Movies + Book Recommendations

I got this idea from a video I saw authors Alice Oseman and Lauren James do. The idea is that one person chooses 2 or 3 of their favorite movies and the other person chooses 3 books that are related to or similar to those movies.
 I thought that this was an original idea so I thought that I would try it for myself with my friend Sarah, Ya96lover. I am going to pick three of my favorite movies and Sarah is going to choose 3 books that are similar or related to them.

1. The Princess Bride

2. 10 Things I Hate About You

3. Water For Elephants

Friday Reads # 1

Friday Reads # 1 ( August 12, 2016)

This is the first Friday reads ever so I'm excited. Ok, so I am currently reading three books at the moment. I'm currently reading The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolken, The Rose Society by Marie Lu and The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. So far I'm enjoying The Raven Boys and The Hobbit. I'm reading The Rose Society because I read the first book in The Young Elites trilogy and I really liked it. :)

Review: Every Last Word

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Book Review




I'm always hesitant when it comes to reading contemporaries that deal with mental illness because some of them tend to romanticize the illness. However, this was not the case. The main character Sam has suffered from OCD since she was 11. These consuming thoughts are something she struggles with on a daily basis along with seeing her therapist who helps her deal with them in healthy ways. I liked that this book portrayed the mental illness in an honest and real way. While, Sam makes a new friend who introduces her to a poetry club Sam begins to use writing poems as a creative outlet when it comes to dealing with her inner struggles. Besides, Sam andthe love interest I felt that the other characters were one-dimentional. We're told information about them here and there but not enough to make us remember them.

I liked the element of music that was used in the story : Sam makes playlists and AJ plays guitar and writes songs. Sam's playlists were relatble I even found myself listening to Never Let Me Go by Florence and The Machine. There were some moments where nothing would happen so a month would pass or weeks sometimes. I loved that they included Sam's relationship with her therapist as part of her treatment because its shown as in a positive light instead of it being stigmatized as a negative thing.

The twist in the story, I suspected it for a while because the scenes between Sam and this particular character were convient only Sam could see this person and talk to them.
It didn't surprise me because it ended up with Sam reflecting on this experience in a positive way. Althougth, I think it was a coping mechanism that she used when she was anxious there were some things that still felt weird.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Sam's characters has many layers and it was great following her story and seeing her constantly deal with her inner battles. I recommend this book to who liked All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella.

An Open Letter to Rowan Blanchard

It made me feel sick when i heard the rumors and how it affected you. You are a young 14 year old girl who is an advocate for movements such as feminism, black lives matter, LGBTQ, Self- love, and many other things. Also, you spoke about your struggles with depression and spoke about being bullied. 

You wrote a piece on Rookie Magazine where you expressed that you did not want to apologize for what you feel or the things that you do. I remember reading that piece and really taking it in. You are a strong person who is intelligent, eloquent, and talented. I’m sure you will go far in life and star in other amazing projects. 

I want to say that I admire you because you’re letting people know no matter what age they are, that they have a voice and they matter. To me, the show taught me lessons about friendship, family, feminism, people change people, Labels shouldn’t matter. People should look beyond the surface. I am glad that you are who you are and you never change who you are because some people expect you to.

You are a wonderful human being and please stay the humble down to earth person we all know you are.

- Lissette

Libester Award June 2016

 Libester Award June 2016

Thanks to @Yalover96 for nominating me for this award!


The rules are as follows:

• 1. Acknowledge the blog that nominated you and display the award.
• 2. Answer the 11 questions that the blog gives you.
• 3. Give 11 random facts about yourself.
• 4. Nominate 5-11 blogs that you think are deserving of the award that have less than 200 followers.
• 5. Let the blogs know you have nominated them.
• 6. Give them 11 questions to answer.

Question Answers

1.Where is your favorite spot to read?

My favorite spot to read is in my bed because it's comfortable and it's relaxing.

   

2.What do you prefer - Series or Standalones?

 I would say both because I love series since the characters develop but I love standalones also because the story is wrapped up nicely.

3.What book are you currently reading?

The book that I am currently reading is Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone and I'm enjoying it a lot.

4,What was the last book you read that you absolutely loved?

The last book I read that I loved was Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda. It was great.

5. If you could take three things with you to a desert island, besides books, what would they be?

My dog,  my cellphone, and a compass.

6.Which author would you want to meet the most?

Jenny Han because I love her All The Boys I've Loved Before dualogy

7. What book are you highly anticipating for the end of this year?

Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas!!!

8.Have you been to any book conventions or events? If not, are you planning to?

I have never been to a book conventions. I would plan to but the thing is money is the issues. I'm broke right now.

9. What are your other hobbies besides reading?

I like to write, listen to music, watch shows, play with my dog, hang out with my friends.

10.What fictional character would you like to meet the most?

Cath, from Fangirl. :)

And simply because I'm running out of questions, tell us something about yourself?

My birthday is July 20. :)

11 Facts about Yourself

1, I'm left-handed
2.I'm the youngest in my family.
3. I have a dog who's 3 years old
4. I like to write fanfics
5. I like watching webseries.
6. Lucaya is my OTP is the show Girl Meets Worlds
7. I'm a 90s baby
8. My favorite decade is the 80s
9. Rent is one of my favorite movies of all times.
10.  I am trying to learn another language
11. I'm a sophmore in college.

Blogs I Nominate
A Perfection Called Books
Perks of Being A Reader
Journey Through Fiction

11 Questions
1. Was there a book where you didn't like the ending? If so, how would you have changed it?
2. Do you have TBR jar?
3. If you could be in the world of one of your books, which world would it be?
4. Which author (s)do you automatically buy books of?
5. Name 5 underrated books that you think people should read
6. Do you listen to music when you read? If so, what type of music?
7. Hogwarts or Narnia?
8.Which character(s) in your books do you most identify with?
9. If you could write a sequel to one of favorite books, what would the title be?
10. What are some of your favorite movies?
11. Any advice for people who have just started blogging?

Review: An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked the book. It is my least favorite of John Green's books. But, it has a good story, its not really plot driven, mostly character driven. Colin was an interesting protagonist. Similar to his protagonists in his previous books, he wants to be remembered and he is considered to be a prodigy. I found this book similar to Paper towns, as in the side characters were a little bit better than the main character. Hassan gets great lines, he gets monologues. I liked Lindsay, she was cool. You can tell there were a lot of layers to her character. One thing I really liked was there is this scene where she finds out that her boyfriend cheated on her and the guys defend her while she attacks him also. Its refreshing that for once the girlfriend didn't just blame the other women. I didn't like her boyfriend, you could tell the book only used him as a plot device considering it happened 30 pages 3 chapters before the book end. Overall, I gave this book 4 stars. I enjoyed it. Its the type of book where you read it once and that's enough.

Review: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked the story. The plot could be broken up into 3 parts. The first part is someone blackmailing Simon about his emails with a guy and his sexuality. The second part is Simon's life along with his family and friends. The third part is the mystery of Blue, who's the person Simon has been emailing prior to the story. I thought that Simon was great. he was funny. smart. witty. He's into theater, video games, eating Oreos. His family was a joy to read about. I liked the dynamic they had with each other, their traditions were quirky. His friends were funny. There is a little love triangle thing that his friends have with each other that is unspoken. Nick likes Abby and Leah likes Nick. I liked all of his friends. Although, I felt bad for Leah throughout the book because they kept ditching her twice. Simon and Blue. Their relationship was adorable. I loved reading their emails. I had a few suspects of my own but leaned towards one of them more than the others. Turns out, I was right on who the person ended up being. I thought the ending was good, not great. It felt that it ended abruptly. Yes, they get together, but I don't know it seemed liked something was missing. Overall, I gave the book 4 stars. One thing I liked the most about the book was that Simon did not have sex. In fact, it's something that he talks about with Blue in one of their emails. I liked this aspect because it showed that not everyone does those things and that's okay. There are people who haven't kissed anyone or had sex at their age. I liked that it wasn't something that Simon was ashamed to admit or Blue either. It showed diversity in YA. There should be more representation of people who haven't had those experiences yet. Let's be honest, not everyone has been kissed or had sex in high school, Maybe, they did later on in life. The point is that it's okay if they had. It is their choice to make and that's what most important.

View all my reviews