2016 Reading Assignment Challenge Sign up

This is hosted by Berls at Fantasy is more fun and Michelle at Because Reading and you can sign up at this link. There are so many books I need to finish and then just ignore, so I am hoping to do this challenge to finally finish a few of these books. I am going with Reading Level 1: 12 books total, one a month.

My list in no particular order:
1. Alanna by Tamora Pierce
2. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
3. Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
4. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan
5. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
6. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
7. Inventing the Great Awakening by Frank Lambert
8. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
9. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
10. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
11. The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
12. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Thanks to Berls and Michelle for hosting and good luck everyone!

Bout of Books Day 2 Update and Would You Rather Challenge

Day 2 Update:
I completed today's mini-challenge, finished the last 25 pages in Scent of Cherry Blossoms and read 76 pages in Alanna, commented on 9 blogs and several twitter posts, so not too bad!

Today's mini-challenge is hosted by Writing My Own Fairy Tale and is Would You Rather. Lori has created 5 interesting and slightly difficult questions to answer, some because you want both choices and others because you don't even want to think about the choices.

Would you rather:
Lend books to someone who dog-ears pages or to someone who reads with cheesy Cheetos fingers?

Ewww! I would rather lend books to someone who dog-ears pages. I work in a library and hate playing the "what stain is this" game. With dog ears, we just unbend the page, but if the stain is brown then we get sick!

Would you rather:
Be able to meet one character of your choice or meet one author of your choice?

Difficult question! I think I would rather meet JK Rowling than Hermione, just because I could meet all the characters through Rowling's incredible mind.

Would you rather:
Never be allowed in a book store again or never be allowed in a library again?

Since I work in a library, I would rather never be allowed in a book store again. With a library, I can request any book through ILL and a bookstore may or may not have a particular book, especially in the case of older titles. My husband would also agree with this answer for me, because eventually library books have to go back, unlike the piles and piles of books I own.

Would you rather:
Have to choose one of your favorite characters to die in their book or have to pick one of your favorite couples to break up in their book?

Since I have read both scenarios in books and I read a lot of YA books, having favorite couples break up is easier. I still mourn the loss of a few characters from HP 8. 

Would you rather:
Be required to read Twilight once a year for the rest of your life or The Scarlet Letter once a year for the rest of your life?

Well, I sort of like both of these, so it is not a punishment necessarily. I have reread Twilight more times than The Scarlet Letter, but not as a once a year thing. I would probably go with Twilight, as long as it is just the first book, because it is an easier read and I can quickly finish it. The Scarlet Letter takes me a bit longer, but it is still a wonderful read! If I have to read the whole series, I would rather read The Scarlet Letter, because after the first book in the Twilight series, I want to yell at the characters all the time for their stupid actions.

Thanks to Lori for hosting this challenge!

Bout of Books Day 1 and TBR Post

Hooray! It is finally Bout of Books time again! My books for this round are as follows:
Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow
Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall
The Shack by William P. Young
Alanna by Tamora Pierce
Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

I am also a Bout of Books expert this time, so I hope to comment on several blogs and be active on Twitter.

Day 1 Update
I participated in the #insixwords challenge today and there have been some amazing six words used by participants. I have commented on a blog or two and a few tweets. I will update this periodically throughout the day, but will be visiting my mother some today. She is a newly diagnosed diabetic and they had to keep her overnight in the hospital last night. It is going to be a major adjustment for her and for all of us and I hope we can get back healthy again. I hope to see you all at the Twitter chat tonight at 8 EST.

Update: Mom is out of the hospital and learning to adapt. Her blood sugar is still high, but she is on medication now and that should help soon.
I was able to attend the Twitter chat, which was a blast! I have read 160 pages in Scent of Cherry Blossoms today. Hopefully I can read a bit more tomorrow. I did comment on three more blogs and lots of tweets!

2016 Bookish Resolutions Challenge Signup

2016 Bookish Resolutions Challenge hosted by Laura @ trips down imagination road and Me, Michelle @Because Reading. - See more at: http://www.becausereading.com/2016-bookishresolutions-sign-up-post/#sthash.93dM2pHM.dpuf

The 2016 Bookish Resolutions Challenge is hosted by Laura @ Trips Down Imagination Road and Michelle @ Because Reading and you can sign up at this link. For this challenge you must have 2 of 3 main goals, Blogging, Reading, and/or Personal and then subcategories for these goals.

My goals:

Reading Goals

1. Read at least 6 Classics. This was a goal I barely completed last year, but something I want to continue doing.
2. Read at least 70 books this year. I did not do this as a goal for the Bookish Resolution last year, but I did have it as a goal. I just missed it by 8 books, so I want to challenge myself on it this time.
3. Finish at least 4 series. I did well with this last year, but I have several more series that I did not finish.

Blogging Goals

4. Blog at least 10 times a month. I met this goal for 7 out of 12 months, so I want to try this one again.
5. Complete at least half of the challenges I sign up for this year. I came very close to completing this goal, but not quite. I will be signing up for challenges soon.
6. Be more active commenting on blogs and on Twitter. By more active, I mean getting on Twitter and commenting on blogs at least once a week.
7. Review at least half of the books I read. I basically just stopped writing reviews at the end of the year and I would like to do better with this in 2016.

Personal Goals

8. Lose at least 20 pounds. We are going to try Biggest Loser at work and our theme this year is Libraries Transform, which is ALA's theme. I gained back most of what I lost last year, so I would love to lose that weight again and maintain the weight loss.
9. Eat and drink healthier. I would like to eat at least a vegetable or fruit a day. I eat horribly and am not in good shape. I would also like to cut down on coffee and sodas, because that is all I have been drinking lately.
10. Exercise more. I would love to exercise at least a few times a month and possibly up this to a few times a week as I get in a bit better shape. I don't want to push things too fast, so for the first month or so, I would like to exercise at least 3 times a month.

Thanks to Michelle and Laura for hosting! This is a fun challenge and one that you can make work for you!

2016 Bookish Resolutions Challenge hosted by Laura @ trips down imagination road and Me, Michelle @Because Reading. - See more at: http://www.becausereading.com/2016-bookishresolutions-sign-up-post/#sthash.93dM2pHM.dpuf

2016 Bookish Resolutions Challenge hosted by Laura @ trips down imagination road and Me, Michelle @Because Reading. - See more at: http://www.becausereading.com/2016-bookishresolutions-sign-up-post/#sthash.93dM2pHM.dpuf

2016 Bookish Resolutions Challenge hosted by Laura @ trips down imagination road and Me, Michelle @Because Reading. - See more at: http://www.becausereading.com/2016-bookishresolutions-sign-up-post/#sthash.93dM2pHM.dpuf

My January TBR List

This is hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading. Each month you pick three books on your TBR list and people vote on the one you should read that month. I took a break in December and I am ready to start the new year off right! I am picking 3 books from my Kindle to tie in with the COYER challenge. These were all eARCs from Edelweiss and they were all runners up last year for My TBR.

First Choice:

Atheneum

Oblivion by Kelly Creagh. Kelly worked at Louisville Free Public Library until her writing career took off. I loved the first two in the series, with their gothic type horror and romance based on Edgar Allan Poe. This finishes the series and I am anxious to see what will happen to Isobel and Varen.
Second Choice:

Scholastic Press

The Iron Trial was my best middle grades read of 2014, so I was excited to get an egalley of this one. It is reminiscent of Harry Potter, but the authors have created their own elements.
Third choice:

HarperTeen

I love Flinn's fairytale twists and I like that she is bringing Kendra back for this one. This is a twist on Snow White.
I would be happy with any of these choices and hopefully this will make me read on my Kindle more! Remember you can vote on these even if you are not participating in the meme itself.
Thanks to Michelle for hosting!

Wrapup of 2015 and Best of 2015

My book goal for 2015 was 70 books and I finished 62, so almost met it. I did finish two more books than last year, so at least I am moving up! I finished 4 out of 10 challenges I signed up for and almost finished 2 others. I did get a bit more active on Twitter and commenting on other people's blogs, but I neglected my blog a bit, something I hope to change this year. Reviewing was a huge problem for me, so this is another area I hope to work on this year!

For my best of, I will look at books that may or may not have been reviewed, but ones that I did read and enjoy. A few of my favorites were ones I listened to for School Library Journal, so the reviews are in the there, but I have a terrible time rewording those reviews to include on the blog, so I seldom review those books on here.

Best Audio:

Knopf Books

The Best Audio that I reviewed for SLJ: This one was close, since there were two exceptional ones this year! Illuminae narrowly beats out A Court of Thorns and Roses! With a 20+ cast and perfect narration, I would be really surprised if Illuminae is not considered for the Odyssey Award this year. My first space opera/thriller and a captivating beginning to the series. I am not for sure how I lucked out getting this audio, but it was awesome!

My Favorite YAs:

Bloomsbury

Even though this was a second for best audio, it was first in my YA choices. ACOTAR and more specifically Feyre still haunts me. I think about her choices and how I feel about her as a character quite a bit and Maas' beautiful writing sticks with me. I can't wait for the next in the series!

 An Extremely Close Second:

                                Random House Publishing
 This series was just beautiful! I loved the twist on dragons and half dragons and Seraphina was a wonderful heroine and one of my favorite characters this year. I went back and forth on this one and ACOTAR as my favorite and it was a narrow victory for ACOTAR, which is why I put favorites for YA instead of best. I still like to revisit Hartman's world and this series will definitely be a reread for me at some point.

For this one, Illuminae was a close third, but there were a few aspects of Illuminae that bothered me rather than just haunted me.

Best Junior Fiction:

HarperCollins

I loved the first book in this series of the same name, The School for Good and Evil. The power of friendship and the realization that dreams just like fairy tales are not what they seem made it a great read. I loved Agatha and was annoyed by Sophie and Prince Tedros. I hope to read World Without Princes and The Last Ever After in 2016!

Favorite Book Club read:

Waterbrook Press

As Director, I have to read three books a month for our three different book clubs and almost every time the books are out of my comfort zone/normally read genres. There were several I enjoyed, but the one that surprised me the most was The Sound of Sleigh Bells. My mom reads every Amish fiction book I can find for her and I have avoided them until now. I loved the Amish Christmas books by Cindy Woodsmall and devoured all three of them. They are sweet and have just a bit of drama, but she creates wonderful characters with differing personalities.


Favorite Adult Fiction:

Simon and Schuster

This could technically be favorite book club book too, but I would have read this one on my own. I love Hoffman's writing style and her attention to detail. This was a well researched historical fiction with beautifully created characters and heartbreaking moments that cut you to the quick. She is just phenomenal and her female characters are so strong!

Favorite Classic:

Brilliance Audio

I really hate that I did not get around to reviewing this one, because I loved it! Mina is one of the sweetest, most noble characters, who embraces her faith so strongly that she can forgive even one who would destroy her. Van Helsing is enjoyable and has some beautiful quotes in the story. The audio production was amazing and narrowly missed best audio and only because the two YA ones were phenomenal. Dracula is pure evil, but you feel drawn to him and Stoker has created a book that is as terrifying and mesmerizing now as when he first finished it. It is not an easy or quick read, but well worth the effort.

Best Ending to a Series:

Harlequin Teen

It was a neat and possibly sappy wrapup of the series, but it did have a few twists along the way. Finley Jayne is one of my favorite female characters and I loved seeing how all the couples ended up. I won't talk to much about it, because I don't want to spoil the series for anyone. My first steampunk reads and I can't wait to find more steampunk books to read!


I would love to see your best of posts and know your thoughts on any of the books I read this year. Good reading in 2016!

2015 Bookish Resolutions Wrapup

Here is the year end wrapup! This is hosted by Michelle at Because Reading is Better Than Real Life and Laura at Trips Down Imagination Road and they already have a signup for next year.
My resolutions:
1. Read at least 6 Classics this year.
2. Finish at least half of the challenges that I signed up for this year.
3. Finish at least 4 series this year, particularly ones where I have only the last book in the series left to read.
4. Try to blog more, like at least 10 posts a month.
5. Get healthy!

1. I have finished 6 Classics and that was it. I finished this goal, but did not complete my goal for the Classics Challenge. :(
2. I completed 4 of 10, so I barely missed this one. The final tally did not change from last month.

I have finished 4 and my goal is 6. It is possible I can finish this, but not likely. I am going to aim on finishing at least one more before the year is out!
I have met my goal for this challenge! I earned 18 points to complete the Newbie Level!
I have read 3 of 5 for this one and I will be really sad if I fail at this goal again this year. :(
I have read 2 of 5 for this goal. I will probably not get this one finished.
I have read 8 of 10 here. I need to write up two reviews and finish two more books. It is possible I will finish this one, but I may end up being just a little short on this.
I met my 10 book goal! I am still reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, so I did not make it to 11.
I Love Library Books Challenge: Since most of my books read this year have been library books, I have completed this one too!
I have one more book left to read and then I am done. I am reading Doll Bones now, but did not finish it!
I have finished this one. I signed up for 1-3 books and have read 2!
Another one completed! I read 4 books and signed up for 1-5 books.
Again I failed at this one. :( I read three books, better than last year's 2, but did not make it to 10 and will not make it to 10 by the end of the year.

3. This one was completed!
4. Well, I only did 6 posts last month, so I only completed this goal 7 out of 12 months. A little over half is not too bad, but also not too good.
5. Hahaha, Christmas and New Years did me in for this one. I probably weigh exactly what I did last year, so at least I did not gain.

Thanks again to Michelle and Laura for hosting this! I hope to sign up soon for next year's challenge!