Book Review: Reborn by Ley Mesina

ISBN:  0012601624

Published:  May 26th, 2011

Publisher:  Ley Mesina

Read from July 18th to August 1st, 2011

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Lily Westbrook discovers that being half witch and half vampire is more of a challenge than she thought. When her powers mature on her eighteenth birthday, she unlocks a mystery that many witches thought was a legend.

After moving back to her birthplace in Cedar Creek, MA to attend Kensington University, Lily is instantly pulled deeper into the world she was kept from- the world of witches and vampires-uncovering the truth about her past and discovering who she is meant to be.

Review:

I enjoyed reading this, but I also have a few issues with it.  There were quite a few grammar mistakes, and it was a little distracting at times.  I was able to look past that though especially since it's self-published.  There were also times where I felt the writing was rushed.  A lot of things were summarized quickly when I feel they could have been described and talked about more.  I think I would have gotten a lot more into the story if more time had been taken to describe everything that happens.  I also felt that the ending was very abrupt.  I'm pretty sure that went along with the summarizing a lot though.  It just seemed to end at a weird spot for me.  This is a novella, but I really think it would have worked better as a novel.  There needed to be more room to explain things and go into detail.

Now that I've gotten all of that out of the way, I do want to say that I enjoyed reading this.  I found the characters and the mythology to be really interesting.  I really want to read the next book and see what happens to all of the characters.

I loved reading a story that focuses on vampires and witches since that's not a combination that's seen too often unless you throw in some other creatures too.  I'm not a huge vampire fan, but I love reading about witches.  I think the mythology in Reborn was awesome.  The Goddess of the Night was also a really interesting idea.

Even though I had a number of problems with this novella, I found it very interesting overall, and I look forward to any future books in the series.

I recieved this book for free from the author or publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. This in no way affected my review of the book.

My 18th Birthday

This is the first blog post I've written as an 18 year old!  My birthday yesterday was rather uneventful as I spent most of it just sitting around the house being really unproductive.  However, being 18 does mean a few things.

1. I'm legally an adult!  This really hasn't meant much yet, but it doesn't mean I can't be excited about it.  It just feels cool.

2. I'm able to vote!  I haven't registered yet because I didn't have my ID with me when they came to my school.  You can be sure that I'll be registered by the next election though, and I will most definitely be voting.  I'm a huge history nerd.  I'm not as in to politics, but I do realize how important it is to vote.  We are so lucky to live in a country where we have a say in the government.

3. I'm finished posting vlogs every single weekday.  I've mentioned in several blog posts that I've been posting videos every weekday since my 17th birthday on Youtube.  That's now finished.  If you've followed my blog for more than a year, then you know I used to blog a lot about what was happening in my life.  What happened to those posts?  I was making tons of videos about the same thing.  Now that I'll have fewer vlogs about my life and stuff I'll be doing more blog posts like the ones I used to do.  I'll still have the book reviews and other random posts that I've had for the past year though, so don't worry about those disappearing.

Like I said, yesterday was a lazy day.  I had a headache most of yesterday and today which has me a bit worried.  My sister's pretty sick right now, and it apparently all started with a really bad headache.  Let's hope for the best.

My family is celebrating my birthday Sunday, and one of my closest friends is probably coming over later.  I'm not completely ignoring my birthday.  Some people (re: my sister) think I'm crazy for not having a big party or something.  You'd think she would understand that someone as socially awkward as me isn't one to throw big parties, even for their 18th birthday.  I can't wait until Sunday though.  Even socially awkward people don't turn down presents (even if the part where people stare as you open them is awkward).

Book Review: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style by Laurie E. Rozakis

ISBN: 1592571158

Published: August 5th, 2003

Publisher: Alpha

Read from June 27th to August 1st, 2011

Synopsis from Goodreads:

You're no idiot, of course. You've probably written your share of book reports,, term papers, e-mails, and thank you notes. The rules of writing can be confusing, however, and might result in final drafts riddled with gaffes, typos, and errors!  The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Grammar and Style, Second Edition, will take you step by step through the basics of spelling, punctuation, and sentence formation to help you become an effective communicator of the written word! In this revised and updated Complete Idiot's Guide®, you get:  Explanations of writing styles including exposition, narration, argumentation, and description.  Definitions of such writing mistakes as dangling modifiers, mixed metaphors, and split infinitives–and how to avoid them.  Examples of model documents such as resumes, cover letters, and thank you notes.  The differences between drafting a business letter and crafting a personal one.

Review:

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to learn grammar.  It's especially good for someone who wants to learn how to write better in a business setting.  For any non-native English speakers, there are special sections for you throughout the book, which I think is a good idea.  Native English speakers don't often speak completely correct English, but there are still a lot of things that come naturally to them that won't to a non-native English speakers.

It reads a lot like a text book, but it's so much funner.  Whereas our school text books usually have boring examples and exercises, this book has a lot of really fun one.  The author comes up with the most random, hilarious sentences.  Her writing style just makes it all a lot more fun.  There are a lot of exercises throughout the book that let you test yourself and see if you've learned anything.  The answers follow right after the exercises, so you always know how well you did.

My only complaint is that it only focused on business and non-fiction writing.  I know that's the only writing a majority of the population does, and it's very useful to know.  However, it would have been nice to at least have a little bit about it in the book.  I would have been happy with just a small little section that said something about it.

Teaser Tuesdays - Dear Mr. Potter

Teaser Tuesdays is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading.  Here's what you do:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

It's been a while since I've done this!  This quote is from Dear Mr. Potter.  It's a book filled with letters that Harry Potter fans wrote to Harry.  It was compiled and edited by Lily Zalon.

"I was only doing what millions of other eleven year olds were doing--waiting for my Hogwarts letter.  I still can't believe it never came." - Sabrina F., page 127

Giveaway: Ouran High School Host Club Volume 5

It's my first giveaway!  I've wanted to do this for a while.  This is just going to be for the U.S. since it's my first giveaway.  I hope to have an international one in the future.

The giveaway is for Ouran High School Host Club Volume 5 by Bisco Hatori.  It's a manga.  I know volume 5 is a random one to giveaway, but my dad bought it for me without realizing that I already had it.  It hasn't been read or anything and pretty much looks brand new.  If you're at all interested in reading Ouran, I'd encourage you to enter the giveaway.  You'd probably understand everything just fine even if you haven't read volumes 1 through 4.  Here's a little about the book and series:

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In this sharp-witted romantic comedy about the clash of the classes (of all kinds), a poor girl at a rich kids' school ends up working at the school's toniest club-and gets mistaken for a boy!

In this high anticipated title, a kind of cross between HANA-KIMI and BOYS OVER FLOWERS, Haruhi is a scholarship student at an exclusive private school: Ouran High School, where it turns out the bespectacled, short-haired Haruhi is the only student from a lower-middle class family in attendance!


Then, to make matters worse, one day she breaks an $80,000 vase that belongs to one of the campus clubs-a mysterious outfit called the "Host Club," consisting of six superrich (and gorgeous) guys. Haruhi can't afford to pay back the cost of the vase, of course, so she's forced to work for the Host Club! And it's there that she discovers just how rich all the boys are and how different the rich are from you and me...And meanwhile, the eccentric but good-hearted rich boys are shocked to find out how life is on the other side...

That's Goodreads' synopsis for Volume 5, but it really only describes the series as a whole, so I typed up the synopsis on the back of the book. (This is only the second paragraph on the back.  The first is just a summary of the synopsis from Goodreads.)  The synopsis for Volume 5:

Haruhi's top ranking falls and she is in jeopardy of losing her scholarship at Ouran.  Each member of the Host Club scrambles to become her tutor, but Haruhi picks a female student, Ayame, to help her.  Haruhi's time is now spent with Ayame, who can't stand Tamaki.  Can Tamaki charm his way into Ayame's good graces so the Host Club can spend time with their favorite member?

You must be a follower of this blog to enter.

The giveaway ends August 31st.  I'll chose a winner on September 1st using random.org.

If you win, I'll email you to get your mailing address.  If you don't email back within 48 hours, I'll choose another winner.

Remember:  I'm new at this, so there may be some bumbs in the road.  Hopefully, everything will go smoothly.

To enter, just fill out this form: