One Year Ago

One year ago today was when my sister and I left to go to California. We went to my uncle's wedding, Disneyland and California Adventures, and to the Queen Mary for brunch. Plus, we got to stay with my aunt, uncle, and cousins the whole time. Oh, it was lovely. Time goes by so fast. And the sad part was that I haven't seen my uncle or my new aunt since the wedding one year ago. I really get to miss my family down there, since we don't get to see them very often. Even though when I was in California, I began missing my family here, like my mom and dad and such. The good news is that I might get to go visit them again during spring break. Now that would be fun! Plus, I wouldn't be missing a week of school like I did last time. On that note, I must go do some homework.

Leanna

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

How far would you go to save someone you love?

Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a year-long coma, and she's still recovering from the terrible accident that caused it. Her parents show her home movies of her life, her memories, but she has no recollection. Is she really the same girl she sees on the screen?

Slowly, Jenna starts to remember. But along with the memories come questions-questions no one wants to answer. What really happened after the accident?

I absolutely adored this book! I loved this book so much, I couldn't put it down for three days. This book is science-fiction and takes place about twenty or thirty years in the future. Mary Pearson's writing is beautiful, and I loved Jenna's character and could relate with her every moment in the story. I also loved the secondary characters like her grandmother Lily, and all the people she meets. I loved this book immensely.

This will be released on April 29. I highly recommend it.

New Stuff

I've added a header to my blog! Please let me know how you like it, and any suggestions you may have in a comment or email. Thanks!

Leanna

A School Post

School is beginning to have a whole new meaning. This past week we have been doing class registration for the next school year. I'm going into the ninth grade next year, which means that it's going to be my first year of high school. This is when everything starts counting. The classes that I choose to take or not take, is going to affect college or even my future career. You start thinking about what's going to get you the most credit and will look good on your college applications instead what you really want or should do. Choosing my classes this year was some of the hardest decisions I've had to make this year. I'm hoping to get into all the honors classes, journalism, and advanced orchestra. Overall, I'm excited about what I chose. Though there was some stuff like Spanish, that I had to leave behind.
But I have high hopes for next school year. I mostly enjoy school. I've noticed that the classes that I love are the ones that challenge me the most. There are some that are easy that I should enjoy, but bore me. And the ones that give me the most challenge and stress...well, I love them. It's rather hard to explain. I like being busy and having something worthwhile to do that I'm not wasting my time. I like feeling that I accomplished something that day, instead of just barely making through it.
Most of my classmates hate learning, and that's something I don't understand. I say, find something at school that you love and try your best to excell at it. That makes it all worth it for me. :)

A Rhyming Meme

Hwalk made this...

What your favorite nursery rhyme?
I don't think I have one.

First chapter book you read?
I don't know if I exactly remember the first, but I liked Bailey School Kids, Junie B. Jones, and some other of those kinds of books.

Do you read best in the daytime?
It doesn't usually matter. I read when I feel like reading, day or night.

Or when you are in bed?
When I read at night, I am usually in my bed.

A funny or serious tone?
It depends on what I'm in the mood for. I really like both.

A favorite character that is a guy.
Finn from the Books of Bayern.

Some books you want to own.
Breaking Dawn, Forest Born, Dragon Slippers, Specials, and many, many others.

And the first book that made you cry.
That would definitely be Charlotte's Web. I cried, and cried, and cried if you can believe it.

I tag whoever wants to do this. It's really cool. :)

Elsewhere

How can fifteen-year-old Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?

When Liz is hit by a taxicab and dies from head trauma, she suddenly finds herself in Elsewhere. In Elsewhere, your age suddenly reverses and you find yourself growing younger each year instead of older, until you eventually make it back to Earth as a baby. Liz must now accept her new life in Elsewhere and forget the life she left behind.

I really enjoyed this book. I love Gabrielle Zevin's writing and I especially loved this book. I really liked the main character Liz, and all the stuff I could relate to her about. The world which she created in the book was amazing, and I was interested by the entire story the whole time. I recommend this book to everyone.

Princess Academy

It was a lovely idea and Miri wished she could believe it, but she knew lowlanders would never allow a crown to sit on a mountain girl's head.

Wow, what a lovely book. This is one of my favorite's and it will always hold a special place in my heart. You see, this is the first book that I had ever read by Shannon, and it's what introduced all of her amazing books and all the wonderful things that went along with it. If my mom hadn't bought me Princess Academy two years ago, I never would have read any of Shannon's books, joined LRRH, met her, or have gotten introduced to all of the wonderful things that it gave me. Really I think that Shannon's books changed my life. And Princess Academy is what started it. That's one of the reasons that this is one of my all time favorite books.

My work here is done.

Leanna

Happy Early Valentine's Day

No, this post isn't really about Valentine's Day. I just thought I'd wish everyone a good one while I had time to blog.
The weather here has been crazy. These last couple of days have been sunny and bright, and I thought that spring was finally coming. But as I walked out of school, I walked into a snow blizzard. I really wish that the weather would make up it's mind already.
I got two books this week. One from Pulse It and one of In Group. From Pulse It. I got Secrets of my Surburban Life. Sophie already did a review for it on her blog. I actually got that a few weeks ago and should be done with it by now.
Then from In Group I got The Adoratin of Jenna Fox. That one is an ARC I believe.
So I must get busy. I have to study for a lot of tests tonight, and then I have a huge violin test on Friday and for the next couple of weeks. Seriously, I wish I could get some days off from school because of all this snow. First, I need the time and second, they still make us trudge to school even though there is sixteen inches of snow outside. It really isn't fair.
Anyway, have a great rest of the week!
Leanna

River Secrets

Razo-short, funny, and not the best soldier-is sure it's out of pity that his captain asks him to join an elite mission escorting the ambassador into Tira, Bayern's great enemy.

I love this book. It has so many funny moments that I love. This was such a satisfying read. Razo is truly a hilarious character.

My top five favorite moments in River Secrets:

1. When Razo gets to show off his slinging skills to the Tiran soldiers. That was just kind of a ha-ha, Razo's awesome kind of part.

2. When he meets the prince of Tira. The prince was one of the funniest characters. I do hope that he shows up again.

3. When he's trying to describe a squirrel to Dasha. Tree Rat-simply hilarious.

4. When Finn plays his harp song for Enna. That was a real swoon moment.

5. At the end, when Razo's in the boat with Dasha. That was a satisfying ending, when he's just telling her a story. I just loved it.

Now all I can say is, I can't wait for Forest Born!

Ugh

Stys are really horrible. When people ask me what's wrong with my eye and I tell them a sty, I usually get two responses. One, they sympathize with me like they know what I'm talking about. Or two, they haven't even heard of one. If you haven't, consider yourself very, very lucky. They are the worst. I've basically been doing everything in my power to get rid of it today. Hasn't really worked. Like I said, I've pretty much tried everything, but if you have any ideas, please let me know. This is the first one I've gotten in about a year, but I've still been getting a lot of them in the last couple of years. They're so bad and I hope that this will be my last one.
On a happier note, I finished River Secrets and hope to put up a review for it soon. This weekend has been pretty miserable, but at least I have my books to make me feel better. :)

Leanna

I'm Still Alive...

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time, but this week has been so incredibly busy! I've been doing schoolwork and tons of music stuff pretty much all this week. I swear, my Orchestra teacher is working us to the maxium...
So basically I haven't had much time to read River Secrets this week, so that's been kind of sad. I'm about halfway through though, and I hope to finish it this weekend. I don't have too much homework, thankfully. I'm not home right now either, I'm typing this from my Grandpa's house...
Anyway, for some updates, last Saturday I got see the symphony perform Beethoven's Seventh. That was amazing.
Also, the release date for Breaking Dawn was announced on Thursday; August 2, 2008. Less than a year from Eclipse. I'm excited for another summer release. Hope a cover comes out soon.
So that's it for now, until I (finally) have enough time to finish some books. There's probably no hope for any next week, since my Orchestra teacher is giving us another test...blah. Have a great weekend!

Leanna

Enna Burning

Continuing my Shannon re-reads and reviews...

So Enna Burning. Well, of course it was amazing. This is probably the book by Shannon that I've read the least amount of times, so it was fun to go back and read the parts I'd forgotten. But I think that this book was a little different from the others. That is, I loved it best the first time. I loved the mystery and suspense of never having read it before. Such as, meeting the new characters and trying to decide whether they were good or evil, etc. Knowing how the book ended kind of took that away. Regardless, I still enjoyed it immensely. It is a lot more serious and suspenseful than some of the other Books of Bayern. Lots of stuff going on, and lots of action and romance (my most favorite parts). I always thought, too bad about Sileph. I didn't exactly like him the first time I read it, but for some reason I thought he was a really cool character. Even though I sort of figured he was using her, I liked him a little bit for a while, just like Enna. But that's all I'm going to say about that, especially since Finn is so much more awesome.

So a great read. Plan on re-reading that sometime too.

Leanna

The Goose Girl

I love this book. It's one of my all time favorites. And every time I read it, I realize how much I love it again.

When Princess Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee is sent by her mother, the Queen of Kildenree, to marry the prince of Bayern, their neighboring country, she is betrayed by her lady-in-waiting Selia, who is trying to steal her name and her title. She must hide out as a goose girl before she can fight for her name and title back. She soon discovers some unusual talents, along with friends who help her discover who she really is and what she's meant for.

Amazing. Stunning. Completely wonderful. Everyone in the world should read this book. And if you've already read it, go and re-read it-now! ;)

Leanna