Author: Rachelle

Bookish Gift Guide 2016

Published on by Rachelle

Image: Stephanie Kilgast
Image: Stephanie Kilgast

It’s that time again!  The Christmas tree is up, the holiday decor has been strategically placed around my office, and the questions of what to get me this Christmas are being asked by my loved ones.  So, in the spirit of last year’s Holiday gift guide for book lovers, I’ve put together another wishlist, broken up by price point as best I could.
I am not in any way affiliated with any of the companies linked to or mentioned here, and I’m not receiving any form of compensation for clicks, sales, or this post.
Gifts $25 and Under

Gifts Under $50

And of course, my list wouldn’t be complete without including an online store that has just about everything a book lover could want: Gone Reading.

#AMonthofFaves2016 – 5 Popular Books Worth the Hype

Published on by Rachelle

Quite a bit has been horrible about 2016.  Instead of discussing all that, however, I’m joining Andi at Estella’s Revenge, Tanya at Girlxoxo, and Tamara at Traveling with T to share all the wonderful that 2016 offered.  While I probably won’t do every topic they’ve scheduled for this month, I’ll do as many as I can because I absolutely loved A Month of Faves the last time I was able to join in.
I’m going to assume the 5 books for today’s topic can either be popular books published this year or popular books we read this year, regardless of publication date.  Since I’m woefully behind on all that is new and shiny, I’m going with the latter.  I’ve read exactly six 5-star books this year, out of the 78 I’ve read so far (The one that I didn’t put on this list is Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, but only because I enjoyed Furiously Happy even more).  That may change to seven (The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler has been phenomenal so far), but for now, here are my five books that are totally worth the hype.

  • The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater – I knew the story would have to end eventually, despite not wanting it to, but I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to “The Raven Cycle” series than The Raven King.

Raven King

  • Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson – Click on the title to read my review, then head over to thebloggess.com to get a taste of awesome that proves this book is a must-read.

Furiously

  • The Martian by Andy Weir – This was my favorite book from my Sci-Fi Summer reading challenge.  Click on the title to read why.

The Martian

  • Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – Click on the title to read why this is one of the most important books to have come into my life.

MJ_Movie_CVR.indd

  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – This is a frequently challenged or banned book.  In fact, it’s being challenged, and defended, in Iowa right now.  I listened to the audiobook during Banned Books Week, and it’s probably my favorite banned book.  I wish I had read it when I was a teenager.

wallflower

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by Rachelle
FitReaders2016
  • This check-in is for November 25th – December 1st.
  • I’m getting better about drinking enough water, and that’s pretty much my only accomplishment this week.  I hope my groin muscle heals soon so I can get back to exercising.
  • If you have a FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Steps: 21,390/49,000
  • Miles: 7.57/17.5
  • Active Minutes: 71/150
  • Days I Drank 64 ounces of Water: 3/7
  • Total Money Donated: $24.41/$25.00

#AMonthofFaves2016 – These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

Published on by Rachelle

Quite a bit has been horrible about 2016.  Instead of discussing all that, however, I’m joining Andi at Estella’s Revenge, Tanya at Girlxoxo, and Tamara at Traveling with T to share all the wonderful that 2016 offered.  While I probably won’t do every topic they’ve scheduled for this month, I’ll do as many as I can because I absolutely loved A Month of Faves the last time I was able to join in.
Today is all about our favorite things.  So here’s my list:

  • My fave thing to eat this year – Shortbread.  I’ve made it twice, and it’s dangerously easy to make.  It was loved by all at Thanksgiving.

2016-11-11-16-21-38

  • My fave thing to drink – This year, it’s been all about tea.  I’ve been big into tea for quite a while, but my BFF gave me a gift of assorted teas from Teavana, and then I discovered Pique tea, and then the Boyfriend bought me the best version of a pumpkin spice tea that I’ve ever had, and then I fell in love with oh so many more different teas along the way.  I had to put a moratorium on tea buying until I found another tea I wanted to try of course….
  • My fave smell – The wonderful candle that the Boyfriend’s Mom got as one of my Christmas gifts last year.  It’s not often that it gets cold enough to burn candles, but when I do, my go-to candle is that one.  I don’t know why, but I call it my “Outlander” candle.20161130_195707
  • My fave thing to wear – I haven’t loved pajamas nearly as much as when I went back to work full-time.  Where I work is fairly casual, but nothing feels as right as pajamas after a long day at work.  Nothing makes me crankier than telling me I need to put on some real clothes and go out to do anything after I get home from work.
  • The fave thing I saw – “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life”, quickly followed by the “Wonder Woman” and “Beauty and the Beast” movie trailers.
  • My fave purchase – Do I have to pick only one?  Not counting books, it’s a tie between the reading gloves from The Print and Plaid Company, and the book pins from Pigsey Art.

2016-11-19-17-44-15 2016-11-05-18-15-57

  • My fave thing to do – If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you might remember me complaining about not having much time to read while I was in college.  HAHAHAHA!  Oh, silly college student me!  Though I still manage to read an average of 300 or so pages a week despite my full-time job and other adult responsibilities, it feels like I have no time to read at all post college.  In fact, most of my reading is done in the car via audiobook during my commute to and from work.  Another way to make me cranky very quickly is to tell me I don’t have any time to read during the weekend because I have to be an adult and get stuff done.
  • The fave place I visited – The Texas Book Festival!  This was the first year I was able to go, and I had a blast!  I was lucky enough to have just gotten my overtime pay and therefore was able to afford all the hardcover books I bought to get signed.

Monday's Minutes

Published on by Rachelle

“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:

  • The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien – for #FanspeakTheRing
  • Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
  • Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
  • A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

towers starlight shadows
darker
Finished:

  • Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon

written

Challenges:

Total pages read: 443

Total # of books for the year: 77.  Now that I’ve finished Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, I can’t wait until the next book is out!  I need to know more about what happened with Brianna and Roger.  From my understanding, it’s going to be at least another year until the next book, and now I kind of wish I had waited to read this one.  However, I’m mostly glad I didn’t because I probably would’ve forgotten many of the important plot points and would have spent a lot of time looking things up in the Outlandish Companion.

I decided to put The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne back on the shelf for now.  I don’t know when I’ll pick it back up, but it wasn’t grabbing my attention at all.  I kept getting distracted by the other books I’ve been reading.

What are you reading this week?

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by Rachelle
FitReaders2016
  • This check-in is for November 18th – 24th.
  • I’m no longer tracking my food and the only reason why is because I’m not eating at restaurants or eating other easily trackable (i.e. pre-packaged) meals much anymore.  Instead, I’m cooking at home and eating real food.  Trying to figure up the nutrition information for everything takes up far too much of my time; time that could be used to sit and enjoy my food.
  • I won’t say that everything I eat is super healthy, but it’s full of flavor, which means I’m eating less because I’m more quickly satisfied.  I’m also taking in fewer calories and less fat, sodium, and sugar, just from the fact that I have control over the ingredients.  I’m also only eating when I’m hungry, and allowing myself to have a snack if I get hungry between meals.  I’m much happier than I was when I was trying to track everything I put in my mouth.
  • I still need to improve on getting enough water, though.
  • If you have a FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Steps: 24,070/49,000
  • Miles: 8.36/17.5
  • Active Minutes: 56/150
  • Days I Drank 64 ounces of Water: 2/7
  • Total Money Donated: $24.37/$25.00

Monday's Minutes

Published on by Rachelle

“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:

  • The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien – for #FanspeakTheRing
  • Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
  • The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
  • A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
  • Written in my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon

towers starlight seven-gables
shadows darker written
 

Challenges:

Total pages read: 506

Total # of books for the year: 76.

What are you reading this week?

#ShelfLove: A Thank You Note to the Book Blogging Community

Published on by Rachelle

Shelf Love Challenge 2016
 
Dear Book Blogging Community,
Over the years I’ve been in one group or another having to do with politics, feminism, or a specific social issue that took precedence in my life for one reason or another.  None of those groups provided me with what I was looking for or inspired me to get more involved.  Whether they were all action and no talk or all talk and no action, they weren’t good fits for me.
When I started this blog, I began connecting with other book bloggers and discovered the best community I have ever considered myself to be a member.  This has been especially true during this election cycle when I began seeing my social media feeds turn more and more negative.
I began unfollowing or muting people whose posts started trending towards political rants.  I was especially quick to unfollow those who made blanket statements about whole groups of people or implied that replacing misogyny with misandry was acceptable.  However, I continued to follow those of you in the book blogging community because your friendship mattered more to me, I didn’t consider you to be strangers, and you occasionally said something so inspiring or spot-on that I made an exception.  I had a few heart to heart conversations with some of you and I’m glad I had those conversations and continued to read what you had to say whether on your blogs, Twitter, Facebook or Litsy.
Why?  Because my feeds are now full of inspiration, legitimate calls to action against hate and violence, and book recommendations for learning more about and understanding the political and social issues that are especially important right now.  I’m also seeing more about books in general and my feeds feel less cluttered and bogged down with negativity and garbage.  Instead of avoiding them, I’m checking them more often than ever to keep up with what’s going on.  You have also re-activated my activism and reminded me why I’m a feminist.  And I now have another lengthy list of books to check out and read 🙂
Thank you, fellow book bloggers, from the bottom of my heart, for providing me with a place that I feel at home.
Love,
The Girl in the Book Fort

#COYER Black Out: Winter Storm

Published on by Rachelle

wintercoyer-16-17
This COYER, from December 17th to March 3rd, is much more strict than it has been in the past.  Participants can only read ebooks we already own and got for less than $1 or audiobooks we got for less than $5.
However, there is the “generator” option, but I won’t be taking advantage of that.  If you would like to know more about using your generator, click on the COYER picture to get the full details over at the official COYER website.
Since the rules are tight this time, I’m not going to read any ebooks until December 17th, and I’m going to concentrate on finishing the books I’m currently in the middle of reading.  Once COYER starts, I’ll concentrate on reading as many of my ARCs as possible.  With any luck, I’ll get completely caught up on them.  Since library books don’t count, I’ll also be focusing on the few audiobooks I own that I got for free.
Usually, my goal for COYER is 10 books, but this time I’m going to try for 12.  Bout of Books is coming up during the first week of January and I’m taking vacation during that week as well, so I’m fairly certain I can manage 12 books by March.
Are you participating in COYER?

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by Rachelle
FitReaders2016
  • This check-in is for November 11th – 17th.
  • I pulled my groin muscle 🙁
  • If you have a FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Steps: 26,081/49,000
  • Miles: 9.03/17.5
  • Active Minutes: 39/150
  • Days I Tracked My Food: 0/7
  • Days I Drank 64 ounces of Water: 1/7
  • Total Money Donated: $24.29/$25.00