I disappeared! What a magician.

Or not. In any case, it happened. Guys, it’s Amy here, and I need to pull myself together! I have this problem where I WANT and FULLY INTEND to make a post, but can’t seem to get up the courage/energy to start typing it. And I have no problem writing one, either! It’s just starting that’s a problem. Why? WHO KNOWS! But it’s driving me nuts. And seriously powering the guilt factory. So… What am I going to do about it? Weeeeeell…

Alicia @ #lovebooks recently made an ingenius post about how to cram in some more reading time this year. Which totally made me rethink my reading progress so far this year… And realize that I might as well be in a reading slump, at the rate I’m going. I’m just GOING SO SLOW!!! I’m currently reading The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, as recommended by my lovely friends [every single person in the blogosphere]. And it is SO GOOD!!! But… I got farther in it today than I have in all the past days (More like a week. I disgust myself.) of reading it, because I simply haven’t been doing anything but reading blog posts (sometimes), playing the app Stop (which is really fun- you all need to get it. And let me know, we can play against each other!), playing the app Bakery Story (Saaaaaaaame. We could be NEIGHBORS!), playing the app *something I’m too ashamed and embarrassed of to say*, eating leftover dessert from MY BIRTHDAY (MY BIRTHDAY!!! IT WAS ON SUNDAY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!), listening to One Direction (my friend has been nagging me about it), and… Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Ahem. I meant to talk bad about those things. Pretend I did. I also read Becca @ Becca and Books'(s?) post about How to Keep Blogging When You’re a Busy Bee, which I OBVIOUSLY need help with. She talked about priorities, which led to me realizing that I simply haven’t established my priorities- not out loud, anyway. 😦 I proceeded to go and read my old post about why I started blogging in the first place, which put a huge sad smile on my face. All while listening to Lying To The Mirror by Gabrielle Aplin, which just amplified all of my wistful emotions. All of these things together have made me realize my PRIORITIES!!! Just like Becca said! What a smart girl. So. Let’s make a list, shall we?

1. BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!!! I would die without my books. Possibly not literally, but mentally. They give me a reason to keep going. Don’t get me wrong, I have an amazing life and amazing people IN my life, but I’m one of those over-analytical thinkers that just starts thinking about life… And thinking and thinking and realizing that I don’t have a purpose. And it makes me want to… I don’t know, nothing bad, but I just feel helpless/hopeless. Books are AMAZING and besides, they give me a reason to speak to all of you wonderful people. Which brings me to a very close second:
2. Blogging and the whole blogging community!!! You guys are the greatest! I’m so bad at making friends. That’s not to say that I’m not friendly, I’m just… I don’t know. But you guys are all so nice. AND you love books! (If you don’t, and you’re just here for the humor… Well, I pity you. Because it’s not all that great. And I suppose I won’t hold it against you.) What’s not to like?
3. Food. I do love food. Very much.
4. Sleep. YASSSSSSS.
5. Trivial things, such as relationships and school. (I’m kidding!)
6. Last and sadly least, all apps and social media and whatnot.

So. This means that I SHALL be figuring out my life! In that particular order. 🙂 Hopefully. I think. Aaaaaaaand… What did I miss while I was gone? TWO RFFs, ONE Shoutout Sunday, and a partridge in a pear tree…. Right. Moving along now. In case you haven’t noticed, I managed to stuff a lot of links into that first paragraph. *is full of pride* Welcome to THE SHORT VERSION of RFF and SS kind-of-maybe combined!!! Shoutout Sunday and Recently Finished Friday are both hosted right here at Every Book You Need to Read and More. The links for SS are just stuffed in, so be sure to check out the rules in Nikki’s original post! (Link above.)

Clearly, I’m not the only one who has a knack for the disappearing act. (Hey, that rhymes!) Many of you have also been taking blogging breaks. My good friend (More than good. We have a habit of creating multi-strand email conversations. On a regular basis.) Bhramori @ The Crazy Perfectionist just got back from a break, as did The Ambivert! Obviously, no judgement, because not only do they have reasons, they’re both awesome.

I don’t know where to go next. I really, truly, don’t. I suppose I should tell you what I’ve finished this year (YIKES! It’s already February!) that I have yet to talk about. I LIKE LISTS! (Can you tell?)

• A World Away by Nancy Grossman
• Just One Wish by Janette Rallison
• Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
• Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
• The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
• Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong
• As Dead As It Gets by Katie Alender
• Immortal by Gillian Shields

Okay. Deep breath. Although I’m not crazy enough to try to get all 8 in one post, let’s go with two! Oh boy. What am I getting myself into?

1. What’s the title and author of your book? Cover image optional, but preferred. Please include a link to the Goodreads synopsis if you can.
2. How long ago did you finish your book? (So we can see how fresh your feels are.) If you can’t remember, that’s okay.
3. On a scale of one to ten, what would you rate your book?
4. What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about your book? If you loved everything about your book, just say so.
5. LET THE RANTS BEGIN!

You… Don’t want to know how long it’s been since I’ve finished these. Suffice it to say, it was January. I lumped these two together because they’re both the same type of book- paranormal, horror, whatever you’d like to call it. My favorite part of AiZ was probably the twist on Alice in Wonderland. Ironically, even though the title has it in the name, I kept forgetting that this book was based off of AiW while I was reading it. (That may be partially due to the fact that I read this in one afternoon, 85% of that time being in a barely lit room. Okay, I have no idea how that’s related) I appreciate that although the roots clearly come from Alice in Wonderland, the story is still completely its own. My least favorite of AiZ is definitely the title. I think the cover is actually pretty clever, but… Unfortunately, no rant here. I don’t have the clearest memory of this book, considering how long ago it was that I read it (It’s like taking off your glasses. You can still see the shape… But there’s 6-12 inches of fuzzy outline. HOW CLOSE AM I TO THAT WALL???), but I’ll definitely be reading the sequel/s in the near future. Highly recommend it!

As for ADAIG, ELLIOT!!! Dude. If Elliot existed in real life, I would be in heaven. Man, I love her so much. I totally just took her character and… became best friends with it. I don’t know, but she was awesome. True BFF material. I also appreciated the ending (although I cried my heart out after ***** ****!!!!!). In the first book, there was a reasonable ending, hinting at more to come, but not requiring it. In the second book… It was like, WE SHALL ALL DIE!!! THERE IS NO HAPPY ENDING!!! So I really wanted a realistic ending (If you can even call it that in a fantasy book) as far as where the characters’ relationships were, and how the events were going to play out. And I do feel like I got that. Least favorite? Most definitely Jared. He was completely off his rocker. I mean, he’s the one that belongs in a mental institution! (If you haven’t read this book, I promise I have perfectly good reason to say this. I’m not just a mean person. I think promise.) During the first part of the book, I did my best to ignore his less… Redeeming qualities…. Because I thought that he was just a badly-thought-out character (Or something?) that was just one of those YA love interests. Oh boy. NOT. (Also, is it just me, or does If You Say So by Lea Michelle go really well with the end of this book? Of course, that could possibly just be because I love the song because I absolutely love Lea Michelle’s voice.) Guys, I really can’t reveal much of this book because of SPOILERS, but the whole thing was just planned out so well. Hint- there is a good ghost in this book. Who I happen to love to death. And the bad one… Much different and ten times scarier than the ones from past books! Seriously, that ending though. Okay, this makes no sense. I apologize for wasting thirty seconds of your life by making you read this. And this. And this.

I hope you sorted through all my jumbled thoughts and kind of understood some of this! And hey, maybe even got a step further- actually enjoyed it! XD Definitely let us know whether you’re interested in doing either one of these memes! 🙂 Just a couple more things:

• These Old Wings by Anna Nalick is a new favorite song! I need to share this. Yes, really!
• THIS TIME I WILL ACCOMPLISH THE IMPOSSIBLE! The impossible being that I will attempt to post regularly. Priorities, guys.
• I need your (YES, YOU!) advice/feedback on this kind of post! Normally, I’d rather not post a combo like this, because I feel like you’ll lose interest. But, on the plus side, it saves you from multiple posts about one thing. Multiple focused posts/Occasional combos? Please let me know down in the comments!
• Hugs!!!!! Just scroll down… And say hi! It’s that easy. 🙂 I’d love to check out some of your blogs as well! I always comment back. That’s what the button to the right means.
• I’m four books behind on my Goodreads goal. Yikes! Must be going…

ARE YOU GOING TO GET THE APPS STOP OR BAKERY STORY??? They’re both totally fun. Honest. What do you make of my priorities? Are yours similar? Is the whole priority thing good advice? Did it help at all? Have you read Alice in Zombieland or As Dead As It Gets? If so, WHAT DID YOU THINK??? WHAT ABOUT ELLIOT??? If not, are you planning on reading them? If you aren’t, you better have a good reason! Have you guys heard of Lying to the Mirror, If you Say So, or These Old Wings? Do you plan on looking them up now? Tell me what you think! Don’t worry, I know I have a really odd music taste. I promise I won’t be offended if they weren’t your favorite. Please tell me what you think about combos versus focused posts! I need your feedback. Hope you had a great week, everyone! Tell me about it. Okay, this is so long now. TOODLES!

 

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