Summer Reads 2018

School re-opens soon for me! Did any of you have a summer where it felt really boring when you were only a few weeks into it, but towards the end, you feel like it just flew by? I always feel that way to some level. However, my summer was pretty engaging this year and I didn't feel too bored. Anyways, since summer vacation is drawing to a close, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about some of the books I read over break. I don't think I've posted about books very much on this blog, but my old blog used to be all about books, so I want to incorporate some of that into this blog too. Here we go!

1. Paranormalcy by: Kiersten White
This was one of the first books I read this summer, and I thought it was a really fun read. I read the whole book in one sitting, because I was so hooked! I really liked all the characters and their roles. If you choose to read this book, be prepared to indulge in a world of fantasy and excitement, with creatures having all sorts of powers and abilities.

Rating: 5/5 stars

2. I'm Glad I Did by: Cynthia Weil

I read this book early in the summer, and also did a review of it on this blog. If you missed it, here it is. Overall, I thought this was a great book. I liked how interesting and hooking it was, so if you choose to read it, be prepared to not put the book down until you're done with it. That's all I'll say for now, but if you want to know more about the book, check out my review of it.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

3. Four by: Veronica Roth

If you're a Divergent Trilogy fan and still haven't read this book, you're missing out! This book contains a bunch of short stories that are in Four's POV that take place before and into the beginning of the Divergent series. You'll learn a lot more about the mysterious Four,  and his choice to transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless and how that impacts him. The version of the book I got also contained 3 exclusive scenes told in Four's perspective that occurred in Divergent.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

4. The Selection by: Kiera Cass

I've read this book many times before, and I read it again this summer. This is my favorite book out of the whole Selection series. For those of you that haven't heard about the series, it's about a girl that is basically forced to enter a competition called the "Selection", where girls from the country have to compete to become the princess (eventually Queen). This book and series is very good, so you should definitely read it if you haven't already.

Rating: 5/5 stars

5. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by: Rick Riordan

Ok, I know this is a series and not an individual book. But, this is probably my favorite series ever (I've read the books like a million times each), so I had to include it. If you've never read any of the books in this series before, you should definitely start reading them ASAP. Start from the first book, and you'll probably read the whole series. This series in general in about Greek Mythology coming to reality with demigods, and you should definitely try the first book.

Rating: 5/5 stars

6. Anything But Ordinary by: Lara Avery

I just finished reading this book last week, and I have to say it's pretty interesting. It's about a girl who gets into a coma (read the book to find out how), wakes up five years later, and learns that things in her life have changed A LOT. I thought the concept was pretty cool, but the actual content of the book was okay.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Ok, that's it for today! I read more books, but this post would go on for a while if I talked about ALL of them. If you would like be to review a particular book, please feel free to say so in the comments and I'll get back to you if that's something I can do.

Thanks for reading!

-Silvia

"I'm Glad I Did" by: Cynthia Weil

Hi!

Since I have summer vacation right now, I have a lot of time on my hands to do things I like to do like create artwork and read books. I recently read a book that I initially thought would be okay, but actually turned out to be really great. Here's my review of it:


Source

Have you ever picked up a book thinking you'd give it a try, and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting? That will probably happen to you for I'm Glad I Did by: Cynthia Weil. It's just that good. Although this book is historical fiction, the majority of it is realistic fiction, so you'll probably be able to connect to it better and find the story very engaging like I did!

Meet JJ Green, a sixteen year old girl who has just graduated from high school. Yep, she's smart. She's from a family of lawyers, and her parents expect her to become a lawyer too. However, she wants to get into the music industry, and live her dream of being a songwriter. Her parents don't approve of this, because they think the music industry is meant for lowlifes, and believe JJ is too smart and shouldn't degrade herself to that kind of career.

When JJ defies her parents' wishes by getting a summer internship at the great Brill Building, she starts to appreciate her choice of not staying low, but actually rising up to chase her dreams. Shortly after, she and songwriter Luke Silvers co-write a song that the extraordinary Dulcie Brown agrees to sing. Dulcie Brown isn't as renowned as she used to be, but JJ is determined that the single will help bring her up again.

Through a series of events (including a person falling out a window), JJ's life is nearly shattered. When she investigates deeper, she learns that there are lots of secrets regarding some of the people she has encountered through her internship so far. JJ is determined to find out everything before it's too late.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars