I forgot one of the most important books on my book list...
Alice In Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carrol)
It seems like it would be a childish novel, but I literally spent the entire grade eight year of Accelerated Reader time reading it, and it truly is a great book. It's not particularly well-written, the plot tend to be difficult to follow and the events are less than spectacular as it is clear from the very beginning the whole thing is a dream, but nonetheless, it is one of my favourite books. The main thing it taught me was that you should say what you mean and mean what you say... which I constantly quote, much to the dismay of many of my classmates. However, I find that quote wonderful, and ever so useful... feel free to use it. And read the book, it takes about an hour and is totally worth it.

Puzzles... a pleasant pastime, in my eyes, beneficial to your intelligence and all around just a great thing to do. But what about when the puzzle companies try to screw you over? What then?!
I recently was doing a puzzle. I saw the box and it was a big lion face, which I thought would be a fun challenge because all the colours were similar, yet you could follow the way the hair in the mane went and such to still get it done. However, after completing the puzzle outline and trying to make out where the top and bottom of it was, I found myself puzzled (no pun intended... okay maybe just a tad). The puzzle really didn't match up with the picture on the box at all. So I continued to work on it, until I finally concluded that there was no way on earth the puzzle was the same picture as on the box. When I finished, it was clear that the box was a filthy liar... while they were both photos of lions, they were completely different photos. And, while examining closer (as only I would do), I found that they aren't even the same lion! That, my friends, is what we in the puzzle hobby call a huge scam. Kidding. But still, so silly.
Hope your puzzling'z better than mine,
Teagan