Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Wishlist Wednesday # 6




Wishlist Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Pen to Paper. This meme is where you showcase one book that is on your wishlist and that you can't wait to get off your wishlist and into your hands.




Wishlist Wednesday # 6

     On my Wishlist Wednesday is

        How To Be Brave by E. Katherine Kottaras
                How to Be Brave    
   Reeling from her mother's death, Georgia has a choice: become lost in her own pain, or enjoy life right now, while she still can. She decides to start really living for the first time and makes a list of fifteen ways to be brave - all the things she's wanted to do but never had the courage to try. As she begins doing the things she's always been afraid to do - including pursuing her secret crush, she discovers that life doesn't always go according to plan. Sometimes friendships fall apart and love breaks your heart. But once in a while, the right person shows up just when you need them most - and you learn that you're stronger and braver than you ever imagined
This book is just the kind of book i need especially with the new year coming. I think this book would be a great way to start off the year with. 
What books are on your wishlist?
Have you read this book?
Are there books similar to this that you can recommend?                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                              

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Contemporary Reviews


   





Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1)   

This review is actually a review that is old but i figured I would put it up. At first, I was hesitant going into this book because of the hype it was getting and I didn't want to be let down with high expectations. I was surprised. This book was amazing. I loved everything about it. I loved Anna as a character,she was great at learning from her mistakes and accepting that sometimes friendship is the most powerful way of connecting with someone. The friendship between Anna and St Clair was beautiful. I loved that they really got to know each other and became best friends. I will say i think  the only thing I didn't like was that both Anna and St Clair were indecisive especially st Clair throughout most of the book. Throughout the book  St Clair has a girlfriend while he's hanging out with Anna. I admire Anna because there was one scene where St. Claire was drunk and she tells his friends to call his girlfriend. While this scene is happening, St. Clair admits that he likes Anna. Anna lies to him when he asked if he said anything weird to her to protect their friendship. This book had great quotes and the character development was incredible. I rated this book  5 stars.
Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss #2)
 
 
I loved the characters and the plot was similar to Anna. Now, the character of Lola she made me love her in the first part and hate her in the second part. However, she does redeem herself in the end. I loved her parents they added humor into the story. Her best friend Lindsay was great,I adored her because of her idols being Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew. The Bell twins were great, I loved Cricket and Calliope both because they each had their own flaws and insecurities. The only things I didn't like were Lola's outfits I mean I understand that she's expressing herself, but they never say how these outfits make her feel about herself or why she needs to wear then.
the other thing was Lola leading both cricket and max on even though max was her bf, she should have been honest with him instead of lying to him.Plus, they could have done a better way of getting rid of him, of course the break up was inevitable.




Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3)
  This book was ok. I didn't love it as much as Anna or Lola. The characters felt flat at some parts. One of the themes of the book is identity but I felt that I didn't really know who Isla was. She likes comic books, has an obsessive crush on Josh for three years, and likes to read adventure books. Other than that, nothing else was known unless a supporting character points it out to her. I think i learned more about Josh in the book than Isla. I didn't like the way the relationship was portrayed. It made Isla seem likes those girls that put their boyfriend before anyone and that's what Isla did. In one scene, she chooses to hang out with Josh instead of Kurt who hasn't seen Isla that much since she started dating Josh. Another scene, Kurt and Isla are talking about colleges and Isla says that she's thinking of Daramouth. Kurt than asks what about the other two schools that she wanted and she was throwing everything she worked for. Her grades were slipping and the Barcelona trip was when I didn't like her the most. Both Josh and Isla were impulsive from the beginning, instead of facing the consequences of their own actions because it was something that they both decided well josh more than Isla, she blames it on Kurt and her sister. I thought that Josh was going to be a fling and then she would find someone else. I think the ending would have been better if they have stayed broken up and Isla worked on her self-esteem issues. At times, i felt that they were there just for the sake of being there, being insecure in her relationship when Josh was constantly showing her that he did care for her. The relationship felt very co-dependent in my opinion. There was one scene where Josh is not going to be in school because of the trip and he breaks down crying. I'm sorry but that was melodramatic. It's not like they wouldn't talk at all. There are phones, letters, emails, text messages, skype. I find it hard to believe that they would not be able to talk to each other. That's my review. i have this book 3 stars.



Friday, December 4, 2015

Hello, December




 December is here which means Finals, Christmas, and New Years. Finals week is tough because you have to prepare to take finals for all of your classes. This means studying and looking back at all your notes from the semester. Since I know that this is a tough time, i thought that i would share some tips that have helped me in the past when it came to finals or exams in general. 
Tip 1: Do not cram everything into one day. It will make you over-stress and you will most likely retain about 30 percent about what you studied. 
Tip 2: Make time to study a little bit each day. Whether it's in on the train, in the morning, or at night. Whenever you find time, just study what you can. 
Tip 3: You don't have to know every single thing that is going to be on there, just enough that you understand the material. This was the case when it came to my sociology mid-term. My professor said just answer 16 out of the questions the ones you know the most about. I answered the 16 that i knew the most about and passed.
Tip 4: using highlighter and index cards help in a huge way. They help you stay organized with your notes. Also, You don't have to high light everything, just the important details
Tip 5: Breathe and relax.
Tip 6: Going to bed early helps you stay productive. 
Tip 7: Eat breakfast, it is the most important meal of the day.
Those are my tips for finals.
I'm going to be listening to Christmas music all week and watching Christmas movies. Maybe read some holiday theme books. Any recommendations?