Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for RIP] 

Ballesteros had suffered a 'severe deterioration' as he battled a brain tumour, his family said.
Ballesteros and his wife Carmen in 2004 at Spanish Crown Prince Felipe of Bourbon's wedding
The five-time major winning Spaniard was recovering from surgeries performed in 2008 to remove a malignant tumor from his brain.
Other sports stars who have been paying tribute include Spanish tennis star Rafa Nadal, who said: 'Seve is one of this country's great sportsmen. I've been lucky enough to meet him and play golf with him.’
In a statement on Ballesteros' website today, the family said the 54-year-old golfer passed away at 2:10 am local time at his home at Pedrena, in northern Spain, where he has mostly been since undergoing four operations in late 2008.

Family man: Ballesteros with his former wife Carmen and their son Baldomero after winning the Volvo PGA championship at Wentworth in 1991
In a statement, the Ballesteros family says it 'is very grateful for all the support and gestures of love that have been received since Seve was diagnosed with a brain tumour on 5th October 2008'.
Ballesteros had earlier been blessed by a priest in a ceremony reserved for Catholics who are dangerously ill or close to death.
The golfing legend received the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, according to Spanish national newspaper El Mundo.
Battle: After a second course of chemotherapy in February 2009, Ballesteros said it was a 'miracle to be alive' at a press conference in Madrid Volvo World Match Play Championship just eight months later
During the ceremony a priest uses olive oil to bless a patient on the forehead and hands while reciting prayers.
The paper said the sportsman had received Extreme Unction, an older term for the sacrament, but gave no further details.
The Anointing of the Sick is one part of the Last Rites ritual in the Catholic Church.
Comedy moment: Seve Ballesteros's sense of humour will be sorely missed
Vintage: Ballesteros saw off defending champion Tom Watson in memorable fashion, winning the second of his three Open championships, at St Andrews in 1984
Seve was the last of his kind
There will never be another golfer quite like Seve Ballesteros. Perhaps no other sportsman quite like him either.
Put together the charisma of Arnold Palmer and the shot-making skills of Tiger Woods and you come close. Yet at his peak, hard though it might be to believe, his appeal was greater than the sum of those two giants of the game.
In the 1980s Europe became blessed with a ‘Big Five’ of Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam.
True great: Seve Ballesteros holds the Ryder Cup trophy in the rain in 1997 after Europe beat the United States

Legend: Seve Ballesteros reacting as he wins the British Open golf championship at Royal Lytham and St. Anne's in Lancashire
Severiano Ballesteros "The Matador"

Seve Ballesteros 13Th Fairway approach shot 1986 Masters

Amazing golf shot - Ballesteros on his knees

source:dailymail

VIA Tributes pour in for Seve Ballesteros after golfing legend dies from brain tumour at age of 54

I was so excited to see Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings had posted about his famous RIP (R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril) Challenge, September 1-October 31! I've wanted to participate for some time, but this is the first I've been able to. I always try to read a lot of great horror and thriller during the Halloween season, and this challenge gives me another excuse!

RIP challenges you to pick books from the following categories:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

There are also certain levels (perils) to this challenge. I will be participating in:

Peril the First states that I must read four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories.

Now, since my favorite genre is horror, I have a huge bookshelf that is literally packed (I'm talking at least 200 books) full of horror fiction. So, I have a great pool of books to choose from.

Following is my tentative list. I will be adding to this list, I'm certain, depending on the mood I'm in!

Any suggestions for other books I should add to my pool?

A couple of week ago Ron stopped by to talk to us about what makes a good graphic novel. It seems like a lot of you out there agreed with Ron's thoughts and some of you were looking for a good place to start with graphic novels. Ron compiled a great list of some of his all time favorites. I've read about half of these and I can vouch to their greatness!

Boiling the medium down to just a few recommendations is…impossible, but I’ll do my best to provide an interesting and diverse list. Even so, superhero comics will comprise a healthy portion of the list because they are so integral to the medium. I’ll also try to mix ongoing series with singular, one-shot works. Away we go—

Watchmen/The Dark Knight Returns

These two works are closely linked despite being vastly different when it comes to content. Watchmen is the arch-comic, the comic of comics, not only because of its brilliance, but it’s also a comic about comics. This is something the movie didn’t adequately capture. Writer Alan Moore spins a “Golden Age” story out of control, warping it into a self-reflexive mirror to the superhero genre, and artist Dave Gibbons subverts classical style, yet doesn’t seem like a carbon copy of it. This is a perfect comic.

In The Dark Knight Returns, Writer/Artist Frank Miller redeems a laughable Batman by infusing him with eighties pop-culture sensibility. The story sees Bruce Wayne as an old man, forced to once again become Batman in order to stop a brutal crime wave in Gotham City. The work, while whitewashed in eighties action movie veneer (Miller’s Wayne owes more to Clint Eastwood than Adam West), also explores the enduring nature of the character and his relationship to other heroes in the DC universe. It’s a rip-roaring read, but it’s also Miller at his cleverest—there’s a density to the work that he rarely has been able to recapture.

(Further reading: [Moore] The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen I & II; From Hell; [Miller] Batman: Year One; Daredevil: Visionaries Volume 2; Sin City.)

Criminal

Ed Brubaker is one of my favorite writers, and this is the reason why. Criminal pulls on the pulp origins of early comics as well as film noir and blends it into one outstanding package: contemporary but timeless stories about the criminal underworld. The tropes may feel familiar, but a good story, especially a crime story, isn’t “predictable” so much as it is inevitable. If there’s one thing this series has in spades it’s that sinking feeling.

(Further reading: Captain America; Sleeper; The Immortal Iron Fist; Gotham Central.)

Asterios Polyp

This is one of the most formally experimental pieces that I’ve ever read. Writer/Artist David Mazzuchielli uses everything at his disposal to construct a fascinating character study of a dead-beat architect named Asterios. It’s a vibrant book, story-and-art-wise, with each character constructed in interesting colors and character-specific fonts. It’s simply a pleasure to behold.

(Further reading: City of Glass.)

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
This is an amazing work, something you’d lend to non-comics to get them hooked on the medium. It plays simply at first, but unfolds beautifully, each chapter adding a layer of complexity to the story. The art is outstanding, too, and lends to the credibility of the story itself, about a death in the family and so much more. The story will resonate with any reader, and that’s the highest praise I can give it.
(Further reading: Dykes to Watch Out For.)

Daredevil Volume 2 #16-19, 26-50, 56-81

This run of issues comprises Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s run on the book, a run that is simply outstanding. The most common phrase associated with the series is that, “Daredevil spends as much time out of his costume as he does in it,” which is a simple way of saying that the run is unusual within the genre. It’s more than that, though. Bendis’ characters speak in dialogue closer to David Mamet’s theater aesthetic than “word balloon banter,” and he fractures the timeline brilliantly to deal with heavy thematic concerns about the real power that a hero holds. Maleev’s art is also outstanding. He brings gritty realism to the book, and employs specifically cinematic techniques to convey the story. It’s a terrifically exciting body of work.

(Further reading: Powers; New Avengers; Ultimate Spider-Man.)

Scalped

This book is similar to Criminal (I could see them shelved together, yes), but offers a unique slant on the crime genre. Instead of portraying the underbelly of a city, Scalped digs into an Indian reservation in the Dakotas in which a sleazy FBI agent tries desperately to bring down the corrupt man who runs the rez, Lincoln Red Crow. The best part of the series is that it doesn’t pull any punches, everything writer Jason Aaron throws at the reader means something, and either pushes the plot forward dramatically or tells the reader something important about a character. The stakes in this book are incredibly high.

(Further reading: The Other Side; Wolverine: Weapon X.)

As I said, great list! Be sure to check out Ron's previous post and his blog Entertainment Etc.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Grabbed this from A Literary Odyssey, kind of fun since my brain is shot from finals.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack:
Sometimes, but not normally. If I do snack it's probably candy. I do go to a coffeeshop in Iowa City called T-Spoons and they have excellent cookies, so if I read there I'll get a cookie and some English tea.

What is your favourite drink while reading?
Tea, as I said previously. Otherwise water.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I mark most of my books, especially literary fiction or nonfiction. This is the main reason I don't check books out from the library very often.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
I love bookmarks and try to use them as often as I can. If I don't have a bookmark I'll usually rip a piece of paper out of a notebook or use a napkin until I get home with a bookmark. My favorite bookmark is from Barnes and Noble and it has a painting of Virginia Woolf on it.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
I love to write nonfiction but I probably read more fiction. I think this is a recent development though, because when I look over the books I read before I started blogging more than half of them were nonfiction. I'm starting to get into it again.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I always try to read to the end of the chapter, it really throws me off if I have to start in the middle. That being said, I read on the bus quite a bit and I can't really help where I have to stop there. Sometimes I'll get off the bus and finish the chapter though, especially if it's just a few more pages.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
I will not throw anything (usually) but I do talk when I read. I'll make grunting noises, or laugh, or shout at the author or characters in the book.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
Rarely. I've never been a big fan of that.

What are you currently reading?
I am still reading Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick and Scrolling Forward by David Levy.

What is the last book you bought?
I think it was Catching Fire.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
I used to only read one book at a time, but with school I've gotten into the habit of reading two or three at a time and I actually enjoy it more. I find I finish books faster because I don't get bored as easily.

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
I always read at night before bed, but I prefer to read during the day. As for a place to read, I usually read in my bed but I'd like to get a nice comfy chair to read in instead because reading in bed has a tendency to hurt my back.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
I like series a lot, but I read more stand alones. I probably prefer stand alones.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
I recommend Notes From No Man's Land by Eula Biss to anyone and everyone with the ability to read.

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author's last name, etc.)
I don't organize at all right now. It's too hard when I have to move everything around all the time. Maybe someday when I have a library in my house I'll come up with a system.

Let me know if you fill this out!

This week's top ten list at The Broke and Bookish is favorite book characters. I think this is incredibly challenging to think about. It's easy to think of books I love but to remember specific characters is a little harder for me.

1. Mr. Slinger from Lily's Purple Plastic Purse. This is probably my favorite children's book and I just love Lily, the little mouse the book is about. Even though Lily is adorable and cute no one is better than her teacher Mr. Slinger. Mr. Slinger is kind of a hippie, he makes yummy cheesy snacks, and he loves to teach. When Lily has some problems in class Mr. Slinger tucks a note in her purse that says, "Today was hard. Tomorrow will be better" (I'm paraphrasing because my books are all packed right now). Every time I read that page I get a little choked up, at 20 it's still one of my favorite books to read on a bad day.
2. Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I really identified with Charlie when I read this book. He was a freshman in high school, kind of weird, loved to read, and was just trying to figure life out. I was a about a year younger than him when I read this book but I felt like I was having all the same experiences, which made the book extra special for me. Charlie was also so honest about his thoughts and since he was a "wallflower" he noticed really specific things about the world. When I finished this book I felt like I took a little bit of Charlie with me.
3. Hagrid from Harry Potter. I immediately took to Hagrid when I read Harry Potter. I loved how he was so big and frightening, but was such a nice guy. He's so idealistic and I'm always amazed by the things he does know and the the things he doesn't know. And Hagrid always had Harry, Ron, and Hermoine's best interests at heart.
4. Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. She is tough and super smart. When Scout stands up to the members of the Klu Klux Klan my heart swoons because she has no idea what she really did. And she loves her dad unconditionally and worries about him like a parent does about a child. Scout is a great role model for young girls.
5. Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre. These two go together for me, you can't have one without the other. I feel like they both change every time I read the book and their relationship becomes increasingly more complicated. From an initial viewing I love how simple their love appears and how sweet it is, but Mr. Rochester is abrasive and Jane is needy, which makes the relationship more difficult than I thought when I first read the book.
6. Marcus from About a Boy. I love Marcus! He is definitely one of my favorite book characters and movie characters. He is so young but has such a realistic view of the world, probably because he's mom is a little messed up. I feel for him because I was a little weirdo too, but I admire him because he works so hard to make his mom feel better even though he really has no control over her.
7. Katniss from The Hunger Games. Katniss is kind of like Scout for me. She is so tough and badass. She never complains about the horrible situation she is put in, she just goes with it and thinks about ways to make everything work for her and those she cares about.
8. Dumbledore from Harry Potter. When Dumbledore died I cried for hours. I wore a RIP Dumbledore bracelet for months. It was a horrible experience, but that just shows what a huge effect he had on me. I grieved over him like I would any person I know in real life.
9. Henry De Tamble for The Time Traveler's Wife. When I read The Time Traveler's Wife I was at a place in my life where I felt like nothing was in my control so I really identified with Henry. He works in a library, listens to punk rock, and wears sweaters, which makes him more like me. Similar to Katniss, Henry makes the situation work for him even though it's horrible and he loves Clare so much he does everything he can to protect her. I find him to be very admirable.
10. Diana from The Luxe Series. Oh, Diana. I just love her more as the series goes on. She is so unafraid of being outside of the norm, outside of society. She lives her life for herself and no one else. Sure, she's a bit annoying sometimes over her boy problems but I don't think she reacts any differently than I would. I just love her.

What are some of your favorite book characters?

DEWEY began blogging at The Hidden Side of a Leaf in April 2007. While her main topic was books - book reviews, book discussions, reading challenges, book giveaways - her focus was always on building community, as she said herself:

My main focus in blogging is community. I want to share my love for books with other bloggers, hear what they think of what they’re reading, and have lots of bookish fun. My non-review blog activities...are all meant to build community.

In just over a year and a half as a book blogger, Dewey quickly became a leader in the community she sought to foster. Her book reviews were well-thought-out, insightful, and thorough; her style of reviewing and the books she wrote about influenced the reading and blogging choices of many other book bloggers - and while she was a prolific reviewer, her reading outpaced her reviewing, and she often remarked about being behind on her reviews. In addition to her own reading and reviewing, Dewey organized and managed several reading challenges, and founded three events which spread across the book-blogging community: the semi-annual 24-Hour Read-a-Thon, the monthly Bookworms Carnivals, and Weekly Geeks.

In April 2008, Dewey proposed a new sort of "challenge" at her blog; not a reading challenge, but a blogging challenge, to be called "Weekly Geeks" - her initial post to gauge interest in the idea prompted 150 people to sign up! The challenge would involve a weekly assignment - a question, a task, a theme - to be completed and posted on the Geeks' individual blogs and linked at the main assignment post. Not every Geek participated every week, some assignments were more popular than others, and new Geeks joined in as the word spread. Visiting other Geeks' posts for that week was part of the assignment as well, which is where Dewey's community-building focus kicked in.

The book-blogging community was stunned and saddened by the news that Dewey passed away on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - but it never doubted that Dewey's contributions to it would live on, and there was a drive to continue the events she founded. It will take committees of bloggers and several blogs to keep them going, though. Welcome to the new home of Weekly Geeks, part of Dewey's legacy to the community she was so important to.

Written by Florinda

The following table contains links to the many posts that have been written in memory of Dewey:

Blog Name
Tribute Post
Weekly Geek Post
1 More Chapter Dewey You'll Be Missed -- 1330V Dewey Thinking Of Dewey 3 Rs Reading, ‘Riting Randomness Book Bloggers Say Goodbye Blogging For Dewey A Garden Carried In The Pocket Requiem -- A Girl Walks Into A Bookstore Dewey -- A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook Goodbye Dewey -- A Reader’s Respite Rest In Peace Dewey -- A Striped Armchair Rest In Peace Dewey -- APOOO Books RIP Dewey -- Armenian Odar Dewey, Thank You For Everything -- At Home With Books In Honor Of Dewey -- B&B ex libris Dewey -- Back To Books A Sad Loss To The World -- Bart’s Bookshelf :( -- Beastmomma Losing A Blogging Pal -- Becky’s Book Reviews Sad News Indeed In Her Own Words Belle Of The Books Dewey Will Be Missed -- Bibliolatry A Great Loss -- BlogHer Remembering Dewey -- Bloody Hell It’s A Book Barrage Farewell, Beautiful Dewey -- Bluestocking Guide Loss In Our Community -- Bluestocking Society Goodbye To Dewey -- Bold. Blue. Adventure We’ll Miss You Dewey -- Book-A-Rama Unbelievably Sad News For Dewey Book Addiction -- Remembering Dewey Book And Cranny Shock and Sadness -- The Book Mine Set Rest In Peace Dewey -- Book Dads The Butterfly Award -- Book Nut -- Geeky Tribute Book Zombie Remembering Dewey This One's For You Bookfoolery And Babble This One's For Dewey -- Bookgirls Nightstand For Dewey -- Bookish Ruth Farewell Dewey -- Booklorn Sad Day -- Bookopolis Bookworms Carnival -- Bookroom Reviews God Bless You Dew -- Books And Border Collies In Memoriam -- Books And Movies A Huge Loss -- Books And Other Thoughts Remembering Dewey -- Books I Done Read Sad News -- Books Of Mee Bye Dewey -- Books On The Brain A Sad Goodbye -- Bookstack Loss Of A Builder -- Bookworm In Memory Tribute Post brideofthebookgod -- Dewey Care’s Online Book Club -- Weekly Geeks Caribousmom Remembering Dewey -- A Loss In Memory Of Dewey Casual Dread -- Dewey ChainReading -- Remembering Dewey Deus ex machina complex Oh Fuck In The Land Of Denial Everyday Reads Prayerful Weekly Geeks Fizzy Thoughts In Memory Of Dewey For Dewey Fyrefly Books In Memoriam -- Galley Cat Book Blogger Dewey -- Giving Reading A Chance Dewey, You Will Be Missed -- Hey Lady! Whatcha Reading? We Love You Dewey -- In Search Of Giants In Memory Of Dewey -- In Spring It Is The Dawn Farewell Dewey -- Incurable Logophilia Bookshelf Peeping -- It’s All About Books Dewey We’ll Miss You Dewey Tribute Just Add Books Huge Loss Making It Count The Kea <3 -- For Dewey -- Kids Book Buzz Farewell To Dewey -- Kittling Books Dewey's Community -- Kristina’s Favorites For Dewey -- Leafing Through Life Missing You -- Life Happens While Books Wait Dewey -- Literary Escapism Sadness In The Book Blogosphere -- Literate Housewife In Remembrance -- Lit*chick Two Things -- Madeleine’s Book Blog In Memory Of Dewey -- Maggie Reads My Eyes Are Dewey -- Maw Books Blog In Which We Say Goodbye -- Melody’s Reading Corner Dewey ... You’ll Be Missed Honouring Dewey Musings Remembering Dewey -- Musings Of A Bookish Kitty In Memory Of Dewey -- My Friend Amy Farewell Dewey For Dewey My Own Little Reading Room My Prayers For Dewey Remembering Dewey My Years Of Reading Seriously Life... -- Naked Without Books Dewey -- Fortress Is Their Library -- Nothing Of Importance This Is Real Life Tribute To Dewey Out Of The Blue Dewey Remembering Dewey Page After Page Life Is So Fleeting Dewey Edition Pages Turned Remembering Dewey -- Passion For The Page -- RIP Dewey The Printed Page Thoughts And Prayers -- Random Wonder In Remembrance -- Reading Adventures Sad News Indeed -- Reading Derby Dewey You Are Missed -- Reading In Appalachia For Dewey -- Reading Is My SuperPower Oh Dewey -- Reading, Writing and Retirement Candle For Dewey For Dewey Ready When You Are C.B. In Memory Of Dewey -- Rebecca Reads A Farewell -- Savvy Verse & Wit My Dearest Dewey Dewey Tribute She Reads Books In Memoria -- Shelf Life Sad News -- Should Be Reading In Memory Of Dewey -- Sleepy Reader For Dewey -- So Many Books, So Little Time Hole In Our World -- So Many Precious Books Today Is A Sad Day In Memory Of Dewey Some Reads So Sad -- Sophisticated Dorkiness Sad News Remembering Dewey Sprite Writes Dewey -- Stephanies Confessions A Terrible Loss... -- Stephanie’s Written Word The Hidden Side Of A Leaf -- Stuff As Dreams Are Made On Oh No... Weekly Geeks Subliminal Intervention -- Dewey Tales From The Reading Room Saying Goodbye -- Tammy’s Book Nook For Dewey, With Love -- Things Mean A Lot Dewey For Dewey Thoughts Of Joy Extremely Sad News -- Tiny Little Reading Room Rest In Peace Dewey -- Tripping Toward Lucidity Loss -- Trish’s Reading Nook In Memory Of Dewey -- True Confessions Of A Book Lover Dewey -- Valentina’s Room -- For Dewey West Of Mars Public Service Announcement -- Word Lily For Dewey Remembering Dewey Worducopia Goodbye -- In Memory Of Dewey Dear Dewey The Written World In Memory Of Dewey -- You Can Never Have Too Many Books Dewey --

Lisa Roe, an online publicist wrote a three part guest post in memory of Dewey. The posts can be found on these blogs:
1. Part 1 Dewey, Our Blog Friend Remembered @ AndiLit.com
2. Part 2 Lisa Roe’s Memorial Post For Dewey @ BookingMama
3. Part 2 Lisa Roe Remembers Dewey @ Reading Is My SuperPower

Yesterday, I posted an interview with Jay Asher. It was an awesome interview and asking the questions I did and reading his responses brought back a lot of memories. (You can read it here and enter to win a signed copy!!) I read Thirteen Reasons Why a few years ago, back in my last year or so of college and I loved it. It was such an intensely emotional read and it just buzzed around in my brain for days.

It has been a while since I read this book, at least 2 years I would say and so I'm a little fuzzy on specific details in the story. But I remember this book vividly. I remember picking it up because I had heard a lot of talk about it and it seemed like my kind of story. I remember reading it and not being able to stop. Once I started I just had to keep reading and reading. And, I also remember begging, pleading in my mind for Asher to have thought of some way for it to only have been a fake suicide, so that Hannah could come back at the end of the novel because by the time I closed the book I was so in love with her and I just ached so terribly for her and wanted so desperately for there to be something that could be done to make things better for her.

Asher is a gifted and brilliant writer and the idea of a young girl sending tapes to her tormentors so that they would know what role they played in her suicide is something I had never given thought of. It is so much most impactful than a note, but it is also something rather vindictive and, as much as it should (and does, a little) shame me to admit this, it is something that really appeals to me. If I were in Hannah's place, driven to death by the tormenting actions of my peers, I would want them to spend every day for the rest of their lives with that knowledge. And some of Hannah's tormentors completely deserve that. They are horrid. But many of them probably never gave any further thought to the events that devastated Hannah so thoroughly. They were basically good, normal kids who had a moment of cruelty or disinterest and never understood how their actions affected someone on such a deep level.

I feel like that is true for a lot of people. We have no way of knowing where a person is at, what their struggling or trials are, what triggers melancholy, or even if they are the type of person to be inclined towards suicide. We have no way of knowing and we also have no way of knowing the true impact of our actions toward others. What seems like a tiny moment of fun for one person can end up being something so monumentally damaging to another that they never forget it. I loved that this book expounded on that, that this book shows us what Hannah went through and what Hannah perceived. Perception is a huge part of this story and it touches everything.

The characterization in this novel was completely perfect. Hannah is telling her story through these tapes to her tormentors and Clay is devastated to realize he is on the list. He liked Hannah, really liked her and things almost seemed as if they might start between the two of them. As he walks through the town, listening to Hannah tell her story, ending up in the places Hannah describes, my eyes burned for him. I wanted to just reach out and hug him, because that would be unbelievably hard. I was terrified for his turn on her tapes because Clay had no idea what he could have done, so neither do we. And, as if the fact that he is listening to her again, hearing all the pain and hurt she faced, he spends half the tapes scared and wondering what he could have done to Hannah, crushed that he was a part of her pain.

I know that this review is a little bit all over the place, but seriously you guys, this book does that to a person. It has been years since I read this book, but it's still vivid in my mind and thinking about the book again is playing havoc with my emotions. This is a book that is uncomfortable to read and is going to make you stop and look at your own life, make you wonder if you have ever been that person, the one to say something snide or intentionally hurtful and forget about it, not knowing the impact it had on the other person.

So go out and read this book. It is a book that has a lesson for everyone and I cannot think of anyone that wouldn't benefit on some level from reading this book. It's not by any means an easy read. Its challenging, painful and will freaking rip your heart out and mangle your soul. It's the type of book that changes a person. So read it. Seriously. Go and do it now. And I dare you to not be moved.

Hey all! I have one of my favorite bloggers here today for Memory Monday! April is hysterical to talk to on Twitter and I've discovered that I really trust her overall opinion on a lot of the books we both read. So, here's April, sharing her Memories!

I'm pretty sure it's not possible to be an American product of public school and not remember those awesome Scholastic orders. Once a month a new order from with different possibilities — posters and trinkets for the not so bookishly-inlcined, and shiny books for the readers — would be given to every student. Those of use who loved reading would bring it home and beg hard for books.

I remember most of the time my parents would let me pick something cheap off the order form, counting whatever booked I picked as allowance.

However, one time, they offered up the holy grail to me and let me pick the gift that kept on giving. That's right. I got to get the Boxcar Children set, which let me tell you was baller. It came in this awesome red cardboard boxcar and you would get three books from the series at a time per month, and put them in the boxcar since that was it's purpose. Y'all I think this was the beginning of my being excited about the mail, because after the very first month, the books were delivered to the house. I remember waiting for the monthly package and I would pretty much rip through the adventures of Benny, Jessie and the other kids whose names I totally don't remember, probably because they did not have awesome pink teacups and kind old RICH Grandfather Alden. And those kids would solve mysteries and chill in their Boxcar.

Did any of you get any special Scholastic order? Let me know about your fondness for that monthly order form in the comments!

Bio: April is kind of a big deal and blogs at Good Books And Good Wine. She reads everything under the sun, with a strong preference for YA, fantasy, and romance novels. She works in community education and likes unicorns. You can check out her twitter here.