by Laura Beth

Commentary #44: My Life as a PBS Kid

Image Credit: quotesgram.com

As a child, my parents didn’t pay for cable TV.

They still don’t have it.

Image Credit: HD Guru

So, my main source of entertainment, in terms of television, was PBS.

Image Credit: pbskids.org

There are so many shows that came to mind when I was creating this post. I wanted to share a few of them with you, and how these shows have impacted my life.

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Arthur (1996-present)

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

I read the Arthur books in school and from the library. Reading Rainbow featured one of the books as well. When the show premiered in September 1996, I watched it every day, like clockwork. In the beginning, it was on after school, paired with Wishbone.

Many of these shows have found new life on YouTube and other streaming services (Netflix, etc.) It’s exciting to be able to watch them again.

It’s interesting to watch some of these shows as an adult. With Arthur, I learned about friendship, families, school, reading, and being a kid.

This is one of the few shows for kids that has explored tougher / more adult topics as well – Divorce, bullies, lying, cancer, and even a touch of religion since Francine’s family is Jewish.

—

Barney & Friends (1992-2009)

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

I almost hate to admit it, but I loved the purple dinosaur and all his friends when I was little. There’s a picture of me on the porch of my parents’ house dressed as Barney for one Halloween – It must have been 1992 or 1993.

However, thinking back, the show taught me a lot of good things – Friendship, sharing, kindness, helping others, and so on.

Will you find me showing it to my kids? Not likely. It didn’t take long for the voices, and especially the songs, to get very annoying and corny!

—

Ghostwriter (1992-1995)

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

When I was old enough to watch Ghostwriter, it was in its later seasons. However, I loved the show. It’s set in New York (Brooklyn, specifically), and I loved seeing the team work together to solve the mystery at hand. I remember finding an old composition notebook and creating my own “casebook” to follow along with the show.

This show made me want to put together my own group of friends to solve cases. It also teaches about reading, writing, friendship, family, struggles in middle school, and diversity. I loved that every member of the team was an individual, but they also worked as an awesome team.

The entire series is on YouTube, and I find myself re-watching it once or twice a year. I’ve also dreamed up a little bit of fan fiction from time to time.

—

Reading Rainbow (1983-2006)

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

Reading Rainbow has always been one of my favorites. I’ve always loved LeVar Burton’s personality, and I figured out pretty quickly that he played Geordi on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

I’ve always loved reading, and this show made want to read all of the books that were featured – The books that were the centerpieces of the show, and the books that the kids profiled at the end. I wanted to be one of those kids!

I still remember the Russell Memorial Library having special Reading Rainbow stickers on the book covers. The show was funny, entertaining, and showed how reading show literally show you the world.

I haven’t found many full episodes by way of YouTube, but Netflix has the first full season. I hope they’ll add more!

—

Sesame Street (1969-present, now partnered with HBO)

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

Sesame Street has been my long-standing favorite show. Big Bird was my favorite when I was younger. I even had three stuffed versions of him – A small, a medium, and a large that talked with a pull string.

Seeing a mix of new and classic episodes, songs, and shorts on YouTube, it’s fascinating to see how this show has stood the test of time. There was a lot of flack last year when the partnership with HBO was announced. Initially, I didn’t agree with it. But, having researched it, I see why PBS did what they did. I’m still not 100 percent okay with it, but I see the strategy behind it.

This show has so many life lessons mixed in with shapes, colors, and counting. I learned about friendship, family, helping others, good manners, patience, problem solving, and more.

Though not a major character on Sesame Street, Kermit the Frog has been my new favorite Muppet for a while now. Big Bird is a very close second. Cookie Monster, Grover, and Telly round out my top five.

There’s even a fun spin-off series on YouTube called The Furchester Hotel that takes Elmo and Cookie Monster across the pond! It’s adorable and I think it’s great.

—

Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? (1996-1997)

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

I had almost all of the computer games, and I remember eagerly watching the kids travel through time to catch Carmen. I found myself applying some of the history I learned from the show in middle school, high school, and even college!

In college, I was so excited to discover that most of the Time episodes, and almost all of the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? episodes (1991-1995) are in full on YouTube.

It’s amazing how I subtly learned geography and history with these two shows. I remember watching more of Time than World, since World was ending around the same time as Ghostwriter. Like Arthur, Wishbone, and ZOOM, this one was a daily after-school show for me if I was able to.

I dreamed of being a contestant, but I was too young to try out, and it ended before I turned 10. I loved the concept. Recently, I found myself dreaming up some fan fiction about both shows, so I may put those on paper here soon.

Re-watching a lot of the episodes as an adult, I’ve learned a few new things. It’s been awesome to keep learning after all these years. World just celebrated its 25th anniversary!

Plus, I’ve marveled at how crazy the 1990s were – That multi-media computer system!

—

Wishbone (1995-1998)

Image Credit: sidereel.com

This is another show that focused on reading, but it has an adorable Jack Russell terrier that dresses up as the characters and takes you through the book! Awesome!

I wanted to be Samantha, and have best friends like Joe and David. I even wrote an extensive fiction work for my first-ever creative writing class in college that was basically extended fan fiction of these characters, after the show ended and they started high school.

Like some of the other shows mentioned, the entire series is on YouTube, and I’ve loved re-watching them over the last few years.

—

ZOOM (1999-2005)

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

This was such a cool show. I was a super-fan for the longest time. I even printed everyone’s photos from their website and made my own posters. Yeah, I was that kid.

I loved that it had real kids doing awesome things. I remember making a lot of the crafts, and some of the food. I didn’t have a big group of friends to play a lot of the games, but it was fun to think about.

Some of the seasons are on YouTube, but not all. I’ve found parts and pieces of the first three seasons, and I hope that all of them will eventually be posted. It’s been fun to travel down memory lane!

This was another show that I really wanted to audition for, but then my mom helped me realize that Boston was a long way away from Chesapeake. That was a big bummer!

Regardless, I loved this show. It ended when I was a junior in high school, but I still watched it religiously. I didn’t tell many of my friends, but I still thought it was cool.

That’s all I have! This was such a fun post.

Did you watch PBS?

Did you watch any of these shows?

Do you have any favorite memories of these shows?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

10.01.16

by Laura Beth

Commentary #43: Thoughts On “Making A Murderer”

Image Credit: elitedaily.com

Holy wow.

It took a long time, but over the course of a Friday night in September and most of today, I was able to plow through all 10 addicting, spellbinding episodes of Netflix’s hit documentary, “Making A Murderer.”

When it was released in December 2015, I remember being intrigued from the get-go. It sounded like a fascinating story.

Fascinating, well, is just one word.

The story of Steven Avery, intertwined with the stories of Teresa Halbach and Brendan Dassey, takes you deep into the community of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, bordering Lake Michigan.

With this post, I’ll try to summarize the entangled network of the cases, the intrigue, the mystery, and the questions.

—

The Averys are a family that have never been liked or been highly regarded by local law enforcement. They run a huge salvage yard in the county that spans for acres and acres.

Steven was the most well-known of the family to the police. As a teenager, he was charged with a few petty crimes – Burglary, petty theft, and cruelty to animals.

In 1985, Steven was arrested for the sexual assault of a woman. Despite his insistence of his innocence, he was convicted, and sent to prison for 32 years.

In 2003, Steven was exonerated after 18 years. He was released from prison, thanks to help from the Innocence Project. Their tireless work was amazing to see.

Steven was arrested again, in 2005, and charged with the murder of Teresa Halbach. Teresa was a photographer for Auto Trader magazine, and was at the Avery’s salvage yard to take photos of a minivan that Steven wanted to sell. After that, Teresa disappeared.

The sheriff’s department and volunteers find Teresa’s Toyota RAV-4 on the Avery property. Blood is found in the vehicle. Areas of the property are excavated to discover burned bones, all fragments. The key to Teresa’s vehicle is found in Steven’s bedroom.

After Steven’s arrest, he claimed officials framed him, since he had filed a $36 million civil lawsuit against the county and several county officials after his exoneration. In 2005, it was still pending.

As the case heads toward trial, there are accusations of evidence tampering, and significant conflict of interest with the county investigating the case.

—

Simultaneously, Steven’s nephew, Brendan, was accused of being an accessory to Teresa’s alleged sexual assault and murder on the Avery property. He was sixteen at the time. He was known to have lower cognitive function, being enrolled in some special education classes in school and reading on a fourth-grade level.

Two investigators interview Brendan multiple times, even going to his high school to talk to him during school hours. Even though he was a minor at the time, his mother was never present for any of the interviews.

In the videotapes, it appears that Brendan is being coerced into eventually confessing to his involvement. The investigators appear to ask questions that force Brendan to admit his involvement in raping Teresa and witnessing his uncle Steven murdering her. On tape, he appears to admit that he helped stab her with a knife, and then the police indicate that Teresa was also shot.

However, Brendan later writes out a full timeline of the day in question. According to the written statement, Brendan came home from school, played video games, and ate dinner. In his own words, he states that he did not go over to his uncle Steve’s house, at all.

—

As the episodes flow, almost seamlessly, we see the roads up to their trials.

I won’t reveal the outcomes of their trials here, but I will say that the results were not what I expected.

It was fascinating to see both trials play out in a series of one-hour episodes. It was addicting. It was gut-wrenching. It was difficult to hear the account of what this man and this teenager allegedly did to this young woman, over and over.

Seeing the media coverage and their involvement made me realize how tough that work ethic is. The press conferences appeared to never end. The blending of the lawyers and attorneys for both sides was almost intoxicating.

Personally, I thought the filmmakers did an excellent job of showcasing both the prosecution and the defense. It was amazing to see all the work and research and presentations that were put into Steven’s and Brendan’s trials.

As a paralegal student, I was excited to see the potential work that I could be doing unfolding in front of my eyes. Besides excited, I felt a mix of emotions – Preparing for a trial, any trial, is complicated and stressful. The work that I will do one day can literally make or break a case for the client.

—

Overall, this series grabbed me by the collar and never let go. I wanted to marathon it all at once. Once the end credits started rolling, I wanted to click “Next” and not stop.

I feel terrible that the Averys were targeted by county officials for years. It appears that Steven always had a target on his back. He was wrongfully imprisoned for 18 long years. He, unfortunately, was not innocent until proven guilty.

However, with that said, the twists and turns of this series has left me unsettled.

Is there still justice in this world?

Is anyone still innocent until proven guilty?

Do we need to pay closer attention to law enforcement in terms of conflict of interest, bias, evidence tampering, and so on?

—

I feel it’s worth mentioning here that Steven and Brendan are, and Teresa was, white. Almost all of the main players / characters involved in this story are white. While watching, I wondered if it would have been a different story if a different race, or races, was involved in these cases. I say all of this carefully, considering the hotbed of emotions that has surrounded race relations and police involvement.

—

As stated in the series, we may never know what truly happened to Teresa Halbach.

However, the stories of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey continue.

In July, Netflix announced that a second season was being produced.

As recently as August 12, new developments in one of their cases have made national news.

It was another twist in a long, winding road that’s lasted over 10 years now.

I’m eagerly looking forward to what Netflix releases as the second season. I’m also watching the news more closely these days, interested in any shred of information on the case in question.

This series was a different, addicting spin on a true-crime story that spans multiple families, law enforcement agencies, and zeroes in on a small Wisconsin community. Like much of the nation, I’m on the edge of my seat now, where I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

10.01.16

by Laura Beth

Getting Personal #38: October Goals

Image Credit: quotesaddicts.com

Here are my goals for the month of October!

Prep the house for our first overnight visitor!
Donate blood!
Plan our Halloween costumes!
Decorate the house for fall!
Clean up the clutter and plan my office space!
Recap my 44 for Bill Movement participation.
Celebrate birthdays – Mom’s and Mia’s!
Read at least two books on my 2016 Reading Challenge list, and publish those book reviews.
Join the Portsmouth Public Library.
Read through Megan’s cookbook, and try at least two of her recipes!
Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals.
Get ahead with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments.
Get excited for our wedding anniversary getaway!

Here’s the breakdown:

Prep the house for our first overnight visitor!

Right now, the plan is for one of our good friends to come visit our house during the weekend of October 14th. I’m so excited!

Donate blood!

As this post goes live, I’m at church volunteering at the blood drive. It’s easy to remember – We host blood drives on the first Saturday of every even-numbered month. This time around, there’s a delicious pancake breakfast that’s made by the local high school’s field hockey team as a fundraiser!
I’ve struggled with anemia since I was diagnosed in college. I take a daily multivitamin with 100% iron, and I also try to eat a well-balanced diet of iron-rich foods (Red meat, dark leafy greens, whole grains, and a handful of other interesting foods). Usually, since you can give blood every 56 days (eight weeks), I’m able to give a pint and then miss a drive. I was able to give in August, but fingers crossed I can give today!

Plan our Halloween costumes!

We had this discussion a few days ago in the car. In the past, we’ve dressed as similar characters or part of a team. We’ll keep hashing out ideas!

Decorate the house for fall!

A local woman paints designs on plastic pumpkins, so I asked for one with a stylized “V” and one with the Green Bay Packers logo. They look amazing, and I can’t wait to put them on the front stoop!
Pinterest is both a blessing and a curse!

Clean up the clutter and plan my office space!

This coincides with prepping the house for our first overnight visitor, but I’m itching to clean out the clutter in my future office space and plan it out!
We have a lot of empty boxes laying around that need to go in the recycling bin.
Since my parents handle the nut orders for Mom’s PEO chapter every fall, they’ve put us on notice for the sawhorses and plywood in our garage. We want to get it cleaned out, anyway, so one of us can finally put our car in there!

Recap my 44 for Bill Movement participation.

I’m not quite done with my letters, but you’d better believe there will be a post here when I’m finished!

Celebrate birthdays – Mom’s and Mia’s!

My mom’s birthday is in the beginning of October, so I’m hoping we’ll celebrate with dinner as a family, and maybe a movie!
Our future niece, Mia, turns 11 this year. We have a few gifts lined up for her, and we can’t wait to give them to her!
I also want to get better at sending birthday cards and the like to my relatives. My Aunt Marny’s birthday is at the end of October, and I definitely want to send her a birthday card on time this year!

Read at least two books on my 2016 Reading Challenge list, and publish those book reviews.

I feel so far behind! I’m about halfway through one of the books now, and I’m motivated to keep that train going.

Join the Portsmouth Public Library.

Finally! Better late than never. Accomplishing this will definitely help me with the reading challenge!

Read through Megan’s cookbook, and try at least two of her recipes!

Megan’s cookbook is called The Big 15 Paleo Cookbook: 15 Fundamental Ingredients, 150 Paleo Diet Recipes, 450 Variations.
Neither Al nor I are Paleo, but I’m excited to try some new things!

Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals.

It’s absolutely happening this month! I saw a few Facebook posts from Kristian about her pen pal, and I want those feelings, too!

Get ahead with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments.

At this point, we’re almost halfway through the semester. If I can concentrate for 3-4 hours per weekend, I’m confident that I’ll ace my midterm and get ahead with my work. I want to fully enjoy our wedding anniversary getaway in mid-November!

Get excited for our wedding anniversary getaway!

We’re headed toward the mountains of Virginia in mid-November. I’m getting more excited every day! It’s hard to believe that we’ve been married for almost a full year!

That’s all I have for October!

Thank you, readers, for all your comments and encouragement! You have no idea how much your words mean to me – They keep me going!

Do you have any goals for this month?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.30.16

by Laura Beth

Writing Prompt #36: “30 Day Writing Challenge” (Day 30)

writers-quotes-story-writing-34823017-400-263

Image Credit: livingalifeofwriting.com

Here’s the list!

Your highs and lows for the month

My highs:

Celebrating a wonderful dating anniversary with Al!
Chipping away at the work that needs to be done on the house.
A mini-getaway to the farm to see family.
Making plans for friends to come and visit us!
Finally cracking into Go Set A Watchman.
Blogging every single day for a whole month! Woohoo!
Going back to the gym!

—

My lows:

Not getting to finish Go Set A Watchman.
Getting irritated at minor things.
Feeling stressed with things getting busier at work.
Having a panic attack at work earlier this day, basically in front of my manager AND system director. Ouch!
Blisters, everywhere on both my feet. Breaking in new running shoes – Oww!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.30.16

by Laura Beth

Getting Personal #37: September Goals Recap

if-the-plan-doesn-t-work-change-the-plan-but-never-the-goal

Image Credit: askideas.com

Hello, everyone!

I can’t believe we’re at the last day of September. This month seemed to fly by!

Here’s the link to my September Goals post:

Getting Personal #33: September Goals

—

Ready?

Here we go!

Complete my first full 30-day blogging challenge! – Accomplished!
Enjoy my six-year dating anniversary with Al.- Accomplished!
See Emily G. before she jets off to London! – Accomplished!
Keep on track with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments. – Semi-achieved.
Attend the Chambers Family Reunion.- Accomplished!
Work on an exciting wedding anniversary surprise for Al! – Accomplished!
Join the Portsmouth Public Library. – Did not accomplish.
Play catch-up with my 2016 Reading Challenge. – Semi-achieved.
Read the September book and attend my first book club meeting with Sarah H. – Did not accomplish.
Make at least three new recipes. – Did not accomplish.
Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals. – Did not accomplish.

Here’s the breakdown:

Complete my first full 30-day blogging challenge! – Accomplished!

I did it! I had a lot of fun with this challenge, overall.
There were a few days where I almost didn’t post, mainly because I had forgotten to write it up in advance and came home dead tired and didn’t feel like I had any energy to write anything. However, I keep thinking of this goal, and it kept me motivated!
If you’re curious, here’s the post that started it all: Writing Prompt #7: “30 Day Writing Challenge” (Day 1)
I’m not planning to do a challenge in October, but I would like to do one in November. I’m thinking every other month from here on out. Suggestions / recommendations are welcome!

Enjoy my six-year dating anniversary with Al! – Accomplished!

Our dating anniversary fell on a Sunday this year, and it was lovely. We enjoyed a quiet day at home, and then we went out to Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake to the Cinema Cafe. We discovered that on Sundays and Tuesdays, the tickets are only $1.50! Score!!
We enjoyed seeing Independence Day: Resurgence while we stuffed ourselves with glorious food. We split the spinach artichoke dip. Then, I had the amazing beer-battered shrimp and a hulking amount of popcorn, while Al had the gyro and a salad.

See Emily G. before she jets off to London! – Accomplished!

Al and I drove up to Williamsburg to meet Emily and three other friends (Her boyfriend, Andrew; Emily’s good friend, Michelle; and Michelle’s husband, Brett) for lunch on Saturday, September 10th. We ate at this great place called Food For Thought. Yummy!

Keep on track with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments. – Semi-achieved.

I made excellent progress with my Homework Folder this month, but not so much on my Trial Notebook. I’m playing catch-up with that one right now. Hoping to get ahead in October!

Attend the Chambers Family Reunion. – Accomplished!

This will be explained in a new Adventure Time post, coming to the blog next week!

Work on an exciting wedding anniversary surprise for Al! – Accomplished!

I can’t say much about this one, but a lot happened, and I’m eagerly awaiting our anniversary getaway!

Join the Portsmouth Public Library. – Did not accomplish.

Every weekend in September was jam-packed. I didn’t have any time to read much of anything new this month, either. Hopefully, if I get my car back in time tomorrow, I’ll go sign up tomorrow afternoon!

Play catch-up with my 2016 Reading Challenge. – Semi-achieved.

I barely had time to breathe this month!
I did make progress with Go Set A Watchman, but I haven’t finished it yet.

Read the September book and attend my first book club meeting with Sarah H. – Did not accomplish.

The book club moved the meetings to the beginning of every month, and I won’t be able to attend the one in October, since it falls on my mom’s birthday!
I wasn’t able to pick up a copy of the book, since I haven’t yet joined the library and the price of the book online was a little too steep for me this month.

Make at least three new recipes. – Did not accomplish.

We stuck to staples this month – Pizza, a few frozen meals, salads, and a few marinated meats. This will come up again in October!

Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals. – Did not accomplish.

Having hardly any time to breathe, this didn’t happen. However, I’m determined to make it happen in October!

Final Thoughts

I was able to put Accomplished next to 5 out of 11. Not bad!
The two goals that were Semi-Achieved: I’m happy with the progress!
The four goals that were Not Accomplished: This was frustrating, but there were certain circumstances that made these goals nearly impossible to achieve. I just need to carve more time to read!

Did you have any goals for September?

If so, how did you do?

Come back tomorrow to see my October goals!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.29.16

by Laura Beth

Tag #13: “Which Do You Prefer?” Book Tag!

Image Credit: B.G., Getting Through Anxiety

I was tagged to participate by the lovely B.G. of Getting Through Anxiety!

Here’s the link to the original post:

“Which Do You Prefer?” Book Tag!

—

Ready?

Here we go!

1.) Writing or reading books?

Argh. I hate this question!

I think I like to read more, because reading got me interested in writing from the get-go. Example: I read almost all of the American Girl historical novels before I received my first doll, who came with six blank books where I could write her own stories. I remember filling separate notebooks with stories about Stephanie, but I left those six books blank for a long time. I wanted to keep them pristine, plus I didn’t want to mess them up with errors and cross-outs. The American Girl books fostered my love of historical fiction.

2.) Reading hardbacks or paperbacks?

I prefer hardbacks – I don’t like it when the paperback spines get all crinkled!

3.) Reading E-books or books you can actually hold?

Books you can actually hold, hands down. I’ve tried a few school textbooks on my iPhone and iPad, but every time, I wish I’d paid more money to get the tangible version!

4.) Reading books with the protagonist of a woman or man?

Excellent question. I’ve tended to be drawn to women protagonists.

5.) Reading books written by men or women?

Another good one. Most of my favorite authors – Grisham, Sparks, Fitzgerald – are men. I enjoy their perspective.

6.) Reading books or listening?

Reading. I’ve listened to audiobooks in the car while I’m the driver, but I can’t imagine doing it any place else!

7.) Reading out loud or in your head?

In my head, although I’ve been caught reading out loud before!

8.) Getting books from the library/borrowing them or buying them?

I actually prefer the library. I love buying them, but there’s money involved there. Borrowing books from friends is fun, but I’m always afraid that I’ll get distracted and so much time passes before I actually read the book and give it back to the person! With a library, their time limit is a good motivator to read the books and avoid the fines!

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve downsized my own personal collection and tried to keep it that way.

9.) Reading thrillers or romance?

Thrillers, now. If you’d asked me this question a few years ago, it would have been romance.

10.) Writing in books or not?

Not! I can’t fathom writing in a book. I didn’t even want to write in my textbooks!

11.) Reading long books or short?

Long books are always more fun. I think of it as a challenge!

I Tag:

Everyone, especially my friend who are fellow biblophiles!
If you do participate, please display B.G.’s photo of tag on your post!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.28.16

by Laura Beth

Writing Prompt #34: “30 Day Writing Challenge” (Day 28)

Image Credit: quotesgram.com

Here’s the list!

Post 5 things that make you laugh-out-loud

Anything with The Muppets.
Most anything with the Peanuts characters.
The Big Bang Theory.
Mike Rowe – His awesome posts on Facebook, and his podcast The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe.
Mushu from Mulan.

Image Credit: pastemagazine.com

Image Credit: peanuts.wikia.com

Image Credit: hellogiggles.com

Image Credit: mikerowe.com

Image Credit: disney.wikia.com

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.28.16

by Laura Beth

Tag #12: “Days of the Week Tag”

Image Credit: pinterest.com

I found this fun tag from the fabulous ladies of Thrice Read!

Here’s the link to the original post:

Days of the Week Tag

—

Ready?

Here we go!

Murder Monday: Favorite murder/crime book:

This one was really hard to pick. I love a lot of murder and crime books, but I went with my gut instinct – The Pelican Brief by John Grisham. I love the book, and the movie adaptation is so suspenseful!

—

Tickle Tuesday: A book that made you laugh out loud:

The Vacationers by Emma Straub. I love her writing style, and I want more! I can’t wait to pick up Modern Lovers at some point.

—

Weepy Wednesday: A book that made you weepy/cry:

Most of you know that I love Nicholas Sparks, but for this one, I pick John Green’s Looking for Alaska. It was the first book we needed to read for my Young Adult Literature class in the spring of 2011. It made me bawl!

—

Thinking Thursday: A book that made you really think/reevaluate the world/your life:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I originally didn’t want to read it, but I’m glad I did. Most of Green’s novels have made me reconsider my perspective on life.

—

Fantasy Friday: Favorite fantasy book/series:

Harry Potter. This is the only fantasy book / series that I have truly stuck with and become a huge fan. I was slow to get started, but Rowling’s writing took hold and swept me up faster than a Nimbus Firebolt!

—

Sigh Saturday: A book you just could not get into or finish:

Breaking Dawn. I struggled through most of the Twilight series (I was basically forced to watch the first two movies), and by the time I got around to reading this one, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I bought all four books, but I ended up donating them to the local library because I didn’t want to read them ever again.

—

Summer Sunday: A book you love to read in the summer or makes you think of summer:

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. After months of waiting, I finally got a copy from the library and I read it cover to cover within a few hours while my parents drove home from a trip to Florida.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

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