Kawaii Monday: Afro Ken Plush

This weeks Kawaii Monday features Afro Ken Plush! Afro Ken is this funky little dog with an afro made by the company San-X. I know it sounds kinda strange but he's crazy cute! I decided I would post about my own personal Afro Ken Plush collection. I know, I have a collection of Afro Ken plush. It was a stage I went through a couple years back.... Not that I regret buying any of them! Here's a picture.

Aren't they hilarious? Yes, I realize that two of them don't actually have afros. Lets ignore that fact.... Anyway I don't think I have a favorite. They are all so fun in their own way. I really like the big one that looks like an apple tree! Super funny. And then the rainbow mohawk? Awesomeness. And you can't really see it but the smallest one on the right has two little yellow felt birds popping up out of his afro which is way adorable.

So which Afro Ken is your favorite?

You can find some of these guys for sale here.

Julia :)

Words Wednesday [14]

A chance for me to highlight some of my favorite book quotes! This week's quote is from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

"I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right."

Words are powerful. Sometimes you love them. Sometimes you hate them. But their influence is undeniable. I definitely understand the last part about having made them right. Thats how I feel about my poetry. I hope that I have made something "right" and worthwhile.

The Book Thief is such a powerful book. At first I hated it. Then I understood it. Now I love it.

Julia :)

Book Review: The Candymakers

Four children have been chosen to compete in a national competition to find the tastiest confection in the country. Who will invent a candy more delicious than the Oozing Crunchorama or the Neon Lightning Chew?

Logan, The Candymaker's son, who can detect the color of chocolate by touch alone?
Miles, the boy who is allergic to merry-go-rounds and the color pink?
Daisy, the cheerful girl who can lift a fifty-pound lump of taffy like it's a feather?
Or Philip, the suit-and-tie wearing boy who's always scribbling in a secret notebook?

The contestants face off in a battle of wits and sugar, but soon they realize that things are not what they seem, and they find themselves in a candy-filled world of surprises, suspense, and mouthwatering creations.

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The cover of this book is so eye catching that when I saw it I just had to pick it up! Plus I love candy. The Candymakers was like a cross between Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society, with some random spy elements thrown in for good measure.

I really liked how the book switched narration between all 3 of the main characters. You got to see the same events through the eyes of each of them and that was interesting. It added a nice depth to the story. My favorite character was probably Miles. He was kind of shy and sweet and I found him really hilarious! I don't know why because he wasn't funny in the general sense but I still laughed at all of the stuff he said and talked about. His slightly random obsession with the afterlife was definitely a real kick.

You can't really go wrong with a book about candy. I was reading this on an extremely long car ride and the whole time I just kept craving candy. Unfortunately the only food near to me in the car was a giant bucket of buffalo ranch popcorn. Not exactly the best thing to sate a candy craving..... This book had me thinking about what kind of candy I would want to invent if I was given the chance! It would probably be a type of gummy candy. I love gummy candy. Hehe. The tour of the candy factory was very wonkaesque, with rooms for each of the different candy elements: a taffy room, a marshmallow room, a tropical room with special candy type trees inside, you get the picture. Wendy Mass definitely did her candy research! There was a lot of cool candy facts thrown into the book along with some obviously fictional concepts. The candy stuff was just really fun.

The overall plot of the story was a little bit cheesy. Somehow all of the kids pasts were interwoven and that seemed a little silly and unrealistic to me. Of course this is a middle grade novel so the plot isn't going to be as heavy hitting as a young adult novel. I haven't read a middle grade book in awhile so I'm probably just not used to the simpler, fluffier, plot.

The main message of The Candymaker was that there is so much more to a person than just their outside appearance. Oftentimes we'll take one look at a person and think "Man they look weird I don't think I want to talk to them!" or what I often think is "Gosh that person is tall and creepy looking run away!!!!" Just because a person might look kind of scary, or doesn't wear "trendy" clothes, doesn't mean they aren't a great person whose worth talking to! I loved that The Candymakers addressed that. It was really awesome to me.

Overall The Candymakers was a really fun read. The characters were unique and quirky and the candy elements were totally awesome! I also loved the message the book had about not judging others. I give The Candymakers 4 out of 5 ice cream cones!

If you LOVE candy then you should definitely pick up The Candymakers. But I warn you! Only read this book if there is candy nearby so that it is easy to satisfy the candy cravings that will surely pop up.

Julia :)

Kawaii Monday: Dookeys

This weeks Kawaii Monday features Dookeys! Now you might have remembered that a couple weeks ago I posted about cupcake key covers. Well the same company that made those also makes key covers that are shaped like little piles of poo. Now I know what your thinking. Poo? How can that possibly be cute? Well prepare to be amazed.

Oh my gosh poop is actually CUTE! I know crazy right? In fact I think I like these even better than the cupcake ones. There's just something particularly endearing about multicolored poop piles with mustaches and glasses. I can't pick just one favorite. Its a three way tie between the bemustached one, the one with glasses and the pink one with fangs. Which do you like best?

You can purchase these guys online here and I also have seen them in store at Tillys.

Julia :)

In My Mailbox [8] (in which I totally caved and checked out a million things from the Library)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted over at the lovely blog The Story Siren. The point is to blog about books that you have somehow procured during the week!

So I went on vacation for about three weeks and during that time I managed to get my TBR pile down to like 8 books. I know still alot but for me it was a revelation. Hehe. Then I came back from vacation and I thought I would reward myself (because I had read so much!) by checking out a few more books. Lets just say I got a little carried away.... Hehe.

Library

• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare                             
• The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting                      
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban                 
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
• Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder                                  
• Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler                                 
• Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala                             
• LuLu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst             
• XVI by Julia Karr                                                      

City of Bones
I've heard a lot of good things about this series so I've been interested in picking it up for awhile now. Then when I heard about the whole Alex Pettyfer getting possibly cast as Jace thing I pretty much freaked out and decided to check out the first book! Yes, I am just that lame. :P

The Body Finder
I've seen several reviews of this one and it just sounds SO GOOD. Mystery, suspense, and alternate narration??? My kind of book. :)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I am currently reading the Harry Potter series for the first time as part of the January Potter-Thon being hosted by Pure Imagination. Yes, you read that correctly. THE FIRST TIME. I know, insane. I'm loving them series so far!

Inside Out
At first the somewhat vague premise of this book made me gloss it over. But then I read a few reviews and it actually sounds really interesting. I still don't really get what exactly its about but its a dystopian and I LOVE dystopian so hopefully it will be an enjoyable read.

Fixing Delilah 
I got this one for The Contemps challenge I'm doing! So far I've read 4 books towards my goal of 18. This will be my 5th. I haven't read anything by Sarah Ockler before. I've read mixed reviews so I don't really know if I'll end up liking it or not. We'll see I guess!

Tell Me a Secret
At first this books cover totally made my "ewww romance novel!" alarm go off. But then a friend of mine posted about how amazing the book was and then I actually bothered to read the books summary and watch the book trailer and I realized the book sounded REALLY GOOD! I can't wait to read this one.

LuLu and the Brontosaurus
This one I have no good excuse for other than the fact that I was walking past the new middle grade books section at my Library and the amazing cover caught my eye and I just couldn't resist. Hehe. I mean a little girl (who actually kind of looks like me when I was little!) with an adorable dinosaur? Whats not to love?

XVI
I've been pretty excited about this one for awhile now. Its a new dystopian that just came out and the premise is super intriguing. For some reason life expectancy is at an all time low and girls have to get married once they turn 16 so that they can procreate and keep the world populized. Certainly an interesting concept! I'm excited to see how this turns out!

Gifted

• Zooborns: The newest, cutest animals from the world's zoos and aquariums by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland

My best friend gave me this ADORABLE book for my birthday all about zoo animal babies!!! Its seriously the cutest thing you've ever seen. I especially like the pygmy hippos. If you've never seen a baby pygmy hippo go Google it right now! They are SO CUTE!

Bought

• The Complete Wreck by Lemony Snicket

I already own The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket but I didn't have the cool slipcover so I bought the set on eBay JUST to get the slipcover. Ridiculous I know but it was a really good deal so I can kind of rationalize it!!! :P 

So that's what I got "In My Mailbox" this week! What did you guys get?

Julia :)