2014!!

When did that happen? 

Here I am sitting at the ChocolaTea (shocker, I know) and sipping my custom made tealatte with chocolate-tea and raspberry, (Caitlin has very good taste in teas), and I ponder the entire last year.

I have moved back home and starting to get settled in. I'm not sure if that's a good thing. I worry that I am getting complacent and too comfortable. I hear about my friends who are having babies, moving to far away places, and getting the big jobs. 

I pray to God that He will show me what's my place in His world and though I haven't gotten an answer (or at least one that I can see), I am trying to maintain my faith in His timing. So pray for me, my friends, that I can maintain my patience, my peace, and my peace of mind during this difficult transition period. 

Because my fears are growing as I listen to my family's conversations about me that THIS is going to happen ....(look below) 

... and I'm about to fall on my face. Ouch! 

Granted, I believe that this is my anxiety talking. It's all in my head and patience is key. Hence the request for prayers. 

*takes in a deep breath, holds it for five seconds, lets it out*

Let's return to a more happy topic, shall we? That would be the first word in my blog title. Books. 

I have been reading like CRAZY and I have some I'd like to share with you. These are books that I do recommend, don't recommend, are currently reading, want to read, or am about to begin reading.
(Wow, that was a mouthful. My advice? Go back and read that sentence again and again until it makes sense) 

First book to talk about ...

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter. 

This is the book that I recommend. 

The think I can NOT stress enough, however, is this ... if you're looking for a modern day retelling of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ... This. Is. Not. It. 

The title is quite misleading in that regard. 

Alice Bell is a normal girl in a normal family. Well sort of. They're not allowed out after dark and everyone thinks her dad is a crazy who is an alcoholic and talks about monsters all day long. 

Alice thinks he's insane as well ... until the night her entire family is killed and Alice is the lone survivor in the accident when she witnesses the horror of zombies consuming her family in front of her. Seeking revenge against the monsters, Alice moves in with her grandparents and tries to find out everything she can about the zombies. That's where Cole Holland comes in. He is a part of an elite group of students (I know. Odd, right?) who fight the zombies by night. But they're growing stronger in number and strength and Alice may be the key to truly stopping them. 

The book is quite entertaining and Alice is kind of a badass. (sorry grandma for the language. It had to be said.)
I give Alice in Zombieland ... 3 and 1/2 out of 5 stars. Which is a pretty good rating considering that I picked it up under the pretense that it was an Alice in Wonderland retelling. Read it. I recommend it. 

Now ... I do have a book that I think should be AVOIDED!!! I read it and ... kinda felt like my time was wasted. This doesn't happen very often but when it does ... I just want to scream, cry, and throw the book around like a crazy chick. 

The Farm by Emily McKay. 

This book was a complete waste of time to me. I thought the premise was interesting and then it FAILED me miserably. I was only glad that I had gotten it from the library so I didn't have to have it stinking up my shelves with its suckiness. 
Okay, I have to be fair. I put the link there for a reason so my dear readers can read it if they desire and make up their own mind. I'm just putting it out there right now that I DID NOT LIKE IT. AT ALL. 

Basically, the story is about Lily and her twin sister Mel. They live on this 'farm' where under the guise of safety, people live together with barely enough food or shelter to avoid these genetically engineered vampires called 'Ticks'. Rule breakers are put out as bait to keep the ticks away. But Lily wants to escape. Basically, the entire book is about them getting OUT of this farm but it then started to get really ridiculous and ... I don't really remember much of it because I was just trying to get it over with. There's a book two and I'm going to run away as fast as I can from it. 

That got a measly 1 out of 5 stars in my rating scale. If you value your reading lives at all ... just stay away. 

Next! The book I am CURRENTLY reading...

The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. 

This is technically considered a Young Readers series, but it's amazing. You can actually buy the ENTIRE five book series in one volume for only $15 at Barnes & Noble. 
Here's another little tidbit for you. You'd never guess that this series was originally published in 1979. It's that good. 
Susan Cooper did a fantastic job to write the book in such a way that it could still sound relevant to today's time. This one's kind of hard to explain, so I'll leave you with the synopsis. 

The relentless battle between the Light and the Dark has raged since the beginning of time. Neither side has ever been able to claim absolute victory...and so the fight continues. But every so often the evil surges, and a member of the Light must step forward if the world is to find its way out of the darkness.

It is at the center of this epic struggle that three ordinary children, and one not-so-ordinary child, find themselves. The danger is overwhelming and the stakes have never been higher. Will the Light finally be able to conquer the Dark—or will all good be lost forever?

The not-so-ordinary child is Will Stanton and so far ... for a 12 year old who has all the powers of the Ancients ... he's pretty interesting. One of my bosses at work, Scott, told me to read this and I have been addicted. I admit I was a little scared when I saw how BIG the book was, but once I got over the initial scare, I got really into it. 

Onto the book I WANT to read. And don't get me wrong ... there are a TON ... but I'm going to quickly post just one that's definitely on the pile. 

 Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. 

Everyone has been talking about this book and go figure, I got this for Christmas and I happened to GET this book for at least TWO people. *laughs* 
This book describes a piece of every ultimate reader/movie fan. 

In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Sometimes, I think that readers (and this does include myself) get so into a universe created by an author or director and it's hard to let go. Take a look at the MULTITUDES of Harry Potter fanfiction out there. And Rainbow Rowell really knows how to talk about how hard it is to let go ... but that obsessing over something that intensely isn't any good either. 
As I said, I was guilty of this. I AM guilty of this. The first time was Harry Potter. Loved the books, willing to admit that I read them 16 times each, except for the 6th and 7th because they were absurdly long. The most recent fandom I fell into is the Mortal Instruments series. Cassie Clare created a world that I would love to live in and wish really existed. Now I got better. I've only read each book at least twice. So look ... improving. :D :P 

LAST but certainly not least ... the book I am ABOUT to begin reading...

 Insurgent by Veronica Roth 

Tris Prior is back in book two of the dystopian trilogy by Veronica Roth. And this time, she has to deal with the guilt over losing family and friends in the final fight at the end of Divergent. On top of everything, Tris has to deal with a new relationship in her life and her divergence in the faction system she lives in. What will become of her?

I waited so long to get my hands on a copy of this and now that I do, I'm SO happy. I can't wait to read it. I'm going to get started very, very soon. Probably tonight. Yes, I do indeed read more than one book at a time. And no, I do not get confused (that's actually a very common question, believe it or not) 

So there you have it. That's my list of books. Maybe the next time I'm able to post *coughs* hopefully Monday *coughs* ... I'll focus on the tea aspect since today was all about the books. 

I hope that I gave you all a great new set of books to add to your own 'to read' piles. It was a little bit of a Young Adult genre day, but that's all right. I know. I'll leave you with another book that I really want to read. I found it at work the other day. This is in the Fiction and Literature section for those who don't simply want to read Young Adult like I do all day, every day. 

Here it is! One last book and then I promise I will leave you to your entertaining evening. Still, what's more entertaining than reading my blog? *winks* 

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. 

This is set in 1920's Alaska and the cover immediately caught my attention. Then I read the synopsis. Here it is: 

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart—he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone—but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

Definitely sounds fascinating doesn't it? A co-worker, Carrie, said that it's based on an old fairy tale but I can't remember which one now. Still, when I read the description, I was like 'I must read this'. 

All right, I solemnly gave you my word that was the last one. So I really am going now. I hope that everyone had a great New Years and were safe on the roads because here in Michigan, we've got snow galore. YAY. I wish you all a wonderful week and an even better weekend. *hugs to all* 

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself
Taryn