Snagged at the Library Challenge

I have decided to participate in the Snagged at the Library Reading Challenge hosted by The Geeky Blogger's Book Blog and The Book Nympho.

The rules of the challenge are simple:

• Runs January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015. You can join any time.
• The goal is to read at least twelve (12) books from the library. Twelve should be easy, that’s one a month. While twelve is the minimum, there is no maximum limit. See the different levels below and pick the one that works best for you.
• Any format will work for this challenge (print, ebook or audio) as long as you checked it out from the library it counts.
• Books can be any genre (fiction, nonfiction, romance, fantasy, mystery, thriller, horror, etc.).
• Crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed, including re-reads. The goal is to support your local library and save money.
• To join this challenge, grab the 2015 Snagged @ The Library Reading Challenge button and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads (so as long as you have a dedicated shelf and Felicia has created aGoodreads group), Shelfari (I’ve created a Shelfari group. You can join and post your progress within the group), or BookLikes, etc., for the 2015 Snagged @ The Library Reading Challenge. The point of linking up is to have a place where people can see what you’re reading.

And the challenge has the following levels:

1. Dewey Decimal: read 12 books
2. Thrifty Reader: read 24 books
3. Overdrive Junkie: read 36 books
4. Stalking the Bookstacks: read 50+ books

As of right now, I  think I'm going to commit to the Dewey Decimal level of 12 books, but I am hoping to read more than 12. Hope you all will join me (even though I'm joining the challenge a little late.)

Happy Reading!

Guest Post: Natalie Bina, author of Never Trust a Happy Song

Today I am honored to host guest poster, author Natalie Bina. 

Natalie, a student at Wesleyan University who enjoys singing, dancing and baking, is the author of the upcoming ebook Never Trust a Happy Song, available for pre-order until March 14th.

Never Trust a Happy Song is about a teenage girl named Cassidy who is admitted to a very prestigious summer program at Stanford University. Cassidy is use to a mom who is very serious about her study habits and wants her daughter to have the best chances later in life-- education is priority number one. However, Cassidy's host family, the Harpers, seem to be the polar opposite to her mother. With the differences in attitudes and the distractions of Grace Harper, Cassidy has to learn how to balance fun with hard work and realize that she can have both a great education and a social life.

Lately, women vloggers on Youtube have been sharing letters to their younger-selves with the meme #dearme, well, Natalie Bina's guest post is a perfect  to tie the #dearme movement. Here are Natalie Bina's words to not only her 16 year old self, but to everyone who is still in those teen years.

"Being a teenager can be hard. That, I believe, is universally known. Being 16 is especially difficult, because the freedom of childhood slips away and other people’s expectations for The Rest of Your Life begin to rain down on you like anvils. People stop asking about soccer practice or the school play and start asking about summer jobs, GPAs, college plans, career goals, and many other things that make you ball your fists and bite your lip to swallow a scream as you hiss, “I don’t know.” 

Not knowing is okay. Three years later, I still don’t have all the answers, but I’ve written down 16 things that I know now and would love to tell my 16-year-old self. It’s useless to ask the what if question, but I do sometimes wonder if anything would have changed, had I known any of these things then.

1.        Everyone in the room is not staring at you and thinking you look stupid. They are probably too busy worrying that everyone else thinks they look stupid.
2.        It’s okay to fail or be lazy once in a while. Those off-moments do not define your entire character.
3.        Considering getting a ‘B’ to be “practically failing” is not a healthy mindset.
4.        Weekdays are not off limits for doing fun things. Go to a movie with your friends on Tuesday. Get ice cream after school on Wednesday.
5.        There is no “normal” time to do anything. Everyone should move and develop at their own pace. This applies to everything from first kisses to getting your ears pierced. You are not a lesser person if you aren’t doing something that other people are doing.
6.        Start edging yourself a little out of your comfort zone now; don’t wait a couple years to decide to be brave. It may be scary, but it can also be wildly rewarding and fun!
7.        Sleep in on weekends.
8.        Learn to enjoy being alone with yourself.
9.       Learn to enjoy being out doing things with others.
10.    Don’t get too sucked into thinking only about the future. Yes, you have to think about college, but you will only ever be 16 (or 17 or 18) once.
11.   It’s okay to not have one single best friend. It can be really nice to have multiple close friends spread out over a series of groups. You might not be able to hang out with all of them at the same time, but you’ll always be aware of multiple opinions and viewpoints on a subject.
12.    Take naps. Mastering the 20 minute powernap is a life skill.
13.    If you feel too frustrated and frazzled to do your homework, then clean your room. You’ll undoubtedly feel better afterwards.
14.    Go running. Take a walk. Go on a bike ride. Just go outside.
15.    Trying to eliminate chocolate from your life is never a good idea.
16.   There are many things that you might have to sacrifice to make room for other things in your life, but your writing is not one of them."

I   I want to thank Natalie Bina for being our guest post this week and I wish her the best of luck with her new book and if you are interested in more information about Natalie or her new book you can visit her website at Natalie Bina or her GoodReads account. Never Trust a Happy Song is currently available for pre-order through Bublish, Barnes and Noble and Apple Books for $1.99. (But hurry, the price will increase to $2.99 on March 14th)

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  *While reading Never Trust a Happy Song,  I found myself sad for Cassidy (especially in the beginning). The only thing Cassidy could think of was her school work and she didn't have much use for small talk or things that would not help improve her education, college applications and her resume. I can't even begin to tell you how many time I wanted to take Cassidy's mom and shake her, make her realize that the amount of pressure she was putting on her daughter wasn't helping. I did find Grace an interesting balance (at least on the outside) to Cassidy's very studious nature.

I will admit, I did have trouble getting into the story at the beginning of the book, but after a few chapters, I did begin to enjoy the book. I will give Never Trust a Happy Song  3.5 dragonflies.

Full disclosure: I was contacted by Natalie Bina to read her novel and host a spot on her blog tour. Natalie Bina was kind enough to send me a copy of her ebook. Supplying her book did not in anyway sway my review of her book.

International Woman's Day

Today is International Woman's Day. Even though women have come so far compared to where we were just decades ago, there is still so far to go. More than ever, women are in roles of leadership around the world, but we can't seem to get something together. . . one thing women have a hardship with these days, we keep badmouthing each other.Instead of building one another up, we slut shame, we put each other down and we let others do the same to us.

For International Woman's Day, Youtube has brought together some of the most amazing women vloggers, like Hannah Hart, Superwomanvlogs (Lillie), Felicia Day, Lindsey Stirling and Trisha Hersberger (from Sourcefed) to give advice to their younger-selves. Advice that these amazing women wish they had known in middle and high school. I encourage you to check out these amazing and special videos. These videos are incredibly real and great for everyone. Here is a link to #dearme.


#DearMe

Dear Amber,
My dear, sweet younger Amber. I know right now, high school sucks. I know how difficult a time you are having trying to fit in with everyone else, to be who they want you to be. Amber, you are amazing. My advice to you, is find out who your real friends are and never let them go. Realize that those people who make fun of you for your weight, your clothing, your personality. Hun, you are just a different person. You've always marched to the beat of your own drummer, embrace it. In the words of Shrek the Musical, "Let your freak flag fly!" Who cares if your are a musical theater junkie who may be a little overweight? All of the things you are afraid to let show, the things other people make fun of you for are things that make you unique. Stand firm in your faith and love with all your heart, trust me, you are going to be just fine. I promise, the moments when you think things would be better off if you weren't around will start to vanish and don't be mad at the person who brings your issues to the attention of others. She's just doing what needs to be done to help you most.

I love you, younger Amber. Learn to love yourself, it will be AMAZING.

1999 Junior Year, 17 years old