Like the new layout? I do! I guess it's kind of a given that I like it though considering I'm the one who picked it out. ANYWAY. I figured it was time to revamp this blog and get to be more active on it. I'm working on that, by the way--being more active in all aspects of my life. Let me fill you in on the progress I've made from being permanently glued to my bed to being on the go.
First and foremost, I got a new job. It's literally walking distance from my house and all my coworkers/managers are super nice and friendly. So that's a plus. They seem to like me too and I'm just liking the fast-paced environment and stuff. So, that's all positive. Oh and I'm getting nice paychecks again which is probably the BEST thing ever.
Next, I started my summer classes which haven't been going as well as the new job but they're still pretty okay. The thing that sucks about these classes is that they're about four hours long so I get off at 9:30 PM and have to wait outside for twenty minutes for the bus to take me ALL the way across campus to where my car is parked because our school's parking arrangements SUCK. The class, itself, isn't too bad...but it could be better.
Thirdly, I'm just trying harder to get my goals and values and "things that are actually important" list sorted out. I think it's really good for me to think about stuff like my future and what I want to do with my life with an open mind and not be petrified at the thought of it. Shows that I'm going in the right direction, right?
I also have a brand new obsession in my life. Have any of heard of a small, relatively unknown TV show called LOST? I know, I hadn't heard of it before either! (Cue the sarcastically deaf folk). Anyway, I've put away four seasons thus far and I have two more to go. I'm trying to savor them and not fly right through them because once it's over, I'm going to be oh-so-sad. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I just hopped on the bandwagon since Lost just ended and it's been everywhere lately. Well...you're right. I did just hop on because I've been hearing about it EVERYWHERE and someone told me the concept of the show and I thought it sounded cool so I saw if hulu had some episodes up and they had ALL SIX SEASONS up so I thought, why not? Anyway, I usually like getting on things AFTER they've ended or after their hype has died down. I don't know why. I just do.
Okay, so my sister just told me to "Go wash your feet. NOW!" I'm flipping her off in my mind right now. HAHA. And ignoring her. And now she just slammed the door on me. Well. Some things in life improve and change but not EVERYTHING can. Small steps, baby. Small steps.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Top Ten Favorite Books (kind of)
Yo. This blog post is going to be dedicated to one of my favorite things in the whole entire world: books. Just. I just. Love books. So effing much. I love the feel of them in my hands, I love their smell, how they look, their pretty covers, stacking them on shelves. And of course, reading them. So, I think instead of creeping you out with my obsession of books, I'll just list my top ten favorite books of all time and why I love them so much. A fair warning, though: I am quite a fan of YOUNG books. Meaning I'm quite attached to the children and young adult genre. It's just infinitely cooler than haughty, snooty adult books.
10. Paper Towns by John Green: Okay. If you haven't heard of John Green, then you are seriously missing out. This guy is HILARIOUS but he's hilarious in the smartest way. He just is really witty and his writing is fast and reads like he's talking directly to you. Also, one thing I love about his writing is that, unlike many other young adult authors, he doesn't talk down to the reader. He doesn't assume that being young means being retarded. Or that young people are incapable of understanding important themes. He knows his audience and he really delivers a voice in this book that can strike a chord with everyone. Plus, the plot of this book, the characters, the theme were all PERFECT. It had everything.
9. The Year My Parents Ruined My Life by Martha Freeman: I first read this book when I was in the fourth grade. And I continued to read this book multiple times every year until tenth grade. I stopped reading it after that because I lent my copy of this book out to my friend and she lost it. Unforgivable. I was absolutely addicted to this book. It was just like some sort of comfort food for me. I read it when I couldn't go to sleep at night or when something was stressing me out or just when I felt like I missed the characters and the places in the story. I formed an unbreakable bond with this book and I need to get my hands on another copy so I can continue to enjoy it for many more years to come.
8. Keeping the Moon by Sara Dessen: First thing you need to know about me is that I'm a huge Dessen fan. I love everything about her books. Yes, they're labelled "girly" and their covers pretty much confirm that but there's so much more to these books that people overlook. They have a pulse. You can hang onto the characters and really get lost in the world that Sarah Dessen creates. You know how there are just some authors who, no matter what they write, you just can't help but become addicted to their writing? Sarah Dessen is like that for me. But this book is especially close to my heart. It's about self-esteem and having more faith in yourself. Which is a topic that I've always struggled with as a teen (and even now that I'm 20). I actually think that no matter how old you get, you constantly have to deal with this. And so having coming of age novels such as this one lying around that toot the horn of feeling better about yourself is always nice.
7. The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty: I absolutely adore non-traditional novels. This book (like every other Moriarty book) is pieced together by notes, diary entries, letters, and bulletins. I love authors who are creative enough to pull something like this off. Plus, it's just more fun to read all these things--it's almost like you've broken into somebody's life and are reading all that private stuff that you never would get to read in real life. Scandalous. But besides that, this book is just heartwarming and really, really unique. I love how this author depicts friendship between young girls and I love this half-insane and half-serious world she's created.
6. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: This book really touched my heart. I have never cried so much over a book as I have while reading this story. The narrative is beautiful and my heart went out to the main character's father. I'm not kidding you when I say that on every single page I was bawling my eyes out. The ending...isn't perfect. But the book is just so tragic, so moving, so beautiful that it really didn't take much away from it.
5. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding: I have a thing for diary-type books. Getting inside the character's head and reading about all their obsessions and less-than-perfect attitudes really entertains me. Plus it just makes the main character way more fleshed out and easier to relate to. In the case of Bridget Jones, the diary does all of that WHILE being uproariously funny. As much as I cried over The Lovely Bones, I laughed while reading Bridget Jones. It's just an immensely fun book.
4. Bloom by Elizabeth Scott: This is perhaps the most perfect book about first love I have ever read. It's just one of those stories that makes your soul sigh because of its incredible coziness and cuteness. Just one of those books you must read over and over again because you can just never get tired of it. It also helps that Scott's writing is impeccable and flawless.
3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: This book really changed the way I look at life. It made me take feminism seriously and realize that a lot of what we have is taken for granted. This book is definitely political but it's also so much more than that. It's a gripping story about survival and one woman's journey from a world she's comfortable in to a world she doesn't recognize at all--transformed right before her eyes. Beautifully executed story.
2. Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling: What can I say about these books other than the fact that they represent everything happy and fun in my life? I can go on and on about the characters, the world, the writing in Harry Potter. But, really, it just embodies my entire love for reading and books.
1. This is where the "kind of" part comes in. I don't have a number 1 favorite book. Because I don't think I've read it yet. I'm still searching. But when I find it, I'll definitely add it to the list.
10. Paper Towns by John Green: Okay. If you haven't heard of John Green, then you are seriously missing out. This guy is HILARIOUS but he's hilarious in the smartest way. He just is really witty and his writing is fast and reads like he's talking directly to you. Also, one thing I love about his writing is that, unlike many other young adult authors, he doesn't talk down to the reader. He doesn't assume that being young means being retarded. Or that young people are incapable of understanding important themes. He knows his audience and he really delivers a voice in this book that can strike a chord with everyone. Plus, the plot of this book, the characters, the theme were all PERFECT. It had everything.
9. The Year My Parents Ruined My Life by Martha Freeman: I first read this book when I was in the fourth grade. And I continued to read this book multiple times every year until tenth grade. I stopped reading it after that because I lent my copy of this book out to my friend and she lost it. Unforgivable. I was absolutely addicted to this book. It was just like some sort of comfort food for me. I read it when I couldn't go to sleep at night or when something was stressing me out or just when I felt like I missed the characters and the places in the story. I formed an unbreakable bond with this book and I need to get my hands on another copy so I can continue to enjoy it for many more years to come.
8. Keeping the Moon by Sara Dessen: First thing you need to know about me is that I'm a huge Dessen fan. I love everything about her books. Yes, they're labelled "girly" and their covers pretty much confirm that but there's so much more to these books that people overlook. They have a pulse. You can hang onto the characters and really get lost in the world that Sarah Dessen creates. You know how there are just some authors who, no matter what they write, you just can't help but become addicted to their writing? Sarah Dessen is like that for me. But this book is especially close to my heart. It's about self-esteem and having more faith in yourself. Which is a topic that I've always struggled with as a teen (and even now that I'm 20). I actually think that no matter how old you get, you constantly have to deal with this. And so having coming of age novels such as this one lying around that toot the horn of feeling better about yourself is always nice.
7. The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty: I absolutely adore non-traditional novels. This book (like every other Moriarty book) is pieced together by notes, diary entries, letters, and bulletins. I love authors who are creative enough to pull something like this off. Plus, it's just more fun to read all these things--it's almost like you've broken into somebody's life and are reading all that private stuff that you never would get to read in real life. Scandalous. But besides that, this book is just heartwarming and really, really unique. I love how this author depicts friendship between young girls and I love this half-insane and half-serious world she's created.
6. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: This book really touched my heart. I have never cried so much over a book as I have while reading this story. The narrative is beautiful and my heart went out to the main character's father. I'm not kidding you when I say that on every single page I was bawling my eyes out. The ending...isn't perfect. But the book is just so tragic, so moving, so beautiful that it really didn't take much away from it.
5. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding: I have a thing for diary-type books. Getting inside the character's head and reading about all their obsessions and less-than-perfect attitudes really entertains me. Plus it just makes the main character way more fleshed out and easier to relate to. In the case of Bridget Jones, the diary does all of that WHILE being uproariously funny. As much as I cried over The Lovely Bones, I laughed while reading Bridget Jones. It's just an immensely fun book.
4. Bloom by Elizabeth Scott: This is perhaps the most perfect book about first love I have ever read. It's just one of those stories that makes your soul sigh because of its incredible coziness and cuteness. Just one of those books you must read over and over again because you can just never get tired of it. It also helps that Scott's writing is impeccable and flawless.
3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: This book really changed the way I look at life. It made me take feminism seriously and realize that a lot of what we have is taken for granted. This book is definitely political but it's also so much more than that. It's a gripping story about survival and one woman's journey from a world she's comfortable in to a world she doesn't recognize at all--transformed right before her eyes. Beautifully executed story.
2. Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling: What can I say about these books other than the fact that they represent everything happy and fun in my life? I can go on and on about the characters, the world, the writing in Harry Potter. But, really, it just embodies my entire love for reading and books.
1. This is where the "kind of" part comes in. I don't have a number 1 favorite book. Because I don't think I've read it yet. I'm still searching. But when I find it, I'll definitely add it to the list.
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