Buddhist Boot Camp by Timber Hawkeye

A case of mixed feelings

I think this one is more of a matter of my personal opinion than anything else. While the book was well written and clear I found myself wanting to put it down the further I got into it. I guess I'm not ready to be a Buddhist because I feel like I disagree with almost everything this guy was saying, especially in the first few sections.

Hawkeye tells us we should be grateful and happy. He says we shouldn't have a lot of things. And stuff along those lines. Which I disagree with. I like my things. My things make me happy. I like my things a lot, actually.

So anyways I'm not going to get too far into this book as a review. It's not really a story, just a bunch of lessons. There's no plot to complain about, and no characters to rip apart. So I'm going to say that you take this one as it is, and if you're going to read it then you need to read it with an open mind.

I give this book two and half stars. 

Frozen

Believe the hype

First, let me apologize that the picture is going the long way instead of being wide. It's bothering me too, but it's gonna stay like that. Second, believe the hype.

I guess one of the reasons it took me so long to see this movie is because there were so many other movies to go see, a lack of money, a lack of time off to go see it, and a lack of friends to see it with. By now most people who want to see the movie already have. If you're one of those people that's holding back, for whatever reason, stop. Drop everything and run to see it now before it stops playing.

So clearly I liked it. I liked it a lot actually. Like. I liked it more than I liked Thor: The Dark World. Frozen, directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, could possibly be the BEST Disney princess movie ever (although it is kinda hard to choose between this and Tangled). I'll be honest, the movie has a pretty Disney plot. The princess, the prince, the true loves kiss, the blah blah Disney shit that's a little overrated in my opinion. Enter Anna (Kristen Bell), the incredibly awkward but kindhearted princess with dead parents and an older sister who shuts her out. I felt for her. She was just looking for love. When her sister, Elsa  (Idina Menzel), accidentally uses her magic ice powers and causes an eternal winter it's up to Anna to save the day. And she meets a man while doing it. Kristoff (Johnathan Groff) is a little rough around the edges. And, come on, well all know where this is going. They live happily ever after, Disney ending.

But this movie is different in really one way. I cared about the characters. I laughed, and I almost cried (not even at the end, like at the beginning). I felt. At then end of the day that's what you want from a movie.

So I give this movie five stars, because it really did do a good job at being a Disney movie. To sum it up, it was cute, and the songs were funny. Until Olaf (Josh Gad) (the snowman) came in it was really only a four star movie, but the character just pushed it right to the top. He made the movie go from kinda funny to pretty much hilarious. So good job, Disney, for being smart and adding him in there. I don't think they would have been as successful had they not had Olaf.

I give this movie five stars 

Live For Yourself

It's Quotation Sunday once again. I had a quote picked out for today, but then I went on Goodreads and saw their quote of the day and fell in love. So. Oops. Today's quote is: "We live for books." - Umberto Eco.

This quote immediately made me stop and got me thinking. Lately I haven't been reading a lot. I haven't been living for books. Which is kind of sad, because at one point reading was all I did. I want that again. All I do now is go to school, work, come home, watch TV, and sleep. So today I'm going to really start reading again (you know, after I go out and eat, can't skip that).

People always have something to live for. It might be your family, your friends, your job, or maybe something smaller. Maybe you can't live without your TV. Maybe the idea of missing an episode of Grimm kills you. I want to live for books again. I want to live for the adventure of reading. But always remember, you have to live for yourself first.

Ky and Cassia

It's Ship It Saturday again. Or at least I think it's Saturday. Being on vacation for two weeks is really messing with my internal clock. Anyways, I haven't done one of these in a while so I thought I should.

Today's ship is Ky and Cassia from the Matched trilogy. Now let me start off by saying, I've always liked Ky better than Xander. Always. I mean I liked Xander, he was a chill character. Still, there was never really any part of me that wanted Xander and Cassia together, which is extremely unlike me.

Let me give you a basic run down of every love triangle there has ever been. Girl is friends with boy. Boy love her. Girl doesn't think of him that way. Mysterious/dark/dangerous new boy moves to town or is noticed for the first time. Girl falls in love with bad boy. Bad boy gets girl. Best friend alone. The end.

And for the most part that's how Cassia's love triangle went. I'm going to say that 88% of the time when there's a love triangle I always choose the best friend, because I'm stupid and I love being disappointed. The exception to this is, of course, The Hunger Games, when I chose Peeta. But that's a whole other story. The point is, I chose the mysterious guy for once in my life, Ky. I think there's really only one reason why.

I knew Cassia and Xander were going to be matched together. (By the way you should read the books, they were amazing.) So when Cassia (spoilers?) was matched with Xander I wasn't surprised for even half a second. Being told that they were perfect for each other only made me dislike them as a pair. So when Ky comes along I felt kind of relieved. I wanted Cassia to have someone she didn't have to be with. So maybe it's not so much that I ship Ky and Cassia. Maybe it's more I just don't ship Xander and Cassia.

Either way, I finally got what I wanted.

Update Thursday #5

It should be Gothic Thursday but school was cancelled today because of the blizzard that hasn't even really started yet. Thank goodness. So I'm still on vacation. So here's Update Thursday instead.

I am reading:

• Dracula by Bram Stoker for my English class. Yay Vampires that actually kill people. 
• Buddhist Boot Camp by Timber Hawkeye (which is the coolest name I've ever heard). My Aunt got it for me for Christmas. And while I myself am not very (not at all) religious, I still like learning about other peoples beliefs so I'm kinda pumped about reading it. 
• Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz. Which is the first book in the series. I got the entire series for Christmas from my Grandparents. Also pumped to start reading it.

As you can see I put the other books I was reading down. I'll pick them back up eventually, but for now I just couldn't get into them. Not sure if it was a me thing or a book thing. We shall see.

Blog Updates:

• I am not taking review requests right now, for obvious reasons. Sorry. 
• I've put up a suggestion box in the side bar. If you have any suggestions for the blog please use that to tell me. I'm open to anything. Thanks. 

Reading list from 2013

Let's be honest, 2013 was not my best reading year, especially towards the end. I only read 31 books. Which is still 31 more than most people, but still not enough for me. This year my goal is 60, so about double what I did last year. Out of those 31 there were some winners and losers. I have compiled a list from those books that you should definitely consider reading, and staying away from, this year. So here is the top and bottom seven.

To Read:

7)  The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams
6) Paper Towns by John Green
5) Slated by Teri Terry
4) Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter, Warriors: Fire and Ice by Erin Hunter, Warriors: Forest of Secrets by Erin Hunter and Warriors: Rising Storm by Erin Hunter (I should really get back to reading these, and no it's not cheating putting them all in the same spot)
3) Coyote's Creed by Vaughn R. Demont
2) Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey and Demon Eyes by Scott Tracey
1) Chase Tinker and the House of Magic by Malia Ann Haberman and Chase Tinker and the House of Secrets by Malia Ann Haberman

Stay Away From:

7) Wings by Aprilynne Pike
6) The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
5) Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
4) The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
3) White Horse by Alex Adams
2) Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
1) City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

So as you can see I've linked to all of the reviews. Feel free to read them, or not. But that's my list and I'm sticking to it.

Happy 2014

Happy 2014 everyone! Now, I'm not one for making new years resolution, (because they're usually just empty promises) but I think this year I might have one. To read more and update my blog more. Something I wasn't very good at in 2013. We'll see how it goes.