In My Mailbox!

Can you believe I'm actually doing this? I haven't done an IMM vlog in a long time! I hope you enjoy!





*The poll is now closed. Thanks to everyone who voted! It looks like I'll be starting Vampire Academy now.*

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Are You Haunted?

P.S. Sorry for the blurriness! I was using a different camera than the one that I normally use.

Create Your Own Cover

This looked like so much fun I just had to try it!

CREATE YOUR DEBUT YA COVER

1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or clickhttp://www.fakenamegenerator.com/
The name that appears is your author name.

2 – Go to “Random Word Generator” or clickhttp://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml
The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.

3 – Go to “FlickrCC” or clickhttp://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php
Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.

4 – Use Photoshop, Picnik, or similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in.

5 – Post it to your site along with this text.

Anyone in the Area!

Little Shop of Stories
August 22nd at 7:00 p.m.

Address:
133A East Court Square
Decatur, Georgia 30030

The Forum
August 29th at 2:00 p.m.

Address:
5141 Peachtree Parkway,
Norcross, GA 30092

Decatur Book Festival
September 4-6th

Review: The Hollow by Jessica Verday

Title: The Hollow
Author: Jessica Verday
Pub. Date: September 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary:

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead?and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.

Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her—one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity.

Review:


I’m kind of stumped when it comes to The Hollow. It was one of those books where everything rests on the ending but all that did was leave me confused. I mean, understood everything that was going on but I had a hard time wrapping my head around it. I think it will be interesting to see how Jessica will continue this story and the relationship between Abbey and Caspian, because I think the first book rests on how well the sequel is.

Despite some of the books flaws I found it easy to fall into the story, the characters, and even Sleepy Hollow. Though I may not have a huge crush on Caspian, I definitely have one on the town. The way that Jessica described Sleepy Hollow made it sound like the best place to live, so small and quaint. I wouldn’t have to give living there a second thought.

Though Sleepy Hollow was a big character in the book, the legend was even more so. But you may not realize how big a part it has in the book until you reach the end. And it left me thinking, “huh?” for days after.

Also, I was a bit bothered by the way Abbey handled the death of her best friend; it seemed as if there were never times when she truly mourned the death of Kristen, only thought about it in passing. Though there was one moment when she cracks in the book and it's because of Kristen's death. People weren’t very supportive of her afterwards either; they kept telling her to get over it and suck it up. I didn’t think this was very realistic behavior of the characters, just something Jessica wrote to make you feel more sympathetic to Abbey. She did learn a few things about her friend that she hadn’t known and I’m excited to see how that pans out.

Though The Hollow had its flaws (but it was her first book, so it’s not expected that she’ll be a pro at it already!) it was fun to get sucked into and read for hours on end. I’m excited to see how she’ll continue the story!

Following

Last night I became obsessed with Twitter but I'm not following many peope, so I've made it my mission to follow more! Also, I need to follow some more book-related blogs, so if I'm not following you let me know! Leave a link to your blog or twitter page in the comments so I can check it out!

Holy Mother of God!

Oh. My. God. Could these covers get any better???

I Don't Get It

Have you ever come across a book in a bookstore that makes you roll your eyes and wonder why it was ever published? Yesterday while perusing Borders I came across one that I can't seem to get out of my mind so I thought I'd share it with you guys. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts!

Getting It by Alex Sanchez

Fifteen-year-old Carlos Amoroso is a virgin -- and he isn't happy about it. He'd love to hook up with gorgeous Roxy, but she has no idea he's alive. Watching a TV show one night gives Carlos an idea: What if he got a makeover from Sal, a senior at his school who's gay? Sal agrees -- but only if Carlos helps him start a Gay-Straight Alliance. Carlos doesn't expect the catch. What are his friends going to think? And is he ever going to get what he wants?

First, can I just pick at the cover please? I get that the shirtless guy and all clothes around him are supposed to represent his "makeover" but is that really necessary? I know that the author doesn't have much control on how the cover turns out, but I would say that they pegged this one quite well. I find the shirtless guy quite offensive, actually. I mean, how stupid do they think girls are that they would pick up any book with a shirtless guy on it and buy it? I understand that "sex sells" but I think the summary and the title are enough.

I also never understood the kind of book where the character would change themselves completely just to get the attention of one person. It ticks me off. Obviously it never works out!!!

I just want to laugh at the "sexy" belt. I couldn't take a guy seriously if he was wearing that. Also, there is no way in hell that guy is fifteen.

I didn't know that it was so terrible for a fifteen year old to be a virgin. I am so out of the loop.

Also, I thought we were passed the closed-mindedness of gay people.

I think this book is a combination of everything I hate. I know that you should judge a book by a cover but there is no way in hell that I would actually read it to see if it proves me wrong.

I Thought Some Of You Out There Would Appreciate This

*Warning: It is quite perverted (but I love it!)*

I'm So Scared!

Today I take the last half of my GED test and I'm terrified. I have to take both Math tests today (one with a calculator and one without), a Language Arts test (mostly sentence structure and junk), and (Ack!) an essay! I am beyond scared to take that essay! Please keep me in your thoughts today!

I Think I Just Died and Went To Heaven

I was just over at Imperial Beach Teen Blog and saw the new cover art for The Reckoning the last book in the Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong! I swear I had the biggest cow when I saw it. My mom was in the middle of asking me something and I let out this huge gasp. She thought something bad had happened and came over to see what was wrong! Isn't it the beautifulest (should that be spelled with one 'l' or two?) cover ever???



Only nine months before it comes out! I don't know if I can wait that long!

I Am Distraught.

Apparently I just missed my dream yard sale. Two thousand books and ten HUGE bookshelves. Why do I hear about everything a tic too late?


See the Gossip Girl? That means they must've had some YA books!

Yeah, this is even't the best part!

Now there's the money shot! I swear my jaw dropped when I saw this picture. It is cruel that I missed this.

Here is the Craigslist page.

A Brand New Room For Moi? Why, Thank you!

Okay, maybe not a brand new room but pretty close! While I was yard saling with my mom on Saturday we came across this gorgeous blue, antique desk, and a steal for $15! We brought it home and realized it was tres unsturdy so my dad and I worked on it for a couple of hours yesterday on the legs and foundation of the desk, so now it is beautiful and sturdy!

Not only do I have an amazing desk but I also had my mom help me rearrange my room, which is so much more frustrating than you would think, and I even got rid of three small tables which were my book holders. Boo! I was not happy about that but now that I see the final result I'm totally okay with it.

Would you guys like to see my brand new room? Yeah? Great!


This is from the door to my room. I read that the tv shouldn't be the first thing you see, but I didn't have anywhere else to put it!



The view of my bed, duh. I thought I was a genious for making my own standing bookshelf (the one on the right). It's just a bunch of magnetic cd holders!

When I got it I didn't realize how close it was to my wall color, oops! Sadly that is not where I work from because I don't have a laptop, though I wish I did (I will need to try and get one soon!). I actually work at a computer out in the living room, which isn't as private as I need it to be!

I don't know why I felt the need to put this picture up, it's just the junk I have behind my door. And my Japanese Rose Blossom plug-in...yummm.

And finally my bookshelf, my pride and joy!