(Updated) BOOKSHELF TOUR (July 20, 2013)

Hey everyone!
**For some reason, I saved this as a draft and didn't publish this earlier when I was planning to. So today you'll just get two posts!**

In March, I did a bookshelf tour, but since then, my book shelving has drastically changed. I even got a new bookshelf and probably 20 or so new books! So I thought it was time for a new one! I hope the pictures show up, I'll try to fix it if they don't! Here's my last (and first) bookshelf tour. (Sorry, pictures become blurry when I put them on here!)
 My bookcase is the Billy Bookcase from IKEA in white. I really like it!
My first shelf, I have my viola on display as well as a few orchestra binders (two are cut off) and a few yearbooks.
 
My next shelf is categorized by series that are all hardcover. But first I have a gray K from TJ Maxx and a few trinkets decorating it. Then I have the Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl: Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness, Beautiful Chaos, and Beautiful Redemption. Then I have The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. After that I have Legend and Prodigy by Marie Lu. I have the first book in a trilogy, Crewel by Gennifer Albin. Then The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Lastly, The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken.
 

Then I have my "favorites shelf". First I have The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. I also have The World of The Hunger Games and The Girl Who Was on Fire (no specific author; other has various authors). Then I have Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Next, I have my Rick Riordan collection of sorts. First I have the Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid, The Throne of Fire, and The Serpent's Shadow. After that I have my Percy Jackson and the Olympians stacked: The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian. On top of them I have the first book in the Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero with the other two standing beside the stack, The Son of Neptune and The Mark of Athena. I also have The Demigod Diaries and The Demigod Files as well as a replica of the Marauders Map and my two Mockingjay bracelets and pin.

The next shelf is my "other books that aren't even in height, a favorite (per say) or a tall book". Starting on the left, I have the Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Steifvater: Shiver, Linger, and Forever. Then I have The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is next. After that I have Paper Towns by John Green and then the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick: Hush, Hush, Crescendo, Silence, and Finale. Next I have Shatter Me and Unravel Me by Taherah Mafi. Cinder and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer are after that. Then I have Unwind and Unwholly by Neal Shusterman. Continuing, I have the Eve trilogy by Anna Carey: Eve, Once, and Rise. Lastly, I have the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver: Delirium, Pandemonium, Requiem, and Delirium Stories. Next to them I have my bookmarks! (Four are THG ones!)

On the second to last bookshelf, I have my tall books. I also have my little container thing with a K on it and some shells. The first book I have is The Diviners by Libba Bray. Then I have The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. After that I have my Matched trilogy by Ally Condie: Matched, Crossed, and Reached. Following that is my Across the Universe trilogy by Beth Revis (I know, my covers are completely messed up): Across the Universe, A Million Suns, and Shades of Earth. Last but not least I have The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, and City of Lost Souls. I also have a little prism there, too!

My last shelf is not my favorite (but I do have a Harry Potter book on there). First I have two of my box sets' boxes: The Kane Chronicles and Beautiful Creatures. Next to that I have Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (My brother owns 1-6.) I have the first Narnia book, but it's the movie tie in and my brother has a box set of the actually books so I'll probably just read those. By the way, my brother gave me this randomly. He also gave me the first two books in the Ranger's Apprentice series: The Ruins of Gorlan and the Burning Bridge (I believe that's their names). I also have a piggy bank and a teddy bear with a little Harry Potter journal on it!

 

That was my book shelf! Hope you enjoyed! -Kait

Book Review: Paper Towns by John Green (Spoiler-Free)

Hey everyone!
Last week, I finished reading Paper Towns by John Green and thought it was appropriate to do a review. I really enjoyed this book! The only other book I've read by John Green is The Fault in Our Stars which I did like more than this one. Anyways, this is a spoiler-free review!

"Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew."

Like I said above, I loved this book! John Green's books always make me think, and this one didn't disappoint. I thought Quentin was a great character. I liked Margo, too, just not as much as Quentin, Ben, and Radar. The mystery aspect of this book was very enjoyable as well. I love figuring out the clues the same way the character does. The road trip was very fun and funny as well. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to contemporary readers!

Sorry for the short review, but thanks for reading! -Kait

TAG: Playing With Your Emotions

Hey everyone!
Today I thought it would be fun to do another tag! I found this on YouTube (I believe it was created by padfootandprongs07- love her videos!). Pretty much, there's nine emotions and you match an emotion to a book you've read.

1. Happy?
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Now I could easily put this for sad, but the characters always make me laugh and smile! (Wow, that sounded really... strange.)
2. Sad?
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. THAT ENDING?!
3. Angry?
Insurgent by Veronica Roth. I'm still not over what you've done CALEB!
4. Nostalgic?
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.... first YA book....
5. Scared?
The Diviners by Libba Bray. That book was creepy.
6. Surprised?
I have no idea for this one... I'm gonna pass!
7. Disappointed?
Once by Anna Carey. I liked Eve (first book-4/5 stars), but for whatever reasons, I didn't like Once that much!
8. Distressed?
Shades of Earth by Beth Revis. IF NOT FOR THAT LAST CHAPTER I SWEAR....
9. Confused?
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I'm sorry, but this book was kind of confusing. I liked the writing and all, but some things in the book didn't make any sense to me, personally.

That's the tag! Hope you enjoyed! -Kait

How to Pick a Book for Your Vacation

Hey everyone!
Soon, I'm going on a vacation for a week, and of course I had to get a book. While I'm there, I'll be reading Paper Towns by John Green. I've picked three things why I chose this book (besides that it's by John Green and I really want to read it) and thought you might find these helpful, too. This are all personal preferences.

1. Length- I like short to average books for vacation. Paper Towns is about 300 pages. At the beach I can read for sometime, but I also want to go swimming and all that fun stuff. This way, over the course of the week I'll be able to finish the book.
2. Genre- Personally, I like to read lighter, happier books. The same vacation last year, I read Once by Anna Carey. It is a dystopian sequel, but it wasn't as intense as The Hunger Games (hi.) or Divergent. Another book I read on vacation was Matched by Ally Condie. I feel like it was also a lighter dystopian, possibly because of the peacefulness and ignorance of the people in the setting.
3. Recommendations- Of course, you want to read a book you've heard good things about! I had people recommend Paper Towns, and I'm finally getting around to reading it. Even if someone you trust wholeheartedly with recommendations suggests a book or if it's a Goodreads rating, make sure you'll get a book you'll like. Or love. It will only make the vacation better.

Hope you guys enjoy! If you're going on a vacation (or did- sorry for having this up later), have a great time! -Kait

Bookish Your Vacation TAG

Hey everyone!
Today I'm doing a tag that I found on YouTube. I thought it was really fun, and expecially since it's summer, people tend to go on vacations a lot. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and I tag all of you reading!

1. Your destination/setting.: where do you want to go? Why?
I'm going to be different and not say Hogwarts... but CAM HALF-BLOOD
2. Constant Companion: the literary character you'd want to take along with you. Why? This character doesn't have to be from the book your setting is from, but they can be.
I thought about this, and I decided to pick Reyna cause then I can show her the Greek side and all that stuff. Maybe it would prevent *SPOILER ALERT* a war between Greeks and Romans.
3. Disgruntled Copilot: The one character you WOULDN'T want to be stuck sitting next to on the plane. Why?
I'm going to stick to the PJO theme and say Gabe Ugliano. Or Smelly Gabe. I don't think that needs an explanation.
4. Tour Guide: one person from your chosen setting that you'd want to show you around.
LEO VALDEZ. Enough said.
5. Site to see: the one place you'd want to see first. Why?
Probably the cabins. It would be cool to see how they're decorated and all.
6. Something to avoid: an aspect from the world or setting you would prefer not to be a part of.
The rock climbing with lava wall! I wouldn't do that. Or the attic with the Oracle if you're going by the earlier books.
7. Souvenir: one thing from your chosen destination that you'd want to take with you.
Maybe a pegasus like Guido or someone else.
8. One time visit or go to vacation spot? Why?
A VACATION SPOT, DUH. Actually, my vacation spot would be one of the cabins and I would go there every summer because I -wish- am a demigod.

Thanks for reading! -Kait

Five Books to Continue a Series I Can't Wait for PART 2

Hey everyone!
A little while ago I did part one to this blog, which you can find here. Since then, I read several new series that were uncompleted! This is in no specific order; however, in part one, House of Hades is number one and Allegiant is number two. Both of those are in order- I want HOH the most, and Allegiant second! Otherwise, like I said, there's no order.

     1. The Retribution of Mara Dyer | Michelle Hodkin (October 22, 2013)
         I love this series. I have a review on them here! Especially after the cliffhanger in the second one! But I'm so excited for this book!

     2. Never Fade | Alexandra Bracken (October 15, 2013)
         I adored The Darkest Minds (which I also have a review here). However, I'm not sure I like the direction that we're headed in. I talk about it in my review, but without trying to spoil anything, a few characters that I really liked and made the first book might not show up in this one. But I still bet it will be amazing!

     3. The Diviners #2 | Libba Bray (March 11, 2014)
         I loved the first book! I just did a review a couple of days ago, which you can see here- more self promotion!). It was pretty creepy, but really interesting! I love the characters, the plot, the setting... and we have to wait a long time. I thought waiting for October 8th will be hard, but this is even longer. Thank you.

     4. The 5th Wave #2 | Rick Yancey (August 2014)
         You see, I really did enjoy the first one. But I didn't like it as much as other people. I think I was in a reading slump when I read this. HOWEVER, from page 300 and on.... it was so awesome! And how this book ended... it makes me excited for the next one!

     5. Shatter Me #3 | Taherah Mafi (February 4th, 2014)
         I really liked the first book, but in the second, personally, I found the place she was at (trying not to spoil!) a little uninteresting. But I loved the ending and when she talked with Warner and all that exciting stuff. How Unravel Me ended makes me super excited for this book!

This were a few of the books that I can't wait for! I hope you enjoyed! -Kait

Book Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray (Spoiler Free)

Hey everyone!
So yesterday I finished reading The Diviners by Libba Bray. At first I was intimidated by it, partly for its size (and it's not even that big- close to 600 pages), but for some reason, I thought this book would be very challenging to read and more of an adult book than a YA book. But I pos-i-toot-ly loved it! (See what I did there? If you read the book, you'd know!) I must say, I love the book jacket and actual cover itself!

"Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first." (Goodreads)

June Wrap Up & July TBR

Hey everyone!
Today I'll be sharing the books that I read in June and what I'm planning on reading for this month.

JUNE WRAP UP

• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (review here)
• The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (review here- for whole trilogy)
• The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan
• The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan
• Across the Universe by Beth Revis (review here)
• A Million Suns by Beth Revis (Do not have a review for this one and Shades of Earth, if you would like to see one, let me know!)

I just finished Shades of Earth yesterday, but since it was July, it doesn't count! Just to let you all know!

JULY TBR

• The Diviners by Libba Bray (Goodreads link here)

REREADS:

• City of Bones
• City of Ashes
• City of Glass
• City of Fallen Angels
• City of Lost Souls

      All by Cassandra Clare. Yes, I'm planning on rereading TMI this month. I might stop after the first three because I have a lot of other books I want to reread, but I'll see how far I get. The Diviners might take a while- it's thick, and I have read books this thick in two days, but I'm not sure how much the story will capture me! It's kind of intimidating!

Thanks for reading! -Kait