March update: Sun!

This month as described by My Little Pony:

For once, it's actually becoming spring in western Washington. In March. I'm a winter girl, but I love me some 70 degree sun.

Some Happenigs:

- Met Erika

Erika of Rescue Reads and her family were visiting Seattle, so I got to hang out with her for a couple hours. Yay for meeting bloggers IRL!

- I eat oatmeal now
Here's the deal: I've always hated oatmeal. Occasionally I'd get a craving for it so I'd make some, eat two bites, then give it to someone else because it turned out, yes, I did still hate oatmeal. This month, though, we had a crap-ton of it around the house, so I decided "it's healthy, so what the hey." And I didn't hate it! (Yes, this counts as an event in my month.)

Still working on this one.

-Acquired 2 new bookshelves
When we moved in I had one rinky dink bookshelf. It filled up quickly. Then I got a bigger one and somehow managed to fill #1 up with so much crap there wasn't any room for books anymore so bookshelf #2 filled quickly. I even stacked extra books all the way to the ceiling from the top of #2. So, as you ca see, new bookshelves were necessary. Sadly, I now have no more room for bookshelves.

- Dark Days stop

There isn't enough room to
take proper pictures.

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures (there were a lot of people,) but I had a really good time. Claudia Gray, Debra Driza, Dan Wells, Kiersten White, and Lauren Oliver were all in attendance, and I'm not going to lie, they were all kind of hilarious.

- Decided to start taking care of my skin.
Which basically means that I spent about $100 on products in one day.

- Had an interview, didn't get it
And in disappointing news, I had an interview with Seattle's biggest indie and didn't get it. Still, I'm happy to have gotten an interview at such a great place.

Some current favorites:
Music: I was on a Youtube kick this month, so we have:

Show(s): The anime of the month was Aquarion. Basically, it's about a futuristic world ruled by winged creatures and the teens who use mecha to defeat them and take back the Earth. It's not the best thing ever, but I did get really invested in the characters and their relationships.
90210. Sort of. Kind of. I decided to watch the 2 1/2 seasons I've missed, but I found myself really frustrated with the stupidity of the characters. Yet, I couldn't stop watching partly because it's hard to stop and partly because I feel obligated to finish since it ends this year.

Movie: The Legend of the Guardians

Book(s): Also Known As by Robin Benway, The Fellowship for Alien Detection by Kevin Emerson, and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Know Me Better #4

While doing the Book Bloger Love-A-Thon I came across I Am a Reader Not a Writer's Know Me Better feature through someone's blog and thought "perfect!" So, here we are with me sharing more little tidbits about myself (I know, you all find me fascinating.) I'm just going to start with the first post she did and work my way up from there. Sound good?

If you could meet one person who has died who would you choose?

I guess I don't really have one. I suck at meeting people. I'm all awkward and I get super anxious.

Chocolate or Vanilla?

It depends, I suppose. But if we're going chocolate then it has to be dark and if it's vanilla then I'd prefer vanilla bean.

What do you do in your free time? 

Read, binge watch tv shows and anime, and. . . I don't even know. The internet eats all my time.

What movie are you looking forward to this year?

Now You See It (I believe that's the title). Jesse Eisenberg and magic all in one movie? Yes, I am so there. Also, the second Percy Jackson movie. I'm aware the first one kind of sucked, but I can't say no to Percy Jackson and Logan Lerman.

Spontaneity or Planning Ahead?

I cannot stress this enough: Planning ahead.

Genie Wishes by Elisabeth Dahl {Review}

Publisher: Amulet Books

Publish Date: April 2, 2013
Source: ALA for honest review
Pages: 288
Series: No

Rating: Miss

This sweet, funny novel follows fifth-grader Genie Kunkle through a tumultuous year. From the first day of school, Genie knows there will be good, bad, and in-between. The good? She’s in homeroom with her best friend, Sarah. The bad? Sarah’s friend from camp, Blair, is a new student at their school, and is itching to take Genie’s place as Sarah’s BFF. The in-between? Genie is excited to be elected to write her class’s blog, where she’s tasked with tracking the wishes and dreams of her class. But expressing her opinion in public can be scary—especially when her opinion might make the rest of her class upset.
I may have liked Genie Wishes when I was Genie's age, but I just couldn't get into it. That being said, I didn't particularly dislike it, I just couldn't connect with the characters or their problems.

First of all, I found the writing style to be a little distant. It felt more like a documentation of events from a neutral third-party than a young girl's personal journey and growth through her fifth grade year. When I read I story I want to feel like I'm right there with the characters, like their hurt and happiness is mine as well, and I just didn't feel that for Genie despite the fact that I've been through the difficult friend change process myself many times.

There were a lot of characters. So many, in fact, that I had some trouble keeping them all apart. Now, a large cast of characters can work if you flesh them out well enough, but I barely got a feel for Genie let alone the rest of her class.

I think I'm probably getting old because I can't remember any of these puberty things happening when I was ten. Do guys really go around snapping girls' bras? This never happened in my class, at any point in time, but do have any of you experienced it? Also, is it really that completely obvious when a girl starts wearing a bra? Maybe I just didn't notice these things, but I'd like to think all the boys in my class didn't immediately notice I was now a proud member of the Bra Wearing Club on the first day. Feel free to correct me down in the comments, though, guys :]

One thing I did appreciate about Genie Wishes was the way it eased into things. Nothing happened all at once. Instead of some big fight with her best friend, Genie just started drifting apart from her. I slowly noticed some change in Genie as she went through the year.

On the other side of that coin, though, is the lack of a clear plot structure. Everything just kind of blended together for me. I couldn't identify a beginning, a middle, and an end. Things were randomly introduced to the story and then never really end up having a purpose or resolution, such as the stray dog, Lulu, and Genie's dad starting to date.

The Nutshell: I recommend Genie Wishes for younger readers who are looking for a story about a girl going through a normal year of school dealing with similar things they might be dealing with. Personally, I couldn't connect with the story or get into the writing style, but that doesn't mean someone else might not enjoy it!

Cover Lover {71}

Of course we all know you should never judge a book by its cover, but do we ever really listen to that?
Cover Lover showcases eye catching, intriguing, and beautiful covers. 

This week's Cover Lover goes to Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Publish Date: March 5th, 2013

Just look at it! I like that the couple is a little out of focus and that they aren't the overall focus. The title is bold and in your face, but in a way that would definitely make me pick it up without knowing anything about it. The backdrop of the fluffy clouds and orange hue manages to be both bold and subtle. 

Firmoo review

A little bit ago I had the opportunity to review a pair of glasses from Firmoo. Firmoo is a great website for those of us who like having good looking glasses but don't want to shell out a couple hundred for a pair. They have a wide variety of styles and colors to choose from and most frames are under $50. Plus, they have a First Pair Free program! All you have to do is pay for shipping.

I do not picture well, sorry, guys.

You can find the glasses I reviewed here.
Firstly, the things I like:
- I got the glasses within 10 days (since mine were specifically for review, I'm unsure if it makes a difference) which is a fair amount of time glasses making and shipping, in my opinion.
- The frames are light weight. I don't really feel them while they're on which I can't say for my other pair (different source altogether.)
- The virtual try-on system on the website is good to get an idea of how the frames will look on your face.

But then there were a few things I wasn't such a fan of:
- The plastic nosepads seem a bit unnecessary and bothersome. They pulls on the skin at the corner of my eyes making me constantly adjust due to discomfort.
- There's already a small scratch on one of the lenses after about two days of wear. Granted, I seem to have issues with lenses, or else, always have cheap ones.
- The virtual try-on service can be a bit off if your picture doesn't work with the specs which still puts a bit of the guessing game in your glasses buying experience.