Monthly updates! August - December!

Goodness gracious! Please excuse my hiatus from blogging! Life suddenly became very busy. I was still however, reading away. I didn't really follow a pattern this time, mainly just reading what sounded interesting. I did venture out of my comfort zone as well, which was a nice change of pace. Below are the books I read while I was away. Be sure to stay tuned for new postings, challenges, and more!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chybosky: Reading this became cathartic for me as I too suffer from severe anxiety and depression. Charlie's story unfolds beneath your fingertips and it's such a beautiful process. This book is written in a series of letters that Charlie writes to his friend. - I have literally been sitting at my computer for a week trying to figure out how to write my review for this book and I can't. It's almost too personal. I am in love with this book. This book is like a breath of fresh air for someone who suffers f Reading this became cathartic for me as I too suffer from severe anxiety and depression. Charlie's story unfolds beneath your fingertips and it's such a beautiful process. This book is written in a series of letters that Charlie writes to his friend. - I have literally been sitting at my computer for a week trying to figure out how to write my review for this book and I can't. It's almost too personal. I am in love with this book. This book is like a breath of fresh air for someone who suffers from the same things Charlie does. Everyone should read this at least once.-

We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielson: I read this book pretty quickly after coming across it at the library. I had a really hard time agreeing with anything he girl did or said or thought. Honestly, her ending still wasn't enough to redeem her for me. There isn't much I can say about this book. It's a quick read and the plot was decent. This was actually on The Lonestar Reading List in Texas. How? I honestly can't tell you. I think it was a cute book all in all, but the girls character definitely turned me off of this book.

Undertow by Michael Buckley: OKAY WHERE DID THIS BOOK COME FROM SERIOUSLY. I love, love, loved this book. It was so different from anything I have ever read. Set in a dystopian society where the ocean's inhabitants decided to come live on land. Most of the book I wondered why they decided to come live on land but this is explained further on into the story. It has an explosive ending and twists throughout. I am so happy I judged this book by its cover. Following the story of Lyric Walker, you learn all about the lives of her family, her friends, and the star crossed lover that she falls in love with. I don't want to give any spoilers of the story but what I can say is this is a hidden gem that everyone should catch on to.

The Choices We Make by Karma Brown: OH MY DEAR LORD KARMA BROWN WHY YOU HAVE TO MAKE ME CRY THAT WAY. This book explores a very tricky topic, infertility. I love that even though it wasn't her story exactly she drew on her own experiences and honestly it made the story so believable. I felt the emotion coming through her words. Hannah and Ben have been trying to get pregnant for what feels like forever. When they learn that it is unlikely to ever happen, they decide to explore other options. Hannah's best friend Kate decides to be a surrogate for Hannah even though her husband David is at first against it. The story that ensues is so heart warming its unreal. I was really conflicted about how I felt about Hannah at the end of the story. In one moment I was like you are being so selfish and then the next moment I was like of course you have to fight for your child, you go girl! Even though the story didn't end up the way I wanted it to, it did end up how it most likely would have in reality. Have some tissues handy.

Riding in Cars With Boys by Beverly Donofrio: Trouble began in 2016. I'm not blaming it on The Presidential candidates or it being the middle of the 2010's or the Middle East or Justin Beiber. The trouble I'm talking about was my first real trouble, the age-old trouble. The is this book going to ruin the movie for me, trouble? trouble. As in I hated this book. As in the girl who was so excited to pick this book up and was thoroughly disappointed. Beverly Ann Donofrio wasn't bad because she hung out with hoods - she was bad because she blames everyone else for all of her problems and freaking whines for 204 pages. OKAY, so now that I have appropriately re-written the first paragraph of this book, we can begin. First of all, let me say this: I am absolutely enthralled with the movie. It has been one of my favorites since childhood. So naturally when I found out it was a book I went the very next day to the library to grab the one and only copy they had. I was so excited to start reading it! Little did I know, my heart would soon be breaking. In the movie, Bev finds out she is pregnant and doesn't want to get married but does anyway. She really tries to make things work with Ray, even trying to help him cold turkey quit heroin. She at least TRIES to be a good mother in the movie, she may not always succeed but she tried and I could live with that. In the book, ALL SHE CARES ABOUT is: Sex, Drugs, and making sure EVERYONE she came in contact with understood that she got pregnant in high-school and her child ruined her life. Okay ma'am, YOU got pregnant. YOU may not have asked for a kid, but I am sure your kid did not ask for a mother who despised him just for existing. In the beginning there is a car accident scene and she is hoping she lost her baby. I don't understand what it is like to be a teen mother, and I never will. I do not downgrade teen mothers, I am friends with plenty of teen mothers who are wonderful parents. However, if child services was a huge thing back then, Jason absolutely fell through the cracks. My best friend warned me about reading this because she didn't want the book to ruin the movie for me. I should have listened. The book is completely different. Stories were different, character plotlines were different, characters personalities were different. Everything was different. I really wanted to like this book, but I cannot get over the way she acted the entire book and her feelings towards her innocent child. I am just going to have to pretend that the movie is not based on the book to continue watching it, if I can't do that I will just have to permanently shelve it.

Bulletproof by Maci Bookout: OH MY GOD FINALLY. I have been wanting to get my hands on this book for so long but my local library doesn't have it and I have just been procrastinating buying it on the Google play store. Finally I downloaded Audible and this is one of the ones I downloaded with a free trial. I literally could not stop listening. I have absolutely loved Maci since the very beginning. I remember when the episode aired, I accidentally clicked on it thinking that it was this movie I had seen previously. Much to my surprise I was thrust into her world and I haven't gotten enough since. Obviously there were things in the book that I already knew had happened from watching 16 and Pregnant and all of the Teen Mom I could handle but there was a lot more backstory here. There were a lot of things that the cameras never captured and a lot of answered questions. For instance why her and Kyle actually broke up so suddenly (or so we thought so suddenly.) All of the lonely moments after Ryan and the downfall of their relationship. I loved how she brought up MTV and all the weird fame it brought her. I know that if I ever met her in person I would definitely want a picture with her but it also makes me realize that they are normal people too and just because she is famous to me doesn't mean she feels any different. It was kind of baffling to me how she says that people would ask her personal questions about her relationship with Ryan and trash talk Ryan in front of Bentley. Like really? How rude. You don't know anything except for what makes it past the editors on MTV. Is Ryan winning any father of the years awards? Probably not... but to trash talk him in front of his son who doesn't understand why you are judging his fathers character just makes it all the more confusing. anyway -end rant- There were also several poems written by Maci that were beautiful. Since I listened to the audiobook narrated by Maci herself, I actually felt like she was just my friend sitting here telling me her life story. I gobbled it up. Also it ends on a happy note with the story of her and Taylor (FREAKING SWOON). Anyway I absolutely loved her story and I will definitely read/listen to it again.

Never Too Late by Amber Portwood: Okay so I AM SO CONFLICTED. I listened to this story by way of Audible. Amber did her own narrating which I thought would be awesome because Maci did such a good job. Nope.. no such luck. It sounded like she used the microphone on her phone and was like hanging out with someone while she was doing it. She would giggle in the middle of a sentence here and there. You could hear other people in the background every so often. You can hear what sounds like a train every so often.. just weird stuff. Okay so now the book content. There was actually a lot in this book that I was not aware of from watching the show which was pleasantly surprising. A lot about her relationship with Gary that you didn't really see and a lot of things going on behind the scenes drug wise that I never would have guessed. Amber has definitely gone through a lot. To see where she is now makes me beyond proud of her. I know her decision to go to prison was not an easy one but I am so glad that she did. That was the best thing for her. I truly believed it saved her life after hearing more of the story. This book really gave me a new appreciation for her. There is some cussing and NSFW material in some areas so I would be weary of giving it to younger people.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: Alright, currently bracing myself to write this review. There are a few things to address as well as talking about this novel.

Thing 1: MY HEART. I didn't think I was going to make it to the end of this book. I literally thought I would stroke out in the middle. There were so many things that were happening and I didn't know the fate of my favorites and where relationships were and the ending just ugh it was too much for my heart to handle. Thing 2: MY MIND. I have never read a high fantasy book before. Ever. It was never my "thing." I finally came across this audiobook at the library and decided I was going to at least give it a try. I have heard so many things about how amazing this author is and the only reason I am not chancing it is because it is out of my comfort zone. So I started listening...and did not stop. The world building, the dialogue, the characters, the imagery. Everything came together in a little box with a bow on top and it was so perfect. I am so glad I ventured. Also, when everything was explained (IE; the curse, the glamour over her family, etc.) APWFFF <---That was my brain exploding. This book was a complete whirlwind. Thing 3: MY TEMPER. I wanted to murder Amarantha. Like literally no holds bar go at her with my bare freaking hands. She was AWFUL. She was DESPICABLE. Ugh my gut wrenches just talking about her. She is on the same level as Voldemort in my book "She who must not be named." The characters were perfect and each did their job within the story. I loved them. Tamlin, Feyre, Alis, even Rhysand. My favorite though as you could probably guess was Lucien. His snarky banter and his loyalty to Tamlin was aweinspiring. The creatures, the paintings, the gardens. Everything was perfectly balanced and well spaced. I am so in love with this book

This list concludes the books I read from April - December of 2016. I got through 25 of my 1000! Yay!