August Favorites (2014)

August has come and gone, and I've jumped on the Favorites wagon. Basically what that means is that each month I'll be highlighting my favorite books, foods, movies, etc. of that month.

Today's post is all August, so let's get started!

1.) Cassandra Clare Novels

It's no secret that Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series have been wildly popular. The section at my library where her books would normally be is usually empty because they're checked out 90% of the time. When they first started becoming popular, I just wasn't into them. I read the inside cover and wasn't interested. One of my friends had read part of the Infernal Devices and hated it, so I didn't think it was for me.

And then late last year I decided to give them a second chance. They're not in any way perfect, but for some reason I loved them. There are some sketchy parts in them, and some things that I frowned at, but overall I really enjoyed them. I think they can be either a love or a hate thing, but for me, I love them. (I haven't read all of the prequels or the Mortal Instruments, so please keep the spoilers down to a bare minimum!) What do you think of them?

2.) Rings

Whilst scrolling through Pinterest, I came upon a series of pictures that showed a bunch of really pretty, simple rings. Soon after, I started beefing up my ring collection a little bit, with a pretty turquoise colored ring and some other style ones. I don't know why, but rings have always struck me as a really simple accessory that spices up an outfit. And they take seconds to put on in the morning, so they're perfect for a busy student life like my own.

3.) 5 Seconds of Summer

So maybe I have a thing for boy bands, but that's besides the point. The band of 5 Seconds of Summer which includes Ashton  Irwin, Calum Hood, Luke Hemmings, and Michael Clifford is now one of my favorites. I first heard one of their songs at maybe the beginning of the summer, but I didn't like it. The lyrics weren't my style and I felt like the music video was not okay. But I heard some of their other songs during August, and I loved it. I really like how their band sounds, and how there's so much thought behind the lyrics that go into the songs.

On a similar note, I think the real reason I first started checking out their band was because of their song Amnesia and Heartache on the Big Screen. Most of you know that a friend who used to be a really close guy friend of mine has been well, not as buddy buddy as we used to be. Heart on the Big Screen's lyrics were almost exactly what my life was feeling like. And then I heard Amnesia, which also had lyrics that almost seemed written for me. Those two songs got me more into the band, and the people in the band also seem like genuinely nice guys. I pretty much became a fan of 5SoS during August.

4.) Time Travel Books

You might have seen these two books in my From the Bookshelf posts, but here they are again! I was really drawn to these books because of the concept. Tamara Ireland Stone wrote a story about a girl from the past meeting a boy from the future who isn't completely in control of his time travel powers. She falls for him, but at any second he could disappear back into his proper time.

The first book I loved. Time Between Us was a really lovely story, with just enough fantasy tucked in around the edges to keep me interested. The plot was a smidge predictable, but overall it was still nicely done. The only thing about this . . . duology (is that what a two book series is called?) was that I felt like the second book was completely unnecessary. The first one would have been fine as a stand alone, because basically all that happened in the second one was a repeat of the first with minor changes. What a shame.

5.) Blog Accessories

This past month I went crazy updating and streamlining the look of my blog. If you've been around for a while you'll know that I like to update my blog's look every once and a while, but August was crazy for that.

It's wasn't just picking a background and making the blog header look cute. I added some navigation stuff to the top to make it easier to find out things without tromping around my blogosphere in search of a tiny little thing. I also added some buttons that link to my social media profiles. It was hectic finding buttons that matched my blog theme and then figuring out the linking and formatting, but I managed to figure it out in the end. Huzzah!

Some people were asking me why all the sudden changes, and I guess the reason behind that was that I was poking around some blogs of some of my favorite YouTubers, and I loved what theirs looked like. They were all very personalized, but still had more of a polished look to them. So I decided to take a plunge and make my blog a little more professional-esque, but still have my little bits and bobs. Hopefully you all approve!

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That's the end of my August favorites! It wasn't a massive list of things, but those are my top 5 things that I loved during that month.

What have you been loving from August?

That is all.

Cheers,

Sea