Weekly wrap ups?

I was thinking that I could write weekly wrap ups for you all. Would you be interested in seeing them? I would track my reading starting on Monday and post about what I have accomplished on Sunday. If you are interested comment down below or like this post. Sorry this is short and not that interesting but I thought I would ask. Thanks for reading!

Advertisement

Get to know me!

I wasn’t tagged by anyone but I figured I’d do it anyway. I hope you enjoy.

Can you stop reading at anytime, or do you have to stop at a chapter/page?

Most of the time I need to stop at the next chapter. Sometimes the chapter is too long for the amount of time I have to read so I’ll stop in the middle.

Do you eat or drink while eating? 

Sometimes, but I don’t prefer it.

Can you read while listening to music or watching tv?

If any noise is quiet enough I can read, but most of the time I need it quiet.

One book at a time or several?

I try to read one book at a time but life is too short. I always end up reading several.

Read at home or everywhere?

I read at home most of the time, but if I have time I’ll read in my car or at the park.

Do you read out load or silently in my head?

I can do both it doesn’t matter. I like to think I retain more knowledge when reading aloud.

Do you read ahead or skip pages?

I never read ahead. If I feel like I need to then I shouldn’t be reading the book. Unless it’s a book I’ve read, then I’ll skip to parts I like/know.

Break the spine or keep it new?

I try to keep the spine in tact but if it breaks, in my case, it means it was loved a little more than the rest!

Write books or just read?

I just read. I used to try to write when I was younger but it wasn’t for me. Who knows things might change.

Last book read?

We are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson. (Definitely recommend the book if you read YA!!)

About me:

Name: Vivian

Name meaning: Well I looked it up and it’s supposedly derived from Latin or French and it means “alive” which I am indeed alive.

Named after anyone: A woman off of Days of our Lives.

Hair color: Medium brown.

Hair length: It’s almost if not already down to the middle of my back.

Eye Color: Hazel!

My birthday: September 6th

Height: 5″8 I believe

Place of birth: Michigan

Currently living: Kentucky

Star Sign: Virgo

Best Feature: Eyes.

Braces: Never had them, probably never will.

Piercings: I have my lobes pierced once on each ear and my tragus on my left side.

Tattoos: None currently.

Right/Left handed: Right handed.

Pets: Back in Michigan I have a cat (orange tabby) and a dog (chihuahua/Pomeranian) In Kentucky I have none.

Siblings: 2 half sisters and 2 half brothers.

Do you have kids: Nope, maybe someday.

How many children do you want: 0-2

What would you name your children: Theo for a boy and Charlie for a girl.

Marriage: Not currently, but maybe in the future!

What did you want to be when you grew up? Vet probably. As I went into middle school I wanted to be a psychiatrist.

Career Goals: I’m hoping I can either blog professionally or I can get into an art field.

Hobbies: Reading, drawing, blogging.

Five Random Facts:

• I don’t like having anything around my wrists.
• I hate going to bed unless I’m incredibly tired.
• I’m a homebody
• I hate water (swimming).
• I’m addicted to cheese.

Favorites:

Five favorite films:

• Juno
• Dirty Dancing
• Beetlejuice
• Zootopia
• Erin Brokovich

Five favorite songs:

• Tom Petty’s music *RIP D;
• Queens of the stone age music
• Queens music
• Eric Clapton’s music
• Soundgarden’s music

Tv Shows: Frasier, How I Met Your Mother, Raising Hope, King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond.

Youtubers: Jenna Marbles, A ton of booktubers, Nikki Limo, Grace Helbig, LeighAnn Says etc…

Food: I love food! Pizza, Philly cheese-steak, burgers, pasta, cucumbers, hummus, bagels

Drinks: Water, Sprite, Coke Zero, Diet Pepsi.

Animals: Hippos or dogs. All animals are accepted though!

Restaurants: Sonic, Subway

Shops: Book stores and makeup stores (Sephora)

Smells: Lovespell is my all time favorite scent.

Colors: I love all colors!

Music genre: Rock, some country, and some rap. I will also accept others as long as it’s good.

Firsts:

Holiday: My first time traveling to Kentucky with my friend.

Concert: Tom Petty 😦

Best Friend: I don’t remember my first best friend!

Currently:

Feeling: Productive.

Eating: Nothing!

Watching: How I Met Your Mother

Wearing: PJ’s

Do you:

Believe in miracles: Maybe.

Believe in love at first sight: No.

Believe in ghosts: I’m not sure.

Believe in aliens: They are possible I guess.

Believe in soul mates: No

Believe in heaven/hell: I don’t know.

Believe in kissing on first date: You do you. If it feels right and there is consent!!

Believe in yourself: Not usually, unfortunately.

What:

If you won the lottery, what would you buy? My parents a house, my boyfriend and I a house, and books.

Your fav/worst subject in school: My favorite was art. My least favorite was either Trig/Pre Calc

Subject you were best at: Art or English.

Sports do you play/have played: I never played team sports. I used to play tennis for fun.

Phone (IOS/Android): IOS

Something you with you were talented at: Being athletic.

First thing you notice about people: Personality/Clothing

Top of bucket list: Travel to Seattle, Washington.

3 long-term goals: Buy a house, get married, have a career in what I love.

3 Short term goals: buy a new car, have job security with a full-time position, and reach my reading goals for the year.

What are you doing to achieve those goals: I’m applying for a full-time position at the library, My boyfriend and I are trying to save money to buy a car.

3 things you’d take on a deserted island: Books, rope, and knife.

Biggest accomplishment: Graduating high school with honors.

Ideal first date: I don’t really have one.

Something I look for in partner: Sense of humor and ability to sit and do nothing quite often.

Something you dislike: BUGS, driving (lol), sleeping

Special talents: I can draw pretty well.

Favorite fairy tale: I don’t really have one.

App used most: Instagram/goodreads

Piece of tech you can’t live without: Phone

Countries you have visited: Haven’t left the country I’m in.

Countries you’d like to visit: Italy, Japan, Rome

Most embarrassing memory: Peeing my pants during gym in elementary school.

Random:

Summer or Winter: I hate the heat, but probably summer.

Furthest you’ve been from home: 600 and something miles. (Where I am currently living.)

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Maybe Seattle.

Sweet/Savory: Savory.

Last time you’ve cried: A week or two ago. I’m emotional.

If you were another person, would you be afraid of yourself? No ?

Scary movie or happy endings: Happy endings

Do you use sarcasm a lot? YES.

How would you describe your fashion sense: Non existent (There’s that sarcasm)

Are you competitive: Not in any way shape or form.

Describe yourself in a single sentence: Introvert who loves to sit at home in her pajamas and read.

Who is your role model: Tom Petty. He seemed like an amazing man.

If you could give your younger self any advice what would it be: Don’t be so scared to do anything!

This was the longest tag I have ever seen. I hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for more blog posts! I don’t have anyone to tag but I encourage you to do it! Thank you 🙂

We are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

Genre:

Young Adult Fiction

Summary:

This is a novel about the male protagonist, Henry Denton. He was supposedly abducted by aliens and told that he had 144 days to decide whether he wanted the world to end or not. It all came down to this button that he was either going to push or leave alone. Through the course of those 144 days he deals with love, loss, and figuring out who he is. He meets Diego Vega, an aspiring artist from Colorado that he doesn’t know much about, who could possibly change his mind about the world. It’s an emotional journey that deals with relationships between family, friends and possible love interests. Trigger: Towards the end of the novel there is a mention of possible rape. If that bothers you just know that going into the novel. It’s not a huge part but it is mentioned. There is also suicide mentioned quite a bit in the novel. 

Narration:

This novel is written in first person narrative which is not so reliable in the end. Henry is in high school and because he’s dealing with a mother that smokes and is trying to keep the family from falling apart, a brother who dropped out of college and is planning on being a father, a grandmother who is losing her mind, and a boyfriend that has committed suicide. All of these different aspects of his life has made him go a little crazy and for awhile he wonders why it would matter if the world ended. We are never for sure if he is actually abducted by aliens or if it is just him trying to give an excuse to end his life as well. Therefore, we only see what he is thinking and how he supposes others are feeling but his mind is too jumbled. 

Setting:

The book takes place in Florida where Henry lives. He is mainly at school or at home but there is a plethora of other significant places he takes us here and there. The setting is not much of a driver for the story but there are certain places such as, his boyfriends old bedroom, that starts becoming important later in the story. It basically just shows that he is in high school and that gives the reader a hint of the struggles that happen in high school especially for a boy that has so much going on in his life. Other than that there is not much description about where he lives and goes to school. 

Theme:

We are the Ants shows the reader just how large the universe is and how our actions ultimately don’t matter in the end. If are worried about grades in school, what has happened in the past, or what happening now we shouldn’t be because it doesn’t matter all that much. 

Evaluation:

This book was fantastic. It deals with possible problems that any person on the Earth could deal with in their lifetime. The writing definitely proves that the narrator is a high school student. Henry is easy to relate to but also impossible to understand. I enjoyed the relationships between him and his friends, family and Diego Vega. You learn about each person slowly throughout the book which was nice. I didn’t have to learn about this person with all these experiences in one page. I gradually got to know them like it was a real life interaction. 

Henry Denton was not my favorite character in the novel. I found him to be quite annoying at moments. He could never decide what he wanted from a person at any given moment. He compared Diego to his former boyfriend that had committed suicide. I don’t fancy comparing two people because human beings are all different. I do realize he is in high school trying to find himself but his personality wasn’t my cup of tea. 

Throughout the story there were facts that were made up by Henry and it was interesting to see what he had come up with. They were some of my favorite parts of the novel. They often dealt with serious issues that were going on in the world but it had a twist that probably would never happen.

The writing style was very simple which made it a bit of a faster read, which I did enjoy. 

One of the issues I had that brought my rating down was the romance in the novel. I’m not big on cheesy romance and it happens quite a bit. There are some raunchy parts as well mixed in. I do understand that he was trying to find himself but it wasn’t for me.

Overall:

I would encourage anyone to read this novel. I will definitely try to read other novels by Shaun David Hutchinson. I borrowed this book from the library so I would buy it for my shelves. I believe this book has made good points about what life really is about. We really just are the ants in the grand scheme of things. It is a great message and I think if you read this book more than once you will probably learn something new every time. Give this novel a chance. 

Thank you.