June MY 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 finished last month's book, hooray, so that is two months in a row! I decided to go with series books for this month. One is the second in a series, one is the fifth, and the final one is a second in the series and maybe the last I am not for sure.  

First Choice:

Atheneum Books

This is second in the Alanna series and a gift from my OTSP Secret Sister. I love the cover and Alanna is a strong female lead who wants to be a knight. I read the first one back in January.

Second Choice:

Hyperion Books

This one is the fifth in the series and I finished the fourth one back in March. I love the Gallagher spy school and the friendship between the girls. This is the next to the last book in the series.

Third Choice:

Disney-Hyperion

This is told from Percy's perspective and I really enjoyed the Greek gods one. I don't know how many Riordan plans to write in this series, but this is the second one so far. I read the Greek gods one last year.

2016 Bookish Resolutions Challenge April and May Update

 
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. So I didn't update at all in April and honestly I did awful in both April and May, so I am going to admit my defeats and try to improve in June!!!



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. So far I have only finished Peter Pan, but hopefully I can get into another classic soon. Still have only finished Peter Pan, but have started Frankenstein.
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.  I finished 30 books now, but I need to really work on finishing more this month.
3. Finish at least 4 series. I did well with this last year, but I have several more series that I did not finish. I have finally finished one series! Hoping to start another series ending book soon!

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. I blogged 18 times in April, so good there, but barely reached 10 in May. I hope to work on this more next month.
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. I have started all my challenges so far this year! I know I have a reading challenge addiction, but it is so much fun! I have met goals in a couple of them, but still working on reading more.
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. Twitter is going well, but I need to be looking at blogs more. With summer reading, I will probably only want to come home and veg out on the computer, so I am hoping to do better this month.
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. So far I have reviewed 27 out of 30 books and I hope to review one more book out of those read, so I am excelling at this one! 

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. HaHaHa. I have gained back at least 5 of the 10 pounds I had lost. I have been stress eating like none other and not exercising at all, unless you count walking to the fridge and cabinets to get more food!
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. HaHaHa. Coffee and sodas are my best friends and I went a few days without veggies and fruit. I am starting to do better with eating fruit now that it is summer and I found a tangerine balsamic that I love, so I am eating salads more. I am going to try to cut down on sodas again. I think coffee is here to stay, but if I can work on the sodas I will be happy. June has to be better!!!
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. I don't remember the last time I exercised, some time in April I think. I will be moving around more with summer reading, but I have to start back exercising really soon!!

Hope everyone is doing a bit better with their goals than I am, but June is a new month and I am going to work harder this month. 

Sci-Fi Summer Read-a-thon Signup and Starting Post

This is hosted by Michelle @ True Book Addict, Castle Macabre and The Christmas Spirit blogs and you can signup at this link.
So I am a little late to signup, but at least it just started today. I plan on finishing Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer this week and I would also like to read on These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. That would be one fantasy and one sci-fi. I also have other books that I need to read this week, that don't fit the genres, so that will probably be my only two for the read-a-thon. Thanks to Michelle for hosting!

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is for the Little House on the Prairie Read-a-long and also works for Read it Again Sam challenge.

HarperCollins

In this installment, we learn that Mary is now blind due to Scarlet Fever and the whole family is barely over the sickness. Things have not turned out that well in Plum Creek and Pa jumps on the chance to move west and find a homestead by Silver Lake. Laura's aunts and uncles from the Big Woods are integral in the Ingalls moving west and Ma gives her consent when Pa promises this is the last move and that they will live next to a town. Laura and her family love the beauty of the prairie and the lake and Laura enjoys watching the railroad workers. The growth of the town is hard on her and Pa, but the beautiful land for their homestead makes up for it. Will the Ingalls finally settle down?

I love how we learn about homesteading and filing claims and all the discussion of the railroad. Other than the sadness over Mary's loss of sight, this one is a little more hopeful than the rest of the series. I loved the brief reappearance of past characters, especially Mr. Edwards and it is nice to see Laura beginning to mature. I also like the brief cameo she includes of Almanzo, his brother, and the horses. I find it interesting that Pa is a little more open minded than most about Native Americans and is willing to put aside prejudice to trust Big Jerry. Ma is the one full of the prejudice. Laura seems more like Pa, but I can tell why the series does get a bit of criticism for the treatment of Native Americans, however I feel like Pa's views are a little more open minded than those of most pioneers at the time. Other than that, I love this book and I can't wait to pick up the next one! I also love the cover of this one. 5 cups of cocoa and a nice glimpse into the growth of the nation.

The Diamond Secret by Suzanne Weyn

This was my TBR book for May. It counts for the pink path on Story Sprites for Alternative History. It also counts for Royal Challenge, since Anastasia was a princess.

Simon Pulse

Nadya remembers nothing about her past and works hard in her low paying job as a waitress in a tavern. Ivan tries to forget the terrible cost of supporting the Russian Revolution and his witness to the deaths of the Romanovs. He and Sergi, a count who is searching for his family, decided to try to find someone to impersonate the lost princess Anastasia, to gain the reward her grandmother is offering. When Ivan meets Nadya, he sees in her the same spirit Anastasia possesses and he and Sergi convince Nadya that she is the lost princess. As they travel together, something is kindled between Ivan and Nadya, but when things began to point to her being the real deal, Ivan may pay for the lies he has told and Nadya is put in great danger. Can their love survive the truth?


This was a good retelling of Anastasia's story and a good what if the princess survived. People will always continue to wish things could have been different for the princess and people will continue to write alternatives to the sad truth. This story did have a bit of almost instalove and needed a few more details, but it was a charming story and did have some sweet points. 4 cups of cocoa and a nice addition to the series. Also this is my favorite cover of the whole series, isn't it beautiful! Thanks again to Michelle for hosting!

Bout of Books Wrapup

Well I certainly flailed this Bout of Books, but I knew I would with this being one of the busiest weeks of my work year. I did managed to read about 170 pages of The Silver Star and about 150 of Shattered Dreams. I am giving up on Shattered Dreams, since I will probably not get to make that book club meeting. I am liking Silver Star, so I feel like I will finish it before Thursday's book club. I also managed to do 2 of the daily challenges, but no Twitter chats this time :(. I definitely plan to participate in August and should have a bit more time. Thanks to all the hosts!!

My May TBR: And the Winner Is...

This is hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading.
With 5 out of 8 votes the winner is

Simon Pulse

 The beautiful cover combined with the intrigue of Anastasia's story made this the popular choice. I can't wait to start reading it! Thanks to Michelle for hosting!