October Creep-Fest

Hey guys! In case you've just woken up from a month-long hibernation, it's FINALLY October! There are a couple of reasons why October is my favorite month- First, it's my birthday month! Whoot! Second, Halloween!!

Two awesome holidays in one month? (Wait, what do you mean my birthday isn't a nationally celebrated holiday????)

Seriously though, Halloween is a great holiday, and the perfect time of the year to knock some creepy reads off our TBRs. So, in celebration of the season, I'll be trying to read at least two creepy reads this month:

 
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski


I'll also be participating in a read-a-long hosted by Jackie's Bookbytes and reading Salem's Lot by Stephen King. You guys should all go check out her blog and join in, even if you don't have the book (Jackie has links to a free version of the book online, either as actual book or audiobook!)

What do you all have planned for this October?

Until next time,
xox

Banned Books Week- Some of my Favorite Banned and Censored Books

As you might know, this week is Banned Books Week, and in celebration and support of having the freedom to read and write without censorship, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite banned/challenged books. Feel free to visit the American Library Association's page to see what other books are frequently challenged throughout the years.


1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
2.The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
4. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
5. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
6. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
7. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
8. Cut by Patricia McCormick
9. Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine
10. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Each and every one of these books and/or authors have affected me in significant ways. I literally wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for these books, and many others like them. These books defined my childhood and adolescence- most of which were read while I was in junior high and grade school.

These books, and others like them, are important to so many. These books save lives. These books help explain and teach things in a way that's relatable and understandable. Depriving anyone of any single one of these books is a crime of the worst kind.

As a final thought, I'd like you to think of the good things that these books, and the hundreds of other banned/challenged books, can teach and help kids understand. Seriously. Think about it.

Until next time,
xox

Review #16- Blazed by Jason Myers

*Goodreads page*

Goodreads synopsis- Jamie uncovers life-changing secrets from his past when he’s sent to live with a father he’s never met in this gritty novel from the author of Exit Here. and Run the Game.

Jamie is invincible when he is high. His anger, his isolation, his mom’s manic mood swings—nothing can shatter his glass castle. But one brutal night upends everything, leaving his mom broken and Jamie betrayed.

Sent to live with a father he’s never met, Jamie is determined to hate the man he blames for his mother’s ruin. And he blocks out the pain with drugs, fierce music, and sweet, sweet Dominique. Except the more time Jamie spends at his dad’s, the more his mother’s scathing stories start to unravel. Who is he supposed to believe? And how much will he have to sacrifice to uncover the truth?

This actually isn't going to be so much a review as me rambling about how wonderful Jason Myers's books are why you need to pick his work up. Fair warning. 

Alright, so if you know me well enough, you know I LOVE all things Jason Myers.  Let me start off by saying that Myers's books are some of the strangest and most fucked up books I've ever read, and, again, if you know me well enough, strange and fucked up is my absolute favorite type of book. Granted, when I say strange, I mostly mean it explores a sub-culture I'm definitely not a part of but totally respect, and when I say fucked up, I mean take  just about every "bad" thing in life- excessive drug and alcohol use, profanity, sex, shitty life situations- and mush it all into one book, that's more or less what I mean. 

Myers crafts a world that's very real and that hundreds of thousands of people are living everyday, but that most people don't experience/notice. He then crafts very real characters and drops you into their lives and takes you on a journey in this world of theirs that's like the craziest roller coaster you've ever been on in your life that nearly destroys you by the end.

Now, most people I know would pick up one of Myers's books, read the first page, and toss it down in disgust. I'm here to tell you not to do that. Yes, his books have loads of profanity and drug and alcohol use from beginning to end, but you have to look further than that. His books really do have some great messages- the biggest of which, at least for me, is that life isn't all rainbows roses- that isn't an excuse to sit and wallow in self-pity, though. Live in the moment. Make memories with your friends. The only thing that really matters is right now.

Okay, this is starting to sound super freaking lame, and I'm not even coming close to doing justice to how amazing Jason Myers's books are, but trust me when I say they are worth it. These books really mean a lot to me and so many others, and they could mean a lot to you, too. And I guess these books probably speak more to people who've had shitty times, but I think everyone could take something from his books, especially Blazed.

And with that, I'll leave you with a couple of quotes that really spoke to me from Blazed, and hopefully they'll convey what I'm afraid I've been unable to adequately show in this rambling mess:

"I'll never compromise a thing I love in order to be liked by anyone else."

"All the monsters I've met in my life have come gift wrapped in gold or killer band shirts."

"...'What we might end up making is the only thing that's ever gonna outlive us. It's art, Jaime. It's timeless. Nobody can hear your excuses when you're dead. But they sure as hell can listen to your music.'"

"'Art is the only immortality we have,' Edie says.'To be able to positively affect people for generations after we're dead. This is what it's about.'..."

Until next time,

xox

Review #15- The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero

*Goodreads Page*
I received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley

 

Goodreads synopsis-  What begins as a clever, gothic ghost story soon evolves into a wickedly twisted treasure hunt in The Supernatural Enhancements, Edgar Cantero's wholly original, modern-day adventure.

When twentysomething A., the unexpected European relative of the Wells family, and his companion, Niamh, a mute teenage girl with shockingly dyed hair, inherit the beautiful but eerie estate of Axton House, deep in the woods of Point Bless, Virginia, it comes as a surprise to everyone—including A. himself. After all, he never even knew he had a "second cousin, twice removed" in America, much less that the eccentric gentleman had recently committed suicide by jumping out of the third floor bedroom window—at the same age and in the same way as his father had before him . . .

Together, A. and Niamh quickly come to feel as if they have inherited much more than just a rambling home and a cushy lifestyle. Axton House is haunted, they know it, but that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the secrets they slowly but surely uncover. Why all the suicides? What became of the Axton House butler who fled shortly after his master died? What lurks in the garden maze and what does the basement vault keep? And what of the rumors in town about a mysterious gathering at Axton House on the night of the winter solstice?

Told vividly through a series of journal entries, scrawled notes, recovered security footage, letters to Aunt Liza, audio recordings, complicated ciphers, and even advertisements, Edgar Cantero has written a dazzling and original supernatural adventure featuring classic horror elements with a Neil Gaiman-ish twist.

I don't generally read this kind of book, mostly because I'm a little harsh when it comes to "scary" books because it's next to impossible to creep me out. Unfortunately, this book didn't succeed on that front. It did, however, make me fall in love with it's many other aspects.

This book follows A., a young man from England who has inherited a manor called the Axton House from his distant cousin, Ambrose Wells, from America. Along with Niamh, a mute teenage girl from Ireland, A. travels to Point Bless, Virginia to live in his new home. Not long after, A. and Niamh realize that things in this house and the late Ambrose's life were anything but ordinary. After finding a letter addressed in code to the missing butler, A. and Niamh find a series of clues that point toward the mysterious group that Ambrose was a member of and the possible cause of his suicide.

Add to all of that A.'s strange dreams, the appearance of several members of Ambrose's secret society, secret rooms, coded letters, and the installation of a swimming pool in the dead of winter, and we've got ourselves a pretty intriguing mystery!

The only thing I didn't like was that there are a few unanswered questions at the end of the book, all of which I hope will answered in a sequel, though *cough cough*.

Apart from that though, I really enjoyed this book. I stayed up much later than I should have just so I could finish this book, because I just HAD to know what was going to happen next, and there was no way I could sleep knowing shit was about to go down.

In short, pick this book up. You won't regret it.

Until next time,
xox 

WWW Wednesday #1

This is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading

All you have to do is answer these three questions:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll be reading next?

*What are you currently reading?*

Blazed by Jason Myers

*What did you recently finish reading?*

The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero

*What do you think you'll be reading next?*





The Game by Barry Lyga

Review #14- I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

*Goodreads Page*
*NetGalley Page*- I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for review.

 

Goodreads synopsis-  What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?

Jasper "Jazz" Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

I'd seen this book around, never really thought much of it and didn't really have it on my radar. I don't know. Some books just call to you the moment you see them, you know? This book didn't really do that for me. However, I'm extremely glad I picked this book up!

I don't even know where to begin. This book follows Jasper "Jazz" Dent, 17 year old son of the world's most infamous serial killer, Billy Dent. With Billy safely tucked behind bars, Jazz is trying to live some semblance of a normal life- or at least as normal as a kid who thinks he is genetically disposed to one day follow in his fathers footsteps can live. However, with a string of fresh murders, Jazz is convinced there's a new serial killer on the loose in the Nod, and he enlists the help of his hemophiliac best friend and his tough-as-nails girlfriend to help convince Sheriff G. William of the same. Add in a bat-shit crazy grandmother, a meddling social worker, and Jazz's own belief that he's a monster waiting to snap, and you've got yourself one hell of a novel!

Seriously, the only things that held me back from reading this book in one sitting  were classes and sleep. This book was seriously amazing, and Lyga had me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire thing, desperately trying to figure out who the killer was.

And the end? Holy crap! The end left me desperate for book two!

So basically, what I'm trying to say is, if you haven't read this book, you really should. It's more than worth it, and this review doesn't even come close to doing it justice.

Until next time,
xox

A Few of My Favorite Authors Part 1

I recently posted this picture on Instagram, showing a handful of some of my favorite authors, and I thought I'd make a proper post about some of my favorite authors and my favorite books by them.

To start off, let me clarify how I categorize "favorite authors". For me, a favorite author is an author who writes books that I know, no matter what mood I'm in, I'll be able to pick up and fall in love with immediately. If you're a favorite author of mine, I've either read all of your books or have read a good many of them.

Now, many of my favorite authors are ones that I discovered at a young age, but they write the kind of timeless novels, that even today, as a young adult, I can pick up one of their books and immediately fall in love.

In order give a little more detail about what I love about these authors and an attempt to not bore you to tears, I think what I'll do is tell you about three authors now, and make another post or two discussing my other favorite authors. 

The three authors I'll tell you about today are three that, when I think about my favorite books as a child, come to mind first. 

1. Laurie Halse Anderson: The first book I read by her was Twisted, and this book got me hooked on all things Laurie. I know most of you probably know her best for her novels Speak and Wintergirls, but the book I fell in love with most was Catalyst. I'm not even sure why. It was the book I related with least on a personal level, but there's just something about the story that I absolutely love!

2. Jerry Spinelli- My first Spinelli book was Stargirl, and if any of you have read this book, I'm sure you know why I was instantly hooked! I remember going to the library in my town and checking out every Spinelli book they had. I even re-read a few of them, which is something I almost never do. Spinelli just has a way of writing about adolescent life that's so real and true, yet fun and exciting that you can't but devour more of his writing. Some of my favorite books by Spinelli are his Space Station Seventh Grade books, Crash, and Who Put that Hair on my Toothbrush?.

3. Robert Cormier- I fell in love with Cormier's writing after reading The Chocolate War. Cormier writes some darker stuff, but it's really good. If you haven't read anything by him, I encourage you to do so immediately! I promise you won't regret it! Some of my favorite books by him are Fade, We All Fall Down, Tenderness, and the Rag and Bone Shop. 

Alright guys, here are a few of my favorite authors! Please stay tuned for some more! 

Until next time,

xox