Summerathon

--The Hosts-- Amy: https://www.youtube.com/user/amesbunny03 Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4Rb... Heather: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bookables Aimee: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5QH... Jen: https://pinotandpages247.wordpress.com/ --The Challenges-- Challenge 1: Read a beachy read Challenge 2: Read a book with sunrise colors on the cover Challenge 3: Read a book featuring a road trip/traveling or summer vacation Challenge 4: Read a book set in summer Challenge 5: Read a book with food on the cover Challenge 6: Drink your favorite summery drink while reading

Challenge 3 & 4 Summer Vacation, Set in Summer, YA Contemporary

Challenge 2 Sunrise Colors, Contemporary Women's Fiction

Challenge 1 & 3 Beachy Read, Travel, Thriller - doesn't take place on a beach but it's definitely the kind of book I would read on a beach vacation.

Challenge 6 Favorite Summer beverage Iced Tea

Other beverage pairings

Tropical Mango Moscato

Chocolate Red

Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge 2019

So, in my reading resolutions, I said no more reading challenges but I really can't resist trying one.
This year's Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge is really pared down a lot from last year so it should be quite doable although they aren't particularly summery this time.

So my plan is to read what I have to read for book club and see if anything fits and then when I have free time, try to choose some books I already have on my TBR or my shelf that might fit some of the challenges.

I already have some ideas for some of the challenges:

The book is better:   Artemis Fowl is coming out as a movie in August.

Past Love:  Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats on which the musical CATS is based.  I loved this as a kid and have seen the musical several times.  It will also be a movie coming out in December so it fits the above challenge and it would also fit Wheel of Format since it is a book of poetry.

It Takes Two & Actually Want to Read:  Illuminae by Annie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff has been on my TBR since 08/03/18.

In the Friend zone:  I just received a copy of Sarah Dessen's newest book The Rest of the Story from a friend and since it is YA contemporary, it should be a perfect summer read.

Stay Awhile - I just downloaded The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss from audible and I will be listening to it during my daily walks. The actual book has 994 pages ; the audio is 42 hours. 53 minutes.

Not from Around Here; The Storyteller's Secret (currently reading) primarily takes place in India and therefore has a lot of Indian culture (mythology, customs, celebrations).

How can I not participate when I already have such a great start!  Go to Goodreads to download a printable PDF copy of the challenges and join the fun

Spring Reading Resolutions 2019

March has come roaring in and Spring is around the corner (probably) and all the resolutions made on January 1 have fallen by the wayside.   A few months of hunkering down against the cold and dark have given me ample time to reflect on my 2018 reading year, what worked and what didn't.  Now the evenings are getting lighter and the clocks are moving forward this weekend and I am ready to set new bookish goals.

Goal 1

READ THE BOOKS I ALREADY OWN

I am not great at this because it is easy to put off the books I own and the library has so many that I don't own.   I also added to the ebook collection thanks to BookBub bargains and Amazon Prime First Reads free books and reading for book clubs.

Goal 2

READATHONS INSTEAD OF SEASONAL CHALLENGES

The seasonal challenges require too much of a commitment to a TBR list.  For Readathons, even reading one book is participation and I will still get those seasonal reading vibes.

Goal 3 

READ MORE INDY AUTHORS

I am currently reading a book by an Indy author that I found on Booktube and have plans to read the work of two more.   The local used book store has a table to showcase local Indy authors and I picked up several promising selections in January so I would like to make that regular feature.

Goal 4

BOOK BOX REDUX

Last January I signed up for the quarterly book books from Page Habit.  I didn't get my first box until June and then I never go another and by September they were out of business.  I am very sorry because the books they provided were annotated by the authors which is very special unique feature that no other book box offers.  After researching more book boxes,  I have signed up with Illumincrate, a quarterly subscription box from the UK and I have already received the first box.  Stay tuned for my review of the contents.

2018 Wrap Up

56 turns out to be roughly 4 1/2 books per month.

The shortest book was a poignant graphic novel about the immigrant experience.

The longest book is the 3rd book in a fantasy series and since I am reading it on my Kindle I didn't really have a sense of how long it is.  There are other books I read that felt much longer.

Wherever I meet a new person I should ask if they have read The Hobbit - the odds should be quite good and then we will have something to talk about.

Not many people have read Strangeville and sadly I can't recommend it.

One of my resolutions was to be more honest with my ratings and I did hand out a few more 1-2 star ratings for books that I truly did not enjoy.

Golden Son is a sequel to Red Rising and it took me two tries to read, one in physical and finally on audio.  It was so hard for me to get into but not because it wasn't good.  I knew it would wreck me.

2018 started strong with a much anticipated sequel to Every Heart a Door

I had a lot of books on the go in December that I didn't finish before 2018 expired.

My 2018 resolutions were to read more of my kindle books and finish a couple of series were totally ignored.   I did complete some books that had been on the go for a long time and were also on my kindle:  Elantris, Out of the Shoebox, Magic for Beginners. Strangeville, Gifts of the Blood and I am up to 39% on Anna Karenina and I decided to abandon Bellefleur.

Re-reads on Audio:  Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, The Hobbit

Favorite Book:  Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits

Least Favorite:  Annihilation

Best Surprise:  A Reaper At the Gates, News of the World