Try Not to Eat the Whole Batch By Myself Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I love chocolate chip cookies. I mean so do most people, but I really love them. Actually I really want some right now, but its 80 degrees outside, so it's too hot to bake. Also I am sick so no cookies for me. But there is nothing holding the rest of you back from eating some cookies! This recipe is originally the Tollhouse cookie recipe with my minor adjustments as well as my notes to make it dairy free! This recipe makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Reading Withdrawal

I have now learned that if you start off by reading two books a day and then cut yourself off and read zero books for multiple days, you will start to go insane. I have come to the conclusion that reading is an addictive substance! We have had friends over and I have not had the chance to read, which is giving me serious withdrawal. A Man Called Ove is sitting in my room and I found myself slowly inching towards it. Eventually I was just holding the book in my lap and talking to people, which meant I got some interesting looks! I am even missing my required summer reading that I have skipped a couple of days of and now have to read and take notes on 10 chapters. I am not looking forward to that. What really sucks is that school now starts in less than a month and I will not have much time to read. Maybe I should just marathon a bunch of books before school starts to try and get it out of my system. Don't worry, I am just kidding, I could never getting tired of reading! I have sadly burned through all of my cute new young adult romance novels. Maybe I will get a new one in my owlcrate box (If you owlcrate people are reading please give me more! I loved The Upside of Unrequited and P.S. I Like You) Basically, reading withdrawal is a very serious condition and might affect you or a loved one. If you have symptoms of restlessness; dreaming about Will Heronadale or any other book boyfriend, staring at your book for long periods of time, staring at your bookshelf for long periods of time, reading fanfiction on your phone and trying to hide it as you are supposed to be interacting with people, obsessively blogging or reading other blogs while you are supposed to be interacting with people, reaching out towards books like your long lost love as you pass by a bookstore, or trying to explain the complicated plotline of a major fandom to your cat, then you may be in serious trouble. Do not fear, the solution is simple. Just shirk all other obligations in life and pick up your book. If anyone judges you, just calmly explain that this is necessary for your survival. If symptoms persist even after reading, then you may be in danger of a reading slump. And to cure that, well you are just going to have to wait until next week! -Becca      

God is a Woman by Michael Tavon Full Book Review

Spoiler Free Review:

God Is A Woman by Michael Tavon
My rating: ❤❤❤

Readers will shocked by the utter honesty and raw emotions that play such a large role in, God is a Woman by Michael Tavon. Price Jones has led a life of tragedy. Growing up abused in the home of an addict, has scared him, and left him doubting his self worth. Now, he uses sex and drugs to cope with his perceived failure as an author, a brother, a son, and a person. When an former love walks back into his life, old emotions are rekindled, as well as old heartbreak. Will Price be able to rebuild his life and mend his broken heart, or will he give in to his inner daemons? I think calling this book a romance novel is very misleading. While romance plays a large role in the story, Price's journey for self-discovery is what really takes center stage. I am not really sure how much I enjoyed reading this novel. My usual pick of young adult, romance, fantasy, and around 800 pages, is pretty much the opposite of this book. Regardless of my enjoyment, no one can argue that this book isn't good. The characters show such a parallel to the misery and hardship of our world, and while the plot is uneventful, it accurately portrays the monotony and agony of every day existence. This book is definitely an adult novel and not for all readers. My reading experience suffered as I was not able to relate to the characters on any personal level, but for people who can relate to the characters, then this book could have a huge emotional effect on you and I would highly, highly recommend that you read it!  *Disclaimer I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review and this did not affect my review as my opinions and writing are 100% my own*
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Recommended Mindset For Reading

As I said before, this book is for a certain kind of reader. For those of you who feel you would enjoy this book, then I would recommend reading it all in one sitting. It's very short and it won't take you long to finish, but the writing is very powerful, so, prepare yourself to sit back for a second, and say "Whoa, what did I just read?". Believe me, you will need some time to decompress. If you do end up reading this book, please comment and share your feelings, as I am interested to see how others felt after finishing it.

Becca's Special Stir-Fry!

As you may know, I love to cook. Also, as I hope you know by this point, I love to read! So I thought to myself, why not combine my two loves! So from this point on, I will be including recipes (My own and my favorites from other blogs). With these recipes I will include the kind of books that pair well with the recipe, as well as a specific book recommendation. So here we go! Today's recipe is one of my family's favorites that I created a long time ago, and only recently wrote down and configured into a recipe, Becca's special stir-fry!

So this recipe is super flexible and while the ingredients I put in are what I like, there are so many other vegetables you can include to make this even better! I know I don't give exact measurements for the amount of ingredients in this recipe, but that is because I never use a set amount of vegetables or rice. I have to thank my middle school cooking class teacher (who was also the choir, and orchestra, and sewing, teacher because she was amazing) for inspiring this recipe. It was one of the first days in class that we made stir-fry, and from that day this recipe was born. I also want to thank my grandmother for having me write down this recipe for her. In the moment when she asked me to write this recipe down, I realized that I not only loved cooking, but I also am good at it, and should record my recipes for myself and others.  

Ingredients:

Here are the basic ingredients, which are obviously variable and can be tailored to many dietary needs (I feel your pain! Finding flexible recipes for my dairy allergy is so agonizingly annoying!)  

Meat:

Shrimp or chicken or *salmon or tofu/other meat substitute. I don't recommend beef because I don't think the sauce works quite at well, but you can try it if you like!

Vegetables: 

Anything you want, but I usually have a staple of onions, zucchini, garlic (you can substitute garlic powder), bell peppers, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots

Sauce:

Brown sugar, garlic powder (or fresh garlic but it won't be cooked for very long, so I don't recommend it unless you mince the garlic, and love a strong garlic flavor), fresh grated ginger (or ginger powder, it tastes very similar), red pepper flakes, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, olive oil, honey, sesame seeds, chicken stock ( depending on desired thickness and amount of sauce and if stir fry contains no meat, then I recommend chicken stock, or vegetable stock.)

My Basic Sauce:

So, this how I make basic amount of sauce. I usually have to adjust to taste because every time I make it, I want it to be a little be different.

• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder or 1 clove fresh garlic 
• About 1 inch piece of fresh garlic grated or 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder (this is more or less to taste, this is how much I like to use, but not everyone likes this much ginger) 
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or if don't like spice, then use 1/8 teaspoon)
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar 
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/4 Cup olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• Sesame seeds to taste
• Chicken Stock (if using) I would start out with 1 1/2 cups or to taste

Directions:

Cut up meat and vegetables into similarly sized pieces. Stir fry the meat and vegetables in sesame oil. Start with your onions, garlic and meat (I am not sure with tofu, I can not eat it, as I can not have large amount of soy, so I am sorry I can not explain how to cook with it). If you are cooking with shrimp, then cook all of your shrimp first, then remove from pan, and cook vegetables, then add all ingredients back into the pan when you add in the sauce. You are going to want to use medium low heat, because sesame oil does not cook well on high heats. If you are impatient and want to cook things faster, then use olive oil, and you can cook on medium high heat. How long you cook your vegetables and meat depends on how much you are cooking, and how large your pieces are. The general rule is cook your chicken and beef (unless you are making the beef rare, I'm just trying to prevent food poisoning) until it is 165 degrees Fahrenheit, or the chicken is completely white and the beef is to the pinkness of your liking. Shrimp should be cooked to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or when it changes in color to pink and shrinks slightly, if you see it shrink a lot  (which is basically every time I cook it, because I always cook meat to death) you have over cooked it. Heat chicken stock (I recommend better than bouillon). Mix together sauce in another bowl until well mixed. Add other sauce ingredients to chicken stock, mix well, and remove from heat. Once all stir fry ingredients are fully cooked, add sauce, and stir well for around 30 seconds, so sugar does not burn. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and serve over rice, ramen noodles, rice noodles, or eat as is. Enjoy your meal!
*If you make this with salmon cover the salmon in the sauce without chicken broth and then bake or grill the salmon and stir-fry your vegetables, then serve together.

Recommended Reading to Pair with Meal

I would recommend an adventure story with this meal! Stabbing into those veggies while you are reading about swashbuckling pirates, is honestly a perfect night in! As versatile as this meal is, it will pair with any book with lots of action, but I would recommend something in the vein of a hero's journey. (I know, so specific!) I would also recommend sitting in a comfortable area, like your bed, or your couch, putting on some energetic music, and having a glass of lemonade (Or wine for those of you who are old enough to drink, unlike me) while you eat this meal, and read your book. This is actually what I'm planning on doing this Friday night!

For a specific book recommendation, you should read Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller  

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller
My rating: ❤❤❤❤

Readers will love this nontraditional tale of swashbuckling pirates, and fierce female main character, in the fantastic adventure story that is, Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller. Alosa is the daughter of the fearsome Pirate King, and she packs quite the reputation herself. Sent on a secret mission by her father to find a treasure map, Alosa has to allow herself to be captured by a group of less then terrifying pirates, in order to search their ship. Alosa feels she has this one in the bag, that is, until she meets the ships first mate, the surprisingly smart and handsome Ridden, who is making things just a little bit difficult for Alosa. But Alosa doesn't scare easy, and a little romance never hurt trying to get information right? I read this book all in one sitting because I absolutely could not put it down! Its a pretty average sized book, but the story is jam-packed with adventure and action, and it totally transported me to a pirate ship! Alosa is a great character and her self discovery in this book is so relatable to young adult girls everywhere. This book does a great job of showing how women don't have to act like a man to be a badass, and how just because you may love dresses, it doesn't mean you can't take someone down in a fight. This was a very entertaining read, that definitely gets your adrenaline pumping, and I would highly recommend it to fantasy, romance, and adventure lovers!
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Amazing Series I Need To Finish

Sometimes life gets busy and other books arrive so even though I have read the first or second book in a series I just never get around to finishing it. I really need to because so many of these books are really really good! So, here are some books that are fantastic and I need to get around to finishing their series. I hope you enjoy and actually finish all the books unlike me! Happy Reading! -Becca

1. Dark Retelling with Great Humor

Around a year and a half ago I listened to this book as an audiobook and just fell in love with it. The story really pulls you in and even though the book isn't ginormous, it kind of feels like the book goes on for a really long time and I love that! I can't remember if I finished the second book or not, I don't think I did, but I actually own all the books so I really need to finish them! I have a feeling my problem was that I tried to read the second one instead of listening to the audiobook, and I really loved the audiobook version and actually reading it wasn't as good for me. This book is definitely for a certain kind of person as I tried to get my sister to read it and she immediately disliked it, as did some of my other friends. Just make sure you realize that even though the book is called Dorthy Must Die, this is not an extremely violent book. I hate gore and I'm afraid of blood so don't worry about it being to gross or anything because it isn't. I would recommend listening to the audiobook version, but I have to say I love the cover so much that I wish I had it on my bookshelf so its up to you!

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

The Wizard of Oz is not what it seems in this twisted, fantastic, and darkly romantic retelling that is Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. Amy Gumm has no desire to save anyone, but when you get pulled into a tornado into the land of Oz, its kind of hard to say no. Oz is not what it seems as Glinda the Good Witch has to use an artificial smile, flying monkeys are being executed, the yellow brick road is practically gone, and Dorthy is drunk on her own power. Amy is recruited (Kind of against her will) to the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked where she is trained for a single purpose. Dorthy Must Die. I loved the dark humor of this book! Amy is such a great character and the minor characters have such well crafted personalities that really enrich her as a character even more. I think Dorthy might have been my favorite character because of her amazing transformation from the original book. I just love how horrible she is! The plot of this book is so jam packed with action even while being a pretty normal sized book. The best part is the characters as this twisted retelling is just so well done! There is a lot of sarcasm in this book and I think it worked really well to balance out the amount of action and character growth. I would recommend this book to lovers of retellings and sarcastic, slightly dark humor.
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The Gentleman's Guide To Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee Full Book Review

Spoiler Free Review:

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Readers will be swept off their feet by this adventurous, historical, humorous romance that is The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. Henry Montague dreads nothing more than his impending duty as a British Lord. He is much more content to live out the 18th Century getting hammered and into trouble with his best friend Percy. He can barely contain his excitement to be leaving for his grand tour with Percy, imagining it to be lounging around, having fun, and hopefully discovering if his undying love for Percy is unrequited or not. When Henry's father ruins this by sending someone to watch over them, the trip looks like its going to be extremely boring, until Henry steals something he shouldn't have and sets himself, his sister, and Percy on the adventure of a lifetime. I adored this book! I love it when books are set in historical times, but the characters act more modern. In some ways this book reminds me of My Lady Jane which I also loved! The plot of this book was not at all what I was expecting. I thought this was going to be an LGBT romance novel set in historical times, not an adventure story with excellent character development. While the characters are definitely made a little more extreme to be entertaining, they are still very realistic and have interesting emotional development I would recommend this book for romance, adventure, and history lovers and people who love great plot, but don't want to read a whole series.
Want to read something similar to this book? Try My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. You can find my review on the spoiler free reviews page. Or pick up Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller.

Recommended Mindset for Reading    

This is a great book to binge read because it isn't super long and its a standalone novel. Its the kind of book you can get yourself out of a reading slump with because it wraps up pretty nicely so you won't be going crazy wondering what happened. This book is definitely for a certain kind of reader so if you just want an adventure story and don't like romance then this isn't the book for you because a lot of the plot is character development which is mainly based off romance. Also this book deals with LGBT themes so if that isn't your thing you may not like it, but for the rest of us its great because good LGBT romance novels are few and far between! Overall this is a great book for a lazy day when you want to be transported to a different time!

Modern Baby Books

Seeing as that I am 16 I do not have any children of my own (thank god 16 and pregnant is scary TV show), but I have been spending a lot of time with my cousins who are two years old and 6 months old. Last week I babysat them for a week and in that time I got to see what kind of baby books they have. When asked what her favorite book was, my two year old cousin grabbed My First Busy Book by Eric Carle which when opened looks like a pretty typical baby book. Lots of bright colors and letters to help shape young minds. My six month old cousin obviously can't talk yet but if he could he would tell you about his little cloth book with fish in it that makes noise that doesn't have a title. Again pretty typical baby book. But when you take a closer look at what is in my cousins bookshelf you get titles such as:
Pride & Prejudice : A BabyLit Counting Primer
by Jennifer Adams





Vader's Little Princess
by Jeffrey Brown





My Body! What I Say Goes!: Teach Children about Body Safety, Safe and Unsafe Touch, Private Parts, Consent, Respect, Secrets and Surprises
by Jayneen Sanders






Books like this definitely did not exist when I was a baby. Now we have great pop culture references for children's books and educational books that make sure everyone stays safe. My favorite is obviously the baby Pride and Prejudice because I'm a die hard Jane Austen fan! (some Jane Austen themed reviews will be going up soon!) So even though baby books might start to drive parents, siblings, nanny's, and babysitters crazy, I'm glad they exist to help mold young minds and foster learning. (By the way, my cousin Morgan is the one who requested I write about this and is now saying over and over I want to see the books, I want to see the books)

Middle Grade Must Reads

While I primarily read young adult novels and classics, I still have some middle grade novels that I love and I want to share these with all of you! While their target audience might be for pre-teens these books can be enjoyed by all ages! Happy Reading!-Becca

1. Wacky Characters, Coming of Age Story 

I honest to god reread this book last month during finals week and I am 16! Its so great to just calm you down and take you away from your stress for awhile. This is the kind of book you read and then you just keep on rereading and it never gets old!

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Ready yourselves for a laugh out loud comedy for readers of all ages, because Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan might just become your new favorite book! Jake is a bad kid, who by 13, has gotten himself kicked out of every public school in Rhode Island. His grandfather has had enough of him and with his parents in jail, it looks like he is on the fast track to Juvie. That is until the Applewhites invite him to stay at their Creative Academy, the place where all of the artsy and completely crazy Applewhites are schooled. Jake is set on staying bad and getting himself kicked out, but when he forms a bond with the only non-crazy Applewhite E.D., and learns of a passion for acting, will he give in to his good side? I read this book in fourth grade and fell in love with it. This is the kind of coming of age story that you can relate to at any level and is always perfect for a good laugh. While the characters might be a little extreme, their core ideas are reflected all around us. As this is a middle grade novel, the plot is easy to follow and the book is short, but luckily the author is able to pack a great story in there and as I recently found out there are two other books in the series! I would highly recommend this book for kids from 4th grade for a challenge to 7th grade as an easy reading slump killer or before bed read!
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New Favorite App-WebToon

Look What Just Came In The Mail!

Okay so you know how on Instagram they have apps that will be advertised, like those hooked text chats that always freak me out because I'm scared of everything. Well, one day this app advertised this webcomic Assassin Roommate, and of course I'm intrigued. So I downloaded the app and I was hooked! Webcomics rock!!!!! Its like a book, but its also like a comic, and they update every week, so its suspenseful! Plus this app is really well put together and has a ton of really great comics all together organized really well! Now for my recommendations, first Siren's Lament by InstantMiso. This is basically the best thing ever (except for the title which sounds really cheesy, but I swear it isn't) The premise without giving anything away is a girl who is in love with a boy is kissed by a Siren, which is supposed to make her into a Siren, but plot twist it only half worked! The artwork is fantastic and the lines are not only laugh out loud funny, but also provoke real emotions! So if you are a fan of romance and comedy, check out Sirens Lament. Okay second place goes to Assassin Roommate by Monica Gallagher! And this isn't just because I love friends😜So Roommate Assassin is about a woman in her twenties who needs a new roommate and the guy who ends up moving in is very attractive, always shirtless, and definitely has a connection with her! There is just one issue, one of them is an assassin, can you guess who? While the artwork in this I don't like nearly as much as some of the other comics, the writing is really funny and cute and a great thing to just sit down and read! And finally, in third place there is Ecstasy Hearts by SilentMaru. This is only on this list due to the amazing artwork, by far the best on the app. The writing on the other hand is so confusing and not funny at all and also creepy at many points. But it also totally pulls you in and makes you want to read more. Added bonus I am learning a ton about tennis. Okay so I don't fully understand the plot and its impossible to simplify so I will give a broad topic overview. Romance, drug lords, family feud, crazy people, and a crap ton of tennis. So if you want to see some beautiful artwork and be confused out of your brain, check it out! Okay, that is all folks! Happy reading!-Becca
   

Shatter Me Series Will Be Continued!

****DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE SHATTER ME SERIES BY TAHEREH MAFI****

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG THERE IS A NEW BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So for those of you who don't know, I love the Shatter Me series! I have read Ignite Me a total of 7 times and every time I get to the ending and while I am extremely happy, I have to go read a bunch of Fanfiction because I want more. Well I just found out that there is a new book! Restore Me will pick up where Ignite Me ended and give us that Juliette and Warner fix we are all craving! Also if you look on goodreads you can see that there are two other books set to be in the series after that! I know that isn't extremely reliable as on goodreads it also says that there will be two more books after The Host by Stephanie Meyer and that is never happening so...But anyways, I was actually screaming and jumping for joy when I heard there was going to be another book. I'm not quite sure why after three years of silence about the series and believing it was over, the series will now be continued, but I'm assuming it has to do with Tahereh Mafi and being able to get a book deal for the rest of the series. Or maybe she had writers block for the series and now has miraculously recovered. Whatever it is, I am so happy it happened, because it is basically the answer to my prayers! I mean seriously guys, first Marissa Landers finally gets a book deal for United and releases it, then I find out that there is a graphic novel continuation of the lunar chronicles, and last week I preordered the newest John Green book, and now this! I mean all that is left is for Stephanie Meyer to announce that she actually is going to write Midnight Sun and for the sequel to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe to finally be released and all of my dreams will have come true! Well I hope you are as excited as I am about this book release! As always Happy Reading!-Becca    

Audiobook Recommendations

I don't know about you, but I love audiobooks! Here is a list of not only great books to read, but also great books to listen to! Happy Reading and Listening!-Becca

1. Beautiful LGBT Coming of Age Story

The audiobook edition of this book read by Lin-Manuel Miranda is extremely well done. Whenever I listen to this book I always feel inspired to just sit and draw and be creative. I would recommend listening to this book when you are not doing anything strenuous. Just sit and enjoy, don't do any chores or anything. Also, if you can try and listen to this outside, especially if it is beautiful outside, trust me it will make everything even better.  

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Be prepared to feel every emotion on the spectrum, because Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sánez is the most beautiful coming of age novel I have ever read. Ari is miserable. Being a teenager is the worst and summer seems to go on forever, that is until he meets Dante at the pool and makes the friend of a lifetime. Join Ari and Dante as they grow up together and learn about life, friendship, love, and all the secrets in the universe. I can not pick a favorite thing about this book because every page is amazing! The emotional journey that Ari and Dante embark on in this book is fantastic. I find that in a lot of coming of age novels the plot will fall flat, but that is the opposite in this book. While there isn't much character development for minor characters, the character development of Ari and Dante is amazing. I also love how even though this takes place in the eighties, the characters are the real stars of the book, not the historical aspect. I would highly, highly recommend this book to everyone!
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Paradise

Take me to a far away place, far away from here
Take me to a scream and shout place, scream till I can't hear
Take me to a dance all night place, dance the night away
Take me to a sing it loud place, sing till my voice breaks

You say we're in paradise, feel the summer breeze
So it looks like paradise, is not as sweet as it seems
You say we're in paradise, looking like kings and queens
So this is paradise, I can't wait to break free

Take me to a sweet and sour place, sugar and spice won't do
Take me to a spend all day place, spend the day with you
Take me to an adrenaline overload, energy overload state
Take me to an outcasts only, I shouldn't see no exclusive face

You say we're in paradise, feel the summer breeze
So it looks like paradise, is not as sweet as it seems
You say we're in paradise, looking like kings and queens
So this is paradise, I can't wait to break free

Don't tell me that you, have given up on what you know
Don't tell me that you, have let paradise take control
Don't tell me that you, have given up on our dreams
Don't tell me that you, think that paradise is on our team

You say we're in paradise, feel the summer breeze
So it looks like paradise, is not as sweet as it seems
You say we're in paradise, looking like kings and queens
So this is paradise, I can't wait to break free

Owlcrate Box

As I have now had Owlcrate Box for about a year, I think it is about time I shared my feelings about it with you all. It is fantastic!!!!!! I have loved every box so far and they only keep getting better! Let me state this I am not a rep for Owlcrate, I am doing this of my own free will because I love the box and I wanted to share that with you. (Though I am in no way opposed to becoming an owl crate rep) For those of you who do not know what Owlcrate is, it is a monthly young adult book subscription box that includes one newly released book (sometimes two!), a signed bookplate, a letter from the author, and a bunch of bookish goodies! The boxes are themed and include things from small businesses so it supports our amazing bookish artists! Basically this box is the bomb and if you are looking for a book subscription box, I would highly recommend it! My favorite book I have received from the box so far would have to be Heartless by Marissa Meyer, which is also my favorite box so far because of the awesome tea that was included. For those of you who don't know I love tea! So, check out Owlcrate Box! Comment if you like Owlcrate too! Click Here for the link to the website.  

August 2016 Box (My First Box!)

  

Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia Book Review

Spoiler Free Review: 

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Readers should expect a fresh perspective on life in the comical and heart wrenching wonder that is Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia. Eliza Mirk is a nobody in person; no friends, weird, never talks. Eliza Mirk is a legend online, or at least her web comic, Monstrous Sea, written under the name LadyConstellation is. No one knows except online and Eliza likes it that way, that is until Wallace Warland transfers in to her school. Wallace Warland is Monstrous Sea's most popular fanfiction writer, and now the most important person in Eliza's life, just one problem, she has no intention of telling him who she is. This book took me completely by surprise. I was expecting a typical YA novel with a little romance thrown in to it. What I got was a beautiful story about excepting your identity and preparing for your future. Francesca Zappia created extremely interesting round characters that grow throughout the whole book. The emotions of these characters just blew me away and felt so real and at one point even made me cry. I would highly, highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially young adults as this book will really resonate with them.
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Recommended Mindset For Reading

 This book is something you need to read when you have a large chunk of time on your hands. You will not want to put it down so make sure you have enough time to do this. I actually read it in a four hour stretch where I just did not get up from the couch and sat back and read my book. This is not a light read, it is of medium length and there is a lot of feeling packed into it so prepare yourself for an emotional roller coaster. If you like cool artwork this book is chockfull of it so if you are in an artsy kind of mood then pick up this book. Lastly, if you are an owlcrate subscriber like me and you got this book in your May 2017 box, how cool is the exclusive cover and artwork that was included! Now get off your beautiful buts and read this fantastic book!

Audiobooks

Today, my friends, I am here to talk to you about the wonderful invention of audiobooks. One of my largest pet peeves is being in the middle of a fantastic book and then bang, you need to go do a chore. Luckily there is a simple fix to this problem, audiobooks! Now I know that a lot of people are very opinionated about audiobooks and if they like them or not. I happen to love them as long as they are recorded well. I remember the first time I realized I loved listening to books was during a road trip with my family a long while back. We were listening to Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls by Meg Cabot. It was hilarious because the actor who was reading the book did such great voices. From that point on in every road trip we listened to books on tape that we got from the library. Well fast forward a few years and you  get current me. I listen to audiobooks all the time thanks to the overdrive app that my library is affiliated with. If your library is a part of overdrive I highly, highly recommend you get the app. My library collection has tons of audiobooks that I listen to and I have discovered many fantastic series through it! Now every time people tell me they don't have time to read I tell them to listen to audiobooks because you can still do things! One of my favorite things is to do the dishes while listening to a good audiobook because it makes chores fun! Also I love to run (or more frequently due to my complete nonathletic abilities, walk) on the treadmill while listening to an audiobook! Now do't you haters go saying that you can't find any good audiobooks because there are plenty!(Check back soon for a book recommendation list of some of my favorite audiobooks!) Here is a freebie before the list comes out, try A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Grey. The audiobook version is fantastic! Well that is all folks, so happy reading! -Becca ❤❤❤💕💕📚📚📚📙  

The Infernal Devices

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Readers will not be able to put down the enthralling tale of magic, daemons, love, and humanity, that is Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. Tessa Grey has never traveled outside of New York until in 1878 her brother Nathan summons her to London. But when Tessa is kidnapped and subjected to magic she didn't know was inside her, all she can think of is her brother and how to save him. So when she is saved by Shadowhunters who are willing to help her find her brother, she is thrown into the shadowworld and the lives of the mysterious and attractive Will Herondale and James Carastairs. Their search will take them all over London and into the Pandemonium Club full of dangerous Vampires. Will they be able to save Nathan before its too late? I love this book! I mean like its my second favorite book written by Cassandra Clare, the first being the last book in this series. The story line is so fascinating and the characters are amazing in every way. The character development is fantastic and the humor is out of this world. The action starts right from the start and there is no pesky,, boring world building and instead they just throw you in which worked very well. I would say that I love this series more than the Mortal Instruments series though I highly recommend them both. If you answer yes to liking fast paced fantasy, historical fiction, romance, or humor than Clockwork Angle and the whole Infernal Devices series is right for you!

Other Thoughts

Direct quote from Becca Barer to friend Lily "OMG, I read this new book and like OMG, OMG, WILL HERONDALE!!!!!!!!!!" Direct quote from friend Lily "Becca slow down, who the hell is Will Herondale? Wait Becca are you going to force me to read another romance novel?". That happened around three years ago and my reaction still everytime I read the Infernal Devices or hear Will Herondale or just Will, is OMG Will Herondale is like the love of my life! Basically Cassandra Clare is the reason I can't date because I expect every guy to be like Will Herondale. So about this book, why are all shadowhunters so freaking awesome? I don't know, honestly I think its because it makes us want to be as amazing as they are, but still allows us to be lazy people that just st around eating ice cream and fangirling over Will Herondale.  

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