Focus

I'm sure there were loud screams

Coming out of her mouth

When I gave my sister her first bath

I'm sure there was soap and warm water

Covering her in a tub

But I'm not sure

It's all black tinged in my mind

My almost three year old brain didn't focus

On any other details

Not focused again until

It's a hot summer day in

my striking pink corvette

only four though I feel

like so much more when

I meet my first friend

Not focused again until

Otter pops, one a day

Sticky hands, sticky day, playing cops and robbers

Lighting off fireworks

In the street, popping in the blackness

Nighttime still light, eyes rubbed red from battles previously fought

Not focused again until

Loud bustling bumper cars in bright colors

Desire to crash, fear of impact

Fear to fall off the boardwalk along the beach

Seaside, rolling waves, sand

Everywhere, my toes, my swimsuit, my hotdog and s'mores

Not focused again until

Clanking nickels and number calling

The glares, the consequence of beating

The old nursing home ladies with their hearing aids

Where we eat our pinwheels and mint chocolate ice cream

Sit in great grandpa's chair so calm and happy

Not focused again until

The hissing air of blowing up the bed

Lights from the bridge keeping me up but really

An excuse to read all those classics

In the little bookshelf, on the yellow walls

Of my grandparents house

Not focused again until

The wet grass soaking my shoes while

We pace with each other, talking, imagining

Our game, the four of us best friends always

Playing, creating more, taking on more roles only

Waiting for the bell to ring and end our fun

Not focused again until

The crunch of gravel, cementing the feeling

Of the first day of middle school, truly

Realizing that only three of us will be there

One in another school just waiting

To be united again

Not focused again until

High heels too tall, tripping and

Recovering last minute making it a more

Memorable 8th grade graduation than

The speech and solos I performed causing

A surge of relief of moving on

Not focused again until

Three months in and

I’m staring at the wall

Of my freshman health class

The impact of high school

Only just then taking its hold

Not focused again until

My hands are on the wheel

Of my car where tears

Stream down my face in

The hot weather of my

Last day of sophmore year

Unfocused again

Will probably stay

Until the realization hits

That life is real

And I am not

Only a dreamer lost in a deep sleep

The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

I thought it was about time that I compiled spoiler free reviews for this series seeing as that I mention it so much! Please enjoy and I promise to post lists of reviews for her other series as well! 

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Readers will be whisked away into a new world of good vs evil in City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Clary Fray has had a typical life for 15 years with an over protective mother and her best friend Simon living in the city of New York. One night at a club she witnesses a murder she can't explain, her mother goes missing and she is thrown into the world of Shadowhunters, the mysterious guardians of humans from daemons. With the help of a inscrutable and gorgeous shadowhunter named Jace and his friends, Clary starts the adventure of a lifetime that will uncover all kinds of things about her past. Cassandra Clare takes old mythology to a new level in this book creating a very interesting read. The characters in this book have such interesting levels and connections that keep readers intrigued and guessing for the whole novel. The plot of this novel and the foreshadowing into the past is so wonderfully confusing that it makes for such an amazing read. I would say that Cassandra Clare is my favorite author of all time and the Mortal Instruments series is so fantastic! I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone! If you find that City of Bones is a little slow, stick with it! The books get much, much, better as they progress. Happy reading.

Other Thoughts

I know, I know. Its slow and the characters feel kind of cliche. But its the first book, cut it some slack! Please just appreciate everything done right in this book and know that it gets so much better!

Jace, the Perpetual Damsel in Distress

****Do Not Read If You Have Not Read All Of The Books In The Mortal Instruments Series By Cassandra Clare****

Has anyone else noticed how Jace always seems to be getting into one terrible position after another? While nothing seems to happen to him in City of Bones once we hit City of Ashes, boom Jace is stuck on a boat with Valentine, and imprisoned by the Inquisitor, and forced to live at Magnus's house (which honestly doesn't sound that bad!). In City of Glass, Jace actually dies, and then comes back to life! In City of Fallen Angles, Jace gets possessed, then gets all broody and lives with Simon, then almost dies in church full of dead babies. In City of Lost Souls, surprise, surprise, Jace gets possessed again, and is forced into living in some traveling apartment with Sebastian, as the anti-Jace. And once he is finally not possessed due to being stabbed with a heavenly sword, in City of Heavenly Fire, He is full of freaking HEAVENLY FIRE! I mean come on, poor Jace who is supposedly the best shadowhunter of all time, keeps having to get saved throughout the whole series! And yes, I know that Simon also has to be saved a bunch of times, but no one ever said Simon was good at being a mundane/vampire/shadowhunter. I don't know about you guys, but I just found the fact that Jace, the manly man, super strong shadowhunter, is constantly needing to be saved by his friends. Maybe its just a Herondale thing to want to sacrifice yourself for your friends and have it totaly backfire. Or maybe Cassandra Clare just had too much fun making Jace constantly possessed. However way you want to think about it, makes for an interesting and frankly extremely funny reread of the series. Happy Reading!-Becca
       

Shatter

Hi everyone! I asked around last summer to find out if anyone would be interested in having short fiction and poetry included on this blog. You guys said you would like to read some of my writing so here it is! This poem called Shatter was inspired by the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi. If you haven't read anything by her yet I would highly, highly recommend it too you! Anyways I hope you like my poem and please comment and tell me if you would like to continue reading my writing! You can find more under my new writing page. Happy reading!-Becca

warm summer colors swarm my vision

turn down the street to meet the division

the fork in the road it may appear

and even though we sit nowhere near

I feel your voice right in my ear

and know your thoughts are still right here

and I shatter as your words unravel my mind

Icy blue winter freezes the door hinge

hands so cold my touch makes you cringe

out of my hands the icicles fall

my phones not ringing but I hear you call

the reflection says short but we stand so tall

my words stumble and trip as they ring through the hall

and I shatter as your words unravel my mind

you fracture my breath

you ignite my heart

the glimmer in my eyes was yours from the start

you capture my aura

you unlock my soul
you turned my vision sharp now the worlds not dull

and I shatter as your words unravel my mind

crisp fall wind blows away stray hair

dance through the meadow, anyone can see we don’t care

the sky is raining leaves colored like blood

tight cotton shirts stained with mud

wherever you walk flowers start to bud

visions blind me as I fall into your arms with a thud

and I shatter as your words unravel my mind

you fracture my breath

you ignite my heart

the glimmer in my eyes was yours from the start

you capture my aura

you unlock my soul
you turned my vision sharp now the worlds not dull

and I shatter as your words unravel my mind

and I shatter as your words unravel my mind

Netflix-a Reading Slump's Best Ally

The Greatest Enemy of a Reading Slump

At one point or another we all end up in a reading slump, or as my friend Sadie likes to call them, book hangovers. We read a new, highly anticipated book, or we finish a series, and find ourselves wanting to reread that book, over, and over, or even worse, stop reading entirely. I have found that the only cure for a reading slump is to just push through it, and force yourself to read something new. I also recently found a new way to fall even deeper into the slump. So protect yourself readers from the horrifying ally of the reading slump, Netflix. The ability to binge watch a TV show instead of putting in the effort to read a book, just makes your brain want to never read again. I know, its a scary thought, but now that we know it exists, we can take caution against it. Don't make the same mistake I did, and only read three books in a three month stretch. Beware my lovely book nerds, and put away that streaming device, for not only the sake of your reading life, but for the fate of our entire book filled world.❤❤❤❤💕💕💕💕📚📚-Becca

Fantastic Fantasy Novels

1. Traditional Fantasy in a New YA World

If you are like me, sometimes you really want to read a novel with the traditional mythology for fairies, and werewolves, and vampires, but with that great young adult feel to it. Luckily for us Cassandra Clare has mastered this with the Shadowhunter Chronicles. Lord of Shadows truly encompasses this feeling especially with fairies delving the reader into the politics of the Unseelie and Seelie courts. Added bonus for series lovers, the Shadowhunter chronicles has eleven books out so far not counting short story collections and the numerous other books still being written! So buckle up fantasy lovers and prepare for the most fantastical ride of your life!
Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Cassandra Clare has outdone herself yet again! Full of daemons, magic, fairies, shadowhunters, and of course romance, readers are sent on an emotional roller coaster by Clare's fantastic writing. Taking place directly after the events of Lady Midnight, Julian and Emma must face their future as life at the LA institute changes dramatically. With a new addition to the household, a new relationship, and a group of centurions inviting themselves over, the Blackthorn family has a lot to deal with, and will take readers on an adventure that will keep them guessing until the last page. Clare's ability to juggle so many characters while still giving them each their own emotional journeys makes this book and all her writing a must read. Lovers of Clare's other books will be pleased to see the appearances of beloved characters from her other novels and will be intrigued by how they play into the foreshadowing for this book and the rest of the series. Lord of Shadows is perfect for all YA fans especially fantasy and romance fanatics! I highly recommend this book and all other books in the Shadowhunter Chronicles.
(Haven't read the other books in this series yet? No problem! Just check out my spoiler free reviews tab to find my review of Lady Midnight)
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Reading in the Bathtub versus Reading in the Shower

Do you guys ever just have this feeling hit you where you have the intense desire to just take a nice long hot bath and read a good book? I know I get this feeling all the time, but as busy as I am I never seem to have the time to take a bath. So where does that leave me? With taking a shower, which you of course can not read in, or so I thought! After watching a video by the wonderful youtuber polandbananasbooks I realized that it is possible to read in the shower besides listening to really faint audio books. If you are really careful, have a towel nearby and don't try anything stupid you can read regular book in the shower! I actually started doing this for a while and I only almost destroyed a book once. Of course I stopped this after I got a waterproof phone case because I would read on that and my paperbacks would stay safe. I definitely prefer reading on my phone in the shower to reading an actual book, because it saves me from a lot of stress. I guess the real question is which is better, reading in the bath or reading in the shower? In my high and mighty opinion, reading in the bath is better than reading in the shower just because its easier, but reading in the shower definitely works in a pinch! I encourage you all to try both and form your own opinion! Tell me what you think, and happy reading! -Becca  

Non-Fiction for the Non-Fiction Hater

Do people ever assume that just because you like to read and you read often then you must like all different kinds of books? This seems to happen to me a lot especially with non-fiction. I have never liked non-fiction which has caused me plenty of trouble with teachers who expect me to be just as eager to read a brief guide to American History as I am to read Ender's Game. While I do avoid non-fiction like the plague there have been times when I am forced to waltz into my school library's shabby, outdated non-fiction section and try not to grimace too much as I muscle my way though a book that takes me four times as long to read as a fiction novel. In these torturous moments I have stumbled upon some truly fantastic writing that even I am able to love. So if you are trying to survive the dreaded non-fiction unit in your English class here are my favorite non-fiction novels that will hopefully get the wheels in your brain moving.

1. Hilarious Memoir that Feels like YA

I am a YA addict. I know the first step to overcoming it is admitting it so hopefully that will help me make some progress. But what do we do when we only want to read YA but we have to read some non-fiction? We pick up Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek, because the book takes place when the author is in 8th grade so the book feels like a YA coming of age novel. Jammed packed with comedy and wonderful little tidbits of advice this book is perfect for when you want to look impressive but you really just want to pick up a humorous YA coming of age story. 

Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Readers will find themselves laughing so hard they need to run to the bathroom in the witty and honest memoir by Maya Van Wagenen that is Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek. Maya is an eighth grade outcast at her extremely poor middle school in southern Texas. With only one friend her family moving at the end of the year would go seemingly unnoticed until Maya finds Betty Cornell's guide to popularity from the 1950's. Written in diary format as Maya shares her attempt at popularity and her commentary as she tries everything from dieting to girdles readers are pulled through a whirlwind year of using age old tricks to break down modern stereotypes. As a self proclaimed nerd, this book really resonated with me in a lot of ways. The breaking down of social stereotypes in this book was wonderful and something I can relate too as someone who is very nerdy yet still has the confidence to walk up to a complete stranger and introduce myself to them. The humor in this book was fantastic and very honest and one of the main reasons I loved it so much. The fact that this novel took place when the author was in 8th grade made this book feel less like a memoir and more like a young adult novel and I think this really contributed to my ability to enjoy this book. Overall I would highly recommend this book for middle school and high school age readers because the struggles the author faces will resonate with them.
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