Rainy Days With Amanda

Another book review is here! Can you believe it? It's about the middle of summer already! Kind of crazy. Seems like the older I get, the more time just likes to fly by. Hopefully it slows down, just for a while. Anyways, if I'm not working three job, or at school/doing school work, I'm at the book store picking out a new read. Here in Dallas, we have a huge flagship Half Price Books! If you ever visit Dallas, and you love reading books, you need to visit this place! I originally found this book at Target as a Target Club Pick, but wanted to save money, so headed over to Half Price. As usual, (especially at this Half Price), I found what I wanted. Onto the review! (SPOILER ALERT)! A Little Bit of Background   The Ice Cream Cream of Orchard Street was written by New York Times bestselling author, Susan Jane Gilman . This book was Gilman's debut novel in 2014 and has been praised by various publications, including Publishers Weekly and USA Today . Her book contain...

I happen to write these blogs when it rains or when it looks like it's going to rain. It's nice and kind of suspicious. Anyways, if you're into basketball, then you know that the Spurs lost last night to the Golden State Warriors. At the end of the game, everyone cheered and shouted for Manu Ginobli. He has played with the Spurs since he was drafted in 1999. Even though the Golden State was ahead, everyone appreciated Manu for all the years he contributed to his team. It's being speculated that this will be his last season, but it's still not been confirmed. Either way, those people in the arena, and those people posting about Manu and how they're still spurs fans, those are real fans. If you don't know Spurs fans, then you don't know real dedication, as you can see in the pictures below. Spurs wedding. Courtesy of Spurs Twitter account. Spurs quinceanera. Photo from My San Antonio Express News. Photo from Instagram account @c_always_wright...

My second review on the Stephanie Plum series by author Janet Evanovich . I know it's a week past my usual monthly deadline, but I had so much stuff to do this month school wise! I was nominated for top 5 best capstone (senior project) so I had to do a whole presentation in front of a bunch of people! It was scary, but I made it through. I'm actually turning my senior project into a book (stay tuned for that!). Anyways, enough with my update! Let's get on to the review! (SPOILER ALERT) A Little Bit of Background Janet Evanovich is a New York Times Best Selling author for plenty of her works. Her Stephanie Plum series started back in 1994. This book is her eighth installment out of 24 (I know, I'm a little behind). This book came out in 2002 and follows directly after the 7th book. As for Stephanie, she is on another round about chase to find a missing mother and child. She ends up finding out that the person she is after and the mother and daughter she is t...

 So this is the book I have been reading for class. I'm so happy to be reviewing this book for you. This is definitely a different type of book, one that I have never read. I bought this book at half price and I was pleasantly surprised when I found a note on the inside. This was originally a gift from a son to a mother. This book does deal with children and parents, so I'm kinda curious if I could actually trace the original owner of this book. Anyways, on to the review! A L ittle Bit of Background Roz Chast came out with this book in 2013. Before his book, she illustrated many other books and has had her cartoons appear in the New Yorker since 1978. She continues to write and illustrate to this day. This whole book centers around Roz and her parents before there death, the passing of one and then the other. Throughout this book, there is writing, but it creatively drawn as if her own handwriting, which may be the case. There are also comic strips that go along wi...

Hello everyone! I have been so busy recently. I am a senior in college and I've been working on senior projects and what not. I feel like it's been a while since I wrote, but I know it's only been a little less than a month. I have been reading a book, but I have been reading it slowly, because it's for class. Once I finish that, I will write a proper review. Since I don't think I'm going to be able to finish and put up a good review on the book until the end of the month/next month, I thought of maybe introducing a new every now and then series called Rainy Thoughts, so here it is! Homesick So if you don't know me, I moved to a different city about a year and a half ago, partly for school, mainly for my now fiance (we get married next year!). Leaving home didn't seem like it was going to be a hard decision, but when it got closer, it became so hard. Now, I just started spring break, and besides going to work and school, I don't really have fr...

Found another interesting book for .99 cents at a Goodwill! Just goes to show that you can find great books almost anywhere! Anyways, this took me a little longer to read, because school, work, winter break, family emergencies, blah, blah, blah, but I finished it! I am happy to be writing again. I find that writing can either take your mind off things, or help you cope with life changes. Either way, here is my review on The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood . WARNING: Spoiler Alert! A Little Bit of Background  Benjamin Wood is an author and a Lecturer at Kings College. He grew up in Northwest England. This was his first publication, which won him a series of awards, including Costa First Novel Award. The novel is a British book, and has different spellings and narratives, such as using (' ') when someone is talking rather than (" "). The book is set in Britain with references to different scholarly figures. This book is about a young adult named Oscar, who...

I was on winter break from school and rather than starting a new book, I felt like reading through a manga series that I have been reading since I was in the 5th grade (so about 11 years). The Yotsuba&! series is known for coming out super slow, and after a 3 year hiatus, came back this past past year with another volume set. I was completely excited and went to different stores, until I found a Barnes and N oble who had two copies sitting on a cart that an associate was stocking the shelves with. I thought it would be a cool idea to do a manga review on one of my favorite series, so here it is! A Little Bit of Background Kiyohiko Azuma has been writing the Yotsuba&! series since 2003. He is known for his manga turned anime series Azumanga Daioh . Yotsuba has not been turned into an anime, but Azuma doesn't think it would really work for an anime, since the chapters are short. Yotsuba&! revolves around a 5-year-old, green-haired girl named Yotsuba. She can be...