Winner!

On behalf of Buttercup and myself, we'd like to announce the winner of the October Giveaway.

*ahem*

Congratulations April of Good Books & Good Wine!!!! You'll receive Finger Lickin' Fifteen and Love Overboard by Ms. Evanovich.

And thank you all so much for entering! The book recommendations were fabulous! Be sure to check back on November 1st for the next one!



Life is hectic, so I don't have much to update on. I'm reading The Sign for Drowning by Rachel Stolzman & Wake by Lisa McMann. Both are pretty fabulous right now.

Right. So, I have homework waiting for me. I gotta get that accomplished.

Happy reading everyone!

Congrats again, April!

Just Some Stuff

Okay, I'm finally getting around to passing out the awards that I received last week. I'm not familiar with a lot of blogs just yet, so some of you are going to be getting the same award again, but you don't mind, do you? (:

I'd like to give this one to the following::

B: Beautiful Amy at My Overstuffed Bookshelf
I: Informative April at Good Books & Good Wine
N: Neighborly Erica at Soon Remembered Tales
G: Gorgeous Dixie at A Few of My Favorite Things
O: Outstanding Jennifer at the Forgetful Faerie

This next one represents blogs that show a great attitude, and I'd like to pass it on to::

Misty at Book Rat


Moving on real quickly, as I'm supposed to be completing an English assignment *wink*...Has anyone read A Solider's Heart by Gary Paulsen? I have to read this book next for an online class. I just picked his book at random; I was in a hurry. *shrug* I hope it's good! I'll let you know.

My first giveaway ends tonight at midnight (EST). I'll have the winner announced tomorrow, and I'll contact you for your address. The beginning of next month I'll launch a new one, this time by Janet Evanovich.

I need to pretend to be a good student now.

Have a good day, everyone!

The Outsiders, Plugging & Awards

I appreciate the fact that no one warned me that The Outsiders would be a sad read. Not my sister, not my mother -- both of whom raved about what an excellent book it is, and it's true. It was wonderful; I enjoyed every minute of it. But a little forewarning would have been nice. Yeesh.

Inbetween work and babysitting a seven-year-old and a four-year-old I somehow found time to finish it. It was so difficult to put down. The tone was so real. It was easy to imagine that was how a fourteen-year-old would think. The characters were wonderful. Hinton did a really good job developing her characters. I loved how every individual of the Greasers were integral to their group. It's said a lot in novels and in real-life: how important a person is to a clique. But this was real. Everything about it was very, very believeable. I loved it.


To me, the narrator, Ponyboy, seemed so wise beyond his years. He knew he was leading a life he didn't want to live -- though he accepted it as the cards fate dealt him. He knew the things they were doing were wrong, but the sad bit of it is that he felt powerless to stop it. Until later, of course, when their group begins to dwindle.


The relationships between the characters ((not just as a group but as brothers)) was enjoyable. It was fun and sarcastic and playful and so -- as I've mentioned -- real...at times. One thing I found a bit awkward, and maybe it's because I'm not close with my own siblings, was the cuddling between Ponyboy and Soda. And the back rubs. It was odd for me. But not difficult to overlook. Every other aspect of their relationship I loved.


I can't believe I didn't read this book until now! Okay, maybe I can. I probably wouldn't have appreciated it as an 8th grader as I do now. I'm glad I waited ages.


Definitely an awesome read. It was printed in the late sixties, and while most of the time it was obvious what era it represented, I still felt that it could have transcended time a bit. At certain points it felt more modern. I love that. If you haven't read it, you should. That's all I'm saying.

With that said, I'm going to start focusing on Jane Eyre again. I've missed reading it -- sooo good. Wow.

First, though, I'd like you all to go in this direction. There is a pretty sweet, epic giveaway going down at BookMac that you should all get involved in if you're interested. ((Thanks Parajunkee for posting it in your blog this morning!!)) Loads of stuff being given away. Check it out.

And thanks again to Amy for another award. (: I appreciate it, tons! And I promise that I'm going to pass them along, too. Tomorrow, for sure, as it's my day off. Thanks again!!

...And that's all in my neck of the woods.

Good night!

Randomness, if you please

My creative writing teacher has contributed to my dislike for 1st Person narratives. Figures our first writing assignment would be a story written in -- yes -- 1st Person.

She liked it though, as did my classmates, so that's exciting! Maybe I'll be a novelist one day after all. *wink*

I finally got The Outsiders today. It's such a thin book! I'll have it finished in no time ((I hope)). I've started reading it a little before I got distracted, and I've enjoyed it so far. The tone is very much that for a fourteen-year-old boy. Very convincing; I appreciate that.

I got another award ((displaying proudly on the left-side column))!! That was sweet! So thank you to Parajunkee, and I promise to pass it around soon!

Finally, I'd like to plug another blog and giveaway. Revenge of the Book Nerds! is having a Austen-themed giveaway. I'm pretty stoked about it. Check it out, for sure!

Now, I have reading and writing to accomplish.

Good evening!

Helpful Plugging!!

I'm slowly getting the hang of interacting within the blogging community. It's so much fun, and greatly addicting -- which is the last thing I need right now. *eyeroll*

While marching through the many wonderful, wonderful blogs, I discovered another blogger's giveaway for Atonement by Ian McEwan. Now, I mentioned having borrowed that book from the library -- twice -- without being able to read it; I was too embarrassed to check it out a third time. Needless to say, I'd really like to own the book, so I'm gonna try and enter. You should, too!

Check out the Book Rat's blog for details and awesomeness. It ends September 15th so be sure to get your name in before then. (:

Giveaways?

Hello readers,

I'm not precisely sure if I have enough traffic to try and do this, but I desperately need to pass along some books. I recently bought a five-shelf book case ((putting that together was ridiculous)) and it's completely full. I still have books in boxes beneath my bed.

Now, I've come across books in a variety of different ways. Most of the books I've received ((specifically the books mournfully hidden beneath my bed)) were given to my from a co-worker. She just needed to get rid of them. Unfortunately, most of them are titles and authors that I've never heard of before -- although there are authors I know are fairly popular -- and the blurbs just don't catch my attention.

Of course, since I'm trying to branch out you'd think I'd keep them and try to read them anyway. I think I have enough on my plate, thanks.

So, at any rate, I have a box of books I'd like to give away. If this first attempt goes well, then I'll continue the next month until they're gone. If not, I'll just keep hold of them until I can pass them along to someone else ((I should mention I've tried the library, but most of the titles they already have too many copies of -- go figure. I never sell anything on Amazon anymore, probably because no one will rate me and everyone thinks I suck!)).

Also, I should let you know that most -- not all -- of these books have been read through. I'm going to be completely honest in their appearance so that you know what you're receiving. I'll probably throw in pictures, too. On the other hands, some of these books have never been read, I know, because I received them from the Literary Guild and never read them.

I'll come back on the first ((9/1)), once I get everything in order, and try my first giveaway. No pressure, anyone.
For now, here's some of the author's I'm dealing with::

Jennifer Belle
Jilliane Hoffman
Lisa Jackson
Sandra Brown

Those are the names I'm unfamiliar with. However, I do also have::

James Patterson
Nora Roberts (J.D. Robb)
Danielle Steele
Janet Evanovich
Stephen King