World Art Drop Day! – September 1st, 2015

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So a few days ago, what is ed I was hanging out with my friend Sean, who is an artist. A really good artist. Like, seriously good. You should check him out on Instagram and follow him because seriously, the guy blows my mind.

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Seriously? Doesn’t that just make your jaw drop? Its adorable and it immediately captivates me and makes me want to know more about this little kid. I actually know more because Sean told me but…anyway…

Moving on!

Sean told me about this really cool thing called World Art Drop Day. Apparently it was started last year by a guy named Jake Parker, who does some pretty cool artwork. You can check out his website here.

Basically what happens is this: Jake went on a trip with his wife and decided to do this really cool thing. He would create original works of art, small things, drawings, stuff like that, and he would hide it somewhere, in wherever he was at the moment. Then he would post a hint about where he hid it on his social media pages, twitter, instagram, that sort of thing. Then people could go and find it. He had a lot of fun doing it, and decided to make it a world wide thing.

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And it sounds seriously awesome. Sean is participating so seriously, follow him on instagram to see where he’ll be dropping things this Tuesday.

I wasn’t going to participate because, well, I’m not an artist. I can’t draw in the slightest, can’t paint, can’t do any of that sort of thing. Sean encouraged me to participate as a writer but I thought that was just silly. Until I watched this YouTube video of Jake talking all about World Art Drop Day and he mentioned that writers should do it too, and I thought, okay well…maybe.

I thought about it A LOT and I decided that…yes, yes I am going to participate. I will be hiding FIVE things on World Art Drop Day. I will be hiding 2 snippets from The Awakened, 2 snippets from Benched (which have NEVER been seen before) and hopefully one original work. If I can get it done before then. Hopefully. EEK!

I hope that you’ll be able to follow along on my instagram and find these super cool things. I’m really excited to be participating and I’m hoping that you guys get encouraged to participate too, no matter what sort of art you do! If its drawing, painting, digital art, jewelry making, poetry, writing, photography, I think there’s a spot for everyone to participate!

If you’d like to know more about World Art Drop Day and what to do, how to do it, that sort of thing, check out the post on Jake Parker’s website here.

You can also check out this video as well. It IS a little long but it has all the information you could possibly need and its really what encouraged me to participate in this!

Music Monday: “Can’t Save Myself” by As It Is

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“Can’t Save Myself” by As It Is 

I can’t help the way my mind is hardwired to hate myself
‘Cause I swear that this is hell
The way I desperately try to save myself
‘Cause I can’t save myself
A single breath (in empty lungs)
That’s all I got left (gasping for air)
And a bad idea branded in my brain I can’t seem to shake
Another day (in tired skin)
I shed and fray (far from desire)
‘Til all I am is textbook misery and my own mistakes
And as I’ve aged the only thing I think has changed
Is that the demons have moved from under my bed
Into the inner depths of my head
I can’t escape the ugly things my mind creates
I speculate that they’ll stay with my ’til the grave
In broken bones (a half-hearted smile)
I feel at home (I’m proud of nothing)
I tend to get attached so quick to all I’ve ever known
But I don’t seem to know a single fucking thing that can save me
I’m my own worst enemy
Is there any hope for me?
I’m the boy who chose not to grow up and now I’m unprepared for anything
Now I’m scared and I’m cold and alone because the world grew up without me
(Is there any hope for me?)

Find As It Is

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube / Tumblr /  iTunes

Book Review: The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi

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Genre: 

Young Adult, visit web Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 

304 pages

Part of a Series?:

Standalone Novel

Release Date: 

June 16th, 2015

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

iBooks

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

Before Matt, Ella had a plan. Get over a no-good ex-boyfriend. Graduate from high school without any more distractions. Move away from Orlando, Florida, where she’s lived her entire life.

But Matt—the cute, shy, bespectacled bass player who just moved to town—was never part of that plan.

And neither was attending a party that was crashed by the cops just minutes after they arrived. Or spending an entire night saying “yes” to every crazy, fun thing they could think of.

Then Matt abruptly left town, and he broke not only Ella’s heart but those of their best friends, too. So when he shows up a year later with a plan of his own—to relive the night that brought them together—Ella isn’t sure whether Matt’s worth a second chance. Or if re-creating the past can help them create a different future.

My Review:

 

Dear Owl Crate,

Thank you SO SO SO much for putting this in your July box. Seriously. Thank you. I had never heard of it before I found it in my box, and it sounded so good and I knew that I had to dive into it. And I’m so glad I did.

This book was SO fabulous and awesome and so good and I’m so excited for it, and I just kind of want to shove it in everyone’s faces, like, guys, this is Lauren’s debut novel and its wonderful and you need to read it.

First off, her voice is just great. She writes in alternate voices between the Ella in the past and the Ella of the present, same character but she writes them so perfectly. Its the same person both times, but you can see the growth and the change and all of that between the two and I think that’s a really hard thing to figure out, and she does it just beautifully. I was hooked on both versions of Ella super fast.

Plus its a summer novel. It has the big summer feel to it, you know? When you get out of school and everything seems possible. Summer is this huge blank slate and all you can think about is how beautiful and open and blank it is and how its just going to be the best summer ever. And you get that in both of the summer nights we see in this book. I love that. I don’t get that feeling as much as I did when I was younger and didn’t have to work and all that so its nice to get that feeling in the form of a book.

And its just a great story. Matt and Ella, Jake and Mia, and everyone they encounter in their crazy adventure? Its just great. I love them all. They’re all flushed out, and you put them together and they just create this beautiful story. Its high school and its romance and its uncertainty and its mistakes and running around, doing stupid things, and I miss that sort of thing sometimes. Its just a great story. First love, adventures, I loved every single moment of it.

Thank you Owl Crate, you sold me as a fan of Lauren Gibaldi. This book was incredible and I can’t wait for more to come out. I’m anxiously awaiting.

Rating: 

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

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Genre: 

Young Adult, online Contemporary, cialis 40mg Romance

Pages: 

283 pages

Part of a Series?:

Book #1 of the Hundred Oaks Series

Release Date: 

December 1st, 2011

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

iBooks

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

What girl doesn’t want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn’t just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that’s just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.

But everything she’s ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he’s also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan’s feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart’s on the line?

My Review:

 

I had a lot of incredibly high hopes for this novel. Really high hopes. When I heard it was about a girl that plays football and is goal driven on football and it had romance as she kind of falls in love for the first time…I was so sold. Especially since the rest of the series follows a bunch of other sports.

We know how I get when it comes to sports novels.

And I was just disappointed with the book. I loved the character of Jordan and I super loved the character of Sam Henry but honestly, no one else really sold the book for me. The concept was definitely there, and its what kept me turning the pages. It had a ton of potential. The story was there. You have Jordan struggling to prove herself as a girl quarterback, especially with her famous quarterback dad, and she wants them to take her seriously, but she also is a girl and has feelings for boys too and its HARD. The potential is there and I think that’s why the book was such a disappointment to me. It was RIGHT THERE.

The biggest issue I had with the book was that it was so incredibly rushed. Everything felt rushed and I had a hard time keeping up with everything. The writing felt rushed, the feelings, the story, the character development, all of it. It was like whiplash sometimes. The writing just felt like it was rushed. I wanted the author to slow down at times and just let me enjoy getting to know the characters and that sort of thing. Often times, I just felt nothing because I didn’t feel like I was given the chance to really care. It all happened too fast.

I’m definitely going to be reading book #2 because I always like to give an author another chance but I’m going in with less expectations than I had for the first book, especially since book two is that magical sport, baseball. Wish me luck!

Rating: 

3.75 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: How to Love by Katie Cotugno

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22693175Genre: 

Young Adult, ed Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 

389 pages


Part of a Series?:

Standalone Novel

Release Date: 

October 1st, 2013

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

iBooks

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

Before:
Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he’s never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.

After:
Almost three years have passed, and there’s a new love in Reena’s life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena’s gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she’s finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn’t want anything to do with him, though she’d be lying if she said Sawyer’s being back wasn’t stirring something in her. After everything that’s happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

My Review:

 

I have to admit…I was pretty wary when it came to reading this book. Not that I thought it was going to be bad. I try to go into a book with as positive attitude as possible because I find if I expect it to be not so good, it tends to be…not so good. But I’ve heard such mixed reviews! People either love or they hate it, and those kind of books make me nervous because seriously, I always tend to end up in the “hate it” category. Well, my friend Alex of People Like Books convinced me to read it and I bought it in anticipation of meeting her at RT and…well I’m glad I did it.

The book is weird. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t know how to explain it but the way its written, with the flashbacks, its just weird. Like, I think you’re supposed to like Sawyer, you’re supposed to be rooting for him when he comes crashing back into Reena’s life but the flashbacks showcase what went wrong in the past and sometimes its incredibly hard to get past that. For Reena, its been years, she’s moved on, he’s changed, that sort of thing, but for the reader, its still kind of fresh and new so that was hard for me.

But what made this story the story that I grew to love was Reena and her family and her daughter. It felt familiar because I’ve had a similar story (won’t go into much more detail there, sorry) so it was an immediate connection there. But there’s something about her that makes you want to root for her. She works her ass off, she loves her daughter, she tries so hard to please everyone and falls short, and she is still hopeful and she still believes. I think its so great.

Because of Reena, I believe in Reena and Sawyer and that’s why I fall in love with them and their relationship. Reena is an incredible character and I want to root for her and her daughter and her dream to travel everywhere and write about it and I believe in Sawyer wanting to make things work and I really did love it. I love the dynamic of the two and I loved that we had a romance wrapped around a couple that had a baby. Its beautiful. There just isn’t enough of that.

Rating: 

4 out of 5 Stars