Blog – Page 55 – Zakiya N. Jamal

Book Review: Women in Bed

Posted on April 20, 2014May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews

I usually don’t read anthologies because I like to stick with one character throughout a novel, however Jessica Keener’s book, Women in Bed showed a growth in her characters that made it feel like I was watching one woman continue to grow.

The first short story didn’t give much detail into the character (we never learn her name) and it was pretty short. I wasn’t used to reading a story that didn’t put a name to a face but it was interesting to read. As the stories continue they get more and more detailed, becoming more like stories I usually read.

I enjoyed the last three stories the best because they were focused on one woman, Jennie, and showed her growth from the heartbreak of an ended relationship, to visiting her sister and remembering her past and her abusive father, to her finally finding what she needed and letting go of her fear of repeating the past.

Though I loved Jennie’s stories the best she wasn’t my favorite character. My favorite had to be Elizabeth in the “Recovery” story, who’s battling cancer. I loved her attitude and the way she handled her situation. She was such a strong character and I was sad when her story ended. I wanted to know more!

The other four stories involve a woman who lost her brother to suicide, a college dropout who goes to be with her not so loving boyfriend, a hard working woman who was so busy taking care of others she never took a chance to take care of herself, and a woman who left her husband realizing she needed to end her marriage before she could truly move on.

Truthfully, Keener’s writing style is very different from what I’m used to. As I said the stories get more and more detailed as they go on but it was still not a book I’d regularly pick up. That being said I did enjoy most of the stories. I found them to be interesting and also thought provoking. It raises a lot of questions about marriage, forgiveness, love, acceptance, and strength (mental, physical, and emotional). Overall I thought the book was good and a nice read.

Stars: 4 out of 5. It took me sometime to get used to the writing style but once I did I really enjoyed the stories. I found some to be more appealing than others but I think that’ll vary by each reader.

Borrow or Buy: Buy. As I said, there’s a story in it for everyone. It’s only $7.99 on the Kindle and I think it’s worth it.

My 15 Favorite Themed Versions of 2048

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Blog

If you haven’t heard about the game 2048 yet I don’t know where you’ve been but welcome to your new obsession. The basis of the original game is to move tiles around this board to get to the 2048 tile. Each time you put two of the same numbered tile together it becomes the multiple. For example two 2 tiles become one 4 tile.

Here’s how it looks:

You can play on your phone or on the computer. It can be very frustrating but so addicting. Since the games release and popularity many have begun making there own version of the game using anything from TV shows to food to dogs. Here’s some of my favorites. To get to the game click the photos.

1. Teen Wolf

2. The Simpsons

3. Swan Queen Ship (The Evil Queen and Emma Swan from Once Upon a Time)

4. Friends

5. Jimmy Fallon

6. *NSYNC

7. Beyonce

8. Arrow

9. Loki

10. Game of Thrones

11. Doge 2048

*This one is great because it tells you nice things when you do well.

12. Orphan Black

13. Pizza

14. Harry Potter

15. Sailor Moon

Honestly there seems to be a 2048 version of everything and if it doesn’t already exist you can make one of your own. Share your own favorite version of 2048 in the comments below.

Four Different Colors, One Amazing Pen

Posted on April 14, 2014April 14, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Blog

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of BIC 4-Color pen for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of the most frustrating things about taking handwritten notes is not being able to easily color code my thoughts. If I think something's really important I can't just make it bold without the risk of putting a hole through my paper. At best I can underline it but to be honest I can never do a straight line so my paper just becomes a mess. So frustrating.

That's why the new BIC® 4-Color™pen is great. It's 4 Inseparable Colors in 1 Pen making it easy to switch between blue, red, black, or green so I can mark the important stuff in different colors and even make my own key code so I know which color represents what.

Each color has it's own personality varying from bold (Blue), envious (Green), correcting (Red), and dreamer (Black). As an English major I'd say I most identify with Red and his correct grammar loving ways. Even so, I do remember hating Red in high school when I got an assignment back with red marks on it. Red is not a color to be messed with.

To see more of each color's personalities check out these awesome videos of their crazy life inside the BIC® 4-Color™ Pen.

You can also learn more about the four colored pen and the colors themselves by checking out their social media sites. On Facebook there's more unique BIC® 4-Color™content and you can learn more about the four colors' personalites. On Twitter you can follow the four colors hijinks and get daily updates about your favorite colors in spandex suits.

Honestly, this pen is the greatest. Why carry around four different pens when you can have them all rolled up in one? It's much more convient, easier to use, allows for some fun and creativity in your writing, and very helpful when taking notes in class. The only question you should be asking yourself now is, "Why don't I have one yet?".

The BIC® 4-Color™pen can be purchased online at Amazon and Staples so go get one of your own today before it's too late.

Currently Binge Watching: Reign

Posted on April 12, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

As always Tumblr has got me hooked on a show I don’t have time for. That being said I started Reign about two days ago and I just finished episode 10. I guess you could say I’m hooked. I probably would’ve finished it by now if I didn’t remember that I’m still in school and have actual work to do.

Anyway if you don’t watch the show on a regular basis there will be spoilers. You’ve be warned.

First, this show is so much like The Vampire Diaries that I’m surprised the CW took it on. It is a great show so I guess I could see why they would take it but the two shows are just so similar it’s mind boggling.

For starters there’s the whole brothers love triangle thing. Second,one brother is more of a bad boy and the other is really sweet (I’ll let you decide which is which). Third, the main character is a young dark haired girl who’s pretty innocent and gets caught in the middle of a whole bunch of drama. Oh and her life is always threatened.

Vampire Diaries comparison aside, the show is great. Focused on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, it centers around her life at court in France where she is engaged to Prince Francis but his bastard half brother, Sebastian “Bash”, is also in love with her. In the mist of that Mary’s life is constantly in danger as the English want her throne and she’s not sure who she can trust in French court.

I love Mary. She’s sweet but she’s also a Queen that’s not afraid to do what needs to be done for her country. She’s opinionated, strong willed, and not easily persuaded. In conclusion, she’s awesome.

I’m also in love with both of her love interests even though I already know which one she’s going to end up with (they can only change so much history). Francis is sweet and clearly loves Mary. He’s good to her and wants what’s best for her. He even understands the whole taking away his inheritance so she can marry Bash thing even though he really doesn’t. He just accepts it.

Bash is just as great. He loves Mary too and I think would go to the end of the Earth and make again for her. If I had to choose one of these guys it would be Bash even though I know he can’t win. But that’s partly why I want him to. This is a TV show after all. Let’s break some rules. I’ve already seen spoilers though so I know that’s not how it’s going to go down. Still, it’s something fun to think about it. I want them to be together so bad.

I’m currently at the part where they think they’re going to get married and it’s awesome. I like them together. I love their love. It’s adorable. Not realistic, but adorable.

Besides all the love drama there’s so much other drama going on. There’s really never a dull moment in the castle. Between the killings, the pagan sacrifices, the mysterious Clarissa who lives in the tunnels, all the sex, and all the lies, every episode is entertaining.

I think everyone should watch the show. Obviously it’s not going to stick word for word to the history of the situation. If it did it wouldn’t be a fun show to watch. Even so, I think they do a good job of showing the facts but also showing their own interpretation.

I’m obsessed and I think if you give this show a try you’ll become as hooked as I did.

How Long It’ll Take Me to Catch Up: 24 hours. Tops.

Do I Need to Start From the Beginning: Yes. 100% yes. Of course this show is based on history but like I said it doesn’t stick to the things you would find in a textbook. You must start from the beginning to know exactly what’s going on because things get complicated real fast.

Stars: 5 out of freaking 5. I love it!

How You Feel After Pulling An All Nighter (GIF Edition)

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Blog

Staying up long enough to see the sun rise is never a good time. Unless you’re with your friends, chilling on a beach with a couple drinks. Then it’s okay.

But if you were just trapped in the library all night working on a paper or studying for an exam and then still have to get up the next day (or not go to sleep at all) it’s never a fun time.

Between trying to keep your eyes open throughout the day and just falling asleep anywhere that seems comfortable, all you can think about all day is when you’ll finally be back in your bed.

Here’s 15 GIFs that accurately depict your struggles throughout the day. Don’t worry you’ll make it to your bed . . . eventually.

1. “What is that horrible sound? I just got into bed!”

2. “Ugh, stop talking. I just want to sleep.”

3. “Will I still get paid if I just take a little nap?”

4. “It’ll only be a second.”

5. “I CAN’T KEEP MY HEAD UP ANYMORE!”

6. “Just let me rest my head for a minute.”

7. “Ugh, why is my head so heavy?”

8. “Your shoulder looks just like a pillow. Do you mind if I just . . . *snores*”

9. “My eyes are too dry for me to even try to do work. Sorry.”

10. “I’m just going to close them for a sec.”

11. “Maybe if I keep blinking really fast no one will notice I’m taking five second naps.”

12. “Finally, I’m home.”

13. “Just let me lie here.”

14. “Ahhh that’s good.”

15. “Good night.”

Source for GIFs: Tumblr

Switched at Birth 3X11 Recap

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

So far this episode has been my favorite of all the ABCFamily spring finales I’ve seen this season. Here’s the recap. Beware the spoilers!

First, Toby is all distraught and sad because he realizes that he and Nikki are really going to get a divorce but he truly doesn’t want to because he loves her and “wants to be with her.” That being said he comes up with this crazy idea to just go run off and follow her even though he knows that’s not something he really wants to do.

Katherine, being the wise mom that she is, gives some advice that she should have given her past self way back when. If you start sacrificing the things you want for someone else eventually you’ll come to resent them. She’s able to convince Toby that what he’s doing is crazy so Toby decides not to follow Nikki but instead to take a trip to Ice Land for some crazy reason. Hopefully he remembered to bring a jacket.

Daphne has finally made her choice and she’s officially dating Campbell. To bad she forgot to let Jorge know. He quickly found out the truth, however, when he walked in on them making out.

Talk about awkward. Daphne then explained that Campbell’s the one she wants to be with and Jorge said he understood but asked her to limit the PDA and soon she’d be gone anyway so no worries.

Sadly, for Jorge Daphne has now decided that she wants to be doctor and plans on staying at the clinic after her community service is over. It was not a good day for Jorge. However, when Daphne runs into one of the guys who robbed her food truck she begins to question if she’s really up for this doctor job. If those are the kinds of people she’s going to have to help will she be willing to save their lives?

Her first instinct was absolutely not and went so far as to ask Angelo for a job at his new restaurant. Later, however, her attacker came back in struggling from drug withdrawal and she agreed to help him. She even volunteered. She then realized that people are still people no matter what crappy thing they’d done and she was willing to put her anger and fear aside to help save a life. Go Daphne!

The Vasquez women were all about facing their fears this episode as Regina stands up to her boss and tries to help the people of East Riverside by ensuring they get the money they deserve. Wes of course quickly catches onto what she’s doing and fires her and tells her she has to return her car and the $50,000 he gave her for her business. He also promises to give the residents of East Riverside hell and to blame their troubles all on Regina.

Obviously the residents of East Riverside were not happy about any of this and threw a brick threw the window of Regina’s business, K&D, that had a sign taped to it that said, “Stay out of East Riverside.” We’ll just have to wait until next season to see what happens with that.

Katherine’s book was leaked and she accused Renzo of committing the crime. This led Renzo to let her know his world does not revolve around her and all her issues, and he actually has a friend who’s going through chemo that’s been his main focus.

After talking it out Renzo forgives Katherine for the accusation and tells her that she shouldn’t be afraid of one bad critique of her book and keep trying new adventures. In the end it turns out it was actually her publisher who leaked the book for publicity. And it worked. Good job Katherine!

Lastly, and I’m sure what almost everyone is most excited about, the reunion of Bemmett. As I suggested in my last recap Emmett was indeed being catfished. He didn’t listen to Bay when she told him the photo was stolen and instead accused her of meddling. Bay couldn’t just let it go however, and with the help of Tank, did a reverse image search where she found that “Maddy” was actually a girl who attended a high school close by.

Bay and Tank decided to stake out the school to try to talk to the girl. While waiting Bay and Tank get into another fight about his fraternity because although Tank is now safe from being black balled Bay can’t understand how his friends could’ve not stood up for him. The only reason Tank was able to stay was because his coach vouched for him. Tank of course is upset that Bay is still talking bad about his frat and doesn’t get why she can’t just be supportive. This leads Tank to storming out of the car leaving Bay to deal with the Emmett issue.

After waiting around a while she sees “Mandy” and questions her about why she’s lying to Emmett. First it comes out that the girl isn’t even deaf and that she has no idea who Emmett is and has never spoken to him. Bay is about to leave, feelings embarrassed about calling this girl out when the girl says she has a deaf cousin that might know Emmett. Of course, it’s Matthew.

Realizing what has happened Bay immediately texts Emmett trying to warn him but unfortunately Emmett has been acting like a jerk lately and got his phone taken away so he didn’t get any of Bay’s messages. He therefore goes to the park expecting Mandy but instead opens a picnic basket with a catfish inside and out walks Matthew with a video camera saying, “Gotcha!” Of course, Emmett is furious (rightfully so) and fights Matthew. Matthew then beats up Emmett, leaving him wounded on the ground.

Hours laters Bay shows up to the park, thanks to Travis’ info, and finds Emmett sitting on a rock, hurt. She is of course concerned and asks what happened and he tells her the whole story, admitting that she was right and that he’s so embarrassed. Bay tells him that Matthew is sick and a jerk, it doesn’t matter, and that everyone loves Emmett.

Emmett then asks if she’s including in that list of people that loves him. Bay doesn’t answer and instead reminds him that he came out to the park to be with a different girl. Emmett then reveals that it wasn’t the same as what he had with Bay and that he’s just been trying to find that again with someone else but hasn’t been able to.

Which is when Bay finally admits:

Insert all the feels.

This love revelation then led to the Bemmett sex scene that fans have been waiting for since season one. Now of course fans have to wait until June 16 to see what happens next.

Obviously there’s a lot of things that need to be addressed. First of all, Bay and Tank did not officially break up. In fact, Tank actually dropped out of his frat, essentially for her. Therefore Bay committed the same crime that Emmett did which made them break up in the first place. I guess we’ve come full circle?

But really, as much as I love Bemmett and am happy to see them together will this last? Because Bay is obviously going to feel guilty about what happened, especially when she finds out what Tank did. Tank is one of the good ones and she messed up and she’s going to have to acknowledge that.

Also how will Emmett take it? Will he just be so happy to have Bay back that he won’t care that once again he’s involved in a cheating scandal? And what will everyone else think? The Kennishs loved Tank and everyone knows how much it hurt Bay when Emmett cheated on her. I can’t see everyone just saying, “Oh, yeah that’s fine. Just get back together.”

Only time will tell. Until next season, let all the Bemmett shippers rejoice.

Sources for photos/GIFs: Tumblr, ABCFamily

Switched at Birth 3X10 Recap

Posted on March 20, 2014March 20, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Pranks, make-ups, fights, more make-ups, and some identity crises. That about sums up the last episode of Switched at Birth. If you haven’t watched yet (although really you should have by now) this is your spoiler alert. Here we go.

Matthew, the guy who slashed the tires of the deaf students at Carlton, returns from his suspension and is suspiciously ready to reconcile with Emmett. I’ll get to the suspiciousness about that later. In that same scene, Emmet tells Bay about his plan to get his internet girlfriend, Mandy, a framed photo of one of the pictures she took. Trying to be a good friend Bay volunteers to take it to her friend Logan to get it well done and put together.

Unfortunately for Bay her act of good friendship leads her to make a tough choice when it comes out that Mandy’s photo isn’t actually her’s but she plagiarized it. Now Bay has to figure out how to tell Emmet that his girlfriend is a lying liar who lies. He’s probably not going to take it well but here’s to hoping it’ll end in some Bemmett loving.

Daphne is still trying to figure out which hot guy she’s going to be with this season. It’s obvious to Katherine (and really everyone else) that it’s Campbell she wants to be with but “for some reason” she just can’t see it. It’s probably because he’s in a wheelchair but Daphne struggles to believe that because how could she, who has a handicap, possibly be bothered by someone else’s.

It quickly becomes evident that this is the case, however, when she goes on a date with Campbell and she tries to help him get over the curb and they’re not let into a bar because of his chair. This leads the two to have a fight and eventually Daphne accepts that there’s a lot of stuff she doesn’t understand about Campbell being in a chair and she does feel sorry for him. In a very smooth way, Campbell makes it clear to her that it’s okay and they can work it out.

Get it Campbell!

Regina’s still dealing with the hot mess that is the buy out of East Riverside. Thinking that she’s doing the owner of one of her favorite taco places a favor, she actually ends up helping her boss buy the place at a much smaller cost than it’s real value. Oops. Besides that, because she was so busy doing her work she missed her daughters’ last field hockey game of the season. Regina starts to wonder if all the benefits she’s receiving from her new job or worth the sacrifices and her integrity. (It’s not.)

The big Carlton versus Buckner game went as expected (Carlton lost). What was unexpected is the prank war that came of it. Buckner started it by trashing the Carlton front steps and Bay and Tank retaliated by defacing the Buckner statue. Nothing brings a couple back together like a big prank. Although they then had a fight because Bay didn’t want to have sex but then got back together when Tank apologized. Yay! This couple is very up and down.

Despite Carlton’s loss, Sharee was able to get scouted by a university which could possibly lead to a field hockey scholarship, all thanks to Toby. Speaking of Toby, it seems the other Kennish will be a getting a divorce. His wife, Nikki, finally made an appearance only to say that she loves the mission work she’s doing and plans to continue to do work . . . in Africa.

Surprise indeed. She wants Toby to come but Toby loves his work in the U.S. of A. Recognizing that it would be difficult to stay married while living on two different continents, these two won’t be married for much longer. As much as I didn’t want it to be true this couple was never really meant to last. I hope Toby finds someone though.

Next week is the spring finale and it looks like it’s going to be a doozy filled with lots of drama, fights, and romance. I can’t wait. Check out the promo:

Now before I leave you guys until next week, let’s go back to the suspicious Matthew thing. Here’s my theory: Matthew doesn’t forgive Emmett. He never did. Instead he came up with this insane idea to create this fake profile for some girl named Mandy, found Emmett online, and started chatting with him, making Emmett fall for her. Then Matthew is going to wait until they “meet up” and tell Emmett the truth, that all of it was a lie, and then beat the crap out of him. In summary, Emmett got catfished and Matthew is a jerk. We shall see on Monday.

If you have your own predictions about the finale next week or just want to say hi, leave a comment below.

Sources for photos/GIFs: Tumblr, ABCFamily

Allison Argent Dies: Is it Chauvinism? (Teen Wolf 3X23 Recap)

Posted on March 18, 2014March 18, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Last night Teen Wolf shocked us all with the death of a fan favorite, Allison Argent.

Allison was a strong female lead on the show who will be greatly missed. She was an amazing young woman who was a BAMF who could defend herself and stand on her own. She made her own choices and did what she believed to be right, even when that meant walking away from her first love.

Allison was the definition of a independent woman. Additionally, she not only kicked butt but she was still feminine, working it in her cute outfits, sometimes even using her cross bow while still in a dress she wore to school.

She was a feminist’s dream, demonstrating that a woman can be strong, opinionated, smart, and take care of herself while also still being beautiful, sexy, and in a relationship.

This begs the question why kill off such a wonderful character that has developed greatly over these last three seasons into such a strong woman? Why snatch her away at the end? Of course the main reason is because Crystal Reed who plays Allison is leaving the show but there are so many other ways this could’ve been done.

For example, when Colton Haynes (Jackson) left to go to Arrow, his character was not killed off but instead he left to live somewhere in Europe. In that case, Allison could’ve easily lived and the story line could’ve been her and father moving away from Mission Hills because they’d already lost so much of their family and couldn’t stand it anymore.

Instead, however, the writers and producers chose to kill Allison, in a death that was also pointless. It served no purpose in the show for her to die other than to add shock value. There was no ritual sacrifice that needed to happen and truthfully if someone had to die it could’ve been anyone, for example one of the male twins maybe.

What’s bothersome about this whole thing is it is almost always females that die on the show. Though Alison’s aunt and Jennifer Blake were admittedly evil characters who were killed, the same could be said for Peter Hale or Deucalion who survived. Why is it that only female characters are killed off on Teen Wolf but not the male characters?

Although this could all be seen as a coincidence it’s very strange that this pattern continues to appear on this show, a show that is otherwise pretty progressive in their themes. It’s disheartening that a show that is very entertaining and continues to get better with each season seems to be working with a chauvinistic mind set.

Do you think Alison’s death was an indication of chauvinism or merely a coincidence? Vote below and sound off in the comments.

Source for photos: Tumblr, MTV

Why I’m No Longer Impressed By Scandal

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Scandal has become more and more disappointing to me as this season progresses. What started as a high paced political drama about a political fixer, who actually did her job, has now turned into a melodramatic soap opera with plenty of cliff hangers that don’t have much shock value.

For the last few episodes I was able to guess what would happen (if you’re not caught up there are spoilers ahead!).

When the California governor turned out to be in love with Mellie? So obvious.

Huck and Abby being the ones to “kidnap” David rather than it being Cyrus’ hit man? Again, not really a nail biter.

It’s possible that because of my obsession with television I’ve just become great at guessing what will happen next but honestly I’m sick of hearing people continuously talk about how great Scandal is.

Is it entertaining? Sure. But it’s not greatly scripted, edited, or acted out.

For starters, the show began with Olivia Pope, being an independent force as a political fixer who made her own choices. Now Olivia doesn’t fix anything and instead the show only focuses on her “love triangle” with Fitz and Jake. It’s a little bit of stretch to call it a love triangle, however, since really it’s clear that the only thing standing in between Fitz and Olivia being together is his marriage and presidency. Otherwise they’d be in Vermont right now.

Jake is only there to keep Olivia company and keep her warm at night since she can’t be with the one she really wants. In summary, he’s her security blanket.

The storyline of this show no longer focuses on the dirty inner workings of politics and the blood thirsty, backstabbing inner workings that happen within the American government. Instead those things only come second to all the love affairs and relationships on the show.

Every episode seems to be more and more about who’s sleeping with who and less and less about who’s actually running the government.

Lastly, what was really the last straw for me was tonight’s episode in which we were promised a jaw dropping ending in the last 30 seconds. Many fans seem to be satisfied with the “shocking” ending of this episode but I am not.

First of all, the ending was a classic cliff hanger that happens in many shows. There’s a gun shot, screen goes black, and everyone’s left wondering who got shot? It’s a tired ploy to get viewers to Tweet about the show and guess who died, not a stroke of cinematic genius.

Moreover, it seems obvious to me that James is the one that got shot. For one thing, it would provide the writers with another story line because Cyrus will be furious if that is the case. Also, James’ death get’s way more players involved than David’s death. Of course Olivia’s team will care if David is dead but the whole White House will care if James is dead. Plus, then there’s the question of who’ll raise his daughter since Cyrus is really not fit to be a stay at home father and didn’t really want the baby in the first place.

I admit I could be wrong but I’d put money on it being David because that would provide the writers with the best material but honestly who got shot isn’t relevant here. What is relevant is that so called surprising and jaw dropping ending was nothing I haven’t seen done before in other shows. I was expecting much more by the way the episode was being hyped up but again found myself disappointed.

Although I do believe Scandal is an entertaining show, which is why it gets so many views and why I keep watching it, it’s not the greatest thing since sliced bread. People talk about it so much because it’s exciting. There’s sex scenes, affairs, murder, and drama. However, just because a show has these things doesn’t mean it’s Emmy worthy. It just means the writers know how to catch an audience’s attention.

I know people will disagree with my opinion so have at it in the comments. I rest my case.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: Binge Reading

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Books

The best feeling is discovering a book series that already has four or five books out. You don’t have to wait (im)patiently for the next one to come out, you can just grab it from the library or buy it instantly. Though this can be a great thing it also be bad. Really bad. Why, you ask? Because just as quickly as you became obsessed with Scandal you’ve become just as obsessed with the Private series. What’s worse is unlike a TV show, reading takes longer and you can’t really multi-task while you’re reading. Instead you find yourself so wrapped in your book, hours have gone by and you’ve forgotten how to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, and socialize.

In short, you’ve become a hermit.

It’s okay. Take a breather, relax. Binge reading is a fine (and fun) activity. It’s great to find yourself wrapped in a series with these characters you just can’t stop thinking about and always wanting to know what happens next. Reading is fundamental after all and unlike watching TV it won’t kill your brain cells.

It becomes bad, however, when you let your reading take over your whole life. Now you might be thinking, “That would never happen.” Yeah, sure. Here’s some signs that you might be losing it:

You freak out when the library doesn’t have the next book in the series.
You’re willing to buy the next book (or next three) no matter what the cost. “If I don’t check my bank account then it’s not real.”
Friends ask you to hang out but you say no because you JUST GOT TO THE GOOD PART.
You tell yourself you’ll go to sleep at 3 AM but then when 3 AM comes and you’re still in the middle of the chapter so you say, “I’ll just finish the chapter,” but it ended with a cliffhanger. You can’t possibly stop now, you’ll just go to sleep at 4 AM. This cycle continues until suddenly the sun is up.
When you have to eat or go to the bathroom you take the book with you.
Actually you just take the book everywhere.
People try to talk to you but you just say, “Uh huh,” or “Okay,” because really you just want them to be quiet so you can keep reading.
When you’re not reading you have to remind yourself what’s real and what happened in the book. No you do not have super powers and no you’re not in the middle of an all out war with the Capitol. Relax.

If any or all of these apply to you, you might have a problem but that’s okay because let’s be real reading too much is never really a problem right? The book series has to end eventually . . . but then you’ll find another one to read then another then another until you forget what real life is.

Here’s the deal, I love binge reading as much as the next person but just as binge watching TV can be bad for you so can binge reading. For one thing you can actually hurt your eyes by reading so much. For another you’ll start alienating yourself for the sake of a book. Don’t let your favorite character become your best friend. The day a character in a book actually starts talking to you is when you know you need to put the book down.

Rather than binge reading, take a break in between books. I give you permission to stay up however, long it takes to read one book but after you’re done give it a rest. Go for a walk, go see a movie, hang out with friends. Don’t let a fictional world become your whole life. Remember, no matter how good the book is, it’s not real and it’ll still be there when you get back.

Besides why rush a good thing? The sad truth is the series will have to come to an end eventually or worse you’ll actually catch up and find yourself waiting a year for the next one. Why put yourself through that torture? Take your time with the series. Re-read all the good parts. Let it all sink in before you jump right back in. Trust me, it won’t kill you.

Honestly, I know many of you will ignore my advice and keep binge reading anyway. If you do I wish you the best and enjoy the reading.