Music Recommendation

Okay. My music taste is pretty broad, but it usually centers around the comfort of alternative rock. This adorable little EP was just released in 2016, titled BANNERS. Produced by Stephen Kozemeniuk, it is an absolute alternative gem.

The five songs on the track transition so beautifully into each other, if you listen to them in order. It is clear that it was pieced together so carefully. 

It is really well written. The most popular tracks "Shine a Light" and "Start a Riot" are rightfully labeled. Altogether it is just so sweet. Perfect for listening to on an overcast day or on a long drive, it has just the right vibe. 

My favorite track is definitely "Gold Dust". I was completely taken aback when it got to the bridge. In my mind I was suddenly on another planet somewhere, gazing at the stars. 

One of my favorite lyrics from that song is "turn this darkness into sparks like blazing hearts".

So, highly recommend this EP. Really well done and I can't wait to hear more! Thank you for sharing your beautiful music with the world, BANNERS. 

If you like The Moth & The Flame or Mat Kearney, you will definitely love this! :)

Thanks for reading. Below is a link to their youtube channel. You can also find the EP on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. 

click here

P.S. Look at the beautiful cover art. It's what intrigued me in the first place. I absolutely love art like this. 

This is Water

I can't officially call this blog my own until I post about this. David Foster Wallace wrote a commencement speech and it is one of the greatest pieces of literature ever! Especially for young adults walking into the future with both fear and fatigue.

Here is the pdf for the entire speech here

or, if you are lazy and would rather watch a video that does a pretty great summary of it with some visuals, click here

Book Review

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

My first book review! Choosing my first book to talk about is such an important decision! It reflects the entire aesthetic of my writing capabilities! I have to choose the perfect book! But, not to worry. After approximately two minutes of long hard deliberation I decided to just talk about one of the most recent books I've read. This may or may not be because it was the closest one within reach. And if this flops I now have an excuse! Surely my poor choosing in the first book to review is the source of my terrible-quality of critiquing. Is sarcasm detectible on a blog? I'm too new at this to tell.

Anyways. I tore through this book in less than a day. I'll admit that prior to reading this book I was in a little bit of a reading slump and it had been a few weeks since I picked up a book. Ok, a few months. Whatever. But this book reignited my flame. 

Initially I was wandering my favorite young-adult fiction corner of Barnes and Nobles and this caught my eye because I thought to myself "OMG STARS AND THE UNIVERSE!! I bet if I open the cover it will be dedicated to me because this book was made for me!!" But I also was very intrigued by the four awards on the cover. I knew it must be something worth talking about, especially with it only being a few years old. 

It began slowly, unveiling the life of Aristotle, or "Ari" before he meets Dante. The quality of writing was beyond impeccable. Philosophically perfect, it fed my enthusiasm for deep-thoughts. I constantly paused just to think about the small comments that held so much courage, they were as deep as the ocean. But I instantly would continue reading to soak up whatever was written on the next page. I didn't want to miss a thing. 

I'm one of those people that will underline a quote if it even so much as strikes thought or emotion for me. This book is covered in my annotations. I just appreciated every aspect of it. It was so well done. 

I SO enjoyed the fact that the two main characters in this novel were male. It was so natural and I shipped them from the start. It was also really well done as far as each character coming to terms with their feelings and the parents support of the relationship was perfectly handled.

I felt very close to Ari throughout the novel. He is a very reachable character. He was beautifully pieced together. Dante was adventurous and there was so much to admire about him. 

The sense of wisdom in these pages make the story something that you just want to connect with. It was so beautiful. I'll read it again someday. 

Beyond that this book really speaks for itself. I highly recommend this book to anyone willing to read it. The four awards on the cover deserve to be there without a doubt. And just to give you a taste, here were a few of my favorite quotes:

"Feeling sorry for myself was an art" (13).

"Words were different when they lived inside of you" (31).

"To be careful with people and with words was a rare and beautiful thing" (324). 

This is a book you'll want to know and love. If you read it or have read it, I'd love to talk about it. Thanks for reading! -Bird

Teen Ink

This might be worth mentioning. I've published some stuff on Teen Ink before, one of which made the front page for a day! I'll probably continue to upload stuff there from time to time, so it will all be linked in this post.

click here for my teen ink profile

About Me

 My name is Skyleigh [sky-lee] but only 2% of the people I know actually call me that. It's like the names Skylar and Kylie had a little name child, but people tend to mispronounce it anyway. I go by Sky usually. :)                                                                                                                                                               

I am on the brink of turning 17, I live in Southern California. I love to read and write. I read often and write most every day. If i'm reading, it's probably a young-adult fiction novel, which is what i'll primarily talk about here. If i'm writing, i write about all sorts of things; Song lyrics, poems, short stories, stray thoughts, narratives etc. I rarely leave my house without my writing book and a pen. I hope that this blog will help me pursue being a novelist when that time comes.                                                                                

I love music. And art of all types. I love travel and thinking about travel. I live for adventure. But I rarely leave my room. My favorite band is Imagine Dragons, I've been a part of their fandom for many years. I love a ton of bands and artists besides them too. Maybe i'll post about my music taste at some point. I have two yellow lab puppies. I am obsessed with Friends, I just rewatch the show over and over. I've been dancing and taking part in many aspects of performing arts since I was just a kid with muggle-sized dreams. Now I spend an above-average amount of time thinking about outer space and the universe. I like questions with no answers. This will be very clear in any of my writing that ends up on this blog. 

To the dozen or so little birds that will actually end up reading this blog, thank you. I hope you enjoy it and will grow with me as I give blogging a chance. I'm willing to talk about all sorts of topics, so just give me one and I'll make a post about it. Besides that, please bare with me. I will read and have critiques for you as often as I can. 

And on the off-chance that this blog really takes off, special thanks to my support system: Nick Astalos, Alyssa Krikke, Macy Faust, and Abby Antonen. 
spread peace and love, xx Sky

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