The Books of 2014 (Pt. 1)

So, alternating with my 10 Prompts, I will be posting the books I read in 2014~

[fun fact: usually there would be a picture of

all of those books right here

but i'm sick so theres not]

The Fault in our Stars
Author: John Green
Published: January 10, 2012
Genre: YA, Romance, Realistic Fiction
My Thoughts: Before I say anything about the actual story itself, I want it to be clear that John Green is a wonderful writer. Actually, the only reason I managed to finish the book was because of his diction. The story itself was not as compelling as many people made it out to be, and the plot seemed to really meander and lose focus in the middle (though I see his reasons for doing so). I don't really recommend it. That's all I have to say about this one.

Cry, the Beloved Country
Author: Alan Paton
Published: 1948
Genre: Historical Fiction, Social Criticism
My Thoughts: I really liked this book. It was a stirring story of a fathers search for his son in the racial tension/ institutionalized racism of South Africa. Unfortunately, it was extremely hard to follow. Why? Because Alan Paton thought he was above using decent punctuation, such as quotation marks, commas, paragraph brakes, not using paragraph breaks, periods, and grammar. As you can imagine, it was kind of a nightmare to read, due to it's formatting. I recommend it to anyone who has patience and wants to read a historical novel with major social commentary, but be sure to be wide awake while reading!

The Lost World
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published: 1912
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction (fun fact: in the time it was written it was called a Scientific Romance- the old term for Science Fiction)
My Thoughts: I really loved this story. It is absolutely one of my favorites! The characters are pretty well defined, the narrater is likable, and the plot is quite fantastic. I actually prefer it over the Sherlock Holmes stories... I totally recommend this to anyone who likes dinosaurs/victorian era/adventure stuff :) And the ending was surprisingly satisfying. 

Macbeth
Author: William Shakespeare
Published: First performance- 1611
Genre: Tragedy
My Thoughts: A power hungry man kills all in the way of "his" throne... only to go insane and tragically loose everything. As far as Shakespeare tragedies go, this one just didn't really live up to my expectations. That may be because Hamlet is my favorite, but some parts of Macbeth just fell flat to me. If you enjoy Shakespeare and tragedy (a perfect mixture for insane characters), then yes, I do recommend this book/play (the play is always better)

Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: September 10, 2013
Genre: Romance, YA
My Thoughts: The title says it all- a popular fanfic author finds her life turned upside down as she goes to college, finds a guy, and learns to not depend on her twin sister. The characterization is great, and all of the characters feel very real. It's a cute story, but I wouldn't really recommend it. Let's be real- I would rather read the sci-fi/fantasy story than the story about a girl who writes about the story any day ;)

10 Prompts #2: 15 Things You Love To Do

1. Bake! 
2. Cosplay!
3. Read!
4. Draw!
5. Write!
6. Watch movies/tv!
7. Make AMV's/Fan viedos!
8. Meet new people!
9. Hang out with friends!
10. Watch people walk down the street, especially on Farmers Market days :D
11. Karate!!
12. School!
13. Sing!
14. Shoot!
15. And lots and lots of other things :)

Well, that was really quick. I really enjoy a whole huge range of stuff, but I figured the first 15 that popped into my head were the ones that I should share. 

10 Prompts #1: 10 Qualities About Yourself

Going into the second semester of Junior year, I can tell that I won't have a whole lot of time to blog, and I personally like to keep things on a regular(ish) schedule. So, here's the deal: I'm going to complete these 10 prompts and schedule them for every other Monday. Yep! 

So, qualities about myself... Not entirely sure what that means? So, yeah, here's 25 things about myself~

- I love quotes! I like to start stories and reports with quotes, it kind of helps me see the general theme of what I'm trying to write.

- I like to make little random editey things:

- Regina Spektor is my favorite singer

- I naturally have blonde hair, but currently it's copper/red

- My eyes are usually blue, but they can also look green

- My speech pattern is one of a true Californian: dude, rad, yo, hella, drag, heavy, like, and like literally the mixture of surfer-dude and valley girl and spanish in my area has influenced my speech a lot

- Totally extroverted. I can do alright on my own, but I need to be where the people are.

- ENTJ: Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging. I don't have much patience for error, but have a good sense of how to organize things and make them work.

- I am 5'5"

- I cannot stand insufficiency/laziness, nor people who act as if it is a way of life. There is a difference between taking a break/relaxing or intentional idiocy. Get with the program.

- And an extra one: I'm not sure if these are exactly the types of "qualities" that the prompt was looking for. Oh, well, now you know some good, bad, and unimportant things about me xD