Month: November 2015

#FitReaders Check-In #46

Published on by RachelleLeave a comment
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for November 9th – 15th.
  • I had to have my car towed to the mechanics on Monday, and even though I managed to get over 8K steps most days of the week, I never hit my goal of 9K.  I had a couple other bad days as well, and I know it’s because I was exhausted and stressed out from dealing with my car on top of everything else going on right now.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/5
  • Steps: 46,955/63,000
  • Miles: 19.29/21
  • Flights of stairs: 99/70
  • Active Minutes: 243/210
  • Total Money Donated: $35.31/$50.00

Monday’s Minutes #46

Published on by RachelleLeave a comment

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

  • The Soak by Patrick E. McLean
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling – for the HP re-read.
  • Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
  • Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Soak Order of the Phoenix Fool

Dirk

Finished:

  • The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

Witching

Challenges:

S&S Bingo2update14

Total pages read: 306

Total # of books for the year: 80.  I didn’t read much again this week. I’m still listening to music instead of audiobooks, and I’ve been spending most of my free time job hunting.  I’m very much looking forward to next week when I only have two days of class and can relax and read for the rest of the week.

What are you reading this week?

Review: Eleanor and Park

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment

Eleanor and Park

  • Author: Rainbow Rowell
  • ISBN: 9781250012579

The above ISBN is for the hardcover edition, but I borrowed the audiobook from my university’s library.

I thought Fangirl was amazing.  However, Fangirl isn’t even in the same league as Eleanor and Park.  E&P is the kind of book I want to give a copy of to everyone I know, along with a mix CD of all my favorite 80’s music.  E&P is a piece of much-needed therapy for anyone who has survived an abusive situation.  I crushed so hard on this book and my new OTP that as soon as I was done, my book hangover was severe enough I immediately started to re-read it because nothing else could possibly compare.  Nothing.  How did this happen?

As my regular readers will know, I’m not a huge YA fan, though most of the few YA books I’ve read have been enjoyable.  I don’t have anything against YA, but I do feel it tends towards the same plot lines over and over again and is heavy on the romance.  Yes, Eleanor and Park is about teenage love.  No, that’s not even close to what it’s all about, though.  Eleanor isn’t your typical skinny, blonde girl who has some coming of age teen crisis while trying to juggle a relationship and friends and school and family.  Eleanor has the kind of problems that are much more severe, unsafe, and destructive to her person and her self-esteem.  Eleanor is also messy-haired, weird, and fat.  Eleanor is me, especially when I was a teenager.

I don’t just love this book because of Eleanor and her story, though.  There’s also all the music and comic book conversations between her and Park.  I also love how the story is constructed.  It’s told from both of their perspectives, back and forth, so you don’t just get to know one of them through the eyes of the other.  Also, I love how Rainbow Rowell includes their parents in the story beyond a casual, in the background sort of way.  She’s the only YA author I’ve read that does so.  There are so many other reasons why I love Eleanor and Park.  Just read the book, ok?!

Thursday’s Things: Books, Netflix, and Cats

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Cats and Netflix
“Cats and Netflix”-The Doubleclicks on YouTube

This month’s “Thursday’s Things” is mostly about this special time of year when the weather gives us the perfect excuse to stay indoors.  There is plenty here to read and watch for the rest of the year.

  • 13 Fantasies Inspired by Mythology from the British Isles
  • Books for a Rainy Day – Though Winter isn’t quite here yet, the weather Melinda write’s about arrived in Texas a couple days ago and led me to break out the fuzzy socks and my Doctor Who blankie, and turned my cat, Dresden, back into a cuddler.  Then the temp went back up into the low 90s because…Texas.  Anyhow, I love the shift in the weather because it means my reading also changes.  I’ve read a couple of the books on this list, and several others are on my TBR or wish list.
  • 15 Movies Starring Bookstores – I’ve seen all of the movies on this list at least once, and while I’d love to pretend that all I do during this time of year is snuggle with my cat and read books, I also snuggle with my cat and watch movies.
  • Outlander Word Search Puzzle – I still haven’t seen any but the first episode of the TV series, and I have yet to finish the books.  I don’t have cable, and I refuse to pay about $50 for the whole season.  I’m waiting until the price drops considerably or a reasonably priced box set of both volumes comes out.  However, this is the time of year when I read the books.  I’ll be starting A Breath of Snow and Ashes soon.
  • Sherlock Holmes by the Numbers – Speaking of book-related TV, I’m waiting for the new season of Sherlock to air (2017?!  Are you freakin’ kidding me?!), so I can then wait to watch it for free on PBS Masterpiece.
  • Zadie Smith Talks Parenting: Are Two Kids Too Many?
  • Book Lovers On Instagram Vs. Reality – This is why I have yet to create an Instagram account.  It takes too much energy to make my reading life look less like reality.
  • The Literary Cat – Have too much time on your hands?  Looking for some cat-spiration for all those Caturday Instagram pics you won’t ever take?  Look no further.
  • 6 Books Adapted into Movies Starring Sylvester Stallone
  • The 7 Types of People You See in EVERY Bookstore

Annoucement: Recent Changes!

Published on by Rachelle2 Comments

Mar 1985

This has been in the works for a couple months, but I finally went and bought a new domain, FortifiedByBooks.com.  While my old domain (TheReadingWench.com) is still active, and will still get you to the blog for awhile, please update your bookmarks.

I’m also in the process of changing the design of my blog, and updating my various social media accounts, but my logo (as seen above) is staying the same.  I will also be providing the same kind of content you’ve come to expect from me.  This is still primarily a Fantasy genre blog since my reading tastes have yet to change.

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Why am I making these changes?  There is a Romance author who has been mistakenly tagging me as the reviewer of some of her books.  That has led to a flood of other Romance authors sending me review requests without checking to see that I am not, in fact, a Romance reviewer, I’m not the blogger they all seem to be confusing me with, and they’re not even reading my review policy.  While I have no problem with her, her blog, or the Romance genre, in general, I’m tired of being associated with all of that, and I’m sick of the spam.  To me, it’s not about who owns the domain.  It’s about my blog’s image and my image as a book reviewer.

#FitReaders Check-In #45

Published on by Rachelle4 Comments
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for November 2nd – 8th.
  • I know I would have met my step and miles goals if it weren’t for being stuck at the car mechanics most of the day on Friday 🙁  I’m still having car trouble, and it’s been such a frustrating experience, even with the “forced” opportunity to read.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/5
  • Steps: 47,599/63,000
  • Miles: 19.55/21
  • Flights of stairs: 139/70
  • Active Minutes: 230/210
  • Total Money Donated: $33.47/$50.00

Monday’s Minutes #45

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling – for the HP re-read.
  • The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
  • The Soak by Patrick E. McLean

Order of the Phoenix Witching Soak

Finished:

  • Thirteen Days in September by Lawrence Wright

Thirteen

Challenges:

S&S Bingo2update13

Total pages read: 304

Total # of books for the year: 79.  I didn’t get nearly as much reading done this week for two reasons. One, I’ve been listening to music instead of audiobooks, and two, I’ve been sleeping, watching movies, and coloring more than I’ve been cracking spines.  I think I hit a bit of a reading slump, but that’s quickly being remedied by The Soak, written by the same author who wrote The Merchant Adventurer.  Patrick E. McLean is one of the few who I will buy their books immediately.  I was lucky enough to have enough credits saved up to get the ebook as soon as it was released 🙂

What are you reading this week?

#ShelfLove – Thankfulness

Published on by Rachelle2 Comments

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This month, those of us participating in the #ShelfLove No Book Buying Challenge are discussing whether or not we’re thankful for taking on the challenge and whether or not our book buying and reading habits have changed.

Am I thankful for the #ShelfLove challenge?  Oh yeah, and I have reasons:

  • I came up with several ways to get books for free, and I started listening to serial and short story podcasts.
  • I’ve fallen in love with audiobooks thanks to discovering the free audiobook website, podiobooks.com.
  • I became much more discerning about the books I purchased with the gift cards I received for Christmas and my Birthday.  The same goes for the books I chose when the Boyfriend made an agreement with me to help me survive the Spring semester.
  • I finally got my Goodreads shelves updated, created a spreadsheet of all my unread books, and made TBR jars.
  • I cleared out enough books from my collection to earn enough money to buy the one book I had been looking forward to for most of the year.
  • I’m finally ok with not buying books.  I’ve also come to prefer book-related gifts instead of bookstore gift cards.  Why?  I own more books than can fit on my shelves.  Despite all the books I took to the used bookstore, my shelves are no less stuffed than they were at the beginning of the year.  In fact, I have even more books thanks to the Boyfriend, gift cards, and winning giveaways.

The Classics Club: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment

Jekyll

  • Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

This is my second read by Robert Louis Stevenson.  The first was Treasure Island, which I also enjoyed.  However, this one is more Gothic Horror than Adventure, so I don’t feel it’s fair to compare the two.

As with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this is a story about the horrible things that can happen when scientists attempt to mess with nature, but instead of playing around with life and death, Dr. Jekyll seeks to “better” himself by separating the good from the bad in human nature.  The story is closer to Existentialism than Frankenstein, and it makes me wonder if Stevenson had been reading Kierkegaard or Nietzche.  Regardless of where he got the idea for his story, he’s asking the question, “What is human nature?”  My opinion is that his answer is that human beings are born into sin, and it is relatively easier for us to be evil than it is to be good.  I don’t know if I agree, but I don’t agree with much of Victorian moralizing.  However, I do see the question as interesting and relevant, especially as we gain more knowledge of the brain and its chemistry and how that affects behavior and thought.

No matter your beliefs, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a short Classic worth reading.

#FitReaders Check-In #44

Published on by RachelleLeave a comment
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for October 26th – November 1st.
  • I’m not sure what happened, but somehow I did even worse than last week for every goal, except my total active minutes.  I was only six minutes short of my goal!
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/5
  • Steps: 38,880/63,000
  • Miles: 15.97/21
  • Flights of stairs: 118/70
  • Active Minutes: 204/210
  • Total Money Donated: $32.18/$50.00