Bout of Books 10.0

Hi Everyone!

Tonight I'd just like to share that I will be participating in the upcoming read-a-thon, Bout of Books 10.0 !

This week long read-a-thon runs from May 12 to May 18, and from what I understand the only goal is to beat your normal number of books read in a week. I'm sincerely hoping that since I have about a dozen tests this week in school, that read-a-thon week will be a light week for school work so I can get in as much reading as possible. I hope to read at least three books, if not more, throughout that week. Not sure what I'll be reading yet but I will of course be posting when I decide.

Here's the official blurb that sums up what the read-a-thon is about, found on the site:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Here's where you sign up! It's super simple, just make a post announcing that you'll be participating, and leave a direct link to your post on the website. You can also participate through only Twitter or Instagram as well, and the directions for that are also explained on the webpage.

If you need more information, here's the Bout of Books home page. I hope you'll consider participating in this read-a-thon, and if you do, please leave me a comment or a tweet, letting me know that you're participating, or what you'll be reading throughout the week!

Thanks so much for reading :)

Book Review: Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.

Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act -- suicide.

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade.

Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills.

And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun -- and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life -- but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place.

666 pages.   

4.30 average rating on Goodreads

Published 2007

Genre: YA, Drama, Realistic Fiction

 My Review:

This book is yet another tragic story written beautifully in prose poetry by the infallible Ellen Hopkins. Three troubled teens, Tony, Vanessa, and Conner all come from very different upbringings, but meet and become friends when they are all admitted to Aspen Springs, a psychiatric centre for young people.

I really liked that parts of the story were told from the perspective of each of the young people. I love when books are written from more than one perspective, so that you get to see the intimate details of the past that make each character who they are.

Tony, raised by a mother who never wanted to raise him, and ignored by a father who never bothered to know him, turns to pills to deal with his feelings. He is unsure of who he is, who he wishes to become, and how to love other people. Tony is an incredibly nice, friendly person, and we get to see him open more as he learns to forgive his father and figure out who he is.

Vanessa was raised essentially by her grandmother, since her military father was usually absent and her bipolar mother preferred the pill bottle to her children. Vanessa now finds that she herself shows symptoms of bipolar disorder, as well as depression (likely brought on by guilt of a rather dark portion of her past). She cuts herself for no reason other than to feel alive. In this book we see her seeking a close relationship with someone who truly cares about her (unlike her ex-boyfriend, Trevor, who just wanted to get in her pants), and affirmation that she has made good decisions in her life.

Conner, raised with his twin sister in a seemingly perfect household, with two perfectionist parents and a nanny, finds himself finally cracking under the pressure to be nothing less than the best. Conner has grown up starving for attention from a mother who never showed him any, and finds himself drawn to older, female authority figures. Though Conner desperately wants love and approval from his mother, he needs his parents to slack off the pressure and accept his depression, and if they don't, the consequences may be fatal.

I enjoyed reading this book but I wish there would've been more time to get to know each of the characters. Some of the plot twists didn't make sense to me (ahem, Tony and Vanessa), but the ending was a complete surprise that I thought was a perfect fit! I also thought Ms. Hopkins did a great job describing each of the characters' thought processes, giving them their own quirky personalities. 

Although I enjoyed this book and plan to read the second one, Perfect, I probably wouldn't consider it a favorite, and likely won't reread it. However, Crank and Glass by Ellen Hopkins, I do consider favorites! See my review of Glass here: http://with-sugar.blogspot.ca/2014/04/book-review-glass-by-ellen-hopkins.html  

Overall I give this book 3/5 stars, simply because it wasn't as amazing as I'd hoped for. If you are new to Ellen Hopkins books though, I definitely encourage you to read it as you will probably think it's fantastic. 

Thanks for reading! :)

                                        

Readathon Recap

Hello Everyone!

I am very excited to have participated in my first readathon yesterday, Dewey's 24-Hour Readthon! Although I definitely did not read for 24 hours straight, I read more pages than I planned to, and it's the most reading I've done in one day for a long time.

Readathon in my time zone started at. 8:30 a.m., at which time I turned off my alarm clock and went back to sleep (oops). When I woke up at 11:00 a.m., I began by finishing my first book of the day, Impulse by Ellen Hopkins. 

This book tells the story of three teenagers who have attempted suicide, and how they help each other in the struggle to recover while in a psychiatric treatment centre.

I read the last 366 pages of this book fairly quickly, finishing around 1:00 p.m., as this book is a pretty quick read, given how few words there are on the pages. 

I took a little break and had some lunch, then relocated to my bathtub to start reading Night by Elie Wiesel. 

This book is the real-life experiences of a man who survived the horrors of Auschwitz as a teenage boy, during WW2 when the extermination of all Jews was top priority in Germany. Wiesel bravely recounts every gruesome detail of his experiences, so that people of the future do not allow history to repeat itself.

This book was only 115 pages, and took me only an hour and 10 minutes to read. 

I then took another break and went out to supper for a friend's birthday. When I came home, I started reading my third book of the day, Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult.

This book is about a 40-year-old music therapist who has been battling infertility for years. When her husband finally decides he's had enough, they divorce and she now finds herself trying to make a new life for herself, the one she had always pictured having recently gone to hell. 

I'm particularly enjoying that, as always with Picoult's books, we get to read from three different points of view: Zoe, the infertile music therapist, Max: Zoe's (ex-) husband, and Vanessa: Zoe's new friend.

It took me about 3 1/2 hours to read the first 202 pages of this book, and I hope to read a great deal more of it today.

SO all in all, I spent a total of 6 hours and 40 minutes reading yesterday, and read a grand total of 683 pages yesterday, which I personally think is pretty awesome for myself, considering my goal was 500 pages. 

I really enjoyed my first readathon, and connecting with other readathoners via Twitter and Instagram. Please leave a comment telling me what goals you accomplished yesterday, or what books you read, or you can always tweet me at @_withsugarontop ! 

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone else enjoyed the readathon as much as I did! 

Series Quick Reviews: The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Hello everyone :)

For today's post I will be briefly sharing with you my opinions on each of the first five books in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series, which has become a new favorite series of mine.

The sixth and final book in the series, City of Heavenly Fire is not released until next month, but having already marathon-read the first five books, I can't wait to get my hands on it! 

1. City of Bones

This is the book where Clary first discovers the world of Shadowhunters, meets Jace, the Lightwoods, and discovers the secret her mother has been keeping her from "for her own protection" throughout her entire life. It took a very short amount of time for me to fall in love with Clary and the other characters, as well as their quick wit and dry humor. Though this book was a little slow in the beginning, due to character development and what not, I still gave it 5/5 stars and would recommend it to anyone!

2. City of Ashes

In this book, Clary is struggling to find a way to bring her mother, Jocelyn, out of her magically induced coma, placed upon her by Clary's astranged father, who just happens to be the 'uber-villain' of the whole entire magical world, a detail that never came up much throughout Clary's childhood. Clary's best friend, Simon, has been turned into a vampire.On top of that, Clary has to deal with her infuriatingly charming and handsome brother, Jace, whom she desperately wishes was not her brother. I have nothing but good things to say about this book as well, and also gave it 5/5 stars.

3. City of Glass 

In the third instalment of the series, Clary travels to the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters in an effort to save her mother. This means breaking the law, several laws to be exact, which is punishable by death. Simon has been thrown in prison because of his weird abilities, and Jace is pushing her away for reasons she does not know or understand. Clary finds herself oddly drawn to Sebastian, a somewhat shady character who is a relative of friends of the Lightwood family. All of this going on in a young girl's life naturally makes for some drama, but WAIT: SPOILER ALERT : turns out, Clary and Jace are not siblings, so she no longer has to feel guilty about lusting after him, but must now try to figure out how he feels about her. Oh, and then there are her new supernatural powers to learn to deal with - talk about stress! I gave this book 4/5 stars because although I loved it, it was a little more dragged out than necessary and just not my favorite of the series. 

4. City of Fallen Angels

In this book The Mortal War has ended, Jocelyn is no longer comatose, and Clary has begun her official Shadowhunters training at the Institute in NYC. With the majority of the drama temporarily on the back burner, I loved getting to see Clary develop as a Shadowhunters, and to see the relationship between her and Jace continue to grow (though of course, it's never less than complicated). Soon Jace begins to pull away from her and she doesn't understand why - until she discovers that some of her actions could lead to the loss of everything she holds dear, especially Jace. I LOVED this book - it was probably my favourite of the series (thus far), and I gave it 5/5 stars.

5. City of Lost Souls

At the end of the fourth book, Jace and scumbag Sebastian went missing after the greater demon Lilith's return to power. In this book, we see Clary go about her tirelessly pursuit to find Jace, but once she does, she finds Jace is not how he used to be. Turns out he and the evil Sebastian have been bound together, so that one cannot be harmed without harming the other. Clary needs to find a way to bring her Jace back to her before it's too late, and, given that The Clave is searching everywhere for Sebastian, intent on killing him she doesn't have much time. This book shows how truely Clary loves Jace, and the lengths to which she is willing to go to save him. Again, a sucker for romance, I much prefer the interpersonal aspects of these books to the action and adventure scenes. I also gave this book 5/5 stars. 

I have to say, I just LOVE that these books are set in New York City. I visited there in November; it's a beautiful, mysterious city, the perfect setting for these books. Also, can we talk about how beautiful the covers of these books are? I love each and every one of them, and I regret that my entire series is not hardcover as it would look much nicer on my shelf. Alas, while in the beginning I was skeptical about reading these (I generally don't enjoy books about angels/vampires/werewolves) the characters in this series stole my heart and I think The Mortal Instruments is one of the best series I've read in a long time. I absolutely cannot wait for the final book to be released in May!

If you've read these books please tell me what you thought of them and which one was your favorite. Also if you've read the Infernal Devices series, also by Cassandra Clare, I'd love to hear your thoughts on those as I've not yet read them.

Thanks for reading ! 

Pin of the Week: Cute and Easy Kitchen Decor

For this week's Pin of the Week I have chosen these super cute framed kitchen puns. These are available on Etsy from Blue Moon Designs for just $23! 

I think these would be SO adorable in any kitchen, especially in young people's first homes, and I'll definitely be looking to get these for my apartment when I go away for school. 

Check them out here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/121588183/kitchen-collection-set-of-four-8x10s 

Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

Hello everyone! 

As I was surfing YouTube last night I stumbled upon a video posted by Catriona (LittleBookOwl) about the worldwide readathon happening tomorrow, April 26th. 

The point of the readathon is simply to read for 24 hours straight. Of course if you wanted, there are challenges to complete and prizes to be won, but I will simply be reading because I want to, with no particular goals in mind.

Marissa Meyer, author of The Lunar Chronicles, will be reading for charity during this readathon; she offers more insight and information in this blog post: http://www.marissameyer.com/blogtype/24-hours-of-reading-for-charity/

As well, here is the link to the website, where you can sign up to read: 

http://24hourreadathon.com/tag/april-2014/

Of course, you don't need to sign up, but it's completely free and it's nice to feel officially included.

For this readathon, I will be finishing up Impulse by Ellen Hopkins, which tells the story of three teens in a treatment centre who have all tried to "off themselves". I'm currently about halfway through this book, and though I can't say I'm loving it, it's an okay read. 

Next, I will be reading Night by Elie Wiesel, which I have to read for my English class. This is the recounting of real events that Wiesel experienced as a young Jewish boy in Auschwitz as well as a number of other concentration camps during Hitler's power trip. 

Lastly, since Night is such a short read, I am hoping to possibly start reading Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult. I've read a number of books by this author but it's been awhile since my last. I always love her books but they are long, tedious reads with lots of information to swallow and retain. I believe this book the story of a middle-aged woman and how she uses music to cope with the difficulties of life? That may be wrong, it's been a long time since I read the synopsis for this book.

Anywho, thank you for reading, as always, and I hope I've encouraged you to consider participating in tomorrow's readathon! If you do decide to participate, please be sure to comment here and tell me what you'll be reading, or tweet me at @_withsugarontop , and I promise i will reply. 

Happy reading everyone!

Spring Book Haul (#1)

Hello everyone! Today I would like to share with you the books I have bought/received in the past little while :)

1. The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

Not gonna lie, I bought this book mostly because the spine is in my favorite shade of pink, and for the cutesy couple photo on the cover. From what I gather, the book is about a girl who saves this boy Grayson's life, and then they fall in love - sounds interesting maybe? Whatever, the cover was cute.

2. The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Another book that caught my eye because of the cute couple on the cover - I am shallow, yes, but I'm over it. I first heard about this book when I was looking at The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by the same author, which I intended to get this weekend but couldn't find at Coles...sad times ensue. This book is about a couple who meet by chance when an elevator gets stuck, and then continue to pursue a long distance relationship as they move elsewhere in the world. I've heard good things so my expectations for this books are quite high!

3. I'll See You Again by Jackie Hance

This book was recommended to me by my mother, who read the ebook version last year. This is the tragic memoir of a mother who lost her three young daughters in a car accident, with her sister-in-law behind the wheel, and how she found the strength to forgive, accept, and move forward. I'm sure this book will mean several cry-fests, but I can't wait to read it.

4. Pride Over Pity by Kailyn Lowry

As a long time lover of the show Teen Mom 2 on MTV, I am familiar with the glimpses of Kailyn's life that are aired on the show. This book, her memoir, shows a deeper look at how she made it to where she is today - from lonely, unstable, and pregnant teen to thriving young mother and wife. I fell in love with this girl on Teen Mom 2 and I can't wait to fall in love with her again while reading this! (special thanks to the boyfriend for getting me this for Easter)

5. Baby Bumps by Nicole Polizzi (formerly known as Snooki)

Who in this world is NOT familiar with this amazing woman? Former party girl and ring leader in the crazy escapades of the crew on MTV's Jersey Shore, Nicole has come full circle and is now a devoted and loving mother to her sweet baby, Lorenzo, successful businesswoman, and is the healthiest she's ever been. Her no-holds-barred approach on life, her determination, and her passion for leopard print make me wish to be like her, and I can't wait to read her account of becoming a new mom! (Again, thanks boyfriend for getting me this book<3)

6. How to Love by Katie Cutugno 

Again, I mostly wanted to buy this book because of the simple but adorable cover (oops, sorry not sorry). From what I can tell this book is about a girl who gets left behind, alone and pregnant, in a small town after her boyfriend ditches her. When he returns to town she claims to want nothing to do with him, but quickly ends up falling for him all over again. I haven't heard much about this book but I'm hoping I'll enjoy it.

7. Family Pictures by Jane Green

I've heard nothing about this book but my mom picked it up at walmart for me, so I'm willing to give it a try. What I gather from the synopsis on the back cover is that two girls,who come from homes with ever-travelling dads and unhappy mothers, meet at university and become fast friends, only to find out some abhorrent secret that affects both families. It also says something about not being able to trust your loved ones, so I wonder if maybe the secret is that this guy lives a double life? Not a clue, but I look forward to finding out!

8. Heaven Is for Real by Todd Burpo

Another incredible real-life story, this book is a father's account of his young son's experience with angels and Heaven. After the little boy nearly dies during an emergency appendectomy, he later recounts to his parents his encounters with the angels, Heaven, and possibly God himself ? This story sounds so so inspiring and fascinating to me, and I cannot wait to read it before the movie adaptation is released. 

9. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I feel this book requires no little explanation or synopsis. If you are not familiar with this book, your English or Literature teachers have failed you. I read this classic last year for school and fell in love with the way it made you think about the type of person you are and wish to be, and about how you treat others. I feel that absolutely everyone needs to read this, and own it so they may reread it as necessary. HOWEVER I will suggest you never watch the movie as it's actually quite crappy and, as is usually the case, does not begin to give the book due justice.

10-14. The Game of Thrones Series by George R. R. Martin

These books came as a boxed set (yay!) from Chapters, where I was fortunate enough to order them for just about $35! In order they are:

1. A Game of Thrones

2. A Clash of Kings

3. A Storm of Swords

4. A Dance with Dragons

5. A Feast for Crows

I believe this series may actually not be called Game of Thrones, but rather Songs of Fire and Ice or something similar? Anywho, I really have not the faintest idea of what these books are about, other than that a lot of people die. I have, however, heard nothing but praise for both the books and television series (which no, I have not watched). A friend recommended these to me after she finished reading them, and said that since I loved the Harry Potter series so much I would probably like these. Given their length I think I'll definitely take a while to get through them (this summer maybe?) but I am excited to see what all the hype is about!

As always, thank you for reading. If you have read any of these books PLEASE let me know what you thought, good or bad. 

Good night and happy reading! :)