Book Review: Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Five Flavors of Dumb
by Antony John
338 pages
Publisher: Dial
Publication Date: November 11th 2010
Source: Purchased
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Eighteen-year-old Piper has gotten herself into a mess. Because of her big mouth, she has one month to get a paying gig for her high school's hottest new rock band, called Dumb. In Piper's mind, the band couldn't have a more perfect name. Just look at the members: one egomaniacal pretty boy one silent rocker one talentless piece of eye candy, one angry girl, and one nerd-boy drummer - five discordant personalities who, when put together, seem ready to self-destruct at any moment. Getting them an actual gig seems impossible. Add to that the fact that Piper doesn't know if their music is good or not, because, well, she's deaf.

But Piper is determined to get the band a gig to show her classmates that being deaf doesn't mean she's invisible. And as she gets to know the five flavors of dumb, some hidden talents, secret crushes, and crazy rock music emerge. She doesn't need to hear the music to sell it, but Piper wants the chance to feel the music too. Does she have what it takes to manage Dumb and discover her own inner rock star?

I heard a lot of good things about The Five Flavors of Dumb so ended up purchasing a copy from Half Price Books on a whim. Normally I don't buy books before reading them, but in this case it turned out to be serendipity because I loved Five Flavors of Dumb and am happy to add it to my collection!

Five Flavors of Dumb tells the story of Piper, a Deaf girl who ends up becoming the manager of her high school's up and coming rock band Dumb. The five members of Dumb couldn't be more different from each other, but with a little work and a whole lot of luck, Piper may just turn this discordant group of people into a success.

First off, Piper was such a fantastic protagonist. Antony John really hit it out of the ballpark when he crafted her voice and who she was as a person. I could totally see Piper's complete transformation from a shy girl who wanted so desperately to be seen as more than just the "deaf girl" to someone who was willing to own who she was, deafness and all. Piper just blossomed and came into her own and I love when a novel is able to craft that kind of character story. The supporting characters were all stellar as well. My personal favorites were Piper's awesome little bro Finn, and the nerdorable Ed Chen. ASIAN LOVE INTERESTS FOR THE WIN!

Aside from the great characters Five Flavors of Dumb was also hilarious and just plain fun. There were so many times when I was holding in my laughter or rolling my eyes at the shenanigans that the characters got themselves into. Talk show smackdowns, crappy recording sessions, and crazy hair dying escapades are just some of the things that occur. Believe me, you'll want to read it for yourself.

Five Flavors of Dumb is one of the best contemporaries I've read all year. It's fun, hilarious, and surprised me with its depth and insight. I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves music, contemporary novels, or is just looking for an awesome book to read.

Before I end this review I just have to mention the fact that I didn't realize that Five Flavors of Dumb was written by a guy at first. However, once I got to a certain point in the story it became glaringly obvious. You see, no girl would use the term "she popped out a boob and pulled the baby toward it" to describe breast feeding. I just about died at that description. So funny.

I am so mature you guys. NOT.

Julia :)

Kawaii Monday: Laptop Keyboard Decals

A chance for me to highlight something super cute that I find on the interwebs! This week I ran across some tech accessorizing goodness. I subscribe to a really fun email newsletter called I Heart Daily. It's co-run by Melissa Walker, author of such books as Small Town Sinners and Violet on the Runway, and it's a daily newsletter that sends out a potpourri of fun things such as links to awesome quizzes, articles about girls who are world changers, and of course random shopping finds. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy I really encourage you to subscribe to them! I love getting their emails in my inbox. And no, I Heart Daily isn't sponsoring me to say this. They really are just that awesome. :P

Anyway, this past week one of the emails they sent out was all about cute tech accessories and one of them I just HAD to share with you guys. Maybe I'm living in the dark ages of technology here, but they have exposed me to the wonderful world of keyboard decals. This sounds a little lame until you see the decals. JUST LOOK AT THEM.

Ummmm awesome am I right?

These are specifically for Macbooks so sorry all you PC people out there! I'm sure you can find cool keyboard decals for your computers as well.

So I'm currently debating which set I might want to get. The top picture is sort of the classic original decal set they have, the middle is a monster set, and the bottom one is superheros. I am definitely leaning towards super heroes right now. I mean, who doesn't want Batman, Spiderman, and Ironman inspired stuff on their keyboard? HECK YES.

Which set is your favorite? Do you like the idea of keyboard decals? Think they're silly? What kind of design would you love to see made into a keyboard decal set?

You can find all of these decals for sale here on Etsy. I just love Etsy. SO. FREAKING. MUCH.

Julia :)

Join the book swapping revolution!

As you guys know I love books. A lot. However, there are times when I clean out my bookshelf and rid it of all the old books that I no longer want or need. In the past I've taken these books to Half Price Books or other local used bookstores, but it always feels like I never get a lot of trade-in money, and there are always those books they NEVER want and then those just end up sitting and languishing on my shelf like an unwanted guest, sad but true.

Well, the good news is I have discovered the perfect website for trading in my old books. It's called Paperback Swap and it is awesome.

Basically you make an account on the website, input the ISBN numbers of the books you have available to trade in, and then you're set! The books you have available will then pop up in the book database where people can request them from you. When a person requests the book all you have to do is print out a shipping label, package up the book, and send it to its new home! You do have to pay to ship the book, but media mail is quite cheap, and once you the recipient of the book marks that they received it, you get a credit to pick out a book you want from the database.

So far I've posted 15 books and already 5 of them have been requested and sent out. Also, when you sign up and post your first 10 books, you get 2 free book credits! Awesome right?

Of course, the database of books isn't super stellar, especially if you're hoping for a lot of YA novels. However, it is good for getting classics and those well known novels that you want to read but just haven't gotten around to yet like Life of Pi or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. There is also a pretty good selection of picture books if you like those!

The good news is even if a book you want is not available, you can put it on your wish list which means that as soon as the book is listed you will be notified and have first dibs on it. For newer books the wait list is quite long (I'm number 139 for a Requiem by Lauren Oliver) and the likelihood of getting the book is pretty small, but I still love the concept.

Overall, I really like Paperback Swap and I would definitely recommend it to people looking for ways to trade in their old books. All books, regardless of their size or binding, are one credit so the trade off value can be really good. Yes, you do have to wait for someone to actually request your book and if it's a lesser known novel people may never request it, but you'd be surprised what people want. I know one of my random books I purchased for a college class ended up being on someones wish list and was immediately snatched up. Who knew?!

If you join Paperback Swap or already use it be sure to add me as a friend! Also, if you end up joining because of this post could you list my email as your referral? It would be awesome if you did! You can find my what email address to list on my contact page.

Do you already using Paperback Swap? If not, do you think you'll join? Do you like the concept of being able to swap around your old books? What do you normally do with the books you decide to get rid of?

Oh and there is also a SwapADVD program and a SwapACD one as well so if you're looking to trade and swap your old CD's and DVD's those are great resources!

Julia :)

Book Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

Parallel
by Lauren Miller
432 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: May 14th 2013
Source: ARC (thanks Anna and Books Inc!)
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Abby Barnes had a plan. She'd go to college, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice - deciding to take a drama class her senior year of high school - changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there.Overnight, it's as if her life has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes,. When she finds herself falling in love with a boy she knows only from her Parallel's memories, Abby is in a race against time to take control of her fate and set things right without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.

Out of all the alternate reality themed ARC's I have acquired within the last few months, Parallel was probably the one I was most skeptical about. To me it just seemed like a contemporary novel vaguely disguised as if it were something more. Boy was I wrong. Parallel turned out to be so much more than just a contemporary novel.

Abby Barnes was a girl with a plan, and it seemed to all be going perfectly until she had to change her senior year elective. Suddenly her carefully thought-out career path is careening off course and leading to a life of Hollywood glamour that she never even wanted. But just as that world begins to make sense, Abby wakes up in a completely different world; a world where she isn't an actress in Hollywood, but instead a student at Yale. How did it happen? And what can Abby do to protect the life and love she thinks she really needs?

Who hasn't wondered what it might be like to wake up in a different world, in a different life? I know I have. Parallel gives us a taste of that kind of situation and it shows us that even the smallest choices can make the biggest differences. I loved following along with Abby's story and seeing how the choices of her parallel would affect the outcome of her life. One of my favorite aspects of the story was that we as the reader knew exactly what was going on in both Abby's past, and her future, but Abby of the future didn't know what was going on with Abby of the past. Sound confusing? It definitely was at first, and it's nearly impossible for me to explain. In fact I think Doctor Who can say it best:

That's basically what was going on in this story. Personally, I didn't understand one lick of what was occurring science wise (though Lauren Miller did do her best to try to explain it in the story) but that didn't subtract from my enjoyment of Parallel.

Other than the cool wibbly wobbly timey wimey bits, Parallel also had a sort of mystery element to it (why was Abby experiencing a parallel world? How did it occur? AND WHAT DO THE DREAMS MEAN?!) and I loved it! I also loved the intrigue of alternating between past Abby and future Abby and trying to figure out exactly where the story was going to end up. It was all so much fun and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!

That being said there were some drawbacks to this Parallel. For starters the characters just weren't that great. Abby was really quite self-centered and there were multiple instances when she did things causing me to react with this:

And this:

Secondly, the romance really toed the line between creepy and cute. Lets just say it involved two brothers, an accidental break up, and a whole lot of misunderstandings that led to awkward moments.... Ultimately Lauren Miller tried to patch things up by making a broad statement about how "your path will change, but your destiny doesn't " but it still felt kinda weird. :P

Despite the character flaws and romance drawback, I really did enjoy Parallel. I flew through it, and I loved the sciencey/parallel universes aspect of the story. I've read a few books with this kind of past/future, actions/consequences set up (like The Future of Us) and Parallel is definitely my favorite of the bunch. If you think you'd enjoy a contemporary with that kind of twist I definitely think you should give it a read!

I'm giving away my ARC copy of this book so be sure to enter if this review piqued your interest! The giveaway is here.

Julia :)

ARC Giveaway: Parallel by Lauren Miller

Time for another ARC giveaway! This time it's for Parallel by Lauren Miller, a new release from HarperTeen. I really enjoyed this fun alternate reality twist on a contemporary novel and I think you guys will like it too! You can check out my review of Parallel here, and then enter to win the ARC below!

Abby Barnes had a plan. She'd go to college, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice - deciding to take a drama class her senior year of high school - changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth-birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her life has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers taht this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes. When she finds herself falling in love with a boy she knows only from her Parallel's memories, Abby is in a race against time to take control of her fate and set things right without lsoing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her sould mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.

 To enter just fill out the Rafflecopter form below!


a Rafflecopter giveaway Julia :)