I read because I can't have a puppy-sized elephant

...not yet anyway.

I've seen the question 'why do you read?' floating around the blogosphere a lot recently. At first I didn't really understand why it needed to be answered at all. I thought, 'why does it matter? reading for entertainment, escape, out of boredom...it all still means you're reading, which is most important.' But now I've been thinking about it. And while people reading is most important I'm beginning to think the reasons are at least interesting enough to write and read about.

The title of this post is 'I read because I can't have a puppy-sized elephant" which is totally true. I read because for the most part I don't have the lives depicted in the books I read. I'm not the most popular girl in school or the child of a meth addict. I don't ride a dragon to Beheading 101 or play piano professionally. I haven't been to Paris or gone ice fishing in Alaska.

That's why I read. Because I get to live 10,000 lives by proxy. And hopefully one day I'll get to do some of the amazing things I've read about, but for now I'll continue to live vicariously through my favorite characters.

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Now it's your turn. Why do you read?

"Addicted to Love {Cover}"-Florence + The Machine,

half-hiatus

Hullo lovelies.


If you haven't noticed, I've been kind of MIA lately. And not of the rapper variety.


"Why?" you must ask, "Is it us, Cara? Do you not like us anymore?"


To which I say NO. You see, all capital letters NO.


Last week I scheduled some posts for over last weekend because I knew I'd be in summer reading hell {yes, I'm that kid who reads incessantly but only if I can choose the books}. Now those posts have been er...posted and I don't have time right now to keep up.


Not because I don't like blogging or anything like that it's just....school. Guh. Just typing it out gives me the creeps.


I'm a senior. In high school. About to graduate. Applying to college. Basically in the midst of everything that scares the hell out of me.


I have some tough classes as well as some awesome ones {yay, Theatre Arts!}, but all of them have lots o' work. Which means I might only post once a week for a while. Maybe more, less. But you can expect a decline in thine posting habits. Hopefully I won't blink off the face of the blogosphere like last year! *crosses fingers*


To all my blogger friends, currently and to come>


Still checking my email like a fiend, so feel free to send away. If anything vital or just generally awesome should stumble up while I'm on half-hiatus please send an email as that's the safest bet for reaching me!


You all deserve stickers and flying popsicles and puppy-sized elephants {I will name mine Blu} and oodles and bunches and bits of good things.


P.S. You all should most definitely read this!

DFTBA,

blogging bucket list!

Inspired by Audrey @ holes in my brain, I've decided to post my book blogging bucket list.

This is in no way me still trying to get out of working on my Past Perfect Review.

Nope.

No way.

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one. Have any type of communication whatsoever with John Green. {Also: Jandy Nelson, Melina Marchetta, Stephanie Perkins. I've been @replied by Courtney Summers and Kimberly Derting and have met Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, David Levithan, Libba Bray, Lisa Ann Sandell and Gayle Forman. They were all formally on The List of People I'd Flail For.}

two. Stealing number two from Audrey: scribble, annotate, love, hug, squeeze, thoroughly personalize a favorite book and send it to the author.

three. Leave a Nerdfighter note/note in a favorite book of mine.

four. Send a handwritten letter to one of my favorite authors gushing completely.

five. Meet a blogger friend in real life. Preferably in NYC so we can prance around Strand and Books of Wonder. Or we can just prance around in general.

six. Post a really awesome discussion post that gets people talking/thinking about books and bookish things.

seven. Somehow weasel my way into an author's acknowledgement page. This is more like a life goal and also counts for record acknowledgments, but alas.

eight. Literally read a book until it falls apart.

nine. Reach 500 followers. Yes, yes. I know. "It's not about the followers, Cara." I know that. But it would also be cool to reach that point. To have 500 people choose to subscribe to what I'm writing.

ten. 1,000 posts. I'm hoping posts are like paper cranes and at some point I'll be granted a wish.
eleven. Become a better writer, reader.


This list could be ten pages long, but I'm keeping it short and sweet. What's on your blogging bucket list?

"My Racing Thoughts"-Jack's Mannequin,

jandy nelson is my spirit animal

This post can also be called "I can't write reviews that don't suck eggs completely, so here is a post that's not a review" {I make no promises that this doesn't suck equal eggs}. I've decided to take the time I would be using for a review, which I cannot write right now, to talk about/pimp/gush over one of the books currently in the ever-rotating List of Really Awesome Books I Love More Than All the Othas.

It's a little book called The Sky is Everywhere. Optional extended title> The Sky is Everywhere: A Book Crafted by Jandy Nelson out of Rainbows, Sunshine, Flowers & Light.

When someone sees a favorite book of mine on my bookshelf, my nightstand, or more commonly constantly by my side stuffed into a bag or purse, he or she usually thinks I hate the book. Because it's completely "ruined." I like to think it's personalized.

Some of you are going to want to ring my neck and throw me to the dogs, but alas. I'm a DIY reader. I dog-ear, I underline, I occasionally highlight, I write random poems and thoughts completely unrelated to the story in margins and inside covers. I crack spines, I usually end up ripping and tearing pages and covers {most of my books are paperback, I'm not the Hulk}. I ring books out. Squeeze every last bit of feeling out of the pages. I live with my favorite books, build relationships. I've never fallen in love with a book as quickly as I did with The Sky is Everywhere. My poor paperback has been through hell and back, shows how much I completely love the story.

I recently reread my review of The Sky is Everywhere and can't help but feel like a fraud. I sound so clinical in my analysis, so sirius bsns. It bothers me that I didn't delve at all into how much this book truly means to me. Which is, like, a whole lot. I'm not going to go all "This is my sad story let's have a group cry and talk about feelings." I'll just leave it at this: This book means more to me than almost anything I've ever read and my review does it no justice whatsoever.

Consider this post my ode to Jandy Nelson, the genius Author/Literary Agent/Superhero behind Lennie's story.

I'm a fan forever, seriously.

If you haven't read The Sky is Everywhere I have a list of things for you to do:

1. Read the book.
2.  
3.  
4.  
5.  

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If you managed to finish this rambling mumbo jumbo of a post I salute you. And want to talk to you. And give you a medal or something. But mostly talk to you, about your favorite book(s). What are they? Why do you love them? Which authors make you want to dedicate a post to their brilliance?

Happy Thursday!

*And guess what?! Tomorrow I'll be on a college visit at NYU and hopefully will get to Strand for the first time. :) And hopefully hit up Books of Wonder again since it never disappoints me.

"Turning Tables"-Adele,

What draws you to a book?

The title basically says it all. I want to know what draws you to a book. What catches your eyes, what makes you need to read something reallyreallyreally badly.

I've been thinking about the topic since a recent trip to my local bookstore a few weeks ago. I was meandering around {Yes, I just used the word meandering. Yes, I am under 80.} and eventually made my way to the YA section. A girl approached while I was standing there, took a cursory glance at the shelves. Then she paused in front of a book, looked at the cover for a few moments, and bought it on the spot. I was baffled. I take so much time to choose a book, and this girl just came up, saw a shiny cover and had made her choice?! The horror!

So now I'm wondering what your system is like. How do you select your next book. I have a time tested method:

• First, I take a look around all of the shelves, scanning, looking for things that catch my eye.
• The second time through I take my time to look at all of the titles I haven't seen before. I'm big on the titles, love love love interesting titles. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is one of my favorites right now.
• After I've seen some titles that sound promising, I pick those up and read summaries.
• If I like a synopsis, then I pick a comfy seat and settle in to read at least the first chapter.
• From there I narrow it down to anywhere between one and three books depending on how much I'm willing to spend that day. And yay! Books chosen!

So, what say'st thou? What draws you to a book? How do you make your pick?  Let me know!

"Love Like A Sunset Part I"-Phoenix,

Pottermore?

Anyone else a little...underwhelmed by the Pottermore announcement? I feel like that announcement didn't tell me anything more than I already knew last week. It's a website. That's all I got out of J.K. Rowling's video and the Wired.com article and now I'm kind of itching for October to come so I can actually figure out what the website is.

This here video explains my feelings on Pottermore as of now (albeit I'm a little less...pissed about it):

WARNING: There's some strongish language, my dears. Guard your virgin ears accordingly.

"Crave You (feat. Giselle)"-Flight Facilities,