Feature & Follow Friday (4) | Memes & Features

Welcome to Feature and Follow Friday, a weekly meme hosted by the wonderful bloggers, Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The goal of this blog hop is to gain followers, discover new blogs, and make new friends! 

Congratulations to both bloggers who are featured this week, including Shaunna over at Books Over Bros! She's been blogging for about 6 weeks, and I must admit, her blog is easily one of my favorites. Congrats New Adult twin!

This week's question is:

Have you come up with any special memes or features on your blog that you'd like people to visit more? - Take me away

I was quite the busy girl in February! I came up with 7 features for my blog.

Swoonuary

Click Title To Visit Post.

In lieu of Valentines Day, my blogger bff's and I, came up with the idea to have a huge read along amongst each other, and a blog hop for other bloggers to participate in. It turned out to be such a fun event, that we've decided to do it annually! Shout out to my girls Jenniee, Mal, Blessie & Ang!

Anddd That's Ahhhh Wrap!

Click title to visit post.

Andddd That's Ahhh Wrap is a monthly wrap-up feature that will allow me to showcase what I accomplished or read during the month to my readers.

The fANGIRL Remix

Click title to visit post.

The fANGIRL Remix is a feature I use whenever I'm in a review slump. (a.k.a feeling to lazy to do a full in-depth review) It's also a cool way for me to collectively review a group of titles I've recently read.

Readers Choice

Click the title to visit post.

Readers Choice is a feature where YOU readers are involved. The last week of each month I'll post a poll that'll consist of 6 books. You'll complete the questionnaire by picking which of the 6 titles you would want me to showcase as my BOTM (Book Of The Month). Special thanks to everyone who voted for my March BOTM which is A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schwab!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

The Confession Hour

I created the Confession Hour mainly for discussion posts, but I do have other ideas up my sleeve for this feature. I haven't been able to compose any posts with this just yet, but they're coming soon guys. Promise.

Now I know what you're thinking, " Wait Tika, didn't you say you had 7 features? "

Yes! two of them are still in the works, meaning I haven't had time to design their thumbnails, but don't fret ladies, Tika will have her ass in gear soon enough, and they'll be displayed very, very soon. 

Stay Tuned !

Monarch Madness | MEReadALOT's First Annual Blog Hop!

So I'm lurking on twitter late one night, when I came across Regina 's tweet to join their annual blog hop. After reading what the instructions entailed, and finding out that the theme was " Royalty ", I was pretty damn excited. I'm in the mood for some royal reads, so I thought why not? 

Monarch Madness is a blog hop that will take place from March 16th - 31st. Each participant is required to add their name to the linky found here, and guess what? Everyone who joins will be hosting their own giveaway! The instructions specify that the giveaway can be of the book you're reading/reviewing for March Madness, or any book of your choosing, as long as it matches the theme. Do you have to offer a physical copy in your giveaway? Of course not! Add an E-book, or Gift Card, it's pretty much up to you! Remember Monarch Madness will run the last two weeks of March, and all participants can post their MM post on whatever day during this time period. 

Want to know what I'll be reading for Monarch Madness ?

That cover ! *Squeals *

Thank you so much to Regina for sending me a finished copy of The Ring & The Crown by Melissa De La Cruz for review! My official Monarch Madness post will be covering this beauty, so make sure you guys stay tuned!

I'm also excited to be giving away an E-ARC copy of . . . 

Hehehe, I'm quite evil aren't I?

Liebster Awards | 2015 Edition

* Catches rose thrown on stage * Thank you everyone, you are all far to kind.

So I've done quite a few Liebster Award posts in the past, especially around the time I first started blogging. A couple of months ago, I really avoided doing these awards, mainly because I had already answered majority of the questions being asked, which kind of threw me into a huge tag slump. Since I've been tagged twice for this award by two amazing bloggers, I figured why not? I have a better following now, and this would be a great way for my new readers to get to know a little about me.

Special thanks to sweet Bee, (yes I gave her a nickname) over at Bee Reads, and the extraordinary Simona over at Sky's Book Corner for the tag! Thank you so much for being so patient ladies, everyone knows I'm shitty at this lol.  

I'm sure you guys know the rules, so let's get this poppinggg!

Bee's Questions

What is your favorite book?

This is definitely a hard question picking just one, but I'm going to go with mt favorite at the moment:

I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Favorite Blog?

I follow so many blogs that I love, it would be impossible to choose just one, so I'll say mine to be safe lol

Favorite Author?

I hardly ever talk about this author but I absolutely love his work -- Patrick Ness!

Do you have any pets?

I used to own a Shih-Poo named Chu-Chu. I talked about her in my Feature & Follow Friday Post.

Who is your favorite Disney character?

Umm. I don't really have one. But I'll go with Jasmine from Aladdin, I always liked her.

Any other hobbies other than blogging?

I'm really into interior designing. Whenever my friends or someone who knows me wants to do a re-design of a room in their house, I'm usually the person they call. Other than that, nothing really. I consider eating a hobby. It takes alot of skill to put away as much food as I do lol.

What country do you live in?

United States baby! Born & raised in Washington, DC, residing in Maryland.

Salty foods or Sweet?

Mmmm, I like both actually. Like I love kettle popcorn that's sweet lol. Oh & I really like caramel popcorn that has the salted peanuts stuck to it! & Hersey chocolate with freaking almonds!

What are you goals for your blog?

I just want to be a great blogger. I feel so proud of myself when people say, "Hey, I look up to you, or your blog is one of my favorites. " My main goal was to connect with other readers and bloggers, and I've accomplished that in so many ways. It's only up from here ya know?

What was the last book you read?

The Tragic Age by Stephen Metcalfe. Review coming soon!

Who inspires you?

My mom! She's been through alot in life, but she's incredibly strong! I can only hope that I'm half the mother she is when I'm older.

Simona's Questions

List 5 things you want to do before the year ends.

1. Attend a bookish event. I so want to go to YallFest this year in November!

2. I want to travel more. First stop, my 3rd trip to New York.

3. Have a meet up with all my bookish friends.
4. Purchase a PS4. This should be at the top of my list really lol.
5. I sooooo, just drew a blank lol.

None of the things I want to do this year are super important wth lol.

What do you value most in a friend?

Hands down Loyalty and Honesty. I can't stand a snake or a liar. & a bad liar at that!

List atleast two things you like about yourself.

1. I'm super outgoing. I was told that because of this, I have a great ability to bring the best out of people.

2. My perseverance. I'm one of those people that when I get knocked down, or when a door is closed in my face, I stop at nothing to get myself back up. Us Leo's are fighters honey!

Where would you like to travel?

I've been wanting to go to New Orleans for sooo long. It's always been a dream of mine to visit Paris as well.

What fictional character reminds you most of yourself?

Hysan Dax from Zodiac. We just shut shit down when we come through, you know what I'm saying? lol

What was your favorite tv show as a kid?

Ah man, where do I begin?

Sailor Moon, Recess, Arthur, Dragon Ball Z, My So Called Life, Degrassi, Captain Planet, Are You Afraid Of The Dark, Doug, Hey Arnold, Ed-Ed&Eddy, Power Rangers, Gargoyles, Magic School Bus, The Big Comfy Couch, All That, SMACKDOWN . . . 

I got so carried away with that question. Those are just a few that came to mind lol.

What is the first thing you'd do if you were the opposite sex for a day?

Ummm, I have NO CLUE!! I would probably just be standing there in utter shock, staring at my new penis or something. Hopefully it'll be a nice size. Nobody wants a small penis ya know.

If you had to get a tattoo on your face to save your life, what would it be?

OMG NOOOOO! Okay, I love tattoos but on the face ?!! 

This is easy though, I'd get the famous lightning bolt so I can match my ex boo Harry. I'll get it super small so it won't be completely noticeable lol.

What is something you find romantic?

Food. Give me food, I'll love you for life. I'm not very hard to please lol.

Do you focus more on the past, present, or future?

I focus on both the present and future. 

How many languages can you speak?

Two. 

English and the rare language of Ratchet. I'm very fluent in Ratchet. 

A book you can read over & over again.

I actually don't like re-reading books, but if I had to choose one, it'll be Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. 

So that wraps up my Liebster Award Tag! Thanks again to both Simona & Bee for the nomination  

The Mason List by S.D Hendrickson | Review

The Mason List | S.D Hendrickson
Pages: 448
Genre(s): Young Adult, New Adult, Contemporary
Published: January 10, 2014 | Self Published
Format: E-Copy
Source: Purchased | Amazon
Rating:

An epic love. An epic hate. An epic story that would last a lifetime.

Today, 8:15 p.m.
I hurt. I hurt so deeply, I felt the pain searing in my bones and jabbing like a hot poker into my heart. I knew nothing would make it better as the memories pulled from the crevices of my mind, detailing the bad and the ugly, filling my thoughts with regret as I slipped into the darkness. . .

When I was eight, my mother was dying of cancer, my father lost his job, and the bank kicked us out of our house. I was forced to move to the strange town of Arlis, Texas where my father and I slept in our car in the hospital parking lot. Desperate and hopeless, we lived on fumes of our former life.

Then one night, everything changed forever. A knock on the car window brought a family into my life that I only wanted to shut out. I hated charity and I hated the Masons. Well, except one. He made it impossible to hate him.

Jess Mason had the biggest blue eyes and ornery smile of any boy I had ever seen. He was a ray of sunshine in my dark world. A boy full of adventure, dragging me across the meadow of Sprayberry Ranch; a beautiful Texas paradise full of horses and tree houses that got us into more trouble than anyone ever imagined.

Jess was my everything as a kid until we grew up and the rules changed. Instead of living happily ever after with a boy full of love. . . I destroyed it.
- Alex Tanner

I'm a HUGE FAN of contemporaries, so when I hop on Goodreads and see books whether they're Young or New Adult with a 4.00 or more rating, I always feel this magnetic pull that pushes me to make the purchase(s).  The only problem I have with being what I call a " Contemporary Connoisseur "  is that you always have such high expectations for the books you find with such great ratings, and The Mason List was no exception. The good news is -- it exceeded my expectations, but there was one thing I couldn't get over that kept me from giving TML the 5 stars it most definitely deserves.

Ready for the breakdown?

You're my past, my present, & my future . . . 

What caught my attention and inspired me to pick this up, was that The Mason List crosses not one, but two genres. We kick the story off with 6 year old Alexandra Tanner, and from there we venture on an emotionally charged rollercoaster of two friends, which doesn't end until they're 26. That may seem like a very long time, but it happened to be one of my favorite aspects of this story. We really were able to witness a genuine friendship, relationship, or whatever you choose to label it, from the very beginning -- the hospital visit that saved Alex's life.

Miracle Workers

It was hard to grasp how much our lives had changed in a year. 

At the tender age of 8, Alex was delivered some harsh news . . . her mother was diagnosed with cancer. From there the next couple of months go by in a blur, and before you know it, Alex's dad loses his job, get's evicted from the hotel they move into in a different town, and are forced to live and sleep inside their family truck . . . in the parking lot of the hospital where her mom is being treated.

Truly heartbreaking . . . but the sun can always shine, even on your darkest days . . .

After being pretty much homeless, and losing everything they've ever had including Alex's mother, The Tanners are offered what I call a Miracle. Mr.Mason, (the doctor of Alex's mother) his wife, and son, are probably one of the richest families in town. They own a farm called Sprayberry, with ton of barnyard animals, and enough oil to cover half of the united states. After taking notice to the Tanners situation, they ask them to move into a small cottage located on their farm. Alex's dad is given a job at the local hardware store, and Alex is given a roof over her head, clothes on her back, (expensive clothes i'm sure) as well as food to fill that malnourished tummy of hers. Life should be all good right? Hmph, not to Alex.

* Rolls Eyes *

Alex has an ass whooping with her name written all over it

Don't worry about why they were our miracle. You need to just be thankful they were the miracle and not be angry. Your mother wouldn't like to see you this way.

Well, I guess it's good she's dead.

* Insert exasperated sigh here *

For most of this book, you're not going to like Alexandra Tanner. She was an ungrateful bitch -- YEAH I SAID IT, and a complete ass towards her father. This man lost his livelihood, his wife, and you're going to act like he's being a pussy towards the situation? Yeah, so not cool. From the moment the Mason's lent a helping hand, Alex hated them. The Tanners were pretty much set for life because of them, and instead of being grateful, appreciative, or even freaking HAPPY, she reacted in a way that would have resulted in me getting my ass whooped back in the day. I found it so hard to forgive her actions, I mean I completely understand that she was a prideful little girl, who didn't want to be the butt-of-the-joke in the town, or a charity case for the Masons, it still didn't excuse her behavior. But for Alex there was one good thing about living on Sprayberry . . .

Jessup Mason.

A heart of gold . . . give this man a trophy  

Jessup Mason was perfection. He was cute, funny, sweet -- everything you would want in a good ole' country boy. He was a breath of fresh air, especially in those moments when Alex was a bit unbearable, but I will say he definitely bought out the best in her. From the very first time he met her, Jess treated Alex like a friend. During the rough times in the hospital when her mom was dying, Jess allowed her to forget her surroundings -- even for just a few moments, and she was finally able to live as the child she was supposed to be.

Another aspect of this story that I absolutely adored, was their friendship. It was such a pleasure to read, especially when they were younger. As kids, they never failed to land themselves in a heap of trouble. The mischief between these two were both hilarious & scary, as you witness treehouses being burnt down, trucks be crashed, and countless trips to the hospital for an accident. * sigh * They were just so freaking cute.

As the years passed by, feelings were formed, and things got a bit -- well completely complicated. Jess wanted Alex, I mean you could clearly tell he deeply cared for this girl, but being the irritating person that she was, she pushed him away time after time.

I love you, and you're choosing to not love me back. That hurts pretty damn bad.

I'm sure you can now see my frustrations with this book.

Train Wreck

As I mentioned before, this book is nothing more than an emotional rollercoaster. Just when things are going smooth, and you finally think it's going to go your way, something happens that knocks you completely off track. You know the saying, " We take 1 step forward & 100 steps back. " Yup, that's pretty much this book in a nutshell. I'm sure with my dislike for Alex during the early stages of this story is quite off-putting to you readers, but I definitely don't want that to keep you from picking this up.

 At exactly 95%, The Mason List takes a 360 turn that knocked me off my feet, and shattered my heart into pieces. Alex had finally become the genuine, appreciative, loving person I wanted her to be, but her world gets turned upside down once again. She grew into such a spectacular person, especially with her giving back to the community by helping those who are in the position she once was in, and I most certainly commend her for that. 

Alex will make you strangle her, Jessup will steal your heart, and this touching story of love, friendship, family, grief, and faith, will keep you on edge until you're ride has finally come to an end. 

Closing my eyes, I clutch his warm fingers and whisper in the darkness, asking for the impossible.

I ask for a miracle. 

Buckle up people. 

The Friday 56 (3) The Tragic Age

Hey guys! Welcome back to another installment of The Friday 56! This meme is hosted by Freda's Voice, and it consists of the following rules:

1. Grab a book, any book.

     2. Turn to page 56, or 56% in your e-reader. (If you have to improvise, that's okay.)

     3. Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you. Post it.

     4. Add your URL (post) below in the Linky (on her blog). Add the post URL, not your blog's. 

I'm Currently Reading

The Tragic Age | Stephen Metcalfe

" Okay dude it's like this. My folks are messed up, okay? They're fucking derelicts. The only reason they stay together is because nobody else would have them. Living with relatives is pretty much all I do. Okay? "

This book is right up my alley! I've laughed out loud several times already, with only being about halfway through. I'm definitely going to love this book. 

Feature & Follow Friday (3) | Furry Friends!

Welcome to Feature and Follow Friday, a weekly meme hosted by the wonderful bloggers, Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The goal of this blog hop is to gain followers, discover new blogs, and make new friends! 

First of all, I want to give my boo Blessie from Mischievous Reads a big shout out for being the featured blogger of the week! Congratulations girl!

This week's question is:

Do you have any furry friends? Share a picture!

Meet Chu-Chu 

(I didn't name her okay bare with me lol)

Unfortunately I no longer have my beloved Shih-Poo 

So basically when we moved from Washington DC to a townhouse complex in Maryland, we were told that the area wasn't pet-friendly. We thought it was weird, being that on our first visit to the neighborhood, we seen people outside walking dogs, and had even seen cats sunbathing in the driveways, but we took that has a sign that maybe some homeowners had been there for many years, and wasn't about to let new management tell them they couldn't keep their pets. So we made the tough decision to leave our puppy behind with a trusted friend back in the city. To make a long story short, after moving in and being there for almost a year, we learned that we COULD have pets, but we would had to pay a ridiculously pricey pet deposit. We passed on the offer, mainly because Chu-Chu had became a " hood " dog who was no longer house broken, but roamed the streets of DC, attacking children, and just being all types of wild. I was a bit upset because we raised Chu-Chu a certain type of way, (friendly and as an "in-house puppy) only to have our trusted friend, turn her into an evil little thing. Whenever I'm in the city I do visit her, but it's so sad to see my innocent little baby as the dog she is now.

So anyway, I do plan on getting another furry animal, especially for my son to call his own.

Readers Choice : March BOTM

Just last week I asked my readers, a.k.a The Confessionites to take a poll to help determine which of the 6 titles would be my BOTM for March. First of all, thank you to everyone that participated! I had no clue so many of you would take the time out of your day to vote, (even though it did only take about 2.5 seconds to do so) and even though I'm not surprised to see what book won, I was shocked by how close the battle was. 

So without further ado, the book you all chose to be my BOTM for March is . . .

Drum Roll Please . . .

AHHHH, I'm so excitedddd! If you didn't get a chance to take the poll, here are the other titles that were listed:

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

During the last week of March, I'll be posting another poll for my Confessionites to vote for my BOTM for April! I'm going to switch things up this time around, and choose a theme for each month. For April the theme will be:

 All Things Crazy 

Stay tuned for 6 more awesome but crazy psychological thriller, mystery, or horror titles I will have listed !

Anddddd That's Ahhhhh Wrap! | February Edition.

Andddd That's Ahhhh Wrap! February Edition

Unnecessary book hauls + New blog features x 6 books read - Review slumps = Lazy Productiveness. 

Swoonuary

Click the title to check out the post!

I kicked off this month the right way with the Valentine's Day special, Swoonuary, an event created by my blogger bffs and I to celebrate the holiday with all of our book nerd friends! There were more participants than we expected, and I want to thank all the wonderful ladies that joined us! 

The fANGIRL Remix

Click the title to check out the post!

The fANGIRL Remix was the best thing I could have thought of. I fell into what we call a review slump this month, and found myself behind on a ton of posts. So one day I got my lazy butt up and made a feature that would allow me to briefly review books collectively. I added a cute thumbnail, threw in some musical notes to not only match the theme but to serve as a rating system, and BOW The fANGIRL Remix was done in under 15 mins! Talk about convenient! I also created a feature called The Confession Hour, so stayed tuned for that upcoming post!

Here's the books I reviewed for this feature:

Bad Romeo by Leisa Rayven

Never Never by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher
Find Me I'm Yours by Hillary Carlip
Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Favorite Book Of The Month

Click title to read review.

I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios  

I will constantly talk about this book because I'm in love with it, and I want EVERYONE TO LOVE IT TO OKAY! 

Breaking my pockets . . . one month at a time

I was going to link all these books back to Goodreads but they're 16 books in total, and yeah . . . I got lazy lol.

So that is the end of my February Wrap up! What bookish things did you accomplish this month?