In My Mailbox

This is for the late night readers, mostly because I forgot it was Sunday. College seems to do that, I completely forget what day it is (mostly during the weekends).  Does this happen to anyone else?

Anyway, here's the books I bought this week...

In Hardcover:

Allegiant by Veronica Roth




On my Kindle:

Being Jamie Baker by Kelly Oram

(already read this one, I've always wanted to read this one)


More than Jamie Baker by Kelly Oram

(The sequel)

Trust in Me by J. Lynn

Companion novel to Wait for You, which I absolutely LOVED.

The Giving Tree (the song)

While I was studding in the library today I made a new radio to listen to, a Plain White T's radio. Then in middle of reading a book from class I heard some lyrics that sounded extremely familiar even though I know I never heard the song before. Then I played back the song to listen to it again to try to figure it out.

I notice the title is 'The Giving Tree' which was one of my favorite children's book growing up. 

Then I realize that the song revolves around the story. Since I missed band book week, and The Giving Tree is a commonly banned book (I know, people are weird), I thought I would share this song with you. And just in case you love this book as much as I do. 

--Danielle 

Writing with Today's Technology

I have never considered myself a writer. Sure I love to read, it's something I've always had a passion for but I've never really thought about writing a novel or poetry. Today in my Intro to English class we had a guest speaker who talking about writing with today's technology.

First the guest speaker (who is a creative writing professor) talked about how technology was ruining the writing world. (Which I COMPLETELY disagree with) Then she began to talk about how it does open up publishing to anyone. No matter who you are, you are able to publishing something online through self publishing or blogs for free. She talked about how blogs offer anyone the ability to write to an audience.

Then I realized that's what I do!



It made me feel like a writer. I put things (like this post) out there for people to read. Even thought it may not be a ton of people, it's something. Someone other then close friends and family are reading what I write because they chose too.

It made me feel special and extremely happy. This post is basically to say thank you to the very few readers I have left after my break. Love you guys. I love what I do, and I hope to truly get back into blogging. And start making more blogging friends (most of mine decided to stop their blogs).

Anyway, what I wanted to say is basically anyone can be a writer and you might not even know that you are.



Danielle <3 nbsp="" p="">

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day
By Gayle Forman

Summary:A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.
Review: The more you enjoy a book the harder it is to review. That's why I put off writing Just One Day for a little while. When I finished it I flipped back to read my favorite parts over again. Gayle Forman created  characters and a story that I wasn't ready to leave yet. Plus, she had one of the meanest cliff hangers I've ever read, even though I understand why she put it in there.

What exactly did I like about Just One Day? It was more then just a romance in Paris, it's a novel about discovering who you are. Which is something, as a college freshmen, I can completely understand. Allyson who will be a college freshman after her summer in Europe, is someone that is easy to relate to. She's someone who follows the rules but dreams of far off places and more exciting adventures like I'm sure many other readers do. Her journey in finding herself incredible to read about.

When I first picked up Just One Day, I thought it was going to take place in just that one particular day. I was surprised to find that it actually spans a whole year after that. This novel was more about the effect of that one spontaneous day then the actual day itself. There was a weird transition into the year. Part one (the one day in Paris) took up almost just as much as the whole year did. There were somethings that I felt could have been elaborated on and played out more then they were in the year.

I'm excited to see where Just One Year takes the story. I'm dying to know what happened to William and his side of the story. I hope it answers all the questions that Gaylee Forman left out in the open, and I hope there's a happy ending for all the characters that I grew to love in Just One Day.

**Anyone else motivated to learn a second language after finishing this novel? Just curious because I was!

--Danielle

Working at a Library

Over the summer I had a job at my local library. For the most part the job was just re-shelving books. During the 3 months that I worked there I got really good at the alphabet. (The first couple of weeks I was singing the ABC's inside my head) 

I was looking for gif of the ABC's or someone signing the ABC's but I couldn't find one anywhere so here's a cute minions gif. 

But while I was there at the library I notice a few different things. Some of them were normal and some just really strange.

Here are some strange things that I notice while I worked there...

Do you notice anything weird about this picture? Maybe that Heist Society by Ally Cater is categorized as Horror? The kick-ass, action novel that is a little suspenseful, but has no horror moments is categorized at horror. That was one of the first things that I couldn't understand about the libraries categorizing system. 

Here were just some of the funniest/cutest book names that I've seen on a book. They actually sound really interesting and I'll probably try and read them at some points. If you look to the left of the picture you might be able to see Rest in Pizza which is another food titled murder (by another author). I didn't realize how popular they were. 

Those are just some of the weird things that happened over the summer while I was working at a library.

Have you guys ever notice and weird things in your library?

College Book Shelf!

Shelf. As in singular self. I don't have another other shelves to use for books here in my teeny tiny dorm room. (okay it's really not that small compared to other dorms) but the book storage is just one self for now. I'm sure book will be all other the dorm by the end of the year.

Here's a large picture of the shelf...

Holding up the other side of the book is a container of nail polish. (and yes that is a white collar poster on the bottom right) 

Slightly closer! These are all the books I was able to bring with me to school. It was so hard to narrow it down but in the end this is what I brought. 

Cuckoo's Calling by J.K. Rowling 

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood 

Gamebaord of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Carnival of Souls by Melissa Mar 

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma by Camilla Townsend (for school)

Fever by Lauren Destefano 

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken 

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Tender is the Night by F. Scot Fitzgerald 

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart

The Great Gatsby by F. Scot Fitzgerald

Prodigy by Marie Lu

Just One Year by Gayle Forman

The Diviners by Libba Bray 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 

Can you Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella 

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Stardust by Neil Gaiman 

How to Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas C. Foster (for school) 

Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen 

And that's my book shelf tour! (seriously just a shelf). For the most part these are books I haven't read yet besides the ones that I finished while I was here, or are my favorite novels that I couldn't leave at home. (Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby). I also brought my signed copy of Insurgent (which is another favorite) but my roommate is currently reading it.

--Danielle

Emma Approved

Whether you are a Jane Austen fan, Vlog Brother fan, or just an avid Tumblr user you probably heard of The Lizzie Bennet Dairies (if not I'll post a link to the first video at the bottom of this post). Today the same production company, Pemberley Digital (who already have an EMMY from LBD), posted there next project Emma Approved!

Here's the video:



With LBD I had already read Pride and Prejudice and knew what was going to happen (for the most part) but I haven't read Jane Austen's novel Emma (I'm going to try to read it before the show ends). Even though I haven't read Emma, I suprisingly loved the first episode! I was a little concerned because Sanditon, Pemberly Digital last project really wasn't interesting and I couldn't even get through all the episodes.

I thought the acting and writing were spot on with Emma Approved. I can't wait to see where it goes from here!


Here's the Lizzie Bennet Dairies if you haven't seen them yet.




--Danielle

In My Mailbox

It has been months since my last IMM, I considered doing a post about all the books that I have gotten in the past months that I've been gone but then I realized they are all at home and not here in my dorm. So I just did the ones that I bought this week. I actually have a Barnes and Nobles in walking distance from all of my classes, it's pretty dangerous.

Here are the book that I bought this week....



I'm reading this one today, and thoroughly enjoying it so far. You can expect a review up sometime this week.



I loved Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series, so I thought I would try some other ones by her.


When I saw this one in the Science Fiction aisle I didn't even read what it was about until after I bought it. Richelle Mead is one of my favorite authors and I was so excited when I saw something new from her. The cover is gorgeous and now that I read the summary I'm even more excited to dive into this one.



Later this week I'm going to post a tour of my college book shelf. I could only bring a limited number of books with me to school since I only have one shelf for books. So I thought I would show which ones a brought since a few people had ask, or recommended books for me to bring on twitter.

I'm also going to try and post things I learned while working in a library. I saw some weird things go on with the books in the YA section and the adult sections.

Also, I'm curious if there's any new and active blogs around the book blog world. Many of the blogs that I was reading before I went on a break sort, also just stopped blogging. So I don't have many active blogs to read about any more. Feel free to suggest some!

--Danielle

Review: Prodigy

Prodigy
By: Marie Lu
Sequel to Legend
Publish Date: January 2013

Summary (from goodreads): Injured and on the run, it has been seven days since June and Day barely escaped Los Angeles and the Republic with their lives. Day is believed dead having lost his own brother to an execution squad who thought they were assassinating him. June is now the Republic's most wanted traitor. Desperate for help, they turn to the Patriots - a vigilante rebel group sworn to bring down the Republic. But can they trust them or have they unwittingly become pawns in the most terrifying of political games?

Review: It's been a long time since I read Legend, over a year, but some how Legend's story line was still fresh in my mind. While it was another dystopian novel, it had a different take. A more military stand than the others that I have read. When I finally had time to pick up Prodigy, I was beyond excited to see where Marie Lu was going to take the story. 

Surprisingly Prodigy was even better then  Legend. Now that the world has been set up, and the characters introduced, Marie Lu was able to dive right into the story line. The fast paced movement of Prodigy while learning more of the world as Day and June did was so much fun. Once I was able to pick up Legend it was extremely hard to put down.

 As we gets deeper into this world we also get deeper into the characters. Lu was able to keep the aspects of the characters that we met in Legend but also dive farther into their thoughts and actions. June and Day also had some kick-ass action scenes that kept the suspense going. 

If you read Legend the sequel is one you don't want to miss. Prodigy will keep you on your toes, and unable to guess what will happen next.  The military and political side to this series is so different and exciting, it helps them stand out between the many other dysotpian novels that can be found of YA shelves. I'll be impatiently waiting for the third installment of this series until November. But for now here's the cover, which actually my favorite one in the series! 


--Danielle

College Life and Blogging

Good Morning!

I know I've been MIA for about a year now, but I'm hoping this changes soon. I really miss interacting with other bloggers and readers. Now that I've been at college for a month (and it's been a great and exciting month) I think I got a pattern down for blogging, work, studying, and other activities. I've read a few books that I want to post reviews for, so hopefully I'm able to start making With A Book an active blog again.

Here's a little update on my life this past year I've been away. I applied to many difference colleges and decided to attend Rutgers University in NJ. I've been here for a little over a month now and have loved every moment of it. Classes are great, I'm actually going to try and take a writing class next semester all about blogging. I love how you can take classes that are for your own interests in college and you don't have to get a set schedule from the school. There's so many different classes to choose from and so many English classes that I want to take. Here's some pictures of my campus:

The brand new Barnes and Nobles on Campus!

I have a job here at school, it's in a library, but with the Archives for the University and not the library itself. Which is different from when I'm used to after working at my local library over the summer.

I've actually read a few interesting books for school so far and can't decide if I should review them or not. They are mostly non-fiction and historical. Any thoughts?

Another thing that I considered was reviewing more them books here on With a Book. Just other things I buy and run into that I feel like others would like to hear about, for example make-up, and beauty products. Is that something any of you would be interested in? Or should I leave With a Book strictly a book blog? This is something that I've considered for some time now. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Don't forget to follow With a Book on tumblr too! I can post more often there and reblog cute book quotes and pictures along with my own posts.

--Danielle