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

#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

Bout of Books 11: Day 5

Updates: Today was pretty chill. I didn't end up reading much at all because I had to run some errands and I had work. So not much to say...

Currently Reading: 
Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (listening to the audio book on chapter 19)
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Bout of Books 11: Day 1

UPDATES:
So the first thing I read today was a novella. I needed a contemporary read and I knew that I was going to be reading Lola and the Boy Next Door today, but I was searching Barnes & Noble online and I saw that Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover was free to download on my Nook. So I thought, "Well this is perfect! Something short and contemporary, and I've heard lots of good things about Colleen Hoover." And it was. It was a really good read (I gave it 4/5 stars on Good Reads, but I could bump that up to like a 4.5) and it was exactly what I needed. I was in this long fantasy kick and I was feeling a slump coming on and was craving a contemporary. (I'm still in the middle of reading Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor, and I will continue to read it throughout this week.) So I decided before I read Lola today, I would read this short novella and give myself a sense of accomplishment. Of course I find out after I read it that it is part of a series, and that it should be read 3rd. But at least it is only a companion to the actual series and I don't think it spoiled too much of the series (the Hopeless series by the way). Maybe I'll do a series review once I read the other two books, which now I will because I liked this novella so much. Barnes & Noble really has to step up their game in telling people if things are part of a series, seriously.

Bout of Books 11

What's this? Another read-a-thon!?

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 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

So yeah, I'm going to do another read-a-thon. I really enjoyed participating in the Booktube-a-thon, so I wanted to do another one. So here we are. 

This read-a-thon, I'm not going to be trying to read quite as much, I'm only going to try to make a dent in my TBR for the month. But I've been really busy at work this month so far and I really want to read! I'm hoping to read at least 4 books off my TBR pile. So... 

GOALS: Read 4 books. 

BOOKS TO READ: 

The Giver by Lois Lowry (movie this month) 

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (The Little Book Club book) 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Decatur Book Festival guest) 

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins (Isla's coming out! and Decatur Book Festival Guest)

So let's go I'm so ready! 

xoxo Jennie

days 6 + 7 and that's the end!

So yesterday, day 6, I didn't read. At all. It felt so bad but so good at the same time. I think I just needed a break. I was also driving and I went to a wedding that was 4 hours away and I had to stay overnight so I didn't get a chance to read much. Today, though, when I got back I immediately started reading A Wizard of Earthsea again. It is a pretty hard book to read. It is short but because of the language in it, it doesn't just glide by like some books do. So once I saw that I had only about an hour and a half left of the booktube-a-thon, I picked up Fat Pig by Neil LaBute. It's another play so I knew that it would be a quick read and easy as well. And I did it! I read 7 books and completed ALL of the challenges! I can't really believe that I did it!

Books so far:
day 1:
Marked - finished, 306 pages
daily total: 306
day 2:
City of Bones - not finished, 403 pages
daily total: 403
day 3:
City of Bones - finished, 82 pages
Persepolis - finished, 153 pages
Persepolis 2 - finished, 187 pages
daily total: 422
day 4: 
Anna and the French Kiss - not finished, 181 pages
daily total: 181
day 5:
Anna and the French Kiss - finished, 191 pages
A Wizard of Earthsea - not finished, 15 pages
Detroit - finished, 100 pages
daily total - 306
day 6: 
nada
day 7: 
A Wizard of Earthsea - 69
Fat Pig - 84
BOOK TOTAL: 7
PAGE TOTAL: 1,771

Challenges: 

A book with pictures. completed (Persepolis, Persepolis 2)
Start and finish a series. completed (Persepolis, Persepolis 2)

A book with red on the cover. completed (Persepolis)
A book someone else picks out for you. completed (Detroit)
A book from the genre you've read the least this year. completed (graphic novels)
A book to movie adaptation half way (Persepolis) 
Read seven books/ average of 300 pgs per day. completed

Almost there! Day 5

So I did a whole lot better today than I did yesterday. I was able to finish Anna and the French Kiss this morning before I went to sleep and then start on A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. This afternoon I read the entirety of Detroit, a play by Lisa D'Amour. (and by the way that's how plays are meant to be read. in one sitting within a few hours... I'll make a post on this specifically) I didn't get to read much of A Wizard of Earthsea because I had work today but it's pretty short and seems to be pretty easy to read. I remember that I really liked it the first time I read it too. So I feel pretty confident in all that I've read and that I'll even be able to complete the challenges. I am going away this weekend to a wedding (an entire post on that coming soon!) so I won't be able to read much because there will be lot's of driving and partying involved but since I've already read 6 books I'm still on track to finish.

Books so far:
day 1:
Marked - finished, 306 pages
daily total: 306
day 2:
City of Bones - not finished, 403 pages
daily total: 403
day 3:
City of Bones - finished, 82 pages
Persepolis - finished, 153 pages
Persepolis 2 - finished, 187 pages
daily total: 422
day 4: 
Anna and the French Kiss - not finished, 181 pages
daily total: 181
day 5:
Anna and the French Kiss - finished, 191 pages
A Wizard of Earthsea - not finished, 15 pages
Detroit - finished, 100 pages
daily total - 306
BOOK TOTAL: 6 + a smidge
PAGE TOTAL: 1,618

Challenges: 

A book with pictures. completed (Persepolis, Persepolis 2)
Start and finish a series. completed (Persepolis, Persepolis 2)

A book with red on the cover. completed (Persepolis)
A book someone else picks out for you. completed (Detroit)
A book from the genre you've read the least this year. completed (graphic novels)
A book to movie adaptation half way (Persepolis) 
Read seven books/ average of 300 pgs per day. on track 

xoxo, Jennie

day 4... oops

So today didn't really go as planned. I've only read about half of Anna and the French Kiss. I've just been busy and I think that since I've already read 4 books this week I was a bit tired of it. But I'm still feeling pretty good about the whole read-a-thon. Hopefully I can do pretty well tomorrow because I'm going to a wedding on Saturday and won't be back until Sunday afternoon because it's like 4 hours away and I'm going to be staying over there. oh well

Books so far:
day 1:
Marked - finished, 306 pages
daily total: 306
day 2:
City of Bones - not finished, 403 pages
daily total: 403
day 3:
City of Bones - finished, 82 pages
Persepolis - finished, 153 pages
Persepolis 2 - finished, 187 pages
daily total: 422
day 4: 
Anna and the French Kiss - not finished, 181 pages
BOOK TOTAL: 4 1/2
PAGE TOTAL: 1,312

Challenges: 

A book with pictures. completed (Persepolis, Persepolis 2)
Start and finish a series. completed (Persepolis, Persepolis 2)

A book with red on the cover. completed (Persepolis)
A book someone else picks out for you.
A book from the genre you've read the least this year. completed (graphic novels)
A book to movie adaptation half way (Persepolis) 
Read seven books/ average of 300 pgs per day. on track ish

xoxo, Jennie

books books books day 3

Totally feel like I'm actually doing well on this read-a-thon. wow. I didn't expect to at all. I actually read 2 books today as well as finishing City of Bones. Granted, they were graphic novels so it was pretty easy. I read Persepolis and the sequel Persepolis 2. I really enjoyed these books. I read the first one for a gender studies class in high school so it had been a while so I kinda wanted a refresher. I knew generally what it was about but I had forgotten all of the details. I really like the kind of memoirs that these 2 books are because you see the growth that the character/author goes through. I'm thinking that I might reread Anna and the French Kiss next but I'm not really sure. I think I might read one of the books that my Uncle has bought for me for the 'a book someone else picks out for you' challenge. 

Books so far:
day 1:
Marked - finished, 306 pages
daily total: 306
day 2:
City of Bones - not finished, 403 pages
daily total: 403
day 3:
City of Bones - finished, 82 pages
Persepolis - finished, 153 pages
Persepolis 2 - finished, 187 pages
daily total: 422
BOOK TOTAL: 4

Challenges: 

A book with pictures. completed (Persepolis, Persepolis 2)
Start and finish a series. completed (Persepolis, Persepolis 2)

A book with red on the cover. completed (Persepolis)
A book someone else picks out for you.
A book from the genre you've read the least this year. completed (graphic novels)
A book to movie adaptation half way (Persepolis) 
Read seven books/ average of 300 pgs per day. on track

xoxo, Jennie

booktubeathon day 2

So I've done pretty well today. I didn't finish City of Bones, but I have read 400 pages of it. I only have about 80 pages left so I feel like I'm doing pretty good and I'm definitely on track to complete the read 7 books or about 300 pages a day challenge. So that's pretty good. I think I'm either going to go back to the House of Night series or reading something a bit easier/lighter than The Mortal Instruments series after I'm finished with City of Bones. I think I'm starting to realize why I stopped reading the series the first time that I was reading through it but I'm determined to finish it this time. It just might take me a while to do it.

Books so far:
Marked - finished, 306 pages
City of Bones - on page 403

xoxo, Jennie

BookTube-A-Thon Day 1. Finished

So now that it's officially past midnight on Tuesday, the first day of the BookTube-A-Thon is over. I feel really good about what I accomplished today. I read an entire book. I read Marked which is the first book of the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristen Cast. I was originally planning to marathon the series but I think I might take a break between each of the books... and also the series is 12 books long with 4 novellas. (and I also only have 6 of them) But I think I'm going to start City of Bones by Cassandra Clare next. I have 4 of those books but I don't know if I will marathon that series either. I'm totally not sure what I'm going to do. oops. I'll update tomorrow (or maybe later today, idk)

xoxo Jennie

BookTube-a-thon Not on YouTube

So... I have been really getting into the BookTube scene recently. I kinda had an inkling that they existed but I hadn't really gone looking for them. But last week I did. I found some amazing BookTubers and now my Amazon wish list is SUPER long.

Apparently there is this thing called the BookTube-a-Thon. I really wanted to participate, but I don't really want to do it on YouTube, so I'm going to blog about it instead. So here I am the night before it starts writing about it. I'm going to try to do some of the challenges but mostly I'm going to try and focus on just reading a lot for it. 

Here are the challenges: 

• A book with pictures.
• Start and finish a series.
• A book with red on the cover.
• A book someone else picks out for you.
• A book from the genre you've read the least this year.
• A book to movie adaptation
• Read seven books.

I'm going to try and write everyday to keep up with how I am doing during the week. I'm excited. 

xoxo, Jennie

P.S. here is the BookTube-a-Thon channel on YouTube explaining everything.