A Western, Romance and E-Book walk into a library....

I'd say this was an interesting trio to read one after another for my 24 book reading challenge (and yes I know I'm definitely slacking!).

The first one I read was the Western for my challenge. It was "Stagecoach Station 37: Shawnee" by Hank Mitchum. I was discarding all our western series at work because, well, look at them. Some of them have been there since I was in diapers.

But I did see this one and it caught my eye, for whatever reason. I knew I needed a western to read and even though this was part of a series, it seemed to be more stand alone than anything. 

Then I read the book for my "E-Book" slot on Overdrive (that's an app through your library where you can check out books - for free! I'd recommend seeing if your library has it). This one I had seen around a lot when I worked at Barnes & Noble and had always been interested in, so I decided to dive right into it. It's "The Selection" by Kiera Cass. 

Finally I read "Girl Online" by Zoe Sugg for my romance slot, which is definitely really late to the game since the second novel was just released. 

Let's get into the reviews!

23. Read a Western: Stagecoach Station 37: Shawnee by Hank Mitchum

I was surprised how I actually enjoyed this novel. I, perhaps stupidly, thought that the western I picked up would be sexist and probably racist toward Native Americans. The book itself is older than me and a lot has changed in that time. And maybe it wasn't perfect, but not nearly as bad as I imagined. 

It's about moving west. Elizabeth, a widow and her young son, move to Shawnee to be a house maid of sorts to a rancher, also a widow, and his twin girls.

The women of the novel seem pretty well rounded, despite of the time period. There are many and though some of them are quite fixated on being "good wives," they challenge the men in their lives as well. Such as a young wife in the novel that has recently married a young rancher in the town insists that she pull her weight on the ranch, etcs. 

However there are some lines that are just...off. Such as Elizabeth wishing Tim (the rancher she's working for and her love interest) to grow up more feminine. But to be honest, I expected things like that. Elizabeth might be a slight more developed woman than most, with her own thoughts on many subjects, but I feel she is limited as a character because of the time period of the book and the time period and sex of the author writing her. 

Overall I did enjoy it. It read quickly and had a good amount of adventure to it as well. 

6. Read an eBook: The Selection by Kiera Cass

This is one of your very typical YA dystopian novels. It's about America, or Illéa, many years after another world war that made it shift from the America we know to a more structured class system with a monarchy. The main character is America - which is a cringe worthy name at best when you factor in the things I just wrote - who is in the class system of five and in love with a six (the lowest of which being an eight). However she's taken away from her love Aspen because of a competition (sort of like the Hunger Games, but much less killing) to become the Prince's bride and the Princess of Illéa. 

I admit, the whole thing is very cliche and predicable at the beginning, and reads like a lot of other YA romance novels with a love triangle. 

I was however pretty much hooked on the story. 

I know for sure that there are more things that will come into the series later, which are hinted at throughout the later half of this novel. I'm very interested to keep reading on to dig deeper into the world, because I feel like Cass is definitely setting things up in the first novel that will pay off in later ones. I even don't mind the love triangle, mostly because I don't really care for Aspen at all even though I'm sure a lot of people probably want her to be with him and not Prince Maxon. 

Again, I really did like this one and because it was an e-book, I didn't even realize I was on the last chapter of the book until it ended. The first thing I wanted to do was read the next one, but I'll have to wait until I'm done with this challenge for that!

24. Read a Romance: Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

I bought this during my Christmas employee appreciation at Barnes & Noble last year I believe and like so many of the books I buy, it sat on my shelf for months and months as I read other things before it. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to finally read it! 

This is a novel by the popular YouTuber Zoë Sugg aka Zoella. I really adore her videos and her personality in general, so I had been excited - and nervous - to read this. Nervous because well, I didn't want it to suck. And it didn't! It definitely read like a first novel, however. I feel like it might have been rushed in some areas, maybe due to deadlines. Some parts that felt off, I think could be contributed to someone who hasn't written a whole lot and hasn't practiced the craft (though I know Zoë has said she's written in her childhood). 

There are one or two cringy habits that I personally don't like when I'm reading something. They are more style or tone preferences, such as using an exclamation point outside of a blog post or when a character is speaking. I just don't like it when used in the character's internal monologue at all; it never rings true to me for some reason. 

Things like that are very nit picky, though. The story itself was cute and I think well established. It continued to build on itself throughout and get stronger, so I am thinking that means "Girl Online: On Tour" will be even better. I think Zoë will know her characters even more and know how to write them even more effectively. 

All this being said, I know if I was a teen right now, this novel would be my everything. As a 24 year old, it was a nice, light read and I think that comes from not being fully in the perspective of a teen anymore. Sometimes YA novels aren't as relatable, but the reliability in this does come from being online a lot, throughout my teen years and early twenties. (And wow I feel old for being able to say 'early twenties'). 

Overall: I liked it! Easy, fun read and I can't wait to see how Zoë grows in her life as a writer. 

I hope you enjoyed this review check in for my 24 book challenge! Six down and 18 to go and just a bit over two months to do it. I really need to kick it up into high gear. If any one of you are following along with this challenge, I'd love to hear about your progress! 

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, check out my original post for more details. 

Until next time, 

Rose 

Barnes & Noble Haul

The last two weeks at work were "Employee Appreciation" - meaning our discount on pretty much everything went up by another 10% - which led to me buying a few things I've had my eye on. As a book lover who works at a bookstore, my list was very long and I didn't end up getting nearly everything that I have on an ever growing list, but I am happy with what I did get! I thought I would turn it into a haul blog post for you. So let's get started.

First up: I got the Taylor Swift "1989" album on vinyl - spoiler but I'm getting a record player for Christmas and when I saw we had gotten this in at work I knew that I needed it for my first vinyl record!

Next up, an item I've been wanting since we got it in - a Frozen coffee mug! I just love the art style of Elsa and Anna here and couldn't resist - even though we already have a healthy collection of mugs. 

Next, the actual books I bought. "Girl Online" by Zoella, "East" by Edith Pattou (a book I read when I was much younger and absolutely loved and wanted to re-read), and finally a sequel to one of my favorite books, "Under the Light" by Laura Whitcomb. 

Other purchases: the new Walk the Moon CD, "Talking is Hard" - which you need to go out and buy right this minute (as well as their first album), and some Pomegranate Oolong tea. Finally, a new notebook (which I need like I need a bullet in my head, I have so many) by Riffle Paper Co. You'll probably recall I love their designs from my previous haul post. 

I went a little crazy, but considering I was saving 40% off of everything, I had to allow myself - as a Christmas treat.

Until next time,

Rose

Top 8 Youtube Channels

I'm actually taking this idea from my roommate Mia, who made a post about her top 5 favorite "Beauty" YouTube Channels on her blog. I'm cutting out the "beauty" part, though many of these YouTubers are beauty, they also fall under other categories. Now, in no particular order, with one of my favorite videos from their channels:

heyclaire | Claire Marshall 

I just recently started watching Claire, based on a combination of Izzy and Mia's recommendation, and let's just say I've watched most of her channel in the last few weeks. She currently lives in LA, is a freelance makeup artist and makes beauty videos, hauls and vlogs on her channel. She has a dry sense of humor, an addiction to coffee that I envy (no seriously, I wish I could have caffeine), kickass (beautiful) tattoos, and is a very strong woman. All of these mean that I love to watch all her videos - even the "boring" vlogs, as she says. If you check her out, get ready for a lot of car vlogging.

Oh also she has an adorable cat named Bruce Lee. Seriously, give me a YouTuber with an animal and I'm sold.

zoella | Zoe Sugg

Zoe's main channel has beauty, fashion, home and I would say "advice" content. She's one of those adorable and beautiful British YouTubers that if I watch enough of, my thoughts tend to have a British accent. Zoe is funny, yes, and an amazing person to watch for makeup tutorials, but she's also so down to earth and kind. She's had anxiety for a good portion of her life and likes to give advice on how to deal with that sort of thing. She has such a good head on her shoulders and I'm so glad so many little girls have her to look up to - with her confidence and lack thereof, which she admits to having like anyone else and general drive to get thing things she wants to done. Also, I wish I had half of her homeware and decor from her apartment. Let's go shopping sometime?

She also has a separate vlog channel which I was sucked into this summer. I probably watched every single video, I'm not going to lie. You just see how funny and silly Zoe is here, along with her adorable guinea pigs.

Tyler Oakley 

What can I say about Tyler Oakley? I relate to him on a spiritual level. Tyler is a fangirl, plain and simple, and it's so nice to watch and relate to him. It's also amazing to see just how far a YouTuber can go - as Tyler has achieved so much. He's worked closely with the Trevor Project, done interviews with MTV - you name it. Oh, and just so happened to have both Darren Criss (jealous!) and Michelle Obama (more jealous!) on his channel in a two week time period. No big deal. As Darren said in this following video, "he's killing it!" Basically, I'd love to have Tyler as a best friend.

velvetgh0st | Gabriella 

I found Gabriella through Zoe's channel when I saw her in vlogs as well as a homeware haul. And let me tell you, I love a good homeware haul. So I quickly watched all of her hauls on her own channel and went from there. She has amazing taste in decor and clothing and I loved seeing how she moved in and decorated her new apartment. Besides that, she has some amazing makeup tutorials!

And here is her vlog channeling - I loved her "moving out" series where she just vlogs about moving out of her home and into her new apartment (as I said). The thing with vlogs is that sometimes it's just boring things we all do, but somehow it's just calming and entertaining to watch others do it. I particularly like waking up in the morning and having new vlogs to watch of Gab and Zoe as I eat breakfast and have morning coffee.

Rachel Whitehurst 

Now this is, quite frankly, a fierce bitch right here. Rachel is so headstrong and has a take no prisoners attitude. She does fantastic makeup tutorials and you know you can trust her opinion when she reviews a product (Wet Brush anyone?). Besides that she also has a freaking adorable cat named Squeezie (read: squeaking squdorable squat Squeezie) and I sort of live for photos and video of him. She's a borderline plus size YouTuber and I really admire her confidence - though like all of us it's taken a lot for her to get there. One of my favorites is her video in response to one of Alex Day's about fat girls in costumes - and it's just great. I also love seeing her Hits and Shits (aka the usual YouTube "Monthly Favorites" video), which you can see below.

LearningToBeFearless

Alex should have way more subscribers than she does. I love having a confident woman who is just trying to learn to be more confident in this crazy world doing beauty and fashion videos. She's a plus size YouTuber and I just love her style so much. She just always looks so beautiful and I'm still working my way through watching past videos on her channel.

Hannah Rupp

Once again, another YouTuber that is pretty "unknown" you could say. She's a Thrifter, which you don't see too often with the "bigger" YouTubers, meaning she goes to a bunch of thrift stores to get more bang for her buck. I love watching her haul videos to see all the funny things you expect to see at a thrift store. I just wish I had the same ability to find as many cute clothes that she has found at thrift stores - it would save me a bunch of money! Plus she has that adorable, corny humor that I love.

MissMeridianASMR

This isn't your usual vlogger/YouTuber per se. This is an ASMR channel (ASMR: Autonomous sensory meridian response; read more about it here) which basically means relaxation videos. I often listen to them as I'm falling asleep, to block out other noise and to get my brain to quiet down. On her channel she has videos of her reading, or guided relaxation videos to lead you to sleep. She has a calming voice that is just perfect for relaxation and I love most of her videos.

And with that, there are my top 8 YouTube channels. I really wanted to narrow it down so I wasn't here all day. There are others that I watch on a semi-regular basis, but these are the ones I try to view daily and keep up to date with. I recommend that you check them out and, if you like what you see, subscribe! And leave a kind message, because I can only assume how much negative ones they see day to day. 

Until next time,

Rose