Thursday, January 9, 2014

December Wrap Up + Subblime Giveaway!

December is finally over!
In this video I wrapped up the month and shared what I plan on reading this month in January!




Don't forget to enter my Subblime giveaway to win a copy of The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider! Click here to enter!
I really really enjoyed this book and I think you will too!
BTW, I have no clue why the picture of the cover came out like this! It's actually bright yellow! Opps!





Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Top Ten Bookish Resolutions




Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish Blog.

 My Top Ten Bookish Resolutions

 1. Learn that it's okay to quit.
This is going to be very hard for me to do. I almost ALWAYS finish every book that I start. I feel like I owe it to the author to see the book through. I've started quite a few books with slow beginnings, (The Host and The Art of Racing in the Rain are two examples) where if I would have stopped 100 pages in or so I would have missed out on a truly amazing story.
HOWEVER, this is not always the case. Sometimes we begin a story blindly without knowing anything about the story.. and then don't like it. At that point, it's okay to stop. If you don't like it, you shouldn't have to finish it. It can make you cranky and you're essentially just wasting your time. Time you could have spent on a much, MUCH better book.

2. Be a better commenter
I stress to always reply to every single YouTube comment, blog comment, email, etc.. but I don't always succeed. This is something I would like to work on!

3. Keep in touch with the BookTube community
This kind of goes hand in hand with #2, but this is something that's really important to me. I'm not going to name any names.. but there are clearly a small handful of BookTubers that simply film a video, edit, upload, and then they are done. They are producing content without ever really connecting to their audiences. They don't respond to comments, they don't usually chat with you on Twitter, etc. I noticed this before I actually started my channel as well. My goal is to never loose touch with the community and to continue to always take part in as many read-a-thons, conversations, hangouts, or whatever is going on! I created my channel to talk with people about books, so that's exactly what I plan on doing!

4. Read 75 books!
I read 60 books in 2013 and I'm very proud of that number. Especially since I read that many books while working, being in college, and I even planned a wedding in that year.. so I know I can do more! I've decided to make my goal 75 books for 2014!

5. Keep up on reviews!
I'm primarily a BookTuber on YouTube and although I started out always reviewing every book I read, I've since stopped. On average I probably review 1 out of every 5 or 6 books I read. Ever since I started blogging though I've been doing a lot better at getting my thoughts out right after finishing! I plan to continue this and at least review each book on here, and maybe even on YouTube as well if I like it enough!

6. Read 5 adult books.
It's funny.. in junior high and high school I tried to read more adult books (maybe I thought it would make me more mature, I don't really know).. Now I'm in college and I primary read YA. (Bit backwards, huh?) So my goal is to read a few more adult books this year!

7. Slow down on requesting books from authors and sites like Netgalley.
This year I kept getting ignored/declined for so many books (especially on Netgalley) until recently when I got over a dozen acceptances in a row. Now I have way too many books to read and review! I need to slow it down a bit!

8. Read 12 books on my TBR shelf.
(Yes I said SHELF and not pile.. it's grown that much...) I feel like this is going to be a very common thing for BookTubers and bloggers to choose. We all love to buy books, yet we can only read so quickly. I've accepted the fact that I will ALWAYS have a TBR pile, but that's just fine. I just need to read at least 1 a month this year (so I don't feel QUITE so guilty...)

9. Learn to stress less
I'm a BookTuber and blogger because I enjoy it. End of story.. yet I find that I can let myself get so stressed over really silly things, such as, I MUST get this review up with 24 hours of finishing the book!..etc. That's ridiculous though. Most of the time when I think that I'm "disappointing" my subscribers because a video isn't up as quickly as I would have liked.. I'm actually not. It's usually all in my head. I need to learn to just take a breath and remind myself why I make videos/reviews about books in the first place. This isn't some chore I have to do.. I really enjoy it!

10. Think of something new for my channel!
Most booktubers will occasionally post a review over a book they read, they will wrap up their reading months, they will almost always share with you the books that they just bought in a haul, and then they will do a tag. This is all just fine and dandy. I love doing all of these things! My goal for 2014 is to be a bit more creative though and to do something a little different. One of my favorite booktubers, Liz (Elizziebooks) is really good about doing things differently. I love how she points out new BookTubers, shares what's going on in the community, etc. I would like to do something like this!
Let me know your 10 Ten Bookish Resolutions in the comments below!
If you have any creative suggestions/ideas for #10, let me know! :)

Monday, January 6, 2014

Reccomend A... book you want to reread for the 1st time

Be sure to check out future prompts here as well as more info on this feature.

This week's prompt:
Recommend A... Book You Want to Reread for the 1st Time

Uglies
By Scott Westerfeld
Published: Feb 8th, 2005
Series: Uglies #1
Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license - for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all.

The choice Tally makes changes her world forever...

This book is so amazing. This will always be one of my favorite series! I've read through the series now a few times, but of course there's nothing like the very first time! If you haven't read this book yet, I definitely recommend it!

Here's my video review!



Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Blood Promise
By Richelle Mead
Published: Aug 25th, 2009
Series: Vampire Academy #4




Buy This Book from Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide
The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters ... Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?


My Rating:


My Thoughts:

4.5 stars
I obviously really liked this book and I'm absolutely loving this series right now.. but I couldn't help but feel like many parts of this book wasn't necessary? Maybe that's a bit too harsh. It's just that while reading the first three books I never had that feeling, there was always a purpose and the characters always accomplished so much. There was always leaps and bounds in the plot.. but not as much in this one. I liked that Rose left for Russia and this book really showed just how brave she really is. I was so heartbroken at the end of Shadowkissed.. I felt like that writing style was still amazing and it wasn't a slow read by any means.. just, less happened, I suppose? I don't know exactly what I'm trying to say. I guess I just kind of looked at how the book ended and compared it to when Rose started her journey. What exactly did she accomplish? I need to start the next one and hopefully I'll feel better about this//


Spoilers:

She got to meet her Dad, so that was nice. Abe's a little.. odd.(I definitely didn't see that coming by the way..)The main problem was that she failed to kill Dimitri many times (which was the only reason she went to Russia in the first place).. it was nice that she got to see his hometown and meet his family, but for what? Is that really what she needs? Maybe. At this point I don't see how their relationship is going to work out. I'm a little heartbroken myself.. (although that's ridiculous I know). I HATED reading about Dimitri in this book. Every time he responded with him "wanting her" instead of "loving her" I just cringed.. Rose clearly doesn't want to become a Strigoi (even if it means spending eternity with Dimitri - I don't blame her though. He's not the same...) and so I don't think that that's where this is going. Towards the end of the book a "fairy tale" was mentioned about a Strigoi becoming "alive" again. I sincerely hope that THAT is where this story is heading.. I can't stand Dimitri like this..

Thursday, January 2, 2014

I hate laptop chargers..

So not to be TOO dramatic.. but something terrible has happened.. My laptop is dead.
(Why don't you just charge it Jessica?)
Well THANKS Captain Obvious pants! ...but the terrible thing is not that my laptop has died.. but my CHARGER has died.. again. This has already happened to me once this year.
What am I doing to these poor chargers that make them die?

Anyways I'm ordering one now, but it will be a few days before I can have a fully charged laptop.. which means that I won't have access to any sort of editing software for a few days.. which means NO videos.. :'( This really stinks because I was planning on putting out ALL sorts of videos in the next couple of days. My December Wrap Up & January TBR.. my Christmas Book Haul (in which I show you the books and Harry Potter merchandise that I got for Christmas!).. my Vampire Academy reviews over the first THREE books all together.. I've been flying through those puppies faster than I can review them! (Well, review them on video I mean.. I've already done written reviews..) I also have a fun Harry Potter tag video that I'll be doing soon, but NOT until those other ones are finished!.. So ya, I'm a little bummed, but at least you know now. I guess you have something to look forward to, right?

Anyone else kill their chargers as often as me? ....No? Just me.. alright then.