Movin' on Up!

I am pleased and excited to announce that this blog is now a vlog on YouTube! My channel name is yeahireadit and you can click on the link to go to the channel or you can preview my winter wonderland book tag video below. Please head on over to YouTube and subscribe and check out everything that you're used to seeing here in video format instead! 

Happy 2014- see you at YouTube!

Review: The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry

The Summer I Found You is the story about a teenage girl trying to cope with her new diagnosis of type one diabetes and a teenage male veteran who is learning how to embrace his new life after losing an arm, who come together by using each other as an escape, only to discover through love and struggle that your life is what you make of it. (Synopsis from GoodReads)

Title: The Summer I Found You
Author: Jolene Perry
Publication Date: 2014
Publisher: Albert Whitman Teen
Number of Pages: 
Where I Got It: NetGalley
Dates I Read It: November 12- November 16, 2013
Number of Stars: 3/5
Read For: Review purposes


 
*I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

   I love a book that alternates points of view and this book is told in alternating points of view from the two main characters. I really enjoy when books have chapters that switch POV's- I feel like it makes the story move faster and I also feel like I can put more faith in the story since both narrators have a larger chance of being honest and believable. I did fell a lot more sympathy for Aiden/Aidan though- he seemed to be a much more developed and rounded character. I hate to say it, but I also felt worse for him since he had lost an arm. I feel like I know so many people who have diabetes, but I don't know anyone who has lost an arm! Being an older reader of YA, I also feel like I had a harder time relating to Kate. Normally, I can relate really well to my YA heroines, but Kate was difficult for me to connect to. I kept looking at her actions and decisions from the responsible, mature adult POV and silently "tsk-tsk-ing" her for being irresponsible. Kate did feel like a real teenager though and this book felt very realistic and true to real life.
     I liked this story. This was a light but somewhat forgettable read. There was no real action and it can kind of drag for some readers, especially those readers who enjoy fast-paced, action-packed reads. I was very excited for this book because I loved the cover! It immediately jumped out at me and made me excited to read the book. Don't be fooled like I was because the cover really has nothing at all to do with the book. Also, the story is supposed to be about the summer, but it actually takes place during the school year. I was disappointed in this plot point as I love a summer love story.
     As I was reading it, there were times when I wondered to myself if this really was a YA book as it felt more like an adult fiction book. I would recommend this one to older teens, maybe 16-19 or to any teens who may be recently diagnosed with diabetes (or maybe even one who, for whatever reason, have lost a limb).

3/5 stars

TTT: Books For A Reluctant Boy Reader Who Likes Action And Adventure

Hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Image from Ramblings of a Reader

Today's TTT are books that I would recommend to a reluctant boy reader who likes action and adventure-y type books. These books are all ones that I have recommended to G to read. Some he did and some are still on that TBR of his.

 

All images from GoodReads

Sunday Post #2

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @

Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

~this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~

It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week,
showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming
up for the week on our blog.

Last week on the blog

Tuesday: I skipped over Tuesday's TTT (books who you wish you could re-design the covers for). I didn't have that many. Usually if the cover is so off-putting to me, I hate to say it, but I usually won't end up reading the book. I am so bad about judging books by their covers.
Friday: #FridayReads- The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry. I finished it yesterday and I hope to get the review up sometime this week.
Saturday: Review of Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Upcoming on the blog:

I finished up The Summer I Found You this weekend like I had hoped to do and I now hope to get the review up soon.
TTT- Top Ten Books I Would Recommend to an X Person (Could be any "type" of person.) I haven't decided on what kind of person to recommend books to yet.
#FridayReads 11/22- I'm currently reading Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins but it is going really fast so I will probably finish it this week. I got Attachments and Eleanor and Park at Yallfest last weekend so I hope to start one of those next. We'll see where I'm at on Friday.

New arrivals

Like I said I got a few new books at Yallfest last weekend. I haven't acquired any others since then but I did get some good ones at the festival:
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
The Diviners by Libba Bray
Anna And The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Weekly Happenings

Not much happened last week. I didn't have work on Monday (thank you, Veterans!) so Sunday night G and I went to eat and see Thor 2 which was amazing. Other than that it was mostly working and reading and eating and sleeping. I did start decorating the house for Christmas, but just small little knickknacks and nothing too huge (no tree, yet). I'm pretty stoked for Friday though as G and I are going to see Catching Fire at the I-Max and I couldn't be more excited. I'm currently in the process of trying to make a Mockingjay shirt to wear, but I am so not crafty and my first try was a huge, embarrassing failure. I'll post pictures as soon as I am able to get it done.. if I'm able to get it done...

Have a great week!

Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves, and herself, while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. (-Synopsis from GoodReads)

Title: Insurgent (Divergent trilogy book #2)
Author: Veronica Roth
Publication Date: 2012
Publisher: Harper Teen
Number of Pages: 525
Where I Got It: Nook by Barnes and Noble
Dates I Read It: November 6-November 12, 2013
Number of Stars: 4/5
Read It For: Just for fun!


     I really liked Insurgent, despite being confused out of my mind for the majority of the book. I was so confused at the start of this book that I had to view Roth's blog post: But I Read Divergent A Year Ago! which was super helpful in reminding me how Divergent ended since it had actually been more than a year since I had read it. Once I read her blog post I had to start the book over and re-read the first 40 pages, this time with a little less confusion.

(two pages from my reading journal open to the Insurgent entry)

     The characters were still really awesome and we got to see a continuation of character development with our main cast in this book. I really liked the majority of the characters and I thought that they all fit into their roles perfectly. I was pretty pissed off at Tris at several points in the book, and especially at several of the choices that she made and a lot of her reasoning behind her actions and decisions. She is Dauntless after all, though, so I suppose I can't stay too mad at her for too long. I liked how we got to see the humanity of Tris in this book. She is a Dauntless girl in the middle of a factions war, and yet she still spends a great deal of the book feeling guilty about killing someone who was threatening her life. I appreciate Four for the role that he plays. He does a great job as the male lead. I do hope that we get some more from him in Allegiant. I want to know more about him, his back story and his inner thoughts and motivations. Even though I loved the main characters, one of the most annoying things about this book for me was the secondary characters. Roth included an enormous cast of characters in this book and I found it incredibly difficult to keep track of all of them. I wasn't sure who was good and who was evil and who I was supposed to root for and who I was supposed to thumb my nose at and who was born into what faction and who switched to what faction and why. Too much!
     The pacing of the book was excellent. This is a long book (525 pages) but it passed very quickly and I was genuinely surprised when it ended; I had thought I had at least 100 pages to go! I did read this book on my Nook so perhaps that helped quite a bit with my not realizing how long it was. Despite the actual length of the book, it flew by and I think that this was mainly due to all of the action that took place. It seemed that every time I sat down with the book there was a battle scene resulting in an emotionally heavy outcome. These books are dystopian done well and Roth continues the excellency of the world building. There did seem to be some redundancy of action to me which only added to my confusion at times. I feel like perhaps those extra scenes could have been left out. It was still a fabulous book that I thoroughly enjoyed and I would recommend.
     I viewed the second teaser trailer for the Divergent movie on YouTube last night while G was in the computer room and he watched it over my shoulder and he seemed really intrigued. I think it might have
gotten him thinking about reading the books before I drag him to the movie. The trailers look great so far and I highly approve of the casting for this movie. I can't wait for March!
     Oh, and I decided I'm pretty sure I would be in Amity, even though they do dress like Ronald McDonald.

4 out of 5 stars

#FridayReads 11/15/13

     I've been reading The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry (who has got some wicked cool style! I have been stalking her on her blog, GoodReads and Twitt-ah this week) the past three days. I've got an ARC of it from NetGalley on my Nook. So far I'm enjoying it; it's a nice distraction for a few minutes a day (which is all I've had time for this week. Ugh.)
      Kate is a high school senior who was just dumped by her boyfriend and diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. Aiden is the cousin of Kate's best friend. Aiden has just returned from Afghanistan where he has lost an arm. He is now living over Kate's parent's garage, missing his arm, and suffering from a major case of survivor's and I'm not dying to jump back in and find out what's going to happen- I'm pretty certain that I already know what's going to happen. I'm hoping to finish it up this weekend and then get to one of the books I bought at Yallfest last weekend (which, by the way was a huge blast (and I got a favorite from Rainbow Rowell, a favorite from Margaret Stohl, a retweet from Michael Johnston and a reply from Marie Lu!))!
guilt. I'm at the point in the book now where Kate and Aiden are starting to hangout more and more and you can tell that they are on the cusp of falling in love. Ahh- young love! It's a cute, light, fluffy read. It's taking me a while to read it because this week has been a long and crazy one
     On a different note, I did finish Insurgent this week and boy did I enjoy that one! I gave that one a solid four stars over on GoodReads. Add me as a GR friend and keep up with what all I'm reading throughout the week!

                          Happy Friday, Readers-have a fabulous weekend. And don't forget to tell me- what are YOU reading this weekend?

#FridayReads 11/8/2013

Yallfest is finally here! After work this afternoon, G and I will be driving down to Charleston for the weekend and I can't wait! I'm taking my Nook with me to read. I downloaded Insurgent Wednesday night so I will be reading that one this weekend. I probably won't be getting a whole lot of reading done since my schedule is packed! I've picked out all of the panels I'm going to try to hit:

All the Fantasy with Libba Bray, Cinda Chima, Melissa de la Cruz, Mike Johnston, Lisa McMann, Veronica Rossi and moderated by Leigh Bardugo

After the End with Alexandra Bracken, Ally Condie, Marie Lu, Carrie Ryan, Lauren Oliver, Margaret Stohl and moderated by Mike Johnston

The Sci-Fi/Fantasy Masked Ball with Leigh Bardugo, Lev Grossman, Mike Johnston, Marie Lu, Myra McEntire, Brendan Reichs, David McInnis Gill and moderated by Victoria Schwab

Brave New Crush Coffee Talk with Stephanie Perkins and Rainbow Rowell

Grand Ole YA'opry with Michel Hodkin, David McInnis Gill, CJ Lyons, Myra McEntire, Stephanie Perkins, Carrie Ryan, Victoria Schwab and JE Thompson and moderated b y Brendan Reichs

A Lengendary Match Coffee Talk with Ally Condie and Marie Lu

Did I mention how excited I am!?

Happy Friday everyone! What are you reading this weekend?