The Versatile Blogger Award

Hi guys! I’ve been sick now for two days, so instead of a review, I’m doing a tag post because it’s fun and I don’t have to think too hard. I was nominated by Alina at Radiant Reads and Maren at The Worn Bookmark for the Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks, lovelies! For this award, I’m supposed to thank the bloggers who nominated me, share the award, and give you seven facts about me. I feel like I’ve shared all the facts you guys could ever want to know about me in one award post or another, but let’s see if I can think of more.

– I have two physical bookshelves in my room – one for books I’ve read and one for books I haven’t. Helps me stay organized and on top of my to read list.

– I have a slight obsession with Damian Wayne (Bruce Wayne/Batman’s son). I love his character – he’s such a sassy little punk. And SPOILER – I’m so glad he’s alive again.

– Things I don’t like to eat: cucumbers, oranges, bananas, cherry flavored things, ground beef.

– Things I could eat all day every day: chicken, pizza, string cheese, mangoes, fresh pineapple, pretzels, York peppermint patties.

– I discovered my love of audiobooks and comics in July when I started working at the library. I haven’t looked back since. I’m a little obsessed.

– I really wish I had a dog.

– I’m going to be 25 this year. It scares me. I know I’m still young but I feel like life is moving too fast.

I’m nominating

Rachel at Confessions of a Book Geek

Brandie at Brandie is a Book Junkie

Shaina at Shaina Reads

April at Bookishly Speaking

Shannon at It Starts at Midnight

Rita at Books & Stuff

Selah at A Bibliophile’s Style

And YOU if you want to do it!

SUNDAY FUNDAY: WEEK IN REVIEW [13]

The lovely Cristina over at Girl in the Pages started Sunday Funday as a way to recap the bookish (and not-so-bookish) things that have happened that week.

September 8 – 14, 2014

So in case you missed it, I’m hosting my first ever giveaway! Do you want to win a SIGNED copy of Stephanie Perkin’s Anna and the French Kiss and some Anna-themed swag? You know you do. Head over to my giveaway page and enter! It ends a week from tomorrow!

Coming up on the blog this week: I’ll be reviewing six (yes, SIX) Oliver Jeffers’ books; Top Ten Tuesday and Waiting on Wednesday as always; I’ll also probably review The Shadow Prince and possibly another book (depending on how my reading goes).

Do you like Benedict Cumberbatch? Do you like books? Do you like cute things? You should probably watch this video of him reading Little Read Hen.

Books read: I finished reading Lauren Oliver’s first adult book, Rooms, this week, and the review should be up on WatchPlayRead tomorrow. I also read and reviewed Of Monsters and Madness. I read three children’s books this week, One Cool Friend, Along a Long Road, and The Hueys in the New Sweater (which will be reviewed on the blog this week). Additionally, I started Stacey O’Neale’s The Shadow Prince. It was a good week for reading.

TBR: I’m going to be participating in the Mortal Enchantment blog tour next month, and this week I received an ARC of the book! From the library, I checked out The Selection by Kiera Cass, the first two BZRK books by Michael Grant, and Horns by Joe Hill. Surprisingly, I didn’t buy any books or comics this week, but my boss did loan me the entire X-Men Legacy series, so I added a BUNCH of stuff to my TBR this week.

What was on the blog this week (and WatchPlayRead):

Monday – Bookish Talk: DNF-ing Books – Do you do it? This one got a LOT of attention, which I wasn’t expecting, but I was really excited about. I had some interesting discussions in the comments. 🙂

Tuesday – Top Ten Tuesday: Underrated authors and books
My interview with Adi Alsaid, author of Let’s Get Lost 

Wednesday – Waiting on Wednesday: Blue Lily, Lily Blue
My freak out about the new Mockingjay Part 1 Poster

Thursday – Liebster Award: Take 3!
Book Review: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith 

Saturday – ARC Review: Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday
Recap/review of Teen Wolf’s season 4 finale, “Smoke and Mirrors”
Comic Book Review: Bodies #2

Sunday – Audiobook Review: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Some non-bookish things to check out or that I’m excited about:

– This cover of The Neighbourhood’s song Sweater Weather. WOW.
– THE MAZE RUNNER MOVIE COMES OUT FRIDAY!!!!
– I bought my ticket to see The 1975 in November with my friend Georgie!
– You might’ve seen this, but this frat did a lip sync video of Taylor Swift’s song Shake It Off (I’m not a fan of Taylor Swift, but I actually enjoyed this)

SUNDAY FUNDAY: WEEK IN REVIEW [11]

The lovely Cristina over at Girl in the Pages started Sunday Funday as a way to recap the bookish (and not-so-bookish) things that have happened that week.

August 11 – 17, 2014

This week was pretty great. Definitely more fun that the week before. Highlight of the week? I had my first blogger meet up! I met Annette (aka Booknerderie) in person. She drove up to my house Friday and we saw The Hundred-Foot Journey Friday night. On Saturday, we went to B&N and bought Isla and the Happily Ever After. We spent a couple hours reading and drinking coffee, then went to the comic book store. It was so much fun! I’m looking forward to going to visit her next.

I also made plans with my friend Georgie to go to the Decatur Book Festival the last weekend in August. I am SO PUMPED about this. Stephanie Perkins, Maggie Stiefvater, Jennifer E. Smith, Lauren Myracle and a bunch of other awesome authors will be there. CANNOT WAIT.

Books read: I finally finished reading One of Us by Tawni O’Dell (review tomorrow). I also read all of Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins yesterday (review either tomorrow or Tuesday), which I LOVED. Obviously.

I also read the first two issues of The Wicked and the Divine, issues 19 and 20 of Saga (I’m beyond obsessed), about 15 or 20 issues of Batman and Robins, the first several issues of Batman Incorporated, and I think that’s it. I’m a little comics-obsessed. But I’d say two books and 20-30 issues of comics is a GREAT week.

TBR: This week I bought Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid and The Truth about Alice by Jennifer Mathieu (on Amazon; should be here this week). They’ll both be at the Decatur Book Festival in two weeks. Definitely need to read their books before then.

Non-bookish things I’m excited about:

DOCTOR WHO premieres on Saturday!! Yay!

Teen Wolf. Duh.

It’s bookish, but I believe I’m going to see The Giver this week.

Also going to see Let’s Be Cops with my brother. It looks so funny.

 

SUNDAY FUNDAY: WEEK IN REVIEW [10]

The lovely Cristina over at Girl in the Pages started Sunday Funday as a way to recap the bookish (and not-so-bookish) things that have happened that week.

August 4 – 10, 2014

This week wasn’t very exciting for me. Monday and Tuesday were spent working on a project for my online job and doing some reviews for my blog. Wednesday-Thursday I worked at my library job (which I still love, thanks for asking. 🙂 ). Saturday was pretty fun! I went to my friend’s apartment; we went swimming, then to Barnes and Noble for their Page to Screen event and then to the comic book store. I got to hang out with her and her 5 year old kid; it was fun.

I got really excited about the first clip of The Maze Runner movie.

Oh yeah! I saw Guardians of the Galaxy last Sunday (sorry for the lack of Sunday Funday post – I honestly just forgot). That movie was AWESOME!!

Things you might’ve missed on the blog this week:

My reviews of two of Oliver Jeffers’ books. My Fortunately, the Milk review. The top ten books I’d recommend if you’ve never tried dystopian fiction.

 Books read:

This week I read Struck by Lightning by Chris Colfer (review this week!) and several children’s books (including three more Oliver Jeffers’ books and I’m Not Cute by Jonathan Allen – recommended to me by the wonderful Selah at A Bibliophile’s Style). I also started an e-ARC of One of Us by Tawni O’Dell and the audio book of The Labrador Pact (or The Last Family in England in the UK) by Matt Haig.

TBR:

Check out my book haul from yesterday! I’m really, really excited about all of it. I finally gave in and bought The Night Circus, because it’s been recommended to me by at least 5 different people. I got some awesome new comics as well.

  

Non-bookish things I’m excited about:

I get to meet Annette from Booknerderie this week!! She’s coming up so we can buy Isla and the Happily Ever After together and have a fangirl freak out as we read it at the same time. We’re also going to see The Hundred-Foot Journey. I can’t wait to meet her! 🙂

Teen Wolf, as always. If you are interested, you can read all of my recaps/reviews of the season 4 episodes that have aired so far on my page on WatchPlayRead.

SUNDAY FUNDAY: WEEK IN REVIEW [9]

The lovely Cristina over at Girl in the Pages started Sunday Funday as a way to recap the bookish (and not-so-bookish) things that have happened that week.

July 21 – 27, 2014

This week was relatively uneventful other than work. I did go see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes yesterday, which was alright. I don’t think it lived up to my expectations, and it definitely wasn’t as good as the first one.

I posted A LOT on the blog this week, but I’d like to highlight my review of One Past Midnight and The Walking Dead, Volume 1 Review.

Coming up on the blog this week: 2 (possibly 3) children’s book reviews; my review of Saga [volume 3]; my review of Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest by Matt Haig; my review of Arkham Asylum; Top Ten Tuesday; Waiting on Wednesday; Summer Blogger Promo Tour post with Dana Square

Books read: This week I read several children’s books, including The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers and The Incredible Book Eating Boy also by Jeffers; reviews of both of these to come soon.

I read Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison (illustrated by Dave McKean) and HOLY CRAP, did I love it. I need to buy my own copy so I can reread it several more times.

I also read To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. I’ve got to say that I was pretty disappointed with this book. I don’t think I’m going to be reviewing this one, though I may change my mind in the future. For now, Khanh at The Book Nookery’s review of the book http://bookistry.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/jenny-han-to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before-to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before-1/ pretty much perfectly sums up how I feel about it.

I tried my first audiobook this week! It was The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig and read by Andrew Dennis. They found the absolute perfect reader. I loved it.

TBR: My wonderful friend Jo (aka Drifting Pages) sent me a package for my birthday that included Ian Rankin’s stage play The Dark Road and The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (I’ve already read this, but I wanted to own the beautiful UK cover – with the lobster –  and not the hideous US cover – the horrible yellow one).

     

I was also approved for several titles on Netgalley that I’m super excited about, including Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday – which I’m kind of freaking out about!

My awesome boss also lent me the first several issues of the Batman & Robin comics.

I’ve got a lot of awesome stuff to read!

Non-bookish things I’m excited about:

Teen Wolf. Always.

I bought some yummy hummus and naan bread. Pretty excited about that. Lol.

I’m meeting Annette aka Booknerderie in less than three weeks! Yay! 🙂

SUNDAY FUNDAY: WEEK IN REVIEW [8]

The lovely Cristina over at Girl in the Pages started Sunday Funday as a way to recap the bookish (and not-so-bookish) things that have happened that week.

July 14 – 20, 2014

This week I went to see The Neighbourhood with my friend Jugee Georgie in Nashville. I had a super crazy week at work because of it, but I had an amazing time. It was my fourth time seeing them play live, and my third time meeting Jesse, the lead singer. He remembered me and was super wonderful. I had a blast, and it was totally worth the 2.5 hours of sleep I got and the 12 hours of driving in 24 hours.

My interview with Lori Rader-Day, who wrote The Black Hour (which I LOVED), went up on WatchPlayRead! I loved the opportunity to learn more about her and her writing.

Coming up on the blog this week: Two children’s book reviews (Ox-Cart Man and The Dreamer); four comic book reviews (Saga [volume 2] and The Walking Dead, volumes 1-3); one book review (One Past Midnight) – possibly two; Top Ten Tuesday; Waiting on Wednesday – woah. A LOT coming up on the blog this week. 🙂

Books read: This week I read Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman; Saga [volume 2] by Brian K. Vaughan; Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest by Matt Haig; and several children’s books. I also started listening to an audiobook for the first time; I chose The Dead Father’s Club by Matt Haig and I am seriously loving it so far – the narrator is just perfect.

TBR: I had my first ever comic book haul this week! I’ve added all of those to my TBR obviously. I also checked out Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman and the audiobook of A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon from the library. I’m definitely looking forward to both of those.

I have a long (45 minutes or so) commute to each of my jobs so I’ve really enjoyed listening to an audiobook on the way. It makes the drive seem a lot shorter and I get to read/listen to even more books now! I never thought I’d enjoy audiobooks, but I definitely do.

Non-bookish things I’m excited about:

I just found out that Tom Felton is in this new show on TNT called Murder in the First; I’m not sure how I missed this, but all of the first six episodes are on Comcast’s On Demand, so I know what I’ll be catching up on this week.

Teen Wolf. Always.

What happened to you guys this week? Did you read any good books? Tell me about your week in the comments!

SUNDAY FUNDAY: WEEK IN REVIEW [6]

The lovely Cristina over at Girl in the Pages started Sunday Funday as a way to recap the bookish (and not-so-bookish) things that have happened that week. I thought it’d be a really fun way to keep you guys up to date on what I’ve been reading, reviewing, and wanting to read but also to tell you a little bit more about myself outside of my book love. I think I’ll tailor the post each week to what I’ve done but I will always try to include a book haul and a new book or two that I’ve added to my want-to-read list. 🙂

June 30 – July 6, 2014

This was a great week for me! I started my temporary job at the University Press of Mississippi as a marketing aide as well as my permanent job at Morton Public Library as a circulation clerk. But I also got ANOTHER JOB! I believe I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago that I had started an internship for Month9Books. Well, this week I was offered a part-time position!! I am basically a publisher’s assistant, and I will do some event assistance as well. I’m so excited.

Also, my “big” came to visit me for the 4^th of July weekend. We mostly just hung out and caught up, but on Friday my family had a little party: a BBQ and a bunch of fireworks. It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad my big was able to come hang out for a few days.

I also bought a car! Yep, finally! I haven’t had my own car since I moved back from Scotland at the end of last year. The guy I’m buying it from is putting new tires on it, so I’ll be picking it up tomorrow. I’ll post pics in next week’s Sunday Funday! It is a Chevy Impala. Used, obviously, but it’s got great mileage and it looks awesome! I’m pumped, hence all the exclamation points!

Today marked the beginning of the Summer Blogger Promo Tour; my first post for the Tour was a feature on Jen at Ink on the Shelf. I was featured over on The YA Club. Make sure you check out both of these blogs. They are wonderful!

Coming up on the blog this week, I’ll be doing some reviews of children’s books – you can read more about that below. I’ll also be posting a review (or two) of a graphic novel – again, more below. There will, of course, be a Top Ten Tuesday and a Waiting on Wednesday.

Books read: This week I read and reviewed Say What You Will. I also read The Black Hour, which will be reviewed on WatchPlayRead. It should be up tomorrow, so make sure you go check it out!

Also, as I said earlier, I started a job as a Circulation Clerk at a local library. I’ve only been there two days and I absolutely LOVE my job; I’ve got a lot of exciting opportunities/programs in the works with my branch manager. I only work with two people: the branch manager who loves comic books and graphic novels and the children’s librarian who loves children’s books. I am all about expanding my horizons so they will be recommending books for me and I will be doing the same for them (mostly YA). It’s a great atmosphere at this library; no one judges you for what you like to read. I hope to review 2-3 children’s books and 1-2 graphic novels a week. My first review (of Sophie’s Squash) will be up on the blog tomorrow morning! I’ll also be reviewing The Day I Swapped by Dad for Two Goldfish and Long Night Moon this week.

I know that these reviews are very different from what I usually post, but I hope you guys will enjoy them just as much. I’m having a lot of fun reading them!

TBR: This week I’ll be reading these two graphic novels: Saga and The Sea of Monsters (the graphic novelization of The Sea of Monsters – Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2). I’m also going to read The Strain this week, as well as Everything Leads to You – hopefully.

Non-bookish things I’m excited about:

MY BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW! You know, I act like I’m all excited, but I’m not really. I’m only excited because I’m picking up my car tomorrow and it means I’ll be seeing my friend Georgie in a week (as well as The Neighbourhood for the 4^th time!). I’ll be 24 if you wanted to know. 🙂

My awesome friend Jo (aka Drifting Pages) sent me a sweet package of Jammie Dodgers and Jaffa Cakes and this super awesome card that I just LOVE. I think I’m going to get a frame for it.

Teen Wolf. Duh. I really don’t even need to say it anymore, do I? If you’re interested, I recapped and reviewed last week’s episode “117” HERE.

What did you lovely people get up to this week? Did you read any good books or have anything exciting happen?

SUNDAY FUNDAY: WEEK IN REVIEW [5]

SUNDAY FUNDAY: WEEK IN REVIEW [5]

The lovely Cristina over at Girl in the Pages started Sunday Funday as a way to recap the bookish (and not-so-bookish) things that have happened that week. I thought it’d be a really fun way to keep you guys up to date on what I’ve been reading, reviewing, and wanting to read but also to tell you a little bit more about myself outside of my book love. I think I’ll tailor the post each week to what I’ve done but I will always try to include a book haul and a new book or two that I’ve added to my want-to-read list. 🙂

June 23 – 29, 2014

So I had a couple of exciting things happen this week. First, I got a part-time job as a Marketing Aide for the University Press of Mississippi. It’s only for the month of July, but I’m really excited to be back at the Press (I interned there in Editorial in 2011) and to be working in marketing. I ALSO got a part-time job as a Circulation Clerk at Morton Public Library! So I went from having NO jobs to having two. 🙂 I’m pumped to be able to surround myself with books at both of these jobs, and hopefully it means the beginning of more exciting opportunities for me!

Next Sunday will mark the beginning of the Summer Blogger Promo Tour hosted by The Book Bratz. I’m definitely looking forward to getting to know all these awesome bloggers!

Coming up on the blog this week, I’ll be reviewing Say What You Will. I’ll also be (hopefully) doing another The Problem with post along the same lines as my The Problem with Books post. 🙂 As always, there’ll be a Top Ten Tuesday, and I’ll be doing my second Waiting on Wednesday.

Books read: I FINALLY finished Brian Lumley’s Necroscope, which I reviewed HERE on WatchPlayRead. This book took me way too long to finish, but I’m glad I read it, if only because I know my dad was glad I did.

I also read and reviewed Rich Kids of Instagram on the blog..

Yesterday, I started Cammie McGovern’s Say What You Will. I’m over a 100 pages in and I’m really enjoying it so far.

TBR: I’ve got a lot to read in the next couple of weeks. Next up is The Black Hour for WatchPlayRead. Then The Strain for my blog and WPR (I’m reading it before the show premieres on July 13^th!). After that, I plan on reading Everything Leads to You; I’m doing a read-along with Mily at The YA’s Nightstand for the Summer Blogger Promo Tour (I’ll be tweeting my reaction as I go, so follow me on Twitter to see what I think!). The next four on my TBR are in no particular order: The Dream Thieves, Out of the Easy, One Past Midnight, and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

I added A Thousand Pieces of You to my Goodreads TBR. In addition, I was introduced to a new author on FB by a friend, so I’m excited to check out his book, Loafing by La Brea soon.

Non-bookish things I’m excited about:

TEEN WOLF premiered this week!! In case you are interested, I linked up to my recaps of the first three seasons HERE. Today is Soonday (the day before Moonday aka every Monday that there’s a new Teen Wolf episode). If you’re a fan of the show, follow me on Twitter so we can fangirl/boy together! I had a lot of fun reacting with fellow lovers of the show while the episode aired.

Okay, so it’s bookish in that it’s a book-to-movie adaptation, but I’m still pretty pumped about the Mockingjay Part 1 trailer, which I am pumped about.

My big, Lacy, (big sister in the social club I was in at my undergraduate – kind of but not really like a sorority) is coming to visit me this week for the 4^th of July and my birthday (the 7^th in case you were interested!). I’m really excited to spend a few days with her!

Yesterday, I got this awesome new bag at Belk! I’m not usually too girly in that I don’t really get all that excited about clothes or shoes or anything (I’m more of a jeans, band t-shirts, and either Converse or Vans kind of girl), but this bag is so dang cute. PLUS it perfectly fits a book in it along with my other stuff. AND it was on sale. Can’t beat that.

Things you might want to check out:

This hilarious video of Stephen Colbert being pissed off at Amazon

My post about literary Edinburgh on Hardcovers and Heroines

What did you read this week? Tell me about the things you’re excited about in the comments!

Life of a Blogger: Favorite sports teams

Life of a Blogger is a weekly meme hosted by The Novel Heartbeat. You can see the full list of topics HERE.

Today’s topic is favorite sports teams.

This isn’t a hard topic for me at all. My dad was born in Chicago and he raised both my brother and me as all-around Chicago fans.

My teams are:

 

The Chicago Bulls; The Chicago Cubs; The Chicago Bears; The Chicago Blackhawks

I’m a Chicago fan, plain and simple. I have been to about 7 Cubs games (two in Chicago and Atlanta, and one in Pittsburgh, Houston, and Arlington). I was at the 1991 Chicago Bulls Championship game (okay, I was 1 and slept through half of it, but I was there and so was Michael Jordan).

I will say that I much prefer basketball and baseball to football and hockey. I will watch all four of these, but I have more fun with basketball and baseball. I’m a huge Bulls fan. That’s my favorite of the four. I have a couple of Bulls shirts (a D Rose one being my favorite). It physically pained me when D Rose got hurt AGAIN this season. I need him to get back on it and to get better knees, okay? I love me some Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer, too.

 

I’m not a college sports fans at all. I’ve never gotten into any of them, so I’m just a pro-sports kind of girl.

Are you into any sports teams? Who do you support? If you’re a Miami Heat fan or an Atlanta Braves fan, get off my blog! Haha. Just kidding… sort of. 

TEEN WOLF

Okay, I know this is a book blog, but I am so freaking excited and I need more people to be excited with me. I’m fangirling like crazy. Season Four of Teen Wolf premieres tonight on MTV at 10/9c. AHH. Okay, I’ll calm down.

Anyway, this post is for anyone who might be interested in learning more about Teen Wolf or anyone who watches and needs a refresher. If you are so inclined, I’ve recapped all of the seasons of Teen Wolf so far over on WatchPlayRead.

WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS. LOTS OF THEM.

Season One

Season Two

Season Three, Part One

Season Three, Part Two

Also,

Are you excited about Teen Wolf? Follow me on Twitter so we can live chat when Season Four premieres later!! I’ll be reviewing the episode on WatchPlayRead later this week. Check out the trailer below so you can get pumped up like me.