Library Books Read-A-Thon Day 2 Sharing My Library Story

Welcome to Day 2 of The Library Books Readathon. Today I'm going to share my library story. Sorry this post is quite long. I would love to hear everybody else's library story.

Queen Ella Bee did a post about her library story something I had never really thought about, but she inspired me to share my library story with all of you. Although I didn't go through as long of a period without the library as she did. I'm so glad Gaby has found her love for her local library.

We get library cards in my public library system when we turn 7. At 7 I would have been a first grader.  I remember that day finally holding my brand new red library card in my hand. Before that day came my daycare provider and my mom were always more than happy to check out books for me. Our library has a bus called The Bookmobile. It came to my daycare every couple of weeks. All us daycare kids loved going to The Bookmobile and checking out new books to read.

A fact that is hard to believe now, but really change and effected my reading life. When I was four we discovered that I had a lazy eye. My left eye didn't want to work as hard as my right eye. I had to wear a patch over my eye from 1st grade to 3rd grade and then after school until 5th grade. I was picked on a lot for wearing that patch and I hated wearing it too, but my parents knew what was best for me. Kids are mean. To put things into perspective I would have been blind in my left eye if I didn't wear the patch. Although the vision is weaker in my left eye than my right I still have full use of both eyes. My first grade teacher worried about my reading level. She told my parents I just wasn't catching on as fast as the other kids and she wondered if I had problem seeing the board because I was only seeing out of one eye because of the patch. I was put in Title where I had help learning to read. I loved going to Title, but by the beginning of 2nd grade year I graduated from Title. I no longer needed her help.

Once I discovered how to read my whole world took off. I was amazed by books and started to read every book I could get my hand on. In Elementary school we had library time and AR points. You read books and took a test on the books for AR points which you could spend at the AR store. I got my favorite stuffed animal, Miss Spider, from the AR store. Although I didn't read as fast as other kids I loved to read books.

Every summer at daycare we continued to go to the Bookmobile and I became more appreciate of the library. Then once we entered middle school library time stopped and my favorite part of our day was gone. The library was still accessible, you just had to go there on your own time. This was the time when I fell in love with The Little House on the Prairie books. I hadn't yet discovered online requesting at this point (which I will talk about tomorrow). I would find the name of the next book and the Librarian would either help me find it on the shelf or she would request the book for me. Through eighth grade the Librarians were great about helping me with my obsession for reading.

Then I entered high school and I discovered the magic of online requesting. This helped me discover so many new books I could get from the library. I continued to enjoy being in the library. I had a lot of free time during my senior year and I would often go down to the library to study, talk with friends, or read. The Librarians all know me by name (we are a small branch) and always expect me to be bringing a stack of books back or checking out a stack of books.

That is my story through High School. sorry this post is so long. If you read the whole thing congrats. I will talk about my experience with the library as a college student later this week.

Update your progress below. If you are going to use the same post all week today is the only day you will need to link up. I'm going to use the same linky list for the entire week. Come back tomorrow as I talk about Requesting Books.

Summer Library Challenge Social Media

The Book Monsters

I think my library does quite a bit for social media. Their facebook page is my favorite. They have a weekly passive program called book talk tonight. Basically a librarian gets on Facebook and chats with everybody about what they are currently reading and enjoying. 

I also found out that my library has a pinterest which they post quite a bit on and a twitter account. 

I haven't finished any books since my pile last week, but I have been to the library twice so I have now have a huge pile of books that I'm working through. From top to bottom they are Little City by the Lake by Cecila Wilkins, The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Easton, The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, Tener Morsels by Margo Langan, The One and Only by Emily Giffin, City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare, and The Little House in the Ozarks by Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

I'm hoping to accomplish a few of these books this week. 

Library Books Readathon Day 1 Link Your Goals

Welcome to The Library Books Readathon. I'm so pleased that you have decided to join. I know many of you like me constantly have an overflowing stack of library books to be read. I'm here today to celebrate the first day of the readathon by posting my list of library books I would like to finish during this time and go look at all of your lovely stacks of books.

  Sorry I'm late on getting this post up. I forgot I hadn't scheduled the post and had Kinder Camp this Morning. I'm starting the Readathon at pg 241 of The One and Only by Emily Giffin.  Here's my stack of currently checked out library books. As you can see I have a lot of books checked out and I need to complete some of them this week. From top to bottom they are Little City by the Lake by Cecila Wilkins, The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Easton, The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, Tener Morsels by Margo Langan, The One and Only by Emily Giffin, City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare, and The Little House in the Ozarks by Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

Post Your Goal Link Below. I will have daily update posts up this week. You are not required to post on the linky everyday, but you can if you would like. Just make sure to mark what day it is update for as I will use the same linky for multiple days. If you plan to use the same link for the whole week as I so often do you will only need to post it once and your post will be linked for the whole week for people to view.

Book Review: Just Destiny by Theresa Rizzo (no spoilers)

Book: Just Destiny
Author: Theresa Rizzo
Publication: March 31st, 2014
Source: From Publisher for Review
Read: May 8-19,2014
Summary (from goodread):

What would you do if your whole world fell apart?

Jenny Harrison made some poor choices in the past, but marrying Gabe was the best thing she’d ever done. They had the perfect marriage, until a tragic accident leaves Gabe brain dead and her world in ruins. Devastated by grief, she decides to preserve the best of their love by conceiving his child, but Gabe’s family is adamantly opposed, even willing to chance exposing long-held family secrets to stop her. Caught in a web of twisted motives and contentious legal issues, Jenny turns to best friend and attorney, Steve Grant. Steve wants to help Jenny, but he has reservations and secrets of his own.

When something so private and simple turns public and complicated, will Jenny relent? What is Steve willing to sacrifice to help Jenny

My Thoughts:
* I received this book free from the publisher for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for this review. All thoughts and feelings about this novel are my own.*

The author of this novel was kind of enough to send me a copy of this book. When I recieved the email and read the summary I thought it sounded like a great book. I do have to admit that it wasn't my cup of tea. There were so many things that could have been fleshed out. There were moments that could have been more developed instead of just dragging on the moments that had little importance.

In the beginning of the book I was enamored by Jenny and Gabe's relationship although big age differences are usually a red flag for me. I couldn't help, but feel how wonderful their relationship was. Then Jenny's life got turned upside down and my interested was steady through those pages. After Jenny leaves the hospital the whole book slows down. Jenny wants to conceive Gabe's child and she has to go through a court case against Gabe's uncle, George, who raised Gabe.

My problem with the middle of this book is that it was all about waiting. There was no action there was just waiting. Maybe that realistically what life is, but in books I like characters to be taking chances and getting hurt or finding the solution they need. I don't want characters that complain about their bad luck. Jenny's decision was controversial to say the least, but she needs to be the one to take action on the decision and choose her own destiny.

Then there is Jenny's friend Steve. He is a lawyer and lives next door. He also happens to want more than a friendship with Jenny. Now with Gabe gone Steve doesn't know what to do. He wants to have a happy life, but can he do that without Jenny. I enjoyed Steve for the most part as a character because his feelings were honest.

Then towards the end of the novel I was again interested in the book. The court case was intense and well written, but certainly not to the level of Jodi Picoult's or Kristin Hannah's court cases. I don't think the result of the court case was super predictable either which was good. I don't like when I can clearly guess the outcome. I think the author was realistic with the waiting period in this point of the book. I was okay with the lack of things going on. Jenny still has a lot of decisions to make. The ending of Just Destiny was surprising and then not surprising. In some ways I guessed the ending, but in other ways I saw a different life for Jenny. I was satisfied with the ending of this novel.

I gave this book a meh rating because of how much I struggled to make it through the book in the middle. As I said I believe their were parts that could have recieved more attention. Jenny's relationship with her little brother Michael one that I would have loved to learn more about and not just through the court case. I believe that with more action this book would have been more interesting. I neither loved it nor hated it so I gave it a neutral rating.

Book Review: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord (no spoilers)

Book: Open Road Summer
Author: Emery Lord
Publication: April 15th, 2014
Source: Local Library
Read: April 30th- May 4th, 2014
Summary (from Goodreads):

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

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My Thoughts:

I said that 2014 would be the year for amazing debuts and Open Road Summer is no exception. In fact I really couldn't tell that this was Emery Lord's first novel. She wrote like she had written 10 novels before this one. 

I would compare Emery Lord to Sarah Dessen. Her novel was a feel good summer read. The thing that I think really drew me to this book was that it was more about friendship than romance. Delilah Montgomery is a country singer going on tour for the summer. She is known as Lilah Montgomery to her fans, but to her best friend Reagan she is simply known as Dee. Reagan has always been on the right side of the law. After her awful breakup with bad boyfriend, Blake; Reagan is ready to turn a new leave in life. This involves spending a whole summer on the road with her best friend Dee. Just her and Dee for the whole summer. 

Everything changes when a tabloid scandal rocks Dee's world. Matt Finch, a washed out singer, that hasn't done much for a few years joins the tour as an open act. Matt's lyrics had to be my favorite part of the novel. They had the ability to make Reagan mad, but want Matt so badly at the same time. I have to admit I could tell that he had good, southern charm just reading through the pages and I was desperate for a relationship to form. Although you will have to read to see what happens there. 

What I appreciated about this book is that the characters were real. Although Dee was famous, us as readers got to see the other side and really Dee is just a normal girl with a broken heart. She wants a life where she can sing and share her music, but doesn't have to wear a disguise to go out in public. The one thing I was curious about was the full lyrics of Dee's song Open Road Summer, which features Reagan's name. Reagan may have a country superstar best friend, but to Reagan, Dee is just her friend. Reagan loves to take pictures and she has a very hot temper. Reagan is not a perfect character, but that is what I liked about her. Matt was a great addition to the book. He had his issues, but he had a down home southern charm which I really liked. Emery Lord created relatable characters. 

Emery Lord created an amazing story which turned into an amazing debut novel. I'm excited to see what this author comes out with in the future. I'm sure all her other novels will be amazing. Do yourself a favor and go pick up a copy of Open Road Summer.