Bout of Books 14: Day Two Progress

Published on by Rachelle
Bout of Books
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01 am Monday, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team
The Boyfriend’s Mom is in town, and posting my update for yesterday slipped my mind!  I still managed to finish another book, though.  I probably won’t finish any books today, but maybe tomorrow.
  • Books Finished: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – I probably won’t review this one, but it was mostly good.
  • Total Number of Books Read: 2
  • Challenges: I didn’t do yesterday’s challenge.

#FitReaders Check-In #33

Published on by Rachelle
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for August 10th – 16th.  I’m still on Summer break, so I didn’t do week three of the 10-Week Mindful Diet Plan for Healthy Eating from Yoga Journal.
  • I’ve been staying indoors and out of the oven that is Texas in August.  Mostly, I’ve been gaming and reading, and the only exercise I’m getting is when I play with Dresden, the cat and when I clean.
  • I return to school for my final semester next week.  I’ll pick my goals back up at that time.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/7
  • Steps: 13,909/56,000
  • Miles: 5.71/21
  • Flights of stairs: 2/70
  • Active Minutes: 0/210
  • Total Money Donated: $16.63

Bout of Books 14: Day One Progress

Published on by Rachelle
Bout of Books
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01 am Monday, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team
The first day, and I’ve already finished a book!  I’m hoping to finish A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle today.
  • Books Finished: Irona 700 by Dave Duncan – I’ll be posting the review next week.
  • Total Number of Books Read: 1
  • Challenges: Fictional World Travel

Bout of Books: Fictional World Travel Challenge

Published on by Rachelle

Leann @ Between Library Shelves is hosting the first Bout of Books 14 challenge.  She has tasked all of us that want to give it a try with coming up with books set in countries other than where we live.  I’ve been traveling since I was born (in Japan), but much of my travels have been within the United States, where I currently live.  Ever since I started college, though, I haven’t been outside of Texas (I’m going to New Orleans soon, though).  However, that doesn’t stop me from traveling via armchair.  Here are only six books out of too many to list* that are set in various countries around the world (The book covers are linked to Goodreads):

ForeignForeign Correspondences by Lesley Krueger (India, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and Canada)

Smile, You’re Traveling by Henry Rollins (Africa and so many other places around the world) Smile

 

 

80

 

 

 

 

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (The title says it all)

The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg (France) Dream

 

 

 

Thief

 

 

 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Germany)

The Historian (Hungary, Turkey, Romania, and several other countries) Historian

*To find other great armchair traveling reads, check out Book Lust to Go by Nancy Pearl, which has a lot of great suggestions.

Bout of Books 14: Shhh, I’m Reading!

Published on by Rachelle
Bout of Books
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01 am Monday, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

 

As promised, here are my updated goals.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a lot of books to read 🙂

Time Devoted to Reading

I will be reading every day of the week.

My Goals

  • finish off whatever books I’m currently reading.
  • Read at least one new book off of my TBR shelf.
  • I want to be able to finish at least 4 books, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to finish 5.

Books to Read

  • Irona 700 by Dave Duncan
  • Uprooted by Naomi Novik
  • Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
  • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Updates

I will be posting an update each day with the titles of the books I’ve finished and the total number of books I’ve read.  If I wasn’t able to finish a book that day, I’ll put the number of pages read instead.

Monday’s Minutes #33

Published on by Rachelle
  • Irona 700 by Dave Duncan – a review book.
  • Uprooted by Naomi Novik
  • Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling – for the HP Re-read I’m doing.
  • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Irona Uprooted Night Chamber Wrinkle

Finished: The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks, which I’ll be reviewing sometime after Bout of Books 14.  I also finished Judging a Book by its Lover by Lauren Leto, but I haven’t decided yet whether or not I’m going to review it.

 Lemoncholy Judging

Challenges:

S&S Bingo2update12

Total pages read for the week: 528

Total # of books for the year: 54.  Can you believe I’ve never read A Wrinkle in Time?!  It’s been on my mental TBR since I came across it in my school library in the 7th grade.  I finally got around to buying a copy when I was 30 and had started collecting books I had read or had wanted to read when I was a kid.

Top Commenters: This week my Top Commenters were Terri @ Second Run Reviews and Shaina @ Shaina Reads.

What are you reading this week?

Call for Recommendations: New Orleans

Published on by Rachelle
Ursuline St from River Levee French Quarter
Image: Infrogmation of New Orleans

I’m ridiculously excited!  The Boyfriend and I are going to New Orleans in September for our 2nd anniversary!  What is even better is that, since he has already been there, but I haven’t, he’s making the plans.  So far, I know that we’re staying in an old hotel full of antique furniture, and our room will have a private balcony overlooking the French Quarter.  We will also be going on a couple different tours, but he hasn’t worked out the details for those yet.

The Boyfriend has requested that I bring along several audiobooks for us to listen to during the long drive.  That’s where I need your help.  I want to listen to and read books set in New Orleans, or Louisiana in general.  However, with the exception of many of Anne Rice’s books and the “Sookie Stackhouse” series, I’m at a loss for what to read.  So, regardless of genre, what would you recommend?

I will try to find your recommendations at the library, and before the Boyfriend and I head off on our trip, I’ll let you all know what books I’ll be taking with me.

Review: The Hero and the Crown

Published on by Rachelle

Hero

  • Author: Robin McKinley
  • ISBN: 9780441013050
  • Genre: Fantasy

I purchased this book in an attempt to collect all of Robin McKinley’s books.

Robin McKinley is one of those Fantasy authors who I’ve never heard anything negative about her writing.  When I found out that she wrote several fairy tale retellings, I began trying to find all of them.  While this isn’t a retelling, it’s still Fantasy, so I bought it along with the second book, The Blue Sword.

I would have finished The Hero and the Crown in a single day if I had started it earlier.  I tried to finish it before I went to bed, but by 4 am, I couldn’t keep my eyes focused on the page anymore.  So, I finished it the next day.  The only part of the story I didn’t care for was the romance.  I know the two characters involved had spent a lot of time together by the time they fell in love, but it didn’t feel that way.  Perhaps that’s because I read the book so quickly, or maybe it’s because that part of the story didn’t take up a lot of pages.  Regardless, I would have preferred them to just be close friends.  That’s how I feel about a lot of fictional relationships, though, especially if the romance isn’t necessary to the plot.  Why is it that every time there happens to be both a male and female character in a book they have to fall in love with each other?

Putting the romance issue aside, I absolutely loved this book.  There is a significant part involving the main character, Aerin, and her relationship with her horse that I thought would bore me because I’ve never had any real interest in horse stories.  Surprisingly, that was one of the most engrossing parts of the story.  In other words, Robin McKinley succeeded in making me care about a horse, when up to this point in my life, the only horses I’ve liked are My Little Ponies.  So, if you happen to love horses, Robin McKinley, quest narratives, or High Fantasy, take a lazy day during the weekend (but start earlyish) to read The Hero and the Crown.

#COYER Scavenger Hunt #40: Read a book with a strong female protagonist.

Review: Abomination

Published on by Rachelle

Abomination

  • Author: Gary Whitta
  • ISBN: 9781941758304
  • Genre: Dark Fantasy

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Abomination is a mashup of History and Fantasy.  In a way, it starts out as an alternative history or at least a Fantasy explanation of certain events.  However, it didn’t take long before it veered away from the history of 9th century England into pure Fantasy Fiction.  It was full of anachronisms, and many of the characters had highly modern attitudes that were flat out ridiculous in the historical setting.  However, most of the story itself, especially the plot, was enjoyable and made me think of the “Diablo” video games I love to play.

If you’ve never played any of the “Diablo” games, then just know that they’re dark, gritty, and graphic, and they involve demonic possession and all the horrors that come along with it.  That is Abomination in a nutshell, and it’s not for anyone who doesn’t enjoy horror or is easily bothered by graphic violence.

A little over halfway through the book, the story took an unexpected turn that I can’t explain without giving away an important detail not mentioned in the Goodreads synopsis.  However, after that, it quickly became extremely predictable, and each turn of events grew more and more implausible and convenient.  I became antsy and impatient for the ending, so as much as I enjoyed over half of the book, I would have rather been playing “Diablo” during the last third or so.  If you enjoy playing “Diablo” or reading Dark Fantasy, maybe give this book a chance.  Perhaps you’ll feel differently than I did about the second half.

#COYER Scavenger Hunt #25: Read a book set in the Medieval Era (9th century).

#ShelfLove: The Best Bookish Gifts

Published on by Rachelle

showyourshelves_zps8f6e8b06-png320x480

This month, the hosts of the #ShelfLove No Book Buying Challenge want us to share the best bookish gifts we’ve given or received.  While I was thinking about the various gifts I’ve gotten over the years, I realized that, with the exception of bookstore gift cards, my family doesn’t get me bookish gifts.  The Boyfriend and his family?  They’re considerably more thoughtful when it comes to gift giving.  It’s not that I don’t appreciate bookstore gift cards.  Oh, trust me, I do. The one my Mom got me for Christmas allowed me to get The Outlandish Companion, Vol. 1 by Diana Gabaldon (and several ebooks) without going against the No Book Buying Challenge.  However, gift cards don’t require much thought.

In the almost two years the Boyfriend and I have been together (our anniversary is next month! <3), I’ve received the following thoughtful and bookish gifts from him and his family:

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This was half of my gift for our first anniversary.

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This is the second half of my anniversary gift.  Though it’s not technically bookish, it replaced a computer chair that my best friend gave me, which was by that time completely worn out and beginning to cause me quite a bit of back pain.  There’s no way I would be able to get everything done for this blog and my college classes every day without this chair.

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These are some of the stocking stuffer gifts that the Boyfriend’s Mom put in my Christmas stocking.

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This is a metal Celtic bookmark that Pete, the Boyfriend’s Mom’s husband, gave me for Christmas.  Though he didn’t know it at the time, I had been eyeing bookmarks like this for awhile, but wouldn’t buy one because they cost about as much as a paperback.  He said he got it because every time he saw me, I was always reading.

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Probably the best bookish gift I’ve ever gotten from anyone is my Kindle, which the Boyfriend got me for Christmas.  He also got me the USB power adapter, and that was the first gift from him that I opened.  You’ve never seen a girl get excited over an adapter unless you saw me when I realized it meant the other box was a Kindle.

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The second best bookish gift is this Kindle cover, which anyone who loves Doctor Who will recognize as River Song’s journal.  I have the Best.Boyfriend.Ever.2015-08-13 01.16.23

For my Birthday last year, the Boyfriend got me these beautiful editions of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and The Arabian Nights.  He got me several other books as well, but these are special for two reasons.  One, he knows I love fairy tales, and two, I rarely ever buy myself hardcover editions despite having to stop myself from drooling over how substantial and permanent they look on the shelf.  Hardcovers say, “Here’s a private book collection to be passed down to future generations.”  My budget says, “That’s at least FIVE mass market paperbacks from the used bookstore.”

Though I haven’t pictured it here, one very thoughtful gift my Dad gave me for no other reason than he knows how much I love to read, but don’t have the money to buy books.  It’s a disc full of free ebooks.  I don’t count them in my TBR because there are too many books for me to read in a lifetime.  There are also a lot of genre books on the disc that I know I’ll never read.  However, I’ve discovered quite a few books on there that are great and I likely wouldn’t have found otherwise.

My BFF and I have gotten into the habit of gifting each other with books ever since she got in a scarily bad accident and was in the hospital with far too much time on her hands.  I immediately bought a tote bag full of books to keep her mind busy and got her hooked on a new series in the process.  Now she and her husband keep an ear open to the books I wish I could buy and get them for me for Birthdays and Christmases.  The most recent one was Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.  Somehow they managed to pick up a copy right in front of me without my seeing and then gave it to me when we were out of the store.  I’m pretty sure they’re secretly ninjas.