I was able to get this book for free from netgalley.com. If you don't know what NetGalley is, it's basically a website where you request unreleased titles for review in e-book format. It's completely free. This is the first book I ever received from NetGalley, and it's one that I've been wanting for a while now. I feel like I need to purchase a physical copy. Anyways, if you have a blog/Goodreads account, and like to do book reviews, NetGalley is perfect for you. Don't get discouraged when publishers don't accept your request, it's nothing personal, they're just sometimes picky!

This story was co-written by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn. David wrote Dash's chapters, and Rachel wrote Lily's. The story follows Lily and Dash's winter break, sans parents. Dash finds a book on the shelves of his favorite bookstore, and so begins the journey of the book of dares.

It was a really light read, only 189 pages on my edition (e-book). Lily is this self proclaimed weirdo whose parents try to shelter. Throughout the book she tries to branch out, and discover more danger. All while pouring her heart out onto the pages of the moleskin book. Dash is a smart-alec smarty pants. He is so intelligent, and witty, and snarly, and such a funny character. I did prefer Dash over Lily, but both have their ups and downs. The characters are relatable and lovable.

I feel like this book captures exactly what I imagined a native New Yorker to feel around Christmas time. All the frustration with the shopping crowds, the monotony of New Years, and the typical Christmas themed tourist traps.

It's not my favorite book, but it's certainly one that was worth the read. I wish there was more in the ending, than the abrupt ending it had, I didn't get much closure. The book started out with Dash, finding the notebook, and completing the first tasks. I was surprised that the Lily from the first chapter (the book version) was not the Lily I imagined. She was weaker, and more delicate. This bothered me. The book was her brother's idea, but I felt a bit disconnected from her character for the first few chapters. I also have to wonder, do a lot of parents leave their teenagers alone on Christmas? Aside from Dash, a chunk of the other teens in this book seem to be alone for the holidays. Especially Lily's parents. I don't want to give anything away, but that whole thing seems odd, and quite selfish (if you've finished the book, I'm refering to the second reason they went there, the one that upset Lily).

Overall, I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads. If you're looking for a quick seasonal read, I say go for it. This book was first published back in 2011, but was recently published in the UK! I am so glad that this book is being released in various countries, it really is perfect for the Christmas season.

Find it on Goodreads

Do you have any seasonal books? Any books that put you into the holiday spirit? I plan to read Let it Snow this month. I'm actually excited!

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Free downloadable quotes? Yes!

I created these little quote printables for myself a few days ago. I really wanted something for my bookshelf now that I went through and cleaned it out. I saw this idea on another site, and decided to create my own! I didn't think it would be this easy, to be honest. I didn't like the idea of a whole colored background, so I printed out the white one for myself. Below are full page printables of the white and colored background/boarder versions. I added the guidelines to make it easier to cut out. I did this after I cut my own out, and it was pretty interesting trying to figure out the placement.

The frames are from Michaels, and I got a 40% off coupon with my receipt, so I will be putting off the nail polish collection video because I am going to buy the infamous "Melmer". I'm excited, but mainly to be able to put all of my polish in one area and not have the overflow scattered around the house. Expect the video next week!

White Background | Boarder with Colored Background

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Nook Simple Touch Review

Webcam picture. Wonderful, no? Sorry about the flipped picture, that's what I get for using a computer. It seriously looked better this way, though. I remember seeing this thing (real descriptive, I know) that what you see in the mirror is different than what people see. Just watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UVioyNjgsc&feature=plcp#t=9m55s (9:55 to about 11:30, but it should jump to the former).

Totally enlightened moment there! Anywho that is why I kept it this way even after I flipped it, or I assume that is the reason since I like the way this one looks than the other. ENOUGH ABOUT ME! The real star is the Nook Simple Touch =)

I know, this is a pretty off topic post, but I've mentioned in past blog posts how much I love my Nook. A lot of the features I haven't been able to use since I've been reading the same book since I got it. I keep forgetting I have it, sad and dumb I know! I really have gotten out of the habit since I took a hiatus due to high school. I'm the type of person that if I'm forced to do it, I wont like it, and reading outside of school wasn't any fun anymore. I'm working on it though!

Pride and Prejudice, first chapter

It has a lot of the same features that the ever popular Kindle has. It is missing is the text to speech option, which is fine by me. If you hold your finger on the word for a second or two it will highlight it, and give you four options; highlight, add note, share, and look up. The look up option is the dictionary which is real helpful when reading a book with words that the reader may not be familiar with. Can anyone say textbooks? E-readers (probably the colored versions more) are PERFECT for college students!

When you're reading a PDF file the only thing that you can change is text size. No highlighting options are available. You can still search within the file to find something, and chapters are still useable if the file has them included, i.e. a school catalog would still have chapters, but a plain research paper that is saved as a PDF file would not.

So, why did I choose the Nook Simple Touch over the Kindle?

1. Cheaper - I bought it for $75 during the mother's day sale.
2. No Ads - I don't care if I can buy the version/pay to have them removed, the fact I have to pay to remove ads on something that I already bought annoys me so much!
3. Physical Stores - I like going to a real store if I need issues. I don't like calling tech support, so if I can ever walk into a store and have them look at it, that makes me happy.
4. Expandable Memory - I like this option, even though I highly doubt I will ever need it.

The text is really clear, and I don't see any words or images burned onto the screen after it "refreshes" itself, and erases the previous e-ink which it does every time I wake up the Nook, and after 6 page turns.

Features that would be a deciding factor, but didn't matter to me:

MP3 playing capability

Web browsing

Text to speech

I love the size. It fits into both of my small clutches/purses. It's light weight, and really thin! I also love that I can change the screensaver to whatever I please, which I think is going to be the cover of the current book I'm reading (I have to manually import it).

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