Been Awhile!

Hey, all you people out there in the blogosphere! It has been awhile and one of my beautiful redhead friends reprimanded me for not updating my blog. So here I am.

I have been in Pensacola, FL for training with the US Navy since October. In February I graduated from "A" school at the top of my class which awarded me accelerated advancement at my next command. On March 25 I graduated "C" school and got my orders to my next duty station which is:

SAN DIEGO!!!

I will be serving in the USS Higgins, a destroyer stationed in San Diego. This was exactly what I wanted, so it goes without saying that I am ecstatic!

Things I'm loving lately:

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: they sing "Thrift Shop" and "Same Love"
Cynthia Hand: Author of the Unearthly series
InstaGram/PicStitch/InstaQuote: Yup, I've become one of those people.
CrossFit: Not new. I've just been really getting into fitness and have some crazy goals. Well, others would think they're crazy. I think they're awesome.
Being in the Military: Basic sucked. Not gonna lie. And parts of "A" school sucked as well. But it is just getting better, and I'm getting into the swing of it. San Diego will be an awesome PCS. And I've found confidence that I didn't realize I was lacking.

Books I've Read:

This is kind of unfair, but I'm going to do quick book reviews to catch up and hopefully get back to being good at updating this.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: One of the most messed up books I've read in a long time. Both the characters are just awful. I've never read a book that made me hate both protagonists. I don't even know if you could call them protagonists, but they're not antagonists either. However, Flynn is genius and her prose is spot-on and moody. I highly recommend it.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore: Totally a chick book. If you love sappy romance, you'll love this. I'm usually good with romance. I consider myself a hopeless romantic. But this was almost ridiculous. I kept expecting it to turn out to be a joke. But no. Cashore was serious. Also, if you like kick-ass heroines, this is great. But it wasn't my cup of tea. I recommend it for young teenage girls. Or fans of Twilight.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh: Such an extraordinary and disturbing story of a young girl who learns how to love through the language of flowers. It explores several different types of relationships. The main character is hard to love at times, but it turns out to be all right. The language of flowers theme carries through the whole book and is interesting enough to keep you going. I recommend it to anyone who likes a thinking book with emotion.

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan: So fun! Loved it. Read it. That's all.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl: Pretty mundane in the writing. The movie made the characters come to life for me more than the books did. I'm not sure why that is happening so much lately. The story is fantastic though, so I would highly recommend it as a young adult novel to read. The love story is good and doesn't seem too forced, but it is also very undeveloped. Like, they fall in love for the sake of falling in love regardless of chemistry. In the movie, I understood the attraction. In the book...not so much.

Crewel by Gennifer Albin: An intriguing dystopian novel about Spinsters who can actually control the thread of life. The story line is creative and I liked that, but it doesn't get explained well enough. The main character is strong but her personality is too finicky. She's strong and makes quips at unexpected times and gets sheepish when it is more convenient for the story. Of course there's a love triangle and it is actually a good one. Somewhat. As far as triangles go. I'm thinking this love triangle business is tired. Let's try a love octagon for some real intrigue. Oh. And there was the agenda for gay and women's rights that rippled throughout the book. It was too obvious a schtick.

Sever by Lauren DeStefano: This woman is a genius. Her writing is impeccable. I just cannot get enough of her. This is the conclusion of the trilogy and it was sad to say good-bye to the characters. I take comfort knowing I can re-read and visit them again. The conclusion does not disappoint, but I don't think it's the best installment of the three books. As far as trilogies go, though, DeStefano managed not to drop the ball which seems to be the latest trend in YA books these days. I highly, highly recommend this series. It has a weird premise, but I love when authors are willing to stretch the boundaries, push the envelope a little. Go get it. Now.

Boundless by Cynthia Hand: Fantastic trilogy. Again, a third in a trio of books that I really loved. I was sad to say good-bye to these characters as well. Hand managed to, like DeStefano, not drop the ball on the third installment. The love triangle (another one) is still going strong, but you get the feeling throughout it all that you know how it will end up. There are beautiful scenes and humor and plenty of intense moments. When you go get Sever, go get this one too.

That catches you up to where I'm at right now. I don't get a whole lot of time to read and when I do finish a book I don't have a lot of time to sit and write a review, but I will stop making excuses and keep this thing up.

I'm leaving Pensacola on 03 April, going to Idaho, then reporting to San Diego in mid-April. I'm excited for my future and the great adventures the US Navy has ahead of me.