Goals... Or Lack Thereof...

Do you treat goals like a grocery list, are they motivation, or do they paralyze you?

Long term or short term; goals are why that car cut you off this morning on your way to work. If only to get a couple of feet closer to their destination (I hate it just as much as you). Goals are why you didn’t eat that apple pie this weekend because you’re on a diet.

I’m not a goal-oriented person. Let me rephrase that, I make goals and forget about them. Goals, big or small, doing the laundry to getting that novel published seem to run away from me. (Okay, I run away from them.) I hate having deadlines looming over my head; instead of motivation they make me procrastinate even more.

I’m in my last year of Undergrad and all I can think about are all of the deadlines I’ve avoided, forgotten about, or didn’t know about. And I think about those goals I’ve made nagging my every thought. And yeah, that bachelor’s degree sounds pretty good but so does that bowl of ice-cream and shiny new book cover on my bookshelf.

So I’m making it my goal (that sounds skeptical doesn’t it?)… I’m making it my “assignment” to make some goals. ATTAINABLE goals; because if they aren’t attainable in your mind, you’ve defeated yourself before you’ve even started.

With every goal, think about why you want to achieve that goal, what will it accomplish for you? Why is it so important? Identifying these reasons can push you that much closer to achieving them.

Book Review: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

PERFECT CHEMISTRY by Simone Elkeles is the book I kept bypassing every time I went to the bookstore (which is a lot). I’d seen it online, I’d read the reviews and I refused to give in and read it. Why? I have no idea, because now that I have it in my hands and spent the entire night and morning reading it, I feel like I should kick myself.

A retelling of Romeo & Juliet; Brittany Ellis is the seemingly perfect popular girl who has secrets hidden behind her designer façade, while Alex Fuentes is a Latino gang member from the other side of town who may not be as tough as he seems. When they’re assigned to become lab partners and Alex accepts a bet from his friends, romance ensues.

I’m not sure if you’ll find very many surprises in this quick read but the tight writing and Perfect Chemistry between the two main characters had me turning pages till the end.

#1 Favorite Book And My Birthday

So my favorite book of all time is… Drum roll!

The Only Alien on the Planet

by Kristen D. Randle

I first picked up this book when I was in middle school. It was in the teen section and I was on a Sci-fi high (not a Sci-fi book). I saw the cover and instantly thought, yes! And then I took it home to read. Not only is it not a sci-fi book about a lonely alien trying to get back home, it’s not your average teen read. At least that’s what I thought when at eleven I wanted to read it over and over again. I grinned, my eyes got teary, I got angry, all from this book. The new cover… I’ll admit, not a fan of.

Old Cover (very 90s)/New Cover:




















Smitty Tibbs is the boy who doesn’t speak, doesn’t laugh, and students avoid him like the plague. Ginny Christianson has just moved to town and doesn’t realize there are unspoken rules about interaction with Smitty. With her persistent curiosity Ginny is able to unmask a secret about Smitty some would have rather kept hidden. I love this book and still re-read my battered copy.

Check this out: Breaking Rank – by Kristen D. Randle This novel challenges stereotypes and stigmas when an unprecedented friendship develops between two teens of rival high school groups. "Randle is adept at conveying ingrained prejudices as well as the frustration and alienation that leads some youths to forsake the `straight' world for a more friendly and accepting one of their own making” (PW).





EDITED: And! Today happens to be my 21^st birthday! And I was sick all day… Yay!

Where Are My Bookstores Going?

A couple of weeks ago I took this picture(1)/And in January this closed(2):











Do I really need to tell you how I felt? Those two bookstores accounted for almost 76% (total guesstimate) of the book traffic in my area. (Maybe exaggerating?) Of course we have other bookstores, a sort of new Joseph-Beth about 15 minutes away, another borders about 18 minutes away (filled with boxes that have been keeping its customers company for over a year now, and newly emptied book shelves…) What the heck? I feel like they’re slowly killing off my best friends. They’re cementing their doors shut and when I talked to some employees, they’re not being relocated.

What really gave me a headache was walking into Wal-Mart the other day and seeing their newly expanded book section across from the party supplies and streamers. I found books that were sold out at Borders or hadn’t been shelved yet for 75% to almost half the price of my local bookstores. As exciting as that was… Wal-Mart??? I just want my B&N back with its carpeted floors and atmospheric lighting…

If B&N is selling (read article here) then what does that mean for the rest of the bookstores across the country? No more SSR?

Red Glove by Holly Black

Umm… Have you seen this gorgeous cover for Holly Black’s Red Glove?

Favorite Book #2

The Hero and the Crown

by Robin McKinley

I was assigned to read The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley in the fifth grade and no one wanted to read it (including me). I was in that phase where I didn’t want to read anything assigned to me especially because I’d hated all of the previously assigned books. Everyone complained; the boys didn’t want to read a book with a girl protagonist and the girls were turned off by the cover on the left.

But once I started reading I realized its story was similar to many of the books I had been staying up late to read in the middle of the night. Aerin’s voice carried me throughout the entire book through royal lineage, a destiny, dragons, knights, mystery, and love.

The Hero and the Crown is one of those classic fantasy novels where the princess is itching to escape the castle and goes against everything that is expected of her.

From childhood, Aerin had been haunted by the story of her mother-a "witchwoman" who enspelled the king and then died in childbirth, leaving behind a newborn daughter and an heirless land. Left to her own devices, Aerin grew up wild, doing her best to live up to her reputation as the disappointment of the realm. But little did the young princess know the long-dormant powers of her mother would wield their own destiny, and leave Aerin with a duty to her scornful homeland that she couldn't refuse (Amazon).