Book Lovin' [part 1]

I think I’ve mentioned before that I use a site called Goodreads. If you’re a big reader, this is a great site. It has a great database and just helps you keep track of what you've read, what you did and didn't like and what books you might enjoy (recommendations). I also really enjoy the ratings system and other member’s reviews. Ultimately, if I really want to read a book I’m going to regardless of the reviews, but they often help in deciding what to read next.

Anyway, enough rambling. On this site they have this Reading Challenge thing where basically you set a goal of how many books you want to read in a year. You “log” in your books and it keeps track for you, telling you how far behind or ahead you are. Well, this year I set a goal of 15 books, which is either a lot or a little depending on how often you read. It was more than I've ever read in a year before (that I’m aware of), but still seemed attainable. Guess what? I reached my goal with a couple months to spare. :) Might sound silly, but I’m totally proud of myself.

So, are you curious what I've been reading? Sure ya are!

 Chaos Walking Series by Patrick Ness
*the three primary works.

Oh man, I don’t even know what to say about this series. I felt so up and down about it. Feel free to read my reviews, but I know there is a spoiler on the first one. Let me just say this about the first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, I honestly have never felt so pissed off and angry after finishing a book. I was so angry that I wasn't planning on finishing the series, I even read two other books in the interim. I picked up the second book for two reasons 1) the two books I read in between sucked and 2) I figured if a writer could evoke such strong emotions from me then I should probably continue on. Ultimately, I think I’m glad I read the series, but I think another reviewer said it best when the whole book is basically about hope, but Ness never really gives us any. I honestly felt very hopeless while reading this series and often heard myself mumble, “damn, can’t he give these people a break?”.
Ha, so yea...read or don’t read, I don’t know. :/

 Sookie Stackhouse Series

Don’t waste your time on these. I am a big fan of the show (although, this past season wasn't my fav) and so I received these as a gift. I know I read the first two for sure and I’m pretty sure I started a third, but I just couldn't get into it. The show is leagues better...and the quality of writing in these books is low.

Millenium Series by Stieg Larsson

Okay, it took me starting the first book three separate times over the past year or two before I actually read it. I’m not going to lie, it’s slow going at first, but don’t give up! It’s totally worth it, promise! I’ll also say that Larsson’s writing is a bit overly detailed and wordy at time, but I just skimmed when I felt necessary. The stories have a nice flow and had me captivated. They build up to the pivoting parts where intense and exciting. The second book was my favorite and the third was easily my least favorite. Definitely read these!

Divergent & Insurgent by Veronica Ross

First two books of the Divergent series, the third one is set to be out next year I think. If you liked Hunger Games, you’ll like these! It’s different, but the same. These are both easy, but exciting reads. There’s lots of action and a little young love, lol. Although, I often kept forgetting how young the characters were, because they often felt much older to me. Anyway, I’d recommend this to dystopian fans!

Okay, more on the rest later.  
xo, kass

Friday Favorites: Summer Reading

I’ve decided to make myself a summer reading list. We’re only a week into summer, so this seems an appropriate title. My Disclaimer: I do not intend to finish all of these books this summer, but I just wanted a guideline to narrow my choices down. I’ll be excited if I get more than 3 read before fall. Lol I just finished reading up The Girl Who Played with Fire and have started The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest. After that, I'm hoping to read Divergent, but currently there is a waiting list at both of my libraries! I’m totally game for some input on books...whether they are on this list or not!!

Summer Reading List (organized by author)

• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bardbury
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
• City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare
• City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare
• Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
  -I own this and have been wanting to read this for awhile, but I’ve held off because I do a lot of reading in the breakroom at work and when people ask what I’m reading - well some may think it’s inappropriate. Idk, maybe I’m just being silly - they do constantly blabber on about religion after all. :P 
• If I Stay (If I Stay #1) by Gayle Forman
• Where She Went (If I Stay #2) by Gayle Forman
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
  -okay, so I’ve heard lots of conflicting things about this book, I bought it for a buck at a used book store. What are your thoughts? 
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
• Never Let Me Go by Kazui Ishiguro
  -I’ve seen the movie, hopefully it doesn’t ruin the book - which I still really want to read. 
• The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
  -Yes, I read this in highschool, but I feel a nagging to read it again (because it was so horrifying). 
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
  
• Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth
  -I thought this series sounded interesting and a friend has assured me I'll enjoy it!
• Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth
• The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by J. Randy Taraborrelli
• Uglies (Uglies #1) by Scott Westerfield

So, any thoughts??  Oh and by the by, if you're a big reader you should join me on Goodreads!

xo, kass

Lost Passion? [style log]

Wet dreary days always leave me feeling contemplative...and calm. So last week we had such a day and I started to think of things I am passionate about, or tried to. I attempted to make a mental list and I’m sorry to say it wasn’t easy for me at all. Is that sad or what? I mean, I find lots of things interesting enough...but I wouldn’t call myself passionate about them.

I want to be passionate about photography, but am I? If I were, wouldn’t I find more time for it in my life? Or maybe I'm just overthinking it. I’m passionate about reading I think. I have a thirst for it. I enjoy reading immensely and I feel strange or off when I’m “in between” books or just lack the time to read. I think maybe I would like to write a book someday...about what? Who knows.

[sweater/f21 :: skirt/thrifted :: belt/f21 :: boots/merona via target}

I think I have a passion to be creative. To find creativity somehow. It’s hard though, most of my day I am surrounded by an environment that stifles me. I wish I could find a way to transform that somehow, but I haven’t a clue how. Maybe if I just start with my desk space and fill it with things I find inspiring or things that make me smile. I have pictures of loved ones, so that’s a start. I think I’m going to do more though. Wait . Wow, ok I literally just got an idea. I’ve been wanting to create more digital art, so maybe I should take some quotes I like and make some typography artwork...something like all those lovely quotes I find on pinterest. Yes, I think that sounds like a good idea. Then I can print a few and hang them around my desk.

I do think I am passionate about photography...and art in general. Just because I don’t always create things doesn’t mean I’m not passionate about it, right? Right. I mean, I don’t create music, but I’d call myself passionate about music. I couldn’t survive my day to day without it.

I know I said this not too long ago, but it’s important enough to say again. I want need to focus more on the people and things that bring me the most joy. I always put things off and procrastinate, but life is short, so why wait to start tomorrow when I can start today?

Ha, let’s just help I can hold myself to that thought.

xo,kassie

A year in [book] review...

This year I’ve read some good books and some really horrible books. I thought I’d just do a little review on a few of my favorites!

The Help by Katherine Stockett

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own. [Summary from Goodreads]

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

I’m sure you’ve at least heard about this book, because recently it was turned into a movie. I happened to start the book just a few days before I heard about the movie, so I made a point of getting it read. This book is so fantastic. The story is interesting and important. I ended up loving all these women and their stories. Stockett wrote these characters so well that it’s impossible not to feel their happiness, pain, sadness, or joy with them.

The Host by Stephanie Meyers

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love. [Summary from Goodreads]

I actually read this last year, but that’s okay. I wanted to include in on here, because it’s one of my favorite books I’ve read recently. It’s a bit on the Sci-Fi side, but please don’t let that deter you if you’re not usually a Sci-Fi fan. That’s just one facet of this book, it’s also about love, personal struggle and growth. Let me just say, it was hard for me to put this book down. It was gripping and had me enthralled to the very end. The main characters, Melanie & Wanderer, are written so well that by the end I felt like I knew them both. This book is a must read if you ask me!

Bossypants by Tina Fey

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon — from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.
Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy. [Summary from Goodreads]

This book was great! There isn’t much to say, other than the obvious...Tina Fey is funny! Her writing is clever and witty. It’s fun to get a glimpse into the minds of celebrities [especially your favorite!] and it’s even better when you can get something out of it. Which I definitely did here. I may not have agreed with all of Fey’s opinions, but I definitely enjoyed reading them.

The Hunger Games Series

The Hunger Games, #1 - Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place. [Summary from Goodreads]

Catching Fire, #2 -Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the annual competition described in Hunger Games, but the aftermath leaves these victors with no sense of triumph. Instead, they have become the poster boys for a rebellion that they never planned to lead. That new, unwanted status puts them in the bull's-eye for merciless revenge by The Capitol... [Summary from Goodreads]

Mockingjay, #3 -Young Katniss Everdeen has survived the dreaded Hunger Games not once, but twice, but even now she can find no relief. In fact, the dangers seem to be escalating: President Snow has declared an all-out war on Katniss, her family, her friends, and all the oppressed people of District 12. [Summary from Goodreads]

These books are hot, Hot, HOT right now! I’ve been hearing about them for the past year, but never picked them up because it seemed like they were written for a younger age group. In fact, my boyfriend uses them for teaching...middle school! Don’t let that deter you though, he’s actually the one who convinced me to read them and I’m glad he did! On the surface, this series is a very exciting love story, but obviously it’s much more than that. One of the main themes is that of the controlling government and how it uses and exploits its people. You get to see some different sides to this theme and it’s very interesting...and exciting. These books should definitely be on your reading list, plus they won’t take you too long! The first book is coming out as a movie in May, so read it before then!


To see what else I’ve been reading, fine me on Goodreads!

Slàin, Kassie