Top Ten Tuesday | February 16, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

10 Book Related Problems

1. Figuring out what to read next - This is why I love monthly TBRs. I can choose from a smaller list of books rather than sitting in front of my bookshelf trying to figure out what to read next. (TBR shelf)
2. Mood Reading - I'm a major mood reader. I have to be in the mood to read a book or else I won't enjoy it at all. I've gotten to the start of a themed read-a-thon and just realized that I couldn't read any of the books that I planned to read because they weren't what I was feeling like reading.
3. Aversion to non-fiction - I know that a lot of non-fiction is really good, I just can't get myself to pick any up.
4. Reading Slumps - You know, when you just can't seem to get into anything you pick up and then end up watching the entirety of Friends on Netflix.
5. Not being able to leave a bookstore without a book - I literally can't resist buying books. And my bank account really doesn't like this habit.
6. Craving a romance - I tend to crave a romance in any book that I read. So, when I don't get one, I get really disappointed.
7. Binge-reading - I tend to binge-read. Not just an entire series, but I'll sit and read like 5 books within a fairly short amount of time and then I tire myself out and I don't want to read anymore.
8. Over-ambitious TBRs - I pick out a lot more books than is feasible for a month or a week and then I get disappointed when I don't finish it.
9. Auto-buys and cover-buys - Sometimes I really need to pay more attention to what the book is actually going to be about versus who wrote it or if it has a pretty cover.
10. Not finishing series - I have a problem with not finishing series. A lot of times it's because when I start the series, I read all the books that are out and then forget about the series and then end up with several books to read to finish the series and not remembering any of the previous books.

Top Ten Tuesday | February 3, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books that I can't believe I haven't read from YA.

1. Looking for Alaska by John Green
2. Paper Towns by John Green
3. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
5. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
6. The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
7. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
8. The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy by Jenny Han
9. The Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead
10. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Monday Updates | February 2, 2015

What I read this week: 
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn
Blonde Ops by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman

What I've Listened to this week: 
nothing finished

What I'm Reading: 


What I'm Listening to: 
Unwholly by Neal Shusterman
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

TBR for this week: 
#AYEARATHON Diversity Month

#AYEARATHON | Diversity Month

This is going to be my TBR for the #AYEARATHON read-a-thon that is this coming week. It runs February 2-8 and the theme is to read diversely. This month we are supposed to read books about or written by people who are different from us, whether it be racially, ethnically, spiritually, socio-economically (etc.). I never really think about diversity when deciding what book I want to read, I really normally just think about whether or not I like the sound of the plot. I'm really looking forward to reading things that are different from what I know. These are the books that I've picked out as possibilities for this week:

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
An Anthology of Native American Plays edited by Mimi Gisolfi D'Aponte
The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen by Mitali Perkins

February TBR | 2015

So for February, I've really thought about what I've been wanting/needing to read. I'm also going to be participating in 2 read-a-thons this month: #AYEARATHON (Diversity month) and the Bookentine Read-a-thon (contemporary with specific challenges). I will go into more detail about what I'm planning on reading for those in specific posts. But here's my general TBR for the month. I wanted to give myself more options than I did in January because I read so much in January and I'm hoping that mood is going to continue (knock on wood) and I'll be able to read a lot in February too (#projectTBR). In January I didn't give myself enough options so I ended up spending a lot of time trying to figure out what I wanted to read and I didn't want to have that much of a problem this month.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

January Wrap Up | 2014

Books I read:

Maus I  by Art Spiegelman 

Maus II by Art Spiegelman 

Starry Night by Isabel Gillies

The Duff by Kody Keplinger
A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall
The 100 by Kass Morgan
The 100: Day 21 By Kass Morgan
Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough
The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett
The Nightmare Dilema by Mindee Arnett
Mind Games by Kiersten White
Annie and Fia: A Mind Games Short Story by Kiersten White
Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn

Books I Listened to:


What I'm Currently Reading:
Blonde Ops by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman

What I'm Currently Listening to:
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Unwholly by Neal Shusterman

#RYBSAT | Round 4

ISo this will be my 2nd time participating in the Read-your-bookshelf-a-thon. It is hosted by Miranda from BooKss101 on YouTube. I really like this read-a-thon, so I decided to participate in it again. This read-a-thon is one where you pick a point on your shelves and you read the books from there on consecutively. The hardest part, however, has been deciding on where to start. I can't decide if I want to read series or if I want to read stand alones, and I have to choose because that's how my shelf is organize (unless I rearrange things). I might skip some or read something in between if I need to read the first book before I read a sequel because my books are also separated by hardcover and softcover. I did just participate in the #AYEARATHON for this month which was stand alones, so I'm leaning towards series for this read-a-thon.

I'm reading The 100 by Kass Morgan right now, so I will be starting with the sequel to that.
What I plan on reading:

The 100: Day 21 by Kass Morgan 

Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough 

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett 

The Nightmare Dilema by Mindee Arnett 

Mind Games by Kiersten White
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Dualed by Elsie Chapman

I seriously doubt that I will get any farther than that in the read-a-thon, but if I do, I will skip both The Golden Compass (because I don't feel like that one right now) and Tempted (because I have to read 4 other books in that series before that one. Then I will read Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend. Then I will skip There's No Place Like Home (because I have another book in that series to read first). Then I would read Beneath the Glitter before continuing with Where Beauty Lies (because I want to finish that series). But I really doubth I will read more than 7 books in this read-a-thon. I think I will probably get through like 3 or 4.

Monday Updates | January 5, 2015

But seriously, it's going to take me so long to get used to writing/typing 2015. So I haven't updated in a while, but I also haven't read much at all. I've only finished one book from the last weekly TBR that I posted, but I've read more than that. It got super busy at work around the holidays (the joys of working in retail I guess). I was working 30-40 hours a week, which meant I got paid a good amount of money, but it also meant that I didn't get to read much at all. Then there was also all the holidays and getting ready for holidays, so that didn't give much time for reading either. The last book I ended up finishing in December was The Maltese Falcon. I don't know if I'll continue to read Let it Snow this month or if I'll put it down again until next year when I might have more time and it'll be the holidays again. I don't know if I want to read a book about Christmas in January. So here's what I've read since the New Year began.

I'm also going to be participating in the #AYEARATHON this week and the theme is stand alones.

What I read this week: 
Maus I by Art Spiegelman
Maus II by Art Spiegelman

What I've Listened to this week: 
nothing finished

What I'm Reading: 
Starry Night by Isabel Gillies

What I'm Listening to: 
Unwholly by Neal Shusterman

TBR for this week: 
Starry Night by Isabel Gillies
Looking for Alaska by John Green

November 2014 TBR

Deciding on my TBR for this month has been a challenge. I don't know if I'm being really indecisive or if I'm just discouraged from last month, but I just can't figure out what I want to read this month. I know I won't be as busy this month so I'll have more time to read. I know that I'll still be at least somewhat busy since it's starting the holiday season and I work in retail, but I'll still have time every day to read (unlike when I was working 3 jobs this past month). I think I'm going to mostly focus on finishing up what I was supposed to read for October and I have some things that I want to read as well.

Books to finish reading:
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - I've almost finished this book. I've just been pretty busy and I've also been catching up on other things I missed while I was not doing anything but working. I have a little over 50 pages to go so I'm hoping to finish it up either tonight or tomorrow definitely.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - I've been reading this book for like a month and a half and I really need to finish it. I'm only on page 62 of 372, so I need to get on it. I think the book club I'm reading it will will be meeting either at the end of November or the beginning of December to discuss this book and our October book.

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor - I put this down a few months ago because I was having trouble getting through it, but I really want to finish it. If I try again and I still can't make it through I might just put it away for a while and try again sometime.

Books to finish listening to:
Unwind by Neal Shusterman - I've got less than 2 hours left of this book and I'm really interested to see how it turns out. And, then, of course, I need to get the rest of the series.

What to read next:
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammet
Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout
JOHN GREEN MARATHON! (Yea, I know, I've never read a John Green book and that needs to be fixed so here we are, fixing that.)
Looking for Alaska by John Green
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Paper Towns by John Green
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

What to listen to next:
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

RYBSAR Days 4 and 5 | October 1-8

So on day 4 I ended up finishing The Six by K.B. Hoyle. I enjoyed it but I thought that it was really similar to The Chronicles of Narnia. I don't know if I'm going to finish reading the series because of this fact. I want to know what happens but I feel like I should read The Chronicles of Narnia first because it came first.

On day 5 I read absolutely nothing. I had rehearsal all afternoon and then work right after until 11pm. I didn't really feel like reading after that because I had to get up relatively early (for me) this morning.

What I read today:
The Six by K.B. Hoyle, 118 pages

Books finished: 
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
The Six by K.B. Hoyle by Maureen Johnson

Pages Read: 
672

RYBSAT Day 3 | October 1-8

So today was a bit of a slow day. I had work in the middle of the day and for some reason I just didn't feel like reading much until later in the evening. I did end up deciding to skip Of Mice and Men because I was just not in the mood for it and I could tell by reading the first chapter that I wouldn't be able to read it that quickly and it would take me a bit more time. And since I'm already reading a book like that, I didn't want to read two at the same time. I went ahead and moved on to The Six by K.B. Hoyle. I'm actually enjoying it more than I expected to. I do think that it's going to be a bit more in the middle-grade category but I'm totally okay with that.

What I read today:
The Six by K.B. Hoyle, 135 pages

Books finished: 
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Pages Read: 
554

Five Friday Favorites | October 3, 2014

Five Friday Favourites is a weekly meme hosted by Book Badger

Favorite Friendships

1. Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling 

2. Fred and George from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling 

3. America and Marlee from The Selection Series by Kiera Cass 

4. Karou and Zusanna from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

5. Isla and Kurt from Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

RYBSAT Day 2 | October 1-8

Today went pretty well. I had a good amount of time to read. I finished my first book of the read-a-thon. I really liked it and I really want to continue with the series, but I won't be able to because none of the bookstores near me has the next book. So, I'll have to order it and wait for it to get here...

What I read today:
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson, 312 pages

Books finished: 
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Pages Read: 
419

Harry Potter MOTW | October 2, 2014

Harry Potter Moment of the Week is a weekly meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts

Most cringe inducing scene in the series (9/25):

Okay so not from the books, but the kisses between Harry and Ginny in the movies are just soooo awkward. The chemistry that is supposed to be there isn't and it's just way too awkward to watch.

Judging by your family, would you be Muggle-born, Half-Blood, or Pureblood?

I think I would have to be Half-Blood. I think that some of my family would be magical and some of it wouldn't. But there would be magic from both sides of my family. Like my dad's like a squib or something but one of my brothers is magical and the other isn't. And some of my cousins would definitely be. And then my mom would probably be Muggle-born.

October TBR | 2014

September Wrap-Up | 2014

I feel really good about what I've read this month. I didn't read as much as I have before, but I did read a good bit, and I also listened to a good bit so I feel pretty accomplished.

Top Ten Tuesday | September 30, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

Top Ten Books that Were Hard for Me to Read:
1. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuinn - This is an amazing book, but the way that it is written is very hard to read. I'm the type of person that likes to breeze through books, but this one wasn't like that. It took me a while to read because of the writing style.
2. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor - I really don't know what it is about this book. I am about half-way through and have been for over a month now. For whatever reason, I just can't finish it.
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - This is an amazing book (so far I'm only on page 60ish) but for whatever reason it took me forever to pick it up this month. It's the book that I'm reading with my family this month but I literally just picked it up. I think I was intimidated by it, and that's why it took me a while to actually pick it up and read.
4. Beowulf - Um... well... it's in middle English. 'nuff said
5. Savages by Joe Kane - The subject matter was really difficult for me when I was required to read it. I read it in 10th grade and I don't know if I was really ready to read something like this. My dad actually read it before I did and blocked out what he didn't want me to read.
6. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein - Okay, so I was actually listening to the audio book. But it was getting really hard for me to keep up and keep the characters straight and figure out what was happening. I think I'll try actually reading it first and then listening to it again.
7. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare - I was thoroughly pissed off by something that happened. I know that it changes later on I just got really pissed off and it's hard for me to keep reading the series.
8. The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemingway - I became a vegetarian after reading like the first few chapters of this book because I was so disgusted.
9. Into the Wild by Jon Krakaure - This was just hard to read.
10. Anything that was assigned by a teacher ever. Something rebellious in me just didn't want to read anything that was assigned.

Monday Updates | September 29, 2014

Okay so these past few weeks have been sooo busy. I've been in rehearsals and working and sleeping. But I haven't had much time for anything else, unfortunately. I'm really liking being involved with such an amazing process with Hamlet. It's so amazing to see how much work professional actors do and how smart these women are. Not to say that the college actors that I've worked with aren't smart or don't do a lot of work, but I think it's different in a professional setting. And the only other professional shows I've done have been for babies so it's very different. There's no deeper meaning to those shows really.
It's also really interesting that the entire cast is female. It's a very different version of Hamlet than it would be if it was male-lead. Women feel things differently and think about things differently. It's really interesting to see the process.

What I've Read This Week:
60 pages of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

What I've Listened to This week:
nothing finished

What I'm Reading:
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

What I'm Listening To:
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

TBR for this week:
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
(because that's what's left for my monthly TBR...)

RYBSAT Round Three and #AYEARATHON | Announcement & TBR

Read Your BookShelf-a-Thon (RYBSAT)

I love read-a-thons. I think we all know that. I seriously participate in as many as I can because I love them! I will also be participating in the #AYEARATHON for this month which sort of overlaps with RYBSAT. The topic for this month is Stephen King/Horror. I don't really have that much horror but I will be reading creepy books instead (well that's what I'm hoping to read all month haha)

RYBSAT runs October 1-8
#AYEARATHON runs October 6-12

TBR RYBSAT:

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Six by K.B. Hoyle
(Skipping Jane Eyre)
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (which should get me started on the creepy books for...)

#AYEARATHON TBR
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
From Bad to Cursed by Katie Alender
As Dead as it Gets by Katie Alender
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

I have more in my TBR for this month that I can read that will go with the creepy theme if I make it through these books. But, I am going to be working a lot and I have a show opening in 2 weeks (during both of these read-a-thons) so I'll be super exhausted. But I'm certainly going to try!!

xoxo Jennie

ps I don't really know why this post was this important to write at 2am, but it was...

Stacking the Shelves | September 27, 2014

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews