That was an accident! I loved my mother!*

January - 4

February -3

March - 4

April -5

May - 4

June - 3

July -5

August - 3

Strength Finders 2.0 by Tom Rath
Amber recommended this book to me and I decided to do it for two reasons. 1) She said it was a quick read and I am all about getting some of those as time counts down. 2) I had gone through Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and I feel I have improved because of it, so - what the hey. I found the book's intro to be very insightful and I enjoyed reading about my possible strengths. So far it's already helped me to deal with a few situations in my life better than I would have.

Prologue: The Brothers by Chris Stewart

Volume 1 of the Great and Terrible Series...And.

It.

Is.

Great and terrible.

I got so frustrated that right near the end I started to underline the terrible lines and descriptions so I could ask someone else if I was just being too hard on the book. "Sneered with emotion" - that's an example. I just feel like saying, which emotion - how am I supposed to know? In all of my creative writing courses we were told to show not tell. I feel as though Chris Stewart never heard that. Yes - I am probably being really hard on him. I have committed to give book 2 a try - but that is it - if I don't like book 2 I am not continuing with the series (7 books).

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Pretty good. I was hesitant at first, can't really say why. Of course - it came right after finally finishing the Great and Terrible book - so I could just like it because it was so much better. But really, it's a quick read. The way it is written makes you want to keep reading - even by flashlight, at 12:30 in the morning. I started this book on Sunday and finished it on Wednesday - I would have read it quicker had it not been such a pain to read by flashlight. Warning - the book is darker, dealing with suicide, high school bullying, etc. I wouldn't recommend it to my 13 year old cousin or anything, but I think it fairly portrayed what it might be like for a (bullied) girl in high school these days. Also, it's a little more than depressing at some points but I think the main character turns it around at the end to be a bit hopeful, or at least - not a total waste. I can't say more without giving anything away. So proceed with caution if you don't like darker books.