Song Stuck In My Head Saturday (20)

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Olympic Fever y'all!

This is the link for the music! There's no video up yet, but if I get some comments I'll post it--but I'll at least tweet it! ღ

Book Blogger Hop: July 21- August 2

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So excited to be back to doing this!

Q: What is one thing that your blog readers probably don't know about you?

A: Wow, lots of things probably. Here's a list (beware though, I like to talk about myself (there's one thing!)):

1. I have a twin brother who has ODD. Google it if you don't know what that is!
2. I had a very rough childhood and have suffered from depression/suicidal thoughts and anxiety for years.
3. I just graduated from HS and will be going to college in my home state of PA!
4. I have a few other blogs and my "baby" is my Tumblr  ♥
5. I *love* music (I just went to Warped Tour and met my favorite band EVER of 6 years, TBS!), my little sister who is 3.5 years old and whom saved my life, and dyeing my hair crazy, beautiful colors even though the bleach kills it.
6. I'm a very outgoing person and speak my mind too much but I used to be so shy and quiet but also very sweet--now I'm the cute devil :)
7. I hope everyone knows this: I love reading! I used to read a book a day in middle school, then I got a life and it went to maybe a book a week or every few days, then it stopped altogether pretty much because I was so busy and wrapped up in my boyfriend and school and friends, etc.
8. Tumblr has been my downfall, I'm fucking obsessed.
9. ^I curse a lot and I try to limit it on here because it's the one thing I'm self-conscious of and don't want people thinking I'm some horny, hormonal teenager--even though I am.
10. I'm 18 and cannot drive. Sad, yup.

Thanks so much for stopping by/not running away scared from my confessions! This is a small list compared to what my brain was trying to get my hands to type!

Song Stuck In My Head Saturday (19)

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This is a hard one! I have on song in mind that has been in my head for a while but having just been to Warped Tour in Camden, I have so many great songs (and just general, painful noises) in my excited little brain!

I am going to do a whole, long post on my experience there so for now, here's my song:

What Happened to Good bye by Sarah Dessen Review

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From Goodreads: Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out. 

Combining Sarah Dessen's trademark graceful writing, great characters, and compelling storytelling, What Happened to Goodbye is irresistible reading.

Rating: 4/5

Plot: 4.5/5

Characters: 5/5

Ending: 4/5


I bought this book a while ago but just started it 2 nights ago at 2 in the morning--I finished at 6 AM. Anything by Sarah Dessen is for sure to be good, and this book was no disappointment: Like her other novels, Dessen portrays perfectly a young woman in a struggle in her life and the people around her, but this novel took a different turn as well. I felt like this book was more pointed to a mature audience and was much more cerebral and less romanticized.

Having to endure her parents very public divorce, McLean, aka Liz aka Eliza, creates a different persona in each new town she and her father move to. When they skip town, they never say goodbye. In their newest town McLean, by accident, gives people her real name and she starts to develop friendships--real, true ones for once since her new life with her father. Now she is forced into a situation that normal young adults go through: navigating life day by day and dealing with those people you care about along with yourself and not running away form you problems, but face them because you have support.

This book moved just a tad bit slow for me, but because everything that happened was important and added to the higher maturity level of the novel it wasn't a problem at all. The ending didn't please me at all. i always felt like I wanted more. More emotions. More dialogue. More everything. This also has to do with personal taste in books, but I understood why it had that certain flow and I appreciate it.

Top 5 Sundays (11)

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Today's theme is: Favorite Names of Female Characters!

I could think all day about it--it's hard to do these posts and come up with an answer right away. There's always that moment a few weeks later that I remember the best answer to one of these but the opportunity has passed. I can also think of a lot more than 5!

Calla Tor of Nightshade

Reeve Hartt of Rage

Hermoine Granger of Harry Potter {series}

Katsa of Graceling

Ever Bloom of  Evermore

Cassia Reyes of Matched

Vasilisa Dragomir of Vampire Academy {series}

So I may have cheated...but there are so many great names! I wish my mother was an avid reader and named me after any one of these ladies!

Goyte "Parody": MUST WATCH!

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Top Ten Tuesdays

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This week's theme, from The Broke and the Bookish, is a freebie! This is also the first time I believe that I've participated in this meme, so it's a good week to start I think :-)

Top Ten Authors (I think this was used before but it's a start for me)

1. Ellen Hopkins- Everything she writes is real and so addicting, pun intended,
2. Sarah Dessen-  She knows the words of the teenage soul. She got me to love reading and trust in books.
3. Richelle Mead- Vampires, sexy guys, sexy people, sexy stories, but with some class throw in there.
4. Susane Colasanti- Like Sarah Dessen, but she has a flair that gives a sense of adventure and makes me feel special for being able to learn about her characters.
5. MaryJanice Davidson- Erotica but not quite; I love her storylines and the humor in her novels.
6. Lili St. Crow- Fierce characters, wonderful writing, and it feels like it's past YA, for mature teens.
7. Chevy Stevens- I read her first book, Still Missing, and knew I was lucky to have the ARC in my hands. I just bought her next book and cannot wait to read it.
8. P.C. Cast- So imaginative and I feel like I'm actually friends with the author and the characters, like we're one big group of friends!
9. Jodi Picoult- She seems like more than a writer to me; she's a philosopher of life and feels like my psychologist at times. She can also tell a story so well and every word seems in the right place.
10. Khaled Hosseini- Wow. What can I say? Talented. Cultured. The Man? There is so much depth to his stories and he really is an inspiration.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Review

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From Goodreads: A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years, from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding, that puts the violence, fear, hope and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives, the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness, are inextricable from the history playing out around them.

Propelled by the same storytelling instinct that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a striking, heart wrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love, a stunning accomplishment.


Rating: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Ending: 4./5


After reading A Kite Runner (review TBA) by Hosseini, I was adamant to get my hands on this book as soon as I could. Then, like an angel had heard my prayer, I saw the book among the hundreds my one high school teacher had in her room. Yes!! I walked into Art Class with it, having only gotten through the first chapter or so, when my Art teacher saw it and warned me not to read it. She explained a gruesome part of the book that made her cry and feel so terrible that she couldn't continue on; it sounded terrible too, but I soldiered on and prepared myself for what was coming. When it came, it wasn't as terrible as I thought, for a had some warning.

Another novel set in the troubled Afghanistan, this one covers more history, the same and past what Hosseini's first novel did. It gives outsiders a view into the many cultures of Afghanistan and it's surrounding areas. It was as much a history lesson as it was an intense story. A story about love, freedom, culture, life, and heartbreak. I felt like I was literally transported into someone else's life--not many books have succeeded in doing that for me--and I learned as much as they did in their own story.

The women, good and questionable, are so human it makes me cry and feel like we, meaning those lucky enough to live in a  world with fairness and equality, are aliens who do not deserve the amazing treatment we have. They are an inspiration. This novel is definitely one I will buy, cherish, and keep on my shelf for my own family to read.

Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu Review

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From Goodreads: Everyone has a secret. But Lucy’s is bigger and dirtier than most. It’s one she’s been hiding for years—that her mom’s out-of-control hoarding has turned their lives into a world of garbage and shame. She’s managed to keep her home life hidden from her best friend and her crush, knowing they’d be disgusted by the truth. So, when her mom dies suddenly in their home, Lucy hesitates to call 911 because revealing their way of life would make her future unbearable—and she begins her two-day plan to set her life right.With details that are as fascinating as they are disturbing, C. J. Omololu weaves an hour-by-hour account of Lucy’s desperate attempt at normalcy. Her fear and isolation are palpable as readers are pulled down a path from which there is no return, and the impact of hoarding on one teen’s life will have readers completely hooked.

Rating: 3.5/5

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Ending: 3/5

There was a lot of buzz about this book and I understood why but I hesitated reading it because it seemed so disgusting and like I'd feel dirty reading it. And I did, but I kept going. I felt like something huge was going to happen before and while I was reading this book. I assumed it would be focused in the present, with Lucy dealing with her mother's disease and not much of a plot outside of it.

I've yet to decide if I liked that I was wrong. Because it was such a new topic in YA fiction and fiction in general, I was hoping for a clear focus. I was happy with the rest of the story, although I felt it could have been more developed, for I didn't understand all Lucy's actions. Overall, I think it was a good story, well-written, but just need more development. 50 more pages would have even helped tremendously.