Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

This was my June TBR book and will also work for the Prequels/Sequels challenge and for the purple path for story sprites for book with a sarcastic character, since there are several of these in the book. It is also my first COYER read! I used it on the Bingo sheet as E24 on Board Two. This is the fourth book in the series, so it will have spoilers for the first three books.

Hyperion

Cammie knew when she left last summer that searching for answers about the Circle would be dangerous and she knew that her friends and Zach would be angry with her for not telling them she was leaving, but what she didn't know is that she would not remember the summer at all. Cammie wakes up in a convent in the Alps with no memory of the summer and finds out it is October. She quickly calls her mother and is taking back to the Gallagher Academy. Only she is not the same Cammie. She has black hair, is rail thin, and can now operate a rifle. She knows she must remember what happened this summer, because the Circle no longer needs her alive and that again makes her a danger to everyone. However she knows that she can't run anymore and that her friends and family always have her back.

I loved this one and so far it is my favorite in the series. Cammie and her friends have to mature quite a bit in this one and Cammie's relationship with Zach becomes a true relationship with shared secrets and a few kisses, definitely still middle school appropriate for younger YA readers. The plot in this one is awesome and wraps up a few dangling points, like what happened to Cammie's father and just exactly who the Circle is. I also loved that you can see the girls growing up, but still growing together. In ways the girls' friendship and relationship to the school reminds me of Harry Potter and Hogwarts, but only in that both accurately depict how we change over time and how we become more mature. I will hate to see this series end and will be hopefully starting the last book soon. 5 cups of cocoa! This is a great quick read series!

COYER Summer Vacation signup

I am definitely signing up for COYER Summer Vacation, since that is the challenge that first brought my attention to COYER. The signup link is here. I love all the fun challenges and the interactions between participants. As far as a reading list goes, I am still not for sure. I would love to finish at least 10 books by the end of COYER and to finish one or two ebooks. Other than that, I hope to make a reading list soon. You all should definitely sign up for this one. Thanks to Michelle, Berls, and Stormi for putting this all together!

Sci-Fi Summer Read-a-thon Wrapup

I was able to finish both books by June 7 with a total of 300 pages! I still need to write the review for These Broken Stars and Sword of Summer. Thank you to Michelle for hosting!

My May TBR: And the Winner is...

So I spent most of the week with a tie and had to ask the COYER group for help. Thanks you guys, because not only did the tie break, but I had my highest number of votes ever at 20! The winner by two votes is...

Hyperion Books

I am excited to visit with Cammie and her friends again and I will be one book closer to finishing the series. Thank you all again!

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!