Celebratory 'The Fault In Our Stars' Nail Art!

In celebration of the theatrical release of The Fault In Our Stars I decided to revamp the nail art design I did lo so many years ago (actually, it was just 1-2 years).

This time, the design, though very much like the previous ones (which you can find here and here), is much more glittery, with a backdrop that is meant to resemble the starry night sky.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this nail art look. I am always surprised by how difficult it is to create clouds, despite their existence as non-specifically lumpy blobs.

And before I jump right in, I wanted to mention that I'll be attending The Night Before Our Stars tonight! I can't wait and have been feeling nervous/anxious all week.

Okay, time for the nail art!

CONTEMPORARY | Collection: The Fault In Our Stars (John Green)

As with many book lovers, I have a book buying problem. I try to relieve it with library loans, but that only solves a small portion of the problem.

A large part of my book buying craze stems from the desire to collect- and that desire cannot be extinguished from the library.

I love collecting different editions of books. First printings of first editions are fun. And whenever a publisher decides to change the covers of books? My money goes straight into their pockets.

(That said, I do draw the line at paying hundreds for first printings.)

This post in particular, if you can't already tell from the title, will be the start of a new series all about my book collection, starting with my collection of The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. I have been a fan of John's for many years and can't resist the temptation when his books are released in newer, different covers. I will probably do posts involving his other books in the future.

**disclaimer: Before I go further, I want to add the disclaimer that I'm not trying to show off in any way. All these books were purchased over the course of years. I did not pay obscene amounts for any of these books and, even if I did, it is ultimately my decision on what to spend my earned money on. Thank you for your cooperation on this matter. ;)

2014 Book Releases I'm Excited For

While I love reading classics alongside tried-and-true favorites, it's always enjoyable to keep up with what's new in the book world. So rather than do what I did last year and provide a dry list of books I want to read in the upcoming year, I'm going to list new 2014 book releases that I'm excited for.

Some of the following books are sequels to ones I haven't even read the first installments of. That aside, sometimes I like putting off books until the release date of its sequel is nearer so I don't have to wait. So, in my mind, it's still exciting to remember these dates.

As I'm aware I have the tendency to ramble on, I'll stop here.

Links are provided (as usual). All photos are courtesy of Goodreads. Some books I mention don't have their covers and/or titles released yet.

And finally, here is my list of most highly anticipated book releases of 2014, ordered by release dates.

Book Haul: May 2013

If you read my April Reading Update and remember how I said I would go all of May without purchasing a book, you're probably wondering why I'm posting a haul.

All these books listed are books I purchased within the last week (to week and a half) of April. However, as online purchases usually go, some orders took a while to arrive at my doorstep.

Some purchases are still not scheduled to arrive for a few weeks. But I figured I'd get on with the haul anyway since a significant percentage of them have showed up and I am eager to dive in.

Judging by the pile you can see why I am trying to go all of May without any new purchases (aside from one new release that would only be painful to put off). I have a book buying problem.

Like I did with my April Book Haul, I'll include a photos of the books so you can see their covers as well. I recommend enlarging the photo since there was quite a large number of books to fit in one photo...

March 2013 Reading Update

March was another good month for books. I found I had more free time to read than February, and got to make it through many books. My overall reading list remains infinite, but I'm happy with my progress. Every month should be like this.

If February was the month of new beginnings, I'm not quite sure what March is. I continued 3 series (Gone, Delirium, Ruby Oliver), and returned to adored authors (Austen, Green, Valente). Maybe it'll be the month of comfort and familiarity.
Instead of new beginnings it's like an old friend.

As usual, I'll list the books in the order finished, followed by a few sentences on my feelings toward each book. I won't summarize all of them, since that will take up a lot of time. So, instead, I provided links for you to read the summaries yourself in you're interested.

And without further ado, here is my reading update for March!

February 2013 Reading Update

Hi again!

It's the end of February. And for such a short month, it felt incredibly long.
I found myself increasingly busy this month, and as such, my reading update will be shorter as a result. However, I do still have fun books to talk about. I feel like all of February was about exploring fun new books. I started 3 different series, and continued two from last month.


Like I did for the January Reading Update (which if you haven't seen and are curious about you can find here), I will do a brief summary of my reaction to each book. I won't provide an actual plot summary for each one. If you want that, just utilize the links I provide. 

So, in the spirit of keeping introductions light, let's go into the reading update!
Here are the list of books I read in February in the order finished.

NOTD: 'The Fault In Our Stars' 1st Anniversary Nail Art

Today's post is one that I actually should have put up two days ago, but since I'm horrible with dates I mixed it up somehow. But you gotta love that cliche that late is better than never.

Happy ONE YEAR (+2 day) anniversary to The Fault In Our Stars. I really can't believe it came out one year ago and that it has only been that time in which I have read it. To commemorate this event I did some nail art inspired by the Collector's Edition book cover. It's very similar to the nail art I did for the original cover, which you can find here. They're both very simple manicures, but fun to sport as a reminder of how much this book means to me.

As I mentioned earlier, I based this manicure off the Collector's Edition book cover. I couldn't resist purchasing it despite the copies I already own. The platinum was a beautiful change and I think the engraving of John's signature on the hard cover was a nice touch.

Favorite Reads of 2012

My ideal morning is waking up when the sky is gently lit by the sun and going for a morning run. And after jumping in the shower and making breakfast, I enjoy getting back in bed and reading a good book. The feeling is even more amazing when there's heavy rain that can accompany my books. So since 2012 is coming to a close, I thought there would be nothing better than to summarize my 2012 by telling you my favorites reads. 

Back in March, I decided that I wanted to read 50 new books by the end of 2012. Since then, I've changed the contingencies a bit. I decided to allow rereading books since discouraging the act of rereading was a bit ridiculous. With that strict rule, what motivation would I have had to reread The Hobbit, the book I read over a decade ago? Or, Fahrenheit 451 which I probably read about 8 years ago and barely remembered. I realized the rule was slightly too limiting so I changed it to this: books can count towards the 50, as long as they have been unread for at least 1 year. (So despite the numerous times I have read The Fault In Our Stars in the past 12 months, I counted it only once.)

I won't be listing all 50 books since 1.) a list isn't incredibly interesting unless I am able to comment on all the books in some way and 2.) that would take far too much time, and 3.) there were some books I read that I really don't care for and therefore don't want to waste time talking about them.

So the main thing I wanted to accomplish in this post was giving you 10 of my favorite NEW books that I read this year. Keep in mind, this was a difficult list to assemble and there were many books that I wrestled with adding/deleting from this list so if you know I read a book this year and didn't include in on this list (ie: The Casual Vacancy, The Handmaid's Tale) don't assume I didn't enjoy it as well.

But without further ado, here are my favorite books of 2012!

The Casual Vacancy: A Book Review

There will be NO SPOILERS in this review. Enjoy! (:

When I heard that JK Rowling would be releasing a new adult book I was ecstatic. It wasn't until two weeks before the release of The Casual Vacancy that the thought of disappointment even occurred to me. Until then I assumed the book would be a hit and that it would be a new love. So when I finally got the book in my hands, I was all kinds of anxious.

I finished the book a few days ago, but was finding difficulty in putting concrete words down. I still don't feel like I've reached the point that I can accurately assess what I think about every aspect of The Casual Vacancy, but I'm hoping that in forcing myself to write this book review, I can come to some sort of conclusion.

So as you can probably guess, this book review will probably be more of ramblings on my thoughts as I read The Casual Vacancy and less "review-like." If you really don't want to read through all my thoughts, sorted completely at random, than feel free to skip to the last section that's titled "Final Verdict." It'll be the quickest possible summary I can provide of my thoughts on The Casual Vacancy.

(photographed: JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy)

Despite that disclaimer, I always have to start off with the inside-cover description:

"When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations?"

"The Fault In Our Stars" Inspired Nails

Today's nail post is an exciting one for me. As someone who reiterates how rarely I do nail art, I constantly mention how artistic and beautiful nail art can be, but that I'm just not patient enough to put in all the effort just to remove it after a few days (because I am also someone who can only wear the same polish for 2-3 days). So in order to get a person such as myself to do nail art, it has to be something that really motivates and inspires me (like the 2012 Olympics did, and if you haven't seen my Missy Franklin inspired nail art then you should check it out here).

I was rereading some of my favorite quotes from John Green's The Fault In Our Stars the other day, and I felt compelled to do some TFIOS nail art based on the US cover.

(photographed: John Green's The Fault In Our Stars and my polish choices)