Over Thanksgiving break, my mom was digging through some old CDs, and found a bunch of old photos in the process. They were all from around 2007, when I was about four years old.
I had no memory of when we had gotten two of our cats-Anakin and Padme-because, y’know, I was really little. (They are both about 10 years old, cousins, and totally inseparable <3) So I was surprised when my mom uncovered these…
This is little kitten Padme!!! AAAH! HOW WAS SHE EVER THAT SMALL????? (She’s kinda overweight now, poor thing. Sorry, Padme…)
And here’s little kitten Anakin!!! This, along with most of the other photos, were taken on the day we adopted this little Sith lord. What a cutie.
Spending time with his loving cousin. Look at those eyes!!!
Um…don’t know what’s going on here…
…Hugs?
Along with the kitten pictures came a photo of me on Halloween when I was about three. I was Princess Leia, for the second time (I had been her when I was two as well).
Great expression, huh? So regal.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my unannounced slew of kitten pictures as much as I enjoyed seeing them. Meow.
Hey there, fellow bookworms, and welcome to this week’s BRT!
I read this book a few weeks ago at the library, and it was really interesting-it reminded me a lot of Stranger Things! So I’d definitely recommend it for all ST fans. Here’s your review!
The Secret Hour
When Jessica Day moves to the small town of Bixby, Oklahoma, she expects it to be like any other small town, where nothing ever happens. But what she thinks is far from the truth. One midnight, she wakes up, and sees raindrops, in what looks like suspended animation, frozen in the sky. Jess thinks it’s all a dream, but she’s wrong-in Bixby, times stops for one hour each night. And she’s one of the few people who can experience this “secret hour”. Soon, she finds more like her, and soon discovers that the Secret Hour is when the Darklings come out, eager for human flesh. And now it’s up to her and her fellow Midnighters to stop them.
I thought this book was really interesting and well-written. Like I said, a lot like Stanger Things-sometimes, I half expected a demogorgon to jump out of a bush or something! That would have been hilarious…
Anyway, have a great rest of your day, and watch out for the demogorgons-AHEM-sorry, Darklings while you’re at it!
Hey there, everyone! Happy November! (Well…sorta. November’s kind of a boring month, don’t you agree? I mean, it’s freezing, and the only important thing that happens is Thanksgiving, which is only celebrated in, like, 5 or 6 countries…)
One more thing before I get to the review. So, I read up to the fourth book in the Maximum Ride series (see my Halloween BRT), and books 2 & 3 were awesome, but the fourth one sucked. Just to warn you, stop at book 3 if you don’t want to be pelted with preachy info about global warming that most of us already know by now. Yeah, global warming is an insanely important issue, but the delivery of it in The Final Warning was just…ugh. Nope.
Anyway, I picked this book up at the library last week (*incredulous gasp* OH REALLY), and I thought it was really sweet. I hope you enjoy my review!
Braced
All Rachel Brooks wants is to be a normal teenage girl. And for the most part, she is. She’s a great soccer player, a steady friend group, and a boyfriend (maybe). But she’s got one thing standing in her way-scoliosis, a disorder where the spine curves sideways. Now, her scoliosis has gotten so bad that the doctor has prescribed a back brace, which she must wear under her clothes 23 hours per day. Wearing the brace changes her life-Rachel can’t play soccer as well, and now that she stands out, she’s become subject to teasing. Can she make it through the rest of middle school with her unusual challenge?
Before I read this book, I had no idea what scoliosis was. This book was very eye-opening to this disorder, and it was really interesting to learn about it. But in addition, this book was also very relatable-even if you don’t have a back brace. Rachel was a very real character, and she reminded me of a lot of girls that I’ve met. Overall, a fantastic book.
Thank you all so much for reading, and stay warm! Don’t let November bore ya too much!
(I have no idea what the heck that last one is, I just looked up “Halloween gifs” and it came up…
…uh…)
Weird pumpkin dude gifs aside, I’ve got a great book to review today, recommended by many friends to me and that (mostly) lived up to the hype! Enjoy!
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
Max (14), Fang (14), Iggy (14), Nudge (11), The Gasman (aka “Gazzy”, 8) and his little sister Angel (6) are all hybrid experiment, consisting of 98% human genes, and 2% bird genes. Ever since they escaped The School, the place where they were created, they’ve been running for their lives, trying to survive while evading the Erasers, dangerous, wolflike hybrids determined to bring them back. But when a pack of Erasers kidnaps Angel, they must search much of the U.S., rescue her, and above all, avoid being seen by normal humans. Can they survive the dangerous trek, and get Angel back?
Like I said earlier, at least four or five of my friends read this previously, and they all LOVED (and I mean LOOOOVED) it. I would have read it sooner as well, if it hadn’t been on hold at the library for such an egregious amount of time. *fumes* Anyway, I thought it was a very creative, fun, and adventurous Book. I’ve already read book 2 (School’s Out-Forever) and I currently have book 3 (Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports) on hold. Pretty psyched! I recommend it to all of you! Yes, ALL OF YOU!
I hope you guys have a WONDERFUL Halloween, eat lots of candy, dress up in awesome costumes!
I kept my promise, here’s an actual BOOK review. I hope you loved my MASSEDUCTION review (see my last post), but we’re back to normal for now, I promise…
…well, “normal” as a relative term.
But anyway, here’s a mind-blowing, creative, and creepy book, perfect for October!
Scythe
In 2042, humanity eradicated death. But there was a problem-how do we keep our expanding population in check? The answer: Scythes. The Scythedom is an organization of people assigned to kill-or “glean”, as they refer to it-people in order to keep the population under control. Teenagers Citra and Rowan have reluctantly become apprentices to the Scythedom, but they have no idea what’s in store for them. A mysterious self-gleaning and corruption are now in the midst of the Scythedom, and now Citra’s and Rowan’s apprenticeships-and lives-hang in the balance. Can the Scythedom be restored to what it once was?
WHOA. THIS BOOK. Amazing in pretty much every way. Spectacular world-building, likeable characters, intricate, well-written…I could go on, but I don’t want to annoy you to death and oversell the book. But anyway, YOU GUYS HAVE TO READ IT. NOW. SERIOUSLY.
Have a wonderful afternoon (or whatever time of day it is where you are), and I’ll be back with another BRT on Halloween!
As I’ve told you on various occasions, St. Vincent has been my favorite singer for a while. And I’ve been waiting for new material from her for 3 years. And finally, last Friday, MASSEDUCTION was finally released! But, after listening to the album, my feelings were a bit mixed.
Just a note beforehand, I’m going to use the same method I use for rating books (1-WORST SONG EVER, 5-okay, I guess, 10-OMGOMGOMGOMG LOVE) Also, I’m not going to review “New York” because I already talked about it a bit in a previous post. So yeah, here goes!
TRACK 1: “Hang On Me” RATING: 7/10
A nice balance of melancholy and hope, a little reminiscent of St. Vincent’s earlier work. Kind of poignant and endearing in a way. Not her best, but certainly not her worst. A lot better than some of her other stuff on this album…(prepare for more saltiness later in the review…)
TRACK 2: “Pills” RATING: 8/10
When I first heard about this song, my mom told me that she had read an article that said that Cara Delevigne* was going to sing a little bit in this song. I basically wanted to puke in my mouth, and thus, my expectations were pretty low for this song. But as you can assume from my rating, this is actually one of my favorite songs on the album! Very catchy. My favorite part is the ending, which sounds like a cross between something off her last album (St. Vincent), and something off David Bowie’s Blackstar.
TRACK 3: “Masseduction” RATING: 4/10
This is really where it started going downhill.
Ugh. The guitar is kinda cool for a few brief seconds, but that’s pretty much all I like. Verging onto the horrendous, modern pop territory. It is just not St. Vincent. Nope. Nope. Nope.
TRACK 4: “Sugarboy” RATING: 3/10
BLEARGH. This is literally the worst song on the entire MASSEDUCTION album. I swear, if you took out all of the vocals, it would probably fit right in as the soundtrack to a MarioKart game or something and nobody would notice that it’s St. Vincent.
But I did notice that at one point, they snuck and sped up the baseline for “Los Ageless” in there. That was kinda funny.
TRACK 5: “Los Ageless” RATING: 8/10
Luuuuuurve! Now THIS is more like her old stuff! The chorus is a little annoying and modern-pop-y, but still a wonderful song. Plus, there’s a crazy video to go with it. I liked it even better than the one for “New York”.
PLEASE DON’T EAT THAT ANEMONE THING, ANNIE…
TRACK 6: “Happy Birthday, Johnny” RATING: 6.5/10
This is where this album starts to get really depressing.
I’d say that it’s “short and sweet”, but it’s more like “short and makes me want to cry a little”. It makes me want to give Annie Clark a little hug. *lip quivers slightly”
TRACK 7: “Savior” RATING: 4.5/10
Meh. It’s not as pop-y as “Masseduction” and “Sugarboy”, but still kind of fits that general pop mold. It just doesn’t really grab me, and eventually kind of melts into background noise. Tolerable, but not great.
TRACK 9: “Fear the Future” RATING: 7.5/10
YASS! Finally some relief after that bout of depression and pop! Like I said with “Hang On Me” earlier, it’s not her best, but it’s GREAT. The guitar is super cool. This sounds like something that would be really fun to see live.
TRACK 10: “Young Lover” RATING: 7/10
This song seems to be wearing an odd mask. The rhythm is happy and upbeat, but the lyrics are really sad. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful song, though. I’d probably give it a higher rating, but I hate the ending when St. Vincent’s voice goes up to a ridiculously high octave, bringing to mind the scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when the Fat Lady is trying to sing opera and smashes the wine glass against the wall.
TRACK 11/12: “Dancing With a Ghost” and “Slow Disco” RATING: 4.5/10
“Dancing With A Ghost” is kind of cool, but doesn’t really have much substance. I’m not saying that because it’s instrumental, but there’s just not much to it. Now, “Slow Disco” is sad, but like “Savior”, it just doesn’t seem to grab me at all. Also, the probably-male-but-sort-of-androgynous voice at the end annoys the heck out of me.
TRACK 13: “Smoking Section” RATING: 7.5/10
OH.
MY.
GOD.
MY HEART.
Every time I hear this song, my heart feels as though somebody chucked it off the top of the Empire State Building, and then it splattered on the road. And then got run over by a car. No scratch that, a truck. Wait, no…a steam roller. Yeah. That’s more accurate. What I’m saying is that if you ever find me sobbing in the corner with headphones on, it’s because I’ve listened to this song too many times. It’s beautiful and cinematic, but MY GOD, THIS IS THE MOST DEPRESSING SONG I’VE HEARD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. If “Happy Birthday, Johnny” made me want to give Annie Clark a hug, this one makes me want to give her a near-strangulation level bear hug.
Alright, I’ve averaged out the ratings for this album (I added “New York”, an 8), and the final number turned out to be about a 6. Sigh…
I waited three years, THREE YEARS, and I must say, I’m rather underwhelmed. Not St. Vincent’s best work. I don’t mean to say that there’s nothing good about this album. It’s just disappointing. Sigh…
So anyway, I hope you enjoyed my semi-salty album review. I promise, there’s an actual BOOK review coming tomorrow. So, bye for now!
Okay, first of all, I’m really sorry that I couldn’t get to the first October BRT. I had loads of homework, and I had to get a lot of it done sooner due to a Shins concert at Red Rocks and a weekend trip to Vail (both of which were A-MAY-ZING!). And I’ll miss one more in about a week or so because I’m going on another school trip. So, you’re not in for as much BRTs this month, so sorry. 😦
But anyway, I’ve got a GREAT review today of one of my personal most anticipated books of 2017…
Drumroll please…
…RENEGADES! YEP, THAT’S RIGHT, THE LAST BOOK IN THE RANDOMS SERIES!!! SQUEE!
Renegades
After his last adventure in space, Zeke Reynolds has landed himself on Earth yet again (unintentionally), at a boarding school for “disobedient children”. The Phands have also begun their ultimate takeover, and are slowly brainwashing the entire human race. But a quick escape by Zeke and his friends put them back into space…and far from their original plan. Now it’s all a mess-Zeke’s stuck on an uninhabited planet with Villainic, Tamret’s kinda-sorta-maybe-former boyfriend, his remaining friends have been captured, and to top it all off…Tamret’s not really his girlfriend anymore (uncertain…). With the help of a misfit gang of rebels and some unexpected allies, will Zeke and his friends be able to stop the Earth from being taken over?
OH MY GOD. Words cannot describe how this book made me feel.
Okay, well…they kinda can, but it’s a rather…unarticulate choice of words. I just went on an emotional rollercoaster-laughing, anger, mind explosion, almost crying-the whole shebang. I was in emotional disarray for about a day afterward. I’m pretty sad that one of my favorite series has to end, but it ended with a bang, and I was satisfied.
Well then, have a great rest of your day, and enjoy October!
‘Sup, fellow bibliophiles! Welcome to the very last BRT of September 2017! I promise, it won’t be nearly as disappointing as my last post…heh heh heh…NOT SORRY! HAH!
Anyway, I read this book while I was on the school trip that I mentioned earlier, and I thought it was really interesting. Enjoy your review!
The Shadow Cipher
In an alternate version of New York City in 1798, unimaginable technology unlike nothing the world had ever seen powers and advances everything, all thanks to the Morningstarr Twins, a pair of genius architects and inventors. Just after their ideas were put to use, they vanished, leaving only the Old York Cipher, a puzzle that takes you through the grand city, with great treasures promised to those who solve it. Now, almost 220 years later, no one has solved it. But siblings Tess and Theo and their friend Jaime believe that they can. This time, there’s more at stake than treasure-a slimy real estate developed has announced that the apartment complex they live in, constructed by the Morningstarr Twins themselves, will be torn down in thirty days. Can they solve the Old York Cipher before they lose their home?
Though The Shadow Cipher wasn’t mind-blowingly amazing or anything, it was still a very interesting read, with writing and mystery that will keep you turning the page. For instance:
Let’s just appreciate that line for a second.
(Honestly, that might have been my favorite part of the entire book…😂)
So there’s something to look forward to if you do end up reading The Shadow Cipher…don’t worry, there’s certainly more than that.
Well anyway, I hope you liked this week’s book review! Have a great rest of your day!
Hello everyone! I’m back from my school trip-I had such a fun time in Moab! I blew through a stack of library books (as well as some Kindle books too, of course), and the following is one of those. Don’t be fooled by the low-ish rating on Goodreads (3.30 out of 5)-Ravenwood is wonderful. Here’s your review!
Ravenwood
Ark is an apprentice plumber in Arborium, a nation where life is centered around a giant tree where everyone lives. With one of the worst jobs possible and a domineering, abusive boss, times are hard for Ark. But everything changes when he overhears a plot to kill the king and destroy Arborium forever. Knowing that he cannot keep this information to himself, Ark embarks on a dangerous quest to get the word out before Arborium is lost forever. Will Ark save Arborium, or will it be lost to time?
Like I said earlier, this book has a kind of meh rating on Goodreads. A lot of people in the reviews said that some negative things, like that the plot was too complicated, there was too much detail, blah, blah, blah. Don’t listen to them-Ravenwood is unlike any book I’ve read in a long time. And for your information, the amount of detail really adds to the plot and makes it easier to picture the world of Arborium. The world-building is outstanding as well. So, go ahead and read Ravenwood! You won’t regret it!
I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, and stay tuned for the last BRT of September 2017!
We’re just a bit more than halfway through 2017, but already, we’ve gotten a lot of good music that’s come out! I just wanted to share my 5 2017 favorites so far. Enjoy!
1. “Half a Million”-The Shins
(This music video is crazy awesome. And I mean CRAZY awesome.)
I downloaded Heartworms (the new Shins album) the day it came out, and didn’t get to listening to this one for a while. Thus, I didn’t really care for it for a few months. Then, I actually got to listening to it, and man, I was SO happy! Super fun and upbeat, and with the classic, weird lyrics to match!
2. “New York”-St. Vincent
(Now THIS music video is just weird…but in the best way possible.😂)
I also got this the day it came out, being the first single from St. Vincent’s upcoming album (which I’ve been waiting something like 3 years for). Though it’s nowhere near as good as some of the content off of her last album, St. Vincent, it’s still a wonderful song. Squee!
3. “Put Your Money On Me”-Arcade Fire
(This one’s just a lyric video, but prepare to be blown away by the song!)
I discovered this one when my mom, brother and I were in the car listening to Everything Now (the new Arcade Fire album) on CD in the car. I was hooked the second it came on, with the opening melody that reminded me of spiders crawling up a wall, and beautiful lyrics. It reminded me a little of David Bowie, like something he might have produced on one of his later albums. Be-yoo-tee-ful!
4. “War Is Coming (If You Want It)”-Car Seat Headrest
Alrighty, I suppose there’s not much to say other than that….*ahem* Great song.
5. “Oh! You Pretty Things”-Lisa Hannigan
(This one’s just the album cover with the song in the background. Still, beautiful.)
As you may have noticed, this is, in fact, a David Bowie cover. One of my personal favorites! Lisa Hannigan did an AMAZING job covering it, making it simultaneously haunting and soothing. I’m currently listening to it on repeat, as that’s what I normally do when I download new songs. Also, according to my parents, it was in a show called Legion, which I haven’t seen, but I know it has something to do with the X-Men, which makes it even more perfect and fitting!
”Let me make it plain, gotta make way for the Homo superior…”
I hope you enjoyed this little insight into my musical taste, and enjoyed the songs as well! See you later! 😉
The Bookish Mutant 