantasy novels, the main character, Alina, isn't really the chosen one. It's more complicated than that. Her position is the chosen one. Whoever is in her position becomes the one who's supposed to destroy the fold. It couldn't matter less whether it's Alina or not. Plus, the whole concept of her destroying the fold isn't quite so straightforward. And I feel like I prefer plots that aren't all black and white. When the conflict is more complex, more complicated, than bad guy/good guy or us against them, it's much more interesting to read, and allows for more plot twists. 

And I did like the characters. Alina is a good main character- she's not without flaws, but her intentions do seem to be good. Mal, I feel, you are supposed to like, but I'm honestly not that big a fan of. It bothered me how he never showed how appreciative he was of Alina until later on. She loves him so much, and he just kind of blows her off. I did, however, like the friendship Alina has with Genya, it's a really genuine, lovely female friendship. (And I'm a huge fan of genuine female friendships.) And finally, I want to give Bardugo her props for the character that is the Darkling. Of all her characters, the Darkling is the most complete, complex, and developed character. He's a complicated character, and complicated characters are the most realistic, in my opinion. 

If you're into a quickly paced, enjoyable, intelligent high fantasy novel, you should definitely give Shadow and Bone a try. I really liked it! (Now I'm going to go read Siege and Storm!)

Conversations: Why We Blog

Hey all! I'm jumping in on this new, fortnightly feature called "Conversations" hosted by Joan @Fiddler Blue and Geraldine @Corralling Books. The aim of this feature is to inspire discussion and interaction between bloggers. You can find out more here. 

This fortnight's topic is "what pushed you to start blogging and why do you continue to blog?". So, now that our introduction is done, why don't we jump into this topic? 

Why Did I Start Blogging? 

I started blogging in mid October of last year. It wasn't a spontaneous decision, I actually thought about it for probably a month or so before I actually created my blog. But anyway, I was about a month into my (new) school, and I found the workload to be manageable. I began to review books on Goodreads, and discovered that I really enjoyed it. However, it's rather difficult to get recognition on Goodreads for your reviews, and I didn't really like the overall atmosphere in the reviewing section on Goodreads. So, I picked myself up, plopped down on Blogger, and spent an afternoon coming up with a good blog name, theme, and layout. Then I just began to write. My blog has undergone quite an amount of changes since then. I completely redid my theme, for starters, and the quality of my posts, I feel, have gone up. (Or, at least, I'm trying.) My reading base has slowly grown, and I've met so many amazing people! 

Why Do I Continue?

I continue blogging because there's no reason for me to want to stop. Through blogging, I've been able to self teach myself HTML and coding. Obviously, I'm no expert, but I certainly know and understand more about it than the average person my age- or any age really. 

Not only is that awesome, but my writing has improved greatly. Whether it's sentence structure, word choice, or just general flow, my writing has gotten so much better. Plus it's good way to be actively practicing my writing. 

Oh and the people! You hear this a lot, but it's so true. I've met so many amazing people through blogging, and I'm so thankful for that. Half of you live half a world away, but it's so great that I get to talk to you. 

I just love immersing myself in this world of people who love to read and aren't afraid to go all out when expressing their love for reading. It's been six months since I started, and the time has flown by. I wouldn't trade this awesome opportunity the internet has given us all for the world, and a huge thank you to everyone who's already been a part of it for me! *blows kiss* 

Why do you blog, and what keeps you going? And if any of you took part in this fortnight's Conversation, let me know in the comments, and I'll definitely check it out! 

April Wrap Up

What's up? April flew by for me, probably a good thing, and I'm so ready for May to begin! Cutting to it, this month I bring you my April Wrap Up! 

 • R e v i e w s •

- covers link to review -

   

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• P o s t s •

Intimidating Books

Eye Catching Book Covers

RYBSAT Round 8 Announcement

Discussion: What Makes a Good Villain?

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• B o o k s  I  A c q u i r e d •

       

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• F a v o r i t e  B o o k  • 

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One is the story of a boy living in the corrupted world of 2044. In this novel, Wade is trying to win a world wide contest set in the virtual universe that has taken over the globe. I gave this book a five star review, and recommended it to any sci-fi lover. 

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• F a v o r i t e  V i d e o •

I enjoyed watching this video! I thought it was cute, and Sasha definitely put some effort into it.

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Thanks for dropping by! How was your April, and what was your favorite book you read?