Bloggiesta. . .It's over already.

I can't believe Bloggiesta is over already. I had an AMAZING time reading all the tutorials and putting some of them into practice. When I started my Bloggiesta adventure on Friday, I had 4 goals in mind:

•to be more consistent with my blogging practices

•Make my blog more aesthetically pleasing to my readers

•Learn the really cool codes to make fun gadgets for my blog

•Not be afraid to use my voice, even if a review isn't all sunshine and roses.

Well the Goal I was most excited about (number 3) was my most successful one this weekend. I learned how to make favicons and a really cool button for my blog. I am working on making a brand of myself and I love dragonflies so why not. I think with my work on goal number 3, I am well on my way to making goal number 2 reality.

Goals number 1 and 4 are ones that are going to take a lot of time to see if  they will be completed. Consistency is important for me to work on and  I don't think its something I can change in a weekend. Using my voice is going to be a fun one to work on. For the longest time, I've only been posting reviews on books I have really liked, but I don't think that helps my integrity. If I can't show both sides of the coin, the good and the bad, I'm not doing my job very well.

I want to thank Natasha at Maw Books for hosting Bloggiesta. This has been an amazing weekend full of new knowledge that I can't wait to implement. I know this is the end of the current Bloggiesta, but I do plan to keep going over some of Natasha's links for past Bloggiestas because I know they will help shape me into a better blogger.

Love and Happy Reading,

Bloggiesta. . . this is actually really fun. (Button!)

So I am so grateful to Elisabeth Marie at YS Princess for reminding me that Bloggiesta was coming up. I have been having a lot of fun learning really cool blog things that I can share with you. As you may have noticed Amber's Teen Reads is in the process of a makeover and today I learned how to make my very own button! I've been wanting to learn how to make one for some time now, but never really tried to look up the information until today. Callista at SMS Book Reviews has a really cool tutorial on Banners and Buttons that I was way too excited to try. While I will admit, I had some difficulty with her tutorial, I was able to find another one that worked really well for me. The tutorial that worked the best for me was actually from Okiology101. I never would have found Okiology had I not started out at SMS. So, thanks Callista.

If you take a look to the left of this post, you should see my really cool new button and if you look up by the url, you should see my brand new favicon!

This Bloggiesta has been AMAZING. Who knows what I'll have done by the end of the weekend.

Love and Happy Reading,

My Blog Goals for 2011

I still can't believe 2011 is actually here. Since I am participating in Bloggiesta this year, one of the mini-challenges is to think about what your goals are for your blog. I've actually been thinking about this for awhile. I have not been nearly as consistent with my blogging as I initially planned and I think that will be a great place to start. With that stated, my goals for 2011 are:

• to be more consistent with my blogging practices
• Make my blog more aesthetically pleasing to my readers
• Learn the really cool codes to make fun gadgets for my blog
• Not be afraid to use my voice, even if a review isn't all sunshine and roses.

I think these few goals are a really good start for me and I hope you will join me to see how well I do. Hopefully, this will work MUCH better than the New Years Resolutions I make for myself each year. :O)

Love and Happy Reading,

Bloggiesta!

Bloggiesta!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Bloggiesta has arrived and for the first time, I am planning on participating. Bloggiesta is the creation of Natasha at Maw Books and is used as a time to PEDRO (Plan. Edit. Develop. Review. Organize) your blog. I'm really excited about this because Amber's Teen Reads is going through some makeover changes (if you hadn't noticed, I can't seem to settle on a background right now.)

For 72 hours (not necessarily consistent) I will be PEDROing it up and reevaluating the way my blog is going. I'm going to learn how to make my blog more fun (not just for me, but for you as well), participating in mini-challenges and of course I'm going to read and review books.

This should be a really fun experience for me and I really hope you stay tuned. Fellow bloggers, head on over to Maw Books and read the description of Bloggiesta. I think you'll have fun if you choose to participate.

Love and Happy Reading,

Teen Movies based on Books that I Can't Get Enough Of

Two things that I really love are books and movies. ( I love music too, but that may be another blog post.) I wanted to make a list of teen movies I love to watch that also came from books. Sometimes, the book to movie transition is obvious, but sometimes, it's a little more discrete.

One of my absolute favorites is Ten Things I Hate about You  staring Julia Stiles and the late Heath  Ledger. Did you know that Ten Things I Hate about You is based on a play by William Shakespeare called The Taming of the Shrew? Although Taming of the Shrew is NOT my favorite Shakespeare play, I do enjoy the Merchant of Venice. . .

Clueless based loosely on Jane Austin's Emma. While it has been an EXTREMELY long time since I've read even a part of Emma, I do still have Clueless on DVD.

Another great book to movie adaptation is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Now I much prefer the movie version that came out just a few years ago. Anything with Alan Rickman either on screen or as a voice over is automatically wonderful for me. Both the book and movie make me laugh like crazy.

My current favorite movie adaptation is The Twilight Sage: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. I love this saga and Eclipse has always been my favorite book in the saga because that is when Bella finally makes her decision between Edward and Jacob or as I like to refer to them sometimes, air conditioning and a space heater. (LOL)

These will probably be the first books to movies I read/watch for the really cool Page to screen challenge. Happy reading and viewing!

My Favorite Tear Jerkers and Why I Cried. . .

A friend of mine asked me which book make/made me cry. I stopped to think for awhile and realized a LOT of books make me cry. Here is a list of a few of my favorite Tear Jerkers and why they made me cry.

The book that made me cry more than any other is Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher. The reason I cried so much is actually really simple. When I has just started my sophomore year at University, a really good friend of mine committed suicide. My relationship with Kyle was very similar to Clay's relationship to Hannah. I remember desperately wanting answers to why Kyle had committed suicide and reading Th1rteen R3asons Why kind of gave me the answers I wanted, even though what Hannah had gone through probably wasn't the same as what Kyle dealt with. That book gave me a sense of closure.

Another book that made me cry was Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. I really fell in love with Stargirl's character, but I hated the way the kids at Mesa High treated her. I cried when she left Arizona, and I bawled like a baby when I read about what the school has done since Stargirl left. I love that book!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling caused me to burst into tears with the death of Cedric Diggory. That was a horrible scene for me because I realized not even children were safe from J.K. Rowling's deadly pen. I was fine with adults being murdered by sadistic wizards, but a teenager was too horrible for me to imagine. (I just have to remember all the Avada Kadavra curse does is turn boys into sparkly vampires and I'm okay.)

Forever in Blue: the Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood  by Ann Brashares had me crying and all I have to say is all four girls in Greece and Lena's sister's huge mistake. . . The whole series had tear worthy moments for me, but none as much as book 4.

I know there are more books that have caused me to wipe out a tissue box, but I can't think of them right now.

So, what books have caused you to go running for the tissue box? I would love to know. :O) Happy reading.

My FIRST Blog Award!

So I found a pleasant surprise in my email this afternoon. Trusty gmail told me I had a new comment to approve and the comment came from Cheree at Justified Lunacy. She simply replied to a Challenge I had joined and wrote " I left something for you at my blog." So of my curiosity was peaked and I found this:

I was definitly surprised and very excited. This is the very first award I have received and I still can't believe it! The rules of the award are simple,

1. Thank and Link back to the person who gave you the award

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers

4. Contact the bloggers about the award

Well, I'm not going to do 15 bloggers, because a lot of the people I follow I have been following for years and I'm sure they have received this particular award before. So, I have found 5 blogs that I have recently started following to pass this award to. However, I reserve the ability to come back at a later date and add more as  I find them. :O)

7 Things about Me: This is actually harder than it should be. . .

1. I played Clarinet in my University Band

2. I have had a purple dream catcher in my window since I was a baby. My mom made it for me. I actually have a hard time sleeping if the dream catcher is not with me.

3. I did not get my official drivers license until I was OUT of college. (I just didn't care to drive)

4. My cousins made me audition for American Idol through a contest at a local car dealership. I did not advanace in that competition and chickened out of going to the Miami audition.

5. My favorite book of all time is The Velveteen Rabbit

6. I firmly believe Canoes are evil, straight from Satan. There is a TERRIFYING story with that one.

7. I am addicted to music-- especially Broadway. I secretly would love to be on Broadway. . .

The bloggers I have decided to honor are:

1. Amber at Books of Amber

2.Gabrielle Carolina at The Mod Podge Bookshelf

3. Nely at All About {n}

4. Lori at Pure Imagination

5. Reggie at The Undercover Booklover

Now that I have narrowed my field down to my 5, I will go ahead and let them know. Thanks again to Cheree for giving me my first blog award. I am honored and amazed that she likes my blog! Happy 2011 everyone.