My February TBR: And the Winner is...

I had you all vote on three books last week and the winner by a landslide was...

HarperTeen

Thank you to everyone who voted! I am excited to read this one, since I have had so many people recommend it. All three of these authors are new to me and I think I probably have their other books some where on my TBR, so I am hoping to enjoy it and discover some new authors to read. I hope you all had good luck with your picks this time!

Opening Survey of Re-Readathon #5

Opening Survey

1. Tell us a little about yourself! I am a librarian and am married with no kids. I love reading, cooking, and gardening, but since it is winter, I can only do the first two right now.  I do have a book addiction and I don't actually know how many books I one, but I would imagine it is 500 or more.

2. Have you participated in a re-readathon before? How often do you re-read books? I think this is my third time participating, because I think I started with the second one. I re-read all the time, particularly if I am in a down mood. I tend to re-read Harry Potter about every year and other books every two to three years if I really like them. Rick Riordan's books are second to HP in the number of times I have re-read them.

3. What is your current favourite book? Heartless is my favorite recent read and I am not for sure what my all time favorite would be.

4. What do you love most about re-reading? Or what makes you wish you re-read more? I love reading about my favorite characters and discovering things I missed the first time around. Sometimes with a re-read I actually like the book better than the first reading, because I am not thinking about the review of the book and I am not as critical.

5. What's on your TBR? What are you gonna read first? I am starting with Killer Frost by Jennifer Estep to finish my re-read of the whole Mythos Academy series. Time permitting I will start Unwanteds so I can restart that series. I read the first two and haven't read any since, so I am re-reading the first two to remember the storyline. If I need a new audio I will listen to Street Magic again.

Day 1: I managed to read 50 or so pages in Killer Frost, but not much else today. The Super Bowl and time with family was important today, so I only read at night.

Re-Readathon #5 Signup

This link I used for this readathon is on Bex's site and here is the link. I have several books I want to reread and one I am working on now, so I had to signup! There are also two cohosts and minichallenges, so it all sounds really fun.

My rereading list:
Killer Frost by Jennifer Estep (in progress)
Unwanteds by Lisa McCann
Street Magic by Tamora Pierce

My February 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 haven't participated in this for months, because I got so far behind in my reading. February, while short, only has one book club book for me, so I should be able to read other things. For this one, I am choosing three books that have been recommended to me and I am going to have you all choose the one I should read.

My first choice:

Harper Teen

So many people have talked about this one and while I am reluctant to try historical fiction that is not based on history, I am intrigued by it. I have had multiple people recommend this title.

My second choice:

St. Martin's

I don't know much about Indian mythology, but this one sounds captivating. I also love the cover here.

My third choice:

Greenwillow

I am kind of getting on the whole time travel bandwagon after reading Passengers. This one was a recommended read if you like Passengers.

Please vote on the choices and you can vote even if you are not participating in the challenge. Thanks to Michelle for hosting!

2017 Bookish Resolutions Challenge January Update

The 2017 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. I barely missed this goal last year and definitely want to reach it this year. No classics so far, but maybe this month.
2. Read at least 70 books this year. I gave up on keeping track of books last year and I want to challenge myself to keep up with it this year. I am up to 7 books, so not too bad so far.
3. Finish at least 4 series. I did not reach it last year, but I want to try again this year. No series finished yet.

Blogging Goals

4. Blog at least 10 times a month. I almost met this goal last year and am trying again this year. I blogged 14 times in January, so good so far.
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 am slowing signing up this year. None completed so far, but I have started 3 of them.
6. Be more active commenting on blogs and on Twitter. By more active, I mean getting on Twitter and/or commenting on blogs at least once a week. Not too bad so far, I have tweeted quite a bit and commented on a few blogs.
7. Review at least half of the books I read. I basically just stopped writing reviews by the end of the year and I would like to do better with this in 2017. I still need to review one new book and I am going to do a combined review of my rereads, but not too bad so far.

Personal Goals

8. Lose at least 20 pounds. I gained back most of what I lost last year and then some, so I would love to lose that weight again and maintain the weight loss. I had lost a little last time I weighed, but this will be a work in progress.
9. Eat and drink healthier. I would like to eat at least a vegetable or fruit a week. I eat horribly and am not in good shape. I would also like to cut down on sodas, because that is all I have been drinking lately. I only had two ginger ales after the first of the month, and both were because I was sick. I have been eating oranges and putting lemons in my water, so I am doing okay here.
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 exercised at least 4 times this month and am hoping to do better in February.

I am happy with my progress so far. How are you all doing? 

A Winter's Respite Readathon Wrapup

I was able to finish 5 books for the readathon, Heartless, Looking for Me, Midnight Frost, The One and Only Ivan, and The Copper Gauntlet for a total of 1507 pages! That is the best I have ever done during a readathon. A big thanks to Michelle for hosting!

The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

This is book 2 in the Magisterium series and this review will have some spoilers for book 1. I read this for COYER as I received it as an eARC and will also work for Beat the Backlist, since I have had it on my TBR for over a year. It will also work for the Harry's Trunk Scavenger Hunt: Lightning-Bolt Scar, since both Callum and The Enemy of Death have scars, which is part of Beat the Backlist: Hogwarts Mini Challenge. This book is also my January Reading Assignment Challenge Book. Now finally to the review!

Scholastic Press

Callum Hunt barely survived his Iron Year at the Magisterum and is back home with his father for the summer. Callum's big secret, which his father also knows, but doesn't realize Callum knows, is weighing heavy on everything Call does. He doesn't want to believe he has the soul of the Enemy of Death and he wants to believe Havoc, his Chaos-ridden wolf, really cares about him and is not evil too. When Call sees his father has a secret weapon, one that might kill Call and Havoc, he leaves and finds his friends, Tamara and Aaron. Aaron, as the Makar, has had an interesting summer where the whole magical community is looking to see if he has the enough chaos magic to defeat the Enemy of Death. Little do Tamara and Aaron know that Call is the Enemy of Death and that he doesn't want to fight Aaron. As the three go back to the Magisterium, they hear tell of an attempt to steal a device that could kill anyone with chaos magic, a device that looks similarly like the one Call's father wanted to use on him. The device is moved, but then stolen, and when Call's father becomes the suspect and could be killed, Call and his friends set off to save him. Call believes his father still cares about him and his friends believe in Call, but when the truth comes out, will they all still be friends?


I really like this series and the authors' take on magic. It does have some similarities with Harry Potter, but the twists are different and our "heroes" have dark sides. The second book moved at a faster pace than the first book and I think a little more detail was needed to tie the two together. However it was very action-packed with no slow spots, so it will have high appeal to middle school reluctant readers. I would like to see the female characters have stronger roles, because other than Tamara, the girls were basically just crushing on Callum and even Tamara was not given as much chance to prove herself as the boys were. I did enjoy this one, but not as much as the first one. However, I believe this one setup the third book to be a strong one. 4 cups of cocoa.