Month: April 2014

Cress by Marissa Meyer- Review

Posted April 26, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 2 Comments

Cress by Marissa Meyer My rating: 4.5/5 Stars Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (2014) Length: 550 pgs Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3 Format: Hardcover, purchased from Target Goodreads Synopsis: In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from […]

East of Eden by John Steinbeck- Review

Posted April 24, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 8 Comments

East of Eden by John Steinbeck My rating: 4.5/5 Stars Publisher: Viking Press (1952) Length: 602 pgs Format: Hardcover, checked out from my local library Goodreads Synopsis: Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families – the Trasks and the Hamiltons – whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new, rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal […]

The Liebster Blog Award!

Posted April 22, 2014 in Uncategorized / 9 Comments

I’m so honored that Stefani at Caught Read Handed nominated me for my first blogging award, the Liebster Award! I’ve really been aspiring to dedicate myself to my blog and share content that I love, so this nomination means a lot. Thanks Stefani! This award is typically given to blogs that have less than 300 followers as an opportunity for people to learn a little bit more about them. Here are the rules: List 11 facts about yourself. Answer the 11 questions asked by whoever nominated you. Ask 11 new questions to 9 bloggers with less than 300 followers. You cannot […]

Top Ten Characters I’d Love to Have as a Best Friend

Posted April 21, 2014 in Weekly Features/Memes / 13 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly feature hosted by the fantastic blog The Broke and the Bookish. This week the topic is Top Ten Characters Who___ (fill in the blank)! I’ve found myself reading a lot of books lately with really fantastic side-kick type characters, so I decided to go with Top Ten Characters I’d Love to Have as a Best Friend! 1) Harry Potter from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince– Because who wouldn’t want Harry Potter as their BFF? 2) Zuze from Daughter of Smoke and […]

Free Yourself: The Pressure to Be “Well Read” and Why It Shouldn’t Matter

Posted April 18, 2014 in Bookish Thoughts, Discussions / 5 Comments

I’ll let you in on a secret. I’ve never felt that I’ve been “well read” enough to be an English major. Let’s face it- English majors are often literary elitists. They scoff at reading King Lear or The Wife of Bath in Brit Lit 201 because they’ve already done in it high school. They line up to take that voluntary Shakespeare class. They’ll respond to something that happens with the phrase “Oh, that’s very (enter author’s name here).” It’s intimidating, and often discouraging, when you’re the only one who has to read The Great Gatsby sophomore year of college in […]

Why you should be fangirling over Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell- Review

Posted April 11, 2014 in Books, Five Star Reads, Reviews / 10 Comments

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell My rating: 5/5 Stars Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin (September 2013) Length: 438 pgs Format: Hardcover, checked out from my local library Goodreads Synopsis: A coming-of-age tale of fanfiction, family, and first love. Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan…. But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon […]

Top Ten Most Unique Books I’ve Read

Posted April 7, 2014 in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Features/Memes / 18 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly feature hosted by the fantastic blog The Broke and the Bookish. This week the topic is Top Ten Most Unique Books I’ve Read. This category crosses quite a few genres for me! Top Ten Most Unique Books I’ve Read : 1) Lolita by Vladamir Nobokov- There’s never been quite as elegant, distracting, and unreliable narrator as Humbert Humbert. 2) Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Lani Taylor- Taylor takes on the most unique and elegant approach to the genre of YA angels-and-demons/paranormal romance I’ve read. She’s unparalleled in world building, and her detail-rich writing takes […]

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, Review

Posted April 5, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 4 Comments

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer My rating: 3/5 Stars Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (February 2013) Length: 454 pgs Series: The Lunar Chronicles, #2 Format: Paperback, purchased from my local independent bookstore Goodreads Synopsis: Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison–even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet […]

April Insanity!

Posted April 2, 2014 in Uncategorized / 3 Comments

Hey there! This month is going to be one of the busiest of the entire year for me. As most students can relate, April means midterms, and for English majors that means papers galore. So I wanted to do a round-up of what I’ll be reading/writing/posting this month! The TBR Pile: I’m really excited about my upcoming reads! I just finished Scarlet (expect a review soon) and I was lucky enough to get Cress as a gift over spring break. I’m itching to start the third book in the Lunar chronicles series, but I have more pressing library loans on […]