Happy Thanksgiving: Books We Are Thankful For

To many people, a book is just a book. To us, a book has the power to change a life, a perspective, a bad day into a good one, a regular moment into an extraordinary one. A book has the power to transport you to another place, another person’s life, another time. In the spirit of thankfulness, we would like to highlight the books that we are most thankful for.

The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

I wouldn’t be doing my list justice if I didn’t mention Harry Potter. I first picked up Harry Potter from my local library in 1999. I was almost ten and actually believed that my American Hogwarts letter would come in the next year. After finishing the first book, I immediately ran out (just kidding—my mom drove me) to the library to pick up the Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban. By the time I’d finished, my entire family was hooked on the book. My first midnight release party at Barnes and Noble was for the Chamber of Secrets—that’s right—my mom let me stay up past midnight.

As a homeschooled kid who lived in the country, friends were sparse. Books, on the other hand, were numerous, and my only rule at the library was that if I couldn’t physically carry the stack, I had to put some back. I grew very strong for such a nerdy child. Harry Potter was the first real series that I became an obsessive fangirl with, and I continue to hold that status today.

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler

This book gave me the travel bug, and a love of learning about other cultures. I read this during my sophomore year of college; I was in an Eastern Civilizations class, and this was an assigned reading. I read it in a week. It was truly the first nonfiction book I read that I really, really felt a connection to. It made me want to join the Peace Corps for several years before I decided against it. I haven’t re-read it since that class, but I think I ought to.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

I read Life As We Knew It for a Teen’s Choice Award committee I was involved in for the library (because I wasn’t nerdy enough in high school, being on yearbook, newspaper, and showing chickens in 4-H). It’s about a girl who is trying to survive with her family when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth, creating disaster and devastation all over the globe. It made me realize how unprepared we all would be in that situation, and that we need to stop taking our way of life for granted.

The Study Series by Maria V. Snyder

I know I sound like a broken record here, but seriously. THESE BOOKS. I feel like before I (finally) read Poison Study, I was kind of at a stagnant place with reading. I would read all of these books and while I liked them, I wouldn’t get as sucked in as I remember getting when I was younger and I couldn’t figure out why. Reading this series has completely changed that and renewed my hope in books, renewed that hunger for reading that I’ve always had and that had somehow dwindled over the past years. So thankful Lauren recommended the series, and so thankful that I finally started reading it.

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

I can’t NOT put this book on here. I read it and recognized the similarities between Kate & Tully’s lives and mine & my best friend’s and immediately made her read it. We’ve both read it numerous times since then and it’s just as good the 2nd and 3rd times as it is the 1st.

The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling

We moved around a lot when I was growing up, and I remember before I made any friends in my newest neighborhood, I would spend all of my free time reading these books. I even made my mom buy me all of them because the library closest to our house always had an insane wait list for them. HP and all of this friends (and foes) got me through starting new schools, making new friends, and dealing with the angsty teenage feels that we all go through. As I got older, the series became a way to bond with my younger brother and brought us closer than we ever would have been without them. Hogwarts and Harry, every character and every setting, JK Rowling herself… they’re all lifesavers and I will forever be grateful for it all.

Thirty Day Book Challenge: Day 27

Day 27: The most surprising plot twist or ending

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty. I LOVED this book, and part of my loving it was because the ending totally shocked me. I’m sure that some people saw it coming, but I definitely did not! Moriarty did such a good job of showing the mystery and steering you in a certain direction, then she blows your mind with the truth. Super impressive!

I combed through my Goodreads read shelf for thirty minutes before coming to a single realization: nothing stands out as surprising. Not a single book jumped out and screamed “I was surprising, remember?!” and not a single book came to mind with an “Aha!”.

I suppose The Deep End of the Sea had some surprising bits, but they were all pretty forced when the twist came. I guess I better add “read a book with a surprising plot twist” to my list!

Lauren’s Picks: Gifts for Book Lovers

Unsure of what to get for the book nerd in your life? Lucky for you, we’ve scoured the internet for the coolest budget-friendly holiday gifts. Have other ideas? Post them in the comments!

Harry Potter Dumbledore Quote Print – $15

This is one of my absolute favorite quotes, and I love the font and design of this print. You could pick up a $5 frame from Target or Walmart to complete the gift.

Brave New World Shirt – $28

This is a fabulous unisex gift—not to mention, there are plenty more options on their website! Simply choose their favorite classic book and you’re set.

Continue reading “Lauren’s Picks: Gifts for Book Lovers”

Thirty Day Book Challenge: Day 26

Day 26: A book that changed your opinion about something

We’re going to fly out into non-fiction left field today. Before reading The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler, I was all about cardio. Running, biking, elliptical-ing, stair stepping—I hated plodding away on the treadmill, but I did it in the name of “being fit”.

I was terrified of bulking up and looking like a dude, the only weight machines I would touch were the ones that promised tight glutes and inner thighs. That is, until I read this book, which essentially explains how women really don’t bulk up, at least not on a regular person’s weight training regimen. I’ve now been lifting for nearly five months and won’t go back!

There for awhile, I stopped reading fantasy YA and focused more on mystery/thriller/dystopian/contemporary/chick lit type books. Then Lauren lent me Dark Moon of Avalon by Anna Elliott and it totally sucked me back into that fantasy world that I hadn’t even realized I missed.

Now that I’ve read it and am working on the Study Series by Maria V. Snyder, I can honestly say it changed my mind about fantasy. As I got older and left high school, I felt like I could read YA but not fantasy, that adults didn’t really need to read that kind of book with everything else that is out there and honestly, I thought it was kind of immature. I was wrong though! Fantasy is for every age, every gender, no matter what. If you want to read it, then read it. I’m really glad I got back into it!

Top Ten Tuesday: 11/25

Day 25: A character you can relate to the most

I can absolutely identify with Andrea Sachs from the Devil Wears Prada. She’s a small-town, naive girl who starts her career at a top-notch fashion magazine, where’s she’s completely out of her league. Though I cannot identify with having a psychotic boss, extremely shallow co-workers, or living in New York City, I really identify with her fashion sense (or lack thereof) and having a hectic work life.

Okay, so perhaps we don’t have that much in common. But after reading the book twice, I really feel like I’m similar to Andrea. Perhaps it’s her ability to adapt to a changing work and social environment, her love of literature, or her people pleasing ways. Maybe it’s the extremely supportive significant other or the work ethic. Either way, I love this book, and I’m definitely an Andrea Sachs at heart.

This is a very, very hard question for me to answer. I’ve been pouring over my Goodreads lists looking for something to jump out at me, to speak to me and tell me the answer but that hasn’t happened. There are so many characters from different books that I love that I relate to certain parts of them, or the way they react to certain things, but I cannot honestly say that there is one character that I relate to more than anyone.

There are girls like Yelena and Luna Lovegood and Katniss that I can see part of myself in, but everyone can. That’s why they’re written the way they are. I feel like the characters that I see myself in more than others, like Angela from The Things We Do For Love, are more characters that I’m afraid of becoming or afraid of being in their positions than actually relating to them.

So, I don’t have an answer for this one – but I’ll obviously keep reading, and hopefully will one day find that character that speaks to me more than any others.

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorian. Nine aliens who scattered on Earth. Nine aliens who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives, but who have extraordinary, paranormal skills. Nine aliens who might be sitting next to you now. The Nine had to separate and go into hiding.

I kind of have a love-meh relationship with this book. I suspect this stems from watching the movie prior to reading the book, which kind of eliminates any sense of surprise.

Despite knowing what happened, I continued to read the book. It was definitely an enjoyable read, albeit I found the main character, Number Four or John Smith, extremely boring and tedious to handle. Perhaps this is because I was never a teenage boy grappling with hormones, girls, and developing powers. Perhaps it’s simply because the character was dull. In fact, I found most of the characters pretty flat—Sarah, the girlfriend, was way too perfect. Sam, the best friend, was the stereotypical weirdo who is obsessed with aliens and gets beat up. Really, my favorite people were Henri (Four’s guardian) who cannot use swear words to save his life (“It’s shit good to see you”) and Bernie Kosar, the dog.

The dog had more personality than John Smith/Number Four.

I truly enjoyed the world building in the book—though we never actually visited the planet of Lorien, Lore does a great job of painting what it looked like through a series of dreams and flashbacks. His description of the enemy alien race is crazy good, too.

The magical concepts were great, as was the timeline, history, and background behind why the nine Lorien children were sent to Earth. Lore definitely has a gift with telling a story, and I can see why the series became so popular. It was a quick, easy read, and I can think of a few people who would definitely enjoy this series.

Before reading the excerpt for the second book, I wasn’t sure I was going to continue reading the series. I wasn’t wowed by the first book. However, after reading the first chapter of The Power of Six, my interest has been piqued. Instead of being told from the point-of-view of Number Four, it’s told by Number Six. She sounds way more interesting than I found John Smith, so I’ll give it a shot.

I gave this book a 4/5 on Goodreads.

Thirty Day Book Challenge: Day 24

Day 24: A book you wish more people would’ve read

I have no idea where I found this book, or what even made me want to read it as it’s not what I’m usually drawn to, but Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet by Xinran is an absolutely breathtaking book.

It’s written beautifully, about a woman whose husband goes missing very shortly after they get married. She goes on a very long journey through Tibet trying to locate him, and everything that she learns and goes through during that time is very moving and eye-opening. Definitely recommend it to everyone I know!

When I was in high school, I was on a Teen Choice panel for our city library. Our job was to read a bunch of books and vote on our favorite to win the Teen’s Choice for the year. It was an intense job, but boy, did I find the book. I fought tooth and nail for it to be the choice, and it ultimately won (you haven’t seen a heated discussion until you get a bunch of nerdy, teenage bookies in the same room, fighting for their favorite book of the year).

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer was not the winner that year, but it won for me. A meteor knocks the moon closer to the Earth, which throws everything in complete and utter chaos. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes—the entire population is devastated, and people are fighting to survive. Summer turns to a freezing winter, and Miranda and her family are forced to survive on stockpiled canned goods, a small amount of water, and the wood in their stove.

It’s a heartwrenching, terrifying read that reminded my teenage self that we can’t take everything for granted.

Thirty Day Book Challenge: Day 23

Day 23: A book you’ve been wanting to read for a long time but still haven’t

I Am Number Four has been on my ‘to-read’ shelf for an embarassingly long time—since before the movie came out, even. But then I broke down and watched the movie, and felt as if the ending was ruined, so I haven’t bothered. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie, though, and after reading the Goodreads summary (again), I think I’ll definitely pursue it in the next few months.

I still have yet to read Bridget Jones’s Diary, even though it has been out forever and get high praises from one of my besties. It’s been on my to-read list forever, but I’m going to use the lame excuse of not knowing about Goodreads until earlier this year – how could I organize the books I wanted to read and actually make sure they got read before?! Obviously some, probably too many, fell through the cracks. I will hopefully read it soon, but you never know what might come up between now and then!

Kiesha’s Picks: Gifts for Book Lovers

I’ve scoured the internet (let’s be honest, I scoured Etsy…) and found some really awesome gift ideas for the book lovers in your life – I’d definitely be over the moon with any of these!

Old Books Candle – $15

il_570xN.488739997_ertj — **Frostbeard | Etsy**

I’m definitely going to be order one, or two (maybe more) of these. The link is for the Old Books candle but the shop lists TONS of other book-related candles including Hufflepuff, Dumbledore’s office, Bookstore, and Oxford Library. Plus, you can get them in wax melt form ($6).

One More Chapter Keychain – $15

il_570xN.505101415_28wl — WordBaubles | Etsy

This keychain is basically what all of us bookworms are thinking every time we read. It comes in a necklace version as well.

Continue reading “Kiesha’s Picks: Gifts for Book Lovers”