I can’t even tell you why I picked up Beautiful Disaster. Something about it pulled me in and once I started it, I did not stop for a minute. Every second I put the book down, I wanted to pick it up and read more. Even though the story is simple, the characters intolerable in their own ways, and there isn’t much of a plot, I still felt completely pulled in and did not want to stop reading it.

There were parts of the story that felt a little too close to home from some of my own college years but other than that, I really just felt pulled into their story. I’ve never read this author before and looks like she’s not in print but digital only. However she does have two other books (albeit they’re YA and dystopian – when this one wasn’t) but I think I might venture and get one of her other books just to see if it’s her ability to create characters that grabs me or if it was particular to this one book.

I’ve been meaning to talk about holiday reading for a while now. During the holiday season, I tend to read a lot of books. Generally they are either reflection-based or art-related. I tend to save them and then savor them during the holidays. Here are the ones I read this holiday season.

Most of the reading this time around was art books I’d been saving. I did read two (actually three but the other one I will write about separately) books that were more on the reflective side. Two of them were by Sark: Transformation Soup and Eat Mangoes Naked I read her last year during the holidays and I’d liked her so I bought a few more of her books and saved them. I did enjoy both of these and if Sark is your cup of tea, I think you would, too.

Then I read a bunch of art books. I’d been saving How to Make a Journal of Your Life for months. A little book on how awesome it is to keep journals. It covers journaling, sketching, taking photos, and collecting ephemera. It’s small, a quick read, and quite wonderful.

Since I wanted to keep art journals, I’d bought both The Decorated Page and Artist’s Journal Workshop for this purpose. I will admit that I didn’t read them for too long. But I loved both of these. Especially the latter. I loved loved loved that book.

Excellent examples of sketching, drawing, art journaling. Really worthwhile.

And since I was interested in sketching, you knew I was going to have to read at least one Danny Gregory, right? Creative License is one of the best books on sketching ever. Inspirational, lovely to look at, practical and just way too enticing not to read.

If you’re interested in sketching or into sketching, you must not miss Danny Gregory. He’s exceptional. I am confident every one of his books must be amazing.

I also bought 30-minute sketching because I read about it in Junelle’s blog. (Or I think I did.) This is a small book. quick to read and covers mostly watercolors. It’s wonderful. Don’t let its size fool you, there’s A LOT of information in this little book.

And specifically on watercolors I read Keeping a Watercolor Sketchbook. Another incredible book. Brenda’s an amazing artist. Oh to have that talent. This book is in detail, and I’ll be honest, I am still reading it. I just want to savor every page of it and make sure I learn as much as I can from it.

And there we go. Those are some of the books I read during the holidays. Every one of them was awesome. And getting to savor them during the holidays is an extra luxury. Have you read any good art books lately?

After having read the Lauren Oliver’s previous book and loving it so so much, I was almost reluctant to pick up Delirium because, for me, there was no way it could measure up to the previous one. And I wasn’t so thrilled that the writer was jumping on the dystopian bandwagon.

I put it off for a while but then finally picked it up.

And I was right.

While the novel is ok and she is definitely a fine writer, this book was nowhere near the caliber of the previous one for me. It didn’t have the profound effect and I particularly didn’t care for the ending. All in all, this was just another YA dsytopian novel whereas Before I Fall truly had a lasting effect on me.

I look forward to more books by her nonetheless as she’s definitely a great writer.

As I decided to take the journey to getting to know myself better, one of the books that was recommended was Personality Plus so I bought it and did the test and made Jake do it too.

As it is often with these things, it’s hard to generalize and put people into boxes. People are more often shades of gray than they are black or white.

However, each of us did fit into specific sections more strongly than others and reading about my type and jake’s type and how we interact was really useful for me and I think it was/is for Jake too. It’s something I want to learn to keep in mind because it is a reminder that he is who he is and he is different than I am and that I don’t have to be embarrassed to be who I am and instead embrace my strengths and make good use of them.

I had The Perks of Being a Wallflower for quite some time but didn’t get around to reading it. Then I saw it on someone’s pinterest board and remembered that I had it and decided to finally tackle it.

I am so so so glad I did.

This book was truly wonderful. I enjoyed all of it and it will stay with me for quite some time. There were many many parts I underlined, but here are a few because I know I will want to remember.

I know Ship Breaker won awards and it was also highly recommended by several friends. But I found it hard to get through for some reason. I didn’t feel a lot of connection to any of the characters and maybe that played the biggest role in my not caring too much for the book. I find that I need to connect with at least one character if I want to care about the story.

I know it’s a series and I have the other books. It was pretty violent and I decided I needed a break before I read the others so I haven’t tackled them yet.

However, I do think I will.