Monday, December 14, 2015

[ Sophie hanging out in her new Gingerbread House + lights ]

Happy Holiiiiidays~!

It's December! I started my previous entry like this! Wow my memory blows! Anyway, I normally have some sort of weird theme in December. In 2010 I read The Hunger Games along with a bunch of other dystopia. I think in 2011 I read Anna and the French Kiss. It's always something random! I'm trying (key word trying) to stay within the spirit of Christmas this year. Sorta.
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan (re-read, tradition)
→ The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
→ Winter's Kiss by Catherine Hapka
→ The Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano
→ Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (re-read)
→ I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella (re-read)
→ The Rosemary Spell by Virigina Zimmerman
→ A Christmas Gift by Stella Wilkinson
→ Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses by Jenny Hale
→ The Magician's Nephew: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
→ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (audio)

REALISTICALLY I know I'm not going to get through ALL of these books. Or hell, even ONE of them. But I figure I'd give it a shot anyway. Trying is better than you know... not.

A few are re-reads and a few are books I've had on my TBR wish list (does anyone else do that?!) for awhile now so I figure why not. December only comes once a year!

Is there a book you re-read every holiday season? Or is there one you're hoping to cross off your TBR?

Friday, December 11, 2015



Whoooo it's December!

Anyone else wonder why they call it the happiest time of the year when it's probably accurately more like the most stressful time of the year?!

This year I'm spending the holidays with Nick and his family. His tradition? A real Christmas tree. Which is currently sitting pretty with its app controlled blinking lights behind me. That's causing me a crap ton of allergies. And the house doesn't even have a ridiculously overbearing scent of pine. I feel lied to. Also it requires to be watered. And it leaks sap. But it doesn't shed like my mom always told me it would! It's pretty cool. Totally different. But pretty cool (see Nick setting it up above).


To get in a more festive mood, I dyed my hair a color I've never tried before... Teal. Well it's more Turquoise but I love how it turned out! Besides, I needed a change. Also, I got that dress off Amazon for like $15. I'm in love with it!


Got my gifts from my Secret Santa too~! I'm so excited to open them! But I'm waiting until Christmas. Like I do every year. I also mailed out my SS gift yesterday! Wish I had taken a picture of it. I put a lottttttt of effort into it. Also, Nick did a good job with picking the packaging box. So cute that he helped me every step of the way and he got really into it too.

So SS, my boyfriend picked out all the quirky chocolates for you and the pretty box it's coming in!


Also I think it's worth it to mention that after TWELVE YEARS I finally got my white Christmas tree with its pastel glitter ornaments. 

But then Sophie stole it.

It's okay, we'll share.

How are your holidays going so far?!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015


Hey guys! I know, it's been super long since I've dropped by. But I am working on making a post on that soon! 

Today I'm posting my video review of The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. I haven't read any of her other books but if they're anything like this, I will definitely be starting to!





The one thing I liked the most about this read was the time frames. How it was told by one person in present tense and another in past tense who was living in the present. If that makes sense. And when the two time frames mashed together it was really interesting to see where the author was going to go with it. It has a bit of a spook factor to it but it was definitely a page turner for me.

Also, can we just admire this cover for a moment?

Don't forget to subscribe to my new channel Readarella here!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me this amazing read in exchange for an honest review.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Ghost House by Alexandra Adornetto
Ghost House Saga #1
Release Date: August 26th 2014 by HarlequinTeen
Genre: Young Adult > Paranormal
Source: NetGalley (Thank you NetGalley & HarlequinTeen!)
Find It: Amazon || GoodReads || B&N
Summary:
From the New York Times bestselling author of Halo comes the start of a beautiful and powerful new series.

After the loss of her mother, Chloe Kennedy starts seeing the ghosts that haunted her as a young girl again. Spending time at her grandmother's country estate in the south of England is her chance to get away from her grief and the spirits that haunt her. Until she meets a mysterious stranger…

Alexander Reade is 157 years dead, with secrets darker than the lake surrounding Grange Hall and a lifelike presence that draws Chloe more strongly than any ghost before. But the bond between them awakens the vengeful spirit of Alexander's past love, Isobel. And she will stop at nothing to destroy anyone who threatens to take him from her.

To stop Isobel, Chloe must push her developing abilities to their most dangerous limits, even if it means losing Alex forever… and giving the hungry dead a chance to claim her for their own.





Not going to lie, I was drawn into the cover before anything else happened. I love how it's misty behind him and he's surrounded by trees. Something about it is just... eye catching. Makes you incredibly curious.

Chloe seems to have a problem, she can see ghosts. I know people in real life who have this problem as well and handle it a bit differently than Chloe. Her mother taught her to tell them to go away, so they did. But when she's forced on a holiday to England to give her father some space to recover it seems like the ghosts are coming from everywhere and of course there's Alex. I don't know what to make of him, he seems like he doesn't know what to make of himself actually. It's okay Alex, the readers feel just as twisted and confused as you do. It just seemed like at times Alex was a bit careless and withholding on certain information that Chloe could had found useful had he told her earlier.

Joe on the other hand, I really really liked. He seemed like such a great guy and even after the... situation. The guy took everything with stride and wasn't ashamed to protect or stand up or make sure Chloe was okay. It was like it was something he just wanted to do. And not to reflect on my own failure of a love life here but I found him to be very sweet and easy to like. If only Chloe weren't so dense. 

There was a pretty hefty fear factor in these pages but instead of scaring me they kept me turning the pages. I've noticed this is like the 3rd book I've read recently that has to do with creepy things, mansions and England. Is there something I should avoid when I travel over there? IS THERE SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW?!

Overall I kind of thought the fear factor element was a little hard to understand. Throw Alex in there too. But the ending. The ending had me saying, "no no no no." as soon as I realized it was the last page.

YOU CAN NOT END A BOOK LIKE THAT AND EXPECT NO ONE TO FREAK OUT!

Seriously. I need to know what is happening. Like, yesterday. Ugh.




"Sorry if my attire isn't appropriate." "On the contrary," he said.
"Your attire is perfect... and practical." "Thank you. As you can see, it took weeks of planning."
"And yet looks so effortless."

"How do you know that for sure?" I asked, out of genuine curiosity and partly because I wanted to avoid having to respond.
"What do you think love really feels like?"
"I don't think love is just a feeling," Joe said. "I think it's a commitment. Lust is a feeling, that that's what hits you first. But you have to wait until it passes. Once it's gone, what are you left with? That's the real stuff, underneath." He looked to the ceiling. "When I get married one day, I want to be so committed to my wife that no matter what happens I'll never leave her. We might fight, she might cheat, we might sleep in separate rooms for a whole year. I but I won't walk away. So when I tell a girl I love her, I'm going to really mean it."

Monday, November 10, 2014




So while avoiding The Mindy Project for as long as I can so I can just binge watch the whole next season I've been looking for something else to watch. That wasn't the Kardashians. Not that I'm done with them. Just that... I needed a break. And well this looked interesting.

And now. I'm hooked.




Team Matty or Team Jake?

Personally I'm Team Jake. I'm not down with guys who say they love you can care about you and all this other stuff in private and in public don't want to be seen with you making you feel like you're not good enough or your embarrassing or whatever. I love that Jake isn't afraid of what people think of him or that he's a dork in public or that he's such a nice guy and it doesn't hurt that he's adorable. Like seriously seriously adorable. I would had LOVED to date someone like Jake in high school. 

Besides Jake I think the second best character is Jenna's best friends T and Ming. Watching this show (which I am watching as I'm writing this entry...) makes me miss having girl bff's but I was never really great in that department and it never really worked out well and now that I'm older... this is starting to turn into a very personal blog post rather than a usual Media Monday blog post.

Let me just get done with Season 2 cause I can't seem to concetrate on anything else lol!

So. Are you Team Matty or Team Jake?

Saturday, November 1, 2014




So, from the 26 books (so unrealistic but whatever lol) I had planned on reading for my Halloween Challenge this year I ended up reading 7. Wait what? I swear there was more than that! 2 that aren't part of that 7 I marked as DNF. But like I said, there are some titles I'm still looking forward to reading so I'll continue on for awhile longer into November. Though now I don't feel so bad for reading something other than ghost stories lol!

From one challenge to another...


This is my 4th year doing NaNoWriMo and I have yet to win. I'll be updating my word count here and probably here too.I'm hoping to at least get to 30k words this year. Maybe 25. No, 30. Let's go with 30. Even though I have nothing once again planned out for this year! I'm still debating on if I should finish an older project or start a new one. All I know is that I need to write. My summer was full of hurt, changes and betrayal and I need to pour those emotions into something else and be rid of them. I have these characters but I don't know what to do with them or where to put them or what is going to happen to them.

So here we go, another NaNoWriMo ahead and another Halloween Challenge behind!

Are you going to participate in NaNoWriMo this year?



Monday, October 27, 2014



It's Monday, what are you reading? Is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila over at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books.



This month is just flying by so quickly! Not to mention all the other things going on in my personal life. That doesn't leave very much time for completing my challenge as I had hoped. But like they say, you gotta make time!


Read Last Week









Reading This Week







So I'm making some pretty good progress with my Halloween Challenge, at least I'd like to think so! Haha. Of all the books I've read so far I think Suspicion was my favorite even if the ending was super freakin iffy and sort of made no sense at all. I actually finished The Vines this morning and while it was interesting in terms of the history I wasn't too impressed with the characters.

I've been meaning to read Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea for awhile now and I keep putting it off so I figured now or never, basically. There are still a few books I was hoping to finish before October ends but I'm not sure how that's going to work out since it's already the 27th, I may continue on into next month... if I can find time between homework, work and NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo being the more demanding of them all lol!

What are you reading this week?