12.11.16
MY BOOKISH CONFESSIONS
Since the election I've noticed a lot of people on social media have been sharing their opinions of the president and to be completely honest I'm kind of tired of hearing it. I mean what's done is done. No matter how much you complain or worry nothing is going to change. God has everything in control, so that means we don't have to worry. Anyways, instead of reading about some long praise or rant about President Trump I wanted to do something a bit more fun. I wanted to share with y'all my...
BOOKISH CONFESSIONS
Let us begin. (p.s. I don't mean to offend anyone with this post!!!)
What Is Something You Do To A Book That Everyone Else Hates.
I dog ear my pages. DUN DUN DUN!!! I know, I can hear the shrieks from here. But I do have a perfectly good reason for doing it. Why should I go find a bookmark that will fall out, get lost, or get ruined when I can just use the page in the book? I know some of you are thinking, "But you'll wear out the pages!" I always think that a well worn book is a well loved book, but that's just my two cents.
What is a Book or Series That Everyone Else Seems To Hate, But You Love?
This was a hard one to answer. I usually like what everyone else likes. But I have two series that people either love or hate. And that would be The Selection by Kiera Cass and Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. With The Selection I feel that the reason some people don't like it is because it's a romance genre. Romance isn't suppose to have a lot of action and adventure it's going to focus more on the characters not the story. I think many were expecting a ton of action because of the rebel movements that were going on within the story. Now, with the Red Queen I don't think people liked this book series is because this has a lot of YA clichés, love triangle, corrupted government, and a girl that was an different than regular people in her society. But guys I can name a million REALLY GOOD books that have all of these clichés. The Hunger Games, Throne of Glass, and much more!
Book Character That Everyone Loves Yet You Don't Really Care For? (Prepare for spoilers of the Titans Curse by Rick Riordan).
This one was REALLY easy, Nico DiAngelo. I can all ready hear you starting your speeches, but, please, let me finish. Let me start out by saying I really liked Nico in the Titans Curse. He was the cutest little ten year old boy who had a cute little obsession with MythOMagic, but after Percy couldn't save Bianca from dying ten year old Nico decided to get even and trade Percy's soul for his sisters. That's just wrong. No ten year old should even THINK let alone act upon it! Percy couldn't even try to save Nico's sister because it was prophesied! And throughout the rest of the series and in the Hero's of Olympus series and Trials of Apollo he kinda seemed like a jerk. Everyone thinks that he's had such hard life, but to be honest he really didn't have to worst past compared to some of the other characters. Look at Hazel she freaking died, Leo thought he killed his own mom and lived on his own chased by monsters at the age of 7, Thalia grew up taking care of her brother, thought he and her mom were dead, and later her dad turned her into a tree, I could name a few more characters if I wanted. (sorry for that rant).
Do You Have A Character Who You Think Ended Up With The Wrong Guy?
The only couple I can think of at the moment is Nico and Will. I was disappointed with that one, but other than that I'm usually on board with most couples that ended up together.
What Is A Book Or Series That You Think Was Overhyped?
The Maze Runner series hands down. I had pretty high expectations for that series. I thought it started out pretty good and ended pretty good, but the rest of it kinda let me down. I got bored, had too many questions, I didn't feel a lot of connection with the characters, and the protagonist, Thomas, felt too super hero.
What Is A Book or Series You Will Never Read?
Now a lot of people are going to get really mad at me for saying this, but the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I dunno why I don't really want to read this, I just really don't want to. Plus, my best friend, Anna, said that she didn't the series was that good. I already have a TBR pile that is piling high. I don't have much time to read a series like that.
What Is A Series You Won't Finish?
That would be A School For Unusual Girls. I absolutely LOVED the first book, but the second book was really bad. It was boring, the protagonist was super whiny, and she treated her crush like a piece of trash. I hated how she treated him. OH it made me so mad!
Thanks for reading! I hope I didn't make y'all too mad. Are there any bookish confessions that you agree with me on or you have? Comment below!
6.11.16
Bible Journaling
Whew! I'm finally doing it! I'm posting a Bible journaling entry on my blog! It took a lot of courage for me to do that. You see Bible journaling is such a new idea (this idea started 2 years ago) that many people don't understand or think it's wrong for me to "color in my Bible." As an artist I needed to use the creative juices God gave me to grow closer to Him. Over the years I started to realize that studying my Bible was getting harder. It wasn't as fun and I started seeing myself slowly drift away from Him. I felt that I must be a TERRIBLE Christian for not understanding why I wasn't getting this whole "quiet time with God" thing that everyone else seemed to do well with. Slowly, I started to realize that God created me to create and that's ok to do in my Bible! A friend of mine from my small group, told me about this Bible journaling community on Instagram (@illustratedfaith) that I should check out. I quickly searched the group and I was delighted to see all of these creative women and teens using their gifts that God gave them for His glory! Reading their stories gave me hope because I realized I'm not the only one out there feeling this way. Of course, instead of testing the Bible journaling waters I just jumped right in! And let me tell you, it was the greatest thing God ever put on my heart! It has strengthened my relationship with Him and I no longer feel that God is an acquaintance. He is now my best friend! I hope sharing my testimony has given you hope like reading other's has done for me! If you ever have questions about Bible journaling I would love to help you! Now let me show you just a few of my entries I have done in my Bible. ;)
This was my FIRST Bible journaling entry! As you can see I didn't worry one bit about using colored pencils in my Bible. XD
I decided to test out water colors with this entry. Water colors are great to use in the Bible because they don't bleed through! The only down side is it does make your page a bit wrinkled.
You don't always have to have some sort of scenery with your entries. For example, I just did some little flowers on the edges and wrote the verse down.
This was the first time I used alphabet stickers in my Bible! I absolutely love them!
I like to show this page a lot in my Bible to people who think "Oh I can't paint or draw how could I don this????" I've started to get interested in scrapbooking, so I incorporated some of that into this entry! Anyone can do this!
If you've noticed in this entry and the previous one I added an extra piece of paper. (The I quit paper). For those of you who don't know those are called tippins. A tippin allows me extra room to journal. I wrote down all of my thoughts on the passage on the back of the I Quit tippin. This just gives me a bit more privacy in my conversation with the Lord.
I hope you enjoyed looking at just a few of my Bible journaling entries! If you would like to look at more, go the Art page in my blog. Talk to you soon!
6.9.16
A Walk In The Park
Today, was the first day of school..... bleh. And as we all know the first day of school is the hardest. But, I am very excited about the changing of the season! Fall has to be my favorite time of year, the sweaters, boots, campfires, leaves falling, candy corn, Thanksgiving, and of course we can't forget that the basketball season is just around the corner. To celebrate the "last day of summer" my family and I went fishing in the park, refreshed ourselves with snow cones from Pelican Snowballs, and took an evening stroll through the historical district. It was so relaxing! Here are a few photos I took of our wonderful evening. ;)
5.9.16
1st Birthday
This past Saturday, my littlest sister, Leah, had her first birthday! It was so much fun!!! The theme of her party was hot air balloons. It kinda represents the "Leah" verse which is James 1:17. It says "For every good and perfect gift is from above." It was so much fun making all of the decorations! Sadly, her outdoor party got rained out and we had to bring all of the decoration inside. Even though we didn't get to have that outdoor party here are some pictures before it rained. ;)
11.8.16
Exile for Dreamers by Kathleen Baldwin
Exile for Dreamers by Kathleen Baldwin
Soooooo I started reading Exile for Dreamers two days ago and I'm only halfway through. That's not good. This book should only have taken me two days to finish not to get halfway into it! Exile for Dreamers is the sequel to A School for Unusual Girls which I absolutely LOVED (I give it 4 out of 5 stars), so when I finally started reading this sequel I was very disappointed.
Before I get started with the review I need to let you know what the first book is about.
Goodreads Synopsis:
It’s 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England’s dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don’t fit high society’s constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies—plans that entangle them in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war.
After accidentally setting her father’s stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House. But Georgie has no intention of being turned into a simpering, pudding-headed, marriageable miss. She plans to escape as soon as possible—until she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads—or their hearts…
Alright we finally have that out of the way, lets start this review/rant. Haha! I will tell you there will be spoilers, so if you're planning on reading this book I wouldn't recommend reading this.
*~*~*~*~*~SPOILERS~*~*~*~*~*
Synopsis:
Tess Aubreyson can't run far enough or fast enough to escape the prophetic dreams that haunt her. Her dreams bring nothing but death and grief. Tess refuses to accept that she may be destined for the same madness that destroyed her mother, until her disturbing dreams become the only means of saving Lord Ravencross, the man she loves, and her fellow students at Stranje House. Tess’s old friend, the traitorous Lady Daneska and the Ghost, ruthless leader of the Iron Crown, have returned to England, intent on paving the way for Napoleon’s invasion of England. Can the young ladies of Stranje House prevail once more? Or is England destined to fall into the hands of the power-mad dictator?
I also really enjoyed the new character Alexander from the United States. He has such a great sense of humor that really lightens up the book. I have a good hunch that one of the students, Lady Jane, will end up falling in love with him which would be fun to see especially since she thinks he has such horrible manners! Haha!
Now for the not so good news. I DID NOT like Tess which made this book even more difficult to read because this was based on her point of view. Tess seems really mean to me. She's so blunt and rude to all of her friends. She speaks her mind even when she knows she shouldn't, she complains constantly, and she's very selfish. I could totally overlook all of this thinking she may change, but what kills me is she SO CRUEL to Lord Ravencross! I mean she's IN LOVE WITH THIS DUDE AND HE ENDS UP PAYING FOR HER TO STAY IN THIS SCHOOL! Could ya be a LITTLE bit nicer?!?!! (I'm sorry I just had to rant there). She also seems really depressing to me. I understand that she has a curse that claims she will die at a young age, but that is literally all she thinks about, (that and how good looking Lord Ravencross is) but she could still try and live life to the fullest!!
What makes everything worse is after that action packed beginning we see that it won't be continued during this book. I kept trying to finish reading this, but I just couldn't stand the narrator and the boring plot. Maybe if I kept reading it might have gotten better, but I've already moved on.
I'm going to give this book 1 out of 5 stars. All in all I would say read the first book, it's worth it, but don't continue with the series. I think it would be a waist of your time.
Have a great rest of your day!
2.8.16
A Little Adventure
How many of you enjoy shopping? I DO!!!! My good friends Anna and Layne went out with our families to go see a movie and do a bit of shopping in the local bookstore, Page 158 Books. Here are a few pictures of our little adventure. :)
I absolutely love this little shop. It's so quaint! It almost looks like a little coffee shop with all the cute and comfy chairs. Not only is this shop very cute, but it's also very nice to shop in. Everything has a little sign indicating what genre is in that section. It's quite convenient.
The Selection Series by Kiera Cass. This series in on my TBR for this month. :)
Don't you just love these covers? So bright and cheerful!
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Anna and I purchased these lovely books today. We were so excited that they had them! I'm hoping to one day own the entire series.
I LOVE THE LITTLE BAG!!! It's so artsy!
After shopping for books we topped this amazing day with a run to the candy shop Sweeties Candy Shop!
Look at all the fudge! Yum! The owner makes all of her fudge homemade.
Hope you enjoyed all of the pictures. Have a fabulous day!
16.7.16
Summer Reads
If you haven't been following my blog's Instagram account (@simple_sentiments) you haven't seen what all I have been reading/rereading this summer! Sadly, it's not as many books as I would have liked. It's been so busy that it has been hard to find time to read. *sigh* The crazy part of summer for me has always been June, so now that it's over I'm hoping to get more reading done. ;) Here are the books that I have read this summer!
The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan.
My high expectation for this book were met! Haha! My favorite character in this book had to be Apollo. Uncle Rick did a fabulous job creating him! (I won't give anything away).
The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson
I was so glad I reread this book. Anytime I reread a book it's like looking through a photo album. You're looking back on such good memories or bad ones..... I guess it depends on the book! Haha!
The Healers Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
It was so much fun taking this picture! Rose and Lord Hamlin loved music and whenever the got together he was usually playing his lute for her because she didn't get to listen to music very often. So sweet! <3
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
I absolutely love the cover of this book! Many of the famous quotes are engraved on the front which I think is so cool!
The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson.
Don't you just love my little Katniss Funko Pop??? I thought it was perfect for this Robin Hood retelling!
The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson
This is one of my favorite covers! The colors are so vibrant and it fits the book perfectly!
Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen
Click here to check out my book review!
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carol
So, it may surprise many of you, but I had never read this classic until a week ago. When I first started reading it I thought it was the cutest little story, but the farther I got into I started hating it. It was just so random! I might have enjoyed this if I was younger because it was so silly.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Ah, the book that started all of my madness! Haha! xD
The Beautiful Pretender by Melanie Dickerson
This was Dickerson's newest book and I just finished it yesterday. Thoughts on it? IT WAS AMAZING!!!! I loved it!!! It was just a bit slow in the beginning, but it kept my on the edge of my seat! SO GOOD!!!!
Now that I'm done with this post I think I shall go read. Ta-ta!
14.7.16
Book Review: Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen
"No one really knows 'bout me. I'm Rob's secret, his informant, I'm his shadow in the dark places. No one takes me for more than a knockabout lad, a whip of a boy. The never really see me....."
Today, I wanted to do a book review on one of my favorite Robin Hood retelling, Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen. I've read a lot of reviews on this book to see what other people thought about it. The feed back I got was quite surprising. Half the people gave it 1 star the other half gave it a 4 or 5 stars. I give it a 4 out of 5.
Goodreads Synopses:
Will Scarlet is good at two things: stealing from the rich and keeping secrets - skills that are in high demand in Robin Hood's band of thieves, who protect the people of Nottingham from the evil sheriff. Scarlet's biggest secret of all is one only Robin and his men know...that she is posing as a thief; that the slip of a boy who is fast with sharp knives is really a girl.
The terrible events in her past that led Scarlet to hide her real identity are in danger of being exposed when the thief taker Lord Gisbourne arrives in town to rid Nottingham of the Hood and his men once and for all. As Gisbourne closes in a put innocent lives at risk, Scarlet must decide how much the people of Nottingham mean to her, especially John Little, a flirtatious fellow outlaw, and Robin, whose quick smiles have the rare power to unsettle her. There is real honor among these thieves and so much more - making this a fight worth dying for.
My Review:
First thing I want to talk about it is the backstory. You must know that I have read a lot of books in my life time, but not many authors can seem to write a good backstory. What makes a good backstory you may ask? To me you need to give snippets of your protagonist's past throughout the story and later on explain the big picture without it being lengthy. Gaughen, did just that.
I also about the protagonist, Scarlet. She wasn't just some thief, she was a girl who, like anyone else, craved love. Many people thought that the love triangle in this book was unnecessary, but I believe it showed how Scarlet is a real girl with real feelings.
Gaughen, did a great job with this story. It was a bit slow, but she still kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! I was so pleased with the story I ended up getting the second book, The Lady Thief. I hope it is just as good as the first book!
11.6.16
The Trials Of Apollo by Rick Riordan
I HAVE JUST FINISHED THE TRIALS OF APOLLO BY RICK RIORDAN!!! *throws confetti in the air* The book was AMAZING!!! I'm not going to be posting any spoilers or reviews for it just yet. I know many people who still haven't read it yet and I don't want to be that person that posts like a million spoilers RIGHT after it's been published. However, I still wanted to post a picture of the beautiful cover.
The Hagenheim Series by Melanie Dickerson
Good afternoon! I'm so sorry for my lack of posts. Our computer charger has been acting up, so of course our computer has been dead. Thankfully I am back in the blogging business and will be posting more frequently.
This coming week I'm going to head out to the lake for a few days and a week after that I'll be at the lake with my cousins and we'll spend a week with them! I can't wait! I absolutely love the lake! I've never gone for more than a day, so this will be so much fun! Of course I have to bring a few books down while I'm gone and I think I'm going to bring the Hagenheim Series by Melanie Dickerson. The books are all loosely based off of fairy tales. Dickerson, gave them an interesting twist and make them more realistic to the medieval time period. I HIGHLY recommend this series! I have read them 3 times now and I am constantly on the edge of my seat! Click here to check out all of her books.
Here's a cute little picture I took of the series and my Cinderella Funko!
(A Sleeping Beauty retelling)
(A Beauty and the Beast retelling)
(A Snow White retelling)
(A Cinderella retelling)
(A Frog Prince retelling)
(A Rapunzel retelling)
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