Top Ten Series Rachel Hasn't Finished

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Today's topic is the top ten series you haven't finished, either because you didn't like them or because you just procrastinated.

I read and loved the first book in each of the following series, but for whatever reason, I haven't gotten around to reading the rest of the books.

1. Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins
I have the second book sitting on my shelf right now, and I think the reason I'm procrastinating is because I don't really remember the first book that well so I'd have to reread it first.

2. Luxe series by Anna Godbersen
I've owned this series for years but just finally read the first one about a year ago. I really enjoyed it, so I hope I actually do read the rest of them someday.

3. Across the Universe series by Beth Revis

The reason I've yet to read book two is because I'd have to get it from the library and that involves checking it out and I'm lazy. Which is the lamest excuse ever, but yeah.

4. Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
I absolutely loved the first book! I borrowed the next two from Megan, so I'll be getting to them soon.

5. Anna Dressed in Blood series by Kendare Blake
The second book just came out recently, so it's not that bad that I haven't read it yet. I'll have to see if my library has it.

6. Gemma Doyle series by Libba Bray
The first book was AMAZING, I love historical fiction, and Libba Bray is brilliant. I have no idea why I haven't read the rest of the series. Something is wrong with me.

7. Wings series by Aprilynne Pike
I read the first book when it came out. I was in like, sixth grade, I think, which was before I knew to anticipate sequels and stuff. Those were the days before I finished a book and obsessively stalked the author on Twitter to find out when the rest of the series would be released.


The next few series are the ones that I didn't really like. I am curious to see how some of them end though, so I might end up finishing them at some point.

8. The Immortals series by Alyson Noel
I read the first book when I was in sixth or seventh grade, aka my Twilight obsession phase. :D It's been awhile since I read these books, but I remember reading the first one and really enjoying it, and then being disappointed to discover that the rest of the series kind of just went downhill. I believe I made it about halfway through the third book before finally giving up.

9. Fallen series by Lauren Kate
I loved the first book, but the second book was just kind of meh. Still, I stuck with the series, reading the third book and hoping it would get better. Unfortunately, it didn't, so I probably won't be reading the fourth book anytime soon.

10. A Need So Beautiful series by Suzanne Young
I've heard nothing but good things about this book, but when I read it, I just didn't enjoy it that much. I didn't hate it, it was just kind of meh for me. I do think that if I decided to reread it, I'd enjoy it a lot more than I did the first time, so who knows. Maybe I'll read the first book so I can continue with the series.

Do you love any of the above series? Let me know! Maybe you'll encourage me to actually finish them. :D

-Rachel

Books I Read in School

So the new school year started and it sucks. But you know, whatever. I just have to survive three years of high school and then I'm done.

Anyway. I wanted to do a school-related post, so I figured I could talk about some of the books I've read in school that I've liked. Let's start this list around seventh grade, because I can't remember anything before that.

Seventh grade:

The Outsiders by SE Hinton

Half of the population of the world would probably consider this their favorite book. That is a totally accurate statistic right there. I thought this was a great book and I'm glad I was introduced to it.

Eighth grade:

Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

This wasn't actually for a class. It was for GATE (Gifted and Talented Enrichment because I'm super nerdy) and my teacher was the best. Seriously the best teacher I've ever had. This book/play/thing was more of a fun Let's All Read This Together thing than an assignment, and I thought it was brilliant.
  
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

This is a really amazing book. At first I was all "ew why would I want to read about a middle school boy when I could read City of Bones/Divergent/Delirium/other series I discovered in eighth grade", but I ended up loving this book.

Ninth grade:

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

One of the best books ever written. I was already planning on reading this before it was assigned as the summer reading, and I love everything about this story. Of course, sitting in class as my classmates discussed "how bad the book is", "how much they hate Hannah", "how Hannah's reasons are stupid", etc. was incredibly painful. It hurts my heart that not everyone got the enlightening, life-changing experience from reading this that I did.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I read this before it was ever assigned in class, and it is absolutely amazing. The writing style is beautiful, the story is heart-breaking, and Melinda is easily one of the best protagonists in YA.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Reading this in school was super boring and annoying, but I really enjoyed it anyway. Atticus Finch is one of my favorite characters in any book I've ever read.

The next few are books that I didn't actually read for school, but they're classics and I'll probably have to read them for school at some point so I thought I'd include them.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

I absolutely love Holden Caufield. THE TEEN ANGST.

Can someone please buy me this shirt?!

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I read this for Nerdfighter Book Club (DFTBA) and really enjoyed it. It's about burning books (and some other stuff) which is a subject that I have a lot of FEELINGS about, and so this is an important book to me.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I freaking love this book. The characters and the parties and the symbolism and the ending. Ugh, this book is just brilliant.

This shirt too please.

So yeah. Apparently I can enjoy classics just as much ALMOST as much as I enjoy YA. :) If you have any recommendations for me, please let me know!

-Rachel

Waiting on Wednesday (5)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine.

The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter (Goddess Test #3)
Goodreads
(no summary available)

I read the first book in this series a few weeks ago and fell in love. After eagerly waiting for book two to be checked back in at the library, I was finally able to read it this past weekend. It was amazing! I can't wait to find out what happens next, especially considering that ending.

Can I have this book now, please?!

-Rachel

Rachel Rambles About What's Left of Me

First off, I'd just like to apologize for my absence on this blog lately. School just started again, and it's taking up ALL OF MY TIME. Which sucks. But anyway, I'm trying to get back into my school/homework/read/blog/sleep routine again, so hopefully I'll be able to post a lot more.

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang
From Goodreads:

I should not exist. But I do.

Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t . . .

For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.

This book is awesome. It captured my attention at first with the amazing cover (seriously, Harper has the best covers ever) and then the awesome-sounding summary. TWO SOULS IN ONE BODY, PEOPLE. How can that not be weird and fascinating and intriguing and amazing?

Instead of being told from both girls' perspectives, like I thought it would be, Eva is the sole narrator of this book. This is especially interesting since Addie is the dominant soul, and Eva doesn't even have control of their body.

(Some quick background stuff: In the world of What's Left of Me, everyone is born as a hybrid, which means two souls share a body. For the first few years of your life, you share control over your body with another person, your brother or sister. Then, around age six or seven or so, one of the souls "settles" which means they just kind of go away forever, leaving the other soul all alone in their body. That soul then becomes a totally normal person. Most people go through this settling process, but there are some exceptions, like Eva and Addie.)

I loved seeing Eva's evolution throughout this novel. She starts out as a kind of ghost, living in Addie's head and invisible to everyone but Addie. As the book goes on, she slowly begins to gain control and become Addie's equal, like she used to be when the girls were younger. There was one point where I noticed Eva refer to "her arm/leg/body/etc." instead of "our arm/leg/body/etc." and I think that was such a turning point for her.

 

The characters in this book are all brilliant. I adored Hally and Devon (and, uh, you know, those other people. If you've read the book, you know who I'm talking about. :D) and Kitty. The creepiness factor when they were all at the clinic was through the roof. SO CREEPY. Evil scientists and doctors operating on children. It's so wrong, but SO GOOD.

The world this book takes place in is so original and scary. Hybrids are a normal part of life. That is, until you reach settling age. If there are two souls in a body after settling age has passed, THE EVIL SCIENTIST DOCTOR PEOPLE DO NOT APPROVE. So they make the hybrid people go to counseling and doctors and hospitals and clinics and basically anything they can to get that extra soul out of them because ew that's so unnatural.

What's Left of Me surprised me with how good it is. The plot is epic, the characters are lovable, the stakes are high, and the world is fascinating. I highly recommend this book.

-Rachel

Rachel Rants About Teachers

So I'm supposed to be doing homework or reading or reviewing, but since I feel like procrastinating all those things, I decided to write a random blog post instead. (But really, expect some new reviews soon. I'm working on it. :D) I'm not sure why this is on my mind, but whatever. Here's a story:

I've had some really bad teachers over the years. I've had some really good ones, too, but there were a lot more bad ones than good ones, unfortunately.

Since I've gone to school with Megan since second grade, we've had a lot of the same teachers. Including the following teacher. I won't name names, just in case I become famous or something one day and he finds this and feels sad or whatever. But this guy was kind of a terrible teacher.

He was my Language Arts (why can't they just call it English? Is Language Arts supposed to be fancier or something?) teacher for one year of middle school. And I hated him. So did Megan, but I'll leave her out of this story. :D

One of the things that bugged me most about this guy was his feelings toward poetry. In his class, he assigned poetry assignments, and he told us that all poetry had to rhyme.

I'm sorry, what? WHAT? There are different types of poetry. Some rhyme, some don't.

When someone in my class said this to him, he replied that while poetry that didn't rhyme did exist, he didn't like it and so we weren't allowed to write non-rhyming poetry in his class.

Again I say, WHAT? Dude. You are teaching middle schoolers. You have to allow creativity. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean you have the right to give us bad grades if our poems don't rhyme. (He really did take points off our grade if we didn't have a specific rhyming pattern.)

That is bullshit. Just, no. No. YOU CAN'T DO THAT.

And then there was the Romeo and Juliet incident. The class breezed through the book in a few weeks, just reading it and not stopping to discuss it or clarify things or make sure everyone understood what was going on. But, you know, whatever. I was doing fine, reading the book at home on my own and trying to keep up with Ye Olde Shakespeare Talk and Stuff. It wasn't until we were about two thirds of the way through the book that I got really pissed.

What happened was he looked up one day and realized "Oh look, the whole grade is supposed to take a test on the book in two days. Whoops, we're super behind. Better get caught up immediately."

And then he instructed the class to begin skimming the rest of the book. Seriously, he was just like "okay let's skip the next five pages because they're not really important." NO. STOP. YOU CAN'T DO THAT.

Listen, from what I've read of Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet: didn't like, A Midsummer Night's Dream: kind of hated, Julius Caeser: actually enjoyed) I'm not a big fan of him. I just don't get him. I mean, I haven't read much of his stuff, so I can't totally judge yet. But English teachers (at least the ones I've had) are always like SHAKESPEARE IS THE BEST PERSON TO EVER WALK THIS EARTH HE IS AMAZING AND EVERYONE SHOULD LOVE HIS PLAYS AND POEMS BECAUSE HE IS A SUPER TALENTED WRITER blah blah blah.

So the idea of SKIMMING SHAKESPEARE just seemed ridiculous to me. Just...move the test date back. Or I don't know, maybe make sure we finish the book on time so we don't have to scramble at the last minute? Don't just start skipping pages of the book you're assigning. No. That shouldn't happen.

And then there was the general HE IS SO FREAKING STUBBORN thing. He always had to be right. ALWAYS. Like if he'd give us an assignment that we'd already done in the beginning of the year, and we'd have fifteen kids telling him we'd already done it, showing him the completed worksheet in our notebooks as proof, he'd make us do it again anyway because he didn't remember it. He couldn't just accept the fact that maybe his class of straight A students destined for Honors courses was a little bit smarter than him in this one instance.

Ugh. I could go on forever about this man. I really could. But I'll stop now. I just wanted to rant to someone. Have you ever had a really bad teacher? Feel free to rant about him/her in the comments. Or if you've had a really GOOD teacher, leave a story below. Maybe it will cheer me up.

(I should add that so far this school year, I actually seem to have a few good teachers. Including my Creative Writing teacher, who is really awesome so far. I knew I'd love her as soon as I saw the Albus Dumbledore quote on her syllabus.)

-Rachel