I Think I Fell Into a Coma Today...

I had plans for this day, people!

I had goals and ambitions and wonderful things to do and clothing to buy and books to hunt down and I...didn't even get a shower. Shhh! You didn't hear that!

Basically what happened was that I got up all fresh and wakey, wakey. Then I tapped to the kitchen. Then I made this fantastic banana chocolate chip bread. Then I ate it. Then I had breakfast.

Then I decided to crawl back under my blanket and listen to music.

After two hours of doing that I feared the maintenance workers that check every dorm room for not-allowed-kettles - and -candles and take water samples may come in and find me in bed at almost lunch time.

I realized that at 11 it was - actually - almost lunchtime, so I decided to go and roast some veggies and falafel and put them on spinach and call it a meal.

(This was actually really good! I might start eating it everyday until I die)

When that was eaten, my body felt the need to digest it and that obviously works best lying on your stomach so I did just that while reading this new book that I got.

(This picture is not mine, it's from Google because I am feeling lazy today. If you hadn't already noticed...)

When I got bored I listened to music again.

Then I read again.

Then I listened to music again.

Anywhere between then and 5 PM I must have fell into said coma, because I got out of bed and realized that

a) it was dark outside

b) the maintenance guys never came

Dinner was an unrealistically large bowl of oatmeal with half a jar of honey .

Then I facetimed with my mom and she asked me if I was drunk but I think it was just social anxiety, because I hadn't seen human beings all day.

Now it's 8 PM and I have completely and entirely wasted this day.

But, you know what? It feels AMAZING!!!!

Seriously, you should try it. Just do WHATEVER YOU FEEL LIKE for one entire day!

Top Ten Sequels I Cannot Wait to get my Hands on!

I LOVE this weeks topic because I can finally come up with ten books - and still have some more ideas for picks in my head! I tend to really like series, but it's so hard keeping up with them! 

However, especially Sisters' Fate, Cress and Into the Still Blue will be on my shelves (and read) in no time, because I just CANNOT wait for them to come out next year!!!

I really want to emphasize how amazing Geek Girl and Jessica Shirvington's series are, because they are just not talked about enough!!!

What I Avoided to Talk About...

Just to torture myself, I will state two facts you guys have probably heard me whine about way too many times this year.

1) I read 108 books last years

2) My goals was 120 books this year

3) I will totally not make that goal

4) I will probably be VERY far away from last year's goal, too

Now, all of this is probably not news to you (not to me, definitely!). And I just realized those were 4, not 2 facts which might explain my counting problems.

Anyway, what I didn't realize in my utter disappointment with myself was that I made almost every other challenge I signed up for! And when I say that, I mean, I managed to do preeeetttyyy well in all but one of them!

Goal: 11-20 books 

1) Graceling by Kristin Cashore

2) Fire by Kristin Cashore

3) The Diviners by Libba Bray

4) Cloaked by Alex Flinn

5) Tempest by Julie Cross

6) Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

7)Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

8) Gone by Michael Grant

9) Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

10) Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

11) The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

12) My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares

13) Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

14) The Boyfriend list by E. Lockhart

15) Love Story by Jennifer Echols

16) The Statistical Probablity of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

17) Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

18) Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

19) Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

20) How To Save a Life by Sarah Zarr

21) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Current status: 11 books! (nailed it!)
And I am almost entirely sure I will make it even more than 11 books until the year is over!

Sequel Challenge:

1) Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

2) Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

3) Darkest Hour

4) Reunion

5) Ninth Key (all by Meg Cabot)

6) Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

7) Confessions of an Almost Girlfriend by Louise Rozett

8) Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick

9) Dare You To by Katie McGarry

10) Shadowland by Alyson Noel

11) Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

12) The Elite by Kiera Cass

13)  Cross My Heart, Hope to Die by Sara Shepard

14) Wanted by Sara Shepard

15) Frostbite by Richelle Mead

16) Shadowkiss by Richelle Mead

17) Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

18) Scarlett by Marissa Meyer

19) Entice by Jessica Shirvington 

20) Vortex by Julie Cross

21) Through the Ever Night by Veronika Rossi

22) Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

23) Reached by Ally Condie

These are all the sequels i did read this year and I'm pretty sure my goal here was 12 a year. Yeah, doubled that. You know me. I tend to be awesome like that.

Vampires

Frostbite by Richelle Mead

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Werewolves/Shifters

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Fey

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (The Iron Fey #1)

Angels/Nephilim

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Entice by Jessica Shirvington

Mermaids

Dragons

Zombies

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick

Demons

Witches/Wizards

Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

Ghosts

Ninth Key by Meg Cabot

Darkest Hour by Meg Cabot

Reunion by Meg Cabot

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnsson 

Aliens

The Rules by Stacey Kade

Other (ie: sirens, unicorns, centaurs, timetravel etc.)

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Tempest by Julie Cross

Vortex by Julie Cross

Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

Shadowland by Alyson Noel

Ink by Amanda Sun

The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg 

I cannot even contain my excitement about this particular challenge! Before the challenge, I didn't like Paranormal Romance at all!!! Okay, that's not the point, because I still don't like the genre. However, I have discovered some really great books in it that are brilliant even though they are paranormal!

The last challenge I participated in was the Debut Author Challenge which I completely failed at. I remember reading Geek Girl and Prophecy at the beginning of the year, but those are literally the only Debuts I have read the entire year which is just sad. I honestly feel bad about it!

Anyway, how well have you done at your challenges this year? What are you doing to get as many book read as possible before the year is over? 

A Peak Into My Pocket

You guys all know Pocket?? That beautiful app where you can save practically everything you see on the internet? Yeah, I use it religiously and every Sunday, I share my favorite links with all of you!

Because there is no way I can get over Allegiant anytime soon...

Have you read Australian books? Soo many to check out!

Finally something to do with all those over-ripe bananas!

I think I should make it a mission to eat pancakes every day of my life...

Just adds to the cozy fall atmosphere!

Oh, my wallet. My poor wallet...

Do you love breakfast as much as I do???

October Wrap Up and November TBR

Books I finished in October:

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

The review for this one is already up on the blog and I was really, heavily disappointed by it. I know a lot of people love ALL of Forman's novels but this one was not for me. 

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnsson

I listened to the audiobook and I liked it for two reasons. One, it was a good book. Two, I read it at the exact perfect time in my life. I recommend it especially if you're looking for a gloomy fall read!

Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

Highlight of the month! Year, even! This trilogy is so amazingly good yet SO underestimated. If you haven't started reading these books, do so now. They have everything you could ever want in YA!

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Not bad at all, but a bit too long for my taste. I preferred the first three books and really hope the next ones are going to be a bit faster paced and more dense in the plot again! Still a good read :)

Monthly review:

I still find it incredibly difficult to find time for reading! There are so many other things that I love (or have) to do. If a book is really good, like Star Cursed or Allegiant, I will totally make time for reading, but if I am just trying to finish and am not actually invested in the novel, it takes me ages to even read a couple of pages further. And yes, I have thought about DNF - ing, but...you know... Haha, I'm way too OCD to do that!

On to the books I want to finish in November

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

The Beautiful and the Cursed by

Pantomime by Laura Lam

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Wild Cards by Simone Elkeless

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

November Bookies!

Standalones

New Series!

Sequels...

Wow, hey there, series! Overdoing it much?? Whatever, these are the books/series I have my eyes GLUED on this month!

The F-It List

Pawn 

Twinmaker

Bloodlines Series 

Legend Trilogy 

Angelfall Trilogy

Crash Into You (!!!)

Ten Tiny Breaths Series

Violet Eden Chapters Series (need to catch up!)

Brooke 

Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

If you asked me at page 250 (a bit more than halfway through) if I was enjoying my read, I probably would have let said read collide with your head. That's how frustrated I was from page 10 to around page 300. 

By which I want to say: the last half was good, the ending was horrible from one viewpoint and okay from another one.

To confuse you even more, I won't begin at page 1, but with the end of the book, because that's the part I liked the most.

In this part, Forman let my heart squeal of joy about the idea of travelling Europe. She was responsible for my wanting to go to Paris and Amsterdam and Nice and all those wonderful places she described. I wanted to live Allyson's life and meet the people she met and just let loose and travel for a summer.

This last part was the inspiring one. It was also, in my opinion, the most well-written part. 

I could talk to you about the ending and judge it in some kind of way, but I won't. Just that much: it ends on a major cliffhanger that I expected but found completely inappropriate (oops. judgement.)

So, the third half of the book was really nice, everything before that was dreadful and the ending cheesy and uneventful.

Now, you might remember (or, probably not. It was one of my first reviews ever) how I fell in love with Forman's writing in If I Stay. That story was so heartbreaking and beautifully written that it made me cry. It is, to this day, the only book that ever made me cry.

Just One Day only made me very angry.

It had none of that atmosphere, that strong connection with the characters, that nerve racking hoping and wishing that went along with the drama of the book.

I know you're not supposed to compare books like that, but I just don't understand how one book can amaze me so much and the other is just plain boring???

A lot of my criticism probably roots from the main character, Allyson. She was a lot like me in that she had absolutely no idea who she was , she wasn't very risky and let adventures pass her by, because she was too afraid to try something new. I got that she needed to be that way for the story. Some of her other traits, though, just really annoyed me. She was so whiny all the time! She had no confidence at all! She made really stupid decisions and said very mean things.

Apart from Allyson, whom I couldn't really connect with, the story itself lacked reality, in my opinion. I get the message behind it, but I think to make such a statement about real life believable - the plot itself has to be a bit realistic, too.

I found that it really wasn't realistic, everything just seemed to go the way the author wanted it to go. Also, I found the different parts of the book very irritating. I might have gone into it with the wrong expectations, but what I wanted was "Just One Day" in Paris. Not a couple of days in Paris, a year of college, more Paris etc.

It just hopped all over the place and I didn't even know what the story behind everything was.

Finally, what really bothered me was the idea that you can fall in love with someone in one day (Hey there, insta-love!). And THEN (this is the real problem, hence the capital letters) think about nothing but that boy for a whole year!!!! I mean, what is wrong with that girl????

Okay, enough ranting. This just needed to be said.

So, I guess you got the point where I tried to say that I didn't like this book at all and was super disappointed with it, right?

Tell me what you thought about this book in the comments, yeah? And especially if you liked it, what it was that you liked about it! I'd really, honestly like to know :)

Also: if you want to read a positive review of this book, just head over to Goodreads, because everyone else loved it!