July Wrap Up

Ok, as usual, book updates first. I'm a bit behind on my reading challenges. I have 20 left to do of my 50 books challenge, which is fine. But I have only read 39 toward my goal of 75 books for the year. According to Goodreads, I am four books behind schedule. In my defense, I have been reading one book since May, but it is not very good, but I am more than halfway through, so I am struggling to finish it anyway. Ugh. I may need to drop it and move on. Anyhow...

Books read this month:

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (aka J.K. Rowling). Fun and silly.
• The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague by The Great Courses/Dorsey Armstrong. Super interesting and exciting if you love the plague like I do.
• The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by Josephine Leslie (aka R.A. Dick). An old favorite of mine.
• Wild Born by Brandon Mull. Fun story about people who have spirit animals and magic.
• The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. Interesting, vaguely dystopian story.

Challenges completed this month:

• A book under 100 pages: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• A history book: The Black Death
• A book turned into a movie: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
• A book that takes place in another world: Wild Born
• A book with a lot of hype: The Red Queen

Favorite book read this month:

The Black Death or The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Least favorite book read this month:

I guess Wild Born, not because it was bad, but just because I enjoyed the other books more.

I participated in an interesting book exchange this month. It was informal via Facebook and I saw that one of my high school teachers had posted it. The deal is that anyone who liked her status received a message with details. What happens is that the people who like your status send books two people back. So I didn't send a book to my teacher, but to her friend whose status my teacher liked. Then I posted the message in my status and people who liked my status (hopefully) sent a book to my teacher and so on and so forth. So I sent a copy of The Eyre Affair to my teacher's friend, who is an English teacher, so I hope she will like it. Anyway, that is a very convoluted story, but I received a couple of books which I was very excited about:

Here is my book haul for the month. I was bad and replaced my paperback copies of the Raven Cycle with hardback copies with signed bookplates to match my beautiful copy of the Raven King (which is not a new purchase, but I wanted to showcase here. Because these books and the artwork (by the author, mind you) are SOOOOO pretty!

I may have bought a few too many books this month. And this doesn't include my audiobook purchases. Oops... Oh well.

Otherwise, not much has been going on. I'm still dancing (and trying to get into better shape so that I can actually do my routine in October). I am still going on dates with the guy I've been seeing. We've done a few fun things, including a Dinner Detective Mystery Theater dinner, which was very entertaining. Here is the link if anyone is interested: The Dinner Detective. It was fun and interactive (which almost deterred me. And since my hair is rainbow colored, I drew attention and I did have to participate in front of everyone. Which I wasn't wild about, but it was still enjoyable). We also did an escape room. I had no idea what to expect, but that was actually very fun and I would definitely do it again. Here is the link to the place we went: Denver Escape Room.

The first part of this month was very rough for me. I am happy to say that I have officially made it through one year since the break up. While I felt that it destroyed me (and still does, sometimes), and my heart is sometimes still broken, I am proud that I have made it. And it sucked and it was hard and I never want to do it again. But it keeps getting easier and I know that I can make it. They say the first year is the hardest and I am glad that that is now behind me.

June Wrap Up

As usual, book reviews can be found on my book blog, if you are interested.

Alright, books read this month:

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern. The first installment of a young adult dystopian series.

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde. Awesome and funny sequel to The Eyre Affair.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. A calssically-written story about restoring magic to England.

Challenges completed:

A book you recently bought: Flawed

A book that made you laugh: Lost in a Good Book
A book over 700 pages: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

Favorite book read this month:
Lost in a Good Book

Least favorite book read this month:
Flawed

And my book haul for the month:

My copy of The Scorpio Races is signed by Maggie Stiefvater! So extra exciting.

And I feel like I need to defend myself for owning another book by Sarah J. Maas... I read (and seriously disliked) Throne of Glass. I hear that her books get better, but I was very skeptical and unwilling to read more to find out. Well, this copy came in a book box I subscribe to (The Best Damn Book Box) for last month's Beauty and the Beast themed box. So... there it is. I'm not sure if I will read it or not. It is very pretty. And maybe I can read it without reading any of the others? We will see. I don't have high hopes really.

I also bought a set of tarot cards that came with a book all made/written by Maggie Stiefvater, which is absolutely amazing! They are so pretty! I'm not sure if that counts in my book haul...

Anyway, I will leave it at that for this month.

Oh! And I dyed my hair rainbow colors! Which has been super fun and I am really enjoying it!

April Wrap Up

I totally derailed this month! I started strong and then ended up reading waaay too many books. I am still working my way through Cress. It's been months. The book is good, I just keep putting it down to read other things. Like The White Cliffs. Or Demigods and Magicians... And then I was about a third of the way through Six of Crows audiobook when The Raven King was released at which point I dropped nearly everything to listen to that audiobook because OH MY GOD IT'S FINALLY HERE. I'm not finished yet, but it is SOOO good so far. I'm so in love...

Anyway...

April Book Haul

My copy of The Raven King that I ordered. Doodled in my Maggie Stiefvater herself! I love it!

Books read this month:

• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. I LOVED this book and was so excited for the last book to come out this month.
• The White Cliffs by Alice Duer Miller. I was reminded of this when I read Born With Teeth. My copy belonged to my great grandmother, so it's pretty special.
• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. Interesting sort of growing/coming of age story about twins Noah and Jude.

Favorite book read this month:
Definitely Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Least favorite book read this month:
Probably The White Cliffs? If only because poetry isn't my go-to genre.

Challenges completed:

A poetry book: The White Cliffs
A book with a colorful cover: I'll Give You the Sun

In other news, dancing continues to go well and I am still loving it.

I have also been feeling better, especially the last two weeks or so. My sad days are finally getting fewer and further between, and when I have them, they aren't as hard. I am feeling better about myself and my situation. There is still some hurt, anger, and bitterness there, but it is, amazingly and suddenly, more manageable. I'm so relieved. It really does start to get better.

I got a couple more rats, which some of you have seen and heard about. Introductions are... proceeding. I've been reading articles and getting tips from other rat owners. I need them all to get along!

I have some other news, but it is a bit different and I am going to save it for a separate post.

February Wrap Up

Alright! What did I read this month?

I finished:

• Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. It was a gift from a friend who always finds the best books.
• The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald. Read as an audiobook. Very charming. Plus I love the title.
• Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin. A book about a transgender teen. So good. Well written and clever.
• Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender Creative Son by Lori Duron. Lovely read, very touching.
• Spindle's End by Robin McKinley. Re-telling of Sleeping Beauty. 
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. I like Cinder a bit better, but very good. I'm excited to read Cress next.
• 1984 by George Orwell. This was a re-read because my student was reading it for class and I wanted to help her out. Still a good dystopia.
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. There has been some hype surrounding this book and it definitely lived up to it.

As usual, my actual reviews are posted on my book blog, if you are interested in reading them.

I felt like I was slowing down on my reading, but for a while there I was reading up to 5 books at once, which is just too many. Once I finished Year of Wonders, I started to feel a little more in control, though 4 is still about 1 over my usual limit. After finishing 1984, I was able to bring it back down to three and I got back up to pace.

I had to rearrange which books I read at what time. I started Worlds of Ink and Shadow, but parts of it were eerie and spooky so I had to stop reading it before bed and switch it with Cress, my "daytime" book (I work nights, hence the quotations). Anyone else do that? Nothing creepy before bed; gives me nightmares.

Completed 2016 Reading Challenges:

• A book from a debut author: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald.
• A book you received as a gift: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks.
• A book with LGBTQA+ lead character: Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin.
• A non-fiction book: Raising my Rainbow by Lori Duron
• A book with magic: Spindle's End by Robin McKinley 
• A book typically read in school: 1984 by George Orwell

Favorite Book Read This Month:
The Raven Boys followed closely by Symptoms of Being Human.

Least Favorite Book Read This Month:
Tough one, maybe 1984 because I had already read it so it was less interesting. Or Spindle's End. I like Robin McKinley, but this was not her best work.

Lastly, I am planning to participate in an Instagram Book Photo Challenge:

And please feel free to join and check out the hosts' accounts-they are all pretty awesome!

My photos will only be posted on my Instagram and book blog. Head there if you are interested in seeing my (mediocre) photos.

January Wrap Up

I thought I would start doing an end of the month wrap up mostly to get some more book stuff on to this blog. (I still have my book blog here if you want to follow book reviews and news and things of that nature. I post there fairly regularly.)

I may also include little or big things that have happened in the previous month. I'm not really sure yet what I want to do with these. So bear with me. Or share suggestions!

So I decided to participate in a general reading challenge posted by The Bookish Canuck:

 The original link can be found here.

I hope this will give me a change to finally get to books that have been on my to-read list forever because I will have to read more than just my usual stuff. Some of the categories have various possibilities, but I did manage to cross a few off this month.

Completed Challenges:
A book from the start of a series: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
A book you read in a day: Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
A biography/autobiography (I count memoirs): Are You There, God? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler.
And more are in the works.

My favorite book read this month: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. Seriously under-hyped book. I thought it was outstanding.
Least favorite book read this month: Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler.
(Head to my book blog to see reviews.)

Other happenings this month:
Death of David Bowie and Alan Rickman, both of which made me very sad. I still cry about David Bowie's death. Being a fan of his is part of my identity (which you see if you read my profiles anywhere and everywhere). But this did lead me to get my tattoo in his memory, which I love.

I bought a new (to me) car, which was a huge step.

Here is to a better February!

(And forgive the delay, I tried to post this last night, but our internet was out for a while.)

Halloween Reading List

Oh yes, it is that time of the year! My favorite time of the year! And I need a book list to go with it, obviously. So here is the run down:

• The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley. Recommended by a friend.
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Because I have never read it. I know, shame on me.
• Dracula by Bram Stoker. Again, one I have never read. I plan to listen to this one.
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. Another new one that I plan to listen to.
• Oh and The Sword of Summer, the new Magnus Chase book by Rick Riordan. Because I wait all year long for his books to come out. I don't care if it's Halloween-y or not. I will read it as soon as I can get it and you can't stop me!
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I always read this one in October, but I may not get to it this year with my other planned reads. 
• M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman. This is a collection of stories I stumbled across more than a year ago and haven't read yet. I have it as an audiobook and will read it if I finish my others in time.
• And, if time allows, The Diviners by Libba Bray. New one that I have seen recommended by a couple of book blogs I follow. It sounds spooky, but not scary. Right up my alley.

It started to turn into a list of classics because last year I realized how few of these I had read. It's about time I fixed that.

I also decided to participate in this book challenge by purrfect.reads on Instagram:

If you would like to follow my progress, do so via my Instagram or my Tumblr.

Anyone else have spooky reads this year?