Author: Rachelle

#TakeControlThon – Let the Reading Begin!

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment
Take Control TBR Pile Read-a-thon

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 you should join in!  The only real rule is to read books from your TBR that were published before March 1st of this year.

Do I have a TBR list for this readathon?  No.  However, I do know that I’ll be reading The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.  I started it while I was on my lunch break at work and I couldn’t wait to get home to continue reading.  If that feeling continues, and I think it will, I have no idea if I’ll be reading anything else.

I will try to stay up as long as possible during the readathon since I would like to read more than one book, but I know I won’t be doing the entire 24 hours.  However, I will be posting an update or two.  Right now, the only thing I truly have planned is what snacks I’m eating.  I got a veggie tray and some pretzels and hummus.  Everything else, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner, will be spur of the moment, flying by the seat of my pants, winging it.  Why?  Because I have a pile of scribbled on post-it notes detailing all the things I have or want to do in the near future, and I spent most of the week suffering from severe headaches or out doing other important things that kept me from organizing it all into easily manageable chunks and updating my day planner.  So I don’t have a clue what I’m doing right now.  Also, I spent Friday night watching New Girl.  Don’t judge.

Are you participating in the #TakeControlThon?

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by Rachelle4 Comments
FitReaders2016
  • This check-in is for March 4th – 10th.
  • I only met my stairs goal this week, and even though I’m no longer wearing an ankle brace, I had severe headaches for two days that stopped me from doing much of anything.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/5
  • Steps: 28,938/42,000
  • Miles: 11.89/17.5
  • Flights of stairs: 45/42
  • Active Minutes: 71/210
  • Monthly 5K Races Completed: 1/10
  • Monthly 1 Mile Fun “Runs” Completed: 1/10
  • Total Money Donated: $8.69/$100.00

Thursday’s Things: A Saint, a Leprechaun, and an Irishman Walk into a Bar…

Published on by Rachelle
Frederic Poirot
Image: Frederic Poirot

…and they all did some much-needed spring cleaning 😉  Before that, though, they checked out this Irish and Spring-related list of links:

Classics Club Spin: The Winner Is…

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment

classicsclub

The Classics Club announced the Spin number today:

8

Which means I’ll be reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.  I’ll take a look at the book later today and figure out if I want to do a readalong.

  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

Monday’s Minutes

Published on by Rachelle1 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.

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

Published on by Rachelle

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

Published on by Rachelle

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.

black4

Monday’s Minutes

Published on by Rachelle2 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.

Current Reads:

  • An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
  • Bad Magic by Pseudonymous Bosch
  • The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

 Echo Bad Magic Dream Thieves

Finished:

  • Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead

Succubus Dreams

Challenges:

Total pages read: 470

Total # of books for the year: 10.  This week has been interesting.  Just as I was beginning to figure out a new routine, I sprained my ankle and, due to a couple of other injuries and physical limitations, exercising went out the window.  Then, I went to a doctor’s appointment to meet my new PC, and I discovered that the quality of care at the VA clinic I go to has completely changed.  Before, many of the people working there were rude and not very helpful, wait times for anything were worse than the DMV, and my former PC spent more time lecturing me than working with me to improve my health or informing me about any of my lab results.  Now, every person I came across was friendly and more than willing to help, I never waited more than ten minutes for anything, and my new PC is the best doctor I’ve ever had in my life.  I was with her for an hour and left feeling as if, finally, I received the health care I needed.  On Saturday, the Boyfriend and I finally went to see Dead Pool.  Afterwards, we binge-watched the second half of the final season of Mad Men.  Both were amazing, but this is a book blog so I’ll spare you my ravings.

My Top Commenter: Is Shaina from Shaina Reads.

What are you reading this week?