Literate Girl in an Illiterate World

The Eighth Story. Nineteen Years Later. Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016. It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places. brief synopsis taken from goodreads.com This is one of those books that after you read it, you just can't seem to stop ...

Do you journal daily? Or maybe do you journal every-other-daily? Or maybe do you even have no set schedule for journaling? Do you just journal when you feel in a journaly mood? Or maybe you journal when you need to empty your mind? Or when you need to find clarity? Or maybe when you just need to vent for whatever reason? I personally don't have a set schedule for journaling. I journal when I feel like it, when I need clarity, or when I am in a mood to write a lot. Or maybe I don't feel like writing a lot and I still journal, just more artistically than other days. I have noticed that how I journal varies dependent on my mood and what I feel like talking about. I talked about a few different types of journaling in my last post about journaling. I have recently noticed that when I am stressed out or I just can't find words for what I am feeling, I tend to do more artistic or collage journaling. When I want to get right to the point about what I am thinking, or feeli...

Do you have any passions? Everyone has something that they love more than anything else and are in pure nirvana while doing. We all have something that we excel at or at least really, really enjoy doing. Writing is my pure nirvana. However, I feel like I never have time to actually write. What about you? Do you ever feel like you have so many mundane things to do that you don't have time for your passions, the things that make you feel truly alive? I have always felt this to some extent, but never to the extent that I now feel. Recently, I have made an effort to try to write more, and sadly, I have failed to epic proportions. I have always wanted to write a book and had multiple ideas for one, but I have never actually sat down to write the book. In the past few weeks, I have tried to get to know some of the characters or plot the storyline for some of my ideas before summer rolls around and I actually have time to write a the whole first draft of a book. During the...

How does the formatting of a book affect your reading experience? I usually enjoy unique formatting in my books, but I recently read the first half of Illuminae before putting it down. I quit reading Illuminae because of the formatting. While the whole book being composed of lab reports, wikipedia articles, and IM messages was a cool concept, it made the story hard to follow. Many people enjoyed Illuminae because of the unique formatting, and others enjoyed it because they thought it had a good story. The formatting, for me made the story drag and I had no idea what was going on until about page 150. The only part I enjoyed was the interviews with some of our characters because it was only then that you really got to see the characters. I enjoy both books that have unique formatting and books that have traditional formatting. However, I think that if a book does have unique formatting, the formatting should add to the story, not take away from the story. When I was reading I...

The Siren By Kiera Cass How It Stacks Up.... //★★★★☆//90%//327 pages// So What's It About? Kahlen is a Siren, bound to serve the Ocean by luring humans to watery graves with her voice, which is deadly to any human who hears it. Akinli is human—a kind, handsome boy who's everything Kahlen ever dreamed of. Falling in love puts them both in danger . . . but Kahlen can't bear to stay away. Will she risk everything to follow her heart? My Thoughts First of all, I want to say that I have wanted to read this book ever since I read that she self published it in her author flap on the back of The Selection . I searched for it EVERYWHERE, but The Siren could not be found, even on amazon. So, I sadly waited (actually I completely forgot about it, but that's besides the point) until I heard that it was going to be published. Since I'm cheap and I didn't want to pay full price for the book (or any price), I didn't preorder it. Later, I found The...

Everything Leads to You By: Nina La Cour //★★★★★//100%//312 pages// So What's It About? Just out of high school, Emi Price is a talented young set designer already beginning to thrive in the L.A. film scene. But her artistic eye has failed her in one key area: helping her to design a love life that’s more than make-believe. Then she finds a mysterious letter at an estate sale, and it sends her chasing down the loose ends of a movie icon’s hidden life. And along the way, she finds Ava, and at long last, Emi’s own hidden life begins to bloom. My Thoughts All of the characters were very real, and you could tell that Nina had spent a lot of time fleshing out her characters, even before she began writing the story. I admire authors that do that because they really get to know every aspect of their character's personality, even things that aren't needed for the story, because it really shows when authors really know their characters, not just the tip of the...

Recently, I read Every Last Word By Tamara Ireland Stone. I loved the book, but it wasn't too realistic. To me, it didn't even seem like Sam had OCD, and the way the whole story was not how it would have happened in real life. I was kind of surprised by this because usually I dislike books that aren't realistic, and I also usually take some "points" off in my review if they are not realistic.  Does how realistic a book is affect your enjoyment levels of a book? Personally, I think that a fictional book does not need to be 100% realistic for mwah to enjoy it. However, I do think that a book, even if fictional, needs to be realistic enough to be believable. When reading about a character and their struggle(s), I need to believe they are actually struggling to sympathize with them. All of this is all up to what kind of reader you are and what you like best. In my opinion, fantasy fictional novels can be about 25% realistic, and still be enjoyable for me. How...

El Deafo  By Cece Bell How It Stacks Up... //★★★★☆//80%//233 pages// So What's It About? Starting at a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.  Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in school--in the hallway...in the teacher's lounge...in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different... and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend? This funny perceptive graphic no...

When I was younger, I kept a journal, but it was mostly just what I did that day, or anything I was looking forward to in the future. I have recently gotten back into journaling, but I am doing it a lot differently than I used to.  Before you start to journal, you need to figure out how you want to do it and then get the supplies to do so. If you're not sure what kind of journaling you want to do, I would recommend experimenting. If you are going to experiment for a while before you see what you like the best, I would recommend getting a thick and tall notebook. Once you figure out what kind of journaling you want to do (i.e. prayer journaling, bullet journaling, art journaling, collage journaling, workout journal, or just idea journaling), go out and buy a journal that you both like and would work for what you want to do. The only real guidelines I use when picking out a new journal is to get a tall journal if you are going to do collage or art journaling. If you a...

In Real Life  By Jessica Love How it Stacks Up.......  ★★1/2☆☆///50%///224 pages I received a review copy from St. Martin's Griffin in exchange for an honest review. This, however, does not change my ability or desire to state my opinion in any way, shape, or form. So What's It About?  Hannah Cho and Nick Cooper have been best friends since 8th grade. They talk for hours on the phone, regularly shower each other with presents, and know everything there is to know about one another. There's just one problem: Hannah and Nick have never actually met. Hannah has spent her entire life doing what she's supposed to, but when her senior year spring break plans get ruined by a rule-breaker, she decides to break a rule or two herself. She impulsively decides to road trip to Vegas, her older sister and BFF in tow, to surprise Nick and finally declare her more-than-friend feelings for him. Hannah's romantic gesture backfires when she gets to Vegas and m...

Just by the URL of this blog, you can tell that I really like books, or used to anyway. Yes, I just said I used to really like books. As in used to, which is in past tense. This is the reason I'm writing this post. You may have noticed in the past few months, but I'm not reading as much as I used to. This is not because I have read too many books, or anything like that, but rather that I'm doing other things.  Recently, I have discovered that while I still do really like reading, it's not my life anymore. I used to read for hours upon hours a night, and that was what I needed at the time. However, right now I'm not  gravitating towards books as much as I used to. This is a good thing, as I am becoming more well-rounded with my activities, and I'm developing better relationships with my friends and family. I have gotten into many new activities, such as predictable things for me, like knitting and photography, and some other not so predictable things, l...

Since I believe that if you pick certain quotes out a story, you will be shown the story, I have now made a new feature for it. Oh, and this Quotes Show You A Story will be focusing on Side Affects May Vary By Julie Murphy.  “Truth and fiction were one big blur.” This quote is very true for our main character, Alice. Alice didn’t know what she wanted to live and what was the truth to her. With how Alice acted you would think she lived in fiction because she did whatever she wanted. “But even though we lived the truth, there were some things I would never know how to say out loud.” I think that this quote represents Alice’s relationship with her parents. She almost never asked them about what issues were deeply gnawing at her. I get that most teens don’t have that great of relationship with their parents, but Alice didn’t even try. “But just because it was normal didn’t make it cut any less deep.” This describes how Alice lives. She allows herself to be cut at agai...

How it Stacks Up.... ★ ★1/2 ☆ ☆ // 50%/ / 310 pages // teen fiction So What's It About? This is the story of Billy Kinsey, heir to a lottery fortune, part genius, part philosopher and social critic, full time insomniac and closeted rock drummer. Billy has decided that the best way to deal with an absurd world is to stay away from it.  Do not volunteer. Do not join in.  Billy will be the first to tell you it doesn't always work- not when your twin sister, Dorie, has died, not when your unhappy parents are at war with one another, not when frazzled soccer moms in two ton SUVs are more dangerous than atom bombs, and not when your guidance counselor keeps asking why you haven't applied to college. Billy's life changes when two people enter his life. Twom Twomey is a charismatic renegade who believes that truly living means  going a little outlaw . Twom and Billy become one another's mutual benefactor and friend. At the same time, Billy is reintroduced to Gr...

YAY!! REVIEW MASHUPS HAVE GRACED US WITH THEIR PRESENCE ONCE AGAIN!  “Magic comes when you’re not looking for it.” This book was exactly what I need at that moment in time. I had just finished the most boring book of the century, Midnight in St. Petersburg and I needed something that was fluffy, easy to read, and funny. This book not only fulfilled those requirements, but it blasted my expectations out of the water. As both a nerd and a geek, I could relate to Harriet on a certain level, but I felt like she wasn’t developed enough or mature enough for her age. I wonder why this book was classified as “Young Adult”. Geek Girl feels like a middle grade. “Oh, she frightens me, but I’ll just frighten her right back.” Harriet was cute, but she felt a bit young for her age. She did develop a lot throughout the course of the book. Harriet grows into someone more sensible, but she is still very young for her age and isn’t all that sensible. I really liked Harriet...