The Twelve Books of Christmas Challenge

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12 Books of Christmas

Shaina @ Shaina Reads has challenged those of us who wish to participate to read 12 books during the month of December!  I would have posted this earlier, but I refuse to do anything Christmas related, other than stashing away presents for those I love, before Thanksgiving.

The only rule is that the books have to be at least 100 pages in length.  So, I’m making up a rule for myself.  All the books I plan to read for the challenge will be Christmas or Winter related.  Some of the books on my challenge TBR are maybe stretching that a little bit, but it’s my rule, so I can do what I want 🙂  I doubt I’ll be able to read all 12 on the list since a couple of them are door stops, but I’m going to try.

My TBR List

  • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (I read this every year.)
  • A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
  • Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
  • Snowglobe 7 by Mike Tucker
  • The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson
  • White Fang by Jack London
  • The Winter Freak Show by Daniel Parsons
  • Greenglass House by Kate Milford
  • Around the World with Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis
  • Fire and Ice by Patty Jansen
  • The Girl from Krakow by Alex Rosenberg
  • Ice Demon by Elizabeth Watasin

I have several backups in case any of these wind up being DNFs.

Are you participating in the 12 Books of Christmas challenge?  Even if you’re not, are your December reads Christmas or Winter themed?  What are your favorite Winter books?  Comment below!

Review: Coraline

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment

Coraline

  • Author: Neil Gaiman
  • ISBN: 9780061649691

The above ISBN is for the paperback edition, but I listened to the audiobook I checked out from the library.

When I saw the movie “Coraline” a couple years ago, I had no idea it was an adaptation of a book by Neil Gaiman.  I had only read his Sandman comics and American Gods by that point.  I love the comics, and I enjoyed Coraline as a movie, but I was disappointed in American Gods.  So, when I did find out about Coraline, I added it to my “check it out from the library” list.  I didn’t want to waste money on Coraline on the off chance that I would be just as disappointed in it as I was with American Gods, no matter how much I liked the movie adaptation.

An older audiobook version, narrated by Neil Gaiman himself, was available at my library, so I decided to listen to it during October when I read scary, creepy, and dark books.  I’m fairly sure I enjoyed Coraline more by listening to the audiobook a bit each day on my way to and from class.  It’s relatively short, and being a Middle-Grade book, I would have easily finished it in an afternoon had I read it instead of listening.  I don’t think the story would have been as wonderful if I had sped through it.  I also don’t think I would have gotten as much out of it if I had read it, but my opinion might be different if it were a graphic novel.  I don’t know why, but I often feel Neil Gaiman’s writing is missing something in novel format that isn’t lacking in the comics, but I also don’t know what that something is.

Coraline had that something, at least in the audiobook version, so I’m not giving up.  My next Neil Gaiman book will be The Graveyard Book, but I own the paperback edition, so I guess we’ll see.  Regardless, I recommend listening to the author narrated audiobook of Coraline.

#FitReaders #47

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for November 16th – 22nd.
  • I did better than last week, but I was sick over most of the weekend.  This week, since I’m only on campus for one day, I’m going to try to make it to the gym every day.  I’m a couple dollars behind on my goal donation, and I’d love to meet my step goal of averaging 9K steps a day before I graduate.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/5
  • Steps: 47,915/63,000
  • Miles: 19.71/21
  • Flights of stairs: 122/70
  • Active Minutes: 256/210
  • Total Money Donated: $36.95/$50.00

Monday’s Minutes #47

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.

  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling – for the HP re-read.
  • Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
  • Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Order of the Phoenix Fool Dirk

Finished:

  • The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
  • A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
  • The Soak by Patrick E. McLean

Paris Grimm Soak

Challenges:

S&S Bingo2update15

Total pages read: 848

Total # of books for the year: 83.  I didn’t get much of a chance to read until Thursday afternoon, but I made up for that by reading most of the weekend.  Part of the problem is that none of the audiobooks I have or are listed in my library’s catalog are calling to me, so the two hours I have every day of the week to get some reading in are being spent listening to other things, like podcasts or music.  Is it possible to have an audiobook slump?

What are you reading this week?

#COYER Going Back to Basics Challenge

Published on by Rachelle6 Comments

COYERBTBsignup

From December 19th to March 4th, I’ll be participating in the Clean out your E-reads (COYER) Challenge hosted by Fantasy is More Fun, Because Reading & Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh, My!

The Rules

  • Read your e-reads. Every book read for the challenge must be in an electronic format – meaning ebook or audiobook.
  • The books must be FREE or NEARLY FREE. What’s nearly free? No more than $5 for ebooks and no more than $16 for audiobooks.
  • Review & link reviews.

My Goals

  • Read at least ten ebooks/audiobooks.
  • Clear out my Netgalley ebooks.
  • Participate in at least one Twitter party.

TBR

This list will probably change by Dec. 19th since I’m hoping to have several of the books already finished and reviewed by then.

Review: Bird Box

Published on by Rachelle2 Comments

Bird Box

  • Author: Josh Malerman
  • ISBN: 9780062259653
  • Genre: Horror/Suspense/Post-Apocalyptic

The above ISBN is for the hardcover edition, but I listened to the audiobook I purchased.

This is a story about what happens when the world goes violently insane, and just like a Shirley Jackson story, Bird Box kept me riveted.  So it was no surprise to find out that Josh Malerman’s novel was a 2014 Shirley Jackson Award Nominee.

The story is told by Malorie by going back and forth between her and her two children’s present situation and Malorie’s past in which you find out how they got to the point of trying to row down a river blindfolded.  This construction is why the book sucked me in and kept me listening.  Not only did I want to know what would happen to Malorie and the children, but I wanted to know even more how it all happened and why Malorie is the way she is.  There were so many questions I wanted answered that I got through the book in a matter of days.

Has this story been done before?  Yes, as is the case with most Post-Apocalyptic novels.  However, never once did I feel the story was contrived or overdone.  Instead, it was a refreshing take on the subgenre that didn’t, for once, involve zombies or The Stand style super-virus.  I also appreciated that we never really know what the monster is or looks like, where it came from, or why everyone is driven to extreme violence after seeing them.  To me, that’s realistic and horrifying.  Aren’t we often more afraid of what we don’t know than what we do know?  I recommend Bird Box to anyone who loves Horror and Suspense, Post-Apocalyptic stories, and fans of Shirley Jackson.

#FitReaders Check-In #46

Published on by Rachelle
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for November 9th – 15th.
  • I had to have my car towed to the mechanics on Monday, and even though I managed to get over 8K steps most days of the week, I never hit my goal of 9K.  I had a couple other bad days as well, and I know it’s because I was exhausted and stressed out from dealing with my car on top of everything else going on right now.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/5
  • Steps: 46,955/63,000
  • Miles: 19.29/21
  • Flights of stairs: 99/70
  • Active Minutes: 243/210
  • Total Money Donated: $35.31/$50.00

Monday’s Minutes #46

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.

  • The Soak by Patrick E. McLean
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling – for the HP re-read.
  • Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
  • Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Soak Order of the Phoenix Fool

Dirk

Finished:

  • The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

Witching

Challenges:

S&S Bingo2update14

Total pages read: 306

Total # of books for the year: 80.  I didn’t read much again this week. I’m still listening to music instead of audiobooks, and I’ve been spending most of my free time job hunting.  I’m very much looking forward to next week when I only have two days of class and can relax and read for the rest of the week.

What are you reading this week?

Review: Eleanor and Park

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment

Eleanor and Park

  • Author: Rainbow Rowell
  • ISBN: 9781250012579

The above ISBN is for the hardcover edition, but I borrowed the audiobook from my university’s library.

I thought Fangirl was amazing.  However, Fangirl isn’t even in the same league as Eleanor and Park.  E&P is the kind of book I want to give a copy of to everyone I know, along with a mix CD of all my favorite 80’s music.  E&P is a piece of much-needed therapy for anyone who has survived an abusive situation.  I crushed so hard on this book and my new OTP that as soon as I was done, my book hangover was severe enough I immediately started to re-read it because nothing else could possibly compare.  Nothing.  How did this happen?

As my regular readers will know, I’m not a huge YA fan, though most of the few YA books I’ve read have been enjoyable.  I don’t have anything against YA, but I do feel it tends towards the same plot lines over and over again and is heavy on the romance.  Yes, Eleanor and Park is about teenage love.  No, that’s not even close to what it’s all about, though.  Eleanor isn’t your typical skinny, blonde girl who has some coming of age teen crisis while trying to juggle a relationship and friends and school and family.  Eleanor has the kind of problems that are much more severe, unsafe, and destructive to her person and her self-esteem.  Eleanor is also messy-haired, weird, and fat.  Eleanor is me, especially when I was a teenager.

I don’t just love this book because of Eleanor and her story, though.  There’s also all the music and comic book conversations between her and Park.  I also love how the story is constructed.  It’s told from both of their perspectives, back and forth, so you don’t just get to know one of them through the eyes of the other.  Also, I love how Rainbow Rowell includes their parents in the story beyond a casual, in the background sort of way.  She’s the only YA author I’ve read that does so.  There are so many other reasons why I love Eleanor and Park.  Just read the book, ok?!

Thursday’s Things: Books, Netflix, and Cats

Published on by Rachelle
Cats and Netflix
“Cats and Netflix”-The Doubleclicks on YouTube

This month’s “Thursday’s Things” is mostly about this special time of year when the weather gives us the perfect excuse to stay indoors.  There is plenty here to read and watch for the rest of the year.

  • 13 Fantasies Inspired by Mythology from the British Isles
  • Books for a Rainy Day – Though Winter isn’t quite here yet, the weather Melinda write’s about arrived in Texas a couple days ago and led me to break out the fuzzy socks and my Doctor Who blankie, and turned my cat, Dresden, back into a cuddler.  Then the temp went back up into the low 90s because…Texas.  Anyhow, I love the shift in the weather because it means my reading also changes.  I’ve read a couple of the books on this list, and several others are on my TBR or wish list.
  • 15 Movies Starring Bookstores – I’ve seen all of the movies on this list at least once, and while I’d love to pretend that all I do during this time of year is snuggle with my cat and read books, I also snuggle with my cat and watch movies.
  • Outlander Word Search Puzzle – I still haven’t seen any but the first episode of the TV series, and I have yet to finish the books.  I don’t have cable, and I refuse to pay about $50 for the whole season.  I’m waiting until the price drops considerably or a reasonably priced box set of both volumes comes out.  However, this is the time of year when I read the books.  I’ll be starting A Breath of Snow and Ashes soon.
  • Sherlock Holmes by the Numbers – Speaking of book-related TV, I’m waiting for the new season of Sherlock to air (2017?!  Are you freakin’ kidding me?!), so I can then wait to watch it for free on PBS Masterpiece.
  • Zadie Smith Talks Parenting: Are Two Kids Too Many?
  • Book Lovers On Instagram Vs. Reality – This is why I have yet to create an Instagram account.  It takes too much energy to make my reading life look less like reality.
  • The Literary Cat – Have too much time on your hands?  Looking for some cat-spiration for all those Caturday Instagram pics you won’t ever take?  Look no further.
  • 6 Books Adapted into Movies Starring Sylvester Stallone
  • The 7 Types of People You See in EVERY Bookstore