The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I read this for the Little House Read-a-long and for the Story Sprite purple path for setting winter/snowy. It is also a Newbery read for the Newbery challenge.

Harper and Row

Well this book is definitely about winter and snow! Laura and her family who have settled down close to De Smet decide to spend the winter in the store that Pa built in town instead of in their shanty, after a Native American predicts a long winter. Good thing Pa believes the man, because blizzard after blizzard hits the area and the trains cannot make it to town. Living on meager provisions, Laura and her family struggle through the winter, but they are a family who grows stronger in horrible conditions. When the town is out of food, Almanzo Wilder and another young man, Cap Garland decide to risk their lives to find a farmer who may have grown some extra wheat. Will they make it before the next blizzard and will the families be able to survive until spring?


This one definitely shows how hardy the Ingalls and other frontier families were! It also shows Pa's levelheadedness in dealing with price gouging and Almanzo's heart as he braves the elements for others. I also enjoyed how music plays such an important role in keeping them sane and almost cried with Laura when Pa could not play because of his swollen fingers. It was also nice to have another Mr. Edwards cameo as he leaves money behind for Mary's college fund. Laura definitely matures in this one and becomes more of an adult than a child as she helps Pa twist straw and tries to keep a cheerful front with her younger sisters. 5 cups of cocoa and a sweet story of a scary time.

2016 Virtual Adult Summer Reading Program signup

Virtual Adult Summer Reading is hosted by Valerie and Octavia and you can sign up at this link. I love Summer Reading and the theme for this challenge is Get Hooked on Books! I would like to do Minnow Level which is 6 to 10 books. Valerie and Octavia are going to have monthly Twitter chats and weekly challenges, so this looks like a lot of fun. I am going to read books for my book clubs and a few books I have been wanting to read.

My reading list:
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Zookeeper's Wife
Kentucky Heat by Fern Michaels
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce

I will update this as needed, particularly when I find out what August's book club books are. Thanks to Valerie and Octavia for hosting! 

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.