Movie Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Hazel and Gus are two teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them on a journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous given that Hazel's other constant companion is an oxygen tank, Gus jokes about his prosthetic leg, and they met and fell in love at a cancer support group.

Director:

 Josh Boone

Writers:

 Scott Neustadter (screenplay), Michael H. Weber

Cast
	Shailene Woodley		Hazel
	Ansel Elgort		Gus
	Nat Wolff		Isaac
	Laura Dern	...	Frannie
	Sam Trammell	...	Michael
	Willem Dafoe	...	Van Houten

Ashley's Review

I feel like a late bloomer here having just watched it for the first time a few days ago. I kept wanting to watch with the husband, but I gave up on that and decided to watch it by myself so I could see what the fuss was about it. I will admit that when I read the book I didn't cry like most people said they did. For that reason alone I thought my feelings towards the movie would be about the same as the book. 

I was wrong. 

There were a few points in the movie that I caught myself wiping tears from my eyes. The one that comes to mind first is Hazel sitting in front of the swing set.

The one things I noticed (at least I think) is Isaac didn't seem to be in the movie all that much. I could have sworn he was in the book a lot more then that. I adored Isaac's character so I was sad he didn't get a bigger part.

I think they did a great job with the casting. I adore Shailene as Hazel, and after I watched this I had to watch Divergent.

If you haven't watched this and are a late bloomer like me I would recommend it. 

Kindle Deals (27)

I always see blogs that have a page that show deals for the kindle, and I occasionally find one or two books on there that I would want. I'm more of a YA girl, and seeing as how most my followers are (I'm assuming here) I decided to make a list of the YA books I found that are $3.99 and less for the kindle. There are plenty more Ya books that are on amazon, but these caught my attention because either I have them, I've read them, or I'm dying to read them. :) Just click on the title and it takes you to their amazon page in a new window.

I'm not sure how long these deals will be here so get them while they're available.

(Note: Prices are as shown from the date this was posted. Please be sure to check before hitting buy.)

$3.99 and up (none go past 6.00) 

$2.99 

$1.99

$0.99

Giveaway: Forbidden by Kimberly Griffiths Little

On November 4th, HarperCollins unveils Forbidden, a seductive YA debut from award-winning middle grade author Kimberley Griffiths Little. Forbidden transports readers back in time to the deadly deserts and sweltering heat of Ancient Mesopotamia for a tale of danger, duty, and forbidden love. Jayden is on the brink of womanhood and betrothed to her tribe’s prince, cold-hearted Horeb. But when tragedy strikes, Jayden meets Kadesh, a mysterious visitor from the south who makes Jayden doubt everything she knows. Torn between loyalty to her tribe and the chance to escape her fate, Jayden must make a choice that will change her life forever.

Kimberley is also offering a HUGE preorder giveaway from October 6th to November 4th (release day!) to celebrate. See below for full details on how to enter. TO ENTER:

• You must preorder Forbidden through an online retailer or your local bookstore, then email a photo of your receipt to forbiddengiveaway@gmail.com.
• Fill out the rafflecopter below
• US/Canada Only
• Ends at midnight EST on November 3, 2014
• Optional entries: share the trailer on your own site or social media, follow Kimberley on twitter, and tweet about the giveaway (can be repeated daily for extra entries!)
• Winners will be announced and contacted November 4th (release day!)
• If the winner does not respond with their mailing address within one week, a new winner will be chosen.

PRIZES:

(1) GRAND PRIZE WINNER: 1. NEWLY RELEASED Kindle Fire HD6 Tablet with 6" HD Display, Wi-Fi, Front and Rear Cameras, 8 GB -- choose your color! (Black, Magenta, White, Citron, or Cobalt) 2. GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson 3. CHAOS OF STARS by Kiersten White 4. Satin Belly Dance Skirt 5. Belly Dance 150-Coin Hip Scarf 6. Red Silk Veil (not pictured) 7. Red Middle Eastern Earrings 8. Belly dance DVD: Sensual Belly Dance with Blanca, a professional dancer (technique, choreography, and performances) 9. "Will YOU risk it all?" button (not pictured) 10. Set of 10 Book Club Cards 11. Jeweled bookmark (not pictured)

(1) SECOND PLACE WINNER:

1. GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson

2. Red Middle Eastern Earrings

3. Red Silk Veil (not pictured)

4. Belly dance DVD: Sensual Belly Dance with Blanca, a professional dancer (technique, choreography, and performances)

5. "Will YOU risk it all?" button (not pictured)

6. Set of 10 Book Club Cards

7. Jeweled bookmark (not pictured)

(13) RUNNERS-UP WINNERS:

1. Red Middle Eastern Earrings

2. "Will YOU risk it all?" button (not pictured)

3. Set of 10 Book Club Cards

4. Jeweled bookmark (not pictured)

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Preorder: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

About Forbidden: In the unforgiving Mesopotamian desert where Jayden’s tribe lives, betrothal celebrations abound, and tonight it is Jayden’s turn to be honored. But while this union with Horeb, the son of her tribe’s leader, will bring a life of riches and restore her family’s position within the tribe, it will come at the price of Jayden’s heart.

Then a shadowy boy from the Southern Lands appears. Handsome and mysterious, Kadesh fills Jayden’s heart with a passion she never knew possible. But with Horeb’s increasingly violent threats haunting Jayden’s every move, she knows she must find a way to escape—or die trying.

With a forbidden romance blossoming in her heart and her family’s survival on the line, Jayden must embark on a deadly journey to save the ones she loves—and find a true love for herself.

Set against the brilliant backdrop of the sprawling desert, the story of Jayden and Kadesh will leave readers absolutely breathless as they defy the odds and risk it all to be together.

Follow Kimberley:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

About Kimberley: Award-winning author Kimberley Griffiths Little was born in San Francisco, but now lives in New Mexico on the banks of the Rio Grande with her husband and their three sons. Her middle-grade novels, When the Butterflies Came, The Last Snake Runner, The Healing Spell, and Circle of Secrets, have been praised as “fast-paced and dramatic,” with “beautifully realized settings.” Kimberley adores anything old and musty with a secret story to tell. She’s stayed in the haunted tower room at Borthwick Castle in Scotland; sailed the Seine in Paris; ridden a camel in Petra, Jordan; shopped the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; and spent the night in an old Communist hotel in Bulgaria. You can visit her online at www.kimberleygriffithslittle.com.

Share your thoughts on the trailer in the comments!

Introduction to #BookBlogWriMo

I was browsing around the BB Community, and came across this post about #BookBlogWriMo at Book Bumblings, and after reading what it was about I felt like it was something I could totally do. I mean let's face it like Brittany said as much as I would love to finish writing a novel in the month of November, sadly I probably couldn't. I'm easily distracted, and with two jobs now I know I couldn't. This though I can do, and it gives you, the reader/viewers, a chance to see who I am. :) 

Topics for the Month (each one will be linked)

Week 1
11/1 – History of Your Blog - Tell us how you got started! When did you start your blog? Why? What have been some of your trials and tribulations? How many pigs did you have to sacrifice to get people to see your Facebook posts?
11/2 – How You Read - Paperback? Hardcover? Ereader? Smartphone? Bookmarks, note taking in the margins, or highlighting? Tell us some of your reading rituals!
11/3 – Where You Read - Pretty self-explanatory. Bonus for a picture!
11/4 – Why You Blog - Again, self-explanatory.
11/5 – Where You Blog - Bonus for a picture!
11/6 – #TBT – Favorite Childhood Books - What were some of your favorite books way back when? This could be a read from before you could read, or what you spent summers by the pool with in high school.
11/7 – #FlashbackFriday – Blog’s First Design - This one’s fun! Oh, how blogs evolve! Go to WayBackMachine.com, enter your blog’s URL, and take a screenshot of what you used to look like!
Week 2
11/8 – Your Blogging Toolkit - We could all blog smarter! Share some of the best tools in your blogging arsenal.
11/9 – Your Blogging Workflow - Lifters can take their #gymflow and shove it. Share your blogging process and rituals using the hashtag #blogflow.
11/10 – Memes You Meme - Do you #ThrowbackThursday or indulge in a little #ManCandyMonday? Share some of your favorite meme posts from your blog or social media pages.
11/11 – #Top10Tuesday – Most Popular Posts - Head on over to Google Analytics or wherever your stats are located and find the 10 most popular posts on your blog. Link to them, talk about them, tell us why we should love them.
11/12 – Advice for Newbie Bloggers - Be Yoda. Share your secrets. Do or do not, there is no try.
11/13 – Your Review Process - Do you write your review the second you finish the book? Months later? Take notes as you read?
11/14 – Your Ratings System - A lot of blogs have ratings policies or systems. Some don’t, but they really do. What makes you decide how many stars to give?
Week 3
11/15 – Favorite Book Blogging Things - Feel free to talk about the wonderful host of BookBlogWriMo and how much you love her.
11/16 – Least Favorite Book Blogging Things - Yeah, sometimes blogging is a pain in the ass. Tell us why.
11/17 – Favorite Book Tropes - Friends with benefits? Manic pixie dream girl? What cliche-type things do you never get sick of?
11/18 – Favorite Subgenres - Self-explanatory.
11/19 – #WaitingOnWednesday – TBR Books - Name some books on your TBR shelf and why you’re looking forward to reading them.
11/20 – #TBT – Best Books of 2014 - Do a top 10, top 20, or hell, top 100 list of books you’ve enjoyed this year.
11/21 – #FlashbackFriday – Your First Reviews - Link up to your some of your first reviews. Feel free to get reflective.
Week 4
11/22 – #ShowMeYourShelves - Take a picture of your bookshelves, whether they’re physical or Kindle folders. It’s always fun seeing how people organize their books!
11/23 – Book Boyfriend Criteria - What do you look for in a book boyfriend? Build your dream man. Book boyfriend examples and pictures of hot guys encouraged.
11/24 – Reading Cave Fantasies - You know those awesome reading nooks on BuzzFeed and Pinterest? Describe what yours would look like.
11/25 – How You Deal with Book Hangovers - Pig out? Take a nap? How do you deal?
11/26 – Cheating on Books: TV & Movies - What are your favorite ways to cheat on books?
11/27 – Authors You’re Thankful For - Who’s sitting at your dream Thanksgiving table?
11/28 – Book Pet Peeves - What plot lines or stereotypes make you cringe or DNF?
Week 5
11/29 – The Future of Your Blog - Where do you think you’re going? Get in touch with your inner Miss Cleo.
11/30 – #BookBlogWriMo Wrap Up - Tell us what you thought of this “challenge!” It will be helpful in future planning. It’s also another chance to give your BookBlogWriMo posts some extra inbound links, and show some love to posts from other participants.

Visit Book Bumblings to join the fun!

Book Review: Trust Me, I'm Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summer

AUTHOR: Mary Elizabeth Summer
PUBLISHER: Delcorte Press
SERIES/STANDALONE: I'm not sure
PAGES: 336

SOURCE: Edelweiss via publisher

Outline:
Fans of Ally Carter, especially her Heist Society readers, will love this teen mystery/thriller with sarcastic wit, a hint of romance, and Ocean’s Eleven–inspired action.

Julep Dupree tells lies. A lot of them. She’s a con artist, a master of disguise, and a sophomore at Chicago’s swanky St. Agatha High, where her father, an old-school grifter with a weakness for the ponies, sends her to so she can learn to mingle with the upper crust. For extra spending money Julep doesn’t rely on her dad—she runs petty scams for her classmates while dodging the dean of students and maintaining an A+ (okay, A-) average.

But when she comes home one day to a ransacked apartment and her father gone, Julep’s carefully laid plans for an expenses-paid golden ticket to Yale start to unravel. Even with help from St. Agatha’s resident Prince Charming, Tyler Richland, and her loyal hacker sidekick, Sam, Julep struggles to trace her dad’s trail of clues through a maze of creepy stalkers, hit attempts, family secrets, and worse, the threat of foster care. With everything she has at stake, Julep’s in way over her head . . . but that’s not going to stop her from using every trick in the book to find her dad before his mark finds her. Because that would be criminal

Quick Thought (or not)

The synopsis to the book is pretty much right on when it says if you like The Heist Society Books (Con Artists) by Ally Carter then you will enjoy this one. Maybe, even the Gallagher Girls (Teenage Spies) books by Ally Carter. Also I think if you've read Robin Benway's Also Known As (Spies) books you might like this one.

Let's start from the beginning I was pretty excited to read this because I love spies, con artists, and mysteries where you get to follow the characters and try to figure things out with them. So when Julep found her apartment ransacked, and her dad missing she set out to find him with her trusty friend (sidekick), Sam. I honestly enjoyed that there was NOT a love storm brewing anywhere, but sadly that didn't last very long (sigh...I know right!) That's where Tyler comes in, but will get to him later. Like I said I enjoyed the beginning of the story, but somewhere along the pages it lost the things I loved about it. It became more or less a love story. While that's not a bad thing, I just wish it wouldn't have been on the frontline. I wish it would have been a back burner type thing because it seemed to bring our girl Julep down. Julep at the beginning of the story was awesome. I mean I loved the girl. She was strong-willed, believed in herself, knew who she was, but in walks this boy and shit hits the fan. I know love can make people do crazy things and be crazy. Just once I want a female character to stay strong, and say okay so you're hot we'll be cool, but I'm still not going to fall all over you. If you want to be my friend...be my friend. You see where I'm going wit this? I think her infatuation with the boy made her lose sight of who she was. With that being said Tyler was just Tyler, your typical hot, jock that every girl wanted but who only had eyes for Julep. Whether his intentions were honest , or crooked you'll have to read and see. Then you of course have the nerdy boy sidekick, Sam, who we later find something out about him. Oh and the Barista that Julep gets free coffee from.

 As much as I thought I would be right when the ending came, I couldn't have been more wrong. I enjoyed following Julep along trying to figure out what her dads clues meant. I would think it was going one way and BAM it went another way. It was like I was on the hunt with her. It did have those twist and turns.People die, people betray one another. Fun times.

Quotes

When you can be anybody, you become nobody.

"It is simply time for Plan B, as my father would say. But I hate having to go with plan B. Plan B is invariably not as strong as Plan A. Obviously, or it would be Plan A."

"You told me the other day that you want to know who you are, that you don't feel like a real person. But the truth is, you're the most real person I've ever met. You see beneath all the glamour to who people really are, what they really want. That layer people wear to show who they wish they were--you don't have that. Sure, you can put on and take off any of those layers like clothes. But they don't define you. The only thing you are is you."

"But you always have one foot out the door, like if you don't let yourself need anyone, you'll be safe. Not only is that not possible, it's damned annoying. Just once, Julep, ask for help."

Readathon: Wonderfully Wicked Main Post

What is the Wonderfully Wicked Read-A-Thon?
The  Wonderfully Wicked Read-A-Thon is a time when we all get together to dedicate the days of October 17-27 to as much reading as possible. You read as much as you can in order to get yourself a little further through that huge to-read pile! We know real life gets in the way and even if you can’t participate more than one day, you’re welcome to join in on the fun!
When participating, you only have to read. However, it’s always fun reading starting posts and updates on your progress throughout the event! Even settling with a wrap-up post only to show how the reading went when it’s over, is fine if you want to share with us.

The Read-A-Thon will officially start Friday 17th at 12:00am EST and endMonday 27th at 11:59 PM EST.
Find other participants’ updates through the linky below or at #WWReadathon on Twitter!

To learn more go to My Shelf Confessions



Friday: October 17, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read: Mini Challenges Completed:

Saturday: October 18, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read: Mini Challenges Completed:

Sunday: October 19, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read:
 Mini Challenges Completed:

Monday: October 20, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read: Mini Challenges Completed:

Tuesday: October 21, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read: Mini Challenges Completed:

Wednesday: October 22, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read: Mini Challenges Completed:

Thursday: October 23, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read: Mini Challenges Completed:

Friday: October 24, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read: Mini Challenges Completed:

Saturday: October 25, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read: Mini Challenges Completed:

Sunday: October 26, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read: Mini Challenges Completed:

Monday: October 27, 2014:

Number of books read: 
Total Pages Read:
 Mini Challenges Completed:

BOOKS ON THE LIST TO READ 
 I'm pretty pumped to knock out some books. :) They may or may not change.

Everyday by David Leviathan
Every Other Day by Jennifer L Barnes
The Line by Teri Hall
Away by Teri Hall
Dreamland by Alyson Noel
The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott
Ten miles past normal by Frances O'rouke Dowell
Ten by Gretchen Mcneill
Gone by Lisa McMann
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Prodigy by Marie Lu
After Obession by Carrie Jones/ Wedel
Ask Me by Kimberly Pauley
Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott
Babes in Boyland by
Obession by Sasha Dawn

CHALLENGES

Challenges