Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Last (NOT a review)

So if you do not already know I am still in high school. Tonight was our final basketball game of post season play. And I learned a powerful lesson tonight.

As we all sat there waiting for our coach to come in I noticed that there was silence. There was not a word uttered, but as I started to look around I saw all three senors and some other fellow team mates crying. I completely understood this. I was really upset too and was also on the verge of crying. 

Then when our coach came in he took one look around and simply said, "I know this really sucks". Then he started on his post game speech, but this one was more emotional than any before. All he really had to say is don't waste your time in the jersy that you are wearing. And I found out about five minuetes later why. 

That five minuetes later all there seniors disappear around the corner of the locker room and the rest of the team just stood there for a second and looked at each other and we too went around the corner. 

There we found all of them sitting with their heads in their hands and tears wetting their palms. One-by-one all twelve that were still in the locker room went around comferting each other. 

It was then that I realized that you never know when something may end. It maybe your relationship or a chapter in your life, or the last basketball game in your high school career. I learned that you need to always make the best of things and ALWAYS try your hardest.

So as I sit here, riding on the bus back home, I think how I could've tried harder, how I could have worked harder during the season. 

So please take my advice and try your hardest no matter what it is for, even if it is something you don't want to do.

Monday, February 17, 2014

The Guard

The Guard by Kiera Cass
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publish Date: February 4, 2014

Summery-

Told from Aspen's point of view The Selection is back and better than ever. Everything that we have read from America's view is changing, with new secrets coming out and discovering what makes Aspen who he is. Starting at the frightful caning of America's best friend and one of Aspen's fellow guards it is one thrill after another.


My Thoughts-

I will keep this short and sweet just like the book, I promise :)

I thought that the novella was perhaps a little too confusing. The new character that arises left me with that question mark over my head that still won't go away. The character just randomly shows up and starts talking to Aspen and I was like "WHAT!!! WHO IS THIS???" Let's just believe that he will play a significant role, or even a minor one, in the last book of the series The One.

This book was just a little too exciting for me. Which is weird. It was just everything that happened in the middle of The Elite was crammed into less than 80 pages and we also find some new information that keeps you reeling.

I am giving this a 3.5 out of 5 reviewed rating.

Hope to have you reading again soon,
Paige


(Told you it was going to be short.)

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Love-A-Thon Challege # 4

Okay seeing as I will not be with in service for the next challenge I will post it a little bit early (by a hour and a half :P )

Challenge #4-
This challenge is a mash-up. Meaning that I have to combine my real life passion and hobbies with the books I love to read.

For this I would say that sports and music would go very closely go hand in hand with my passions. I'm always trying to learn some new instrument (for those who may not know I already know how to play three and I am attempting to learn the guitar), or attempting to make a 3-pointer, a new trick with a soccer ball, or getting my best time in a 5k. So having these two very different passions are kind of tricky to come up with an idea for.

I think that if I could combine these with books, it would defiantly to be to spend a day with some authors who have written about these subjects. Meg Cabot would be one of them because in her series 1-800-Where-Are-You, or now known as Vanished, the main character is very music oriented. She knows how to play the flute, which is one of my instruments, by ear. Another would be the author of Tangerine and the author of Tears of a Tiger, these authors would be perfect because they are writing about two of my favorite sports (soccer and basketball respectively).


Hope to have you reading again soon,
Paige

Friday, February 14, 2014

Love-A-Thon

So I traded interviews with Amber G.for this years Love-A-Thon. Since this year is my first year participating in this I was paired with someone who is experienced at blogging. So here is my interview.

You can find Amber at her website http://www.booksofamber.com.


(Me)- Tell us a bit about yourself. What country are you from?(I only ask because of the way you spell favorite)

(AG)-  I'm 21 years old and am currently working as an editor for a translation company. I live in England, hence my spelling! I don't have many hobbies aside from reading and blogging, but I do watch a lot of TV shows. If you're looking for recommendations, then I'll always be happy to help! And I will more than likely recommend Spartacus because it's my favourite show ever. I have a lot of siblings, and a lot of pets, so my house is extremely crowded and also very loud when everyone is home. Because of this, I've learnt to tune everything out and I could probably carry on reading comfortably even if your marching band was in the room!

(Me)- How long have you been blogging? And what has your favorite blogging experience so far?

(AG)- I started blogging in September 2010, so I've been at it for three and a half years! Time has really flown by, but at the same time it feels like I've been doing this forever. I'm not sure if I have a single favourite blogging experience. I remember taking part in my first read-a-thon and loving it, and starting Recaptains will always be something that I'm proud of!

(Me)- If you could be anything in the world what would it be? (Except a blogger that is).

(AG)- Anything at all? A billionaire philanthropist with my own private island. But perhaps you mean something more realistic. I would love to be an editor for a publishing house, preferably working with young adult fiction. That's my dream job, although I would also love to be a movie critic or some sort of travel journalist. I would love to do something regarding ancient history, which is a passion of mine. I'm considering going to university to study either ancient history or anthropology.

(Me)- Have you ever reviewed an Advanced Readers Copy? If so how was the process of getting it?

(AG)- I have. I received my first ARC in early 2011, and since then my relationship with publicists has been slowly building. The process was, admittedly, rather scary at first. I had been hearing a lot about ARCs after joining the blogosphere, but I hadn't requested any since I didn't feel as though my blog had enough reach. As someone who suffers from social anxiety, I didn't feel comfortable reaching out to publicists and asking for free things, even if I would be giving these free books publicity in return. I didn't feel like I was qualified. And then a publicist got in contact with me, and asked if I wanted to be part of a blog tour and I accepted. After that I felt a lot more comfortable when requesting, and discovering Netgalley certainly helped!

(Me)-  What are your favorite books? Why?

(AG)- This is a tough one! The list is so long. Harry Potter will, of course, always be my go-to series for this kind of question. I grew up with Harry and his friends, and I will always love them. Other favourite books of mine include The Saga of Darren Shan (vampire books, but GREAT vampire books), Jurassic Park, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, and Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. But, like I said, the list is huge and this is just a sample.

(Me)- Finally, any advice for beginning bloggers out there?

(AG)- My biggest piece of advice is to get to know your fellow bloggers! I kept to myself a lot in the first month or so of blogging, and that was a silly decision. Get onto Twitter and start interacting, because the blogging community is fantastic and friendly and welcoming. You can't go wrong! I've made so many friends in the past three years, and I'm always happy to make more. I think that making friends is a lot more important than improving your stats, because in the long run friends are what matter most. They make you happier than statistics ever will.




There you go. This was an amazing experience for me and I could not believe how much we had in common. I encourage any blogger who wishes to to have fun and get to know other bloggers to participate in this next year.



Hope to have you reading again soon,

Paige