15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 15

Day 15: Who are your blogging mentors?

It is the last day of the book blogger challenge and the daily posts that have been appearing will slowly end as I have tests to study for, notes to write and 3 weeks of uni to go before I get two week mid-sem break.

I don't really have blogging mentors only blogger friends, which you can read about here!

So that's all for the 15 day book blogger challenge which I did purely for fun!

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 14!

Day 14: Tell us your deal breakers

My deal breakers:

• Blogging can never interfere with uni, never. 
• If blogging doesn't seem fun anymore, I will stop.

Those two are pretty much it all when it to deal breakers. If I have too much going on at uni, I will stop blogging until it is all over or if blogging seems more like a job than a hobby I will stop. 

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 13

Day 13: Describe one unappreciated book everyone should read

3 Willows by Ann Brashares

summer is a time to grow 

seeds 

Polly has an idea that she can't stop thinking about, one that involves changing a few things about herself. She's setting her sights on a more glamorous life, but it's going to take all of her focus. At least that way she won't have to watch her friends moving so far ahead. 

roots 

Jo is spending the summer at her family's beach house, working as a busgirl and bonding with the older, cooler girls she'll see at high school come September. She didn't count on a brief fling with a cute boy changing her entire summer. Or feeling embarrassed by her middle school friends. And she didn't count on her family at all. . . 

leaves

Ama is not an outdoorsy girl. She wanted to be at an academic camp, doing research in an air-conditioned library, earning A's. Instead her summer scholarship lands her on a wilderness trip full of flirting teenagers, blisters, impossible hiking trails, and a sad lack of hair products. 

It is a new summer. And a new sisterhood. Come grow with them.

From the author of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, 3 Willows I loved more than Travelling Pants series. I could connect more, and I just enjoyed it so much more. Every teenage girl should read this one, no matter who you are, what your high school clicks are and what your economic status is, your true friends will always come out when you need them. For those who love Melina Marchetta and other Ann Brashares, you will enjoy 3 willows.

Each journey that the girls take you take it with them and it helps you understand who you are too. I think that more people need to read this one especially teenage girls!

What book do you think is unappreciated?

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 12

Day 12: How do you fight blogger fatigue?

Whenever I feel like blogging is too much, keeping up with it and uni is stressful so I take some time away from blogging to get uni under control then I come back, do a few fun posts like Waiting on Wednesday or Top Ten Tuesday etc. to remind me of the fun that blogging is. Blogging is a hobby and sometimes you just don't feel like doing the hobby for a while because other things come or you just cannot be bothered.

I have uni 5 days a week, 20hours of classes a week, I play waterpolo Monday or Tuesday nights each week, I have study night Monday's, majority of Wednesday night's I have Chem study sessions and Sunday mornings I play sport. With all that I like to try and two swim sessions from 30min-1hour, college functions (I have three this week alone and skipping two of them because I am stressed and tired) and regular study, assignments and tests/quizzes. I honestly don't know how I have time to read and write blog posts. I am so suprised that I have managed to do this challenge everyday (even scheduling some posts) written reviews and done a discussion post (featured today). Yesterday I was out of it when I writing a review I randomly put in chemistry words because I wasn't thinking straight.

Whenever I have too much on my plate, I take a step back from blogging so I can focus on uni. Sometimes I blog to have a break from uni work to help me set my mind back up on what I'm studying or I re-read a book. Taking a step back before coming back from blogging really helps me go again and is the reason why every so often I take a break and come back a month later ready to go again, because I am refreshed and know that I want to get back into my hobby.

How do you get past blogger fatigue? Let me know!

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 11

Day 11: Show off FIVE of your blog posts!

1: Catching Jordan review- http://myspinonbooks.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/guess-what-people-review-time.html
2: Out of Sight, Out of Time review- http://myspinonbooks.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/day-7-7-days-of-ally-carter.html
3: Gracie Faltrain Gets it Right (Finally) review- http://myspinonbooks.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/review-time-19.html
4: Things I Can't Forget review- http://myspinonbooks.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/review-25.html
5: Georgetown Academy Book 4 Cover Reveal- http://myspinonbooks.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/cover-reveal-giveaway-georgetown.html

The reviews are some of my favourite books and the cover reveal was my first one! 

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 10

Day 10: How do you choose which book to read next?

How do I choose which book to read depends on my mood. Do I want a contemp, paranormal, romance, spies and thieves, Vampires or Faeries? Or these days some NA book on my kindle. I have been re-reading a lot of my kindle books lately, one day I was reading Catching Jordan, Stealing Parker and Things I Can't Forget the next I was in deep with Fallen Crest High and Fallen Crest Family. Yesterday I read Jaded and Still Jaded by Tijan (who is the author of FCH and FCF) today I was reading the Unofficial series, both romance, one is very NA set in high school + college the other is YA but set in College. 

Lately I have been going romance and contemp, when my holidays come around I might go back to a VA re-read since all the news about the movie, the poster and Dimitri Down Under has me wanting to re-read. My next read tonight I am thinking of Cracked up to be because I just feel like it. That is the only way that I can explain it, if I feel like I want to read it, if I don't feel like it I won't read it. If I read a book when I don't feel like it, there is a high likelihood of me not liking it. I am yet to read The Great Gatsby and Perks of Being a Wallflower because I have't felt like reading them yet.

So how do you choose your next read? Let me know!

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 9

Day 9: Why do you blog about books?

I love books, it is as simple as that. I like giving people my opinions on things especially books. This is a hobby to me, I will do it when I want and sometimes about whatever the hell I want. I wasn't a fan of english, we didn't get along, I still hate essays but I can write a review easily, I wish this was the same for my essays. This year I have only had to write 2 essays per semester, which is fantastic for me considering I know people who have to write 12 per semester. The reason I picked science over history & politics, barely any essays, yes I may have exams every 3 weeks, but it so much better than essays to me.

Book blogging has allowed me to meet others who love the same kinds of books as me and read what others liked about the books that they have read. I know sometimes I don't always blog about books, but I just feel like blogging about random things sometimes so they occasionally appear randomly on the blog. 

Why do you blog about books?

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: 15 things that appeal to you on blogs!

• Colour!
• Easy reading text
• Cute banners/stand out colours
• Simple things are best
• Nothing that takes your eyes away from the review/post
• Easy to find links to social media
• Everything spread out in the page
• Somewhere to find how you follow you

That's 8 because I have no idea what else appeals to me...

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 7

Day 7: Talk about your blogging quirks

My biggest quirk is that I only ever blog when I feel like it, sometimes I don't want to write a review, but say what I have been doing like I did with my 2013 so far post a few weeks back. I have urges to blog and sometimes I don't want to, like I have a review to write but I cannot be bothered at the moment but I plan on posting it soon (or yesterday seeing as I writing this post early). Uni takes priority before blogging, I want to finish my degree with good marks, while Tri one wasn't the best, but doing science at uni is quite hard, half the time I'm kicking myself for not doing International Relations like I could have done, but I choose what I love the most, sport + science = my dream degree which I am lucky enough to be doing. I hate essays I would rather my revisions test & exams than essays, which is probably a reason why I am doing my degree. 

Sometimes I don't post a lot, sometimes I get three posts a week then nothing. Half the time this is because I am procrastinating from uni because sometimes I need a break from chemical complexes and drawing electron configurations & finding out the energy of a metal complex (which is what I should be doing right now, but I needed a break from it). But since I started swimming again at least twice a week to relax (I get stressed really easy) that takes away blogging time so does living on campus, espically this term because it is silly season, I have ball next week + functions every week so I get busy having fun with everyone. Blogging only happens when I feel like writing a post, or if I love a book and I have to share or if I just want to write something, that isn't necessarily about books.

What are your blogging quirks? Link me!
Keely xx 

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 6

Day 6: Describe how you shop for books
This is a hard one, because recently I have been buying e-books from the kindle store, one because they are cheaper, two I get them instantaneously and three I don't have to wait for shipping.

However when I do go to a bookstore/shopping centre I look for a few things:

The cover: I know, I know don't judge a book by the cover but when I look at all my books they have pretty cool covers, I admit to picking a few like this, someone that isn't always the case.

The blurb: Does it look like something that I will read? Is is it YA, NA or Adult? Fantasy, Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery or Romance? If it sounds like something that I am interested in I'll read it, even if the cover didn't appeal to me.

What have I heard about it: What is everyone rating it? Good, bad or mixed reviews? Most of the time I don't pay attention to what others think because I usually like something that others do not or vice versa. 

Some of the e-books that I have are completely random, they popped up on my recommend to me list on Amazon and if it is cheap & sounds like something that I would like chances are I'll get it. Some books I have never heard of before and I just buy it anyway hoping that I will like it. Someone asked my why my avg. of rating a book is so high on goodreads, my answer I only pick books that I think/know I will like, I don't want to waste my time with a book I probably won't like. However, sometimes reviews sway me and then I choose to read it anyway. This happened with The Edge of Never I didn't think that I would like it, but I ended up really enjoying it.

So what how do you choose which books to buy? Link me!

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogging Challenge: Day 5

Day 5: Recommend a tear jerker

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.


A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Every April, when the wind blows from the sea and mingles with the scent of lilacs, Landon Carter remembers his last year at Beaufort High. It was 1958, and Landon had already dated a girl or two. He even swore that he had once been in love. Certainly the last person in town he thought he'd fall for was Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's Baptist minister. 

A quiet girl who always carried a Bible with her schoolbooks, Jamie seemed content living in a world apart from the other teens. She took care of her widowed father, rescued hurt animals, and helped out at the local orphanage. No boy had ever asked her out. Landon would never have dreamed of it. 

Then a twist of fate made Jamie his partner for the homecoming dance, and Landon Carter's life would never be the same. Being with Jamie would show him the depths of the human heart and lead him to a decision so stunning it would send him irrevocably on the road to manhood...

Chasing Nikki by Lacey Weatherford
Chase Walker used to be a good kid-charming, athletic, and with a bright future ahead, but that was before travesty struck his life, sinking him into deep despair. Caught up in a world of drugs and alcohol, he doesn't notice time slipping away until he's arrested for underage drinking one night. Fed up with watching her son destroy his life, Chase's mom relocates him to live in a small ranching community with his ex-military grandfather. Chase is far from happy about the situation until he meets, Nikki, the cute cheerleader who won't give football players like him the time of day. Chase enjoys a good challenge though and sets out to claim Nikki for his own. He soon discovers she's more than a pretty face-she's a balm to his troubled spirit also. But when tragedy strikes Nikki's life too, suddenly Chase finds himself put to the ultimate test. Can he trust Nikki, and all that she's taught him? Will it be enough?

Pretty sure that all these books explain themselves! And I rated all of them 5/5

What other books are tear jerkers? Link me to yours!

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogging Challenge: Day 4

Day 4: What was the last book you've flung across the room?

Stealing Harper by Molly McAdams 

Chase Grayson has never been interested in having a relationship that lasts longer than it takes for him and his date to get dressed again. But then he stumbles into a gray-eyed girl whose innocence pours off her, and everything changes. From the minute Harper opens her mouth to let him know just how much he disgusts her, he's hooked.

But a princess deserves a Prince Charming who can make her dreams come true. Not a guy who can turn her life into a nightmare.

All good intentions go out the window when Harper starts to fall for the guy Chase has come to view as a brother. He wanted to protect her by keeper her away, but he can't stand to see her with anyone else, and he'll do anything to make her his. But when it comes down to Harper choosing between the two, will Chase have the strength to step back from the girl who has become his whole world if it means she's happy?

Lines will be crossed. Friendships will be put to the test. And hearts will be shattered.

I didn't fling it across the room, because I was reading it on my kindle. But this book was just bad, I liked Taking Chances by Molly McAdams which is the original one, where this is just the perspective of the guy main character. The guy main character who DIES half way through Taking Chances! Why would you write this story from his p.o.v when the other guy doesn't die and lives throughout the whole story!? I don't even know why I read it, I should've known that it wasn't going to be as good as the original, but I read it anyways and regretted it so much once I was done with it. *Rant Over*

What was your last book to be flung across the room? Link me!

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 3

Day 3: Who are your book blogging BFF's?

In my uni holidays I went to the Penguin Teen Aus Live book event in Sydney, here I finally got to meet some of the book bloggers who I have meet through twitter/goodreads/ranting about books.

Kim from two girls and a novel, we finally got to meet at the PTA Live event! Kim and I share the love of the Gallagher Girls throughout twitter... a lot... at least twice a week we bring conversations back to Gallagher Girls and Zach and the fact that Ally Carter is torturing us with tweets about GG6! She even tweeted us when we were on a GG re-read and told us something that happens in GG6! Safe to say we fangirled a lot. I also got to be meet Kerrie who is also from two girls and a novel, who like me is super excited that the Socceroos are going to BRAZIL THE 2014 SOCCER WORLD CUP!

So tomorrow it is State of Origin and that means that twitter will be fuelled with Kim, Kerrie and me tweeting furiously at Lisa from Badass Bookie who is a Queenslander! The only time that we do not say nice this to Lisa, but lets face it, she does it back!

Jaz from Fiction and Ficition who I also got to meet up with at PTA Live! Jaz has pretty cool hair, it's half blue! Jaz is another blogger who I have meet through twitter and is the reason I am doing this 15 day challenge, because she found it tweeted about and I liked the idea of it!

Hannah from The Girl in a Cafe I unfortunately haven't meet Hannah yet! She lives on the other side of Australia. Like me she loves travelling and Kim and I may have got her to read Gallagher Girls... (we are trying to spread the word of the awesomeness)

Shaheen from Speculating on SpecFic I was going to meet Shaheen at the PTA Live event but unfortunately she was sick :( Shaheen has helped me out a few when I am stuck on chemistry questions which I am forever grateful for as me and chemistry don't get along much. Kim and I have also got her to read Gallagher Girls, I am pretty sure that we try to get everyone to read the series...

Other awesome Aussie book bloggers:

• Shirley from shiirleyys bookshelf 
• Cat from Little Book Owl (also a booktuber!)
• Celine from forget me not
• Claire from Claire Reads

Keely xx

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 2

Day 2: What's your bedtime reading ritual?

Most of the time unless it is the weekend, the only time I can find for reading is when I am about to go to bed. I set up in my bed with super warm blankets (because you know it is winter and cold in Armidale!) I have been lately re-reading some e-books because I just having been wanting to start any new books because I will not put the book down, hence why I am re-reading. 

I am the person who will just keep on reading on into the early hours, because I struggle putting down a book if I haven't read it before. Seeing as uni takes up a lot of my time these days and because I don't live at home I live off $100 a week, which means I never have any money for physical books, sometimes I can buy a cheap e-book but that is it. 

Each night I try to read around 100pgs of a book or I watch a TV episode before bed, depending on if I can manage to read a book. So that is pretty much what I do when I read before bedtime!

What is your ritual? Link me to yours!

Keely xx 

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 1

Hey everyone! So I have been on twitter and this challenge popped up thanks to Jaz @Fiction in Fiction  who is also doing this challenge! 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge was started by April @ Good Books and Wine and seeing as I haven't been posting much, because I haven't been reading much/cannot find words to write reviews!

Day 1: 15 Related Book Confessions

1. I go through goodreads lists on and find random books which I think I might like and add to my goodreads shelf... this is the reason why I have so many to-read books

2. I like books about faeries and magic more than I like books about vampires and werewolves (expect maybe Vampire Academy & Bloodlines)

3. I don't mind reading Adult romance, contemporaries or paranormal books

4. I am person who will swoon over many guy characters... all the time

5. I am a contemporary person, I like romance and realistic/relate-able scenarios

6. I like e-books, they are cheap and help me avoid the whole Australia gets everything later than the U.S, especially when I want that book right then

7. The only hardbacks I own is the Adult cover version of Harry Potter

8. Paperbacks are so much cheaper than hardbacks in Australia & I will wait if a book is on book depository is hardback for the paperback

9. I have worn out my favourite series (Gallagher Girls) from re-reading them so many times, once the whole series is out I will buy a Hardback box set because it is my favourite

10. I love assassins & spies, hence why Gallagher Girls and Maria V. Synder books are my favourite

11. I don't mind the whole new-adult craze that is going on, a few are bad, but some are good

12. I love mysteries and murder books, like the body finder series by Kimberly Derting 

13. I haven't read the hunger games, I have read books 2 and 3 but that is it

14. I have trouble re-reading/reading a book after I have seen the movie

15. The only books I finished in high school was To Kill a Mockingbird (loved it), Shakespeare's plays Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Othello and Macbeth and The Fifiteh Gate (I don't even know how I finished that one!)

Keely xx