Saturday, December 28, 2013

Bout of Books read-a-thon 9.0

Yes. Another read-a-thon. Is there a review a thon I can join after because it's also kind of scary? (I'm going to google that later). Anyway, another Bout of Books read-a-thon, my favorite read-a-thon hosted multiple times during the year. You can check out the blog here and then go from there.

The read-a-thon starts on the 6th, and here is the official information and stuff from the Bout of Books people:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
Obviously I'll be doing daily updates for it and then the first day is like a reminder it starts and also my TBR for the week (spoiler: I have a list of books to reread so look out for that).
 

Friday, December 20, 2013

November, half of December, and why I don't post here more

Honestly, I probably couldn't give you a reason why I don't post here more. I mean, there's the fact that I do tend to over think and agonize over posts and normally just kind of stare blankly if I open a blank blog entry. But I think the main reason is because I started this blog purely for book reviews. And - that's what it's for, but also I feel like maybe I could use it for more. I'd also really like to switch over to a wordpress thing and get kind of more freedom but - I don't actually know what I'd do with more freedom since I kind of like blogger.

Anyway, onto some actual news, I guess. November. NaNoWriMo. I kept meaning to write up like quick update posts during the month but I was basically brain dead if I wasn't writing or not like physically drinking some caffeinated beverage at the time. To just give you a hint into how truly insane my month was, here's a hint:


This is what my NaNo page looked like at the end of the month, so my end word count was 367k, my brain hurts just thinking about that, in all honesty, I don't know how I did it (probably the overachiever people, in their own forum subject area now yayyy, being super awesome).

Anyway, I do hope to actually post here more, it'll probably be book things, maybe some other stuff if I feel adventurous, but I've noticed when I blog more, I read more, and that's awesome. So that's my update, I guess, I might end up figuring out a schedule for 2014 and I have some - a lot of - catching up to do.

Friday, November 1, 2013

October Wrap-Up / November TBR

October:


  • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
  • Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon
  • Dark Currents (Agent of Hel #1) by Jacqueline Carey
  • Grave Peril (Dresden Files #3) by Jim Butcher
  • Coraline: The Graphic Novel by Neil Gaiman
  • The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus #3) by Rick Riordan
  • The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus #4) by Rick Riordan
I ended up reading The Legend of Sleep Hollow because of the new TV show, which you need to watch. I mean, read the short story, it's good, but the TV show is just really good guys. I have no excuse for the second book except it was on my Kindle (I don't remember why) and it was four am and I couldn't sleep and then I just wanted to know how it ended, even if I kind of wanted to rip my eyes out.

Dark Currents was a fantastic book, I've barely started the second one but I am really loving this series so far and I've realized how much I adore this author. Also, House of Hades. I mean holy cheerleader batman, I mean seriously. The Blood of Olympus is probably my most anticpated book of next year, I just - I want to know what happens, I hope it's really long and I want a Nico point of view chapter (or I will riot, not really, but I want to see in his head so badly).

Wow, I rambled, I guess I'm in the writing mood (which is definitely good), so I will probably not see you until December.


November:
Yeah, I'm not going to be reading at all. I'm doing NaNoWriMo and that's kind of it, and I'm overachieving in it. (Writing more then the 50,000 words, my goal is 300/350k. Yes, I am crazy, don't even ask).

So I'm not really not going to get ay books read, kind of sadly, but - the first week of December I will probably just read that first week and can hopefully get some books read and finished (especially ones I'm currently reading for the New Year. Gah. New Year. How the hell did it get to being almost 2014?)

If you want to follow my NaNoWriMo progress and laugh at my wrist pain. NaNo profile, Twitter.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

NaNoWriMo 2013

I've been doing NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, for few years, starting to feel like I have somethings to say. I don't want to say wisdom, because I feel like I've been doing it for such a little time compared to some others. My first year was 2009, I'd just started high school and was looking for something to write something other then Harry Potter fan fiction. Kristina Horner's video that year convinced me. (She's done one every year for a while and at the bottom of this post you'll find links to all of them and to some others!) I've been doing it since 2009 and did every Camp and Script Frenzy (rest in peace) since then.

And if you're staring at this post going 'great, but what the hell is it?' Well, my dears, it is a insane month where so, so many people try to write 50k! Or less or more. Personally, I've been part of the 'overachievers' club for the last couple of years now. It's certainly been an interesting thing to try and write even more then 50k. My goal this year is 250k, but I'd really like to hit 300k. If you're at all interested, overachievers have their own forums this year on the NaNo site, Beyond 50k!

The point, though, about this post is that if you've ever wanted to write a novel or have an idea if your head, maybe NaNo is the right place. If 50k seems too much to write in one months because you have this or that, just - give it a shot. Maybe aim for 30k, 20k, just try to make as much time as you can, cutting out the stuff you don't need and that will be there come December.

Now, my main advice for NaNoWriMo, if you're going to do it, is to know whether you're a pantser or a planner in advance. Also, you might want to check out Chris Baty's book, because it is lovely. Chris Baty, by the way, is the one who created NaNoWriMo in 1999.

Also: writing buddies. Checking in the comments of Kristina's 2013 video can help or you can add me on the NaNo website. If you've got any questions, feel free to just ask them in the comments. Happy writing! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got like four novels I should be planning out.

Now, to try and convince you, some people who can talk about this way better then I ever could.

Kristina Horner:
2009 - Why I Do NaNoWriMo
2010 - NANOWRIMO
2011 - You are a SUPERHERO
2012 - NO EXCUSES (a NaNoWriMo pep talk)
2013 - 5 Ways to Get Your Novel Written
NaNoWriMo (updated) music video (just do it)

John Green's video from 2009
NaNoWriMo!!!

Little Book Owl (a BookTuber who I love) did an awesome video that, if you have no idea how to do NaNoWriMo, has pretty much all the advice I could ever offer you
How To NaNoWriMo

A friend of mine (and awesome author) Robyn Schneider did an official pep talk for the YWP, young writers program, and she talks about suck dragons so....
NaNoWriMo YWP: How To Vanquish Your Suck Dragons

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Dewey's Read-A-Thon (October 12th-13th, 2013)

I didn't really have a huge stack of books to get through, which is kind of surprisingly with my read-a-thon past, but I had some books I wanted to read. I always love this read-a-thon, because it's a short and sweet one and everyone is on Twitter talking about how they're reading this and their snacks and at about 3am everyone either passes out or gets extremely delirious.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you the books I read and how pages it was, because I like this keeping track of page count thing.

Books:
Coraline: Graphic Novel by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell
The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus #3) by Rick Riordan
The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4) by Rick Riordan

Pages: 1,255

So it was only three books but both the Riordan books were long, both almost 600 pages, and I had started Mark of Athena before but I didn't count that hundred or so pages. Anyway, I had a lot of fun and got a lot of reading done and oh my god Rick Riordan knows just how to do a middle grade adventure, let me tell you. If you participated then I hope you had an awesome time and got some reading done, and hopefully I will post more regularly now. Ha, NaNoWriMo is coming, that's not going to happen.

And if you're reading this and going 'Casey, what is this read-a-thon thing that is 24 hours and I missed' then you should go to the website and check it out.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon is tomorrow!

It's been how long since I've made an actual post here? That's not excepted, what happened to that plan, self? Okay, besides that, the yelling at myself and saying I am very sorry about not posting, I just realized (almost 8pm) that tomorrow is the Dewey 24-hour read-a-thon. I vaguely remember it happening last year and I really wanted to participate this year because this is apparently the year of me doing read-a-thons.

So on the thirteenth, probably late in the day, I'll put a post up talking about tomorrows day of reading and what happened. I have actually been reading the last couple days, which is perfect, so I think tomorrow will be awesome! I also want to make a post about NaNoWriMo, because it is coming. Too slowly, in my opinion, but I also really need to actually plan out my stories.

Anyway. The read-a-thon tomorrow. Official twitter, blog. Check it out! (if you want to sign up, it's simple, in the left bar is a link to all the posts you'd need. To be a participant or just a cheerleader)

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

September Wrap-Up / October TBR

September:

  • Torchwood: Golden Age by James Goss (audiobook)
  • Shadow (Paper Gods #0.5) by Amanda Sun
  • Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (audiobook)
  • Instructions by Neil Gaiman (audiobook)
  • Legion by Brandon Sanderson (audiobook)
  • Something From the Nightside (Nightside #1) by Simon R. Green
I really didn't get a lot of reading done this month, I did get quite a bit of writing done even though it just was kind of a 'eh' month for me. Just - one of those months, I guess.

October:

I have no idea what I want to read, I've been kind of preparing myself for H.P. Lovecraft. I've never read anything by him and he lived like ten minutes from me and I love horror so it's ridiculous I've read nothing by him. I just don't really know where to start, I'm still kind of figuring it out.

Also Rick Riordan's new book comes out on the tenth! And I never read the one from last year (I got spoiled like the day after it came out and just couldn't bring myself to read it, it was just kind of annoying and sad). And Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson just came out and I really want to read that, I've learned I kind of love everything he writes and can read it pretty quickly since it sucks me right in.

There's other books around but after my kind of suck reading month, I'm not sure. Also, I currently stand at having read 99 books this year, after upping my goal from 50 to 100, but I don't think I'm going to up it further, just so how many more past 100 I can get.

Also I'm so, so sorry for not posting here all month. I honestly don't know what happened, I haven't been feeling very in the mood too, and I just need to. It's been a weird month, an off month I guess. well, more off then normal.

I hope your Septembers were good and your Octobers are spook filled (ooh, another reason for some Lovecraft, I just realized) and also pumpkin filled.

Monday, September 2, 2013

August Wrap-Up / September TBR

How is it September already? I feel like I must of missed some months or something, I always feel like the year flies by so fast. Anyway, onto the books, because that's what we're here for right? Books.

August:
  • A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
  • Serenity: Those Left Behind (Serenity #1) by Joss Whedon and more
  • Warm Up by Victoria Schwab 
  • Vicious by Victoria Schwab
  • The Blob That Ate Everyone by R.L. Stine
  • Bakuman, Vol. 1: Dreams and Reality by Tsugumi Ohba
  • The Rithmatist (Rithmatist #1) by Brandon Sanderson
  • Better Days (Serenity #2) by Joss Whedon
  • Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake #7) by Laurell K. Hamilton
  • Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
  • Blue Moon (Anita Blake #8) by  Laurell K. Hamilton
  • The Shepard's Tale (Serenity #3) by Joss and Zack Whedon
  • Obsidian Butterfly (Anita Blake #9) by Laurell K. Hamilton
Whew! So many books this much, and a couple really good ones that I'm still thinking about. I'm going to, hopefully, have my review of Vicious up the week/day that the book comes out and hopefully reviews many of them. If you haven't noticed, I can be kind of bad at this, it's hard to say enough things sometimes.

September:

Honestly, I have no idea what books I am going to read, as I never do. So, some guesses, and I am definitely not a psychic.

  • Fray by Joss Whedon
  • Next In Death series
  • Ink by Amanda Sun (and the novella)
  • Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
And hopefully more. I can't remember off the top of my head which In Death book I'm on, I'm on one of them, there's a ton of them. And Fray is a comic/graphic novel about a slayer very far in the future and it sounds amazing (it's Joss Whedon, how could it not be amazing?). I might read the next Anita Blake book, but I've heard after Obsidian Butterfly they get kind of, well, bad (until the newest one, I think), and I have the next three, so I might as well read them, it's just... the next one is over 600 pages. 

I also have some ARCs for books that come out September/October that I definitely should read. I'm very bad at making a list of books to read and sticking to it, though, normally I just pick up a random book and start reading.

Anyway! I hope August was a good month for everyone, if not reading wise then maybe something else wise, and now it's September! How the hell did that happen? No, really, I'm confused about this. 

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Year in Review (2013 - 2)

Part two of this series (at least for 3013)! I don't know how many of these there will be, but probably a lot, because I'm going to try and get as many for each post as I can, without making them extremely long, and I've already read over 90 books this year.

The Regulators by Stephen King (5/5)
Review here

The Magician's Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia #1) by C.S. Lewis (5/5)
I don't have a review up for this one and, as a couple weeks ago I finished the last book in this series, I'm thinking of just putting up a review of the whole series, but I'm still not sure. I enjoyed this book, and this series, but I'm not sure I have much to say about this one or any of the others.

Glory in Death (In Death #2) by J.D. Robb (5/5)
I love this series. It's more of a guilty pleasure read then anything else, but I can normally read them in one sitting and it's kind of like a cleanse between the more serious books, I guess. (I've read a lot of them this year).

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll (3/5)
I struggled a lot with this book. Something about it, I just couldn't get into, but I did end up finishing and gave it three stars. It wasn't bad, not at all, but it's just so... something. I think most of it was that during the whole thing I was mostly like 'what is happening? why? why?' and that isn't a fun way to read a book.

IT by Stephen King (5/5)
A reread for me, and one of my all time favorite books. It may be over one thousand pages, but I have read it many, many times. Probably too many. I don't have a review up of this one, but I feel like I should, hopefully soon.

The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton (4/5)
I can't pretend to remember what exactly happened in this book, I'm currently reading book nine. But I remember this one not being quite there yet, like she hadn't hit her stride writing this series yet or something. Don't get me wrong, though, it was still really good.

Immortal in Death (In Death #3) by J.D. Robb
I really don't want to say really anything about these books as I get further, I mean they're pretty standalone really, story wise, but still. Check this series out if Law & Order but with more character stuff sounds fun (characters as in the main cast of characters).

Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #3) by Laurell K. Hamilton (4/5)
I love the Circus, which is where most of this is set, so I really liked this one. The Circus of the Damned is a place in this world, enjoy! And that's all I'm saying, so much further in the series now.

The Lunatic Cafe (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #4) by Laurell K. Hamilton (4/5)
Pretty good. And that's all I'm saying. 4/5 says enough, I think so the 4th in a series.

Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #5) by Laurell K. Hamilton (5/5)
For some reason I adored this book more then the others. None of the books are really light, but I felt like this one was a little darker and grittier and, I don't know, I just enjoyed it more somehow.

And I think that's where I'm going to cut this one off for now. The mostly In Death and Anita Blake one really, but still. I could probably get through a few more without it getting too long, but I think I'm going to just stop here. To be continued in part three! (Tell me if you like this / if you don't, any comments would be helpful. I like having them, as a kind of personal record, but I'd still be interested if there's anything you think I should add/take away).

Monday, August 26, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: Day Seven and Final Wrap-Up!

Number of Books Finished Today: 3

Book(s):
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (continued and finished - 102 pages)
Blue Moon (Anita Blake #8) by Laurell K. Hamilton (continued and finished - 392 pages)
The Shepard's Tale (Serenity #3) by Joss and Zack Whedon (finished - 56 pages)
Obsidian Butterfly (Anita Blake #9) by Laurell K. Hamilton (started - )

Pages Read Today: 738

Notes:
It was a pretty good reading day. I woke up early, but took some breaks during the day, not long ones, but they were there. I am really glad I was able to finished Eleanor and Park today, took me all week to read this book but I did it.

And Anita Blake books are always a fun read, if kind of more just fun then anything else, but sometimes that's exactly what one needs. I started reading Obsidian Butterfly, knowing I had no chance of finishing it by the end of the day (this books is like twice as long as the last one, it's crazy).

Anyway, overall, I'm feeling like it was a good last day of Bout of Books and I'm excited for the next one. And, maybe, to finish Obsidian Butterfly tomorrow.

Totals:

Total Books Finished: 12

Total Pages Read: 2,898

Books Finished:
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Those Left Behind (Serenity #1) by Joss Whedon
Warm Up by Victoria Schwab
Vicious by V.E. Schwab
The Blob That Ate Everyone by R.L. Stine
Bakuman, Vol. 1: Dreams and Reality by Tsugumi Ohba
The Rithmatist (Rithmatist #1) by Brandon Sanderson
Better Days (Serenity #2) by Joss Whedon
Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake #7) by Laurell K. Hamilton
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Blue Moon (Anita Blake #8) by  Laurell K. Hamilton
The Shepard's Tale (Serenity #3) by Joss and Zack Whedon

Thoughts and Further Notes:
I adore read-a-thons and Bout of Books is, I'm pretty sure, the first one I took part in. I adore read-a-thons, something I've really learned this year as this is my third one. And with this one, I definitely learned that I can get a lot read even if I read casually a couple of the days, but I think I get more enjoyment by trying to read as many books as humanly possible. It's just more fun that way.

I am extremely excited to take part in the next Bout of Books, taking place in January check out the blog here. And whatever other read-a-thons that come my way. I should probably do a marathon of writing reviews and posts, though, considering how many books I just read that I want to review.

Also Blogger has been a bit weird this week, you've probably noticed in some of my posts the test is oddly tiny. No matter what I do, I can't seem to change it to anything else, so I'm really sorry about that. Also, responding to comments isn't currently working, so I'm very sorry but I guess that's going to have to wait until Blogger starts behaving itself. Ah, Blogger...

Anyway, I hope all of you had a fun and book full read-a-thon, or just week. If you participated, I'd love to check up your wrap-up post!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: Day Six

Books That I finished Today: 2

Total Number of Books Finished: 9

Book(s):
Better Days (Serenity #2) by Joss Whedon (started and finished - 80 pages)
Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake #7) by Laurell K. Hamilton (started and finished - 392 pages)
Blue Moon (Anite Blake #8) by Laurell K. Hamilton (started - 88 pages)

Number of Pages Read Today: 560

Total Number of Pages Read: 2,160

Notes:
I started off the day with Better Days, short and easy to read with characters I love. And then I joined the Bout of Books chat on Twitter and then I was at a loss at what to read next, so I decided to just go with Burnt Offerings, I've been meaning to continue the series for a while so why not read another one now?

And then I took a break from reading, I had a headache, blah and blah. And then I read some more before going to bed. Ended up picking up the next book in the Anita Blake series, didn't get much read in it but it's a start. And tomorrow is the last day! So sad, I do love read-a-thons (this is my third this year). Anyway, I hope all of your reading, read-a-thon paticipating or no, is going good!

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: Day Five

Number of books I've finished today: 3

Total Number of Books Finished: 7

Book(s):
The Blob That Ate Everyone by R.L. Stine (started and finished - 114 pages)
Bakuman, Volume 1: Dreams and Reality by Tsugumi Ohba (started and finished - 208 pages)
The Rithmatist (Rithmatist #1) by Brandon Sanderson (started and finished - 378 pages)

Number of pages read today: 700

Total Number of Pages Read: 1,600

Notes:
So I started today with a Goosebumps books, which was okay, a little 'meh.' And then I moved on to volume one of Bakuman, which I had heard really good things about, but just I found kind of okay. And then I picked up the Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson. I haven't read an abundant number of his books, only one, but I ended up staying up until four or five in the morning, and it turns out I couldn't put the Rithmatist down until I was finished with it, either. I just couldn't - it was such an amazing, fantastic world. Anyway, this isn't a review for that book, but after the two other 'meh' ones and how I've been struggling with Eleanor and Park, it was really nice to just be able to get into a book so easily.

Also it was the best reading day that I've had tis whole read-a-thon, which I was really happy about. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a ton more reading done. Always after I finish a really good book, I almost always have that 'what the hell do I read now?' problem, even though I have no lack of books, that's for sure.

Friday, August 23, 2013

July Wrap-Up / August TBR

Wow this is late! I'm sorry, life has been crazy since before July ended and it hasn't slowed down and it doesn't seem to be going to slow down anytime soon so I'm sorry for the spastic posting and everything. Anyway, onto the books I read in July and what I haven't yet read in August.

July:


  • The Gunslinger by Stephen King
  • Throttle by Joe Hill and Stephen King
  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
  • Snow White by the Brothers Grimm, Illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia
  • Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia #4) by C.S. Lewis
  • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia #5) by C.S. Lewis
  • Beyond the Door by Philip K. Dick
  • Judgement in Death (In Death #11) by J.D. Robb
  • The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia #6) by C.S. Lewis
  • Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy #1) by Jacqueline Carey
  • White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black
  • The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia #7) by C.S. Lewis
  • Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) by Charlaine Harris
  • The Breathing Method by Stephen King (audiobook)
  • Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth #1) by Terry Goodkind
  • Women Serial Killers of the 17th Century by Sylvia Perrini
Wow is this late, this is so very late and I am so sorry. I was at a convention at the beginning of the month and it hadn't even crossed my mind that I hadn't made one of these until I was looking for it and it wasn't there and now we're pretty far into August, as in August is almost over. But I wanted to put this up, no matter how late, because I kind of like them.

I did a read-a-thon in July, as you can tell from the sheer number of books I read, and it was amazing and you can see the about it here, my first announcement post about it.

Anyway, on to August! Obviously I've already read some books this month. So I'm just going to list the books I hope to read this month and add in if I've finished them already

August:

  • A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (read)
  • Serenity: Those Left Behind (Serenity #1) by Joss Whedon and more (read)
  • Warm Up by Victoria Schwab (short story, read)
  • Vicious by Victoria Schwab (read)
  • Ink by Amanda Sun
And probably more then that since I am in the middle of a read-a-thon, but I've been so indecicive, I don't even know what to put down. I just bought Ink, and it's novella prequel, and it looks so amazing and I can't wait to read it. Also, the Rithmutist by Brandon Sanderson which I still haven't read, I'd love to get read soon, really soon.

I'm really sorry for this being so delayed that it's almost a July and August wrap-up, but I just wanted to put it up anyway. And I have no idea what the coming months are going to be like, it all depends on if I end up taking some college classes and how I take them (more the how), but I still hope to update here. I kind of am attached to this blog. And November is NaNoWriMo, and I have a Tumblr I normally update during the month, but would you mind me updating you with NaNoWriMo things? (NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, by the way. Link)

Bout of Books 8.0: Day Four

Number of books I've finished today: 1

Total Number of Books I've finished: 4

Book(s):
Vicious by Victoria Schwab (continued and finished - 161 pages)
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (Continued - 86 pages)

Number of pages read today: 247

Total Number of Pages:  900


Notes:
So today I didn't end up getting as much read as I planned, but I did get more reading done then I expected, it was oddly a kind of slow day for me and I ended up falling asleep at one point instead of reading, too. I did get some more read of Eleanor and Park, though, which I'm happy about, hopefully I can finish that tomorrow or the next day.

I have a couple comics (Firefly, one Buffy) that I can read, a random manga that I saw someone raving about, and it's not like I'm not surrounded by amazing books to read. I guess I'm just kind of dragging myself through things. Anyway, it was an okay reading day, I did read over 200 pages again but there was that one day where I read nothing so I'm thinking I need to catch up a little.

And Vicious was so amazing, I kind of had to let my brain absorb it before reading anything else. It was just so very, very good. Anyway, I hope that all of your reading is going well, if you're participating in this Bout of Books or now. What are you reading currently? It is good or amazing or just kind of meh?

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: Day Three

Number of books I've finished today: 1 (kind of)

Totally number of books finished: 3

Book(s):
Warm Up (story story) by Victoria Schwab (15 pages)
Vicious by V.E. Schwab (started - 203 pages)

Number of pages read today: 218

Total Number of Pages: 653

Notes:
So I did oddly get some reading done today before hanging out with my friend Haley, and then we went to the bookstore. So that totally counts as something and I'm really hoping to get into vlogging and maybe putting up a book haul? It's all very uncertain right now but hopefully!

Anyway, I actually got some reading done and Vicious is seriously fantastic so far, I'm so glad I clicked on the link t the short story today and then I immediately picked up the arc, which was very close to hand. I'm just over halfway done and I'm really excited to see where it goes. Sadly, I didn't get any more of Eleanor & Park read but maybe tomorrow. 

How's your bout-of-books going?

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: Day Two


Number of books I've finished today: 0

Book(s):
Nada


Number of pages read today: 0

Notes:
This is the first read-a-thon that I've ever done where I just had a day I couldn't read. I did go out with friends and I was out of the house from like 3 to almost 11, but I had time to read, I just couldn't get into anything and it was such a problem. Hopefully tomorrow I will be more in the reading mood so I can get some reading done.

I tried reading Eleanor and Park and just wasn't feeling it today, just one of those days, I guess. I'll figure it out tomorrow, I have tons of things to read, I guess I just have to find something a tad mind numbing, maybe. Or maybe tomorrow I'll wake up and be able to power through the rest of Eleanor and Park.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: Day One

Day one of the read-a-thon! 

Number of books I've finished today: 2

Book(s):
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (started and finished - 215 pages)
Serenity: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon and so many more (started and finished - 80 pages)
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (started - 140)

Number of pages read today: 435

Notes:
I was going to read more, I really was. But - then I started writing and there was the Teen Wolf midseason finale and a headache, and I wanted to get to sleep at a semi-normal time. Anyway, I did read over 400 pages today, so I can't say I can complain considering my goal is to read 200-300 pages a day.

I finished A Monster Calls just before noon and had to really try not to suddenly burst into tears. It was such an amazing and intense book and I can't believe it took me so long to read. And I can't wait to finish Eleanor and Park, I'm really not a contemporary person but I'm loving this story so far.

Also. That Serenity comic book, man. I've got the other two and then another book with tidbits and pictures and then some short stories written by some of the writers, so that's kind of awesome, I'm really excited about all of these things. My addiction to Firefly is getting a tad out of control, I guess. I'm not complaining.


Overall it was a really successful first day for me not stressing about it (me trying not to stress about it, my factory setting is stressing about things with full anxiety, but mostly not stressing about it). Really, getting some books read this week just seems like the best thing to do.


Monday, August 19, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: Starts Today!

Yay, the beginning of yet another read-a-thon. I don't really have many goals for this read-a-thon, just actually get myself reading and out of this slump, would be great. It's going to be a much more relaxed read-a-thon, then the last couple where my goal was just kind of 'read everything I possible can.'

I won't have as much free time during this week as normal, so we'll see how it goes. And onto what goals I do have.

Goals:

  • read 200, if not 300, pages a day.
  • finish a book every other day, at least. (basically: finish 4-5 books this week if not more)
  • have fun and don't stress about not reading as much as normal for this read-a-thon, even though I like to try and one up myself from the last read-a-thon.

So this is the official first day of Bout of Books 8.0! My update of what I read today and such will go up on the blog tomorrow, it'll be same for the whole week, the day after the post will go up. And then in a week, next Monday, the post for the last day and a full wrap-up of the read-a-thon will go up. It's just easier then stressing and trying to get the post up before midnight.

Possible books that I could read:


  • The Monster Call's by Patrick Ness
  • Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
  • The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean (maybe)
  • The Name of the Wind by Patrick Ruthfuss (it's so long But sounds so good)
  • The White Fox by James Bartholomeusz
All of those are kind of maybes, really, and I'm surrounded by books so whatever I'm feeling like, I'll probably just pick up and start reading. We will see how this goes. I hope everyone has a fun re ad-a-thon!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Read--a--Thon: Bout of Books 8.0

This is the post where I tell you I'm going to take part in another read-a-thon.

Bout of Books is a read-a-thon that is an extremely fun and set your own goals for yourself week long read-a-thon. Bout of Books 8.0 is taking place from Monday, August 19th until Sunday, August 25th. Set your own goals, have fun, talk with people participating and the people running the read-a-thon on twitter and have tons of fun. Sounds awesome right?

I was toying with the idea. No, yes, no, yes. And decided on 'why not?' So I'm definitely not going to be crazy like the last few read-a-thons I've done, but I hope to get some books read. Also, pretty much everyone is going off to college the next couple weeks so it's kind of hand out now time, before everyone leaves, but I hope I can get some read since I've been in a reading slump kind of since the last month.

I've participated in the Bout of Books read-a-thon, the first read-a-thon I ever did, and I love read-a-thons, always fun. So I hope if you're doing it too, you'll leave a comment so I can check out your blog or whatever you're posting updates on and I can procrastinate the reading I should be doing.

Bout of Books 8.0 blurb:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 19th and runs through Sunday, August 25th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 8.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.
- From the Bout of Books team

(I wrote this up quickly, with the beginnings of a cold, so I'm sorry about anything that's wrong with it. I checked it over, but I probably missed something. Anyway: read-a-thon!)

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Book Review: The Regulators

Title: The Regulators
Author: Stephen King
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Horror, Fantasy (Supernatural)
Publication Date: 1996

Story Notion: What the hell...? But - ew. and - what?

Plot: (from GoodReads) I'd suggest NOT reading this!!
An evil creature called Tak uses the imagination of an autistic boy to shift a residential street in small-town Ohio into a world so bizarre and brutal that only a child could think it up. It's as two-dimensional and gaudy as a kid's comic book, but for this reviewer, The Regulators is a gripping adventure tale about what happens when a mind fixated on TV (especially old Westerns and a cartoon called MotoKops 2200) runs amok.




Review:
This book. I don't even remember what made me start reading this book, I was just craving something to read and it was on my iPad and... I started reading it. And had my mind thoroughly screwed by the end of it. This was far from my first King book, but they still tend to leave me going 'what the hell just happened?' This one, of course, was no different.

It starts off on this nice street, friendly neighbors, hot summer day, fun all around. And there's this kind of sense of dread you feel, because you know it's not going to stay like that for long. Something's going to happen. And you can also assume, being a King book, a lot of those people aren't what they seem. I, personally, didn't read the plot before starting it - and so this was an adventure. And I like doing that, with certain books but especially by King, not reading the synposis, just diving in.

This book was amazing. It jumped perspectives, off course, and I always love finally starting to figure out what the hell is happening. However, I can't even look at Spagetti-O's or chocolate milk without gagging, not that that's really a bad thing as I cared for both little before, but - whew, some of those descriptions. Anyway, the writing and description is fantastic, as I always find with his writing. I know a lot of people think he's too wordy, but I love it, it sucks me in and I can picture it perfectly.

Overall, it's... a Stephen King book. Fantastic, horror, suspense, thriller. Awesome characters that are all well fleshed out and three dimensional and have back stories and you feel like they could of been living there ever day for years and years before this book took place. I love the plots of King's books, of course, but my favorite will always be the characters and how in-depth they are and how they just feel like people.

A really great read. I'd recommend it to anyone that likes horror books with some fantastic characters, great descriptive writing, and some supernatural elements.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Year in Review (2013 - 1)

I've been toying with this idea since January, about having something that was full of thoughts of books that I didn't have enough thoughts of to make a full review but more then the 'it was good/bad' I put down for WWW Wednesdays, so - I thought a 'mini review' type of thing would be best. I struggled with what to call it, and thought since I want to review all of the books I've read this year, 'Year in Review' might be a nice title, and it also has exactly what I'm doing in the title.

So I've read quite a few books so far this year and I don't always have enough to say for a full review, but that doesn't mean I don't probably have something to say. So I think I've figured out a way to do this. If I wrote a full review, there will just be the book title, author, rating, and then a link to it. Hopefully I'll have review up for all the books that I want to have them up for before I catch up with myself, if not, a couple lines and a 'review to come' kind of deal. Pretty simple, hopefully easy to understand.

Ubik by Philip K. Dick (5/5)
Review

You Have to Stop This (Secret #5) by Pseudonymous Bosch (5/5)
This is the fifth and final book in the series, and I've been toying with doing a full series review, but I'm just not sure yet. Overall: hilarious, engaging characters, good plot.

My Story by Marilyn Monroe and others (5/5)
This was certainly something to read. I've never seen anything that Marilyn Monroe did, none of her movies or anything, and it was interesting to hear what she had to say, just talking about her life to a friend who was writing it down for her. It's really amazing to read, how young she was, and how much she struggled. It's a good read, she jumps around a lot, her story telling not from point A to B, but it doesn't really jar you as much as you'd think, well it didn't me. I'd recommend it to people interested in her.

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson (5/5)
First Sanderson novel (and technically this might be a novella) and I am hooked, give me all of what he's written. This book was beautiful and intricate  I didn't think it could be, because it's not long and only happens over a hundred days, if that. And it's just - completely amazing. The magic alone in this book, I would sell my soul to be able to write magic systems like Sanderson (well, maybe only a part of it, I like it). I wish I had enough to say to write a full review, but it would mostly just be squeeing and saying it was amazing. So, to the point: fantastic characters, original plot, realistic magic world/laws, and an overall fantastic read. I'd recommend this to probably anyone.

Marilyn: Her Life In Her Own Words (...) by George Barris (4/5)
Interesting, definitely interesting. It was good, no doubting that, but - something made me bump it down to a four but kept me from making it lower. It was odd reading it so soon after the other Marilyn one, catching the slight difference, but still what seemed to me at least to be a very true image of her, but one from a friend. A photographer.

A Study In Emerald by Neil Gaiman (5/5)
Awesome, amazing, so cool. I really want to listen to this one again, actually, or be able to read it. I've never read anything like this. it mirrors A Study In Scarlett, but it's suppose it - and it has so much original stuff, too. I don't want to give any of it away, just go and jump in. Gaiman plus Sherlock Holmes canon and... some fantasy elements, if that interests you, investigate.

The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean (5/5)
I really wish I could write a full review of this one, I've been trying to since I read it, but it's just so - different and informative and kind of perfect. It doesn't info dump you and it kind of makes sure you know what's going on before jumping too far in. It has stories about the first people to discover things, why certains genes have certain names, and so much more about how genetics affect us. It's nonfiction, of course, and a truly amazing and very interesting read. I'd recommend to anyone even slightly interested in ow genetics actually work. Also, very witty, and a strong voice. (Mostly when I talk to people about this book it's just a jumble of words and vague squeeing, this is the most articulate thing I've said about it, I think, because it's just fantastic).

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon (5/5)
Amazing for a book with pretty much no words with it. This is a graphic novel and it's really, really good. It has a kind of... bittersweet ending. It'll leave you feeling a bit melancholy, but it's totally worth the read. The art is good and cute, as are the characters. Give it a chance, who doesn't love reading about cute robots right?

Naked in Death (In Death #1) by J.D. Robb
This was for a book club, but I just... love these characters. I want to do a review of book one to ten in the series. It's good, they get better, and it's not like an amazing work of fiction, definitely a guilty pleasure. Like a Law and Order episode but better and all the characters kick-ass.


Monday, July 22, 2013

Day Seven: BookTube--A--Thon and Complete Wrap-Up(Thoughts, final stats)

Number of books I've finished today: 2

Books:
The Breathing Method by Stephen King (audiobook, finished - 53 pages)
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind (continued and finished, 583 pages)

Number of pages read today: 636

Notes:
Actually ended up finishing pretty early, at about nine, but I decided that I'd read enough. I probably could of read more, definitely could of really, but - it's been a long week.


TOTALS:

Number of Books: 15

Pages Read: 4,200

Books Finished:
Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (256 pages)
Snow White by the Grimm Brothers, Illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia (80 pages)
Throttle by Joe Hill and Stephen King (47 pages)
Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia #4) by C.S. Lewis (240 pages)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia #5) by C.S. Lewis (271 pages)
Beyond the Door by Philip K. Dick (20 pages)
Judgment in Death by J.D. Robb (356 pages)
The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia #6) by C.S. Lewis (257 pages)
White Cat (Curse Workers #1)  by Holly Black (310 pages)
The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia #7) by C. S. Lewis (228 pages)
Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy #1) by Jacqeuline Carey (934 pages)
Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) by Charlaine Harris (304 pages)
The Breathing Method by Stephen King (53 pages)
Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth #1) by Terry Goodkind (820 pages)

Thoughts (on read-a-thon overall and challenges):
I really love read-a-thons, and this one was a lot of fun, especially because I came in it from a reading slump. I hadn't read anything since probably the first of the month, sadly, so I was glad to be able to make sure I read a bunch this week and I did, I definitely did. And I liked the added challenge, a little extra thing to add to everything.

Overall, I just thought it was great. Reading sprints, watching everyone's updates, and reading through the hashtag on Twitter was always fun. And I'm sure I'll be joining in again next year, if I can. I kind of am learning I love read-a-thons, because they get me reading way more then I'd ever be able to, because it's just fun.

Now, onto the challenges. I read more then one book to fulfill some of the challenges, so I'm just going to list the books beneath the challenges they fit, just the titles. (Challenges in italics, book titles normal).

read an average of 300 pages a day
This one I did finish, all of the books fit this, I guess, but I read over 300 pages everyday.

read a book with over 500 pages
Kushiel's Dart (934)
Wizard's First Rule (820)

re-read one book
Kushiel's Dart
Dead Until Dark
Wizard's First Rule

finish a series/trilogy
The Last Battle

read a book that's been on your shelf forever
All of the Narnia books fit this and White Cat

listen to an audiobook
The Breathing Method

read a classic
Again all of the Narnia books I read count under this one

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Day Six: BookTube--A--Thon

Number of books I've finished today: 1

Total number of books I've read: 13

Books:
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (started and finished, reread - 304 pages)
The Name of This Books is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch (started, reread - 111 pages)
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind (started, reread -  pages 237)

Number of pages read today: 652

Total number of pages read: 3,564


Notes:
For some reason today, I was just in the retreading kind of mood. I kind of ran out of books I had lined up to read for this read-a-thon and floundered a bit before: rereads. I ended up starting with Dead Until Dark, which I haven't read in years, honestly it was kind of a let down. Then, I was going to start a reread of the Secret series and did, as you can see, and got 100 pages in before deciding it wasn't the right time.

So I settled on Wizard's First Rule, which is the first book of the Sword of Truth series. There is a TV show based of it, Legend of the Seeker, which is how I first heard of it, but I haven't been able to continue reading the series and really needed to reread the first one, Wizard's First Rule, before containing. And so here we are, this was also kind of the logic behind Kushiel's Dart, so many long, long books and so little time.

I'm hoping to finish Wizard's First rule tomorrow and even though it's 800+, I think I can. I read it in one shot the first and only time I've read it, so I'm hoping I can again.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Day Five: BookTube--A--Thon

Number of books I've finished today: 3

Total number of books I've read: 12

Books:
White Cat by Holly Black (continued and finished - 192 pages)
The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis (started and finished - 228 pages)
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (continued and finished - 375 pages)

Number of pages read today: 795

Total number of pages: 2,912


Notes:
Completely adored White Cat and can't wait to be able to read the rest of the series (hopefully very soon). This one didn't fulfill any kind of challenge.

I did finish Kushiel's Dart today, though, no small feat as it rests at just over 900 pages, whew. But it's truly a fantastic book and it fulfilled two challenges, the read a book over 500 pages one and the reread one. And, The Last Battle, counts as finishing a series as it's the last book in the Chronicles of Narnia, wasn't the book I was originally planning on, but somehow I read four Narnia books this week.

I was going to read the last five pages of anything to get it up to 800 pages for the day but I decided against it, I was getting a headache and finishing that book pretty much exhausted me, but I'm really proud of how much I did read today. Also, on Goodreads, I reached having read 75 books for the year, which I had upped my goal up to from 50, so now it sits at 100. I'm 21 books ahead of schedule, but I'll probably end up lowering it, there's no way, I think, that I'll end up getting to 100. Was definitely my most successful reading day for this read-a-thon so far, though!

And how did your reading go today/this read-a-thon? Good? Leave me a comment and tell me what book you're currently reading.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Day Four: BookTube--A--Thon

Number of books I've finished today: 2

Total number of books I've read: 9

Books:
Judgment in Death by J.D. Robb (continued and finished- read 127 pages)
The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (started and finished - read 257 pages)
White Cat by Holly Black (started, read to page 118)

Number of pages read today: 512

Total number of pages: 2,117


Notes:
Well, I didn't get nearly as much reading today as I wanted to get done. I ended up spending some bonding time with my pet rabbit (Kitty) and then there was Comic-Con stuff going on that I got dragged into. So the day didn't quite go as planned, but I did get the at least three hundred pages read and it's not like it was a bad reading day, just - not as much as I wanted to get done (stupid Teen Wolf trailer and panel. And oh my god I can not still).

I think I'm going to up changing my 'finish the series' challenge to reading the last Narnia book. I didn't think I could read all four I needed to, to finish it, but I only have the last one left so I might as well try. I didn't end up reading really any of Kushiel's dart, but I think that's what I'm going to do tomorrow, just sit down and try and finish it, I've got like 350 pages left I think.

Ended up starting White Cat, just for something else, I guess. Got just over a hundred pages in and really interested to see what happens next, a fun, interesting word with a family of, well, they're grifters, I guess, but so much more.

So how is your reading progress going? Are you having a good read-a-thon? Getting distracted by anything (like I obviously was today)?

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Day Three: BookTube--A--Thon

Number of books finished Today: 2

Total number of books I've read: 7

Books:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (started and finished - 271 pages read)
Beyond the Door by Philip K. Dick (started and finished - 20 pages) (short story)
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (continued - from page 411 to 526, 115 pages read)
Judgement in Death by J.D. Robb (continued - from page 52, 167 pages read)

Number of pages read today: 519

Total Number of Pages: 1,605

Notes:
I was really aiming for finished Judgment in Death, but I just ended up deciding sleep was better. I'm much closer to being done with Kushiel's Dart, just over halfway, and that'll be good. It will complete both retread and over 500, as I've mentioned. I forgot how long and dense this book is, whew.

I don't know if I'll end up finishing the 'finish a series/trilogy' one, I'm just not in the mood for any of the possible ones. And read-a-thons to me are always about trying to just read as much as I can. I am going to try and do the audiobook one. Though, maybe cheating a but with an audiobook that is just under 3 hours, but it's Stephen King so...

Anyway, I think my read-a-thon is going well, so far. Especially because it seems like I will be able to do all of the challenges but one and, originally thinking about it, I honestly was just going to do the read 300 pages a day thing. I hope all of your reading is going well! Leave me a comment with what you are currently reading and how you like it. Also, what has been the favorite thing you've read so far this read-a-thon (even if you haven't finished it yet or whatever)?

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Day Two: BookTube--A--Thon

Number of books I've finished today: 1

Total number of books I've read: 5

Books:
Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia #4) y C.S. Lewis (started and finished - 240 pages)
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (read more -  205 pages)

Number of pages read today: 445 pages

Total number of pages: 1,086 pages


Notes:
Prince Caspian was my 'on my shelf forever' book and my classic, I have other possible classics I might end up reading, too, but - I'm still counting this as one.

And Kushiel's Dart is my reread and my over 500 pages book, it's almost 1,000 pages, honestly. I probably should of picked a slightly lighter reread, not just in length but it's very heavy in the world's politics, but I'd been thinking about rereading it anyway and I'm just about halfway through it. As it's only the second day, that bodes well. And I didn't have really any distractions today, really!

Didn't end up getting as much read as I wanted to, it just felt kind of slow going and I was exhausted most of the day (did not sleep well). I'm going to try and get more done tomorrow. I'm not so much carrying about the challenges, actually, more about reading as much as I can and getting myself out of the reading slump I had been in. I do want to finish the challenges, though. I did end up writing over 6,000 words for Camp NaNoWriMo, though, so that was awesome.

How is your read-a-thon going and what are you currently reading? (Amd why is it so hard to type this on my iPad? That one is rhetorical).

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Day One: BookTube--A--Thon

Day one of this BookTube Read-A-Thon, that I feel like I am kind of cheating on or something as I'm not making videos, but - still, read-a-thon, it's fun. Anyway, my 'announcement' post can be found here, detailing the books I might read and such. And onto the day one stats and thoughts!


Number of books I've finished today: 3

Books:
Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (started and finished - 256 pages)
Snow White by Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia (started and finished - 80 pages)
Throttle by Joe Hill and Stephen King (started and finished - 47 pages)
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (started - read to page 206)
Judgement in Death by J.D. Robb (started - read to page 52)

Number of pages read today: 641 pages

Notes:
I ended up getting way more read then I thought with a doctors appointment, writing, and the new Teen Wolf. But I did go to the doctors appointment, write my 2k, and watch/cry over TW and read over 600 pages so, overall, good day!

I don't know how the rest of the week will go, but since I've been in a reading slump since the beginning of the month, this was fantastic. (Also, Ocean at the End of the Lane - so good, go and read it).

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Read-A-Thon? Read-A-Thon (BookTube style)

So I don't technically make videos (I did, no you can't find them anywhere. Though you may always run across me in friends vlogs). I really would love to be like 'but now is the right time to start again!' BUT considering the fact I'm about 85% sure that I currently have strep throat (which is what LeakyFlu evolved into for me, I've been feeling pretty sick since I got home, the flight was not fun all congested) I'm thinking video making with that would be not fun. If I'm feeling better at the end of the week, I might do my wrap-up in a video or something, but if not - right here.

I'm kind of a sucker for read-a-thons, honestly, I don't know why but they're just kind of fun and interacting with everyone about what they're reading. It's awesome. Anyway, this read-a-thon has certain challenges set forth for one to try and complete and they are:


  • read an average of 300 pages a day
  • read a book with over 500 pages
  • re-read one book
  • finish a series/trilogy
  • read a book that's been on your shelf forever
  • listen to an audiobook
  • read a classic
And a tad bonus one about seeing how many you could make into one. So, I have really no clue what I'm going to be reading (kind of forgot about this until a couple days ago and I had an 'oh crap!' moment).

Possible books (and what, if any, challenges they would fulfill):

  • Kushiel's Dart by Jacquiline Carey (Over 500 pages, so far, and a reread - maybe on this one)
  • The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan (finish a series one, been meaning to read this since it came out, have had it sense then).
  • Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (I really need to get back into this series, I'm almost halfway there, pretty much. This fullfills the 'been on my shelf forever and ever' because I got copies of the Chronicles of Narnia in probably middle school and have yet to finish the series. Just recently started it).
  • The Drawing of Three by Stephen King (currently-reading)
  • Death's Daughter by Amber Benson (currently-reading)
  • A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (currently-reading)
I'd really like to finish a book a day and complete that 300 pages a day thing, too, that would be super cool. However, I am also doing Camp NaNoWriMo, website here, and my goal is 150k (because I'm insane) but I'm at about 2k a day to finish on time and I think I can do that. Basically, this is the week I go insane. 

I don't know if I'll do an audiobook, I have a couple that are pretty short and I'm sure I could get them listened to over the course of the week. I guess I'll update everyday, the post will be the day after. So no post Monday, but the post on Tuesday will be Monday's stats. (As it was for my last read-a-thon). I did read 4k pages in the Bout of Books read-a-thon, so hopefully I can do this 300 pages a day. We shall see, I've been in a bit of a reading slump so this will either be the kick I need or I will just hopelessly stare at books.

Also, if you are participating leave your YouTube/blog/twitter/whatever you prefer in the comments so I can see your progress. Good luck, everyone, and have fun (and read)!

Monday, July 8, 2013

June Wrap-Up / July TBR

Sorry for this being so late. I had a convention at the end of the month and then I got sick, as you do when flying and are at conventions. And I'm still kind of sick, but at least you can't catch anything through the internet.

Books Finished:


  • Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman (5/5)
  • Amulet, Vol. 3: The Cloud Chasers by Kazu Kibuishi (5/5)
  • Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman (5/5)
  • Power Play (Kingdom Keepers #4) by Ridley Pearson (5/5)
  • Amulet, Vol 4: The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi (5/5)
  • Amulet, Vol 5: The Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi (5/5)
  • Shell Game (Kingdom Keepers #5) by Ridley Pearson (5/5)
  • A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) by George R.R. Martin (5/5)
  • Stardust by Neil Gaiman (5/5)
  • Dark Passage (Kingdom Keepers #6) by Ridley Pearson (5/5)
So I got a good amount of books read this month, kind of proud of myself. Especially getting A Clash of Kings read, whew is that book long. I'm currently just about halfway through A Storm of Swords, book three, but this one is even longer. They're really good, but not just long, they're all very heavy and hard to read in large doses.

July TBR:
I have no idea what I want to read yet this month. I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo, check it out here, and whenever I sign up, I just can't seem to not do it. Also, I've done every single one (last time I may have forgotten to actualy validate my words, but I promise that was a real word count). Anyway, back to the books, I want to participate in the Booktube read-a-thon, even though I don't make videos (but I want to! And people, as in friends, keeps telling me so, so I'll just have to start soon).

I mean, there are some I've started that I know I want/would like to finish. For example:

  • Death's Daughter by Amber Benson (saw and met her at LeakyCon, she is fantastic!)
  • The Drawing of Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King
  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (haven't started, but got it the day it came out and still haven't read it!)
I'd also really like to finish A Storm of Swords, but I just don't know how realistic that is, book is long. What are you guys planning to read in July? And what did you read in June? (Any recommendations?  Not like I'm surrounded by books I should be reading, or anything).

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

The BEA (Book Expo America) Post

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do for this post. I could list the books I got (all of them or just a few) but I thought that just talking about the experience would be better. (I will list my favorite I got at the bottom / the ones I'm most looking forward to reading).

I went to the Blogger convention the day before BEA started. It was different then last year, I had done this before, and I had an idea of what I was doing - kind of - so I felt better sitting and listening to the keynote speakers.

The Keynote speaker was author Will Schwalbe, who wrote a book called The End of Your Life Book Club, and I loved his talk. One of his main points was how we should all ask each other 'what are you reading?' more, and it would randomly pop into my head over the weekend. It's a good question to ask at BEA if you're in a line and bored and exhausted, people at a convention about books normally have an answer.

However, if you went out, just on the street, and asked someone - they might not. They'd be surprised, might say they're not reading anything, that they're inbetween books, which is just kind of... sad. I hope you know what I mean about that, meaning there's a book for everyone and they could be missing out on the one that would convince them to change their whole life and move to Australia. Anyway, let's not get too philosophical here, aren't you here to hear about books and shenanigans?

I met up with my friend on the first day in line, Jennifer Levine, who you should follow on twitter here (she has Glass, it was kind of awesome, and she's documenting conventions with it so you should probably check her out). And we ended up hanging out pretty much the whole convention and tag teaming lines and stuff, it was a blast. I got to see some other friends, who are authors, and I hadn't seen in far, far too long.

I think one of the best things ever, was meeting Daniel Handler (aka: Lemony Snicket), he is hilarious and amazing and will just joke with you until you have to walk away because the line needs to keep moving. He was fantastic and I'd love to be his best friends (also his pink tie rocked, I wish I'd remembered to compliment him on it). Also, there was a younger girl in front of us, probably about ten, and she was fangirling kind of quietly and in awe. It was adorable.

Another 'best thing ever' that we did, was get first in line for one of those author friends signings. Robyn Schneider was signing for a short time and we wanted to see her (and get arcs of the book I feel like I've been hearing about for years). And she was overwhelmed by the line, it was incredibly long. And, apparently, a fairy played her out on a flute? I missed this, as I didn't stay for the whole thing, she told us after, when we ran into her at the HarperCollins booth, apparently the fairy was signing after her.

I didn't take really any pictures, honestly. I should have, probably, but I just didn't. I couldn't find my main camera when we were packing and I ended up with just a Flip camera, my other one with no memory card. I have pictures from the week, but not many.

I talked to a girl in line, waiting for Harry Potter lithographs, and she was a nerdfighter (I'm assuming, she was also fangirling David Levithan), and she was amazed I didn't vlog. And her and Jenn kind of convinced me so - soon, that will be happening soon. As soon as all the books that are just piled on the floor get in the new bookcase that isn't set up yet.

Now, onto the books. Before that, though. Did any of you guys go to BEA? Could we have met? (I didn't write a 'hey, I'm going to this thing post' because I bought my ticket two weeks before it happened because my mom thought we should go. So there's that).
If you did: what books did you get? did you have a blast?
If you didn't: did you watch some of the livestreams? Were they awesome, too? And did you just avoid twitter all week to not become jealous? (That's what I do during cons I'm not at, so I'm curious if any of you do, too). Now - books.

Books I got and am most looking forward to:
Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman (I already finished this on the drive home, shh. It was amazing!!)
Vicious by Victoria Schwab
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig
Where Did You See Her Last (All The Wrong Questions #2) by Lemony Snicket
The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett (which is a rerelease, but I've never read it and it's apparently very different from the original book he published when he was very young).
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

And there's more, a pile about, but those are the ones I have in a pile next to me, waiting for the right time to be picked up and read.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Series Review: The Spiderwick Chronicles

Series: The Spiderwick Chronicles
Author(s): Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Adventure (Middle-Grade)
Over-all series rating: 4/5
Number of Books: 5
Books in Series: (Goodreads links)
The Field Guide
The Seeing Stone
Lucinda's Secret
The Ironwood Tree
The Wrath of Mulgarath

Plot/Series information (no spoilers):
This is a series about these three kids, Mallory, Jason, and Simon, moving into a kind of creepy old house that's in the family, Aunt Lucinda's house, because their mom thinks it'll be good for them and it'll be financially easier on her.
Right away they kind of start noticing things are a little off, that there's some mystery.

The first books just barely introduce the fey mythology, but it gets more into it in the later books. All of these books are short, but that doesn't seem to take away from the story at all.

Review (no spoilers):
The three main characters in this book - Mallory, Jason, and Simon - are perfect main characters. They're young, even for middle-grade, and they're a little odd. I loved them pretty much right away with how Mallory fences and Simon has his weird pet collection, Jason misses the city and everything from before. And they felt very real and very likeable/relatable.

They're good main characters to watch how this unfolds, because, at first, two of them don't believe their brother about what's going on. They have an overall good relationship, though, which grows and changes through the series.

The world in these books is something I adore. Reading them you also feel like the fey world is ten or twenty times bigger then we're shown, and I really enjoyed that. You meet a lot of different faeries/creatures over the course of the series, learn about them as the kids do.

What I did is I sat down and read this whole series in one day for the Bout of Books read-a-thon. And I thought I'd read them quickly, but they're just so easy to read, and you want to read the next one, so I was surprised at how quickly I read these. And when I finished the last one, I wanted to know what was going to happen next with the kids. I did think, though, that it wrapped up very well.

Overall, I'd recommend this series to any kid who likes fantasy with fey and anyone older who likes it, too. It is middle-grade, keep that in mind, but that doesn't change how likable the characters or how good the world building is.  The main point is I really loved this series. It was cute and fun, not incredibly in-depth or dark, like some things I read, but a nice break from that kind of thing and a fantastic read over all.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

June TBR

And now we have the June TBR, only a couple days into the month. I, actually, have already read some, of course, on the drive back from New York. And I'm never really sure what I'm going to end up reading, but I do have some ideas for this month, considering the books surrounding me.


  • Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman (Already finished!)
  • The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett
  • Doll Bones by Holly Black
  • Amulet, Vol. 3: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi
  • The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
  • Power Play (Kingdom Keepers #4) by Ridley Pearson
And there's, of course, many more that I want to get read, but these are the ones that I want to for sure get read this month. Now, for example, these are some other books I'd like to read:

  • Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Which I realized I never actually finished)
  • Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas.
  • The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
  • And so, so many more! (Way too many more to read in June).
So what are you planning on reading this month? Anything awesome? Or anything that's been sitting on your shelf for too long and you just can't put it off any longer?

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

May Wrap-Up

This month was crazy! Everything was crazy about this month. To start off: the reason there are so many books here is because I did a read-a-thon. Which there will be links for at the bottom of this post. Obviously, I'm very happy with how much I got read during it.

  • Hamlet by Shakespeare (5/5)
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare (5/5)
  • Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (5/5)
  • Aesop's Fables by Aesop (5/5)
  • George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl (4/5)
  • The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupèry (5/5)
  • The Field Guide (Spiderwick Chronicles #1) by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi (5/5)
  • The Seeing Stone (Spiderwick Chronicles #2) by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi (5/5)
  • Lucinda's Secret (Spiderwick Chronicles #3) by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi (5/5)
  • The Iron Woodtree (Spiderwick Chronicles #4) by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi (5/5)
  • This is Water by David Foster Walace (the 30min audiobook) (5/5)
  • The Wrath of Mulgarath (Spiderwick Chronicles #5) by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi (5/5)
  • The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia #3) by C.S. Lewis (4/5)
  • Disney After Dark (Kingdom Keepers #1) by Ridley Pearson (5/5)
  • The Tempest by Shakespeare (4/5)
  • Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (5/5)
  • Witness in Death (In Death #10) by J.D. Robb (5/5)
  • Bake Sale by Sara Varon (2/5)
  • Disney at Dawn (Kingdom Keeps #2) by Ridley Pearson (5/5)
  • Bioshock Infinite: Mind in Revolt by Joe Fielder (5/5)
  • Amulet Vol. 1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
  • Amulet Bol. 2: The Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi
  • Disney in Shadow (Kingdom Keepers #3) by Ridley Pearson
So - this is a lot of books, I think this is probably the most books I've ever read in a month and I doubt I could ever top that. And, at the end of the month, of course, I was at BEA with no real internet or time to write any blog posts. However, a wrap-up of the awesome will be coming soon, hopefully with a video showing of the books I got.

This month I'm splitting up the wrap-up and TBR again because this wrap-up is just so long, I don't want them to take away from each other. Anyway, to continue, these are all the posts that happened this month:

April Wrap-Up/May TBR
Book Review: Ready Player One
WWW Wednesday (15)

Bout of Books 7.0 posts:

Day Six Wrap-Up

The End Bout of Books Wrap-Up post

Monday, May 20, 2013

The End! Bout of Books 7.0 Read-A-Thon Wrap-Up

And it is the end of the last day and I'm sad to see this week go. The read-a-thon was truly great and it was fun and I got more reading done then I thought I would, honestly.

First, let's just go over the stats for this final day of the read-a-thon (and just the stats for today):


Number of books I've read today:

Books:
Amulet Vol. 1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
Amulet Bol. 2: The Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi
Disney in Shadow (Kingdom Keepers #3) by Ridley Pearson

Number of pages read/listened to(today): 956

Notes:
I had a 'dream goal' kind of today, and when I hit it - shockingly - I decided that I could take a break, and that was pretty much the end of the read-a-thon for me. I needed a break, anyway, so it was probably for the best, I felt like I'd been reading much too long. (If I had book four of the Kingdom Keepers, though, I probably would of continued. Or volume three of Amulet).


And now, this is the stats for the whole read-a-thon, the total number of pages and books read, of audio listened to, a list of the books I read. And my thoughts/musings on the read-a-thon. Here we go:

Total Number of Books: 19


Pages Read: 4,047


Audio Listened To: 3 hours, 30 minutes


Books:

George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupèry
The Field Guide (Spiderwick Chronicles #1) by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi
The Seeing Stone (Spiderwick Chronicles #2) by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi
Lucinda's Secret (Spiderwick Chronicles #3) by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi
The Iron Woodtree (Spiderwick Chronicles #4) by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi
This is Water by David Foster Walace (the 30min audiobook)
The Wrath of Mulgarath (Spiderwick Chronicles #5) by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi
The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia #3) by C.S. Lewis
Disney After Dark (Kingdom Keepers #1) by Ridley Pearson
The Tempest by Shakespeare
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Witness in Death (In Death #10) by J.D. Robb
Bake Sale by Sara Varon
Disney at Dawn (Kingdom Keepers #2) by Ridley Pearson
Bioshock Infinite: Mind in Revolt by Joe Fielder
Amulet Vol. 1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
Amulet Bol. 2: The Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi
Disney in Shadow (Kingdom Keepers #3) by Ridley Pearson

Notes (thoughts and musings):

This is the best I have ever done during a read-a-thon, and probably the best I ever will do during a read-a-thon. I was pretty much done with school, so I just had some wrap-up things to do. (Next week I've got to send in all the paperwork). And I'd really like to keep up, maybe not this extreme, but a fast reading pace because there's a bunch of books I want to try to get through before BEA. Which I am going to. Very last minute and thinking about it too much makes me almost have a panic attack so back to read-a-thon talk.

I hope that if you participated that you had an awesome time. And read some great, if not fantastic, books. I'm really happy to have started and finished the Spiderwick Chronicles, which I've been reading to read for ever and ever. And having read Wonderstruck, which was an amazing book and made me tear up at points. And how I started the Kingdom Keepers series, which I am very excited to finish! So many amazing books I read this week and series that I hope to continue.

I was going to read one more book, to make it an even twenty, but my brain just cannot take it right now, complete mush from this awesome but insane week, sadly.

If you participated and just posted a wrap-up, feel free to leave me a link in the comments, I've been loving all the update posts I've been reading and videos I've been watching. Happy reading!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Read-A-Thon Day Six Wrap-Up (Bout of Books 7.0)

Today might have been the least reading I've gotten done all week, well, it feels like it. And I'm pretty sure it's true. Anyway, I did get some reading done today. And finished two things, a book and a novella/short story. And onto the actually stats!


Number of books I've read today: 2

Total number of books I've read: 16

Books:
Disney at Dawn (Kingdom Keepers #2) by Ridley Pearson
Bioshock Infinite: Mind in Revolt by Joe Fielder

Books currently-reading:
Haven't really started anything, but have my "start next" books, which are Judgment in Death and book three of Kingdom Keepers.

Number of pages read/listened to(today and total): 221 and no audio
Total: 3,091, same as before (3hrs, 30mins)

Notes:
I was out most of the day, so I sadly didn't get too much reading done, but I did get a book. I finished Disney at Dawn pretty early in the day and it was really good, I'm planning on reading at least some of book three tomorrow.

Also Mind in Revolt was very short but also very good, I'd really like to learn more. Bioshock is one of my favorite games of all time, and Infinite was amazing in it's own right, so freaking good, such a good story. Anyway, though, Books.

I don't know anything to do but read, so I'm hoping I can get a lot done. Sadly it is the last time. This week has flown by, I hope I get back to it! Also, I had set my reading goal for 50 books this year, and I'm already at 49, so I'm assuming I'll hit it and maybe go over it tomorrow.