Books I Want to Reread in 2012

A few weeks ago, Katie over at Call Me Crazy did this post about some books that she wants to reread this year, and I wanted to do a similar post since there are tons of books that I want to reread but never have the time to since I'm barely reading my TBR books as it is. D:

Lately, after I finished reading Crime and Punishment, I've been having a hard time staying interested in all of the books that I've been reading since then (this is only with books though; I'm still pretty okay with manga, lol). I don't know if it's because I'm just not in the mood for the type of books that I'm reading or if they're just not my type of books or if I've hit another little reading slump.

So I'm thinking about rereading some of these books to remind myself just how awesome books are. :)

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Katsa and Po are some of my most favorite characters ever. I want to go back to their world and experience everything with them again. Graceling was much better than its prequel, Fire, and in my opinion, it was because the characters were a lot more amazing than the characters in Fire, where the protagonist was a bit too Mary Sue for my liking. Plus, Bitterblue is finally coming out this year!!! I CANNOT WAIT! I don't know if it'll be better than Graceling since it's not focused on Katsa and Po, but the summary said that characters from past books in the trilogy/series were going to be in it, so I am super excited either way. :D

Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

This was the first book that I had read that made me tear up. It was so heartbreaking and moving, and I love the brothers' relationship because it was so believable, which made everything that had happen so much more sad and hopeful and guh. I want to reread this now. Plus, I finally bought the sequel last year, and I would very much like to read it, lol.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

With the threat of SOPA and PIPA last week, my sister told me that people were already creating something similar to Xnet in case the bills were passed, which definitely piqued my interest (and totally had me in awe of whoever was doing it) and made me want to reread this book because it could have been what our future would soon be like if those bills were passed along with some other legal stuff like the ACTA trade agreement. I'm not sure what the turnout for that bill was or if it's even been voted on yet, but I really hope that it won't be passed either.

The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty

I lent Krista this book a while ago because I thought that she would like it, and she did. And I totally forgot half of the things that she talked about, lol, since it had been years since I had read the book. -__-" That's why I want to reread it! I'm pretty sure that I'll still laugh my head off when I reread it, because it's a generally hilarious book with awesome characters and epic pranks. Plus, it's Australian and written in letters and emails and fliers. Who doesn't love books like that? XD

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

I had already read this book and If I Stay last year, but I want to reread Where She Went again because it's just so good! Actually, I have the audiobook for Where She Went, and I really want to listen to the whole audiobook because I love the narrator's voice! It totally sounds like how I imagined Adam to sound like! I think the audiobook will just make the book sound even better, so I want to listen to it sometime soon.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

I won an ARC of this book last year and totally loved it. Even though Saba acted a bit awkward at some parts and it took some time to get used to the writing, I loved the book. There was so much action and tension and anticipation. And the characters were pretty awesome. I want to reread this book before the sequel comes out. I'm so friggin excited for it! XD

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

This is definitely my favorite out of all of Ellen Hopkins' books that I have read. The characters, the writing, the twist... greatness. Ellen Hopkins has this writing style that just sucks you in until you stop for a minute and realize that you're already halfway through the book. I had zoomed through this book the first time I had read it, so I think I'd be able to go through it slower this time and be able to see little details that I had originally missed. Really, I'm curious to see if there were any clues throughout the book about the twist at the end. :P

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

This book. :D I loved it the first time I read it. All of the characters were so awesome and the plot was so good and the secret of the Shift is so mysterious that I want to reread Shade first before reading the sequel so that I won't miss any little details that would make the book even better. If you haven't already guess, I have high expectations for the sequel, lol. Plus, how can you not like Zachary? He has a Scottish accent! XD

I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Words cannot explain how much I enjoyed this book the first time I read it. It was utterly captivating. When I wasn't squealing over Sam and Riddle and the fact that they finally get to experience what a real family feels like, I was cheering them on when the bad thing happened and was inwardly cursing the person who did it. I just. I think this is my all-time favorite contemporary book. I could reread this book forever.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

I think it has already been proven that Australian authors are amazing. Tomorrow, When the War Began is the first book in a series, and I can't believe that I haven't already bought the rest of the series to devour. But before I do, I must revisit this book first and immerse myself in Ellie's world where a foreign country has taken over there town and the subtle shift in her group of friends' relationship as they are left to fend for themselves while trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Also, I saw the movie version of this last year and absolutely loved it (and not just because the actors were all Australian and therefore were wonderful to hear talking XD), and I think that the sequel is coming out this year, so I can't wait for that too!

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Sometime last year, I found out that there was a sequel to this epic book. It's coming out later this year. I must reread this book and then devour Unwholly. What I loved about this book is similar to what I loved about Little Brother, the whole unexpected leader of a revolution aspect. And a gripping story, original story.   That's why I can't want to reread both of those books!

The Cry of Icemark by Stuart Hill

This book is like the fantasy version of what I loved in Unwind and Little Brother since it involves magic and the help of unexpected paranormal allies. Instead of a government or country dictatorship ruling, The Cry of Icemark is about a little country defending itself from an evil empire, and there's so much action and adventure and power in that book, I just want to go back and experience everything in it again. I read this in middle school twice and absolutely loved it both times. I want to reread it again and hope that I still love it as much as I did back then.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

This book was nothing like what I had expected. I didn't really have much expectations for it since I had only heard that it was a great series and that Yelena was a kickass heroine, but I'm so glad that it lived up to its hype. The characters were awesome, the plot was original, the action was great, the romance wasn't over the top and forced, and the setting was pretty interesting. I have to say that this book was my favorite out of the trilogy, which is why I want to go back to the beginning when Yelena was just given the chance to be a poison taste-tester and her whole adventure was about to start.

I just realized that all of these books are some of my favorites. -__-" No wonder I want to reread them so badly! They're my favorites for that reason! XD

I also want to mention that I would really like to rewatch V for Vendetta again. All of these anonymous attacks and messages on youtube has me wanting to see the original anonymous, V. XD

Dusty Reads: Leviathan (Leviathan, #1) by Scott Westerfeld

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

Title: Leviathan (Leviathan, #1)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Pages: 440
Publication: October 6, 2009
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Summary taken from goodreads:

It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their "Leviathan" is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet. 

Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure....One that will change both their lives forever.

I actually own the whole trilogy, and I'm not exactly sure why I haven't read this book yet. Probably because it was under a huge pile of books, lol. 

Like the others, I shall read this book! ...one day! XD

Book Review: DJ Rising by Love Maia

Title: DJ Rising
Author: Love Maia
Pages: 301
Publication: February 6, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Summary taken from goodeads: 

The first thing I hear is music. The first thing I've always heard is music. 

Meet Marley, an unassuming high school junior who breathes in music like oxygen. In between caring for his heroin-addicted mother, and keeping his scholarship at a fancy prep school, he dreams of becoming a professional DJ. 

When chance lands Marley his first real DJ job, his career as "DJ Ice" suddenly skyrockets. But when heart-rending disaster at home brings Marley crashing back down to earth, he is torn between obligation and following his dreams.

3.5 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

I am a huge music addict. I love it as much as Marley does, and as someone who has recently been joking about wanting to be a DJ as a side-job in the future, DJ Rising seemed like one ironic gift from fate when I received it in the mail the other week. Either way, I'm just glad that I ended up liking it.

For DJ Rising to be her first book, Love Maia did an awesome job. Although the beginning was a bit slow, getting used to the setting and Maia's writing style, the book got better as it progressed and as you became invested in Marley and everything that he has to go through.

While the DJ aspect is quite original, you can figure the general plot and ending out just from reading the summary, but that's fine because Maia's writing is what really shines in the story. She manages to evoke so many emotions through her words alone. I was so easily caught up in the story, feeling a raging anger that paralleled Marley's one minute and then feeling heartrendingly anguished the next. 

However, there was one other small complaint that I had when reading DJ Rising. There were a couple of times when I felt like the dialogue was a bit... stilted. For example, Jewel's speech at Hawk near the end, while it was effective, it felt a little scripted. Like, I'm not even sure if people would normally talk that much without being interrupted or something. Anyway, it's a small problem; it doesn't really effect anything.

I'm definitely interested to read whatever Maia writes next. 

Tumblr Pics 21

I finally finished my PowerPoint Character Study on Razumikhin. It's crap. D:

But whatever. I can't bring myself to care anymore.

Now I have to start working on the bazillion pre-reading questions that I was supposed to do, ya know, before I read Crime and Punishment. What fun. -__-

Enjoy~

Lol, I don't even. :L

An Update and My Book-Buying Ban

I had another scholarship interview at Mercer today. I think I did pretty well. Like usual, I wasn't nervous up until I was sitting down, waiting for my turn. And I talked about Assassin and moved my hands a lot... -__-"

I hope I get it. XD

Also as usual, my flats killed my heels. I mean, they were bleeding. I think it's official, fancy shoes and I do not go together. It always ends up with my feet being abused in one way or another. This is why I hate dressing up. I never have anything nice enough to wear and my poor feet always suffer. :P

I'm still at Mercer since Shelle has to work. They're really busy at the UC, so she's getting off later than usual, which sucks, because that means that I won't be able to make it to the HOCO beauty pageant scholarship thinger that Meethu's in, and which Emily was suddenly roped into doing the lights for since the other person couldn't make it.

So here I am, not working on any homework like I was supposed to...

I finally finished reading the manga series called S.L.H (Stray Love Hearts) a few hours ago. I started reading it last night when I should have been working on my Crime and Punishment project, lol. I just can't bring myself to do homework on weekends except for Sundays, and even then, it's a hassle.

The first volume was too unbelievable to believe, which is probably why I didn't enjoy it as much as I did with the rest of the volumes once I had grown used to the reasoning of the plot. I'm going to post a review up sometime soon.

There's only five volumes, so it wasn't that long, and the art gets better with every volume. And it was already very well done in the first volume! I loved all of the colored pages at the beginning of each chapter, lol.

In addition, I also noticed that I can't really bring myself to read a real book after finishing Crime and Punishment. I started reading Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton earlier this week, but I'm not in a hurry to finish it. I mean, it's only somewhat interesting. And then there's the fact that I've just been really busy this week anyway, finishing reading Crime and Punishment and trying to work on all of the projects that come with it.

Maybe that's the main reason why I haven't been reading real books. I do want to read, but I don't want to spend so much time on a book, so I choose to read manga instead since they're so much shorter and funnier.  Hopefully, once all of our Crime and Punishment stuff are done, I'll be able to finally catch up on all of my piles of real books. :)

On another note, it turns out that I might have to pay for rent once I go to college, since I'm going to be living in an apartment near Mercer with Shelle, and seeing as to how I barely have any money in the bank, I'm going to have to seriously start saving up. That means, no more buying books.

I guess it's a good think that I'm going on a book-buying ban, since I finally ran out of space to put anymore piles of TBR books on the side of my bed, lol. What's also so funny is that after I published this post saying that I was doing pretty good on my book-buying ban/rule, I had bought a bunch of books on Barns and Nobles because they had a really good sale. -__-"

So, I can't buy anymore books (unless it's for school) until the end of May. By then, I should have saved up enough money to pay for a year's worth of rent. 

Anyway, I need to go and attempt to work on my project again. 

Later~

pointy.star

Dusty Reads: Hero by Perry Moore

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

Title: Hero
Author: Perry Moore
Pages: 428
Publication: September 1, 2007
Publisher: Hyperion Book
Summary taken from goodreads:

The last thing in the world Thom Creed wants is to add to his father's pain, so he keeps secrets. Like that he has special powers. And that he's been asked to join the League - the very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. But the most painful secret of all is one Thom can barely face himself: he's gay.

But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, who can control fire but not her anger; Typhoid Larry, who can make anyone sick with his touch; and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide; but they will have to learn to trust one another when they uncover a deadly conspiracy within the League.

To survive, Thom will face challenges he never imagined. To find happiness, he'll have to come to terms with his father's past and discover the kind of hero he really wants to be.

I've had this on my TBR shelf for a few years now... ONE DAY, I will finally read it! XD

NEVER GIVE UP By Bang & Zelo (And some other Kpop news)

First of all, this is in no way connected to being rickrolled, lol.

I saw this music video earlier this week and liked the message that it had. The beginning was pretty predictable, and the clothes are kind of weird half of the time, but the song grows on ya. :)

 Anyway, watch it! And make sure that you have the cc on so that you can read the English subtitles!

   

I found this mv after I read an article on allkpop about B.A.P., this new boyband that had debuted last week. Bang (short for Bang Yong Guk) and Zelo are both members of the group and as a sub-unit of the group, released this song to help promote B.A.P. before their official debut.

Krista had sent me a video of their official mv called "Warrior", telling me that she might become obsess with them, lol, so I had to watch it, and they're actually pretty good! I love how they're all in-your-face-badasseryness, lol. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for them. :)

That video also had subs to it, so click the cc button to read them.

Did I mention that I loved how the lyrics weren't about love or something else sappy? The lyrics, just like their dance moves, are so fierce, it's refreshing and interesting. And the ending! Epic. XD

One problem that I have is that I feel like they kind of copied deadmau5's signature... you know, the mouse head. But it's not they're exact copies of each other, so I guess it's not that big of a deal. :P

Anyway, also in that allkpop article was another new boyband that I'm anticipating is SM's new group called EXO. They've released a bunch of teasers showing all 12 members, and I can't wait to listen to their album since the teasers had parts of their songs in them, and they sounded really good. Did I mention that some of their songs have dubstep in them? XD


You can watch all of the teasers on their youtube channel here and here. 

 The article said that EXO "is expected to make their official entry into the industry no later than early February", so I can't wait!

I have realized that I am slowly making my way back into the Kpop world. I'm still not sure if this is a good thing or not since I really can't afford distractions until I'm through with my Crime and Punishment projects...

Oh well. Tis my life. :P

And now I bid you adieu. Until next time!

pointy.star

January in Retrospect

I thought I'd do a monthly post about how many books I had read in a month and keep track of my challenges and such. These posts will most likely vary depending on what happens every month. :P

This month, I read:

• The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge
• DJ Rising by Love Maia
• Courtney Crumrin and The Night Things by Ted Naifeh
• Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly
• The Avalon Chronicles vol. 1 by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, & Emma Vieceli
• Wither by Lauren DeStefano
• Kaokuma Lion by Shou Ichikawa 
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I finally finished reading Crime and Punishment last night! \o/ In the end, it wasn't that bad. :P 

As for my challenges, I'm nowhere near finishing any of them, lol. Good thing it's only been the first month of the year.

For this month, I reviewed and did some mini reviews on these books, the majority being books that I had read near the end of last year... -__-"

• Rockin' Heaven vol. 1 by Mayu Sakai
• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
• Reborn! vol. 4 by Akira Amano
• Ashfall by Mike Mullin
• Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine
• Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
• Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
• Rockin' Heaven vol. 6 by Mayu Sakai
• Two Moon Princess by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
• Paradise by Jill S. Alexander
• Across the Universe by Beth Revis
• Courtney Crumrin and The Night Things by Ted Naifeh
• I Hate You More Than Anyone! vol. 1 by Banri Hidaka

Also, I started doing a new meme called Dusty Reads where you basically showcase a book that you own that's been on your TBR list for a while. I'm still doing Top Ten Tuesdays, but for the days when I don't want to do those posts, I figured I'd do Dusty Reads as a reminder of all of the books that I have had for a long time and still need to read.

As for movies, I'm surprised that I watched this much considering that I've mainly only had the time to watch them during the first half of the month. 

I watched: 

• Terminator 3 - Rise Of The Machines (2003)
• Attack On The Pin-Up Boys (2007) [rewatched]
• Red Riding Hood (2011)
• Terminator Salvation (2009)
• Paradise Kiss (2011)

As you can see, I watched an odd bunch of movies since I recently got back into watching Asian movies and dramas. Even though the characters usually act too extreme and I usually end up cringing once or twice during a movie or episode, I can't seem to stop watching them...

The only drama that I watched this month was Ouran High School Host Club, which was pretty short and made me want to go reread the manga so that I can finally catch up with the lastest volumes being released!

And the only anime that I watched during this month was Uta no Prince-sama - Maji Love 1000%, which I was one of those typical shojo anime with a Mary Sue character that I really knew was a waste of my time, but I couldn't stop watching it anyway. The main thing that made me finish watching it was the fact that they sung in every episode. I heard that they're making a second season of this, but I don't really know if I'll ever watch it.

So yeah, I really need to read more. I'm very disappointed in the amount of books that I read this month. As for everything else, I think I'm doing pretty fine.