Coffee Book Tag

I have been seeing this tag everywhere on youtube, and I am very excited to answer these questions because I am a coffeeholic. Coffee is what keeps me going, I love drinking it in the mornings and in the afternoons. I used to drink coffee more than two times a day, but I restrained myself a little because too much caffeine is not that healthy for you. Ok, I'm going to stop ranbeling now. This tag was created by the channel BangadyBangz on youtube and it is a very creative tag. Feel free if you are a coffee lover like myself to answer these questions.

Questions:

1. Black: Name a series that's tough to get into but has hardcore fans.
2. Peppermint mocha: Name a book that gets more popular during the winter or a festive time of year.
3. Hot chocolate: What is your favorite children's book?
4. Double shot of espresso: Name a book that kept you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
5. Starbucks: Name a book you see everywhere.
6. That hipster coffee shop: Give a book by an indie author a shoutout
7. Oops! I accidentally got decaf: Name a book you were expecting more from.
8. The perfect blend: Name a book or series that was both bitter and sweet but ultimately satisfying.


Answers:

1. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. It is not actually a series, I think, but I had a hard time getting in to it, such a hard time that I did not even finish it yet ( but I will, one day). And this book series has a lot of fans, I just could not believe it. I am probably going to give it another try, because there is a lot of people that loved this book and well there is only one reason that explain why it is so loved, probably because it is a good book. The time I started reading it, I think I wasn't in the mood for futuristic and aliens books, that is probably the reason I couldn't get in to it.

2. The Fault In Our Stars by Jonh Green. Kind of obvious, but it is the truth. I think every John Green book gets really popular during the colder months, I don't know the reason to that, but it just is. I think it is because they are just very human books you know, just real books.

3. Who's going to find Van Gogh's treasure? by Thomas Brezina. I've already told the story of this book in a separate post, but I am just going to sum the story up a little. I really love this book because at the time I was very obssesed with Van Gogh (I still am until this day actually), and this book was kind of the start of my passion for literature too.

4. City of Bones by Cassandra Claire. I did not finish the series yet, but I really want to because I loved the two first book. I just remember reading City of Bones in 8 hours, I couldn't put it down. I just really liked the story and the characters, especially Jace, he is just so funny in a sarcastic sort of way.

5. Insurgent by Veronica Roth. This is no surprise for anyone, because the movie just came out and it is very popular. I wrote a post on the new movie Insurgent, feel free to check it out.

6. The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein. I actually don't know if she is a indie author or not, but there are not that many people that talk or know about her and her books. This book especially is so good, I cannot recommend it enough, if you have a chance read it. I have a review on this book too.

7. The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan. I wanted more, I was expecting like so much more. Not that it wasn't great, I still love all the percy jackson books, but this was the last book and last books are suppose to be shocking and awesome, but I wasn't satisfied with the ending.

8. The Divergent Triology. Tough the ending was sad, I think it fit perfectly to the personality of the books and it was pretty satisfying for me.

Hope you all are having a great weekend.

Ana

Bangady Bangz Video 

Feminism ?!?

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The word feminism and being feminist is very new to me, I did not even know the meaning of it a year a go, but when I did a research for a school project about the subject, I figured out that feminism and I had a lot in common. I consider myself a feminist, I think all women and even men have a little feminism in side of them too, they just have to discover it and put it in to practice. 

But sadly, most of the time the meaning of feminism is misinterpreted, some people think that is a movement that wants women to take the power and becoming superior, making men submissive to them, but that's all wrong. It is very simple, feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment ( this is the basic meaning of feminism according to google and I think it couldn't be more well explained). You can noticed that the word equality has a special roll in all of this, well probably more than special, it is the main goal of feminism. not just equality for women, but for both genders.

The topic got really popular after Emma Watson's speech at Unicef, it was just a brilliant speech, and I am not just saying this because I am a Harry Potter fan, it was such a moving speech, I actually don't remember much of it because I saw it last year, but I recommend everyone who wants to learn a little bit more about the topic, to watch the video.

Feminism always existed, now it is just having a little help from technology to be released for all the world to have the knowledge of it. There will be people that will say that people are now becoming feminists just because is a trend or something in those terms. But what is the problem of it being a trend anyways? We need more voices, people who are willing to make a difference in society and fighting for equality. Of course, I don't think it is a good idea getting in to this for any other reason that isn't the unsatisfaction of gender equality, it has to be done for the right reasons.

I don't remember if I ever was in a situation that people told me that I couldn't do something because I was a girl, but I noticed that some of my relatives say "You have to learn how to cook, because girls need to know or else no men will want to marry you". I don't blame them for saying that, because they are from another period of time, where women were only allowed to stay home and cook and not work ( not that it is a problem to be a house wife, but the problem was that women did not have a choice).

I'm not a specialist in this topic or for any means wanting to change anybody's opinion about feminism, I am just a normal girl that wanted to share her point of view and her opinion of a specific and contradicting we can say popular topic. Hope you all had a good weekend, and have a nice week.

Ana

Movie Review: Insurgent

Warning: This might have spoilers

 Yesterday I went with some friends to the mall to watch Insurgent, we were all exited bacause most of us had read the series and loved it . I was hesitant to watch the movie, because I saw the trailer and there was this mysterious box that only a divergent could open and that wasn't even in the book, but of course I was going, it is a book to movie adaptation of a book I have read and loved.

 I watched it in 3D and the quality was perfection, it look like it wasn't even real. Tris hair was awesome, I love how they cut it short just like Tris from the books. Caleb was just as annoying in the movie as in the book (no ofense to people who like him), but Peter was amazing just like in the scene of the book that he saves Tris. Four what can we say, it was Four.

 The only thing that bugged me was the box. Like where did that box come from? Not from the book that is for sure. It didn't ruined the book, in the end everything came together just like in book. I know that book to movie adaptations aren't that accurate, they will always take something out or mix the order of things, but what is the need of adding something that the author did not even write about. Stick with the book people, stick with the book! It is a premade script.

 I think I could point out more imperfections, but I am not going to, because 1- I don't want to be that fan that hates all book to movie adaptations and 2- I really don't remmember much details from the book because I read it 2 years ago. And that is probably why my friends did not like the movie, because they have read the book too recently and they were restless, just looking for flaws in the film.

 I can't say hated it, like my friends said, because I loved it. Of course there were all those imperfections, but regardless of that I still appreciated the movie. The actors and the special effects were amazing, the sound track was stupendous. And it is a movie, not a 100% faithfull one to the book, but it went a lot of work and effort of a lot of people in it, and I think that should be appreciated.

I am not going to say anything more, because I don't want to spoil anybody or influence someones's opion towards the movie. Hope you all are having great weekend.

Ana

How to check off all things from your To Do List more efficiently

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 I made a promise to myself this year to be more organized and have a more balanced life. A back story of last year, I was so stressed out, lost weight, had anxiety almost all year around and just was dying to have a break from school. And last summer (december) I told myself that I would never loose control again and that 2015 would be different, and it is.
 I feel a lot more happy and I don't get stress out that easily any more, and I think that one of the things that helped me is an agenda. I can do everything I have to do and still have leisure time. My friends always ask me "How can you have time to watch so many tv shows when we have so much do to?", and my answer is organization. I get really suprised when people tell that they don't have any time to just sit around and enjoy some Tv or read a book for an hour, because it is just a matter of balance.

 And today I thought of sharing one of the methods that is helping me a lot this year, it is of course a pretty common one, but very efficient, it is the To Do List. I never thoght that I was going to become a list type of girl, but that all changed when I got my agenda. It such a simple thing to do, but it works wonders, and I'm going to share some tips to help you with your To Do List.

1. Write everything and anything

Write everything that you have to do in the day, it can be as simple as washing the dishes or it can be as harder as to finish an important project, but every simple task that you write on your list is going to be easier to finish and you feel accomplished. Some of the things that I write is to make coffee, clean and organize room, study for tests, write ideas for blog and many other things.

   

    2. Prioritize

On the top of the list write things that are important and due tomorrow, like projects, tests, and medical appointments. This will help you finish the main things of your day and not feel guilty about forgeting the important tasks.




   3. Have settled tasks and make a routine

Set everyday goals for yourself, like mine are stretches, study french and Italian, read, and study for the SAT. I do them every single day, and that helps me stay focused and develop skills, and I look foward everyday on doing them after I do my important tasks.





  4. Multitasking

If you are the type of person that can do more than one thing at the same time, this is for you. Do something simple with something more challenging. I like to do my stretches while I study french and italian, or watch a video class while washing the dishes. This helps when you are in a hurry and don't have time to check off everything on your list.






 5. The Leftovers


We all have those days that we have no time to finish all task on the list, but you can always put it on the other days list, or on the weekends list. But make sure that the only thing that are left are the simple tasks, things that weren't that important to finish that day.






Hope you all are having an awesome weekend and that this post helps you to start making lists and organizing your life, but if you already do that hope that you find some new tips that can improve your list making skills.


Ana

Book Review: Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass

I found out about this book when I had to read it for my English class in 2013, when I was still living in the U.S. A lot of people didn't enjoy it that much probably bacause of the formal language and different dialects in it, but I really liked it. It is an autobiography and awesome for people who want to know more about the civil war and the role of african american people at that time.

Frederick Douglass narrates his story since the beginning, writes about the racism that the suffered through out his hole life, the struggle of finding a job, seeing the violence that people of colored skin went through up close and a lot of other difficult situations. But there are not just negative and sad parts in this book, Douglass bacame a leader of the abolitionist moviment, a writer, a orator and father. He was a former slave.

This is really a book to think about, there is still a lot of prejudice happening in our society today, not just against african americans, but against women, sexuality, different religions, cultural diversity and many others. I am probably going to write a post expressing my opinion about this topic in more detail.

Like I was saying, the book is beautiful, the writing style is filled with emotion. I would recommend this book to everyone, and if you get the chance to read it for your English or U.S History class, do it, because you would be missing out.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Ana

Saturday Afternoon Coffee

I love Saturdays, probably my favorite day of the week, because I can stay up until late on Friday and sleep in on Saturday and then comes Sunday, it is a really good in between. My favorite part of Saturday is to sit down at 5 p.m and just drink my coffee while reading. It's so relaxing. I love my family, but I really like drinking my coffee alone on the weekends, it is just the way I found to put my thoughts together.

This afternoon, I ate some lactose free biscuits and a piece of my mom's all crub banana cake (perfect with coffee), speaking of which I will write a post about it when she decides on backing it again. 

I like my coffee mostly black, just a hint of milk to give it some color.

The only time I have to read since the beginning of school are the weekends. The book I am currently reading is The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank, a really well known book and in my opinion a classic and must read if you are interested in history/ World War II. I got my copy at a goodwill, paid 80 cents for it, a beautiful find and edition.

I took a picture of two of the products that are really helping me through my lactose free journey, they are soy milk and a organic/lactose free peanut butter. I can't leave without them anymore, I put the peanut butter on every single thing, like fruit, breads, crackers and even on cakes.

I choose a song recommendation of the weekend. It's the song Hannah Hunt by vampire weekend. Such a calming song, I always heard people talk about this band, but never listen to them, and then one day I just fell in love with their songs.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Ana

Book Review: The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein

I remember when I found out about this title, it was in the year 2011, 7th grade, and I was just looking for new movie releases and discovered the movie "The Moth Diaries". I was so fascinated with it that I made my best friend promise that she would go to the movies and watch it with me. I don't no why I liked it so much, probably because of the idea boarding school, bacause it wasn't like an over hyped movie.

The realese date was coming up and there was no where in my city that was going to realese it, and I kind of gave up hope ( In 2011 I didn't even imagine that I could watch it online), until I found out about the book. But I couldn't find the book anywhere either and just ended up forgeting the whole thing. Then last year with no reason at all I remembered about the book and movie, and decided to watch and read it.

I absolutely love this book, it is so creepy and mysterious, and boarding school movies/books always give me the chills. It's probably not everybody's taste, some people say that it is an awful book, like my best friend, she did not like it that much, not that she said that it was a horrible book, but it was just not her style.

The book is a diary of a girl that we never learn the name of, and she is dealing with her father's suicide. She goes to an all girls boarding school and there she meets Lucy, and they become best friends. A new girl shows up in the school, and she becomes friends with Lucy right away, leaving the main character with an obsessive behavior over her friend and raises suspicion that Ernessa ( the new girl) is a vampire, due to the facts presented in the book Carmilla that match up to Ernessa's behavior.

The interesting thing about this book is that you don't know if it is true or not, if Ernessa is really a vampire or if the main character is blind of jealousy towards her friend, Lucy. And it is clear that with all that the girl is going through, that she is tormented and not stable.

Hope you all liked the post, and that you feel interested in looking up the book and movie. If you have read it already ot watch the movie, feel free to comment your opinions on it. Have a great week.

Ana