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!)