Sunday, March 30, 2008

6 Random Things Meme!

Yes I have been tagged for the six random things Meme by Liv, and The Book Brat.

The Rules For The Meme:
1. You link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

So here it goes...

1-I absolutley hate cherries. I hate the smell and the look and the taste. Ugh, I'm getting grossed out just by talking about them. Yuck!

2-I've been to half the United States, including Hawaii. I have also lived in 4 different states, Texas-born there, Michigan, California, and am now living in Minnesota. I have also lived in Germany for about 4 years. I've lived in approximately 8 different houses and 7 different towns. I have been to 5 different schools too. (My dad was in the Military.)

3-Umm...I just started to wear glasses last June. There blue with no frame on the bottom part. If you even needed to know that.

4-I am a really good speller. At my last school I was one of the top 5 spellers in my grade and unfortunatley led me to particapating in the Spelling Bee two years in a row!

5-My FAVORITE movie of all time is The Parent Trap, not the older version either, the one with Lindsay Lohan in it. Since it first came out I've probably seen it more then 50 times, no joke, maybe even a hundred times. Whenever it's on the TV I have to watch it. Even though it drives my parents and brother CRAZY! I don't even know why I like it so much either, I just do.

6-So, my birthday is November 17th and oddly enough ALL my aunts and uncles (which are all on my dad's side of the family) were born in November and my dad was born December 5th, just 5 days late. And my Great-Grandmother, on my moms side, was born June 17th. My parents were married on January 17th. Isn't that really weird. November and the number 17 is like the lucky things for my family. Cool, huh?

Ahh so I am finally done! I have only tagged 5 people because everybody else has already been tagged!!!

I tagged:

SarahSue94
Stargirl
Leeleesha
Cassidy
Fox

Sorry 'bout that!

The Story Siren's Contest!


My good blogger friend The Story Siren is having a contest over at her blog!


You could get the chance to win an ARC of Airhead by Meg Cabot! (Offical release date is June 1st.)


The Contest ends Midnight April 9th!

Monday, March 24, 2008

A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks

Every April, when the wind blows from the sea and mingles with the scent of lilacs, Landon Carter remembers his last year at Beaufort High. It was 1958, and Landon had already dated a girl or two. He even swore that he had once been in love. Certainly the last person in town he thought he'd fall for was Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's Baptist minister. A quiet girl who always carried a Bible with her schoolbooks, Jamie seemed content living in a world apart from the other teens. She took care of her widowed father, rescued hurt animals, and helped out at the local orphanage. No boy had ever asked her out. Landon would never have dreamed of it. Then a twist of fate made Jamie his partner for the homecoming dance, and Landon Carter's life would never be the same. Being with Jamie would show him the depths of the human heart and lead him to a decision so stunning it would send him irrevocably on the road to manhood. . .

This book was astounding, but it was way to short. Sparks caught me in with the very first paragraph. I was interesting from beginning to end.

You know, there so much rep about Nicholas Sparks and him being one of the best story tellers of the last few decades, so I had a lot of expectations with this novel. Let me tell you, it did not let me down a bit.

From what i've heard his telling of the 50's was acurate. Landon Carter seemed like the typical High School prankster. Jamie Sullivan was like the sweet girl that every class has. When they were drawn together it gave this book the perfect spark. The ending had that problem that you knew was going to happen but didn't really expect it. This novel was astonishing.

I completely cannot wait to go to the library to get another one of his books to read. I'm exstatic.

Read On!

Kelsey

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Contest: Win Pretty Little Devils!

Yes, I'm having my very first contest!

Pretty Little Devils by Nancy Holder. Wanna Win? All you have to do is email me at: kels.m.17@gmail.com with your name and you'll be entered to win. Make sure to put PLD Contest in the subject line.

If you mention this contest on your blog you'll be entered to win TWO times. Make sure to tell me you did in your email!

United States only, sorry everybody who lives out of the states!

Remember to email me before Friday, April 4th, 12 P.M. Central.

The winner will be announced sometime on Saturday, April 5th, Central.

Good luck to everyone!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Reading Lag

So, since about a month ago, when I was sick with bronchitis and a fever, I haven't been reading much. I've been looking at everybody else's blogs and they have like 20 reviews a month. Here I am with 3-5 a month. I calling it the Reading Lag. It's taking me awhile to actually read a book since my sickness, like a week (it depends on the size). So I just thought I'd share that if any of you bloggers were wondering why I have so many less book reviews on my blog then yours. I'm still not there like I used to be, reading 5 or so books a week, but I'm getting there. I think if I just get excited about one book, which'll probably be Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen, which comes out in a month, then I'll read that book in as little as hours and be back on my usual schedule. Maybe. Hopefully.

Wish Me Luck, HaHa.

Kelsey

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Change of Heart Giveaway!


So, I found out from a friendly blogger that another blog is giving away 2 copies signed by Jodi Picoult of her new novel, Change of Heart. So jump on over there and sign up. It ends at Midnight March 12, 2008. Winner will be announced March 13, 2008.

Here: http://girlsjustreading.blogspot.com

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold


In 1973, a 14-year-old girl named Susie Salmon is raped, murdered, and dismembered by a neighbor. Over the next few years she watches from a personalized heaven as her family and friends deal with their grief.


This is one of the most excellent novels I have read in a long time. The writing is really just incredible. The characters are very real. From the time of Susie Salmon's murder the wonderful novel progresses about 13 years. Sebold details of the pain that goes through each member of her family and friends in Susie's point of view. It's incredible how even though through the whole novel the narration stays with Susie, you still know what the others thoughts are.

Ms. Sebold has created a beautiful and dreadful story. Most of this novel just makes you want to cry and it makes you want to kill yourself because you feel like you can never really deal with what the characters in this tale. That's the dreadful part.

The beautiful part is the characters descriptions and the beauty of going through the lives through about 13 years and just knowing how much they have grown up from that terrible day in December of 1973. The ending was a beauty, too. I could not have made or described a better way to put it. Sebold leaves nothing out that makes you question, "What next?" But that does not mean that you will ever forget this beautifully crafted piece of work.

Being on The New York Times best seller list for over a year and having people trying to get the film rights for this novel before Sebold was even done, is an amazing achievement. I just want to say that I wish I would create a novel almost nearly this good once in my life...

...and I bet her other works are also amazing.

Read On!

Kelsey

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

White Oleander by Janet Fitch


Astrid Magnussen is a 15 year old girl, living in California. Her mother, Ingrid, is a beautiful, free-spirited poet. Their life, though unusual, is satisfying until one day, a man named Barry Kolker (that her mother refers to at first as "The goat man") comes into their lives, and Ingrid falls madly in love with him, only to have her heart broken, and her life ruined. For revenge, Ingrid murders Barry with the deadly poison of her favourite flower: The White Oleander. She is sent to prison for life, and Astrid has to go through foster home after foster home. Throughout nearly a decade she experiences forbidden love, religion, near-death experiences, drugs, starvation, and how it feels to be loved. But throughout these years, she keeps in touch with her mother via letters to prison. And while Ingrid's gift is to give Astrid the power to survive, Astrid's gift is to teach her Mother about love.

This book was incredible. I finished it last weekend. The beginning of the book was a little slow and metaphoric. As soon as Astrid got to her first foster home, though, it picked up. The story was fabulously told. Astrid is a very believable character. Fitch is a great author and I plan to read her next book. Every time Astrid went to her new home it was like another amazing story. This book kept me thinking days after I was finished. I really enjoyed this book and bet others did as well.

Read On!
Kelsey