quotes Elisquared likes


"Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?' In fact, it seems to me that most contemporary insults are pretty lame. Even 'lame' is kind of lame. Saying 'You're lame' is like saying 'You walk with a limp.' Yeah, whatever, so does 50 Cent, and he's done all right for himself."— John Green

Showing posts with label 2014reads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2014reads. Show all posts

1.05.2015

Past. Present. Future. (32)


There are a a lot of these "What're you reading?" features around; here's my take on one.  

Hightlighting the books I've read, the books I'm reading, and the books I'm going to read; I'd love for you all to join in if you want!

PAST:
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan - This was the pick for December's Inkwood Books YA Book Club (seriously come and hang out if you're in Tampa, FL!  There is a YA book club every second Monday of the month).  This is the 3rd time reading the book, and it's still so good!  I think that it is one to enjoy year round, but with the Christmas theme, it is particularly nice to enjoy snuggled up in December!





PRESENT:
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan - I know, I know, what the heck have I been waiting for?  I sometimes have this issue with starting a series, but then never moving on to the second book.  It's a problem, and one that also confounds me because I typically love said series!  I'm so into the continuing saga of Percy Jackson, demigod extraordinaire.  Riordan's introduction of the Roman side of the demigods is so cool, and brings another aspect to two cultures that were so similar to each other.



Hellhole by Gina Damico - I am currently reading this in preparation for my spot on the book tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours (see the banner at the top of my blog!)  I LOVED Gina's Croak trilogy, and I was super excited to get a chance to read this for the book tour!  The book comes out on January 6th (that's tomorrow), so I HIGLY recommend you pick up a copy!  It's super funny and just this side of wicked! ; )





Winger by Andrew Smith - This is the pick for January's Inkwood Books YA Book Club (again seriously come and hang out if you're in Tampa, FL!  The YA book club meets every second Monday of the month).  I just started this (I realize that I need it read by next Monday STOP PRESSURING ME!) and so far it is laugh out loud funny.  Looking forward to finishing it, as I've heard really amazing things about all of Andrew's books!




FUTURE:
The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey -  YES this is STILL the pick for my future read....JEEZ guys, don't give me those judgey eyes!










If  you've read any of these books, let me know what you thought (but NO spoilers) down below in the comments!


12.02.2014

Teaser Tuesday (70)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following!
  • Grab your current read.
  • Open to a random page.
  • Share a few teaser sentences from somewhere on that page.
  • MAKE SURE NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (you don't want to give too much away and ruin the book for other readers)
Share the title and author too, so that other readers can add your book to their TBR list if they like your teaser!
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Lola and the Boy Next Door 
Stephanie Perkins
September 29, 2011

     "I'll go with you---"
     "No. You won't."
     Cricket wants to argue. He wants to make sure I get home safely. But he knows if he comes with me, he'll cross a line that I don't want crossed. He'll lose me.
     So he says goodbye. And I say goodbye.
     And as the train pulls away, I feel like I've lost him again anyway.  (pg. 208)





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LOVED IT! I think a teenie tiny bit more than Anna (I know right?!) I LOVE Lola's attitude, and that she understands that some of her actions are selfish. I love how the relationship conundrum is handled, and that it isn't all neat and perfect. Love is messy! Andy and Nathan (Lola's parents) are adorable; I like when parents in YA have a realistic role in their child's life. No one lives in a vacuum. And this book makes me want to visit San Francisco/Berkeley/The Castro so much even with only the glimpses of the city within it's pages. But the part that made me smile the most was glimpsing the continuing story of Anna and Etienne!  Great book to curl up with in bed and finish in one sitting!

11.04.2014

Teaser Tuesday (69)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following!
  • Grab your current read.
  • Open to a random page.
  • Share a few teaser sentences from somewhere on that page.
  • MAKE SURE NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (you don't want to give too much away and ruin the book for other readers)
Share the title and author too, so that other readers can add your book to their TBR list if they like your teaser!
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The Carnival at Bray 
Jessie Ann Foley
October 1, 2014

 "One by one, she watched the lights of the carnival booths winking out, and still the ride climbed higher.  She looked east, out to where there was nothing but waves and darkness.  Breathing in the dampness, Maggie wondered what would happen if she tumbled out of her seat, splashing into the lapping nothingness, and how long it would take before someone noticed she was gone." (pg. 8)





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This is the book of the month for the YA Book Club I go to at Inkwood Books (come join us if you live in Tampa, FL).  I've just started it, but I'm hooked.  I love that it's set in the 90s grunge music era and has a large focus on music.  Music is so important, and I know growing up, my friends and I used music to channel EVERYTHING we were feeling.  Jessie Ann Foley captures this perfectly so far, and I'm excited to finish the book out.  If you've already read The Carnival at Bray, let me know what you thought!

11.03.2014

Past. Present. Future (30)


There are a a lot of these "What're you reading?" features around; here's my take on one.  

Hightlighting the books I've read, the books I'm reading, and the books I'm going to read, I'd love for you all to join in if you want!

PAST:
A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall - I read this for last month's Inkwood Books YA Book Club (if you live in Tampa, you should come join us for this month's pick, which is below).  It was a very cute book, with an interesting take on the perspectives.  This story revolves around two characters, but you never see the events of the story from their perspectives.  Instead their romance is relaid by their friends, by strangers, and, in some cases, inanimate objects.  A quick read, I think this is fun book to pick up between serious stories.

PRESENT:
The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley - This is the pick for this month's Inkwood Books YA Book Club (seriously come and hang out if you're in Tampa, FL!).  IT's set in Ireland in the 90s, and it is about a young teen who is trying to find out who she is, using music to discover her path in life.  So far it's really good, and I recommend you pick it up!

PAST:
The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey -  I could NOT put down The 5th Wave, it was so good.  I, therefore, must read the next installment.  I have to see what happens to Cassie and all the rest!  I know it's probably going to get worst before it gets better and I can't wait to jump on the terror-filled, run-for-you-life, wagon!






If  you've read any of these books, let me know what you thought (but NO spoilers) down below in the comments!

8.05.2014

Teaser Tuesday (68)


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following!
  • Grab your current read.
  • Open to a random page.
  • Share a few teaser sentences from somewhere on that page.
  • MAKE SURE NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (you don't want to give too much away and ruin the book for other readers)
Share the title and author too, so that other readers can add your book to their TBR list if they like your teaser!
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June 17, 2014

          Locked in her cell, alone but for the drip of water and the slow beat of her heart, the girl knew the stories of Izumrud were true.  She had been swallowed whole, devoured, and in the echoing alabaster belly of the White Cathedral, only the Saint remained.
(pg. 2)





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Uh, if you haven't read The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, you need to come out of your sad rock because IT IS AMAZING!!  Ruin and Rising is the last book in the trilogy, and I LOVE it!  Such a strong female protagonist, and a really captivating and complex world.  The characters are all multi-dimension, and there are surprises all over the place.  Worth reading because from pg. 1 of the first book, Shadow and Bone, you will be hooked!  GO!  Grab your own copy noooooowwwww!!!

6.10.2014

Top Ten Tuesday (41)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because they are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. They'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Each week they will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of their bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on their post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share.  If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. 
The topic this week is:
Top Ten Five Books I've Read So Far This Year
(I have not read enough books at all this year.  Bad, bad Eli!)


 
Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu

Some secrets are too good to keep. 
Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat.  
Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend. 
Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe. 
Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own. 
But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?

The Secret Diamond Sisters by Michelle Madow

Savannah. Courtney. Peyton. 
The three sisters grew up not knowing their father and not quite catching a break. But it looks like their luck is about to change when they find out the secret identity of their long-lost dad—a billionaire Las Vegas hotel owner who wants them to come live in a gorgeous penthouse hotel suite. Suddenly the Strip's most exclusive clubs are all-access, and with an unlimited credit card each, it should be easier than ever to fit right in. But in a town full of secrets and illusion, fitting in is nothing compared to finding out the truth about their past.

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Time is slipping away.... 
Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything. 
Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race. 
The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place? 
Victoria Scott's breathtaking novel grabs readers by the throat and doesn't let go. 

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. 
But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
Does one need four fully-grown foxgloves for decorating a dinner table for six guests? Or is it six foxgloves to kill four fully-grown guests?  
Sophronia's first year at school has certainly been rousing.  First, her finishing school is training her to be a spy (won't Mumsy be surprised!).  Secondly, she gets mixed up in an intrigue over a stolen device and has a cheese pie thrown at her. 
Now, as Sophronia sneaks around the dirigible school, eavesdropping on the teachers' quarters and making clandestine climbs to the ship's boiler room, she learns that there may be more to a school trip to London than at first appears...
Vampires, werewolves, and humans are all after the prototype Sophronia recovered, which has the potential to alter human and supernatural travel. 
Sophronia must try to uncover who is behind a dangerous plot to control the prototype... as well as survive the London season with a full dance card. 

So as you can see, I don't have ten books to choose from.  This is because I have only read seven books so far this year.  It is horrible, I know.  I'm trying to rectify this, but it is slow goings.  BUT these five books that I've suggested above are excellent, and well worth a read.

Happy reading my lovely followers!  Let me know in the comments some of the books you've read this year, and don't forget to stop by The Broke and the Bookish to see the rest of the lists!

6.05.2014

Visual Inspirations - Noggin by John Corey Whaley



Pictures/Art/Photographs all help me see the books I'm reading.  Often, while I'm online, I stumble upon images that remind me of the book.  These visuals add layers to the stories, and can be used to offer hints to the plot.  So I've decided to put out "Visual Inspirations" in order to spark readers' interests in those books that I love.  Please feel free to join in; hopefully you'll get some new books to read in the process!

This is slowly becoming one of my favorite books of 2014.  To celebrate this I give you inspiration this week from:

Noggin by John Corey Whaley


Oh I wonder what this could all mean?

Check the book out at your local bookstore or local library.  It is a great book, full of humor and the search for what it means to be alive (but in a totally non-pretentious way, promise!).

6.03.2014

Top Ten Tuesday (40)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because they are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. They'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Each week they will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of their bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on their post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share.  If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.
The topic this week is: 
Top Ten Books That Should Be In Your Beach Bag
(WOOH SUMMER!)


 
Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu

Some secrets are too good to keep. 
Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat.  
Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend. 
Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe. 
Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own. 
But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?
Noggin by John Corey Whaley
Listen — Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t.
Now he’s alive again. 
Simple as that. 
The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but he can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he’s still 16 and everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too. 
Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, then there are going to be a few more scars. 
Oh well, you only live twice. 
The Secret Diamond Sisters by Michelle Madow

Savannah. Courtney. Peyton. 
The three sisters grew up not knowing their father and not quite catching a break. But it looks like their luck is about to change when they find out the secret identity of their long-lost dad—a billionaire Las Vegas hotel owner who wants them to come live in a gorgeous penthouse hotel suite. Suddenly the Strip's most exclusive clubs are all-access, and with an unlimited credit card each, it should be easier than ever to fit right in. But in a town full of secrets and illusion, fitting in is nothing compared to finding out the truth about their past.
Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Time is slipping away.... 
Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything. 
Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race. 
The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place? 
Victoria Scott's breathtaking novel grabs readers by the throat and doesn't let go. 
Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler

What happens when the person you’re becoming isn’t the one your family wants you to be? 
When Aaron Hartzler was little, he couldn’t wait for the The Rapture: that moment when Jesus would come down from the clouds to whisk him and his family up to heaven. But as he turns sixteen, Aaron grows more curious about all the things his family forsakes for the Lord. He begins to realize he doesn’t want Jesus to come back just yet—not before he has his first kiss, sees his first movie, or stars in the school play. 
Whether he’s sneaking out, making out, or playing hymns with a hangover, Aaron learns a few lessons that can’t be found in the Bible. He discovers that the girl of your dreams can just as easily be the boy of your dreams, and the tricky part about believing is that no one can do it for you. 
In this funny and heartfelt coming-of-age memoir, debut author Aaron Hartzler recalls his teenage journey from devoted to doubtful, and the search to find his own truth without losing the fundamentalist family who loves him. 
Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge 
Paige Turner has just moved to New York with her family, and she's having some trouble adjusting to the big city. In the pages of her sketchbook, she tries to make sense of her new life, including trying out her secret identity: artist. As she makes friends and starts to explore the city, she slowly brings her secret identity out into the open, a process that is equal parts terrifying and rewarding. 
Laura Lee Gulledge crafts stories and panels with images that are thought-provoking, funny, and emotionally resonant. Teens struggling to find their place can see themselves in Paige's honest, heartfelt story.
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know? 
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling. 
What happened?
Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe. 
My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die! 
The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father. 
Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met. 
A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too. 
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was; lovely and amazing and deeply flawed; can she begin to discover her own path.
Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. 
But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

Each of the books on this list are amazing, and ones that I have enjoyed immensely!  You should all be running to grab your own copies to read while you're chilling on the beach or relaxing by the pool this summer!

Happy Summer my lovely readers!  Let me know in the comments some of your Beach Bag books, and don't forget to stop by The Broke and the Bookish to see the rest of the lists!

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