Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish Halloween Costumes!

Happy Halloween everyone!! Are you doing anything fun tonight? Unfortunately, we're expecting lots of rain, so I may not get many trick or treaters and I am very sad about that. So I may end up watching more Stranger Things (or possibly HalloweenTown 2) and eating all the candy I bought for kids lol. And probably finish Bad Girls Don't Die because I was too spooked out to finish it last night. Seriously, I had to go look at kittens on Pinterest before I could go to sleep.

Did you dress up today for work/school/running errands? I did a low-key cat lady outfit, but mostly it's just my normal clothes with a bit more makeup than usual. :D And today's The Broke & The Bookish TTT topic is perfect if you want a bookish costume. I gathered these mostly from Pinterest so don't have links. (If your pic is shared & you don't want it to be, please contact me & I'll take it down immediately!)

Love this Princess Jellyfish group cosplay!! Especially since they did a before otaku version and after stylish.

Super comfy Arthur cosplay (he was my favorite as a kid), a creepy cute Coraline with her friend, and a seriously adorable Matilda. I've never read Matilda, I should change that...I love the movie!

What a great way to take your littlest one along! This Where the Wild Things Are family is my favorite.

Into mischief? Pippi Longstocking, Sherlock Holmes, or Harriet the Spy are perfect for you!

And of course, no bookish costume list is complete without some Harry Potter goodies. These Snape & Luna teens are perfect, they've got the attitudes down!

And a bonus: when you can't decide on a specific book, just go as a book fairy! (I'm hoping they chose carefully which books to use for this costume lol.)

Review: "Dangerous Love: Sweet Valley High #6"

Dangerous Love: Sweet Valley High #6 by Francine Pascal
3 out of 5 stars

Before Reading: I needed to read some good old trash so went back to my SVH books. :) Todd looks super hot on the cover, the artist really focused on him this time. Check out those arm muscles.

The Main Plot in 50 Words or Less: Todd gets a motorcycle. Liz refuses to ride it, but doesn't want any other girls riding it either.

The Second Plot in 20ish Words or Less: Enid's mom is throwing her a sweet sixteen party and is going completely overboard.

Opening Lines: "I still can't believe you got permission to take the Spider to school today," Jessica Wakefield said, opening the passenger side of the red Fiat convertible. "How'd you do it?"

Closing Lines: Yet Elizabeth remained unresponsive, her eyes closed to the world around her.

Best WTF Lines: Elizabeth to Lila: "Listen, you haven't seen Todd around, have you?"
"Have you tried the lost and found?" Lila purred.

"How's my favorite motorcycle mama?"

"You have my word that you'll never see your daughter on my bike." Good use of words there, Todd.

Enid's mom: "I'm not going to use a person whose idea of haute cuisine is pigs in blankets."

"Dreams have a way of turning sour when they become real."

Happenings in SV: The Dairi Burger gets a makeover and a questionable new hot clam special.

The twins are forbidden (and don't want to) from riding on any motorcycles, after their cousin, Rexy, (oh Rexy, you're so sexy) dies in an accident the day after buying his bike. I'm truly surprised that Jessica is okay with this rule and am wondering if it is contradicted later on. I can't see her not getting on the back of some bad boy's bike. Todd is disappointed that Liz won't ride with him and even tries to convince her parents. Yeah right. He gives other girls rides until Liz finally confesses that it makes her jealous. In the end, he decides to sell the bike because it's no fun without a hot blonde pressed up against his back.

Jessica has a new boy toy but dumps him for Enid's cousin. Enid's mom throws her a huge, extravagant 16th birthday party because she's so glad Enid's not on the drugs anymore. Jess abandons Liz after the party to go make-out with her new toy and Liz has no choice (sure) but to ride on the back of Todd's motorcycle. Of course, they get in an accident, thanks to drunk driver Crunch McAllister. Todd's okay but Liz wasn't wearing a helmet and is in a coma at the end of the book.

Fashion Icons: [Elizabeth had] her hair tied back with a blue ribbon, dressed in jeans, blue oxford shirt, and dark blue blazer, [she] looked as fresh and attractive as could be.

She thought [Mr Collins] the strawberry-blond teacher looked especially handsome in the blue crewneck sweater he wore with jeans and a tweed jacket. It wasn't hard to see why practically every girl in school had had a crush on him at one time or another.

[Helping Jess find a dress for the party] "You know that green polka-dot dress with the puff sleeves? I think it would look terrific on you." No, no it wouldn't.

After much searching, [Jessica] had finally found an outfit that did her justice, a black-and-white satin jumpsuit held in place by two tiny spaghetti straps. With her hair piled atop her head and long black-and-white earrings dangling from her lobes, Jessica looked stunning. Brian was a fitting companion, his six-foot-plus body shown off by the Egyptian cotton dress shirt and charcoal-gray pants he wore.

Twin Hijinks: No hijinks, but Jessica has some twintuition when Elizabeth gets in her accident. And at the hospital, she tries to mind-meld with her or something.

Other Thoughts: Guy Chesney, the keyboardist for The Droids, hits on Liz and comes across as kind of creepy. Foreshadowing? This book ends on a cliffhanger and I do NOT have the next book and I'm so annoyed!! How will I know if she makes it?? Spoiler: she does. ;) The ending is very "after school special" but I think it was well done actually. I teared up a little when Jessica was talking to the comatose Elizabeth and saying how she couldn't live without her and such. She also promised to be better if Liz recovered, but we all now how that worked out.

The Next Book*: Will Elizabeth live or die? Find out in Sweet Valley High #7, DEAR SISTER.

*(not necessarily what I'll be reading)

TILT: Spooky Reads for Halloween!

Continuing my Halloween obsession for this week's Things I Love Thursday, I'm going to share the books I picked out to get me in the spine tingling, hair raising, hold back a shriek of terror, Halloween mood! And hey, share your favorite spooky reads too...I always love getting new recommendations for next year.

These are the books I finally settled on to actually read. I always remembered Die Softly as being one of my favorite Christopher Pike books, but wow it did not live up to the memories! I recommend Master of Murder instead. The Bad News Ballet (or Scrambled Legs) book was a fun quick read one evening. And I just started Bad Girls Don't Die a few nights ago and am enjoying it so far. Not sure if I'll get to Steinbeck's Ghost but since he's my favorite author, I just had to pick this one up.

I was reading TheBookRat's blog yesterday and they had some awesome Halloween recommendations, but the one that stood out the most for me was The Accident Season. The Goodreads summary:

It's the accident season, the same time every year. Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom.

The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free?

Doesn't that sound intriguing? I immediately went to Amazon and ordered it; it should be here just in time for the weekend. I can't wait! (I may have also bought 2 Christmas books. :D I gotta get started early lol.)

Another fun one I picked up at the Half Price Books clearance sale last weekend was this Zombie Haiku poetry book by Ryan Mecum. It's got some surprisingly good little poems mixed in with the funny and gruesome. I'm trying to read a few each day.

And that's what I'm loving this week! What about you? Are you into themed seasonal reads or no? What books or tv shows or movies are you obsessed with right now? I've extended my theme into my tv shows even and am loving a children's/young adult tv series on Netflix called The Worst Witch. It's like Harry Potter, but all girls! I love it.

Review: "Zombies vs Unicorns"

Zombies vs Unicorns edited by Justine Larbalestier & Holly Black
3 out of 5 stars (for the whole book)

This book has been around for ages and I'm sure you've seen or heard about it before now. I've almost bought it many times, but for one reason or another never did. Until I was at Half Price Books and they had a big stack of them at the front and boyfriend was super intrigued by it. (Not that I think/expect he'll read it, it's not his style at all.) So I finally gave in and bought it. I can't say that it was completely worth it; I can see why they had so many and why it was on clearance.

Apparently there's a lifelong battle of which is better: zombies or unicorns. I've never heard of this battle and I don't think anyone else had either until the 2 authors/editors/friends made it up. So they decided to gather up some of their fellow author friends and have them write a short story that will supposedly convince us which is better. Unfortunately, the stories are very up and down. I almost gave up after the first story, it was so bad. And the intros Larbalestier & Black did before each story really just annoyed the crap out of me. They were trying way too hard to be edgy and controversial, or something, but it just came across as obnoxious. I'm glad I kept going though, as I did find some gems and even a series that I'm interested in reading now.

Since there's 12 stories and I don't want this review to be excessively long (like it isn't already), I'm just going to do a one liner-ish describing each story and what I liked/didn't like about it. And consider this review full of spoilers, because I had some questions on some of the stories and would love some answers if anyone has them! I will say I started out Team Unicorn but by the end was firmly Team Zombie.

(I love Snapchat lol)

1. (unicorn) The Highest Justice by Garth Nix: 1 star
A princess gets justice for the murder/zombifying of her mother, the Queen. Felt like something I would have written in the 5th grade.

2. (zombie) Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson: 4 stars
A boy with a brain-devouring prion (zombie) tries not to eat the guy he's crushing on. Enjoyed it, especially the boys' relationship. Was left with more questions at the end though: had Jack been bitten before? Was he or his dad already a zombie?

3. (unicorn) Purity Test by Naomi Novik: 2 stars
A unicorn needs to find a virgin in New York City to save some baby unicorns from an evil wizard (Harry Potter reference). Gave it an extra star for baby unicorns that drink chocolate milk. I was quickly becoming Team Zombie after this story.

4. (zombie) Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan: 4 stars
Izza's father takes over an island after the Return and protects it from the mudo (mute, zombies) and pirates. Until he can't. Best story so far, loved the before and after parts, and Izza taking charge in the end. Plus, I totally knew the pirate guy was the kid from before.

5. (unicorn) A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan: 2 stars
A unicorn leads a young man in medieval times to a girl that has been attacked. The guy is accused of attacking her, the princess. The second half of the story focuses on the princess, who is banished for being pregnant and unmarried. Turns out the unicorn is the baby daddy. Yeah. It started out decent but then got really weird. The switch of characters in the middle completely threw me and I lost track of the first guy for awhile. Guessing he was the head in the bag. And the ending was ew.

6. (zombie) The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson: 5 stars
A girl is hired to be a nanny for a famous actress in England. The children are a little...odd. Loved it, perfect short story. All I could picture for the actress was Angelina Jolie; pretty sure it was intentional. Who is taking care of them all at the end though? I guess the actress called in some people before she turned completely.

7. (unicorn) The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund: 5 stars
Teenage girl realizes she can tame and train unicorns, who are usually evil killers in this version. She raises a baby unicorn that she had saved from a travelling freak show but things start unravelling when the baby's killer instincts start kicking in. Finally a truly excellent unicorn story. I had knocked this down a star at first because the ending was so abrupt and I needed MORE BABY KILLER UNICORN but then I saw it was part of a series so I bumped it back up. (And added the series to my to-buy list)

8. (zombie) Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld:3 stars
A small group of humans try to stay safe in a small camp surrounded by zombies. The teens infect themselves on purpose and don't turn completely Zee and run away from the camp. The real zombies follow, because they're bored. That's where the story stops, which is super frustrating. I like Westerfeld's books a lot and this feels like just the beginning of a series for him.

9. (unicorn) Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot: 3 stars
A girl gets a unicorn for her 17th birthday from her wacky aunt. She thinks it's totally lame and considers selling it on eBay, until the unicorn helps her get revenge on her ex-boyfriend. I would never sell my unicorn on eBay. A decent story. Probably more like 4 stars, compared to the other unicorn stories.

10.(zombie) Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare: 3 stars
In Zombietown, the dead come back and get menial jobs, like street sweeper. Adele's boyfriend, James, is killed by his uncle, the current Duke, so that James won't become his successor. Of course, James comes back to "life", with Adele's help and accuses his murderer. Enjoyed it but was missing a little something; not sure what though. I liked all the zombies coming to James' side. Why could James talk but the other zombies didn't? And Adele seemed totally snobby after she became the Duke's wife-to-be.

11.(unicorn) The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey: 1 star
A unicorn wanders the earth, over hundreds (thousands?) of years, the only one of his kind (supposedly). He has healing powers that work on humans, but if he takes too much, he can kill them. This gives him a super high, so he starts doing it more and more. Guess what gives him the best high? Killing babies. Yeah. He goes thru a cycle of doing this and despising himself for it and wanting to die. Of course, his healing powers stop that. Until he finds a girl willing to help him, in a most grotesque fashion. I hated this story. HATED IT. Every single page of it.

12.(zombie) Prom Night by Libba Bray: 3 stars
The zombie virus starts with the adults in this story, forcing the kids to step up and take control. (Similar to Michael Grant's Gone series) A pretty good story but needed a little more, like a lot of the others. I read in someone else's review that the girl at the end, hugging everyone at prom and saying "sorry" over and over, was actually infected by her boyfriend and so she was bringing the virus to the small town. Is this true? I never would have seen that on my own. Also, who was coming in the tunnels? I need to knooow!!

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Most Interesting Titles

On The Broke & The Bookish today, they're sharing interesting/unusual/unique book titles. This should be a fun and easy TTT topic, so let's get started and see! And share your favorite titles with me too!

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Mallory Hates Boys (And Gym) (review)

Three Days to Never

Snotgirl

Gossip Girl, Psycho Killer

Jack the Bodiless

Jenny Pox

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Sideways Stories From Wayside School (review)

Review: "We Are Okay"

 We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
4 out of 5 stars

I love Nina LaCour's books. The Disenchantments is one of my favorite books period and I just really love her writing style in general. I picked it up on impulse at Barnes & Noble one day (I hardly ever buy books there anymore, so this was pretty special) because the cover caught my eye and then the author. The actual book is really beautiful. The artwork grabs you in and it has a slight texture to it that makes it feel expensive. Even the inside cover is pretty. This is a book meant to be displayed on your shelf.

All that said, I had a really hard time rating this one. I really loved the words and how she used them but I also needed more to the actual story, so it was kind of difficult to decipher how I really felt about it. Maybe writing this review will help!

Marin is the only person left in her college dorm over Christmas break and she's kind of fine with that. She's been running and hiding from her past for months and it's a relief to not have to pretend everything is okay. We don't get a clear idea of what she's running from, not right away. And honestly, I don't think we ever get the full scope of what's happened. That's part of why I had issues with it. Marin was raised by her grandfather, who is this amazing character on his own. He dies shortly after the book starts but even to the end, we don't really know what happens. The story goes back and forth from the present, in snowy New York, to about six months prior, in sunny California.

"I remember the whole beginning as a succession of flights and drops, a little seesaw of the right throbs and the wrong." (from The Turn of the Screw, which I am now interested in reading!)

Marin's mother was a surfer, who died in the ocean when Marin was 3. She doesn't remember anything about her, Gramps won't talk about her or show her pictures, but random strangers will stop Marin on the beach to tell her stories and give her seashells. It's almost like her mother's ghost is following her around. Ghosts are a prevalent theme throughout. But she has her best friend Mabel to keep her sane. Until she can't anymore and Marin flees to the other side of the country. Mabel comes to visit her on break and tries to convince her to come home to Cali, but Marin won't/can't. She can barely handle being with Mabel for 3 days.

"Not enough hope. Everything is despair. Everything is suffering. What I mean is don't be a person who seeks out grief. There is enough of that in life."

I just realized, just this minute, why I do love this book so much. It reminds me of Jandy Nelson's books, especially I'll Give You The Sun. There's unmistakable sadness in both but also beauty, in words and thoughts. They also both explore artwork and make you think and want to do something. The girls discuss Frida Kahlo's painting The Two Fridas (which I was lucky enough to see recently at the Dallas Museum of Art) and it's beautiful.

"...the whole one is trying to pull the wounded one back to her, as if she could undo what's happened. Or the wounded one is guiding her old self into her new life. Or it could be that they've separated almost entirely from each other, and they are holding hands as a last moment of connection before they break apart completely."

So yes, I've decided it deserves the 4 stars I initially gave it. This is a quiet book, you don't think much is happening, but it still moves you, makes you feel. And when you finish it, you'll continue to think about it for days. That's what makes a book good right? If you're still thinking about it, even negatively, it's doing its job.

I was okay just a moment ago. I will learn how to be okay again.

TILT: Halloween Goodies!!

Okay, I'm going to be honest...I am always obsessed with Halloween. I love it. But this year, it's over the top. I'm more excited about Halloween than Christmas (for now lol). I'm so excited to decorate my new apartment. My sister is coming over this Friday for a Halloween night of fun. I'm trying to convince her to watch Purge: Election Year but it'll most likely be Hocus Pocus. :D So I decided to just go with it and give y'all my favorite things I've found this year for Things I Love Thursday!

I have found so many good Halloween decorations: Target, Big Lots, and Dollar Tree have been my favorite places. (You can check out my Instagram for pics when I decorate this weekend!)

(Here's a good preview of Target's collection)

I made this Harvest/Halloween trail mix last night for work and it is so yummy! I didn't even bother baking it like the recipe calls for, just tossed it in a bowl and shook it all up. Took literally 2 minutes. Also, I got cinnamon Rice Chex, which really helped the flavor, since I wasn't adding the drizzle. Highly recommend!

Okay, are these little kitty pumpkins not the cutest things you've ever seen? I have to make some. I bought a pumpkin already, just need to steal get some ribbon from my sister. I'm not even going to bother with the big pumpkin. Just make a bunch of different sized cat ones. >.<

Are you obsessed with Halloween? Share your favorite finds/links/recipes below! Oh and your favorite spooky reads, I haven't even started on those yet. I have a few ideas, but can always use more recommendations.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Book Boyfriends

I'm a little biased because I think I have the best book boyfriend in real life already. :) But I guess I'll stick to fictional guys for The Broke & The Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday this week. You can check out my first post on this topic, way back in 2013, and I'll try not to duplicate any of the guys for this one.

1. I could have made all the guys in CL Stone's Ghost Bird series #1-9, but I'll just put them as 1 group together lol. I wouldn't be able to pick my favorite anyways, they're all awesome in their own way.

2. Colby from The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour-I love that his story ends up not being just about the girl, but about how he grows and becomes more himself in the end.

3. The Will from the Saga series graphic novels -there's just something about him I love. Oh, maybe it's Lying Cat. :)  (Baby Lying Cat is by Dumpy Little Robot and I neeeeed her!! No fibbing!)

 

4. The guys in Krista & Becca Ritchie's Addicted/Calloway Sisters series but especially Lo -he's always there for Lily, even when his own addictions threaten to overtake him. He always makes sure she's taken care of. Plus, he's into comics and super heroes.

5. Matt Finch in Emery Lord's Open Road Summer -country music, roadtrips, best friends, tragic back story, broody guys...can't get any better than that!

6. Levi from Fangirl by the fabulous Rainbow Rowell -he missed my first list by a year, but he should definitely be at the top. Do I even need to explain this one? No, I didn't think so...I'll just leave my favorite quote for you instead.

"Look at you. All sweatered up. What are those, leg sweaters?" [Levi]

"They're leg warmers." [Cath]

"You're wearing at least four different kinds of sweater."

"This is a scarf."

"You look tarred and sweatered."

7. Clark in The Unexpected Everything -really I could put any of the guys in Morgan Matson's books, right? But Clark is a super nerd, a secret writer (just like in my favorite Christopher Pike book hah), there's a scavenger hunt in the book, and this was the last one I read. So Clark it is.

8. George in A Room With A View by EM Forster -had to include at least one classic, but I haven't read many lately (need to change that, I think) so it was kind of hard. 

"You love the boy body and soul, plainly, directly, as he loves you, 

and no other word expresses it. 

You won't marry the other man for his sake."

"It isn't possible to love and to part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. 

I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal."

9. Mark Darcy from Bridget Jones -I reread these last year and had completely forgotten how much I loved them. (And the movies) Darcy is one of those perfect men that can't possibly exist, except he's a little bit cynical and condescending so you know he actually could be real. And Colin Firth is Mark Darcy, isn't he?

10. I've run out of book boyfriends oh noooo!! So, tell me your favorite that I may have missed on here!

Review: "Mallory Hates Boys (And Gym): The Baby-Sitters Club #59"

Mallory Hates Boys (And Gym): The Baby-Sitters Club #59 by Ann M Martin
3 out of 5 stars

Okay, honestly I'm kind of with Mallory on this one. Gym in middle/high school sucked. Gym in elementary was only moderately better, unless you had a sadistic gym teacher that made you beat her to the jungle gym or you had to run laps. Oh and she didn't hold back either. She didn't care if you were in 1st or 5th grade, she'd still give it her all! Wow, I might still be a little bitter. Moving on!

The book starts out with Mallory putting her new vocabulary word, "pandemonium", to the test when she arrives home. The Pike clan is in full crazy mode and Mal is anxious about her study date with the wonderful Australian, Ben Hobart. Liking a guy is so weird. There's just no way to explain why suddenly you're so crazy about someone. Unfortunately, her brothers & sisters pretty much ruin the date so they head over to Ben's house, where she raves about how good and polite his 3 brothers are. Then she's almost late to a BSC meeting and we get a Claudia outfit along with a special What Dawn Was Wearing.

Claudia was wearing a pair of soft, balloony, purple pants; a neon green long-sleeve leotard top; a wide, red braided belt; and a pair of soft, red ballet shoes. Her hair was swept into a French braid with wispy tendrils hanging loose. From one ear dangled a long earring made up of small papier-mache tropical fruit. In the other ear, where she had two holes, Claudia wore two small papier-mache hoops. (This earring set is her own creation.)

2 things: I had purple pants exactly like that in 5th grade. We called them (MC) Hammer pants and I wore them with a white tshirt tucked in and black patent leather shoes with big silk laces. I was dibbly fresh and wore this outfit at our talent show, where my friend and I danced to Tevin Campbell's Round & Round. (I just listened to again, so good still lol.)
And also, it would have been nice to have some continuity from the previous book and have her wear her cat & dog earrings.

Today [Dawn] was wearing black stirrup pants, a long, fleecy red-and-pink rose-print top and black high-top sneakers. She has two holes pierced in each ear. In those she wore four matching sparkly rose earrings. (Seems more like a Stacey outfit than Dawn, but whatevs.)

Logan is at the meeting, because he & Mary Anne were studying together, and there's a big point of his mom calling for a sitter because Logan doesn't want to be asked all the time. Just like Mallory. I was never given a choice to baby-sit my sister or not. And I definitely didn't get paid for it. After the meeting, Jessi & Mallory are walking home and Jessi reminds her that they are starting the volleyball unit in gym on Monday and they'll be co-mingled with the boys. Mal immediately freaks out. I was expected to appear in front of a bunch of boys in my gross, disgusting gym suit (which is really just a tshirt & shirts) and demonstrate that I was probably the most klutzy, uncoordinated girl in the sixth grade. And she pretty much does that for the rest of the book.

On Monday, she decides to wear a one-piece denim jumpsuit that she'd gotten for her last birthday and never worn. Not because I hate it or anything. It's just not me. It's a little too high-style or something. I'm sorry. Isn't that exactly what she's been begging for for the last 59 books?? I decided to do a special for this outfit: what Mallory thinks she looks like and what she probably looks like. Always fun. :)

Every book that has even the slightest hint of physical activity makes Mallory panic and immediately come up with plans to get out of it. In this one, she begs her parents to let her stay home, pretends to faint in the locker room (no one is around), WALKS OFF THE COURT after getting hit with a ball (I don't blame her for that one), gets detention on purpose for a week when she sits out each day (and hides the papers from her parents. Trust me, that never works for long.) It's all a bit ridiculous.

The side plot is that all the boys they baby-sit for are suddenly little monsters. Just the boys, not the girls. Mallory comes up with this long convoluted theory that makes no sense; something about if they were raised in Stoneybrook and went to gym class there, they were super aggressive animals. Meaning, Logan and the Hobart boys are excluded. This doesn't pan out though, when Mal and Ben agree to switch brothers for the evening and the Hobarts turn into little hellions while Nicky & the triplets are perfect angels. She can't believe it. But what do you expect when they go to a house like the Pikes where there are basically no rules?

Back in gym class, Mal keeps walking off and the gym teacher finally sits down and talks to her. She asks her to just try and she'd get the boys to back off on their attack. Also, she makes Mal wash all the pinnies one afternoon gross. Mallory agrees to try, her parents find out about the detentions (and don't punish her whaaattt??!), and finally the volleyball unit is over. Next up? Archery! Is anyone surprised at all that Mallory is good at it? So good that her teacher tells her to try out for the archery team and she makes it. I wonder if that will come up again in later books. And her brothers make her a congrats cake, ruining her "boys suck" theory. The end. And hey, I've got another Super Special already after this one! Woo!!

Book Haul

I'm pretty excited about the books and comics I got last weekend, so I decided to do a mini haul post to share them. And I want you to share with me what your last book purchase/haul was! So comment below. :)

Girl Online: Going Solo is the last book in YouTuber Zoe Sugg's series. I enjoyed the first 2, they're light fluffy fun, so I'm happy to read the last one. I'll be reviewing the whole series when I finish this one and will probably end up giving them all to my sister, since she's actually the one who loves Sugg's videos and got the first book lol. 

After reviewing the 2nd Princess Jellyfish omnibus and having read the 3rd this May, I really needed the next volume. And purely aesthetic, the books are so pretty!! They're lovely pastel sherbety colors and will look amazing on my bookshelf when I get them all eventually.

Do you like my lawn gnomes? They're named Gary, Garry, and Steve. :D I only went to the comic book store to pick up my pull list, but I can always guarantee I'll come out with 3 or 4 extra. This time was no exception.

On my pull list were Motor Girl & Shade: The Changing Girl. I've already talked about these here but I highly recommend them both! And Motor Girl is a short one, only 10 issues, if you don't want to get too invested in a long series.

Then I saw this new Jem & The Holograms Annual and had to pick it up. I am just really loving this reboot so much. (Review of 1st 2 volumes here.) This annual is apparently a fanfic type story which sounds really fun. Can't wait to read it.

Brian K Vaughan's Runaways was the first comic series I ever read, as a teenager way back in the 90s. When I found out that one of my very favorite authors, Rainbow Rowell, was going to do a reboot/sequel of it this year, I was beyond excited. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to reread the original series first or not (I only have volume 1 right now) but I know I will love this new take.

And last but not least, we have the newest Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel, Dawn & The Impossible Three. I really loved Raina Telgemeier's take on the first 4 so I'm interested to see what a new artist will do with the upcoming books. The only thing I'm not sure about, is that they seem to be combining Dawn and Mallory's first books, which is a little odd. And they've still skipped Claudia & The Phantom Phone Calls!! But we'll see how it is. And I am still hoping/wishing/begging for them to do the first Super Special! How amazing would that be??

Review: "Love & Gelato"

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
3 out of 5 stars

Love & Gelato was sweet but lacked substance and left you wanting something solid afterwards. How's that for a metaphor? ;) Okay, but really...this was a decent book, I wanted a bit more out of it, and desperately wanted gelato in Italy while reading it. So prepare accordingly. Trust me!

The book centers on 16 year old Lina, who has just lost her mom to cancer a few months prior. Her mom's last wish was for Lina to go to Italy and get to know her father, the amazingly sweet and tall Howard. She's not too thrilled about it, especially when she finds out he lives and works in a graveyard. Of course, the cute boy down the road makes it all better right? Right.

The love story is light and fluffy, but I didn't really care about it too much. Honestly, Anna & The French Kiss is a far superior "American in a foreign country" love story. Lina's relationship with Howard and her journey thru her mom's old journal are the real interesting parts. And of course, the touristy and eating bits. Those were drool-worthy descriptions.

It was like walking through a scene from an Italian movie. The street was lined with clothing stores and little coffee shops and restaurants, and people kept calling to one another from windows and cars. Halfway down the street a horn beeped politely and everyone cleared out of the street to make way for an entire family crowded onto a scooter. There was even a string of laundry hanging between two buildings, a billowy red housedress flapping right in the middle of it. Any second now a director was going to jump out and yell, Cut!

“So... Italian gelato. Take the deliciousness of a regular ice-cream cone, 

times it by a million, then sprinkle it with crushed-up unicorn horns.”

Review: "Stacey's Choice: The Baby-Sitters Club #58"

Stacey's Choice: The Baby-Sitters Club #58 by Ann M Martin
2 out of 5 stars

This is such a classic BSC cover. Their outfits are a little understated for their personalities, but it's still quintessential BSC. And that is the best thing I'll say about this book, unfortunately. I've hit a string of duds lately. But they're also not as well-known to me, which is kind of nice.

The story opens with Stacey and Mallory walking home from school and enjoying the crisp autumn air. I am so ready for fall and Halloween, it is not even funny! I've been stockpiling Halloween decorations for my new apartment for weeks now. It's going to be awesome. :) And now I'm trying to remember if there are any BSC Halloween books? Why can't I think of any? Anyway, the girls are walking home, Stacey loves math, Mallory has a lot of siblings, etc. Stacey gets home and her mom is there and looks really tired and worn down. She went on two job interviews and goes to take a nap. I always remember her mom working at Bellair's but she doesn't get that job til the end of this book. So I obviously read plenty of books after this one.

Stacey's "Old Dad" calls her and tells her he got a huge promotion at work, with a raise, and they're having a big dinner for him. He wants Stacey to come to the city for the weekend and be his date and even tells her to buy a new outfit. Which is as good a time as any to do What Stacey Wore to the dinner.

"Zingy's! That's all punk stuff!" (Mary Anne)
"I like to think of myself as the Sherlock Holmes of fashion," [Stacey said] "I'll put together the perfect outfit at Zingy's. Trust me. It'll be perfect for me and my dad."
By the time I left I was carrying a shopping bag in which were folded a hot pink (fake) silk jacket which fell to my knees, new black leggings, pink-and-black socks, and a black body suit. I planned to wear the outfit with black flats, and to dress it up with some jewelry and maybe a couple of barrettes in my hair.

The girls go shopping at the mall for Stacey's outfit and hit the new restaurant, The Rosebud Cafe. (Another thing I remember being there forever.) This is another classic BSC moment, the girls at the mall. It brought back memories of the hundreds of times I went to the mall with friends and my sister. Mall rats of the 90s unite!! :D

Okay, so let's get to the main story-line finally. "Stacey's choice" Stacey is at school when she gets called to the office over the loud speaker (tre embarrassing). The secretary tells her that her mom collapsed during an interview and that Mrs Pike is on her way to take Stacey to the hospital to see her mom. She's frantic, of course, and thinks the worst. But Mrs McGill just has pneumonia. Which okay, is pretty bad, but I feel like Stacey went waaay overboard. She stays home from school, sets up a schedule of adult sitters when she does have to go back to school, and decides to cancel her trip to NYC. Which of course pisses her dad off. And Stacey says some ugly stuff: "Maybe if you weren't a workaholic, there'd be something more in your life. But you're married to your job." ooh, harsh!!

In baby-sitting news, all the neighborhood kids are obsessed with ordering free/cheap crap from magazines. Like a stamp licker, bust developer, moondust, you know...crap. It's all fun at first, especially when they start getting the stuff in the mail. Who doesn't love fun mail?? But then they run out of money and they finally realize they don't need all this junk or it doesn't work or they're not that special with their moondust. And hey, they really want a yo-yo, the cool new fad. So they gather all their junk together and come up with a travelling road show, with skits and dances, to pawn their useless crap on other people. No one wants it of course, but they do pay for the performances. (The Pike triplets rap. I see a Vanilla Ice-esque career in their future.) In the end, the kids make back their money and get their yo-yos and everyone's happy.

Back with Stacey, she finally decides to go to NYC for the dinner on Friday night and come straight back home Saturday morning. Good compromise, right? Well, the train is late, there's traffic, Stacey has to iron her outfit, and they get to the dinner about 15 minutes late. Stacey gets up multiple times during the dinner to check on her mom and then wants to leave at like 10:00, before the fun even starts. Her dad is naturally annoyed, but Stacey doesn't care. There's a weird part at the train station where Stacey questions what happens to the homeless people when they die and no one ever hears about it. Morbid much? Stacey gives a guy five bucks and her dad tells her she "can't take care of everybody"; she replies "but I can try". Wow, subtle Stace.

A week or two go by, Stacey's mom is all better, Stacey hasn't talked to her dad, and Claudia buys the kids' wrinkle-away lol. (Trust me, it's never too early to start preventative measures!) Stacey realizes she shouldn't have had to choose between her parents and makes up with her dad. The end. Oh! There's baby pictures in the back of this one, I guess they started doing that now. Kind of fun.

Review: "The Ghost Bird/Academy" series books 1-10

The Ghost Bird series by CL Stone
4 stars average!!

A review in picture/collage form. I can't say a whole lot about this series without spoiling it majorly. I've read the first book 6 times in 3 years. That should tell you something, right? Sang Sorenson is a quiet, mysterious girl with a troubled family life. She doesn't know how to interact with people but is desperate for friendship. She gets that and more when she meets Kota Lee and his group of friends. But this group has their own secrets and it could cause even more trouble for Sang. Is it worth it? (click any of the pics to make bigger)