Feature & Follow Friday: New and Unusual Things in 2013

hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

Tell us at least one new or unusual thing you’ve done in 2013.

Well, the biggest "new" thing I've done this year was start nursing school. Which in itself leads to many more new things and I guess even usual things. But because of laws and stuff I can't really talk about that stuff on here.

Another new thing I did earlier in the year was volunteer at my local humane society. One of the most fun and awesome experiences ever. Also, further sealing my obsession with cats!

Oh, and I started working as a CNA for the first time, too! 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

2014 TBR Pile Challenge

I'm participating in the 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge! All of the information can be found here My goal is to read between 21-30 books from my TBR pile. (Any books NOT published in 2014.) This puts me at the "First Kiss" level. My bookshelf and Nook are full of books needing to be read and I have quite a few on my Kindle app too. I have a whole system in place to get through all these books though and this challenge should be a lot of fun! Good luck to everyone participating! <3

Book Bangin': Contemporary Boys!

Contemporary fiction has some AWESOME book boyfriends. Here's some of my favorites:

Daniel from Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover: Because, seriously, funny & smart-ass guys are the best guys!

“It feels sort of euphoric, like we're in some sort of fairytale. Like she's Tinkerbell and I'm Peter Pan. No, wait. I don't want to be Peter Pan. Maybe she can be like Cinderella and I'll be her Prince Charming. Yeah, I like that fantasy better. Cinderella's hot when she's all poor and sweaty and slaving over the stove.” 

Holder from Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover: (Sorry, but she writes really hot boys!)

“I wonder if it's possible for people to fall in love with a person one characteristic at a time, or if you fall for the entire person at once.”

Jude from Crash by Nicole Williams: I've been swooning over him for the whole series!

“How does a guy like you promise someone forever at eighteen?”
“Easy,” he said, pressing a soft kiss into the corner of my mouth. “He finds a girl like you.” 

Matt from Flat-Out Matt by Jessica Park: Probably one of my favorite book boys of all-time. I just have a thing for the geeky ones!

“I did it, Finn. I did it. I was ready to jump, and now she’s jumping with me.” 

Beau from The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines. This doesn't even need explanation.

And for the hottie of the month:

COLE from Up In Flames by Nicole Williams 

Because he jumps out of planes to fight forest fires, duh!

Book Review: Chasing the Star Garden by Melanie Karsak

Title: Chasing the Star Garden by Melanie Karsak
Series: The Airship Racing Chronicles #1
Released: December 4, 2013
Source: Won through giveaway
Genre: Adult Steampunk
Rating: 5/5

Summary from Goodreads:

An opium-addicted beauty.
An infamous poet living in self-imposed exile.
An ancient treasure about to fall into the wrong hands.

Melanie Karsak's Chasing the Star Garden takes readers on a thrilling adventure from the gritty opium dens of gaslamp London to the gem-colored waters of the ancient world. Lily Stargazer, a loveable but reckless airship racer with a famous lover and shattered past, reluctantly plunges into a centuries-old mystery in a romantic adventure best described as Dan Brown meets Mary Shelley.

It all begins on one of the worst days of Lily’s life. She just lost the London leg of the 1823 Airship Grand Prix. To top it off, a harlequin fleeing from constables shoved a kaleidoscope down her pants, told her to fly to Venice, then threw himself from her airship tower. What’s a girl to do? For Lily, the answer is easy: drink absinthe and smoke opium. 

Lily’s lover, Lord Byron, encourages her to make the trip to Venice. Lily soon finds herself at the heart of an ancient mystery which has her running from her past and chasing true love and the stars along the way.

Okay, I know that no book is perfect, but I love absolutely everything about this one. I mean, read that synopsis! It's everything that it claims to be and so much more. This is my first time reading this author and this genre so I had no idea what to expect, but what I got was awesome! I was hooked from the first page and did not want to put it down.

I really enjoyed the writing. A lot of traveling and adventure takes place and the scenery gets set up fantastically. I had no problems imagining these foreign places, that I've never been to personally, in their historic setting. In fact, it was quite like I got to travel right along with these characters as well.

What we also get is a great crew of characters. I loved Lily as a main character and I was rooting for her the entire time; to finish her quest and find love. <3 (And yes, the romance, while not a main role in this story, is very good and realistic! Not rushed, fake, or over-the-top!)

My favorite thing about this book was the adventure, mystery, and mythology all rolled into one and the excellent way it was carried out. The plot moves along so smoothly and quickly that you can easily read for hours and not even realize it. Major points for no slow moments and no fluff! Just plain good writing and a wonderfully entertaining story!

I highly recommend!

5 STARS

Amazing! I'd make time to re-read it!

2014 Prequel and Sequel Challenge

Goodness knows I need to do this challenge. I have so many unfinished series that I need to finish! 

Some of these series are:

* Cedar Cove by Debbie Macomber

* Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

* Beautifully Broken by Courtney Cole

* Too Far by Abbi Glines

* The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

* Matched by Ally Condie

* Love Me With Lies by Tarryn Fisher

I've read only the first book in all the above series and I'd love with finish the rest of them. I've also anxiously been waiting to get the time to read both the Lux and Covenant series by Jennifer L. Armentrout!

Hopefully 2014 will be my year for series finishing. You can read the rule and sign-up here!

2013 End Of The Year Read-a-thon #ReadingCram

Juliababyjen's Reading Room & Dana Sqaure are hosting a end of the year read-a-thon!

December 9-22 2013

During this time period I will be on Christmas break from school and before I even saw this I was planning on spending the whole break reading as much as possible! Now I get to participate in fun activities and challenges along the way.

This looks like it's going to be A LOT of fun. If you'd like to participate as well: click the links to the hosts at the top.

Personal goal: I had set a goal to read 75 books this year total and I am currently at 56. I want to get to that 75 by the 22nd or REALLY close!

Good luck to everyone participating!

Book Review: Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker

Title: Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker
Series: Stand-Alone
Released: May 22, 2012 by Bloomsbury
Source: Library E-Book
Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating: 4/5

Summary from Goodreads:

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams' heart. She fell for her best friend's boyfriend and long story short: he's excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. Enter her parents' plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he's just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem's walls and heal her broken heart?

I absolutely love well-written, non-cheesy YA contemporaries and Unbreak My Heart did not disappoint. This was definitely a summer read, I mean the majority of the whole thing takes place on a sailboat during Clementine's summer break. Honestly, it made me so nostalgic of vacations with my own family when I was that age. This story was sweet and cute and perfect for poolside reading.

I fell so in love with Clementine's family! My favorite YA novels are the ones where the family is one I'd actually want to be apart of. And, IMHO, those are a little too rare these days. And the love interest-James, how cute was James?

The story was told in pieces. We don't immediately find out exactly what happened between Clem and her BFF before the vacation. We find out a little and then a little more here and there throughout. We also don't find out James whole story either. This whole set-up makes for a VERY quick read. It was one of those "one more chapter... uh one more..." kind of things because you just want to keep finding out more information. Then before you know it your finished.

I definitely recommend for fans of YA, summertime, sweet comtemps.

Warning: this book WILL make you crave a summer sailing trip with a group of freakin' awesome people AND reminisce about summer loves.