Six Flags! Whoo! :D

I'm going to Six Flags with my friends tomorrow! Finally! I'm definitely tired of planning and making sure everyone's sticking to the plan and getting the correct days off of work. (I really hope Jackie will be able to change her schedule since she had asked for the wrong off days)

Mia had to drop out because, apparently, she has to pay for her tuition and other stuff, which sucks. I don't understand why her parents aren't doing it instead. But I probably don't have the whole story, so I can't really say anything. :\

But yeah, since Mia's not coming after all, we have enough room to fit in one car now, so Emily's going to start picking everyone up from their houses around 7:30. Depending on if we're already hungry, we'll stop somewhere to eat breakfast around town, but if we're not, then we're just gonna stop somewhere later on. And then we're going to be at Six Flags! I can't wait to ride a bunch of rollarcoasters! \o/

Afterwards, we're going to spend the night in this suite that I booked at the Hilton, and then we're planning on going to the mall the next day after we check out of the hotel. I'm really excited since I'm going to be hanging with my closest friends from school for the next two days away from adult supervision and demands, lol. 

It sucks that we're probably only able to do this because we have all graduated from school and are going to college in a few weeks, so our parents know that we're going to be leaving them soon anyway. :P But whatever, this will probably be the last thing we do as a group for a while since we're all (excluding Meethu and me) going to separate colleges in a few weeks, so we're going to make the most of it. Plus, tomorrow is Shanice's birthday, so that's another reason to celebrate, lol.

I just finished making a playlist for our road-trip. I titled it "SIX FLAGS/Senior Year Nostalgia" since it's full of upbeat songs that'll keep us awake and excited and older songs that we listened to during our senior year. I pretty sure we'll have our fair share of reminiscing while on the road. :)

Now I just have to figure out what to wear for the next two days and pack my toiletries. Ugh, I just check the weather for tomorrow. It's highest is going to be 94 degrees and the humidity's at 64%. I'm going to be drowning in sweat. D: Wearing a tank top and shorts for sure!

Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to take a lot of pictures, but I have a feeling that I'll be too busy running around to want to take pictures of everything. :P Although, now that I think about it, I probably should take a lot of pics since this is our last big thing together. Yeah... I'll make everyone take turns with the camera if I have to, lol.

Later~

pointy.star

Dusty Reads: Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

Dusty Reads is a weekly post featuring a book that has been sitting unread on my home shelf for some time.

Title: Bruiser

Author: Neal Shusterman

Pages: 328

Publication: October 1, 2011 

Publisher: Harperteen

Summary taken from goodreads:

"There’s a reason why Brewster can’t have friends – why he can’t care about too many people. Because when he cares about you, things start to happen. Impossible things that can’t be explained. I know, because they're happening to me." 

When Brontë starts dating Brewster “Bruiser” Rawlins – the guy voted “Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty” her twin brother, Tennyson, isn’t surprised. But then strange things begin to occur. Tennyson and Brontë’s scrapes heal unnaturally fast, and cuts disappear before their eyes. What at first seems like their good fortune turns out to be more than they bargained for…much more.

I really liked Unwind by Neal Shusterman, so I when I found another book by him on sale--and one with an awesome summary, I didn't hesitate to buy it. However, like with most of my books, Bruiser has been buried underneath other unread books for so long that I keep on forgetting to read it. And with Unwind's sequel coming out next month, I want to reread that book, too!

Weekly Haul (60)

For Review:

Adaption by Malinda Lo

The Diviners Sampler by Libba Bray

Bought:

Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren

Haven't bought many books lately. \o/ I would be a lot happier if I still wasn't spending so much money on buying even more clothes that I really don't need anymore of and eating out more than I would prefer... So in the end, I'm still not saving any money up, which sucks since I still don't have a job (and am prolly not going to look for one until college starts).

I finished reading Supernaturally by Kiersten White today, and now I want to buy the last book in the trilogy to see how it ends. And it came out just last week! Don't know if I should buy it so quickly though...I still have a lot more books to read. :\

WHY.

Well, there goes that. I will never look at the & symbol the same way again. -__-

Thank you metapicture. 

Mini Review: The Last Dragon, 12 Things to Do Before You Crash and Burn, and Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

Title: The Last Dragon
Author: Jane Yolen, Rebecca Guay
Pages: 141
Publication: September 13, 2011
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Summary taken from goodreads: 

Master storyteller Jane Yolen (Owl Moon, Sword of the Rightful King) and celebrated fantasy artist Rebecca Guay (Swamp Thing, Magic: The Gathering) weave a textured and lyrical tale of adventure, homelands, and heroism the hard way.Two hundred years ago, humans drove the dragons from the islands of May. Now, the last of the dragons rises to wreak havoc anew -- with only a healer's daughter and a kite-flying would-be hero standing in its way.

2 STARS - IT WAS OKAY

MY REVIEW: 

The beginning really wasn't that interesting, so it took me a while to get into the story.

Most of the characters were really two-dimensional and uninteresting, so that also made it hard for me to want to finish reading this graphic novel.

On the bright side, the art was interesting, and I loved the colors and shading.

Title: 12 Things to Do Before You Crash and Burn

Author: James Proimos

Pages: 128

Publication: November 8, 2011 

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Summary taken from goodreads: 

It’s Wes Anderson meets Holden Caufield in this wry and funny novel about a boy who is sent to live with his uncle when his father (a bestselling self-help author) dies.  

James “Hercules” Martino has until the end of the summer (a.k.a. two weeks) to accomplish the twelve tasks given to him by his Uncle Anthony. The tasks will take him to the far reaches of Baltimore, lead him to a Beautiful and Unattainable Women, and change the way he sees his past, present and future.

3 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:

This was one insanely quick read.

Herc was a pretty cool protagonist, always chill and nonchalant about most things while simultaneously being hilarious and clever when he spoke. His relationship with his uncle was funnily endearing.

My only problem was the whole love at first sight thing in the beginning. Luckily, he learned his lesson. Or something.  

Title: Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

Edited by: Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci

Pages: 403

Publication: August 1, 2009 

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary taken from goodreads: 

Acclaimed authors Holly Black (Ironside) and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof) have united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, John Green, Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr. 

With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on!

2.5 STARS - I LIKED IT ENOUGH

MY REVIEW: 

Maybe it was because I wasn't in the right mood when I read most of the stories, since it was really hard to connect or like half of the characters.

These were my favorites:

One of Us by Tracy Lynn

Quiz Bowl Antichrist by David Levithan

The Quiet Knight by Garth Nix

Freak the Geek by John Green

The Truth About Dino Girl by Barry Lyga

This is My Audition Monologue by Sara Zarr

The Stars at the Finish Line by Wendy Mass

Famous Logos, If They Told The Truth

Found these pics over here at buzzfeed. I thought that they were hilariously true and wanted to share. :D

This is so true! That's why I have a love/hate relationship with movie trailers! I hate spoilers!

These were all by Swedish designer Victor H, who obviously is one awesomely blunt dude, lol.

Licensed! :o

Finally got my driver's license today! I was so surprised to find out that I pass, lol. I really didn't think that I would since I had only practiced driving parallel and reverse parking the other day. 

But... my dad and I forgot to bring some proof of residency, so I only have a temporary paper license for now until I bring in some. But that's fine with me since I would have received my license in the mail anyway. 

I'm just happy that I won't have to take the test a second time and that I won't have to wake up so early in the morning to go to the farm with my mom to practice driving anymore. \o/ 

The sad thing is that I'm getting used to waking up at seven now, which sucks since I'm still used to getting up around 8:30-9 even though I sleep around 1-3 every morning. 

And now I'm going to celebrate by watching some variety show, cuz that's how I roll. :P

Peace!

pointy.star

Book Review: Dead Beautiful (Dead Beautiful, #1) by Yvonne Woon

Title: Dead Beautiful (Dead Beautiful, #1)
Author: Yvonne Woon
Pages: 464
Publication: September 21, 2010
Publisher: Hyperion Book
Summary taken from goodreads: 

On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Renée Winters was still an ordinary girl. She spent her summers at the beach, had the perfect best friend, and had just started dating the cutest guy at school. No one she'd ever known had died. But all that changes when she finds her parents dead in the Redwood Forest, in what appears to be a strange double murder. 

After the funeral Renée’s wealthy grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious boarding school in Maine, where she finds herself studying subjects like Philosophy, Latin, and the “Crude Sciences.” 

It’s there that she meets Dante Berlin, a handsome and elusive boy to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. As they grow closer, unexplainable things begin to happen, but Renée can’t stop herself from falling in love. It’s only when she discovers a dark tragedy in Gottfried’s past that she begins to wonder if the Academy is everything it seems. 

Little does she know, Dante is the one hiding a dangerous secret, one that has him fearing for her life. 

Dead Beautiful is both a compelling romance and thought-provoking read, bringing shocking new meaning to life, death, love, and the nature of the soul.

2.5 STARS - I LIKED IT ENOUGH

MY REVIEW: 

For a while, I had the horrible thought that this was going to be another Twilight knock-off since there were a couple of similar scenes in the book and because Dante was all hot and cold in the beginning. After around 300 pages, the plot deviated to a more unique twist, which had plot holes that had me wondering how it was even possible, and there was still a familiar Twilight scene that had me rolling my eyes.

Don't get me started on the romance. How can you ignore all of these strange things that occur every time you're with a guy and not question it? How can you just choose to ignore all of those weird sensations and instead think of them as special or whatever the fuck you were thinking?

I also want to question the book's cover. I can understand the background because a lot of stuff happened in the woods, and the cape because it's cold for a good chunk of the book, but the dress? Renee never even mentions a dress. It's not even a part of the boarding school's dress code! Yet another follower of the girl in a dress syndrome. (But I really like the matte feel of the cover.)

The writing wasn't bad. It was engaging enough for me to continue reading the book even though I became hesitant halfway through it. It was compelling through its simplicity, and the author knew how to add just the right amount of suspense at needed moments to motivate you to finish reading the book.

And I loved that Latin was incorporated in the book. Having taking Latin for two years (just last year at that!), I was quite irritated at myself for not being able to translate most of the words. I remembered the conjugations but not the words themselves! -__-"

The climax was pretty predictable, but the ending kind of irritated me. It was different from most books, but really, it kind of felt like a letdown after everything that happened. I was expecting something... better.

So yeah, I enjoyed this book enough to finish it but not enough to ever pick it up again for a long time.

Tumblr Pics 26 [the funny faces edition :D]

Lol, I don't even know what to say. :D

Weekly Haul (59)

Bought:

The Metamorphoses by Ovid

A Visit From the Good Squad by Jennifer Egan

Gifted from Krista:

Happy Cafe vol. 2 by Kou Matsuzuki

Mugen Spiral Omnibus by Mizuho Kusanagi

From Harlequin Teen:

Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Library:

The Greyfriar by Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith

Every You, Every Me by David Leviathan

Notes for a War Story by Gipi

Lately, I've been ending up with the oddest collections of books, lol.

Book Review: She's So Dead to Us (He's So/She's So, #1) by Kieran Scott

Title: She's So Dead to Us (He's So/She's So, #1)
Author: Kieran Scott
Pages: 278
Publication: May 25, 2010
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Summary taken from goodreads: 

Ally Ryan would rather be in Maryland. She would rather be anywhere, in fact, than Orchard Hill, site of her downfall. Well, not hers exactly—but when your father’s hedge fund goes south and all your friends lose their trust funds, things don’t look so sunny for you. Her mother moved her to Maryland to flee the shame, but now they’re moving back. Back to the country-club, new-car-every-year, my-family-came-over-on-the-Mayflower lifestyle that Ally has outgrown. One bright spot, however, is gorgeous, intense Jake Graydon. But it won’t be easy for the two of them to be together—not if his friends (her former friends) have anything to say about it. Is Ally ready to get thrown back into the drama of the life she left behind?

3 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

What I learned from this book: when threatened, girls will become bitches. 

Okay, so there were reasons as to why they were mean, but really, that whole pack mentality where they were always trying to maintain each other's approval was annoyingly true. I wish people, especially teens, would understand that trying to fit in is both exhausting and just not fun, as Chloe reveals near the end. 

I'm just glad that Ally, the main character, was a lot smarter than that. Sure, she tried to get back with her old friends in the beginning, but that was only because she thought that everyone would be able to put the past behind them and get over it. Yeah... that didn't happen. So when all of her old friends froze her out, she realized that she didn't want to be their friend anymore, blew off the guy who was too chickenshit to do anything to help her, and made some new friends, and I was like WHOO! GO ALLY! because she really didn't deserve those selfish bastards who didn't want her back because of their own personal secrets. 

But Ally wasn't totally smart either. I understood that even though her old friends were acting like bitches, Ally still believed them and gave them more than one chance because she really did want things to be like how they were before she had to move away in shame two years ago, because she missed them and everything. But really, was secretly dating Jake going to help anything? I mean, they decided to keep it a secret because Jake's friends--her old friends--we're going to give her shit about it. He obviously wasn't going to do anything about it. 

Jake really got on my nerves. He really didn't deserve Ally; his inaction irked me. The guy was a manslut before he met her, and he was too afraid to do anything once he found out the truth about Ally, only helping her out a few times, and that was usually when they were alone. I get that it's hard to go against your friends, but if you really liked someone, wouldn't you grow a backbone and try to help them out? Then again, this was the guy who almost wimped out when Ally asked him to hang out with some of her friends at a park.

Like I said earlier, there were reasons for everyone's actions, and that was what made the book so easily readable. The book realistically portrayed how people would react to certain situations--whether they were rich or not--so it wasn't hard to imagine someone you know or even yourself if you were put into that situation.  

Even though I liked this book, I'm not sure if I want to read the sequel, since it seems to become even more unnecessarily complicated.

Books I Want to Read This Month

I've really been slacking in reading lately. :/ Hopefully I'll be able to read a good portion of this list by the end of the month.

• Shine by Jeri Smith-Ready
• The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder
• The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd
• World War Z by Max Brooks
• Being Friends With Boys by Terra Elan McVoy
• Glimmerglass by Jenna Black
• Shadowspell by Jenna Black
• On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane
• Chime by Franny Billingsley
• Momento Nora by Angie Smibert
• Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber
• Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers
• Love, Inc. by Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout
• Skinned by Robin Wasserman
• Shut Out by Kody Keplinger
• Supernaturally by Kiersten White 

June in Retrospect

For this month, I read:
Out for Blood by Alyxandra Harvey
Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
Puella Magi Madoka Magica vol. 1 by Magica Quartet

Puella Magi Madoka Magica vol. 2 by Magica Quartet
Puella Magi Madoka Magica vol. 3 by Magica Quartet
Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready
The Boy Recession by Flynn Meaney
SHIFT River Scene by Jeri Smith-Ready
Level Up by Gene Luen Yang
Harvey by Herve Bouchard & Janice Nadeau

I reviewed:
Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann
Skyfall by Michael Dahl
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Blood Ninja by Nick Lake 

I watched:
Rags (2012)
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Brave (2012)
Coming to America (1988)
Teen Wolf (2011)
Think Like a Man (2012)