Checking-In:

Hey guys and girls, I'm finally getting around to check-in with you.  It's been crazy lately and I've made the big step to create a website that will serve many purposes: blog, photos, recipes, etc.  Not that I don't love my blogspot one, I just feel like it is time to grow.

With that being said, fantastic things are happening.  The new blog is going to be amazing and jam-packed with great things.  I hope you guys will check-it out once it goes live.

Cornerfolds February Discussion Link-up: Top 5 Dystopian Couples

You've been on the run hiding in the woods of Qulf Forest from Government forces for the past month with your dystopian crew (or solo). Upon your foraging trek, you incidentally stumble upon an abandoned farmhouse. Dauntless as ever, you walk in and to your incredible surprise, right in the middle of the living room, a gorgeous and completely perfect bookshelf welcomes you. You race to the bookshelf allowing your grimy fingers to caress each book spine as you take in the wonder of all the yester-books and pages you once lost yourself in before the fall of society. Wait, what's this!? It's not just an ordinary bookshelf, but an entire bookshelf filled with dystopian romance novels! You beam with joy and dive into your all time favorites!
Tell us! What 5 dystopian romance novels (or couples) do you choose to bask in?

Man oh man, this is a tough one.  There are so many great fictional couples out there.  Where to start!

1. Day and June (Legend Series).  I'm sorry but you cannot talk about Dystopian couples without mentioning this pair.  Sure, they had a rocky start and June was not informed what really happened when she went after Day...but nonetheless, you cannot say this is truly one of the best couples to ever hit the pages of dystopian fiction. They also made a great pair to fight for what is right and good in the end.
2. Adam and Juliette (Shattter Me Series). Now even though I am only through with the first book, this will still rank high on my couples list.  There is something about this couple that is growing (or I hope still grows as the series progresses).  They are already fiercely protective of each other and some major chemistry is already happening.
3. Ember and Chase (Article 5 Series). Again, I am only through the first book of this series, but we have some major chemistry happening here..underneath the betrayal and all.  I am interested to see where the author takes this relationship as the series progresses.  
4. Aria and Perry (Under the Never Sky Series).  This so far, is one of my favorite couples ever.  Typical he saw here, saved her, wanted to kill her when she was exiled, and now she is someone he cannot be away from.  I am on the edge of my seat going into the last book.
5. Cassia and Ky (Matched Series).  Of course, I could not have a top 5 couples list without including them.  When I started this series, I could not think that she would be with anyone other than who she was matched with until she is shown Ky.  Then it was like "let them be together!!!) Guess I will just have to see what she has in store for the rest of the series.

I think this is a pretty top solid 5 couples.  So tell me, who are your top 5?

Cornerfolds Dystopian Reading Challenge 2016 - Book 8: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1)

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publication Date: November 15th, 2011

Publisher: Harper

Pages: 338

I have a curse
I have a gift

I am a monster
I'm more than human

My touch is lethal
My touch is power

I am their weapon
I will fight back

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. - Book Details Courtesy of Goodreads, INC. 2016.

Like woah people.  What a grab you and pull you in kind of book.

Readers meet Juliette, a 17-year old girl in jail for something she had no control over doing.  They claimed she murdered someone and has been in basically solitary confinement for hundreds of days.  Then one day her cell opens and she gets a roommate...not just any roommate, but a man.  This man is a test, a test Juliette thinks is cruel...like they are trying to get rid of her.

But Juliette has a power, a very dangerous power.  So dangerous in fact that no one can touch her, or at least she thinks so.  She is pulled from her cell and cleaned up to meet Warner, a military madman who is set on using her powers to create fear among the public.  The plans go wrong when she escapes with the man that was sent to test her, her roommate.

Can she escape the crazed plans and be free? Maybe.

I love the character of Juliette, she is so misunderstood.  They see her power as terror and no one wants to even make her feel human until Adam.  He befriends her and I guess you could say saves her sanity.  Warner, he is the typical villan of the book.  There is some connection between Adam and Warner I have yet to figure out.  The cause of the stain between their relationship.  I cannot wait to see where the story and the plot goes with this series.

Cannot wait to dive into book #2!

Liebster Award- Exciting Times

Best. News. Ever.  I was nominated  for the Liebster Award by Moriah @ Feel Your Books.  Thank you so much for thinking my little ol' blog was awesome.  Great way to spread encouragement and love!

This award is given to bloggers by other bloggers to recognize them and help others get to know them.  I hope everyone enjoy's these answers...oh and don't forget to take a peak at the bloggers I will nominate below.

The Rules:

- Thank the person who nominated you and post a link to their blog 

- Display the award on the blog 

- Answer the 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you

- Provide 11 random facts about yourself

- Nominate up to 11 blogs you feel deserve the award (who have under 200 followers)

- Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer

- Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award with a link back to your post.

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My Answers to Feel Your Books Questions:

1. When you go to the bookstore or library, what is the first section you typically visit? Bookstores, I typically head for the travel section. I am trying to break free of the "arm-chair traveling."  Now libraries, totally different.  I head to the Young Adult section,  I hate to admit for the most part Adult books kind of bore me and I want some action!

2. What's your favorite hobby beside reading? Photography.  I'm actually a published photographer and have several ribbons to my name.

3. do you have any literary tattoos or would you consider getting any? Sadly, I do not have a single tattoo anywhere on me.  I have a bit of a needle phobia, so I have not bit the bullet.

4. What is your favorite item on your bookshelf that isn't a book?  My jar of sea shells.  I collect them from the lake whenever I go walking there.

5. Do you DNF books? I rarely DNF books.  If that happens it is because I just could not agree with the content of it.  

6. If you could only read one genre for the rest of forever, which genre would you pick? Oh man! That is a tough question.  If I had to choose, I would say Dystopian.  The reason I say this is there is action, romance, and people over-coming obstacles.

7. What is your favorite book with a purple cover? The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares.  That is a great series.

8. In your opinion, what is the best review you've written or filmed? Hands down, my best/favorite review I have written would be The 5th Wave.  I absolutely loved everything about that book and writing the post was so easy and quick.

9. Futuristic or Historical Fiction? Historical.  I love history of any kind. 

10. When did you become a serious reader? I would say the 5th grade.  My library growing up was amazing and worked with my elementary school to take Sequoyah tests.  If you read so many books from that list and passed enough tests, you took a trip at the end of the year.  That was so much fun.

11. Coffee or tea? Coffee.  But I didn't develop that habit until my 30's.  Late bloomer.

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11 Random Facts About Myself

1. I am beyond cold-natured. I like to call it artic-natured.  Even in the Oklahoma heat, I have a jacket or sweater with me year round. 

2. I like peanuts, but not peanut butter.  I cannot handle the texture.  I'm an oddity oh yes.

3. I do not know how to swim.  I almost drowned when I was little and I've been scared to tackle it ever since then.  I do, though, plan to learn one day.

4. I read anywhere from 7-9 books a week.  Multiple books at a time in fact.  And yes, I can keep them all straight.

5. I developed a shellfish allergy in my 30s. Completely scary experience.  And I loved shrimp.

6. I am talented in injuring myself.  I tore the ligaments in both feet within 6 months of each other once.  Talent I know.

7. I am the proud parent of a fur baby.  His name is dashx named Jackson.  I adopted him almost 8 years ago.  Best decision.  Highly suggested in fact.

8. I love to text people.  I've been known to send over 5,000 messages in a month before.  Thank goodness for Unlimited Texting.

9. I've only flown once in my lifetime.  Scared the crap out of me.

10. I sound like I'm from Georgia even though I have never stepped foot in that state.  I just got lucky in the accent department.

11.  My favorite flower is the tulip. Second is carnation.

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You Have Been Nominated!

The Alchemy of Ink

Perfection in Books

Brittany's Book Blurbs

Chapter One Book Blog

Anette Reads

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My 11 Questions For You

1. Who is your fictional crush? Why?

2. If you couldn't read books, what hobby would you choose?

3. Dystopian or Sci-Fi?

4. What book made you become a reader?

5. Snowcone or Icee?

6. If you could pick one book that has NOT been made into a movie yet, what would it be and why?

7. Actual book or E-book?

8. What is the craziest reason you chose a book from the shelf to read?

9. What made you start a blog?

10. If you could suggest one book for someone to read, what would it be and why?

11. Favorite library memory?

Thanks for the nomination Moriah!  I had so much fun doing this!

New Mexico - My Hear's Enchantment

Guess what people! The bf and I are heading back to New Mexico!! Woo!!

J and I were talking a bit last week about what we wanted to do this summer.  As some of your know, it is the 100th birthday of the National Parks and I got to thinking we needed to celebrate it somewhere cool.  So one morning I asked J, where are we going...to which he replied well we could go to Lincoln National Forest.  I asked "Well what state is that in?" to which he said "New Mexico."  Shut the front door people.  

I have missed New Mexico with an ache I never knew I could.  I wonder sometimes if maybe I'm attached to it because of J growing up there, would I have been as attached to this state if he had not? Well, I do not know since it is very gorgeous out there.

I guess you could just say these days I am more blessed than ever.  I prayed and Thanked God for the guy he would send me one day and J has always exceeded my expectations.  I'm so excited that we are blessed and able to take vacations.  This will be the second time in a year we've been to New Mexico.

See you in May New Mexico.

Cornerfolds Dystopian Reading Challenge 2016 - Book 7: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Title: Article 5 (Article 5, #1)

Author: Kristen Simmons

Publication Date: January 31st, 2012

Publisher: Tor Teen

Pages: 362

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved. -Book Details Courtesy of Goodreads, INC. 2016

This was a good book.  There was never a chapter that I was not interested.  Some books it takes a bit to get you involved, but others like this one get you from the beginning.

We meet Ember Miller, a girl living in a post-world society.  Basic rights have been removed and in their place a set of "Articles" on how life is supposed to be lived.  You can be fined and arrested for simple infractions...but what is worse you can be jailed and executed if the new ruling regime thinks you violated an article.

Ember's mom is arrested and Ember is sent to a reform school as an "Article 5" violater, which basically meant her mom had her without being married.  The shocking part for her is that the guy that is helping arrest her is a boy she once loved, Chase.  Why is he here? What is he doing?  Ember then decides that she is going to escape and find her mother.

Will she find her mother? What will happen with Chase?  Well, read the book, because if I say to much I will give the book away.  Solid read all around.

Cornerfolds Dystopian Reading Challenge 2016 - Book 6: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Title: Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky, #1)

Author: Veronica Rossi

Publication Date: February 7th, 2012

Publisher: Atom

Pages: 374

WORLDS KEPT THEM APART.

DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.

Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she's never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.

Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He's searching for someone too. He's also wild - a savage - but might be her best hope at staying alive.

If they can survive, they are each other's best hope for finding answers. - Book Details Courtesy of Goodreads, INC. 2016

What  book! Not even sure where to start this review.

You meet Aria, a "typical" teenager living in a world where she knows nothing outside of the pods she was raised in...and by pods, I mean virtual realms.  Somethings are real, but mostly lives are lived in the realms.    She is trying to find information on her mother Lumina who is working off at another pod after she has not heard from her.  She tries to get on the good side of the counsul's son by going into a restricted space and this is where her world changes.

After they boys go crazy, she awakes to the news that only her and the counsul's son survived the fire.  And of course, who is going to take her word against his?  She is made to believe she is being transported to her mother when she is shoved out the door and into what is called the Death Trap during an ether storm.  She sees a figure running towards her and realizes it's a savage.  What does the savage want, are the stories true?  Little did she know they had met before.  In the end they are both searching for someone.  Will either of them find who they are looking for? Guess you need to read and find out.

I loved this book and the character development of Aria and Perry.  They are both headstrong individuals and both afraid of letting people see who they really are.  I'm pretty excited to read the second book.  Definitely leaves you slightly hanging at the end to see who she was running towards, though it's not hard to figure out.