September Book Club

So I'm almost a week late with this link up (So sorry!). In my defense, last week was the first week of classes, so I've been a little busy studying and all that fun stuff. Since I never received my book from the swap, I decided I'm gonna review not one, but two books recommended by none other than Miss Abbi. (seriously the girl is my literary twin.) Both are by amazing author John Green. First up is his first novel:

image via. Goodreads provided the following summary: "Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps." This book is absolutely stunning. Green draws the reader in to this little club of friends, so much that you care just as much as they all do. You can feel the adrenaline of the group pulling pranks. You can feel the teenage angst, lust, and friendship. This book made me cry, laugh, and fall in love. One of the best novels I have read in a long, long time. I give it 5/5 stars. Next is Green's most recent (and extremely popular in the blog world) novel:

image via. Goodreads's summary: "Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind" I actually read this first, after seeing it on several blogs, including Abbi's and Danielle's. Do yourself a favor, reader.  Run out and buy a copy of this beautiful novel RIGHT NOW. Or in the morning, I guess, if you can wait that long. This novel is hauntingly gorgeous, a pure love surrounded by terrible circumstance. Seriously, this book gave me a worse book hangover than Harry Potter, and that is definitely saying something. It's heartbreaking, but worth every damn tear it forces you to shed. It may also be because it came into my life when I needed it most, but this novel instantly became a favorite. I give it 6/5 stars. 

I got lost in this big old world

To say I'm not having a good week would really be an understatement. Family problems, money problems, and work problems all slammed me this week.
I don't handle stress very well. I've gotten better at it, actually recognizing when I'm stressed and trying to deal with it somehow without taking it out on those around me. Sometimes I succeed, but more often than not, I fail. I lash out at my roommate, the easiest target.  Her habits that bug me become magnified and I just get super grumpy whenever I'm home.
I am still trying to learn how to handle everything that has been thrown at me,  so stick with me.  I know I am almost the least consistent blogger ever, but I will promise to try harder.
Oddly enough, I hate writing. I don't know what it is, but writing was never fun for me. I guess somehow, blogging just doesn't feel like writing. I live in a world of words, where books and letters and poetry communicate feeling beautifully. Here, I try to channel my world onto a screen,  trying to bring sense to myself by pushing buttons and making words appear. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Right now, I feel slightly better just apologizing you, my dear readers. You stick with me through dry spells, and for that, I thank you. I know this post is a little all over the place, but then again, so is my head.
In short, I am stressed to the nth degree, and classes don't even start until tomorrow. I've got some ideas for this space, so don't give up on me yet!

My first time as a guest poster!

Just stopping in to let you all know that I am guest posting for the very first time today! You can check it out on Suz's blog, 30 Before 30 List. You'll get to see my own "If You Really Knew Me" post, inspired by Danielle. Check it out, and then, once you're there, keep reading! Suz is one of my favorite bloggers, so I know you'll enjoy reading!

Just a quick hello...

So sorry for falling off the face of the earth, guys.
Life has kinda blown up in my little world.
As I may have mentioned, this term is going to by my final term as an undergrad.  That is both terrifying and amazing all rolled into one. But it also means I have to start preparing for real adult life now. I've been apartment hunting like crazy, trying to find a place close to work that isn't a kajillion dollars. Who knew small university towns were so expensive??
My life has also blown up on the personal level. My best friend since seventh grade recently got engaged, and yours truly is one of the maids of honor. Oh, and she also makes the seventh wedding to attend next summer. My life is insane.
So between cramming in a few more full time weeks at work, planning my best friend's wedding, and some personal family stuff, this little space has become neglected.
It may be awhile before I get back to this - my calendar literally has at least one appointment a day for the next three weeks.
I'll pop in and read other blogs, and maybe I can convince one or two people to throw me a bone and guest post? We'll have to play it by ear and see what happens!

I'm back....sorta

Uhm, 
I love country music.
Seriously, the festival just keeps getting better and better. Last year, it was Little Big Town, Alan Jackson, and Blake Shelton. This year, it was Rodney Atkins, Sugarland, Lee Brice, Billy Currington, Martina McBride, Jana Kramer, The Band Perry, and Trace Adkins.
Next year, they have announced Carrie Underwood on Friday and Brad Paisley on Saturday!!!!
I'll post pictures from this weekend sometime in the near future, I pinky promise.
However, I came home with a head cold, and I have to go back to full-time work. Blech.
Recap soon!

Five.

Five more weeks. That's how long I have left. Five weeks of summer break (if you can call it that) Five weeks left as an almost full-time employee. (Just switching back to my regular hours, not losing my job hopefully...)
The weird part? I cannot WAIT for these next five weeks to fly past.
Yeah, I am excited to get back to classes,  but mostly I am sick of full-time at my work.
Normally, I love my job. I work evenings and weekends,  so it's usually just me and one other person in my department.
Full time is not fun. Some of my coworkers don't get along. I get caught in the middle. I am also currently training on scheduling, and let's just say some coworkers are much better at teaching than others.
I cannot wait to get back to my domain, the world of books and writing. I am both anxiously awaiting and dreading this coming term, as it will be my last as an undergrad.  Scary and exciting, all at once.
Five. More. Weeks.
However, in the meantime, this weekend I will be attending this awesome music festival and getting to see awesome country acts. Back in a week!

90's TV and YA Novels

What can I say? I read a lot. (understatement of the century) However, I've been on a YA novel kick, mainly books about America in the future, also known as "The Society", "Panem", and other various new names.
Yep, I've been reading and re-reading these beauties:

Goodreads Summary:

"Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that? Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever."

Goodreads Summary:

"Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning? In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love."

Goodreads Summary:

"Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow."

Goodreads Summary:

"Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love."

I clearly have a Hunger Games withdrawal issue.
I tend to do this when I finish a series:
I HAVE to find a similar novel,
or at least something new to obsess with.

 I do the same thing with TV shows...
I just finished:

via.

And immediately moved on to:

via.

Thank goodness for Netflix and the library.

Any suggestions for TV or books that are a must see/read?