Exploring Random Book Stores: Ann Arbor Michigan

Hello All! Today my blog post is going to be a little bit different from my normal ones. Today my husband and I went to Ann Arbor, Michigan with a group of friends and we went to a cute random little book store called Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tearoom. This was a book store that had a ton of cool and interesting books, cute little trinkets, and it also had a tea room on the second floor. I really loved this place, so I thought that I would do a blog post on it. Actually, anytime that I go into a cute random book store from now on I am going to make a point to take some pictures and blog about it as well. We took a few pictures in this one that I will share with you all, but I wish I would have taken more of the tea room and all of the different stuff. I will definitely remember to do that next time! 

 Also, I purchased a book in this store and some cute random book pins! 

Here's some pictures of me looking at some books that my friend Hannah took!

I was really excited when I found this huge bind up of all of the Chronicles of Narnia books. My friend Stephanie, who also went with us, had just started reading these books and I wanted to try them out too. So it was perfect when I found this book here! The second picture is my little pins that I got and a little book mark thing that came in my book that kind of explains what the store is. The first pin just says Read on it, and the second one says Read Between the covers. 

The little bookmark has the name Crazy Wisdom bookstore & tearoom on the top and underneath it it lists the type of things they have in the store. 

The first section says Spirituality, Psychology, and Integrative Medicine. 

 The second section says Gift & Cards, Jewerly & Crafts, Art & Music, Incense & Candles. They had so much cute jewelry and little trinkets. I just loved everything. 

The third section says Teas of the World and Soups and Deserts. They had so many cute tea kettles and coffee cups there as well. 

The last section of the book mark says The Crazy Wisdom Journal,

Health & Healing resource guide and Meeting room. I almost bought this really cool journal thats was one of the one line a day ones. It was called a memory a day. I have always wanted to do a journal like that.

This store had alot of different and awesome books inside of it. There were fairy and mermaid books along with alot of other mythical creatures. There were books on witchcraft and they had alot of cool tarot cards too.  There were astrology books, and sun and moon guides. There were cook books, books on herbs and how to grow gardens and such. It was really cool and so fun to look at everything!!

I hope I can go to more cool and random book stores like this in the future so I can share them here on my blog! I hope you all enjoyed this post and thank you for reading! 

Book Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Today I am going to share my review for Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. This is the first book in the Hex Hall series. This has been on my to read list for a while now, and while I was browsing my 'to-read' list on goodreads I discovered it again and decided to purchase it.  I really enjoyed this book and I was so happy that I read it. I was in the mood for a really good fantasy book that was part of a series. Actually I was looking for a series that already had all of the books out already because I am kind of tired of reading one or two books and then having to wait a year or so for the next book to come out. I never remember what happens in the book (unless the book is really, really, really good) so I was really happy that I found this series. (sorry for the mini rant!!) Now I will get on to my review!


Summary from Goodreads:

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

So this book is about a girl named Sophie who is a witch. She gets sent to the boarding school called Hex Hall for witches, shape shifters, fairies, and a few other supernatural races which are called Prodigium in this series. Hex Hall is where the prodigium get sent if they get in trouble for not controlling their magic and powers. At Hex Hall Sophie feels like an outsider because her mom is human and she gets her powers from her father whom she has never met before. Basically she's the only one there who didn't grow up in a prodigium family so she knows nothing about her powers. Her roommate is the only vampire in the school, and is the suspect for the death of a student and some attacks on other students.

First off, I really liked this book because it was different that other paranormal and fantasy series that I've read before. It kind of reminded me of the ShadowFalls series by C.C Hunter a little and that's another reason why I picked it up. I haven't read a series like this before where the main character was a witch and that's why I liked it so much I think. I've mentioned many times that I love books about witches and witchcraft.

The storyline is this book was really good. I enjoy when the story keeps you guessing and theres a little bit of mystery going on. It was kind of suspenseful not knowing who was attacking the students in this book. There were actually alot of twists and turns in this book which I loved. I always hate it when I can guess what is going to happen in books, and this book definitely had me surprised more than once. I thought the writing style in the beginning was a little choppy and something about it bothered me/something was missing but I couldn't put my finger on it. After the story progressed a little but though it got better and I forgot about it.

I really loved all of the characters in this book too. They are all witty and have a great since of humor. Especially Sophie, she was a great and strong main character. I also really loved her roommate Jenna, and her love interest Archer. I even liked her frenemies in the book too! All of the characters really were awesome.

I don't really have much more to say about this book without giving away spoilers so I am going to end my review here. I gave this book a 4/5 stars on goodreads because overall I really enjoyed this book. I immediately ordered the other two books in the series after I finished reading this one. I just started reading the 2nd book called Demon Glass today so I can't wait to get into it! I am also reading A Clash of Kings which is the 2nd book in the Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones) so I am trying to break it up by reading Demon Glass as well.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed my review!

Book Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu.

Today I am going to share my review for Prodigy by Marie Lu, which is the sequel to Legend which I reviewed back at the beginning of May. You can read my review for Legend here if you would like to read that first before my review of Prodigy. Also if you have not read Legend then this review may contain some spoilers, but as always I will try to keep the spoilers to a minimum.

Summary from Goodreads:

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long. 

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action.

So I knew right away after finishing Legend that I had to read the sequel. I actually really enjoyed this one and it was quick read. I was surprised on how quick the story went by. It was full of a lot of action that made the story great. I really don't know how or particularly like to review books that are in the middle of a series because I never really know what to say about them. Especially because there is not much I can say without giving away what happened in the book. So I am going to do this review in a list form of things that I liked/disliked about the book.

Things that I liked:
-This book wasn't as hard to get into as the first book was.
-The book was really fast paced, and it had a lot of excited action to hold my attention.
-This book had a lot more explanation of things about how the United States fell apart. Last book really didn't give us any explanation.
-I think Junes and Day's characters both grew a lot in this story. There was a lot of character development from both of them. Day's character really surprised me.
-I liked how this book had a lot more different settings in it other than just in The Republic and The Slums.
-I liked a lot of the characters in this book who played a bigger role in this book than last.
-I had a love hate relationship with the ending! It really made me anxious for next book.

Things that I Disliked:
-I really hated the blue writing. I didn't mind the yellow writing in Legend, but for some reason the blue bothered me.
-In the first book I didn't mind the alternating POV's, but for some reason I liked reading for June's POV better. Towards the end I enjoyed reading more from Day's though.
-I mentioned this in my review for Legend, but I really don't care for the military-ish things and feel to the book. It kind of bores me, but after a while when I got into the story I kind of forgot about it.
-Like I said before, I had a love hate relationship with the ending. That is No way to end a book! Way to drive your readers crazy!!

This is all for my likes and dislikes about this book. I gave it a 5/5 stars on goodreads because I really enjoyed the book, especially towards the end. I can't wait for the next book to come out! It will probably be one of my most anticipated book for this fall.

I hope you all enjoyed and thank you for reading!

May 2013 Wrap Up

Today I am going to share my May wrap up post for the books that I read last month. This post is a little late, but that is because I only read 2 books last month so I kept forgetting to write this. Actually, I even considered skipping last months wrap up since this will be a short one, but then I thought why not.

The first book I read last month was Lessons From a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles. I gave this one a 4/5 stars on goodreads. It was about a girl named Lainey, who had a friend named Leah who died. She really hated her a lot of the time and wished she was dead but now that she is actually dead she kind of felt kind of responsible. On the other hand, she is kind of relieved because Leah was really possessive and made her do a lot of crazy things that she didn't understand when they were kids.

The second book that I read was Chosen at Nightfall by C.C Hunter. This was the last book in the Shadowfalls series and I loved loved loved everything about it! (besides that fact that the series ended) It was such a great book and it was a perfect ending to the series. If you have not read this series yet I highly recommend it because it is wonderful!

I really hope I can read more books this month in June. I just posted a book haul a few days ago so I have a lot of great books that can't wait to read. My TBR pile is huge at the moment, I probably have 20+ books sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. I am currently reading Prodigy by Marie Lu, the sequel the Legend which I read in April I think. I also starting reading The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan, which I also intend to finish this month as well.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed. :)