ARC: Hemingway in Love: his own story - A.E. Hotchner

THIS IS NOT IN STORES UNTIL OCTOBER 2015! THE PUBLISHER SENT ME AN ADVANCED READERS COPY. MY DISCUSSION OF THE BOOK WILL BE POSTED ONCE IT IS IN STORES!

Ernest Hemingway always held a few of his best stories back; kept them off the page as writer's insurance against a dry-up of ideas. But after surviving two back-to-back plane crashes, he resolved to share his most meaningful tale with his best friend, A.E. Hotchner. Over the course of almost a decade, Hemingway narrated the full story of his formative years, but the details were sensitive, apt to hurt the feelings of Ernest's wide, Mary, and arouse controversy among the involved parties who were still alive at the time. For half a century, Hotchner was obliged to keep these conversations to himself. Now, he tells the story as Hemingway told it to him. Hemingway in Love is the poignant and frank account of a legend living with his mistakes. It takes you from the Key West to the bohemian world of 1920s Paris, and from Cold War Cuba to bullfights in Spain. It places you across the table from Hemingway himself as he recalls days spent drinking with Fitzgerald and sparring with Gertrude Stein; as he reflects on the affair that destroyed his first marriage. This is the story of how Hemingway lost his great love, and the life he pursued after - one of sweeping adventure and quiet regret. 

Book Review:

A.E. Hotchner was lucky enough to be best friends with the literary legend that is Ernest Hemingway. He was able to ask the man himself some of the toughest and most sincere questions. Through all of the joy that they had together, which is wonderfully portrayed throughout the memoir, come the pains that come with all lives but especially those that end in the tragedy that is suicide. 

We learn more about Hemingway's struggle with depression and anxiety through Hotchner's point of view of seeing his best friend lose his sanity and himself. We learn of how Hemingway ruined his first marriage and lost the love of his life. Then we follow him as he leads a satisfactory life after that with loves that could barely compare to his first love, his first wife, the mother of his first child, Hadley. 

It is beautifully written with sincere emotion. No detail was left undeveloped, unexplained, or unrecognized. It truly is my favorite memoir at the moment. 

Pages: 154                                                                                                          Rate: 5/5

Destroy Me ~ Tahereh Mafi

Set after Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me and before Unravel Me, the spellbinding sequel, Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

In Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner - and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she'll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of...

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner's father, the Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son's mistakes, it's clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.

Book Review:

 Destroy Me has made me even more excited for Unravel Me. 

Even though this novella is supposed to make you feel sympathy for Warner, I just cant. I hate Warner. I still can't get passed how he treated Juliette and his soldiers in Shatter Me. Even though we learn of his childhood, I can't feel for him. The only person in this series so far that I hate more than Warner is his father who I hate as much as Umbridge (nasty, rude, feline loving monstrosity, worse than the villain of the series, Voldemort) in the Harry Potter series. 

I really enjoyed that this novel was told from Warner's perspective though. I enjoyed seeing what is going on at Sector 45 since Juliette has escaped. I also enjoyed the fact that Warner's life was so completely disrupted because as I said before I hate him, and therefore like to see him lose control and struggle. What I really enjoyed about this is that he is feeling something that he has never experienced before and his reaction to it is king of laughable.

Pages: 109                                                                                                  Rate: 4/5

Book Discussion: SPOILERS:

How can Warner be in love with Juliette? She has only ever expressed hatred, fear, and anger in his presence. To really be in love with someone don't you have to see them experience joy and love themselves. Plus she has blatantly told him that she hates him and all that he stands for. Also, before this he was an unfeeling bastard.

I do feel bad that Warner was abused emotionally and physically as a child by his parents, that he didn't have a loving home but neither did Juliette and she would never purposefully do anything to hurt anyone. That would be like saying all children of abuse grow up to be abusers. That simply isn't true. And I am so glad that Mafi made that distinction in her own way,  with her story. 

Now Warner's father is a complete ass. He is a horrible human being. He killed a women and her three children because her husband and their father was a traitor. What kind of person does that?! He's always played mind games with his son and those below him. And he blatantly tells his son, who almost died, that he is a disappointment. I HATE HIM!!

Favorite Quote:

  "And I've fallen.

So hard.

I've hit the ground. Gone right through it. Never in my life have I felt this. Nothing like this. I've felt shame and cowardice, weakness and strength. I've known terror and indifference, self-hate and general disgust. I've seen things that cannot be unseen. 

And yet I've known nothing like this terrible, horrible, paralyzing feeling. I feel crippled. Desperate and out of control. And it keeps getting worse. Every day I feel sick. Empty and somehow aching.

Love is a heartless bastard."

  

Thank You Loey Lane

Thank you Loey so much. Every video you have made has inspired me, your hauls, your vlogs, your lookbooks,  your Q&As, all of them. You are so confident and the video you posted today made me cry. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tniQEabFJW8

I have never had an eating disorder but I know what it feels like to be body shamed from a very young age. My earliest memory of it is when I was 6 or 7. I was in a summer program and we were at the beach when one of my "friends" told me that I was fat and shouldn't wear a bathing suit. 

 Until this day what that little girl said continues to creep into my mind, so thank you for reminding me that anyone, no matter their size, can look this amazing in a bathing suit. 

Another memory that happens to punch me in the gut every time I have a crush is being in 7th grade gym class. I was always so insecure in gym, still am, because of my asthma and my boobs, they've always been bigger than everyone else's my age. Every gym class, no matter how hot it was, I would wear a big purple sweatshirt. One day I didn't catch the ball and a classmate of mine called me a "purple hippo" and said that "no boy would ever like me." At 17, a senior in high school, I have never asked a guy out because every time I think that I'm going to that memory jumps into my head. 

Thank you so much Loey and Tyler for showing me that even thicker girls can find the loves of their loves and that they will be loved back. 

Loey, you have no idea what your videos have done for me. I found your channel this summer and my self esteem since then has skyrocketed. Out of a scale from 1-10 I'm probably a 5 and coming from someone who was probably a -100 before, that is amazing. Your videos have shown me that even though I am a bigger girl, I am beautiful and the outside really isn't what matters anyway.

THANK YOU LOEY LANE!!! <3 <3 <3 

Whatever Wednesday: 2016 Study Tips

If you are anything like me then you tend to do whatever you can to get really good grades and because of that you happen to love stationary. In this post I will give you the types of music I listen to while I do my homework, where/when to do your homework, mandatory bits and bobs to have for high school. 

I am currently a senior in high school and through my previous years I have discovered what works best for me and how my teachers work, how they give assignments and tests. I have also developed pretty good study habits, yes they could be approved, but so could absolutely everything in my life. 

MUSIC:

 I tend to listen to playlists on Spotify while I do my homework because I find that it really is easy to use and quite convenient. I have the app on my laptop but you could also just use the website or the app on your phone. I have found that the best music for me to listen to is something that has a really nice tempo and beat, not too many words, and also not something I listen to often. If I listen to something that I know the lyrics to or that reminds me of something, I get quite distracted. I listen to New Orleans Jazz music or Decade music. When I refer to Decade music, I mean that I choose a decade in between the 1920s-1980s and listen to that music. There are playlists on Spotify for all of the music I have mentioned.

WHERE/WHEN TO DO HW:

I do my homework about an hour after I get home. As soon as I get home I take off my makeup and my jewlery because it makes me seem more relaxed. Then I make my bed if I didn't have time to do so in the morning. Then I might get a snack while I check my social media. But an hour after I get home I always begin my homework. 

Because I have two very cuddly dogs and parents at home when I do my homework, I usually seclude myself to my room while I do it. If I'm in the kitchen or the living room I tend to get very distracted. Being as my room is so small I also have to do my homework on my bed. I do not recommend this if you have a desk. But for those of you who have to do your homework on your bed, like myself, do it at the opposite end of your bed than where you put your head at night. I use my two body pillows and a couple of decorative pillows to make myself a seat so that I do not lay down as well.

THINGS YOU NEED:

If you're like me you need an agenda. I use one from bluesky.com. I picked it up at WalMart, so you may be able to find it in stores near you but if not the website is very easy to use. They have so many pretty and functional planners. I use one that is the size of an average notebook. 

I also use an extendable folder. In all of my classes I use binders that are fairly bulky and I don't want to have to take them all home every time I have homework. So instead of taking them home I use a 13 file extendable folder. I have each of my pockets labeled by class and then I have room for a book, random papers, my planner. In the front is a little pencil case. 

In that pencil case I keep a few pencils that I decorated with washi tape some nice G-2 Pilot refillable pens, one thick yellow highlighter, one skinny yellow highlighter, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, sticky notes, sticky tabs, and a single whole punch.  

I use a big bag to go in between classes. In that bag I carry a smaller makeup bag, with my face powder, my favorite lipstick (Rimmel London Lipstick by Kate in the color 104), a retractable Kabuki brush, a nail file, headphones by KOSS, eos chapstick, my inhaler, makeup wipes, feminine hygiene products, ibruprofen, hair ties, bobby pins, and life savers. Also in the big bag I carry a book and my water bottle. 

I would also highly recommend a lunch pale to bring your own lunch because in my experience school lunches suck.   

You Deserve A Drink: Boozy Misadventures and Tales of Debauchery ~ Mamie Hart

Mamrie Hart is a drinking star with a YouTube problem. As host of the bady cult hit You Deserve A Drink. Hart has been entertaining viewers with her signature concoction of tasty libations and raunchy puns since 2011. Finally, Hart has compiled her best drinking stories - and worst hangovers - into one hilarious volume. From the spring break where she and her girlfriends avoided tan lines by staying at an all-male gay nudist resort, to the bachelorette party where she accidentally hired a sixty-year-old meth head to teach the group pole dancing, to the time she lit herself on fire during a Flaming Lips concert. Hart accompanies each story with an original cocktail recipe, ensuring that You Deserve A Drink is as useful as it is entertaining. 

Book Review:

I have been really into memoirs of those that I love for about the past year. Now out of all of the memoirs that I have read this year, Mamrie's is the TMI (To Much Information) of all memoirs. I love it so much because it is hilarious and honest with horrible puns that are so horrible they are hilarious. So hilarious that your cheeks hurt from smiling so much and your abs hurt from laughing so hard! 

Now I am 17 so it is not legal for me to dink but believe me when I can I plan on trying out these recipes and playing the drinking game that is the entire book! I don't plan on being a heavy drinker or anything but there are times where you just need to let loose and have some fun that you won't remember the next morning. 

Now, her writing was impeccable. It felt like I was watching her videos. She would cross out words and say something different (more appropriate), had a safe word to have her family stop reading, and had her signature jokes. Ay-Oh! I also loved that she included pictures, even though they were black and white. It really was just an amazing read!

Pages: 274                                                                                               Rate: 5/5

Favorite Quotes:

"I spent my days spread-eagle in front of a fan, with bright pink calamine lotion slathered all over my undercarriage. If you walked into my room, you'd think I was giving birth to a Pepto-Bismol baby."

I couldn't stop laughing when I read this line! It reminded me so much of Camp Takota (which you should watch if you haven't, it's on Netflix).  

Social Issue: Body Positivity

This a slightly different post for me but I feel that it needs to be addressed. I am a curvier girl and throughout my entire life I have had self-esteem issues because of that. I am finally at a point in my life where I am less concerned about how I look because I like how I look but I still have really bad days because of how I look. This summer whilst watching hours of YouTube late at night I found an amazing beauty vlogger known as Loey Lane. She is a curvier girl but is so gorgeous and confident. She uses her platform and following as a way to help curvier girls be confident and know what to wear to flatter your look and also gives amazing makeup tutorials. 

This week she has posted a couple of videos which I will link at the end of this post. One was on dating when your curvier and how to be confident with yourself. Another was a response to a video that has gone viral this week. I have refused to watch it because I do not feel that the person who posted it deserves any amount of attention or credit for it. From what I know of the video through Loey and social media she was blatantly rude about "fat people" and hiding under the guise that it was concern for their health. My personal opinion is that people need to keep thei mouths shut about other peoples' weight. You don't have to find thicker people attractive, you can find them disgusting, but you do not need to voice those views in such a derogatory way. If you are not a medical professional than you have no right to critique someone else's weight. 

Loey has worked so hard to build up the confidence of her subscribers and personally she has helped me greatly. As I enter my senior year of high school,  I am proud to walk into school wearing things that I never would have touched a year ago and hold my head high. I find myself beautiful more than I am disgusted by myself now. That is saying so much for me and a lot of that credit is due to Loey.

Everyone deserves to be body positive and to love how they look. If you don't  love how you look than there are ways to change that or if you want to love how you look than there are also ways to build your confidence. If you are super thin or super thick, everyone should love their bodies because our bodies are miracles. We are so tough on our bodies but they withstand almost anything. For women we can carry growing children and birth babies. Our bodies are amazing and everyone should be body positive. 

Thank you so much Loey Lane for helping me realize that I am beautiful too. 

Loey Lane's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/LoeyLane/videos

Loey Lane's video on dating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4_egY1q3bE

Loey Lane's response video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaNDkXpEo3s

#BodyPositivity across all platforms!

Percy Jackson And The Battle Of The Labyrinth ~ Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson isn't expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to diabolical.

In this latest installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop them, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labryinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.

Book Review: 

This was probably my favorite installment of the series so far. It was so fast paced and I really loved the dynamic between Percy and Annabeth, plus the ending was perfection. (I'll talk about that in the discussion section.)

I really enjoyed the concept of the Labyrinth, it made the setting really interesting because you could interpret it all in your own way with the few details that Riordan incorporated in his descriptions. My only question on the Labyrinth is how the hell did they build a shifting, growing, elaborate piece of architecture. Deadulus, the architect, is technically Annabeth's brother. Yes he is thousands of years older than she but I just feel like there should have been more of a connection there. I feel this way about all of the family stuff in this series. No matter what the circumstances are when you discover a new sibling, once past the confusion, there should be so much love and adoration. I love that it is that way between Tyson and Percy but I feel that it is lacking with the other demigods. Like we know that Annabeth has siblings in her cabin but they are never mentioned or discussed and that kind of bothers me. 

 I love how nochalant Percy percieves this entire world now. He is so young and everything has been thrusted at him but none of it really phases him anymore. He's just like, "during the year I live with my mom in the city, get kicked out of school, try to not get killed by monsters. In the summer I live at a camp with  all of my cousins and my Cyclops brother and satyr best friend. Oh and I rarely hear from my father, the sea god. You've all heard of him, Poseidon."

It was just a really fucking great read.

Pages: 361                                                                                                          Rate: 5/5 

Book Discussion: SPOILERS

So lets talk Percabeth (Percy and Annabeth) first. So there is obviously some tension. You can tell that they both care for each other. She obviously doesn't let him do anything dangerous without her by his side, he is upset that  they have become so distant because of the issue with Luke. These two have been through so much together and they obviously have feelings for each other, I just wish they would do something about it. 

Another Annabeth related thing. Does the fact that her mother, Athena, and her father never having a physical relationship mean that Annabeth was born from Athena's head like Athena was from Zeus. She couldn't be born from her father's head because no mortal could withstand that. I'm just very confused. 

Now lets discuss the whole Kronos and Luke situation. I have hated Luke since the first book. I hate how he has betrayed Olympus, his friends, and his father. I hate how he is willing to let the Titans rise and ruin everything that Olympus has built. (The symbolism of this story line is really great.) But in this book I am beginning to feel bad for him in a way. He really is being used by Kronos, even though it is his own damn fault. The fact that Kronos is in Luke's body now, what does that mean for Luke? Is he still alive in there too or is he forever gone?

;Okay now lets talk about the end. I love that for Percy's birthday his dad showed up. I love that even though he could have heard about what happened from anyone on Olympus or anyone that wasn't Percy he makes a point to come to his sons party and see how he is. I couldn't stop smiling as I read that scene.

Favorite Quotes:

"And you, Percy, are my favorite son."