July Rewind and Review

Hosted by Bookshelvers Anonymous

Oh, July, you have done great things for me. Sure, I've had some breakdowns this month and lots of stress and guilt trips. But I also received many great books that I've been looking forward to posting about. My post and review list will be pathetically sparse though. Pretty much the lowest it's ever been so that means I'll be just adding it in one section and you just have to ignore the fact that this is all of July.

My Posts

• Disappointments of a Blogger (the title says it all)
• Books I Read But Never Reviewed (awesome idea stolen by Gillian)
• Presenting a Blogger...Jasprit and Rachel from The Reader's Den (interviewed a couple of my favorite bloggers!)
• Review: OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu (uncomfortably brave contemporary)
• Top Ten Tuesday: Words/Topics That Make Me Stay Away 
• Happy Birthday to Me!
• Wishlist Wednesday #18 - Six Months Later by Natalie Richards (What a happy story I have to tell you all)

Because I can't resist adding a post that I have already done...August bonus!

• Audiobook Appreciation

Stuff I Was Given

• Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller (Bloomsbury...which is funny since they also accepted me through NetGalley a month ago)
• How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski (YA Book Exchange)
• Parallel by Lauren Miller (ARCycling)
• Gilt by Katherine Longshore (ARCycling)
• Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook (ARCycling...I know, I am definitely catching up on my reviews asap!) 
• The Rules by Stacey Kade (Hardcover via Shelver for my birthday)
• For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund, Zits: Chillax by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, Belle by Beverly Jenkins, The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller (Birthday loot, thank you, parents!) 

Stuff I Bought

• All-American Girl by Meg Cabot ($1!)

A Few of My Favorite Blog Moments

• I got interviewed by Emma at her blog, so sweet!
• Encouraging people on Twitter, I love you all. 
• Stacey Kade said that she's sending me the next book in the Project Paper Dolls series when it's ready. *hugs*
• MY BIRTHDAY!
• When I posted Wishlist Wednesday #18, I got an amazingly sweet comment from the book's author, Natalie Richards. Then she emailed me and said she scrounged up an ARC to give me if I wanted it because she was happy that her book was on my wishlist and that I posted about it and thought it would be nice since she saw I just had a birthday. If I make another "Nicest Authors" list again, she definitely deserves to be on there. 

My birthday dinner/evening :)  [Dad is not shown, I'm in the pink]

~*~

Although fall semester will be starting in a couple weeks, my awful summer biology and lab will be OVER! Hallelujah. That means I will hopefully have more time to read since I've discovered I have more time to read during actual school time than during the summer. I'm seriously loving all these new books. 

How was your July? Hope you have a great fall!

Audiobook Appreciation

This year, I have expanded my reading world to the listening side of things. Audiobooks were never on my radar because of several things.

• I thought I would mourn the loss of a paperback in my hands.
• I sometimes listened to music while I read or multitasked so how could I possibly listen to something? What could I do if I was listening to a book? Sit there like a lump? 
• Narrators intimidated me. 
• If I listened to a book, what if any negative feeling towards the audio element of it made me dislike the actual book? What if I was missing out on a wonderful piece of art because something else got in the way? 
• I don't like change.

Looking back at my list, I realize that I sound like an old lady. I couldn't process this technology and didn't care to. I was still resistant even coming into the blogging world until I read Starry-Eyed Jen's blog. She is a big promoter of audiobooks and when I read her reviews, I questioned if I was really looking at audiobooks correctly. 

Then my sister started listening to The Hunger Games audiobook in the car and when I went with her on errands, she played it. Since I was forcing** myself to not reread The Hunger Games series until Catching Fire came out in November, I was okay with this arrangement. Sure, I was nervous when she started playing it that it would ruin my love for the series. However, that irrational thinking went out the window when she hit play and we were at the cave scene with Peeta. Well, hello there. 

**I was forcing myself because I had gotten so attached to the series that I got more emotional each time I read it. I needed to use self-control more and also not experience so much heartbreak. Yes, listening to the book is kind of like reading it, but let's not discuss that small detail. 

I still thought that I had no room for audiobooks even though I wanted to go on errands with my sister even more and just sit in the car when she went inside all the stores. But then LIGHTBULB! I realized that I could play it on the iPad speaker in the bathroom while I took a shower. So that's where I listened to all the emotional scenes with Peeta, sad Gale moments, even sadder Prim moments, and Finnick *sobs*. Of course, I also retracted my balking at the thought of listening to it on my daily walk because I couldn't just listen to them in the shower, I needed more time with this lovely series. There was also the fact that I kept getting goosebumps right after I shaved from all the feels. 

That's when I realized: Jen was right! Everyone was right! Audiobooks aren't boring and they shouldn't be intimidating. You can get into them and when you do, they are a wonderful thing. I actually did just sit on my couch as I played an addicting game wasting a lot of time when I should have been doing school so I could listen to my audiobook. 

The things I realized during my audiobook experiences expand every time. 

• Sometimes I don't have time to sit down and read a paperback. Even if I do, I probably just finished reading lots of chapters in my textbook or had to write and reread and reread and reread and reread some more an essay for school. Audiobooks are a great way to help your desire for fiction, but gives a break on your eyes. 
• Like I mentioned above, you can still multitask! Indulge yourself in an addicting phone game. 
• Narrators can give the story more life. Really, that surprised me the most. My audiobook review for The Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce will be coming soon, but the narrator? Fan-stinking-tastic. 
• I might get into books even more if I listen to them because the narrators not only give life to the story, but also pronounce words for me, give voices to the characters, and by listening to a book, I could possibly be wrapped up in the story more. 
• Sometimes change is a good thing. 

I still absolutely love my paperbacks and would rather get a physical book for my birthday than a disc, but audiobooks are great alternatives. 

How I now feel about audiobooks.

All summer, SYNCYA has been giving away two free audiobooks a week, one classic and one YA. It's wrapping up this month, but it's not too late to download a few! Unfortunately, my computer is being wonky and won't let me get to the website. So go to Jen's page and try to get to it there. Or use the powerful Google. 

I might be the last one to the audiobook party, but if you still haven't gotten into them, I strongly recommend starting. 

What are your favorite audiobooks? Do you use audiobooks? 

Wishlist Wednesday #18

Hosted by Pen to Paper

Since I received books for my birthday on Saturday, I'm definitely not lacking in reading material. However, ARCs always make me drool, so here's what I'm wishing for this week.

Title: Six Months Later

Author: Natalie Richards

Publication date: October 1, 2013

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Chloe didn't think about it much when she nodded off in study hall on that sleepy summer day. But when she wakes up, snow is on the ground and she can't remember the last six months of her life. Before, she'd been a mediocre student. Now, she's on track for valedictorian and being recruited by Ivy League schools. Before, she never had a chance with super jock Blake. Now he's her boyfriend. Before, she and Maggie were inseparable. Now her best friend won't speak to her.

What happened to her? 

And why can't she remember?

Why I want: 

The synopsis makes me so very intrigued! She sleeps in study hall and then wakes up months later, unable to remember her old life. However, now it feels like she's in a parallel universe. What happened? Why is everything "better" with a different future? What's up with her parents? Wouldn't someone realize that she's been asleep for six months? I'm thinking a kind of parallel universe/dream thing is happening like they do on TV shows. But I do think that it will have a somewhat darker tone.

What are you wishing for this week?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Warning: This will be a selfish pointless post. 

I had been trying to finish up any school by Friday since I was not going to do it on my birthday (if I even found time to do so) and with that, I had to push back blogging duties. So this post won't be a review or a giveaway, even though I considered such a thing. That was a horrible teaser, wasn't it? It's like my mom saying, "I was thinking about baking cookies [or another dessert] today and was going to, but...didn't." I decided to hold off until the blogoversary in October since I just had to fork out a chunk of my paycheck to my parents. 

This isn't a complaining post either, no worries. 

Basically, I'm writing to say that today marks my 17th birthday! Not 18 or 16, the monumental birthdays, but still a pretty big deal. Over the years, many things have changed, naturally. One of those is how I have viewed gifts and my view on this topic is the opposite of how I view books. 

In the past, I would give my mom a full one or two page list of birthday gift demands ideas. This year, I gave her a measly section and told her to go at it, not being able to think of anything worthwhile except for a few books. I love gifts though. 

You know...just saying ;) 

With books, I have gone from not caring about them to I NEED THEM IN MY LIFE. I loved them in the past, but it was a different, more shallow version than it is now. 

Of course, no matter how many times I think "eh, birthdays are no big deal," when it starts to be the week beforehand, I start to plan out a multiple day celebration in my honor. So some things really don't ever change. Hey, I get one time out of the year that is about me. I'm going to soak it up. 

My plans for the day? If you're reading this in the morning, I'm probably in IHOP with my friends, taking advantage of their free birthday meal coupon. If you're reading this in the afternoon, I'm probably napping or cramming in an exercise before the big meal. If you're reading this in the evening, I'm probably chowing down on my mom's delicious homemade meal of Mexican food and BANANA PUDDING, my favorite dessert of all-time. 

If you actually stuck through reading all that, thank you. Now go enjoy your Saturday!

Happy Birthday to all the July babies out there! We're pretty awesome. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Words/Topics That Makes Me Stay Away

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Finally, a Tuesday that I am able to participate in and actually be able to do! In April, it was words/topics that make me want to pick up a book. This week, it's the exact opposite. I initially thought this would be easy, but I have a premonition that it will be harder than I think. There is the fact that I like to give books a chance. Hopefully I don't come off as a book snob in a few moments.

Vampires/Werewolves

I think this trend has finally seen its death, but if I do see it around, I won't be reading it. The usual premise of these "creatures" make me feel blah inside as a reader. That does NOT mean I hate on the readers who do read these type of books. I just personally won't read one. 

Male main characters 

I know. It's horrible, it really is. Most of the time, I won't read a book because it's narrated by a guy. However, I do love to read dual perspectives from both genders in a book, so that mollifies it by at least some, right? 

If I can't understand half of the synopsis

This usually is for fantasy books. I love fantasy and different worlds, but I don't like looking at a book's description with foreign words and every other word is capitalized and I have never seen that word before in my life. The whole synopsis feels riddled to me and if I can't understand the back cover, how in the world will I be able to keep up in the book? The exception? My sister might hand me a book and it's a bonus if she explains it to me in simple, already-read-it language.

Insta-Love/"Love at first sight"

If a book really is about the dreaded insta-love then they will probably use that second phrase. I hate when people are unrealistic and so I don't care for it when it's in my books too. On top of that, I think it's utterly stupid that someone thinks you can instantly love someone. It's called insta-attraction, people, and that's completely fine.

Poetry

These are considered the dreaded verse books, for me at least. One, I can't understand them. Two, I hate poetry. Always have, always will, thanks to it being the only thing I was bad at in English. I see a great synopsis and I'm all excited until...it says "written in verse." 

"Steamy"/"Sexy"

I DO like sweet kisses, scenes, gestures, relationships, etc. However, I would rather not be uncomfortable through the whole book. If they advertise "steamy" or a synonym of it, that usually means that's what's happening through the WHOLE book. No thank you. 

"Popular" "Homeschooled" Other bad stereotypes

When authors make demeaning stereotypes.

There a few exceptions to the rule of the first stereotype mentioned, but none for the homeschooled. We aren't uncivilized and usually when they mention that he/she is homeschooled, that means they are going to have to face some kind of social "difficulty" and be "introduced" to the world. As for the popular side, I'm getting sick of it. They use the same kind of characters as they do for the other stereotypes. I'll stay away mostly, thanks. 

"Bad boy" "Dangerous" etc. 

"Oh, you're a self-proclaimed bad boy?" 

I love bad boys, I really do. However, I have found that I like them when they are not already proclaimed as one in the synopsis. I want to be SHOWN. They're a bit cheesy otherwise.

"For fans of..."

When I see a book saying "for fans of..." or "if you're a fan of..." I think, this author doesn't have any imagination and they are basing their work off of somebody else's popular YA book. I think of all those  authors who suddenly became Twilight and Hunger Games-esque authors, straying from what they knew. Also, I don't like being told by someone in a far away city, who could very well be a robot, that because I like this Book A, I will like Book B. 

Love triangle

It's disappointing to see a love triangle already introduced on the back cover/front flap. I have found that means that is what the book is mainly centered around, no matter what other problems the main character is having. Love triangles might be growing stale, but I do like some, especially when done right. I do not like it when I see that's what a book is about. I want it to be introduced in the book and even better, if it is unexpected of sorts. 

Do you agree or disagree with these? What are some words/topics/phrases that make you stay away from reading a book? 

Review: OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu

Title: OCD Love Story

Author: Corey Ann Haydu

Publication date: July 23, 2013

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Source: an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

When Bea meets Beck, she knows instantly that he's her kind of crazy. Sweet, strong, kinda-messed-up Beck understands her like no one else can. He makes her feel almost normal. He makes her feel like she could fall in love again. 

But despite her feelings for Beck, Bea can't stop thinking about someone else: a guy who is gorgeous and magnetic... and has no idea Bea even exists. But Bea knows a ton about him. She spends a lot of time watching him. She has a journal full of notes. Some might even say she's obsessed. 

Bea tells herself she's got it all under control, but this isn't a choice, it's a compulsion. The truth is, she's breaking down... and she might end up breaking her own heart.

Review: 

Lucky for me, I don't get panicky in small dark spaces or anything. I'm a different breed of crazy.

I knew coming into this that OCD Love Story and my feelings on it could go either way. I was intrigued of the different aspect that this YA book held since I haven't read any other OCD-centered book before. At the same time, I was hesitant at the thought that the main character is a teenage girl stalker. A teenage girl stalker is way different than a normal stalker in my mind. A teenage girl can have different narratives while stalking and can verge on being annoying, at least that is what I pictured them to be.

In a way, I was correct in Bea being annoying. In another, I wasn't. After a stalking incident with her ex-boyfriend and a traumatic experience with a former crush (boyfriend? croyfriend? boyfrush?), Bea was forced to go to therapy. Now, in addition with her one-on-one sessions, she has to go to group therapy. There, she sees that she is in the same group as the very hot guy she had to calm down earlier during a blackout.

This book was slightly disturbing in the way that wasn't bad or good. I think the outcome was what Haydu was wanting, but I still sat afterwards and wondered if I liked it or not. I did and I didn't. Yes, it's another floppy answer, but this book evokes many floppy answers from me. Many people, myself included, will probably joke that they or someone else has OCD. I think of OCD in a way that everything needs to be in order and you can get pretty darn touchy about it. But Haydu shows it in a different light. Bea stalks. To "help" her anxiety, she picks a person and obsessively takes notes on them, following them, "checking up" on them, and that anxiety won't go away until she has done her "duty." There is also another detail that casts her in a "Um, let me just keep my distance here" light. SEMI-SPOILER Her violent thoughts made me hesitant, I'll admit. I think everyone wonders about how those seemingly harmless people can commit horrible things and there's the fact on what happened with the traumatic incident she saw in her past, but Bea really took it to the extreme. SEMI-SPOILER DONE.

With all that, I think Bea and Beck were intentionally set as characters you would have mixed feelings for. I may be wrong and Haydu wanted us to sympathize with them, but I felt a vibe saying that we were supposed to be iffy about them both. They are messed up characters and make really stupid decisions. The decisions they make are ones that force you to howl with frustration and tell them point-blank that they are screwed up. I think that was the whole point though. They ARE screwed up. They have panic attacks, anxiety issues, and deal with them differently. It affects not only themselves, but the people around them.

Bea's best friend Lisha is a character that I had mixed feelings on and then the dislike finally took over at the end. I put myself in her place and saw how hard it must be to have Bea as a best friend. Bea is selfish. She sees her problems, denies that they are really problems, but allows her life to be ruled by them and to satisfy her anxiety cravings, she makes the people around her miserable. She shows a little improvement in one scene when Lisha's life starts to crack, but Bea still is placing herself center stage. However, no matter how Bea behaves, I couldn't condone Lisha's. Like any best friend, she probably didn't know how to act when Bea was being odd. But that did NOT give her an excuse to do some of the things she did.

The love story aspect of OCD Love Story wasn't exactly what I was expecting either. It had its moments, but this book was mainly about her problems and his problems. They had their sweet interactions and I'm not necessarily saying that the romance was bad. I just hope that no one places a firm expectation on it. They tried to help each other and Bea wanted to lessen his pain while appearing fine herself. She wanted to love him and did, but she couldn't behave like a normal sort-of girlfriend when she was stalking some other man. In amidst of the romance, Bea made me feel like I was cringing all throughout the book. I was embarrassed for her and sometimes that can be the worst emotion for a reader to feel. I already feel stressed about my own life as it is!

Unfortunately, if I did rate by stars, it would lose at least half of one based on the ending. Haydu seemed to attempt at a not-so-clean ending, but it still felt a little too neat. A little too unrealistic. A little too odd. However, odd can probably be ignored since that was the reoccurring theme.

This is a hard book to review because it was a hard book to read for me. It dealt with odd and somewhat disturbing things. It involved characters that I didn't necessarily like or enjoy. It dealt with issues that I hadn't been exposed to before. That might all seem negative, but overall, I applaud the author for writing this book. She wrote something that I personally think is unconventional in YA fiction. Her work was brave. Slightly uncomfortable and probably not a book I will read again, but brave.

Verdict: A book that I didn't necessarily enjoyed, but was glad to have read with romantic and relationship plusses mixed with cringe-worthy and weird negatives.

This is an ARC. Any quote used may be changed.

Presenting a Blogger...Jasprit and Rachel from The Reader's Den

I originally thought to space out blogger interviews more, but I really enjoy doing these so I let my impatience get the better of me. Today, The Reader's Den girls, Jasprit and Rachel, are here! Their blog was one of the first ones that I read and really enjoyed (one of the first I subscribed to as well). These ladies are some of the nicest bloggers and they're great at commenting. Since I always looked up to them, I'm giddy with pleasure that I've gotten to interview them!

Jasprit! Rachel! *waves* Please introduce yourself and your blog. 

Hello, we’re Jasprit and Rachel and we can be found on the blog The Readers Den! 

The really interesting thing to me is when people co-blog (although it is common in the community). Why did you decide to be co-bloggers? How did you meet? 

J: Rachel and I met on Goodreads, we had quite a few friends in common, and we were always popping up on each other’s feeds that our friendship was inevitable. I think it was Rachel’s review of Catching Jordan that made me realise that Rachel had brilliant taste in books. Before you knew it, Rachel was contributing more and more gorgeous reads to my already out of control tbr pile and we had started pining over our fictional crushes through our read-alongs (Rachel has finally agreed that Alex is mine). And then a year or so after we met, I started my own blog, and because we already chatted nearly every day on Goodreads, I figured it would be fun to have Rachel on the blog too contributing with her awesome reviews. I think we had originally decided that Rachel would be a guest reviewer on the blog, but we ended up having so much fun, that we quickly became co-bloggers. Rachel is one of the sweetest people that I couldn’t have asked for a better co-blogger.

R: Ditto on all of Jasprit’s comments above. I couldn’t ask for a better co-blogger or an easier person to work with.  I work full-time and the commitment of running a blog on my own would consume my life.  This is why it’s so very nice to have a partner with comparable tastes and a similar vision as far as the blog goes.  

Yay for Goodreads!

What genres do you love reading and/or reviewing the most? 

J: I’m a contemporary girl at heart, nothing makes my day more than coming back home from a tiring day at work and curling up with a contemporary book which could take me anywhere such as a fun road trip across the US. I love the feeling that I can be completely lost in a gorgeous world, with a sweet romance and huge smile left on my face afterwards.

R: I find myself gravitating towards adult mystery/suspense/romance novels lately.  They are my original love in reading, and the plots are usually exciting enough to keep you anxiously flipping through the pages to find out what happens next. 

I definitely agree with both! Feeling lost in a book is a great moment to have.

Top three favorite authors? 

J: This is a tough one I have so many favourites, but three which immediately come to mind are: Sarah Alderson, Jenny Han, and Miranda Kenneally.

R: Karen Marie Moning, Tarryn Fisher, and Melina Marchetta. These are the three that immediately come to mind, yet there are SO MANY MORE!! 

I need to go to my library ASAP because I shamefully admit that I've only read one book total out of all those authors...

Describe your dream bookish event. 

J: My dream bookish event would take place in the US of course; it has always been my dream to visit there one day. All my favourite blogging friends would be there too (Sunny you’d totally be there!). We would have a fantastic day/week with amazing bookish adventures. It would be a bit like BEA, but just with my favourite authors and blogging friends that I’ve been dying to meet!

(And RIP Cory Monteith)

R: Jasprit’s sounds lovely and like a dream.  I’m currently at the ALA in Chicago and I have to say that it rocks!!  I do love an event that includes authors with a wicked sense of humor!  I’m lucky enough to live in Southern California, and we have no shortage of authors coming on through!  Did I say how lucky I am?

I forgot that you're from the UK, Jasprit, it would be amazing if you came here! I would also love that dream of bookish adventures with bookish people and a dream-like BEA. Rachel, you are incredibly lucky and I am so jealous. Note: This post is being published late so ALA is done now, but still exciting that she was at one point there :) 

If you could be like one character in a book (that includes the setting he/she is in!), without the worry of dying though, who would you like to be? 

J: Tris from the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. She is such a strong and fearless character and of course because she gets to spend all her time with Four! <3

R: Mac from the Fever series! She lives in a dark, fantastical world with powers that make her special AND she has JERICHO BARRONS!!! What more incentive would you want before running?! 

What is one book that you have recently read and loved? 

J: Parallel by Lauren Miller, this book thoroughly messed with my head, but I just loved it so much, I think it’s one of my definite favourites of 2013!

R: Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks. It’s a historical adult romance that was just amazing!  I listened to the audio version and the narrator was PERFECTION!  

I am very excited now because I'm going to be reading Parallel soon AND I've been wanting audiobook suggestions!

Anything else you ladies would like to add? 

J: Thank you for having us on your lovely blog Sunny! 

R: Yes, thank you Sunny for having us on your blog! I enjoy reading your insightful reviews!

So sweet. Thank you both! 

This or That: 

Chocolate or vanilla?  

J: Chocolate

R: Chocolate!

Ebook or paperback?   

J: Both, I can’t go anywhere without my Kindle, but if I end up loving a book so much, I usually have to have a gorgeous paperback copy on my bookshelf too.

R: Both as well.  I love my e-books because I can highlight passages and view other’s notes, and in terms of space, you can’t beat an e-copy! But there is something to say about a physical copy! You can hold it, smell it, and pet it! 

Star Wars or Star Trek?  

J: I haven’t watched either, but if I did I would probably prefer Star Wars I think..

R: Star Wars! 

Brunette or blonde? (of the boy variety) 

J: Blonde

R: Brunette

Winter or Summer? 

J: Summer.

R: Summer. 

Wow, you guys have similar tastes even outside of books! 

~*~

Once again, I'd like to thank Jasprit and Rachel for taking time out to answer questions. I love reading their posts and reviews and they're definitely considered "big bloggers" to me. Now that you know them (or just know them more), stop by their blog to say hello! 

Blog: http://thereadersden.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JasKaur11 and https://twitter.com/rachelanbig

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4841793-jasprit and http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5481477-rachel