Lita's Book Blog: Blog Hop: International Authors' Day **GIVEAWAYS**

Lita's Book Blog presents...

July 14th - 18th

mainly hosted by Debdatta on b00k r3vi3ws

Thanks to all the authors for all their hard work and gave their utmost best, we immensely appreciate it!

International Authors' Day

Once upon a time...

When I was in Elementary school, I would read a bunch of books. I would read as many books as I could and then take a test pertaining questions about the story I read. I would only do this because afterwards, depending on if I answered the questions correctly, I would receive AR points. And with those points, I was eligible to win a prize. It could have been a dollar to a cookie, a bookmark, or anything you'd consider a cool prize to win at that age. This was the soul purpose of me reading at all, but I did enjoy the act of reading books. Believe me, I've read my fair share of Junie B. Jones' and the Magic Tree House books.
Oh, can't forget Nancy Drew!.

Still can't forget R.L. Stine's Goosebumps' books!!. (Tee-hee' :D)

I was around 9-10 yrs. old, and I was already in middle school. I don't exactly remember how or what caused me to pick up this book, but I did. Maybe it was the cover, or maybe it was the title of the story that caught my attention all those years ago. The book was Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. I was very interested once I saw the cover, and even more so once I read the summary. Pretties was already published at the time so I checked out those two books from my school library.

I read the first one, and it was a bit hard for me to wrap my head around. I knew reality, the one we all live in, but the reality in the book was very weird, very different. It sparked intrigue, and something more inside me. I was amazed at how creative it all was, the workings of this dystopian world was something I considered like a breath of fresh air, or a change of scenery. I craved more. I continued to read on through Pretties and it all was just a lot to take in and at times overwhelming because in my mind I went over and over all the things going on in this book just trying to understand what was going on and grasp the concept of something possibly happening. I would go into overdrive and I guess crash and burn. At the time, I didn't know that what I was feeling was a book hangover. I seriously find it funny that during those times I had that feeling I couldn't describe, I would read a contemporary to pick myself up again.

Then Specials came out and I basically did a series marathon. When Extras finally came out, I had already read the first three books to death. I dissected every little thing in those books, to finally be able to enjoy and understand the story. I was more then ready for the last book. More knowledgeable than before, I found solace in the author's creativity, bask in this futuristic world of ours and connect it all together. I could finally see what was on those puzzle pieces and see what fits to get the bigger picture.

In the end, I felt happy to be able to reach the ending of the series. The story was incredibly fascinating! I learned so much just from those books (and all the contemporary books in between). It not only helped me be the person I am today, but it also helped form my view of the world and see the good and bad things out there, know what is right and what is wrong in a worldly sense. I am also able to make choices for myself, knowing whether or not its good or bad and to be prepared for the aftermath, what is to come of it, and to face it head on. And this was how my reading career really began.