Social Media Book Tag (July Book Wrap-Up)

This month has been a roller-coaster. Here we go.

Writing
I originally planned on participating in Camp NaNo July this year, but then I got sick at the beginning of the month and never found the motivation to do any work on "Follow the Raven." I think this is a story I need to approach at a slower pace anyway. There is a lot of editing and revision to be done.

However, I was able to write a couple more chapters for "Worlds Collide" over on Wattpad, and I'm excited to say that for the first time ever, I was able to create a rough outline of the entire rest of the story. I'm super psyched to share it with my readers. They will either love me or hate me for the ending, but either way, I can't wait! It's happening! My current stats for said story are 3,045 reads; 227 votes; and 110 comments.

Reading
I did a decent amount of reading this month. Not as much as I'd like, but not bad. I also participated in BookTube-A-Thon for the first time (the NaNoWriMo of reading, essentially) and had a total blast. I read 694 pages in seven days. It was awesome! Here's what I read in July:

• Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
• Princess Academy: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale
• A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick
• Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Princess Academy is a book that I first read in elementary school. Earlier this year I picked up the sequel (which I never knew existed until I found it), so I decided I should probably re-read the first book before diving into the second since it had been so long. I'm really glad I did, too. It's amazing how much you pick up on as an adult reading a book that you first read in grade school. I understood so much more of what was going on and I feel like I had a better appreciation for the story that way. It is definitely a unique and intriguing read, even all these years later. Its sequel, Palace of Stone, was interesting, too, but it definitely paled in comparison to the original novel. (Goodreads says there's a third book. Maybe one day I'll read that one as well.)

A Frozen Heart. I did it, guys! I finally read it! I'm not sure why I waited so long. It was such a good read, and it goes way beyond a YA novelization of the movie. This book takes a much deeper look into the world of Frozen and explores the emotional histories of both Hans and Anna, making their love story much more logical than it appeared in the movie. It also adds a more political layer to the tale we all know so well. I will never watch the movie the same way again, and I appreciate and applaud the author for making the story new once more.

Finally, Winterspell. As I'm writing this blog post I still have about fifty pages left in the book, so I can't say anything about the ending yet. But I can say that from the very first page I was hooked. It was so dark and so dense so quickly. At first I had to read the book in short spurts because there was so much going on at once that it was hard to keep up with it all, but now that I'm further along and understand the world of Cane a little better I can read more of it in one sitting. Going into it, all I knew was that it was "definitely not your grandmother's Nutcracker tale" (Marissa Meyer), but MAN is that an understatement. As it stands right now I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for a good, dark fantasy or even just a retelling of a classic story. You will not be disappointed.

The Social Media Book Tag

1) Twitter: My favorite shortest book.

• When I was on vacation to the other side of the mountain a few years ago, I randomly decided that I wanted to bring The Cricket in Times Square with me in case I had time to read anything. As it turned out, I got so wrapped up in it once I started that I read the whole thing in just a couple of days (considering I was on vacation and didn't have much time to read). It was something different from the genre of books I'd been reading at the time, plus it was a classic. I wouldn't mind re-reading it for fun in the future.

2) Facebook: A book everyone pressured me into reading.

• Cinder. Freaking Cinder. I had heard a lot of good things about this book when it first came out. I believe Kristina Horner has made her way through the entire Lunar Chronicles, and she liked them okay. That was the first I heard of it. Then suddenly it was Lunar Chronicles everywhere, and my friend Kailey read it, and she demanded that I did to (as she does with every book she ever reads). Then, this past spring, it happened to be one of the two "blind date with a book" reads that I got, so I finally buckled down and read the thing. The only redeeming quality about it was that it was the most unique version of Cinderella I've ever read. Other than that, it was not worth it.

3) Tumblr: A book I read before it was cool.

• I'm not that cool.

4) MySpace: A book that I cannot remember if I liked it or not.

• Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters. All I remember about this book is that it is green with a weird little black dog on the front. Other than that, I have no recollection about the story whatsoever, so I have no idea if I liked it or not.

5) Instagram: A book that was so beautiful I had to Instagram it.

• First, I'd like to state for the record that I don't have Instagram, so I'm approaching this one with the mindset of "if I had Instagram." That being said, my original answer for this was going to be Lucid, because I couldn't think of any books that had overwhelmingly beautiful covers that I'd want to share with the world. Lucid has a beautiful story, which is why I chose it. But then I recently picked up A Thousand Pieces of You, and it has a gorgeous cover that I would absolutely Instagram. Therefore, I officially have two answers for this form of social media. (Seriously, though, look at this cover. It's beautiful! The picture really doesn't do it justice.)

6) YouTube: A book I wish would become a movie.

• In high school, I always thought it would be so great to see Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series become a set of movies. I love the story and the characters and the uniqueness of it all. Now, though, after seriously contemplating how a movie version would turn out, I think perhaps it's just as well that they remain in book format. The movies would screw up royally.

7) Goodreads: A book I recommend to everyone.

• Skulduggery Pleasant. YEAH BUDDY. I don't care who you are or what genre you normally read. Everyone should read Skulduggery Pleasant. EVERYONE.

And that's all for July! (My little brother turned sixteen a couple of days ago, which blows my mind. What happened??) See you next month!

My Thoughts on the #Sonic25th Announcements

Oh, man, where do I begin?!

OK. Last night there was this huge party going on for Sonic's 25th Anniversary. A month late, but so worth it! At this party, all of the important people who make Sonic's existence possible came together and announced a lot of really exciting things for the blue hedgehog's future. There was a LOT to keep up with, but there were two huge announcements that stood out to me, both concerning brand new games coming our way in 2017 (non-Boom related!).

The first game announced was Sonic's official 25th Anniversary game, Sonic Mania. This game will be taking Mobians young and old on a trip back in time to Sonic's roots as a gaming icon, which means the gameplay will be entirely 2D side-scrolling, complete with 90s-style graphics! What! In addition to the game being a throwback to the good old days, Sonic will be exploring some new Zones and trying out some new moves as well. Two other playable characters were announced, too. You guessed it - Tails and Knuckles. I'm super excited to see Sonic return to his origins entirely with this game and am looking forward to riding the wave of nostalgia that comes along with it. I was super psyched to hear about this game, set to release in the spring of 2017. You can watch the trailer for it here.

AND THEN.

While this next game does not currently have a name other than Project Sonic 2017, the reveal trailer is - as I described on Twitter yesterday - the COOLEST reveal trailer for a game I've seen in a while, and one that DEFINITELY has me hyped! I'll have you watch the trailer for this one first, pause a moment so you can fangirl, and then explain all the reasons it is going to be awesome.

Guys. You cannot possibly imagine the amount of fangirling that went on when I watched this for the first time. After having only Boom Sonic for the past two years to tide me over, it was SO great to see Modern Sonic return for his own game again. The graphics are awesome, the storyline that the trailer suggests is EPIC, and the potential for Sonic to return to the gaming world with a boom is incredible! (I may or may not have screamed like a Directioner and then cried a little when I saw Modern Sonic's reveal in this trailer. Just saying.)

The thing that really boggles my mind about the whole reveal, though, is this: the people who announced this game explicitly stated that it is NOT a sequel to Sonic Generations, yet clearly Classic and Modern Sonic are seen working together yet again to defeat a common enemy. My first thought was, how can this not be a sequel? What else can it be?

And then a genius Mobian in the comments section of the trailer suggested something brilliant. He proposed that perhaps the story of the game is that Eggman succeeds in taking over the world, creating a dystopian future from which Silver escapes, traveling back in time to collect both Classic and Modern Sonic to help him defeat the doctor once and for all.

MIND. BLOWN.

That story would be so cool on so many levels, and like the commenter said, it would explain how it is not a sequel to Generations and is its own unique game with its own story. But beyond that, I personally think that would be a fantastic move on SEGA's part. I have always felt really bad for Silver. He gets such a bad reputation because of his premiere game, and he has never played a really crucial role in any Sonic game since. It's been ten years! The poor guy deserves a second chance, and this game would be a perfect opportunity for that. I've been dying to see Silver play a main part in a game again for years. (Plus, it would give Silver's new voice actor a chance to, you know, actually SAY something...)

So, to sum it up as calmly as possible, I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS GAME!!

Now I'm going to briefly switch gears away from the Anniversary party and talk about Sonic Boom for just a moment. I was disappointed that we didn't get an official release date for Season 2 of the show within all of the other announcements going on at the party last night, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and do some snooping. During said snooping, I came across some posts that reminded me that Sonic Boom - annoyingly - airs in Europe weeks before it ever airs here in the U.S. Also in said snooping I came across a screenshot from an episode in (presumably) early Season 2 that totally put me in my place and reminded me that the wait will be worth it.

Are you ready for this?

IT'S SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG!!! IN SONIC'S HOUSE!!! WHAAAAAT!!!! :D

Ahem.

There it is! I KNEW Shadow had to come back at least once in Season 2, and there's my proof right there! I don't know what episode this is from, but we can assume that it is from one of the first few episodes in Season 2 due to the fact that this screenshot is already floating around out there and that if the new season is set to release in the U.S. this fall, it must have just recently started over in Europe. (Lucky!) I'm hoping that maybe since he returns so early he will be more of a recurring antagonist in this season. Eggman can get kind of old and predictable after a while. (Plus, you know me - I just REALLY want more Shadow!)

I am SUPER excited and probably even more impatient for the next season to air, but I can rest a little bit easier knowing that my favorite character will be returning sooner rather than later! EEEK!!

OK. I'm going to get out of here before I explode with happiness and die before I get a chance to experience all of the awesome Sonic things. Just wanted to give you all an update on what's happening in the Mobian universe right now! Until next time, I'm up, over, and GONE!! :D

I Still Have Book Guilt

Remember my very first post of this year, way back in January, when I told you I had book guilt? At the time I had 11 books on my TBR. Well, here we are six months later, and...I now have 21 books on my TBR.

I have a problem.

I do blame school for being the reason why many of said books are the same as those listed in my first Book Guilt post, but I've also been out of school for two months now, so...

Of the original 11 books I listed in January, I have read four. Which means that fourteen of the ones I'm about to list are ones I've added since then. I'm going to do what I did before and list the books currently on my TBR (books I own but haven't read yet) as well as give a brief explanation as to why I'm excited to read some of them. This is mostly to help me out, but I figured maybe you'd like to have an early look at what books are going to be showing up in my future wrap-ups.

• A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick (still!)
• Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
• Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon
• Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine
• Steampunk meets Phantom of the Opera. Seriously.
• The Search for WondLa by Tony DeTerlizzi
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
• Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham
• What Happened to Goodbye? by Sarah Dessen
• When I was in junior high and high school this book caught my eye because the premise sounds very similar to what I experienced as a military brat growing up. I actually checked it out from the library a couple of times but never ended up reading it.
• Princess Academy: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale (currently reading)
• Made for You by Melissa Marr
• The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
• The tagline literally says, "Fantasy just declared war on reality." How could I NOT?
• Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
• My old roommate loves the movie, but I had no clue it was actually based on a book. Because I'm a bookworm I want to read the book and then watch the movie to see how faithful the adaptation is.
• Winterspell by Clair Legrand
• A darker retelling of The Nutcracker. 
• Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios
• Both of Me by Jonathan Friesen
• Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
• Gunslinger geines. Come on now.
• The Amazing Book is Not on Fire by Dan Howell and Phil Lester
• I think the reason for my picking this one up is obvious. Who WOULDN'T want to own a book written by Dan and Phil??
• The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows
• A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
• The cover of this book is gorgeous, and the premise sounds really great, too.

Well, now that you're aware of the issue I have with buying new books, I'm going to let you in on my solution for this problem. I've told myself I cannot buy any more new books until I've narrowed my TBR down from 21 to 10. Once I have 10 on my TBR, THEN I can buy another one or maybe two. But ultimately, I want to get through this stack of books I've managed to collect over the past year or so. All of the books listed above will be enough to help me reach my goal of 50 books for the year on Goodreads, and then some. 

Now the question is...where do I start? I should probably just read A Frozen Heart, already...

All right, I'll quit stalling and start reading now. Hopefully you'll see at least a couple of books from this list on my July wrap-up! See you next time!