Yay Books! and Resolutions!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! I had a few resolutions....

1. to blog 5/7 days - here we go!
2. to eat healthier and take more vitamins (this includes Matt!)
3. save more!

Please stick to this blog, I will not be posting on facebook and no pictures will be posted on facebook. This is the Hestilow family blog for family and friends to read!


Books I have read since I last updated!

Matched
Warm Bodies
Beautiful Disaster
The Death Cure

Currently Reading: Wicked I posted and saved this 12/21 - it is now 1/3/12 and I have finished Wicked, The Woman in Black, Pretty Little Liars #1 and am now currently reading Son of A Witch, Pretty Little Liars #2, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close!


Thoughts?

Matched was not bad - like a really tame dystopian novel. ALL about love.
Warm Bodies - FANTASTIC book- can't wait until it is a movie!
Beautiful Disaster - really no plot. just wrote about these two people who are both disasters and their love life.
The Death Cure - A great ending to the trilogy. I am so sad it is done.

Better reviews:

Matched

Beautiful Disaster - only $2.99 on the Kindle!

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn't drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend America, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs--and wants--to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the charming college co-ed. Intrigued by Abby's resistance to his charms, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis' apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match. 

Warm Bodies

Summary (from the book jacket)

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.
Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.
This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...

The Death Cure

Thomas knows that Wicked can't be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they've collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It's up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test.

What Wicked doesn't know is that something's happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can't believe a word of what Wicked says.

The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.
Will anyone survive the Death Cure?

Previous books that were part of the series

The Maze Runner

The Scorch Trials

I did not write any of these reviews. I could have...but really don't want to...these reviews explain everything so much better than I could.

Books I am currently reading:

Wicked

The Woman In Black -Susan Hill

...yes I am reading this book because the movie comes out in January.

WHY yes I am reading this book because Daniel Radcliffe stars in it ;)

Will update soon on PLL#1, Wicked, and The Woman in Black!!!

What to look forward to:
Wednesday - Christmas
Thursday - Ski Trip
Friday - Book Reviews
Saturday -TBD

Reading Thursday

Good morning! I hope everyone is having a fabulous day! It is my Friday so I am excited for 3:30pm!!

My hobby - besides cleaning and working on school has been reading. I absolutely love it. I go back and forth about starting the Harry Potter books over...but 

here are random books I have finished in the last couple of weeks...

Dead Rules By Randy Russell

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Till death

Jana Webster and Michael Haynes were in love. They were destined to be together forever.

Do

But Jana's destiny was fatally flawed. And now she's in Dead School, where Mars Dreamcote lurks in the back of the classroom, with his beguiling blue eyes, mysterious smile, and irresistibly warm touch.

Us

Michael and Jana were incomplete without each other. There was no room for Mars in Jana's life—or death—story. Jana was sure Michael would rush to her side soon.

Part

But things aren't going according to Jana's plan. So Jana decides to do whatever it takes to make her dreams come true—no matter what rules she has to break.

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

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Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush - who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself-a truth he never wanted to face.

Awaken By Katie Kacvinsky

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Maddie lives in a world where everything is done on the computer. Whether it’s to go to school or on a date, people don’t venture out of their home. There’s really no need. For the most part, Maddie’s okay with the solitary, digital life—until she meets Justin. Justin likes being with people. He enjoys the physical closeness of face-to-face interactions. People aren’t meant to be alone, he tells her.

Suddenly, Maddie feels something awakening inside her—a feeling that maybe there is a different, better way to live. But with society and her parents telling her otherwise, Maddie is going to have to learn to stand up for herself if she wants to change the path her life is taking.

In this not-so-brave new world, two young people struggle to carve out their own space.

I will review this books in the future. I really can’t pick a favorite – they are all uniquely different. I did feel like crying when I read “13 Reasons Why.” It also makes me scared of having a kid if this is how school is like these days.

I am currently reading: Across the Universe

I haven't read a sci-fi/space book in quite sometime...it is a bit of an adjustment. Each chapter goes back and forth between two people...Interesting perspective. 

I finally decided to get a library card...all these books were starting to cost precious money. The unfortunate thing is that my library doesn't have all the books I want : (

The cards have not change since I was 4 when I started to go to this library.  

The next books I hope to read: 

Matched

Warm Bodies

The Eleventh Plague

Beautiful Disaster

None of these are available in the library so the list may change.

Previous Reviews...

The Scorch Trials

The Maze Runner

Divergent and The Hunger Games

Reading Thursday #1

So I decided to start having themed weekdays! These are always fun and I love when people do these!

Scripture Sunday

Movies I love Monday

Treat Tuesday

What I love Wednesday

Reading Thursday

Flashback Friday

Shopping steals Saturday

READING THURSDAY!!!

I finished The Maze Runner by James Dashner last night. This was another Dystopian novel but didn’t feature any romance unlike Divergent and The Hunger Games (if that is what you call romance); except I sensed there could be a love story brewing sooner or later in the series.

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The Maze Runner is about a young 16 year old guy named Thomas. His first appears coming out of a box into a land filled with about 60 boys. He has no memory of anything but feels like he knows that he has been to this place before.

This area is ran by young boys who can sense that where they live is not the real world Connected to the area is a maze. The boys believe this maze is their only way out.   You are only allowed in the maze during the day because at night the walls to the maze close and evil animal/machines come out and kill. They can never figure out how to leave the maze because every day the walls change.  Seems hopeless.

The boys have no memory about where they came from either. They all try to make a living in this area. Some are farmers,  janitors, and a select few are maze runners (they run the maze every day trying to find a way out.) Their main goal in their life is to figure out how to get out.

A lot of stuff starts to happen the second Thomas shows up….and that is where I will leave it. Will Thomas escape? Yup – that is the only thing I’ll talk about!  I don’t want to give anything else away. I think the description on the back of the book gives away too much.

"My name is Thomas, he thought

That...that was the only thing he could remember about his life....he didn't know where he came from, or how he'd gotten inside the dark lift, or who his parents were. He didn't even know his last name."

 

"The walls slammed shut behind him, the echo of its boom bouncing off the ivy-covered stone like mad laughter"

-The Maze Runner, James Dashner

 

I just started the Scorch Trials! I am excited! Maybe there will be a hint of love? I love action/scary books but it is also nice to have some soft moments.

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The third book – The Death Cure comes out October 11, 2011 – The day before Matt and I leave for Orlando – Hello plane book!

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I had a good friend, Miranda, ask me which she series she should read first – The Hunger Games or Harry Potter. My thoughts?

Harry Potter all the way. Those 7 books make me smile. I love his story. You have got to read these books first and then watch the movies. They are not as good as the books but they sure are entertaining.

If you are looking to get the books at the library - that is wonderful! If you want to buy them http://www.borders.com/ is going out of business and they have a lot of books from 20-40% off! With Harry Potter I want all of the books so my kids can read and fall in love with Harry, Ron, and Hermoine. 

Anyways, I am on some new medication. The only side effect is loss of appetite and an upset stomach. I have been getting this alot. I had it bad yesterday after I got home. Around 6pm I went to lay down on the stomach in our bed. This was the only thing that felt good. I passed out and woke up at 7:30pm - walked Presley, and then went right back to bed. It felt so good to sleep since I only got 5 and a half hours of sleep yesterday. Hopefully the upset stomach will go away. I can handle the loss of appetite but having an upset stomach is a killer.

Books I'm Reading!

I finished reading the Harry Potter series the beginning of July and was instantly depressed. It is sad when you finish a bunch of fantastic books and then have no more.  Therefore, instead of being sad I decided to bury myself in a new series.

I started the Hunger Games Trilogy

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 I got the first two books from my sister in law and started.  I absolutely loved these books! It is about a place that was once called The United States. There are 12 different districts that have a specific purpose in their land. Some are coal miners, farmers, etc. They have a Hunger Games each year where 24 kids (2 from each district) are dropped in a dome and have to fight to the death. Whoever is last standing wins their district food for a year.

 It is a story about Katniss and her journey in the Hunger Games. She has a best friend, Gale, who is going to be played by Liam Hemsworth in the film. I was never a fan of Gale so I was happy to see that there was another guy in the book. Let me say, I love Peeta!  He is my favorite!  The end of the first and second book (Catching Fire) left me unsatisfied; they did not leave off happy.

At least in Harry Potter at the end of his book his adventure finished and he went  home for the summer. This one – not so much. The last book – Mocking Jay was depressing…but it ended how I wanted it to end. I really, really, REALLY recommend this book! The first movie comes out March 23, 2012!


Well, after reading Harry Potter and The Hunger Games Trilogy I was still sad! I wish these authors would just continue their story forever and ever. However, since the authors probably won’t listen to me I moved on.

I started the Divergent Trilogy. I must admit - I love Dystopias!

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What is Dystopia? Dictionary.com says Dystopia is


dystopia  (dɪsˈtəʊpɪə)
— n
an imaginary place where everything is as bad as it can be

dys·to·pi·a
   /dɪsˈtoʊ pi ə/ Show Spelled[dis-toh-pee-uh] Show IPA
–noun a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.



I love it! These books are different and fantastic!

Divergent is the first of three books where Beatrice lives in Chicago. Chicago is broken into 5 factions.  Amity(Peace), Dauntless (Courage), Erudite (Knowledge), Abnegation (Selflessness), and Candor (Truth). When you turn 16 you have to pick a faction.

Is Beatrice going to abandon her family or stay in the original faction?

This book is about her adventure with the faction she chooses.

She also finds a boy that she likes:) I also like this guy! His name is Four!  Peeta and Four!

 The second book does not come out until May of 2012. At least the end of the first book did not end as depressing at The Hunger games first book.  The movie rights to this book have been purchased so I hope to see this brought to the big screen someday soon. I couldn’t put the book down.  It is so easy to put yourself in the place of Beatrice. Veronica Roth describes everything so well – from the atmosphere to the clothes on their back.


I took a quiz online to see what faction I would be in (you can take it too – it is on their fan page – Divergent) and I ended up with Amity. That figures. No confrontation please! 

I am currently reading The Maze Runner by James Dashner. When I finish the first book I will let ya know how I feel! I am 70% the way there!

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Third time is a charm?

First off - apologies to Rachel for having to go back and forth with the different blogs that I have. I apologize!

Second - I had to get a different blog because my co-worker is creeping on me and somehow found my old blog. So I got a brand new email and a brand new blog and absolutely no LAST name will be used on here. My old blog wasn't dangerous in the least bit but it still freaks me out.

I really enjoy randomly writing. I am not a good writer but I like to blog. I don't post on facebook but I like to post on here : )

I did a lot of cleaning this weekend. We cleaned out our storage closet that is on the porch. It is a good start to getting rid of "crap" . . . unfortunately I dropped the trashcan on my food.

within 10 seconds that bruise formed. It looked pretty wicked. It's not so evil looking now.

We have been getting random rain showers. I love it. I love scary skies. This is where I go and read during my lunch break every day. It's quiet and no one bugs me.

Matt took me out for Sushi on Sunday. I had a Volcano roll - It was a california roll with spicy mayo and crawfish on top. This was a messy dish...but fantastic!

Matt enjoys real sushi. Spicy Salmon inside the roll and tuna on top?

Do we have any friends that enjoy sushi? We need to eat sushi more often! He then took me out to get some frozen yogurt : ) I forgot to take a picture...I got confetti cake, brownie batter, and cotton candy. UMMMM YUM!

I will be blowing this up and framing this! It will go great with all of our goodies we will get from attending The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in October!

Tomorrow I will talk about the books I have read recently -

The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hobbit ( 100 pages to go)

Divergent

The Maze Runner ( 30% done)

Wednesday's topic = Books I am reading

Thursday's topic = recent baking adventure

Friday's topic = Picking out topic days of the week