Monday Muse: Armchair Backpacker (#3) - United States!

Hey there everyone! It's Monday, and as you've already known, it only means one thing (1D pun, get it? Yes, I know I'm very much slightly obsessed)... it means Monday Muse!! Your one stop awkwardness happiness to amazing Monday! You know you love Monday Muse! XOXO. Now before I start to sound like bad ads, let's see what country we are coming to in our journey today!

Tataratarataratara!! *le getting bored of drum rolls*

America!! I know that most of you guys are from America, but I myself am very excited! So, without further ado... enjoy! ♥ 

The bookie in action

Hi there all! My name is Rachel and I love books, obviously!  I live in a Southern California in a suburb about forty miles north of Los Angeles. I recently joined on the lovely Jasprit’s book blog, The Readers Den and have been having a blast, amazed that I’m a co-blogger with someone in the UK while I reside in the USA!  I feel so honored Hilda asked me to be a part of this feature because I just adore Hilda’s blog and I think her feature of showing other locals is a brilliant idea.  So let me tell you a little about California.  California literally has anything and everything you can imagine or want to do.  From our stunning beaches to our gorgeous mountains, and the exciting city of Los Angeles, there’s something for anyone who visits.  These are just some of the places I like to go, or are part of my life on a regular basis.

Places

One of my favorite places to visit is The Huntington Gardens and Library in San Marino.  It’s gorgeous and the mansion library would make any booklover salivate with dreams of being locked up in there. The home has one of those staircases that make you wish you had a ballroom gown so that you could descend, making a graceful entrance! (Unfortunately, they don’t allow photos of the interiors.) The afternoon tea is wonderful, and the surrounding 120 acres of gardens are magnificent!  Each garden has a different theme: Japanese, herb, rose, desert, and tropical.  Every season holds a different beauty in each of the gardens. I’ve visited Butchart Gardens in Canada, and I think this just as, if not more beautiful.   I highly recommend this stop!  

Hearst Castle is about three and a half hours north and totally worth the drive.  It is situated on the beautiful rolling hills of San Simeon and has spectacular views of the ocean that go on forever.  Every room is grand, but it has one of the most drool-worthy libraries I’ve ever seen! Can you imagine sitting in one of the chairs curled up with a good book?!!

Concerts/Events

One of my favorite things to do is see music concerts and we have so many.  My favorite venues are small, so you feel up close and personal.  The Ford Ampitheater, and The Music Box, in Hollywood and the The Wiltern in Los Angeles are my favorite.  The Kooks, Young the Giant, and The Airborne Toxic Event are just a few that I’ve seen recently.  All of them are brilliant live!  I don’t know why I didn’t get a shot with The Airborne Toxic Event in the photo on the left, but you can see The Kooks below at The Music Box. 

Library/Bookstores

For the booklovers in all of us, the Los Angeles area has so many author event signings.  I personally love Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena and Once Upon a Time Bookstore in Montrose. Both are wonderful as a bookstore and author event location. They draw a lot of big names, and they have a wide selection of YA titles. Below you can see: Anna Carey, Cynthia Hand, Marie Lu, Tahereh Mafi, and Veronica Rossi.  Just below them are: Elizabeth Miles, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Moira Young. 

Food

 

Well I suppose this is last, but in my book, it’s certainly not least!  I love Mexican food, so this literally a weekly affair: Chips, salsa, and a margarita=I am a happy girl!!

Final note

So if you come out here, I promise to look for an author event so we can go be star-stuck, forget any pertinent questions, and babble like idiots; because this is what I do every time!  Then we can chat and gossip books forever over Mexican food and margaritas!  What are you waiting for?!

Yes, what are you waiting for?? I don't know about you guys, but I feel like moving in to Southern California now! It just seems like such a fabulous place to live, agree? I mean, look at The Huntington Gardens and Library! Imagine curling up and reading your book in Hearst Castle's library! The awesome venues to watch your favorite band!! And ooh, don't get me started on the awesome authors living in the US! It's so unfair that you can always meet and shake hands to those rock stars, Rachel! ;)

Don't forget to check out Rachel and Jasprit's beautiful blog at The Readers Den!! If you missed Jasprit's equally amazing guest post about UK, you can check it here. :) Both are bloggers extraordinaire with ability of weaving words into gold! Go go go visit their gorgeous blogs and say hi in the comment box! They're extremely friendly and you know you want to be friends with them! ♥ ;)

As always, we have map to help marking our journey! :)

Get ready to SWAG, because our next destination is INDIA! Yay, let's go visit the hometown of those amazing Bollywood actors and brilliant movies! ;) NAMASTE, everyone! ♥ :)

Haul from the Hummingbird (#7)! ( + my rants about blog design)

Hi lovely readers! Like usual, this post is another few weeks edition! I remember telling you that I was trying to limit my books, especially my review book, but I failed miserably. *shed tears* Sometimes I wish I could read faster. Maybe then I would stop wishing for 26 hours in a day. ;)

Oh well. Enough of my rants, now onto the hauls! :) *pats my hummingbird on the head*

(clicking on the book cover will bring you to the Goodreads page!)

Huge, gigantic thanks to Razorbill, Egmont USA, Harlequin Teen, and Jody Gehrman for the review copy! ♥

First shelf

To be frank, Origin sounds a bit tarzan-ish for me, which is SO COOL. Sadly, my hope was crushed when I heard that the girl didn't even ride her pet jaguar. I mean, WHY?? Right now I'm halfway through The Demon Catchers of Milan. It's strange and a bit nightmarish and oh-so-creepy, but it's a fast read I like! Have you watched the book trailer for Speechless? I love the trailer so much, it's very simple yet beautiful! My copy of Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft is signed by the awesome Jody Gehrman, and I'm very excited! Especially since she sent it all the way to Indonesia, along with the lovely book card inside! :) ♥

Second Shelf

Seraphina. Dragon. Christopher Paolini giving praises. 'Nuff said. :) Survive sounds like a great dark contemporary! You know how I much I adore characters-driven books. ♥ And aww, I miss my dose of historical YA! I heard nothing but very good things about Code Name Verity, so I can't wait to read it!

I can't wait to see what everyone else got, so leave your link in the comment below! :)

Anywayyysss....

I changed my blog design again haha. What do you think? My sister took a look and said, "Wow. Your blog has grown up now!" Eeek. She said she loved the previous design more. Said that it's cute. As always, I'm conflicted. But I love my new button! And the rococo chandeliers! *cries*

Err... sorry for another episode of Hilda's rants. Guess I just miss talking to you all. :) Happy Sunday, everyone! :)

Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Two people who seem very different outside.

Echo craves for ‘normal’ sense in her life. After the attack that ruins her life, everyone in the school thinks that she’s a freak. Echo is ready to give out anything to remember the night she was attacked. The night she went from popular into outcast. If she can get her memory of the night back, everything will turn back to normal. Normal.

After the beating in his first foster house, Noah is labeled unstable by the system. The only thing that keeps Noah’s head barely out of the water is his younger brothers. He has to get custody of them. If only he can get hold of the private file about his brothers’ foster parents, he can prove to the system that he’s supposed to be the one who raises his brothers.

When Noah brings Echo to a plot get into their file in their guidance counselor office, that’s what their relationships should be. Partner-in-crime. Friends, maybe. But not lovers. Sparks fly, but surely they are not meant to be?

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

And yet, they do.

Pushing the Limits is sexy, crazy, and realistic. It deals with heavy issues and sometimes, it can be very depressing. If I hadn’t braced my heart for the blows coming, I would have been a mess right now. The characters are very realistic, and the plots are so carefully written that I felt like flowing through the story.

Echo and Noah might be the most defensive characters I’ve ever read. I didn’t warm up to them instantly, but in the end I cared for them like a good friend. They are definitely not perfect, but together, they are strong enough to face whatever in front of them. Echo and Noah… they mend each other’s broken heart. It’s very strange and ironic that both of them think that the other one is too good for them.

Sexual tension between Echo and Noah is so palpable, like blazing fire. As if the air gets electrocuted just by having the two of them near. Trust me, it’s practically impossible not to fall for the romance in the story.

He shifted so that his body rested beside mine, his leg and arm still draped over me. I felt small under his warmth and strength. His chocolate-brown eyes softened. “Being with you feels good. Touching you—” he tucked a curl behind my ear “—feels good. I have never wanted anyone like I want you. There’s nothing you can do wrong when just breathing makes everything right.”

I love the POV in Pushing the Limits. Since this book has dual POV, we have privilege to get inside Echo and Noah’s head. I love discovering shocking things, like Echo’s scars, from Noah’s POV. Noah’s thoughts about his brothers got me a bit teary, because there’s no doubt how much he loves them and how he puts his brother as top priority. Echo’s dark moments felt even more realistic because we experienced them with her. I also really enjoyed the bits of mystery of the night Echo got attacked because we are as much in dark as the characters in the story.

Pushing the Limits is a wonderful read and although some may be put off because of the drama in the story, I really like the character development in this book. Watching them grow up is my pleasure, and I just want to give a big hug to Echo and Noah in the end. They were faced with problems that no teenagers should have ever faced, but after all, they survive.

Because growing up means making tough choices, and doing the right thing doesn’t necessarily mean doing the thing that feels good.

Website * Goodreads * Amazon * Book Depository

I rate this book:

Four cups of tea. Amazing! Love the book, it’s simply awesome. I love the tea flavor!  A strong recommendation.

Review: The Jelly Bean Crisis by Jolene Stockman

And I really want to want this. But this is my life, my whole life. And it’s more than just success, you know? I want to be happy.

Poppy Johnson is the kind of girl who has her life mapped out. For her, it was simple. She was born to be on Wall Street, and the first step to be an investment banker is by studying at Columbia. She has jelly bean theory to help her reaching her dream. Eat the yucky green jelly bean first, because then the delicious red ones would taste more amazing. Poppy applies the theory to everything in her life. School is her green jelly bean, and it’s the hard work that she has to do before getting the life that she really wants. But after standing so close to the gate of her dream, Poppy starts to freak out. Is it really her dream to become an investment banker? What if her jelly bean theory has been wrong all this time?

The Jelly Bean Crisis exceeded my expectation. I went to this book with something adorable and sweet in my mind, but this book blew me away with the inspiring message behind and the mature yet relatable main character. Poppy is a great character I adore. She reminded me of people I know in real life (aka me), and I’m sure that every teenager can identify themselves with Sophie. Who doesn’t feel scary about the future? When you are sixteen, it seems like every little turn you take can bring your life into a whole different direction.

I think Poppy had to relax because after all, she’s only sixteen. It’s okay to make mistakes and have doubts in mind. She’s still young and it’s her life anyway to spend in any way she wants. Although I completely understand Poppy’s parents worry and her teachers’ reaction to her, I’m glad that Poppy still insists to take time to find her passion in life. In the end, she reaches a conclusion and I felt happy for her.

The Jelly Bean Crisis is the book that I would recommend to any teenager because Poppy sets a good example about finding what you really want to do in life. It’s enticing, sweet, and brilliant, and when you realize, you would find yourself cheering for Poppy in her short journey about finding her true passion in life.

Turns out the Jelly Bean Theory worked on a lot of things. I started brushing my teeth before letting myself read at night, I would finish my homework before watching TV. The theory has worked for home, and for school… but now, standing at the podium, I can’t see how it’s worked for me.

Website * Goodreads * Amazon

I rate this book: 

Four cups of tea. Amazing! Love the book, it’s simply awesome. I love the tea flavor!  A strong recommendation.

Enormous thanks for ATOMR Book Blog Tours and Jolene Stockman for providing me the review copy! You can check out the full schedule for the tour here. :)