2013 Summer Reading List.

I'm a bit late with this one seeing as how it's almost a month into my summer break from school. Even still, I have finally started my summer reading list!

via.//

finish reading
how to hug a porcupine by john l. lund
catching fire by suzanne collins
harry potter and the half blood prince by j.k. rowling

start reading
matched by ally condie
the goose girl by shannon hale
harry potter and the deathly hallows by j.k. rowling
jane eyre by charlotte bronte
falling to heaven: the surprising path to happiness by james l. ferrell
wrecked: when a broken world slams into your comfortable life  by jeff goins

read-again
northanger abbey by jane austen

already finished
austenland by shannon hale

What do you think? Should I add anything else to my summer reading list, or future reading lists? Because if we're being honest here, I will probably never get through all the books I want to. At least not in this life. Ha!

countdown.

do you find yourself skipping meals to finish the next chapter of the hunger games? or maybe you have lost sleep because you are much too busy finding out what will happen next. you could even spend precious time watching and re-watching the trailer over & over again. perhaps you, like me, are determined to attend the midnight premier even though you previously had determined that no movie was worth loosing that much sleep over. do you find yourself counting down the days until the movie is released? well then, i have great news for you! busy bee lauren is doing a 16 week countdown to the movie premier. all of the posts are fantastic and get me more and more excited each week. care to join me?

flipped.

oh heeaay! in case you've noticed my absence, i have been engrossed in a pretty little book, "flipped" {written by wendelin van draanen} for the last four hours. it's ok, i'm sure i'll be fully recovered from its perfection by tomorrow. you know when you start reading a really great book and you can't put it down for anything. that was me reading this book today. i loved it. as much as the movie. if you haven't seen it you should definitely check it out. first book on my summer reading list. check.

'flipped' is seriously full of the most beautiful words and wisdom. definitely not just a teenage romance...

"some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss...but every once in a while, you find someone who's iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare."

"to be held above the earth and be brushed by the wind...it's like your heart has been kissed by beauty."

"one's character is set at an early age. the choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life. i hate to see you swim out so far you can't swim back."

"you can't dwell on what might have been...and it's not fair to condemn him for something he hasn't done."

"the room fell quiet. and as i read down the list of over one hundred and fifty eighth grade boys, i realized that to me, there had only ever been one boy."

"get beyond his eyes and his smile and the sheen of his hair--look at what's really there."

"a painting is more than the sum of the parts," he would tell me, and then go on to explain how the cow itself is just a cow, and the meadow by itself is just grass and flowers, and the sun peeking through the trees is just a beam of light, but put them all together and you've got magic."

book worm.

i'm a list maker. grocery lists, homework lists, packing lists, to do lists, really anything and everything one could make a list for; i've done it. probably. well every summer i make a list of things i want to do and accomplish. oddly enough i usually finish most of the things on my list. what many people may not know about me is that i secretly am a 'book worm.' this summer i am compiling a list of books i want to read. here's the start of my list...

...flipped. ...the other side of heaven. ...the peace giver. ...harry potter and the deathly hollows. ...the goose girl. ...mr. darcy broke my heart.

do you have a favorite book? any books you would recommend i add to my list?

surviving your blessings.

i love to read. in fact, i think i could easily consider this past time one of my favorite things to do. growing up i have never understood why so few people seem to enjoy reading for fun. although, trying to find the time to do so comes very far and few between for me, so i try to choose my books wisely. well the last book i read was nothing short of wonderful! it happens to be titled"surviving your blessings - learning to laugh in the face of life's storms" the moment i saw the title of the book i knew it was just perfect for me. and it got even better as i began reading. i love the author's writing style and how she shares her own experiences. it really helped me to connect with what she was trying to teach in her book. {i have to admit i wish i could write just a little bit more like her. :) } just to share some of the fabulous quotes from the book...

'where am i going? that's the great part; it's up to me!'

'we all leave our mark...people do the same thing to each other's lives. we leave telltale signs on each other, little imprints of our presence when passing through...the next time you have a chance to make an impact, make it a good one, a great one!'

'mourning with those that mourn is a good thing. comforting those in need of comfort is also essential to being a disciple. But it seems incomplete to me if we don't also rejoice with those who are rejoicing and cheer for those who are excelling...stand as witnesses to each other's lives.'

'...i just misjudged them all. didn't know them as well as i thought i did. apparently i couldn't tell didly from squat. that's what's so darned frustrating about mortality. eh? unpredictable. that's what's so great about mortality though, isn't it? the surprise? the unexpected blessings? i just have to learn not to trip over the blessings.'

jane austen ruined my life.

now wait a minute for me to explain before you think i hate old fashioned love stories. because in all seriousness, i love jane austen. so much in fact that pride and prejudice {the looong one} is one of my all time favorite movies ever. and needless to say, i myself, am in fact, a hopeless {hopeful?} romantic. well, any avid book readers out there? well, boy have i got the book for you! i read "jane austen ruined my life" over the summer...and i loved it! due to my inability to explain the book without making it sound rather dull, i'll just say...read it...and you won't regret it.

and speaking of love and romance...