Southern Writer's Festival 2016

THE HATERS

Directly after finishing MAEATDG I picked up Jesse Andrews' other book. The review made me skeptical and I went in with hesitant expectations. 


Overall I enjoyed this book. I did not enjoy The Haters as much as MAEATDG but it was still really funny. Sometimes I felt that jokes were repetitive of the ones in the MAEATDG and I felt that at times the author tried too hard to make the story seem funny. 

I gave this ***/5 stars

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL

I went into this book not sure what to expect. Many people compare it to TFIOS, which I see that comparison. I wanted to love this just as much if not more than TFIOS. 

  In the end I loved this book so much more than TFIOS. I do still have a passion for John Green's "modern classic" and John Green himself but I have also found a new favorite author. 

 If you don't know what MAEATDG is about...basically Greg doesn't have friends (or doesn't want them rather) except for Earl who is his co-worker/partner. A girl they both go to school with, named Rachel, gets diagnosed with cancer. Greg's mom then forcibly suggests Greg to go be her friend.

This book was hilarious even up until the last page. 

I gave it ****/5 stars 

SAVE ME, KURT COBAIN

With Nirvana being a major guilty pleasure of my own I was instantly drawn to this book for 2 things. 1) the cover artwork 2) Kurt Cobain being in the title. 

This book was barely 200 pages long. I was entertained the entire time. 

However, the story was a bit rushed and the main character seemed immature but I had to remind myself that she was only 15.

I did enjoy the storyline a lot however I do wish the book had been longer but I felt that the story came to a close and I was satisfied with the ending. 

I gave this book 3/5 stars.

LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD

  If you can read the blurb on this book it's by Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being A Wallflower. Anyone who's followed me for any length of time knows that Perks of Being A Wallflower is my favorite book of all time, so you can instantly guess why I was drawn to this book. 
  Upon reading the synopsis I thought to myself, "hey that sounds really good". 
  The book was very good except for the fact that the main character was grieving the death of her sister by trying to become her sister. 

I also felt like the main character was immature and that the plot and storyline was step up with a lot of potential but ultimately fell short. 

I gave this book 2/5 stars. 

BETTER OFF FRIENDS

Originally I picked up this book because I am a sucker for the cliche "lifelong best friends who fall madly in love and never realize it" story line. Which is exactly what I was expecting and pretty much what I got out of this book. However, I did find that the way this book read was also really cliche. Levi moved into town in the middle of a school year and Macallan ended up showing him around and boom magical friendship. Eventually they realize they're best friends and what not. The chapters alternated between 2 POVs, Levi and Macallan, some which told back story some that didn't. 

Over all the book wasn't terrible and I enjoyed the time that I read it but I felt and still feel it had so much more potential. 


I ended up selling the book after I finished it. I definitely recommend it to younger audiences and anyone who loves contemporary romance. 

I gave this book 3/5 stars. 

Music in Film

Currently in school I am in a music history class. We were given a project in which we had to take movie clips and change the background music. I decided to share them with you!

Adam | Review

GURGLE CHALLENGE: BOOKTUBE EDITION

Used Book Book Haul

Since I've gotten sort of behind on my video uploading I decided that I'm going to do a blog post of this book haul. I haven't made a post like this in a while so I hope I'm not too rusty!

• Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography & Other Writings. I purchased this to extend my growing classics collection.
• Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti
• Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
• The Freedom Writers Diary by The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell
• The Brontes: Selected Poems

As you may have noticed a few of these are classics and if you know me personally you know that I've been slowly building up my classics collection. I think I'm close to being finished. If there are any you suggest I get or have read please comment below and tell me! 

Also if you have read any of these mentioned above comment and tell me what you thought of them! 

~Payton

Should I have included pictures???