GATHERING BLUE!

Hello beautiful people, how are you today? around here it's raining a lot, and the days are cloudy again and awfully cold. Today I bring you the second book of the beloved Lois Lowry's “The Giver” quartet, it is “Gathering Blue”.

SYNOPSIS:

Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg, lives in a world where the "weak" are left out. From the moment her mother dies, she fears for her future until she is forgiven by the powerful Council of Guardians. The reason is that Kira has a gift: her fingers possess the ability to embroider in an extraordinary way. It far exceeds the skill that her mother displayed, so she is entrusted with a task that no other member of the community can develop.

She calls this gift the knowledge, she begins here by describing a memory:

~With her thumb, Kira felt a small square of decorated woven cloth. She had forgotten the strip of cloth in the recent, confusing days… When she was much younger, the knowledge had come quite unexpectedly to her, and she recalled the look of amazement on her mother's face as she watched Kira choose and pattern the threads one afternoon with sudden sureness.

"I didn't teach you that!" her mother said laughing with delight and astonishment. "I wouldn't know how!" Kira hadn’t known how either, not really. It had come about almost magically, as if the threads had spoken to her, or sung. After that first time, the knowledge had grown… .the threads began to sing to her.~

It is this gift that saves her from exile or death as a cripple, and the village elders now provide her food and her own dwelling so that she can sew and embroider for them. Somehow in her deformed state, a few of the leaders see past her condition, and instead see the covenant gift within her young life. They spoke to her differently and gave her value among their people.

The reader will believe that she is fortunate to have been chosen for the noble mission of weaving a cloak, but she does not consider it so. She can only accept that society and her people because she knows no other life, but just like with Jonas, everything changes when she is moved to a better place, a place where she feels uncomfortable but that reveals the terrible reality.

The message of this book is the same as in "The Giver" shows how humanity has lost values, although here we can see more feelings unlike the first but we also feel hostility and selfishness. It is another community with a different point of view, less civilized, crueller and wilder.

Gathering Blue has a good amount of conflict that Kira fights with hope of being useful for something. This book to me resembles to "The Maze Runner" because the main character there has a lot of conflict by trying to escape these tests he's going through, to be free and live his life. So i can say that both of these characters fight to meet their goal by having hope.

I loved it, just as with the other book I was very intrigued, it was easy to read, it leaves you the messages and the compression as you go through the pages. I recommend 100% to all those who are interested in dystopian stories that make you question everything.

I leave you the link for the book here: GATHERING BLUE

XOXO Li.

THE GIVER!

Hello beautiful people, today I come to talk about a book that I just read today, how crazy is that, right? hahahah but it hooked me so much and left me so absorbed in the story that I had to tell you guys.

This is "The Giver" written by Lois Ann Hammersberg or better known as Lois Lowry, is an American children's literature writer. She began her career as a photographer and freelance journalist in the 1970s. Her work caught the attention of Houghton Mifflin, who encouraged her to write her first children's book.

His first work, "A Summer to Die", was published in 1977 and since then she has written over 30 children's books and published an autobiography. Two of her books have been awarded the Newbery Prize: "Number The Stars" in 1990, and "The Giver" in 1993. She has been a finalist on three occasions for the Hans Christian Andersen Prize.

"The Giver" tells the story of Jonas, a boy who lives in an utopian society in which, seems to have removed the feelings and emotions of society. In fact, people are not allowed to even conceive or choose their own profession. So Jonas has had, by superior designs, to become the next Recipient of memory, that is, the person in charge of storing the memories of society so that they can be used in the future, if necessary .

From paragraph one it can be seen that the author tells us about a very "perfect", very idyllic society, where pain or rivalries do not appear, everything is assigned and discussed by a council and the most important age is 12, where in a ceremony you will be assigned your profession for life. I could say that this age defines your time as a child and your entrance to maturity, the moment when you must begin to grow and trace your path within society.

It is undeniable that Lois Lowry, is very capable of showing us the peculiarities of the socialist world in which it unfolds, in a few paragraphs, without the need to give so many details, since it allows us to immediately focus on the protagonist and the story.

It seems to me that it is very well narrated, that it presents you with a conception of equality that is worth discussing, despite being a children's novel, I think it can be read by people of any age as it keeps you interested in the plot and at the same time, it makes you think about how disastrous a “perfect” society can be, as in fact you can get more mistakes in that utopia than it is today.

If everything is so perfect it is very easy that when you find a fault everything falls apart, and you are disappointed, you also lose the sense of admiration for that same perfection, for me it loses value, it is like being numb, when everything seems to be the same, when don't exist apparent differences between people, you lose your essence, which makes you unique, an individual, insted you become one more number, or one more profession.

We need the failures, the differences, we need to think for ourselves, to know that there are opinions, that not everyone sees life in the same way, and that although it sounds bad, you need a little pain to appreciate the beauty of living, all Utopia it's destined to fail, because there is no a single way of living life and the possibility of having your own choice of how to live it collides with the utopian ideal.

If you have not read this book yet, I recommend it 1000%, it is part of a quartet and I will be telling you about the other three books, but I must read and digest them very well first hahaha.

Here is the first book! Lois Lowry-The Giver

It also has a film adaptation in case you want to see it, it was released in 2014 and has actors Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, Katie Holmes and Brenton Thwaites.

XOXO Li.

CONFESS!

Hello beautiful people today is book day and I bring you a wonderful one.

Colleen Hoover is the New York Times No. 1 selling author of eleven novels and five short novels. Hoover's novels fall into the categories of new adults and young adults.

Colleen was born on December 11, 1979 in Sulfur Springs, Texas, she grew up in Saltillo, TX, and graduated from Saltillo High School in 1998. In 2000, she married Heath Hoover, with whom she now has three children. Hoover graduated from Texas A & M-Commerce with a degree in Social Work. She did various social and teaching jobs until her writing career began.

In November 2011, Colleen began writing her first novel, Slammed, with no intention of being published. She was inspired by the lyrics, "Decide what to be and go to be", from an Avett Brothers song, "Head Full of Doubt / Road Full of Promise" and use it in the book. After a few months, her novel was reviewed by a major book blogger, Maryse Black, who gave it 5 stars, which caused her sales to increase rapidly.

But today I'm going to tell you about Confess a novel that was released on March 10, 2015, it is a novel full of science fiction, contemporary romance, and won the “Goodreads Choice Award in the Best Romance Category”

SYNOPSIS:

Auburn Reed has his whole life planned. Her goals are set and there is no room for error, but when she walks into an art studio in Dallas looking for a job, she doesn't expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For the first time, Auburn takes a risk and gives him the control, only to discover that Owen has enormous secrets to reveal. The sheer size of his past threatens to destroy everything that is important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to take Owen away from her.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he doesn't seem to be able to convince her that sometimes truths are as subjective as art. All you would have to do to save your relationship is confess. But in this case, confession could be much more destructive than sin...

This novel is narrated from the point of view of the two protagonists, which I liked very much because we can come to understand the way of acting of both and we can come to emphasize with them much more easily. Both Auburn and Owen are two very complete characters that, above all, evolve a lot throughout the pages due to the situations they have to go through.

“I think love is a hard word to define. You can love a lot of things about a person, but still not love the whole person”.

Confess's prologue is simply heartbreaking, I find it spectacular that Colleen managed to break my heart in the first pages of the book without knowing anything about the characters. I have always admired the way that Colleen weaves a story and gives you answers throughout the book, it shows that she plans them first and not only writes along the way.

I would love to highlight the visual of the book, the cover itself is beautiful but the book has some images that are the faces, or portraits that Owen paints and they are magnificent. In the novel He is inspired by people's confessions and this is where the title makes sense, his study is called "Confess" and people write a confession anonymously to leave it there. Owen then reads them and creates his pictures.

Confess is a book full of secrets and mysteries that are revealed little by little, many of them surprised me and literally left me speechless. Suspense permeates the book to the last pages, making me hooked to the last page.

I recommend it 100% you will not regret reading it.

I leave the Confess HERE

XOXO Li.

SURRENDER YOUR LOVE WITH NO EXCEPTIONS!

Hello beautiful people, are you ready for a new entry today?

I bring you two famous sagas: "The Surrender Your Love Trilogy" and "The No Exceptions series" both written by J.C Reed.

J.C. Reed is a bestselling author of "USA Today", "Wall Street Journal", and "New York Times". She is best known for writing romantic contemporary romances that have a touch of suspense and mystery. Growing up in Wyoming, he always loved books and read anything he found at home or in the public library. However, as she grew older, she discovered that historical romances dominated her and she read as many as she could.

What sets J.C. Reed apart from many other mysterious suspense writers is that she manages to accumulate so much intrigue, mystery, and investigation into her plots that the reader could never tell what will come next. One of his best plays, the "Surrender Your Love" series, takes such sudden turns and introduces such a wide variety of characters that they create a gripping anticipation.

In these two series, the author focuses on Brooke and Jett, two lovers in a continuous relationship full of tension. Brooke Stewart lives a life of deep anguish and pain having been betrayed by the man she once deeply loved. Trying to rebuild his life, she meets Jett Mayfield, who is sexy, arrogant, dangerously handsome, and nothing but trouble. Jett has never been someone who accepts a rejection and although he thinks that Brooke is just another one of his conquests; he soon discovers that he can't get enough of it.

Nothing more with that advance is more than enough to want to spend an entire weekend with a blanket, a hot tea and these books in your hand and be transported to the world of J.C Reed, where romance predominates, tempered by revenge, the betrayal and uncertainty.

Normally I have trouble digesting "instant love" because we know that in real life doesn't happen, but in this case it is not love, nor affection, but rather a desire and physical attraction, without any kind of feelings that then becomes entangled and resulting in very strong feelings of love. In addition to that in this saga we see how Brooke is the one who has problems to commit herself romantically when it is normally the men who flee down the hills in a romantic situation.

An excellent story of a man who made mistakes he regrets and a woman who cannot find in his heart to forgive him, J.C. Reed presents two lives that will change and will change again as more secrets come to light.

Reading order for "Surrender Your Love"

1. Tresuare Your Love
2. Conquer Your Love
3. Surrender Your Love

Reading order for "No Exceptions"

1. The Lover's Secret
2. The Lover's Game
3. The Lover's Promise
4. The Lover's Surrender

I will leave here the links for both series.

Surrender Your Love Trilogy

The No Exceptions Series

XOXO Li.

GAMING THE SYSTEM!

 Hello beautiful people, today I bring you the books of the wonderful author Brenna Aubrey, she is one of the best-selling authors of "USA Today" of contemporary romance with geek culture, her best-selling romance series, "Gaming The System", is one of the best-viewed trilogies in the romance department.

"When I am not dreaming of people and worlds and writing them, I am also a mother, a wife, a teacher, an avid reader, a proud geek girl, a confessed game addict, a French-speaking Francophile, a lover of nature and beautiful sunsets." Brenna Aubrey

The PLAYED trilogy follows the story of tech millionaire Adam Drake and proud geek-girl Mia Strong, from their scandalous first meeting to the love of their lives. This is a bundle that contains the first three books of this saga with unpublished content only for newsletter subscribers.

The first book of this wonderful scene is At Any price:

We are introduced to Mia by an extremely intelligent girl and an online gaming blogger, who, being plunged into her family's debts, decides to auction her virginity to the highest bidder. But when sexy CEO Adam Drake wins the award, Mia wonders if she's the one playing.

In this second installment At Any Turn:

If we thought that everything was fine and that their relationship was not going to take unexpected turns, the author gives us pages of pure drama, tension and keeps us in suspense. Just as Adam begins to accept that their relationship can survive Mia's medical school ambitions, fate threatens to tear them apart forever.

The third book At Any Moment:

In this installment we meet the culminating moment of their relationship, we will see if all the love they possess will be enough to bear the hard decisions they must make, we will see Mia leaning on Adam to receive all the strength she needs. Now there is more than love at stake, and life promises nothing.

I was personally run through their emotional roller coaster with relationship issues throughout the entire series, shed tears, and it broke my heart to see Mia go through something so tragic at a young age. The author relates very well the feeling not only of having to grow up with the obstacles that life presents to us but also presents genuine themes that are sometimes not mentioned in young dramas.

I don't think anyone reading this will leave without shedding a single tear. Regardless of that, I loved it and I think it was fabulous! Mia and Adam's story had a wonderful ending and I am so happy to see a beautiful ending for these two.

I leave you the link for the three books 

AT ANY PRICE

AT ANY TURN

AT ANY MOMENT

XOXO Li.

THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS

Hello beautiful people today I am going to tell you about a brief but excellent and beautiful story, it is written by Ursula K. Le Guin who was an American author known mainly for her speculative works of fiction, she won several awards during her career, one of them the Hugo award for the best short story for “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”. 

This is a somewhat atypical tale, fundamentally descriptive and devoid of action. The first paragraph places us in an ideal-looking city, where harmony, beauty, and happiness reign. Omelas opens its doors to the Summer Festival with music, dance, and happy parades.

Its people are not simple but they are happy, they lack rules and laws, monarchy, and slavery: they are not sweet shepherds, but neither are they barbarians. Everything points, in the narrator's own appreciation, that we are in a fairytale country.

However Omelas keeps a secret, something that nobody considers a crime, but that breaks the harmony and prosperity of the city. This secret can be seen as a symbol perhaps of everything Omelas has to offer, as a constant reminder that nothing is free. Because without him and without his existence, the people of that dream city would cease to be happy. Harmony will fade, crime will break the walls, and joy will come to an end.

Reading this precious but crude story I could see myself reflected in it, I could see this society and this world reflected, because the years pass, the seasons improve but the root of the problem persists; and it makes you wonder to what extent can we allow the suffering of one, or of many, to guarantee the happiness of the rest?

In addition, you realize that everybody knows this secret and its suffering, in fact, they explain to each Omelas child that exists, his reason for being, eventually many will know him, bringing firm consequences, some may be able to continue with the daily life of their lives, but others cannot erase the gap that this vision causes within them; And so, those who are not able to continue with this see no other solution than to leave Omelas forever, leaving aside complicity, absolute happiness and the great secret that moves that city.

It is a gem that seems to me have to be read at least once in our lives, to be appreciated, and shared, it confronts us to challenge ourselves morally as individuals and as a society, helps us to reflect on who we really want to be. I know I couldn't be the same after reading it.

Here I leave the link for you to take a look and delight your mind with this piece.

XOXO Li