Author: Rachelle

Building the Book Fort

Published on by Rachelle

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

  • Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
  • How to Hygge by Signe Johansen
  • A Mindful Year by Dr. Aria Campbell-Danesh and Dr. Seth J. Gillihan
  • 31 Days to a Clutter-Free Life by Ruth Soukup
  • 10-Minute Digital Declutter by S.J. Scott and Barrie Davenport
  • The Medici Manuscript by C.J. Archer
  • The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Finished:

  • Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell
  • The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie
  • The Dalai Lama’s Cat: Guided Meditations by David Michie

Total pages read this week: 405

Total books read: 4 of 80

TBR: -3 (Goal is -36)

I continue to start new books before finishing the ones I’m reading, mostly because I can’t decide what to continue reading and instead look at my shelves. Luckily, I did manage to finish a few books and get back on track for my TBR goal. I’m also lucky to have a three-day weekend with lots of reading time thanks to the weather being bad enough to make going out not worth it. I will probably be listening to audiobooks quite a bit since I also have a new puzzle to put together. Life is good!

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

Down the TBR Hole #137

Published on by Rachelle
Image: hjl

How it works:

  • Go to your Goodreads want-to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
My shelf is down several books to 1112. I finished and started a lot of books since my last post in December.
This week’s books:

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan – GO. The Boyfriend gave this to me after deciding he was no longer interested in reading it, and I’m no longer interested either.

The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl – KEEP. I read The Dante Club well over a decade ago and greatly enjoyed it. That fact is the only reason I’m willing to give this one a chance after seeing such low ratings for it on Goodreads.

We Have No Idea by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson – GO. I want to be the kind of person who wants to read this book, but I’m accepting that I, at least not at this time, am not.

The Nirvana Threads by Rachel Tremblay – KEEP. I have a feeling I will either love this book and not be able to put it down or I will despise it and stop reading within a couple of pages.

The Many-Colored Land by Julian May – KEEP.  I loved Jack the Bodiless and, based on that, the Boyfriend said I will probably enjoy this one as well, even though they’re very different stories but related in a weird wibbly wobbly timey wimey sort of way. Perhaps I’ll finally get around to reading it during this year’s #SciFiSummer reading challenge.
My want-to-read shelf is down a couple more books to 1110. The next post will have more of the physical books I own.

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by Rachelle
  • This check-in is for January 1st – 6th.
  • To live the Hobbit life this week, I celebrated my birthday with pancakes for breakfast, a trip to the bookstore, and dinner at my favorite Korean restaurant. I also went to a Japanese market to get taiyaki, a fish-shaped pastry filled with red bean paste.  They go great with hot chocolate! I ventured outside to the park twice to go for a walk, and I went out to an after-work hangout with a few coworkers (something I have never done before) and had a good time over a pint.

  • If you have a Fitbit, you can find me HERE.
  • Active Days: 4/5
  • Steps: 35,682
  • Miles: 14.57/15.34
  • Miles Outside: 3/100
  • Total Miles: 14.57/800
  • Active Minutes: 140/150

Building the Book Fort

Published on by Rachelle

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

  • Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
  • How to Hygge by Signe Johansen
  • Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell
  • A Mindful Year by Dr. Aria Campbell-Danesh and Dr. Seth J. Gillihan
  • The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie
  • 31 Days to a Clutter-Free Life by Ruth Soukup

Finished:

  • Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

Total pages read this week: 757

Total books read: 1 of 80

TBR: +1 (Goal is -36)

I have a habit of starting many different books around the beginning of the year before settling back into my usual reading patterns, and this year is no exception. On top of that, I nearly always go to a bookstore to celebrate my birthday, and while I only bought 2 books during this trip, that means I’ve put myself behind on my TBR goal when the year has barely started. It’s a good thing I’ve got the whole year ahead of me!

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment
  • This check-in is for December 24th – 31st.
  • I met my (adjusted) goal for the year!  With that in mind, my 2024 mileage goal will be 800 miles.  However, I’m adding a goal of 100 miles (of the 800) to be walked outdoors.  I would like to try several walking and easy hiking trails that aren’t too far from where I live, but I also live next door to a park with a paved loop I can walk whenever I want, no driving necessary.
  • My overall life goal for the year is to live a more Hobbit-like lifestyle, with my word for the year being “Hygge.” That doesn’t mean that I will be eating 7 meals a day or enjoying sweet treats regularly; instead, I’m simplifying, slowing down, and cozying up. Since my “diet” goal is to cut the sugar and fast food again (other than 1 sweet treat and 1 fast food meal a month), I’ll bake my monthly sweet treat instead of buying it, and I’ll go through my cookbooks and start trying the recipes that sound yummy on the weekends instead of going to restaurants. I’m going to garden again this year, with plans to expand to a 2nd raised bed and maybe grow a tea garden. I will enjoy lots of tea, whether in a thermos outdoors or reading a book indoors. Essentially, I will continue to work on all of the things I’ve been working on for years regarding my physical and mental health; however, my path to good health will look much different. It will be less about productivity and more about my quality of life.
  • I’m going to continue to track my stats Sunday through Saturday and post on Sundays. Since living the Hygge life isn’t about stats, I’ll also include a few sentences in my weekly posts about what activities I did or what things I decided to let go of to better reach my goal.
  • If you have a Fitbit, you can find me HERE.
  • Active Days: 3/5
  • Steps: 43,112
  • Miles: 17.63/16.30
  • Total Miles: 775.22/775
  • Active Minutes: 84/150

Building the Book Fort

Published on by Rachelle

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

  • Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
  • How to Hygge by Signe Johansen
  • Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

Finished:

  • The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher
  • Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Total pages read this week: 338

Total books read: 101 of 80

This has been an excellent reading year! I finished 21 books over my goal, read nearly 30,000 pages, and rated 12 books at 5 stars (10% of my total reading for the year).

In 2024, I’m participating in a couple of reading challenges, #COYER and #BookSpin to tackle my digital TBR. I own over 400 ebooks and audiobooks combined, some of which I’ve had for more than a decade, so I would like to chip away at that a little bit while enjoying my new Kindle.

While I’m keeping my overall reading goal at 80 books for the year, I plan to reduce my TBR by 36 books. My plan for this is to change up my habits a bit by going for walks outside instead of going to the bookstore, which will also help me with my 2024 fitness goals (I’ll write more about that tomorrow in my #FitReaders post).

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by Rachelle
  • This check-in is for December 17th – 23rd.
  • I got a lot of walking in during my trip to Arizona!
  • My final post for this year will be on New Year’s Day so I can add my totals for the 31st.
  • If you have a Fitbit, you can find me HERE.
  • Active Days: 3/5
  • Steps: 47,183
  • Miles: 19.08/16.30
  • Total Miles: 757.59/775
  • Active Minutes: 89/150

Building the Book Fort

Published on by Rachelle

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

  • Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
  • The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher

DNF:

  • A Lone Star Christmas by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone

Finished:

  • Nothing Much Happens by Kathryn Nicolai
  • Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar
  • The Winter Freak Show by Daniel Parsons

Total pages read this week: 762

TBR Mountain: -25

Total books read: 99 of 80

I’m back from visiting family in Arizona, and even though I finished two books from my physical TBR, I came back with two new ones. I also got the Kindle Scribe as one of my Christmas presents, and it’s awesome! On top of that, I got a gift card to buy some ebooks, so I’m looking forward to a lot of great reading in 2024. I’ll be spending the rest of the year going through my books to update Goodreads (I’m sure I’ve missed a couple of books that need to be shelved), setting up my book tracker for the new year, and figuring out new goals.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

#COYER 2024 – Unwind

Published on by Rachelle

It’s been several years since I’ve participated in #COYER, hosted by Berls, Michelle, Lillian, and Stephanie, but I have so many ebooks I’ve been neglecting in favor of trying to get my physical TBR under control, that I’m going to join in this annual reading challenge once again.

I’m not going to repeat all of the rules since they can be found at the #COYER link above, but the basics are that there are four chapters for the reading challenge portion and four semesters for the community challenge portion. While I’ll participate in the community challenge as I can (which will include some readathons and other activities), my focus will be the reading challenge.

  • Chapter 1 will run from January to March and will return to the strict rules for Winter.
  • Chapter 2 will run from April to June and the rules will be a little looser (including physical books).
  • Chapter 3 will run from July to September and the rules? What rules?!
  • Chapter 4 will run from October to December and the rules will be like in the Spring.

Since #COYER Winter only includes free or nearly free ebooks and audiobooks that aren’t library books, borrowed books, or included in Kindle Unlimited, Amazon Prime, or the Audible Plus Catalog, I’ve added the books from my TBR that count to a new COYER bookshelf on GoodReads. I’ll pull from these throughout the year, and read other books when they count during the other Chapters.

Will you be participating in #COYER? Let me know in the comments!

Down the TBR Hole #136

Published on by Rachelle
Image: hjl

How it works:

  • Go to your Goodreads want-to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?
My shelf is up a couple of books to 1118. I finished and started several books this week but added some to my wishlist.
This week’s books:

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë – KEEP. It’s a goal of mine to read all of the books written by the Brontë sisters.

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – KEEP. I will also read all of Dickens’ novels at some point since he is one of my all-time favorite authors.

Warcross by Marie Lu – KEEP. I’ve had this book for quite a while and have heard it’s one of the best YA Sci-Fi books out there.  Perhaps I’ll finally pick it up during next year’s #SciFiSummer reading challenge.

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab – KEEP. I have loved most everything Schwab has published, so I’m looking forward to getting around to this one before long.

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty – GO.  This book sounds amazing, and that’s exactly what many reviews say; it sounds great but is extremely slow and they put it down to read other books. I don’t have time for that.
My want-to-read shelf is down to 1117 books. The next post won’t be until after Christmas, but it will have more of the physical books I own.