Follow Friday: First Reads. Again.

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

If you could read a book for the "first time" again, what would it be and why?

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One of my favorite classic books is Heart of Darkness, and that's actually surprising given how I first read it. It was introduced to me as a senior in high school. We read it right at the end of the year, and the problem was the teacher didn't leave enough time for us to really get through it. She kept assigning us copies amounts of pages and then not discussing them in class. And it's a difficult book for high school readers. So, I kind of hated it while I was first reading it. If we'd discussed it as we went, I think I would have liked it better. As it was, we had an in depth discussion at the end, and I realized it was probably a great book, and I'd missed out on the nuances. 

I didn't read it again until college and I loved it then. Now I try to read it once a year. I wish I could go back and read it the first time again and really enjoy it, though.

What book would you like to read again for the first time?

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Follow Friday: Book Selling!

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Bookselling Time: Go to your biggest bookcases. Go to the second shelf from the top and pick out the sixth book from the left. Handsell that book to us - even if you haven’t read it or if you hated it.

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Follow Friday: Favorite Thanksgiving Food! (Yea!)

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What's your favorite Thanksgiving Day food?

I think I gotta go with the pies! I usually contribute side dishes and desserts to the family dinner. (Our family dinners include 30+ people). I did the classic banana and chocolate cream, plus my famous pumpkin desert. I've never been big on pumpkin pie. (Yes, throw tomatoes if you must) Having a sweet tooth, I just need sweeter things in order to consider them a real desert, so I made up my own pumpkin desert recipe, and the entire fam loves it! It's a layer of graham cracker crust, a cream cheese layer over that, and then the pumpkin/pudding layer. Basically it's vanilla pudding, flavored with pumpkin puree, and heavy on the spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. So, it's a sweet and spicy pumpkin desert, cooled by the cream cheese, and it's a huge hit! That's what's in the square pan. And then there's the peanut butter cream pie. That's actually different this year. I usually contribute a peanut-butter pie, but I used a different recipe this year.

So, what's your favorite Thanksgiving food?

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Follow Friday: Reads in Funny Places

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Bookagram: Photograph your favorite read in a funny place!


Most of you know by now that the Wheel of Time series is among my favorite reads and since my read-along just started book 6, that's what I decided to go with.

So, I kid you not, I went looking for my book the other day and found it here. My 2-year-old niece lives with me and loves to set up her dolls to do human things. She reads them stories and suctions their noses before putting them to bed; she puts bibs on them and feeds them pretend lunch; etc. Obviously, she's seeing someone (no idea who) sitting around reading. And she's imitating with her dolls. So cute!

How about you? Where did you photograph your read? 

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Follow Friday: Favorite Magazines

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What are some of your favorite magazines? 

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I must confess that I don't read many magazines, and when I do, they aren't generally very bookish. Because I was going to go into the science field for a lot of years, I got into the habit of reading National Geographic, especially issues that dealt with the human body.

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I also used to read Archaeology Magazine, because I love history, and stories. I even took an archaeology class in college. It was great, though I don't think I could do it as a career.

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I don't read either of those much anymore, though. Over that past few years, the only magazine I've read very faithfully is EW Magazine. I love reading about what new films are in the making and what TV stations are planning for next year's lineups. In my defense, EW has a book reviews section. They tend to be very literary or written by already-famous people, but I still read them every week and add one to my TBR list every so often.

So, what magazines to do you love? 

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Follow Friday--I Gotta Read That!

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What book (or TV show) have you not read that seemingly everyone else has? 

There are tons! But I'll go with Julie Kagawa! Everyone I know is reading her books, but I've never picked any of them up! *Hangs head in shame* I seriously doubt I'll get to any before the end of the year, but maybe in 2014. Wish me luck! 

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How about you? What have you not read that everyone else has? 

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One Shark, No Swim Review + Follow Friday!

For today's Quantum Entanglement Blog Tour stops, click HERE. Scroll down for Follow Friday post. 

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The lovely and talented Lehua Parker, my good friend and fellow JFP author, has just released One Shark, No Swim, the sequel to her spectacular middle-grade debut, One Boy, No Water. (My Review Here.)

Lehua's books are simply delightful. They take place in the Hawiian islands where a young boy named Zader feels like an outsider because he's an islander who has an intense allergic skin reaction to water. He can't swim or bathe, much less surf, which is what he really wants to do with his brother. The dialect is a form of pidgeon, which sounds like heavily Hawiian-tilted English, but is really fun to read. It may take some getting used to, but it's so much fun to read that you don't even notice.

In this book, Zader has some breakthroughs concerning his allergies. We also see some more of the great Hawaiian shark and god legends come into play. To me, these are some of the best parts of the book. So intriguing and well-written, you can't help but turn pages to see how these legends-come-to-life will affect Zader and his family. Uncle Kahona is, as always, immensely entertaining to read about. He reminds me of Zeddicus Zul Zorander in the adult fantasy series, The Sword of Truth: awesome and wise but also half mad-scientist and immensely funny. Totally love him!

Overall, I loved this sequel just as much--maybe more--than book 1 and would highly recommend it to anyone. I'm totally planning on buying both these books as Christmas presents for my kid brothers. Wait to knock it out of the part again, Lehua! I hope there's a book 3.

Follow Friday

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Reading nook tour: give us a tour of your favorite reading spots. 

I don't know that I really have a nook. I really only have three places that I regularly read, and none of them really qualifies as a "nook."

They are:

My cozy bed: (a bit untidy today)

What I affectionately refer to as my mushroom chair. So comfy! :D

The final place is on these steps. My two-year-old niece plays on the grass with her little toddler peeps and I sit on the steps and read while I watch them. You can't see it in this pic, but off to the left there's a huge open grassy area to the left of that big wooden planter. The kiddies love it!

**Please follow via Email, Bloglovin', Linky, or Networked Blogs! Thanks so much!**

So, what's your reading nook like?

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Quantum Entanglement Blog Tour Stops and Follow Friday Link

For Friday's Quantum Entanglement Blog Tour stops, we have an Interview at Rally the Readers and I'm also guest posting about Maggie and Marcus's Top Ten Significant Memories over at Bookworm Brandee's blog. Check those out if you have a second. :D Happy Friday!


P.S. For my Follow Friday post, click HERE.

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Showcasing my Bookshelf: Follow Friday Meme

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Bookshelf Tour. Give us a tour of your bookshelf. 

My first question when I saw this week's topic was, which one? I have more than one! This one is one of the main ones. You probably can't tell from this pic, but the top shelf is mostly fantasy and sci-fi. The second shelf is classics and more contemporary publications. The bottom shelf is full of larger, coffee-table or reference books that I haven't touched since college. (Really ought to get rid of them, but I doubt anyone would enter a giveaway where the prizes are textbooks, LOL.)

This is a smaller shelf. I have random titles up top and the first shelf down is mostly religious fiction. The second shelf is--that's right--full of children's books. I live with my sister and two-year-old niece and these are all her books. She throws them all over the floor daily and I have to pick them up. Isn't she cute?

This shelf is in my room and, as you can see, it's a bit disheveled. I don't categorize these books by any specific genre or group, but that stack on top are ones I want to get to sooner rather than later. Yeah, they've been there for months. Hehe. And yes, those brown boxes on the floor are copies of unsold copies of Persistence of Vision I'm hoping to sell at Peach Days in Brigham City this weekend. Wish me luck!

Remember, there's a **free story** involved if you follow via email. Just sayin'. ;D

What's your bookshelf look like?

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Follow Friday--Torturous Choices!

Follow Friday

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

If you could have ONE - one book - for the rest of your life. Don't cheat...what would it be? 

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Follow Friday + End of Mermaid Challenge

So the Summer Mermaid Reading Challenge is officially over! Below is the last of the mermaid reviews for me! In 14 weeks I read 15 mermaid books. They are listed below along with their reviews. I had the impression that lots of mermaid books were very badly written, but either I just got lucky or that's not true. Don't get me wrong: there were a few that didn't impress me, but overall I really loved all the mermaid books I read. I got to read lots of great books and was introduced to tons of new, amazing authors! Among my favorites were Jackson Pearce's Fathomless, Jenn Reese's Above World and Anna Bank's Of Poseidon. Some I wasn't as impressed with were Elizabeth Fama's Monstrous Beauty and Brenda Pandos's Everblue.

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson -- My Review

Seven Tears Into the Sea by Terri Farley -- My Review

Forgive my Fins by Terra Lynn Childs  -- My Review

Fins are Forever by Terra Lynn Childs -- My Review

Above World by Jenn Reese -- My Review

Mirage by Jenn Reese -- My Review

Florence by Ciye Cho -- My Review

Sea Change by Amiee Friedman -- My Review

The Forbidden Sea by Sheila A. Nielson -- My Review

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce -- My Review

The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler -- My Review

Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama -- My Review

Madly by M. Leighton -- My Review

I didn't have quite as much participation as I'd hoped, so I won't be doling out the prizes quite as originally announced. However, I do have prizes to hand out. They are listed below! Congrats to those who get them and thanks so much to everyone who participated. I hope you all had as good a time as I did reading about mermaids and their worlds!

Prize Bundles are as follows:

Anya of On Starships and Dragonwings wins: A copy of Alice Hoffman's Aquamarine, Fairies and Princesses Quickdraw book, Splash DVD, The Little Mermaid DVD, mermaid swag.

Jackie of No Bent Spines wins: Copy of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, Splash DVD, Copy of Persistence of Vision, mermaid swag.

Katelynn of Literary Chameleon wins: Copy of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, Faerie Tale Theater's The Little Mermaid DVD, copy of Persistence of Vision, mermaid swag.

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Everblue by Brenda Pandos

Everblue by Brenda Pandos was...Everblue by Brenda Pandos was the last mermaid read of my challenge. I really didn't have time to read it, but I decided to squeeze it in come hell or high water, because I found it free on Amazon and I thought it would be stupid not to include it. 

Overall, this book was pretty good, but not great. I wasn't disappointed, per se, but I just wasn't wowed either. 

There were two POVs in this book. They were that of the main male and female characters, who are one another's love interests. This book did the thing where both POVs are first person, but they're different people. This is a growing trend in YA, and I've especially seen it a lot in the mermaid reads. I gotta say, I'm not a fan. Even when it's done really well--and often it isn't--I just find it jarring to jump first person heads like that. It always takes me right out of the story. But, that's just me. Lots of people don't mind it.

I thought the book could have used more description, especially of the mer world. And I didn't see a lot of differentiation between the male and female voice. Not that the male was femmy or anything, but if not for doing different things in the plot, it would have been hard to tell character voices apart. It would have been stronger if they'd been more distinct.

That said, it certainly wasn't terrible. Anyone who likes mermaid reads, YA romances, etc. would probably enjoy it. And I'll admit that I kept turning pages because I genuinely wanted to know what would happen next in the plot. It wasn't an oh-my-gosh-I-just-have-to-see-what-happens-next thing, but it was good enough that I was curious.

So, nothing to rave about, but still decent. I'm glad I read it, for the challenge if nothing else. Overall, though, my review is just, meh. 

Follow Friday

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Book selfie! Snap a picture of you and your current read! 

Yup, you guys get to see me without makeup. I should care more but...yeah I really don't.

So I'm technically not reading this yet, but it's the one I'm about to start. My sister is getting married in two days, so I'm really not going to get any reading done this weekend. But, come Monday, I have a date with Cassandra Clare. Yea!

My finger is sort of covering it, but if you can't tell, that's City of Ashes.

So, what's your current read?

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Mermaid Challenge Reviews + Follow Friday!

Welcome to the final week of the Mermaid Lit Summer Reading Challenge! Below is my review for this week. If you have one of your own, feel free to link up with us and be sure to visit the others to see what they thought of their reads for this week! This will be the last week for reviews, but I'll do a closing post next week telling who prizes are going to, etc. (Follow Friday below!)

This week, I read two mermaid books. They were Of Poseidon by Anna Banks and Everblue by Brenda Pandos. (Of Poseidon is reviewed below but I didn't quite get through Everblue. I'll probably post it next week in the closing Mermaid Challenge post.)

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So I'd heard lots of good things about Of Poseidon and was excited to read it. I found it on sale on Amazon and got it for cheap and totally did a nerdy little dance about it. Once I started reading it, I was almost immediately disappointed for one reason and one reason only: The POV is split fairly evenly between Galen and Emma. Emma's POV is written in the first person--pretty standard for YA and, as I've learned, mermaid reads especially--but Galen's POV is weird. It's still written in first person but it's written in this bizarre, present tense. That may not seem weird but when you read it...well, let's just say it takes some getting used to. And you do. Get used to it. But at first, I found it very jarring. It just pulled me right out of the story and I had to concentrate to figure out what exactly was being said. I was sure I'd give the book a negative review because of it. 

But...I kept reading and...guess what? I really liked the book. The story was very well-conceptualized, the characters were swoon-worthy and Emma--even though she sometimes came across as a whiny teenager--you just had to admire her spunk. She kept me laughing. And of course you get caught up in the romance and just have to root for the main characters. (It even has great sidekicks in Galen's sister and his meremate, as it were. The ending throws a wild (and delightful) curve ball, and now of course I can't wait to get my hands on book 2, Of Triton. 

So, if you like a great summer read with lots of romance, comedy, and spunk, this is the book for you! I totally loved it. Just don't say I didn't warn you about the weird POV thing. :D

Follow Friday

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Share something you've learned about book blogging or just blogging in general in the last month.  

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Not sure if this qualifies, but it's all I could think of. Maybe we could say I've known this for awhile, but I've recently learned more about it. In many of my posts, I use colored boxes to put around questions or quotes. I discovered how to do them some time ago--a year or more--through another blogger who'd post an HTML how-to. I always just copied and pasted, changing the color code as I wanted. Unfortunately, the post I've been using was recently taken down, so I had to learn and memorize the actual code. But, here it is:

<blockquote style="background-color: lightblue; border: 2px solid #666; padding: 10px;">

You put that line of HTML before the content you want in the box. At the end of the content you want in the box, you type </blockquote>. If you want a list of color codes, they are HERE.

It ends up looking like this! :D

Anyway, like I said, I've done this for a long time, but I've recently had to learn to type the code rather than just copy and paste. 

So, what have you learned about blogging lately?

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Follow Friday + Mermaid Challenge Reviews

Welcome to Week 13 of the Mermaid Lit Summer Reading Challenge! Below is my review for this week. If you have one of your own, feel free to link up with us and be sure to visit the others to see what they thought of their reads for this week! You may join the challenge anytime you like. See rules HERE. (Follow Friday below!)

Only two more weeks of mermaid challenge to go! It ends on August 15th!

This week, I read two mermaid books, though one of them was so short as to be considered a short story, or perhaps a novella. They were Sea Change by Aimee Friedman and Madly by M. Leighton. (See my other blog for the Madly book review.)

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Mermaid Book Reviews, Week 12 + Follow Friday

Welcome to Week 12 of the Mermaid Lit Summer Reading Challenge! Below is my review for this week. If you have one of your own, feel free to link up with us and be sure to visit the others to see what they thought of their reads for this week! You may join the challenge anytime you like. See rules HERE. (Follow Friday below!)

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For this week's review, I read Fins are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs. I read the first book in this series, Forgive my Fins, a few weeks ago and loved it! So I couldn't wait to pick up the sequel.

Childs has a writing style that's just delightful. There's plenty of angst still going on in Lily Sanderson's life, but it's all so hysterical that you just can't stop turning the pages.

*Spoiler for book 1* She and Quince are together now, *end of spoiler, but that doesn't mean life's going to get any easier. Lily plans to renounce her claim to the throne of Thalassinia in order to live on land with Quince, but she hasn't actually told him that being with him means she'll lose her position in the merekingdom.

In addition, she never planned on a future on land, which means she hasn't paid much attention to grades. Now, if she wants to help her kingdom from above--her idea is to become a marine biologist--she needs a decent SAT score and to get into a good college. Stress!

To make things worse, her horrible, bratty cousin shows up needing help. Apparently Dossinia has done something that's made Lily's father, the sea King, banish her from the kingdom, and as her last duty as royal daughter, he wants Lily to help Doe grow a conscience and sense of responsibility. Not like that'll be hard or anything.

As disaster piles upon disaster, hilarity ensues and Lily thinks she might just go crazy. Or, you know, at least miss her college interview. I totally loved this book. According to goodreads, there's a third book. I was thinking it wasn't out yet, but it is. I don't know if my library has it, but I'm about to check! You all know I'm not huge on YA or high school drama, and that's exactly what these books are. But for me, they're the exception. Totally love them. Would recommend them to anyone who wants a light, fun, hysterical but also very romantic read. You can't go wrong with Tera Lynn Childs! :D

Follow Friday

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

How do you handle a book you don't like? Do you DNF or do you power through? 

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It really depends with me. I have DNF'd before, but I have a bit of a finishing complex, so unless I'm really crunched for time or I really, really, REALLY hate it, I usually power through. Of course, there are always exceptions.

The really, really REALLY hatred is rare because I generally don't pick up a book unless I'm reasonable sure I'll enjoy it. For example, I might DNF a cheesy erotica, but I wouldn't pick one of those up in the first place, so the chances are low that I would hate a book enough to DNF it.

How about you? Do you DNF?

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Follow Friday

Welcome to Week 11 of the Mermaid Lit Summer Reading Challenge! Once again, I don't have a review this week. As much as I'm loving these mermaid reads, the challenge is almost over (just a couple weeks to go) and I'll be kind of relieved when it is. The end of summer is proving ridiculously busy (mostly because I have a sister who's getting married next month) and I'm just not getting my normal amount of reading done. I got about half-way through this week's mermaid read, and am loving it, but will have to wait until next week to review it. So, the mermaid reviews will return next week. If you have one of your own, feel free to link up below and be sure to visit any others to see what they thought of their reads for this week! You may join the challenge anytime you like. See rules HERE. 

Follow Friday

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

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What do you do with your books when you are done reading them?

With me, it depends on the book. Of course anything on my kindle just sort of sits there. For my print books, I sometimes do giveaways. Often, if I find a book I know would appeal to a friend or family member, I  keep it for the next birthday or Christmas. (Shopping for presents in advance. :D) There are plenty I can't stand to part with, though, and they sit on my bookshelf until I get around to picking them up again.

What do YOU do with your books after you read them?

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Follow Friday + Week 10 Mermaid Challenge Reviews

Welcome to Week 10 of the Mermaid Lit Summer Reading Challenge! Below is my review for this week. If you have one of your own, feel free to link up with us and be sure to visit the others to see what they thought of their reads for this week! You may join the challenge anytime you like. See rules HERE. (Follow Friday below!)

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Follow Friday + Week 8 Mermaid Challenge Reviews

I hope everyone had a great Independence Day! To view Patriotic stories I've been posting all week, view earlier posts on both my blogs!

Welcome to Week 8 of the Mermaid Lit Summer Reading Challenge! Below is my review for this week. If you have one of your own, feel free to link up with us and be sure to visit the others to see what they thought of their reads for this week! You may join the challenge anytime you like. See rules HERE. (Follow Friday below!)

This week, I read Mirage by Jenn Reese. I read Above World a few weeks ago and so when I saw that my library had the sequel, I jumped at the chance to read it. :D


First of all, I should note that this really isn't much of a mermaid book. The kids in it are merekids, but in book 1 they got the chance to come Above World (get it?) and have an adventure on land. Mirage continues that adventure, but there's really no part of it that takes place under the ocean.

The only real mermaid element we deal with is the fact that Aluna *mild spoilers from book 1* swallowed a seed that perpetuates the growing of her mermaid tail fin and is trying to keep it from slowing her down the entire novel. *end of spoilers*

That said, it's still a great read! It continues the adventures of Hoki and Aluna, but we get to see a lot of Dash's homeland while the kids try to get their three peoples (Merepeople, Fliers, and Equians) to forge an alliance.

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