Month: March 2016

Monday’s Minutes

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

Current Reads:

  • An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
  • Bad Magic by Pseudonymous Bosch

 Echo Bad Magic

Finished:

  • The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Dream Thieves

Challenges:

Total pages read: 240

Total # of books for the year: 11.  For the first time in my life, I’ve come across people who have negatively judged me for my accomplishments.  Several of my new coworkers have decided they don’t like me because I have a college education.  On top of that, it seems like the only topics of conversation at work are babies and child care.  I’ve never seen anyone with a book or overheard them talking about a book.  I’ve also never heard anyone talk about anything geeky.  In other words, I don’t fit in with my new coworkers, and I have to wait until I get home to relieve my starvation for an intelligent conversation that doesn’t involve mentioning anything to do with children.  At least work isn’t stressful.  *Sigh*  Everyone has to start somewhere, and hopefully it won’t be long until I move on to someplace much better.

My Top Commenter: Is Shaina from Shaina Reads.

What are you reading this week?

Classics Club Spin #12

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classicsclub

It’s that time again!  The Classics Club is doing another Spin.  Below is my Spin list.  On Monday, a number between 1 and 20 will be chosen, and I’ll be reading the book from my list that corresponds with that number.  I’ll have until May 2nd to finish it.  Depending on which book it is, I might do a read-along.

  1.  Albee, Edward: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  2. Lawrence, D.H.: Lady Chatterley’s Lover
  3. Atwood, Margaret: A Handmaid’s Tale
  4. Du Maurier, Daphne: Rebecca
  5. Barrie, J.M.: Peter Pan
  6. Dumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte Cristo
  7. Remarque: All Quiet on the Western Front
  8. Smith, Betty: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
  9. Bronte, Anne: Agnes Grey
  10. Fitzgerald, F. Scott: Tender is the Night
  11. Flaubert, Gustav: Madame Bovary
  12. Milton, John: Paradise Lost
  13. Burnett, Frances Hodgson: The Secret Garden
  14. Proust, Marcel: Swann’s Way
  15. Goethe, Johann: Faust
  16. Carroll, Lewis: Alice in Wonderland
  17. Yeats, William Butler: Irish Faerie Tales
  18. Hemingway, Ernest: A Farewell to Arms
  19. de Saint-Exupery, Antoine: The Little Prince
  20. Swift, Jonathon: Gulliver’s Travels

24 Hour Take Control TBR Readathon!

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment
Take Control TBR Pile Read-a-thon
*Edited to correct the fact that the readathon isn’t until next Saturday…Sorry for any confusion.

Kimberly over at Caffeinated Book Reviewer is hosting the #TakeControlThon as part of the March Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge.  Anyone can participate, though, so if you haven’t heard about it yet, you should join in!  The only real rule is to read books from your TBR that were published before March 1st of this year.

I’ve known about this readathon for about a month, but my life got busy, and I completely forgot about it until I looked at my calendar late last night.  So, I don’t have a pile of books already stacked and ready to go yet.  I’m winging it for now.  However, I do know that my 1st book will be An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon since I was already in the middle of reading that before I got sidetracked by other books.  When I get to the point where I need a break, I’ll randomly pull a book off my shelf.  Or, maybe I’ll have my book life back in working order by next Saturday and will have a TBR list to add to my kick-off post.

I will also try to stay up as long as possible during the readathon, but I know I won’t be doing the entire 24 hours.  There is supposed to be a Twitter chat and some challenges, but I don’t know when or what, so I may or may not participate in those.  However, I will be posting an update or two.  Again, I’m winging it.

Are you participating in the #TakeControlThon?

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by Rachelle2 Comments
FitReaders2016
  • This check-in is for February 26th – March 3rd.
  • I only met my stairs goal this week, but I’m still wearing an ankle brace.
  • Now that I’ve been in the ankle brace for a week, I’ll start adding back in some light exercise.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/5
  • Steps: 32,205/42,000
  • Miles: 13.23/17.5
  • Flights of stairs: 51/42
  • Active Minutes: 79/210
  • Monthly 5K Races Completed: 1/10
  • Monthly 1 Mile Fun “Runs” Completed: 1/10
  • Total Money Donated: $8.11/$100.00

Mini-Review: Succubus Dreams

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Succubus Dreams

  • Author: Richelle Mead
  • Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
  • Pages: 318

The Georgina Kincaid series is one I willingly buy when I need some brain candy.  I was first introduced to the series through a book club I occasionally participate in, and I was hooked within a few pages of Succubus Blues.

Georgina has agency.  Even though she gets assistance from others, she makes her own decisions and doesn’t wait around to be rescued.  She also doesn’t deliberately choose to do anything she knows will get her into trouble.  Perhaps all of that is because she’s hundreds of years old and has learned a lesson or two over the years of her life as a succubus, but it is a refreshing change from the stereotypical Romance that has turned me off of the genre over the years.  The other thing I like about the series is that each book doesn’t necessarily end with everything fixed and everyone happy.  While there aren’t any cliffhanger endings, so far, and these aren’t heavy books at all, she deals with heartbreak and other relationship issues that the majority of readers can relate to, and she handles them realistically.  In other words, her life is a bit messy, and things aren’t all tied up with a pretty bow by the last page.

If you’re looking for a Paranormal Romance or Urban Fantasy series as some occasional brain candy to dip into when you need a break, I highly recommend this one.

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