Month: October 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.

Currently Reading:

  • A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly
  • The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien – for #FanspeakTheRing
  • In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

free towers wood
Finished:

  • Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
  • The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice

night-vale queen

Challenges:

  • Show Your Shelves Some Love: 49 out of 51
  • RIP XI: 6 books, at least 70 short stories – I took a break from the No Sleep podcast and started listening to Lore.  It is fantastic!

Total pages read: 243

Total # of books for the year: 69.  Mandatory overtime sucks, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.  I finally found time to finish The Queen of the Damned on Saturday, and though I had a lot going on this weekend, I took every spare minute I had to read In a Dark, Dark Wood.

What are you reading this week?

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by RachelleLeave a comment
FitReaders2016
  • This check-in is for October 7th – 13th.
  • I met my step goal on two days this week.
  • I didn’t lose any weight again this week, and I’m ok with that since I’m eating healthier and steadily getting more exercise.
  • I’ve improved a little bit more on drinking enough water.  I got at least 45 ounces on the days I didn’t quite make it to 64.
  • I created a FitReaders team for the Step It Up challenge.  If you’d like to join me and 8 other wonderful people, just click on the link to sign up.  You don’t have to have a fitness tracker to participate.
  • If you do have a FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Steps: 39,233/49,000
  • Miles: 16.12/17.5
  • Active Minutes: 193/150
  • Days I Tracked My Food: 7/7
  • Days I Drank 64 ounces of Water: 3/7
  • Monthly 5K Races Completed: 3/10
  • Monthly 1 Mile Fun “Runs” Completed: 2/10
  • Total Money Donated: $23.16/$25.00

Monday's Minutes

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.

Currently Reading:

  • Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
  • A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly
  • The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien – for #FanspeakTheRing
  • Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

queen free towers
night-vale
 

Challenges:

  • Show Your Shelves Some Love: 48 out of 51
  • RIP XI: 4 of 4 books, at least 70 short stories – I’m completely caught up on Pseudopod, and I started listening to another Horror short story podcast called No Sleep.

Total pages read: 366

Total # of books for the year: 67.  I would have loved to finish Queen of the Damned by the end of the weekend, but I was preparing for and then going to a baby shower.  I also spent most of Sunday grocery shopping and cleaning everything in the apartment.  Why?  I’ve got mandatory overtime starting today, people coming over during the weekend, then the Boyfriend is having eye surgery next week.  Being an adult really cuts into one’s reading time, doesn’t it? *sigh* I’m so looking forward to the readathon on the 22nd.

What are you reading this week?

#FrightFall Readathon Wrap-Up

Published on by RachelleLeave a comment

frightfall-rat-2016
The FrightFall readathon ended yesterday, and I didn’t even finish a single book 🙁
Below was my TBR stack, which also happens to be my remaining TBR for R.I.P. XI and part of my TBR for Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon on Oct. 22nd.

  • The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
  • A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly
  • October Country by Ray Bradbury
  • The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  • Warren the 13th and the All Seeing Eye by Tania del Rio
  • The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
  • The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton

I tried to finish The Queen of the Damned by the end of the weekend, but being an adult kept getting in the way.  I will hopefully finish it before the 24-Hour Readathon so I can concentrate on the rest of my TBR for this month.

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by RachelleLeave a comment
FitReaders2016
  • This check-in is for September 30th – October 6th.
  • I only met, and exceeded, my step goal on one day this week.
  • Now that I’ve got a daily calorie goal and I’m tracking all of my food, exercise, and water, the weekly sessions with my coach are more about learning ways of eating healthier and getting more exercise.
  • I didn’t lose any weight again this week, and I’m pretty sure that’s because I ate way too much Indian food two days in a row.  I’m ok with that considering my choices were still much healthier than if I had ordered from any other place in my delivery area.
  • I’ve improved a little bit on drinking enough water.  I got at least 40 ounces on the days I didn’t quite make it to 64.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Steps: 32,998/49,000
  • Miles: 13.55/17.5
  • Active Minutes: 76/150
  • Days I Tracked My Food: 6/7
  • Days I Drank 64 ounces of Water: 2/7
  • Monthly 5K Races Completed: 3/10
  • Monthly 1 Mile Fun “Runs” Completed: 2/10
  • Total Money Donated: $22.90/$25.00

Thursday's Things: The October Country Edition

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allhallowsread4
Image: blablover5

I named this month’s Thursday’s Things after Ray Bradbury’s short story collection “The October Country” because it sums up all the weird and spooky bookish links I discovered during my wanderings around the internet.

The Classics Club Spin Number

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classicsclub
The Classics Club announced the Spin number today:

1

Which means I’ll be reading Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? by Edward Albee.  I’ll take a look at the book later today and figure out if I want to do a read along.  I might just decide to buckle down and finish it so I can get back to my #FrightFall TBR.  It’s a fairly short book, so we’ll see.

Monday's Minutes

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.

Currently Reading:

  • Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
  • A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly
  • The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien – for #FanspeakTheRing
  • Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

queen free towers
night-vale
Finished: 

  • Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
  • Slave of My Thirst by Tom Holland

Peculiar wallflower thirst

Challenges:

  • Show Your Shelves Some Love: 48 out of 51
  • RIP XI: 4 of 4 books, at least 60 short stories – I’m completely caught up on Drabblecast, and now I’m getting caught up on Pseudopod, a Horror short story podcast.  I highly recommend both.

Total pages read: 723

Total # of books for the year: 67.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower was amazing, and I’ll be writing a review of it, along with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Slave of My Thirst, soon.

What are you reading this week?

#FrightFall Readathon

Published on by RachelleLeave a comment

frightfall-rat-2016
The FrightFall readathon starts tomorrow and runs through the 9th.
There’s only one “rule” and that is at least one scary book (thriller, mystery, Gothic, etc.) has to be read during the readathon.  Since that’s pretty much the only kind of books I read during October, I’m good to go.
Below is my TBR stack, which also happens to be my remaining TBR for R.I.P. XI.  Whatever I don’t finish this week will make up part of my TBR for Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon on Oct. 22nd.

  • The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
  • A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly
  • October Country by Ray Bradbury
  • The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  • Warren the 13th and the All Seeing Eye by Tania del Rio
  • The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
  • The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton

 

The Classics Club Spin #14

Published on by RachelleLeave a comment

classicsclub

It’s time for another Classics Club Spin!  Below is my Spin list, and since I failed miserably at the last Spin (I didn’t even start Lord of the Flies) , I will probably do a read-along.  While I’m interested in reading all of the books on this and my master list, I’m really hoping it will be one of the books below in particular.  I’m not saying which one though because I don’t want to jinx it.  Regardless of whether or not it ends up being my Spin book, I will be reading it before the end of the year, so you’ll know which one I’m referring to soon enough.

  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. Beckett, Samuel: Waiting for Godot
  6. Dumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte Cristo
  7. Remarque: All Quiet on the Western Front
  8. Bronte, Anne: Agnes Grey
  9. Flaubert, Gustav: Madame Bovary
  10. Milton, John: Paradise Lost
  11. Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The House of the Seven Gables
  12. Proust, Marcel: Swann’s Way
  13. Goethe, Johann: Faust
  14. Eliot, George: Middlemarch
  15. Golding, William: Lord of the Flies
  16. Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet Letter
  17. Hemingway, Ernest: A Farewell to Arms
  18. Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans
  19. Crane, Stephen: Red Badge of Courage
  20. Irving, Washington: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Spin number will be chosen on Monday, and then those of us participating will have until December 1st to read the book that corresponds to that number.
Are you participating in the Classics Club Spin?  Whether or not you’re participating, would you be interested in doing a read-along of any of the books on my list?  Let me know in the comments!