Carey on: Kindle review

Now that I have officially read my first book via kindle, I figured that I might as well blog about my experience. That sounds awkward though.

Anyways, I surprisingly really enjoyed it. So much more than I thought I would have. Even though I said that I will "forever prefer physical books to e-books," I did like it. I liked how weightless it was and I liked knowing the percentage of how far along in the book I was. Especially when it was lower and I was like, "Okay, I'm at 30%. By the time I'm done reading tonight I want to be at 60%!" It was fun for me to have a goal like that. 

I sometimes wished that the font on the screen was smaller, though. (If somebody knows how to change it, let me know!) But that was really the only complaint that I had about it. That and how the screen was always dark, so I had to always keep a light on, but I had to do that for a regular book, too, so it wasn't that much of a difference. If I wanted to buy a light thing for it, I saw that they're only $5 at Target. 

I have a feeling that I'll probably be using it a lot. I like instantly having the book, rather than waiting a few days for Amazon to deliver it (which is where I got a lot of my books because they're so much cheaper online than in stores). Plus they're also a bit cheaper on the kindle.

Let's just see if kindles are allowed in schools!

Review: Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard *Might have spoilers*

Title: Pretty Little Liars 
Author: Sara Shepard
Published: August 21, 2007 by Harper Collins
Pages: 288
Rating: 4 out of 5 
Reviewed by: Carey

Gossip thrives amid the Mercedes-Benzes, mega mansions, and perfectly manicured hedges in the exclusive town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania. Behind their big Gucci sunglasses, beneath their perfectly pressed Polos, everyone has something to hide, especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna. Spencer covets her sister's gorgeous new boyfriend. Aria is having an affair with her English teacher. Emily is infatuated with the new girl at school. And Hanna is using some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. Deeper and darker still is a horrible secret the girls have shared since sixth grade -- a secret they thought was safe forever.

Then the girls start receiving threatening messages signed by someone named "A." Could "A" be Alison, the ultra-popular girl who disappeared three years earlier? Alison was their best friend. She knew everything about them. But if Alison isn't "A," who is? And how could anyone else know so much about the bad girls they were and the bad girls they've become? Suddenly, their secrets -- the big ones, the little ones, even the long-buried ones -- no longer seem so secret. Suddenly, nothing is safe in Rosewood. Taken from Barnes n Noble.

Let me start of with saying that this was the first book I read on a Kindle! (I'll make another post about that later.) 

I surprisingly really enjoyed this book. At first I was skeptical about it because there's one huge deciding factor for me whenever I read books: I cannot stand books in third person point of view. I can't stand reading them, I can't stand writing in third person. I'm not sure why. I just can't. But I gave it a chance anyways, because I really do enjoy the television series. That's another thing, I thought I would hate it (sadly) because it would probably be so different than the show. That's why I wanted to read it before I started the show, but I was two seasons too late for that. I started reading this on the third episode of season three, and also right when PLL [finally] got onto netflix. I was happy about that.

Okay, anyways, back to the book. The main thing is for me is that it's sort of unrealistic to me, meaning that I can't relate to it in any way. I don't have a friend who went missing, I don't have a relationship with a teacher, I'm not confused about my sexuality, and I didn't kiss my sister's boyfriend. I know that probably spoiled a lot, but come on. If you watch the show or even the preview, you see a lot. I also thought that it was kind of stupid for Aria's family to randomly move to Iceland, because that is totally unrealistic. 

But at the same time, I couldn't put this book down. Well, that's a lie. I have been busy the past few days (which is why it took me forever to get this up) but whenever I started reading, it would be so hard. I'd have to remind myself that I need to eat or go to work soon. And that's even though I already knew what happened. I also liked how the first book was basically the first episode in a whole. 

It's really hard for me to explain the book, mainly because I already know the show, and also because I don't want to spoil it if some of you haven't seen the show or read the book. I already talked about how I surprisingly liked the writing style and the story was surprisingly close to the show in my opinion. Not perfect, of course, but closer than most.  It's never been hard for me to review a book... but I apologize for that. 

Now I'm just so excited to read more of the series and find out who A is! I hear that it's not like the show when it comes to that... hmmm! Four stars.

Carey on: Kindle or no Kindle?

So, lately some of my friends have been talking about how much they love their Kindles and what not. When they first came out I instantly told myself, "I will never get one because I will forever prefer physical books than digital." And I will always keep to that word. Because, I mean, who doesn't love that new book smell? Or old book smell, in case you got it from a used book store. But that book smell that I love so much.

My friends mainly say that they love how weightless it is and how the books are cheaper. Which, believe me, I'm all for saving money. But is it worth it? I really can't tell. Sure, saving all of the space and money would be nice. I mean, my bookshelf that I got a few months ago is already full. But I just love that awesome feeling I get when I get a new book. You know what I mean?

Also: considering that Kindles are electric, are they allowed in schools? You would think so, right? Because I read all of the time in school, I don't want to be told that I can't read because my book is on a tablet. That will probably end up being a deciding factor for me.

Right now I'm borrowing my mom's Kindle to try it out. She has a regular first generation, the one where you  can't do anything but read. Like no wifi or games or apps or anything. It's also really dark. Meaning that for me, a Kindle Fire is what I would be saving up for. But my mom also doesn't really use her Kindle (how lame is that?!) so I could also just use hers.

Speaking of reading, I'm now reading the Pretty Little Liars series, or at least the first book. I love the show, so hopefully I will like the books. I was reading Keeping Secrets by Alyson Noel, but honestly, I couldn't force myself to finish the first book in it (it was a two-in-one), which was Faking 19. So, let's just say that I won't be reviewing that one any time soon. Maybe I'll finish it one day, maybe I won't. We'll see.

Until next time!