I couldn't help the Harry Potter quote. I had a Harry Potter Marathon yesterday, and well I'm still high on the feels. Anyway, everyone is scared of something. For some people it's something tangible, like a cliff, or spiders. For other's it's something we can't hold but we can sense it, like not achieving a goal, not being enough. For most of us our fears our a mix of the two. Here are mine.

1. I'm terrified of roller coasters. I don't like them. I don't like feeling like i'm going to die. I happen to like my feet flat on the floor. 
2. I'm really scared that I'll reach for the stars and just fall straight on my ass. In other words, I'm scared I won't be able to make my dream come true. After all how many people actually get to be authors? 
3. Like many other people on this planet, spiders unnerve me. I'm much like Ron Weasley in this regard. Maybe it's the eyes, or the legs, or the fact that they paralyze their prey. Whatever it is, I don't like them, they're creepy and thats the whole of it.
4. I'm scared of the future or more accurately growing up. It's one thing being a teen in their parents house. It's another to walk out of you home and face the world for what it is. Not what you hope it is. Not even what you think it is. What it actually is. And that is scary. 

Fears are fears. And you have to have them. You have to feel them. You just gotta buck up, scream a little if need be, and try to accept it and move on. If you're really brave you can face them. Like Harry. He was brave, faced his demons, did what he had to do, and despite it all, he ended up happy. And in the end that's all anyone wants, what anyone can ask for. 

Hosted by The Daily Tay and Helene in Between

Blogtober: Queen Of Someday Book Review

Release Date: October 17, 2014
Book: Queen of Someday
Author: Sherry D. Ficklin
Number of Pages:262
Source: Netgalley  (I received this in exchange for an honest review)

The Basics:
ONE GIRL WILL BRING AN EMPIRE TO ITS KNEES...
Before she can become the greatest empress in history, fifteen-year-old Sophie will have to survive her social-climbing mother’s quest to put her on the throne of Russia—at any cost.
Imperial Court holds dangers like nothing Sophie has ever faced before. In the heart of St. Petersburg, surviving means navigating the political, romantic, and religious demands of the bitter Empress Elizabeth and her handsome, but sadistic nephew, Peter. Determined to save her impoverished family—and herself—Sophie vows to do whatever is necessary to thrive in her new surroundings. But an attempt on her life and an unexpected attraction threatens to derail her plans.
Alone in a new and dangerous world, learning who to trust and who to charm may mean the difference between becoming queen and being sent home in shame to marry her lecherous uncle. With traitors and murderers lurking around every corner, her very life hangs in the balance. Betrothed to one man but falling in love with another, Sophie will need to decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice in order to become the empress she is destined to be.
In a battle for the soul of a nation, will love or destiny reign supreme?

Add it on goodreads

My Musings:

If i'm going to be totally honest today, I was dreading reading this book. No, not dreading, but I really wasn't looking forward to it. I thought it was going to be some cheesy romance novel with a couple of history moments here and there. I'm glad to say that this book proved me wrong. It's not the best book i've ever read, but it's actually pretty good.

Character wise, the author did an amazing job making the characters realistic and developed them in a way you could relate to.  I loved how kick-ass Sophie was. She's a good fighter, archer, horse rider, and yet she can also be the epitome of ladyness. The only thing that kind of caught me of guard was Peter's turn to the darkside, if you will. I thought that it was kind of unwarranted. Not really set into his character, you know. Like he's supposed to be this spoiled kid who doesn't know any better, and then he just looses it. I mean I know that the synopsis says he is sadistic but you don't really see it until the end of the book. I guess it made sense, but I wish there had been more development and not just a spontaneous twist. I loved Alexander and Sergei. They were pretty solid characters, nothing really too special about them.

I think the author did a pretty good job with the plot. At times it was a bit predictable and other times I was just sitting there with my jaw open, in shock. It was a  pretty good balance. This was more plot driven. Which I think is why the neglected developing Sergei and Alexander further, or making Sophie's relationship with Rina more evident. But I think those weaker aspects are okay because the plot was pretty strong. The path the book to end was perfect and well written. The ending definitely left me wanting to have the next book to read.

I usually just do a romance bit, but I feel like for this book I'm going to relationship type of paragraph thing. Okay, Ficklin, like I said before, put some aspects of the book on the back burner because the book was more plot driven. There are four fully developed relationships in the book. Sophie and the Queen, Sophie and Alexander, Sophie and Peter, and  Sophie and Sergei. Everyone else's relationships are established but you never really delve into the relationships. Like Sophie and Rina are best friends but I didn't feel like they were. I felt like that moved a bit fast and wasn't developed enough. 

I liked the romance. Was I the only one who at the very beginning thought that she was going to fall for Sergei and not Alexander? I was biased to this thought for more than half the book. As a result I didn't really appreciate the relationship between Alexander and Sophie. I think at one point I though Alexander was messing around to get Sophie sent away. After I accepted my ship wasn't going to happen I definitely rooted for Alexander and Sophie. It wasn't insta-lovey, but there wasn't some great lead in to it. *sigh* They were a cute couple. 

I'm not a fan of surprises but i'm glad this book surprised me. I'm glad that it exceeded my expectations and proved itself to be a good book. I recommend this book to those who like Historical Fiction or read those Dear America books as a kid. 


Coffee For this Book: A nice warm Macchiato. 

My Rating

Blogtober: Versatile Blogger Award

Wow! This is my second award nomination this month!! Thank you so much Cecil! You should definitely go check her blog out its amazing! It's strange when I first started this blog, it was strictly a book blog, no outfits, advice, nothing but books. But somewhere along my blogging journey I realized that as much as I love book blogging, I should be open to doing other things. I shouldn't put a limit on myself, and I don't want to. So then I did advice posts, then came some OOTD posts, and this month I've done a lot of non book posts and it's been really fun. Its really awesome that other people like my other posts as much as my regular book posts.

Rules:

1.    Show the award on your blog.

2.    Thank the person who nominated you.

3.    Share 7 facts about yourself.

4.    Nominate 15 blogs.

5.    Link your nominees’ blogs and let them know.

Seven facts about your truly:

1. I have an unhealthy obsession with The Blacklist. I finished the entire season in less than 4 days all put together. 
2. I've met lots of authors. I've met Cassandra Clare twice, I've met Melissa De La Cruz twice, I've met John Green, I've met Stephen Chbosky, I've met Richelle Mead and a few others.
3. I'm terrified of driving. I'm 16 and i've driven a grand total of 5 times. For some reason it's scary to me. I mean what if I crash the car, hit a mailbox, or worse kill a squirrel.
4. My go to outfit is a skirt and a sweater. I can't help it. It looks so cute and it's soo comfortable!
5. I've been listening to Willamette Stone for the past 5 weeks. They're the fictional band from If i Stay, and they only have 6 songs, but I swear i'm addicted. My favorites are "Heart Like Mine" and "I Want What You Have"
6. I have one older sister, an older brother and a younger brother, making me the middle child! 
7. When it gets cold enough I love wearing scarves. Its really bad. Among my friends i'm known for my scarves and sweaters. 

My Nominations:( I don't actually know 15 blogs to nominate for this award so I modified the number)

1.  Thea Woods
2. Another Seridipity
3. Holly Quills and Ivy
4. The Parisian Wannbe
5. The Emo Wolverine Writes
6. The Ups and Downs of My not So  Average Life
7. The Collection of Knowledge

Blogtober: Favorite Quotes and Why

I couldn't pick just one quote so here are four, well really five of my favorite quotes. I did another post recently where I did best advice i've ever received if you're feeling extra quote-y today :)

"The sun still rises even with the pain"- The Head and The Heart

I love this quote! I even have this on my wall. I love the song too! It's so beautiful and calm and just yeah... It's called Another Story, in case you were curious. I like it because of the realness and simplicity of it. You might not be happy but a new day will dawn. So you'll go through that day and end stronger maybe even happier. The sun will shine and you might not feel like dealing with the day doesn't mean you shouldn't seize it. Because let's face it if you're going to feel like shit, all you can do is feel it, accept it, just don't let it ruin you day, or week, or month.

"We need never be hopeless because we can never be irreparably hopeless, we just have to believe we're worth fixing" -John Green (with my twist at the end)

I'm an optimistic person most of the time. I like to look at the bright side whenever possible and this quote really speaks to me because it's a reminder that you should never lose hope because you can naver ever be so broken that you can't fix yourself. I do think, however, you have to believe you're worth fixing in order for this quote to be true. And who ever you are, I promise that you are 110% worth fixing, and that whatever it is you're going through you'll come out the other end because you can fix yourself and be better for it later. 

"For to have faith is to have wings"-Peter Pan

I actually want this tattooed. I haven't decided where, either my wrist, side, or back. I love this quote because it's so true. If you have faith in your dreams, in yourself, in life, in those you love, in you happiness, anything is possible, you might as well be able to fly. Isn't that what we all want. To just fly straight to our dreams? Happiness? It's important to remember that having faith can be everything. I guess in the words of Mary Margret, "Even believing in the possibility of a happy ending is a powerful thing"

"One can find happiness even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the light"-Dumbledore

Oh how I love Dumbledore. As much as I love all these quotes I love this one just a tad bit more. It's profound and simple at the same time, you know? What I get from this is that you control your happiness. If you want to feel sad and want to stay in the dark leave the lights off but when your ready to be happy just look for the light switch. You're going to have bad times but you'll be okay, you can find the little things that make you happy. It's possible to be happy even when you're sad. Like if you have a bad day (week, month) and something happens and you smile. It could be small like a cup of tea, or a Harry Potter Movie, or a good book, a rainy day, a lucky penny. 

Blogtober is hosted by  The Daily Tay and Helene in Between

Blogtober: Top Ten Tuesday

1. Hogwarts. No one who has ever read Harry Potter can not say they have not been dying to go to Hogwarts. I mean come on, its Hogwarts
2. Narnia. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. How awesome would it be to go here. To just be surrounded by mythical creatures, wear princess dresses, make friends with some fauns.
3. Inkworld. Inkheart trilogy. I loved this trilogy as a kid. It's still one of my favorite book series ever. 
4. Hogsmead from Harry Potter. Because I would LOVE to have some butter beer!
5. Blackfriars Bridge. After reading The Infernal Devices I really wanted to go to London and stand on the Blackfriars Bridge. 
6. Amsterdam. I never really thought twice about Amsterdam until TFIOS.I meam I wanted to go to the Anne Frank house and go there because of the history but I never really thought of it as a place I would desperately want to visit. In the movie it looked beautiful and in the books it's description really drew me in.
   
7. Genovia from the Princess Diaries. For the longest time I actually thought this was a real place. I was absolutely heartbroken when I found out it wasn't real place at all.
8. Idris from The City of Glass. How cool would it be to be a shadowhunter! To be a shadowhunter in Idris! *sigh* 
9. Rivendell from The Lordof the Rings. It seems like such a safe, calm place to be. 
10. Neverland from Peter Pan. It's got mermaids, fairies, and pirates oh my! And you get to just play and have fun and not worry about things, and best of all you get to stay a kid. 

Hosted by The Broke and Bookish

Blogtober: Best Advice I've Ever Been Given

"When in a battle between logic and the heart always go with your heart because believe me or not your heart knows what will make you happy better than your mind does" --My Brother

“So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.” --Stephen Chbosky, Perks of Being a Wallflower

" Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it." --Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 

"Never trust a duck"--Will Herondale, The Infernal Devices

"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world...but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices." -- Augustus Waters, TFIOS 

Hosted by The Daily Tay and Helene in Between

Blogtober: One Lovely Blog Award

Hi Guys!! It's Saturday. Possibly one of my favorite days of the week. I most likely spent Friday night on Netflix and didn't go to bed until the wee hours of the morning. So I woke up late. It feels so nice to wake up late, make myself breakfast while dancing in the kitchen. It's one of my favorite things. I also love blogging on Saturday mornings.

So incase you haven't read the title or noticed the giant picture, i've been nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award by the always awesome, Cecil.  So sorry it took me forever to actually make this post, but better late than never right? Thanks Cecil, it's so awesome to be nominated for something like this. Thanks to +Lori Lawson @ Pure Imagination for giving me my blog design.

Alrighty peoples here are the rules:

1.    You must thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog.
2.    You must list the rules and display the award.
3.    You must add 7 facts about yourself.
4.    You must nominate 15 other bloggers and comment on one of their posts to let them know they have been nominated.
5.    You must display the award logo and follow the blogger who nominated you.

Now for some not so interesting facts about the one and only, ME! :)

1. My favorite poet of all time is Pablo Neruda coming in a not so close second is John Keats. Gotta love those romantic poets
2. I'm a part of so many fandoms it's a wonder i'm even functioning half the time. I'm part of Sherlock, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, TVD, The 100, Falling Skies, Blacklist, Anything Cassandra Clare has written, Cinder, etc Fandom.
3. I'm a terrible singer and I don't care.
4. I love going to coffee shops and writing.
5. My favorite weather is cold and preferably raining. I'll take any excuse to wear giant sweaters, or jumpers as the Brits call them,
6. I went to Costa Rica for my 15th birthday instead of having quinceñera. I met some mokey's, saw some alligators and went white water rafting.
7. I love listening to disney music when i'm studying or doing hw.

My Nominations:
1. Marianne @ Marianne Says
2. Noelia @ A Day in Bookland
3. Holly @ Holly, Quills, and Ivy
4. Katie @ The Parisian Wannabe
5.Jules @ The Book of Jules
6. Sabrina @ Sabrina's Stories
7. DeDee @ The Collection of Knowledge
8. Kayla @ The Thousand Lives
9. Kathy @ The Novelty of Life
10. Thea @ Thea Woods
11. Lola @ Hit or Miss Books
12. Kate @ WTF Kate?
13. Amy @ The Willow Web
14. Haley @ Water Painted Dreams
15. Patty @ A Bookish Wonderlove

Blogtober: Happy Halloween Memories

Halloween isn't really my holiday. I'm a Christmas person. I love making presents and getting a tree and making hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas songs. Christmas is my holiday. Yet somehow it's Halloween that surprises me the most. Halloween happens and tends to bring a lot of things to my doorstep, candy included. I did enjoy Halloween growing up. My mom took me out every year and dressed me up every year for out little parade at school. I do love the holiday. I love the craziness the openness, the quirkiness of it.

Now I personally don't remember this story but it's been told so many times that it might as well be a memory. I first went trick or treating when I was a year and half. My dad wrapped a bandanna around my head and took me out into the chilly Halloween night to get my first ever batch of Halloween candy. Apparently I was so taken with Halloween the next day I wrapped the bandanna around my tiny head and told my dad I wanted to go out again to get more candy. Someone forgot to mention to me that Halloween was a one night deal. Amid the chuckles and giggles of my amused family I guess someone told me that Halloween didn't happen every night. Needless to say my tiny little heart was disappointed and angry.

A couple years ago, my friend Marianne, my brother, and I all went trick or treating together. It was actually a lot of fun. We ran down the streets pretending to be whatever it was that we dressed up as that year. The place we used to go trick or treating in really goes all out. So there were really scary houses with mini haunted houses, to get to the candy. People run down the streets scaring one another. It was pretty awesome. We went to my house after securing just the right amount of candy. Unfortunately I had homework. I had a scary story due the next day. I actually had fun writing it, I think I even got an A on it.

Hosted by The Daily Tay and Helene in Between

My next memory is more recent. It was last year. The first year I didn't go trick or treating. My best friend, Marianne ,from Marianne Says, came over and we pigged out in front of the T.V and watched movies. There's something nice about just hanging out with someone with no expectations. It was Halloween and both of us are not fans of scary movies so opted for things like Warm Bodies, which had that scary element without ever being scary.

Blogtober: Dear Future Me,

I'm studying for my Unit 2 Psychology exam tomorrow. I'm so tired I think its quite possible i'll keel over at any point and just start sleeping. Today has pretty much just been about school and the art of being tired yet lucid enough to learn. I've often day dreamed about the future in class. I've dreamt up how my life would look ten years from now and to be quite honest it changes every time. When I was little 26 year old me seemed so old and so distant I couldn't even really imagine myself that age. Now it's still far away but I have this vague sense of what might have happened and how far I am from my goal, my dream, the reason I try in school right now.

I've imagined myself in New York, yet I've also daydreamed myself in L.A, sometimes even in England. By now you probably graduated from university so Congrats!! You are now the third person in our immediate family to go and graduate from college! I bet you Mom cried. And i bet because you saw her cry, you cried, and because you cried various other people cried. And suddenly there were happy tears everywhere! At least that's how I pictured it. You might be frequenting cafe's, relishing in independence, or maybe you're visiting mom every other weekend because you miss the food. Both of which your 16 year old self is okay with. Maybe you're already a published author, Maybe you're still struggling, in which case KEEP TRYING. Dreams don't work if you don't. Happiness is a journey not a destination. Okay i'm done being a Hallmark card for now.

I hope you have a better sense of what you're doing because i'm not really sure what i'm doing with my life half the time. Maybe it's because I need time to see how important High School is or something but sometimes I swear I feel so very lost. I know what I want it's just that getting there is hard and sometimes I lose sight of my end goal and just meander my way down the path. Maybe this being lost thing is just an angsty teen thing. Or maybe it's not. Guess only time will tell. And maybe you already know.

I guess it almost be time for the high school reunion huh? Bet you're feeling old right now. Time to get all nostalgic about high school and the people we know/knew.Its bittersweet knowing that in a couple years the chances of me actually retaining the friendships I have now are slim. Eventually they will be people in pictures, people laughing in my memories. But that will be that. I'm pretty sure you're feeling old right now. I hope I get to find new people. And I hope I still keep some of my old peeps.

So my question to you, future me, is would 16 year old me be happy with you? Are you making me proud? Are you still as cheesy as I am? Reading YA as fervently? Still into indie music? Maybe as you're reading this you're listening to my old high school playlists. Amazing just how much a song can be. It can be part of memories and feelings and action.  I've always wanted to grow up to be a strong, independent, girl with dreams bigger than the moon, yet making them come true. That's who i'm working on being. I think I saw somewhere on tumblr a quote that read "be the person you needed when you were younger". Are you that person?

The big thing, the most important thing, is knowing that i'm happy. That somewhere down the line I find that invigorating happiness that comes from being alive and letting life engulf you. And that, that happiness is around me all the time. Not that i'm not happy now, but it's hard to think happy thoughts when all you can think of is a)how tired you b)how hard your test is and c)will this look good on college apps. In between that it's hard to actually let life just work it's magic and make me feel all warm and fuzzy. I do have happy moments though and they'v been pretty awesome. Their just a little harder to come by. Then again it's junior year. That's just what happens.  I just hope that me working now, and me working 5 years down the line, will work in getting you happy. To the place we both know I want to be in.

Maybe happy means that i'm not where i'd thought i'd be. Maybe it means i'm somewhere random. Maybe it means that i'm working two jobs. Maybe that means i'm not published. Maybe it means I am. What ever it is I hope I'm happy. And if I find someone to be happy with too, that even more awesome.

So go be happy future me. Go be you. Go do whatever it is you do with your day. Or go do some crazy shit! Drink some tea, have some coffee. Maybe do something spontaneous like go visit Alaska!

Hosted by The Daily Tay and Helene in Between

Love Always,

Blogtober: Teaser Tuesday

 

"And thank you for riding out to save us"

Reaching up, he picks a small clump of mud from my hair.

"Oh, I suspect you had the situation well in hand"