Month: January 2016

Bout of Books 15: Day 3 Progress

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Bout of Books

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 Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th.  There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

I’m still reading and loving The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald.  There are so many great quotes that I didn’t read nearly as much as I usually would because I kept stopping to highlight and read them out loud to the Boyfriend.  I will probably finish it tomorrow, though.
  • Time Read: 2 Hour 55 Minutes
  • Total Time Read: 8 Hours 55 Minutes
  • Pages Read: 88
  • Total Number of Books Read: 1

Bout of Books 15: Day 2 Progress

Published on by Rachelle5 Comments
Bout of Books

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 Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th.  There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

I didn’t get nearly as much reading done yesterday.  That was partly due to not working out on the treadmill (when I get an hour of reading done), but also because the Boyfriend and I had tickets to see the Sherlock special at the theater.  I’m still reading and loving The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald.
  • Time Read: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
  • Total Time Read: 6 Hours
  • Pages Read: 68
  • Total Number of Books Read: 1

Bout of Books 15 Mini-Challenge: Would You Rather?

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment
Bout of Books

Lori @ Writing My Own Fairy Tale has challenged those of us participating in Bout of Books to a game of Bookish “Would You Rather?”  Below are the questions and my responses.

Would you rather…

  • Lend books to someone who dog-ears pages or to someone who reads with cheesy Cheetos fingers?  I’d much rather lend books to someone who dog-ears pages than someone who eats Cheetos while they read.  Why?  Cheetos stains never come off the page.  I know this from experience.  I purchased a used book awhile back, and while I was reading it, it became apparent that the previous owner was a lover of the orange powdered covered snack.  *Sigh* maybe someday I’ll be able to find a better copy.
  • Be able to meet one character of your choice or meet one author of your choice?  Usually, I would rather meet a favorite character than an author, but I think I’d prefer meeting Diana Gabaldon.  After all, Jamie Fraser will always belong to Claire, and I’ve got my own Scot to snuggle.
  • Never be allowed in a bookstore again or never be allowed in a library again?  I’ll take the library over the bookstore any day.  Libraries are free, and this is the 2nd year I’m participating in the Show Your Shelves Some Love Challenge, so I can’t buy any books anyway.
  • Have to choose one of your favorite characters to die in their book or have to pick one of your favorite couples to break up in their book?  I’d rather have a favorite couple break up than have any of my favorite characters die; unless the break up causes so much heartache the character(s) die anyway.
  • Be required to read Twilight once a year for the rest of your life or The Scarlet Letter once a year for the rest of your life?  The Scarlet Letter hands down.  I’ve read Twilight, and I once started The Scarlet Letter but got distracted by another book.  Being a classic, I think The Scarlet Letter would stand frequent re-reads much better than Twilight.

Bout of Books 15: Day 1 Progress

Published on by RachelleLeave a comment
Bout of Books

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 Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in.  There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

The first day, and I’ve already finished a book and started a second!  Neither are books on my TBR list, but since this read-a-thon is all about reading as much as we can, that doesn’t matter.  My second book is The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald, and so far I love it!
  • Time Read: 4 Hours 30 Minutes
  • Pages Read: 292
  • Books Finished: The Sibyl by Cynthia D. Witherspoon
  • Total Number of Books Read: 1

Monday’s Minutes

Published on by Rachelle3 Comments

“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 Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling – for the HP re-read.
  • Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe – for the Classics Club Spin.
  •  An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

Deathly Hallows Moll Flanders Echo

Finished:

  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
  • A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
  • Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Half Blood Breath Greenglass

Challenges:

  • Show Your Shelves Some Love: 0 out of 51 (A Breath of Snow and Ashes and Greenglass House counted towards last year’s challenge.)
  • COYER: 1 out of 10
  • SF/F Bingo: I finished Greenglass House on the final day of the challenge (Dec. 31st)!

S&S Bingo2update17

Total pages read: 1,012

Total # of books for the year: 0.  This week is Bout of Books, so I have no idea when I’ll get around to writing reviews for A Breath of Snow and Ashes and Greenglass House.  Hopefully, before the end of the month.

My Top Five Commenters for 2015:

  1. Shaina at Shaina Reads
  2. Terri at Second Run Reviews
  3. Jen at That’s What I’m Talking About
  4. Julie at Chapter Break
  5. Berls at Fantasy is More Fun

What are you reading this week?

Bout of Books 15!

Published on by Rachelle2 Comments
Bout of Books

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 12:01 am Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th 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 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

It’s that time again!  Unfortunately, I’m considerably more busy than I was during Bout of Books 14, but I’m determined not to let that stop me from reading every day instead of doing other things with my free time.

My Goals

  • Read for at least 2 hours each day.
  • Finish at least 1 book, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to finish 2.

Books to Read

  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
  • An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
  • Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

Updates

I will be posting an update each day with the amount of time I read, the number of pages read that day, and the titles of any books I’ve finished.

#ShelfLove 2016

Published on by Rachelle3 Comments
Shelf Love Challenge 2016
I’m joining the Show Your Shelves Some Love Challenge again!  Below are my goals.

My Goals

  • Read at least 51 books from my personal library that I got before January 1, 2016 (my shelves and I are going steady).
  • With the exception of one book, I can only buy books using gift cards.  I can “buy” as many free books as I would like, accept ARCs, and enter giveaways to my heart’s content, but I may only use my hard earned cash to buy one carefully chosen book.
  • The one book I buy this year must be purchased with the funds I raise from selling books to the used bookstore.
  • Participate in the monthly discussion posts.

My TBR

2015-12-29 11.54.22

These are, of course, only my physical books, and not all of them are books I haven’t read yet, but the majority of them have never been opened. Total, I have approximately 400 unread books sitting on my shelves or in my Kindle and Nook.  One of my projects this year will be to update my TBR shelf on Goodreads to get a more accurate total (none of the ebooks on my Nook are on it).

#FitReaders 2016

Published on by Rachelle2 Comments
FitReaders2016
  • Below are my goals, and the template for my weekly check-ins, which will now be on Fridays instead of Tuesdays.  The only goal I’ve changed is the total amount of money I want to raise through Plus3.  However, I’ve also added a new goal; I plan to complete at least ten 5K races so I can win a #FitReaders medal.
  • When I meet my step goal for the week, I will raise it by 1K until I’m averaging 12K steps per day (84K steps in a week).  After that, my plan is to try out a Couch to 5K running program to see if my knees can handle running again.  If not, then I’ll start doing more intensive cardio workouts.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/5
  • Steps: 0/63,000
  • Miles: 0/21
  • Flights of stairs: 0/70
  • Active Minutes: 0/210
  • Monthly 5K Races Completed: 0/10
  • Total Money Donated: $0.00/$100.00

First Book of the Year 2016!

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First Book

Sheila over at Book Journey wants to know what we’ll be reading as our first book of the new year.  When I signed up, my first book of 2016 was going to the be The Portable Dorothy Parker.  However, I just finished A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, and as I knew would happen, I wanted to jump right into reading the next book in the Outlander series.  So, I’m bringing in the new year with An Echo in the Bone!

2015-12-31 21.17.24

Happy New Year, Everyone!