Update On My Life!

Wow, okay, so I haven’t been here for a while, but hello there everybody! Hello to all of the people that have been here from the beginning, as well as the new people. There are a few reasons as to why I’ve been absent. I did mention these in a video that I did a while back, which actually is something that I don’t know if I’ve mentioned on this blog yet. I have a BookTube channel! It’s not all about books, but that is what the majority of my videos focus on. However, I also do fandom videos, like TV reviews, or just freaking out about things. So, basically the channel revolves around all of the things that I enjoy; books, fandoms and music.

However, back to the reason why I haven’t been on here in so long, one of the reasons is because of the videos. I have been spending so much time filming and editing that I haven’t had a lot of time away from that to write anything. And then there are two other reasons as to why I haven’t been writing on my blog, and these are the two reasons that I mentioned in my video, and the first reason is that I wasn’t reading as much as I would have liked, so I didn’t really have much to write about on here. And the second reason, is probably the biggest reason as to why I stopped posting videos for a while, why I stopped blogging and also for why I wasn’t reading, and that is because of 5 Seconds of Summer. I have gotten a lot more into music in the last couple of months, and 5SOS is the lead reason for my music obsession. So, if you see me mentioning them more on my blog, or if you see me mentioning them in my videos, then that would by why.

I sort of just wanted to make this update post just to let you all know where I have been, and that I really hope that I will be able to get back into blogging. I’m not making any promises, as I have just started school back which means that I’m not sure how much I’m going to be able to write, but I am definitely hoping that I can find some time to blog, because I do really enjoy it.

I guess that I’ll just now update you on a few things that have been going on in my life.

First off, I have been buying a lot more books that I used to. I recently got a job, and so I actually now have some money to be spending towards books. That also means that the majority of my pay check has been going towards buying books.

My problem is that instead of buying new books, although I am also doing that, I am going back and buying a lot of books that I have read in the past but didn’t actually own the physical copy of. So, I’ve just bought The Hunger Games trilogy, and I’ve got the Mortal Instruments series coming in the mail. I’m also planning on buying The Infernal Devices, as well as Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children, because I just want to get my collection up to date.

My mom mentioned the other day that I have been buying too many books, and this is something that I would like to make a whole video or blog post about, but ahh it made me so upset. Because people just don’t realize that buying books and reading books is what I enjoy doing, and if I want to be spending my money on buying books, then that’s what I will do, but I’ll go more into that in a different post or video.

Let’s see, what else has been going on? Nothing much else to do with books, but I have had some other things going on in my life as well. For example, like I mentioned above, I’ve been listening to a lot of 5SOS, and when I say a lot, I mean that that’s pretty much all I was doing for a solid three months or more of my life. I’m actually going to see them in October on their Sounds Live Feels Live tour with my friends Chris and Hayley, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be one of the best days of my life.

I pretty much know all of their songs ever made word for word, and I have watched most of their interviews from when they first started… My friends and family call it obsessive, I call it loving something a whole lot… Nah, who am I kidding I’m completely and utterly obsessed, and you know what I am completely fine with that.

I’ve also been REALLY getting into the Shadowhunters TV show, even though at the beginning I wasn’t sure about it, I have been absolutely loving it lately, and a new episode comes out tonight which I am very excited for. I actually have a review of each of the episodes over on my YouTube channel, so you all can go and check them out if you’re feeling up to it!

I’ve been watching a lot of Supernatural as well, and it has been absolutely amazing. I am currently on Season 10, and I have been loving it. I’m trying to catch up before I go back to America so that I can watch it with one of my friends, and I’m just hoping that I’ll be able to do it!

Not much else has been going on in my life, other than school (ugh) and lots and lots of heat (more ugh). I am going back to America in just over a month for two weeks which I am VERY excited for, and I can’t wait to see my friends and family.

But yeah, that’s about all that’s been going on in my life, lots of obsessing, reading, TV watching and listening to music.

Thanks for reading, and yeah I guess I’ll talk to you guys next time! Bye!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Plot Announced

Hey guys! So, if you have been following this blog for a while, you would know that I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan! My dad read the books to my siblings and me when we were little, when I couldn’t even understand what was going on. However, he continued reading, and I eventually realized that these books were amazing. The story-line was something perfect, and so when I was old enough to be able to read myself, Harry Potter was one of the first books that I read. Even though multiple of the books were out when I first started reading them, I still grew up on the books. I would not be where I am today if Harry Potter wasn’t a part of my life, and I don’t think a lot of us would be. Harry Potter shaped my childhood, and shaped who I am today. This is why, when about two years ago when it was announced that there was going to be a Harry Potter play, called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I was ecstatic. I had absolutely no idea what it was going to be about, but just knowing that there was going to be an extension of the Harry Potter world in some form, it was amazing.

Yesterday however, the plot was announced, and the entire Potter fandom freaked. We are getting an
eighth story. They are continuing the story from where it left off. The tagline for the play is “The Eighth Story, Nineteen Years Later”.

The official plot for the story is this:

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

I was completely fangirling for many, many hours after this was announced. I mean, I still am freaking out and fangirling about this play. However, it sort of died down, and turned into a little bit of disappointment and confusion, when I realized that this was a play. It was a play, which at least for now was only premiering in London. How was I, living in Australia, going to be able to watch a play that was only showing in London?

This doesn’t just apply to me. Potterheads from all over the world started to wonder the exact same thing. How were they going to be able to experience this amazing story, the continuation of a story that we have all loved and grown up with, if they didn’t live in London? Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is still in the early stages, and you never know. There could be a professionally filmed version of the play for people to see all over the world, the play could tour the world for others to see, or there may even be a book written for the play.

However, those things, if they were to even happen, are very far down the road. The play itself premieres in June 2016, which means that for people that have no way to see the play in London, it could be years before we find out more about what happened nineteen years later.

Don’t get me wrong, I am super excited to eventually see what happens in this play. If J.K. Rowling thought that the best way to get across her new story, would be by showing it up on stage, then I trust her. Though, by having thousands and millions of Harry Potter fans around the world, and then making the eighth story available to not even a tenth of those fans, just does not feel like a very smart idea.

J.K. Rowling herself said:

“I’m confident that when audiences see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child they will understand why we chose to tell this story in this way.”

Do I wish that our long awaited eighth story, sequel, to the Harry Potter series would have been released in a different format? Yes. Do I wish that that format had been in a book? Absolutely. I just hope that they somehow find a way to get this story to all other Potterheads around the world.

I would absolutely hate to miss out on this amazing sequel to my favourite series of all time, just because I didn’t live in the right place.

Harry Potter will always be a huge part of my life. I re-read the books all the time, and have multiple movie marathons a year. My dream place to go would be the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London, or to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida. I am a huge Potterhead, and I always will be. I hope that I will be able to see this continuation of the Wizarding World in some way, and that I will be able to experience the continuation of the magic that J.K. Rowling has created.

If you would like to hear more about the play and some official information on it, you can check it out here:

https://www.pottermore.com/news/cursed-child-eighth-harry-potter-story

and here:

https://www.pottermore.com/news/cursed-child-artwork-revealed

I’m sorry about this rant, I just felt really strongly about the subject, and it’s all that I have been able to think about for the last 24 hours or so.

I hope that some of you guys share my same feelings on this topic, and I'd love to hear your thoughts and feels in the comments. I am still super excited for this play, and I can’t wait to see how it plays out. I just hope that I get to see this for myself, and not through somebody else’s eyes.

I should have another blog post up for you very soon. Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you next time!

Review: Baad Dog, By: Sal Conte

Hello there everybody! So, today I’m coming with you with something very exciting. I’m one of the participants in the Baad Dog Blog Tour, so I received the book to be able to read and review for you guys! I only recently read this book, like I literally just finished it. The book that I will be reviewing for you today is Baad Dog, by Sal Conte. I’m just going to get straight into some of my feels and thoughts on the book, and just let you know what I thought about it!

I’m just going to give you the Goodreads summary of this book, as I don’t think I would give the
summary justice!

Since when did man’s best friend become his very own worst nightmare?

Harry wanted a dog.

He’d wanted a dog ever since his mother gave away the cute little mongrel pup he and his brother adopted when they were kids. His mom gave the dog away because Harry and Lenny didn’t take care of her as promised.
Now Harry is a grown man with children of his own. He brings home Queenie, a miracle of modern robotics who looks and acts just like a real dog. Big Mistake.

“One of the beauties of the K9-233 is that they don’t eat or poop.”

Harry’s wife, Pam, feels there’s something off about Queenie right from the beginning. And then strange things begin to happen: Harry’s five-year-old says Queenie talks to him. There’s the near fatal car accident after Harry makes Queenie spend the night in the garage for being naughty. But Harry loves Queenie—maybe a little too much. Will Harry realize there’s a murderous monster living under his roof before his entire family becomes dog food? 

I went into this book not really knowing anything about what it was about. I was asked to review it, by Kiss Off Book Tours, and I didn’t read the summary, as I just wanted to go into the book pretty much blind.

To be honest, when I first started reading the book, I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to enjoy it. It was a bit different, as I don’t really read books about animals. However, this book about animals was different, as the dog in this book, Queenie, was actually robotic. I found this to be really interesting, and it wasn’t really something that I had read before.

This was a really short book, at under one hundred pages, so I was easily able to read it in a night. I was actually very surprised by just how much I enjoyed this book. It’s a horror, suspense, sci-fi novel, and I found that to be a perfect combination of genres for this book.

I did feel like the writing was really good, and Sal Conte should be proud of how good his writing is, however there were a few things that I did dislike about this book. So, this book was told in dual points of view. I normally don’t mind dual points of view, and sometimes I really enjoy them. However, I can only enjoy them when they are done well. Unfortunately, I’d have to say that the dual points of view done within Baad Dog, was not done very well. It’s not that the characters voices weren’t different enough to tell them apart, because they definitely were. However, there were just so many different points of views that we were meant to follow. Also, with normal books the different point of view starts at the beginning of a new chapter, however, that’s not how it worked in Baad Dog. The new point of view would pretty much just start out of nowhere, and I would get a bit confused whenever it would change.

I did enjoy the plotline though, and it intrigued me enough to be able to continue reading it. The horror aspect throughout this novel also kept me on the edge of seat, and I needed to continue reading to know what was going to be happening next.

I definitely did not expect this book to go in the way that it did. I was, for some reason despite the title, thinking that the book was going to be about the love for a dog. However, that was completely different from what it ended up being about. This book was about a robotic dog that went completely insane. It started off completely loving the family, and just acting like a normal dog. However, throughout the book we see this dog slowly going insane, until he lashes out.

I did really enjoy this book, however there were a few enjoyment and technical issues that I couldn’t oversee. Because of that, I am giving this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars. So, overall, I enjoyed the idea of the story and most of how it was written. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a little bit of horror, or for somebody that just wants a quick and short read. However, I would not exactly recommend this book to somebody who loves dogs, because it may just not be the book for you!

I also have for you a giveaway, if you would like the chance to win a free e-book copy of Baad Dog!
Just follow this link to the giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Sal Conte is the horror writing alter ego of Amazon #1 Teen Horror author, E. Van Lowe. As Sal Conte, the author turns his talents to gruesome horror with stunning results. Sal Conte is the author of 80s pulp horror classics “Child’s Play” and “The Power,” as well as recent shorts “The Toothache Man” and “Because We Told Her To.

“Baad Dog” is Sal Conte’s first solo ebook.  You can visit him at: http://evanlowe.com/sal-contes-page/

Goodreads / Twitter / Website /Amazon Page / Facebook Fan Page

I really enjoyed reading this book, and participating in this blog tour! I’m really into horror novels right now, so if you have any that you would like to recommend, I’d love to hear them!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll talk to you next time!

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Wrap-Up

After 24 hours of ruthless reading, fighting sleep and trying to remain focused, Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon has come to an end. I’m actually really happy with what I was able to read throughout the duration of the read-a-thon especially because I wasn’t reading during the entire 24 hours. I did sleep a few hours every now and then, so I could have read more, but I do feel like I did okay with my reading.

There was one thing however, that was a bit different this year than last year, and that was that I didn’t participate in any of the hourly challenges this year. Last year, I made an effort to try to get every single one of the challenges completed. However, this year I just wanted to focus on my reading, and it really did pay off!

Overall, I was able to read a total of 642 pages, which I am really happy with, as I was reading for just under 24 hours.

I was able to read:

Last half of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by JK Rowing. (397 pages)

A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket (162 pages)

A Little Wanting Song, by Cath Crowley (83 pages)

As you can see I only fully started and finished one book, The Bad Beginning, however I also read the last half of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as well as the first 83 pages of A Little Wanting Song.

Now that I’ve gotten all of the amount of pages that I read, and which books I did read out of the way, I thought that I would answer the few questions that the Dewey’s page left for us to complete for the end of the read-a-thon if we wanted to.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

I would have to say that the hour that was the most daunting for me was definitely around hour five. Since I am in Australia, hour five was two in the morning for me. Last year when I participated, I was able to stay straight up until around five in the morning but this time around I ended up falling asleep around two, and then waking up an hour later and continuing reading. So, I would have to say around hour five because I was drifting off to sleep and I was finding it really hard to stay focused on the words on the page.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

My answer for this question is going to stay the same as it was last year, and that is that you should choose shorter books because you will feel more accomplished when you finish them. I made the mistake of choosing a longer book, Allegiant, last time for the read-a-thon, and for some stupid reason I made the mistake again this time around, with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. However, I did enjoy reading Harry Potter and it kept me focused on it for the most part, so it was all okay in the end as I did end up finishing it.

However, if I were to choose a few specific books that could keep somebodies focus during the next read-a-thon, I would have to go with books like A Series of Unfortunate Events, or Percy Jackson, or any other short, fast-paced, middle-grade novels. This is because they will keep your attention if you’re interested in them, and it will allow you to feel more accomplished when you finish multiple shorter books, rather than spending the entire 24 hours reading one longer book, and then possibly not even finishing it in the end.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-A-Thon next year?

Honestly, I loved this read-a-thon just as much as I did last year, and last year I didn’t have any suggestions on how I would improve the read-a-thon, so that is going to be my answer once again. I love this read-a-thon and there really isn’t something that just jumps out at me that needs to be fixed about it to make it any better.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-A-Thon?

I    I would say that the way that all of the social media was engaged in this year’s read-a-thon worked really well. I was able to follow what others were reading through twitter and Instagram, which was really exciting. Also for me, I felt like I got a lot of reading done, which was just a nice accomplishment for me.

5. How many books did you read?

As mentioned above, I was able to read one full book, I finished half of another book, and read the first part of another book. So altogether, I did read three books, I just didn’t finish them all.

6. What were the names of the books you read?

One again, as mention above, I was able to read:

 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by JK Rowling

A Little Wanting Song, by Cath Crowley

The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

I would have to say that the book that I enjoyed reading the most was definitely Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Even though it was long, and it wasn’t the best pick for a short read-a-thon like Dewey’s, I still enjoyed it a lot. I mean, it’s Harry Potter. I’ve read Harry Potter since I was little, and although this was a re-read times one hundred for me, I just enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time I read it.

However, I also really did enjoy The Bad Beginning, and I really cannot wait to purchase the rest of the books in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series, so that I can continue on reading it.

8. Which did you enjoy least?

I think that I would have to say that the book that I enjoyed the least was A Little Wanting Song. Although it was contemporary, and I do tend to like most contemporary books I just really didn’t connect to any of the characters in the book. It’s also told from dual points of view, and sometimes it got confusing as to who I was reading, as the two main character’s voices weren’t very different. However, I am only 83 pages into the book, so I may change my mind later on and end up really liking it.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

So, I wasn’t a Cheerleader this year round for the read-a-thon, but I really enjoyed having them add to the experience of the read-a-thon for me. They were all cheering for me on Twitter, and just encouraging me to continue reading. I feel like the Cheerleaders should continue doing exactly what they are doing, because it really did tend to help me continue reading.

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-A-Thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

I would say that I am definitely very, very likely to participate in the read-a-thon again. I absolutely love this read-a-thon and after doing it for my first time last year, and then doing it again this year, I can’t image not doing it again next year. I will definitely be taking up the role of a reader for the read-a-thon, but who knows, I may also sign up to be a Cheerleader. It really just depends on if I’m going to want to spend all of my attention on reading, or if I also want to help others continue to read as well. Although, Cheerleaders are really helpful and I feel like it could be rewarding if I did become a Cheerleader next year, so I may be taking up that role as well as being a reader.

Alright then, that is it for all of the questions! I really enjoyed answering these, as well as participating in the read-a-thon! I really can’t wait for April to come around, and to spend another 24 hours reading.

Did any of you participate in Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon? Let me know! What was your favourite book that read? What was your least favourite? What books did you read? I’d love to know!

Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you all next time!

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon October 2015

Hey everybody! So, there is actually something very exciting coming up later today! In actually about six and a half hours. I was late on announcing it last time, and I guess it looks like I’m late on announcing it this time as well. This mysterious thing that I am talking about is Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon! I am so excited for this to start, so I’m just going to let you know what I’m going to be reading, and also a little bit about what Dewey’s is!

So, if you didn’t know, Dewey’s is a read-a-thon that started about seven or eight years ago. This will be my second time participating, and I’m really looking forward to it. A read-a-thon is where there is a set amount of time, and sometimes that are challenges or certain types of books that you have to read it. Dewey’s however, doesn’t really have any particular challenges. The only rule is that you have to read as many books as you can in 24 hours.

Personally, I find read-a-thons that are shorter, like Dewey’s, easier to complete and participate in, than ones that are longer like RYBSAT. I feel like this is because it’s a much shorter amount of time, which means that I’m able to stay focused on it for the entire thing instead of getting distracted and wanting to do other things than read, which is what ends up happening for me in the longer read-a-thons.

Dewey’s, since it’s only a 24 hour read-a-thon, starts at the same time for everyone. This is also so you can join into the fun little challenges they have going on, and so that you can socialise with other’s that are also participating in the read-a-thon. For me, since I live in Australia, the read-a-thon starts at ten p.m. today, Saturday and ends at ten p.m. the next day, Sunday.

Here is the link to where you can figure out when it starts in your time-zone:

Start and End Times

Here is the link to the read-a-thon's main page:

http://www.24hourreadathon.com/

I right now have four books that I am planning on reading. I know for sure that I’m not going to finish all of them, I just like to have different choices that I can pick from. I’ve got two shorter books which are both under 300 pages, and then two longer books.

These books include:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

I’m already just under halfway through Goblet of Fire, so I’m hoping to finish it first. Since the read-a-thon starts at ten p.m. for me, I want to definitely have finished Goblet of Fire before I go to sleep. I also want to finish, or be near to finishing, either The Bad Beginning or A Little Wanting Song before I go to sleep. Then, when I wake up as I won’t have as much time to read during the day as I will at night, I’m hoping to finish the other short book, and then possibly start Clockwork Angel if I have time. I know I’m not going to be finishing Clockwork Angel, or be anywhere near to finishing Clockwork Angel, I just am going to try my best to start it.

I know I’m probably not even going to finish a second book, but I like to set my expectations higher, so that I work harder to get there.

I am going to be intagramming and tweeting throughout the duration of the read-a-thon, so if you would like to follow me journey of my reading, you can find me here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bookwormia_Blog

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bookwormia_blog/

Alright, well let me know if you are going to be participating in the read-a-thon, and if you are, what books you’re planning on reading!

Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you next time!

October 2015 TBR

Hello everybody! So, I know that it’s almost halfway through October, but I just wanted to let you all know what I am planning to read throughout this month. I’m sorry that it’s pretty late, it’s only because I’ve had lots of schoolwork, and I’ve been working so I haven’t had a lot of time to write anything.

The last couple of months I haven’t done very well with my reading, so I want to try to read as much as I possibly can throughout the month of October. So, without further ado, here is my October TBR!

I am currently planning on reading a total of five books this month, which is less than last month, but a lot of the books that I am planning on reading this month are a lot longer than the ones from September. This number may change, along with the actual books that I want to read, just because I may change my mind of what I’m feeling like reading later on in the month.

These are the five books that I am hoping to read throughout the month:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling

Adrift by Paul Griffin

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Resistance by Kayla Howarth

Baad Dog by Sal Conte

Baad Dog isn’t pictured because it is an e-book which I am planning on reviewing later this month, so you can keep an eye out for that!

I’m now going to go into a little bit about why I actually want to read these books!

The reason that I want to read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is pretty simple and obvious. Harry Potter is absolutely amazing, and I just love reading it. I started re-reading the series a while ago, and sort of just stopped because I was reading other books as well, however this month I am definitely going to be getting a move on with the series, and finishing the fourth book. I’m already about one hundred pages into it, but there’s still a while to go before I finish it!

I’d also just like to mention since I’m already talking about Harry Potter, that I am so excited to purchase the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone! It looks absolutely beautiful and I seriously cannot wait to see what Jim Kay’s interpretation of the story was. I get paid in just under two weeks, so this book is definitely going to be the first thing that I buy with my money!

The second book that I am hoping to read this month is Adrift by Paul Griffin. I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway a few weeks ago and I still have not read it. It does seem pretty interesting sounding. Basically what it’s about is that there is a group of friends, who get lost out at sea. The small blurb on the front of the book is; “Five of us went out on the water that night. None of us came back whole, and not all of us came back”. This just intrigues me so much and I am definitely looking forward to jumping into this book!

There are multiple reasons of why I want to read Clockwork Angel this month. One of the biggest reasons though, is that I absolutely loved The Mortal Instruments, and I just want to read more of the story. I received this book from a friend for my birthday nearly six months ago, and I just haven’t gotten to it yet. I’m so upset that I haven’t had time to read this book yet, as I have been looking forward to reading it for so long. Clockwork Angel is the first book in a prequel trilogy to The Mortal Instruments series, and I have heard so many good things about this trilogy, and I know a lot of BookTubers who really enjoy this trilogy as well. So, I will definitely be trying to get to this book this month!

The next book on my TBR list is Resistance by Kayla Howarth, which is the second book in The Institute Series. One of my friend’s, mom’s, friends (if that made any sense) wrote this series, and so I really want to get to it. I read the first book in this series, The Institute, a few months back, and I really enjoyed it. I’m already just under one hundred pages into Resistance, and I am enjoying it immensely so far. The Institute Series is a dystopian series about a world where there are people called Defectives. The Defectives have different powers, and they are seen as a threat to the world, so they are all locked away. Allira, the main character, has a brother who is a Defective, so her family is forced to become invisible. I am a really big fan of dystopian novels, so I was pretty sure that I was going to enjoy this series going into it, and I was completely correct. I loved the first book, so I am almost certain that I will enjoy this second book just as much.

The final book that I have on my TBR for the month of October, is Baad Dog by Sal Conte. I have absolutely no idea what this book is about. All that I really know is that it’s a short novella, and it’s about love for a dog. That’s pretty much all that I know about it, but from what I’ve heard it sounds like it could be interesting. I received an e-book copy of this book for review, so I am looking forward to reading it. My review for this book will be going up on the 21^st of this month, so definitely look forward to that!

So, that is it for my October TBR! I am really looking forward to reading all of these books, and I will definitely be letting you know what I thought of them either through my October Wrap-Up at the end of the month, or through separate reviews!

Let me know if you have read any of these books and what you thought of them and what you’re planning on reading throughout this month down in the comments!

Thank you all for reading, and I will talk to you next time!

September 2015 Wrap-Up

Hey guys! So, I know that this is a few days later than I said it would be, but this was my first week back at school, and so I just didn’t have a lot of time to be writing. However, better late than never was my thinking, so without further ado, here is my September Wrap-Up!

I feel like I was pretty productive with reading throughout the month of September. I didn’t read as much as I was hoping to, but I did read a decent amount. I ended up reading a total of six books, which is definitely better than how many books I’ve been reading over the last couple of months, so I was pretty happy with that number.

It was also RYBSAT this last month, so that did motivate me to read a bit as well.

The books that I was able to complete this month were:

 Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

One False Note by Gordon Korman

The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis

Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson

The Black Circle by Patrick Carman 

I’m now going to go into a bit of what I thought of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and also the five books within The 39 Clues series. I will hopefully be putting up a full book/movie review of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl soon, so that you guys can see what I thought about the movie compared to the book.

For those of you who don’t know, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is about a boy names Greg, who just wants to stay under the radar. He has made it to his senior year of high school, while staying acquaintances with every single group and student in the entire school. He only has one person that is a friend, and that person is Earl. Greg and Earl have grown up together, and they also make films. They take a film that they really enjoyed, change the name of it and then remake it. His life seems pretty perfect to him. That is, until his mom tells him that he has to go talk Rachel, who has just been diagnosed with cancer.

I know what you’re thinking, ugh it’s just another cancer book. Or, it’s probably just a remake of The Fault in Our Stars. I’m here to tell you to get that thought out of your mind because Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is NOT just another cancer book. Sure, it does follow a boy who meets someone who does have cancer, but that’s not what the book is about. The book is not about the cancer.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a comedic goldmine. I laughed so hard throughout this book, you just wouldn’t believe it. Although this book does have a cancer storyline, cancer is not the main plot point of the book. The main plot point of this book is that Greg is just a normal person. I know that that sounds strange, and that since it’s a contemporary book it should be following a normal person, but most contemporary novels just don’t feel like that. Greg had normal thoughts, he did normal things, he did things and thought things that most authors wouldn’t think to put into their books because they’re too absurd, too bizarre. But Jesse Andrews did. He knew that the thoughts running through Greg’s mind were ones that run through the minds of teens on a daily basis.

When I was reading this book, and somebody would ask me what is was about. Or whenever somebody would come up to me for a book recommendation, I would tell them about Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. They’d ask what’s it about, and I would tell them that it’s a funny book about cancer. They would all look at me like I was completely insane, and ask me how a book about cancer could possibly be funny. But Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is completely hilarious, and it definitely, definitely deserves the five out of five stars that I am giving it.

Since the last five books that I read this last month were all a part of the same series, I’m just going to give you an overview of what the series is about, and then also what I thought about the books as a whole.

The 39 Clues series follows siblings, Amy and Dan Cahill, who have just lost their grandmother. They are at the funeral, when they and some of their other family members from all over the world get called into a secret room. None of them have any idea what is going on, until Grace’s (the grandmother’s) lawyer comes in and turns on the TV. Grace pops up on the screen, and explains to the family members’ that they have a choice. They can either each take a million dollars, with no catch at all, or they can receive a clue. Only one clue out of thirty nine, and if they collect all of the clues, then they will have eternal glory. Amy and Dan’s minds are boggled at the thought of receiving one million dollars each, but they take a leap of faith and decide to embark on the adventure of finding the thirty nine clues.

The 39 Clues is a middle-grade series written by multiple different authors. Although you can see the difference between the different authors’, and their different writing styles, it all seems to fit together perfectly. The 39 Clues books are ones that I collect. I got the first ten books in a boxset from my school years ago, and ever I’ve just liked to collect them and they are just fun to pick up every once in a while if I want something short to read.

Rick Riordan, the author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, is one of the many authors of these books, and I just loved reading a different style of his writing. I love the mystery aspect of these books, and even though it is a middle-grade series, it does just seem to capture my attention and intrigue me.

This time around, I only managed to get through five of the books, which was a little bit disappointing as I was hoping to read a lot more, but in the next few months if I get bored of what I’m reading, or if I just want something quick to read I will definitely make sure to pick up the next book in The 39 Clues series. For the series, I’m going to give it a three out of five stars, as I really did enjoy it, it just isn’t one of my favourite series of all time.

So, that’s my wrap-up for the month of September! I’m sorry once again for getting this up so late, I’ve just been busy with school and work and other things, so I haven’t had much time to write this up and upload it. I will, however, definitely have my TBR up either later tonight or sometime tomorrow, so you can definitely look forward to that!

Let me know what you read in the month of September, and what your favourite book that you read was! Mine was definitely Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you next time!