Why I Love Books

Hey guys,

Today I’d like to talk about where my love of reading stemmed from and why I still love reading.  My grandmother was always a big reader, ever since I can remember.  She always took me to the library, at least once a week and we’d stay in there for hours.  She also had a few bookshelves at her house.  Two were filled of all of her books, and one was filled with just my books.  I was very proud of my collection.  My books were either bought new in stores, or found at garage sales, etc.  We’d have library time where we’d spend hours a day either reading to each other or reading our own books to ourselves, it was a great bonding time with my grandma that I’ll never forget.  I know that’s when I was at my happiest.

I had a lot of series as a young child.  My favorite one was The Sweet Pickles series and my favorite book of that series was “Nuts to Nightingale” by Jacquelyn Reinach.  I also had a lot of Disney books and had many completed series that I loved.  As I got a little bit older, I started collecting “The Babysitter Club” books by Ann M. Martin.  At one point, I had the entire collection, but I donated it to charity when I went to college about 5 years ago.  I also loved anything by Judy Blume, the Jonie B. Jones books by Barbara Park, and pretty much anything that Scholastic put out at my school book fair.  As I got a little older, some of my favorite chapter books were by John Lowry Nixon.  My favorite one was "The Haunting"... I read that book every few month for two or three years and still continue to love it.   And of course, I can’t forget to mention the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.  I read my first Harry Potter book when I was 7 or 8 years old.  I remember loving every second of all 7 Harry Potter books, and I’ve continued to love them all even after re-reading them multiple times.

Going to the library was my favorite to do as a kid.  When my school had their book fairs, I saved up all of my allowance money for months in advance, just so I could buy all of the books I wanted.  I always had a passion for reading, my grandma taught me how important reading is.  I know that it’s increased my imagination and creativity and I will always be grateful for all of the “friends” I've made inside of those pages.  My favorite thing about books is that they immerse you into their pages and you fall into their world, you’re friends with the characters, you feel what they feel, and for a while, you don’t have to worry about real life problems, you can be wherever you want to be, be whoever you want to be, and I find it to be a great escape.

Thanks for getting to know a little about me. 
If you'd like to share your reading story, please feel free to comment down below.

xoxo, Sabrina

Favorite Summertime Reads

Hey guys!

Today I'd like to talk about my favorite books for the summertime!

There's nothing better than reading a book on the beach or by the ocean, or maybe even by the pool! Everyone likes to read different genres over the summer, but some of my favorites are: chick-lit, contemporary, fantasy, and ironically, books based in the summertime! I tend to prefer paperback over hardcover when I'm reading outside, just because it's easier to hold,  it's not so heavy and it doesn't take up too much space in my beach bag or purse.

Below I will post two of my YouTube videos from my channel: BellsBookshelves6.
One where I list some of my favorite summertime reads, and also some books that I'd like to read this summer.  The other video is a bookhaul that's full of books I bought specifically for summertime reading. 

Let me know in the comments below what your favorite genres are that you read in the summertime, as well as some of your favorite books that you read at the beach, by the ocean, by a pool, or even in a nice lounge chair in your backyard.

Love you lots!

xoxo, Sabrina

YouTube video on Summer Reads 2013:




Youtube video of Bookhaul: Summer Edition:

Book Review: Eleanor & Park

Book: Eleanor & Park

Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 2/26/2013
Page Count: 336
Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary: Eleanor & Park follows the story of two sixteen year old misfits, over the course of a school year in 1986.  They meet one day when Eleanor has no where to sit on the bus, and she ends up sitting with Park. Over time, Eleanor and Park bond on the bus over comic books and rock music, and from there, their love starts to grow.  They battle situations that every young couple must face, as well as many challenges that aren't as common.  This book is a perfect display of young love.

My thoughts:  Eleanor is an overweight sixteen year old girl with frizzy red hair who dresses in men's clothing.  She comes from a poor family with four younger siblings, who all live in one bedroom together in a broken home with their mother and abusive step-father.  Park is half Korean and likes to read comic books and listen to rock music.  He comes from a great family, who are supportive to both Park and his younger brother.  Park's mother is 100% Korean and opens a beauty salon in their garage.  Park's family was one of my favorite aspects of this story.  I loved how close they were and how much of a support system they were for Eleanor and Park.

Conclusion: This was such a beautiful story.  The writing was beautiful and the pacing was excellent.  The romance in this story was in no way cheesy or overdone.  It was done eloquently and slowly.  This made the story more relatable and made the romance seem genuine.  The story brought me back to how I felt when I was young and in love.  I enjoyed every aspect of this book, except for the ending.  The ending broke my heart and left me wanting more. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a realistic story about young love.

You can also see my review posted on Goodreads here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/647835106

And my review on my Youtube channel here:

And purchase from Amazon here: 

Hey guys!

This is my introduction post for my blog.  I made this blog a while ago and always promised myself that I'd start it up, but never did. So today, I'm finally going to do it ...for myself and for my subscribers.  This blog will be dedicated to all things that are book related.  This blog will also be integrated with my YouTube channel: BellsBookshelves6.

I'll be posting about any and all updates on my YouTube channel, like when I post a book haul or complete a Tag video.  But my blog is mostly dedicated to book reviews and my thoughts on books I've read or want to read.  This is a place for me to further interact with all of you guys and for you all to get a better glimpse at my personal life, and I'm super excited to share it all with you guys!

I can't wait to start this journey and start to become more interactive.  You guys are seriously so awesome and I never would've done any of this without all the support that you guys have given me.

Love you guys lots.

xoxo, Sabrina