#Love-A-Thon Wrap Up

Wow. What an overwhelming and intense weekend (in a wonderful way) for me! It was so much fun being a part of the Blogger Love-A-Thon! I has been without a doubt one of my favorite things I have done so far this year!

A big THANK YOU to the host of the event Katelyn and Alexa! They are awesome. So nice too! And their blogs are pretty great. If you are just coming across this post and haven't been to their blogs yet, you definitely should. Just stop reading this right now and go check them out!

We had some awesome mini challenges to complete during the Love-A-Thon

Interview: I joined too late, so I answered the interview questions myself. But other blogs were able to post interview questions from a fellow blogger. Here's mine.
Mini Challenge #1: Book Spine Poetry. I had never done anything like this before and I think that it was my favorite. I had so much fun trying to think of awesome ways to put the titles together to make a poem. Love it! Here's mine.
Mini Challenge #2: Love Letter/Valentines to Book Boyfriends. Oh my. So much fun. It was hard for me to decide which boys I wanted to write my letters to. Otherwise, it would have taken me forever to complete this challenge. In the end my top two favorites won out. Thorne and Roar.  Here's mine.
Mini Challenge #3: Mad Libs! So much fun. And a good story. It was so fun being able to try and come up with some words without knowing the story involved. I remember loving Mad Libs when I was little. I had so much fun, it makes me think maybe we could start a Mad Libs type monthly challenge. Here's mine.
Mini Challenge #4: Mash Up! This challenge was a little hard for me to come up with something. But I decided to share my love of making finger puppets and my love of music. I made a couple of playlists for some books that I love. Here's mine.
Mini Challenge #5: Letter to Self. I chose to write a letter to my future self to remind myself how I am here to blog for me. For me to do what I love. Here's mine.
Mini Challenge #6: Awards. This was a tough one for me, I ended up picking several blogs that I already had been following. But there were a couple new ones. It was hard to just come up with a couple. There are so many awesome blogs out there! The book blog community is so amazing! Here's mine.

So as you can tell. I had A LOT of fun.

And now I am following at least 15 more blogs. (probably a lot more than that!) I added a bunch of new blogs to my blog roll list (found on the side of my blog).

And I decided on a monthly or biweekly thing that I want to see if anyone would be interested in. More details on that will be posted soon. :D

I hope everyone had as much fun as I did!

Thank you everyone that has started to follow me on Twitter and this blog through GFC! You all are AWESOME! Also, thank you so much for leaving me comments and just visiting.

It has been the best two days! And I definitely feel the LOVE! Just makes me smile. *hugs you all*

Now, time to read. <3

#Love-A-Thon: Awards

Mini Challenge #6: Awards. There are so many awesome blogs. I feel so overwhelmed. I had a hard time picking out some for all the categories, so I only picked a few.

I like so many new blogs and I am sorry I can't pick everyone. But here are a couple favorites that I have been reading and some new ones that I am going to begin reading.

You all are awesome. (Even those that I didn't list!!! <3)


Best Blog Design:

1. Pretty Little Reader
2. The Book Addict's Guide
3. My Friends are Fiction

Friendliest Blogger:

1. Kate's Tales of Books and Bands
2. Alexa Loves Books
3. Books Devoured
4. Pretty Little Reader

Most Helpful Reviews:

1. Effortlessly Reading
2. Reading in Twilight

Favorite Author Blog:

1. Marissa Meyer
2. Veronica Rossi
3. Jessica Brody
4. Megan Shepherd

Favorite Author Twitter:

1. Marissa Meyer
2. Veronica Rossi

Favorite Bloggers to Fangirl With:

1. Girls In Plaid Skirts

#Love-A-Thon: Letter to Self

Mini Challenge #5: Write a letter to either your past blogger or future blogger self.

Dear Future Stephanie,

I hope that you have gotten better at this whole blogging thing. I know right now it is still pretty new. Just remember why you started to blog in the first place: to have a place where you can write and share your love of books (and a lot of other things too.) It isn't about how many people visit the blog everyday. Or the fact that your only follower is a relative. No. Just remember any time you feel like you want to just give up and quit because you feel like no one cares...it isn't about the followers. This is about you doing something that you love to do.
There are a lot of things that will make this blog better and hopefully by now you have done them. But in case you haven't I am going to list them here for you:

• Write your reviews SOON after your finish reading a book. Really need to stop and write a review while the book is still fresh in your mind, instead of diving into the the next book and having a LONG list of reviews that need to be written.
• Start participating in some blog features/memes. Maybe even come up with a feature yourself. 
• Host a giveaway. It will be cool to be able to have a giveaway at some point.
• Participate in more challenges. They are fun to do!
• Create a weekly/bi-weekly/once a month type of feature where book lovers can get together on Skype or something to type and discuss about books. Talk about spoilers and what we think of books. Pick a new book each time.
• Participate in a book tour. Which would be pretty cool.

Those are just a few ideas. 

Just remember, you'll doing this for you. So have fun and keep enjoying what you do!

<3,
Present Stephanie

#Love-A-Thon: Mash-Up!

Mini Challenge #4: Mash-Up. For this challenge we have to mash our non-book lives with book-lives by picking a hobby/interest and putting it together with books.


This one was hard for me. Hopefully my post will fit the requirements.
Not only do I have my young adult/adult book life. I also have a book life of reading Children's Books. I have two girls and we read a lot together! I love being able to share my love of reading with the girls.

And I have two favorite hobbies/interests that are not Reading: Crafts and Music.

First we will start with Crafting.

I LOVE to make finger-puppets out of felt.
So I am going to share a couple of my favorites that I have made with you!

First: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My oldest daughter loves TMNT! She watches the cartoon from the 80's and the newest one that comes on Nick. We also have a lot of TMNT books. Some from my childhood that belonged to my brother and some that we have bought more recently. We also have some of the newer comic books. She loves them.
So I made some TMNT finger-puppets for her.

Winnie the Pooh: My youngest has been obsessed with Winnie the Pooh since she was pretty much a baby. My mom bought her (what became her lovey) Pooh bear when she was about 6 months old and she has loved it (well) since then.
We love reading Winnie the Pooh books, watching the movies and just anything related to Pooh bear.
So I made her a Pooh and Piglet finger-puppet. (Still working on the others...finger-puppets can be time consuming!)

Sesame Street: I know Sesame Street is more of a TV show, but we do have a lot of books about these characters too! We have books that date all the way back to when I was a little girl. So I made some Sesame Street finger-puppets. (These have been slowly since I have been making two sets.)

There is also a Cookie Monster, but he isn't pictured.

Minnie Mouse: I eventually (hopefully by the end of 2014) will have most of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gang finished. Right now it is only Minnie.

So there they are. I enjoy making them. Even if they take a while. I hand cut all the pieces and then sew them together by hand.

Now I will go to something that is more related to my Young Adult/Adult book life.

Music-
I have been obsessed with Music since I was a girl. My dad passed to me his love of music while my mom passed on to me her love of books. They have been my two loves/interests since I can remember.

I haven't really made a bunch of playlists before to go along with books. But there have been several times when I hear a song and I am reminded or think of a certain book. So I will share some of those now.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

• Girl on Fire- Alicia Keys
• Set Fire to the Rain- Adele
• Revolution- The Beatles
• Another One Bites the Dust- Queen
• We're Not Gonna Take It- Twisted Sister

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

• Counting Stars- One Republic
• Across the Universe by The Beatles
• She's the One by The Ramones (How Wolf feels for Scarlet)
• Speechless by The Veronicas (How Cress feels about Thorne)

The Madman's Daughter/Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd 

• Lost in Paradise- Evanescence
• Hear Me Out- Imagine Dragons
• Date With the Night- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• No Light, No Light- Florence and the Machine
• Dark Paradise- Lana Del Rey
• Comfortably Numb- Pink Floyd

Under the Never Sky Trilogy by Veronica Rossi

• Don't Panic- Coldplay
• Home- Philip Philips
• You're My Best Friend- Queen
• Your Winter- Sister Hazel

#Love-A-Thon: Mad Libs Mini Challenge

Mini Challenge #3: Mad Libs! Fill out the mad lib story.

Fun!!!! I loved mad libs growing up. Hopefully my story will be good. Obviously I am not reading the story until after I put in my words.

One day, I was dancing with Roar. Out of the blue, a robot came out of nowhere! It was so large, carnivorous and gawking. At first, we were afraid, we were petrified, but we jumped. We hopped on train to make our getaway.

As we escaped, we turned up the radio because I Love It by Icona Pop came on and made me run. Everything was extremely smooth sailing until an hippopotamus appeared in the middle of the road. We swerved to avoid it, but while Roar stayed on train, I got thrown onto my side in the woods.

I couldn't get up, and felt sparkling as I lay there staring up at the trees. What was I going to do? I heard a crunch among the leaves, and felt scared. Surely, this was going to be my end. As my eyes fluttered shut, the last thing I saw was a head of hazelnut hair and aqua eyes.

When I woke up again, I was on a bed. My body hurt a whole lot less, and I could sit up. There was a captain and bone in the room, along with pizza and daiquiris. The door suddenly opened to reveal Thorne, a concerned look on his face. I blushed and averted my gaze, but he grabbed and said, "Don't be shy. It's okay."

He came over to sit by me, and we started talking after I told him my name. We chatted about reading, writing and music and realized we had a ton in common! I thought he was brooding and couldn't help feeling a little swoony.

Just as he reached out for my hand, the door crashed open and in came Peeta. "Don't let him charm you away, my love!" He yelled, running at Thorne. They each had spatulas in their hands and began to fight. "Stop!", I yelled, feeling so elated. They didn't listen to me. Before I could intervene, Thorne fell to the floor and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"What was that?" I asked, staring at the empty space. Peeta dropped his weapon, and came over to me. "Magic, but you are safe now, Sweetheart." He hugged me close, and I suddenly knew that this was the real deal and not just a dream.

Just as Baby I Love You by the Ramones started playing in my head, I woke up. I cursed my ridiculous luck. Why had it only been just a dream?

Book Bloggers Love-A-Thon Interview Questions

I am late to post these, but here are my answers for the interview questions for the Book Bloggers Love-A-Thon!

I am having so much fun with this! :)

1. How did you come up with your blog name?
I changed the name for my blog several times. When I was first creating my blog I said I wanted to be able to talk and share about my love of Books. But not only books, tv shows, movies, and board/video games. So my awesome significant other came up with this name after I told him it would be cool if he would sometimes review things with me. (a she thinks, he thinks thing) It is a play off of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. "Life, the Universe, and Everything" became Books, Movies and Everything.

2. What genre/subject matter do you read and review most on your blog? 
More than anything I have been reviewing books. More specifically Young Adult books. But I plan on reviewing some more movies and add in some games as well.

3. Name the 3 books you're excited for in 2014! 
Well two of my 3 books that I was most excited about being released this year are already out. 1. Cress by Marissa Meyer. 2. Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi. And I am pretty excited for 3. The One by Kiera Cass.

4. Where in the world are you blogging from? 
I am in the United States. Florida specifically. 

5. Tell us -- how did you get into blogging in the first place? 
I was looking at some blogs and thought "Man, it would be so cool to share my thoughts and ideas about the books I read." So I decided to go ahead and share my love of books.

6. Apart from reading, what other hobbies/interests do you have?

• I love doing things with my little girls. 
• I love to craft. More specifically making things out of felt. Like finger puppets! 
• I like to write. I am working on my first draft of my first story. I started writing it in November 2013 for NaNoWriMo.
• Games. I love games. Board games, card games, video games, computer games. I LOVE having game nights with my friends.
• TV shows. I watch TOO many shows. But I love them.
• Music. I love music. Always have. I love music about the same as loving books. Which is A LOT!

7. If you were stuck on a deserted island, which books would you bring with you?

This is tough. There are so many books that I LOVE! But I would definitely have to bring:

• The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
• Under the Never Sky (the whole Trilogy!) by Veronica Rossi
• The Hunger Games (Trilogy!) by Suzanne Collins
• Matched (Trilogy!) by Ally Condie
• Legend (Trilogy!) by Marie Lu
• Harry Potter (Whole Series) by J.K. Rowling

I think I could list books forever, so I will stop there.

8. If you were stuck in some dangerous situation (like a fire, a sinking ship, a warzone), which book boy or girl would you want to come and save you?
Hmmm....good question. I am not sure. There are so many good people I think would be able to help me. Do I really have to pick one? Roar could come save me. I would like it very much. Because I love him. But Thorne has the Rampion and that would make it easier to get to me. I also think I would like to be saved by Four. So any of those would be quite awesome. 

9. You’re attending a party with your friends. Suddenly, the DJ changes the song and it’s YOUR song – what song would that be?

This one is hard! I have so many songs. I LOVE so many songs! Right now my favorite songs that I have been connecting to emotionally lately are:

1. So Much More by Against Me!
2. Just Give Me a Reason by P!nk featuring Nate Ruess
3. It's Time by Imagine Dragons

10. What 3 movies would you love to have your favorite author write into books, or vice versa?

Vice Versa, three book series that I would love to see as movies would be:

1. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
2. Under the Never Sky trilogy by Veronica Rossi
3. Matched trilogy by Ally Condie

Love-A-Thon: Valentine Love Letters

Mini Challenge #2: Pick a book boyfriend to write a Valentine Love Letter to.

This is my first time writing a letter to a fictional character, but it has been a lot of fun. So I think I am in love with several guys from different book series. Thorne, Roar, Four, Peeta, Ky, Maxon, Wolf, Perry, Alex...probably more than that. There are too many for me to write love letters to, so I decided to pick a couple of my top favorite fellas. I simply could not pick only one.

Letter #1

Dearest Carswell,

Scarlet is Red,
Cinder is Cool,
Cress is Sweet,
And they are all lucky to have you.

There are females (and probably some males too) all around the world swooning over you, and I happy to be one of them.
I think you are simply amazing. In my honest opinion, you are one of my favorite captains in the entire world. You are sweet, charming, loyal, and strong.
And I agree with Cress, deep down you are a good person. You care about your new friends and that is special.
I think my favorite moment was when you realized when Cress was missing and made sure you went after her.
You are an amazing guy. And I can't imagine not having you in my life.
Be my Valentine?

Love,
Stephanie



Letter #2

Sweet Roar,

You are one of the best boyfriends in the world. You know how to make me laugh when I need it. Your smile makes my heart melt. And your voice takes my breath away. I don't think there is anything in the world that would keep me from going with you Into the Still Blue!
I love your brotherly relationship with Perry. So loyal. So strong.
I love your amazing friendship with Aria. I am almost jealous of the bond between you two.
But I also know that our bond could be as strong.
We would be friends and lovers.
In the Still Blue we can start anew. We can sing and dance. And lay under the stars.
You have my heart, Valentine!

Love always,
Stephanie

#Love-A-Thon: Book Spine Poetry

Mini Challenge 1: Create some poetry using book spines.

A large portion of my books that I used to make my Book Spine Poems are E-books. So instead of taking a picture of the book spines together in order, I wrote out the titles.


Book Spine Poem #1:

Legend
Incarnate
The Maze Runner
Bound to You
Before I Fall 
Into the Still Blue


Book Spine Poem #2:

Champion
Ignite Me
The Madman's Daughter
Through the Ever Night
Unravel Me
Reached 
Delirium


Book Spine Poem #3:

Beautiful Creatures
Under the Never Sky
Unearthly
Unremembered
Gone 
Forever
Shadow and Bone

Authors of the Books listed here:

Legend by Marie Lu
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Bound to You by Christopher Pike
Before I Fall  by Lauren Oliver
Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi
Champion by Marie Lu
Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
Reached by Ally Condie
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Unremembered by Jessica Brody
Gone  by Michael Grant
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Book Blogger Love-A-Thon

This is hosted by Katelyn and Alexa. (Click on their names for a link to their blogs!) Thanks for creating such a cool challenge!

I hadn't heard about this challenge before and when I looked into it today I thought it was pretty awesome. 

I considered not participating in it since I am new to blogging and I don't really have any followers, but I decided it is more about the love of books and the new love of blogging so I am going to participate.

I am starting late, so hopefully it won't be a problem. (The thought, better late than never runs through my mind.)

I am really excited for the mini challenges that are packed into these two days. (I read through the list.)