Literate Girl in an Illiterate World

Soo.... I wasn't going to do one of these posts, I wasn't! But, then scrolling through like six million  of them on my Bloglovin' feed, I thought, Why not? So without further ado.... My 2015 Wrap up.  2015 was absolutely nothing like I expected it to be, and yet it was great and terrible in many ways.  In January, I made many "resolutions" that included things like completing two school years of French on Rosetta Stone. I completed one unit. One Unit! From January to May, I read quite a lot and blogged a lot on my Wordpress blog. Also in May, I received my first review copy in my whole blogging career! I have since received many copies and improved my analytical skills when reading. In June and July, I went on a hiatus before deciding to switch to blogger. Also in July, I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo, and absolutely failed , but I learned something about myself, I can write ten thousand words in less than a week and do other stuff with my life.  In Au

With the New Year of 2016 coming up, I started to come up with possible resolutions, and then I had an idea. Every single year I make a New Year's Resolution, or a few, and I never ever actually complete them. So, I decided I would make New Year's Resolutions for every single week in the year. Yep, that's right, I have made fifty-two New Year's Resolutions, and I am going to share them and different ways to organize them today.  You could just be an all-around organized person. However, be honest with yourself, are you really, truly organized? If not, keep reading.  Have two mason jars, one with the Resolutions you have not completed, and one for the Resolutions you have completed.  Make a paper chain, and on each link, have a resolution written. You can throw them away, glue them into a scrapbook with a quick or lengthy reflection, or start another paper chain for the completed resolutions once finished.  Bake Cookies Do some Random Acts of Kin

My True Love Gave to Me  By: Various Authors ★★★★☆ 80% Teen Book 321 pages ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review. Thank You St. Martin's Griffin! However, this does not change my opinion of this book in any way, shape, or form.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Midnights  By: Rainbow Rowell This book was a typical Rainbow Rowell, cutesy, and very easy to read. In this story, I particularly liked the conversations. They were so cute and realistic. I also really like how much the writing put you in the scene like you were really there. Noel was one of the most cute and quirky characters that I have ever seen. This is definitely one of my favorite stories in this collection.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Lady and the Fox  By: Kelly Link The best part of

I am Princess X By: Cherie Priest ★★★★☆ 85% Teen Book Blurb May and Libby created Princess X on the day they met in fifth grade. That was before Libby and her mother died in a car crash. Now May is 16 and looking at another long, lonely summer in Seattle when she spots a Princess X sticker on the corner of a store window. Suddenly she starts seeing Princess X everywhere, including in a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com, where the princess story is eerily similar to Libby's. This means that the only person who could have created the comic is May's best friend—Libby—who must still be alive. In her YA debut, Priest offers a tantalizing, page-turner of a mystery that spans real locations in Seattle and dark pockets of the Internet. May is an assertive, capable heroine who finds help from likable and well-realized characters along the way in this fresh and authentic story. Even when the action moves online, Priest keeps the story exciting and approachable without ever r

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) By: Mindy Kaling ★★★☆☆ 70% 222 pages Blurb Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?” Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mo

Little Women and Me By: Lauren Baratz-Logsted ★★☆☆☆ 40% Middle Grade 312 pages Blurb Emily March is sick and tired of being a middle sister. So when she gets an assignment to describe one thing she'd change about a classic novel, Little Women is an easy choice. After all, if Emily can't fix things in her own family, she might as well bring a little justice to the other March sisters. Perhaps she can--spoiler alert!--keep Beth from dying? Or maybe she can prevent the boy next door from winding up with Amy instead of Jo? But when Emily gets mysteriously transported into the 1860s world of the March sisters, she discovers that righting fictional wrongs won't be as easy as she thought... especially when she develops a crush on the very boy she planned to save for Jo. After being immersed in a time and place so different from her own, Emily--and not the March sisters--may be the one who undergoes the most surprising change of all. Lauren Baratz-Logsted'

1. Watch Some Christmas Movies I absolutely love watching christmas movies with my family. We make a big bowl of popcorn and snuggle under the blanket. Some of our favorites are Elf, A Christmas Story, White Christmas, and A Year Without Santa Claus. Elf is very funny and suitable for almost everyone. A Christmas Story is such a classic that even my little brother loves. White Christmas is very old, but has some of the best music this planet has seen. A Year Without Santa Claus was my favorite when I was little, even if it was made long before me. 2. Make Some Christmas Cookies. I love sugar cookies in particular, but I love almost all cookies. Any family recipe or one offline would be fun to bake. I also love how you can adapt and personalize this to anyone in particular. 3. Write a Story Whatever you would like to write about would be a lot of fun. If you have a long break, you could even write a novel. If you wanted to, you could also write a short story, wr

My Heart and Other Black Holes By: Jasmine Warga ★★★★☆ 80% 302 pages Teen Book Blurb A stunning novel about the transformative power of love, perfect for fans of Jay Asher and Laurie Halse Anderson. Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness. There's only one problem: she's not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel's convinced she's found her solution—Roman, a teenage boy who's haunted by a family tragedy, is looking for a partner. Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other's broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whet

Being Audrey Hepburn By: Mitchell Kriegman ★★.75☆☆ 55% Teen Book 321 pages Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for review. This, however, does not change my opinion in any, way, shape, or form. Blurb Lisbeth comes from a broken home in the land of tube tops, heavy eyeliner, frosted lip-gloss, juiceheads, hoop earrings and "the shore." She has a circle of friends who have dedicated their teenage lives to relieve the world of all its alcohol one drink at a time. Obsessed with everything Audrey Hepburn, Lisbeth is transformed when she secretly tries on Audrey's iconic Givenchy. She becomes who she wants to be by pretending to be somebody she's not and living among the young and privileged Manhattan elite. Soon she's faced with choices that she would never imagine making - between who she's become and who she once was. This is a coming of age story that all begins with that little black dress... My Thoughts I am going to

I love the Christmas season, like most people, but there is one aspect of the season that I can just not stand. How commercialized the season and gift giving in general has become. Don't get me wrong, I love watching my loved ones' faces when they open the presents I either made myself or put great thought into. I do not like how the sales and excess of presents has become. For goodness sake, black friday sales have leaked over to thanksgiving day. I do not like how much time and energy we spend looking at sales or coming up with a Christmas list. Personally, I believe that the Christmas season should be about spending time with friends, loved ones, and family. I think that you should spend the Christmas holidays with your loved ones, baking cookies, and watching old Christmas movies together. If you and your family can,  help out those in need. Bake cookies for those in need. Donate money to a charity you would normally spend on unthoughtful gifts, such as gift cards.

Finding Audrey By: Sophie Kinsella ★★★★☆ 85% Teen Contemporary Book What this is about An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family. My Thoughts This book was refreshing. Audrey was not a character you would normally see in a Young Adult book. She had faults  that we all knew from the beginning. I found Audrey not to be relatable, but to be likable. Audrey also had TREMENDOUS character development. I love it so much when characters change and grow throughout the course of a book.They have and will continue to have problem

Dumplin'  By: Julie Murphy ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 100% Teen Book  371 pages Blurb: Dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . .  until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo,  hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she  is  surprised when he seems to like her back.   Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock th

Everything, Everything  By: Nicola Yoon ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 100% out of 100 Teen Book  Blurb: My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world.   I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.  But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He's tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster. What I Thought: ☀ I liked the tone of the story. I liked how this story was told.  I liked the narrative and the general concept of the story. ☀ I liked the little bits of the story that weren