Y and Z are difficult...#AtoZChallenge

So, we have reached the end of April, and I am relieved, if I am being honest. While I enjoyed the A-to-Z Challenge this month, I am also quite glad that it is over! Towards the end of the month I have definitely struggled (thus having the last two in the same post...again). Not only that, I have not been able to come up with anything other than this title...Y and Z are difficult to come up with topics for. Since I could not think of much, I thought I would just wrap it up by sharing what books I read in April, as this was an April challenge.

Kaleidoscope Me by Hillary K. Grigonis
XoXoXo by Bethany Lopez
Ciao by Bethany Lopez 

TTYL by Bethany Lopez
Strike Out by Cheryl Douglas
Crystal Magic by Madeline Freeman

Jellybean Kisses by Amy Evans
Immortal Sin by Julie Milillo 
Immortal Descent by Julie Milillo 

The Six Days by Anna Carolyn McCormally 
Stained by Ella James
Found in You by K.L. Ruse 

Screaming Divas by Suzanne Kamata 
Streetlights Like Fireworks by David Pandolfe 
Orenda by Ruth Silver

Fragile Line by Brooklyn Skye
This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl
Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt 

Naturals by Tiffany Truitt
Creators by Tiffany Truitt 
Still, At Your Door by Emma Eden Ramos 

A Life, Redefined by Tracy Hewitt Meyer
A Life, Forward by Tracy Hewitt Meyer

Whew! 23 books this month. I was a reading machine, spending pretty much all of my free time reading as much as humanly possible! It is easy to do when the books are so engaging that I just had to know what happened next! I doubt that I will have another month this good (though I do have summers off), but we will see how things go!

Xtra Special Book (See What I Did There?) #AtoZChallenge

So, the librarian at the school I work at and I have a really good relationship. (In fact, I helped her move around some shelves of books today during my conference period as she prepares for the end of the year and having a massive amount of books returned.) On more than one occasion this year (try 5 or 6) she had to have books sent from other schools to ours because we did not have something that I was desperate to read. She seems to know my taste at this point (which is really anything YA, on the older side). Last week, she came into my room and handed me the book This Star Won't Go Out. I was not sure what it was at first, but she explained that John Green was inspired by Esther Earl when he was writing The Fault in Our Stars (a book she knows I love), and this was a book all about her. I really enjoyed it, and it was certainly eXtra special. Keep a look out for a review to hit the blog very soon.

World Building #AtoZChallenge

I'm so frustrated with myself! I was doing so well with this challenge, and then I completely failed this past weekend. The post was supposed to be on Saturday, and then I completely forgot to do it. Then I was going to make it up on Sunday, and then fell asleep before I got around to it. Oops! So, I will be doing two posts tonight in order to catch up and finish on time. I really have enjoyed this challenge, I just wish I had been a bit better at remembering every single day.

One of the big topics of conversation that seems to be popular at the moment with books is the idea of world building. Perhaps I hear it so much since I read so many dystopian books, but I really like this concept. It seems so unbelievable awesome to me how much an author can come up with when they begin developing the world within their story. I love to see what they come up with, and wonder what it would be like if it actually happened at one point or another. I also think it is a very important factor these days; we want to believe in the setting of the books we read.

What about you? Do you think world building is important in books?

Violence in YA Books? #AtoZChallenge

Yesterday during my conference period at work I went to the library in order to try to find a book to read aloud to my students for a few minutes each day these last few weeks of school. My students love to be read to, even if they're in the sixth grade now. As I was looking through the shelves of books with our librarian, the word violence kept coming up. Apparently books with violence can be okay when books sit on shelves in the library, but not okay to read aloud to our students. It seemed a little strange, but maybe it is just me? What do you think? How do you feel about violence in YA books?

Underrated #AtoZChallenge

I love how this A-to-Z Challenge has caused me to think through things I could do for each letter, which then leads me to think about some pretty cool things. While I have kept these posts short (which I think is a good thing as it is sort of a blog hop, and I know not everyone wants to read a novel), I feel like I have found some pretty interesting things to think/write about through this challenge. That makes it more than worth it (though, I must be honest, I'm glad April is coming to an end because I'm struggling to not be lazy and get these posts done every night!). Today, I was thinking about how so many books are so underrated when they should not be. We focus on the big books, the ones being made into movies, but there are so many wonderful books out there that do not get the recognition they deserve.

What books do you think are underrated?

TBR List #AtoZChallenge

Yikes! Look at that to-read list I have going on over at Goodreads. Not only that, but it usually increases every.single.day. I can't help it, though. There are so many great books, and then they are all collected on the website. How could you not have that many on the list? What books are on your TBR list that you can't wait to read?

Synopsis #AtoZChallenge

I don't know about everyone else, but I could spend A LOT of time just reading the synopsis of different books. To me, it is one of the most important things about a book because it causes me to decide if I might be interested in picking up the book, or if it just sounds like a dozen other books that I've already read. For me, the synopsis is what sells the book for me (aside from an amazingly beautiful cover; I have a weakness for those). Even when I go to the bookstore, I will stand there and read book jacket after book jacket to decide what I might want to buy/read.

What about you? Does the synopsis of a book convince you whether or not to read it, or is it something else?

Recommendations #AtoZChallenge

[Can you tell I'm a John Green fan?]

We have reached the lovely letter "R" for the A-to-Z Challenge for April, and honestly I am thrilled with myself for making it this far through! Sure, there have been a couple of days where things have come up, but I have just made them up on the Sundays that were supposed to be "off" days, so I was able to catch up without any problems. I do hope to get through this challenge, and I will be very happy with myself when I complete it! 

For "R" I thought that I would ask for recommendations from my lovely followers/readers! So, what books would you recommend for me to read?

Quiet Place to Read? #AtoZChallenge

Recently, I came across a post on Facebook asking followers where their favorite spot to read was/is. I believe this may have been an author asking (I love when they interact with fans/readers), and I was interested to see the answers. A lot of them required one thing: Quiet. I found it a bit funny, honestly, because I am not one of those people. Sure, I would love to have a reading nook like the ones you find on Pinterest, but silence is not mandatory. In fact, if I only read when it was quiet, I would never find any time to read! No, I am one of those people that can read in almost any environment. I love having the television on for background noise; I don't like when it is too quiet. I have no problem blocking out voices and noises and getting into the story, but I know this is not easy for everyone.

How about you? How/where do you prefer to read?

Open Road Summer #AtoZChallenge

 I had a very long day today. We don't have school tomorrow due to Good Friday, so my students were extra hyped up and awful. Then we had uniform fittings for our cheerleaders next year and that went until 6:30, and I think had to drive an hour home. Needless to say, at this point I am pretty brain dead and cannot come up with anything too creative for the A-to-Z Challenge today. Instead, I decided to share a book I am hoping to get my hands on VERY soon.

Has anyone read Open Road Summer by Emery Lord? What did you think of it?

Noted #AtoZChallenge

One of the first pieces of advice I received when I started my book blog was that I should get Google calendar so I can keep track of all of my blog posts and tours that I might sign up for. Let me tell you, it was definitely a wonderful piece of advice! I'm not sure what I would have possibly done if I did not know about how great Google calendar is. Now, I feel like I am writing notes and lists about everything blog related, and it is very helpful!

Are there any tips/lists you make when it comes to your blog?