How to Find Your Favourite Book

Today I am going to tell you the story of how I ended up finding my favourite books, probably the top two being Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (and Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son by her) and Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt. 

I found Jellicoe Road because I read an interview that YA Highway had with Melina Marchetta, and I thought the concept sounded interesting, so a few weeks or months later I picked it up at the library, not knowing at all that I would fall in love and discover my first favourite book ever. Before Jellicoe Road, whenever people asked my what my favourite book was, or what I thought the best book ever was, I shrugged and said I liked too many books to answer that, or that I had a hundred favourites. Now I have an answer, and it's this book. Of course, this led to me wanting to gobble up everything Melina Marchetta, and I did so and loved it (with the exception of Looking for Alibrandi, but I think I'm going to give that one a second chance). 

Okay for Now I put on my TBR list because I liked the cover, and picked it up at the library eventually. Even when I started it, I didn't feel like it was anything special, just a simple story with a fairly typical character. I'd read a bunch of books in a similar vein; the cutesy, small town MG. However, there was some moment two thirds of the way through when something clicked and I saw just how brilliant Gary D. Schmidt's writing was and all of the cleverly subtle things he did to craft a beautiful story, with intricately complicated and tender characters and the main character maybe was typical, but Doug is now my precious and one of those characters I'd protect at all costs.

So there is no step by step guide on how to find your favourite book. All of my favourite books I've just stumbled upon. I had no idea when I opened Okay for Now, or even when I was halfway through, that it would end up being one of my favourite books of all time. 

How do you find your favourite book then? Read. Read lots. There are many quotes from people about how there is no one who doesn't like reading, just people who have not yet found that one book that they love. There are soo many books out there, and I promise you, there is one for you. There is one book that will make you feel not alone and special and warm and fuzzy and make you think or whatever you need to love a book. 

But you also need to work to find that favourite book. You need to read lots, because if you never read, you are obviously not going to find your favourite book. I read 109 books this past year, and I really only fell in love with a few. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed a lot more than that, but not all of them make me feel incredibly, undeniably happy or blown away. And despite that, I trudge onward, knowing that any of the next 100 books I pick up could be my new favourite. But I will have no idea until I read them. 

What's your favourite book, or have you not found yours yet?

"There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book."  -Frank Serafini

Alyssa Recommends Fantasy

Fantasy is probably one of my favourite genres (and my second most read genre in 2014), although that's mostly because I'm just interested in reading good books, and for some reason a lot of fantasy books end up falling into the category of good books. Maybe it has something to do with how in order to write a good fantasy, writers really have to go all out to create in-depth worlds and characters, I don't know. Anyway! Here are some of my favourite fantasies. 

1. The Queen's Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner

I can't really say anything about this series because any spoilers would just tarnish the entire brilliance of the books. I can say however that MWT is a genius, and she creates awesome characters and awesome story. You never know what's going to happen, and she is the queen of twists. I also really appreciate how clean and to the point her writing is. Everything she includes is there for a reason. I've read the four books about three times now, and King of Attolia (third book) about five or six times, and I discover new things each time I read them. And if you really need more convincing, R.J. Anderson wrote a lovely non-spoiler-y review of the series here.  
  2. The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta

Come on, all my lists of my favourite books have to include my favourite author. I have to admit I put off reading the first book in this series, Finnikin of the Rock, for a long time considering MM wrote my favourite book of all time, Jellicoe Road. I just had trouble getting through the first few pages, but once I did get through that confusion, I read and fell in love with the heartbreaking story and characters that Melina Marchetta had once again created. MM is amazing at characters, and that is what I read for - characters. Froi of the Exiles was just as heartbreaking (although sometimes confusing), but Quintana of Charyn, the final book in the series, wrapped it up perfectly staying true to the characters, story, world while at the same time providing a message of hope. Belle at Belle's Bookshelf wrote a wonderful post that explains ten reasons why you should read this series.

3. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

This was one of the best fantasies I've read in a long time! The concept of dragons in human form cavorting around with humans and the political and racial (species?) tensions between them was so interesting and different. The writing was clean and crisp, just like Megan Whalen Turner's, and the characters were perfectly well rounded and I loved the development of the relationships between them. I'm super excited for the second book, Shadowscale, which comes out in March 2015! (Also my copy of Seraphina has a shiny cover which is super fun).

4. Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

The thing I liked about this fantasy was that it was not in a European setting, which was refreshing for a fantasy. Eliza's character was also really well-written and interesting. There was also an aspect on religion, which is not always present in YA. 

5. The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

I saw the first book in this series, Shadow and Bone, EVERYWHERE before I started reading it - and thankfully this was one of the few times where the book actually lived up to the hype! It was a very different fantasy, very dark and the setting was Russian-inspired. My mom and brother also read the series. I think the third book is the best, which is good because that is how it is supposed to be in a trilogy (*cough*allegiant*cough*).

6. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Another book that lived up to the hype! I was excited to finally get my hands on it, and I was even more excited that I liked it. An interesting story and good characters, what more could you ask for?

7. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Genius, a classic, and hilarious. 

There you go! Some great fantasies. Read them and get lost in their awesome worlds and characters. :)  
  
What are your recommendations for good fantasy books? 

Review of All the Books I Read in 2014

It's my annual tradition to stuff all of the book reviews I could have done throughout the year into one post (although I did do more individual reviews this year thanks to the A to Z challenge I did), so here you go! This year I read 109 books, compared to last year when I read 57 (although this year I wasn't taking any English courses where I had to read books, so).

Best Books of 2014

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo - An interesting fantasy with a Russian-inspired setting. Lived up to all the hype!

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta - Perfect, heartwarming ending to series full of sorrow, heartbreak, and good characters. 

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater - An interesting series with good characters! (The Dream Thieves is probably my favourite though). 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - Stephanie Perkins and Rainbow Rowell are on the top of my list of YA romance authors. They write the best romances. 

A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers - A powerful book that is written so well and doesn't shy away from anything. I'm not a huge reader of historical fiction, but this one (and it's sequel) was so worth it. 

Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn - A brilliantly written, painful book. I think everyone should read it. 

Books I Bought in 2014

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo - After I read Shadow and Bone, I knew I'd like the sequels (and that the wait at the library would be FOREVER), so I bought them!

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta  - I have to own all of the Marchetta. 

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater - I bought The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves after I read The Raven Boys, and then I bought Blue Lily, Lily Blue as soon as it came out in October!

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - I loved Eleanor and Park, so I knew another romance by Rainbow Rowell I would want to own. I was right!

Reason for God by Timothy Keller - I bought it because I knew I would want to lend it out to people. An interesting read. 

How to Love by Katie Cotugno - I kind of wish I hadn't bought this book, since it didn't live up to the hype. 

Of Two Minds by Carol Matas and Perry Nodelman - This is a super unique MG fantasy that I read when I was younger, and I found it at a charity book sale so I bought it (for like $2!) It's also available on Kobo, I think. 

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger - I liked Kody Keplinger's other books, The DUFF and A Midsummer's Nightmare so I was hoping I would like this one... I didn't.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - Got this one at a charity book sale. It was really good! 

Dead Ends by Jade Erin Lange - I was hoping this would be better than it was. 

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher - I read this once in high school and it made an impression on me, so when I saw it at the book sale for $1, I thought I'd buy it and reread it - just as good and important the second time. 

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - I will buy all of Stephanie Perkins books until she stops writing. 

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz - I bought it because of the hype. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but I liked the family dynamic and the writing was decent. 

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutoski - Bought because of recommendations from Megan Whalen Turner fans - thankfully it lived up to the hype (and I was able to get my brother to read it)!

The Secret History by Donna Tartt - I only bought this book because the line was like 20 people long at the library, but I actually really liked it (even though it's kind of a horrible book as far as content). It's basically a modern Greek tragedy, if that explains anything. 

Water Book One: Ascension by Kara Dalkey - Again, got it at the book sale! I'd read it in middle school and thought it was the best mermaid book ever. It still is. 

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson - I bought it because it was $1.50 at Dollarama, of all places. It was good. 

Home of Our Hearts by Robin Jones Gunn - RJG is one of my favourite authors, so of course I have to have her latest book. 

Ingo by Helen Dunmore - From the book sale for like $1.50 - it was a good mermaid MG. 

And I just bought Althea & Oliver by Cristina Moracho, Wild by Cheryl Strayed and Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn yesterday, so I have yet to read them - but I will let you know how they go!

Books I Reread in 2014

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - so I could remember what happened when I read the rest of the trilogy after I bought them. 

The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - Because they were good and I wanted to enjoy them again - also I missed so much stuff the first time!!

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta - My tenth reread of this wonderful book, and I STILL find new things.

Codename Verity by Elizabeth Wein - I'd forgotten most of what happened, so it was just as good the second time around. 

The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner -   MWT is a genius, and in my third reread I still find new hidden gems. 

The Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn - read in anticipation of the newest release, Forever With You! 

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Of Two Minds by Perry Nodelman and Carol Matas

Worst Books of 2014

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler - It turns out a book about Facebook is just not that interesting. 

Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig

Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook - So much problematic stuff in this book. (Actually now that I think about it, I bought this as an ebook. I'm trying to forget that I did).

Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson - Poorly written, misrepresentation and other problems. 

Wildefire by Karsten Knight - Nothing happens, nothing gets resolved, the characters were bland, and the writing was horrible and cliche. 

The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha - Way too cheesy and fluffy for me, with surface level description and characterization. 

So there you go! A quick summary of my year in reading, although of course there were other books that I enjoyed but weren't in either extreme of best or worst. As for 2015... I still want to read lots of books (my TBR list is filling up from all these end of year recommendations!) and I also want to try and read more diversely. Ideally I'd love to get my blog up and running regularly, but it's easy to think like that when I don't have school to worry about, so we'll see. 

What about you? What were your best or worst reads of 2014? Have you read some of the books I did this year? Did you like them or not? 

Happy New Year!

2014 End of Year Book Survey Part 2

Part  2 of Jamie's end of year survey, about my blogging/bookish life!

1. New favourite blog I discovered in 2014: Most blogs I end up following now are on Tumblr, but Books & Cupcakes and theserpentinelibrary are just a couple of my favourites. I also really like Shae's blog, although I don't read as much of it as I would like to. 

2. Favourite review that I wrote in 2014: All my A to Z challenge reviews were fun! Although the reviews of books I liked were more fun, haha. 

3. Best discussion/non-review post from 2014: Eh... and now you get to see how bad I've been at blogging this year. I can't even remember what I blogged about. But I like the post I did about my struggle with NaNoWriMo. 

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, virtual events, etc): All my favourite events were virtual. I did about half of Books & Cupcakes book photo challenge on Tumblr, and I also participated in a Marchetta secret santa, so that was fun! Oh, and #mmweek (Melina Marchetta week) on Tumblr was fun as well. 

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014? All my interactions with fellow book-lovers, book bloggers, bookish people, and authors on Twitter!

6. Most popular post this year on my blog: Since I didn't post a lot, I'm going to say the most popular post on my Tumblr blog, which was a post I made of books in a book bag during the June book photo challenge, which now has around 900 notes. 

7. Post I wish got a little more love: Other than my post about NaNo, the only non-review post I did was A Short List of Endlessly Fascinating Characters which I guess could use some more love. :)

8. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, stores, etc): Not sure... although my local indie bookstore does social media really well, so it's fun to follow them. :) Oh, and YA Interrobang is cool if you've never heard of them - it's a news site about YA books!

9. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals you had for yourself at the beginning of the year? Nope, unfortunately. I had had a goal of reading more diverse or non-Western books but never got around to it. I also never got around to finishing my A to Z challenge, or any other challenge for that matter. Oh well. Next year!

Looking Ahead

1. One book I didn't get to in 2014 but will be my number 1 priority in 2015: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray and To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. I want to see if all the hype (and that beautiful cover of A Thousand Pieces of You) matches up to what's inside. 

2. Book I am most anticipating for 2015 (non-debut): Winter by Marissa Meyer, the last in The Lunar Chronicles, Shadowscale by Rachel Hartman (sequel to Seraphina) and THE FOURTH RAVEN CYCLE BOOK!!!

3. 2015 debut I'm most anticipating: I don't know! I haven't been following debuts as much this year because I have so many other things on my TBR list, but I'm sure something will come up. 

4. One thing I hope to accomplish in my reading/blogging life in 2015: I'd love to read more diversely, especially books that are set outside the Western hemisphere (recs, anyone?) As for blogging, I think I'm going to start doing some more reviewing because even when I'm busy I still read a lot for some reason. 

Stay tuned for January 1 to see the list of all the books I've read this year!!

2014 End of Year Book Survey Part 1

I'm still going to do my review of every book I read like I do every year, but I thought it'd be fun to do this survey that Jamie at Perpetual Page Turner hosts as well!

2014 Reading Stats

Number of books I read: Currently, 109, but the year's not over yet!

Number of rereads: 38!

Genre I read the most from: Contemporary, with 45.

Best in Books

1. Best book I read in 2014: Aside from my rereads, it was probably Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn, and The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater is not too far behind. 

2. Book I was excited about and thought I was going to love more but didn't: How to Love by Katie Cotugno. It had quite a bit of hype and I thought it would be a heartwarming YA romance similar to those by Rainbow Rowell or Stephanie Perkins, but alas, it was not and it was kind of odd and I didn't really enjoy it. 

3. Most surprising (in a good way or a bad way) book I read in 2014: I'm never really surprised when books turn out to be bad, but probably Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. THAT ENDING. I cannot get over it. 

4. Book you "pushed" the most people to read (and they did) in 2014: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, always. But I also got my mom and brother to read The Grisha Trilogy. 

5. Best series you started in 2014? The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. Best Sequel of 2014? The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater. Best Series Ender of 2014? Shades of Earth by Beth Revis, finale to her Across the Universe sci-fi series. THAT is how you finish a trilogy, Veronica Roth.

6. Favourite new author you discovered in 2014? Maggie Stiefvater! Thank you, Lisa. 

7. Best book from a genre you don't typically read/was out of your comfort zone? Definitely Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn. I'm not super into thrillers or anything to do with werewolves, but it was so brilliant. An achingly awful subject, but so well crafted. 

8. Most action-packed/unputdownable/thrilling book of the year? That would have to be Charm and Strange again, although The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller was pretty unpredictable and it was nice because somehow I've been reading a lot of predictable books lately. 

9. Book I read in 2014 that I'm likely going to reread next year: Well, I'm pretty much always guaranteed to reread Melina Marchetta, Megan Whalen Turner, The Raven Cycle, Harry Potter, or Okay for Now by Gary D Schmidt. But as for first time reads, I want to read All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill again!

10. Favourite cover of a book I read in 2014?

11. Most memorable character of 2014? Ronan Lynch.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014? Charm and Strange, but also The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Such beautiful prose.

13. Most thought-provoking/life-changing book of 2014? Aside from Charm and Strange, definitely Five Days At Memorial by Sheri Fink, which not only made me think of what it was like for people during Hurricane Katrina, but also made me think about the intricacies of the concept of euthanasia and that whole debate, as well as how intricately complicated court cases are and the relationship between that and what is presented by the media. Such an interesting book.

14. Book I can't believe I waited until 2014 to finally read? Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo! There was so much hype and for some reason I put it off, but thankfully it lived up to it's hype! I think it needs to be the next big YA that everyone is talking about (a la The Hunger Games, Divergent and John Green).

15. Favourite passage/quote from a book you read in 2014?

"The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation. He'd been dead for ten days before they found him, you know. It was one of the biggest manhunts in Vermont history-state troopers, the FBI, even an army helicopter; the college closed, the dye factory in Hampden shut down, people coming from New Hampshire, upstate New York, as far away as Boston.

It is difficult to believe that Henry's modest plan could have worked so well despite these unforeseen events. We hadn't intended to hide the body where it couldn't be found. In fact, we hadn't hidden it at all but had simply left it where it fell in hopes that some luckless passer-by would stumble over it before anyone even noticed it was missing. This was a tale that told itself simply and well: the loose rocks, the body at the bottom of the ravine with a clean break in the neck, and the muddy skidmarks of dug-in heels all the way down; a hiking accident, no more, no less, and it might have been left at that, at quiet tears and a small funeral, had it not been for the snow that fell that night; it covered him without a trace, and ten days later, when the thaw finally came, the state troopers and the FBI and the searchers from the town all saw that they had been walking back and forth over his body until the snow above it was packed down with ice."

That's the first two paragraphs in The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Such good writing. I love that line about the state troopers walking back and forth over top of the body. Shivers.

16. Shortest book I read in 2014? Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C Wrede, a cute MG fantasy. Longest book I read in 2014? Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink. It's like 800 pages (but worth it).

17. Book that shocked me the most: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I did not see that ending coming at all (although looking back, I definitely should have).

18. OTP (one true pair) of the year: Probably Blue and Gansey, doomed as they are. ;)

19. Favourite non-romantic relationship of the year: Fia and Annie from Mind Games by Kiersten White. I'm a sucker for good family relationship dynamics.

20. Favourite book you read in 2014 from an author you've read previously: What Came From the Stars by Gary D Schmidt. Gary D Schmidt knows how to write brilliant, refreshing, and hopeful MG. I think he's definitely my favourite MG author.

21. Best book I read in 2014 based solely on on a recommendation from someone else/peer pressure: The Secret History and The Raven Cycle was recommended indirectly by Lisa, and Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers was recommended indirectly by Shae.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book I read in 2014: I don't know... Levi from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell?

23. Best 2014 debut I read: I didn't read any 2014 debuts, but the best book I read that was published in 2014 was The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutoski!

24. Best worldbuilding/most vivid setting I read this year: The Russian-inspired setting of The Grisha Trilogy was pretty awesome, but I also just read a cute MG fantasy called The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde that felt like getting thrown into a fully formed, magical world.

25. Book that put a smile on my face/was the most fun to read: Probably Forever With You and Home of Our Hearts by Robin Jones Gunn. Warm, fuzzy and fun reads.

26. Book that made me cry or almost cry in 2014: Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn. Such a beautifully written, heartbreakingly awful book.

27.  Hidden gem of the year: The Opposite of Tidy by Carrie Mac. A cute story about a girl who lives with a hoarding mother. And it's set in Canada!

28. Book that crushed my soul: Charm and Strange or The Secret History.

29. Most unique book I read in 2014: The Days of the King by Filip Florian. A very articulate cat that writes passages of wisdom with his claws on furniture is very unique.

30. Book that made me the most mad: Either Wildefire by Karsten Knight, Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson, How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford, or Blackbird by Chuck Wendig. Blackbird wins for infuriating me the most, though.

 Stay tuned for tomorrow when I post part 2, which focuses on my blogging and bookish life and looking ahead to 2015, and then come back January 1 for my year-end review!

A Young Writer's Struggle With Writing Contests

Well, hello there. 

I know it has been a while... the last thing I posted was a fairly uninteresting post about note taking, and that was in September. Oops. That's what school does, though. Blogging kind of gets bumped to the bottom of my to do list. Also I'm not quite sure where I want to go with this blogging thing anymore. For now, I think I'll just keep it as a place to discuss writing and reading like I always have, although more and more now Twitter and Tumblr are becoming those places for me. 

I guess the biggest thing for me in the past four months, at least writing-wise, was entering a short story contest, which shouldn't have been a really big thing, but it was for me. 

In the past, I've submitted short stories sporadically to teen writer magazines or teen writer short story contests. (I have since moved up to the "adult" age bracket unfortunately, since the competition is heavier.) I've been published once in a magazine when I was thirteen (and that magazine has since gone under), and when I was fifteen I won third place in a local writing contest, but that's it. Even then, I've only submitted stuff maybe ten or so times. 

A friend of mine took a musical theatre class this summer, and one of the things she learned struck me. In the class they talked about how you should do lots and lots of auditions, no matter if you think you're going to get the part or not. It's just good practice, to do lots of auditions and get a feel for what they are like in order to become more comfortable with them. I thought that was really good advice. It also led me to think of my sorry history of submitting my writing. It's probably the perfectionist in me (actually it definitely is) but I like the idea of only submitting really great stuff that I feel is actually of worthy of winning. That kind of thinking is fine I guess, but it has not led me to take risks and submit stuff or to actually sit down and write more short stories than I otherwise would. 

So, anyway, I decided to change my philosophy about writing contests and made a goal to enter more writing contests this year. I just happened to be in the library one day and saw there was a writing contest coming up. I toyed around with a few ideas, took way too long to actually sit down and write, and wrote a 6000-ish word short story, that in my opinion was mediocre at best. But the fun thing was, even though it wasn't a great story, I had actually written something (and the best way to get better at writing, I've discovered, is writing) and I actually thought a couple of the lines of the story were pretty good. 

Granted, I have not written anything other than that short story (and some essays for school) in 4 months, so the way I think about writing still needs some work, but it's a start.

My Peronsal Guide for How to Take Notes

Last week was the first week of my second year of university. My parents and my brother and I just had a discussion a few days ago on how important note taking is and the different ins and outs. I thought I could share how I take notes if maybe you struggle with that or you are just going into university and want some tips.

 
So, here we go, Alyssa's Tips for Taking Notes!:

1. Decide when to take notes

I know that in middle school and early high school years, all of my teachers told us: okay, get out a piece of loose leaf, and write this down, and then they tell you exactly what to write down. In university, that doesn't happen. Nobody tells you when you should write stuff down.
 
That then begs the question, should you even take notes? I would say usually the answer to that is yes. Even if all your notes get provided for you in the form of PDF slides or whatever, I think it helps you stay focused and attentive to what your professor is saying.

2. Know whether or not slides will be provided

Most of my professors use Power Point slides in their classes, and most of them upload them onto some sort of online database (there are a lot of different ones) where you can view or download them.
 
If my professor uploads them before class, I try to print them out and bring them to class. If the prof uploads them after class, I write down the corresponding slide numbers next to notes I'm making in my notebook.
 
If I know the slides are being provided, I don't write down what is on the slide. It's just a waste of time, since you get all that information anyway. I only write down all the extra stuff - things the prof adds or says, or even maybe some things that are pointed out in class discussions (depending on the nature of the class).

3. Determine what to write down
 
 It's a really good skill to know what is important to write down and what is not. I don't write down everything. If you write everything, you're not helping yourself at all.

But how do you figure out what's important? I think you kind of learn as you go, and it is also different depending on the class or professor. Here's some ways I use to determine what is important to write down:

• If a prof emphasizes something, or says something repeatedly, I write it down.
• Focus on big things. Key concepts, key terms, and summarizing sentences are good things to write down. A lot of little details can be left out. You don't want to go back to your notes after you've finished the course and say, "Why the heck did I write that down?"
• Always have at least on example written down, just to help with understanding later.
• A big thing for me is if the prof says something in a specific way that makes a light bulb of understanding go off in my head, then I make sure to write that down because I know it will help my understanding later.

Of course, sometimes you don't know what to write down, and later on in the course you realize you shouldn't have written something, or you SHOULD have written something, but that's okay. Like I said, you learn as you go, and then you know for next time. (In the meantime, ask a friend).

4. Do what makes sense for you

I was going to say "be organized" but really, just organize your notes in a way that makes sense to your brain. Notes are not solely to record the information you need to know for exams, but they should help you in your understanding of course material.

I write and organize my notes in a certain way, but that doesn't mean everyone else will be the same. I also have my own system of abbreviation, because as soon as you write the entire word "environment" out you've missed something important the professor said. But really, you just want to be able to look at your notes later on and be able to say, "Okay, this helps, this makes sense." What you don't want to say is "What does this mean?"

What are your own personal tips for note-taking? How do you take notes? Do you use a computer or a pen and paper? (I prefer pen and paper, but sometimes profs talk SO FAST it's helpful to use a computer).

Filling Up Your TBR List

The final week before school started, my family went to the lake. It's been an annual thing for years now in our family, but the best thing about this particular week this year was it gave me the chance to read more books than I had almost all summer. Some of the books I read made an impression on me, and I wanted to share about them with you, because books are cool, and you should read them.

1. UNTHINKABLE by Nancy Werlin

I read the companion book to this, IMPOSSIBLE, which is about the song of Scarborough Fair, and some curse or something that goes with it. It was such a weird, unique book that left an impression on me so much so that it's one of the few books that I actually still remember reading. UNTHINKABLE isn't as good, but it's still strange and weirdly intriguing. (Also: Twilight has nothing on the relationship in this book, a 400-year-old getting together with a 23-year-old. Aside from that, it was good.)

2. CHARM AND STRANGE by Stephanie Kuehn

This book was AMAZING. At first, I grumbled about it because I thought it was a werewolf story (I'm not hugely into werewolf stories). But it is SO MUCH MORE than a werewolf story. The writing is brilliantly done, so beautiful and subtle and gaaah just amazing. Stephanie Kuehn is talented. It's a very, very painful book though, just to warn you. But despite the heavy topic, I love books that can rip those kinds of raw emotions right from your core. I also love books that make me think, and this one definitely did - a lot. I had a book hangover for a week and a half from this one. You should definitely check it out. I think it is a very important book, and it is one hundred percent going on my list of Best Books of 2014.

3. WHAT CAME FROM THE STARS by Gary D. Schmidt

Gary D. Schmidt is in my opinion the model of what a middle grade author should be. He writes MG so well. WHAT CAME FROM THE STARS was no OKAY FOR NOW, but it was still good. The characters are so beautifully average kids, the writing is so eloquent and perfect, and there are always little gems of humour in all of his books. Gary D. Schmidt is definitely one of my favourite authors. I would recommend all of his books to middle school kids everywhere, especially this one.

4. THE WINNER'S CURSE by Marie Rutkoski

I already talked about this on my What's Up Wednesday post, but the Megan Whalen Turner fans and the hype are right: you should read it.

What are some books you read recently that you'd recommend?