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Breathless

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Book: Breathless by Jessica Warman

Book Info: Published by Walker Books; 333 pages

Source: Purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA/Contemporary

Find Out More: Goodreads~Barnes and Noble~Amazon~Jessica Warman

Goodreads Summary: When Katie Kitrell is shipped off to boarding school by her distant father and overbearing mother, it doesn’t take her long to become part of the It Crowd. She’s smart, she’s cute, and she’s an Olympic-bound swimmer who has a first class ticket to any Ivy League school of her choice. But what her new friends, roommate, and boyfriend don’t know is that Katie is swimming away from her past, and from her schizophrenic older brother, Will, who won’t let her go. And when he does the unthinkable, it’s all Katie can do to keep her head above water.

I don’t know what to think about Breathless.  I thought her relationship with her schizophrenic older brother was interesting, as was her relationship with her parents.  And I really liked the swimming aspect of the book, even if it wasn’t as important as the summary made it seem.  Speaking of the summary, it is a little misleading…I thought swimming and her brother would be the focus of the book, not Katie getting shipped off to boarding school.

It’s really more about her time at boarding school than anything else.  It’s like her brother’s schiophrenia and her swimming were randomly thrown in as a way to move things along.  There were times when the story dragged, but at the same time, huge chunks of time were completely glossed over and things seemed really random.

It gets a 2 out of 5.  There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but there wasn’t anything right about it either.

The Diary Of Anne Frank

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Book: The Diary Of Anne Frank

Book Info: Published by Random House Publishing Group; 352 pages

Source: E-book via the library

Genre: Non-fiction/Auto-biography

Find Out More: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

I finally read The Diary Of Anne Frank!  I liked it, but not as much as I thought I would.

I liked seeing her experiences of what it was like living in the Secret Annex, and the one thing I was struck by was how things don’t really change.  I mean, I could totally relate to how she felt and the relationships between her and her family.  Some things really are universal.

I’m glad I read it.  But I think I really built it up as this totally amazing book.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s an important, must-read.  But it didn’t really do anything for me either.

It’s great as diary, and seeing her own thoughts and life in hiding.  There were times when I was bored out of my mind reading it, but when you’re in hiding and have to be careful about how much noise you make and that sort of thing, it is to be expected.  I think it’s really more of a coming-of-age story than anything else.

It gets a 3 out of 5.

August Sneak Peak

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Today…let’s talk about what’s in store for August and what happened in July.

I’ll be talking about the Olympics (because who isn’t paying attention to the Olympics?) and reviewing a bunch of books.  Hopefully, I’ll finish Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, Breathless, A Beautiful Dark, The Diary Of Anne Frank, and Unknown.  I just started Their Eyes Were Watching God, so I should be reviewing that one too.  Other than that, I have no clue what I’ll be reading.  Possibly another audiobook but I really should read some of the books I have on my nook that I haven’t read yet.  Maybe I should go with a series, so that I can get some of them out of the way…

I reviewed a ton of books (no surprise there).  Such books included Cinder, Identical, An Abundance Of Katherines and 13 Reasons Why.  I also talked about Pottermore and the Opening Ceremonies.  And I did Top 10 Tuesday all month.  The topics for next month are really interesting, so expect that.

That wraps up July plus what’s coming this month.  Happy Wednesday!

Gymnastics Is Turning Me Into A Crazy Woman

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I’ve been reminded of how much I love watching gymnastics the last few days, and I’ve noticed something.

It’s turning me into a crazy woman.

It’s entirely possible that I was already like this, and the crazy is just amplified by watching the Olympics.  But I’d like to blame it on gymnastics.

Vault.  OH.  MY.  GOD.  Completely speechless after MyKayla Maroney’s vault.  I’m curious as to what the deductions were, but it was a great vault.

I really liked the Romanians on beam.  Unfortunately, we only saw glimpses of the Romanians and the Chinese.  It’s too bad we didn’t see any of the other teams.  Seeing Great Britain once or twice would have been nice.  And Japan.  And whoever else competed.

Russia just fell apart on both beam and floor, and seeing them cry made me want to cry for them.  I really liked their leotards and the glitter in their hair.  What really did it was floor!  There are no words.  I cried.

That’s right, the seeing the U.S. win gymnastics team gold- for the first time since 1996- made me cry.  There was a lot of nervousness and excitement in wondering if it would happen.  (Of course it happened, I’d have been really surprised if it didn’t).  Lots of waiting while they posted the official score.  And then the jumping up and down screaming.  Then a happy dance.  And finally, crying.  It’s just so exciting!

All-around and event finals are coming up, and that will be exciting too.  I can’t wait!

10 Characters I’d Like To Switch Places With For 24 Hours

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Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Brokish.  Every week people share their lists based on the topic of the week.  You can find past Top 10 Tuesday topics here.

Top 10 Characters I’d Like To Switch Places With For 24 Hours

There are so many characters I love and yet it was hard to think of 10 characters I’d want to switch places with.  It did get easier once I didn’t take it so seriously.  It is amazing how many characters who I wouldn’t want to switch places with…which is a really good idea for a future blog post.  So who would I want to switch places with?  Find out below!

  1. Grimalkin from The Iron Fey.  I think it would be easier to assume that I’ll keep mentioning the Iron Fey a lot.  But I love how Grim explains everything with one simple explanation: “I am a cat.”  And I love how he randomly disappears and then randomly appears.
  2. Hermione from Harry Potter.  In a lot of ways, I’m like Hermione.  And if I could be Hermione for a day, I’d love to wander around Hogwarts and see what sort of books wizards read.
  3. Luna from Harry Potter.  I feel like I have some Luna-like qualities, but to be her would be completely amazing.  She’s just…her, and I’d love to see what a typical day for Luna is.
  4. Mary Anne from The Baby-Sitters Club.  I’m going way back to my childhood with this one, but I loved the BSC when I was in elementary school and wished there were more kids in my neighborhood so I could start my own club.
  5. Mary Boleyn from The Other Boleyn Girl (and various non-fiction books).  So, TOBG was my first introduction to Anne’s sister.  There were times I wouldn’t want to be her, of course, but considering she was really the only one in her family who ended up unscathed after Anne’s fall…can you imagine what that would have been like?  Still, I find her an interesting character (and real-life person, of course) and I’d like to see her life.
  6. Jessica Wakefield from the Sweet Valley books.  Another childhood favorite of mine.  I decided to go with Jessica (instead of Elizabeth, who is my favorite from the 50 million SV books out there) because she usually got involved in some crazy adventure.
  7. Any of the girls from Pretty Little Liars.  I did get tired of the series by the 10th one, but I’d still want to switch places with any of them for a day.  Mostly because I’d love to know what it’s like to be rich and get whatever I want but also because of all the shit they get away with.  It would be nice.
  8. Scarlett from Suite Scarlett.  It would be cool to live in a hotel, and while it’s probably not that glamorous or cool, I’d like to think it is.
  9. Cassia from Matched.  It would be nice to have a day where others made my own choices for me.  Seriously, just one day where I’m told what to read, eat and listen to.
  10. Tally from The Uglies.  I’d love to switch places with her for a day.  I’m not sure why, but it seems like she’s having fun.  I do love that world so it would be cool to hang out there for a day.

Skeet Shooting Is An Olympic Sport?

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Every Olympics, I’m always amazed by some of the Olympic sports.

Like skeet shooting, weight-lifting and cycling.  I’m sure they all work really hard at their respective sports, but at the same time, I wonder why I spent an hour or so watching cycling.

I watched a little bit of water polo and men’s volleyball, but it was really more background noise than anything else.  And beach volleyball.  I was utterly baffled as to why the other U.S. team (the non Misty May/Kerri Walsh team) were wearing hats at night.  I get goggles, but hats?  I am so confused.

I have to say that I am really amused by the fact that there’s a beach volleyball court in England.  I don’t know why, but I am.

I have really good prediction skills too.  Sort of.  I was watching the qualification for women’s gymnastics, and correctly predicted that the U.S., Russia, China, Japan and Romania would be amongst the 8 teams in the final.  And Great Britain.  The first five, because those are the countries you would (rightly) associate with really great gymnasts and are the countries that tend to dominate gymnastics.  Great Britain, Italy and Canada, not so much.  But then again, the first 5 tend to overshadow everyone else, to the point that you tend to forget there are other countries competing.

And I do feel bad for Jordyn Wieber.  So I knew that she didn’t make it to all-around because of a technicality, but when I watched it, it was a little hard to feel sorry for her.  I know her dream was shattered but no one’s really talking about how Aly did make it to the all-around finals.  At this point, I feel sorrier for Raisman than Wieber.  Unfortunately, I can not figure out why there’s a two-athlete limit…I know it’s a rule, but how hard is it to explain why it’s a rule?  My thought is that it’s a way to even it out so some of the athletes from countries that aren’t gymnastic powehouses have a chance.

I also watched diving, and I’m always impressed with synchronized diving.  It’s amazing how the divers are in sync and everything.  And swimming!  You can’t forget about swimming.  Seeing Dana Vollmer break a world record was exciting.  Butterfly looks exhausting though.  And the men’s 1o0m breaststroke, where Brendan Hansen just barely beat out the guy from Hungary to get the bronze was exciting.  Especially since he did better than Kitajima, who he has a rivalry with.  And the guy from South Africa breaking the world record.  Swimming was super excited.

Actually, that’s the nice thing about the Olympics.  You get to see a lot of other athletes from a lot of different countries.  And you get to see a lot of sports that you otherwise wouldn’t think of, you know?  Like, when are you going to find yourself watching people riding bikes on t.v.?  Or getting excited over rowing?  Seriously, rowing was exciting to watch.  And then I was like, why am I excited about this?  It makes no sense.  But then again, it’s fun to be excited about things like rowing.  Because when else is this going to happen but the Olympics?

I’m still kind of sad that softball and baseball aren’t in the Olympics, but at least there are plenty of other sports to be excited about.  I suppose that’s enough rambling for today…but it’s not the last time I’ll be rambling on about the Olympics.

Fallen

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Book: Fallen by Lauren Kate

Book Info: Published by Random House Children’s Books; 389 pages

Where I Got It: an e-book via the library

Genre: YA: Paranormal

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Lauren Kate

Goodreads Summary: There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

An immortal guy who is in love with a girl who dies and comes back every 17 years?  And good and bad fighting for her soul?  It’s been done before.

However, I liked that it’s all because she wasn’t baptized in this life.  I wasn’t expecting that, so it made the novel a lot more interesting.  It does start off slow, and the ending was exciting but a little rushed.

The characters were just okay, and were pretty lackluster.  No one really stood out, and they were pretty typical characters.  Hopefully they’ll liven up and get more interesting in the next book.  I thought the setting of a reform school was interesting, but there was something off about it too.  I loved the descriptions of the school and how old the school was.

I loved the prologue and the epilogue, and I’m hoping we see more of that in the future.

It gets a 4 out of 5.  I really enjoyed it, and hopefully it’ll get a lot more interesting.

I LOVE The Olympics!

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Summer Olympics!  They’re here!  I’ve anxiously been awaiting the Olympics, because it’s one of my favorite events ever.  Here are my thoughts as I watched the Opening Ceremony.

I loved that there were children’s choirs singing songs from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and that each country had something special.  Seriously cool.

I also loved the homage to WWI.  And seeing the stadium change as England changed?  Also cool.  Forging the rings was pretty amazing.  It’s one time I wish I were there.  And that smell-o-vision existed.

I loved that entrance!  Very cool.  Seriously, James Bond and the Queen teaming up?  I wonder how they got her to agree to that.  The Peter Pan tribute, and actual doctors and nurses…a very nice touch.  As was the tribute to the military.

I LOVED seeing J.K. Rowling reading, and I screamed.  Seriously.  It confused my grandma, who I think figured it out a couple minutes later.  And a big balloon Voldemort!  And Mary Poppins!  I really should watch Mary Poppins again.

Loved the video with Rowan Atkinson- it made me giggle.  And then I laughed.

Great music choices.  Bad time to make cookies, but a great time to paint my nails.  Pink sparkles are awesome people.  Maybe I should take a picture…

The Who, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks…who’s next?  Oh, I know, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen!  Air guitar!

Spice Girls.  They should play them.  Rap and the U.K.?  Interesting.  Loved the bit with the internets.  I am slightly disappointed by the lack of Spice Girls.  Maybe they’re trying to forget them?  Oh, and I’m surprised it took this long for David Beckham to make an appearance.  You’d think he’d show up earlier in the ceremony.

I don’t get why Ryan Seacrest is interviewing people.  It’s just weird.  And honestly, doesn’t one of his 50 million other jobs need him for something?

Parade of nations!  It’s always cool watching it because of all the different countries and their outfits and stuff.

81 countries of 200+ have never won medals.  Interesting.  Argentina is a sea of blue but nothing spectacular about their outfits.

I love that all the flags are hanging out at Glastonbury Tor.  The people from Bermuda wearing Bermuda shorts?  Ironic.  Djibouti is a nice name for a country.  You’d think France would be better dressed.  I like what Guam’s wearing.  Very flower-y.  The independent Olympic Athletes seem to be having the most fun.  Seriously, they danced.  Everyone else seems kind of solemn.  Jordan and Kazakhstan had some pretty cool outfits.  Marshall Islands look pretty festive.  Mexico also had some colourful outfits.

I’ve never heard of Tuvalo.  That’s the cool thing about the Parade of Nations.  All the countries I’ve never heard of and all the countries I don’t think about…except for during the Parade Of Nations.  It’s going by so fast…and yet it’s taking a while.’

I still don’t like our Opening Ceremony outfits.  They’re a bit too sailor-ish.  Then again, they were designed by Ralph Lauren…And is it just me, or is it weird that pro basketball players are in the Olympics?  Because I think that’s a little weird.

And seeing the UK athletes enter was really cool.  The Queen doesn’t look too interested but maybe she’s tired or something.  Anyway, it’s always cool seeing the athletes from the host country come in.  You’d think they’d look more excited.

Fireworks were pretty awesome.  And you can’t forget about the flag, the cauldron, the torch relay.  It’s just so fun and exciting and I love the ceremony of it.  The lighting of the cauldron was just so cool, and I got goosebumps watching it.  Paul McCartney’s performance was just okay for me.

The final verdict: Pretty freakin’ awesome.  It was fun and quirky and I loved every minute of it.  I loved the literary references (the ones I caught anyway) and it made me even more excited about the Olympics.  Yes, that is possible (in case you’re wondering).

It’s going to be a fun 17 days!

Rebel Angels

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Book: Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

Book Info: Published by Random House Children’s Books; 592 pages

Source: purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA: Historical Fiction/Paranormal/Fantasy

Find Out More: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Libba Bray

Goodreads Summary: Ah, Christmas! Gemma Doyle is looking forward to a holiday from Spence Academy, spending time with her friends in the city, attending ritzy balls, and on a somber note, tending to her ailing father. As she prepares to ring in the New Year, 1896, a handsome young man, Lord Denby, has set his sights on Gemma, or so it seems. Yet amidst the distractions of London, Gemma’s visions intensify–visions of three girls dressed in white, to whom something horrific has happened, something only the realms can explain. . . . 

The lure is strong, and before long, Gemma, Felicity, and Ann are turning flowers into butterflies in the enchanted world of the realms that Gemma alone can bring them to. To the girls’ great joy, their beloved Pippa is there as well, eager to complete their circle of friendship. 

But all is not well in the realms–or out. The mysterious Kartik has reappeared, telling Gemma she must find the Temple and bind the magic, else great disaster will befall her. Gemma’s willing to do his intrusive bidding, despite the dangers it brings, for it means she will meet up with her mother’s greatest friend–and now her foe, Circe. Until Circe is destroyed, Gemma cannot live out her destiny. But finding Circe proves a most perilous task.

I loved Rebel Angels even more than I liked A Great And Terrible Beauty.  You really get to see the consequences of what Gemma did.

I really like the realms in Rebel Angels, and that is because you get to see more of them.  Like the Cave of Sighs and the Temple and the forests.  What I loved the most was that things moved along, and it didn’t feel like a middle novel at all.

The readers are kept on their toes, with the mystery and the anagrams.  Circe was the last person I expected: I didn’t see it coming.  I love that a lot of the novel is spent away from Spence.  You get to see Gemma and Felicity in their homes, with Ann staying with Felicity.  A lot of time is spent in the realms, of course, which I just love.  And seeing how staying in the realms, and not crossing over, has changed Pippa.  I don’t think it’s the last we’ll see of her, and I don’t think it will end well.

I loved seeing London, and thought it was a nice contrast with the realms.  You have a city that’s changing, with Felicity being too headstrong to get a nice British man, and the little hints about how London going away from gaslamps towards electricity.  And you have another world that is more complex and corrupt than you could ever imagine.  They’re very different, and yet there are some parallels between the two.

The characters didn’t seem very different in this book, which is the only thing I didn’t really like.  I know it’s only a couple months or so after A Great And Terrible Beauty, but it didn’t seem like the characters had changed very much, other than Pippa.

It gets a 5 out of 5.  I enjoyed it a lot, and I can’t wait to read the last book!

Supernaturally

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Book: Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Book Info: Published by HarperCollins; 352 pages

Source: purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA/Paranormal

Find Out More: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Kiersten White

Goodreads Summary: Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal.

I loved Supernaturally!  Evie is cute, as always…but she’s also completely amazing!

Jack was an interesting and new addition to the series.  I wasn’t expecting him to completely manipulate Evie the way he did, and he was a lot more sinister and evil than I expected.  Was he creepy?  Yes.  But I swear I didn’t see that ending coming!  In retrospect, it was sort of obvious.  But he did have his fun, crazy moments.

But anyway, I loved seeing Evie in high school, and how it wasn’t what she was expecting.  What was really interesting was finally learning about her family.  Her dad was a fairie and her mom was mortal, and how she got “lost.”  I can’t wait to see how this plays out in Endlessly.  It was kind of sad, though.  Finding out you’re an empty one because the Unseelie court had Vivian.

And I have to say, I LOVED the awknowledgements.  Absolutely hysterical!  I also love how original the series is, and that she made fun of some of the cliches in the paranormal genre.  Like when Evie was surprised that vampires and fairies were glittery.

I give it a 5 out of 5.  It’s funny, yet sad at times.  And the characters are so fun and refreshing.