How did this happen?

 Just yesterday I realized how unbelievably behind I am in nearly every single class. I just don’t know where all of the time went. It seems like one day I was attending class and all caught up and now I have four papers to write for English by next week, a whole demonstration that I need to write, practice, and perform by tomorrow, and I have lots of studying to do for both math and science. Thank god I have roughly 22 days left of this semester before winter break. So as of about 11 a.m. today I am grounding myself from facebook, goodreads, wordpress, and of course reading, until I can get all caught up with my homework. The next few days are going to be complete torture. The issue with me though is that just grounding me from hobbies such as reading and being on the computer just won’t cut it. I will find absolutely anything to distract myself from doing my homework. For instance, last night I was feverishly working on my math trying to get it all done by today. All of a sudden, I got this huge urge to paint my nails. I mean what the heck was going through my head. It just suddenly became very important to paint my darn nails. Ten minutes and two lovely coats of purple later, I found myself skimming through one of my book purchases. Well that skimming turned into me dying to read it. Before I knew what was happening, I had read 30% of the book. Keep in mind that by this time it is now 1 a.m. So I forced myself to put the book down and finish my homework. Once that pesky little task was out of the way, I allowed myself to settle back into bed and finish reading my book. Finally, at 4 this morning I finished the book and went back to sleep. To say I am exhausted this morning would be an understatement.

Yesterday we had another book club meeting. It’s always so nice meeting with everyone. We couldn’t talk much about our assigned book, Nevermore by Kelly Creagh, because only two of the seven of us finished the book. Aside from that little setback, it was still nice to meet and catch up with everyone. Since we meet at borders for our meetings, I can be sure of two things: 1) I will for sure take a trip to the cafe to buy some very delicious but overpriced coffee concoction and 2) I will most definitely buy one too many books. My purchases yesterday were:

1) Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles; aka the book that I stayed up to read until four in the morning. This book was a great conclusion to the first book, Leaving Paradise. Leaving Paradise is about a boy named Caleb and a girl named Maggie. Caleb is released after his year spent in juvie. He was charged with driving drunk and then hitting Maggie with a car and leaving her for dead. Maggie is stunned to see that Caleb is out of juvie for his reckless crime and, gasp!, he moves back to Paradise, their hometown. It doesn’t help that 1) Maggie used to be desperately in love with him and 2) He is her next door neighbor and 3) He is the twin brother of her former best friend. The story takes these two on a roller coaster ride of emotions as they each find out they have feelings for one another. Do they have what it takes to leave that horrible night in the past? Return to Paradise is the perfect fairytale ending to one twisted love story. Maggie and Caleb are forced to join a Re-START program together after spending nearly a year apart. The program is supposed to help people with issues of reckless driving, to come to terms with the past. But of course for Maggie and Caleb it’s a different story. The two are forced to evaluate what actually happened with that night, and figure out if they have what it takes to trust each other again. If you are looking for a really good, quick read, then Leaving Paradise and Return to Paradise are the perfect books for you!

2) Ruined by Simone Elkeles. (Are you sensing a pattern here, because I am)? It is actually three stories in one; How to Ruin a Summer Vacation, How to Ruin My Teenage Life, and How to Ruin Your Boyfriend’s Reputation. It’s a long book, nearly 780 pages, but I sure am excited to read it!

3) Last but not least Wake by Lisa McMann. We chose to read the Wake, Fade, and Gone books for our next book club meeting. I have been waiting to read this series for some time now. We are hoping that we can get Lisa McMann to answer some of our questions over twitter, similar to when Maragaret Stohl answered Caster Chronicle questions for us. It would be absolutely awesome if she agreed to it!

Ok I suppose it is time to officially ground myself from the computer; See you on the other side!

Meet my new Kitty!

Ok… I am just joking, I didn’t really get a kitten for my eighteenth birthday. I did however receive my new bedroom, several gift cards, some money, cinnamon rolls (oddly enough; not from one but two people), the new Taylor Swift Cd….wooo!, a Cd from some major rock band whom I don’t know the name of (my grandma thought she was buying All American Rejects, she was sadly mistaken), a ton of kind words from friends, and a few books (Remember Me by Christopher Pike, Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins). I spent way too much money shopping on friday and saturday, Kati spent the night the whole entire weekend at my house, this morning the whole family went to eat a delicious breakfast at Bob Evans, and then I ended the night with a family dinner at my grandmas. So all in all it was a great birthday, which is why I can’t really complain the lack of a feline friend. I did however devise a plan to get myself a kitten one day. I will now write kitten on every single one of my wish-lists from now until Dec. 25. Someone is bound to pick up the hint; right? If that plan doesn’t work I will then take the huge sums of money that I will win at the casino (don’t forget I am a legal adult now, therefore I can go to the casino), anyways I will take my winnings to buy a cute, little kitten and every thing my little kitten could ever want or need. This would be a rock-solid plan if I didn’t take into account the lack of luck I have. For instance no one will pay attention to my wish list or I could very well lose my life savings at the casino. I will try to stay optimistic though!

Thanksgiving is finally here!

For those who love their meat, hooray!! Today officially starts the never ending parties that are sure to have some turkey, ham or chicken. For those that are vegetarians (like me) then get ready for some huge helpings of side dishes! Aside from the limited food I am allowed to eat around this time of year, I am actually very excited the holiday season has finally arrived. I am so ready to party with friends and family, spend loads of money that I really don’t have, and eat about a gazillion more calories than my body should be in taking. To add to all of the holiday excitement…. the BIG DAY is almost here!! And yes I am talking about stepping into the world of full adulthood. In just a few, short days I will finally be a legal adult. I can no longer do any incriminating criminal acts that at the very most get me sent off to juvy; I can’t blame my stupid decisions and ignorance on being young; and most of all I can’t be left at home while all my friends go clubbing. The last part is actually the only reason I am super excited to turn 18. I just love dressing up, going out, and having a good time; so you best believe when Dec. 2nd rolls around (the first Thursday after my birthday, Thursday=college night, college night=girls get in free, girls get in free= me and my wallet are happy), I will be going clubbing with all of the girls.

Speaking of my birthday, I got a wonderful present from my parents. A whole new bedroom set. How awesome is that!?! (One day when it is clean I will take some pictures and post them in a blog). In my earlier post I talked about all the makeover madness going on in my room. Well it is finally over! Well over if you don’t count the huge piles of junk I have to sort through; once that is done I will have myself a pretty awesome new room. My new bedroom is awesome, there is no denying that but I was still hoping my parents would come around to the idea of getting me a kitten. I was sooo hoping for one. I picked out a name and everything. If it was a girl the name would be Pixie and if it were a boy his name would be Chrome. Unfortunately my parents weren’t picking up on the not-so-subtle hints I was dropping about my birthday wish. Oh well, the kitten will just have to wait.

Part of my bedroom set is a big, tall beautiful bookcase; and now that I’m on the subject… let’s talk about books! My goodness I can’t believe the last book I actually talked about was Beautiful Darkness; it feels like it’s been months since I’ve read it. I have since then read Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade, Simone Elkeles’ Rules Of Attraction, Jennifer Echols’ Going To Far, Kelly Creagh’s Nevermore, and last but not least Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush.

First is Nightshade. Wow! What a fantastic read. The book is completely original, there was a wide range of characters (all of which I liked), and it was purely beautiful inside and out. This story about werewolves, uses suspense, mystery, great imagery, and of course a juicy love triangle to keep readers interested; what more could a paranormal fantasy fanatic ask for?

Second is Rules of Attraction. This is the sequel to Perfect Chemistry which is a book in my top 10 for sure. Perfect Chemistry follows a Mexican gang-banger named Alex Fuentes as he falls in love with an unlikely person, Brittney, the non-Mexican head cheerleader. Rules of Attraction is about Alex’s younger brother named Carlos who is shipped off to Colorado to live with Alex. The book has the same great qualities of Perfect Chemistry. Honestly, these two books make me want to meet a real-live Fuentes brother and keep him for myself.

Third is Going too Far. It is a must read; enough said. This is the second book by Echols that I have read, the first being Forget You. If I am being honest with any readers of my blog, in other words ‘If you are reading this Kati…’ Going too Far should be the first to read if you want to save the best for last. Going too Far was a great book about a girl who gets arrested, the girl is then assigned to work with the arresting cop, and eventually the girl falls in love with said cop. As much as I liked this book, it still doesn’t compare to Forget You.

Fourth is Nevermore. This is another wow! For any fans of Edgar Allen Poe; prepared to be amazed. I have been putting off reading this book for quite some time for a few reasons 1) I am not a fan of Edgar Allen Poe 2) I am not a fan of poetry 3) The book seems dark and scary, and well I don’t like dark and scary. Regardless of how I feel about Nevermore, those three facts still rein true. As I said earlier the book definitely has a strong Edgar Allen Poe influence but Creagh uses it in such a manner that you really don’t have to be a fan of “The Raven,” to enjoy the book. I found myself so engrossed in the book that I whipped through the nearly 500 page book in two days.

Finally is Hush, Hush. If anyone could explain to me exactly how the title goes with the story I’d appreciate it. Pushing aside my confusion of the title, I must say that Hush, Hush is a quick, great read. I powered through the book in about a day and a half. It wasn’t magnificently written, the story seemed really rushed at some points, and I am kind of confused on some major details of the story, but in the end it just kind of works. I find myself actually pretty excited to read the second book to the series.

As you can tell I have been a reading power house. I am just hoping I don’t lose any adrenaline and this reading frenzy I am on carries me through the winter. Ok off to get some sleep before enjoying my Turkey Day. Hope everyone has a great, safe holiday!

My 2011 Debut Author’s List!

Below is the ever-growing list of my “Need To Read” books. All of these books are part of the 2011 Debut Authors Challenge that is hosted by The Story Siren. I am excited to say that a majority of the books on the list, I have already put on my to read list on my Goodreads account! The challenge asks you to pick 12 books (preferably one new author per month) but of course knowing me, I couldn’t stop there. I really wouldn’t be extremely surprised if I end up adding all of the books to my list =]

*Updated on 1/5/11

January:

1/4/2011 Cynthia Hand’s book titled Unearthly.

1/4/2011 Elizabeth Woods’ book titled Choker.

1/6/2011 Julia Karr’s book titled XVI

1/11/2011 Lorraine Zago Rosenthal’s book Other Words For Love.

1/11/2011 Alexandra Monir’s book titled Timeless.

1/11/2011 Maurissa Guibord’s book titled Warped.

1/11/2011 Beth Revis’s book titled Across the Universe.

1/25/2011 Eilis O’Neal’s book titled The False Princess.

February:

2/1/2011 Paige Harbison’s book Here Lies Bridget.

2/8/2011 Gwendolyn Heasley’s book Where I Belong.

2/8/2011 Karen Mahoney’s book The Iron Witch.

2/15/2011 Courtney Allison Moulton’s book titled Anglefire.

2/15/2011 Sara Bennett Wealer’s book titled Rival.

2/22/2011 Leah Clifford’s book titled A Touch Mortal.

2/22/2011 Kristi Cook’s book titled Haven.

2/22/2011 Kelly Keaton’s book titled Darkness Becomes Her.

March:

3/1/2011 Kim Harrington’s book titled Clarity.

3/1/2011 Bettina Restrepo’s book titled Illegal

3/1/2011 Gwen Hayes’ book titled Falling Under.

3/22/2011 Frances O’Roark Dowell’s book titled Ten Miles Past Normal.

3/22/2011 Ruta Sepetys’ book titled Between Shades of Gray.

3/22/2011 Lauren DeStefano’s book titled Wither.

3/28/2011 Ashley Hope Perez’s book titled What Can’t Wait.

3/29/2011 Heather Dixon’s book titled Entwined.

3/29/2011 C.C. Hunter’s book titled Born At Midnight.

April:

4/4/2011 Amy Holder’s book titled The Lipstick Laws.

4/12/2011 Ann Aguirre’s book titled Enclave.

4/14/2011 Angela Cerrito’s book titled End Of The Line.

4/26/2011 Tessa Gratton’s book titled Blood Magic.

4/26/2011 K. Ryer Breese’s book titled Future Imperfect.

May:

5/3/2011 Holly Goldberg Sloan’s book titled I’ll Be There.

5/3/2011 Jessi Kirby’s book titled Moonglass.

5/3/2011 Veronica Roth’s book titled Divergent.

5/10/2011 Christina Mandelski’s book titled The Sweetest Thing.

5/10/2011 Lara Chapman’s book titled Flawless.

5/10/2011 Amy Plum’s book titled Die For Me.

5/10/2011 Tracy Deebs’ book titled Tempest Rising.

5/10/2011 Gae Polisner’s book titled The Pull of Gravity.

5/23/2011 Katie Kacvinsky’s book titled Awaken.

5/24/2011 Myra McEntire’s book titled Hourglass.

June:

6/1/2011 Jo Treggiari’s book titled Ashes,Ashes.

6/7/2011 Tara Hudson’s book titled Hereafter.

6/7/2011 Cat Patrick’s book titled Forgotten.

6/7/2011 Elana Johnson’s book titled Possession.

6/8/2011 Charlotte Bennardo & Natalie Zaman’s book titled Sirenz.

6/14/2011 Sonia Gensler’s book titled The Revenant.

July:

7/1/2011 Randy Russell’s book titled Dead Rules.

7/1/2011 Melanie Welsh’s book titled The Mistress of the Storm.

7/5/2011 Michelle Ray’s book titled Falling For Hamlet.

7/26/2011 Karsten Knight’s book titled Wildefire.

August:

8/2/2011 Victoria Schwab’s book titled The Near Witch.

8/3/2011 Sara Grant’s book titled Dark Parties.

September:

9/15/2011 Jennifer Armentrout’s book titled Half-Blood.

9/27/2011 Michelle Hodkin’s book titled The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer.

9/??/2011 Kendare Blake’s book titled Anna Dressed In Blood.

9/??/2011 Scott Tracey’s book titled Witch Eyes.

October:

10/??/2011 Kiki Hamilton’s book titled The Faerie Ring.

November:

December:

12/19/2011 Helen Landalf’s book titled Broken Wings.

2011 In General:

Megan Bostic’s book titled Never Eighteen.

Jeyn Roberts’ book titled The Dark Inside.

Jessica Martinez’s book titled Virtuosity.

Lia Habel’s book titled Dearly, Departed.

Rae Carson’s book titled The Girl Of Fire And Thorns.

Jocelyn Davies’ book titled A Beautiful Dark.

Sarah Maas’ book titled Queen Of Glass.*

Kathleen Peacock’s book titled Hemlock.*

* According to Goodreads this book isn’t expected to be published until 2012. If that reins true then this book will be taken off of my 2011 DAC list and added to the 2012.

The Story Siren’s 2011 Debut Authors Challenge!

Since I am relatively new to the Blogging world, I missed out on last year’s 2010 Debut Author Challenge. You best believe that I am not going to make the same mistake again this year! By creating an awesome list already, I will hopefully be able to keep track of the great new books as they come out on shelves. This challenge is a great way to read from some amazing, new authors. If you are at all interested in joining the challenge, then please click the link >>>>http://www.thestorysiren.com/2010/11/sign-up-for-2011-debut-author-challenge.html. Once I have officially signed up for the challenge I will post my list of books I plan to read in 2011!

Makeover Madness!

 Have you ever had a special place that was all yours? A place you could go to without being disturbed by anyone, where you could do whatever you want. To me, that special place is my bedroom. All my life I have always wanted my own room, so when my dad built our house a few years ago, he made sure there was a bedroom for every person. It has taken me four, long years, to get my room to be absolutely perfect. The Hawaiian themed room is decorated with pictures of friends and family, poster of bands, and has a huge bookshelf full of all my books. It has been utter bliss…up until a few months ago. See the thing with me is that I am a klutz. In May I dislocated my knee cap trying to play tennis (this isn’t the first time). And the thing with my dad is that he is notorious for starting these random, messy, time-consuming projects. Both of these facts about my dad and I lead me to my room. Since I was ever-so-gracious and hurt myself, I was forced to live up stairs. This then caused my dad (in some strange, mixed up way) to decide to move my bedroom door since I was no longer occupying my room. Just a word of advice for anyone else with a door-moving-dad: This is not as easy as you may think! My dad completely unhinged my door, filled in the giant hole, and moved my bedroom door to a nearby closet. He then tore down the walls to the closet to give me extra space in my room. Now this would all seem actually pretty generous of him, if it weren’t for this one simple fact: my extreme case of procrastination and save-it-for-the-last-minuteosis, came from my father. So once I eventually healed (it took a full two months!), I was finally able to move back downstairs. Low and behold, my room still wasn’t done. Nevertheless, I had to make do with a half done room. I restored all my personal belongings to their previous places, and wiped of the thin layer of dust, and then: Presto! My room was ALMOST as good as new. By now you may be asking yourself: Why the heck is she talking about all of this now? To answer that intriguing question; my dad decided this past weekend to start the process of finishing up my room. After returning from my long Halloween Weekend (it was a blast by the way!) I found my bedroom in shambles. My completely OCD organized room was just a disaster. My book shelf (alphabetically organized, of course) was strewn with extra wall decorations; my dresser, desk, and shoe cabinet were all mashed together in the center of my room; and of course everything (my bedding, my newly folded laundry, and just about every other surface of my room) was covered in a two inch thick layer of sanding dust. To say the least, I was irate. The madness continues this coming up weekend when I will be forced to look through a million and one paint samples to try and chose the best color for my room. Wish me luck, because God knows I will need it!