Top Ten Goals/Resolutions For 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy new year! I can't believe how fast 2014 flew by, it feels like it just started! This week's top ten Tuesday topic is goals and resolutions. These goals/resolutions are mostly, but not entirely, book related. 

1. Post more often - I've noticed that there are times when I remember to post more often than others. I'd like to try to find a happy medium. At least one post per week, hopefully more.
2. I would once again like to read 52 books, I may have succeeded in doing this for the year 2014 (not sure yet, but I still have some time, it could happen!) so I would like to do that in 2015.
3. Read more of the books that I already own and buy less books (Every book lover's dilemma! So many books, so little time!)
4. Get a new bookshelf - Mine is overflowing and I could really use a new one!
5. Win NaNoWriMo next year - this year was my first year participating in NaNoWriMo and I didn't win, but it was still very fun. So I would like to try to win in 2015.
6. Have a healthy new year - I had a lot of health problems this past year, but now I am hoping to put that behind me and have a healthy new year!
7. Try to stress less about the small things - I tend to be a very anxious person, and I need to learn how to calm down and not worry so much!
8. Get better at playing guitar - I took guitar lessons this first semester of college, so I would like to continue learning on my own now that I am done with the lessons.
9. Try something new - I think this is important, everyone should try new things.
10. Lastly, Have a Happy New Year!

Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing This Year

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

Christmas is almost here! I'm not going to lie, I asked for some of the books on this list for Christmas. Maybe Santa will bring them? Here are the top ten books I wouldn't mind Santa bringing this year:

1. The Pointless Book by Alfie Deyes - This sounds like a fun activity book made by one of my favorite YouTubers.
2. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - I've heard a lot of good things about this book, so I would love to get it so I can read it.
3. Legend by Marie Lu - Again, I've heard a lot of good things about this book, but I don't own it yet.
4. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews - I've heard that this book is similar to the Fault in our Stars and I loved that book, so I think I would like this one as well.
5. Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead - I recently finished The Firey Heart and I don't own the next book in the series so I can't continue reading.
6. The Evolution of Mara Dyer - I read the first on recently and would like to keep reading the series
7. My True Love Gave to Me by various authors - This sounds like a fun read, it is 12 holiday stories and sounds like the perfect read for Christmas time.
8. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell - I've heard a lot of good things about this one and it sounds like it would be a good read.
9. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black - Again, sounds like a good read and I've heard a lot of good things about it.
10. Dead is a Killer Tune by Marlene Perez - This is a part of a series of books that I really enjoyed and would like to continue.

Bout of Books 12

This post is to announce my participation in the bout of books 12 read-a-thon.
For those of you who don't know what this is:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I hope you all join me and stay tuned for my Goals and TBR pile for this read-a-thon.

Book Review: Girl Online by Zoella

Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

I rate this book...
5 out of 5 stars.


What I think:

First I have something to say about the whole ghostwriting situation. I went into this book knowing that Zoe probably had a lot of help when writing this story. Someone who is writing a book for the first time is obviously going to have professionals giving them advice and editing their work. I believe Zoe when she says the ideas and story are her own, there are several lines that I recognized because Zoe said almost exactly the same thing in the past. I realize many of you are upset that she had a professional writer helping her along the way, but what were you expecting? An unedited manuscript getting published? No. So what if she had help. And yes, I am a fan of Zoe's. I love her videos, but I picked up the book because of the story and because I thought it was something I, personally, would be able to relate to.

Just like Zoe and the main character of this book, Penny, I am someone who suffers with anxiety and have had many panic attacks. They are not fun at all. I personally start to sweat, my hear beats extremely fast, and I almost always begin to hyperventilate. A few times it has gotten to the point where I have even passed out. For a long time I didn't know what this was. I just figured that I get really nervous and it happens to everybody. My mom was not very surprised that I suffer from this since she had been diagnosed with panic disorder herself and she has helped me a lot. Knowing that you are not alone is extremely helpful. When Zoe announced that she had anxiety and panic attacks it made me feel better because I can see how much she has accomplished and how she copes. Seeing someone else dealing with the same thing as you helps and knowing that there are a lot of other people in the world with that problem makes me feel so much better about it.

Reading this book helped me too. The book perfectly captured what it is like to have a panic attack and learning how to live with them. The book also perfectly captures what it is like to be a teenage girl growing up in a world that thrives on technology and the internet. Cyber bullying and media twisting the truth are big themes that are brought up. And yes, there is a somewhat predictable romance that happens. But what would a book be without a little romance? In the end Penny has learned a lot about herself and has become a better person thanks to her Brooklyn Boy.

I hope you pick up the book and go into it with an open mind.

Christmas Booktubeathon TBR

Hello Everyone! I will once again be participating in the Christmas Booktubeathon! This is the second year that it is running and I will put a link to Ariel Bissett's video here if you are interested in learning more about it.

There are challenges this year, they are:

1. Read a book with red and green on the cover
2. Read a book that you have wanted to read this year
3. Read a book that was gifted or recommended to you
4. Read three books

I hope to complete all of the challenges and here are the books I plan on reading:

1. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. - This will complete the challenge of reading a book with red and green on the cover.
2. Icing on the Lake by Caroline Clark. - This one will complete the challenge of reading a book that you have wanted to read this year.
3. Girl Online by Zoe Sugg. - This completes the challenge of reading a book that was gifted to you. My mom got me this book when it came out. 
4. My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, Ally Carter, Gayle Foreman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Matt de la Pena, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, and Kiersten White. - If I finish the other three books I plan to read this one. It is a collection of short holiday stories by various authors.

Have fun reading everyone!

Sick Day, What to do to Feel Better

Hello everyone! With the colder weather unfortunately comes diseases like colds and flues. So I thought I would share my tips for feeling better when you are under the weather. Remember I am not a doctor, this is just my personal opinion about what helps me.

It is awful when you are coughing a lot. Cough drops help a little bit. I recommend the Burt's Bees brand cough drops. I prefer the honey ones because they seem to help me the most.

Having a stuffy nose is one of the worst parts of being ill. I go though tons of tissues when I'm sick. I really like using Puffs Plus, the one with Vick's Vapor rub is the best because it helps to clear your sinuses a little bit more than just plain tissues.
I also use a Saline nose spray, I recommend the Ocean brand, is also great for clearing out your head.

Keep hydrated! Drink lots of water, juice, or some tea. Tea helps sooth a sore throat especially if you add honey and lemon to it. Gatorade and Vitamin Water are good things to have to replace electrolytes when you are sick.

Have some soup. I know when I'm sick sometimes I just don't feel like eating at all. Soup is good because it has a variety of things like vegetables and protein that will help give your body the nutrients it needs. Homemade soup is the best, but the can stuff works too.

Make sure you rest a lot. Don't do unnecessary activities. Get extra sleep. Sleep helps the body repair itself, and you will feel a little better.

Take a warm shower or bath. The steam from the shower can help with congestion and to relax you. It is also nice to feel clean when you are sick.

Take cold medicines if necessary. Make sure you follow all instructions from either your doctor or the bottle. I had a horrible cough with my allergies this year, so Robitussin for congestion and cough was a huge help. Benedryl also helped me because I had the watery eyes and itchy throat issues with my allergies.

Lastly, just wait it out. You might not feel better right away, but you will be back to normal in no time. Stay optimistic.

Top Ten Books I Read In 2014

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

Like I have mentioned before, I read quite a few books this year. It was a little hard to choose just 10 as my favorites, but I decided that I could only use one book from a series and that made my choice a little easier. So here are my top ten books that I read in 2014 in no particular order:

1. Switched by Amanda Hocking
2. Wake by Amanda Hocking
3. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
4. Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
5. Divergent by Veronica Roth
6. Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
7. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
8. Vitro by Jessica Khoury 
9. Bliss by Lauren Myracle
10. Girl Online by Zoe Sugg - I haven't finished this one yet, but it will be finished by 2015 and I can already tell that it will make this list! ;)

Study Tips

Hello everyone! I am a first year college student and this time of year means final exams are here. I realize that a lot of people will be taking their finals now as well, so I just thought I would share some of my study tips with you. So here are some things that really help me when I'm studying for a final or test/quiz in general.

• Make flashcards! I know this seems like an annoying thing to do, but if you make flashcards for things like vocabulary words it can really help you memorize them quicker. You can also easily carry the cards around with you and if you have a free moment, take them out and quiz yourself. You can also have friends help you study by asking them to quiz you.
• Use different colors for different subjects/ideas. An example of this might be using pink index cards for vocabulary words and using blue ones for possible essay questions. Or you could use different colors for different classes such as purple for english vocab and green for history vocab. You could also highlight important details in you notes that you will need to know. This makes it easy to distinguish what things belong to which subject or idea.
• Use acronyms to help remember things. An example I'm sure many of you have heard before is PEMDAS or Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally to remember the order of things for math. Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction.
• Use word association! This one might seem silly, but it really does help. An example of this that I love is actually from an episode of an old TV show called "The Facts of Life" the specific episode this is in is called "Take my Finals Please". In this episode one of the girls needs to memorize the symbols for the elements on the periodic table. She is having trouble remembering that the symbol for Gold is AU. So her friend suggests that she uses word association and says to think, somebody stole your gold watch and as he is running away you yell "Ay you! Give me back my watch!". I actually found this very helpful a few years ago when I had to memorize the elements for my chemistry class. 
• Make a study group! If some of your friends are in the same class as you, you can suggests that you all get together to study. You can quiz each other and make some snacks and have a good time while you study.
• Review Homework questions and Past Tests/Quizes. Many of the subjects from past things are sure to show up on your final. So go back and see what you have done wrong in the past and try to remember to fix that on your next exam.
• Make sure you get sleep the night before! Staying up all night cramming is not going to help you. You will be very tired during your exam and will be more likely to forget things than if you got a full night's sleep. If you do stay up all night studying, make sure to take a few naps in between studying, even 20 minutes will help you feel more refreshed and ready to learn.
• Take breaks! Make sure you give yourself a little bit of time to relax in between studying. Go grab a snack, take a brief walk, or just do something you enjoy for a little while. 

I hope this was helpful! And if there is anything that you like to do to study that I didn't mention above, please share them in the comments because I would love to hear your ideas!  

Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2014

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

I read a lot of books in the past year, but looking back I didn't read a large variety of authors. Most of the books I read this year were by Amanda Hocking and Richelle Mead. However, I did manage to find 8 other authors that were new to me besides these two. Not all of these authors really thrilled me, but some were very good. The first 5 are definitely my favorites of the new authors and then it kind of goes downhill from there in my opinion.

1. Amanda Hocking
2. Richelle Mead
3. Veronica Roth
4. Zoe Sugg
5. Becca Fitzpatrick
6. Jay Asher
7. Mizue Tani
8. Milk Morinaga
9. Todd Burpo
10. Jon Krakauer

October & November Favorites

Hello everyone! I never made a post about my October favorites, but many had stayed the same during the month of November as well so I have decided to combine my October and November favorites into one post. Sorry there aren't any pictures! I've been quite sick lately and haven't been feeling up to doing a lot so I didn't want to gather all this stuff up for photos. Instead, stay tuned soon for my upcoming post on how to feel better when you feel sick. For now, I hope this is somewhat interesting for you. <3

Food and Drinks:

• Sour Pez Candy - My friend had visited the Pez factory and brought me back some sour Pez candies. They were really good, definitely sour though.
• Apple Cider - I love apple cider during the fall, it is great hot or cold.
• Pumpkin Spice flavored things - Tis the season for pumpkin spice... enough said.
• International Delights Hazelnut flavor - I love hazelnut flavored coffee, and these International Delights creams are great for keeping in my dorm room because they don't need to be refridgerated and they make the coffee taste great!

Beauty:

• Softlips cube - I received this from Influenster for testing purposes in my Deans List VoxBox and I have been using it non-stop ever since. I really like the formula, it is extremely moisturizing. The only thing I don't like is the square cube packaging, it makes it difficult to close because you need to be careful not to squish the product. 
• Warm Vanilla Sugar Scrub from Bath and Body Works - I love this scent and I need to exfoliate more often to remove dead skin during the colder months. 
• Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Scent from Bath and Body Works - I love this scent in the fall. I have the candle that I burn whenever I get the chance and I also have the lotion.
• No Text Red nail polish - This is another product that I got in my Deans List VoxBox. I love the color and the message it has about not texting while driving. I think red nails are perfect for any time of year, but they are especially great during the fall and winter seasons.
• Good Soap, Vanilla scent - I have used up another soap by the Good brand from Whole Foods. I really like these soaps.

Random!

• Pumpkin Carving - I had to carve a pumpkin for Halloween and it reminded me of when I was little and just made me feel good inside. 
• Movie: Dracula - I saw this movie with my friends while I was home from school one weekend, and it was actually really good. I had entered with low expectations and it surprised me.
• Music: Taylor Swift 1989 - I am a huge Taylor Swift fan, however I don't love the new album. There are a few songs that I do have stuck in my head. The songs I really like are: Style, Blank Space, Shake it off, and Bad Blood.

Holiday Bath and Body Works and Lush Haul

Hello everyone! I recently ordered a few things from Bath and Body Works and from Lush. I love Bath and Body Works products and I have been wanting to try something from Lush for a long time and I finally got around to ordering something. So I thought I would share what I got with you guys.

Firstly from Lush I got a soap, a bath bomb, and a bubble bar. 

The bath bomb I got is called "Shoot for the Stars" and I think you can tell from the picture that it has the shape of a shooting star on it. I used this recently and it smells so good. It has a really sweet smell. It turns your bath a dark blue color when it is finished fizzing and it also has silver glitter in it, which it quite difficult to get off of your skin afterwards but looks fantastic while your in the bath and it's swirling around you. This also left my skin super soft and smooth.

The bubble bar I got is called "Candy Mountain" and it smells very sweet like cotton candy sort of. You crumble this under the running water and it creates lots of bubbles in your bath. 

The soap I got is called "Rock Star" and it smells like bubble gum. I can't wait to use it, but I'm trying to use up my old soap first before I start using a new one. 

Then from Bath and Body Works I got three little candles and two body cremes.
The candles I got are in Merry Cookie, Vanilla Bean Noel, and Pumpkin Gingerbread. The body cremes are Vanilla Bean Noel (Can you tell that I like this scent?) and Warm Vanilla Sugar.

I hope you enjoyed this little haul and I will put up a new post very soon! :D 

Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward To In 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

The year is coming to an end so quickly! Here are the top ten books I am looking forward to in 2015. The first 6 are new books that will be coming out and the last 4 are just random books that I am looking forward to reading in the new year:

1. The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead - I have been loving the Bloodlines series lately. I just finished reading The Firey Heart and I can't wait to start Silver Shadows and then finish the series with The Ruby Circle. I am sad that the series will be coming to an end though.
2. Frostfire by Amanda Hocking - I have read quite a few books by Amanda Hocking this year and I have enjoyed all of them, so I am looking forward to this new one.
3. Sapphire Skies by Becca Fitzpatrick - I liked the first two books in the Hush Hush series and this one sounds even better than those.
4. Sweet Sixteen by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - I loved the Raised by Wolves trilogy so I'm excited to get to see some of Lake's point of view.
5. The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - Like I said, I loved the Raised by Wolves trilogy so I would like to read more of her books.
6. Zoe Sugg might be coming out with a new book next year. Right now it doesn't have a title but perhaps it will be a sequel to her first book that just came out?
7. Speaking of Zoe Sugg's new book, I plan on reading Girl Online in the new year if not before the new year ;)
8. I also would like to get Zoe's boyfriend's book The Pointless Book by Alfie Deyes, this book is already out but I don't own it yet. It is more of an activity book and not a story. 
9. Icing on the Lake by Catherine Clark - This seems like a good book to read during the winter time near New Years
10. Cinder by Marissa Meyer - I've heard that this series is really good, so I plan on reading it in the new year!