What I'm Reading Right Now

I am currently OBESSED with 

The Raven Cycle Series by Maggie Stiefvater

   

The Raven Boys

The Dream Thieves

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

The Raven King

I have only read the first two in the series but I have the third one (Blue Lyly, Lily Blue) on hold at the library so if they would kindly HURRY UP AND SHIP IT TO ME, then I can get on with the tale of Blue and her Raven Boys. 

But then I'll have to wait until September to read The Raven King anyways....so I guess it's a good thing the library is taking forever?

haha just kidding. It's not good.

If you like the fantasy genre, then I STONGLY recommend The Raven Cycle Series by Maggie Stiefvater! 

-Shawnee Smith

New This Week

Week of March 30, 2014

Hardcover

   

Ash (Destined #1) by Shani Petroff

Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein

The Cemetery Boys by Heather Brewer

Instinct (Chronicles of Nick #6) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

   

The Kidney Hypothetical: Or How to Ruin You Life in Seven Days by Lisa Yee

King (Dragon King Chronicles #3) by Ellen Oh

Sisters of Blood and Spirit (Sisters of Blood and Spirit #1) by Kady Cross

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die #2) by Danielle Paige

Paperback

   

The F-It List by Julie Halpern

Greensleeves by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Illusion (Chronicles of Nick #5) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Warrior (Dragon King Chronicles #2) by Ellen Oh

-Shawnee Smith

Review: Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley

Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley

Published: 9 September 2014 by Harper Teen

Pages: 416, Hardcover

Series: N/A

"Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died.

So Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course just as well as the boys. She's even expecting the hostility she gets from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What she’s not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating is strictly forbidden and Sam won't risk her future, or the dare, on something so petty...no matter how much she wants him.

As Sam struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t just want her gone—they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret society is alive and active… and determined to force her out.

At any cost.

Now time's running short. Sam must decide who she can trust...and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences."

This was the first book that I read after my hiatus due to that thing we all call school, and I have to say that I chose wisely. 

First off, Sam McKenna is a BAD ASS! Though most of the book's plot is about boys and men thinking that she cannot keep up with the rigorous demands of this elite military academy, she shows them up all. the. time. If you are looking for a great role-model, you should seriously consider Sam. She is one tough, fearless girl and I applaud Hensley for writing Sam just the way she is. 

I liked the pace of this book. Nothing happened too quickly and all of the events in the book were placed though out a school year. So many novels will have three days of terrible events be the whole book, and I like the ones that take the time to develop the characters over longer periods of their life.

The other characters that surround Sam are the ones that really make the story work. Drill, Sam's brother - Johnathan, and Kelly are the best in my opinion. You never really know what is going on in their heads or what their motives are. 

The one thing I did have a problem with this novel was the whole "secret society" thing. I thought at times it became too much. Like it was this giant conspiracy for Sam to no longer be at DMA and it didn't feel realistic to me. Also, I thought Dares were going to be a bigger part of the plot since the synopsis says that Sam can't turn down a dare. The only one she gets (and she doesn't even get it in the novel, but in the past) was to go to DMA and finish the first year. I thought it would have been interesting to have more dares though the book.

I immensely enjoyed this novel. I thought the character were incredibly well written and I thought the story was fresh and new. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars and definitely recommend it! 

-Shawnee Smith

So...I'm Not Dead

So...If you follow me then you will notice that I haven't posted for the last.... GASP... 2.5 months. 

You might want an explanation, huh?

By now you should all know that I am in college. It's not fun a lot of the time (classes are DULL), but I still have to go because I need an education and blah blah blah. This quarter I took all communications classes: English 265 (Comedy, Humor, and Satire), Communications 102 (Intro to Mass Media), and Journalism 102 (Intro to Journalism Writing). 

My English and Journalism classes had A LOT of work. Every two weeks I had to have read, annotated, and written an essay about a new book all while making sure my thoughts were good enough to impress my teacher since he was writing me letters of recommendations. Also for my Journalism class I have had to write a news story practically every single day. It has been a lot. 

At the beginning of the year I was also chosen to be on the board of my school's Literary Magazine. 5 students are chosen every year to edit and publish the magazine and it is a huge honor to be chosen. There were over a thousand submissions this year to go through (with only about 200 making the final cut) and that has taken up a huge chunk of my time (I got the first submissions during winter break in December and just finished editing the first galley this week). 

Since I am also a sophomore in a community college this year, it is time for me to apply for transfer to other Universities. I don't know how many of you have been on this journey yet, but filling out seven different applications takes up a whole lot of your time. Especially if you want your applications to be good so you can be accepted to the colleges of your choice. 

That and there have just been a lot of personal things going on: medical issues in my family, relatives passing away, siblings moving out, etc. 

So that has been my life lately. I've had little time for pleasure reading and what I did read I just haven't found the time for blogging. It's been a crazy couple of months but I really do want to get back into things. 

Spring break is coming up in the next week so maybe I can start then *crosses fingers*

-Shawnee Smith