Mid-June Book Reviews

So it's about halfway through June and I'd like to get some of my book reviews out of the way. So far this month I've read 3 books which is pretty good considering I'm working full time at my internship! I bought a few more books this month that I've been dying to read and I'll be sure to post a book haul sometime soon so you can see the new beauties! If you can't wait and need a sneak peak you can check out my bookstagram: @kaylaturnspages!

Title: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Author: Jesse Andrews

Rating: 2/5 stars

First of all, I had really high hopes for this book considering there's a movie being made and I've seen so many great reviews of it. 

It's about this really shallow and rude high school boy named Greg Gaines who is forced by his mother to go hang out with a girl who has cancer. He knew her when he was young but he didn't like her that much because she had big teeth which made her unattractive to him (he seriously says this in the book). Anyway, his mom forces him to hang out with her because she is dying. He doesn't care about her at all and is pretty much only doing this because his mom told him to. Greg is the worst person. His sense of humor is childish and while reading this book I only ever laughed at things Earl said. Which brings me to Earl. 

Earl was my favorite character in this book. He was actually funny and had a heart which is interesting because he was living in the crappiest of circumstances he didn't have any parental guidance and his brothers would beat up on him all the time. Greg doesn't call Earl his friend though. Earl is his "coworker" because Greg doesn't want friends. He just wants everyone to like him and tries really hard not to piss anyone off. He seriously goes so far as to not eat lunch in the lunchroom because he doesn't want people to know that he is, essentially, friends with everybody. THIS IS THE DUMBEST THING EVER. Greg says he and Earl are "coworkers" because they make movies together. Really crappy movies that they refuse to show to anybody because they're so crappy. 

Honestly, I'm just so disappointed in this book. There was barely a plot and nothing interesting happened the whole time. I kept waiting for it to get better and it just didn't. I'm surprised I finished the book. 

Title: Ghost Boy

Author: Martin Pistorius

Rating: 4/5 stars

I read Ghost Boy for a speech-language pathology book club I'm in called SLP Reads. Because I am studying to be an SLP and I'm currently working at a company that makes AAC devices, this book was really interesting for me. This book is a memoir which makes it so much better. 

Martin was your average child until one day he came down with a mysterious illness that left him wheelchair bound and unable to speak. He was, essentially, a human vegetable. He was not in his own mind for 6 years and then one day he comes back. He can understand everything everyone is saying but nobody knows. This leads to an interesting journey of him trying to get everyone to realize he's back. 

This story is absolutely amazing and I loved Martin's writing style. It was very easy for him to transport me into his mind and catch a glimpse of what it might be like to be trapped inside your own thoughts. I highly recommend this book for SLPs and anyone who takes care of others. There are some horrifying stories about some of Martin's past caregivers but there are uplifting ones as well. Go read it!

Title: Yes Please

Author: Amy Poehler

Rating: 4/5 stars

Amy Poehler needs to be my life coach. This book wasn't funny as much as it was insightful but I did laugh a few times while reading it. She didn't sugar coat her experiences. She let her readers know that sometimes life SUCKS and being a comedian SUCKS and real life just SUCKS and that made me feel better about my own life in a twisted sort of way. 

I was pleasantly surprised about the fact that this book wasn't all jokes. I read Mindy Kaling and Tina Fey's books this year as well (really liked them) but something about Amy Poehler's book took the cake for me. I think Amy just let herself be vulnerable while writing this book and it made me feel like I really got to know her. 

The book was a little hard for me to get through because it was so long, but each chapter told its own story. It wasn't difficult for me to read this book in conjunction with other books (which I did) or have it on my currently reading shelf for 3 months (which it was). I think my favorite chapters were the ones about Parks & Rec (if you haven't seen this show get on Netflix RIGHT NOW) and the chapter where she writes about her two sons. The amount of love she has for them radiated throughout the chapter and I enjoyed reading about their little quirks and what they're like. Also, their names are adorable... Archie & Abel... are you kidding me?!

So that's all the reviews I have for now. I'm currently reading Mosquitoland by David Arnold and an advanced reader copy of Song of Summer by Laura Lee Anderson. Hopefully I will finish those two books by the end of June along with some others I'm hoping to get through so check back for more reviews soon!

I Made A Bookstagram/May Book Haul

So some of you might be wondering... what's a bookstagram? Basically, it's an Instagram account made especially to talk about books. I just recently started following a few bookstagram accounts (my top 2 favorites are +BlueEyedBiblio and +alluringtales so go follow them!). I'm planning to post at least once a day and ask my followers questions pertaining to books and reading. I just made the account today and if you are interested in following me my username is @kaylaturnspages.

 I will also be blogging about the books I've read each month and sharing some of my to-read list. I want to set better goals for myself reading-wise because I go through spurts of reading 10 books in a week or I'll read nothing at all for months. So, we'll see how this goes!

I'm currently reading Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. 

I heard it was going to be a movie so I had to pick it up and read it first! I usually try to make it my goal to read the book before the movie, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way. It's okay so far. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. The main character is a little annoying and shallow and the humor seems a little immature for me, but I'm going to keep reading and see how it ends!

I bought a total of 6 books over the past two weeks (4 "real" books, and 2 e-books) and I'm eager to power through them all! The books pictured below were purchased during the Half Price Books Memorial Day sale! Everything in the store was 20% off so I had to go check it out. I bought Me and Earl and the Dying Girl at Target on a whim because I knew the movie was coming out soon. I haven't bought myself books in a while because I'm ~broke~ but it was my first full week at my new job and figured a little treat for myself would be okay. I plan on borrowing books from the local library for most of the summer because I can't afford to buy every book on my to-read list, unfortunately. 

The Hard Copies

1. Confess by Colleen Hoover -- I started reading Colleen Hoover's books by "accident" after getting a Kindle for Christmas in 2012. I bought Hopeless because it was cheap and it looked interesting. It was the first book I ever read on my new Kindle. I was hooked on CoHo's writing. She's amazing and I highly recommend all of her books. I'm excited to read Confess and to own my first hard copy of a book by one of my favorite authors!

2. Landline by Rainbow Rowell -- I read Eleanor & Park last month just as classes were winding down and I LOVED it. I cried at the ending, and that's a good indicator of how emotionally invested I was in Eleanor & Park's story. I have read rave reviews for this book so I'm also eager to get started with this!

3. Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid -- I haven't read anything by this author yet, but I think the plot looks really interesting and I've read a lot of good reviews. Also, the cover is absolutely gorgeous! 

The E-Books

1.  Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius -- I'm a member of a speech-language pathology book club on Goodreads called "Speech Reads". This is the book for the month of June. I bought it for my Kindle for $2.99 and I'm excited to discuss this book with speech-language pathologists and SLP students. It's about a boy who basically becomes a living vegetable and no one knows why. That boy is the author, Martin Pistorius. I'm really curious about this book and plan on reading it as soon as I'm finished with my current read. 

2. The DUFF by Kody Keplinger -- I saw this movie a little while back and thought it was hilarious. I'm also a huge fan of Mae Whitman so that could have been why I liked the movie so much (Parenthood, anyone?) but I knew I wanted to read the book at some point, regardless. I also got this book for my Kindle for only $2.99!

That concludes my first-ever book related blog post. Hope it was enjoyable! Feel free to send me some of your book recommendations for summer and let me know who your favorite author is, I always love adding new books to my to-read list! 

Feel free to add me on Goodreads: kaylaturnspages 

5 Things I'm Currently Obsessed With

I feel like this winter has been never-ending and it's even worse when there are no snow days to make up for it! It's been hard for me to get out of a blogging slump with this terrible weather lingering, but since today the high was 40 degrees I figured since it's basically spring I should blog!

So, without further ado, here are 5 things that I am currently "obsessed" with.

1. My Brand-New Plum Paper Student Planner. Okay, so I have a confession to make. I'm addicted to planners. Seriously. No, I'm not joking. I want to buy ALL THE PLANNERS. I bought a MayDesigns planner over the summer to use this year and it just wasn't working out. The boxes were too small for me to write all the things I wanted to keep track of. Here are some pics of my beautiful new planner from Plum Paper Designs on Etsy.

2. Parks and Recreation. The season finale is on Tuesday. I literally cannot believe that this show is coming to an end. Of course, I only started watching the show on Netflix a little over a year ago probably, but it has quickly become one of my favorites. I absolutely adore this show and all of the characters and I'm really, really sad that it's about to end so soon. Here are some gifs that explain how I feel about Parks & Rec ending...

Okay, moving on...

3. Comfortable Pajamas, Leggings, and Fuzzy Socks. This one is kind of cheap because I'm always going to love these things BUT it's been especially nice to wear all of these because winter has been so God awful. My favorite pajama pants are from Gap Outlet (which happens to also be where I work part-time over winter and summer breaks). They're purple and super comfortable and probably one of my favorite pants to wear. Everyone should get themselves a comfortable pair of pajama pants right now it makes lounging and sleeping 1000 times better. I love my black leggings which I wear with a lot of tops and can either dress them up or down. And I have a bunch of fuzzy socks in tons of colors that I wear throughout the week. :)

4. My Letters. Last semester I was inducted into the Alpha Lambda chapter of Phi Sigma Pi at Temple. PSP is a gender inclusive honor fraternity which means in addition to focusing on scholarship, leadership, and service, I got to meet a bunch of kick ass guys and gals and start making some memories with them! I currently have a few shirts with letters and I absolutely love wearing them. It makes me so excited whenever I put them on because becoming a brother was a pretty long and grueling process. It makes me feel good and represents something huge that I accomplished on my own!

5. My MacBook/Pretty Desktop Wallpapers. It's been a few months now and I'm still totally in love with my computer. I thought it would take a while to get used to since I had been using PCs my whole life but the transition has been smooth and I can't remember what my life was like before it! I love that I can basically take it with me anywhere and everywhere because it's so light. I'm in love! If you're on the fence about investing in a Mac, I say go for it! Also, I've found an amazing blog that posts the most adorable desktop wallpapers. Be sure to check out the rest of her blog as well! Here's the one I'm using this week:

There you have it! 5 things I'm currently "obsessed" with. Hope you all have a lovely week! I'm off to watch The Walking Dead!

Saying Goodbye to 2014

Awkward moment when I write a post about getting out of a blogging slump and I haven't written anything since.... 

ANYWAY. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are gearing up for an even better New Year. 

Since I last posted a few things have happened:

I officially became a brother of Phi Sigma Pi, Alpha Lambda chapter. It was a long and semi-grueling process, but it was so worth it. I can't wait to get back to school and start my first semester as a brother!

Me and the Beta Gamma class on induction night

Speaking of, I finished the Fall 14 semester with a 3.17 GPA which was a blessing considering how busy I was during the majority of it. I continued gaining more experience working with children at my job at Jumpstart Philadelphia. One of the parents told me that her son has my picture on the fridge and tells everyone that I'm his girlfriend! (I love working with preschoolers)

After the semester ended, I took a vacation to Oklahoma to meet my boyfriend's family and to see his hometown. It was a lot of fun, and we ate at almost every restaurant in Oklahoma (just kidding, but we did eat A LOT)

Ryan and I found a scenic turnout on
one of our drives around Oklahoma!

Pic of us at the OKC Thunder game...
they lost but I got to go on the court!

We flew home on Christmas Eve and I had a great holiday spending time with my family and opening gifts. I have a new prized possession: a MacBook Air. It's so different from my old, heavy, and slow Toshiba laptop. It's been a little difficult getting used to it but I love it still!

I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. 

I am making a resolution to blog more often and start documenting things more. I hope that I will be able to find the time to do this with everything else that I am involved with! I want to link up with new bloggers, as well. Leave me links to your blogs/bloglovin and I would love to check your site out!

How to Beat the Blogger's Slump

I'll admit it, since the semester started I've not only been super busy, but I've also found myself in a blogging slump. I've thought about blogging often and I've even opened up a new post and started at the white space for a solid 5 minutes. But when it came to actually putting something down on the page, I was at a loss. That's why I'm bringing you...

There are 3 easy steps to beat the blogging slump. *These are all recent revelations.

1. Stop caring about what your readers will think (sort of). Obviously, you still want people to read your blog so you shouldn't write about things that could only possibly pertain to you. But you shouldn't be afraid to write something because you don't think your followers will read it. You never know! Post it anyway! The way I see it, posting something iffy is better than not posting anything at all.

2. Catch up with your favorite blogs. I spent the past hour browsing Bloglovin' and catching up on my favorite blogs. Reading new posts and scrolling through my feed is a great way to get some inspiration and get excited to start blogging again!

3. Write what you know. Obviously, I'm going through a blogging slump so I thought, why not write about it? If you're having issues organizing, write about how you're dealing with that. If you're super busy, write about how you are keeping up with your hectic schedule. If you are trying new recipes, make sure you take pictures and write about your experience! You can't go wrong with writing about what you know and what you're currently experiencing.

Hopefully these steps are helpful and will allow you to beat the blogging slump like I have! This is not an exhaustive list, if you have any other tips to help bloggers get out of a slump comment below!