Harry Potter Reading Challenge

Marcie at To Read or Not to Read is hosting a Harry Potter Challenge. It has been years since I've read the whole series, and I am actually excited to read the series again. I've been semi-protesting them because I'm not too happy with J.K. Rowlings body count in Deathly Hallows, but this should be some fun reading before Deathly Hallows 2 comes out.

Page to Screen: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

I recently sat down to rewatch and reread The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares and as much as I enjoyed both the book and the movie, there were a few things that I really wished they had NOT changed in the movie.  I miss Lena's sister Effie-- mostly because she does a MAJOR thing in the 4th book, I miss Lena flying to California/Mexico to rescue Bridget from herself, I miss knowing Bridget has a twin brother!

Even though the movie had several flaws that made the book so wonderful, I loved it! I really thing Jenna Boyd completely stole the show as Bailey and like I did when I read the book, I bawled my eyes out when she left the story. I found myself connecting even more with Carmen as I watched the movie this time than the first time, but Lena will always be my favorite.

The one thing I wish was real-- those magic pants. How cool would it be to find pants that fit you and your best girlfriends?

Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde

Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde takes the story of Little Red Riding Hood and spins it 8 different ways. Picking this book of the shelf at the library, I was immediately intrigued. Little Red Riding Hood had always been one of my favorite Fairy Tales and I was looking forward to Vivian Vande Velde's interpretation. Unfortunately, this book let a LOT to be desired for me. Maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist, but I didn't like the interpretations Vande Velde used.  I struggled through finishing this short book and I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the introduction chapter much more that the actual book.

I was surprised by my dislike in this book because I love Vivian Vande Velde and her book, Heir Apparent. This one, Cloaked in Red left me wanting and disappointed. However, they maybe some out there who enjoy her possible takes on Little Red Riding Hood.

I can only give this book 1 dragonfly.

I read the book and forced myself to finish it.

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy audio book performed by Rupert Degas

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy is about a girl named Stephanie Edgley who at the age of 12 inherits her late Uncle Gordon Edgley's estate-- making her a VERY rich girl once she turns 18, anyway. Since Stephanie inherits Gordon's estate, she also inherits the weirdness he lived with. She first meets her uncle's strange friend, Skulduggery Pleasant, at the repast of his funeral. She learns a little more about him at the reading of Gordon's will. Her life become entwined with his when he saves her life. . .

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Now, I KNOW I'm not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but look at that book. No way in the world should that cover lead to a book I actually like! I mean really. It has a skeleton throwing fire. I don't like fire and skeletons make me freak. However, once I learned this book takes place in Ireland (I want to go there so bad) and heard Rupert Degas perform the story, I was hooked. I'm still finishing this one and I really can't wait for the next one. Too bad I have other things I need to read for work first. . .

Love and Happy Reading,

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,