Confession- I actually really enjoyed Turtles All the Way Down

Anyone who has ever talked over hyped books or contemporaries with me, has probably heard my less than thrilled thoughts on John Green’s books. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care if you like him or his books, but they have done nothing for me. Just average, basic contemporaries in my mind- until now! I picked up Turtles All the Way Down as a true skeptic. But I was interested by the hype and reviews and had to give it a whirl. Definitely one of my better decisions, this book actually made me cry. Actual tears. Now I know you’re intrigued.

 Title: Turtles All the Way Down
Author: John Green
Publication Date: October 10th 2017
Burb: 

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.

Review

Esme’s Wish-Review, Blog Tour, Interview, and More!

Title: Esme’s Wish                                          Author: Elizabeth Foster                        Publisher: Odyssey Books
Publication date: 30 October 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

“A fresh new fantasy of an enchanting world.” – Wendy Orr, author of Nim’s Island and Dragonfly Song.

When fifteen-year-old Esme Silver objects at her father’s wedding, her protest is dismissed as the action of a stubborn, selfish teenager. Everyone else has accepted the loss of Esme’s mother, Ariane – so why can’t she?

But Esme is suspicious. She is sure that others are covering up the real reason for her mother’s disappearance – that ‘lost at sea’ is code for something more terrible, something she has a right to know.

After Esme is accidentally swept into the enchanted world of Aeolia, the truth begins to unfold. With her newfound friends, Daniel and Lillian, Esme retraces her mother’s steps in the glittering canal city of Esperance, untangling the threads of Ariane’s double life. But the more Esme discovers about her mother, the more she questions whether she really knew her at all.

This fresh, inventive tale is an ideal read for younger teens.

Review

Best, Worst, and Everything In Between-My 2017 Reads

2017 was a rough year for me reading wise. I struggled with book slumps and time management, but overall, I’m pretty happy with my reading last year. If you want to see everything I read last year you can check out my goodreads, but I thought it’s be fun to do a little award show of sorts and talk about the most memorable books from last year.

December Wrap Up and Survey!

Before we get to the part you’re probably waiting for (*cough*the survey I made to mark the new year and help me improve my blog*cough*), I thought I’d talk about what happened this December. I have family visiting and swim team to keep up with, but I think I made some steps in the right direction in December! I posted some cool things, read a lot of books, and had a lot of fun IRL. Let’s get into the details!

Books On My Christmas Wish List -Guest Post

This is a little late, but I hope it’s amazingness will be enough for an excuse/apology. Emily (for the bookish, one of my favorite blogs) sent me this like last week, but I dropped the ball and didn’t do anything with it. Sorry! I got so distracted by Christmas, books, presents, babies, season outfits, waiting for mail….. I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it at, “I forgot, oops.”. I’ve delayed you enough! Read on and enjoy this (slightly late) guest post! Thanks Emily (go check out her blog!!! Maybe we can encourage her to start blogging more again 😉 ).

Staying On Top of Your Reading During the Holiday Season-Guest Post

Hey guys! I’m so excited to show you this post by the lovely Olivia. We decided to swap Christmas themed posts, and I wrote a helpful guide for introverts on how to survive the holiday season (here) for her blog. She writes so many awesome posts so don’t hesitate to check out her blog. I’ve been reading it for years (definitely one of my favorite blogs).

I’m just going to stop rambling. Here’s the post!

Guide To Converting Your Non-Reader Friends

It’s the holiday season, and that means present shopping. But it can be so hard to shop for someone who doesn’t share the same interests as you, books. So instead of struggling and worrying, why don’t you just convert them to the bookworm life? Then you can shop for books, art prints, totes, phone cases, and everything else fandom related. But thats’s easier said then done. So I decided to give you a step by step guide to converting your non-bookish friends. Make this guide your own and have fun forcing your friends, family, and others to like books helping your friends and family.

Interrogating Illuminae

After posting my last post, I was looking through some mysterious documents and stumbled upon a file from an old interrogation. It was pretty interesting to read, and I thought you guys might like to read it as well! I don’t know who the interrogator is, but she sounds both fabulous and hilarious…… Enjoy!

Defeating book slumps pt. 2

About two weeks ago I posted a post about the different types of book slumps (here), but today I’m going to be sharing my tips and strategies for getting over slumps. It seems like slumps are becoming more and more well known, and I think that’s great! There are so many types of slumps (blogging slumps, reading slumps, writing slumps, and basically everything in between!) and it can be comforting to know that someone else gets you or went through the same things. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to make this mini series! But sometimes you need more than comfort. You need good, solid tips on how others got out of their slumps and that’s what I hope to deliver today! These tips are designed and written about reading slumps, but I think they could be modified to help you move past any of your slumps (at least, I hope so). Here are my top five ways to get past reading slumps.

Defeating Book Slumps pt. 1

As I mentioned in my last post, I got caught up in a horrible, long-lasting book slump last year. I was able to overcome it after about 6 months of pain, and I thought I’d make the process a little easier for others by talking about what helped me overcome my slump. But before I got into my tips for defeating a slump, I thought I’d give you a look at what slumps are like for me. Book slumps or slumps in general can look very different, but I singled out my top blank most common slumps.