Running Into July

It's the end of June and although June usually is my favorite month - this time I'm glad it's finally over. The first reason for that is that next Friday I'm finally getting out of school for summer - I thought that day wouldn't happen anymore this year. The second reason is that those few weeks before summer are just so hectic! I always hope after all the exams are taken I can lay back and relax - and I'm wrong each and every time. There is our school play, the choir concerts, the stupid hiking trip our school is planning this year and so on.
BUT June is over. One week of school left. And then I can finally do what I wanted to do all these weeks:
nothing :)


Books I read in June:






I have to say June started out amazingly! I read Shiver which was just so beautiful and really got me into reading again just for the writing. The Kite Runner was another awesome novel - heartbreaking and deep. Abandon was much darker than I thought it would be and that made it a nice surprise in the middle of the month while Ready or Not and Shadowland were just plain entertaining and kept me laughing.
Yes, Blue Sky Days was a bummer for me and One Moment seemed kind of pointless, but Tess, Terrorists and the Tiara was a very nice quick read that I didn't expect, as well.
All in all, I would say June was not as amazing as May but definitely full of variety :)

Books I plan to read in July:





Actually, all of these are review books so I'm not sure if I will get through all of them as I couldn't stop myself and bought a ton of books myself that I can't wait to start reading :)
I definitely want to read Pushing the Limits and Florence, though, as they come out in July while the release date for Glitch is in August. I need to finish Narrative Loserdom because I've been trying to continue reading it for months now. It's just that I have to read it on my computer and it's not exactly...comfy.
The Chysalis Chronicles sounds like a great story to me and also it's a printed ARC, so it's much easier for me to read it. So, if I don't read a book of these in July it will probably be Dark Kiss and Glitch.

Also, I planned to read Shadow and Bone in June, but it only arrived at my doorstep yesterday so that didn't work out but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be reading it in July!

Feature & Follow Friday

Today's question is:

Birthday Wishes — Blow out the candles and imagine what character could pop out of your cake…who is it and what book are they from??

This would probably be Fred or George Weasly from the Harry Potter Series. I can't imagine how hilariously fun life would be with them :)

Review #18 Abandon - Meg Cabot

Goodreads summary:

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone... because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.
But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.
Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away... especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.
But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.


Release Date: April 26 2011
Pages: 307 (Hardcover)
Genre: Mythology (retelling)
Series? yes, #1


LONG STORY SHORT:

The important advantage this book has is that you fly through it in no time. I felt like I didn't even notice I was turning the pages until I reached the end. Then again, the story itself was actually not that gripping or funny or anything. I think Meg Cabot's writing is great in this book and that - combined with the complex characters and great setting -  definitely makes up for the rather predictable and not very original ( it's a retelling-duh!) plot.

REVIEW:
I actually thought my Meg Cabot phase was pretty much over. Like that game you loved to play as a kid but avoid when you're older because you know you wouldn't be into it as much as you used to and it would only destroy memories. Well, with Meg it's not quite like that.

As I mentioned above I found this book - like most stuff Meg writes - to be a very quick read. You just open it during your lunch period and then wonder where it's gone by the time you arrive home at night. The setting of Abandon was very cool, as well. That island with its creepy cemetrey and the school Pierce goes to? I could totally picture it in my head! The main characers were so well figured out this time. Pierce but also Alex and the rest of their family had very interesting - and sometimes troubled - pasts which also gave Abandon a mucn  darker touch I didn't really expect to find.
The side characters definitely lacked some depth for me, though. I felt like some of them only had one or two appearances in the book while there should have been way more and especially Pierce's uncle and grandmother - who are such big influences on the plot and Pierce's life came too short for my taste.
Then there's John. Oh well. To me, he's a bit pale, too. I have that feeling that I don't really know him although he was such a big part of the novel,as well.

What I found really confusing was the beginning of the novel. Cabot jumped back and forth in time a lot which sometimes made it difficult for me to keep track. Also, I think she put a bit too much information into this first book of the trilogy and not enough action. I will, of course, continue to read the trilogy, but I don't know if someone who doesn't see Cabot as their childhood heroine would feel blown away enough to pick up the next two books.

Abandon is not an epic fantasy read that will keep you glued to the pages and on the edge of your seet. It's that Cabot - like mix of contemporary and completely unrealistic (Princess Diaries), supernatural (The Mediator) or - like in this case - mythological elements.

All in all, the darker background and Meg's to-the-point writing style make Abandon a book that older Cabot fans (I am seventeen) will probaly enjoy, too. You just shouldn't expect a whole lot of action, although I liked the surprise at the end.

RATING: 2 out of 3 Smarties

Waiting On Cold Fury

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we cannot wait to get our hands on.

Goodreads summary:

Jason Bourne meets The Sopranos in this breathtaking adventure
Sara Jane Rispoli is a normal sixteen-year-old coping with school and a budding romance--until her parents and brother are kidnapped and she discovers her family is deeply embedded in the Chicago Outfit (aka the mob).
Now on the run from a masked assassin, rogue cops and her turncoat uncle, Sara Jane is chased and attacked at every turn, fighting back with cold fury as she searches for her family. It's a quest that takes her through concealed doors and forgotten speakeasies--a city hiding in plain sight. Though armed with a .45 and 96K in cash, an old tattered notebook might be her best defense--hidden in its pages the secret to "ultimate power." It's why she's being pursued, why her family was taken, and could be the key to saving all of their lives.
Action packed, with fresh, cinematic writing, Cold Fury is a riveting and imaginative adventure readers will devour.

I think I even discovered this one at an earlier Waiting On Wednesday, but I decided to choose this one anyway, because doesn't it sound epic??? I cannot WAIT to get my hands on it! Nothing more to say - I'm hooked!

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Characters Who Remind Me Of Myself Or Someone I Know In Real Life

1. Spencer Hastings from Pretty Little Liars
Spencer is very driven and tries to be the best at everything she does. I wasn't always like that but lately - by which I mean the last three years or so - I really started working hard for school and everything I want to achieve - sometimes I think I overdo it a bit.

2. Hana from Delirium
In this case it's not the character herself but more what happened between Hana and Lena. By the way, if you haven't read Delirium yet you should move on to number three - it's gonna be spoilery. What I mean is that moment when Hana and Lena part and they both feel like they will never be friends again, that things between them will never be as they were before - not even close. That has happened to me with a whole group of my friends and I still regret it sometimes. I think, though, that this is quite normal as you grow up and change and find out who you really are.

3. McLean from What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
 That thing she does? Moving around and always changing her identity? My dream! I actually still try to be "a completely different me" sometimes - and it never quite works out...

4. All those people who live in Gatlin from The Caster Chronicles Series by Kami Garcia and Margeret Stohl
So much like the village I live in! Oh my, I know exactly how that feels when everyone knows everyone and also believes to know every single detail about their private lives! It can be annoying sometimes...


5. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
I think I'm who I am partly because I looked up to Hermione so much when I was a kid. This might sound weird but I always admired her courage and discipline at the same time. I loved how she could be good at school and a good person all at once :)

6. Taylor from The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
 She actually reminds me of a bunch of my friends. There will always be these spoiled girls that think they can have everything and everyone and who make you feel bad without even noticing - and you kind of love them anyway :)

7. Macy from The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
In the beginning of the book she's just like me. I could identify with her especially whenever she banned any influence of spontaneity from her life and always lived according to her plan.

8. Mia from If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Like Mia I tend to get so absorbed in my own thoughts that I don't really notice what's going on around me. I've always kept to myself a lot, was more quiet than most kids. That's why I found her so relatable.

9. Mia's little brother from If I Stay
He has a lot of things in common with my own little brother :)

10. Rebecca from All American Girl by Meg Cabot
She reminds me of a childhood friend of mine who I'm still friends with today. She went to a bunch of schools for geniuses and got on her mom's nerves with all her super intelligent comments!

Summer Reading Review: One Moment - Kristina McBride

Goodreads summary:


"This was supposed to be the best summer of Maggie's life. Now it's the one she'd do anything to forget." Maggie remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a blowout party. She remembers climbing the trail with her perfect boyfriend, Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, and meant to reassure her. So why can't she remember what happened in the moment before they were supposed to dive? Why was she left cowering at the top of the cliff, while Joey floated in the water below-dead? 
As Maggie's memories return in snatches, nothing seems to make sense. Why was Joey acting so strangely at the party? Where did he go after taking her home? And if Joey was keeping these secrets, what else was he hiding?
The latest novel from the author of "The Tension of Opposites," "One Moment" is a mysterious, searing look at how an instant can change everything you believe about the world around you.

Pages: 272 (Hardcover)
Release Date: June 26th 1012
Publisher: Egmont USA


LONG STORY SHORT:
This book was a joyful read. It was not outstanding and if it was a bit longer than it actually is I don't know if I had read it till the end. The characters were likable, but even now I feel like I don't really know any of them very well. The story idea itself is not that new or original which is why I missed a unique twist from the author - be it through plot, language, ending, whatever. All in all I would say this book is okay, but not very special.

REVIEW:

I got One Moment from Netgalley and was quite excited to start reading it. I'd seen a few positive remarks and reviews from other people about it and as I usually like mystery novels I felt like this one might be the one for me.

As I can't really decide if this book gets a negative or a positive review (it's kind of in between) I'm going to start with what I liked best about One Moment: the language and dialogue. I think it means a lot if an author has that ability to make a protagonist's thoughts and the dialogue in the whole book - from beginning to end (duh!) - so real you feel like he or she just transports it from reality to the pages. Kristina McBride is such an author and I think she earns applause for that aspect of her book.

Some things, though, made this a rather boring, slow read for me.
The main problem I had with One Moment was how predictable everything was. In a mystery I usually expect a little bit of creepyness, I want to keep guessing what happened or what will happen. I definitely missed the surprise in this book. Whenever Maggie got back a piece of her memory I was like: "Who cares? Wasn't that what you assumed had happened??" To cut it short, if One Moment is a mystery, the mystery is pretty much nonexistent in this novel.

If it is a contemporary novel, I think the character development was not as good as it could have been. It took me ages to remember who is who in this book because everyone was just quickly introduced and I didn't have a clear picture of the personality that person had. Then, in the end of the book I felt like all those pretty flat characters didn't change at all, they didn't learn, they didn't grow. Even the main character, Maggie seemed pretty flat to me.

I said above that One Moment was predictable. It was, I guess, because the story was missing some kind of unique element. Michele Jaffe's Rosebush - for example - had a great message and strong characters and a very surprising twist at the end. The Deadly Cool Series is completely unrealistic, but a hilarious feel - good novel that I could reread over and over again. One Moment was the story of a girl who lost her boyfriend. Period. All in all, I wished there was more to the story.

I want to thank EgmontUSA for giving me the chance to read the e-galley for One Moment. This review states my honest opinion on the book.

No title...

Just for your information. About the No title thing...I still don't really know how I'm going to do these Sunday posts now that I don't have the coffee anymore...
Anyway, this week's topic is: lame Sundays.
Oh, yes you read that right. I just called Sundays, that holy part of the week, lame. L.A.M.E.
And I'm sorry, Sunday, if this offends you. I don't really mean it. You know how much I hate Monday when I'm not home before eight at night and stupid, stupid Tuesday and Wednesday when all I do is go to school and try to catch up on homework and Thursday when I have to stay in school until FIVE only to have GYM! And Friday and Saturday where I'm working my butt off to pay for my book buying addiction? Yeah, not fun either.
That's why Sundays are supposed to be relaxed. You aren't supposed to do anything on Sundays. Other than maybe sleep and eat a whole lot of food and read and ...uh...type random stuff on your blog.
Sundays are supposed to be perfect and I always expect them to be perfect.
And then I'm disappointed, because my brain refuses to give me some rest. I want to watch that silly movie that completely lacks any form of depths but I can't because I feel like I'm wasting my precious Sunday. It's insane! Instead I sit around mourning over the fact that I can't find an appropriate way to spend my Sunday...
At least I've learned one thing. I'm totally able to spend this whole day in my PJs. It took me a hell of a time but now - see stupid, work-a-holic voice - in-my-head? I'm practically "Laying" on this chair (at least, that's what mom calls it) and I'm wearing these gorgeous, hot pink PJs!
:)

Here's what I got this week:


The first Mediator Bind Up by Meg Cabot (I bought it)

Liebster Award!

So...I've been tagged by Ramblings of a Bookaholic to do this tag. Its name, Liebster, is actually German so I'm quite interested in its origin :) Anyway, here's the tag:


Rules:
Each person must post 11 facts about themselves.
Answer 11 questions the tagger has given you and 11 questions for the people you tag.
Tag 11 more bloggers.
Tell them you've tagged them.
No tag backs!


11 Facts about me:

1.I love everything nutrition and exercise. I run and do strength training almost every day and I try to get a swimming workout in as often as I can. I love feeling active and healthy!

2. I have a huge obsession over peanut butter, rice cakes and oatmeal. It's like...not even funny any more.

3. In the wintertime I crave summer. As soon as it gets hot outside I can't wait for fall to come.

4. Since I was 13 I'm dreaming of living in the US. I started reading US books, blogs (obviously!), watching US TV shows and movies and practising my pronunciation every day. I'm like...not even living in Germany anymore :)

5. I am super comfortable talking in front of a massive crowd, but I totally suck at normal conversations.

6. I'm an early bird. I wake at 4 or 5 and enjoy the fresh air and the silence and (sometimes) darkness all around me. I also love early evening when the sun goes down. I pretty much hate the hours between that.


7. I am not good with animals. I don't get them and I don't care for them. Also, I'm a vegetarian. Go figure.

8. I love to try different kinds of bread. Whenever my mom buys a new kind I will steal a piece of one slice and leave the rest of the slice in the bread basket. It drives her crazy.

9. I can be extremely indecisive. My mom never goes shopping with me because I stand in front of two items I want to buy (usually books) and leave four hours later with the words: "I need to think this over."

10.I talk to myself. Constantly.

11. I hate having anything on my hands, so I wash them a LOT throughout the day.

Questions to answer:


Why did you start blogging?
What's your favorite element in a book?
How did you come up with your blog name?
What are your hopes for your blog?
What's your favorite book?
How many books are in your to-be-read pile?
How many books do you read a year?
When did you start blogging?
Do you review every book you read?
How do you pick a book?
What would you like to tell your followers? They will probably be reading this...

People I tag:
Kim Reads
Attack the Stacks
Story Notions
Charissa Books
Characterized
In My Book Nook
Lili's Reflections
Paperback fantasies
Olivias bookaholic life
Paranormal Indulgence
A Book Lover's Ramblings


Answers to Ramblings of a Book-a-holic's questions:

1. I started blogging because I wanted to find people who felt the same way about books that I do, just to talk, make friends and keep up with the news in YA.

2. Mhm...I've never actually thought of that. Plot, I guess. I love when in the end a ton of twists and turns unravel and everything fits together in a brilliant, completely unexpected way. Also, the ending must be fast-paced and action packed!

3. That was fairly easy. It just came to my mind because I love the word book smart (it doesn't exist in German, I think) and it fits my personalty (and the topic of this blog) perfectly.

4. I just hope that my blog will continue giving me the chance to share my favorite hobby with others. It can sometimes feel lonely behind that book cover...

5. So, so tough. As of right now I'd pick Delirium by Lauren Oliver. Of all time would be the Harry Potter Series, but this question is just ridiculous and - I'm sorry - cannot be answered appropriately :)

6. Many. Until now, I've been too afraid to count them. Now I will. Wait a sec. 24 plus ebooks - this might not seem like an awful lot, but considering I've only started really collecting them six months ago and I feel like I can never actually read them all - it's overwhelming!

7. Difficult to answer. Last year I was just reading what I got my hands on. This year I've already read almost 40 books so I can't really say.

8. I started blogging at the end of march 2012.

9. No, for example I don't review the books I read in German...

10. I really don't know. I'd like to find a way to make a decision :) I usually make about ten lists, cross some titles out, write them down again, throw my head against a wall, click on the "checkout" button, shed my eyes with my hands and order.

11. Thank You. I love you. Give me some suggestions for posts - I'd love to do what you'd like to see on my blog!

Feature & Follow Friday

Today's question is:
If you could "unread" a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it again for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?
That would have to be Delirium by Lauren Oliver. 

I started it convinced I wouldn't like it all that much because

a) I was so fed up with dystopians at that point and

b) I'd heard some other people didn't like it.

God, was I wrong! In the end, I loved it and it's one of my favorite books now. It was just when I tried to put the book down to find something to eat that I noticed I couldn't. Put it down, I mean. Not find something to eat.

I love,love, looove Oliver's writing style and the plot got so twisted and fast-paced in the end. Exactly what I love in books! 

So, yes, I'd like to unread it so that I can enjoy it from the very beginning :)

WWW Wednesday

What are you currently reading?

Abandon by Meg Cabot



What have you recently finished reading?

All American Girl - Ready or Not by Meg Cabot


What are you planning on reading next?

The Mediator 1 to 4 by Meg Cabot



The Meg Cabot readathon pretty much equals a week of amazing reads!

Top Ten Tuesday

This week it's all about our summer TBRs!
I decided to make the first half books I still need to get and the second half books that are already sitting on my shelf.

1. Ten Things we did and probably Shouldn't Have by Sarah Mlynowski
I've heard amazing things about this one, I love, love, love contemporary novels AND it's coming out in paperback in July so yes, I need to get it!

2. Frio by Laurie Halse Anderson
Not that I have read Wintergirls yet. It's just that I'm so smart and wise that I know I will like it and preorder the sequel weeks before it'd be necessary.

3. Hide and Seek by Sara Shepard
I feel like Sara Shepard has the fourth book in this series coming out a year after the first. Which is weird. How fast can that woman type??? Whatever, I think she should keep up with the speed - I love her series!

4. 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody
This sounds like the perfect book to read during my lunch breaks at work when all I see is the beautiful weather outside and all I get to do is stare at a computer screen calculating prices for products I don't even know!

5. Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
Oh, well. I am that girl buying a book just for its cover, realizing way too late that it's a sequel and then going out again, head down, picking up book no.1. Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading Impulse and Perfect because everyone seems to love them and I've never read a book in verse and I hear Ellen Hopkins is amazing :D

6. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
This, my lovely readers, is part of a little special I'm planning for Summer Reading in July!

7. Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
I'm having a huge debate with myself over this one. The problem? It looks like a fall book, but I want to read it now - right now!! But seriously guys? Those colors? Totally fall.

8. How To Save a Life by Sara Zarr
Oh, awesome right? Footprints in the snow. How summer-y. But whatever. I wanted this so badly and then I got it for my birthday and all those people out there love it so why wait until winter? Like...honestly!

9. Belles by Jen Calonita
Wanted this despite all the mixed reviews I heard. Might regret it, might not. Fact is, my life would never feel complete without my trying this book.

10. The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg
You need an explanation? Read the synopsis.

Meg-a-readers-Readathon!

I've been looking forward to this for so freaking long - you don't even understand :)
Now it's here, though and I'm excited and happy and...totally failed!
Yes, it's true. My Monday here in Germany is almost over and I've not even finished one book by now.
Anyway, I'm having a blast! I started with the sequel to Meg's All American Girl- which I've read anytime at the beginning of this year- Ready or Not and it is so funny. Like... hilarious! And I think I actually like it better than the first book. Well, we'll see when I'm done with it.
For now, I just wanted to show you guys my goals for this week:

All American Girl - Ready or Not


Abandon


The Mediator Series:

Shadowland
Ninth Key


I know, it's a shame I'm not rereading all these books but reading them for the first time. I have read the first Mediator book a while ago, but I read it in German so now I'm happy to have the comparison. Other than that I was obsessed with the Princess Diaries and Airhead Series but never got to read all the Mediator books although so many people recommended them!
Also, I'm truly excited for Abandon and can't wait to start reading it!

PS: No, that's not a mistake. I actually really was stupid enough to order the US bind-up of books one and two and the UK version for books 3 and 4. Talk about international blogging...

Summer Reading: Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

Goodreads summary:

A year after graduating from high school, nineteen-year-old Emma Ward feels lost. She has spent most of her life trying to please her frigid, miserable mother - studying hard, getting good grades, avoiding the whole teenage rebellion thing - and now she feels she has no identity beyond that. Because she spent so many years working hard and planning every moment of her life, she doesn't have any friends, has never had a boyfriend, and basically doesn't know who she is or what she really wants from life. Working two part-time jobs to save money for college hasn't helped her make decisions about her future, so she decides it's time for a change. She leaves home to live with her free-spirited, slightly eccentric Aunt Daisy in a small town that makes Emma feel like she's stepped back in time. When Emma meets Nicholas Shaw, everything changes - he's unlike anyone she's ever met before, the kind of man she didn't even know existed in the 21st century. Carefree and spirited like Daisy, Nicholas teaches Emma to appreciate life, the beauty around her, and to just let go and live. Between Daisy and Nicholas, Emma feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time in her life, and realizes that you don't always need a plan - sometimes life steers you where you're meant to be.
Life is wonderful, an endless string of blue sky days, until Nicholas is diagnosed with cancer, and life changes once again for Emma in ways she never thought possible. Now it's time for her to help Nicholas the way he's helped her. Emma will have to use her new-found strength, and discover along the way if love really is enough to get you through.


LONG  STORY SHORT:

This book was not for me. I do understand that some people actually really liked it but I found it dull, cheesy and totally unoriginal. The first half was just straight up boring, the turning point exactly what I expected and the ending unnecessarily dramatic and - again - predictable.

REVIEW:

I wanted to have Blue Sky Days for a while because the synopsis really appealed to me and then I was so happy when I got it for a really good price on Amazon. Also, I've read a pretty good review about it that encouraged me even more.

This is the first review that I'm writing that I'm afraid will probably turn into a rant. I was so disappointed with the book. Not only with the plot but with most characters, as well. I did finish it but I found it boring and even annoying which is why I'm trying to cut this review short.

PLOT:
Nothing unexpected happened. The author informs the reader about a thousand times of the evil that the protagonist's mother is and gives several examples for that. Then we can see how as soon as the main character moves in with her aunt and her life turns perfect in a sec. She makes friends, gets along with her aunt. You won't believe it but even the people she meets on the sidewalk are  so much nicer than those in her hometown! Her new room and clothes and food and the weather - everything is great now that she left behind her mean mom!

Characters:
One word: Flat. Okay, maybe I'll give you a little more than that. They were also perfect. Her boyfriend was EVERYTHING you could wish for in a boyfriend, her aunt was understanding, carefree, happy, a great friend and adult and the total opposite of mean mom. Then there's her boyfriend's dad who also is perfect and the friends she makes (whom we almost never see in the first half of the book because they seem to be working 24/7 - literally!) and they have a perfect relationship, as well. Did I forget someone? Oh. Yes. Perfect dad.

THE ENDING:
So, so cheesy. And totally expected. I would turn around and tell my mom (who was sitting next to me, listening to my complaints) what I think would happen and it totally did - every single time! And it was so cheesy - I couldn't even believe it!

WHAT I DID LIKE, THOUGH: The title. It fit the story perfectly!

HOWEVER:
This is only my opinion. The opinion of a ranty, sarcastic highschool-girl without any life experience. I thought this book was a waste of time and money - that doesn't mean you're going to think this, too. Maybe this is exactly the type of book some people with different taste love. I'm even sure there are (people like that, I mean), because Blue Sky Days has gotten pretty good ratings on Goodreads (3.75 at the moment) and because there are some very positive reviews for it, like here.




I'm afraid this book won't get a Smartie from me.

Having My Coffee???

Not that long ago I invented my own feature on Sundays to show you guys which books I got this week. I called it "Having My Coffee" because I used to work on this post as I was drinking my beloved Sunday afternoon coffee and let my thoughts wander and most of the time came up with any random topic to ramble about. Those times? Over. Oh yes, they're over. And the ending is bittersweet. On the one hand it means me sleeping through every bus ride to school and back (back then I would use this time to devour book after book), taking a nap or two during every single one of my classes (although it's mostly Bio and Spanish-ugh!) and then getting some more sleep from 9 at night to 5 in the morning - no before bed reading, of course, because my eyelids simply close and refuse to open up again!
The reason for this abrupt development? You guessed it. I gave up on coffee.
Like...radically. No coffee, cappuccino, latte, soda-latte - whatever! Nothing! Okay, except from green and black tea, but seriously - that's not coffee!!!
I'm not going to lie - it has been hard. I have a tough week to look back on. BUT it was worth it! My stomach's growling does not wake the rest of my classmates until three hours after breakfast (seriously, coffee has done that to me!) and my skin looks and feels a lot healthier!
And now, a week after the change, I barely notice it anymore. I feel good, fresh and awake!
As I've literally slept through my week there's not much more I can tell you about it. Oh, other than: I'm so behind on replying/commenting/ TWITTER (I've been absent for like...decades!) but I'm trying to catch up again :)
Happy Sunday to all of you!


Won in a Giveaway:



Thank you Angie from Pinkindle Reads and Reviews, I cannot wait to start this book!


Books I got (for my birthday):




Books I gor for review:




Thanks a lot to Andrew Goodman and Ciye Cho for offering me the chance to read and review these books!