Weekly Wrap Up: April 6th - 12th

What a week this has been. I had a death in my family and being away at school has been very hard. That being said, I haven't read much since Wednesday as my mind has been off, as well as the fact that my final exams start this week! Can't wait to be done and go home on Saturday!

READ

I did finish one book early on in the week, and that was Damaged by Cathy Glass. My roommate and I were wandering around Chapters when she came across this author and started telling me how much she loved her novels. Cathy Glass is a foster mother who cares for many children and her novels are written about the child she takes care of. This one specifically was about Jodie, a seven-year-old girl who had severe behavioural issues, and had been with five carers in four months. 

This was such a heart wrenching story that made me sick to my stomach and brought me to tears. It blows my mind that people can treat their children the way that Jodie was treated. Overall I gave this book a full five stars and plan on reading all of Cathy's books. 

DNF'D

I had to give up on the Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, the language was just too juvenile for my taste. It took me almost a whole day to get fifty pages in, and that was with sheer determination. If I had continued reading I knew I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I had when I was younger, and I prefer the movie overall. 

CURRENTLY READING

I am currently reading The Wind Through the Willows by Kenneth Grahame on my kindle, and am almost finished at 70%. I picked this up, with a bunch of other classics, in an effort to complete the "50 Books to Read Before You Die" list (hopefully this year). As of right now I have only read 8 of those books, and am very disappointed in that number. This is a very odd novel for a children's story, but also has a lot of symbolism, so I am interested to see how it concludes. When I have finished I am going to purchase myself a physical copy in the pretty Puffin Classics edition! Hopefully you'll see that in my book haul at the end of the month. 

BOUGHT

As I mentioned, I went to Chapters with my roommate, and while I was there picked up three books. I don't feel guilty about my purchases as they were books I was really wanting, and I have already read one of them - and plan on picking up one next. I picked up Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by the hilarious Mindy Kaling, as recently I became obsessed with The Mindy Project, and had to pick up her book. I also picked up Damaged by Cathy Glass, which I talked about, and School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins which is a spinoff to the Hex Hall series. I loved that trilogy and can't wait to dive into this book!

GOALS

I don't have any particular goals for this week, especially since my focus is on my studying and packing up my dorm room. Hopefully I don't buy a book, but if I do cave it will be for The Wind in the Willows. My goal for the year - maybe longer - is to only purchase books I have read and enjoyed, and will most likely read again. 

I hope you guys had a great week and I will talk to you soon! Hopefully next week I will start posting videos again since I'll be home to my desktop!

P.S., I am also still 3 books ahead on my goodreads goal which makes me very happy!

Weekly Wrap Up: March 29th - April 5th

Hey guys and happy holidays! Hope you guys are having a better day/week than I have - family stuff going on and I'm two provinces away. Yes I had to stay at school for Easter, but the four day weekend allotted me lots of time to read!

READ

I finally finished Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff, and it was not at all what I was hoping it would be. This novel started out so strong, but then eventually hit a lull and then just lost my interest completely. At the beginning I was so interested in Sam and Hayden's relationship, and what happened between them before Hayden committed suicide (not a spoiler). About 100 pages in the many focus of the plot shifted towards Sam's relationship and I just did not care. The only redeeming quality of this story was the songs listed at the beginning of each song. I listened to each one before starting the chapter, and it really helped to set the tone for the pages to follow. Overall three stars!

And then today I was going a little bit crazy adding books to my iPad (kindle app) because of all the free public domain books I was finding. I then came across The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, for 10cents and had to buy it. The Disney movie is one of my favourites, so I had to start reading it immediately. To say it was a little different is a complete understatement. There are similar aspects but Disney lightened it up for children considerably. A good example? The "little mermaid" (her name is not Ariel in the story) cuts off her tongue in order to meet the prince. Oh no, this is not the happily-ever-after story I thought I knew but I still really enjoyed it! I gave it four stars and can't wait to read more of these classic stories. 


CURRENTLY READING

Right now I feel like picking up The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot since I need something light to calm my brain while I prepare for exams and everything else I am dealing with. I have read this series years ago, even though I probably should have been older, but I remember really enjoying it. My roommate and I recently watched the movie together and it put me in the mood to read it again. 



BOUGHT

Nothing this past week, but my roommate and I are planning to go to Chapters tomorrow to treat ourselves so we will see what ensues! 

GOALS

I really hope to find the time amongst all my homework and studying to finish a book, but I don't want to stress myself out too much. I am just going with the flow, so if I see a book tomorrow that I want I will probably buy it.