Best Books I read in 2012

Best Books I read in 2012

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

The Karma Club by Jessica Brody

The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Eve by Anna Carey

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Waiting for you by Susanne Colasanti

 North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Until there was you by Kristen Higgins

Marley and Me by John Grogan

To Come and Go like Magic by Katie Pickard Fawcett

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

A Million Suns by Beth Revis

Flight of Blue by A.E. Howard

Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

Thunder and Rain by Charles Martin

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Can’t Wait to get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

13 Gifts by Wendy Mass 

It's not about that!

I was going to write a blog post about the whole Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays debate/argument. Now I'm not going to. 
Because that's not what Christmas is about. 
Christmas is about CHRIST. 
After all that's why it's called CHRISTMAS. 
The whole MC vs HH is not about freedom of speech vs being politically correct and not offensive to other religions. 
¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. --Luke 2:10-11 (NIV) 
Do you see it????? 
The good news of Christ's birth is for everyone!!! 
Jesus came to take away the sins of the world, because 
HE LOVES US THAT MUCH 
It's not about what you say, it's about how you LIVE
so all we can do in 2013 is try to live the best we can!
How to do that, you might ask?
My advice would be to read the Bible about how Jesus lived and try to live that way.
Jesus lived a life of love and compassion.
I don't think he would be offended by people saying Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings. In fact, I think Seasons Greetings is a really cute, um, greeting actually:)
The Christmas season is about love and compassion, because it is about celebrating Christ's birth.
I know there's a big debate out there about secularism and Christianity and I know that to be a Christian means to be against the world.
I think that Jesus would want everyone, even people who don't believe in him, to be with their families on Christmas.
Maybe those people will come to believe in him one day.
I hope so.
I hope everyone had a  lovely Christmas and I encourage you to think about Jesus this season as you drive past the nativity scenes and the lights (Jesus is the Light of the world), as  you snuggle with your kids or grand kids or pets (Jesus loved), and as you exchange gifts with your loved ones.
Jesus Christ was the best gift that was ever given and I would encourage you to take time to remember that.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Seasons Greetings everyone! Love, Rachel

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
--Isaiah 9:6 (NIV) 

2012 End of the Year Book Survey

Hosted by Jamie @ the perpetual page turner
See here for questions and to link up: http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2012/12/end-of-year-book-survey-2012.html

Best In Books 2012

1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)

I must highly recommend Nicholas Sparks books: Nights in Rodanthe, A Walk to Remember, The Choice (It's Nicholas Sparks so pretty much every book I've read this year by him) 

I would also recommend the Lauren Holbrooke trilogy. It's about a modern day matchmaker, chocolate and coffee addict, oh and a Jane Austen Addict. 

I'm never going to be able to finish this question, because I love books too much, so I guess I will just leave it here. There will be a upcoming post on all the books I've read and loved this year coming soon. 

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Anna and the French kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I read Lola and the Boy Next Door first which I absolutely loved, but Anna's story just fell flat for me. 

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter. I had read so many good reviews of this one, but I didn't like it at all. 

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012? 

A lot of books surprised me this year. I read a lot that I didn't plan on reading, pulled off the shelf randomly at the library. Talk about a vague answer:) 

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?

I thought I answered this already, but if I had to pick only ONE book it would be Delirium by Lauren Oliver. I am just crazy about Delirium and Pandemonium and cannot wait for Requiem to come out!!! 

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?

I discovered a lot of good dystopian/fantasy series: Eve, Shatter Me, Matched, Starcrossed, Graceling. I've only read the first book in the series for most of these, with the exception of Matched; I have read and do own Crossed as well. Eagerly awaiting for the moment I get my hands on a copy of Reached. I would buy it on amazon if I weren't a broke college student. 

 6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?

Fannie Flagg. My mom gave me Can't Wait to get to Heaven for my birthday and I loved it. So funny. 

Susane Colastanti. I thought Waiting for You was so beautiful and I look forward to reading more of hers in 2013!!! 

Elizabeth C. Bunce. I absolutely loved A Curse as Dark as Gold and am eager to read her two books about a thief. Book trailer for the first book is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9L4uH3f0b8

Justina Chen Headly. She wrote the completely beautiful book about a beautiful girl's journey: North of Beautiful. 

Erynn Magnum for the Lauren Holbrooke series. 

Lauren Oliver for Delirium, of course. 

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Foreman. Absolutely stunning and beautiful works. Deals with loss, love, and forgiveness. 

 8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson. 

 9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year

Pride and Prejudice. I re-read it every year. I love it. I also re-read Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta every year too. She and Miss Austen are my favorites. 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

A Million Suns by Beth Revis. The covers for these books are so stunning and beautiful.

11. Most memorable character in 2012? 

I-I don't know! There are so many memorable characters. I would have to go with Francesca from Saving Francesca, Terra from North of Beautiful, Mia from If I Stay, Anna from Moonglass, Taylor from Jellicoe Road. 

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?

Even though I didn't like the plot or the characters, I loved the writing of One Day by David Nicholls. 

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012? 

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. It's an absolutely tragic and sad book about the persistent determination of a man and his love for his cancer striken wife and their daughter. 

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read? 

I can't believe I waited so long to read A Million Suns and I'm so glad I finally did! 

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012? 

There are way too many, but I will share my favorite Bible verse of the year. 

Ephesians 1:4-6 

⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love⁵ he^[a] predestined us for adoption to sonship^[b] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasureand will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (NIV) 

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012? 

I don't keep track of how long the books that I read are, so I really don't know. 

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

The girl of fire and thorns, A million suns, Delirium/Pandemonium, Eve, The maze runner, Finnikin of the Rock...

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

My favorite friendship is Emmy and the guys in Take a Bow, another book I really loved. My favorite romantic relationship is Nash and Marissa in Waiting for you. 

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously

I had read Jellicoe Road before this year (remember I re-read it every year) and this year I got to read Saving Francesca, which was really excellent as well. 

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else

Well I read the Lauren Holbrooke trilogy based on a recommendation from my Best College Friend. It also helped that she owned all the books and just let me borrow them:) 

Well that's the end of the survey. It was actually tremendously helpful because it made me realize that I did actually read If I stay and where she went this year. I forgot because I didn't review them or list them on GR. 

I wish yall Happy Reading in 2013! 

Last Reads of 2012 Readathon

So I found this cool readathon today (hosted by Eileen at Singing and Reading in the Rain, Patrick at The Bookshelves, and Jen at Jen Rylands YA Romantics) and decided it would be great for me to do. It's all about finishing up the year strong on our book challenges. I have about 20 books to read by the end of the month to finish my GR challenge of 110 books. Think I can do it? Yeah, so do I.
Here are the books I'm determined to get through:
(note: all photos from GR)
            
          
            

I have a lot of books to read and I need to check out more, but these are the one's I've got right now! Feel free to comment below; after all, I'll need all the luck and magic I can get;)

Another Update

So I had hoped that all of the changes to my blog would be complete by the new year, but it doesn't look that that's going to happen:( But it will some day, some day, some day... I feel like all I say is some day when it comes to things that I want to or should do. 

I want to create a blog design, but I don't know how to and I don't know if I should just buy one with Christmas either (because that might be easier). I haven't really had the time to create one and I know I'll be even busier next semester. 

So here is where I ask for advice. Did you create your own design and was it easy or hard to do? Because when I looked at doing it, it just seemed really overwhelming and I was worried I would mess up my blog doing it. I worry too much. 

As for things I've wanted to blog about, turns out I haven't done much of that either. I wanted to blog more about my college life, but mostly I've stuck to doing song, book, and tv reviews. I think I watch too much tv. 

I am really living life and am having many many many adventures that I would like to share with yall, but I'm LIVING! 

I also have things I want to do in 2013. I want to write a book, which is something I've always wanted to do, but haven't done. I want to write a book. I want to believe in the beauty of my dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt said, "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." It's just...I've never believed in the beauty of my dreams, so how can I now? 

I also want to...there's so many things I want to do! I need to go do them, and although this is a lame ending to my pity party update, I also want to finish my GR goal of reading 110 books this year, so I guess I'll get off the blog and go read. 

If you have an advice please leave it in the comments. I wish yall a Merry Christmas and I'll see yall soon! 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Movie Review)

photo from focus on the family's plugged in online
for their review see here:  http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/perks-of-being-a-wallflower.aspx

Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a freshman in high school named Charlie. He's had a difficult life, despite his loving mother, father, and sister. As he enters high school, he meets two seniors, Sam and Patrick, brother and sister, who take him under their wings. Charlie starts to enjoy life with them and finds that being a "wallflower" isn't so bad. At least, he has some people to make his first year of high school a little bit better, people to eat lunch with, go to the school dances with, ect.. However, Charlie has a troubled past and memories resurface as he starts to lose his friends in their last months of high school. They are seniors and will soon go off to college. PBW is a terribly sad movie about how love is abused, but it does provide lessons on love and friends.
Sam and Patrick.(but especially Sam) bring so much good into Charlie's life and he into theirs. Maybe the lesson is that, despite everything, we can move on; we are always moving on with life. Charlie is a good kid, despite his troubles. He really falls in love with Sam, which she knows, but she falls for other men. Right before she is about to leave for college, Sam asks Charlie why he never asked her out, to which he says he didn't know if she wanted it. Sam tells him that putting someone always first isn't the same thing as love, and that he can't just put his life on hold for everyone else (which is what he's been doing for them the whole movie).
I think that PBW has many lessons about friendship, romance, and love, and that the big one is that "we accept the people we think we deserve." Charlie says this in response to Sam's question, "Why do I, and everyone I love, pick people treat us like we are nothing?" Sam and Charlie are both really sweet characters, and Emma and Logan did a great job in this film. It's a really difficult film to watch and I was really sad by the end, but it's worth watching.

So, overall the perks of being a wallflower....

The tunnel song

and here's the book passage of this part of the movie

The homecoming dance

We accept the love we think we deserve

These are some of my favorite clips from the movie. I highly encourage yall to watch PBF. Have a great Friday, Rachel 

Realm of the Lost Review (Blog Tour)

The Realm of the Lost by Emma Eden Ramos

E-Book: 61 pages

Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing

Release Date: September 11, 2012

What happens when you die before your time?

Thirteen-year-old Kathleen "Kat" Gallagher has had it with her family. The eldest of three children, Kat feels trapped ever since her parents’ separated and she has had to take on more responsibility than she feels prepared for. Everything changes on a frigid morning in mid-December when an accident propels Kat into unfamiliar territory.

Stuck in the place where people go when they have died before their time, Kat must face obstacles she could never have imagined.

With the help of other young inhabitants of the Realm of the Lost, Kat learns the true meaning of friendship and family.

I really enjoyed The Realm of the Lost; it's a very original story that deals with family and their dysfunction. That's just the way families are; dysfunctional, but wonderful. It's great being in family and being loved, and knowing that your family will always be there for you and come through for you when you need it the most.
I loved Kat's journey through the Realm of the Lost and her inner journey as well. She is a very strong female character is very well crafted in the novella. She undergoes a lot on her journey and comes out even stronger. I'm so proud of her! She's a truly excellent character and I enjoyed spending time with her.
I love how the novella is set out to answer, what happens when someone dies before their time, when they are too young to die? I'm glad it adresses this issue, because so many people in today's modern world, despite technology (you could even argue that because of the advances of technology) die too young.
In short, The Realm of the Lost is a wonderful little thing that I would gladly read over a study break. #collegelife :)
I would like to thank I am a Reader, not a Writer for letting me participate in the blog tour and introducing me to this wonderful author. I would also like to thank the author herself, Ms. Emma Eden Ramos. Keep writing!

Author Emma Eden Ramos

Emma Eden Ramos is a writer and student from New York City. Her short stories have appeared in Stories for Children Magazine, The Storyteller Tymes, BlazeVOX Journal, and others. Emma's novelette, Where the Children Play, is included in Resilience: Stories, Poems, Essays, Words for LGBT Teens, edited by Eric Nguyen. Three Women: A Poetic Triptych and Selected Poems (Heavy Hands Ink, 2011), Ramos’ first poetry chapbook, was shortlisted for the 2011 Independent Literary Award in Poetry. Emma studies psychology at Marymount Manhattan College.