End of the Week/Beginning of the Week Update

Hi everybody!

I'm sorry I didn't post an end of the week update this week. I didn't want to post one on Friday because it was a snow day for me and I did a lot of reading. And then it seemed silly to do one yesterday as I would have this one up today.

Anyway, I had a pretty good reading week this week. I was able to finish Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as well as start and finish Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I had some extra time on my hands this week so it was great to be able to get so much reading done.

Now, my plans for this week are to start Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm actually going to do that when I finish and post this post. I'm really looking forward to this one because its the one I've read the least amount of time and I'm pretty sure I'm missing some details. But there are some things that stick out in my memory from the movie that I want to check with the book.

When I finish the series, I want to find a couple of Harry Potter Tags and fill them in for you guys so you get a little bit more in depth to my thoughts of the Harry Potter series.

I think I'm going to have a few days on my hands to read because I've gotten a nasty head cold and need a few days to recoup. I'll keep you updated.

Until then,

Type at you later!

Shea

Library Stands

Hello all!

I've woken up on this lovely first day of spring to five inches of snow......... So, my plans for today are to have a mini read-a-thon! In my bed of course because I've also woken up with a massive sore throat and a bit of laryngitis. Nothing better to do!

Anyway, in yesterday's post, I mentioned Library Stands. That's where I got The Rosie Project. I wanted to give you some insight into them!

Basically, we have a town-wide book trading system. Several businesses in our town have shelves in their main entrance where you can drop off books. While they are there, anyone is able to pick them up. FOR FREE! It's a bit of a pot-luck kind of thing. You can't go to the salon saying you want to pick up the Harry Potter series. You probably won't find the entire series. But, if you're lucky, you'll find one or two.

That's one of the things I like about these library stands. You kind of get a gist about what the people in town like to read. Or not read as the case might be.

Sometimes, you get really lucky. Like when I saw The Rosie Project, I grabbed it right away! And then I had a closer look at it. It's a first edition, SIGNED copy. I almost passed out. ;P But other times, you have to wait a while for the shelves to fill back up. There are times when they are completely empty!

Another one of the best things about these shelves is that there is a wide variety of books that you may not have ever heard of. And, you can quite often find kid's books on the shelf. :)

The great thing about these stands is that it supports reading. And the fact that you don't have to pay for them is great. If you don't have a lot of money, you get to keep a book. And that makes me really happy.

I haven't seen these in other towns and cities that I've visited, but I think it would be a great addition to any town!

What do you think? Would you like these in YOUR town or city? Let me know in the comments and we'll have a chat about them!

Have a great day and first day of spring!

Type at you later!

Shea

There's No Shame in Buying Books.....

Hi guys! So today, I went book shopping. Nothing too drastic. Just finished up a few series that I have random books of. :)

Our closest book store is a Books-A-Million. I must say it doesn't have the best choices for older releases. It mainly has new releases, books that are movies, and popular titles. I have no problem with that, but sometimes you can get lucky!

Okay, so, here are the books I got.

I already owned Cinder by Marissa Meyer, and I wanted to update that collection, so I bought Scarlet and Cress.

I also finished my Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. I had the first three and the last one, but was missing books four and five. So I picked those up!

The only thing about these books is that they are a different cover than what I already have. My other books are the ones with two people (who I can only assume are Rose and Dimitri! :P) on the cover. But, it's still the same story. So, I'm okay with that.

Next, I FINALLY finished my City of Bones series by Cassandra Clare. When I first ordered them, they were all paperback, same editions, ect., ect. But for some reason, the whole collection never came. So, I have been patiently collecting the remaining books in the series. Today, I picked up book number 1! It's kind of weird that I didn't have book number 1, but I checked that one out from the Library originally. So now, I have them all! Except The Bane Chronicles, but I will be picking that up ASAP! :D

The next two books I picked up, were by a total stroke of good luck. I was walking up and down random isles of BAM and the cover jumped right out at me. I found Wicked and Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire  WITH THE SPRAYED EDGES. FOR SEVEN DOLLARS. I don't think you realize how exciting this is for me. I'm obsessed with the play and soundtrack, so I'm interested in reading the story that inspired that!

I couldn't find a picture of Son of a Witch with the sprayed edges but above is the edition that I picked up!

The last book I picked up was not from BAM. It's from a library stand in my town. I'll have a post up soon about these library stands (most likely tomorrow because we are expecting more snow *rolls eyes*). :P

Anyway, I was able to find a first edition signed copy of The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. It was a great surprise. 

I'm still planning on finishing the Harry Potter series before I pick any of these up, but as soon as I'm done with Harry Potter, I will be picking up Wicked! 

I hope you guys are having a great week! 

Type at you later!

Shea

Beginning of the Week Update!

Hi guys!

I hope you all had a great weekend! I know I did. My aunt adopted a new doggie named Mica and we've spent the weekend bonding with her. She is a German Shepard/Lab mix and is cute as a button! I'll include a picture of her at the end of this post.

So, I actually managed to get a bunch of reading done this weekend. I have gotten up to page 703 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I am planning on finishing the book tonight, but I have a homeschool lesson tonight, so I may not have time. But I will definitely be finishing it over the next couple of days. I plan on starting Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as soon as I am done with this one.

I really am enjoying this story. The only thing I wish was that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were a little more involved with the Order than they are. I agree with Harry when he says that he is the one who saw Voldemort come back and he is the one Voldemort is after. Anyway, its still a very good novel. There is so much foreshadowing that I hadn't picked up on in past reads of this book. And that just makes it even better!

Well, I hope you all have a great week! Let me know in the comments what other posts you would like to see from me. I hope to be getting back into my YouTubeing soon, but it's been kind of hectic as it is my last semester of High School. I've got a lot of college stuff on my plate at the moment. That's why it's easier for me to do a blog right now.

Anyway,

Type at you later,

Shea

Movie Review: Cinderella

Guys, let me premise this by saying that this may be completely biased as Cinderella has been and will always be my favorite Disney Princess. :)

So, this weekend, I went to see the new live-action Cinderella movie. And it was AMAZING!!! I laughed, I cried. It was beautiful and totally renewed my childhood fantasy of wanting to attend a ball and wear an amazing dress! :)

The movie strayed a little from the original classic, but I expected that. But the things they added, may have made the film better. One of my favorite things that they changed was the way they set up the coach. They still used a pumpkin, but the pumpkin was in a green house. And when the pumpkin turned into a carriage...... let's just say the green house was no more.

Also, Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother? Perfection! It's really kind of weird to see her as Bellatrix Lestrange and then see her in a ball gown and say Bibidi bobidi boo. :)

I don't want to give to much away, but the dress for the ball... was beautiful. It centered around butterflies, which are my favorite animals ever. The blue was just a perfect shade that made her eyes pop. I loved how the glass slippers looked. And the fact that they had a butterfly on the toe, just made it even more perfect.

I loved how they portrayed the mice. True, they didn't talk, but they still had so much character. Their shining moment came at the end when the prince was looking for Cinderella. I won't say much about that because it's something that they changed. But it really made me smile. :)

The ugly step-sisters were ugly. Their fashion statements were very questionable. Especially for people who claimed to be fashionable. :P

The only thing I wish there was more of was singing. They threw in a few songs, but I really was looking forward to hearing some of my favorites like, "A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes" and "Bibbidi bobidi boo". But the songs they threw in there were beautiful.

I give it a 5 out of 5 stars, would recommend all the way! I actually can't wait to see it again and will definitely be buying it when it comes out on DVD. And iTunes. And any other way I can support it!

I always wanted to be a princess, and now I want to be one even more.

Type at you later,

Shea

End of the Week Update!

Hey everybody!

I hope your week went well! Mine was a little crazy with school and meetings and college stuffs. But, I still managed to get some reading done!!! I finished the fourth Harry Potter and loved it once again. I always love reading the imposter Moody's side of the story. Don't get me wrong, I still think Barty Crouch Jr. is a vile, evil person. But, I really love hearing things from the villain's perspective. That would be my vote if there were ever to be another Harry Potter book. A story from the perspective of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. ;P

After I finished the fourth book, I immediately picked up the fifth one. Because I had so much to do this week, I was really only reading at bedtime. With this said, I've only gotten to page 237 (which is in the middle of a chapter!). It's taking me a little while to get through it. As I was reading through the part where they were cleaning out the cupboards in the drawing room and they found the necklace that no-one could open, I wanted to jump into the story and tell them to keep it in a safe place. But I suppose if they did that there would be no point to the sixth book or most of the seventh, would there?

But here's my question (and please debate it with me!) are the thestrals pronounced with a th- sound? Or is the th- sound pronounced as a p- sound? The reason I as is because I'm pretty sure in the movie, Luna pronounces it with a p- sound. But, I've heard it pronounced with the th- sound as well. Now I'm all confused!

I hope you all had a great reading week. I'm off to paint my nails because they've been blank for about three days now and that's longer than I usually go without having color on my nails. But that's a story for a different day.

Type at you later!

Shea

Beginning of the Week Update!

Hi all! I'm trying out this new kind of post, so let me know what you think about it. I'm going to post a blog on Mondays and Fridays. A beginning of the week and an end of the week update. This way, I can let you know how I've done over the weekend and during the week. I'll also be posting other posts sporadically, and of course my end of the month wrap-ups. Please let me know if you like these! :)

So, I didn't read much this weekend. I'm still reading the fourth Harry Potter(and the Goblet of Fire). I'm almost done. I'm hoping to finish it tonight or tomorrow, depending on when I fall asleep. I'm planning on starting the fifth this week, nonetheless.

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I'm going to add this part to this blog to update you on the college things that I've done. I met with an admissions councilor at the college I am planning on attending, and I had to take an accuplacer test. I passed the test with flying colors and was accepted to the school!!! I'm so excited!

I'm planning on starting a little bit early. Hopefully for the summer semester. But, I'll keep you updated!

Type at you later!

Shea