But on the plus side, I got to enjoy a really great book and go back and enjoy some of my very favorite music. So here's what I've been enjoying this week!
Guys, this book was SO great. I loved the way it was written and how it split chapters into easy to digest chunks because it does deal with some serious and heavy content. This is the story of a 17 year old girl named Charlotte Davis (Charlie) who is a girl in pieces. As the book opens, she's living in an institution as she recovers from a serious incident. As the story unfurls you learn that the incident was caused by self-harm and she's working with professionals to reach a stable point in her mental and physical health so that she may move on. I honestly don't want to tell you much more than that, because the story is so beautifully told that it seems a shame for me to summarize any of it.
Glasgow's storytelling is so compelling and honest. The ways in which she discusses mental health, self harm, suicide, and drug and alcohol abuse allows though who are unfamiliar with these incredibly serious topics to understand and even empathize with Charlie as she works through her problems. I found myself relating with Charlie in some ways, rooting for her throughout the novel, and wishing that I could reach out and help her while I was reading. There were definitely some beautiful quotes that struck me as I was reading so I tweeted one and Kathleen Glasgow actually responded to my tweet! How neat is that!
@bookemblog I love that you quoted this! Thank you!! ❤
Y'all this is so corny but I don't even care. It's been a stressful week for me as I've been really digging into my Honors Thesis, so I've needed some seriously uplifting music to make the grind a little less taxing and this was it for me. I fricken love basically everything about Disney and Disney World. Disney World is where I have some of my fondest memories because that's where we've spent many of our family vacations (tbh we still do). So listening to the music from my all-time favorite fireworks show just gave me that little extra push to keep working on my thesis even though I was totally worn out. It's inspiring in the most cheesy of ways, but sometimes that's just what you need, you know? Plus that common tone modulation gets me every time. It's so ridiculous, but in the very best way. The whole thing just fills me up with joy but also kind of makes me cry (at least when I'm there and see the fireworks too. It's moving, so judge me). It takes all of the best parts of the best songs of the best Disney movies. What more could you really ask for?
I've decided to start what I hope will become a weekly posting about the things that I'm enjoying at the moment. My goal is to feature one book and one song, artist, or album. I feel like I haven't been giving music enough attention on here. That's likely because I just completed my senior voice recital, so I've been a little music'd out. Anyway, here we go.
The Lost & Found is a YA book that I randomly picked up from the recommended section of my hometown library because I thought it sounded kind of interesting. It's the story of two high schoolers people, Louis and Frances, who live on opposite coasts and become friends through an online support group for trauma survivors. They've been talking to each other basically every day for many years and apart from both having survived severe trauma, they discover that they both have a tendency to lose things. Or rather, things tend to disappear on them. They'll be there one minute and gone the next. A particular set of circumstances leads them to journey to Austin, Texas where one is on the hunt for a famous actor and the other is visiting a university.
The book is split into two parts. The first is called "Lost" and focuses on the losses they've suffered in their past as well as the little things they tend to lose day to day. The second is called "Found" and follows their journey to Austin and the things they mysteriously find on their way, both physically and emotionally.
I quite enjoyed this book. The way Leno intertwined Louis and Frances's stories through the different things they lost and then found throughout their journey was very interesting. It reminded me a bit of John Green's Paper Towns, which I'm a big fan of, but it was unique in it's own way. The characters felt very realistic to me and they spoke and interacted like I think most high schoolers do. But at the same time, they were flawed and dealt with some really serious topics such as death, anxiety, and self harm. It was definitely worth the read and there were some interesting twists along the way.
I'm not trying to pretend that this is some kind of groundbreaking discovery, but as it's pretty much my first mention of music on the blog, so I think it's appropriate to mention Adele, since she's my all-time favorite artist. It's pretty likely that this is something I just made up in my head, but I feel like everyone has like a "soul artist." It's like a soulmate, but for music, and I truly believe mine is Adele. Call me lame, I don't care. So 25 came out last November, but I'm not over it. The album is literally constantly playing in my car and I truly never get sick of it. If you haven't listened to it yet, first of all you're wrong, second of all do it now.
Adele live in Denver, CO 7/16/16
My favorite tracks are (in no particular order):
"When We Were Young"
"Water Under the Bridge"
"All I Ask"
"Can't Let Go"
"Why Do You Love Me"
"Million Years Ago"
Yes, I realize that is basically half of the album. I can't choose a favorite, and you can't make me. Sorry not sorry. She just tells such beautiful stories with her music and it fills my soul up to listen to it. It sometimes also breaks my heart a little, but only in the best way.
After a long internal battle, I finally caved last year and bought an Amazon Fire HD 6. To be honest with you, it was kind of an impulse buy because they were really on sale during Prime day last February. I had been toying with the idea for awhile because I really felt like I needed to be reading more for fun because school had been wearing me out, and I knew I was going to be doing some traveling in March and August. So I pulled the trigger, and I want to share with you some of the highs and lows of this investment.
Pros:
Convenience:
This is one of the biggest pros for me. This little nugget is so convenient. It fits in my purse, in my backpack, in coat pockets, basically wherever. Compared to the rate at which phones are growing, it's really not that big. Being a woman, it won't fit in my jeans pocket (we get totally ripped off in that department if you ask me, but that's a complaint for another day), but I can bring it with me basically anywhere and it's so convenient. Plus it only weighs like 10 ounces, which is pretty small (less than a pound), so it's really nice if you're traveling so you don't have to pack a bunch of books that weigh down your suitcase.
My Fire fits perfectly in my purse
Price of books:
eBooks can be cheaper to purchase than real books, but that's not always true. While you aren't paying for the cost of printing, publishers do try to keep prices pretty comparable to physical books because it's important that the authors earn the money that they deserve. However, new releases are generally less expensive to purchase in eBook form than they are in physical form. An example of this is Cursed Child, which you can see below. Right now on Amazon if you were to buy the eBook it would be less expensive than purchasing the hardback book (which is the only one offered at the moment).
They are also less expensive when buying classics. Because of copyright laws, many books become public domain 70 years after their author has died. For example, if you wanted the complete works of William Shakespeare, you could find it online legally and for free and download it to your device. However, if you want a printed version, you would likely have to buy each work separately or find a relatively expensive full collection. While the free version likely won't have annotations or other notes, you're still getting all of the content. So in this case you win some and lose some.
Immediacy:
This is one of the greatest things about eBooks for me. If I find something I want, I don't have to wait more than a few minutes to get it. You can either buy the digital copy and download it, or rent it from a library service such as Bridges. I think this might be the aspect that really sold it for me. I could read whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I didn't have to wait for the library or a bookstore to be open or have to go out somewhere to get a book, it was all at my fingertips.
Mental Health:
According to The Reading Agency, "The relationship between reading for pleasure and wellbeing is particularly interesting, with evidence showing a correlation between reading for pleasure regularly and lower levels of stress and depression. Reading also seems to reduce the risk of dementia, with frequent readers having lower incidence of dementia in later life." For me, having an eReader made it much easier for me to be able to read for pleasure during the school year. Having such a small device on which to read encouraged me to keep my kindle with me more, so if I have a few spare minutes between classes, I can just pick it up and read a chapter or two. I don't have to worry about it taking up too much space in my backpack, and it saves exactly what page you're on so you don't even have to worry about bringing a bookmark. My home library also uses Bridges, which I mentioned above, so I was able to borrow books from the library without having to go home and worry about being able to return the books on time. Digital loans just disappear when your time is up. You don't have to worry about late fees or ruining the book somehow (one of my worst nightmares), and so long as there isn't a waiting list, you can renew them just like you would at a regular library.
Introversion:
Ok this one might just be me because I can be such an introvert, but you don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to. You don't have to leave the comfort of your favorite reading spot to go get books. If you're out in public and you're reading, no one is trying to read the cover to see what you're reading and strike up a conversation. If you don't want to, you don't have to talk to anybody, which can be super nice.
This one might also just be me, but it can be really great that your device is lit for you. If you've been curled up all day reading, and it starts to get dark, you don't have to get up and turn the light on or off. This is especially great when I'm reading before bed because then I don't have to get out of my warm cozy bed to turn the light off before I go to sleep (or have to sleep with the light on because I'm too lazy to get up). They even have a night time mode on my Fire called blue shade so that the light dims when you're reading at night so it doesn't keep you awake or disrupt your sleep.
Taking notes:
I'm the kind of person who loves to take notes when I'm reading. I think it's just really interesting to see the way you think at different times in your life so when you go back and read something again, you're reminded of how you've grown and how your perspective has changed since the last time you read this, or what quotes have stuck out to you and what you thought of them at different times. However, this is in direct contrast with my inability to write in books (there's a special place in hell for people who dog ear pages). I've always just viewed them as sacred and I can't get myself to write in them. If I do, it has to be in pencil and very lightly so that I can erase it if I need to. With eBooks, you don't have to worry about that. Because it's all digital, you can highlight, comment, bookmark, basically whatever you want, and there's no residual damage if you erase it or change your mind later.
Ok, I know I just listed this as a pro, but there are also some bummer things about it. Depending on what device you're reading from, the light from the device can start to be bothersome. Because my Fire is technically a tablet that is easily compatible with Kindle, the light can sometimes be kind of harsh. It does occasionally make my eyes tired, but that's primarily just if I've been reading for a really, really long time (it happens). It's just like if you've spent all day on the computer, and your eyes just get tired from looking at the screen all day. However, they do make devices such as the Kindle Paperwhite that minimize this discomfort. I ended up buying the Fire because I liked some of the other things it did (access to Goodreads, ability to watch ABC Go and Netflix, amongst other things), and it was less expensive. Unfortunately, it does sometimes have a glare that makes it a little harder to read, but I got no glare screen protector that helps with this a lot, so I'm able to read outside if I want to. Again, the Paperwhite eliminates this problem without having to get a screen protector.
There's just something about a physical book:
This was a big one for me when I was trying to decide if I even wanted an eReader. There are few things more satisfying to me than the smell and feel of reading a physical book, and that's still true even though I do a lot of my reading on my Fire. It's not quite as soul satisfying because you don't have the physical aspect of turning pages and feeling the paper, but it's also not like I exclusively read eBooks now. Trust me, I still spend way too much money on physical books.
eReaders can be kind of expensive, there's no getting around that. I paid about $110 for my 16 GB Kindle Fire HD 6 plus a case and a no glare screen protector. That's obviously not cheap, but for the amount I use it, it has definitely been worth it to me. I did come to discover that I probably didn't really need the 16 GB. I think I would have had plenty of space with just 8 GB, but now I have plenty of room for my library to grow, and I can add other apps because it is a tablet and not just an eReader.
Charging:
This one can be a pretty big bummer. There have been a few times where I found myself on campus having packed my Fire thinking I'll just read in the hour between classes only to discover that it was dead upon arrival. It can be a real bummer, but it uses a basic mini HDMI charger, so odds are you could find a friend who has one with them or borrow one from the library. How often you have to charge your device also really depends on how you use it. I almost exclusively use mine for reading even though it can do a bunch of other stuff, so I leave the WiFi turned off basically all the time unless I'm downloading a book and depending how much I'm reading and where I'm reading it'll probably last me a good week. However, when I was on vacation last March and doing a lot of reading outside, I had to charge it basically every night because having the brightness up so high all day made the battery die faster. It really just depends.
So what do you recommend?
I have never regretted buying my Fire, and I don't think you probably will either. If you don't want to pull the trigger quite yet, download the Kindle app on your phone, iPod, or iPad. See if you even like reading books digitally. It might be that it's just not you're thing and you want to stick with actual books. More power to you! You may find that reading on a device you already have works great for you, so there's no need to buy a new device for it. I chose to buy my Fire because I didn't have any other tablet like device and I felt my phone was too small to read on, so it works great for me. It does everything I want it to and I use it almost every day. Do some research about the different devices and decide what's best for you. What's most important is that you keep reading!
I may be 21 years old, but I still love a good YA novel. They're so fun to read, and when they're well written, you feel transported and get to experience the story as if you're a part of it.
Ok, I lied about only having 8 books. I'm going to consider each series as one, otherwise Harry Potter might just take over 6 of the 8 places and also there are too many great YA books to choose from. Sorry not sorry.
1. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
To be honest, I don't even really know what to say about this. I guess first of all, if you haven't read all of them, DO IT. You've waited long enough, just do it.
This is a defining series for my generation, as well it should be. We grew up reading them and watching the movies and I feel like we got to grow up with the characters. We define ourselves by our Hogwarts House and were devastated when we didn't get our Hogwarts letters on our 11th birthdays (but don't worry, the muggle born registry got wiped out during our childhood because of the war, so it's very possible there's a good reason you never received it).
Guys, I literally cried when my high school choir director was telling me about how his daughter was reading the series for the first time. It was too magical. I couldn't handle it. It's something that will stick with us throughout our lives. This is a series I truly enjoy reading year after year, and I continue to get new things out of it each time. Honestly, it's worth the reread. J.K. Rowling had her stuff together, and knew exactly what she was doing throughout. It's amazing.
Here's my definitive ranking of all 7 books (I exclude Cursed Child, because, though I enjoyed it, it was meant to be experienced as a play and would have been much more effective as such. Plus, J.K. Rowling didn't write the whole thing herself.)
Remember, "Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home"
2. The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins
You've certainly at least heard of these, but it was another defining series of my generation, I think. It was one of the first in the "renaissance" of dystopian YA novels, and I ate it up. Collins developed characters that were relatable even though they were living in a different world. She created an entirely new world that we felt a part of and felt we understood the trials that Katniss faced, though we've certainly never experienced them ourselves. Plus, I think they made arguably the best book to movie adaptations that I've ever seen.
We all know the end of Mockingjay is devastating and I don't want to talk about it, but that definitely contributes to why it's my least favorite (even though I understand why it happened the way it did).
A slightly lesser known but still wonderful YA series. This takes place in another dystopian world in which young people have to choose their fate at age 16 after taking an aptitude test. The story follows a girl named Beatrice (Tris) who has lived her life until this point in Abnegation, the faction that values selflessness, but has never felt like she's fit in. She gets to choosing day and has to decide where she will live from this point forward, remain with her family in Abnegation or transfer to a new faction. Dauntless values bravery, Erudite values knowledge and intellect, Amity values peace, and Candor values honesty. It follows her story from choosing day forward and the problems she faces in dealing with the government. It's a great, fun read that will draw you in. There have also been movie adaptations of this series, and while the first one I thought was really great, they have significantly decreased in quality in my opinion, and have significantly strayed from the story as told in the books.
In case this isn't enough for you, there's also a companion book, Four, that retells some of the same stories from Four's perspective, as well as some new stories about his background.
4. The Lunar Chronicles Series by Marissa Meyer
Ok this series is admittedly a little out there, but I honestly loved it. The first novel, Cinder, is loosely based on the classic story of Cinderella, but there are definitely some changes. Cinder is a cyborg living in New Beijing sometime in our future. I understand that it sounds so weird, but you have to give it a chance!
As the series continues, Cinder's story intertwines with other characters who are roughly based on fairytales including Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood), Cress (Rapunzel?), and Winter (Snow White). It's a super enjoyable read I would definitely recommend it if you want something a little easier to read and quick to finish. I read some of them in a day or two. They're just super fun.
This series also started as a NaNoWriMo story, so that's pretty neat. If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is, check it out here!
There are also some companion books to this series. Fairest is a collection of stories from Levana's perspective, and Stars Above is a collection of stories that give some background for the main characters of the series.
This is hands down my favorite John Green book. I find Quentin so relatable and I really appreciate Green's ability to write in a way that I think truly reflects the day to day life of young people while remaining thoughtful and
One of my favorite quotes from this book is, "What a treacherous thing it is to believe that a person is more than a person." Another great one is, “I wanted to tell her that the pleasure for me wasn’t planning or doing or leaving; the pleasure was in seeing our strings cross and separate and then come back together.” John Green just has a beautiful way with words and I think his writing is incredibly realistic. I think people sometimes discount YA authors because of the content of their work, but I don't think John Green should be discounted. He has a way with words that I find absolutely enthralling, but I know it can be difficult for him to write, which he recently discussed in one of his vlogbrothers videos.
In any case, I sincerely hope that he completes another novel, because while he has written some incredible books for young people, it would truly be a shame for his work to end now.
To me, this is the OG dystopian YA novel. I remember reading it in 5th grade and arguing with my brother about what happened in the last scene. Where did the sled take him? Was it even real?
It's an incredible novel in which Jonas at age 12 is given the job of "Receiver of Memory" by the town elders. He lives in a world of sameness. There is no color or exaggeration or emotional depth in this world. They have eradicated differences and take pills that eliminate their desires.
Jonas's journey is incredibly interesting as he learns what's really going on in his town and as he receives memories from the Giver. It's a short read, but thought provoking. They also made a movie of it, but I thought it was subpar even if Jeff Bridges is literally my brain's spitting image of the Giver.
I just read this book this summer and I quite literally couldn't put it down. It was in the suggested section of my local library, so I just randomly picked it because I wanted something to read that I could get immediately. I finished it in one day. It was that interesting. It's the story of a kid named Henry who gets abducted by aliens and they tell him the world is going to end unless he pushes a button to stop it. The story then goes through his life in the 144 days after he's given the choice as he tries to decide what to do. This book is super interesting to me for many reasons. First and foremost, it's one of few books I've gotten to read in which the protagonist is gay. I don't know if I'm just oblivious, but books with gay protagonists seem few and far between and it's really a shame. It was so nice to have this slightly different point of view that was so normal. The alien thing also obviously made this interesting. It raises some questions for the reader as to whether they think he's really being abducted or if it's perhaps a mental health issue. It also addresses the reality of suicide and depression. Henry is dealing with the loss of his boyfriend from suicide and his depression is very real. I also enjoyed that every chapter or two there's just a chapter devoted to a way the world could end, which was just really interesting to me. It's just such a great book. It's so honest and enthralling. It makes you want to keep reading. The writing is so thoughtful and thought provoking. Here are a few of my favorite quotes: "We may not get to choose how we die, but we can chose how we live. The universe may forget us, but it doesn't matter. Because we are the ants, and we'll keep marching on." "Depression isn't a war you win. It's a battle you fight every day. You never stop, never get to rest." "Dreams are hopeful because they exist as pure possibility. Unlike memories, which are fossils, long dead and buried deep."
This series so mostly fascinating because of the way in which it was written and presented. The characters and stories were developed from antique photos. I've never seen anything like it. Jacob hears all of these stories from his grandfather about kids who could float or were invisible or had bees living inside of them and shows him these pictures when he's young. Jacob of course believes it as a child and as he gets older assumes that they're staged photos and his grandpa just made the stories up to entertain him when he was little. After his grandfather's mysterious death, he comes to find out that maybe there's more truth to these photos than he thought. What's so great about the book is that it includes real photos that Riggs found at antique stores and the like, which he then turned into these incredible characters. It's just really artistic and neat.
There are also two sequels, Hollow City and Library of Souls. All are incredibly interesting in their own way, but Miss Peregrine was my favorite. This was also recently turned into a movie, which was directed by Tim Burton. It's not exactly like the book, adaptations never are, but it's a really great movie. Tim Burton has such an interesting point of view, and I think he captured the artistry of the book.
What are some of your favorite YA books?
To be honest, this list was pretty difficult for me to make. I started out with at least 12 books but thought that was maybe a bit much, so you'll have to check in later to hear about those other great reads!
I'm sure you can buy all of these books on Amazon, but I linked them to my local bookstore, Plot Twist Bookstore, which I LOVE. We just finally got our first bookstore this year, and I could not be more thrilled because I really believe in shopping and supporting local. So, if it's not in your cards to buy from a bookstore in Ankeny, Iowa, see if you can find these at your local store!
