Thursday, January 31, 2013

Month 1 is Done!

1 month down, 11 months to go! Today brings an end to the month of January where I read 41 books! I'm ahead of the game and still feeling good about my challenge.

Some things I've learned so far:
1. Read things you're interested in. This is a daunting task and I need to stay motivated to keep at it by only reading books that I'm interested in.
2. But that doesn't mean you only need to stay with easy to read books or books in my genre. Stray from your genre a little.
3. Take recommendations from friends, that might help you discover books you never would have read before.
4. If you don't want to read that day, then don't. Reading is something I enjoy and I want to keep it that way and do not want to turn it into something that I am forcing myself to do.
5. Borrowing from the library sometimes saves me SO much money on books!

I'm in the middle of book 42 now but I'm tired and have a full day tomorrow so I'm going to crash early instead of staying up to finish it. But I think things are going well so far :)

xo,
Erin


Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Book 41

Day 30:

Today was a day full of reading and relaxation. I've been having pretty bad headaches lately and have been feeling very drained so it was nice for me to just chill out on my bed and read.

Book 41: Everbound


Author: Brodi Ashton
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 358
Series: Yes, Book 2 of 3, book 3 has yet to be released
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 30, 2013

4 stars
Last year Nikki was taken to the Everneath, a place for the Everliving, immortal beings that feed off human emotions. Nikki was Cole's sacrifice and he fed off of her for 100 years, only 6 months on the Surface in her own time. The only thing that kept Nikki sane was her tie to her boyfriend Jack. Now she must return to the Everneath with Cole and fight for the love she has lost, while Cole continues to fight for her heart.

This author has a thing for cliffhanging endings, something I am very much not a fan of! I understand the idea of keeping readers in suspense and guessing over the long wait for the next book, but this ending just pissed me off! I enjoyed the rest of the book and the challenges they had to face in the Everneath. To me it seemed that the series was over, but then he threw a major curve ball and it just made me so mad. But I liked the book. The writing was clear and engaging and it was easy to read.

I wasn't feeling much like reading tonight, so I'm going to take tonight off.

xo,
Erin

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Book 40

Day 29:

Today I realized the possible downfall of this challenge, besides the obvious of course haha. Reading has always been something I have loved and most of the time it has never felt like an obligation or a chore. I knew that there were some days when I would need a break from reading. After last night and that long book, I felt that the obligation of finishing it and getting it back to the library in time was more than reading that book for the enjoyment of it. I took most of the day away from it, had another doctors appointment, did some shopping, watched tv, and only then was I okay with reading something for a little while. I definitely needed something newer, light and easier to read and that was what I chose. No classics or psychology heavy books for me tonight.

Book  40: The Archived



Author: Victoria Schwab
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 321
Series: Yes, this is book 1 of 2. This book only came out a week ago and the second one should not be released for a while.
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library (first one to read it :) )
Date Read: January 29, 2013

3 stars
There are three layers: the Outer, the world that most people know; the Narrows, an in-between place; and the Archives, which consists of the Library, the place where the Histories are stored. Histories are the bodies of the dead that contain the history of their life. The Histories don't always stay asleep though. Sometimes they escape to the Narrows, and it is the Keepers job to return them, and occasionally they escape into the world and then it is a job for a pair, the Crew to bring them back. Mackenzie is a Keeper dealing with the loss of both her grandfather, who passed on her job, and her little brother when her family relocates to an apartment in the Coronado Hotel. There she meets Wes, a fellow Keeper. But something is not right. There are more Histories than usual in her territory and there is some suspicious altering of memories from deaths that had occurred in the hotel long ago. As Mac tries to figure things out she gets even more embroiled in the plot to take down the Archives.

The premise of this book was interesting to me, the idea of the dead being stored on shelves in a library, and the effort to keep them out of the living world. I don't think I felt much depth in the characters though and so I wasn't that invested in things. I wanted to know who was doing things, but I wanted to know a lot sooner and it felt a little drug out. It has potential and I will probably read on to see what's next for this series as it was a fast read. To me it seemed as if it could be a stand alone novel so I was curious to see that it was going to be a series. Guess I'll have to wait and find out.

I found some more books on Goodreads to add to my list, and am now going to crash instead of starting another book because my head is still hurting.

xo,
Erin

Book 39

Day 27:

Well, my procrastination reared its ugly head yesterday. The book I started yesterday and finished today was large, and due back to the library today with no possible renewals. I also had a doctors appointment and errands to run, so I cut it a little close on time. It is nearly 3am and I only just finished, but as long as it is in before they open it will not be late ;)

Scooter and the book!

Book 39: A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire



Author: George R. R. Martin
Genre: Science Fiction Fantasy
Pages: 674
Series: Yes, Book 1 of 5
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 28, 2013

3.5 stars
I had high hopes for this book as it is has been heralded as a wonderful fantasy series and tv show. I was interested in the tv show and of course felt the need to read the book first. It tells the story of a game of thrones, told by eight different narrators. King Robert and his evil queen Cersei Lannister come to visit his old boyhood friend Lord Eddard (Ned) Stark and ask him to be the Hand of the King as the previous one, Stark's own brother-in-law had died (been murdered really). Though he does not want the position he has to go, bringing his two daughters Sansa and Arya with him, and leaving three sons and his wife Cat behind, his heir Robb, the littlest Ricken, and Bran, an 8-year-old climber who had been crippled from a fall. He sends his bastard son Jon to protect the realm at the Wall. All of his children possess a direwolf, a wolf twice the size of a normal wolf and the Stark family symbol. They were found beside their dead mother and were taken as a sign. Each wolf is bonded very closely with its child. Thus it begins with Ned trying to figure out who killed Lord Arryn and maimed his son. Unfortunately, the plot is much more complicated than that and the Lannisters much more devious. Meanwhile, over the Wall, Dany, the heir of the murdered former king with the blood of the dragon begins to make her way to reclaim her throne.

If the plot is hard to understand now, it was even more difficult to read, specifically in the beginning when all of the characters were being introduced. With so many narrators it was difficult to keep the plot connected. I enjoyed the characters and each of their stories, but for me it was the writing that I felt was this book's downfall. The writing was VERY longwinded and took me ages to get through and I am a fast and steady reader. His prose was often superfluous and I just felt like it drug on at times and I just wanted to know what happened and have it be done with. Also, I know it was to be expected but the sheer amount of incest, scheming and fighting did not add up in its favor, at least in the way it was portrayed. I'm not sure at this point if I will chose to read the other books, which is sad because I do like the characters but I think at this point I might rather just chance watching the tv show instead. A sad day when I chose the film version over the original.

xo,
Erin

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Book 38 - and some cool news!

Day 27:

Today was another reading filled day, and surprise of surprise I managed a regular sleep schedule! Hopefully this will continue. I also had a very exciting experience related to the book that I read and will recount it a little later on.

Book 38: The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients



Author: Dr. Irvin D. Yalom
Genre: Psychology
Pages: 268
Series: No, but the author of several other books
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library through Marina
Date Read: January 27, 2013

4 stars
I liked this book by Dr. Yalom, a famed psychoanalyst, a lot better than his previous book that I read a few days ago. It was written later in his life and reflects his growth. The book is broken up into five sections: the nature of the therapist-patient relationship, from process to content, issues that arise in the everyday conduct of therapy, the use of dreams, and the hazards and privileges of being a therapist. It can read a bit choppy as most chapters are relatively short because each contains a different insight and examples from his time as a therapist, but this was acknowledged in the introduction due to the sheer nature of the novel. I found it very helpful, and actually plan to purchase this book for myself because it had so many great tips and things that I could really learn from as I proceed to become a therapist myself.

I was struck by a question regarding therapist self-disclosure, a personal interest of mine, when reading this book. It was a burning question in that I had to stop reading and pick up my computer as I had decided to email him in the hope of answering my question. I figured that if I received a response at all, that it would take a long time, perhaps weeks. Much to my surprise and excitement, Dr. Yalom emailed me back just FIVE minutes later and started a dialogue to my question that would expand over a few other emails. It was a very neat experience for me and I was very happy to hear from him and his response to my question :)

I began reading a very fat book today, nearly 700 pages. It's interesting but slow going and I'm only 250 pages in and it is due to the library tomorrow, so I'll have to be speedy about it then, but for now I shall rest.

xo,
Erin

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Book 37

Day 26:

No snowboarding today, the conditions were just too chancy to risk it, but I still had a very lovely relaxing day and evening. I was still in a very intellectual mood today and continued to want to read psychology related books. I'm not sure if it is because now most of my friends have started back to school and new classes with new opportunities to learn. I may not have always loved some of the rigors of school, but I always loved learning. For me reading is a form of learning, and I'm learning a lot.

Book 37: A Shining Affliction: A Story of Harm and Healing in Psychotherapy


Author: Dr. Annie G. Rogers
Genre: Psychology, Nonfiction
Pages: 336
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library through Marina
Date Read: January 26, 2013

4.5 stars
I loved this book! It was a story of a young female psychotherapist, Annie Rogers, who is doing her clinical internship at a school for disturbed children in Chicago. While there she meets a  troubled young boy named Ben who was abandoned by his mother, and then removed from his first foster family after they left him in the house during a fire as an infant. But Annie has problems of her own, painful and forgotten memories from her childhood and her parents, several personas in her head, as well as a difficult and strained relationship with her own therapist. It is eventually this relationship that causes her own breakdown and hospitalization. After a two month stay and finding a new psychoanalyst, Blumenfeld, she begins to deal with her own feelings related to her father and mother's sexual abuse and her therapist's abandonment. She returns to Ben, and they begin to heal together through play encounters with both learning and growing from the other, in that a child who was though to be untreatable has developed a mutual attachment bond with someone.

This book was uncommonly rewarding and fascinating for me to read. First, her interactions with Ben were my favorite part of the book. I love children and want to work with similar cases and their play interactions and the things it told Annie were really interesting. The reader is also able to see Annie dig herself out of her own hole and become the person that she was meant to be. Her therapists never focused on clinical diagnoses but merely got to know the whole person, which is something I hope to do myself. And due to my own experiences I always enjoy reading about people who have gained success in the psychological field after struggling with their own problems. The only thing that annoyed be about this book was occasionally when she described her own neuroses, the language was difficult to understand and felt a little superfluous. Otherwise, it was a breeze to read, well-written but readable, which to me is the best kind of book.

I started another psychology related book tonight but I think I'm going to break for sleep early tonight because I think I need it and finish it tomorrow. Funny how early for me is 1am haha. I also need to tackle a very fat book that is due in two days and has no renewals, eek!

xo,
Erin

Friday, January 25, 2013

Book 36

Day 25:

Today was a snow day, which for me after a failed eye doctor appointment due to a large power outage meant staying in snuggled up in my bed with my animals, reading. I went to the library again, and finally I'm making a little headway with the number of books I have checked out in that the number is nearly 20, hah! It is funny to think of but it is actually progress for me. Recently there have been several new releases to trilogies I have been reading and instead of devouring those and finishing them quickly and easily I opted to tackle one of my psychology books today. Like I have said in the past, I was a psychology major and want to go to school to be a clinical psychologist. I have found several intriguing books about psychology in general, psychotherapy, and my personal fascination and clinical interest, depression. There are currently six other psychology related books in my to read pile still.

Book 26: Love's Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy


Author: Dr. Irvin D. Yalom
Genre: Psychology
Pages: 304
Series: No, although he is the author of several psychology related books and I have another one written by him in my pile
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library through Marina
Date Read: January 25, 2013

2 stars
This book is written by a famed psychotherapist and tells ten tales of patients each dealing with different dilemmas. The patients though are not the true focus of this book, but the therapist himself as he deals with some shocking countertransference issues. Countertransference is an occurrence in psychology when a helper projects their own unresolved issues onto their client, which may interfere with the helping if left unresolved. Some cases of this were his sexualization of patients as well as the notion that he should turn away an obese woman because her form disgusted him. In the beginning before she began to lose weight, he wouldn't touch her or even look her in the eyes, and this woman noticed his behavior. I thought it was surprising and slightly unethical that he decided to deal with these issues of countertransference by taking on clients that provoked them, instead of dealing with his own issues outside of therapy. Many of the stories were interesting if a little long winded, sometimes I felt like he drug out the writing and the tale, and I did not like the man. I had such high hopes for this book and unfortunately they did not pan out. I originally thought to rate this as a 3 star book and as I began writing my review I realized that it had a lot more venom in it that a typically 3 star review would have, and that there were several things about this book that really irked me.

But now no more reading tonight as I have plans tomorrow, possibly snowboarding but we shall see how the roads go.

xo,
Erin

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Books 34 and 35

Day 24:

It's been nearly a month since I decided to embark on this challenge and it has been going pretty well, 11 books ahead haha. But I have been lucky or unlucky, however you want to look at it, to not have many pressing responsibilities during this time. Now all of my friends have gone back to school, and I'm stuck at home feeling a bit aimless and longing for something that would make me feel productive. I have been applying and interviewing for jobs, and kept wondering if I would never find the right one for me. Today though, I heard back from the first place that I interviewed at almost two months ago, and if things work out I might have a little less time on my hands for reading. I'm keeping my fingers crossed :)

Book 34: Ruthless Game


Author: Christine Feehan
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 376
Series: Yes, book 9 of 10
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 24, 2013

3.5 stars
This is the next book in the Ghostwalker series that I mentioned in my post yesterday. This book is about Rose and Kane, a couple who were paired together through the madman Whitney's breeding program in the hopes that they would produce a superchild due to their psychic and genetic contributions. However, Kane helped a now pregnant Rose escape from the compound and from Whitney, losing her in the process. When they are finally reunited, Rose is nearly ready to give birth and they have to fight for themselves and for their baby, to keep them from both a drug cartel that Rose was sold out to as well as from Whitney. This book continued with the team introduced in the previous book Street Game, and I really enjoyed reading more about them. It was also nice to have a couple that was firmly together the whole book, fighting for the family they had created and the family of their team members. And even though they were new parents, it was still very romantic. Most romance novels involve a separation or denial of feelings in some way, but that was not the case here and I relished the change.

Book 35: Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian


Author: Eoin Colfer
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 328
Series: Yes, book 8 of 8
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library (but I own all of the other books in this series)
Date Read: January 24, 2013

3.5 stars
This is the final book in the Artemis Fowl series, a series that I have been reading for a long time. Speaking of a long time, it took me a long time to actually get myself to read this book. I first checked it over the summer but didn't have a chance to read it before school started again and had to check it back in unread. Then once I graduated, I checked out a large number of books that I had been wanting to read but hadn't had time to, but again I didn't read it in time and had to renew it. Now, this book and I were both under a time crunch, meaning that it had to be read in the next couple of days as there were no more options to renew. These books are the kind for me for some reason where I delay reading them but always enjoy them when I do. Opal Koboi, the evil fairy has made her last stand, orchestrating her release from prison and reanimating fairy warriors at Fowl Manor in the beginning of an end that could wipe out all human life. Her release and its consequences have put both the fairy world and the human world in utter disarray. It is up to Artemis, his trusty bodyguard Butler, and his fairy friend Captain Holly Short to figure out how to defeat her before sunup, while Foaly the brillant centaur works on the problems below in the fairy world. It was definitely an interesting conclusion to the series with the reader who has been with Artemis since the beginning really being able to see the changes he has made as a character. If you read just one of the books I think Artemis would look like a very flat character, stubborn, arrogant, and unchanging, but in this case his change is gradual but monumental. And like my favorite endings (happy endings aside) it tied back into the beginning of the series.

Hmm, time for me to snuggle in to sleep with a silly warm little dog.

xo,
Erin

Book 33

Day 23:

Okay, so yesterday I didn't feel like much like reading. I went down for most of the day to College Park to see my friends. I was pretty tired when I got home and couldn't decide on a book. I started one book only to decide it wasn't for me and ended up repeating this with another book today. I did manage to finish one book today and am halfway through another. I would like to finish it, but my head is killing me and telling me I should just go to sleep instead. I like writing these entries at night before I go to sleep though because for me night is my most productive time. It is also the time when I usually read and I like to keep the books fresh in my mind when I'm writing about them.

Book 33: Street Game


Author: Christine Feehan
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 423
Series: Yes, 8 of 10
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 23, 2013

3.5 stars
I love Christine Feehan's books, she was the author of book #4 from the Dark series as well. This book comes from the Ghostwalker series, the series I started last and was most reluctant about. However, I've found that I do enjoy them. They are military who thought that psychic enhancement was a good program for soldiers or individuals that were tested on as children, and it would have been if it had not been run by Peter Whitney. Whitney is a madman who enhanced given psychic abilities as well as changed their DNA in order to turn them into a sort of supersoldiers, ghostwalkers who can complete missions undetected. He's even gone so far as to pair ghostwalkers to make the perfect combat couple. This book is about Mack and Jaimie, a couple that had broke up a few years before over Mack's unwillingness to commit because of his love of his job, while Jaimie psychically can't stand the violence it produces. This was a new team (team 3 of 4 ghostwalkers), and I wasn't so sure about introducing more characters when there are already so many others that still need a story, but I did enjoy them. I liked the romance aspect of the book, but the writing regarding a few of the missions seemed disjointed, so that you forgot that they still had that to deal with it when it was suddenly thrust upon them again.

Right now, I'm about halfway through book #9 in this series and my plan is to finish it before I go to the library tomorrow to pick up some more books they are holding for me. But for now I need to work on getting rid of this migraine.

xo,
Erin

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Books 30, 31, and 32 from today and yesterday

Day 21:

Well, my mom and I had an amazing time on our trip! Our room was gorgeous, and so was the rest of the inn, I got to see my Ravens advance to the Super Bowl, introduced my mom to the Princess Bride movie and I read the book that our room was based on! The library in the inn was amazing, filled with a good mixture of classics and contemporaries and I can't wait to stay there again and find something new to read. I'll post some pictures of our adventure soon!

Also, it occurs to me (a little late I might add) that I never really explained my rating system. One star is the worst and five is the best, but what exactly do those mean to me?

1 star: I just plan did not like it. I'm lucky I made it through this book in the first place.
2 stars: It was okay. There was something about this book that was off or really bothered me. In some cases the potential for better may have been there and was not capitalized on.
3 stars: I liked this book. It may not have been anything crazy special, but it was an easy, nice read. Anything 3 stars and above is good for me.
4 stars: I really liked this book. But something may be missing for me to not give it 5 stars or maybe I'm just getting a bit stingy with my 5 star ratings haha.
5 stars: It was amazing, one of my new favorite books. It will be something that will stick with me for awhile.
Anything in the middle: For me it may have fallen in between two of these categories, 2.5 stars is better than 2, and there had to have been some quality that pushed me towards the middle.


Book 30: The Princess Bride



Author: William Goldman
Genre: Fantasy, Classics
Pages: 398
Series: No, but there is a brief sequel included in the most recent printing
Purchased or borrowed: Borrowed from the Boonsboro Inn
Date Read: January 20, 2013

4 stars
While searching for more classic books a few weeks ago, I came across this one and dismissed it out of hand. I'm not really sure why I thought that this one wouldn't be worth reading, because it absolutely was. We stayed in the Westley and Buttercup suite at the Boonsboro Inn and I thought it would be fitting to read the book that our room was based upon, and because I loved the movie, I definitely wanted to be able to compare the book to it. The story is told by William Goldman, an author who loved hearing his father read Princess Bride to him as a 10-year-old. So when his own son turns 10 he seeks out a copy of the book for him only to find out that his dad had only told him the "good parts" version, leaving out all of the boring parts. This starts him on his journey to print the good parts version of the story of Westley and Buttercup, full of adventure and romance. It was a longish read, but it flew by because the story was so engaging. I'm definitely glad that I changed my mind and decided to read it.

Book 31: Rootless



Author: Chris Howard
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 336
Series: Not sure, but as far as I can tell no
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 21, 2013

3 stars
This book is about a tree builder named Banyan. It is a post-apocalyptic society where there are no more trees, plants, animals, or paper. After the Darkness, the moon is now a lot closer, the tides are messed up and are continually eroding the Earth and sand/dirt storms are the normal. So Banyan builds metal trees and landscapes with his father, until his dad is kidnapped. Banyan takes a new job where the owners daughter drops a picture, one with real trees, and his father chained to them. Banyan sets out to find his father and the trees and has quite a time on the way. Surprisingly enough, I really enjoy post-apocalyptic books, considering I can not watch a movie and hate thinking about the end of the world. This was an interesting and different premise than most that I have read, if a bit environmental. I liked it, I just didn't love it.

Book 32: Eve and Adam



Authors: Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 291
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 21, 2013

3.5 stars
Evening Spiker, or Eve, was in a terrible car crash where her leg was nearly lost. She wakes up in the hospital feeling a bit hazy and is suddenly rushed off by a strange boy named Solo to her mom's billion dollar research facility where she begins to heal. However, she soon becomes bored and so her mom tasks her to make the perfect simulated man, Adam. But there is a lot more to her fast healing, the facility and her project than she knows and Solo is the one who begins to figure things out. This was a very neat idea for a book considering the topic of genetic engineering and cloning. If you could change things about yourself, make a copy of someone you loved and lost, cure diseases, and choose the qualities, appearance, and age of someone, would you? There are a lot of people that would, and this book investigates the possible downsides when scientists go against their ethics in the name of "science" while still keeping everything interesting and fun. 

Mkay, it's time for me to go to sleep, as I'm going back to school tomorrow to visit my friends. Yay! I can't wait to see everyone, so any reading will probably get done in the late evening if there is time/if I'm not too tired. 


xo,
Erin

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Books 28 and 29

Day 19: 

It's earlier than normal for me, about 2:30 and I'm headed to bed. I have a full next few days that I'm really excited about. My mom and I are headed to a little trip to the Boonsboro Inn after having reading the Nora Roberts series called Inn Boonsboro. We're going to get facials and massages, go eat pizza at Vespa, buy books at Turn the Page, watch my Ravens kick some Patriot ass (hopefully). Each room is named for a couple in literature. We are staying in Wesley and Buttercup and my mom has never seen the Princess Bride, so we'll also be watching that I'm sure. I'll post some pictures of our adventure afterwards. I read about a third of a book earlier before needing something lighter, and these next two books fit the bill.

Book 28: Uses for Boys




Author: Erica Lorraine Scheidt
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 240
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 19, 2013

1.5 stars
This book was about a girl named Anna. She never knew her father, and her mother was never around, always looking for her next husband, and so Anna was left alone. Then by about age 13 she realizes that she can make boys her family, morphing into the woman that her mother is and that her grandmother was, with men using her for sex and always leaving her. The book talks about the serious neglect by her mother, her drug use, dropping out of school, and her abortion at age 16 from a guy that she had moved in with. Then she meets a nice guy named Sam, with a supportive family, one that she wants to become a part of. Okay, so I did NOT like this book. I couldn't handle most of Anna's actions relating to men and with her mother, but she was able to support herself, save money, and get her own apartment. I liked the writing style, with very short chapters but there was no concrete ending. For me, the ending is a big deal. It is the last thing a reader remembers and it closes your whole story. If there had been a different ending, and if Anna had been described a little more positively, I think I might have liked this book a bit better.

Book 29: This is How You Lose Her


Author: Junot Diaz
Genre: Short Stories
Pages: 213
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 19, 2013

2 stars
This was a collection of short stories about love. Yunior, the primary character is a Dominican man, and aserial cheater, having learned by example from all the men in his life. This cheating caused him to lose his love. Many of the stories are about girls that he cared about and lost. I was recommended this by a librarian and probably wouldn't have picked it up if I had found it on my own in the library. I didn't like Junior and the stories did not feel separate as they should, but merely like disconnected chapters, as if the author was too lazy to make it into a real story. Also, the female characters, of which there was only one speaking for herself in the stories, were not well done and most of the time they were only talked about in terms of their bodies or the sex. It was just eh. For stories that are supposed to be about love, I did not love this.

I said I was going to go to bed early, I guess 3am counts right? :P

xo,
Erin

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Books 26 and 27

Day 18

Hi there! Today was great in that I got to relax and just do nothing. I decided to tackle one of my larger books today because I had the time, which is good because I have four others in the stack from the library that are 500+ pages, as well as some of my own. It is pretty easy for me to finish a 200 or 300ish page book in a couple hours, but a larger book obviously takes a little more time. I generally like to finish a book in one sitting if I possibly can. I don't think that you get as much out of the book if you end up reading it in snatches because it can become challenging to remember little details of the story. However, some people don't have the time (or the patience) to sit down and read a whole book at one time, so I always think it's better to read a little than not at all. Reading is one of the few things that I do have the patience for, whereas in most circumstances I can barely sit still and hate waiting for things.

Book 26: The Crimson Crown



Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 598
Series: Yes, this is book 4 of 4
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 18, 2013

4 stars
Okay, so it is a little hard to describe this book considering this is the fourth and final book in the series but I will do my best. A thousand years ago, two young lovers were betrayed, Alger Waterlow to his death, and Hanalea, Queen of the Fells, to a life without love. Her descendent Raisa, the current Queen is struggling. Her mother was murdered, the Clan and the Wizards will not stop fighting, her own army turns against her, and she believes that she will never be able to marry the man she loves, Han Alister. Han meanwhile has his own problems on the Wizard council, as he tries to help Raisa and prove himself worthy of her. It's a bit more complicated obviously, but the story was intriguing and worth its lofty size. I liked the characters and found the epilogue particularly gratifying. I would definitely recommend this series, and its first book is The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima.

Book 27: The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker



Author: Leanna Renne Hieber
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 322
Series: Yes, 1 of 3
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 18, 2013

4 stars
My first book in this challenge, Darker Still, was written by this author. I enjoyed it and decided to see what else she wrote. This book is about a story of six friends brought together in the late 1800s to protect the living and to suppress ghostly power. Currently they are dealing with the demonic acts of Jack the Ripper. The group contains Josephine, the artist, Jane, the healer, Rebecca, the intuition, Michael, the heart, Elijah, the memory, and their leader Alexi, the power. Since they obtained their powers it has been prophesied that at some point a seventh member would arrive in their path seeking refuge and that they would need to know her. Alexi has always known that this seventh member would be his true love. Meanwhile, Percy Parker arrives at the school where Rebecca is headmistress and Alexi a science teacher, and connects with Alexi over tutoring sessions. They begin falling in love but Alexi struggles to convince the group that she is the seventh, when there is someone else lurking nearby who seems to fill the spot just perfectly. I was really intrigued by the premise of this book and found myself drawn into the story and each person's individual abilities. I am looking forward to the other two books in this series and hope that they too are enjoyable reads.

Now that it's actually 5:15am, it's time for me to sleep. I must be insane..goodness.

xo,
Erin

Friday, January 18, 2013

Book 25

Day 17:

Here I am, up late again. I had a nice day but by the evening my head was killing me. I have suffered from migraines since I was in high school and have to take medication for them as they make me very ill and low functioning. I felt one coming on tonight, and even though I am quite a bit ahead of my challenge right now, I decided that I wanted to continue the book that I had started on this morning. In case you didn't already know this about me, I'm quite stubborn..ah well.

Book 25: The Center Cannot Hold: A Journey Through Madness


Author: Elyn R. Saks
Genre: Psychology Autobiography
Pages: 352
Sequel: No
Purchased or borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 17, 2013

3.5 stars
As a general rule, I really enjoy psychological books, especially related to mental illness. I am personally interested in depression and anxiety, as they are the field that I hope to specialize in, and so I tend to read about those most often. This is a book written by Elyn about her struggles with paranoid schizophrenia with a depressive subtype. It is a real and honest portrayal, filled with her struggles with her disorder, rebelling against being medicated, fighting to get her law degree, a job, and a normal life. Her writing isn't something that motivated me to keep reading. It was the subject matter that kept me at this book as it took a lot longer for me to read than a normal book of this size would. However, I love reading a book by someone who has been able to successfully manage their mental illness. Mental illness can never truly be conquered, but it is reassuring to know that it is only a part of you, not everything, and that it does not have to define your life and who you hope to be.

And now it's off to bed, where tomorrow I have a blissful day ahead of me with nothing planned. I hope to sleep in, make a trip to the library, and read a lot :)

xo,
Erin

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Books 23 and 24

Day 16:

Well, it looks like for now I'll work on staying solidly ahead of my goal date. I've been running through books like crazy, mainly because right now I have 26 books checked out from the library. I've been trying to get through some of them before tackling any of the books that I own. Today I had a nice day with my friend Rachel, watching a movie, linner (food between lunch and dinner) and shopping.

Then this evening I settled in with my reading partners, my little men, my Chihuahua-Dachshund mix Scooter and my cat Winnie.

Every night they lay with me, getting progressively closer to the point that I have no room on this small bed for me. Currently as I type this, I'm having to lean my arms over Scooter to get to the keyboard and Winnie is curled up against my hip. Tonight I read two books, both pretty different from one another.  And now, Scooter has his head laying ON the computer, and has been trying to lick it. Silly dog, better hurry up with this, someone obviously wants his Momma to go to bed.

Book 23: Brave New World


Author: Aldous Huxley
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 268
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 16, 2013

3 stars
Okay, so I've been wanting to read this book since I was a senior in high school. In AP English we were given the opportunity to read either 1984 or Brave New World, and I chose 1984. It was totally worth it because I loved it, but I was also curious about this book as well. It is the same vein of genre, with a whole new society. The world has changed in that everyone is created through science, is very sexually liberated and there is a caste system of individuals. Alphas and Betas are top tier and are genetically engineered as such, while Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilon are lower, do menial jobs, and are engineered of lower stature and intelligence. They are created this way before birth and then it is reinforced by messages played on repeat as they sleep, so that they become engrained in their very being. The motto is that everyone belongs to everyone, so there are no partnerships like marriage or relationships, and people physically do not age. Bernard takes his date Lenina out to the Reservations, a place where the people live in the old way as savages, with no premarital sex, marriage and parenthood. On their trip they find a woman, a Beta minus, who was left there by her date, a famous individual in society, after becoming lost. She found herself pregnant and raising her child John as a savage. They return to society and John has a difficult time adjusting to say the least. I really liked the world that Huxley created, but I wasn't thrilled with how the story unfolded. The plot was very hard to follow even though the actual story was not. I feel like I would have liked the book a lot better had it been more tied together.

Book 24: Saving June


Author: Hannah Harrington
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 336
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 16, 2013

4 stars
So I have this thing for road trip books. Maybe it's my fascination with all of the places you can travel and see. I loved Amy and Roger's Epic Detour and Two-Way Street but absolutely HATED On the Road. But this one was intriguing and definitely more depressing. Harper's older sister June committed suicide and now her divorced parents have decided to split her ashes into two separate urns. This doesn't sit right with Harper and so she hatches a plan to drive to California with her best friend Laney to spread June's ashes in the place that she always wanted to go. Jake, a boy that knew June, wants to go with them. Harper doesn't know how they knew each other, but they agree that he can come because he has a van to drive them all in. It isn't just a straight shot drive and they end up stopping several times and there are both funny and heartbreaking times for all of them. On the way Harper falls for Jake. It doesn't make sense, he drives her crazy and is frustrating, but he may just be exactly what she needs. This was a straightforward story about loss and adventure, all of them trying to "save" June, something that they couldn't do for her in life.

Okay, well it's 4:30am and even though I can sleep in tomorrow, it's really time for me to sleep!

xo,
Erin

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Books 21 and 22

Day 15:

Well, two more books down, but I swear they keep piling up. I returned four yesterday, only to pick up three more, and then returned another today, only to pick up 5 more! It is a never ending pile, and I am just trying to work my way through it.

Book 21: The Snow Child



Author: Eowyn Ivey
Genre: Historical Fiction/Fantasy
Pages: 389
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 15, 2013

4 stars
I found this book on Goodreads and it seemed to have some really good reviews, so I figured I would try it. It started off a little slow but really picked up so that I was flying through the book. Mabel and Jack have moved to Alaska in 1910 as a way to get away from it all. They have married for many years but have been unable to have a child. They are struggling there, but one evening they let go of their worries and make a snow child, a little girl. The next day their snow child is destroyed and the gloves, hat, and scarf are gone, and as Jack is outside he sees what he thinks is a little blond girl wearing the clothes. She comes as she pleases, has a pet fox, and stays through the winter, only to disappear during the summer and reappear the next winter. Her name is Faina. Their neighbors, the Bensons, do not believe them, having never glimpsed Faina before, but one day they show up and there she is. Garrett, their youngest son is drawn to her. But Mabel, having remembered a fairy tale from her youth about a little snow child, knows that no good can come from their snow child falling in love.


Book 22: The Thing About the Truth



Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 285
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date read: January 15, 2013

2 stars
I had read other books by this author (Two Way Street, which I loved), but unfortunately the high hopes I had for this book did not match up. Kelsey and Isaac have both been kicked out of their private high schools and are now starting at public school. Kelsey immediately takes a dislike to him because he is the senator's son and has had a lot of things handed to him. However, they decide to work together creating a new club for school that would combine groups of kids from their school and the local private school in order to build a sense of community. Over their course of their planning, they fall for each other. Unfortunately, both of their lies ruin the event and their relationship. You find this out in the very beginning as the book was told in before and after chapters by both Kelsey and Isaac, which was a bit confusing to me. Kelsey's lie was anticlimactic and I also felt that several of the problems presented in the book, such as parent issues and side plots were left unresolved. But my major concern with this book, was that it was so very high school. Young Adult is a varied genre because of the wide range of maturity levels but most YA fiction that I read doesn't place the emphasis on the ages, but on the story and don't seem targeted towards that younger audience. In this book the high school was central to the story. It's been a long time since I was in high school and I'm not really anxious to read about it, but I liked the author's other books. Oh well.

It's not even 1am yet and I'm already exhausted. I'm halfway through my third book but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

xo,
Erin

Monday, January 14, 2013

Book 20

Day 14

Well, today was another busy day. I got lunch with a friend, went to the library, took a nap, applied for some more jobs, and caught up on my tv shows. I love days like today because I did a bunch of things, but it was very relaxing. However, I'm feeling a little restless. I'm hoping to start volunteering at the hospital again soon and maybe try to find a part time job until I find something more permanent. I'll also start studying for the GRE's soon.

Book 20: Paper Valentine



Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Genre: Young Adult/Fantast
Pages: 304
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 14, 2013

3.5 stars
I had been wanting to read this book for a while and it just came out. I was the first person to read this brand new book from the library. Don't get me wrong, I love libraries, mainly because they save me an insane amount of money with all of the books I read, but I LOVE reading a brand new book.

This book was about Hannah, a girl whose best friend Lillian died six months ago from anorexia, and who can still see and talk to her ghost. Then girls start getting murdered, left surrounded by a collection of toys and a single paper heart. It becomes obvious that this is the work of a psychopath, and Lillian encourages her to try to figure out who the killer is. She begins getting close with a delinquent boy named Finny, who after they come across a body in the forbidden park, the police begin to suspect. The beginning was really slow, but it definitely picked up. The mystery of the killer was pretty good, but I did guess who it was before the ending.

I'm going to start reading another book, but at this point I find it unlikely that I will finish it tonight.
xo,
Erin

Books 17, 18 and 19

Day 13

I'm backkk! The last two days I was in Salisbury, having a great time and had no time to read. But sometimes you need to take a break, and I really enjoyed it. I am happy to have some time to read now, but have a busy week coming up. I was also SO happy to watch my Ravens win and continue their playoff run.

Usually I try to read only one book at a time, but sometimes one needs a break, either from the book or the genre. That was the case with these first two, that I was reading simultaneously. I needed a break both from the classics and the story of my first book so I switched to the second book here. And the third book was something more fun.


Book 17: A Room with a View


Author: E.M. Forster
Genre: Classics
Pages: 240
Series: No
Borrowed or purchased: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 13, 2013

2.5 stars
Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh on this one, but I had much higher expectations for this book. I started this book before It's Kind of a Funny Story, and got about half way through before having to take a break. It was a story of Lucy, who meets a man named George Emerson while traveling with her much older cousin Charlotte as her chaperone. George kisses her, which is very inappropriate at the time, and they continue their travels where Lucy connects with Cecil, a man she agrees to marry once he asks her for the third time. Then the Emerson's, George and his father move down the road, and it becomes a love triangle, with everyone knowing that Cecil is not right for her and that she loves George and will not admit it. I don't know, it was okay, but it could have been so much better. 

Book 18: It's Kind of a Funny Story


Author: Ned Vizzini
Genre: Young Adult/Realistic Fiction
Pages: 444
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 13, 2013

3 stars
So I had heard about this book from the movie that came out recently, but I never saw the movie but the premise seemed interesting. It is about Craig, a 15-year-old with depression. He's been in therapy, was taking medicine, and has tried everything in the book but still can't sleep, eat, and is struggling with being average at his very advanced school. Craig stops taking his medication and decides that he wants to die, so he calls the suicide hotline and checks himself into the hospital. After that, you experience his life in the psychiatric hospital and with the other patients as he works to get better. Craig's depression and how he handled it was realistic, but the story was told in kind of a weird way and I was not very connected to the characters. I wasn't invested in their change and it felt like a passive read for me. Overall this book was just okay.


Book 19: The Secret Lives of Dresses


Author: Erin McKean
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 290
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 13, 2013

4 stars
The next book on my list was nonfiction and not a late night read book. To me a late night book is something interesting but easy enough to read without much thought or complication, just something fun, so that was why I chose this book. This book is about Dora, who returns home when her grandmother Mimi suffers a stroke. Mimi raised her after her parents were killed in a car accident. Mimi  also owned a vintage clothing store, which Dora begins to run while at home. Mimi was a relatively relaxed parent, but always bothered Dora about what she wanted to do with her life. Dora thought that going on to graduate school would land her her unattainable flirty boss, but running the store and interacting with Conrad, a young friend of Mimi's leave her wondering what she really wants to do with her life. Meanwhile, Dora finds out the Mimi had been writing about the secret lives of the dresses in her shop and handing them out to the customers, but hadn't told her. I read one other book about a vintage clothing store, and I loved all of the descriptions and kind of wish there had been more in this book. I wish there had been more about Mimi though. Her character was struggling after her stroke and I didn't feel as invested in her outcome as a reader should. Overall though, it was an enjoyable and good read.

After 4 am again, time for bed.
xo,
Erin

Friday, January 11, 2013

The day has come..

So, I knew this day would eventually arrive, the day where I was unable to read. I got up late this morning and then was getting ready for my trip to Salisbury and hanging out with my sister before she leaves tomorrow. And now I'm riding in the car on my way there and tonight there will be no time or coherence for reading. I did bring a few books with me, so maybe I'll finish one on the way back. But for now, I'm just going to have fun ;)

xo,
Erin

Book 16

Day 10:

Well, here I am at 3am, again. I had a really full, fun day today. I went to an archery range this afternoon with family and a friend because my sister had never tried it before. We had a lot of fun, then did some shopping, and all sat around and played the game Headbandz. Emily and I also tried to compile our music, because due to two unfortunate incidents recently we both lost the majority of our itunes library. It was only then that I had time to read, and I was surprised to find that I didn't really want to. I'm not sure if it was the book that I was reading, or that I was tired, so I decided to take a break from that book and start with something fresh.

Book 16: Timekeeper


Author: Alexandra Monir
Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction
Pages: 288
Series: Yes, this is Book 2.
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date read: January 10, 2013

3.5 stars
Okay, so first let me give a little recap of the first book, otherwise this review will make no sense. In the first book Timeless, Michele Windsor is sent to live with her grandparents after her mom's untimely death and having never known her father. She finds a key that her dad had left for her mother that allows her to time travel, just as her father had done. Through her time travels Michele falls in love with a boy named Philip Walker from 1910. They eventually are unable to be together because of the time difference and her inability to stay in 1910 or bring Philip back to the present. So in this novel, Michele is surprised to see a boy named Philip Walker walk into her classroom at school, but he doesn't remember her. Meanwhile, an ancestor named Rebecca is jealous of Michele's father and her own time-traveling abilities and is planning to kill her. In the seven days she has, Michele must learn as much about her father, time travel, and the past in order to get rid of Rebecca for good.

I really enjoyed the first novel, and I liked this one as well, but it didn't seem to have the same spark to me as the first novel. I did enjoy the premise, was happy to read about the characters again, and it was a quick read. It was also nice to have a little break from the classics and read a much easier writing style.

Tomorrow I'm headed to Salisbury overnight, and then will be back Saturday after hopefully watching my Ravens kick some Bronco ass ;) so probably not much time for reading, maybe on the car ride there, but we will see!

xo,
Erin


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Book 15

Day 9

Hiya,

So not too much time to read today, I spent most of the day visiting family with my sister with only a little time in the morning and before bed today. I'm halfway through my second book but Emily is dragging us up early tomorrow to go do archery, goodness knows why. She just decided it randomly and that we all have to come along, so I don't want to go to bed too late.

Book 15: Pygmalion



Author: George Bernard Shaw
Genre: Classic/Plays
Pages: 119
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 9, 2013

3 stars
So the reason I included the picture of the movie My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn, is that the movie is based off of the play Pygmalion. I had seen the movie before and enjoyed it, but had no idea that it was based off of any written work. It was relatively short, only five acts and I felt that it stayed relatively true to what I observed in the movie. Usually when I watch a movie that is based upon a book, I try to read the book first, because often times movies ruin or change lovely books. It is much easier for me to love both the book and the movie as separate entities and try not to compare them to one another. The play was about a girl named Eliza Dolittle who is an uncultured flower girl that Dr. Henry Higgins takes on as a bet that he will able to pass her off as a lady in 6 months, with lessons in English, dressing, polite conversation, and all manners of being a proper lady. The change over Eliza is remarkable. 

I've been reading a lot of classics lately because I checked out a lot of them from the library. I have a few more stacked in my to read pile which I'll try to break up with other genres, but after that I'll have a wider variety. I've been trying to read a lot of the books from there first, over my own books because there is a time limit and I have a lot checked out. I visited the library again today, and received my free mug for completing the reading challenge and spoke to a librarian that was helping me with something about my 365 books goal. She thought it sounded like a wonderful idea, and that if I were to write up some reviews or to do a top 10 favorite books once I've completed it, that they could make something and post it in the library! I thought that would be a pretty neat culmination of this challenge, considering so many books that I have read and will read have been from the library. 

xo,
Erin

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Books 13 and 14

Day 8 of 365

Hi there,

Not much time to read today. My sister, Emily and I had a busy day. We went shopping, to the movies to see Silver Linings Playbook, which I loved, and the gym, where my cousin who is a personal trainer kicked my ass haha. And now I'm exhausted, laying in bed and feeling like jelly. But I did manage to finish a book I started yesterday and read another before bed.

Book 13: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest


Author: Ken Kesey
Genre: Classics
Pages: 272
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Completed: January 8, 2013

3 stars
Okay, so let me preface this with the fact that in general, I really enjoy books dealing with mental health and hospitals. It's a peculiar thing, but I find it fascinating because it is my field and I have volunteered in a behavioral hospital. I really enjoyed the first half of the book where McMurphy begins to challenge the Big Nurse, but I hated the ending in regards to McMurphy. Neither side decisively won and I was really pulling for him. It was interesting reading about the way mental hospitals used to be, and the treatment patients were given. Regardless, McMurphy was a vehicle of change and brought down Nurse Ratched, but at his own expense.

Book 14: The Dead and Buried


Author: Kim Harrington
Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal
Pages: 304
Series: No
Purchased or borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 8, 2013

4 stars
I read this after I got back from the gym and before bed. I wanted something easy to read, so I didn't go for a classic or anything too complicated. This was a book about a girl named Jade who has just moved to a new town. She finds out at school that a few months ago a girl named Kayla died in the house they just moved into after a suspicious fall down the stairs. Kayla's younger brother Colby begins talking about seeing a glimmering girl in his room, and Kayla has felt a cold presence and had objects moved around in her room. After a party at her house and a round with an Ouija board, a spiritual door was opened and Kayla begins to possess Colby in order to get what she wants, Jade to figure out who killed her. But it isn't just a mystery, it also has a bit of romance in it, with Jade feeling drawn to Donovan, Kayla's boyfriend, the last person who saw her alive, and who most people think killed her. The author did a good job throwing me off the trail of the killer, there were many possibilities. I have a real problem with impatience, so much so that I skip to the end of books and movies to know what happens. I know that this "ruins it" but I just can't wait. Sometimes it's to see if the book ends up how I thought it would, but in this case it was sheer curiosity. Overall, it was a good mix of genres and I liked it.

Now off to go see if I can try to find some space to sleep in this little bed of mine, with a dog and a cat already hogging up a large chunk of it, oy..

xo,
Erin

Monday, January 7, 2013

Books 10, 11 and 12

Day 7 of 365
Hiya!

I managed to read a lot today but also have time for other things too. I hung out with my sister and ate dinner with my family. I also made time for a trip to the library. And this is the result..oy.


The two piles on the right are from the library, they no longer fit in one stack and have gotten a bit out of hand..I can be impulsive, and when I find a new book I want to read, I immediately request it, without concern for the books I already have to read and the ones I have already requested. Whoops. The ones on the left are the ones I own, not counting the 27 nook books or something...I am ridiculous.

But anyways, to the books from today!

Book 10: A Clockwork Orange



Author: Anthony Burgess
Genre: Classics/Science Fiction
Pages: 213
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 7, 2013
Day 7/365

2 stars
Okay, so as you might have noticed, I like to read the classics. But as I am learning, the classics tend to be weird as hell, and I'm left most of the time wondering how they became classics in the first place. This book was written in a type of slang, that left it difficult to understand what the narrator Alex was saying. The premise of the book revolves around Alex, a youth who goes around committing terrible acts of violence including theft, robbery, assault and battery, rape, and murder. His crimes eventually catch up to him and he is imprisoned, but an act while enslaved results in him being the first subject in an experiment to rid the acts of violence from the minds. He is unable to listen to music, have impure thoughts, or threaten someone, among other things without becoming violently ill and needing to somehow fix things. Well, this backfires to say the least. The last chapter also really bothered me. It was not included in the original printing of the book because the publisher didn't like it, but now the author has pushed for the novel in its entirety. I believe that the last chapter is an attempt to make up for Alex's sins and behavior, but to me at that point, he didn't seem very redeemable, and the switch came out of no where. Large behavioral changes out of the blue like the author described are not ones that stick and so to me it did not seem believable. It took me a lot longer to read than a book of this size should have because of the weird style in which it was written, but I got through it and now it is done.

Book 11: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde


Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Classics/Horror
Pages: 144
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 7, 2013
Day 7/365

3 stars
So I've heard of this book and seen them represented in movies before, and it was a quick and short read. The novel begins from the perspective of a friend of Dr. Jekyll and a man who has heard of Mr. Hyde. There have been mysterious circumstances surrounding both Dr. Jekyll, who has become very secluded, eccentric, and not like himself, and Mr. Hyde, a man who is rude, off-putting, and a murderer. You find out that Dr. Jekyll has always had a bit of good and bad in him, and struggled with dealing with the bad, and thought that it might be easier if these two entities became two separate personas, and therein his problems began. It was different than I thought it would be, but I can't exactly explain why. It was an easy read, and I liked it but it probably will not be a book that will stick with me for long.

Book 12: The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts



Author: Gary Chapman
Genre: Non-Fiction, Self-Help
Pages: 208
Series: No, but there are other versions
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 7, 2013
Day 7/365

4 stars
I had heard about the 5 love languages in my Interpersonal Psychology class in college. So when I saw it on Goodreads, I thought I would give it a shot. This book is supposed to be geared towards couples, but I found the information to be applicable anyway. There is also a singles version, but the library didn't offer that one and I saw many people say that reading this had been just as helpful for them. The five love languages are words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. Each person has a different love language and in order to feel as if one is in a loving partnership, be it a relationship, a marriage, a friendship, or between parent and child, you need to express love in the way that they perceive love. So if a person's love language is physical touch, which I believe mine is, they would experience love through a hug or holding hands, while someone whose love language is acts of service would feel loved when their partner helped them with the dishes or cleaned the house. I found this very interesting and informative. I had never thought of this before and it was a neat idea and one that I can see being very helpful individually, or when doing therapy. It's a quick read and I would definitely recommend it. 

Right now I'm a little over halfway done my fourth book and would just finish it, but I have a full day planned with my sister tomorrow, movies, shopping, and food, as she's going back to college in South Carolina this weekend. Mkay, time to go snuggle with my doggy!

xo,
Erin

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Book 9

Hiya,

Well, this post is coming to you at a normal hour of the night, only 9 pm and I already am so tired I can barely stay up, so instead of continuing to read my second book, I've decided to go to bed early like a normal person. But first, here is the review of the book I read today.

Book 9: The Last Unicorn


Author: Peter S. Beagle
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 212
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 6, 2013
Day 6/365

3 stars
I had heard of this book before and heard people compare its style to that of Alice and Wonderland and the Lord of the Rings, so I was intrigued. The premise of the book is about the last unicorn, who finds out that she is the only one left and is determined to find out what happened to the rest of her species. She follows them to King Haggard and the Red Bull, along with a few companions, where the king is determined to collect her. She foils this plan for a while however, and the end is happy but sad. I really enjoyed the first half of the book, but by the second half when the company arrived in King Haggard's domain, it was not the same story that I had enjoyed.

I began to read the Clockwork Orange, but trying to interpret the slang is just too much for me tonight, so I'm going to head to bed. Who knows how long I'll sleep though, last time I tried to go to bed early, I woke up at 1 and couldn't fall back to sleep for hours. Goodnight!

xo,
Erin

Books 7 and 8

Hola,

Well then..it's almost 4 am, again. I definitely have a problem. I know I could write this in the morning but I really like writing right after I finish the book and before bed. Two more books down today, and I cleaned my room, finally unpacking some of my things from school. Today was also the first day since I started this where I started a book but didn't finish it. The book was The Last Werewolf. Sometimes books are just not for you. I took a chance on it, but the beginning didn't grab me and after the first few chapters I was still left feeling confused and didn't want to continue with it, so I didn't. But it was worth it as the two books I read today were both really good, if very different from each other. 

Book 7: Not by Chance Alone



Author: Dr. Elliot Aronson
Genre: Psychology/Biography
Pages: 261
Series: No
Purchased or Borrowed: Borrowed from the library
Date Read: January 5, 2013
Day 5/365

5 stars
Until recently, I had not been very interested in non-fiction books. With little time to read during the hectic school year, when I did manage time, it was usually for something light and fluffy, a quick read or a series that I was already in the middle of. Non-fiction felt much too serious. But now I've realized that not all non-fiction is boring if you're interested in the topic. This book, written by Dr. Elliot Aronson, a famed social psychologist, was fascinating. I have a degree in psychology and had heard his name before, saw this book, and thought I would try it. I was not disappointed. He was a lovely writer, and even though there was quite a bit about psychology in the book (hearing the details of the experiments that I learned about in school was pretty awesome), it was also about his life, his family, and the lessons he's learned. I learned a lot from this book and I really am so happy to be going into the field of psychology. I've also checked out a wide variety of other psychology or psychology related non-fictions that I'm excited about. 

Book 8: Wallbanger



Author: Alice Clayton
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: No
Pages: 300
Purchased or Borrowed: Purchased, Nook ebook
Date Read: January 5, 2013
Day 5/365

4 stars
Okay, so I was hesitant about this book at first. The title had me not so sure about the rest of the book, but it was only a few dollars so I figured why not. Luckily, the title was misleading, this was actually a wonderful story. Simon and Caroline are new neighbors, and meet after Caroline confronts Simon after repeatedly being awoken by his bed companions. I thought that he would be less likable for me because of this, but he really wasn't. He traveled a lot for his job, the women knew about each other and the situation worked for them. They end up spending a lot of time together as each of their two best friends meet and pair off, at first with the wrong friend, who they always saw as their "type". Admittedly, there is usually a formula for these types of novels, where things seem to be going well for the couple, then some big problem occurs where they split up, but they work it out and live happily ever after. This book wasn't like that, the characters fell for each other slowly, going from mutual dislike to mutual love, without any big silly conflicts between them. And the last chapter..was so hilarious that I actually laughed out loud..not so good for my little dog who I woke up from a dead sleep haha.

And speaking of sleep, I could really use some. 
xo,
Erin