What's Going On?! Where Have You Been?!

       Last we spoke I was happy with my school life and heading off to New Orleans for the Katy Perry Prismatic Tour! Today, I sit in my office with far too much homework and an overwhelming feeling of dread and panic. My "easy" semester took off suddenly when my 8-week math course began. Around the same time I also started a new job and moved into my first apartment. Needless to say, blogging, reading, and writing have been the lowest priority on my agenda for about a month now.

       This doesn't mean I'm gone for good, but I did want to check in with you all. I have 3 weeks left of this semester and then I can begin focusing on other projects, such a life, christmas present crafting, and blogging. But in saying that, a lot is changing. I want to push through and make blogging a priority in my life, once again. So come January there will be some great new things rolling out and all of that will be on a new hosting site! As soon as all this information is nailed down I will let you all know. Expect something new for the New Year from Positively Rae!

Until then, you can keep up with me here:

Twitter: @Positivelyrae

Instagram: @positively_rae

xoxo Rae

Recently Added v.1

In the last two weeks I've added 41 songs to my iTunes library. On this Wonderful Wednesday, I thought I'd share my new obsessions with you.

1. Maybe by Ingrid Michaelson
2. Manners by We Are The In Crowd
3. You and Me by Holly Conlan
4. Home by Holly Conlan
5. Winter by Holly Conlan
6. Happy Song by Holly Conlan
7. You Are Goodbye Holly Conlan
8. Sparkle by Holly Conlan
9. Beautiful Night by Holly Conlan
10. I am Alone by Holly Conlan
11. Honey Don't by Holly Conlan
12. Come Back Home by Holly Conlan
13. Good Ones by Holly Conlan
14. Gone by Holly Conlan
15. Dust in Out Hands by Holly Conlan
16. Uh Oh by Holly Conlan
17. One Two Three by Holly Conlan
18. Take the Blame by Holly Conlan
19. New Song by Holly Conlan
20. OK by Holly Conlan
21. How Do We Know by Katie Costello
22. Ships in the Night by Katie Costello
23. Cityscapes by Katie Costello
24. Lost and Far from Home by Katie Costello
25. We Are the Way We Are by Katie Costello
26. Gonna Get Over You by Sara Bareilles
27. Shake it Off by Taylor Swift
28. Girls Chase Boys by Ingrid Michaelson
29. Songs of Innocence Album by U2 (Very Not Impressed)
30. Beautiful Day by U2

All the bolded ones are my favorites as of the moment. Another honorable mention is Dollhouse by Melanie Matinez. I didn't add that one in the last two weeks but it's still a current obsession of mine.

What are some of your favorite recent additions to your musical life?

Thoughtful: What does Time feel like?

PHOTO CREDIT

For my English class this semester, we're currently reading Ray Bradbury's short story "August 2002: Night Meeting." I love Bradbury's style over all and always have. After a few years of not reading him, this piece feels like coming home. One quote early on in the story caught my attention though;

"What did Time smell like? Like dust and clocks and people. And if you wondered what Time sounded like it sounded like water running in a dark cave and voices crying and dirt dropping down upon hollow box lids, and rain. And going further, what did Time look like? Time looked like snow dropping silently into a black room or it looked like a silent film in an ancient theater, one hundred billion faces falling like those New Year balloons, down and down into nothing."

Do you agree with Bradbury? I do, to an extent, but I feel there are a million other ways to explain Time. The real question, which Bradbury doesn't explain is what does Time feel like? Not the passing of time, but the feeling of Time itself.

I think time feels like a rabbit's fur tickling across your face as the summer heat sets in, like the massaging of the one stubborn tense muscle that hurts too much to continue and feels to good to stop, like the air of the night when you reach up toward the stars and just, for a moment, grasp the light of the moon only to have nothing to show for it.

What do you think Time feels like?

Taking it easy today and enjoying the holiday! Hope it was a great one for you as well!

What's your labor day traditions?

Rae Does Baton Rouge

Fun Fact: My best friend turned 21!!

And because of that fun fact, we went to Baton Rouge for the weekend for shopping craziness! It was really a lot of fun, and I'm sure there's more to do in Baton Rouge, but I'd certainly return just for that mall! It's huge and crazy and wonderful!

But before the mall, the night we rolled into town, we went down to Perkins Rowe to look around and have a lovely dinner. For dinner we went to Texas de Brazil, which is a Brazilian style steakhouse which is very interesting. By far, my favorite part of the experience at Texas de Brazil was the salad bar! There were so many options and such interesting items. When you're ready, you flip your little coin and the very nice staff will parade different cuts and preparations of meat around for your sampling. It's a very interesting experience, even though I wasn't super impressed with the meats. (Note: I don't eat much meat anyway.) Overall, I'd give Texas de Brazil a 3/5 star rating just based on the salad bar and the interesting experience.

The next morning, we headed for the mall and the shopping! I am so impressed by the size of the Mall of Louisiana! There are about a million different stores and many of them are 2 stories! Personally, I really loved getting to visit my second Lush Store ever! I so love Lush. The Hot Topic, Forever 21, and Victoria's Secret were also really nice. There was just such an array of shops to wander in and out of that I couldn't keep up with everything.

All in all, great experience! I always love getting out of town and exploring the fun things to do close to home but more than that I love getting to spend a whole weekend just me and my girl! HAPPY 21st MISS JORDY! SO MUCH LOVE! <3

What are some of your favorite weekend trips close to where you live?

A New Direction: Rae Goes Away

My name is Raelynn and it has been over 1 year since I've last blogged.

A YEAR! Can you believe it?! Last I was here, I was a Sophomore English major on track to study abroad in Ireland, go into the Peace Corps, and head off to grad school for Linguistics. My how a year changes things. Here are some major points:

• I'm now a Sociology Major, with a focus on Social Work and a minor in Nonprofit Administration.
• While I still hope to go abroad, I'm looking more into internships in global aid.
• Peace Corps is not out of the question, but it seems a little impractical by the time I'll finally finish my undergrad. I have 6 semesters left...
• I hope to go to Grad School for Counseling. I still love linguistics and study it independently, my heart really lies in helping others however I can. I'd love to work the "messy" cases most people don't want to know exist. I want to help the rape victims, the violence victims, those with mental illnesses, and, should I have the opportunity, genocide survivors, political refugees, and the like.
• I'm still writing. I'm beginning my second book next month and another in November. I've not yet approached any agents though, I want to flesh out the entire world to present, not just one novel.
• I have a new boyfriend. See here: Hiatus: Wii Unboxing! "(aka This is Keith)
• AND CHECK IT! NEW BLOG NAME!! LIFEDUCKS = RAE GOES AWAY! (I call that fair warning I will most likely disappear again.)

I guess those are the things that were before and now are changing, but a lot of entirely new things are happening too! Here, have another bulleted list:

• I'M MOVING OUT! As soon as Keith can find a job and we save the money we'll be getting our own place! I'm crazy excited about that, so be prepared for weird posts about moving and decor.
• I'm interning with a local nonprofit called PEP! (The Pet Education Project!).
• Keith and I are opening a nonprofit... in the future. That sounds a little weird and sketchy but it's happening and I will undoubtably say something about it eventually.

So, if you were wondering, life's good. I'm really wanting to get back into blogging and vlogging and everything I really enjoyed doing online. With school and work and interning and life it'll be hard, but I really do love it so hopefully some of you lovely readers will stick around?

That being said, since my life has changed so much my blogging will, inevitably, as well. If you didn't notice, last year, in general, my blogging was less about books I'd read and more just about books in general. I simply don't have the time to read like I used to. And what I do read I don't think anyone will be interested in. So, I think the biggest change to my blogging content will be the lessening of book talk. I still love to read and to buy books for those far off times when I will have time to read, but books take up far less of my life than they once did. Instead, I'll be posting more about my life and things I think about and do. Expect travel pieces, expect rants, expect introspection, expect DIYs and [failed] DIYs, expect recipes, expect anything. 

Basically, what I'm trying to say is I'm really going to try to dedicate myself to blogging again and that this isn't "Lifeducks" as you knew it (or didn't know it). Rae Goes Away is a just another lifestyle blog about random things in the life of a random girl somewhere in the world doing random things like someone cares. I hope you'll stick around.

How to: Survive a Cold

Friday afternoon, I started to develop a cold. Did that send me running home, like it should have? Of course not! I proceeded to go to see a film. Not the best of ideas. I spent all Saturday in bed sleeping and watching films. I survived the worst of my cold and here's how I did it!

1. Conclude you are sick and draw massive amounts of sympathy from any parental or caregiving person in the immediate area. Nothing sucks worse than checking your own temperature and having absolutely no one to feel as sorry for you as you do yourself.
2. Watch far too many of your guilty pleasures. I managed to catch up on Pretty Little Liars and Lost Girl. Any animated favorites are highly suggested. A few of my favorites are: Lilo & Stitch, Tarzan, The Last Unicorn, and How to Train Your Dragon.
3. Naps. Sleep. Really anything that involves dozing in and out all day is perfect. When you're sick nothing feels better than sleeping and resting all day.
4. While watching your guilty pleasures and between naps, colour! Yes, with crayons and a colouring book. Concentrating on something other than how pitiful you feel will help. Scouts honour. Bonus points if you keep a stuffed friend near by (they can't catch your germs!)
5. Drink lots of water. For real, this one's really important. They say "liquids" but really water is best. I hate drinking water, but when I'm sick I drink several bottles a day. Hydration, it's good.

Those are just my suggestions.

How do you spend your days home with a cold? What really makes you feel better?

Wonderly is loverly!

I know I've mentioned BlogHer on this blog before, a lovely blogging community of women. Well, the longer I participated and took part in BlogHer the more I realized that the "target" audience weren't simply any women, but instead "grown" women with jobs and families and kids. As a college student, social media junkie, and young adult, I had trouble making my place in any of the communities on BlogHer.

The other day, a beautiful project came to my attention, Wonderly. Wonderly is a group of beautiful, wonderful female content creators (YouTube, Blogging, Drawing, etc.) coming together to create a lovely website and community of support and lovliness.

Some of the women participating are some of my favorite bloggers/vloggers!

• Kayley Hyde
• Robyn Schneider
• Elizziebooks
• Kristina Horner
• And so many more lovelies!

If you're ever looking for some amazing women, check out Wonderly on any of the links below!

Website

Tumblr

Twitter

YouTube

Facebook

Blog Tour: Forbidden Forest Teaser

Title: The Legends of Regia: Forbidden Forest

Author: Tenaya Jayne

Pages: 236

Genre: YA Fantasy Romance

Book Blurb

Born in shame. Cast from society. Shape Shifter/Elf hybrid, Forest must fight for any respect she can get. Targeted in her youth by a vampire noble who placed an illegal slave mark on her, she is forced to obey him, no matter what.

Slipping the grip of her master and abandoning the prejudice of Regia, her native world, Forest takes a job on Earth, guarding the portal, using her skills as a warrior to enforce Regia's laws. Now, called home for a black ops mission, Forest must put aside her own prejudice to transport the vampire prince, Syrus, through enemy territory in a time of war.  

Prince Syrus, mage and master of the Blood Kata, wants Forest more than he's ever wanted anything. In spite of their mutual mistrust, their attraction cannot be denied. Through the danger of their mission, and the secrets they both keep, it doesn't matter what they feel. Forest is forbidden.   

About Tenaya Jayne

Hello. My name's Tenaya and I'm an addict. I mean author. When I was growing up, writing was just something I played at from time to time. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but I was one of those people who could never finish anything. When my eldest son was diagnosed with Autism, I began to write seriously. Writing became a necessity for me in the midst of my heartbreak. It was either that or take up drinking. I 'm thankful I chose writing as my escape because I discovered it truly is my thing. I want to be swept away when I read. That's what I want my books to do for you.The main goal of my writing is to entertain you. I want to help you escape everyday life for a little while. I hope you enjoy my stories as much as I enjoy sharing them with you!

I have a wonderful husband and two beautiful sons. I'm an advocate for Autism awareness, and women trapped in abusive relationships. I try to always look on the bright side and help others do so too. I've lived many places but I currently reside in Missouri. I love reading, indie and foreign films, gardening, and moody music. 

Author Links

Purchase on Amazon

Website

Book Trailer

Excerpt:

Forest pressed her back against the cool concrete wall, wanting to remain aloof from the entity of the crowd. She chose her position in the shadows, out of the paths of the roving, multi-colored spotlights. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the undulating human pheromones flying around on the air. At the beginning of every shift, she allowed herself a few minutes of this alien/human experience, though she didn't fully comprehend the combination of dancing, drinking, and ear-breaking sound waves. They loved it, however, and never seemed to deviate from the recipe.

 These were the people she was sworn to protect. She had developed a light affection for the human race and considered them a benign, if not slightly silly, bunch of creatures. Her religious passion for her job was rooted in hatred of that which harmed the humans, not a superhero tendency to protect the weak. 

Forest opened her eyes and focused all her senses to sniff out the illegal suckers that tried to sneak through the portal. She was in the zone tonight, and not for the first time did she feel that hers was the best job in existence. It was a shame she couldn’t legally kill suckers in her native world. 

 Over the next two hours, Forest didn’t move from the wall. She monitored the light traffic through the portal: two shifters and one elf, each of which nodded to her respectfully as they passed. Yawn. The shifters left the club to enjoy the delights of Austin’s nightlife elsewhere. 

The elf would have been breaking Regia’s law had he left the club, but he dutifully seated himself at the bar and ordered a fuzzy navel. He wore a plaid, porkpie hat, pulled down over the tops of his pointed ears. Forest didn’t know him personally, but she had seen him in here before. The bartender surveyed him with narrowed eyes as the elf nervously tugged his hat down further and ordered a few more girly cocktails. 

Intent on making sure that not one sucker was able to sneak past her, Forest was blindsided by the drunk bubba who had been trying to catch her eye for the last twenty minutes. He had finally decided to stagger over to hit on her. 

“Hey babe, you’re too beautiful to look so lonely. How’s ‘bout I buy you a drink?”

“How’s ‘bout I call you a cab instead?” Forest mimicked his drawl. 

“Only if you share it with me, Darlin.” He leaned in closer, and Forest’s throat began to sting from the noxious fume of booze mixed with his natural musk. 

“While I appreciate the offer, Jethro, It seems only right to inform you that I’m not actually attractive at all. If you leaned in a little closer, you’d see that you’ve fallen victim to the effect of beer goggles. A hag like me can’t take advantage of a stud like you.”

As he leaned in, Forest instantly enlarged her nose, pockmarked her skin, evaporated her front teeth, and added a large black mole with a long hair sprouting from it for good measure.

 “You’re no hag, baby! You’re the sexiest little thing in…I…uh… ” He stumbled backward. “Good grief! Sorry, sorry…” he stammered, retreating. “I’ve gotta quit drinking,” he mumbled as he turned away.

Forest chuckled to herself once he absorbed back into the crowd. Being a shape shifter sometimes had unusual perks.

Lets Talk: The Evolution of the Mockingjay

-- This discussion post is created assuming readers have read all three of the books in the Hunger Games trilogy all the way through, thus it contains spoilers below the cut --



If you remember back a few months ago, we had our first discussion about A Moveable Feast. For our second chat, I thought we'd discuss something that kind of pushes my buttons. Many people across the internet have read the Hunger Games Trilogy. I've reviewed both Catching Fire and Mockingjay. One big thing that is often critiqued in these books is the evolution of Katniss's character. I have my own thoughts, which are found below the cut, but I'd also love to hear some of your thoughts on the subject.

BBC's Top 200 Must-Reads

In researching for Monday's post, I learned that BBC extended their list to include 200 books. So here's the other 100 in this list.
--In this one I've italicized the books I currently own but have yet to read.


101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach, Alex Garland
104. Dracula, Bram Stoker
105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾, Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat
114. Les Misérables, Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
119. Shogun, James Clavell
120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
123. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison
128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession, A. S. Byatt
130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl
133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
144. It, Stephen King
145. James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile, Stephen King
147. Papillon, Henri Charriere
148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett
149. Master And Commander, Patrick O'Brian
150. Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz

151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett
152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett
154. Atonement, Ian McEwan
155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
158. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
159. Kim, Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon
161. Moby Dick, Herman Melville
162. River God, Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
165. The World According To Garp, John Irving
166. Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore
167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches, Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White
171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco
175. Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr Fox, Roald Dahl
178. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner, George Eliot
185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith
187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine
189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. LawrenceLife of Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons
193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett
194. The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans
196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett
198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews

I've only read 6 of these! Wow! That makes 22/200 that I've read. That simply won't do!

How do you stack up against this one? Do you feel these 200 books are "necessary" to be considered to be "well read"?

Blog Tour: The Undesirable Release Day Blitz!

Today is the release day of the new book The Undesirable by S. Celi!

Title: The Undesirable
Author: Sara Celi
Publisher: Lowe Interactive Media
Pages: 225
Book Description:
*This book is Mature YA/ New Adult. It is recommended for readers 14 and over.*
What if everything you knew turned out to be a lie? Charlotte Walker knows how to live under the rule of The Party. She has managed for 18 years. She helps out her drunken mother and keeps life going at a familiar, steady pace. She doesn’t ask questions, even though she has many of them in her heart. Fostino Sanchez knows how to live under the rule of The Party, too. For 19 years, he’s worked to be the perfect Party member. He knows what must be done to keep Maxwell Cooper in power, and how find the The Undesirables that threaten to take away everything that matters. As the months go by, what matters most to Fostino is Charlotte Walker. While their love blooms, danger comes to Charlotte and Fostino’s small hometown of Harrison Corners, OH. Threats they never knew existed could take away all that they care about. And just when these two teens think they know what will come next, Charlotte learns the truth about a secret she has long suspected. What Charlotte finds out changes everything. EVERYTHING. THE UNDESIRABLE is Charlotte Walker’s story, from her point of view. It is a thrilling, suspenseful tale of love, curiosity, adversity, and maturity against the backdrop of a futuristic war. Should Charlotte trust Fostino with what she knows? Can she trust anyone? Will she find it in herself to rise up against terrible odds? What if the ultimate Undesirable is her?

 

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

Fostino’s frown mixes with his tightened jaw. “Are you serious about this, Charlotte? Really serious? I just — I can’t believe you’re breaking up with me.” His eyebrows pull tighter than any seam I have ever sewn.“God. I’m so stupid.” His mouth sets in a hard line. My heartbeat jumps to my ears. I bite down hard on the inside of my bottom lip. Oh, God. Did I make the right choice? Will he understand? Will he always hate me? My breath quickens as the air constricts all around the two of us. I almost taste the awkwardness in the air. I pray my pain doesn’t show on my face. How do people manage to stay friends after something like this? I can’t. No, I won’t. Not this time. I stand in this apartment and know that I failed to make this breakup painless.My words cover this small dusty room. All the muscles in my back tighten and twist from the stress. We will never be just friends — ever. He gets up from the couch and pulls on his worn, muddy combat boots. He seems wounded, broken, and defeated. He radiates pain. He picks up my keys to the apartment from the coffee table. Awkward. My mind flickers to the beginning. I remember the moment in the town square when The Party transformed our lives. I want to go back and change everything since then. “I wanted to take care of you and shield you from—” He stops and gestures to the windows and the crumbling world outside this room. His soulful brown eyes glint with anger. “Everything.” Now he exhales. “I guess I’m not surprised. Not after all that happened.”His shoulders slump. Sweat beads on the back of my neck. I swallow some of my uneasiness. My plan just might work. I taste the hollow victory in the back of my throat. Good. “I—I’m sorry.” I have nothing else to say, no words to make this better. In minutes, I’ll leave the apartment and flee my life because I have no other choice. “I’ll never understand you. Or this.” Fostino shakes his head of dark waves. He fixates on the bare wall behind me. His words hurt, but Fostino can’t know how much he affects me. I push away the urge to reach out and hold him tighter than I ever hugged anyone. Instead, I shudder a little in my shapeless black dress — the one the government issued me last month. I hate this. I am not a cold person. I don’t hurt people on purpose. “Fostino, I—“ In a few steps, I reach his side. My shaky hand reaches out and the keys link our hands together. I smell him through all the dust in this studio apartment with the Murphy bed in the corner. I inhale just remember how he smells. I’m so afraid I will forget it. Each second ticks by worse than the last. This conversation is hard, so very hard. I bite down on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying something I can’t back up. If only I could tell him the truth, share my terrible secret, and find a way out of my bleak future. If only. “Did you ever mean anything you said? I mean, even for one second. Did you ever even like me?” He balls his hand into a fist once I raise my arm to stop him. He keeps talking anyway. “I told you I loved you right here in this room, even though you didn’t say it back. I meant it.” My stomach twists and heart pounds while I keep up the lies. “Well — I did like you.” I emphasize my next words as my toes curl in my sandals. “I thought I loved you once. I wanted to say it, but—” “But, I’ll always love you. I will.” He mutters something else I can’t understand, and his words undo me. I give in and kiss him. His lips are a gentle push against mine, and the kiss is so good it hurts. His lips taste like a nectar I want to savor forever. But I can’t. This moment must stay cold and Fostino needs to know this is goodbye for good. Before the kiss intensifies, I pull away and remember my task. The black Humvee full of people waits around the corner. We all must leave soon. They gave me fifteen minutes to make sure this break-up is a clean one. Time is up. Now. His eyes lock mine. “Why won’t you tell me what’s really going on?” Oh no. He can’t know the truth. Hurt him. They told me I must end it.Loving me will destroy him. It will destroy everything. My teeth bite my lip hard on the inside as I search for the words. “It’s — well — we just…we aren’t right for each other. I don’t want you to come after me. We need to end this. This relationship—” “Whatever. It’s fine. You shouldn’t make stuff up.”Fostino sounds very weary and haggard with each sentence. I take my keys and slide them into the black wool satchel on my left shoulder. Then I take the deception a step further. “I won’t ever love you, Fostino Ahmed.” The words taste like rusted metal. “I just won’t.” My hands open the door with purpose. A few steps will take me through an ancient hallway that links this apartment with sixteen others. I push myself through the doorframe and pull the door shut behind me. Then I take the first steps of what I know will be a lifetime of solitary strides. With each step, I sever this connection. Once outside, I round the corner and slide into the alleyway as the armored vehicle hums a signal. The Humvee’s fat tires set off its flat black paint, tinted windows, silver chrome handles, and a large armored grill on the front and the back. This car is a fortress, made for combat and intimidation. All the cars the government owns mirror this one. I slip inside and sink into black leather. Soon, we will all leave Harrison Corners, Ohio. This small band of rebels will take me some place. And I don’t care where. I just want to disappear, and need to more than ever. After I close the Humvee door, Thompson speaks first. “Did he believe you?” Thompson throws the vehicle into gear and drives it down the alley. He gets irritated when I don’t answer right away and runs a thick hand through his long dreadlocks. “Well?”

 Author’s Links
  Purchase on Amazon
  The Undesirable's Facebook page
  Sara Celi Facebook fan page
  Goodreads
  Add The Undesirable to your Goodreads list
  Sara Celi Pinterest
  Sara Celi Twitter: @saragceli
  The Undesirable Twitter: @undesirablebook

About Sara Celi

  New Orleans born Sara Celi has lived all over the United States. She calls the Greater Cincinnati area and the Queen City home. She's currently a TV reporter and anchor in Oklahoma City, and has spent more than a decade working in journalism. She graduated cum laude from Western Kentucky University in 2004. Celi is also a contributing author to Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Power of Positive. The Undesirable is her debut novel. In her spare time, she likes to read, shop, write, travel, run long distances, volunteer with the Junior League, and fundraise for Cooperative for Education, a non-profit providing educational opportunities for Guatemalan kids.

BBC's Top 100 Must Reads

This list has been going around the internet for a while. It's simply the books that BBC considers to be the top 100 books of all time. Now, the trend is to take the list and bold the ones you want to read, so that's what I shall do now.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie 

Wow! I've only read 16 of the great novels! For Shame! 

How many of these book have you read?

In my Queue

Today, I thought I'd share a few of the television shows I have in my Netflix queue.

 

 I hate to admit it, but I really can't wait to have time to watch this one. I know there will be ridiculous historical inaccuracies that will bother me to no end... but I can't resist!

 

I've been planning to watch this one for, well, ever. But I've just never gotten around to it.

 

I'm always a sucker for an alien series. I'm not overly sure what this is really about, but I know that some people in it aren't human and, since it's set in Roswell, I assume they are extraterrestrial. 

 

BBC + Robin Hood = 'Nuff Said.

 

Okay, I know this is about to be blasphemous, but this show makes me think of something like Game of Thrones meets King Arthur meet The Sorcerer's Apprentice.  Three things I love and adore, how can I pass this one up?

 

Apparently this is another BBC show. I admit, I sometimes love these scandalous shows.

 

If you didn't know, there is an American show called Cold Case, which my father and I used to watch together. Needless to say when you throw in a British accent and (I assume) tidbits of British humour, I must watch it!

Is your Netflix queue full of unwatched TV series? What are some series you've been meaning to watch?

This Semester in English

As an English major, I read a lot of books for classes each semester. Since I'll be taking two traditional English classes this semester and I'm attending my first in a few hours, I thought I'd share what I'll be reading.

For Intro. to Literature:

1. The Stories of Richard Bausch

   

   I have no opinion on this one. 

   
   
   
2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
   

   

   This one's been on the my reading list for a while,
   so I'm happy to have incentive to read it.

3. Lyric poems by Keats

   

   Keats and I aren't friends, nor are poetry and I,
   so I am actually dreading this one.

   
   
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

   

   I love studying recently published books in classes,
   so this one should be fun!

   
   
5. The Goblin Market by Christina Rosetti

   

   I know nothing about this, but the titles is legit.

   
   
6. The Tempest by Shakespeare

   

   I love love love Shakespeare, and my professor
   is a scholar, so I cannot wait!

   
   
7. The Importance of being Ernest by Oscar Wilde

   

   Loved the movie, so lets do this!

   
   

For Literary Theory and Criticism:

1. The Stories of Richard Bausch

   

   Still no opinion. 

2. The Awakening by Kate Chopin

   

   I'm kind of excited for this one. I saw this list awhile
   ago and planned to start it on my 20th birthday,
   but I don't mind starting early.

3. Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism

   

   This looks like a text book. Meh.

4. Cane by Jean Toomer

   

   American Southern lit, not my fave,
   but I have decently high hopes.

What are you most excited to read in class this semester? What classes are you taking? What do your next 5 months look like?

Blog tour: Retribution Cover Reveal

 

  Title: Retribution (The Lost Souls #1)
  Author: Amy Thompson
  Book Description: One curse, one exception, one chance at redemption. Regan Edison has just moved from California, to enter her first year at Georgia State. Jacked up Chevy trucks and hunting were a way of life in Georgia. On the evening of her first day of school, Regan was walking back to her dorm when she was viciously attacked by three men. Regan was convinced she was going to die that night. Colter Hayes is a member of the Collectors and the first wrongfully punished soul. Colter and the rest of his team, Finn, Kaiden and Devon, work for the Requiem Council whose job it is to pass judgment onto souls and reincarnate them so that the souls may fix past indiscretions. Agro, an ex-councilman, and his soulless Exiles have other plans. Agro steals souls and hands down his own type of judgment, retribution. He punished those members of the Collectors and has now set his sights on Regan. The Requiem Council dispatches the Collectors to Georgia to work as protectors for Regan. The Collectors must fight to keep Regan safe from Agro and work to earn back their chance at redemption, but when Colter meets Regan his world changes. Everything he thought he knew about his curse is turned upside down and Regan seems to be the cause. Can the Collectors find out why Regan is being targeted in time to save her from a fate they know all too well? And is Colter’s curse as final as he thought or will Regan prove to be his exception?  

And now for the cover reveal!

  About Amy Thompson

Amy Thompson graduated from Randolph-Macon College with her B.S. in Biology. She currently works as a high school teacher and is earning her M.S. in Higher Education from Drexel University. Amy is a first time, self-published author of Retribution, a mature young adult paranormal romance novel that is the first in the Lost Souls series. She lives in southern Virginia with her family and two lazy cats. Amy Thompson is currently working on the next book in the Lost Souls series and continues to be an avid reader of young adult books. Goodreads/Website

Mockingjay: A Book Review

Mockingjay is the second book in The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I haven't reviewed the first book because I wasn't reviewing at the time I read it, but you can find millions of reviews on Goodreads. That being said there are spoilers to the first two books in this review!

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Published: 2010
Format: Hardback
Source: Borrowed

If you're coming directly into this book from the last, Catching Fire, you're a little confused and completely hyped up. This book doesn't slow down too much from the ending of the last. It's nothing compared to the arena, but it remains interesting. I really enjoyed this as the finale and I was, mostly, happy with the direction Ms. Collins chose to take her trilogy.

Katniss Everdeen has survived the arena, not once, but twice. But going in, she couldn't have known how far reaching the rebellion she sparked was. Saved form the arena during her second Hunger Games, Katniss is pulled into District 13, the center for the rebellion against the Capitol. She's accompanied by a few other victors, some friends from home, her family, and Haymitch. But Peeta was left in the arena and in now being held captive in the Capitol! Katniss has a decision to make and many things to learn.

With this book, I didn't feel the initial slow, dragging feeling I did with the beginning of the second book. This one comes nicely directly out of Catching Fire. It picks up a time after Katniss is pulled from the arena, but not too long. She's still struggling with her injuries and confusion. A bit after that, action picks up a bit, but nothing to rival the action in the arena. This book is, largely, about the people in the districts and about the rebellion, not so much the war. There are a few nice "war" scenes, so that's something I liked.

The characters in this book are lovely continuations of their previous selves. I adore the development of Finnick and getting to see him and Annie. Peeta in this book, I thought, was unlikable (all be it with good reason...). I'm not a big fan of Gale, but he, eventually, turned out a bit better. Katniss, herself, is still interesting. I don't like the way her character is taken in the end, but I'll handle that issue in another post.

Despite how much I disliked the epilogue, I give this a 4 star review. The plot continued wonderfully. The characters developed interestingly. The writing was wonderful, as always. If you enjoyed the first two books, I can't see how you'd not want to finish the series! It's a wonderful end, if you ignore the painful epilogue.

How did you like the finale of this trilogy? What did you think of Peeta's character in this one? Do you think this book provided the ending the trilogy deserved?

December in Review

December, for me, was a slow month of regathering my life, my thoughts, my papers, and my time after NaNoWriMo. There were only 9 posts last months and 3 videos on my YouTube channel. So far January is looking like a better month for both blogging and videos!

To start of the month, I finished up my NaNoWriMo posts with announcing my win and explaining my plans for the month and my novel in "Winning NaNoWriMo and Where to go from there."

I also featured the book Scarlet Woods during a Release Day Blitz with YANovelReader and had a very interesting guest post from the author of Undertow about the "New Adult" genre, also through YANovelReader.

I talked about my life in "Coming Home" and "Dirt & Grime: Arkansas and Car Trouble." The latter of which is a new revival of a long deleted series of posts called "Dirt & Grime," about my life and the daily life boring things that don't really interest anyone but me.

I celebrated two holidays, the Solstice and Christmas, the latter with an awesome playlist!

Lastly, on the blog, I reviewed two books. The first was Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, which received a 4 duck rating. The second was actually a part of another blog tour through YANovelReader in which I reviews His Black Wings, giving it a 3 duck rating.

The three videos I posted during December were a "return" video, the Random Shit Video 2.0, and the Rainbow Book Tag. I'm really glad to be back into doing videos and I hope to keep it up!

I hope December was a productive month for you and I look forward to many more posts and videos in January!

Happy New Year!

I hope 2013 is a wonderful year for you!

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His Black Wings: A Book Review

 

Today I'm going to tell you about and review a new, "lesser-known" author's book, His Black Wings!

His Black Wings by Astrid Yrigollen

When I received the request to be a part of this blog tour, I read through the summary and decided I'd sign up for a review. I'm happy today I do not regret that decision.The plot of this story was really original and really interesting. I found the characters interesting and individual. Sadly, there were major flaws in the style of the writing.

His Black Wings is about a young girl, Claren, whose parents have just died. The day of her funeral, some rather horrible circumstances befall Claren and she is forced to flee her childhood home and leave her inheritance behind. While running, she realizes that the money she has cannot hold her forever and she must seek work. Luckily, there is an ad in the local town's newspaper requesting a live-in secretary at a distant country estate. Seeing the perfect opportunity to get away from her troubles, Claren applies and gets the job! But her employer is quite strange and dark with many secrets. Finally leaving for the country estate of Westwind, Claren learns there may be more secrets in that house than she's ready for.

This book is set in a future neo-Victorian era. The setting is interestingly built, but I felt it was lacking in conveying the author's research of the Victorian era. The terminology and word structure were often awkward and not characteristic of the era she was trying to create. As I said, the plot was extremely interesting and original. The deformity, the cause of that deformity, the story itself, were all very nice and I liked them.

The characters were all individual. That is to say each had a voice and a personality seperate from the others. I really liked that. Many times you will find the side characters have less personality and tend to blend together, but that doesn't happen with any of the characters here. Even Timothy, a young member of the staff at Westwind who never speaks, has his own personality. I also really loved the unique relationships the characters develop. The boys, Dekker and Horace, are cute on their own, but together they make a beautiful set of friends. Etrigan is extremely interesting in that we get to actually see his character grown and learn social norms. Claren as a character is a little weak, but not enough to cause serious issues in the story. The relationship between Dekker, Horace, Claren, and Etrigan is amazing and I adore it!

Now for the main problems I have. I felt that the story was poorly edited. For instance, at one point the author writes "less," instead of "lest" and another "awaking," instead of "awakening." I also found myself wanted more comma usage than there was. The punctuation and styling and diction were all very awkward and I disliked it. Maybe they were stylistic choice made, but I disliked them nonetheless and they made the book seem unfinished and poorly edited.

Though the formatting, punctuation, style, and word choices were questionable, the story itself was very nice. I enjoyed reading it, when I wasn't mentally correcting grammar, adding punctuation, or questioning word choices. Perhaps that is just the English major in me. I would suggest this book if your like original plot lines and can easily over look strange wording and lack of punctuation. Over all, 3/5 stars.

Have you read His Black Wings? What did you think? Did the stylistic and wording choices made bother you, or was that just me?