The Romance Bookie

 I don't even know why I'm writing this post to be honest.  I think it is more to do with the fact that The Romance Bookie has been there for me, no matter what.  Which is weird, because it's a blog.  But it's my escape.  I don't do a lot of interacting anymore.  I've lost pretty much all of my contacts, which in one sense I am okay with, because when I slowed down The Romance Bookie, it had gotten to the point where it was almost a chore to keep it up.  I didn't want that anymore.   I started The Romance Bookie to have a place to talk about books.  No one in my life was interested in hearing me blab anymore about what I was reading that day, and I was feeling lonely, and found the perfect thing.   I've been having a bit of a hard time.  It's taking a toll on me.  Ever since I lost my dad, my life has been a bit darker.  A lot of joy was taken from my life when he passed away very unexpectedly.  One of those joys, was...

I realized something about myself the other day...I read when I'm sad, and going through a hard time. It's my out, when I want to get my mind off things, and just escape. Now don't get me wrong, I DO LOVE TO READ!  Reading has helped me from hitting that low in life where you just want to give up completely.  It's always been there to cheer me up, at least somewhat, when things have gotten really tough! But I noticed that I have always read when things were hard when I realized I had read two books in one week when I found out two loved ones in my life had passed away. I haven't been able to read for months...heck almost a couple of years at this point!  I've been in a very happy place in my life, for the first time in...Ever.  I've always had an amazing family that was there for me, but something was always missing.  I felt really lonely for a long time, because I have always had trouble making friends who truly accept me for who I am.  But then I ...

Hey Everyone! So I have something to share with you.  As some of you may know I am a huge fan of Kody Keplinger's The DUFF .  And I know that I have been posting quite a bit about both the movie and book lately, but I am just so excited!! I am seriously very passionate behind the message of this book! But for some reason some people aren't seeing it for what it actually means!  Okay, so maybe I can see where some people are getting their misconstrued messages.  For instance, for those of you who don't know, "DUFF" stands for "Designated, Ugly, Fat, Friend", and if you've seen the trailer for the movie... here it is if you haven't.... then you obviously know that the main character, who is called "The DUFF" in movie, Bianca, played by Mae Whitman is 100% neither Fat OR Ugly! In fact, she is absolutely gorgeous!! But anyway, that is not at all what the message of this book/movie is!!!!!!! It is NOT saying that Mae's charac...

Hey Everyone!!! I know, I know!! I have seriously sucked!  No review for about a month...it's pathetic...I know.  But I have had a very good reason...I've been working, going to school, studying for my classes, and also studying for my real estate exam...which I took today, and guess what??!!! I PASSED!!! I am officially a licensed Real Estate Salesperson in California!! I'm joining the ranks of so many people ahead of me, and taking the real estate market by storm ;). Anyway, I am going to try my best to get to reading a good book again.  I've been in a bit of a funk, and so it's been difficult, but all it takes is that great next book!! :) Hope to write again very soon!! Love you all!! The Romance Bookie :)

Hey Everyone! So Banned Book Week was a couple of weeks ago, from September 21st-27th; and so this past week in my Child Literature class our teacher had us bring in a challenged or banned book.  She had preferred them to children's picture books, but said it was okay to bring a Young Adult novel.  Me, being the avid reader, and lover of the YA genre, brought two... Thirteen Reasons Why  by Jay Asher   and Speak  by Laurie Halse Anderson. Now, to be honest, I have read quite a few banned books, not intentionally, because they were banned or challenged, but because I wanted and also sometimes they were part of my English Literature curriculum in high school and Jr. High; but overall, before this past Monday night (when I have my class), I didn't have much of an idea of banning books.  I just always sort of assumed most people were against it, and that all people who were trying to ban books were narrow minded. Now, I'm not sure if this post will gather...

Hey Everyone! So there is something that has been bugging me for many years, but really only very recently ticked me off, like no other!  I think it's something that should be said, and while I will NOT be naming names, I will be giving examples of what I am talking about. So I don't know if anyone else has ever noticed this, and if I'm making a big deal out of it, in your opinion, than I'm sorry, but has anyone ever seen when someone writes a review for a book, without having read it? Well, I've run across it quite a few times.  And quite honestly it bugs me. I have SO much respect for authors! So much! I admire their hard work.  I aspire to be one day, but have yet to find the patience to fully sit down and finish one of my many works collecting figurative dust on my computer.  So when I see someone make a negative comment about an author/book, that they haven't read, it truly bothers me. An example...well a few weeks ago, I read The Land of Stories:...

Hey Everyone! So while I'm pretty sure I've done this post before, I just want to do it again, because who knows somethings may have changed! :) My Top Five Favorite Authors (not necessarily only because of their books, but also because of how they treat their fans!) and Why?: 1. Meg Cabot- Meg signing...she's a lefty too! Me and Meg :) I know, I know...you know! lol  Anyway Meg is amazing!  Not only is her writing hilarious and my absolute favorite things to read, especially when I'm in a funk, but she's also an amazing person!  I had the pleasure and honor of meeting Meg back in February of 2012 (Read about it HERE ), and my goodness, can I just say it was one of the best days of my life!  Meg was everything I imagined she would be!  It was like seeing all her characters come alive right in front me!  She had that exact humor as her writing does! It was awesome! 2. Cassandra Clare- Me and Cassie, March 2013 Image fro...

What's Up everyone? Anything new and exciting happening??!! :) Once again I've got a topic that I think is worth discussing... Ratings on books! A couple of years ago, I wrote a post that got a LOT of traffic and comments, both negative and positive, involving a certain famous blockbuster dystopian series.  (You can find that post HERE ). Anyway I wanted to take that post and sort of expand the topic a bit. To be honest when it comes to Ratings in books, the book industry doesn't do a good enough job in protecting our children. I don't know about where you live, but where I live we do not get carded if we buy an "Adult" book.  And while I will admit when I was a teenager (which wasn't that long ago) I sometimes found myself wanting to read some of those promiscuous reads; I am 22 now, and while I'm not ready to have children of my own, I do work with children, elementary school kids to be exact.  I see how innocent some of these kids are,...

Hey Everyone!! So this is one of those random posts I was talking about, where it may not be a book review, but just a discussion on something book related! So while back in 2008-2010 the vampire craze was all the rage, in the last couple of years the Dystopian genre has taken over! While I'll be honest, I don't necessarily get into all the crazes, I like a book not because of how popular it is, but because I truly enjoyed reading it.  It was like that with Twilight . I didn't like all vampire books because I liked Twilight !  In fact, I could name at least one vampire book that I read that I could not stand one bit (* cough * The Vampire Diaries  * cough *). Anyway, the Dystopian genre...it's huge right now!  We've got big blockbusters being made like The Hunger Games  and the upcoming much anticipated by many Divergent . Now what do I think of the genre? Well, personally I will admit it isn't my favorite. I have probably mentioned this quite a fe...

Hey Everyone! So I feel bad. I've neglected The Romance Bookie so much in the last year, it's not even funny! A lot has happened in my life! I got my drivers license, met an amazing guy, working like crazy, and of course school. It's been all a lot to handle, some amazing, some crazy, and some just super annoying!  However, it all needs to be done, and sometimes unfortunately, while I hate to admit it, reading has to go on the back burner. That being said, I'm still so unbelievably in love with books.  I went to a couple of Thrift Stores the other day, and where do I head first? The book section of course! It's just second nature by now!  I did hold myself back from buying too many books, and ended up walking away with one good find that I couldn't turn down. And it's not like I have stopped reading!  I still read!  It just has been taking me a lot longer to finish a book! On average I've been finishing maybe one or two books a month...whi...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! It's Thanksgiving here in the US, and I hope all of you get to enjoy that special time with your family, stuffing your faces with amazing foods!  I know I will be!  Can't wait for that Green Bean Casserole!  Not to mention the yummy Carrot Cake we bought for the occasion!! :) Enjoy your Holiday! :) The Romance Bookie :)

Hey Everyone! So I've been trying to find the time to write this post for a while now, but I've just been so extremely busy these past few months! Anyway, now it's time for me to explain! As some of you Romance Bookie readers may have noticed, I haven't been around as much as I used to be.  There are a few reasons for that, some a bit too personal for me to share here, and some just very basic explanations.  The most basic one I can honestly think of, that is 100% true is...I've been SOOOOOO BUSY!! My summer was incredible!  It was truly a very memorable one.  I did a lot.  Spent a lot of time with friends and people who are very special in my life.  I got my drivers license at the beginning of the summer, so was able to experience some great things, like driving!  And I worked! Now that summer is over, however, things don't look they will be changing anytime soon.  In fact, they look like they are only going to get crazier!  I sta...

Hey Everyone! I have some apologizing to do!  However, before I go on, I want you all to know...I HONESTLY HAD NO IDEA!! So as some of you may have heard, a horrible act of plagiarism in the book world, and I unfortunately have been unintentionally (on my part) became involved! A few weeks ago, I received an email from the author accused of these allegations.  She first found me on Facebook asking me to promote her novel, and then emailed me.  I was excited to help, because I love helping indie authors get out their books into the world.  I never thought something like this would happen! Well, my post went up on her books release date. I will admit, I did not get a chance to read it.  I have also never read the book that was plagiarized, even though I believe I bought it for my Kindle when I first got it, but due to too many books that need to be read, it just never made it to the top of the list. I have since deleted the promotion post, and honest...

So you guys, I have something pretty exciting to share with you! Something I accomplished this week...something that I've been waiting for A LONG time to achieve, but just hadn't had the chance to do! I GOT MY DRIVER'S LICENSE!!!!!!! That's right!  I am officially a licensed driver!! This is a HUGE milestone in anyone's life, and I am just so darn excited to finally have accomplished it!  My goal was to get before my birthday, which I accomplished with exactly TWO MONTHS to spare!! I took my driving test on Wednesday, the 2nd of May, and my 22nd birthday will be on July 2nd! YAY!! So excited!! So is this book related, you may be asking?? No, however there is something that happened to me afterwards that IS book related!! So I was nervous the week before my driving test.  I talked to my mom about and she asked me, jokingly, "Besides drugs and alcohol, what is something that calms you down?" First off, I DO NOT DO DRUGS!! I SWEAR!!!  My mom w...

Hey Hey!! So here's my new account on Blog Lovin' If you're interested in following me! :) Follow my blog with Bloglovin The Romance Bookie :)

There are thousands of talented writers out there, heck probably millions.  Not all of them choose to put there work out there, while others make their way into the publishing world. Some succeed, some don't. To get your book published, I have heard, is EXTREMELY hard work!  JK Rowling...who some of you may have heard of...she's only the author of one of the MOST FAMOUS CHILDREN'S SERIES of ALL TIME, if not THE MOST!! was rejected a DOZEN times before landing a publisher! And according to this article, the only reason why Bloomsbury accepted Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is because the CEO's "eight year old daughter" begged her dad to publish it! Judy Blume, who wrote MANY famous novels that millions of young girls grew up with, received nothing  but rejections for over two years! MEG CABOT, my hero! My absolute favorite author received over 17 REJECTIONS, before getting The Princess Diaries in print! The Twilight Saga by Stepheni...

My last books have OFFICIALLY been shelved!!! So I don't know if some of you know (I've mentioned this before in the last couple months), but my family and have been moving into our new home! My little brother and I started about a month ago.  It was a slow process... My parents have been building our home for the past FIVE years!! For the past five years we've been living in a pretty small home, where we each had our own bedroom (THANK GOD!!), but only ONE bathroom!! Yes, one bathroom for FOUR people!!! It was insane in the mornings!! Anyway, we now officially have each our own bathroom!!! :) YAY!! Anyway... My dad put up my last shelf today!! :) I always knew I had an insane amount of books, but didn't truly realize how bad it was, until I started moving them to all my new room...it took about 6 trips!! (luckily, our new house is in the back yard, so I just had to use a wagon, or dolly to cart them all over in boxes!) But still!! 6 trips!! In my old ...

As some of you may or may not know, I am going to college to become an elementary school teacher. I love children.  Always have! I hope to not only teach them, but also have a couple of my own ONE DAY, not right now but in the future! I helped out today at one of my town's local elementary schools, for their annual holiday classroom party.  I was there all day from 8 this morning until their early dismissal at 2.  Over this past year and a half of volunteering for the same teacher, we've gotten fairly close. So when she asked me to print out an email for her, from the school districts Super-Intendent I didn't think much of it, because I figured it was school related. Well, it was...but it 100% wasn't what I was expecting.  I thought it would be some news about an event in town, or something. No. It wasn't. Instead, it was the news that 12-15 children were killed in a K-4th grade school in Connecticut. Do you want to know what was going through my h...

Today bloggers were asked a very interesting question Inkling Reads : Why do you blog? I have decided to take some time out of my day and answer this question, because I think for a lot of bloggers it just needs to be answered! So I've mentioned before a couple of reasons why I like to read (tough time in high school with friends), but why I blog, I'm not so sure if I've mentioned that! So here are a couple of reasons: 1.  The Community:  Aside from the high school drama that ensues sometimes in this book world, I LOVE being apart of it!  I love talking to all of you book lovers! I love being able to discuss books that I have read, and that no one around me has.  My friends aren't readers, so it's nice to finally have someone to discuss a book with! 2.  Post Euphoria! Every time I'm finished reading a book I am not only pumped to have read a great book (or sometimes, unfortunately, not so great), and then being able to write about it, and tell others h...

Happy Friday everyone!! So I realize not everyone watches Glee .  However, I'm one of those viewers that still watches it, however at times am not really sure why anymore, and then other times I just want to never end. I will say this post is for all those people that have seen at least one of the episodes from this season!! AND WARNING!!! This contains spoilers from last night's Break-up episode!! Today I am writing my first...okay, not first, but I'm just going to count it as my first official, random post. It's a character analysis of quite a few of the Glee characters.  Some more in depth, and some not. So here goes: Let's start with the famous... Rachel (Portrayed by Lea Michele):  First off, I just want to say her dialogue has gotten SO much better!! I love how New York has finally given her the reality check she needed.  Now she can see that life doesn't always go your way, or that she's the only talented one in the world. Finn (portr...