It's time for some confessions

Everyone out there has done this at least once in their life, if not more. The following list is everything going through my 'life' right now.

1. Procrastination. That's right, I'm a huge procrastinator, and I can't help it. There are just so many more interesting things to do!
2. Boredom. Yep, that too. But who hasn't ever been bored in their life? I'm bored on a daily basis. Right now I'm making an animation and it's so boring because I'm just shrinking down the characters as they run, and dragging the snowflakes across the screen. How boring!?
3. Projects. Yeesh! If there is one thing I hate, it's projects. Sometimes they're self-inflicted, such as this charcoal sketch I want to do of my dog. I thought of that idea weeks ago, and I still haven't even started. Or they can be assigned to you, like this animation project I have to do, or the five zillion photography projects, or this AP US project I have to work on tomorrow with a group of friends.
4. Stage Fright. I'm a completely shy girl. I don't dance, I don't sing, and I don't act. Not only do I not like doing those things, but I stink at them too. Tomorrow two of my friends are coming over to film our video project for AP US. Not only that, but everyone in the group has to be on camera. This is going to be fun. 
5. People who think they're right, no matter what. This is a major thing right now. Remember that Digital Photography class I mentioned above? Well, my teacher is like this. When we started the semester, she emailed me saying I need to update my email. We went through like 10 messages bickering over how I already did it and how my correct email was in there, and her saying I needed to go check because she had to go through the school to message me. In the end, she said she was sorry because my email was right. But that's only the first instance! Right now I have three zeros for projects I've already completed, and she won't correct the grades! Gah! This irritates me so much!

So.. I guess I'm procrastinating from my procrastinating, because I still have only done 57 of the 100 required cells for my animation. Whoop de do. Talk to you guys later, I have to get to work :/

Sudden Urges

Okay, I am going to have to change some stuff about this blog. From now on, I won't be doing book reviews, but I will rave or rant about them. I'm just going to talk about me, regarding books and writing. My thoughts and ideas.

With that said, I have the sudden urge to write a book like Lord of the Rings. Not exactly it, in case you were wondering. Have you ever seen the movies? My mom has a replica necklace from The Lord of the Rings, belonging to one of the elves. Arwin, I think it was. But I was just looking at these jewelry from someone on deviantART.com, and it looks eerily similiar. Lunarieen is her name (Click on the link for photos of her jewelry). Anyway, it's made me realize that I can picture myself in the future with my sister designing jewelry for my book, as she has an interest in that kind of stuff, and I'm hiring models wearing it for the cover of my book.

It probably won't happen, but hey, you can always dream. First off, I'd need to write that book, and I have a  tiring habit where I begin a book with a great idea, but leave off shortly afterward when I get stuck. It's very irritating. I've started many books and get stuck in a conflict with no direction of where I'm heading with this story.

My sister volunteered the idea of a romance novel with mythical characters, because I have another quirk that I can only write when the characters have something wrong with them, such as being a faerie, or elf, or something peculiar. But don't all main character's do? In every story you come across, there has got to be something wrong with the main character. In Amanda Hocking's book My Blood Approves, her main character Alice is bonded with Jack, err, Peter. See, she's different. She's special. Every main character has to have something wrong with them, or there wouldn't be a story about them in the first place.

So, I'll be back. I make no promises unless I intend to keep them. Until then, bye everyone!

Wow!

Okay, before you think this is a new review for another book I've read, I'm sorry to say I won't be doing one in this post. But, I have read a book I loved called Beautiful Disaster, and I'll review it later on.

Now, onto what this post was really about. I'm so happy for some of my favorite authors. I've discovered a few that were self-published and were published by various companies. My first being Amanda Hocking. I discovered her with her book, My Blood Approves and have been hooked ever since. Recently, with her Trylle Series, she was published by Macmillan. When I found out, I was overjoyed. Even though the prices of her books were about to go up, she was being discovered and bringing herself up in the world of books. I'm happy to be one of the many who found her before the publishers did.

Another of my favorite authors, Rebecca Donovan, is getting published too! She's been discovered by Penguin before the release of her third book in her series, which happens to be released this Friday, October 5th!

Okay, that's it for now! I'll check back in with you guys later, when I think of something else to say. Until then, au revoir!

..Bunch of Things..

So, just starting off, this post is not a review. I'm tired, sick, and just want to go to bed, but I decided to clear up a few things before I do so. I've edited the Favorite Author's and To-Read list, so things are no longer outdated.

Wow, so my 'clear up a few things' turned out to be just one minor thing. Huh, my mind seems to be leaving me blank on a bunch of things. Well anyway, would you like to hear a somewhat aggravating and humorous story?

If you said no, well, too bad. Because here it is:
On August 1- August 8, my family and I took a trip to New Jersey to visit family. While we were there, two of my books I was dying to read came out. The first was Wake by Amanda Hocking, which was outstanding, and the second was The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore. Well, I ordered Wake and the last Maximum Ride(whose title is slipping my mind at the moment). I didn't order The Rise of Nine until much later, like 10-15 days later, I know, pitiful considering I wanted it so bad. So while we were in Jersey, my family gifted me with a bunch of giftcards as an early 16th Birthday gift, and one of those was a Barnes and Nobles. But I had to share it with both of my sisters. So we were snooping through Barnes and Nobles online, and they both found a book and I found mine, and we placed the order. Did you know that if one of those books is pre-ordered, they won't send the entire order until that one little book is released? Well I sure didn't! My sister's book, called Just Getting Started, wasn't released until the 13th of this month. I ordered those books around the end of August. I didn't recieve them until yesterday, the 18th. So here I am, smacking myself for letting her get the book and holding me and my other sister up with our orders. Well, I can say one thing. The Rise of Nine was goood! Like, amazing good. I read it in less than a day, and am disappointed there wasn't any notice of a fourth book, because there has got to be one! But I'll make a review for that book tomorrow, maybe.

I've got a ton of stuff to do. I'm in an AP class this year, so I'm booked up on homework and studying. There won't be as many book reviews until after May, but I'll make one when I can. I have a few projects to complete in the next week, so stay with me. That's a story for another day. Until then, I'll see you when I see you. I'm tired, au revoir*!

*Is it sad I took two years of French and the best I can do on a daily basis is Bonjour and Au Revoir? I also know Salut and Enchante, but that's just off the top of my head. Oh oh oh, here's another one that may or may not be correct: J'aime peinture! Au revoir, mes amis!

AngelFall by Susan Ee

Hey there, readers. Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. School started, and my AP class had homework right from the get-go. This is the first free time I've had in a while. Now, you want to know what I did?

I purchased and read a book of course! Today's book is AngelFall by Susan Ee. I wouldn't have found it had I not snooped onto Amazon today. After reading the description and the ratings, I decided to give it a try. And try I did!

AngelFall is officially my favorite book of the month. Okay, I guess that's not such a great achievement since it's only September 2, but it's still my favorite book of the last couple of weeks. I was really excited to give this book a try, and while it was a little of a let down, it was still a great read and worth the $2.99(That's two dollars, ninety nine cents.) I spent.

First off, I love the whole plot and ideas for the story. The main character's name, Penryn, is interesting enough. I mean, where did that come from? This is a one of a kind name, at least thus far. Never before have I heard the name Penryn. Now, before you start wondering why my review has headed towards a girl's name, remember that I'm in high school and will get easily distracted and amused by such things.

Okay, moving on. Back to the plot and story. It's revolving around an apocalypse. But not of the zombie or meteroid strike sort. This is an apocalypse caused by angels. But not your sweet, halo-headed angels; these angels are warriors. Not Christmas decorations. Now, in all good apocalypse books there have got to be fight scenes. Usually they're with zombies, but.. These ones were pretty good too. The angels kidnapped Penryn's little sister, Paige. Did you see that? My name's in the book! Yaya! Paige is a seven-year old cripple. She's wheel-chair bound and during one of those fight scenes Penryn watched her get taken from her fingertips. Now, can you guess where this is going? I sure hope so. Penryn is extremely loyal and stubborn. She recruits kidnaps, holds against his will an angel who was near death. Together they go on a rampage and kill every angel they find! Well, sorry. That's not what happened! But they do go on a journey to find her little sister. There are many twists that I sure didn't expect, and I'm sure you won't too.

Now, do you want to read this book? It was very captivating and catches you right from the beginning. The plot is well-developed, keeping that little hidden point in the very beginning that only the best authors can do, and the dialogue wasn't forced. That's one of the best parts. With some authors they try too hard, and the dialogue seems like they had to push it out of themselves rather than letting it flow naturally. I like that.

I look forward to the remainder of the Penryn & The End of Days, which has yet to be announced. But I'll be sure to blog about when future releases are! Until then, keep checking my To-Read List, because all of my favorite authors' future books are sure to be on there!

See you next time! Happy Reading!

Nevermore by James Patterson

My second review for today is Nevermore by James Patterson.

Again, as these are my first few reviews, I have to warn you. I'm only using my own knowledge of writing to piece together my reviews. My critics are based on my own thoughts and opinions, and everyone's are different. There may be possible spoilers here.

Review of Nevermore by James Patterson:
Possible Spoiler Alert!
Let me say: amazing! Prior to reading this, I had re-read Angel, the book before this. Having caught myself up in the action, I've got to applaud Mr. Patterson. I am thoroughly speechless. Each turn of events caught me off guard, and that alone is what has me so awestruck. There aren't many books I can say have done that. Everything was unexpected. There truly isn't anything I can say that won't give anything away. I don't want to ruin your experience! There are twists and turns around every corner. My favorite part was when Max and Dylan were supervising Nudge and her date. I love Max's humor so much, and I'm sure you will too. By the end of the book, I've only got one question. What happened to the first Ari? If you want to know what I mean, highlight over the white blank.
Jeb basically told Angel that the Erasers were less succesful versions of Ari. But in the first book, Ari was surrounded by Erasers. So what happened to the first Ari?
Overall, I loved this book. I cried with Angel, I cheered for Max, and I sympathized for Fang. I'm sorry, Dylan, but Fang's got my vote. I would recommend this book to anyone. It was a great finale to a wonderful series.

Wake by Amanda Hocking

After an afternoon of shopping, I returned home to find a package on my doorstep. My order had arrived early! Even if it was just one day ahead of time.

I ordered Wake by Amanda Hocking and Nevermore by James Patterson. They were at the top of my To-Read list, as I've been waiting months for them. I've always adored Amanda Hocking's books, starting since her release of My Blood Approves. I've been reading up everything she's written since then. My neighbor introduced me to James Patterson, with his series of Maximum Ride. I had read his two books When the Wind Blows and The Lake House, and so it came naturally that I delved into Maximum Ride with just as much enthusiasm. And let me tell you, it was enthusiasm. I read the first six books in under one week. People could see me racing down my road to hand off the book I had finished and accept the next. That's what happens when I enter a series after it's been released.

Anyway, before I review Wake, I'd like to just make a few notes. First off, I am not a professional reviewer. My critics are based on my own thoughts and findings. The only prior knowledge I have is Honors English's. Next, this is my first review I've made publicly. Until I master the ability, there may be some spoilers. If you take this review, and compare it to my latest review, you're sure to find a difference in quality. Now, onto the review.

Review of Wake by Amanda Hocking:
Possible Spoiler Alert!
If there is one thing that I love, it's a good romance mixed with paranormal/mythical/magical beings. And let me tell you, Wake was filled with that. The book had two different sets of romance going on. The first is the ongoing attraction between Gemma, the main character, and Alex. The other is between Gemma's sister, Harper, and Daniel. Now, I mentioned paranormal/mythical/magical beings before, so I'll tell you a little bit about them. Sirens are beautiful women who lure sailors to their death by their song. Siren's always have to have four in their little group. Always. So when one leaves, they need a replacement. But they only have until the next full moon to acquire that replacement. Or else. Now, before I spoil anything, even though you can probably guess what's going to happen, I'll move on. Amanda Hocking has always been one of my favorite authors, not just for her writing style, but for her humorous descriptions and plot. All of this shows in Wake. I would give an example, but you'll find them all in your own time. And if you can't, well, think Gemma's car. In some of the conversations between Gemma and Alex, the conversation feels a little forced. My thoughts are that this was intentional, to make the conversation seem awkward, because it was meant to be. I believe this because Amanda's past books haven't done this. Overall, this was an interesting book that kept my attention. I felt for Gemma and what she had to go through, what she made those around her feel. I may or may not have made the same choices as she did. I would recommend this book to someone interested in sea-lore becoming reality.

I will be adding Lullaby, the second book in the Watersong series, to my To-Read list, once it comes out.

Basic Introductions

I'm going to give everyone out there reading this a few heads-ups. Firstly, this is officially my first blog, apart from my journal, of course. So be patient as I advance myself farther. Second, I'm in high-school. So any reviews that I do make, or books I rave about or rant about will be appropriate for viewers my age. Lastly, if anyone can not read the fonts I have set up, let me know about it. I will change it as soon as I can arrange to.

Now that I've done all of this, I'll be making future posts. I just had to get this all out there first.

On average, I can complete a 300 page book that I like in under 10 hours. So, expect many, many posts. Any books I highly recommend will be placed under my favorite authors' tab, once I figure out how to get one of those. Until then, well, you're going to have to search for them. ;)