serious insanity: May 2012

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Mini Reviews: Dengeki Daisy vol. 1, 2, & 6 by Kyousuke Motomi

Title: Dengeki Daisy, vol. 1
Author: Kyousuke Motomi
Pages: 192
Publication: July 6, 2010
Publisher: VIZ MEdia
Summary taken from goodreads:

After orphan Teru Kurebayashi loses her beloved older brother, she finds solace in the messages she exchanges with DAISY, an enigmatic figure who can only be reached through the cell phone her brother left her. Meanwhile, mysterious Tasuku Kurosaki always seems to be around whenever Teru needs help. Could DAISY be a lot closer than Teru thinks?

One day at school Teru accidentally breaks a window and agrees to pay for it by helping Kurosaki with chores around school. Kurosaki is an impossible taskmaster though, and he also seem to be hiding something important from Teru...

4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:

Those two are hilariously cute. I found Teru's personality to be typical of a shojo heroine, but Kurosaki always made her react differently, which usually ended up with me chuckling to myself, so it was all good.

Title: Dengeki Daisy, vol. 2
Author: Kyousuke Motomi
Pages: 200
Publication: October 5, 2010
Publisher: VIZ Media
Summary taken from goodreads:

When Teru’s home gets burglarized, she ends up staying at Kurosaki’s apartment. The close quarters lead to tension, but things get even more complicated when a woman named Riko Onizuka shows up, bringing up a past that involves Kurosaki…

4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:

I think this volume was even funnier than the last. I loved how things were super serious, and then super hilarious.

Title: Dengeki Daisy, vol. 6

Author: Kyousuke Motomi

Pages: 192

Publication: September 6, 2011

Publisher: VIZ Media

Summary taken from goodreads:

Teru and Kurosaki continue to investigate the fake DAISY incident and are on the verge of solving the case when Teru gets kidnapped! What does the kidnapper want with her, and will Kutosaki be able to rescue her in time?!

4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:

Teru has got to be one of my most favorite heroines ever. She's got guts and is resourceful and hilarious and isn't afraid to show her emotions. She wasn't afraid to risk her life and her guilty conscious is one that isn't hard to sympathize with. She's an awesome girl. No wonder Kurosaki likes her. Poor guy, he's got his work cut out for him.

IN CONCLUSION: YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ THIS SERIES. THERE'S PLENTY OF HUMOR IN THE BEGINNING VOLUMES THAT WILL MAKE YOU CONSTANTLY CHUCKLE, AND ALTHOUGH THE LATER VOLUMES BECOME MORE DARK AND SERIOUS, THE SERIES IS STILL COMPLETELY ENJOYABLE. NOT TO MENTION, THE CHARACTERS ARE ALL FULL OF WIN.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

No longer a high schooler. :P

For the past week or so, I've been really busy, which lead to my lack of posts. Last Tuesday, my cousin from California and my other cousin from Illinois flew over to spend some time with my family and I before attending my graduation on Friday night, so the rest of the week was spent running around showing my cousins touristy things around town and in Atlanta.

Then I graduated on Friday, and since my graduation started at eight o'clock at night, there really wasn't much to do afterwards, so after taking some pics with my friends, I went home with my sis and cousins and just chilled until two in the morning. The ceremony really didn't take that much time.

I think the waiting was longer than the actual graduation. I mean, all of the graduates were supposed to go to this building that was behind the building that we were having the ceremony in by 6:30, so Shanice picked me up around six o'clock, and we got there right on time after making a quick bathroom break. Once we were inside, we spent some time finding our friends and gushing over how we're finally graduating! and ohmygod! ahhh! it's finally happening! And then Mrs. Powell was telling us to line up in our correct seating order, and we followed the rules, but it was still seven o'clock and the ceremony wasn't starting anytime soon, so we all still moved around the room talking to our neighbors or nearby friends until around 7:40, when things were starting to get serious.

But yeah, I think that that whole ordeal was longer than the actual graduation ceremony. Maybe it was because we had to stand up the whole time while we were waiting, whereas we got to sit most of the time during the ceremony.

And you know what? I still don't feel any different. People were asking me how it felt after graduation was over, and all I could say was, "I don't know. It still feels the same." I guess that feeling will hit me after my bro starts going to school while I get to sleep in for a couple of more weeks, lol.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll try to go back to my usual almost-daily posting now that everything's over.

Later~

pointy.star

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Tumblr Pics 25

Today was my last day of high school. I feel like I should be out celebrating with my friends, but what am I doing? Reading EXO-K fanfiction.

I'm such a cool kid. XD

Monday, May 21, 2012

Bout of Books Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up

I reached my goal of reading four books! :D

Granted, I only accomplished this because I decided to not write my extra credit paper for AP Calc because my sis and I talked about it and she made this awesome point of pointing out that I'm not failing the class--so what if I have a B in there--and it's pointless now anyway. I've already been accepted into my college and I'm still ranked in the top ten percent of my grade regardless of my final grade in there; I don't have to do anything for that class anymore.

So I read and cleaned my room over the weekend instead, lol.

Anyway, during the challenge, I read Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors, Zombie Tag by Hannah Moskowitz, and Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally. And I read 1089 pages in all! :D

I'm happy that I accomplished my goal. Normally, I only read two books a week since I'm so busy with school and other things, although I occasionally can read three books a week, so reading four books last week was pretty cool, even though I sort of felt pressured to continue reading, lol.

But the pressure wasn't even really coming from the read-a-thon; it was more because I've been cleaning my room, which means moving my books around, and I have realized once again that I have way too many TBR books piled up in my room. Over 250 of them. O__O And it's a lot once you think about it. I mean, I average around 180 books a year, and that includes manga and manhwa and graphic novels. I own around 220 books and 30 manga/graphic novels that I need to read. It's a bit overwhelming when I think about it all.

But yeah, I'm going to try to read as many books as I can over the summer since I know that I most likely won't have much reading time once I start college. Hopefully, I'll make a sizable dent in my enormous TBR pile by the end of the summer. Maybe join a few more read-a-thons to help motivated me. :)

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Weekly Haul (58)

This week, I got my yearbook. :D

This is the last yearbook I will ever get since I'm graduating this Friday, so I'm really glad that this year's yearbooks turned out so well. I'm incredibly glad that my friend was one of the editors since she's so creative and awesome with photography.

As you can see, I had my yearbook personalized. I ordered mine near the middle of the first semester when Assassin was still playing, and I thought "What the heck, I might as well put Gamemaster in my name just to remind myself in the future about the awesome game I invented." So I did. And I'm so glad that I did it. I completely forgot about Assassin since the game died off over Christmas Break, but then I remembered it again once I got my yearbook, and everyone still smiles and remembers the game after I hand them my yearbook to sign. :)

And that was the point. I wanted to play an awesome game with all of my friends at school because it's our senior year, so we might as well have fun while ruling the school. I wanted to create an awesome memory that my friends would never tire of telling people as they look back on their senior year, and I guess I did it. People still call me Gamemaster and have been asking me if we were going to play Assassin again, but there was no time in between AP tests and breaks, and now it's too late to start it up since we're graduating on Friday and most people won't even be at school this week since it's finals.

But I'm glad that I created the game in the first place. Yeah, it was stressful when the game actually started, but it was so much fun listening to everyone's stories and re-accounts of events, and it was an amazing feeling knowing that I started something so awesome that people wanted to join and play again and again.

Lol, I got so off-topic. The yearbook's great! I didn't really like how the quotes weren't underneath our pictures like they usually are every other year, but having an index was also cool. And what I really love about my yearbook is all of the meaningful messages that my friends have written in it. And the pictures, lol. I'm really going to miss those guys next year.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Mind-blowing Picture

This is insane.

LOOK AT IT!

(Click on the pic to enlarge. It's so much better when it's bigger. :c)

Found it on The Meta Picture.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Book Review: Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund

Title: Academy 7
Author: Anne Osterlund
Pages: 272
Pubication: May 14, 2009
Publisher: Puffin
Summary taken from goodreads:

With a past too terrible to speak of, and a bleak, lonely future ahead of her, Aerin Renning is shocked to find she has earned a place at the most exclusive school in the universe. Aerin excels at Academy 7 in all but debate, where Dane Madousin - son of one of the most powerful men in the Alliance - consistently outtalks her. Fortunately Aerin consistently outwits him at sparring. They are at the top of their class until Dane jeopardizes everything and Aerin is unintentionally dragged down with him. When the pair is given a joint punishment, an unexpected friendship - and romance - begins to form. But Dane and Aerin both harbor dangerous secrets, and the two are linked in ways neither of them could ever have imagined. . .

4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:

Don't let the cover fool you, this book is not about an overly-dramatic girl and her shallow relationships with people. It's about a girl and a boy who have painful pasts, unwilling to share their horrors to each other as they become friends and work to uncover a startling secret that changes everything. And it takes place in a universe where you can live on different planets, which is pretty awesome.

Actually, the characters are pretty awesome. Aerin had to fight to survive every day for the past seven years as she lived as a slave on Vizhan. When she escapes and is given a chance to go to a prestigious school, she does everything that she can to prove her worth there, and it pays off since she's at the top of her class. She's hardworking and smart and tough, but she's also vulnerable since she has never had to deal with the power-plays that occurs at every school. She never even had a friend before. Aerin was like a wild animal, self-protective and easily distrustful, but when she finally opened up, she was this confident and intriguing girl that I could easily sympathize with as she uncovers the secret.

Dane is...complex. He starts off as a fearless, rebellious boy, unaffected by the attention his name brings. But as the book progresses, and you find out about his family and his home-life, everything starts to make sense, and you can't help but feel sorry for him, too.

One thing that I really liked about this book was the fact that there was none of that insta-love tripe. The two started off as rivals and then progressed to friendship, and then slowly but surely, their relationship turns to romance as they finally uncover each other's secrets. And it's sweet. The compelling writing really enhances those moments when Dane starts to unconsciously care for Aerin.

And the ending... There is something utterly satisfying about finishing a non-contemporary book that ties up all of its loose ends; I completely loved this book because of that. Maybe it's just me. After all, I've been reading a lot of series lately, and you know how they always end with some cliffhanger. :\

Anyway, I enjoyed this book. I'm glad that I decided to pick it up at the store a while back.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Birth of a Book

You should totally watch this video, especially if you're a book lover. It's kind of amazing. It shows you how a book is made using traditional printing methods.

I found the video and pictures over at Flavorwire.

I find the whole printing process incredibly interesting. Maybe it's because my Graphics class had a little unit on it, or maybe it's because that video was so quaint and charming, but either way, I really enjoyed having a glimpse of how people used to make/continue to make something that I love: books.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Productive Procrastination

This year, I noticed that when I'm avoiding homework or reading books that I do not really want to read (usually required reading for AP Lit) and have nothing to do on the interwebs, I end up doing some sort of...cleaning.

Like, last week, when I couldn't handle studying for my AP Calc exams anymore, I decided to take a break. That break lasted for a couple of hours, and in between catching up on blogs online and listening to music, I started looking through all of the clothes in my closet, trying to see if I could get rid of any of them since I was seriously running out of room.

I've already done that a couple of times this year. Even though I usually only end up taking two or three shirts out every time, it's still better than keeping them all and trying to squish all of my clothes together in there. And all of the clothes go into an accumulating bag of clothes that I donate to Goodwill every once in a while.

Other times when I'm procrastinating, I'll notice that my floor's dirty, so I end up vacuuming my room, because I'd be distracted until I cleaned my room. And while I'm in the process of moving my stuff around so that I can vacuum, I'll usually notice that my room's really dusty, too, so I'll end up dusting everything before I vacuum. So in the end, my room is a lot cleaner than it was before I finally get back to doing my homework.

The cleaning usually happens at least once a month when I'm not in a reading mood on a random weekend when I don't have anything to do. Other times, I'll just spend the whole day reading or doing stuff online, but every once in a while, I'll have this urge to clean instead.

I just wondered if I was the only one who had these random cleaning binges, lol.

And now, I must go study for my Physics test, since it's tomorrow, and I always read a book whenever he teaches in class. :P

Ta!

pointy.star

Monday, May 14, 2012

Bout of Books Read-a-Thon Goal Post

I only have to study for a physics test and write an extra credit paper this week, so I figured that I could do this read-a-thon since I would have so much free time. Not to mention, I really need to shrink my TBR pile, especially since people will be staying over during my graduation party, so I don't want them to go all crazy when they see the endless piles of books in my room, lol.

Anyway, the read-a-thon is a week long event and was created by Amanda @ On a Book Bender. Here's more information (taken from the site) if you want to join too! :)

It is a week long read-a-thon, usually from 12:01am on a Monday through 11:59pm on a Sunday in whatever time zone you are in.
Bout of Books is low pressure, meaning participants are only asked to push themselves to read more than they normally would during any given week. There is no competition between readers.
How much time a reader wants, and can commit, to read, tweet, or network with fellow bloggers is left to individual preference. All challenges and giveaways are optional.
Networking with fellow bloggers is actively encouraged, though never required. Co-hosts are there to facilitate blog hopping and interaction between participants.
Use Twitter to post updates throughout the read-a-thon. Everyone will be tweeting with the #boutofbooks hashtag.

You can sign up here.

My goal is to read at least four books. I'm not going to plan out which books that I want to read since my mood changes so easily, but I figured that it would be easier for me to just make this post my update post, too, to save space and time. So yeah! Here's hoping I'll actually read that many books this week! :D

5/14

Pages read today: 80

Number of books read in all: 0

Currently reading: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Finished reading today: none

5/15

Pages read today: 70

Number of books read in all: 0

Currently reading: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, Zombie Tag by Hannah Moskowitz

Finished reading today: none

5/16

Pages read today: 299