So, my ebook has been on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords for a week. Although for 2 days it was under construction. I've sold six books, which is pretty cool, although comparatively, it's pretty horrible. But I wasn't expecting big things, so I'm happy with it. I'm never gonna be one of those people who is great at self promotion, although I'd like to sell enough to pay for all the money I spent getting it out there. I guess it's like a business investment.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Well, I actually listened to this book on CD, and that might have made me like it more than reading it would have. The audio narrator (I couldnt find the reader, so I assume it's the author?) got the voice so well I was instantly sucked in. Although most of the book's drama takes place before the book starts, I still enjoyed it. The flashbacks were well done. The setting came alive to the point that it was a character in itself. Descriptions were precise and perfect without being lenghty.
I love realistic books, and this is realistic with a razor blade. Sara Zarr doesn's sugar coat anything in this book. It's raw and real and depressing.
The one complaint I had about the book was that the girl, who seems so apathetic at times and claims to hate crying, ends up bawling her eyes out several times. A lot of times, actually, right in a row. She comes across as very unemotional most of the book. Then she's crying about stupid fights with her friends, etc. Fine, if the character is that type of girl. It wasn't believable to me to have her cry more than once, unless something huge happened, which it didnt. In fact, not a lot happens during this book. But that didnt stop it from being a great read and worth every minute. I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone 16 and up. It's very mature for a YA book.
View all my reviews
Our usual Peabody Place pool hall had closed, so we went down Beale to another bar. We figured it would be packed and we wouldn’t be able to play pool, but it was strangely deserted. Ryan left the festival and came up to hang out, and we played pool and talked about old times, and beat my sister and her fiancé, of course. Actually, Ryan beat them, and I cheered and played defense mostly.
When the storm had mostly passed, we went down to the park. A bunch of bands had cancelled, but we got to hear a little Ziggy Marley since he’d come on really late. Then we convinced Ryan to come to Saving Abel with us. We found an island of grass in the mud and sat on Anna’s poncho and just hung out. It was nice and relaxing, even though Ryan hated Saving Abel. Then I kidnapped him and made him go to Cee Lo Green with us.
Cee Lo was fun, but the sound on the stage was off so I couldn’t really hear the songs very well (sad face). We stayed at the same stage for Sublime, where again the sound was bad. Anna and Brad went to see a different show, and Ryan went in the crowd with his ex, so I hung out with his friend. I got my dance on even though the sound was still so bad I could hardly tell what song Sublime was playing. People got pretty mad that they played mostly new stuff. I didn’t care too much—the plastic mat in front of the stage was wet and all slippery, so dancing was super fun. Plus, everyone started leaving b/c the band wasn’t playing Sublime’s Greatest Hits, so I had a great view for once. I also met a girl who looked just like a tiny version of Zooey Deschanel. She was so cute I wanted to keep her forever. And they played “Badfish” so it was all worth it.
Afterwards, Ryan stayed with me while his friends went back to their car. We waited for Anna and Brad and then we all walked back to the car and left. I had an agonizingly slow drive back in the pouring rain and insane lightning, listened to The Shining, and got home at 6 am. Overall, a big fun mudfest trip. I can’t wait to do it again.
I finally dragged my sister out of bed and we went to meet some friends on Beale Street for lunch. After wandering around and buying almonds, band-aids, and flip-flops at Walgreens—that’s right, I bought my shoes at a pharmacy—we found a place to eat. My sister’s fiancé met us at Silky O’Sullivan’s, where we’d eaten the previous year as well. We got ribs. Oh my wow. They were so tender the meat fell off the bone when I tried to pick it up. I met up with a friend from back home and a few of her friends, too, but they left after lunch to hang out on Beale. My sister, her fiancé, and I went down to Tom Lee Park for some more music. A little rain for a few minutes, but nothing like the torrential, siren-inducing downpour of last year.
The bands were running late and we made it in time to see half the Sick Puppies show. Afterwards, my old friend from Junior High texted me and said they were there, too. We’d pushed up front for Hinder, but thanks to a pink snakeskin cowboy hat waving in front of us, my old friend and his new friends were able to find us. I hadn’t seen him in about fifteen years, so it was crazy to catch up again (Thank you, Facebook, for bringing old friends together haha).
We watched Hinder and they were, well, Hinder. Same as always. I didn’t know most of their new songs, but they played a pretty good mix of old and new, and I knew all the old ones. Then we all went down to Mumford and Sons. We sat on the grass, ate, drank, hung out, etc. Ryan had his uncle and friend with him, and we all chilled and listened to the band, which was awesome.
After Mumford, we went back to the previous stage for Ludacris. Wow. What a madhouse. The stage was surrounded by an ocean of people. I swear I haven’t shrunk since last year, but it seemed like everyone in Memphis this weekend was 6 foot 6! I couldn’t even see the stage. We were far back, and as far as shows go, that was the most disappointing of the weekend. He played about 30 seconds to two minutes of each song. Hard to get your dance on when the songs keep stopping abruptly halfway through. Ryan and one of his friends stuck with us and we worked our way up for Ke$ha, but again, we couldn’t see the stage even though we were close. Part of the time she went up onto a platform, but the rest of the time I could have been listening to a CD, since I couldn’t see her at all. But I was pretty impressed that she didn’t lip-synch and actually sung all her songs. It was a fun show, complete with lots of pervy comments from the guys I was with.
After the show, we all decided to call it a night again, and went home. Since we only had one bed, I was exiled to the smoke-permeated, scratchy, midget couch where I slept with my legs dangling off the side or sticking over the arm. Totally worth it, though. The bad hotel is part of the whole experience. Last year it smelled like Indian food. The year before, the shower wall had hairs clinging to it and the table fell over when I put my purse on it.
