May 18th | Weekly Wrap Up #20

So it was - a bit of a very, super hectic week. My mom and I had a meeting on Monday about these apartments, see? And I'm not even sure we got them yet, but if we did - then I'll be able to move in June 1st. Which is fantastic, I"m so excited - however, we're going away for about a week for MistiCon (HP convention) and... and I have a lot of books to pack (and then try and fit into the loft/studio apartment). So that's - hectic, stress, why do I own so many books.

And it's just been busy overall, so while it was Bout of Books, there were three days where I just didn't read a thing. I did still get some good reading done, though, mostly comics related. My bout of books wrap up should of also gone live today, and I did get some last minute single issues down on Sunday, but I didn't really read most of the days of the week.

And I'm pretty sure I won't be getting much read next week with the convention I'm going to and more packing, but I think I'm okay with that at the moment, we'll see.

Reading: (finished this week and actively currently-reading)
Young Avengers, Volume 1: Sidekicks by Allan Heinberg, Jom Cheung (3/5)
Enjoyable, but also a little eh for me. I'm hoping late issues/whatever deal more with the new characters (which I know they do because I've read volume 1 of the new run and am now backtracking, as I also did with another comic this week).

Captain America, Red Menace: Volume 2 by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting (5/5)
I'm seriously really enjoying this Brubaker/Epting run. I'm stalling continuing because... well, if you're into comics, you probably know. (I am not prepared, even though I know it's comics. Gah).

A Mutiny in Time (Infinity Ring #1) by James Dashner (3/5)
A reread for me, and definitely didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first time I read it (two/three years ago now, I think), but I did still enjoy it. I've just got some major issues with the characters/plot, it's cool.

Divide and Conquer (Infinity Ring #2) by Carrie Ryan (2/5)
This is not going well. Especially because this one had, pretty much, the exact lay-out of the first in terms of the basic plot twists. Also - I'm already sick of the tolken female character getting crushes on all the guys (she's fucking eleven and basically a quantum physicist, she doesn't give a shit).

Captain Marvel, Volume 2: Stay Fly & Captain Marvel, Volume 1: In Pursuit of Flight by Kelly Sue DeConnick (5/5)
So there's a reason they're in this order - mostly it's how I read them. I read the other, more recent, volume one before I realized maybe I should start earlier. But by then I just thought fuck it, that would of been a good bit of money. And now I have Marvel Unlimited (magic-y), and I'm so glad I do - I'm loving this series and learning I'll probably just read anything DeConnick writes.

RunKillLove #1 & #2 by Jonathan Tsuei, Eric Canete
Oh man - #1 was so good I was immediately like I need more, give me more.

Spider-Gwen #4 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (3/5)
Descender #3 by Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen
The Wicked + The Divine #10 by Kieron Gillen, Jamie, McKelvie
East of West #19 by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta

Stuff:
Liz's BookTube Philosophy - this is interesting and fun. Keeping in mind why you're doing things, whatever they are, is always a good idea.

I didn't not spend a lot of time watching things - some random stuff, but I did start watching Spartacus again. And why did no one tell me Jaime Murray was in the second season? I would of definitely continued sooner. (Warnings for Spartacus: everything, specifically blood/gore but seriously everything)

On the blog:

May 11th | Weekly Wrap Up #19
(Bout of Books related)

Kick-off Post
Day One
Day Two
Day Three

Bout of Books 13 | Day Seven (and final wrap up)

I didn't read for the last about three, really kind of four, days of the read-a-thon. I was trying to pack, spending time with my best friend, and then accidentally writing a lot (also marathoning a few episodes of Spartacus - no regrets, well some regrets).

I wish I'd been able to read more, but I knew I was going to be able to at the beginning of the week, and I did get to both twitter chats and that's always fun.

Anyway - I hope everyone had a great week, reading related and not.

Number of Pages Read Today: 150

Books (today):
Spider-Gwen #4 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (started and finished - 30 pages)
Descender #3 by Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen (started and finished - 30 pages)
RunLoveKill #2 by Jonathan Tsuei (started and finished - 30 pages)
The Wicked + The Divine #10 by Kieron Gillen, Jamie, McKelvie (started and finished - 30 pages)
East of West #19 by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta (started and finished - 30 pages)

Total Number of Books Read: 6 (+ single issues)

Total Number of Pages: 1,054

Bout of Books blog
Announcement Post

Kick-off Post
Day One
Day Two
Day Three

Bout of Books 13 | Day Three

It was a very strange day - that ended in a Captain Marvel binge? I started reading the 2014 series without going further, so I'm kind of reading them backwards and I'm okay with that. I've learned comics are less need to be read in order to understand thing, because they're expecting people to jump in at different points. Anyway - stats / thoughts.

Number of Books Read Today: 3

Total Number of Books Read: 6

Books:
Divide and Conquer (Infinity Ring #2) by Carrie Ryan (finished - 157 pages)
RunLoveKill #1 by Jonathan Tsuei, Eric Canete (started and finished - 30 pages)
Captain Marvel, Volume 2: Stay Fly by Kelly Sue DeConnick, +
Captain Marvel, Volume 1: In Pursuit of Flight by Kelly, Sue DeConnick, Dextor Soy (started and finished - 136)

Number of Pages Read Today: 443

Total Number of Pages: 904

Notes/Comments:
I'm not really sure how I am feeling, or how I'm going to continue to feel, about the Infinity Ring books, we'll see. However - RunLoveKill was an interesting hook, I'm excited to see more. And I really love Carol as a character in Captain Marvel and am excited to see what else happens. (And if you haven't seen the cover of Sure Fly you need to because cats.

How did you Wednesday go? What are you currently-reading?

Bout of Books blog
Announcement Post
Kick-off Post
Day One
Day Two

Bout of Books 13 | Day Two

So I did not get as much reading done as I'd hoped today either, but I did get some done. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, I thin my bi-weekly pull is coming in, so I'll definitely have so single issues to read, maybe that'll push me to read more!

Number of Books Read Today: 1

Total Number of Books Read: 3

Books:
A Mutiny in Time (Infinity Ring #1) by James Dashner (started and finished - 198 pages)
Divide and Conquer (Infinity Ring #2) by Carrie Ryan (started - 35 pages)

Number of Pages Read Today: 227

Total Number of Pages: 461

Notes/Comments:
Just ten pages shy of what I read yesterday, and today it was all novels, no comics (which was kind of strange, I missed the comics, definitely tomorrow). I was trying to not add anything to bother my eyes while reading today, hopefully I can spend more time off the computer tomorrow as well.

Anyway - A Mutiny in Time was a reread for me so I can continue with this series. I'm kind of hopeful I can make a dent in the series this week, they're all really short books and middle grade.

How if your reading going? What are you currently-reading?

Bout of Books blog
Announcement Post
Kick-off Post
Day One

Bout of Books 13 | Day One

It wasn't the greatest first day for a read-a-thon for me, but I expected that. I knew that it was going to be a kind of hectic morning. And it was that, but it was also exciting, which also inhibited my ability to sit in read but was exciting so I am not too upset about it.

I said, before said meeting which was about an apartment, that I wanted to strive to beat my last record. This is not going to be one of those read-a-thons, because I've got to start trying to pack the, like... way too many books I own to transport them. This is a thing, gahhh I'm so excited but also I own probably about 1500/2000 books? Terrifying.

Anyway - I did, actually, get some reading done on top of all of that.

Number of Books Read: 2

Books:
Young Avengers, Volume 1: Sidekicks by Allan Heinberg, Jom Cheung (finished - 70 pages)
Captain America, Red Menace Volume 2 by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting (started and finished - 104 pages)
Rusty Nailed (Cocktail #2) by Alice Clayton (started - 160 pages)

Number of Pages Read: 234

Notes/Comments:
I am seriously enjoying Brubaker's run of Captain America, but I don't know if I am emotionally prepared for Civil War, in all honesty, I just don't know. Enjoyed Young Avengers, but not as much as I wanted to, am looking forward to hitting the newer stuff (which I read volume one of that before, but wanted to go back and start again, so ended up here).

And Rusty Nailed - just one of those books that you just accidentally find yourself halfway through. Do other people experience this? It's fine so far, mostly just cute.

Also - twitter chat! Yay twitter chat days!

How did your bout of books day one go? Or how did your just Monday go?

Bout of Books blog
Announcement Post
Kick-off Post

May 11th | Weekly Wrap Up #19

It was a little bit of a weird reading week for me, I guess. I wasn't really that in the mood for reading, but I did get bits and pieces done - and then some marathoning of comics (as you do, apparently. Or when I do it, it's because you've just bought Marvel Unlimited  and end up just reading three volumes worth of Brubaker's Cap run in pretty much one go).

I didn't get much reading done, or much of just anything done - my mom and I are trying to find a place to live because we will probably be moving this summer. And so it's been a tad, as in very, stressful and I still don't feel like I'm back in the grove of everything.

We also have some stuff next week to do with that, so I'm hoping I'll still be able to read a ton for the Bout of Books read-a-thon.

Reading: (finished this week and actively currently-reading)
Captain America: Winter Soldier, Vol 1 by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting (4/5)
I know the differences going in, I knew what to expect (mostly, I'd forgotten white Fury, I did not know who he was at first). Obviously, I'd seen the movies first, so I'm kind of more attached to that backstory, but I really enjoyed this one. (I think fan fiction has prepared me well for just multiple universes and such).

Captain America: Winter Soldier, Vol 2 by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, (5/5)
I liked this, I really did. Not going to say too much, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows what these comics are about right?

Captain America, Red Menace, Vol 1 by Ed Brukbaker, Steve Epting (4/5)
This was the first thing I read that really had Crossbones in it, which was very interesting, - the whole thing was really interesting and very strange, but I did really enjoy it.

Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer (4/5)
I enjoyed book one - it was interesting, answered no questions and was just strange and weird and I wanted more. Book two - eh. Book three I loved, adored even. It felt rich and weird and interesting, and the characters felt so real. Don't want to say anything else.

Stuff:
So it was Audrey Hepburn's birthday this past week and one blog I follow had some fun facts!

Five Quirky Books to Make You Feel Normal

On the blog:

May 4th | Weekly Wrap Up #18

Bout of books 13 | Mayb 11th - 17th (& goals)

Bout of Books 13 | Starts Today!

Today is the first day of Bout of Books 13 and I, sadly, have things to do other then dedicate 12 hours to reading, but I'm still planning on just sitting down and reading for as much time as possible. I don't have a specific TBR, and at the moment even really a possible pile to choose from - I'm probably going to post the vague pile I'll be picking from morning of, but since I'm writing this Sunday obviously I have no idea (my reading mood can change by the hour, no promises).

But my plans for this read-a-thon are - trade paperbacks (?+ graphic novels) and going by page count instead of number of things read. I also have my midtown comics order coming in this week (bi-weekly, fantastic timing) and I've definitely got a few things I'm going to have to read immediately. I also own way too many trades that I need to read and some books I'd like to finish up.

So that's basically my plan for the week - so many comics/trades and striving to beat my last best page count - and, of course, twitter chats and visiting blogs. I'm excited for this week even though I know I'm not going to have as much time to read as normal (why am I trying to beat my last best then? Because that's what I do).

If you're taking part, let me know. And, if you're not, I hope your week is fantastic, anyway.

twitter
goodreads
instagram

Bout of Books 13 | May 11th - 17th (& goals)

This should of gone up last week but it didn't. So - Bout of Book 13 is happening starting the 11th of May, midnight in your time zone, to the 17th of May, also midnight in your time zone. And I am very excited, BoB is pretty much my favorite read-a-thon - week long, twitter chats, so much fun.

The official 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, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. 
- From the Bout of Books team

So I hope you're all planning on joining! A week of reading, even if you can't just sit and read for seven days, I hope you can try and read more the usual, participate in some of the twitter chats (one of my favorite parts about this read-a-thon).

I'm not sure about my personal reading plan, but I did just get Marvel Unlimited so there will definitely be some Marvel Comics - mostly I'll just count them in their trades (about five issues, normally), as long as I can, makes everything easier. I've also got some single issues to read, though. And then the actual books, I'm not sure on anything this time around, obviously this read-a-thon snuck up on me so we're winging it.

My main goals are to take part in all three twitter chats, read, have fun, visit blogs (and leave comments, comments, I'm getting better at this again but whew that hiatus / the not really blogging this has brought me back to being pretty bad at it. I'm trying). So do you have any specific goals? Are you taking part? Let me know so I can keep up with you during the week!

I'll be posting updates here daily, and a day behind - Monday's update goes up on Tuesday and so on, how it normally goes. However, I'll also be on twitter, goodreads, and instagram.

Bout of Books blog
BoB sign up post

May 4th | Weekly Wrap Up #18

So reading went well this week, in my opinion. I stalled out a bit at the end of the week, but I was going strong at the beginning. And will pick up again, mostly because pollen and eye strain (why, trees, why?). And, without further rambling this week - the books.

Reading: (finished this week and actively currently-reading)
Sex and Violence by Carrie Mesrobian (2/5)
I don't know what it was, it was fine, I guess, but I definitely expected much more from it. More actually dealing with the issues instead of just ignoring it all? I was just mildly annoyed with all the characters for about 75%, probably more, of the book.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (3.5/5)
I just don't know what it was - but I think this book was too hyped up for me. And the writing was beautiful, but I just didn't really connect with Ari until 2/3rds through the book, and considering he's the main character that isn't good. I just didn't - care, I guess? I don't know, I guess this one missed me, or I missed it. I know people have been raving about it since it came out.

Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz (5/5)
There is some normal YA expected choices made - but on the other hand I just really loved this book. I loved the characters, especially the main girl, I just really connected with her. And I felt like it dealt with the eating disorder part and the fact that she's bisexual, not gay, very well. Highly recommended, teenage drama forgiven.

Wayward #7 by Jim Zub, Steve Cummings (5/5)
I think I've spewed love enough for this comics series, but maybe not - it's fucking incredible. The story is fresh and interesting with heavy Japanese myth elements (the single issues have essays in the back related to stuff in the single issues, which is awesome). Also - completely gorgeous. The art, the coloring (shout out to Tamra Bonvillain for that, she's obviously incredible).

Kaptara #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Kagan McLeod (4/5)
I wasn't sure what to expect for this - I just kind of knew: Zdarsky, space, pretty colors on the cover. And I was really surprised, and I'm really interested in what's to come next. Characters/world are interesting, the colors are fucking gorgeous. Definitely keeping on my pull list.

Stuff:
How I Store my Unread Books - obligatory Book Riot related thing. I mean obviously. (So much good stuff on their YT and website).

There isn't a lot here, purely because I spent most of the week writing, reading, watching streams (and lets plays) of games, and playing games.

On the blog:

April 2015 | Monthly Wrap Up

April 2015 | Monthly Wrap Up

It was a strange beginning of the month, it was one of those months that you can't quite believe was as long as it was. And I'm pretty sure it's because of how much I read. I didn't read an insane amount - well, a bit insane - but considering how much I've been reading, it was incredible.

Also, of course, the Dewey's 24 hours read-a-thon happened (links to stuff at the bottom of the post. Did you participate?) and so that added in a surprising amount of books, especially for only being awake for twelve hours.

• The Woods, Volume 1: The Arrow by James Tynion lV, Michael Dialynas (3/5)
• East of West #18 by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta (5/5)
• Wayward #6 Jim Zub, Steve Cummings (5/5)
• All New Hawkeye #1, #2 Jeff Lemire, Ramón Pérez (5/5)
• Descender #1, #2 by Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen (5/5)
• The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (5/5)
• The Wicked and the Divine #7,#8,#9 by Kiernon Gillen, Jamie McKelvie (5/5)
• Spider-Gwen #1,#2,#3 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (3/5)
• Aliens: Fire and Stone by Chris Roberson, Patric Reynolds (3/5)
• Alien vs Predator: Fire and Stone by Christopher Sebela, Ariel Olivetti (3/5)
• Namesless #3 by Grant Morrison (2/5)
• What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe (5/5)
• Duma Key by Stephen King (5/5)
• Cthulhurotica edited by Carrie Cuinn (3/5)
• IT by Stephen King (5/5)
• Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (5/5)
• Predator: Fire and Stone by Joshua Williamson, Christopher Mooneyham (3/5)
• Birthright, Volume 1: Homecoming by Joshua Williamson, Andrei Bressan (4/5)
• Ask the Passengers by A.S. King (5/5)
• Sex Criminals, Volume 2: Two Worlds, One Cop by Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky (5/5)
• Ms. Marvel, Volume 2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson, Jacob Wyatt (5/5)
• Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King (5/5)
• Sex and Violence by Carrie Mesrobian (2/5)
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (3.5/5)
• Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz (5/5)

So, I might have gotten my reading mojo back this month? Just a tiny bit? I'm so relieved, in all honesty. I don't even know what I was doing when I wasn't reading at this point - did some time gremlin eat those hours? (I honestly don't know what the hell I was doing).

Anyway - books! Read-a-thons! It was a fun month, for sure, and I got a ton of reading done, as you can see (and bought way too many books, but that's besides the point). Next month will definitely not be as many, purely because I'm going to MistiCon (a tiny HP convention in New Hampshire) and then, possibly, BEA (it's unsure at the moment, but I miss New York like crazy).

So I read a lot this month, and I read a lot of good stuff. I do the mini-reviews in my weekly wrap ups, so if you want to hear about something particular that is your best bet (links below). I don't even know where to start, considering this is the part I usually highlight my favorites.

Alright, well, I reread two of my all time favorite King books - Duma Key and IT, and I still just adore the hell out of them, it'd been too long. The Portrait of Dorian Gray was so interesting, and I'm a little sad I didn't read it earlier. Sex Criminals, Vol 2 and Ms. Marvel, Vol 2 were incredible and you need to give both of these series a try, even just dipping your toe in. And on the YA contemporary end, I read quite a few this month - I really enjoyed both of the A.S. King books I read, and freaking adored Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz.

Obviously, I read a lot of good this month, which is my favorite kind of reading month. Now - what did you read this month? What was your favorite(s)? Monthly wrap up link?

On the Blog:

March 2015 | Monthly Wrap Up

April 6th | Weekly Wrap Up #14
April 13th | Weekly Wrap Up #15
Why Can't I Read? | Discussion Post
April 20th | Weekly Wrap Up #16
Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon | Tomorrow! (April 25th)
The Beginning (&stack) | Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon
8am - 12pm
12pm - 4pm
4pm - 8pm
8pm - 12pm
April 27th | Weekly Wrap Up #17