Book Talk - Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

(This post is being republished due to issues. If you receive multiple subscription emails, I apologize for the inconvenience.)

I finally finished Six Of Crows!!! I got this book about a month and half ago, and finished it today. I'll explain why it took me so long to read this, but first, here's a book summary:

Ketterdam is a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone. Kaz forms a group of runaways and thieves, and together, they attempt this seemingly impossible heist.

This book was a very long read. I read it for two weeks and got about 80 pages in. I then took a break from it to read some light contemporaries and some other books on my To-Read list. I finally came back to it this week and finished it. Why did this take me so long to read? Not because there's 462 pages, but because the first 100 pages bored me to no end. I had no motivation to keep reading. If I hadn't purchased the book (due to great reviews), I probably wouldn't have finished it. But I'm really glad I persevered until the end - it was well worth it. After those first 100 or so pages, the pace really picked up, and I was glued to the pages.

One of my favourite things about this book was the characters. I think the character development was very well done. I was attached to every single one of the characters. At first, I didn't like some of them, but then their backstories unfolded and they became much more understandable and likeable. I loved that you get to learn more and more about the characters as the story goes on.

The plot (after the first 100 pages) was so well thought out! I loved that the characters always had clever plans and

how they somehow were always able to get out of tricky situations. I loved the part where we found out Jesper was  a Grisha and he made the lock picks! Absolutely genius! Or when they got the tree out of the ground to stop the truck and everything. Incredibly clever! It must have taken quite a bit of work for the author to come up with things like that too. It was very well done!

I didn't really like the ending. I mean, of course I definitely have to read Crooked Kingdom (the next book in the series) as soon as it comes out, but I would have liked for this book to be a bit more well concluded. It simply ended with another problem. The whole book also contained only bits of romance, and I thought that the romance aspect of the book could have been much better concluded.

Overall, I'd give Six Of Crows 4.5 stars. I really loved the plot and all the characters, but it was quite difficult to get past the first quarter of it.

If you like fantasy, heists, or both, then you should definitely give this book a try. If you do read it, let me know your thoughts on it. Have an awesome day!

Zombie Apocalypse Book Tag

Greetings fellow earthlings! It's me, Unicorn! Today, I'm doing the Zombie Apocalypse Book Tag. This should be fun! Find the original video here. I'll give a basic summary of how it works:


1. Select 5 books.

2. Turn to a random page.

3. Find the first name on that page. That person is on your team.

4. Do that twice for every book so you have 10 characters.

5. Apply the characters to the different situations in the order you got them.


These are the books I chose (from the limited amount that I own):

Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Young Elites by Marie Lu
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Jewel by Amy Ewing
Atlantia by Allie Condie


Alright, I've randomized the order the characters will be in. So let's get going, shall we?


1. The first person to die.

Maire from Atlantia

Well, I guess, maybe. Okay. We can still work with this.


2. The person you trip to get away from the zombies.

Eric from Divergent

I doubt that I'd do that. He's pretty good with weapons, so he might be useful, but he's also pretty mean. I'd rather trip him than have him trip me, which would probably eventually happen.


3. The first person to turn into a zombie.

Enzo from The Young Elites

Nonononono We're so doomed. He would have been so great and helpful but now we're all going to die. We have no chance against Enzo.


4. The person that trips YOU to get away from the zombies.

Peeta from The Hunger Games

Really? And I thought we were friends.


5. The idiot of the team.

Rue from The Hunger Games

This really, really isn't working out for me. Rue is smart and good at camouflage and all that. Great.


6. The brains of the team.

Annabelle from the Jewel

Alright. Okay. Hmm. She seems like she's averagely smart, so if she's the smartest in the whole team, that's not great.


7. The team's medic.

Bay from Atlantia

I don't remember much from Atlantia, but I do remember that Bay's plant/herb/medicine knowledge isn't very extensive.


8. The weapons expert.

Raffaele from The Young Elites.

This one's a little better I guess. But we're still very, very doomed. Enzo the zombie will kill us all with his fire powers.


9. The brawler.

Peter from Divergent

Oooh. This might work out. Peter's probably strong enough to knock out a few zombies. Not bad.


10. The team captain.

Raven from The Jewel

Hmmm. I'm not sure if this will work. She's tough and all, but I don't know if she'll keep us all alive.


So, our overall chance of survival is very, very low. I thought this would turn out alright. I guess not. I suggest that if you're reading this, you give it a go. It's really fun! If you try it, leave a link to your blog post down below, I'd love to see your answers. Thanks for reading!!!


~Unicorn

The Family Book Tag -- A Tag Made by The Pegacorns!!

Hello all! Today is a very exciting day! We are making our own tag! Yipee!!! In this tag, we will question a couple family members book related questions! Let's get started!! (Note: We ended up interviewing our families and writing down every single word they say. That isn't part of the tag, but it's funny). Enjoy!

The Family Book Tag

What is the book you are currently reading?

Pegasus' Mom: Oh, it's called Playing Big by Tara Mohr

What is the most memorable book that you've read?

Pegasus's Mom: Oh gosh. Oh! I know! Lord Of The Flies by William Golding. You really should read it.

What was your favourite book from your childhood?

Pegasus' Mom: I... I just said it to you. 

Pegasus: No, you told me your most memorable book.

Pegasus' Mom: Oh okay, so my favourite was probably Anne of  Green Gables.

Pegasus: Oh! I loved that one too!!

What is a book that you are planning to read this year?

Pegasus' Mom: Playing Big

That doesn't count.

Yes it does. It does so. I don't have time to read another because I'm working and teaching fitness classes and doing laundry and making smoothies. And baking. I bake a lot. Are we all going swimming tonight?

What is a book that you hate?

Pegasus' Mom: Well any book I hated, I wouldn't have read. 

Pegasus: Well, think of a book you never finished because you hated it.

Pegasus mom: Let me think. That's gonna take awhile.

5 minutes later...

Pegasus: So, what's a book that you hate?

Pegasus's Mom: *shrugs* Usually I just picked books that I thought I liked so I didn't hate any. Unfortunately, I can't answer your question. Maybe Unicorn's mom has ideas I can use.

*walks away*

If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what book would it be?

Pegasus's Mom: *Glares* One book for the rest of my life???? What a sad life. *sighs*  I can't do that. I don't know.

Pegasus's Mom: Okay, solution: How about I read the newspaper everyday for the rest of my life? That will make me happy. 

What book would you recommend to me?

Pegasus's Mom: *tilts head sideways* I bet you're writing down what I'm saying and doing. I suggest you read Miss Manners.

Pegasus: MOM NO

Pegasus's Mom: Well you have to write that down. I said it! 

Pegasus: No, mom, actually.

Pegasus's Mom: A book I would recommend for you to read... Let me think for a very long time. *Taps index fingers together repetitively* How about To Kill A Mockingbird?

Pegasus: I'm reading that right now. Hold on. Be right back. *leaves room for a second*

Pegasus's Mom: Okay, Unicorn. Book recommendations for Pegasus?

Unicorn: Six Of Crows.

Pegasus's Mom: What's that about?

Unicorn: 6 people who break into prisons. I'm reading it right now.

Pegasus's Mom: So what's the message so far? "Let's break into prisons?"

Unicorn: Basically yeah. *laughs*

Pegasus: *Returns* So, what books do you recommend for me?

Pegasus's Mom: Six Of Crows. Sounds... great. Sounds like you learn how to break into prisons and free bad people. Is this going on a blog by any chance?

Pegasus: Yup.

Pegasus's Mom: Alright. *sighs*

What's a book that changed your life?

Pegasus's Mom: No book changed my life, sorry.

Both pegacorns: Are you sure?

Pegasus's Mom: Yeah, I'm sure. *peels fruit*

Next Family Member To Be Interviewed: Pegasus' brother.

What is the book you are currently reading?

Pegasus's brother: Okay you see here, I am reading a very interesting book. It's called Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Pegasus: ok. whats so interesting about it?
Pegasus's brother: So, its about a kid with a malfunctioning brain, and he's really just stupid.

What is the most memorable book that you've read?

Brother: Diary of a wimpy kid. I already told you. Geesh.

What was your favourite book from your childhood?

Brother: I just told you that!!! Diary of a wimpy kid? *looks at unicorn.* Why does she keep asking me the same question??????

What is a book that you are planning to read this year?

Brother: How many times have a told you?

Pegasus: It's a different question! Listen!

Brother: Zabazeebazoo.

Pegasus: Okay, I give up. next question.

What is a book that you hate?

Brother: There's this really stupidly weird book. I'll give u time to write that down. It's called... well, it's stupidly weird. Haha just joking! There is no book I hate. Hold on, there is. It is called le Hamburger. its like 5 pages long. And it's dumb. It's like put the bread down! put the meat down! put the cheese down! It's really stupid, but it's kinda funny because it's so stupid.

If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what book would it be?

Brother: Ha! That is easy. I don't hear any typing of the keyboard! Never mind. You know why that's easy? Because it's Diary Of A Wimpy Kid because there's a whole series of it with books still coming out! *laughs at himself and how funny he is -- or how funny he thinks he is*

What book would you recommend to me?

Brother: Diary Of A Wimpy Kid. Why? Because it is so stupid! Actually it isn't stupid. Haha Just the guy in it is stupid so it's funny. *laughs at himself*

What's a book that changed your life?

Brother: Seriously? Why would a book change your life?? What type of question is that???? The answer is... I don't know. Nothing. Umm.... Is the interview done? Is it done? Hey! I never asked that. HEY No actually I never said that. YOU'RE RECORDING EVERYTHING I'M SAYING. Aw come onnnnnnn.

We hope you guys enjoyed this tag! It was really fun to do and very amusing! If you'd like to do this tag, feel free to do it yourself! It's highly amusing! We tag One of The Bookworms from From The Light Side.

Have a great day! 

Book Talk - Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

I asked my friend for contemporary book recommendations because I wanted something happy to read recently. She recommended Saint Anything to me. I had never read a Sarah Dessen novel, but heard lots about them, so I took it out from the library and totally loved it!

This book is about Sydney, a girl who’s brother Peyton was in a drunk driving accident that left a boy crippled. Peyton is now serving a jail sentence and Sydney has to deal with a troubled family, the aftermath of the accident, the guilt of her brother’s mistake, and not being able to be seen as an individual that isn’t her brother’s sister.

Saint Anything was mainly about how the aftermath of others’ actions can affect those who aren’t involved. Sydney feels guilty because of what her brother did, even though it wasn’t her fault at all. She’s always felt like she was living in her brother’s shadow, and the fact that her parents were so concerned about him lately didn’t help matters at all. I thought that this was a scenario everyone can relate to to some extent. Whether we’ve been living in the shadow of a friend or family member, it’s easy to understand Sydney and where she’s coming from, which I really liked.

I really loved the characters in this book. They all had quirks, aspirations, and were just overall fleshed-out characters. They seemed realistic. I enjoyed the dialogue as well - the teens didn’t speak in philosophical sentences, memorable quotes, or meaningful metaphores (cough, cough, The Fault In Our Stars, cough) but the way normal teenagers actually talk. I think it’s usually hard for authors to accurately portray teens in their thoughts, emotions, and speech, but Sarah Dessen did this very well.

Something I didn’t like was that there was no storyline. There was no goal. Bad things just kept happening to Sydney that were mostly not related to each other. Peyton was in prison and Eric wanted to record a track for his band. There were usually multiple things going on, but nothing that Sydney was aspiring towards. I’m not sure why I was able to read this book so quickly, since it barely had a plot and just dragged on different events.

When things did happen though, they were usually repetitive. (SPOILER ALERT, SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH.) I’ll accurately sum the book up for you: Peyton calls, they argue, their mom cries. David Ibarra guilt. Layla’s mom is in the hospital. Peyton calls, they argue, their mom cries. Ames is being a creep. David Ibarra guilt. Layla’s mom is in the hospital. Peyton calls, they argue, their mom cries. Ames is being a creep.

For some reason, which I’m not able to identify, I was hooked from beginning to end while reading this book. It wasn’t that fast of a read, but I did really like it, which was strange since the plot was either repetitive, all over the place or not there at all. I guess Sarah Dessen was able to pull it off nicely, so I will only take off half a star for the strange plot. I really loved the characters, though, and think it was realistic and relateable. The akwardly laid out plot was barely a noticeable issue while I was reading it.

If you want a happy contemporary read about friendship, family, love, and guilt, I recommend you check this book out. It’s a pretty happy contemporary, yet gloomy and honest at times, and I personally enjoyed it.

Book Talk - Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

I recently went to Costco. You can usually find books that are currently popular for a lot cheaper there, so it's usually worth checking out while you're shopping. Anyways, I found Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. I had heard great things about it and it had received lots of hype. So, since it was so cheap, I got it! And I must say, I was not disappointed! Here's a summary for those who haven't read it:

Mare Barrow lives in a world divided by blood. There are the Silvers; they have powers and are wealthy. Then, there are the Reds; they have no powers and are destined to serve the Silvers for life while living in poverty. However, in front of the Silver king and all of his servants, Mare discovers that she has a power of her own - but she is a Red. The royal family hide her among themselves and declare that she is a long lost Silver princess. Mare is then betrothed to one of the king's sons. She secretly works to support the Scarlet Guard, a rebel organization hoping to overthrow the government and create peace and equality amongst the people. But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance, pitting Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

I did enjoy this book, but I will firstly start off by saying that most plot points were predictable. I knew which of the two princes she would have to marry and (SPOILER ALERT, SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH) that she would end up betraying him, if not fully. The plot was obvious, and most plot twists were, too. I'm not sure if this was just for me because I read a lot or also for other readers.

Second, I sometimes got confused about who knew she was a Red and who knew she was part of the Scarlet Guard. Oftentimes, I was very confused, thinking to myself: "Wait, he knows?"

I had no specific attachment to the characters either, except the ones that died, which was pretty unfortunate. I didn't like Mare or Call much, for instance. Mare seemed pretty snotty. I was kind of neutral about them - I wasn't happy for them or sad for them. For most of this book, I felt nothing. Victoria Aveyard did do a good job making the characters appealing, I just didn't really feel any emotions when good or bad things happened to them.

However, I did really like the idea. I think the idea with the powers was very cool. I liked the plot and how there were sometimes unexpected things. For most of the book, I couldn't decide which love interest I preferred, which was a good thing I guess. I couldn't decide who I wanted Mare to end up with, so I of course wanted to know.

I just had to keep reading to find out how the book would end and if Mare would reach her goal. A lot of people disliked the ending, but I thought it was well written. (SPOILERS AHEAD. SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH.) I think a lot of people were frustrated because of the cliffhanger with Maxon and how they felt it wasn't tied together well, but I liked it. I am totally going to have to read the next book. I have to admit, I was very shocked when Maxon revealed his true self. I was so surprised! I had absolutely no idea that was going to happen, not even a hunch. I was so in shock, and couldn't understand how that was the same person. Amazing plot twists and cliffhanger ending!

I liked the action sequences, specifically the last battle. I was excited to know what was going to happen and who would win. These scenes were quite captivating, which I liked. It was also mysterious at times, and I really liked the feel of the whole book.

I feel like in the way I enjoyed this book, and I think I will give it a solid 4 stars. Maybe 4.3, but I haven't made a star graphic for that, so I'll just use the 4 star one. :P

If you like fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, romance, or anything of sorts, you should give this book a try! I think you'd really like it.

One of my friends said the next book in the series, Glass Sword, is boring. I'm slightly afraid to read it now, but I still will! I need to know what happens, of course! ;)

Book Talk - We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen (Pegasus)

Greetings everyone! I just finished reading this abosolutely amazingly magnificent book, We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen. It was mind-blowingly good!! Unicorn read this book awhile back and told me that she thought it was amazing, so I decided to read it. She was right!! She has amazing book taste! It was amazing!! (You can check out her book talk here.) Although Unicorn already did a book talk on this book, I decided to do one anyways as I loved it!

Here's a quick summary of the book, if you haven't read it yet:

Stewart has always wanted a sister as long as he can remember. When his dad decides to move in with his girlfriend, Stewart gets what he's been dreaming of. His dad's girlfriend has a daughter named Ashley and now she's going to be his sister. Except that she's not exactly what he's been dreaming of. Stewart is smart, but socially clueless. For Ashely, it's the exact opposite. At school, Ashley is on the top of the popularity ladder, but her grades stink. She doesn't want Stewart to move in with her -- at all. He's the last thing she needs, or at least she thinks so.

I loved this book so much!! The characters all contributed to the book in their own unique special way. I loved it.

Stewart

Stewart is a very interesting character. He's super smart and does really well in school but not so well in social situations. Sometimes I felt as though Stewart was actually 10 years old instead of 13 because of the way that he would act throughout the book.

Ashley

Ashley was a hilarious character! Frankly, her stupidity was absolutely hysterically funny! Sometimes the things she said had me giggling! One of my favourite things that she said was when her mother asked her to stop being melodramatic and she wondered what that meant because she couldn't understand how someone could be mellow and dramatic at the same time. Even though Ashley seemed like such an awful character throughout most of the book, I have to say that she was my favourite.

Other characters

The other characters in the book were also very well written about. They added to the story very nicely. There was Jared, who I really disliked, as he was just awful and treated both Ashley and Steward like they were dirt. Then there was Phil, who was a really nice character, along with Michael as well. Michael was a pretty awesome character. Ashley set herself a goal to hate him because of who he was but she wasn't able to because he was just such an awesome guy. And then, the last character I'll touch on -- Schrödinger. Although he didn't speak at all throughout the book because he was a cat, I still loved him. He was an awesome addition to the book.

This book deals with many serious situations but is absolutely hilarious at times. It's a mature read but absolutely amazing. I finished this book in one day (or should I say night 😬) because it was such a quick read but also so captivating. I was hooked on from the beginning until the end.

I'm giving We Are All Made Of Molecules 5 stars; it was beyond words!

This book was definitely one of my favourites and I plan on reading it again and again and again. I'm so glad I read this book. I highly recommend it!

How To Make a Favicon for Blogger

Are you tired of visiting your blog and seeing the simple Blogger logo in the tab? All the other blogs seem to have such cool images there, but how? Those images is called 'favicons', and today I will be showing you how you can personalize yours. Above, you can see a few favicon examples. As you may or may not have noticed, our blog also has a personalized favicon image.

Making one is simple. You can use a program as basic as MS Paint, which is actually what I used to make this blog's favicon image.

Your favicon image needs to be 16x16 pixels.

You can design the favicon to your liking. Here's an example I made in a few seconds. (It's this big because I zoomed in.)

Once you like the favicon you've created, save it as 'something.ico'. You can of course change 'something' but the letters at the end cannot be 'jpg' or 'png' or anything, they need to be 'ico'.

Once you've saved your favicon properly, go to your Blogger dashboard and go to Layout. Find where it says 'Favicon' and click 'edit'.

You will be taken to this screen, where you can select your new Favicon image. Once you've picked it, click save.

Your favicon image will not immediately show up when you visit your blog. You need to wait for up to a day for it to show up. If you don't want to wait, you can clear your cache and cookies and visit your blog. The favicon should then show up immediately.

I hope this helps you. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment! I'll help you to the best of my ability. :)

Book Talk - I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

I just finished reading I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore. It rhymes!! 😄   (Four, Lore. 😜) Anyways, I did enjoy this book, but not as much as I thought I would've. I definitely thought it was fantastic, but I was expecting it to be out of this world! Awhile ago, a friend told me that I am Number Four was absolutely fantastically amazing. Therefore, I had really high expectations. When I was looking around the library, I spotted it and decided to read it. Even though it wasn't what I expected, I'm still really glad I read it.

Here's a quick summary if you haven't read it:

They started off as a planet called the Lorien. There were many of them and they were at peace. Now only nine remain, along with their guardians, a total of 18 all together. They are losing hope. The Mogdorians, an evil alien species, is getting closer to finding them everyday. They have one goal -- to kill all the Lorien species remaining on earth. There is one problem. These species have been protected in the way that they must be killed in the right order. The Mogdorians know this. Already, three have been killed. Number Four is next.

I am Number Four combines love, loss, anger, forgiveness, bravery, adventure, lies and so much more. I liked the characters, though I felt like it took awhile to get to know them and when unpleasant things happened to them it didn't upset me as much as other book characters have. All in all, I really did like Number Four (aka John) because of his persistence. I really like how he tried his best to protect the people he loved. Henri and Sarah seemed to be his major motivations.

What I really liked about this book was the different alien races, how we learned about them and how Pittacus Lore brought them to life. Immediately, we know that the Mogdorians are an evil alien species attacking John and his kind, who we later learn are from Lorien.

I have to say, a saw a few of the plot twists that were coming, but some of them surprised me entirely! SPOLER ALERT SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH. For example, at the beginning, when John was describing the deer and their dark eyes, I was sure that they were Mogdorians who were secretly watching him, without him knowing. Then, when he met Bernie Kosar, I was sure that he was also a Mogdorian who could shape shift. Then, I was 93% sure that Bernie was a Mogdorian when he ran into the woods every time he went out with John and then would re-appear ahead of him or on the other side of the forest. I was appalled when John didn't seem to find this strange or out of the ordinary. I thought that he would have suspected that something was up. But then, I was wrong. I usually don't like admitting it, but it's true. 😒  It turned out that Bernie Kosar was actually from Lorien! That's why he seemed a tad strange. Phew!

I'm giving I am Number Four 4 stars out of 5. Isn't that ironic? 😄

Overall, I did enjoy this book and am planning to read the next book in the series. I recommend this book to you if you enjoyed The 5th Wave or The Infinite Sea or if you like aliens, or if you like reading. Why not? 😜

Thanks for stopping by! Have an amazing day!

Creating and Centering Tabs With Multiple Posts in Blogger

When we first started this blog, I started learning some basic HTML and CSS. Today I thought I'd share some very simple points with you guys regarding tabs. (This isn't a book related post, but I hope you'll like it anyways. It's just an additional post.)

As you may have noticed, this blog has tabs at the top. Blogger normally only allows 'pages' as tabs, which can only include one post. The purpose of this is for tabs to only include important information like an introduction, contact information, privacy policy, and the like. I found a way around this. It's very simple and allows you to have an unlimited amount of posts in each tab.

How To Create Tabs

1. Label your posts.

When you're editing a post in Blogger, you will find your 'Post Settings' on the right side. Go to one post, click on 'Labels' under 'Post Settings' and put a label into the box. If you want one tab to contain book talks, for example, then go to a post that is a book talk and make up a label and type it into the box. For instance, 'Book-Talks'. Give that label to all of your posts that are book talks.

2. Create a tab for your label.

Now that you've labeled all your posts with their proper labels, go to layout. In your 'Cross-Column" field, click on "Add a Gadget". A window will pop up with many different gadgets. Scroll through it until you find one called "Pages". Click the plus sign beside it.

Perfect! Now you have a pages gadget. Click on the 'edit' button.

A menu will pop up. Click on "Add external link".

It will ask you to fill in two fields. "Page title" is where you put the title you want on the tab.

"Web adress (URL)" is where you put a link. The link you will put here is: http://YourBlogName.blogspot.com/search/label/OneOfYourLabels

Use the URL above, but replace "YourBlogName" with the name of your blog, and replace "OneOfYourLabels" with the label you want in that tab.

For example, I want a tab for all my book talks. I labeled all of them "Book-Talks". In this case, this is how I filled it out:

Then click on "Save Link". 

You can then arrange the order of your tabs by dragging them with your mouse. Once everything is to your desire, click "Save".

 

Now you're done with making that tab! You can do this with all of your labels, and it works the same way. This is what the "Book Talks" tab looks like. When you click on it, it shows you all post with the label "Book-Talks". This way, you can have multiple posts per tab.

How To Center Tabs

To center your tabs instead of having them left-aligned, do the following: Go to 'Template' on your Blogger dashboard, and click on 'Customize'.

Options will appear. Click on 'Advanced', then scroll down and click on 'Add CSS'. There will be a box where you can add text. Insert the following text:

.PageList {text-align:center !important;}
.PageList li {display:inline !important; float:none !important;}

You're completely done! Your tabs are now centered. Simple, huh?

I hope you found this little tutorial helpful. I'm thinking of making more tutorials like this for Blogger. If you have any problems with this or any questions whatsoever, don't hesitate to leave a comment! I'll respond and help you to the best of my ability. :)

Book Talk - The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

Hi everyone! I finished reading The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey a small while ago. For those of you who don’t know The 5th Wave Trilogy, The Infinite Sea is the second book from Rick Yancey’s trilogy (The 5th Wave). For those of you who haven’t read this book, I’ll alert you w
hen I’m about to talk about specific parts of the book.

I’ll start with the non-spoilers, to make it easier for you. 😉

Here’s a quick summary for you if you haven’t read it:

This book picks up a week or two after escaping from Camp Haven. Cassie and her friends are living in a old bunged up hotel, which they call the “Walker Hotel”, in honour of Evan. Cassie still hasn’t found Evan and everyone else thinks that he is dead. Surviving the major destruction of earth was almost impossible, but now, it’s harder. Cassie finds herself in a world where almost no one can be trusted, not even a child.

This book was pretty awesome in general, but if I’m going to be specific, I’m going to have to dig into the highlights! A major highlight was Ringer. I loved that we got to explore Ringer throughout this book, more so than in The 5th Wave. Cassie still seemed to be the protagonist but Ringer had a larger part in the book which was really interesting because we got to learn more more about her past and what she’s really like. Another highlight (SPOILER ALERT! SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH) was that Evan lives! I’m glad that he was kept in the series.

Lastly, another highlight was one of the new characters — Razor! (SPOILER ALERT! SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH). Razor was a great addition to the book because he is a very confusing character, to me, anyways. It’s really easy to feel an abundance of different feelings towards him. At first, I didn’t think anything of him at all. But after he appeared numerous times, this changed. I thought he was kind and caring, but then I didn’t. Then I liked him again and then I didn’t. Then I wasn’t sure! Now, I think he’s alright. I am feeling a bit iffy about him though. 😋 Feel free to comment with your thoughts on Razor!

CAUTION: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD.

The character development in this book was fantastic, especially for Ringer. I loved that we really get to learn about her past and who she really is throughout this book. I liked that she talked about her father and what he was like. I liked learning her real name -- Marika. Digging into who she was was definitely something I enjoyed about this book. I love how she always is taking risks and thinking on her feet. We also got to learn about Vosch, which was also interesting, but I really really really strongly dislike him. I really hated how he mimicked Ringer's father to purposely disturb her. Vosch has such an egregious personality!! I also liked that we got to learn more about Evan's past as well, and that we got to see what had happened between him and Grace.

Okay, now it's getting harder. What do I wish I saw more of in this book? When I ask myself this question, I have two answers that pop into my head.

1) I wish I saw more of Cassie throughout this book! I felt as though this book was really focused on learning about Ringer more than any other character, which was great, but I would've relished seeing more of Cassie.

2) I thought that Rick Yancey did a good job concluding the book, but I wish it didn't leave me off as much as it did. It was greatly concluded but I was hoping for a bit more.

I need to give a huge round of applause to Poundcake. He is such a hero!! I think it's really unfortunate that Cassie and Ben don't know how he sacrificed himself so that he could save them. He committed such a heroic act. He sacrificed his life so that he could kill Grace so that Cassie and the others could get away. He saved everyone. Until then, I hadn't pictured Poundcake as a brave character. His story broke my heart into thousands of pieces. It was so sad. And then he dies. This made me so sad!! I really admire his bravery.

Somehow, I'm worried that Grace didn't die because of her great "superpowers" and that she'll come back. Let's hope not!

Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to reading The Last Star! I'm hoping that we'll see more of Cassie and that the book will conclude the series phenomenally. I know it sounds awful, but I hope that Vosch will d-i-e. I cannot stand him whatsoever and he is a character that truly annoys me. I hope that we'll see more of Cassie and Evan, and maybe even Ringer and Razor. I'm also hoping that Razor will be reunited with Cassie, Ben, Sam, etc.

I'm giving The Infinite Sea 4 stars. Why? The book was very enjoyable and the writing style was superb! I love how I am still super hooked onto and excited for the final book of the series. I really enjoyed this book, but it wasn't as exciting as The 5th Wave.

I'm really glad I read it. If you haven't read it yet, read it!! (But read The 5th Wave first!)

Thanks for stopping by! Have an amazing day!

9 Simple Ways To Read More

Source

I personally absolutely love reading, which I'm sure you've guessed since this is a book blog. However, I don't always find time to read. Things get in the way, or I just can't focus. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds it difficult to read as much as I'd like to - I'm pretty certain every bookworm has faced this problem at one time or another. So I've compiled a list/guide of how you can read more. Here it is!

1. Eliminate distractions.

This one is fairly self explanatory. Do you go on your phone, laptop, or another device a lot? Turn it off or mute it, and put it in another room. Basically, just put away anything that could distract you from reading.

2. Set a goal.

This is a little corny, but it can help. Set a goal for yourself, depending on how much time you have and how fast you read. For instance, "I want to read for 30 minutes non-stop" or "I'm going to read at least 45 pages." It'll help prevent you from becoming distracted, and allows you to manage your time.

3. Read books you actually like.

Don't read book you don't like! Reading should be a fun activity you do in your free time, so if you're reading a book you don't like or find boring, stop reading it! If you're like me, it'll take you a lot longer to read a book you don't enjoy than one you do like, no matter how long they are. I, for instance, never finished City Of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I just wasn't into it. So if you don't like a book and don't think it'll get better later on, my advice is that you stop reading it and move onto something fun. You'll be much more eager to read if you actually like the book.

4. Carry a book with you.

Carry a book with you everywhere! To school for example, so you can read at lunch and between classes. Or on the bus, or to a café. Everywhere! You never know when you might find time to read. Even if it's just 10 minutes at a time, it adds up. It can also be helpful to carry two books with you if you're close to finishing one of them. Then you can just move on to the next one immediately!

5. Switch it up!

Are you really into dystopians? Read a contemporary. Do you love historical fiction? Read something sci-fi. You like romance? Read a mystery book. You like fantasy? Read a paranormal. Your brain eventually gets tired of the same thing over and over again. Switching up the type of book once in a while is a great way to fall in love with a new genre. There's plenty of different books out there!

6. Make it a routine.

Set aside time to read, maybe before you go to bed or when you get home from school or work. Make it a habit to read every day at that time. Make reading at that time part of your daily routine.

7. Don't try to multi task.

Don't listen to music or anything like that while reading. You'll get side tracked and won't be able to focus on your book. If you can't stand a quiet environment, listen to music without words. You can even go on YouTube and search up 'music for reading' and you'll find lots of instrumental music you can listen to.

8. Listen to audio books!

If you need to clean the house or anything, or are just too tired to read, listen to an audio book. You can listen while cleaning and relaxing and such, so they're great! Don't want to pay? Get one from the library! There is most likely a library near you that has audiobooks. You may need to rent them, or maybe you can just borrow them. I've never taken out an audiobook from the library, so I'm not completely sure on how that works.


9. Challenge yourself.

Set a reading challenge for yourself whether it's annual, monthly, or even weekly. A great site you can do this on is Goodreads. You can make an account where you can keep track of books you've read, want to read, and are currently reading. You can also create a 2016 reading challenge for yourself; every time you shelve a book as 'read', it adds it to your total of books read in 2016. I don't know exactly how many books I normally read in a year, so I set my 2016 reading challenge to 45 books. Creating a challenge for yourself really keeps you motivated to read more.


I hope you find this list helpful. I need to work on reading more myself. Not only am I quite a slow reader, but I get distracted easily. Hopefully this list will help you bookworms out there as well as me. ;P Let me know if you have any other tips! I'd love to hear them. Have a great day!

Book Talk - I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

NOTE: This post is being re-published due to issues. It was originally posted yesterday. My apologies for the inconvenience. You can of course still expect to see a new post within the next couple days. Enjoy the book talk!

Boy, this book. I'll Give You The Sun was mind blowing! Pegasus read this book a while ago and said it was really good, and then Pegasus gave it to me as a gift (thank you so so much!) and so, of course, I read it as soon as possible. And Pegasus has fantastic book taste - it was SO GOOD! I am so glad I got a chance to read I'll Give You The Sun. Here's a quick summary for you if you haven't read it:

Jude and her twin brother Noah are very close. 13 year old Noah loves drawing and falls in love with the boy next door, who is absolutely out of this world. However, 13 year old Jude is a daredevil who wears short dresses, surfs, wears red lipstick, and hangs out with the popular kids. But the twins grow apart more and more. Something has happened that ruined both of their lives in different ways. Then, Jude falls in love with a charming boy and also meets someone else, who gives her a chance to discover her true self. Noah tells the story of when they're 13, and Jude tells the story when they're 16. Little do they know that they each have only half of this story, and if they found their way back to each other, they could remake their whole world.

I loved this book so, so, so much! I don't even know where to begin. I'll start off with the characters. This book has probably the best character development I have ever seen in a book. The characters seemed so real, and every time I cracked open this book I really felt like I was there with them. They were so well written, and so realistic! I have never related to book characters more than I did in this book. I loved the characters' personalities too. I related so much to them, Noah especially! This book had amazing romance too, and that's coming from someone who doesn't like romance books.

(SPOILERS AHEAD. SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK.) Noah and Brian are a really awesome couple. I loved them together. Their relationship was so well written and I loved it. They're definitely my favourite book couple to ever exist, or at least that I've read. (I'm not big on ships, but if I were to ship two book characters, it would be them.) Thumbs up for very well written romance with those two! I didn't like Oscar much though. I'm still confused about his motives for making out with other girls. I have no idea why Jude forgave him that easily.

The plot was also so well thought out. I couldn't put this book down and read it every single minute I had. (MORE SPOILERS AHEAD IN THIS PARAGRAPH) I loved how everything tied together. I was so shocked. Amazing plot twists! Everything fit together so well and it made so much sense! I was so excited and stunned when everything got cleared up. I had no idea!

Okay, now: emotions. At times I actually laughed out loud. And (please take a seat because this is shocking news) I actually cried. That breaks my emotional book reading record of gasping when Caleb in Divergent chose his faction. Woop woop! But seriously, this book was really emotional. I laughed out loud at times ("I am so glad I'm not a horse!") and other times I was horrifically sad. Sometimes both of those at the same time. And that's amazing for me. No author has ever gotten me that attached to characters that I cried. Gosh, I grieved along with these characters! That has never happened to me before. Very well done, Jandy Nelson!

One thing I didn't really like was the ending. I wanted to know more about what happened to the characters afterwards. It was good, but I just really wanted to read more. I couldn't really accept the fact the the book was over.

I'm absolutely giving I'll Give You The Sun 5 stars; it was utterly phenomenal.

It was absolutely one of my favourites. So mind blowingly good! I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend! However, it has a lot of swearing, so if you are a younger reader, aren't allowed to read that kind of thing, or just don't like it, maybe this book isn't for you. Overall I'd say it's for a bit more mature readers. It's still very, very spectacular though! It deserves much more attention than it is getting, in my opinion. I really, really liked it.

DIY Sticky-Note Calendar

Spring break is over! Which means school is starting! Which means lots and lots of studying, tests, quizzes, projects, essays, and other homework! I decided to make a sticky note calender to stay organized with school. It ended up looking pretty good! (I was focused more on making it functional than making it look pretty, though.) I also added a book-ish touch since I love reading and this is, of course, a book blog, so there has to be something book-related! ;P

YOU WILL NEED:

- Paper (preferably large & preferably thick)

- Sticky notes (preferably colourful ones)

- Scissors & glue

- Pen/pencil/marker

- Any decor you'd like (scrapbook paper, ribbons, Polaroids, stickers, washi tape, etc.)

HOW TO MAKE IT

The point of this calender is that you write on the sticky notes what you have to do that day, and then are able to rip them off and apply new ones when the month is over. So the instructions are fairly straight forward: decorate the page with whatever you've got & apply the sticky notes as if they're individual days on the calender.

I also wrote "Calender" on a piece of pretty scrapbook paper and glued it to the top. Beside it, I put a large sticky note and put a checklist of the books I plan to read that month. Every time you finish one, check the box so you can stay on track! You can also add books to the list during the month, or, if it gets too full, just put a new sticky note there.

This is what the final product will look like!
I only had one green sticky note. Forgive me for making it not perfect! :P

As you can tell, I didn't have a piece of paper big enough to fit 30 sticky notes on, so I'll just have to put new ones on halfway through the month. I also didn't add much decor since there wasn't much space left, but you could do lots of stuff if you used a larger paper.
So whenever you have new things to write down, like a birthday, doctor's appointment, or just homework, you can write them onto the sticky notes, then when the new month comes along, tear them all off and put new ones back on!

This is a bit of a shorter post, but it has pictures, which is cool! I hope you enjoyed it, and if you do try this, let me know!
As always, have a really really great day, and enjoy spring break while it lasts! :D

P.S. After I did this, I realized that 'Calender' is the wrong spelling. A 'calender' is a machine that makes pages glossy. A 'calendar' is the thing above. The more you know..

Book Talk - Science Textbook by 'School'

I recently read a really fantastic book. I absolutely loved it! That book is called Science Textbook. I cannot describe how greatly I loved this book. I'll start by giving you a short summary.

The cells of the body were all working together in perfect harmony. Everything was fabulous. However, a cancerous cell came along. The good cells were terrified! Soon, more cancerous cells came. It was an invasion, and the intruders weren't friendly! The good cells now need to come up with ways to defend themselves and the body of their host. Will they be able to survive this pandemic?

The plot was extremely well thought out. I thought it was extremely interesting how the cancerous cells constantly created conflict. It was full of tension and really made me want to keep reading. I could barely put this book down!

The character development was also absolutely amazing. My favourite character was B cell. I loved how she fought to the death and the romance she had with another cell was also so romantic. This book had me laughing on one page, and crying on the next. Many tears were shed as I read this book. The author, 'School', does a great job conveying the relationships and emotions of the characters. Their personalities were very intricate and felt so real. I loved how B Cell was so kind yet fierce. I like how she was such a strong, selfless character who helped the host. She was so loyal to her host and fought for their life. Amazingly strong and realistic character development!

The places were so well described. This book had fantastic world-building! I absolutely loved it! I felt like I was really there. My favourite place was without the shadow of a doubt the oesophagus. Without the oesaphagus, the body's host wouldn't be able to digest food, and the oesophagus was a loyal, hard-working employee of the body.

(SPOILER ALERT, SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK!) I was so glad the host didn't die in the end. All of the effort of the cells wasn't in vain. I was so happy!

This book was emotional and romantic at times, and sad at other times, (and sometimes it was boring) but other times it was exciting and happy. I adored this book, and I highly recommend you give it a read.

Overall, I'd give Science Textbook a whopping, well-deserved 5 stars! I think School is my new favourite author!

My many apologies this is a bit of a shorter book talk. In case you haven't realized, it's an April Fools joke. ;) Leave a comment about what you did or what happened to you on April Fools day. I'd love that! :D

Have a great day!