Bout of Books 16

The Bout of Books Read-a-thon sounds like a really good read-a-thon!

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 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th 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 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

It sounds like it is a fun and casual read-a-thon so I thought I would participate although this week and weekend is busier than usual. I always can make time for reading! I will update this post with all the books I am reading so check back in throughout the week! I will also be updating at Twitter and Instagram.

Monday

Books Read: 1

Pages Read: 328

Notes: I finished Salt to the Sea. I also am switching off on listening to the Jane Eyre audiobook and reading the book depending on what I am doing.

Tuesday

Books Read 0

Pages Read: 293

Notes: I finished about 75% of The Guest Room. It is such a great book and I can't wait to finish it tomorrow. I also read a little more of Jane Eyre.

Wednesday

Books Read: 3

Pages Read: 729

Notes: I finished The Guest Room and started and finished Kissing Christmas Goodbye and Marcy Catches Up. I started Criminal That I Am and kept reading Jane Eyre. The Guest Room was very good and Criminal That I am is a fascinating memoir. Kissing Christmas Goodbye is an Agatha Raisin book that had a Christmas celebration in the last ten pages so they slapped a Christmas name and cover on it. Marcy Catches Up was the second installment of a 1950s YA series I have been reading.

Thursday

Books Read: 2

Pages Read: 466

Notes: I finished Criminal That I Am, started and finished The Good Girl. I read more of Jane Eyre, or rather listened, while I ran errands. And I started The Dream Thieves.

Friday

Books Read: 0

Pages Read: 195

Notes: I didn't get much reading in today as it was a busy work day.

Saturday

Books Read: 1

Pages Read: 157

Notes:I didn't get much reading in as I was working but I did finish the 3rd Marcy Rhodes book and read more of The Dream Thieves.

Sunday

Books Read: 0

Pages Read: 86

Notes:Another bad reading day since I had a photo session and then hung out with my sister afterwards.

Bout of Books Totals:

Total Books Read: 7

Total Pages Read: 2,254

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

I am doing a new thing this weekend and participating in a 24 hour Readathon. Let me start off by saying there is a 60% chance I will actually participate for all 24 hours. I will probably not be able to stay up all night but I am going to try to do as much as I can. I have a big pile of books to dip in and out of all day, snacks and comfy clothes so I plan to enjoy a weekend of reading.

This was my possible stack yesterday:

This is my possible stack today:

So clearly I have a problem with way too many books. I will be shocked if I even finish one book. I have already started Stars Above and Eligible because I couldn't wait!

I am planning on posting updates on Twitter, Instagram and occasionally doing an update here. I am excited to see how this goes. Good luck to everyone else participating! Check back tomorrow for more.

9:00 am
Well the first hour of the Readathon is in the books (pun intended).
I had a pretty rough night of sleep so naps will definitely be in order today.

I started out this morning with a berry and kale smoothie. It is an absolutely delicious concoction with a hint of basil. Sadly, I forget to get bananas so that was missing from the smoothie. I am finishing up Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld this morning and while making my breakfast was listening to Stars Above on audiobook. I love the Overdrive app so that I can check out audiobooks from the library.

This is where I will be reading today. This is my favorite reading corner. I plan to switch it up throughout the day but this will probably be my primary spot. It's full of light and the chair is so comfortable.

I hope everyone else is having a great start to Readathon! I can't wait to check in on social media later today.

Opening Meme

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Atlanta, Georgia
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Jane Steele!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Cheese and chocolate!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!I love reading obviously, am a photographer and have four sisters who are my absolute best friends.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? This is my first Readathon and I am most looking forward to reading lots and interacting with other people who love reading as much as I do.

Top 5 Bookish Childhood moments:
1. Discovering Maud Hart Lovelace by reading Betsy's Wedding which is the LAST book in the Betsy-Tacy series. I fell in love with Betsy and her world instantly. I was obsessed with weddings at the time and I picked it up at the library because of the 1914 bride on the cover. (spoiler alert I am now a wedding photographer :-) To this day Maud Hart Lovelace is my favorite author.
2. The best thing about being a kid was going to the library and my sisters and I would get giant stacks of books. Our librarians loved us and knew we would finish the books in two weeks and be back for more. I still get joy from going to the same library and seeing books I read as a child.
3. The times I bought books with my own money. I really didn't get to buy books that often but I remember every time. I still have most of those books. I remember saving up and buying all the Anne of Green Gables books one at a time. I also remember buying the Margo books through a mail order catalog and the thrill of opening that box full of shiny, new books.
4. Every day at lunch my mom, four sisters and I would sit around our big farm house style table and read while eating.
5. I remember getting in trouble and having my books taken away as punishment.

1:00 pm

Just checking in! I have been trying to stay off social media because I have found it is too distracting. I was going to check in every few hours but I think I will limit it more.

I finished Elgible and it was absolutely hilarious. I really enjoyed it. My next read of the day is Wedding in the Family by Rosamund Du Jardin. I also broke into my first snacks of the day! I thought I should start with the healthy snacks ha ha. 

Rosamund Du Jardin wrote books in the 1950s and they are absolutely delightful young adult books. They are funny and charming. I am also taking a few breaks and listening to Stars Above on audio to give my eyes a little break. I am enjoying all the stories about the characters before the Lunar Chronicles begin. I made a very unhealthy, but delicious, pepperoni pizza for lunch which I kindly shared with my husband. Now back to reading!

4:00 pm

I finished Wedding in the Family. I really enjoyed Tobey finally marrying Brose and am interested to read more of her sister Midge's stories. The next book I started is The Perfect Paragon, an Agatha Raisin book. I also whipped up a batch of delicious salted caramel brownies. 

I only have three stories left to listen to in Stars Above and then I will start listening to Jane Eyre on audiobook. My eyes were starting to get a little tired so I headed outside with a Buffy the Vampire Slayer graphic novel. It's nice to have a location change. I am starting to think I got too many snacks and won't even be able to eat them all. Perish the thought.

8:30 pm

Well I attempted to take a nap around four but it didn't really work out. So I took a relaxing walk around my neighborhood while listening to Stars Above. It is an absolutely gorgeous evening. 

I finally reached the stories in Stars Above that occur after Winter and I love catching up with where my favorite characters have ended up. I also am loving my Agatha Raisin book. Sometimes I just am in the mood for those formulaic books that are almost always the same with just a few details changed. Agatha Raisin is so predictable but those books always make me laugh. I love all the new characters now that she is running a detective agency. I switched to reading in my sunroom to give myself a change of scenery. My dog is not happy with how much I am reading and not paying him attention. 

I have decided to forgo dinner and just eat all my snacks that I planned on munching on throughout the day. But I really haven't been that hungry. I will now have to chug water the rest of the night because I just ate so much salt. But it was delicious. 

12:30 pm

Well I made it past midnight. I don't even know what hour I am on because math is too hard right now. I have informed my husband he is not to wake me up tomorrow upon pain of death. I have finished four books and one graphic novel so far. I am one chapter away from finishing my audiobook, Stars Above. I had a Coke around 6 and it's definitely giving me bursts of energy as I am so not used to caffeine anymore. 

I started and finished On The Way Home which is the diary of the trip Laura Ingalls Wilder made from DeSmet to her final hometown in Missouri. It was a really quick read and I enjoyed it with all the LIW books I have been reading lately. I found it so interesting how she described the field conditions and prices of land. That was important information to them and it's so cool to read details like that in 2016.

I am definitely starting to lag a little so it's time for some chocolate and to read a Ramona book. I probably am going to try to nap for a few hours and then continue. I really don't want to go to sleep and then just wake back up at six or seven. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the night (morning?) will go! 

2:30 pm

I finished Stars Above. I liked the collection of stories. Not a lot of new information but still enjoyable. Ramona and Her Father is a Newbery Award winner and reading it as an adult was different. It was a surprisingly serious book with Ramona's father losing his job and her trying to get him to stop smoking. My poor eyes are a little tired so I listened to my Jane Eyre audiobook for awhile. I just started The Geography of You and Me by Jennnifer E. Smith. I am thinking I might nap for a couple of hours. I do have all day to sleep tomorrow if need be but I feel like I will enjoy this readathon more if I am reading because I want to and not just to stay awake all 24 hours! 

6 am 

I took a nap for a couple of hours and have been listening to the Jane Eyre audiobook since I woke up. It is a Librivox audiobook. If you don't know what Librivox is they are an organization that uses volunteer readers to record public domain audiobooks. I love being able to listen to hours and hours of classic audiobooks. Of course these are not professional readers so sometimes you can get terrible readers. But it really is just a wonderful organization and if I had a better voice I would love to be a reader. I thought I would listen to Jane Eyre before I read Jane Steele. Ok back to reading for the next two hours! I will check back in when it's over.

Wrap Up!

After getting a few hours sleep this morning I am ready to do my Dewey's 24 Hour Marathon Wrap Up!

Books Completed:

1. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

2. The Perfect Paragon by M.C. Beaton

3. Wedding in the Family by Rosamund Du Jardin 

4.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Graphic novel) Twilight by Brad Meltzer 

5. On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder

6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (graphic novel) The Gleaming by Joss Whedon

Currently Reading:

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

2. The Geography of Me and You by Jennifer E. Smith

Reading Time: Approx. 21 hours. I took a much needed nap from 2:50 am-5:15 am.

Page Count: 1295

Audiobook Time: 8 hours

This was my first Readathon and I absolutely loved it! I made sure to pick a lot of short reads and audiobooks so that I would not get burned out by one book. I did much better than I thought I would do. I honestly thought I would fall asleep most of the night so I am happy that I stayed up for almost all of the readathon. I tried not to check in on social media too much. I ended up going to the Facebook group only once because there were so many posts but tried to check into Twitter every few hours. I only ended up entering a few of the mini challenges because at the end I just wanted to read. Thanks to everyone who cheered for me on Twitter. It was a great event and props to the organizers and hosts. I am looking forward to the October event and hoping to get my sisters involved. What was your favorite part of the readathon and what was one must read book you read? Answer in the comments below! My favorite part was the books and food and my must read book is Elgible. I hope everyone gets lots of rest today!

My Reading Year..So Far

Well it certainly was a cold winter and spring is taking its sweet time getting here. Which means I have been reading a lot. So far this year I have read 50 books. I am 33% towards my Goodreads goal of 150 books read in 2016. I have read some good books and also some not so good books. I have read a lot of four star books this year which makes me happy. My favorite books of the year so far have been Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer, Here's My Heart: A Legacy and Love and War by Leigh W. Callan, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and the Legend series by Marie Lu.

I have also been excited to discover author Rosamund Du Jardin. She wrote young adult novels in the 1950s. They are just delightful. They remind me of Beverly Cleary's books for older kids or a later Maud Hart Lovelace. They are just simple, happy books. I wish I could have read these when I was younger. I am still working through all her books the library has.

I have also been on a Laura Ingalls Wilder kick after finally reading Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography. I adored Pioneer Girl. It was absolutely amazing for a LIW enthusiast. There were pages and pages of anointed notes. My nerd heart sang for joy. I am in the middle of The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson. I love how the letters give a peek inside Laura's writing process. I read a fictionalized account of Rose Wilder Lane, A Wilder Rose by Susan Witting Albert. I also have two more books West From Home and On the Way Home, which are letters and diaries from Laura's trips. I can't wait to read those!

Yesterday was Beverly Cleary's 100th birthday! How amazing is that! I love, love all of her books. The Ramona books were some of my favorites as a kid. I always felt I had so much in common with her. I also loved Dear. Mr. Henshaw and Ellen Tibbetts. But Fifteen is my favorite book of hers. I just love Jane Purdy and I appreciate how confident she becomes by the end of the book and doesn't care if people make fun of the flowers she is carrying. Yesterday I decided to read the first two Ramona books again. And wow they really hold up. They are delightful!

As far as book challenges this year I cut way down. The only one I am really participating in is Read Your Own Damn Books. I have such high TBR pile (and two bookcases). Hopefully this challenge will help me clear some of them out and stop me from buying more books.  I am putting myself on book buying hold. I can only read books I already have or library books. So far I have read 17 books that qualify for this challenge. I also am still doing the Century in Books challenge. I am also going to participate in the Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon. I won't do all 24 hours because I have an MS Walk that morning but I will try to participate as much as possible. I just put a bunch of books on hold at the library so I will have a big pile and variety to choose from.

So that's what's going on here in my reading adventure. What has your reading year looked like so far? What is the best book you have read this year?

The Big Game's On Read-a-thon

I used to have to watch the Super Bowl for school, analyze and pick it apart. When I graduated I didn't really have the desire to watch it anymore. Football has never been my game. Baseball is my passion and always will be. And don't even get me started on the (mostly sexist) commercials. So today instead of checking out the big game I will be participating in Jenn's Bookshelves the Big Game's On Read-a-thon. I am not pre picking books to read or setting a goal. I just plan to enjoy some books from my (large) TBR pile. I am starting to read this morning so I will keep checking in throughout the day. Happy reading everybody!

10 am
The two books I am starting off with today are See How They Run by Ally Carter and Rosemary The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Lawson. See How They Run is the second book in Carter's Embassy Row series. I always enjoy her YA books. She gives a lot of depth to her characters and I love the teennage spy/international intrigue/secret society elements in this series. I have always been fascinated with the Kennedy family and always saddened by the way Rosemary was treated so I definitely wanted to read Rosemary when I heard it was coming out. I am listening to that one on Audible while doing things around the house and cooking. I am planning to make some delicious chicken noodle soup for me and my mother in law to eat while my husband goes to his super bowl party.

11:30 am
I finished See How They Run which ended on a cliffhanger. I need to remember to stop reading her books until the next one is out! The next book I am reading is A Wilder Rose by Susan Witting Albert. It is a fictionalized account of Rose Wilder Lane's life but based off of her letters and diaries. I love all things Laura Ingalls Wilder (except the awful tv show) so I have been so excited to read this book. It also made me realize I still haven't read Pioneer Girl the annotated bibliography of Laura Ingalls Wilder so I went and grabbed it from Amazon with my birthday gift card. Thanks to Amazon Prime I will have it Tuesday. I am really excited. Ok going to settle I with A Wilder Rose and a cup of lavender chamomile tea!

7:00 pm

I just finished eating dinner and I am stuffed. It took me a couple of hours to make the soup but it was worth it in the end. It was delicious. I added too many noodles but I still enjoyed it. 

I am halfway done with A Wilder Rose. Currently I am reading about her time during the Great Depression. It is very sobering to read about how difficult it was with so many people losing their money, homes, jobs and a lot of people not even having food. The book says that the Little House books may never have been published if it wasn't for the Depression because Rose actually had time to write them since she wasn't getting that much work. I also found it interesting how much she seems to hate Roosevelt and all his programs. There is so much good stuff in this book as far as history goes. I also am interested in the relationship between Laura and Rose. The book is mainly based on the fact that some people think that Rose is the actual author of all the Little House books using only her mothers bare boned outlines. I have heard this before and have never known if it is fact or rumor. As soon as I finish this book I am going to investigate!

I listened to the Rosemary Kennedy book the whole time I was making the soup and it is just tragic. I like the way Kate Clifford Lawson talks about the way people with disabilities and mental illness were perceived at the time. I had no idea moron and idiot were used to categorize people and were medical terms. And interesting to hear how Joe Kennedy Sr. and Jr. initially thought Hitler's ideas were good. 

10:50 pm

I just finished A Wilder Rose. It was such a good book. If you aren't a huge Little House fan you probably won't enjoy it as much as I did.  But I loved it. The book seemed well researched with just a light dramatization. There is so much more to this book than the story about Laura and Rose and the writing of the Little House books. I loved the background information and the history and events surrounding the book. 

I am on chapter five of Rosemary. World War II has just started. Interesting how Joe Kennedy was a huge isolationist. It's sad how he put Rosemary's letter in the diplomatic pouch because he didn't want anyone to see how childish she wrote. 

I am starting Legend by Marie Lu as my last book of the night. I have had this one on my TBR list for awhile and I am looking forward to reading it. I love that the first chapter has gold writing. I am not sure if I have ever seen that in a book before. I will add a little wrap up tomorrow. 

Thankfully Reading Day 2

It has been a great day. It was far more relaxing than I anticipated. Instead of doing my cooking in one giant block I rationed it out over the day. I just took my last batch of pumpkin muffins out of the oven so I am officially done cooking. Of course I had to sample a muffin and they are delicious. Shhh don't tell. I finished Royal We and Nowhere But Here today. Loved Royal We. It was so good. The other book not so much but you can't win every one. I was listening to A Darker Shade of Magic while I cooked today and I am really getting into the story.

I am so excited to head to my parents tomorrow for our big family Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving and it is definitely my favorite holiday. We always have a great time laughing, eating and enjoying being together. I probably won't read at all tomorrow but that's ok. I hope everyone has a terrific Thanksgiving!

Thankfully Reading Day 1

I love fall and I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite time of year. And the last few years I have really enjoyed participating in Thankfully Reading Weekend. I decided to start today since the weekend is going to be super busy for me. I am hoping to enjoy some good books!

10 am

I am starting out with finishing up two books I started reading last week but haven't had a chance to pick up lately Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas and A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab on audiobook. The audiobook will be useful this week as I cook and drive. Cheers to Thankfully Reading weekend! 

3 pm 

I have been enjoying a day of reading, going to the grocery store (twice), editing photos and making a delicious pork chop/potato crockpot dinner. I went off recipe so hopefully it turns out ok. The house is already starting to smell delicious! 

11 pm

Dinner turned out delicious if I do say so myself! I finished The Crown of Mindnight. The last sixty pages were amazing and the ending made me wish I had the next book. My next read is The Royal We by 

Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. I am about half way through and I am really loving it. 

More tomorrow! 

Checking In

Well I have been a failure at the blog this year! It has been a really busy year. I have mostly updated my reading progress on Instagram, Twitter and Goodreads but with Thankfully Reading coming up I decided to check in on the blog.

I have read lots of books so far this year. I have had good book luck as most of what I have read has been really great. I have also done a better job with putting a book away if I am not enjoying it. I am such a completist so that is really hard for me. But there are too many good books to keep reading bad ones! I have read 188 books so far this year. Of course this also includes books listened to.

I am doing well in my challenges. I have finished the What's In a Name challenge. I have far exceeded my Mount TBR goal of 12 books and am almost done with my 26 books challenge. I am still trucking away on the Century in Books challenge. It has definitely been a great reading year.

Thankfully Reading is one of my favorite parts of November. This is where you spend whatever time you can Thanksgiving weekend reading and relaxing instead of participating in the horror that is shopping. I hate shopping more than anything so this is perfect for me. This year I have overbooked myself on the weekend with photo sessions and a football game so I won't get in as much reading as I usually do. I plan on starting my Thankfully Reading on Tuesday which is earlier than the official start time of Thursday. 

I will let you know in my year end wrap up the books I read for each challenge and more on what my favorite books were in 2015.