Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Reasons I Love Being A Blogger/Reader

From The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

1.  I love being a reader because I get to learn a lot of stuff. I love learning but I hate studying. (Yes there's a fine line.) Through reading, I get to know stuff that I wouldn't usually learn about.
2. I love being a reader because it's addicting. It's my favorite past time as well. :)
3. I love being a reader because I get to see different lives, cultures, and things I wouldn't get to see here in the Philippines. Because of that, I do believe that I have a wide understanding on things.
4. I love being a reader because I get to expand my principles.
5. I love being a reader because of the different places I'm able to visit.
6. I love being a blogger because it keeps me occupied! :) I love being busy but I love being lazy, so I think this blogging thing is perfect for me.
7. I love being a blogger because I get to meet a lot of people with the same interests. I get to relate myself to other people as well!
8. I love being a blogger because of the books I get to know and read! Because of this opportunity, I get to be exposed to books that interest me.
9. I love being a blogger because I get to write and rant about the books I read. I'm a school journalist for feature articles and photos, so I find it enjoying when I get to continue my work out of school. It keeps me in practice as well.
10. I love being a blogger because I get to be myself. :)

What about your top ten reasons? Share your thoughts with me!

Book Review: It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

Title: It's Not Summer Without You
Author: Jenny Han
Series: #2
Genre: YA/Contemporary/Teen
Rating: ★★★★★ (4.5 Stars)

It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come.
But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly is the last summer, it should end the way it started--at Cousins Beach.

Click here to read:  The Summer I Turned Pretty Review (Prequel/#1, Summer Series)

So first thing's first, I'm hooked to this series. I've finished the series within 24 hours (I know, total nerd right?) but just because it was a really good one. I'm going to start with its good points - it's not the same with the first book, but you'll probably find similar details that will make you love this book as much as you loved the first one.

Belly has been experiencing a different summer than her usual one. In this book,  she's been spending a boring and worthless summer with her best friend Taylor. Belly's family has not made plans to go back to Cousins Island ever since Susannah died. Everything changed because of that. Her mother has been in a different state, as well as Conrad and Jeremiah. Everyone has grown up and had their own separate lives. But then Belly hears from Jeremiah that Conrad has been missing for a few days and that he needs her help. Of course, Belly would do anything for Conrad, and especially for Susannah.

I loved this book because aside from the usual flashbacks we get to see flashbacks and narratives from Jeremiah's point of view. Here we see much more of him, and that he's 100x better than the Jeremiah we've known from The Summer I Turned Pretty. That way the story didn't just revolve around Belly and her unending love for Conrad, but it's actually about Cousins Island, the summer house and the spirit of summer. As much as I loved the first book, here you can actually 'feel' summer. The salty water, the scorching rays, the boys, the people, the secrets, and the bonds you've created and will create.

I loved how we kind of got a glimpse of all the characters. Their true personalities, the things they've hid from the first book, and such. It made me feel connected to the story so much more. But I feel like there's a lot more this book could add to itself, but sometimes I feel like it's perfect the way it is. In some parts it has a slow storyline, especially with the flashbacks in between, but you'll get to the point of seeing that the flashbacks support the previous or succeeding chapter. Hence, the 4.5 stars. 

For me it's a book full of emotions and it can really touch your heart once you've gotten to the sense of it. It's captivating, heart-breaking, and enticing. I recommend It's Not Summer Without You to the lovers of the first book, and to the ones who haven't heard of the series yet.

Book Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Author: Jenny Han
Series #: 1
Genre: YA/Contemporary/Teen
Rating: ★★★★

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han is amazing in its own way. So the story begins in the summer, introducing Belly or Isabel's family on their way to their Summer house in Cousin's Island. Cousin's is where Belly and her family has spent most of their summers. The house is owned by her mother's best friend, Suzannah, who has two gorgeous sons named Conrad and Jeremiah; with Belly having been in love with Conrad ever since she was 10.

As much as I don't want to post any spoilers, I think The Summer I Turned Pretty is one of the most memorable books I've ever read. It's on the right side of clichè and the right side of awful. There's just books that are too clichè making it too awful, but Jenny Han made TSITP perfect. I love how Belly's just the average girl. She's 15, turning 16, she's going through this social anxiety phase, she has a jerk of an older brother, she's a bit experimental, she doesn't find heels and mini skirts comfortable, and she doesn't even have a lot of friends.

It's your typical teen story. There are fights, crushes, loves, first time's, parties, dressing up, everything that the current generation teen experiences. I think that Jenny Han wrote The Summer I Turned Pretty ordinarily while making it extraordinary to its readers. Some of you might find it too cheesy or too idealistic, but I saw the side where it is pretty realistic, that it does tackle some kind of shallow teenage issues. How pasts can create presents, how much over-thinking can influence anything.

I recommend it to anyone who loves to read contemporary in the perspective of a teenage girl. I think this book is worth a shot. Hopefully you will, too. If ever you enjoy it, read its sequels!