Books for 2013

Hello! Today I present to you a list of books I am hoping to read sometimes this year. They are in no particular order; they are listed in the order I remember them in. I'll be editing this list throughout the year as I finish books (which will be marked with an x) or add new books. Wish me luck, and enjoy!

[] Every Day by David Levithan
[] Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
[x] Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

[x] Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 

[] Painting by Numbers by Jasper Fforde

[] Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

[] The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Agnes Long

[] Stardust by Neil Gaiman
[] Coraline by Neil Gaiman

[] The Statistical Improbability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith

[] Trains and Lovers by Alexander McCall Smith

[] The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien 

[] Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt 

[x] When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

[] Ready Player One by Earnest Cline

[] The Help by Kathryn Stockett

[] Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Series by Susanna Clarke 

[] Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

[] Running with Scissors by Augsten Burroughs

[] The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series by Stieg larsson 

[] I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak

[] Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

[] The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

[] The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

[] Jurassic Park by Michael Crighton

[] Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

[] Wicked by Gregory Maguire
[] Kick-Ass (Graphic Novel) by John Romita and Mark Millar
[] Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet (Graphic Novel) by Ian Ediginton
[] Coraline (Graphic Novel) by Neil Gaiman
[] The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

[] The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson
[x] The Night Circus by Erin Morganstien
[x] The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides 

New Years

Hello all! I hope you all had a fantastic New Years Eve/Day. I rang in 2013 wearing a Little Mermaid sweater, being surrounded by fantastic friends, and drinking non-alcoholic grape juice. Also, I almost went into a Doritos coma. Party hard.
All the celebrations last night as well as intense, repetitive Facebook statuses reminded me how I don't really enjoy New Years Eve/Day. It has exciting elements: the idea of a brand new year, brand new you, is appealing to just about everyone. The idea that you can forget all of the mistakes, heartbreak, and worries of the last year because its a brand new age and you are a new person is exciting. But it's not true, not entirely. While this is a great time to start new things, set new goals, and generally try to become a better person, these things can be done any day. Why must we wait until the new year starts to start going to the gym or try a new diet? If you want something bad enough, don't wait for the calender to change to do it. Also, this may just be me, but I don't feel any different once it's January. I am still the stressed out teenager I was yesterday. I don't know, but I just can't get into this new-year spirit.
While I don't make "proper"resolutions, I do try and set goals for myself. I often make lists of different things I want to try or places I want to go throughout the year. So, here is short list of goals/things I want to do this year:

• Complete the 50 New Books Challenge 
• In 2012, I reached 35 books. Hoping to go all the way this year! 
• Here's my Goodreads if anyone wants to recommend books/see the books I read last year.
• Learn the guitar that has been sitting in my room for 6 months
• Visit another country
• The family might be going to Canada over the summer? Hopefully!
• Write on this blog more often, hopefully once a week? 

Well, that's enough for now. I have a mountain of work to do, but I will talk to you all soon!

A Description of Myself, Chaucer-style

Hello blog readers! Long time, no post. I wanted to show you guys a cool little project I did for my Research Writing/English Literature class. We just finished reading the Prologue from The Canterbury Tales and my teacher had us write descriptions of ourselves like Chaucer would. I just finished mine and I hope you enjoy reading it! Have a lovely night x)

Here is the tale of a girl just seventeen, 

Whose favorite color is olive green. 

She has crazy blonde hair and quite pale skin, 

Bright blue eyes, and a wide grin. 

To travel the world is her number one wish, 

Amsterdam, Edinburgh - it would truly be bliss. 

For she loves big cities, to explore them and roam, 

She prays that one day she will call one her home. 

She plays in the Wind Ensemble where they have great fun, 

Though sits in her little section of one. 

Coffee in hand, she loves to write lists 

While listening to the sounds of Stars or the Smiths. 

Books are her love, collecting her game, 

It matters not their editorial fame. 

A Nicholas Sparks book wouldn’t be on her bookcase 

But every other genre will have its own place. 

Biographies, plays, YA, and fiction, 

It is fair to say reading is her addiction. 

Hakuna Matata is one of her favorite phrases, 

Such sayings help her get through life’s many mazes. 

This girl loves to laugh and goof off with her friends. 

But it is probably time that this story ends. 

This poem was written with the power of caffeine, 

From my laptop to you, dear reader, signed Emily Kristine. 

An Open Letter to my Blog. And kind of my stupid brain.

Dear Blog,
I feel like I should apologize for quitting BEDA part of the way through, but, well, I had to focus on my paper. And that paper is now done and turned in and I can finally breathe. I had to focus and get work done. I sort of knew in the back of my mind that I shouldn't do BEDA, because of this big paper, but, of course, my stupidly driven mind wouldn't let me 'not' try. But in the end, I'm Sorry That I'm Not Sorry.
Signed Emily.

Three days, one BEDA post, BAM

I am come to a conclusion. As long as I post content representing every day of April, I don't have to do an actual post every day. With all of the projects and papers I have in the next couple weeks, it's possible mass posts might become a regular thing.

So hello. I hope you had a lovely weekend. Mine was jam-packed, hence the not-posting/writing anything. Here is a list of notable things that happened:

Friday
- School
- Ice cream Fridays (a thing every high schooler needs to survive a long week)
- ACT prep
- Freaked out about failing the ACT
- More ACT prep

Saturday
- Took the ACT
- Drove 3 hours to Michigan
- Ate an ENTIRE Chipotle burrito in ONE SITTING.

I AM THE MASTER COMMANDER (confused? reference from here)

- Went to the sold out Death Cab for Cutie concert, which was awesome! And I got this gorgeous tour shirt

- Stayed up late talking to the lovely girl I was staying with, even though we were both very tired

Sunday
- Ate reallly bad dorm food
- Was locked out of the dorm I was staying in and bummed around campus for an hour*
- Slept the whole ride home then went for a run to feel less lazy
- Started a project that's due Tuesday (I'm on top of things) and stressed out about getting my paper's thesis approved

So that was my weekend, sorry this probably isn't interesting. I'm going to talk about the concert tomorrow because I need sleep. School is going to hit me like a bus tomorrow. Good night loves :)

The Hanging Tree

If you have read Suzanne Colin's Mockingjay, you'll have heard of this song before. From what I remember (my copy is on lone currently), Katniss's father use to sing it in the forest and it is referenced several times through out the book. It's a beautiful song, just like songs from the previous books. Recently, a YouTuber named Lex Croucher posted a video of herself singing the song over some gorgeous shots of a forest. I'm going to post the lyrics and the video below because I can not stop listening to it. Have a lovely evening, see you tomorrow :)

Are you, are you 

Coming to the tree,

Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it seem,

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree. 

Are you, are you 

Coming to the tree,

Where the dead man called out for his love to flee.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it seem,

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree. 

Are you, are you 

Coming to the tree,

Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it seem,

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree. 

Are you, are you 

Coming to the tree,

Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it seem,

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree. 

Sleepy Sherlock Discussion

All I want to do right now is crawl into bed, watch vlogbrothers videos, then sleep for a long time. But no. I am here, ignoring my Beowulf project and talking to you. Feel the love. I will stretch my love even further by talking about my favorite television show: Sherlock.

The show Sherlock is a modern day Sherlock Holmes story and is very accurate to the original Conan Doyle stories. It follows an arrogant yet brilliant Holmes and his flatmate and only friend Dr. Watson who is a retired army doctor(and in this series, also a blogger!). The two live in 221B Baker Street and help the police solve especially difficult cases. This series airs on BBC1 [but I am in America, so I watch it online] and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and Mark Gatiss, who is also a co-writer with Steven Moffat.

There are many unique qualities to this show. First off, each episode is a film: it is an hour and half long covering one story. This not only helps the pacing but also allows the writers to go into detail about each case. The extended length, unfortunately, allows for three episodes per season. The second series finished in January, and the third begins production in 2013.

The first six episodes are as follows:
Series 1
A Study in Pink
The Blind Banker
The Great Game
Series 2
A Scandal in Belgravia
The Hounds of Baskerville
The Reichenbach Fall

Another brilliant thing about this show is the cinematography. The on-screen text, the zooms, and even the angles are gorgeous. It feels so lifelike, as if the viewer is in Sherlock's head and can see everything the way he does. 

Speaking of Holmes, the casting is fantastic. Benedict Cumberbatch is the perfect Sherlock; the way he delivers long speeches, how he can make you love and hate him at the same time, the little ticks Cumberbatch adds creates the character, making you believe him completely. Freeman is a perfect companion as John Watson, meshing perfectly with Cumberbatch, creating the ultimate crime solving duo.

I could talk about this for hoooours, but I am going to stop here, because my motivation to do anything has disappeared. If you have finished both seasons AND ONLY BOTH, definitely watch the video documentary Sherlock: Uncovered. (Link to part 1)

Fading quickly, good night and thanks for reading :)