The Holidays!

Hello everyone!
The holidays are almost upon us! Well for those who celebrate the holidays anyway and for those who don't, I'm sure that whatever holiday you celebrate during another day of the year is just as great. My family personally do not celebrate religiously, but we do love to put up a tree, have a nice dinner and exchange gifts. I'm very excited for the holiday season and for today's post I decided to have a holiday themed post. I am going to count down my favourite holiday themed books and movies. I may also just add a couple other things that I love about the holidays. ;) Let's get started! :) (I'm sorry about all of the exclamation marks, I'm just so excited about all of the holiday festivities)

The first book on list has to be 'Let it snow' by Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle and John Green. It is a lovely book that weaves together three beauty Christmas stories together. The three authors each written their own character and story line that created this interconnected world. I most admit that I had originally only read it because it was partially written by John Green, but after reading it I loved all the authors. This book is very Chrisstmasy (I know that isn't a word, but lets pretend that it is, ahaha) and is a great holiday read.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone the movie is one of my favourites for the holiday season. Usually my philosophy is always 'books are better than the movie', but this may just be the one exception. I love watching this movie leading up to the holidays. It feels me up with a holiday vibe and it isn't Christmas until I watch this movie and eat so much popcorn that my stomach feels like exploding (unfortunately this does actually happen every year...). This movie is not just about the holiday season, but the main theme is love. Watching this movie is one of holiday traditions it just embodies the holidays for me.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickinson is a beautiful novella that is a classic. I love it and I most admit that I also love the animation version. I think that this is a great holiday read, because it is shorter so that you can spend other time with your family and friends. Some of my earliest Christmas memories are watching the animation then learning about the novella and reading those. This is a beautiful classic that is perfect every year.

My favourite Christmas movie of all time has to be Elf. As a little girl I never owned the DVD, but it would always be on TV in December. It's a hilarious comedy about an 'elf' who is actually a human. As he goes into the human world he is far out of his comfort zone, but he is filled with Christmas spirit. I'm pretty sure that most people have watched this movie because it always shows around Christmas but if you are reading this post and you have not watched it, do it now! It's extremely funny and perfect for the holiday season.

Hot chocolate is one of the most delicious drinks ever. Unfortunately in Australia Christmas is crazy hot due to it occurring in summer, but hot chocolate is still delicious. I've tried to make cold chocolate instead of hot chocolate and it actually worked pretty well. I used chocolate milk, whipped cream and crushed candy canes. This is the perfect treat to drink cuddled on the couch watching a cheesy christmas movie. This is super random, but I had to share my love for chocolate flavoured beverages.

This was my holiday related post. I hope you enjoyed it and have some ideas of what to read, watch or drink. :) This is going to be a very joyous holidays, I have a very good feeling about it.

Until next time,

The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds


aka Kellie xox

Reading for pleasure vs reading for school

Hello everyone!
It's been wayyy to long. I know and I'm so sorry. I've just been caught up writing, because as some of you may know this month is November and November is novel writing month. I've been writing like crazy and whenever I can, but that's not where most of my time is taken up. I have spent so many nights studying for exams and so many nights worrying about them. I'm a naturally anxious person and when a stressful event happens you can bet that I'd be very stress out and worried. You may wonder what this has to do with anything, but it will make sense, because today I will be discussing reading for pleasure against reading for school.

Reading for pleasure is this beautiful thing where you can just enjoy yourself and read because you want to. Read because you have a passion for it. Read because books are freaking amazeballs! You can completely lose yourself in the text and enjoy, While reading for school your mind is always thinking about what the hidden symbolism in it it. What the author was discreetly trying to convey. How you should structure you analysis essay. You can't simply enjoy the whatever you're reading. Don't even get me started on reading to memorise. I have read so many facts this week and tried to cram them into my brain. That is probably my least favourite way of reading. Reading something that you have no interest in, over and over, so that it stays in you brain.

I find it sort of funny how whenever I want to read for myself I would want to drop everything and read it straight away, but when it comes to reading for school I would do whatever I can to avoid it and be the queen of procrastination. It is as if once it has a connection to school my brain is like 'Nope, I'm done with this. Don't make me read it." It's not a conscience choice, my brain just doesn't want to do it and it is very stubborn. *yup, Kellie blame it on your brain and don't place the blame where it is meant to me, you and your lazy ways* You are probably really worried about me, because I'm talking in third person. Don't worry, I may be a little weird, but I'm fine. Just a little sleep deprived, but fine. :)

I hope you enjoyed today's random post. I just missed it and had to write something and this just blurted out of my brain. :P

-Lots of love the girl with her head in the clouds  


aka Kellie xox

Inky Award Ceremony 2015!

Hello everyone! 

So as I'm writing this sentence as I'm on the train coming home from the Inky Writers Awards. For those who don't know, this is an award where young adults are able to decide what young adult books are good. It seems like something that is given; young adults critiquing young adult books, but unfortunately it is not something very well practised. This is why the Inky awards are very important and why I'm so honoured to have been there. 

I'm going to apologise in advance because I did not bring my baby (aka my canon camera), so the photos you are about to see, will be very blurry. 

So the day started off very stressful because my local train station is being remodelled and I did not know. I had to make different plans to get to the State Library of Victoria. Luckily I was successful and made it to the city with time to spare. It's actually very fortunate that I had time to spare because I actually became sort of lost. I'm using 'sort of', when I actually mean 'very'. While I have blogged in their You're The Voice program, I have never been physically inside the library. I have seen it many times and admired the building from outside before, yet I have never actually set though in it. (I know, I know. I'm very ashamed.) From the outside the building looks big, but when you're walking in it, you will discover that it is not just big, it is gigantic. I did not have time to fully explore it because I had to find the ceremony, but I fully into on doing so one day. That library is so big and beautiful it's just very intimidating when you first enter. There are just so many places you can venture. 

When I actually found where I was supposed to go I was greeted by someone who I shall not name because I did not ask for her permission. I know that she knows about my blog though and if she's reading this I want to say thank you so much. You are a wonderful human being who made me feel so welcome.

Okay I got off the train and am now home. Now I shall continue this post. :) So after I went into a room that was bright red and 'red room filled with pictures of angry looking white men'. The room admittedly was very red and had many paintings in them.

A picture of the room in question.

The lovely Gabrielle Tozer, telling the audience what inspired her book,  The Intern. 

Then was the actual ceremony part of the night. The shortlist was filled with amazing books, but in the end there would only be two winners; one for the Gold Inky (Australian books) and one for the Silver Inky (international). Ultimately Rainbow Rowell won the Silver Inky for her novel Fangirl. Congratulations to her! I really enjoyed her novel. I actually have a review up on that book that you can read here. She was not able to come in person, but she sent a very lovely video. Then it was time for the Gold Inky that was awarded to, duN dUN DUN, Gabrielle Tozer!

Gabrielle Tozer with her award and Inky the mascot!

After the ceremony there were refreshments and the audience were given a chance to talk to the authors and the teen judges. I had a conversation with the teen judges and they were all so wonderful and nice! They were so down to Earth and fun to talk to. I'm afraid that I looked like a total weirdo just coming up and asking for their picture for my blog. Although they were very welcoming and did such an amazing job. There were many judges but I only spoke to 4. It was very cool because some (two if my memory is right) teen judges flew interstate to be there. After that I was awkwardly standing there looking like a loner because I wanted to talk to some authors. It was weird standing alone in a crowded room, but most of the time the authors were in a conversation and I did not want to interrupt them. I did see a friend though and for a fraction of the time I did not look like a loner. *laughs awkwardly* 

The beautiful/handsome teen judges. (From left to right: Oliver, Melanie, Jamiee and Genevieve)

I was able to talk to Alice Pung and give her a fan mail letter from my friend who loved her book. he was actually the one who recommended Laurinda to me. Shout out to Ted. :D I was also very fortunate and spoke to Clair Zorn. I absolutely love her book The Protected. It made me cry so much. I told her that and when she signed my book she wrote 'sorry for making you cry'. She is so funny and was very nice when I spoke to her. It feels so surreal that I met her. I also got to talk to Gabrielle Tozer, who was so wonderful and humble. She said she was very surprised to win. The Intern is her debut novel and since she just received a Gold Inky award for it, my prediction is that she will have a very long and successful career. It's a funny story actually, I was standing alone for about 10m minutes waiting for her to finish her conversation, until I was introduced to her by a friend. It was just so incredibly awkward standing there. I'm sure I looked like a creeper. I also need to apologise for using awkward so many times. There just aren't many more words I can use and I have checked the thesaurus. My life sometimes feels like a series of awkward events that span for years.

Just a casual selfie with Gabrielle Tozer. 

I just want to mention that I look very red in the above selfie because I was sort of embarrassed and honestly a tiny bit starstruck.

Today has been amazing. I had the opportunity to met many authors and other likeminded teens. This is such an important event because it really celebrates young adult opinions on books made for young adults. I am so grateful to have been invited to this event and had an amazing time. Go Inky! :)


-The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds

aka Kellie ♡

My fangirl heart, I talk about The Sword of Summer by Rick Riodan and Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Hello everyone!!

First off I need to apologise for the lack of post. Sometimes life gets overwhelming and just time consuming and I've been going through that period but I'm hoping to get out of it and manage my time better. I also wanted to update that my series Random Book Talk is on hiatus but will continue soon, so keep a look out for that! I also wanted to apologise again for not posting as many posts as I should, but that is because I know film TBRs and book reviews and have them on my BookTube. I enjoy filming videos and hope to do it more often, but I will also continue posting here, so don't fret. :)


Today I wanted to talk/ fangirl about the books that are coming out today. Today The Sword of Summer by Rick Riodan and Carry On by Rainbow Rowell are coming out!! *Faints because she got too excited* I've actually been waiting for these two for so long! (Also I apologise in advance for all the exclamation marks I'm going to use, ahah) The Sword of Summer is going to be the first Magnus Chase book. This is Annabeth's cousin that was mentioned in The Blood of Olympus!!! I'm so excited to read it. I have heard it is in first person point of view and talks about Norse gods just like the first Percy Jackson book. Ot's like dear old uncle Rick Riodan had taken out the best parts of Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief and recreated that magic. That almost makes me want to forgive him for giving us fans a heartbreak after his literal cliff hanger in The Mark of Athena. The key word in that sentence is 'almost'.

I'm sorry for all the exclamation marks again, I'm just very excited for this series. Percy Jackson was one of those books that really fraud me into reading along with Harry Potter. Without it this series I don't think I'd be the person I am today so I'm very excited. :)

Like that isn't enough I've heard that there is also going to be another series where Apollo gets punished by Zeus and become a mortal. *gasps* He then goes to Camp Half Blood for help and that is the premise for a new series. OMG *forgets how to breathe* What is this doing to my poor heart? This sounds like such an amazing concept and one that sounds like such an adventure! I'm so excited to read The Sword of Summer, but also really excited to read this series when it comes out.

I'm also so excited about Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. After reading Fangirl I was fascinated by this story. I wanted to know what it was about and I absolutely adored the book. When I found out Rainbow Rowell was actually writing the fan fiction in her book, my fangirl heart basically broke down for a bit!! This was such an amazing idea and one I'm so excited to read.

It seems so weird that two such amazing and anticipated books are coming out on the same day, but I can't complain. I'm so happy! I was going to preorder the books, but I'm being more conscious about money now. I am actually saving up to but a proper microphone and a good quality lens for my camera, which cost a fair amount of money. This means I won't be able to buy new books for the foreseeable future. *sheds a little tear* I'm okay though, thanks to my local library! Have I ever mentioned how much I love libraries? Well I love them a great deal! :) ♡ 

I hope your fangirl heart is doing better then mine!

-The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds

aka Kellie who loves you as much as she loves libraries♡♡ 

Failing at life

I'm posting today for apologising for the lack of post lately. As some would know I have recently moved up into a harder class with a significantly larger workload. I haven't been reading as  much anymore. I read whenever I can, but I don't have much time to read anymore. Everything is starting to calm down for a bit so I'll be able to read more. I can't wait to read more and write more reviews. I really enjoy writing book posts, so I'm so excited for it. I really hope that things at school don't get hectic anymore.

Get excited for what is to come! :)



-The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds


aka Kellie :)

Finally reading Tolstoy!

Hello everyone! 

Today is going to a kind of short post and more of an update than anything. I hope you like it!

We know names of some great authors who are very popular that we haven't read. For example for me it is authors like Steven King and William Shakespeare. Although to be fair William Shakespeare was a play  writer and I have read some of his worlds, but I still haven't read some very iconic plays by him. Jane Austen used to be on the list but since I started reading her novels last year I can proudly say that I've read her works. An author who also has been on the list for ages is Leo Tolstoy and I'm finally reading War and Peace! It is such a big book but I'm confident that I will be able to read it. Although I'm still swamped with school work I will try to read it whenever I can. I also just finished reading another book and hope to have a review up soon. I'm also wanting to read some books by the Brontë sisters. I have read  Whuthering Heights but I hope to read more. I've also read Jane Eyre when I was younger by it was a long time ago and I didn't really understand it at the time so I would like to re-read it. 

So this is to all the authors that we have been meaning to read, but we haven't. This is to all those books in hope that they will be read. 

Happy reading everyone!

Lots of love, 

The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds

Aka Kellie ♡

Hello everyone! Today I come to you with an update. I finished my really short TBR pile for July and since it’s the last day of July I’m posting my TBR list for August! (I probably use way to many exclamation points, but I really am excited XD ) Also one of the books on my TBR list, I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson, I filmed a review for it 2 weeks ago, but since my wifi didn’t work I wasn’t able to post it. When this blog post is online you should be able to watch it on my BookTube channel. With that out of the way lets go on with August’s TBR list!

Kellie’s August TBR List:

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Okay, I admit that this TBR list incredibly short once again, but War and Peace is so long and I knew that it would take a really long time. It has always been on my bucket list to read a novel by Leo Tolstoy before i dies. That sounds horribly morbid, but it is true and I’m really looking forward to reading it. Sophie's world is a book that I received for christmas and I though that now would be a good time to take it off the shelf where it was collecting dusk and actually start reading it. Landline is one of the books by Rainbow Rowell that I haven't read so I'm really looking forward to reading it.

A reason why my TBR lists are become shorter than usually lately is that I have had so many school commitments that have taken up so much of my time. Such as the school play and homework. I still need to find time for reading though, so I’m squeezing in some reading sessions whenever I have time, which I admit has not been that much lately. 

So that was my TBR list for August! I hope you liked reeding it and i would love to hear about what is on yours. :)

Lots of love,

Kellie

Reading emotional books

Hello! I've been feeling really bad lately that I haven't been posting that much. I've just finished Percy Jackson's Greek Gods by Rick Riordan and I'm half way through The Importance of Being Earnest and I feel swamped, but I wouldn't help myself from posting something. I'm currently reading I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson and that was part of the inspiration for today's post.

As a reader, I've read many different kids of books and one of the common ones I have read are emotional ones. Even though I read many of them, I'm always affected by them. I have to read a chapter and have a break (about a minute or so, sometimes a couple of days) to process it. I never seem to be able to get over this even though like I already stated I read a lot of them. Even though they are fictional characters and situations, the tears are real. That's the beauty of books. They can illicit an abundance of real emotions. That is both a pro and a con of reading. For now I know that I need to have a little break before I continue to dive into this emotional book.

I don't know if this only happens to me or other readers. I believe that I can be quite an emotional person, but I don't think that that is the reason I feel the emotions so strongly. Books are just so special to me and whenever I read them everything feels so real to me that I have to consciously remind myself that what I'm reading is a made up story, but that doesn't stop the onslaught of emotions.

If you're reading an emotional book, good luck! :)


Lots of love,
Kellie

TBR Pile for July

Hello everyone!
Today's blog post is going to be a short one and its my TBR (to be read) pile for July. I don't even know if I should call it a TBR pile when there are only three books and one isn't even technically a book. I will probably read more books this month, but the two that I need to read are:

• I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
• Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods by Rick Riordan.

I've been meaning to read I'll Give You The Sun ages but now I'm definitely going to read it now. I'm so pumped to start reading it and I have sort of high hopes, because all of the good things I've heard of it. 

I also need to The Importance of Being Earnest for school. I don't know much about it because it's a play and it's quite old. I'm looking forward to it because Oscar Wilde is one of those names I've heard a lot about, so I'm excited to have a read of his play. 

Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods is a book I'm really looking forward to. I've already started a couple chapters and I love it. Percy's jokes make me laugh out loud and I feel very nostalgic reading the series because I read the first one so long ago and I just love the series. It helped me get into reading and I'm looking forward to finishing it.

I hope you like this TBR pile/list. When I finish them I may post a review or post a video on my BookTube, so keep a look put for that. :)

Lots of love,

The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds

aka Kellie

Wuthering Heights reaction/ what did I just read?

Wuthering Heights. It is a book that has been described as the best book ever written in English. It is a classic and one that I've heard a lot about. I had always wanted to read it and this year my English teacher recommended it to me. When she told me I needed to read I knew that I needed to read it. I started reading this book not really knowing what I was expecting from it, but what I'm feeling now is weird. I'm sort of confused, happy and sad all rolled into one. I think I have already written in my other post about Wuthering Heights, but I will say it again, Wuthering Heights is such a roller coaster for your emotions. This book have me so many different emotions. This not a review of the book, but more like my reaction and feelings about it.

I was so sort of confused when I first finished this book. Honestly this book to me is sort of messed up. It was full of incest (which I think was normal in those days), hatred, child abuse and revenge, but it was strangely good. It has actually taken me quite a while to finish this book, because I couldn't read it for a long time. I would read one or two chapters and then take a break. This book scared me and made me question human nature so I needed to have a break after reading it for a bit.

Everyone who has read this book ships Heathcliff and Catherine, and so do I, but I can't help but disliking Heathcliff. First of he abused child, even his own. Second of all he was just mean and cruel, but the ting was I also sympathised with him. He was a foundling who was looked down upon by his adopted family and he wasn't able to live with the person he loved. His love for Catherine was what made me love this novel so much, but his love for Catherine in my eyes do not justify his cruelty to is wife, son Hareton and Catherine. I sort of understand how he would not like Edger because he married his true love, but intense hatred for everyone else baffled me and made me extremely scared of him.

This book was so different to books that I have read before because it is manly told from flashbacks of the house maid, but it was unique and I really enjoyed it. I don't know about the ending though. I feel like this whole novel talks about so much and deals with many situations, but then I sort of abruptly ended with Heathcliff's death. Thinking back it sort of made sense, especially since he told Nelly that he was dying, but to me I felt that the ending was a little bit of a let down. This was basically a ramble of my thoughts. I'm still digesting this story and feeling many different emotions. This was a really cool book though, that I"m very glad that I have finally gotten around to reading.



The girl with her head in the clouds,

aka Kellie ♡

Wuthering Heights Feels

Hello everyone!

I'm currently reading Wuthering Heights and can I just say OMG THE FEELS! If you are a reader of my blog you will know that I do not use all caps very often, so when I do I mean business. This book is honestly inflicting emotions in me that I didn't even know were humanly possible. I don't even know if I like the book (I'm not finished yet), but I know that this book is insanely emotional.

Do not keep on reading if you don't want to be spoiled!

When I first started reading it I was so freaked out. I was reading it and imagining a little hand grabbing my wrist and my heart starting beating so fast that I felt like it was going to feel out of my chest. It was even worst because it was the middle of the night and I was the only one awake. Creepy! It's not just the creepiness of the book that scares me but all the emotions. This book is feels like a One Direction concert. Happiness and also tears. A lot of tears. Can I just say I feel so much for Isabella. I haven't finished the book, but so far she has suffered so much. She fell in love with Heathcliff and he didn't return her feelings. He was in love with Catherine yet he led her on and then married her to try to torture Catherine and Isabella. That is so sad. I will have a full review up soon when I finish the book, but for now I sort of hate Heathcliff. I don't know whether or not the rest of the book will change my mind or not, but for no I don't really like him. I understand that he loves Catherine more than life itself, but does that justify his actions? He took out Linton's hair in the locket (I love how the housekeeper twisted both of their hair together, btw), he ruined Isabella's life for the sake of revenge and he was so rude. I absolutely love how much he loves Catherine and it's beautiful, but I can't help but not really like him, but in the scenes where is with Catherine before she died made me want to cry so much. The life of a fangirl *sniffles*


Thanks for reading todays post! I hope you liked it and feel free to tell me your opinions. I love to hear your opinions!

Lots of love,
The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds


aka Kellie <3

OMG people are talking about this?!!

Hello everyone! This is going to be an insanely short post, but so I already mentioned how I was at the Reading Matters Conference (such an amazing experience!) and lately I've been going through the #YAmatters from twitter and looking at the tweets from that day and it's so cool to see author who I LOVE to be saying positive things about our panel! That's so insanely cool! I feel so happy and can't get the grin of my face. I'm just so happy! It's so cool to see people who have tweeted the things you said or tweeted about the panel and saying that it was good. Thanks everyone who has! <3


 I'm at school now and we had a but of free time so I was looking online about the conference and I saw a paragraph about the panel. This is it:

"The first event I get to see involves a panel of teenagers talking about how they discover books and talk to people about reading. The three teens are remarkably engaging, well spoken and insightful. They call for less romance! A panel of actual teens is a great way to start off a conference about teen reading, and it is well chaired by Elizabeth Flux (Voiceworks)."-Stephanie Speight 
You can read the whole thing at: 
https://www.textpublishing.com.au/blog/text-at-the-2015-reading-matters-conference  

Seriously, oh my gosh! People have been saying the nicest things! It's so cool to see. I can't believe that the panel was already last week, but I had so much fun speaking there and I know I'll remember this for a long time. :)


-The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds


aka Kellie ♡♡  

Meeting authors!

Hello everyone!

I was supposed to post this yesterday, but totally forgot, haha. So on Friday I spoke on a panel about Young Adult reading and it was such a cool experience. The think I wanted to talk about was meeting authors. There were authors like Laurie Halse Anderson their and Will Kostakis and it was so cool. I had so much to write and say, but I ended up putting it onto my BookTube channel so check that out! *Shamelessly adds self promotion and hopes that no one notices*

Meeting authors is so awesome. It's so easy to forget when you're reading a book that there was a person writing that book and that person has their own dreams, idols and family. It's so cool meeting the person who had preciously made you laugh or cry (most likely cry) and talk to them about their book. It's so cool though, because they had shared their thoughts and a story from they brain and then it had goes into your brain. You then process it and feel things about the book. That's so bloody cool!


Lots of love,

The girl with her head in the clouds


aka Kellie

Random Book Talk Post #2 Popular Books

Hello people of the blogosphere! This is the second post of Random Book Talk and today's topic is a really short one but one that I think needs addressing in the book community  and that is about popular books.

Popular books are usually frond upon in the book community. Books like The Fault in Our Stars are amazing, but since they are now very popular and have been adapted into a movie by Hollywood has been considered to not be very good anymore. Books are stories. Basically ink on a page that tell stories and make feelings in us. I love books so much which is something sort of obvious since I have a blog devoted to books and you reading my blog, I'm assuming you must at least sort of like books. This may seem off topic, but the thing is if you have a love of books you know the feeling of when you love a book so much because it's really good. I'm bringing this up because I hate when people bring down their (or someone else's) love for a particular book because it has become popular.

When a book become popular, that in no way decreases it's level of awesomeness. It doesn't matter if someone's favourite book is Divergent or they believe that John Green is a genius (which he is!) Just because something is popular, doesn't decrease it's value. Please remember that. :)

Lots of love,

The girl with her head in the clouds


aka Kellie *sends virtual hug*

Random Book Talk post #1 Why e-readers are pretty dang cool

Random Book Talk #1 Why e-readers are pretty dang cool

Hello everyone welcome to the first Random Book Talk post! Today's topic is on e-readers, lets get to it!

I could go on and on in so many paragraphs about the pros and cons of reading from e-readers, but instead of that it might be better if I do dots that are easy to write and for you to read.

Pros of e-readers:

• E-books are cheaper
• Better for the environment
• It's lighter and more portable

Cons of e-readers:

• It runs out of batteries when you're in the middle of a sentence
• Doesn't have the beautiful book smell 
• E-reader don't have the feel of real paper maddie and diggie just broke up

Imagine walking into a warm bookstore to escape the cold of the winter. Can you imagine the scent of the wonderful new books being sucked up through your nostrils? That scent is basically what I live for. I love the smell of books, but I also love saving money so I can buy more books. With e-books they're better for the environment and you can buy more books with the same amount of money you were going to spend on physical copies.

I don't know where I'm on in this debate. I love ebooks and have an e-reader, but I also love reading. The things is it sort of doesn't matter to me. When you read you are transported to a another place and it doesn't matter how you get there as long you are enjoying yourself and having fun. That's what's important! :)




I hope you like this quick style post! If you don't now this is Random Book Talk! A series where I randomly post a short post exploring a problem or issue in the book world. I hope you enjoyed this post!

A new series: Random Book Talk!

Hello wonderful people of the blogosphere!

If you read my previous post you would know that I recently blogged on the State Library of Victoria's website. While I was doing that I discovered how fun it is to write about random subject that relates to what I love, which is reading. I thought that it would be fun to continue this on my blog! This will now be a new series called Random Book Talk! Once a week (or maybe a fornight if I'm super busy) I will be posting a Random Book Talk post to this blog. I'm so excited for this series. It'll be so fun and I hope that you like this series. The first post will be coming up this come Sunday!

 For now bye!



-The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds




aka Kellie :)

Whoops... I forgot something...

Hey everyone! I'm unfortunately still not reading as many books as I usually do, but I'm now re-reading the Harry Potter series. It feels so good to read what started my love of reading in the first place. Today I'm writing this post, because I just remembered that I never told you guys something. *Makes a drumming noise to build up anticipation* I'm a Teen Voice for the Insideadog website! I write a post for them once for every week of April! If you want to have a look here's the link to the newest post. :)

http://www.insideadog.com.au/blog/youre-voice-kellie-ethics-reading-book-series-standalone  


Thanks for reading today's really quick post everyone!




The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds



aka Kellie♡

A reading slump :(

Lately I feel like I've been in a reading slum. The last book I've read was Switched by Amanda Hocking and I'm hoping to finish it. I had only read 62 pages of it and even though it seems really good and interesting so far, I now find myself in a reading slump. For those who don't know what a reading slump is, it's when you haven't read a book in a long time and feel very unmotivated to read. I want to get out of it soon and have new book reviews to share with you guys. This is just a little update post to explain what is going on. To be honest it's so weird feeling unmotivated to read. I love reading so much and never thought that I would be feeling like this... When I get out of this reading slump I'll have new content for you guys and I'll share my tips on how to get out of a reading slump with you. :)


With love, The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds


aka Kellie ♡♡

Fangirl Review/Thoughts

I just finished reading Fangirl last night and this is my review/thoughts. I feel like I never do reviews any more instead I do a weird a mix of a review and thoughts. A review is structured and sounds very formal while what I do is write what my brain spews up about a book. Haha...

Details:

Publishing Date: First published in 2013 in the US by St. Martin's Press
Page Count: 461 pages (my edition had an interview with Rainbow Rowell and some extract content and I didn't count that. I only counted the pages that were the actual book)
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Format: Paperback
Quick Summary:
Cath is a university student who is very scared and hesitant about change, so starting university is a big deal for her. Cath thought that she was going to be alright, because her identical twin sister is coming with, but her sister Wren doesn't want to do everything together anymore. Cath then finds comfort in writing fan fiction. This is a book about Cath's year at college and how her year opens new opportunities and experiences for her, but it's all about whether she's willing to open up and learn that the'r more to live and love then she ever knew.


No Spoilers Section:

Fangirl is such a good book! It so accurately describes the life of a Fangirl. This book was just amazing. The only other book I've read by Eleanor and Park and I loved that book so much, so I went in with some high expectations. I was not disappointed. I don't know which one I loved more. Fangirl is amazing and Rainbow Rowell is one go my new Queens. Cath is a great character and I connect to her so much, because we have so many things in common.

List of things we have in common:

• Social Anxiety
• Fear of change and new people
• Loves fandoms and fanfiction
• Awkward in social situations
• Doesn't like people who drink just because everyone else does
• Love for writing 

Cath isn't that perfect 'quirky, I think I'm ugly but I'm actually drop dead gorgeous and I'll do anything to get guys' kind of female character. Cath is realistic and an awesome character. She's so awesome and sounds like the kind go person I'd love to be friends with. Her sister Wren sort of annoyed me at some parts, but she's pretty cool and the plot was awesome. It's realistic and so amazingly written. I have so much love and respect for Rainbow Rowell for writing a book I love so much with such amazing characters. I can't really say much else without spoiling anything, so go read the book and then come back! :) I can't recommend this book enough it's so good, but I don't think anyone under 13 should read it, because some scenes can be quite confronting. 

Spoilers Section:

I just want to start this off by talking about Levi. Oh my gosh Levi! He's amazing! Where can I get my own Levi? I love him so much. Especially that seen in that scene in the bar where Levi stood up for them and had that speech about how father's shouldn't have to worry every time their daughters leave the house. That speech was amazing and made me tear up. I only did't like two things about Levi. The first is how in the laundry scene he acted like a jerk and undermined Cath's strength because she was a girl. I'm all for chivalry, but Cath repeatedly asked for him to give it back and he was just being a jerk (admittedly a king, caring and awesome jerk). The second thing that I don't like about him is how he seems to have no faults. He helps her in everything and comes straight to her when she needs help. He's perfect, but people aren't perfect. What I loved about Cath is that she wasn't perfect and she had her faults, but Levi is just perfect. (I'm not complaining about that, Levi is awesome, but I would have liked one other flaw besides from helping Cath too much.)

I want to elaborate a little more about what I said in the no spoilers section. I really liked Wren and it really hurt when she went into the hospital, but in some parts of the book I was so frustrated by her. Especially while their dad was trying to help her and her excuse for drinking was that everyone did it. It was so frustrating! Although over all I love their relationship because it was sweet without over doing it. I have a sister myself and although we aren't twins, I know how it feels to have a sister and I think that Rainbow Rowell wrote it perfectly. Sisters fight, but at the end of the they they always care for each other.

Cath was such a cool character to read. I haven't read that a surplus of books where the protagonist suffers from social anxiety. While reading about her I really connected to her and that made me like the book so much more. I always loved her relationship with her dad. I felt so bad for her dad and I just wanted to give him a hug. He was so perfectly written. Another character that was perfectly written was Reagan. I loved Reagan. She was witty, straightforward and sarcastic. I'm not sure if I'd be friends with her if she was a real person, but as a character I really liked her. I character who I won't like in real life or in the book was Nick. I really didn't like him and how he tried to make Cath feel made for his mistakes that lead him to lose his teaching assistantship. Just typing about him makes me upset.

Overall I love this book and I can't believe that I haven't read it sooner. I can't wait for Carry On to come out. If the extracts in Fangirl are anything to go by, it will be great. This book is so good and if you have a friend who likes to read Young Adult fiction or you like to read it I strongly recommend it, but like I stated before this book might be confronting for anyone who is under 13. Right now I'm just so excited for Carry On! This book is so good and I love it!

The Whispering Skull Review/Thoughts

OMG! I have just put the The whispering skull down a minute ago and took out my laptop. I jut finished The Whispering Skull that I borrowed yesterday from the library. I love this is series so much and the is my review of The Whispering Skull! (This might be a bit rushed, but I just wanted to write my review now when I just finished the book!

Details:

Publishing date: 2013 by Doubleplay Children's Books
Page Count: 470 (I didn't include the glossary pages)
Author: Jonathan Stroud
Format: Paperback
Series: Lockwood and Co.
Preceder: The Screaming Staircase
The next one: The Hollow Boy
Quick Summary:
In the future the world is plagued by Visitors, who are ghosts. To help combat the ghost agencies have sprang up to help stop Visitors. One of these agencies are called Lockwood and Co. Lockwood and Co. is very small agency with only 3 people; Anthony Lockwood, Lucy Carlyle and George Cubbins. This is the squeal from The Screaming Staircase and it's months after and their agency is doing a lot better, but when they have a new case and something goes astray Lockwood and Co. have their hands full with a new case and a bet with their nemesis.

No Spoilers Section: 

This book is very well written and just like the first book it is very creepy, but without over doing it (because it is aimed to younger readers). I'm a person who can be really easily scared and in some parts I didn't want to read it in the room alone. I was a very big fan of the first book and I wan't disappointed by this squeal. It had be laugh out loud in some parts and had be very creeped out at other parts. Unlike the first book I was guessing until the end about what was going to happen. The lot was so intricate without making my head hurt and that's really about all i can say without spoiling anything!

SPOILER SECTION!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Can I just start off by saying that Anthony Lockwood had a sister?! What? I didn't see that coming at all. Honestly I don't know what I was expecting to be the room. In the first book I was think maybe his parents old things, but in this book I did't really have any guesses. Well, that's lying since I did have one guess. When the skull in the jar talked about the iron bars I thought maybe it was a room for artefacts/relics and that their were ghost inside them or even a bodies. I know the latter was sort of weird but when Mr Skull said was talking about the iron in the door I was like 'omg there's a body in there' but when I actually thought about it source aren't necessarily bodies. It's cool that Anthony finally showed George and Lucy but I wish that Jonathan Stroud had explained more about what had happened to her, because now I have to wait until the next book comes out. NOOOO!!! (haha, but really, I want to know what happened to her) Also I was really surprised that there was no lock or anything on the door and that Anthony actually trusted George and Lucy that much. That's really sweet and everything, but I doubt that a teenager would be so trusting even if he is a badass agent.

The plot was so much more intricate and longer in this book compared to the first one. If you read my review of the first book then you would know that I guessed how the mystery happened before it was revealed. This time I was pretty oblivious and since there were so many characters I didn't even know where to suspect. In the last book there were two potential suspects and it was easier to figure it out, but this book was honestly so different and had me guessing until the last page.

Once again I need to bring up the question why is Anthony Lockwood on the cover? Lucy is so bad ass and awesome and she is the protagonist, but she doesn't get the cover. :( Don't get me wrong Anthony Lockwood is awesome and he jumped off that super tall building with Lucy and didn't hesitate, but once again Lucy is the protagonist and is one of the coolest female characters ever! I really hope in the next book I can find out more about Anthony's childhood and story, because after reading the last page and knowing that he has a dead sister makes me so curious about him. He always had the mysterious aurora about him and now I just want to know what he's hiding.

Speaking about characters I really wanted to talk about George. In the last book he was sort of rude and had extremely bad manners, and he is pretty much the same in this book a tad bit more cool. In this book the readers (or at least just me) got to see the George in a new light. He seems a like a genuine human being with actual feelings. I felt bad for him when they were raiding that warehouse and Lucy realises that he is upset that he's never the one in the front line. Also after George figures out his mistakes he is so humble and apologetic which was so good to see because usually his manners are so bad. In the last book I felt like George was just there for comedic relief, but in this book I saw in him in a different light which makes me happy. (Also him and Lucy are now friends which is great!)

Let's talk about the name sake of this book. The Whispering Skull is basically that annoying/rude/cool skull in a jar. In the first book I was just like 'what does this skull have to do with anything' and when it spoke to Lucy I was so spoked out. Honestly in this book I thought it was intriguing and it was such a coincidence that he knew the doctor. He was funny at times, but also while reading the book I felt Lucy's frustration when he wouldn't talk or talked to much about things he shouldn't. He had a big role in this book and I'm looking forward to see him in the next book.

Another thing I want to mention is the bet they had with Kipp. I really liked how Anthony let it pass and split the money seventy-thrity. That really flows with what the readers know about him as a person and while reading that it made me feel bad about myself, because I'm such a bad person and would have wanted the article for everyone to read. Kipp was so annoying in the last book and slightly less annoying in this one. At the end though when he talked to Lucy about how it feels to feel your talent fading and then being left unable to see the visitors, only sense them actually made me feel sorry for him. I wonder what Lucy, George and Anthony will do when their talents start getting weaker...

Okay this is a weird post and isn't structured or good. I just finished the book and it's more my thoughts that had randomly came out then an actual review. If you read this thank you so much and I hope you have a good day. :)

I can't wait until the next book! I read the summary on GoodReads and it sounds so good! Apparently there's going to be a new girl and I just hope that she does't do anything to Lucy. I love Lucy so much and don't want any new character to come in and do anything to one of my favourite characters ever. She needs to watch out... Haha, they may be fictional characters, but my love for them is real!



-The Girl With Her Head in The Clouds



aka Kellie ♡♡

Library Finds!

Hello everyone! I just came back from the library and I want to share my borrows with you. This is a really short post, but I just want to share the books I borrowed with you. I love libraries so much because they are free and if I really like a book I can just buy it afterwards. :)

The time just changed where I live so it's now super dark even though it is so early so I had to use flash. Today I borrowed two books and they are The Whispering Skull by Jonthan Stroud and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Fangirl has been on my TBR list for such a long time and I've been wanting to read The Whispering Skull the second I finished the first book. Okay I need to stop blogging now so that I can read them! Once I finish I'll tell you my thoughts! (Also I will probably buy both of these books soon, because I have a feeling that I will love them!)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Thoughts

Recently I posted my TBR list and on that list was We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and I finally read! It was a great read. I borrowed it from the library and finished it on the same day. It was such a nice sunny day so my sister, cousin and I went to the park to read in the sun. Heres a picture :)

Details

Publishing date: First published in the United States in Delacorte Press
Page Count: 225 pages (not including the front pages with the maps and the back pages)
Author: E. Lochart
Format: Paperback

Quick Summary:

Candace Sinclair is from the distinguished Sinclair family, who spend the summer on their own private island. During one of the summers their was an accident but Candace can't remember what happened during that summer. After her accident she suffers from migraines and selective amnesia which the doctors believe is from the trauma. The summer after the accident she went on a holiday to Europe and finally this summer she goes back and she wants to find out what happened but it seems like everyone is keeping secrets.

No spoilers section:

We Were Liars was a book that I heard such good things about. I had heard so many things about it and I was so excited to read it. It is quite a short read, but it's very well written and is thought provoking. If you want a light happy read, maybe this book isn't for you. This book is sort of really sad, like very sad. It deals with topics on family and secrets. This book is written in a way that makes you guess and wonder what is going on, but at a very slow and different pace. It's written in a way that makes it thought provoking and quick to read. Although it is a quick read, it will leave you thinking about it for a long time. Sorry that this no spoilers section is so short, I just don't know what to say about this book without spoiling it. Go and read it if you haven't then come back!

SPOILERS READ WITH CAUTION!!! (Please only read it if you have finished the book)

I sort of wish that I didn't have such high expectations for this book so that I could have been more surprised. I knew that there was something very big or different was going to happen, so I was guessing after every corner. I wasn't really sure what to guess. I thought something along the lines of a prank the liars did to each other went wrong or I thought that the liars were throwing each other into the water. My last guest before I found out the truth was that the liars had a fight then Candace went into the water for a swim and in her rage she swam into the rocks.

Can I also just mention the blurb at the back and how it says, "If anyone asks you how it ends. Just lie". That was so funny and cool sentence in the blurb, especially since the book is called We Were Liars. I don't know why I just thought that it was super smart and funny. haha :)

haha :P

Candace is such a intersecting protagonist, but admittedly an unreliable one. She often suffers from migraines and is often high on the medication that she uses to help her combat the pain. She can also be dramatic. When I first started reading the book and in one of the first chapters how Candace says how her heart rolled out of her chest when I dad left. After getting other my shock I realised that it was a metaphor, but when I read it I was so shocked, because she didn't say 'I felt ...', but instead she said something like, "My heart rolled out of my chest." I was visualising that a heart actually rolling out of a girls chest... I when I read I like to visualise everything from the characters to what type of flowers are in the back ground and that part of the book almost made my heart fall out.

Can I talk about the ghost or hallucinations? I'm pretty certain that Mirren, Johnny and Gat were hallucinations, because most of the time Candace was high on the medication that helps her with pain. Although the other Liars sometimes told her things she didn't know yet, I believe that it was her brain trying to let her know slowly what she had forgotten. Well technically it she didn't forget it but more like selective amnesia. What makes my confused is how the other Liars could trash the place or how she could make out with Gat. Was she kissing thin air? After finishing the book and thinking about it I think Candace trashed the place by herself and made it up in her brain. If anyone has read this book please tell me if you if believe that Mirren, Johnny and Gat were ghost or hallucinations.

Her family has a perfect facade, because they were the perfect Sinclair family. They own their own private island! I thought the family dynamic was cool in the way how they're all damaged but won't admit it to each other. It was so important for Candace's character development when after she found out about the fire to see why they were finally talking to each other and acting like a family. I love how the writer wrote that part and showed Candace realising that burning down the symbol didn't bring the family together. Instead the family came together, because they were all broken because of the tragic incident. Her family also perplexed me at the same time. They all received all the best possible education that money could buy, but in the end her mother and aunties were still relying on their fathers money.

Reading this book made me think a lot, because I'm not a very questioning person, but with this book you need to question things. An example of that is with that scene with Cadence's grandfather asking his grandchildren if he leaves his money to Harvard what should they name the building. I honestly did not question that or try to find a deeper meaning to it. I didn't even consider that it was possible for it to be threat to his daughters, until Candace explained how about how leaving his money to Harvard, meant that once he dies no money will be given to his daughters.


I'm sorry that this post is all other the place. This book both perplexed me and surprised me so much that I can't even articulate good things to say about it. This is a thoughts post not a review because it's so unorganised and was just what I liked and thought about the book. I hope you learnt something reading this (Although I can't imagine what :P ) or at least liked it. :)

Lockwood & Co. The Screaming Staircase Review/Thoughts

OMG. OMG. OMg. Omg. omg. I just finished Lockwood & Co. The Screaming Staircase last night and can I just say that I'm super impressed! This book has been out for along time now and subsequently has been on my TBR pile for awhile. Finally I've started reading it and it was so hard to put down that I read it in two days. I could have read it quicker but I was distracted by something that could been extremely annoying when it comes to reading called school and homework. Well so the point is that I have finally read the book and it's amazing. I liked it so much! I was sent this book a while back from someone from the State Library and I appreciated it so much. Not buying this book myself has not in any way shape or form changed my opinion. With that out of the way lets go into this!

Details 

Publishing date: August 29th 2013
Page Count: 440 pages (That's in my copy and doesn't include the ads and glossary at the back)
Author: Jonathan Stroud
Format: Paperback

Quick Summary:

This book is set in future England and people in future England live in fear of ghost because of 'the problem'. At night ghost come out and often terrify people. To combat these ghosts independent agencies have sprung up. One of this agonies is Lockwood and Co., which is run by the mysterious Anthony Lockwood and his donut loving friend George. When Lucy runs away from her home to go to London she joins Lockwood and Co. and together they use their talents to fight ghosts.

No spoilers section:

Okay I'm assuming if you're reading the no spoilers section you haven't read the book before and want to know some things about it before you read it. So after reading my quick summary, I hope you get the gist of what the book is about. This book is a great blend of mystery and creepiness. I was genuinely so creeped out reading this that I put off reading it at night and waited until the next morning to read it. I recommend reading it in a well lit area because shadows will creep you out while reading it.

The characters are pretty awesome. There is Lucy Carlyle who ran away from home to come to London. She's so feisty and cool. Then there is Anthony Lockwood and George. They have such an adorable and  believable friendship. While reading the first couple chapters I was so creeped out and I was the only one awake in my house. Since I was the only one awake it was eerily quiet and I was so scared that I almost gave up reading it. I'm so glad that I didn't though because I loved this story so much and I really recipe that people who are into mystery, creepiness and awesome characters read this book :)

SPOILERS READ WITH CAUTION!

Can I just start this off my saying that Lucy is the one of my favourite fictional characters. She's so kickass and cool! She made me like the book so much because I find myself liking books more if they have really cool protagonist. She's also so brave, but also sensible. That scene where she was nervous about going into one of the most haunted houses in England. I feel like any other firece female protagonist would just been like, "I know that this is creepy, but lets do this! If there are any ghost here they better be worried, because I will CRUSH them!" Okay... Maybe not like that, but Lucy was brave but not overly done. I really love her so much. I think she'll be my favourite fictional character for this year. On the cover of my copy Lockwood was on the cover and after finishing the book I was confused as to why he was on the cover. I understand that it is his agency and it is a very successful agency that is only run by teens and have adults, but come on! Lucy is the real star in this story and I adore her so much. I'm pretty sure that in some editions there is both of them, but I wish that the both of them were on all the editions, or better yet, just Lucy.

So far I've only really talked about Lucy and only a little bit about Anthony Lockwood so for the sake of fairness I'm going to talk about him now. The readers don't really find out much about Lockwood apart from what they can deduce from his actions around Lucy and his mysteriousness about his parents. The reader find out that the house used to belong to his parents, but they're not around anymore. We don't know if they died or left, but the thing is you can tell is that he misses them. In the part when Barnes insults the decorations inside the house Lucy notes how he says that it was his mother's. I can't wait to read the next book and find out if anything is revealed about his parents. The good thing about reading a book that has been out for a while is that you don't have to what for the squeal. I'll have to go out tomorrow and read the squeal. I'm so excited! Another thing about Lockwood is that he is so smart. I was so curious went he sent that letter and when I found out it was because he figured out what was going on, I was filled with a sense of satisfaction and happiness. Go Lockwood!

Now I'll talk about George. I honestly can't remember his last name. Not to say that he was not important, but he wasn't super important enough that I remembered his last name. I liked George though even though his manners sort of sucked. George was the really responsible one in the group who was the one responsible for all the paperwork and the research. I feel like if I was a book character I would be George. He's responsible, sensible, likes donuts and has bad manners. Well my manners aren't that bad, but still. I feel that our love for donuts meant that we had a connection, haha. George's manners could be frustrating at times and I didn't really understand why Lucy and him didn't get along. They kept on not getting along with each other. The only person George seemed to get along with was Lockwood.

I really liked the story line, but found it predictable. I don't know if it's only, because I have read so many books and can now easily predicate how they end. I liked how Lucy and Annie Ward connected and how Lucy drove the story. This was a really great book that I can't recommend it enough. It was such a great blend of mystery, creepiness and great characters. The book is so well written and is a great read. The plot was well thought out and I was really content at how it ended. :)

The Giver Movie Thoughts

The Giver is the book that I've been studying in my English class and we've just finished. To wrap up the term and my school arranged an excursion to the city to watch the movie yesterday. This is going to be post about my reaction to that book adaption. I need to start off by saying that I'm not reacted to this movie as a movie, but a book adaption. I really loved the book so I'm sort of biased because I was very upset by everything that they changed. Okay let's start this!


No spolier section:

I thought that this book had it's heart in the right place. They tried to keep the overall feel of the book with all the importance if memories and colours, but it was so different from the book. As a fan of the book while watching the movie I felt so upset when so many things were changed. It was overall an alright movie, but a not so good book adaption. There was also a big deal about Taylor Swift being in the movie, but she was only in the movie for about 2 minutes. This is a very short non spoiler section, but that's all I can say without spoiling you!



SPOLIERS!!!!!!!

Okay lets start a long list of my bias complaints. First thing I noticed was that non of actors were the right age besides from the young actress who played Lily. I liked how in the book Jonas was very young and innocent and barely understood the world around him. Instead of the Ceremony of 12 it was the Ceremony of 16 or graduation? I sort of got over that fact after 5 minutes, but something I couldn't get over was the holograms. I know that it's set in the future but the holograms were a bit to far for me. Also what was up with the hologram of Rosemary? I think it was just an excuse to have Taylor Swift in the movie for longer.

Many things that were good in the book were taken out and many things were added in to try to make the movie more interesting. Like the barrier of memories, was the line on the map and I understand that things need to be changed to make the movie more interesting, but I thought that was so unnecessary to the plot. Another thing I thought was an unnecessary to change were Asher and Fiona's assignments. In the book Asher was the Assistant Director of Recreation and Fiona was a caretaker of the old. Instead in the movie Asher was a pilot of some kind and Fiona was the ding the totally opposite job, which was looking after babies. It was also really confusing how in the scene with Asher in the plane. In that scene there was obviously more people in there besides from Asher, yet they still didn't notice how the plane/drone stopped moving. I get that they were all looking in other directions, but won't they still be able to notice the plane/ drone stop moving and the magnet taking the one guy that they were looking for up on the magnet?

Something that frustrated me so much when I was watching is how their relationships worked. The relationship between Fiona and Jonas was so different to they relationship in the book. It was so much more romantic and the whole reason why Jonas left is because no one could feel emotions so and he didn't want to live a life starving from colour and real feelings. Also in the book their was a really touching scene where Jonas cries because he is scared that he can't save Gabriel and I brought tissues because I knew that if I saw it, that it would bring me to tears, but unfortunately, or fortunately I'm not sure yet, they didn't include such an emotional scene. It is important to understand that a book is very detailed and all those details can't always be put into a movie and sometime things need to be changed to quicken up the pace. I get that and I won't have minded a few changes, but I feel like so many things were changed. For example in the book Jonas just quietly snuck out, but in the movie it was an epic chance scene that kept the readers on the edge of their seats.

So far everything has been quite negative so now I'm going to talk about what I liked. I really liked the humour. Admittedly their isn't much, but Jonas dad cracked me up when he said that the elephant was hippo and that it had 5 legs. Also the memories were filmed in such a cool way that was so interesting to watch on screen and I though that they were done very well. The visuals were very stunning and the holograms, though unnecessary to the plot, looked amazing.


My overall thoughts about the movie is that it is touching and has good intentions. The script seems very rushed and people who loved the book may be disappointed, although the movie those have a few shining moments. The actors were great considering the script and the movie was very appetising to the eyes. It wasn't what I excepted but it wasn't that bad ever. I've mentioned this before and I'd mention it one more time, because I'm sort of biased because I loved he book and wanted it to say true to the book. I'm pretty sure that if i hadn't read the book I would have liked the movie more. When I left the theatre I did come out with a sense of happiness though, because it had a beautiful ending with a quote that came from the book. I recommend that people go see it and those who liked the book go see it as well, because yes their were many, many changes it still has a good heart to it. :)

TBR for the next two months!

Hello everyone! I've been swamped with school lately, but since everything been's winding down and I only have 2 days until my 2 week break I've suddenly had a lot of time in my hands again. I am hoping that with that time I can read more books. I've decided to post my TBR pile on this blog so that if I don't read any of them I have proof that my past self really wanted me to read it. I've made this a TBR for the two months instead of month or two weeks because I've been doing a lot of writing lately and I really enjoy it so I want to give myself more time to blog, write and read. I've don't think I have mention what TBR stands for yet. Well for those who don't know TBR= To Be Read, so this basically a lit of books that I really want to read. :)

My TBR pile for two breaks:
-Animal farm by George Orwell     (I heard it's a classic so I really want to read it)
-We were liars by E. Lockhart        (Everyone has read this book so I'm late, but I still want to read it)
-Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell          (I know... I still haven't read it. :( Its the book I really want to read)
-Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (Just started it today, actually :)  )
-Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (One of the few Jane Austen books I haven't read yet)
-The Whole of My World by Nicole Hayes  (I'm going to start reading it tonight!)
-The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud   (Yay fantasy!)
-Insert name of books that my booking loving friends have recommended me. I believe on of them was called 'Cinder'? I think it's a series and she says it's really good. My friends honestly recommend me so many books that I can't even keep track of. :P

Those were the books that I really want, no NEED to read in next to moths. Okay I need to stop now so that i can go read!


Happy Reading people and may the books you read be good ones!


-The Girl With Her Heads in The Clouds




aka Kellie :)

The Giver Book Review!

Hello wonderful people of the blogosphere! Today I'm coming at with a new book review! This book review is a little late. Like 21 years late... Haha, but if you read my previous blog post you would know that I'm reading The Giver by Lois Lowry, well have read. Everyone in my class haven't finished yet,  but I couldn't resist reading an extra chapter then that lead to reading the whole book. Whoops... Since I finished it I thought that I should do another book review, because I love doing them and this is a good chance to write another book review. So here we go!

Details:

Publishing date: First published in 1993
Page count: 224 (Not including the advertising in the back and the introduction)
Author: Lois Lowry
Format: Paperback

Quick Summary:

Jonas is a twelve living in the Community. At the Ceremony of Twelve he receives the assignment of 'Receiver' which will be his job until he goes into the House of the Old. While receiving his training with 'The Giver' he discovers that behind the community's perfect facade it hides dark secrets and once he finds them out he can't go back to the life he had lived before. (That's the best way I can explain it without spoiling anything :) )

General thoughts: (No Spoilers)

The Giver was such an eye opening book for me. I thought that it was so well written, and since it's targeted towards children it's quite easy to understand. Jonas was a well rounded character and one easy to believe. Some authors write in the perspective of young characters, but right in a weird way, that it sounds like a 20 year old is talking instead. Lois Lowry got the perfect balance innocence and at the end she blended it with the right amount maturity. I loved the ending and thought that he fitted in with the whole story.

I heard so many positive things about this book, so while I read it I felt that I already had high expectations for it. Although I do wish that I could have read the book without having expectations of it before, although I was not disappointed. I absolutely adored the message about the importance of memories. I believe that a person is a blended smoothie of their dreams, hopes, goals in life and memories so I really enjoyed the way this book talked about the magic of memories.

Overall I found this book very enjoyable and very well written. It found myself wanting to keep on reading even though I didn't have to. The story capturing my heart and delighted my brain with questions I've never thought to think of. I give this book 4 daisies out of 5!

By the way my class is going to watch The Giver, but I'm dreading it so much, because I really liked the book and don't want to watch the story be butchered by Hollywood. Although I'm sort of excited because we're going to watch the movie and have a fun day in the city. Lets just hope the movie is good and it's not raining when we go into the city. :)

Six Impossible Things Book Review

Hello wonderful people of the internet! I'm back with a new book review! I'm so sorry that I haven't posted a book review in a while, but better late the never I guess. Haha :) Also this book came out a forever ago, but I saw it at the library and wanted to give it ago and i really enjoyed it. 

Non spolier section:

Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood is a young adult book about a young 14 year old protagonist, Dan Cereill. Dan is a nerdy boy who is having a hard time coping with moving schools, his father fathering leaving after saying he's gay, moving schools and having a crush on the girl next. This book is so endearing, realistic and is set in Melbourne! I've mentioned tis before, but for those who haven't read all my reviews that I love books that are set in my hime city. I just feel a connection to it, because when a character is walking down a particular street I can see it very vividly in my head. It just makes my reading experience better.

                                        

MINOR SPOLIERS:

Dan is a character who is very realistic and he is very easy to feel sympathetic to. He is funny, cynical and struggling, but who can blame him. His life went from going to a private school and have many luxuries, to taking clothes from lost property in a public school. I felt that this book was really realistic, even with one of his parents turing out to be gay, was made to feel super realistic and believable by Fiona Wood, by adding in back stories. Although one of the things I had a hard time believing is that he moves in and it becomes super cliche because the girl next door turns out to be his perfect girl.

SPOLIERS IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED, PLEASE STOP READING:

I want to dive more into Dan's character now. I really liked Dan as a character because he wasn't a adorable and charming, well rounded protagonist like in many characters in other young adult fiction. He was a character that I could believe and make choices that were very believable and actually sound like things that teenagers would do. Also he has great match making skills ;) I can also really understand how he kept avoiding opening the package from his dad and I felt that Fiona Wood did such a great job writing form Dan's perspective. I also loved Dan's dog so much. Howard is a awesome dog and when I found out that he needed an operation and they couldn't afford it it made me want to cry my eyes out. I am a sucker for puppies and dogs in general and it made me really sad, but everything got resolved. I also love how Fiona Wood related Dans mum's moods reflected on what kind of music she's listening to, because I feel like that is so relating and true. Although I didn't find that Dan's mum and Dan's boss ending up together did feel a bit too perfect and forced.

This book was so well thought out and very interesting and I really didn't see the ending coming. I thought the little figurines were just little toys, not ancient Japanese ivory craved toys that were worth thousands. Another thing I loved is how Dan started out being a shy scrawny nerd and at the end he's more confident and a lot stronger from running and lifting those bells. I just felt that it represented how he had changed mentally and with his outlook on life. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to other young adults. I think that this book could be a young children's book, but it contains alcohol use so it's better for 13 and above. I rate this book 4 daisies out of 5.

Hope you guys are reading good books! 

-The girl with her head in the clouds♡

aka Kellie :)♡♡