Reading Mix Tape

I haven't posted in ages. So geez get off my back. I know you're all waiting with bated breath for my next review. My brains been elsewhere.
Anyways, here I am and review-less at that. Several people have asked me if I've got a list of my recommended reads. Yesterday the answer was no, but lucky for you- today the answer is YES! I've taken sometime to compile my little reading mix tape. My favorites... sort of... I'm going to try to avoid any major literature staples. I mean Brave New World, The Awakening, Animal Farm, Great Expectations, The Decameron... those pieces (amongst others) go without being said. So this is my unabashed favorites list.. it includes zombies, chick lit, sensitive vampires, dead body sensing teenagers, gay football players, angry marines, and sex ed teachers. I would like to think there's something for everyone. In no specific order....
1. DUFF by Kody Keplinger
2. Fade/Wake/Gone Series by Lisa McMann (3rd book is a little lacking but still great)
3. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
4. Divergent by Veronica Roth
5. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin (There's a Japanese movie adaptation, but haven't been able to find it?)
6. Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling (no brainer)
7. God Shaped Hole by Tiffanie DeBartolo
8. The Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead
9. The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare (4 of 6 books have been released)
10. Little Children by Tom Perotta
11. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
12. The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer (proudly)
13. The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins
14. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephenie Perkins
15. Perfect Chemistry Series by Simone Elkeles (2 of 3 books are out)
16. Going too Far by Jennifer Echols
17. Election by Tom Perotta
18. In the Woods by Tana French (I haven't read the others in this series but I hear good things)
19. The Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson
20. Prep by Curtis Sittenfield
21. Nothing by Janne Teller
22. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (absolutely haunting)
23. Shopgirl by Steve Martin
24. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
25. The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perotta (Can you tell I'm a HUGE Perotta fan?)
26. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
27. The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
28. Into the Wild by John Krakauer

Luckily for you... I'll be sporadically adding to this list.
-J

Off with her head!!!

 I bought a Kindle. Okay well I didn't BUY it. It was a late graduation present from my parents. A year ago if you would have told me that I was going to buy an e-reader I would have had some choice words for you intermingled with how a tablet will never replace a book and etc.. And then we went on our honeymoon. And I brought a suitcase full of books. Not only did I bring a suitcase full of books but I also brought them back with me after having read them because I couldn't leave a perfectly good book behind, what if someone wanted to borrow it some day? 

Ian and I are going on several trips over the next year or two and some of them are domestic flights, I don't know about you but I'm still pissed about all the new baggage rules so I had to come to terms with the fact that a suitcase full of books (while beautiful) is just unrealistic. And on top of all that, I've got this whole "no book left behind" thing when I travel. Therefore I can not bring myself to terms with the act of buying a book in an airport and leaving it in a random hotel room. Basically I'm a book hoarder. So I started toying with the idea of a Kindle. Why a Kindle? I like Amazon. I have an Amazon Prime account and it's AWESOME. I know the Nook is a little fancier, and honestly Nook is a really cute name for an e-reader but it's just a little too technologically emersed for me. According to Ian (and I say according to Ian because there is no way in hell you would find me comparing and contrasting electronics) the Nook blows through some serious battery and I don't need a color screen to read. Anyways my contemplating turned into action when my parents said they would buy me a 3G Kindle as late graduation present (go with the 3G it's worth the extra cost).

So here I sit having read my first couple books on my Kindle.

and I like it.

I'm sure you're saying, "What did you say???".

I said, I LIKE IT.

Here's the deal, I'm a skipper. Majorly... I have been known to thumb to the back of a book in the store before buying it to make sure the plot interests me even after knowing the end. I know, I KNOW. That's ridiculous. I'm just not a plot person. I'm a character person (don't get me a wrong a good plot is a good plot, I just have to LOVE my characters).

This is my favorite thing about my Kindle: IT'S A PAIN IN THE ASS TO FLIP TO THE BACK OF THE BOOK. I'm sure there's some magic button that will take me to the last page but I don't care to find it because I'm enjoying this whole "reading blind" thing (oxymoron, I know). 

Today will be one week with my Kindle, and I've already blown through four books... although I'm lacking in the sleep department.

So there you have it. Welcome to the future yall. Next step: Kindle cover I can't find the perfect one. I like the Kate Spade covers but they've gotten some bad reviews. Any recommendations?

-J

PS- there are A LOT of free downloads for the Kindle, including just about all of the classics!

The Infamous TBR Pile

TBR.
To Be Read. My to be read pile is enormous. I hide books in nooks and crannys and conveniently forget about them. I've recently been trying to make a point of reading the books I own, rather than buying new books.
It's not going so well.
I typically try to work from my to be read pile and only read brand new books if it's something big that I've been waiting for. I've decided rather than look at the whole pile I'm going to break it down into mini piles. (Excuse the messy table.) Here's my current list... so barring any much awaited books coming out this is what I'm planning on reading in the next couple weeks! (top to bottom, right to left)
The Passage by Justin Cronin
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
On The Road by Jack Kerouac (I know, I know...)
Love Sick by Jack Coburn
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder
The Wild Things by Dave Eggers (the full length version of Maurice Sendak's childrens book)
Don't Sleep With Your Drummer by Jen Sincero

As you can see my reading tastes are diverse (although at times immature :)). Wish me luck! Do you have any books your dying to read? Any books you're putting off? Any reading recommendations?
J
ps- almost through with The Mazerunner!

I'm here.

I love books. Absolutely. Love. Books.
I know I'm not the first person to start a book review blog and I know that I won't be the last.
But here goes.
Trial and error, right?
J