Thursday, November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello lovelies! It's Turkey Day here in the US (aka Thanksgiving) where we stuff ourselves with food and give thanks for what we have. It's a great day!
I love Thanksgiving...mostly because I get to eat a ton of food and not feel bad about it...
Here are some gifs that completely describe my Thanksgivings....




Happy Thanksgiving everybody...




Sunday, November 15, 2015

Bookish Identity Tag!

Hey guys! I'm doing my first tag on this blog (I've done a couple on my BookTube channel) and I'm pretty excited to do it! This tag was created by Dreamland Book Blog, so don't forget to check her blog out!

Without further-a-do, let's get into it.

Question 1
What dystopian/fantastical world would you live in?

I'm going to pick the Shadowhunter Chronicles world. This was pretty tough because I really wanted to pick Throne of Glass, but I probably wouldn't want to live there, or Harry Potter but for some reason I couldn't pick Harry Potter.

Question 2
Who would your partner be?

I would probably be torn between Daemon Black from Lux, or Rowan Whitethorn from Throne of Glass series. Both would be able to kick serious butt in the shadowhunter world (though they might be considered downworlders) and I feel like my sarcasm and personality would balance out.

Question 3
Who would be your godly mother/father? [Percy Jackson]

Okay, let me think...I'd probably be daughter of Athena or Apollo, because she's goddess of wisdom and he's the god of poetry so...

Question 4
Would you be a downworlder or nephilim? [Shadowhunter World]

I would be a nephilim and a shadowhunter. I think being a werewolf would be cool, but being a shadowhunter would be cooler and way more fun [see above gif ;)].

Question 5
Which house would you be in? [Harry Potter]

So I took the test on Pottermore a while ago and despite thinking I'd be in Ravenclaw, I got Gryffindor...so yeah. I'm in Gryffindor.

Question 6
Which faction would you be in? [Divergent]

I really want to say Dauntless because I love doing stunts and running and adrenaline and stuff like that, but I love reading to much...so I'd probably be Erudite. But I'd be in the good Erudite, after it's no longer being run by Jeanine...

Question 7
What would be your daemon? [Northern Lights]

I haven't read this, so I'm not really sure what it's asking, but from what I saw it's kind of like a spirit animal??? Correct me if I'm wrong please! I looked it up and it's kind of like an animal that accompanies you...so mine would have to be a wolf. I love wolves (partly because of my love of werewolves)...

Welp, I had fun doing this. Hope you all enjoyed! Don't forget to check in next time! xoxo -Lauren



Wednesday, November 11, 2015

NaNoWriMo Update!

Hello beautiful people of the internet! I am posting my FIRST NaNo update since the beginning of this big challenge. And so far, it's going great!
Last year, I struggled A LOT. I started three days in, didn't write for a couple days then tried to catch up and in the end I was stressed beyond compare. I didn't plan where I wanted the story to go, or what I wanted to happen next, I just wrote. And that turns out bad when you're on a deadline.
So this year, I didn't plan at all. I know, I know: "But you just said that it turned out bad for you last year?" Yes, I did. So what.
But this year I have a concept I'm much more excited about and I'm already three days ahead on my writing. To be honest, I'm still a little worried I'm gonna burn out before the end of the month.
How I'm doing this, though, is simple. After writing the first two chapters, I started writing individual scenes that I was dying to get to. That was advice from a Pep Talk last year that I really am invested in: write the scene you're dying to. That's how I avoid writer's block. Then it's just getting from point A to point B.
Also, because I have individual scenes, I now have to put them in order and have events that lead up to them. And THAT is where my semi-planning is coming in. I just have a list with the chapter numbers and what main thing is going to happen in that chapter next to the number. It's very helpful in getting excited about what's to come, and this way I can better organize my novel. Additionally, I will be able to make sure I hit my word goal and wrap the story up soon after that.
I'm very excited about this year's story, and I'm even more excited for editing it and making it PERFECT. Because I'm perfect.

I hope any of you struggling through NaNoWriMo suddenly get a "Eureka!" moment and spit out 10,000 words! Best of luck to you all! xoxo -Lauren


Edit: For those of you who want to read my NaNoWriMo story, I will be posting it on my Wattpad account after the event is over and I have edited it (and sent it to the sponsors who will send me 2 free paperbacks). Look out for a further post on that coming in December!

Monday, November 9, 2015

October 2015 Wrap-Up

Let's be honest, I've had better reading months. I've had WAY better reading months, but I love what I read even if there are few books.
I read 3, technically 4, books in October. I know, I know. Here comes the shame...
I GET IT! I DID TERRIBLE! I KNOW OKAY!

But in all honesty, I was very busy in the month of October, and while I didn't read a lot of books, the ones I did read are real gems.
Let's just jump right into this...

I didn't mean like that *facepalm*
I meant like this:
I actually love Mary Poppins so....

The first book I read this month was...drumroll please
(thank you)


Slayers by C.J Hill
Published: September 27, 2011
My Rating: 5/5 Stars

Holy shit this gave me all the feels and shit. I love love love love love this book so much and do you know how thrilled I was when I found out there was a sequel and a possible sequel to the sequel?! Because it resembles something like this:
It was actually exactly that. That is me. 

The second book I read this month was...


Anna and the French Kiss by Stephenie Perkins
Published: December 2, 2010
My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This book gave me feels and shit, too. Now, I was kind of expecting Etienne to be different based on what everybody has said about him in reviews and tags and stuff, but he was still AMAZING!

The third book I read this month was...


Defy by Sara B. Larson
Published: January 7, 2014
My Rating: 5/5 stars

Holy shit I was actually bawling in this book. Like flat out ugly crying, not cute crying. UGLY CRYING! 
I shit you not this was me ^^^^^^^^ the last forty pages of this fucking book that made me get tear-stains on my homework I was procrastinating over. 

Ugh.

The fourth book that I read this month (but actually finished on November 1) was...

...this little fucker
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Published: May 7, 2013
My Rating: 5/5 stars

Oh don't even get me started on this little thing. I was legit sobbing, like harder than the previous book in this wrap-up. Ugly ugly ugly crying...
I wrote a book talk on this where I didn't share my crying experience. It's under my book talks tab if you want to read that crash-and-burn...

Thanks for reading about my small October Wrap-Up! It's November 9th and I've already read more books than I did in October so....

See you guys next time! xoxo -Lauren



Let's Talk: The 5th Wave


Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Date Started: October 28, 2015
Date Finished: November 2, 2015
Rating: 5/5 Stars

*semi spoiler-free review*

Since this is my first real book review for this blog and it's nearing the time where I will pass out until the morning, this is not going to be the longest of book talks. It probably won't be the best of talks, either, but (hopefully) it's going to be interesting.

This book tore my heart to shreds, first off. The characters were very relatable (yes, even in a dystopian novel), and I felt a real connection to them.

Onto more technical aspects (more on emotional stuff later), this book was interesting in formatting. Every section we would have a different point of view, sometimes from a nameless character. The first obviously being Cassie, the main protagonist, and then moving onto a couple others. And there were some times where I was genuinely shocked putting together two-and-two with these character POVs.

This book gave me all the feels. A couple months ago I coined the term "feels and shit" that I started saying when I described books to my friends, and they caught on and started using it too. This book gave me a ton of feels and shit.
Everything with Cassie's internal struggle to Evan and that drama, plus everything all of the kids have to go through in the death camp prison place was breaking my heart throughout the whole book. The feels and shit was definitely happening.

For all of you wondering whether or not to read this book, the answer is YES! This book is amazing! It's a little slower, but there is plenty of action, and consists of a lot of monologues and soliloquies. I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read the next novel as well as see the movie when it comes out January 15, 2016.

Thanks for reading. I'll catch you next time! xoxo -Lauren 




Sunday, November 1, 2015

NaNoWriMo 2015

Happy November 1st/La Toussaint/Brie's Birthday/NaNoWriMo Day! It's the first day of November and a lot is going on today. La Toussaint (All Saint's Day in France) is today and also my step-sister, Brie's birthday is today! Obviously her birthday is the most important event of today, but another thing that is very exciting today is the first day of NaNoWriMo.
NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month) is a writing competition where you're challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. There are chat rooms, virtual write-ins, and author pep talks throughout the year that make it much more than just "sit down and write a novel." Plus, the winners get a bunch of cool stuff (including 2 free paperback copies of your novel). I did it last year, and while it was a little stressful, it was really fun! I am very glad I decided to do it and I also have NaNoWriMo buddies at my school! How cool is that!
Here's the link to the site: http://nanowrimo.org/dashboard. I hope to see you all there!