28 January 2011

Book Blogger Hop (1/28-1/31)!

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted at Crazy For Books as a way for bloggers to connect with each other over a common book-related question each weekend.  This week's question was submitted by yours truly =)

What book are you most looking forward to seeing published in 2011?  Why are you anticipating that book?

I submitted a hard question!  There are definitely a lot of books that I'm looking forward to reading in 2011.  But if I have to pick one, I'd have to say Mastiff by Tamora Pierce.  This is the third book in her Beka Cooper series.  Tamora Pierce is one of those authors that I've grown up with.  I started reading her books in middle school (6th or 7th grade) and even though that was over eight years ago (wow!) I still love her books.  Mastiff doesn't come out until November, and there's no synopsis released yet, but I'm sure it will be worth the wait!

Again, a huge thanks to Jennifer at Crazy for Books for featuring Des Absurdités this weekend!!

26 January 2011

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Memento Nora by Angie Smibert



Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to profile yet to be released books that we're eagerly anticipating.  This week, I'm featuring Memento Nora by Angie Smibert.  It will be released in April 2011.


It's a YA dystopian novel that I came across while perusing other book blogs.  It sounds like a really interesting take on the dystopian genre because it also deals with issues of memory.


Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:


A teen struggles to hold onto her memories-and her identity-in a world that wants everyone to forget-and keep on shopping. Three dynamic teens come together to create a comic book of their memories.


There was a better synopsis somewhere, but I can't find it at the moment.  Sorry =(


I was lucky enough to get selected for an ARC tour of this book from the wonderful Holly at Good Golly Miss Holly!  I'm fifth on the list so I should get the book around the middle of March.  But I am extremely excited to read this one; it's been on my list since I first heard about it!  Can't wait =)

24 January 2011

BOOK REVIEW: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Wow!  Suzanne Collins has done it again!  Mockingjay absolutely lives up to the hype that was surrounding its release.  As the last book in the series, Mockingjay needed to wrap up Katniss' story, but also address the cliffhanger we were left with at the end of Catching Fire.  It succeeds amazingly well in doing both, and the story still includes the twists and surprises we grew accustomed to from reading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.


WARNING:  Minor spoilers may be present.


The book starts off with a brief overview of everything that happened between the end of Catching Fire and the time at which Katniss has to choose her role as the Mockingjay.  While this section reads at a much slower pace than the rest of the book, this narration was necessary to set the stage for the rest of the plot.  In my opinion, Collins handled this as best as she could while still propelling the story forward.


The story really gets moving when Katniss and the others begin actively participating in the life of District 13.  I don't want to give away too much here, but District 13 was nothing like I imagined it would be.  Panem is in the midst of a bloody and trying war, and District 13 is trying to cope with it while still staying true to their beliefs about the country.  This is an important plot point- so I will lay it to rest here.


The character development, I have to say, was my absolute favorite part of Mockingjay.  After the events that ended Catching Fire, the tributes, some of the other Hunger Games personnel, and a few District 12 habitants find themselves thrown into District 13, which even if it had not been preparing for war, is very different from 12 or the Capitol.  Collins did an amazing job of tracing each character's journey in 13 and exploring not only their actions, but their thoughts as well.  More so than in either of the preceding books, I felt like I really knew each character.  Even when there were plot twists that shocked me, in some way, they were not completely out of the blue.  They all fit with some aspect of that character's personality.  The characters all felt like real, not like a fictional creation that they were.  It made Mockingjay an even more captivating read, because the character progression felt so natural.


The ending, the ending...satisfied me even though I really expected it not to.  But after reading the whole series, this ending is really the only one that makes sense, after all.


READ THIS SERIES!  That's really all I have to say.  Even if you are not a dystopian fan, the character development and plot progression of The Hunger Games trilogy rivals those of any other series I have ever read.  You will find yourself wrapped up in what is happening to Katniss and Panem, and unable to put the book down.

23 January 2011

And the semester has begun!

It's been a crazy first week of classes for me!  None of my classes seem like they will be particularly difficult (or at least, not worse than last semester!), and my schedule is not awful.  But with all of the snow we've gotten here in NJ over the past few weeks, just physically getting to class has been like a death trap!  There is so much ice everywhere that walking to the bus stop is a gamble for your life.  But I made it through =) and can't really complain.  Some of the classes I'm taking could have turned out to be much more difficult than they did, and a couple of them are actually interesting, too ;-)  As long as I don't procrastinate too much, the workload should be manageable.


Of course, that makes it sound like I've had all the time in the world to update the blog.  I wish!  But unfortunately, that is not the case.  The first week of classes is always crazy because of trying to purchase textbooks, but this year that craziness is compounded by the fact that I also have to get special permission numbers for one of my classes...but I can only get it after I get three people to sign a form.  Shouldn't be that hard...except that the last person only has office hours on Tuesdays and is not in his office at all except for then.  So I've spent hours running back and forth between campuses to try and register for this class...which I still haven't been able to do, by the way.


But although I haven't had time to update the blog until now, I have been reading!  Which means that there are reviews coming soon =)


I started reading Ash by Malinda Lo.  This is the companion to Huntress, which I wrote a review of earlier.  At the moment I have to say that I prefer Huntress, but a proper review is definitely coming next week!  The book is due at the library next Friday, so I don't have a choice but to finish it by then!


Other than that, my reading list is everything that was In My Mailbox last week.  And I still have reviews to post for the rest of the Hunger Games series, which I finished last week.


Hopefully the next few weeks calm down a little bit, and then I will update here more often.  Hopefully...hopefully...

17 January 2011

In My Mailbox: Jan 10-16

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren as a way to share what books we got over the past week.




I purchased XVI by Julia Carr.



I also got a load of books from NetGalley!  (If you've never used it, it's an awesome site where you can get advance copies of books online.  You have to read them on your computer- no print copies- but if you don't mind that, then it's a great way to read a lot of books well before their release dates.)


The Atomic Weight of Secrets or The Arrival of the Mysterious Men in Black by Eden Unger Bowditch
My Favorite Band Does Not Exist by Robert T Jeschonek
Lost Voices by Sarah Porter
The Cellar by A J Whitten
Trickster's Girl by Hilari Bell


Sadly, I start classes again this week so I'm not going to have as much time to read as I did over the break.  I'm going to read the books I have but my blog posts are going to start being a mix of book posts and random life posts again.  This blog started out as a personal blog and I don't want to lose that aspect of it even as I post more book reviews and such.  =)

16 January 2011

On Editing

I participated in NaNoWriMo last November.  For those of you who haven't heard of NaNoWriMo before, it's pretty simple.  Write a 50,000 word novel between November 1 and 30, and you win.  What do you win?  The satisfaction of writing your very own novel (and some other little goodies...but mostly just satisfaction).  It doesn't sound like much, but anyone who has ever completed NaNoWriMo can attest to the amazing feeling you get when writing that 50,000th word.


Now it's been about a month and a half since the end of November.  I haven't touched my novel at all until this week when I finally felt ready to start editing.  Now, personally, I like editing a lot more than I like writing.  But I never imagined how hard it would be to edit something I wrote myself!  Even though it's been weeks since I last read my own novel, I realized that there's no way I am going to forget everything that happens.  So it becomes extremely difficult to predict how a reader might experience a plot twist or a new character, since as the author, I already know how they impact the rest of the story.


I don't really have any intent on making this particular novel publishable, so I'm not going to stress too much about editing; however, I'd like to get it to the point that I can let other people read it.  A rough copy of a novel written in 27 days is not exactly perfect ;-)


Have you ever written something novel-length before, or attempted NaNoWriMo?  What are your editing tips?

14 January 2011

Book Blogger Hop (1/14-1/17)!

The wonderful blog Crazy For Books has a weekly feature called the Book Blogger Hop.  Each week, they post a question for bloggers to answer.  It's a great way for book bloggers to connect with one another.  This week's question is:


Why do you read the genre that you do?  What draws you to it?

I love reading YA fantasy or dystopian.  Even thinking back to when I was younger, some of my favorite authors to read were  Tamora Pierce, JK Rowling, and Libba Bray; I loved The Giver and The Magician's Nephew; The Guardians of Ga'hoole, Pendragon, and Artemis Fowl were the series I followed.


Now that I'm in college, I still find myself attached to YA fantasy.  While they're quick reads for me now, this genre still pulls me in for all the same reasons it did when I was younger.  I can't find novels in the adult section that I love quite the same way I love my YA.


Everyone always talks about how reading should be an escape.  In order for reading to have that effect on me, I need the story to be very distinct from reality.  I need to be able to pick up a book and have it transport me somewhere that doesn't remind me of the real world.  Being able to use a book as a vessel to imagine something totally new and exciting is something I find only fantasy is able to do for me.  Whether the new world that's created is better or worse than reality right now doesn't matter to me so long that it's different.  I find that YA fantasy and dystopian novels are full of avenues for me as the reader to explore different ideas, without being constrained by the laws of reality.


What's your take on YA fantasy and dystopian novels?  Do you have any all-time favorite books from these genres?

13 January 2011

Everything's FREE if you just look!

A hobby of mine for a while has been free sample hunting.  Over the years I've gotten a lot of free things.  =)  The most common type of samples out there are little packets of shampoo, toothpaste, and other cosmetic items, and samples of food.  I started out free sample hunting because I really enjoy getting mail, and this was a fun way to get more.

Recently, I've gotten a couple of big ticket items for free, and realized how much free stuff is available on line if you just look.  From playing instant win games, I've gotten- for FREE- a grill and a digital camera!  While these aren't the kind of samples that are readily available every day, if you play the instant win games often enough, you can win, too!
My free grill (in the back) and a bunch of other samples.
Me and my free digital camera!
Companies make free samples available all the time, to increase exposure of their brand.  If you just look around, it's actually quite easy to find these samples and get them yourself!  Books, food, and even electronics can be yours for free, too!  Here are a few places to start looking yourself, if you are interested:


Good luck, and let me know what you get for FREE online!

12 January 2011

"Waiting On" Wednesday: My Favorite Band Does Not Exist by Robert T Jeschonek

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to profile yet to be released books that we're eagerly anticipating.  This week, I'm featuring My Favorite Band Does Not Exist by Robert T Jeschonek.  It will be released on July 11, 2011.


It's a YA fantasy novel that seems to also fall under the realm of metafiction.  While that's not normally what I read, I've been enticed by the idea of metafiction since I discovered the idea of it in November.  I'd really like to read My Favorite Band Does Not Exist to get some firsthand experience with reading metafiction.


Here is the summary from Amazon:


Sixteen-year-old genius Idea Deity believes that he exists only in the pages of a novel written by a malevolent, omnipotent author . . . and that he will die in chapter 64. Meanwhile, an older teen named Reacher Mirage sings lead vocals for the undercover rock band Youforia . . . a band that exists in Idea’s world only as an Internet hoax that Idea himself perpetuated. Then there’s beautiful and mysterious Eunice Truant, who links their destinies. When Idea and Reacher plunge into the reality ofFireskull’s Revenant, the twisted epic fantasy novel they’ve both been reading, chapter 64 bears down on them like a speeding freight train on an unstoppable collision course. Being trapped in a bad book can be a nightmare. Just ask Idea Deity.


I actually just received a galley of this book from NetGalley!  I'm super excited to read it, so make sure to check back a little closer to the release date for a review!  I'm swamped now with books on my "to read" list (especially because a bunch of them are library books that are due soon), but this is close to the top of the list because I want to read it so badly =)

11 January 2011

BOOK REVIEW: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I'm going to start off this review saying that I read Catching Fire in just one day!  I'm a fast reader, but not that fast (normally), so it's just a testament as to how much I loved this book.


This book picks up where The Hunger Games leaves off, starting with a background of things that happened immediately upon Katniss' return to District 12.  The action really picks up right before Katniss and Peeta tour the districts for their Victory Tour.  It was a nice transition between the two books, because as the reader, I didn't feel like I was missing any of the action.  Everything that was mentioned as happening to the victors after the end of the Games was actually detailed in Catching Fire.  I really liked that the books, together, seamlessly covered all of the time from the beginning of The Hunger Games to the end of Catching Fire without leaving large gaps in time between the two books like some multi-book series do.


Again, Katniss and Peeta are very strong personalities, but you can tell that they have changed since winning the 74th annual Games.  They are both more rebellious and more questioning of Panem.  This, combined with some other events and new characters (that I'm not going to mention specifically here- too much of a spoiler!), do somewhat prepare the reader for what happens at the end of the book, although not how it actually comes about.  While yes, like many other "middle of the trilogy" books, Catching Fire has the role of setting up what needs to be done before Mockingjay, there are enough twists, surprises, and new characters to keep the reader interested from beginning to end.  Even changes in characters that we met in The Hunger Games feed into the unrest throughout Panem.  Effie, Cinna, and the rest of Katniss and Peeta's entourage become deeper characters in Catching Fire, again to the effect of expressing the state of the Capitol after Katniss' defiance at the end of The Hunger Games.


I especially like that Collins is able to plant doubts into the characters' heads (especially Katniss') at the same time that she puzzles the reader.  Again, the first person narration helps a lot.  The plot moves quickly, and the reader really experiences what Katniss does throughout the entire book.


While I can't deny that I did like The Hunger Games more than Catching Fire, I think that was mainly because everything was so new in The Hunger Games while a lot of things were more expected come Catching Fire.  That's not to say that I didn't still love Catching Fire- because I did- and there is absolutely enough in there to keep the reader pulled forward.  It's just that The Hunger Games had more straight-up action because it primarily dealt with the Games themselves, while Catching Fire covered more of the political unrest and character relationships.


Wow~ I can't wait to read Mockingjay next!  Just seeing reviews of Mockingjay are what got me started with this series in the first place.  But, more of that in the appropriate review!

10 January 2011

BOOK REVIEW: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Wow!  I usually disagree with hype around a lot of newly-published books, but The Hunger Games definitely lived up to its reputation.  From the first page to the last, I could barely put the book down.  I finished reading it in three nights...three very long nights during which I stayed up until 3:00 am just so I could read some more.

While The Hunger Games was clearly a dystopian novel, Panem, the country that exists in place of North America, is not home to the mindless, submissive people that are the staple of many dystopian plots.  Instead, from the beginning, the reader feels that there is a sense of unease throughout the society because of the Hunger Games.  The Games are an annual event in which two tributes (participants) from each of the 12 Districts of Panem, battle each other in a large arena until only one of the 24 teens is left alive; they are, in turn, declared the victor.  The Hunger Games follows Katniss, one of the tributes from District 12, as she struggles to understand the Games, herself, and her future.

For those who have read the Pendragon series, The Hunger Games is very similar to the seventh book, The Quillan Games.  Both involve unwilling competitors who must fight for their own survival in a game designed to end in death.  Both societies- Panem and Quillan- are futuristic communities in which these Games have risen to a level of national importance.  The competitors are treated with the upmost importance before the games and afterwards (if they survive); citizens bet on the competitors they think will fare the best; in the midst of these Games, the competitors being followed realize that there is unease in the society and they must do their part in stopping it, one way or another.  If you enjoyed The Quillan Games, you will absolutely love The Hunger Games.

Suzanne Collins has included many twists in the plot that will surprise even the most keen reader.  Of course I'm not going to reveal any here, but rest assured that The Hunger Games will not disappoint you.  The characters are developed very well, and through their struggles and triumphs, the reader can not help but become deeply attached to many of them.  Collins is able to draw the reader into the actual emotion that the tributes' families must be feeling during the Hunger Games. In that way, the deaths become actually upsetting; more than a character in a book just not being there any more, Katniss' sadness and anger becomes the sadness and anger of the reader as well.

This book is written in first person from Katniss' point of view.  While this may be shocking at first, it really allows you to get inside Katniss' head and experience everything she does as she travels from District 12 to the Capitol and participates in the 74th annual Hunger Games.  I have to say that although I normally don't like reading things written in first person, the extra sense of emotion that comes with it definitely serves its purpose in The Hunger Games.  Any other technique used to tell the story would not portray it in such a personal way.

I am already reading the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire, so expect a review of that very soon!

08 January 2011

Book Blogger Hop!

The folks over at Crazy for Books have a wonderful feature called the Book Blogger Hop, where people who blog about books answer a question each weekend.  It's a chance for book bloggers to connect with each other.  This week's question is:


What book influenced or changed your life?  How did it influence/change you?


The Giver, which I first read in middle school, has really made an impact on me.  Ever since reading it, I've had a different sense of the future, more questions about what is to come, and (not sure if I'm phrasing this correctly, but) a better understanding of how much speculation there really is in our day to day lives.  I still say that The Giver's impact has been a positive one.  Though I'm sure I understood the book better when I read it more recently than when I first picked it up, it still affects me the same way.  Is that really what the future of our species holds?  Why does every futuristic book portray such a controlled society?  Humans pride themselves on their power of choice; what does such a dystopian view say about us?  If anything, these questions have led me to be more discerning when deciding what to think about things, because any one choice could swing the future in a completely different direction.  It makes me ask more questions about things around me and my own life.  Finding a book such as The Giver at such a young age really changed my way of thinking about everything.


Writing that paragraph was actually a really pensive experience.  I guess in the back of my mind, I knew where certain ideas I have came from, but being able to say exactly what they are attributed to is a completely different experience.  For anyone that hasn't read The Giver- do it!  Even if you're not a fan of dystopian novels, this one goes so much deeper than most.  It was written much earlier than a lot of the other well-known dystopian YA novels, and speculates a lot more as opposed to spelling everything out for the reader.  It's as much a book to read as a book to think about.


*To everyone visiting from the Book Blogger Hop:  I write about pretty much anything on my blog; you'll find book posts mixed in with a lot of other topics.*

Books galore!

One thing that I've particularly missed being able to do while at college has been reading for pleasure.  Throughout middle through high school, I would always be the one carrying around a book and reading between (and, okay, during) classes.  College just hasn't afforded me the time to do that any more, so I look forward to breaks when I finally have time to read.  This winter break has been no different.


I arrived home to a copy of Huntress, which I quickly devoured in three days.  You can check out my review from my previous blog post.  I had also bought a copy of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, which I actually got over Thanksgiving break but saved for myself as a "birthday present" and just started reading over break as well.  (A review of that will be coming when I finish...which I will...eventually.)


The problem became that there is so much that I want to read this break that I just don't have the time to.  The second problem is that when I'm at school, there is not a library I can go to for fun books to read; the school libraries have only academic texts.  When I'm home, I love going to the library and checking out a ton of books.  Which is exactly what I did on Thursday.  Whoops.


I've been wanting to read Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay since it got such rave reviews...little did I know, at first, that it's the third book in a trilogy!  So of course I borrowed The Hunger Games from the library to start off.  Though I'm not finished reading it yet, I have to say that I am LOVING it and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a YA novel to read, especially if you're a Pendragon fan!  (Think The Quillan Games.)


I was also lucky enough to win a copy of Kiersten White's Paranormalcy from Georgia McBride on last week's #yalitchat (every Wednesday at 9:00pm EST!  Check it out on Twitter.).  I haven't started reading it yet, but a review will come once I do.  Unfortunately, it seems as though library books must be read first; books I own may have to wait until I go back to school.


In addition, I have on my reading list:
Malinda Lo's Ash
Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl:  The Atlantis Complex
Marcel Proust's Swann's Way (doesn't really fit with the YA theme...but whatever.)


So expect a lot more book posts coming this year...I think they're fun to write about and a great way to spread the word about things everyone should (or shouldn't) read!

04 January 2011

BOOK REVIEW: Huntress by Malinda Lo

For this fourth blog post of 2011, I'm going to take the opportunity to post a book review.  The author, Malinda Lo, has previously published a book set in the same kingdom.  Huntress is a prequel in the sense that it is set well before the first book, Ash.  However, not having read Ash, I was able to understand Huntress without any problems. 


Disclaimer:  I received an ARC of this book from the Hip Scout program sponsored by LB-Teens.  This review is entirely my own thoughts and ideas.  I am not being further compensated for this review.


Overall, I found Huntress to be a very captivating book.  Starting with the first line, the plot dragged me in, and I could barely put the book down.  I always wanted to know what would happen next, because ever time I thought I figured out what would happen, I found myself to be mistaken.


Aside from their magical tendencies, the two main characters, Kaede and Taisin, were very relatable.  The issues they are forced to deal with over the course of the novel, from their sexualities to the death of loved ones to their journey towards the unknown are all things that teens today have to face.  Huntress presented these topics in a way that is fun to read about yet also helpful for readers who are struggling with the same things.


I liked that the characters' names were distinguishable from one another.  I find that oftentimes in fantasy books, characters and places are given very obscure and difficult-to-remember names; however, this was not the case in Huntress.  Though some of the names were not common, they were all very easy to remember.  This made it easy to follow the plot without getting tripped up with strange pronunciations and spellings.


My one major issue with Huntress was its ending.  I don't want to spoil anything here, but from the time Kaede returns to the Queen for the last time until the end of the book is only thirteen pages.  These pages cover not only what happens at the palace but also the girls' return home and talks of the futures of all the characters.  It seemed very rushed compared to the leisurely pace of the rest of the novel.  Part V (this ending) seemed disjointed from the rest of the book in part because of this change of pace, but also because it seemed to switch from being character-driven to plot-driven.  While in general I do not have a preference as to which of these types of books I enjoy reading more, it does seem a little bit jarring to have such a sudden change within the same book.


The last thing I want to address is the LGBTQ classification that this book is given.  Yes, Kaede and Taisin are struggling with issues of sexuality and their love for each other in a society that does not support lesbians.  However, when it comes down to it, Kaede and Taisin are average teenage girls who just happen to be lesbians.  If anything, it gives a deeper dimension to their journey and their relationship that adds to what the book is trying to say.  Malinda Lo uses these two strong female main characters to remind the reader that he should accept everyone for who they are.


I would highly recommend Huntress to any teenager or even college student (like myself) who is looking for a maturely-written fantasy novel that has enough ties with reality to make it relatable to the reader.


(Also, shout-out to Malinda Lo, who you can find on her Twitter.  She's great about replying to her fans, so be sure to follow her and comment if you read Huntress or Ash!)


Huntress will be published on April 5, 2011.

03 January 2011

Tomorrow- I promise!

Okay...I'm going to cheat a little bit on today's post.  I've been out and about all day and just got back from a basketball game at Rutgers (who won their Big East opener 60-50 over GW!).  So, I'm exhausted and hungry and in no coherent state of mind to write something useful for this blog.  So I won't.  Goodnight!

02 January 2011

What do you really want from life that you're not getting?

I came across this line in an article on - what else? - new years resolutions, and it really got me thinking about why I'm going to try to write a blog post every day this year.  There are a lot of other ways that I can write something every day; the real question is, why here?


One reason is that I can be held accountable here like I can't be if I am just writing in a journal.  On a blog, it's out there for the world to see if I give up on writing.  This is really the 'motivational' aspect of it all.  I know that writing every day is something that I want to do; this might actually make me do it.


If I write on a blog, it's out there.  There's no way to hide these words from the world once I've put them on the internet.  Maybe the publicity of this will stop me from being so withdrawn on certain issues.  The openness that comes with trusting other people with these words will hopefully help me outside of blogging, too.


So, what do I really want from life that I'm not getting?  Support from people that I think I deserve it from, and a reason to stop trying to deal with everything on my own. 


^ Just some musings for this second day of 2011... subsequent posts will be on more of a variety of topics besides my head.

01 January 2011

...a new one just begun!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!


Here's to a happy, healthy, prosperous 2011 in however you need it to be.


I'm normally not one to make a new year's resolution, because I think that if I really need to do something I will, and if not, making a promise to myself and then breaking it is just a setup for disappointment.


This year, I'm doing things a little differently.  I'm not making a 'resolution', per say- more of a goal.  I signed up for the 365 Project, a website that encourages people to take one photograph every day for a year.  I thought it sounded like a pretty cool way to document a year.  After all, "a picture is worth 1000 words". :)  To go along with my picture-a-day, I'm going to try and have a blog post each day as well.  Together, I want the pictures and words to create something that I can look back on in the future and see who I really was in 2011.  Even if I don't get around to posting every single day, I'm going to do the best I can.  I've been doing a lot (too much) of thinking lately, so I definitely have topics for posts- it's just a matter of whether or not I have time to write everything down!


I think that's really the root of my goals for 2011.  I need to make more time for myself to do things that I've neglected since being at college.  I've had very little time to write and read, two things that I love but just haven't made time for.  Even if my writing for the year consists mainly of blogging, at least it's time I've made for myself to write something.  I need to start budgeting my time better so that I can have time for the things I love doing and not just things I have to do.


Speaking of things I love doing- I love sleeping!!  It's already well past midnight here on the East coast, and 2011 is off to a great start...so I'm off to bed!


Until tomorrow!~
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