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.

Page to Screen Reading Challenge ( I So wish this was my idea!)

Okay, so I came across a really cool reading challenge today that I HAD to spread the word about. It's called the Page to Screen Reading Challenge. I must say that I LOVE reading books that I know are going to become movies. Reading Extensively  (the challenge host) is offering different levels to this particular challenge, and the one that appeals to me the most is The Read and Watch. As of right now, I'm going to be cautious and attempt Level 1 of the Read and Watch, which is simply 5 books and movies/t.v. shows. I know I could probably do more, but I want to make sure. I figure it couldn't hurt to err on the side of caution this time. This one is going to be SUPER fun! Popcorn anyone?

My favorite books of the DECADE!! 2000-2010

Happy New Year everyone! Instead of doing a Favorite list for 2010, I'm doing a favorite list for the entire decade. Now, I know many of you out there are of the belief that the decade ended LAST year when we entered 2010, but I am one of those kooky people who firmly believes that the decade started in 2001, so it ended at midnight last night.  I know, I may be crazy.

Anyway, I thought it would be cool to go back and look at the books that have made my decade more interesting, the books that made me want to start reading again.

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling 
I was one of those people who was reluctant to pick the first book up. I didn't want anything to do with what everyone else was reading (this is actually a habit of mine. I always try to ignore the "fad" but sometimes, I get hooked. . .)


The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I have yet to see The Lovely Bones because I can't imagine Stanley Tucci as a bad guy, but it's on my list.




Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, and  Target by Kathleen Jefferie Johnson-- both haunting tales about the aftermath of rape. Target was amazing because it is truly from the perspective of a boy.




Impossible: a Novel by Nancy Werlin and The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
I picked up Impossible because I enjoyed Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin. Mockingbirds was pickd up because I kept reading about it on different list-serves and decided to give it a try.





The final entry for my favorites of the decade must be:

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. To this day, this is the only vampire/werewolf series I have been able to read. I think the reason I love this series is because its more romance than supernatural.

Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin

"The history of our family and our people affects who we are in the present." --Mallory, pg.42
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Mallory Tolliver is NOT really Mrs. Tolliver's daughter, she's not even human. She has been sent by the Faerie Queen to break Phoebe Rothschild down until she has no self-esteem and believes she is nothing but ordinary, even though she comes from a very EXTRAordinary family.

Phoebe Rothschild is the daughter of Catherine Rothschild and Drew Vale. Catherine is the descendent of Mayer Rothschild who's 5 sons became big names in the European financial markets in the 19th century. According to Faerie legend, Mayer made a bargin with the Faerie Queen, if she would make his 5 sons extraordinary, in turn the family would give the Faerie Queen an ORDINARY daughter. Unfortunately for Phoebe, before she came along, there had never been an ORDINARY Rothschild daughter. It's up to Phoebe to figure out if she's ordinary or Extraordinary to prevent the Faerie Queens will to destroy her. . .
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I don't know how Nancy Werlin does it, but she finds a way to captivate me and writes little "one-liners" that I have to jot down so I can remember them for always. Another thing Nancy Werlin does it she takes a fantastical story and mixes it with history. She did this before with Impossible: a Novel and she does it now with Extraordinary. Each time I have picked up a Nancy Werlin novel I have been transported to whatever world she has desired I go. While it took me a little longer to get into this particular book than it did with Impossible, I still really enjoyed it and would pick up any other book Werlin writes.
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"I've heard it said, that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn.And we are led to those who help us most to grow, if we let them, and we help them in return. . . But because I knew you, I have been changed FOR GOOD " Wicked: A New Musical song For Good

Out with a Bang Read-a-Thon

You know, I always think about participating in challenges, but I have yet to be able to actually complete one. It's kind of sad, however, I am hoping to change that behavior by participating in and COMPLETING the Out with a Bang Read-a-Thon hosted by Casey at The Bookish Type and Heather at Book-Savvy.

I know that I have several book sitting in my To Be Read pile that I keep neglecting, including a couple from brand new authors. This challenge is simple-- pick a book off of my pile, read it and  I'm done.







The books on my list are:
Girl Parts by John M. Cusick
Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala
Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin
Deathday Letters by Shaun David Hutchinson
The Hollow by Jessica Veraday
Bystander by James Preller
Matched by Ally Condie
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger
and a few more that I can't remember right now.

I am optimistic that this is a challenge I can handle.  So for Decembe 29-31, I'm going to try to tackle as many of these as I can. Wish me luck.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Going Bovine by Libba Bray is about a teenage boy who contracts Mad Cow Disease.  Cameron's family consists of his mom, work-a-holic father (who's more than likely having an affair with his TA) and his popular twin sister, Jenna. The family basically lives seperate lives until Cameron gets the diagnosis that he is going to die.
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Cameron begins the book talking about how he almost Died on the It's a Small World ride at Disney World. He talks about how he and his twin sister Jenna were 5 and how he really wanted to live in the ride. Then he talks about the ambulance with mouse ears that took him to the hospital and how the family then had free tickets and front places in lines the next day. For the first chapter, I thought Cameron was adorable. Then his mouth starts in chapter 2 and he became a little harder to like.
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I will admit I have been hesitant to read Going Bovine. I know it came out in 2009, but I just couldn't get in to the premis of the book. So, after buying a paperback copy of the book (mostly because I was tired of waiting for my local library's copy to come back) I borrowed the audiobook from the library and started to read/listen to the book. I actually enjoyed the first part of the book, but when Cameron started possibly hallucinating about Dulcie and hanging out with a video-gaming dwarf with Mommy issues, I got bored and quiet frankly, couldn't continue reading. I found the first part to be well written and fun, but the second part just bored me. . .

Maybe one day I will pick Going Bovine back up and try reading it again, but as for right now, It's a no.
However, Libba Bray has an amazing website. http://www.libbabray.com/