High school is a wonderful time to explore extra-curriculars. And I'm so glad I got involved with robotics. Really.
But it sure did take up a lot of my time.
Since kickoff for FRC in January, I've been working nonstop for robotics. With such successful district events, we were guaranteed a spot for States and Worlds.
All that has since ended, as of a week ago, along with the AP Chem exam, which was last Monday.
And I'm finding that I have all this free time. With my busy winter and spring, writing had to be the first thing to go. Before music, before reading, I had to cut writing, which sucks. But I'm also given the opportunity to get back into it (again). Why can't I ever just "stay" into it?
Summer is quickly approaching. I have high hopes (for cooking, reading, gardening, socializing, making music, listening to music, and of course, writing). I'm also getting back into my quarterly goals, which I neglected last period.
Hopefully I start seeing some changes in my productivity.
Hopefully I start making some changes in my productivity.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Friday, January 15, 2016
Jump. Then control the jump.
I wish my enthusiasm for life translated into my writing.
Though I fall into deep bouts of social media, and suffer awful creativity slumps, I'm one of the most gung-ho people I know. I make myself to-do lists (without which nothing would get done) and strive constantly to raise the bar of my success higher as I get closer. If I'm not busy in life, I'm not doing things worthwhile--because without the extra drive to push myself to keep doing, I'd be doing very little. I take 'all or nothing' to a new level: I'm either involved in 62 things at once, or I'm sitting on the couch watching Sherlock for the 8th time.
Perhaps the reason this cycle is so…cyclical is because both extremes are deeply satisfying. They are my introvertedness and extrovertedness acting in layers, pushing and pulling as my brain recharges from its own fervor of activity. My inner self is its own best friend and worst enemy. I have such a strong love for relaxing and creating that it's easy to lose my goals and inspirations.
And that's why I'm finding it hard--really hard--to take myself serious about this writing thing. In my writing journal today (which I still use, if anyone is keeping tabs) I wrote: either INSPIRE YOURSELF or WRITE ANYWAY. And writing anyway, well that is just another form of jumping. It's difficult writing when you have no idea what you want to write about. Or creating when you have no idea what you want to create. This is applicable to many things in my life. I think one of my major yearly goals is to jump more often. UTILIZE YOUR SENSE OF GUNG-HO. Take advantage of your interests and limit your Pinterest time so you can maximize your creating time. Stop freaking waiting all the time. You're not getting any younger, and you're certainly not getting anything done.
Friday, January 1, 2016
2016 Reading Goals
Like every blogger and vlogger out there, I have some hopes and wishes for the new year.
- Trim my TBR: I'm sure this is on most people's reading resolutions, too. So far I have accomplished 1/24 of the TBR books I own. I'd love to get that to a manageable number by next December (perhaps under ten? Could that happen?).
- Watch/read less book reviews before I've actually read the book. Stop relying on the Goodreads average ratings. Stop forming preconceived ideas before I've even began. This was something I noticed myself doing toward the end of 2015. I strive to form my own opinions this year! I strive to think deeper and share my thoughts and join in discussions once I know what I'm talking about.
- I hope I can write more reviews for this blog! And have more book related discussions! Maybe I'll get up the courage and start Booktube! This isn't reading, but it's reading related, and it's stuff I hope to do, so there.
- Since I will be really busy, I want to find ways to read when I can't. And by that, I mean I want to try out audiobooks. Especially this winter, I know I'll spend a lot of time in my car driving myself places. Perhaps I can crank out a Harry Potter or two just through the power of listening.
- My last goal is to read more, enjoy what I read, and have the courage to cut books from my TBR if they no longer interest me. This is really important to me, as I will have only limited time this year. I'm a busy girl. So if something isn't grabbing me, I want to move on to another book quickly. Maybe I'll discover some kick-ass books this way.
Strong Opinions on Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
I would like to start off by saying Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was in no way a bad book. I just didn't really like it. I think this review says more about me than the book itself.
MEDY follows a high school senior named Greg: he's forced into the situation of comforting his ex girlfriend who has leukemia. However, the main conflict of the novel is not that this girl, whom he forms an unlikely friendship with, has cancer, but that he is, in fact, an asshole. Greg S. Gaines doesn't understand life (or death) one bit.
The book starts off with Greg breaking the fourth wall. He did this copious times in the book--a stylistic choice of Jesse Andrews that I wasn't very fond of. It felt like a cop-out, like Greg's informal tone was a joke to such a heavy-topic book. But then again, the entire book felt like a joke.
I at least expected Greg to prove us wrong and have a change of heart in the end. Which he sort of did, but he was still an jerk. Greg never appreciated his family, his friends, or Rachel. It took seeing Rachel on her deathbed for Greg to realize she was dying. I was unimpressed by his childlike behavior toward the whole situation, and silently appreciated Earl in my head when he beat him up in one of the final scenes.
I can't articulate how much it gets on my nerves that there was no point for this book. Greg doesn't take anything away from Rachel's death. The point of a story is growth and development, but there is little of that in this book. At times, it seemed to contradict itself, and Greg's story was incredibly jumbled. It felt like I was reading one of his films--it skipped around all the time, the characters were obnoxiously ungrateful and flat, and there truly was no plot. If this was Andrews' intention, then well done. But I felt like his novel was trying to be something it was not--witty and intelligent, but it felt abrasive and offensive.
The only thing preventing me from giving this book 1 star was the humor and the fact that it was a nice, fast paced read. But I still couldn't get into it, or connect with any of the characters.
Overall, I gave this book two stars. It had a lot of potential, and it was really funny in some parts, but I don't really understand the hype surrounding it. The best thing going for it was the relaxed contemporary style of the book (written in texts and script format), but the lackluster characters were unappealing to me throughout. Still, I'm interested in seeing the movie, hoping that it would fix my many problems with this book. Unfortunately, it was an underwhelming first read for the new year.
MEDY follows a high school senior named Greg: he's forced into the situation of comforting his ex girlfriend who has leukemia. However, the main conflict of the novel is not that this girl, whom he forms an unlikely friendship with, has cancer, but that he is, in fact, an asshole. Greg S. Gaines doesn't understand life (or death) one bit.
The book starts off with Greg breaking the fourth wall. He did this copious times in the book--a stylistic choice of Jesse Andrews that I wasn't very fond of. It felt like a cop-out, like Greg's informal tone was a joke to such a heavy-topic book. But then again, the entire book felt like a joke.
I at least expected Greg to prove us wrong and have a change of heart in the end. Which he sort of did, but he was still an jerk. Greg never appreciated his family, his friends, or Rachel. It took seeing Rachel on her deathbed for Greg to realize she was dying. I was unimpressed by his childlike behavior toward the whole situation, and silently appreciated Earl in my head when he beat him up in one of the final scenes.
I can't articulate how much it gets on my nerves that there was no point for this book. Greg doesn't take anything away from Rachel's death. The point of a story is growth and development, but there is little of that in this book. At times, it seemed to contradict itself, and Greg's story was incredibly jumbled. It felt like I was reading one of his films--it skipped around all the time, the characters were obnoxiously ungrateful and flat, and there truly was no plot. If this was Andrews' intention, then well done. But I felt like his novel was trying to be something it was not--witty and intelligent, but it felt abrasive and offensive.
The only thing preventing me from giving this book 1 star was the humor and the fact that it was a nice, fast paced read. But I still couldn't get into it, or connect with any of the characters.
Overall, I gave this book two stars. It had a lot of potential, and it was really funny in some parts, but I don't really understand the hype surrounding it. The best thing going for it was the relaxed contemporary style of the book (written in texts and script format), but the lackluster characters were unappealing to me throughout. Still, I'm interested in seeing the movie, hoping that it would fix my many problems with this book. Unfortunately, it was an underwhelming first read for the new year.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
2015 Book Awards
I did these last year and I thought they were pretty fun.
Best Female--Vin from Mistborn: The Final Empire. I have very few complaints on her character development. She's such a strong female lead, and it was really interesting seeing her make her journey through the writing of Brandon Sanderson, who is a middle aged man. Sometimes, male authors create female characters that fall flat, but Sanderson is definitely an exception.
Best Male--Lucian, Kelsier, Rowan, Mark Watney, Baz: all wonderful candidates. I'm not sure If I could pick a favorite. Rowan from Queen of Shadows is my favorite, but that's predictable and redundant. As for new characters, probably Kelsier (Mistborn: The Final Empire) or Baz (Carry On) because they were so funny (and I'm a slut for fantasies), but Mark Watney (The Martian) is a close third.
Best Plot Twist/Twist Ending--Though Carry On by Rainbow Rowell gave me a lot of feels, I'm gonna have to award the best twist ending to it. Rowell did a really good job wrapping things up (sort of) with a really emotionally charged last few scenes. I don't wanna spoil too much, you know...
Best Book the Movie Adaptation--There are only a couple options for this category, but I chose The Martian by Andy Weir. So good. SO GOOD. I watched this with my brother just a few days after reading the book. SO GOOD.
Best Antagonist--The interloper aliens from Eve: The Awakening by Jenna Moreci take the cake. I've never felt so repulsed by a "villain". They are disgusting, and I love them.
Best Supporting Character(s)--I love the whole cast of The Lunar Chronicles so much, so Winter by Marissa Meyer definitely has the best supporting characters. An exception: Jacin Clay. I hated that little shit. But Iliked loved Winter, Cress, Scarlet, Thorne, Torin, and Iko.
Best Friendship--I read The Chosen by Chaim Potok in school last spring. The "friendship" between Danny and Reuben just warms my heart, if you know what I mean.
Best Couple--Rowan and Aelin from Queen of Shadows! No one is surprised. They are my babies. My literal favorites. I've been rooting for them since their existence. I just. I love them. A lot.
Best Setting--A strange choice, but the Siberian tundra in Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys intrigued me. Lina's journey through the labor camps following her deportation broke my heart, but the world Sepetys builds around her is rich with characters, description, and emotion.
Best Ending--Winter by Marissa Meyer really wrapped things up well for the whole series. We all knew Cinder didn't want to be queen, too. But Queen of Shadows was also incredible. And I loved The Martian--it made me feel warm inside. I don't know, I'm stumped.
Book I Threw Across the Room the Hardest--Close tie between The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and Fanart by Sarah Tregay. I had so many issues with both these books. I also hated The 100 by Kass Morgan (disappointing because I love the TV show) and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Agh. So many issues.
I look forward to my Book Awards next year! These are a nice way to reflect on the books from the year.
Best Female--Vin from Mistborn: The Final Empire. I have very few complaints on her character development. She's such a strong female lead, and it was really interesting seeing her make her journey through the writing of Brandon Sanderson, who is a middle aged man. Sometimes, male authors create female characters that fall flat, but Sanderson is definitely an exception.
Best Male--Lucian, Kelsier, Rowan, Mark Watney, Baz: all wonderful candidates. I'm not sure If I could pick a favorite. Rowan from Queen of Shadows is my favorite, but that's predictable and redundant. As for new characters, probably Kelsier (Mistborn: The Final Empire) or Baz (Carry On) because they were so funny (and I'm a slut for fantasies), but Mark Watney (The Martian) is a close third.
Best Plot Twist/Twist Ending--Though Carry On by Rainbow Rowell gave me a lot of feels, I'm gonna have to award the best twist ending to it. Rowell did a really good job wrapping things up (sort of) with a really emotionally charged last few scenes. I don't wanna spoil too much, you know...
Best Book the Movie Adaptation--There are only a couple options for this category, but I chose The Martian by Andy Weir. So good. SO GOOD. I watched this with my brother just a few days after reading the book. SO GOOD.
Best Antagonist--The interloper aliens from Eve: The Awakening by Jenna Moreci take the cake. I've never felt so repulsed by a "villain". They are disgusting, and I love them.
Best Supporting Character(s)--I love the whole cast of The Lunar Chronicles so much, so Winter by Marissa Meyer definitely has the best supporting characters. An exception: Jacin Clay. I hated that little shit. But I
Best Friendship--I read The Chosen by Chaim Potok in school last spring. The "friendship" between Danny and Reuben just warms my heart, if you know what I mean.
Best Couple--Rowan and Aelin from Queen of Shadows! No one is surprised. They are my babies. My literal favorites. I've been rooting for them since their existence. I just. I love them. A lot.
Best Setting--A strange choice, but the Siberian tundra in Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys intrigued me. Lina's journey through the labor camps following her deportation broke my heart, but the world Sepetys builds around her is rich with characters, description, and emotion.
Best Ending--Winter by Marissa Meyer really wrapped things up well for the whole series. We all knew Cinder didn't want to be queen, too. But Queen of Shadows was also incredible. And I loved The Martian--it made me feel warm inside. I don't know, I'm stumped.
Book I Threw Across the Room the Hardest--Close tie between The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and Fanart by Sarah Tregay. I had so many issues with both these books. I also hated The 100 by Kass Morgan (disappointing because I love the TV show) and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Agh. So many issues.
I look forward to my Book Awards next year! These are a nice way to reflect on the books from the year.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
2015 Wrap
This was a great year of reading for me. I'm separating my list into a few different categories since I like a lot of stuff. Books, music, movies, YouTubers, all that jazz. Without further ado, my favorites from this year in no real order:
Books
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas--I think this book actually was my favorite. It was everything I wanted. My heart swells with joy when I remember all the anxiety it put me through. Where will this series go next year? I cannot wait to find out!
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell--This book was just really really cute. I think the only issue I have with it is that there won't be more. If I could get an entire book about Simon and Baz, I'd jump out the window from pure excitement. But year, except for that, everything is good.
Winter by Marissa Meyer--I made a whole review on things I liked about this book, and things I didn't like. I complained in the review a lot more than how I actually feel about it. It truly was a magnificent conclusion to the series.
Eve: The Awakening by Jenna Moreci--aye, I talk about her just a little bit later in this wrap up under the YouTubers section. She's great, her book is great, it's the best new-adult-science-fiction you'll ever read. Eagerly awaiting the sequel.
The Martian by Andy Weir--I was skeptical at first, since there was so much hype built around it. I wasn't disappointed though, it was the most humorous science fiction I've read. I grew to love the science-y aspects as well as Watney's charismatic personality. The movie was grand, too.
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins--I read this forever ago, it was one of the first books I read this year so I don't really remember it. But I really enjoyed it. This whole series in general just blew me away with cuteness. Wow, I'll probably regret that sentence.
The Chosen by Chaim Potok--This book was really important to me, I learned so much about people from it. I enjoyed the characters, the story, it made me feel a lot of different emotions, which I think is good.
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson--Holy crap is Sanderson good at world building. And I really tried to get into the second book, but I'm finding it hard without *spoilers* my favorite character. That ending just drained me.
Some honorable mentions! I liked these books a lot, but I didn't entirely think they were my favorites.
Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
1984 by George Orwell (I also just reread Animal Farm, which was great)
A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
*I did alright in terms of my 2015 reading goals. I read 7.5 of the books on my list. It's not as great as I'd have liked, but I'm honestly proud of even doing that much. In my goals for next year, I'll address the issue of my growing TBR...
Music
Hamilton: The Musical (It's genius, really. I can't. It's show-tune rap about ALEXANDER HAMILTON.)
No Mythologies to Follow by MO (I've listened to it countless times. Best thing ever.
Oh Wonder's album is up there, it was another good summer jam
Blurryface (Twenty One Pilots--so good. Excited to see these two beans in concert)
Misterwive's Our Own House was spectacular and great to listen to in the summer
I listened to the HTTYD scores more than I should have probably.
The new Star War's "March of the Resistance" is definitely a jam, oops.
My love for Bleacher's Strange Desire exceeds all limits
BORNS is amazing. They were on the Old Navy playlist so much it hurts. I also love the acoustic versions.
Dotan, my man
Elvis Presley, my king
Halsey makes this list, of course. Her album Badlands is mind blowing.
Honorable mention songs: Howl's Moving Castle theme, Make Up Sex by G-Easy, and Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai
Movies
Saw, Mockingjay Part II, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, Paper Towns, Kingdom of Heaven. I don't want to explain each one and why I liked it and why it made the list. Saw II was also good, but nothing beats the original. These aren't in any order. Don't overthink it. They're just books I liked.
*An honorable mention to the TV show The 100. I didn't watch a lot of TV shows this year, so I didn't want to make a whole section for shows (because it would be about 1 or 2 long, oops). The 100 was a fantastically enjoyable show with a great plot and cast of characters. I look forward to the new season next month.
YouTubers
Jenna Moreci is just a fantastichuman being cyborg! Her vlogs on writing are hilarious and I read her debut book Eve: The Awakening which was absolutely gripping.
Doddleoddle was someone I discovered only a few days ago. Dodie has the sweetest voice, and I really enjoy the videos of her singing to her ukulele (especially her duets!). I will definitely be watching her videos well into the new year.
Savannah Brown has some really beautiful slam poetry and some nice views on stuff. Her channel feels nice and fresh. Throwing much love her way.
For Booktube this year, I really enjoyed watching Ariel Bissett's videos (once she finally came back from her study abroad!) and Peruse Project (I've grown to respect her opinions and recommendations as if she were someone I know, maybe that's weird).
Sorry if I'm forgetting anyone I really love!
To recap, I read 34 books, 13000 pages, with an average book length of 390 pages. Of course, my AP US history textbook really skewed these numbers, but that's APUSH for ya, messing everything up.
I'll have a 2016 Reading Goals post up in a few days. I'm not quite sure what it'll talk about, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
I'm rambling. I'm tired.
2015 out *peace sign emoji*
Books
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas--I think this book actually was my favorite. It was everything I wanted. My heart swells with joy when I remember all the anxiety it put me through. Where will this series go next year? I cannot wait to find out!
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell--This book was just really really cute. I think the only issue I have with it is that there won't be more. If I could get an entire book about Simon and Baz, I'd jump out the window from pure excitement. But year, except for that, everything is good.
Winter by Marissa Meyer--I made a whole review on things I liked about this book, and things I didn't like. I complained in the review a lot more than how I actually feel about it. It truly was a magnificent conclusion to the series.
Eve: The Awakening by Jenna Moreci--aye, I talk about her just a little bit later in this wrap up under the YouTubers section. She's great, her book is great, it's the best new-adult-science-fiction you'll ever read. Eagerly awaiting the sequel.
The Martian by Andy Weir--I was skeptical at first, since there was so much hype built around it. I wasn't disappointed though, it was the most humorous science fiction I've read. I grew to love the science-y aspects as well as Watney's charismatic personality. The movie was grand, too.
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins--I read this forever ago, it was one of the first books I read this year so I don't really remember it. But I really enjoyed it. This whole series in general just blew me away with cuteness. Wow, I'll probably regret that sentence.
The Chosen by Chaim Potok--This book was really important to me, I learned so much about people from it. I enjoyed the characters, the story, it made me feel a lot of different emotions, which I think is good.
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson--Holy crap is Sanderson good at world building. And I really tried to get into the second book, but I'm finding it hard without *spoilers* my favorite character. That ending just drained me.
Some honorable mentions! I liked these books a lot, but I didn't entirely think they were my favorites.
Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
1984 by George Orwell (I also just reread Animal Farm, which was great)
A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
*I did alright in terms of my 2015 reading goals. I read 7.5 of the books on my list. It's not as great as I'd have liked, but I'm honestly proud of even doing that much. In my goals for next year, I'll address the issue of my growing TBR...
Music
Hamilton: The Musical (It's genius, really. I can't. It's show-tune rap about ALEXANDER HAMILTON.)
No Mythologies to Follow by MO (I've listened to it countless times. Best thing ever.
Oh Wonder's album is up there, it was another good summer jam
Blurryface (Twenty One Pilots--so good. Excited to see these two beans in concert)
Misterwive's Our Own House was spectacular and great to listen to in the summer
I listened to the HTTYD scores more than I should have probably.
The new Star War's "March of the Resistance" is definitely a jam, oops.
My love for Bleacher's Strange Desire exceeds all limits
BORNS is amazing. They were on the Old Navy playlist so much it hurts. I also love the acoustic versions.
Dotan, my man
Elvis Presley, my king
Halsey makes this list, of course. Her album Badlands is mind blowing.
Honorable mention songs: Howl's Moving Castle theme, Make Up Sex by G-Easy, and Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai
Movies
Saw, Mockingjay Part II, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, Paper Towns, Kingdom of Heaven. I don't want to explain each one and why I liked it and why it made the list. Saw II was also good, but nothing beats the original. These aren't in any order. Don't overthink it. They're just books I liked.
*An honorable mention to the TV show The 100. I didn't watch a lot of TV shows this year, so I didn't want to make a whole section for shows (because it would be about 1 or 2 long, oops). The 100 was a fantastically enjoyable show with a great plot and cast of characters. I look forward to the new season next month.
YouTubers
Jenna Moreci is just a fantastic
Doddleoddle was someone I discovered only a few days ago. Dodie has the sweetest voice, and I really enjoy the videos of her singing to her ukulele (especially her duets!). I will definitely be watching her videos well into the new year.
Savannah Brown has some really beautiful slam poetry and some nice views on stuff. Her channel feels nice and fresh. Throwing much love her way.
For Booktube this year, I really enjoyed watching Ariel Bissett's videos (once she finally came back from her study abroad!) and Peruse Project (I've grown to respect her opinions and recommendations as if she were someone I know, maybe that's weird).
Sorry if I'm forgetting anyone I really love!
To recap, I read 34 books, 13000 pages, with an average book length of 390 pages. Of course, my AP US history textbook really skewed these numbers, but that's APUSH for ya, messing everything up.
I'll have a 2016 Reading Goals post up in a few days. I'm not quite sure what it'll talk about, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
I'm rambling. I'm tired.
2015 out *peace sign emoji*
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Winter by Marissa Meyer
The only way I can review this mammoth book is to pick it apart and put it back together again. Here we go.
In six days, I flew through the last installment of the Lunar Chronicles series. I started reading these books in 9th grade, and I'm now on 11th. Time has flown--I still love these books, but my issues with them are the same as before.
Marissa Meyer's writing is just SO BLAND. I mean no offense to her, though obviously it sounds like I do, but it's true. Her writing bears little embellishment, her chapters are all structured similarly, she reiterates things a thousand times until they seem true, as if saying them more will make me believe them. She is a strong proponent of telling instead of showing, which isn't necessarily bad, it's just not what I prefer.
Because of this, Meyer writes in incredible detail to compensate.
About halfway through the book, I realized the same things kept happening over and over again. A portion of the crew would devise a plan, something would go wrong, and someone would get taken. Along the same time frame, a missing member would be rescued, brought back to the main focus of the Rampion's crew, and they'd devise another strategy to get said person back. It started to feel very repetitive after couples kept getting split up over and over again.
The book could have been renamed how-many-combinations-of-the-main-cast-can-we-have-together-at-once, or how-many-of-the-four-couples-are-actually-together-at-this-point-in-the-plot.
The entire story was this huge build up to a showdown between Levana and Cinder. But I felt like parts of the buildup were much more exciting than the climax--which was still very exciting on its own accord. I just think Meyer could have done more between that last exchange.
But it must have been good throughout because it kept me glued till the end (which exhibited a very nice wrap up, showing the plans of all the different characters). I enjoyed the world building, I liked the terror (which was super disturbing) of being controlled by the Lunars and used as a weapon against people you love and even yourself.
All in all, it was an incredible finale. My main problems were problems I had with the entire series. At times, the plot seemed a little implausible, and I had a few yeah, right moments.
But not many authors manage to create such an action packed last book to what I would call a gripping series.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)