December Read

Yes, you actually read that right. I was able to finish up a book in the month of December. I am still unsure of a blogging schedule for the new year, but I am thinking 2 posts a week at most. I just don’t have a ton of time to dedicate to it and I’m at the point that I also want to time to live my life. My blog has come a long way, since I first started it five years ago now. Might even be going on 6. The years just kinda blur together. But 2019 holds a big year of changes for me. I’m gonna be moving with March being the earliest, but I start really apartment hunting at the end of Jan/Feb. I’ll have saved enough by then. I’m gonna be on my own for the first time ever with my son, which is both thrilling and terrifying. I am so ready and excited though! I’m gonna start dating again and putting myself out there. I’m gonna start building a life for myself and my son. I can be myself whoever that is, again. So, I really can’t wait for 2019.

Runaway by Meg Cabot

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It was a solid end to the series, but I’m still a bit disappointed by it. The first book was great. The second book was still good, but not amazing. The third is just kinda meh to me. This trilogy could have just been a book and a sequel. Half the book was just sitting, hanging around her ex boyfriend’s house being a “hostage”. It could have been so much better. It was a bit of a letdown. I “read” this on audible and I have to say that the narrator was also pretty terrible. I am happy to finally close the door to this series. Maybe, I am just too old for YA books now that I am in my mid to late twenties with a child of my own. I still thought the book was okay, but nothing like the first one. I wish that I would have finished this in my younger years rather than getting around to it now. I probably would have enjoyed it more.
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Well, that is the book that I managed to finish reading in December. I think I can get through one or more books in January. I am going to start walking for my hour of lunch. It’s part of a New Years Resolution to get back to the best version of myself. I always felt the best about myself when I was exercising and keeping my body fit. I also loved myself with really long hair, so I’m also focused on growing it out and not bleaching it anymore. I’m only allowing myself to have highlights in the future. I think I’m finally at peace with my dark blonde hair. Plus, with highlights, I can still add fun colors now and again.

With Love,

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August Listening

Once again, I have nothing read in the month of August, but I have been reading. Going to school full time is really not leaving me with much me time, never mind reading time. I am hoping to take an hour to read every week and sticking to that plan. I have been listening to my audiobook when I exercise and I have listened to it at work as well when I am working on something boring and repetitive like writing procedures. I also like listening to my audiobook the last 30 minutes of work, since I’m just wrapping up and ending the day. I am enjoying Audible a ton, but I did put my subscription on hold for 3 months. I have purchased two other books that I would like to be done with before buying another audiobook.

I thought that I would share with you the two other books that I have bought from Audible and will be listening to next. Yes, both of these books are from authors that I already love and enjoy. These books were on my to-read shelf and I cannot believe that I forgot about them. I hope that I enjoy them, but I know Audible has a great return policy.

I have had this book on my to-read shelf since 2011. I believe it is a more adult Meg Cabot book and I love romance with a mix of supernatural elements. It is 16 and a half hours of Audio which the other book was only 7, so it is more than double in length. I am hoping it will be a good story from one of my favorite authors. I want to read all of her books. I think I will read this one next. I have been looking forward to it for so long. I still need to cut down my to-read shelf. I’m down to 663 from like 750. I am getting there. It is just super tedious. I make sure to only mark things that I want to read now. I only want to do this once. Maybe, by Christmas, I will have gone through all of my picks and can have the final count of the books that I want to read.

Danielle has turned me onto this author. I love her Sophaholic series and this seems like a cute stand alone. This one is 10 and a half hours. It will be a nice, humorous read and a break from dramatic stories. I have a vast taste in books and I love trying out different ones. I enjoy thrillers, but I don’t like gushy horror stories. I love chicklit and young adult books best. Danielle, if you haven’t read this one yet, you should, because it sounds amazing! I love stories that are a little racy. Keeps things adult and interesting.

If you have any recommendations on Audible, please leave them in a comment below. I’d love to check out what other people are reading. I have these two waiting in the wings, but my Audible account goes active again in November. I feel like two backups are a good number for me and will put Audible on hold again or cancel it temporarily. $14.99 is a good price, but not when I am stockpiling books every month. I have enough REAL books waiting….and my virtual kindle ones now that I think of it.

With Love,

A Rewarding YA Read

Vanished: When Lightning Strikes & Code Name Cassandra by Meg Cabot

I promise to be brutally honest with my opinion, but it should not be taken as fact. Any reader should read it for themselves, before they decide if this book has any merit or not. Do not judge this book biased solely on my opinion. If you do, you might miss out on a great read. You never know. It could happen.

So, this book called Vanished is actually two separate books in one. Too bad Goodreads will not recognize this book as two separate ones in my book goal for 2012. Oh, well! Anyways, I will separate and judge each book and their elements separately and then average the stars I give for each book and divide it by two to get the average for the book as a whole. I am using math. Who knew?!

WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES: 4 ¾ Stars

1. Strong Main Character/ Female Heroine: Let me start off by saying how much I love the character Jessica, better known as Jess. She is amazing and totally fearless. She is everything you want in a female lead. She is bold, strong-willed, headstrong, stubborn, and most of all, has a hilarious sense of humor. She is often sarcastic and snarky, but underneath that distancing persona, is a girl full of passion and love….for her family and Rob. She is a character worth reading about and knowing more about. I cannot wait to follow her adventures to her second book. 5 out of 5 stars

2. Strong Minor Characters: I cannot say that I found the minor characters in this book very fascinating or worth knowing about other than a select few. Ruth is not one of these characters. I find her more annoying than smart or brilliant. She seems like a friend that Meg Cabot just stick in there so that she could have her drive Jess around and be the driving force behind the lightning incident. Douglas is an interesting character in the book, because of his mental condition. Otherwise, I would not find him as fascinating. He provides comic relief as well as dramatic scenes. Rob is a mysterious character that is super hawt and the bad boy in this book. All books need a bad boy and this one takes the cake. He is mysterious, but caring. Jess can never figure him out, but I think I have an inkling about him. I also think I know why he is on parole. Sean is a sweet little kid with a troubled past and he added so much to the novel that I wish he would be in the second book, but I know another little child will replace him and it makes me sad. He provided a lot of comic relief to the story. The detectives provide suspense for the novel, but I do not really see them as minor or supporting characters. I see them as plot characters, characters that keep the plot moving forward and are the antagonists of Jessica. 4 out of 5 stars

3. The Setting: I love it when the setting is constantly changes. They are at school, at the football field, at home, at a bar, on the road, at a military base, at the mall, at a random house, at the train station, and etc. There are so many different changes of scenery, so it kept the whole plot very fresh and new. It did not change so much that I thought I was lost, but it changed so much that I had to keep reading to see where else the book was going to take me. It kept my interest. 5 out of 5 stars

4. The Plot: The story is interesting and fresh. Out of all the books that I have read about lightning strikes, I have never read about anyone ever getting powers from it. Usually, they switch bodies with someone else. So this unique plot twist, kept me reading the book and the fact that it included missing children that were getting found touched my heart. But like the book says, “Not everyone who is lost wants to be found” (back cover). 5 out of 5 stars

CODE NAME CASSANDRA: 4 ¼ Stars

1. Strong Main Character/ Female Heroine: I am still in love with Jess and no, not in that way. She is such a strong-willed character that I can relate to her more than most other characters that I read about. She is as close to normal as a fictional character can get with a special ability to find and locate missing children. I love her sarcastic sense of humor that relieves the tension in any stressful situation. Meg Cabot really knows this character well and how she would normally act. Cabot just keeps improving her characters with each and every installment that I want to read the next till I finish the series completely. 5 out of 5 stars

2. Strong Minor Characters: I still do not like the character of Ruth, but I like her a little better than last time. Rob is just as hawt as ever and I continue to love him as a great romantic character for Jessica. I hope their romance will actually get somewhere by the end of the series. I love the sexual tension in this book between the two of them. It keeps me reading the series, if the two characters that are destined for each other, love each other at the very end of the book or near the end of the series. I hate insta-couples! That never happens in real life! I wish I could have had more of Douglass. He is a character that I really wish to know more about and delve into his past. I did not like the little kids in this book as much as I loved Sean in the first book, but they kept me entertained enough to keep reading. I wish I would have seen a little more of the detectives in this book. 3 out of 5 stars

3. The Setting: Constantly changing in the first book, I love how the second book settles down a little bit at the camp. It still took you all over the camp, but there was not a lot of travel involved. So, I could concentrate more on what is occurring in the book and less on where the characters actually are in the book. The book takes me through the general summer, Jessica’s house, the camp, the woods, the cave, the cabins, the lake, the pool, the music center, the camp hall, the cafeteria, into the city, to McDonald’s and much, much more. I enjoy reading about all the different places that Jessica goes to. It creates quality entertainment like when you are watching a movie or your favorite tv show. 5 out of 5 stars

4. The Plot: The plot is not as entertaining as the first one. This one is generally centered on the camp and the detectives have a less active role that leaves the reader unsatisfied. I was hoping for more chasing Jessica about, but it was not like that at all. In fact, this one is less crazy and adventurous as the first, but I still enjoyed it. There was still so much mystery and intrigue. Plus, some more sexual tension with Jessica and Rob. I still craved more chaos, though. I enjoy a good chaotic read. 4 out of 5 stars

Overall, I give this entire book 4 ½ stars. I will continue to read the series, since I found it very well written and enjoyable. I believe that it would be more reflective, if I label this review as four rather than 5 stars, but this book is more than four, but less than five. There is always room for improvement.

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