Follow Friday: 3/13/15

It's Feature and Follow Friday! I'm so excited because I haven't done one of these in ages! I always seem to remember really late at night, and then it's too late. I also just realized it's Friday the 13th! Not too superstitious or anything, but still. (; 

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read &Parajunkee

Basically it's a weekly event in which you can make new friends and earn new followers! I follow back, so I would love it if you dropped a comment! Have a great weekend!

This week's question is:
Have you come up with any special memes or features on your blog that you’d like people to visit more?

I'm sorry to report that I have not come up with any special memes or features on my blog. I have been much too lazy for that lately. I do participate in Follow Friday and Top Ten Tuesday occasionally, so that is fun! I tend to just post what I feel like at the time, and I don't think I could commit to doing a certain post every single week without going insane. 

Thanks for stopping by!

-Sarah

"Rape Joke" by Belissa Escobedo and Rhiannon McGavin

As I was scrolling through my Tumblr feed, I came across this video, and it definitely blew me away. I will say, I took a look at the comments, and these two girls are getting a lot of hate. Sure, some of their points might be extreme and over the top, but overall their poem and their speaking style is absolutely beautiful. No need for hate people. Their performance is very powerful, so I definitely recommend a listen. Let me know what you think!

Book Blogger Love-a-Thon 2015: Book Valentines

Book Blogger Love-a-Thon is hosted by Alexa Loves Books! 

This is my first post like this, so let me know if I'm doing this wrong! 

Here's my valentine to Liam from The Darkest Minds <3

Not that I'd ever take him away from Ruby...(;

Lovely Lines

Hey guys! First, I would like to apologize for my absence these past few weeks. I can't believe I haven't posted since the beginning of this month! These past few weeks/months have been so hectic! School started back up again, and I have definitely been feeling lazy. Also, last week I had some sort of virus where I felt like my throat was rebelling against me and my teeth were going to fall out. Not the most fun week of my life, but it's over now! So, I'll quit with the excuses and get on with the post!

I have to admit, I've been in a bit of a slump lately. Not just with reading, but everything. I've been watching way too much Netflix, and not much of anything else. But alas! I am back and ready to write!

For some reason, I picked up a paper the other day, and creativity struck! More like procrastination. I'd heard of the poems made by blanking words out of other work. I think people call them blackout poems. I don't know if that makes exact sense, but we did it as an exercise in my creative writing class last year. If you've read Vicious by V. E. Schwab, I'm pretty sure one of the characters does this. Don't quote me on that though!

I took a whack at it with an article from The New York Times. It's not remotely good or anything, but it was still a fun little thing to do.

If you'v ever tried to do something like this, let me know!

                       

     *Last two are not mine

Goodbye Parenthood.

I know that this is a book blog, but I'm thinking about expanding it to just a little bit of everything. It will still be focused on books for the most part, but sometimes I just want to write something different. Today, I happen to feel like discussing Parenthood!

If you happen to be unfamiliar with the show, Parenthood follows the comically huge Braverman family. There are four siblings that the show centers around- Adam, Sarah, Crosby, and Julia. We follow their daily struggles right along with them as they grow up.

I have so many feelings for this show that I don't know how to organize them into coherent thoughts. I will definitely give it my best go!

Starting off Parenthood, I will admit, I was skeptical. I had just slipped out of a depression from finally finishing Grey's Anatomy, so I needed something to distract myself. I'm a sucker for the dramas. I will also admit that is was quite difficult for me to adjust to seeing Lauren Graham play anyone but Lorelei Gilmore. It did take me a few episodes to become fully invested in the characters, but once I did I was done. My one complete and overall favorite thing about the show is its honesty. The characters and their situations don't seem scripted or rehearsed, but completely real and at times, heart wrenching. 

I will go ahead and give a warning now. If you do not enjoy things that will squash your heart into a tiny ball and never let go (in a good way), do not watch this show. Starting around season three or four, every episode brought me to tears. Though I will say that there were some happy tears, the majority were ugly sobbing tears. I mean lip-quivering, body shaking sobs.

I became so invested in the characters that I felt like they were real people. If something happened in their storyline, I felt as if it was truly happening. Cheesy maybe, but still true.

Okay, another thing that truly moved me about this show was the music. And filming and everything else. But for now I will focus on the music. Much too late in my Netflix binge watching, I discovered a Spotify playlist collection of every single song played on Parenthood, organized by episode. I only wish I would have made this discovery sooner! Parenthood has been a huge avenue for me in discovering new music. There is a wide variety, so there is bound to be something for everyone. The production team definitely has a talent for matching the music to the moment. Sometimes I think the main reason I end up crying is because of the great music that can just make a scene twenty times more sad.

I won't ramble for too much longer, and I will leave you with this. After six completely wonderful seasons, Parenthood has come to a close. As of right now, it has taken the spot of my all time favorite show, taking the place of Grey's Anatomy and Gilmore Girls. That's a difficult thing to do, people! While Parenthood may not be for everyone, I think everyone should at least give it a try. 

The whole team involved in the show is brilliant, whether it be the writing or the camera crews. 

The last episode was everything I could have asked for. It had me on an emotional roller coaster ride, not wanting it to end. I have matured along with some of the characters, and I have grown to love every single one of them. I just want to thank everyone involved for providing us with this wonderful television series. It is truly beautiful.

Follow Friday 1/23: Do you post your reviews anywhere besides your blog?

Feature and Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way to meet new friends and get more followers. This week's question is: 

Do you post your reviews anywhere besides your blog? Where else do you post reviews?

Okay, I know this is a super boring and lame answer, but honestly I don't post my reviews anywhere else. I'm stressed enough with school and everything else going on, I don't think I could handle posting on other sites. I guess I could start posting on Goodreads, but I'll save that for summer, when I don't have school.

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love if you dropped a comment!
Have a great weekend!
- Sarah

Blankets by Craig Thompson

I have made it a goal this year to read more graphic novels. Even if I hadn't though, I would have still picked up this book. This is a case, where I did judge a book by it's cover. I mainly picked it up because it is overall such a beautiful book to have on my shelf. Flipping through it before I bought it, I found the illustrations to be absolutely stunning and very interesting. So I'm going to hop on into this review now!

I am going to assume that this graphic novel is a memoir. Or at least it read like one to me. It tells the story of a young boy, named Craig, experiencing growing up and loving for the first time. It follows both his childhood and teenage years, and a few adult years in the last chapter. I found this book to be very honest, which is what I want out of a memoir. 

Going into it, I had no idea how much religion would play a role in the story. Craig grew up in a very spiritual household, so of course it will play a big role in his life. I loved watching him grow up as a character, maturing and figuring things out for himself.

This graphic novel is around 500 pages, which was a bit overwhelming at first, I will admit. Despite having a busy start to the spring semester, I flew through this book. I didn't struggle to get through any particular parts, and it was definitely a quick read.

The majority of the novel focused on Craig's first love, Raina. While I did enjoy these chapters , and loved how he illustrated their relationship, I have to say my favorite part of the book was the last chapter. It definitely showed Craig's growth and maturity. He has finally started to listen to himself, despite what others have pushed upon him. I think that that was the important step for him.

Overall, I found this to be a wonderful and honest story of growing up. I'm a sucker for the coming of age books, and this is definitely one of them. I loved the story a lot, but the illustrations were definitely my favorite. Everything about this book is beautiful, whether it be the front and back covers, the endpaper, or just the story itself. I would recommend it to anyone, though there are a few parts that probably wouldn't be suitable for little eyes. So take that into consideration before you pick up this book.

Overall, I'd probably give this book a four out of five stars.

"Sometimes upon waking, the residual dream can be more appealing than reality, and one reluctant to give it up."

"How satisfying it is to leave a mark on a blank surface. To make a map of my movement--no matter how temporary."

Winter Blues Haul

Hey guys! So, I'm back at school, and I'm definitely not all that happy about it. So I bought some books to make me feel better. That's okay, right? Plus, my family gave me loads of gift cards for Barnes and Noble. They know me so well!

I picked up three new books that I'd been eying for ages. Every time I walked into a bookstore, I'd seek them out, so I finally gave in! I'm so happy with them. I won't lie, though. The main reason I liked them at first was their gorgeous covers. They all have these wonderful blue tones, and coincidentally, they go together wonderfully. I'm no expert photographer by any means at all, but I love the photos I took of these books. I could have taken the pictures with my iPhone and I'd still love them. (:

The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Blankets by Craig Thompson

I took loads more photos, but I think I'm going to end up doing full reviews for The Shock of the Fall and Blankets, so I'm saving them for those posts. I'm currently in the middle of both, and I'm loving them both so far. I've definitely made some notes in the margins.  I'm hoping to finish Blankets tomorrow, so look out for a review sometime next week. If you've read any of these books, let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

-Sarah

Follow Friday: 1/1/15

I am this week's feature!

                                 Follow Fridays are hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. 

This week's questions is: What was your favorite book(s) of 2014?

Ahhhh, this is such a hard question! I started reading the Throne of Glass books this year, so I would probably have to say those. It's so hard for me to chose though! 

What has been your favorite book? I can't seem to think of any of the books I've read this year. Maybe you'll remind me of one I'm forgetting. I'd love it if you dropped a comment! Happy New Year!