Teach Me To Forget by Erica M. Chapman

Ellerly is passed being depressed, she's ready for it all to be over. The date is planned down to the minute. In her closet sits the gun accompanied by the one bullet she will need. She has savings set aside for her mother to help with afterward, including hiring a cleaning crew to come the next morning. What she didn't plan for was the gun not working. 

This isn't just some suicide story. Yes, Ellerly wants to die, and even tries it more then once. But when she's returning the broken gun, a guy from school recognizes her and her distress, tries to stop her from getting a new gun. She doesn't know him but he refuses to leave him alone I thought that this books was well written and the parts of the story I do find relatable (and I promise, it's not the suicidal parts

I honestly don't know who to recommend this book to. It's a hard book to recommend. It covers a tough topic. If you are interested in books that cover sad, tough topics like suicide and depression then you might be interested in this book. 

Books this one reminded me of:
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
To Catch A Killer Sheryl Scarborough

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Wake by Amanda Hocking

Gemma is about to into her junior year of high school and is working towards her goal of becoming an Olympic swimmer. Gemma's life is going great! She's dating an amazing guy, the boy-next-door, named Alex. Her swimming time keeps getting better and she's all around happy. In Gemma's town, summer has started and tourist season has begun. There are three mysterious but gorgeous girls are in town visiting and they give Gemma the creeps. These girls, Penn, Lexi, and Thea make Gemma nervous especially when they approach her. When the missing teenage boys are found in the woods completely ripped apart, Gemma starts to worry. It seems that Penn, Lexi andThea may look normal but Gemma quickly finds out that they're far from it.

This book was good. It moved painfully slow at times but that's the way first books in a series tend to go. Gemma and Harper are so close and their dynamic, in my opinion, is what makes this book especially good. In a few of the Goodreads reviews it is mentioned that they're not a fan of Gemma, the main character. They say she isn't too bright and is mostly bland. I don't totally agree with this opinion but I can sort of see where they're coming from. They also say that the story moves too slow. I agree with that, as I said before, it does move slowly but in my opinion it needed to. I think that the pace was necessary for you to know the information to make the story work. There were many other reviews, some good some bad as you can guess, but none of them are worth arguing.

I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys mythical sea creature books. This book has mermaids, adventure, some suspense, and even romance. 

Books this reminded me of:
-Siren by Kiera Cass
-Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
-The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kesler

Check it out!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Yes, I finally started reading Harry Potter series. I know this is book two but I didn't like book one, I couldn't finish it. It was too much like the movie which I've seen so many times. Although I didn't read it I was impressed with it's similarity in the part I did read.

I honestly feel like I don't need to explain what this book is about. There is so much hype around this wizarding world that if you haven't heard of Harry Potter then you've mastered a skill I wish I could have. In this book, Harry and his friends find out about a secret chamber created by one of the founders of Hogwarts that supposedly contains a beast so vicious it was impossible to defeat. This chamber can only be open by an heir of Slytherin, and no one knows who that is. Harry is worried that something bad is going to happen and knows he needs to try to stop it. 

Clearly there are many many reviews of this book, most of them being positive. I want to talk about the negative ones I've found. Most of them are just magic haters, don't really get into the magic 'thing', or it wasn't adult enough for them. All valid reasons. Others trash J.K. Rowling's writing and the way she goes about writing the book. I disagree but okay. Then there are the people who start to get too personal. They hate the characters, one specifically stated that she felt Harry shouldn't even be in the book at all and that he is so dull and predictable that it made the whole series "fall flat" in her mind. Wait what? 

I personally loved this book, but I can see how it may not be for everyone. So far I am in love with the characters and I can't wait to keep reading these books! If you're into magic, and fantasy you'll love these books. I especially recommend these books to middle schoolers. Being in high school and reading many different reading levels I can see that this book/parts I've read so far is definitely catered to younger kids in the difficulty levels. That being said, I know many adults who have loved it and have claimed that it made them feel like a kid again. So who really knows. 

The last thing I want to say is: don't let the coverage and media around this series decide whether you read them or not.

Books like this:
I'm not going to do this. I have honestly never read or heard of anything like this.

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Me & Earl & the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Greg has managed to make it to his senior year in high school completely invisible. He has one friend and that's Earl. Earl and Greg make movies together that nobody is ever allowed to see. Everything is fine until one day Greg finds out that his childhood friend, Rachel, is dying of cancer. Greg's mother forces him to hang out with her and cheer her up. Eventually Rachel decides to stop treatment and let things run it's corse. This is when Earl and Greg decide to make her a movie. This movie brings Greg out of his veil of invisibility and into the spotlight, and the movie isn't even good.

This book is told by Greg and he constantly talks about how he hates writing it. Greg's voice is relaxed and nonchalant. He goes back and forth from him telling the story to the story being told in script form. Many people, myself included thought that this book was absolutely hilarious. Which is true! Greg is a typical teenage boy out of touch with his emotions and at times obliviously in denial, but that's what makes this book so good! 

I recommend this book to people who liked The Fault in Our Stars but could have done without the romance. What Earl and Greg do for Rachel is sweet but there's nothing romantic about it. Every time you expect something romantic to happen it doesn't. The story is great and funny, but don't expect it to be romantic at all. It's a perfect read for non-romance lovers and I'd say from ages 13 and up.


Books like this:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green- but with less romance
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider- the main characters have a similar voice and view

Check it out!

There's also a movie but I haven't seen it so I can't compare the two...

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Franny Banks is an actress living in New York City but she has a deadline. If she doesn't get a good acting job by the time her self-set three-year deadline then she has to go back home. It's getting really close and she's starting to get nervous. She lives with her best friend from college, Jane, and a sci-fi writer, Dan. Dan has feelings for Franny but she has no idea. Her agent isn't return her calls, her dad wants her to come home, and her new friend Penelope turns out to be her competition. 

This book was written very well. Lauren Graham includes pages of weekly schedules and it is filled with her witty charm. It wasn't a love story, it wasn't too exciting but it was still overall enjoyable. I feel like it's really delved into what the acting world can be like. The people that didn't like the book are people who don't really like Lauren Grahm. They couldn't get into the book because her voice bugged them. I totally can see that. This book definitely appealed to me more because of her. I love her and have always looked up to her.

So, I recommend this book to fans of Lauren Grahm and people that like books about the acting world (fiction style of course). Someday, Someday, Maybe really touches on that lifestyle, and it's coming from a true actress who probably has some true experience. If you like Lauren Graham I can almost guarantee that you'll like this book.

Other books like this:
Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess
My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi

Check it out!

Creative Writing: From Think to Ink by Simeon Lindstrom

This is officially the 100th post I've made :) I'm not going to lie, I'm super impressed with myself. I have never successfully kept a blog for more than a few weeks before and now I'm at post 100 and it's almost been a year!

This book is a great assistant when writing. I used it a lot throughout my writing process and it's very helpful. This book is filled with tips and truths about how writing can be. It is written in a way that is easy to read and understand. This author writes in a way that is funny and witty, it had a lot of information about writing, writer's block, and other ways to keep your writing moving. 

I really enjoyed this book. Reviews on it are very mixed, some loved it and some think that it's crap. The people who loved it talk about how it's not packed with too much information and is a good quick read. Ones who don't talk about the same thing but negatively. They expected more and disliked it's lack of fine detail. For me, this book was helpful as a beginner writer, it didn't have too much info but helped me out. I can see how more experienced writers might not enjoy this book.

I recommend this book to any beginner creative writers. It has simple tips and tricks that can help with confidence and getting your writing down on the paper. It's also an enjoyable read for anyone interested in writing. 

I don't know many books like this, and apparently, neither does Goodreads haha!

Check it out.