Sorry

Sorry guys, no Ship It Saturday tonight. I just got home and I'm going straight to bed. But good news, I finally figured out what I'm doing on Fridays. It's going to be a surprise though.

Update Thursday #1

Update Thursday? I've been looking for something to do on Non Gothic Thursday and every Friday. Friday still needs a theme. For Update Thursday I'm just going to update you on what I'm reading and give you some blog updates.

I am reading:

• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley for my English class
• The Ambrose Beacon by Alena Gouveia. He has asked me to read and review it.
• White Horse by Alex Adams. So far not so good. It's mostly a book I read while I'm on the bus or have three seconds to kill. 
• Gone by Micheal Grant. Again, so far not so good. 
• The Lincoln Lawyer by Micheal Connelly. It's really good so far and I wish I had more time for it. 

Blog Updates: None

Polls: Don't forget to vote on the new poll that's up. As a child did you like to read?

Other: I am not taking review requests at this time. For obvious reasons. 

Thanks for reading. I'm still taking suggestions on what to do for Fridays! 

Half Day

It's Whatever Wednesday again. I was really happy earlier because it was a half day of school  and I planned on getting a lot of reading and writing done. Neither of which actually happened. No. Instead I spent my day watching tattoo shows. Today was going to be my first day to actually get things done in almost a month. And I didn't get any of it done. None. Nothing.

I guess lately I've been feeling very lazy. I haven't read anything in almost three weeks, and I feel really bad about it. I mean I read for about thirty minutes today but it was pretty halfheartedly. I just really haven't felt like myself lately. I don't know why, but it's happening. This half day turned out to be a bummer and I didn't accomplish anything. It just made me really think about what I need to get done.

So starting Friday, because I'm working and schooling all day tomorrow, I am going to read more and get more done. Thanks for being cool with me not reviewing much lately. I'm hoping to change that really soon.

Top Seven Favorite Antagonists

It's Top Seven Tuesday again. Today I'm going to talk about my top seven favorite antagonists. I'm going to use antagonists from TV shows and books. I wouldn't normally do that, but my all time favorite antagonist was from a TV show and I don't feel like I could leave him out. Let's begin.

7) The Society. Sometimes the best antagonist is everyone. In the Matched trilogy Cassia fights against her society. I think it's brave. How do you fight against something that's everywhere? The Society was a good antagonist for that series, and it might not have worked in another book.

6) President Snow. We all know where this guy's from. I loved President Snow because he was easy to hate. He was somebody you could point to and say "that guy is an asshole" and you would just know you're right. Villains that are easy to hate make for an easy to love book. I wanted President Snow dead. So when bad things happened to Katniss I wanted her to keep going even though I hated her because I needed her to kill Snow. Which she didn't really do, but he still died so it still worked.

5) President Coin. Another character from The Hunger Games that's easy to hate. She's Snow, but worse. The level of deception that she uses is what makes her worse than Snow for me.

4) The Smoke Monster. AKA The Man in Black. *Spoilers ahead* Who's seen LOST? If you haven't then you really need to. Like really. The man in black is somebody I sympathized with. I mean. Come on. A crazy lady murdered him mother and stole him and wouldn't let him leave the island. Of course he's going to grow up evil. It really wasn't his fault. He's just misunderstood. And that's sometimes a good direction to take an antagonist in. Sometimes the villain needs to be likable. Sometimes you need to be able to see both sides.

3) Joe Carroll. Anybody see the Following? I did. And I loved it. Throughout the show I was rooting for Joe and his followers. I must be honest, I almost always root for the bad guys. But this time I was really really really rooting for the bad guys. I was sad when Joe or one of his followers got hurt. I not only want them to win, I need them too.

2) Tigerclaw. I love Tigerclaw *spoilers*, or Tigerstar, as those of you who have read up to the first four books would know. Which reminds me, I really need to find the fifth one. Tigerclaw is up on my list because he was somebody I hated from the beginning. He was somebody who I thought all of the characters would hate. But some of them didn't. A good antagonist is somebody who has friends. Somebody who still seems human (or cat) and not just monster.

1) Benjamin Linus. Now to my favorite antagonist of all time. Ben. I love Ben. Throughout the show (LOST) I struggled to decide if I liked Ben or not. Eventually, I decided that I did. One of the reasons it took me so long to decide though is because I couldn't figure him out. I didn't know who's side he was on. I still don't. But he got in the way and he hurt people, which is why I think most people consider him an antagonist. This is why I do. He's my favorite because he confuses me, and I still don't know who he is.

Love Triangles

*Spoilers ahead, sorry not sorry.*

Today I want to discuss Love Triangles. Love triangles have become a major cliche in literature. They probably wouldn't be so bad, if they weren't so predictable.

In almost every triangle there's a pretty girl, a best friend, and a mysterious bad boy. The pretty girl always has to choose one, even though clearly that's ridiculous because there are more guys on the planet than your best friend and the bad boy in like two of your classes. Not to mention, the girl is still in high school. Sorry. I'm in high school and I cant even choose my breakfast without a major malfunction, never mind my future husband. But whatever. The girl always picks the bad boy. It's never the friend. Never ever. Which sucks because sometimes I route for the friend and it's kind of depressing to know that he isn't going to get picked. In the Matched trilogy who does Cassia choose? *Spoiler* Ky. Not Xander, her best friend. Come on now, who didn't see that coming (don't know why I'm complaining, I ship Ky and Cassia). It's the same thing, but a different book.

Some love triangles aren't bad though. Katniss, Peeta, and Gale was a good triangle. When reading it was hard to figure out who Katniss was going to choose. The triangle was never really the main focus of the story either. It was refreshing. What about Witch Eyes. While I don't think we can really consider Braden, Trey, and Drew a love triangle because Drew and Braden are never going to happen, I will anyways. It's not the 'pretty girl meets mystery boy but best friend gets in the way' love triangle we are so used to seeing. We need more love triangles like that. We need books that aren't predictable.

I don't really think love triangles are bad. I think the predictability of them is. If authors would start writing better love triangles I don't think people would complain about them as much. So, what do you think?

Control Your Fate

It's Quotation Sunday again, even though it's like almost 10:30. Oops. Sorry. I work. And then I had to watch Now You See Me, great movie by the way. So lets get to the quote.

"The dice had already been tossed, the cards shuffled and drawn. He was what he was, whether he knew it yet or not." - Barry Lyga, I Hunt Killers, page 134.

In I Hunt Killers Jazz often has problems dealing with who he is and where he comes from. He questions everything about himself. I like this quote for a couple reasons. One, is because it implies that Jazz will be a killer like his dad (even though probably not). Two, it's basically saying we cant control our fate. Call me crazy, but I like that idea.

I like the idea of not being able to control our lives. If we screw them up, but we're already predestined to screw them up, then it's not our fault. I don't think people like the idea of  not being able to be in control of their fates because it makes them sad. I think some things are just meant to be though. I think if people stopped trying to control every single little details of their lives and other peoples lives they would be a lot happier. Stop stressing and just live the way you were meant to live. Have fun while you can.

Braden and Drew

It's Ship It Saturday again. Today's ship is Braden and Drew from the Witch Eyes series by Scott Tracey. I'll link to the the reviews just in case you didn't read the books or the reviews. Review of Demon Eyes (2nd book) Review of Witch Eyes (1st book). So go check those out if you haven't read the book so you know what I'm talking about.

While reading the first book I really shipped Braden and Trey. I was basically in love with them together. Then, during the second book, my perception changed. I hated Trey in the second book. The thought of them being together disgusted me. I don't want them together. Instead I moved to another character, Drew. Drew and Braden are probably never going to be together, but I'll learn to live with it.

Drew is a rude and sarcastic prick. Braden is also pretty much a prick. Trey is a prick. They're literally all pricks, but Drew is the worst. Maybe that's why I like him so much. Braden and Drew together would only end badly, but that's okay. They're both really strong personalities. There would be just too much sass going on in that relationship. Yet, I still find myself shipping them. It might just be one of those 'they're good as friends, but probably not relationship material' things. Maybe I ship them because I just really don't want Trey and Braden to be together. Maybe not.

I think I'm in the minority when it comes to this ship. Most people like Trey. I don't. I cant wait for the third book to come out in October. I need to know who he's going to be with. At the end of the last book it sounded like he was going with Trey though.

Frankenstein

It's Gothic Thursday, the day I talk about what I'm learning in my Gothic Fiction class. As a senior I got to choose what kind of English class I wanted. The options were Gothic Fiction, AP English, Film and Lit, Cowboys and Warriors, and Myths and Legends. Originally I had wanted Film and Lit but it took place during my math class, and the math I'm taking is only during that period. Gothic was my second choice, but I'm really happy with it. It's probably one of the only (Astronomy being the other) classes I truly look forward to in the day.

In my class we are currently reading Frankenstein (tell me if you want a review on it when I'm done. If not I wont do one because the book is kind of really old). I was really surprised to find out that most people don't know that Frankenstein is scientist and not the monster. The monster doesn't even have a name. I've known this since I was like ten, but I guess I was the only one because basically nobody else in my class knew. So, now you know, don't make the mistake again. Another thing that most people don't realize about the book? Yeah, the monster isn't green and he doesn't have a flat head. I'm not sure why that stuck but oh well. And Victor (Frankenstein) isn't a mad scientist, he just had too much determination.

Mary Shelley was really young when she wrote Frankenstein (like 19 or 20ish). Which is probably why the book is covered in grammatical errors that bother even me. I know my grammar isn't the best, but oh my god this book is so poorly written I don't know how it got to be so famous. I keep in mind that when Shelley was writing this books had only just started to become a thing so there really wasn't any rules yet. Still, I expected better. When Frankenstein's monster is created it basically gets two sentences to explain what's going on. That's it. Half a paragraph and the monster is alive.

I do really like my Gothic Fiction class so far, and I cant wait to read more of the novel. I'll see you next Gothic Thursday for some Frankenstein updates.

 *Remember, I go to a tech school so I only have academic classes every other week. I'll be in shop so the next week so the next Gothic Thursday will be in two weeks. If you have any suggestions for the off Thursday leave it in the comments.*

Green Hair

It's Whatever Wednesday, the day I talk about whatever is on my mind, and it cant be book related. I don't want to talk about Syria or some other shit in the news, because it's just going to piss me off. So instead I'm going to talk a little bit about my green hair.

It's mostly older people who come in and shop at my work, so I was a little worried that if I dyed my hair green it would frighten some of them. *For those of you who don't see my twitter it isn't all green, just a few parts. I'll post a pic at the bottomish of the page.* I'm kind of shocked at how much some of the older people like it, or at least maybe pretend to like it. In the month since I've had it dyed I've only really gotten three negative comments. But I've also gotten at least fifty positive ones. It was really surprising to me.

It always makes me laugh a little to myself when an elderly doesn't understand how I got it green. One was just like "Is it food coloring?" The most asked question I get is "Is It permanent?" That's when I proceed to tell them the horror story of my sisters blue hair. My sister dyed the underneath of her hair blue probably just a little more than a year ago. About six months later she wanted purple instead. No big deal. Just a color change. Amy's blue hadn't really faded much at this point, but whatever, that just meant it was a good product. So Lexie (out cousin/hairdresser) put the bleach on the blue so she could dye it purple. She let it sit for about thirty or more minutes. It didn't even touch the blue at all. This wasn't some stupid cheap bleach either. It was like top of the line. So they tried again and put it on longer. That didn't take it out. So they just put the purple over the blue. You could still see the blue. I have the same product in my hair, except it's green. Lets hope it lasts as long.

I like my green hair. I don't care if nobody else does. I makes me happy, and I'm keeping it for a long time. Maybe next time I'll put even more in.

Top Seven Hunger Games Moments

It's Top Seven Tuesday. Today I'm going to talk about my top seven Hunger Games moments, because you know I'm still on a Hunger Games kick. Just be thankful my Discussion Monday wasn't Hunger Games related. So I'm going to do this by going in descending order, ending with my favorite Hunger Games moment. Lets get started.

*Warning, entire post may contain spoilers for all three books, read on at your own risk.*

7) When Katniss volunteers for Prim at the reaping. This is, clearly, one of the most important parts in the book. It isn't my favorite, but it is certainly a very emotional part of the book. It shows how much Katniss cares for Prim right away. When I read the books I think about what I would have done if Amys name was called. I'd probably volunteer too, and thinking about it sort of brings up emotions. That's why this moment makes it into my top seven.

6) Finnick "kissing" Peeta. Come on, you know you were freaking out when this happened too. It wasn't just the mouth to mouth Finnick was giving Peeta, it was the idea of Peeta dying. It was unthinkable. No. No. No. The moment made me happy and scared at the same time.

5) Rues death. This one is obvious. Rue reminds Katniss of Prim, and Prim reminds me of Amy. It was one of those "I feel you" moments.

4) "Katniss, there is no District 12."  Feels. Feels. Feels. Feels. After I read the line I ran to my room and started Mockingjay right away. It was the perfect ending for a perfect book. I cant even begin to explain how I felt. It was just an overwhelming feeling of multiple emotions at once. That ending made it so I didn't want to read Mockingjay, I had to read Mockingjay.

3) Peeta trying to strangle Katniss. I was in the middle of my history class when I read this. The teacher was bad at his job and never noticed me reading in the back of his class (I know, I'm so cool). So when I read this I couldn't really release my emotions. When I did get into the hall I was basically having a mental breakdown. I had to stop reading the book for a few hours just to process what was happening.

2) Katniss realizing she is going back into the arena. It was another one of those heart stopping moments that Suzanne Collins is so good at creating. I wanted to cry, and I almost did, but I'm really not that type of person so I didn't. But it was emotional. All of these moments were emotional.

1) "If it weren't for the baby." I screamed and threw the book across my bedroom. I couldn't even handle it. My mom came running into my room because I screamed so loud she thought I was being murdered or something. I have never before had so much emotion towards a book that I threw it across the room. This is why this moment is my favorite. This is why it's number one. No moment made me feel as emotional as that one. Even now when I reread the series it stops me for a moment, even though I know it's coming.

I think Collins should be praised for being able to create so many jaw dropping moments. There were so many more I could have put in. So these are my top seven Hunger Games moments. Did I miss your favorite? Share in the comments.

Popular Books

It's time for Discussion Monday again, and today's topic is about popular books.

Some books deserve the popularity they get, and some don't. Nothing drives me crazier than when people say they hate or love a book just because it's popular. I think I've said it before, but I don't usually read books that get really popular because they usually don't deserve it, but I'm not going to say I hate a book just because it's popular.

Take the mortal instruments or immortal instruments, or whatever (i never know what the title is because I don't care about it). It's a pretty popular book, it's also, in my opinion, a terrible book. But I can have my opinion because I gave the book a try. Nothing makes me madder than when someone says they hate a book and then when asked they admit they've never read it. Like. Gurl. Step back.

It also makes me mad when a book does become popular and then people who read it and didn't like it say they love it just to fit in. Like. It's a book. You don't have to pretend to be a super fan. For example, I didn't read Harry Potter (I know, you can slap me in the face now), but I saw all the movies. I'm not going to pretend to be a fan of the books just because I liked the movies. That's just stupid. If you don't like something, or didn't read something, don't pretend to be a fan.

I think people really need to calm down and just read what they want to read. You don't have to go around pretending to like or dislike something. Just be yourself. Form your own educated opinions.

Facing Your Fears

Hey guys. It's the first Quotation Sunday ever. As I write this I'm still trying to decide what quote to use. I know I want something Hunger Games related, because, as I explained yesterday, I am in a Hunger Games mood. I'll probably have to reread the books for the millionth time soon. And so now, after two hours (more like twenty minutes) of flipping through Catching Fire, I have picked the quote I would like to discuss with you today.

"At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead." - Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire, page 118.

I picked this quote today because I remember it being one that caught my attention the first time I read the series, and it continues to catch my attention with every reread. I think it can mean more than what it's suppose to mean when you really look at it. It's not just about facing whoever wants you dead. It's about facing something you don't want to. In life we all have to do things that scare us. If we don't at least attempt them then what does that say about us? Sometimes you can't just sit and wait.

I hope next time you're in a rough spot you remember the quote and face your fears. We can't hide from them forever.

Katniss and Peeta

It's Ship It Saturday, the first of my new thingys. Yeah, thingy is totally a word. Today's ship: Katniss and Peeta (and no, I'm not going to call them peeniss). I've been in a hunger games mood lately, so sorry not sorry if my next few of these things are about it.

When I first met Gale I immediately knew he was going to be a love interest for Katniss. I liked Gale at first, and I really wanted him and Katniss to be together. I told myself that I wasn't going to fall for the second love interest, who was going to be Peeta, but I didn't know that while I was first reading. But then when Peeta's name got called at the reaping (um spoilers, but seriously if you don't know by now then you must be living under a rock) I changed my mind. I knew I was going to end up loving Peeta. As the book progressed I loved Peeta more and more and more, and I liked Gale less and less.

I don't like Katniss. She rubs me the wrong way. So does Gale. I think realistically she should have been with Gale, or maybe nobody at all. But she ended up with Peeta and that's what I wanted the entire time I read the book. Peeta was one of the few mainish characters in the book that I didn't hate, really it was just him and Haymitch that I liked.  Katniss and Peeta shouldn't have worked, but they did, and most people wanted them to work. Peeta was too good for Katniss, you can yell at me all you want but it's my opinion and I think it's the right one.

So I hate Katniss and Peeta together, but I still ship them? Why? I think people ship Katniss and Peeta because they just like Peeta. We don't look at the fact that Katniss is undeserving. We look at how much Peeta loves Katniss. We want Peeta to be happy, and, in the end, he is. I don't think people ship Katniss and Peeta. I think they ship Peeta and happiness. I'm not in love with the pairing, I'm in love with Peeta. When he's happy the fandom is happy.

But Peeta and Katniss aren't all bad together. They have some real moments. They have some kind of connection. If they didn't we wouldn't want them together. I think one of the other reasons I allow myself to ship them is because Katniss is able to care about Peeta, and she really doesn't do that with many other people. She cares in a sense about others, but not as much as she cares when something bad happens to Peeta.

Katniss and Peeta may not be a perfect ship, but somehow they still work. Somehow we still want them together. And that's okay. The best relationships aren't perfect, they're flawed.

Insidious Chapter 2

I recommend this movie

Never go to a movie on opening night. For me, going to see Insidious 2 was a complete last minute decision, and I kind of wish I had waited until next weekend to go. The previews kept being like "coming out Friday the 13th" and I must be stupid or something because I was under the impression that the next Friday the 13th was in October, but no, it's today. I knew I wanted to see it, but I wasn't expecting to go today.

Despite everyone in the theater being obnoxiously loud and rude I really enjoyed this movie. It's plagued with horror movie cliches, but lets be honest, when we see a horror movie isn't that what we're looking for? I know it's what I want to see. Even though it followed a basic horror movie plot line it was still original enough that I wasn't bored. It's something I feel like I could watch again.

Was it scary though? Kind of. It was scary enough that as I write this I'm watching Ice Age to ease my frights. Come on, you know you've done it too. But it wasn't something that is going to stick with me for weeks. I'm not going to need to sleep with the lights on or anything like that (at least I don't think I will). But there was still some parts that I found myself jumping at, or really wanting to scream. It was scary enough. I think it might have been, maybe not scarier, but more intense than the first one.

The director, James Wan, manages to create a sequel that at least lives up to the first one. He did a good job of connecting the two movies. I really enjoyed that this one started almost exactly where the last one went off. And he did a good job setting up for a third (but lets hope this series isn't overdone like those awful paranormal activity movies. I mean two and three were good, but four what are you even doing?).

Overall I'm happy with the movie. But if you're going to see it and you don't want to listen to other people screaming or talking then I suggest you wait one or two more weeks. It's the only thing about the experience I would change.

I give this movie four and half stars

Hello Again

On Saturday I talked about coming up with a few more things like Discussion Monday so I wanted to update you on what I'm thinking so far. Honestly I'm tired and didn't want to post tonight, but I promised so here we go:

Monday - Discussion Monday - I will talk about a book related topic and you can post your opinions in the comments.

Tuesday - Top 7 Tuesday - A list day where I talk about my top 7 of something. For example one day I might talk about my top seven favorite villains or my top seven favorite ships. I'll explain why it's my favorite and stuff like that.

Wednesday - Whatever Wednesday - Wednesday will be the only non-book related day. I might talk about something that's going on in the news or maybe just something in my life that's bothering me. So it will be a pretty boring day.

Thursday - Gothic Thursday - This one will be every other Thursday. I'm taking a Gothic Fiction class so every other Thursday I'll just go over what I learned that week. So far the class seems fun. We'll see how this one works. I'm still working on one for the opposite week. Suggestions are welcome. 

Friday - Friday does not have one yet. Still taking suggestions. Friday will not be a book review day. Instead I will book review whenever I finish a book. Instead of having that weekdays post there will be a review post. I'm hoping to post everyday now.

Saturday - Ship It Saturday - A day where I talk about my ships. For example I ship Peeta and Katniss from The Hunger Games. So I might talk about why I ship them together and things like that.  

Sunday - Quotation Sunday - A day where I will talk about a quote and what it means to me. 

So that's it. That's what I have. If you have any suggestions for what to do on Friday and the second Thursday then please feel free to tell me about them in the comments. Again, on days where I review I will not do one of these things, instead there will be a review. So tell me what you think. Hopefully this will get me posting more. Tomorrow is the off Thursday and Friday doesn't have one yet, so we'll start with Ship It Saturday.

Thanks for reading.

Hey Guys

Hiya. So I'm going to try to post every day, or close to every day now. So here's what I'm purposing. Every Monday there will be a, you guessed it, Discussion Monday. Every Friday there will be a book review (maybe, I'm going to try for every Friday, but it might be every other). For the rest of the days I would like to do something along the lines of Discussion Monday, but obviously something different. So here are a few of my ideas.

• A day where I discuss some quotes and what they mean to me. 
• A day where I discuss something that isn't related to books. Like maybe just something that's going on in the world. 
• A top seven day where I discuss my top seven of something. Like my top seven teams or shippings, or my top seven least favorite books. 

But that's all I have for now. So if anybody has any suggestions that would be nice. Or if you have any comments on the ones I suggested I would like to hear them.Or any suggestions about the blog in general is also welcomed. I'll make an post on Wednesday about what I've decided to do and what days they'll be on.

Thanks for your help.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

I recommend this book

See. I promised I would post by the end of today. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga was my summer reading book, and I just took the test on it today, and I just finished it last night. Do you see the problem? I didn't even give myself time to digest it. Usually I'm pretty good at BSing essays, and that's what the test was so I thought I'd do well, but I think I missed it completely. Oh well. Lets get to the review.

This is going to sound really creepy but I think serial killers are interesting. The main character in this book is named Jasper "Jazz" Dent, and he is the son of the worlds most notorious serial killer, Billy Dent. Throughout the book Jazz struggles with the idea of becoming like his dad. He doesn't want to hurt anybody but that was the way he was raised. At first it was interesting to read what Jazz had to think about turning into his father, but then it wasn't. I feel like somewhere in the book it turned into more teen angst than anything interesting. Often in the story Jazz would have to remind himself that people matter. It was okay the first few times but then I got bored with it. Honestly I just got bored with his complaining. That was my major problem with this book.

The boring teen angst that we all love so much was brought on by a killer popping up in Jazz's hometown. Jazz want's to help the cops find him. He's seventeen so yeah that wasn't happening, but like all defiant teenagers he tries to help anyways. I will say this, not knowing who the killer was until the end made me really happy. I've read other books where the killer is basically introduced within the first few pages. For me, knowing the killer's name makes it less interesting. I like it when I cant put a face to him/her until the end. This book did well with it.

Throughout the book I had a couple idea's about who the killer was. I wont tell you who it is because that would be stupid of me. But that was another thing that disappointed me. I didn't really like who the killer was and if I had written the book I would have written the ending a lot differently. But I didn't write this book so whatever.

Despite not liking angst and the killer I still really liked this book. It was written so well and it managed to keep me entertained.  There were some flaws but they're the kind that I think most people can look past so I don't really mind. I cant wait to read the second one. Hopefully it will be a little better so I can give it five stars instead of four.

I give this book four stars

I totally Failed

I'm sorry. I totally failed at reading this summer. I just worked a lot (and by a lot I mean not a lot at all) and I was so busy (and by that I mean I went on a psych, criminal minds, and supernatural craze and had to watch them all every second of the day). But with the school year starting I am going to have a lot more time to read, I promise. I'm going to be updating again really soon. I know I kind of missed the last few Discussion Monday's so starting next week I will start those up again. You will absolutely have a review by 11:59 p.m. on Friday night. And if you don't then that means I didn't finish my summer reading book and just failed my English class, so, feel bad for me if that happens. Sorry for being lazy.