Quidditch: My Life

Everyone knows that Quidditch is the wizarding sport in Harry Potter, but did you know that it's an actually sport played by college kids around the world? That's right, and your's truly is a chaser for the Quidditch team at my school. Awesome right? 

Now we don't actually fly on brooms, but we do run with them between our legs! There are still 3 chasers, 2 beaters, and 1 keeper per team, but we use a volleyball/soccer ball as the quaffle, dodge balls as the bludgers, and an actual person as the snitch. Same rules apply as in Harry Potter, but the beaters sadly don't have bats; it's all throwing for them. Quidditch is the most fun sport I have ever played and this weekend is WORLD CUP! 

World Cup is going to be at Randall's Park in New York and it is going to be SO epic! 100 teams from all over the world are going to be there, including my team! Our team still needs a lot of work (we've only been around for 2 years and Quidditch is a VERY athletic sport) but I think we have a decent chance. It's a 12 hour drive for us to get to New York, so we're leaving Friday and then playing Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say, I'm excited, especially since I haven't been to New York before. I will DEFINITELY let you all know how it goes! If you want to learn more about the wonderful sport of Quidditch, you should definitely check out the official World Cup Website and the International Quidditch Website. 

Quidditch isn't a sport that's taken too seriously by many people, but to the players it's their reality (including mine). I have a feeling Quidditch is on it's way to becoming huge phenomenon where every college will have their own team. And I'll be able to say I was a part of it from the start. 

Book Review: If I Tell by Janet Gurtler

Summary: Jasmine Evans knows one thing for sure... people make mistakes. After all, she is one. Jaz is the result of a onenight stand between a black football player and a blonde princess. Having a young mother who didn't raise her, a father who wants nothing to do with her and living in a small-minded town where she's never fit in hasn't been easy. But she's been surviving. Until she sees her mom's new boyfriend making out with her own best friend. When do you forgive people for being human or give up on them forever?


Review: When I figured out I got to review this book for Librarything, I got really excited because the cover is really pretty and it sounded like a great book. Once I started reading it, though, I got a story that I wasn't really expecting. Yes, Jaz was dealing with a huge secret she had to keep from her mom while dealing with her emerging feelings for Jackson, but a large amount of the book dealt with Jaz's difficulty with her race. Jaz's mom was white while her dad was black, so Jaz is biracial but she grew up surrounded by white people because her dad left before she was born (they were 17 when they had her). And when I say a large amount of the book dealt with this, I mean a LARGE amount of the book. I kind of got tired of Jaz's complaining of not being comfortable with who she was because she brought it up all the time. Then, near the end she was accusing everyone of being racist and it seemed kind of unbelievable that so many people would be bothered with biracial relationships. So that part about the book bothered me, but the rest of it was really good. Jackson is impossible not to like and I was anxious to see what would happen if, or when, Jaz told Simon or her mom about the secret she saw. In the end, some things weren't completely resolved (like the part with the mom) but everything else was addressed in the end. If I Tell was a nice quick read that was very different from the normal high school dramas. It deals with real issues, but also provides the romance that we, well at least I, love to read.

In My Mailbox (15)

In My Mailbox is a meme that I picked up from The Story Siren's blog. It's where we share the new books that we've gotten for that week with our readers. These books could be from the library, the store, or from the writers/publishers for review. Whatever the reason, I will share my new books every Sunday!

  

So I haven't been able to do an IMM for over a month, so these are all the books I've received in October and the beginning of November. They're all from giveaways, publishers, authors, and bookstores, but since I'm in college it's been way too hard to keep track of where they came from since some come here and some go home...Anyways, I got some great books in the past month! The one I'm probably most excited about is Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols! Even though I already read it a while ago, she sent me a copy to review now and she even signed it for me! So that was a VERY pleasant surprise and definitely made my day. I'm slowly but surely making my way through the pile of books sitting on my desk, so I don't have as many reviews going up on the blog as in the summer, but I'm trying! I didn't notice how many awesome books I've gotten in the past month until now, so I'm excited to get to the rest! And that's it! What did you all get in your mailbox this week? 

***Don't forget to check out my two awesome giveaways right here***

Shelf Candy (13)

Shelf Candy is a meme hosted by Five Alarm Book Reviews and every Saturday, bloggers choose a book whose cover really catches their eye. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but I always do, so I'm choosing books whose cover alone made me pick it up. So I hope you enjoy my shelf candy!

As simple as this cover is, I completely love it! I am obsessed with any kind of book that has romance in it, and based on the cover, I am guessing this has to do with love. It's so cute and creative how words make up the heart, which is also really witty considering that the whole book is a love story constructed as a dictionary (aka definitions and words). And the colors are so simple yet really make the cover adorable. The red Vs and hearts are really cute and reiterate the fact that this book is a love story. This cover is the reason alone why I put this book on my TBR list and hopefully I can get to it soon! 

***Don't forget to check out the two great giveaways I have going on right now***

Follow My Book Blog Friday (15)

This is a meme hosted every Friday by Parajunkee, where book bloggers answer a question each week and check out how others answered it. It's a cool way for bloggers and viewers to connect and learn more about each other!

Question: Today's question is something new, an activity. We want to see what you look like! Take a pic with you and your current read! Too shy? Boo! Just post a fun pic you want to share. 

Here I am! I'm reading If I Tell by Janet Gurtler. I'm only on the second page, but I hope it's good! I won it as an early review book from Librarything and was super excited to start it! I'll let you all know how it goes. And don't forget to check out the two great giveaways I have going on right now! Happy Friday to everyone! 

Book Review/Giveaway: The Return of the Stranger

Summary: Lady Katherine Charlton has never forgotten the stable hand with dangerous fists and a troubled heart from her childhood. Now the rebel is back, his powerful anger concealed under a polished and commanding veneer.

When ten years of scandal and secrets are unleashed, with a passionate, furious kiss, Heath's deepest, darkest wish crystallizes: revenge—and Kathy—will be his!

Review: When I started to read this book, I had no idea that it was a modern retelling of Wuthering Heights until I read the letter the author wrote to the reader. I got really excited because Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite classics, so I had high expectations for this book. The story itself was sizzling and fun, but there were some problems I had with the book. First off, I really couldn't tell when this book was supposed to take place. The author used words like "trousers" and said he would "journey" to her house. This old language made me think it was more around the time Wuthering Heights was written, but then they used phones and cars, which made it seem like it was more recent, so I was really confused. The other thing that bugged me was how the author mainly used paragraphs describing thoughts and descriptions with not a lot of dialogue and action. So not a lot actually happened in this book aside from the romance between Katherine and Heath and even when things did happen, a lot of time was spent on describing how they felt and thinking about what the other person just said or did. If you ignore these two things, though, it was a nice read that was really quick to get through.

***Giveaway***

The Proud Wife

By Kate Walker

Summary: Marina thought her dreams had come true when her husband placed a wedding band on her finger. But their marriage was not the fairy tale she'd hoped for, and eventually Marina walked away, her heart broken.

Two years later Pietro D'Inzeo no longer haunts Marina's dreams. She knows the time has come to move on, and even a summons to join him in Sicily won't deter her….

However, with his wife standing before him, about to sign on the dotted line of their divorce papers, Pietro wonders why he ever let her go.

I have 3 copies of this book to give away to my awesome followers! There will be one winners, so enter now to receive these great books! 

To enter: 

-Post a comment on this post with your email

-You do not need to be a follower, but it would be greatly 

appreciated if you were! 

-3 winners will be randomly chosen and announced on November 10th

-The winner has 48 hours to reply before a new winner is chosen

Extra Points:

+1 for following Peace Love Books on Twitter

+1 for tweeting about giveaway

+1 for posting about this giveaway

For each extra point, please leave another comment with a link! If everything is in one comment, it gets too confusing, so please make them separate! Thanks and good luck! 

Waiting on Wednesday (14)

This is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where every Wednesday bloggers highlight a book that they are eagerly anticipating the release of! 

The Disenchantment 

By Nina LaCour

Release Date: February 16th

Summary: Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev's band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she's abandoning their plans - and Colby - to start college in the fall.

But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev's already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what's next?

Morris Award—finalist Nina LaCour draws together the beauty and influences of music and art to brilliantly capture a group of friends on the brink of the rest of their lives.

The cover and the summary make this book sound like such a fun read. A girl traveling the world after graduation to play in a band? Sounds awesome! I'm not sure if Colby is a guy or a girl (it never specifies) but either way it sounds like it could be a great book! I think I could really relate to this one too since I just graduated high school this past spring. And the cover is so much fun that it just makes me wish for summer again! Needless to say I can't wait to read this one!


***I've also got a great giveaway going on right now! Check it out here to enter!