#SummerBibib18WrapUp

Today, I have my wrap-up of the summer round of the Biannual Bibliothon.  You can find my original TBR here.

Planned Challenges:
1. Read the Group book: The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
2. Choose from someone else’s TBR
3. Try the first chapter of 3 books and pick 1
4. Read a book that has been on your TBR for over a year
5. Read a predicted 5 star read
6. Own voices – different than YOU
7. Read the last book you bought (the last book you acquired)

Completed Challenges:
1. Read the Group Book: The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
2. Choose from someone else’s TBR: Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles from Emma from emmmabooks TBR
3. Try the first chapter of 3 books and pick 1: The book I chose was The Isle of the Lost by Melissa De La Cruz
4. Read a book that has been on your TBR for over a year: The Isle of the Lost by Melissa De La Cruz
6. Own voices- Different than YOU: Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
7. Read the last book you bought (the last book you acquired): The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

I read three books and completed six challenges. The only challenge I did not complete was challenge 5.

#February17WrapUp

monthly-wrap-up

This month I read 12 out of 14 books and all of them were books that I planned on reading too.  The only book that I didn’t get to was Go Set a Watchman.  I linked all my reviews to Goodreads because this post would be a mile long if I posted the full reviews!  As always the books are listed in the order in which I read them.

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Before Tomorrowland DNF by Jeff Jensen
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Zodiac by Romina Russell
Wandering Star by Romina Russell
Black Moon by Romina Russell
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

#ReadAThon Wrap-up

readathon

I recently participated in two readathons that occurred at the same time.  The first readathon was the DAReadathon hosted by Aentee from Read At Midnight which happened January 1st to the 15th.  The Second readathon was the Biannual Bibliothon and that happened January 8th to the 15th.

I’m going to start with the DAReadathon.  This is a readathon that celebrated diversity and had seven challenges titled after spells from Harry Potter.

I completed 5 out of 7 of the challenges and the titles will by in pink
Expecto Patronum: A List of Cages by Robin Roe
Expelliarmus: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness (I borrowed the audiobook from my library)
Protego: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Reducto: Black Moon by Romina Russell
Impedimenta: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
Stupefy: The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Lumos: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

On to the Biannual Bibliothon:
Group book: Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
Throwback- For this challenge, you can pick any reading challenge from previous bibliothons.  I chose childhood re-read: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
2016 Release: It wasn’t Always Like This by Joy Preble
BookTuber Rec: Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson
Book I Never Picked Up But Was Excited To Read: Sophomore Year Is Greek to Me by Meredith Zeitlin
Retelling: It Wasn’t Always Like This by Joy Preble
Diverse Book: The Sun is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

I was able to complete all the challenges and read all the books.

#September16WrapUp

monthly-wrap-up

For the month of September, I read five books. The books that I read were all middle grade, however, one of them is a classic. I’m very satisfied with the amount of books I read.

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty 📖📖📖📖📖-I really enjoyed this book, and I especially loved Serafina as a character. Serafina pretty much kept to herself for the majority of the book, yet she still found a way to immerse herself in the culture of the Biltmore Estate. My favorite things about this book have to be the relationship that Serafina has with her father and the friendship with Braedan. This book was fast-paced, fun to read and mysterious.

Pinnacchia by Joy Findlay 📖📖📖-Synopsis from Goodreads:
“There once was a time called The Great Separation, an era where the extremely rich ruled the world from large mechanical floating cities, scattered across the sky and those who were poor lived ‘grounded’ on earth. The ‘grounded’ worked and strived for recognition through steam engineering, electrical inventions and the making of fantastical gadgets so they could be invited into cloud cities societies and join those who lived ‘cloud-side’.

It was during this era that the Earth’s most famous mechanical engineer and inventor designed and built the worlds first cloud city, Skylands. Once it was built, Lord Peto, through tragic loss decided to live ‘grounded’ in a small rustic community below this great city. His was a story of lost love and found faith and a vow to stay grounded for as long as he lived. But this is not his story. This story is of a young mechanical boy Lord Peto created, lost, then found again.”

This book is 48 pages, however, there is a lot packed into it. While I did enjoy this book, I felt that it was rushed. I also felt that some aspects were too similar to the story of Pinocchio. This is the first steampunk book that I read, and I am definitely intrigued to read more steampunk.

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers 📖📖📖-I have always loved the movie, however, I like the book more. The book is more magical and enchanting, and Mary Poppins is more strict in the book. I felt that the chapters were more like short stories and didn’t flow well from one to the other. I would have loved if the chapters were more connected. Overall this was still fun to read.

Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty 📖📖📖📖-While I enjoyed this book, there was one thing that I feel this book lacked. This book didn’t have as much magic in it as the first one, however, it did have as much mystery as the first one. I love the growth and development of both Serafina and Braeden and I love how much their friendship has grown too. I also feel that Serafina has more freedom to roam around the estate. The most important aspect, in my opinion, is how Serafina found the balance between her life at Biltmore and her life in the forest.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children 📖📖📖📖-This book had some creepy aspects to it, and I really enjoyed them. This book was definitely intriguing and fun to read. Jacob, the main character, at times, came across as a whiny brat, and I found that to be annoying. I did love how Jacob wanted to learn more about his grandfather. The photos were really interesting, and I felt that they added to the peculiarity of the book. I’m definitely excited to read the rest of the series.

#July16WrapUp

monthly-wrap-up

Well, this is late, but better late than never.  I felt like July was a really good reading month for me, as I read eight books.  Here is what I read in July.

Scouts Honor by Dori Anne Dupré– 📖 📖 📖*I received this for review from the author.

I loved the story of Scout and how beautifully written this book is. The only downside for me is that it was told from too many different perspectives, however, all those perspectives played an important part of the story. Another downside for me was that the story jumped from one time to another too quickly for me. There were also things that made me wonder what Scout was thinking when doing some of the things that she did.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse– 📖 📖 📖 📖 📖 I read this in elementary school when I was younger.  I loved it then and love it now.  What sets this book apart is that it is written in free verse diary entries.  The way that it is written makes it a quick read.  The content is dark, deep and a times depressing.

Finding Paris by Joy Preble– 📖 📖 📖 📖 📖 I loved this book, the story really kept me hooked.  And holy crap I did not see the plot twist at the end coming, I was really caught off guard a little bit by the twist.  I loved the development of the relationship between Max and Leo and how it took the whole book to fully develop.

***There is a trigger warning for rape.

Red Queen by Christina Henry– 📖 📖 📖 📖

*I received an eArc for review from Penguin First To Read

This is definitely not for children, it is deep and dark. I really enjoyed this twisted take on Alice In Wonderland, what I loved about it is how deep and dark it is. I’ve never read anything like this before! There were some things that were confusing, but that is only because I didn’t read the first book in the series. However as the book progressed I was able to get the main idea of what was happening. I loved the little plot twists as well. I was very intrigued by this book.

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson– 📖 📖 📖 📖 📖

I did not expect to like this book, but I loved it.  It was out of my comfort zone, I’ve read contemporaries before, but not really much contemporary romance.  At first I found Andie annoying, and the book slow.  However as the book progressed, it became more fast past and I found Andie to be more likable.  I loved how the romance wasn’t insta-love, loved how Andie and her father were able to build a stronger father/daughter relationship, and how the events that occurred strengthened the relationships/friendships of all the characters.  I also loved how there were stories within the story.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll-📖 📖 📖 📖 📖

I first read this a really long time ago.  I forgot how much fun this book is to read.  It’s full of riddles, which at times can be confusing.  However, that is what makes it fun to read.  The characters are all colorful and unique.  Sometimes I forget Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a children’s book.  Lewis Carroll’s writing is beautiful, complex and magical.  While I was reading, I was able to put myself in Wonderland.

The Archived by Victoria Schwab-📖 📖 📖

At first I found this book a little confusing and hard to follow, but everything ended up making sense as the book progressed.  The plot twist was one that I didn’t see coming.  I found Mackenzie’s mother annoyingly overbearing and too nice sometimes.  I did love how creative the writing was, but I felt that some of the characters were boring at times.

Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman-📖 📖

I loved the unique and different format of this book.  However, I found myself bored and really struggling to get through it.

#summerbibib Wrap Up

readathon

Recently I participated in the Biannual Bibliothon, it’s a one week readathon that happens twice a year and is hosted by some of my favorite BookTubers.  This was my first time participating and I had so much fun.  As I am not a BookTuber, I only did the reading challenges.  The readathon ran from July 3rd to July 9th.  I had so much fun participating in this and I already can’t wait for the winter one!!

Originally I was only planning on only doing five challenges and reading four books.

These were the reading challenges:

1. Read The Group Book – The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

2. Free Choice/ Wild Card Book

3.Read a Book Off of the Host’s List of Recommendations

-Momo’s Choice – The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1…

-Selena’s Choice – Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9…

-Kelly’s Choice – Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2…

-Red’s Choice – Sorta Like a Rockstar by Matthew Quick: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6…

-Emma’s Choice – More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1…

-Meagan’s Choice – The Archived by Victoria Schwab: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1…

-Kassie’s Choice – Abarat by Clive Barker: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7…

4. Read a Book With Your Favorite Mythical Creature

5. Read a Book You’ve Been Putting Off Picking Up

6. Read a Book from an Author You’ve Never Read Before

7. Read a Book in a Different Format than You Usually Read

I was originally only planning on doing challenges 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7.  However, I ended up being able to complete all the reading challenges. Here is what I read: 

Challenges 1 and 6: The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson.  This was the first book I had ever read by Morgan Matson.

Challenge 2: Red Queen by Christina Henry.  This book was an eArc, and it was dark, deep and twisted.

Challenge 3: Meagan’s choice which was The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Challenge 4: Alice in Wonderland: Deluxe Complete Collection Illustrated: Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Through The Looking Glass, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground And The Hunting Of The Snark by Lewis Carroll.

Challenge 5: Finding Paris by Joy Preble

Challenge 7: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

Added Challenges

Original Challenges

April16 reading wrap-up

monthly-wrap-up

This month was a slow reading month, I only read two books and I’m not the happiest about it.  Below you will find the two books I read along with reviews.

Concussion by Jeanne Marie Laskas- I gave this five stars on Goodreads. This book was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe some of the things that I read in this book. There were things I learned that I found interesting, the most interesting was reading about all the scientific research that Dr. Omalu did in discovering CTE. One of the most important things that I found in the book, is how the NFL hired a team of doctors to form a committee. The committee would become the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee (MTBI). These doctors, hired by the NFL, had never seen or performed an autopsy of the brain, something Dr. Omalu specialized in. When Dr. Omalu discovered CTE in the brain of Mike Webster, he had the scientific research and evidence to back up his discovery. He wrote a scientific paper, had it published in a 2005 issue of Neurosurgery, the MTBI committee wanted the the paper retracted. This is no different than the NFL wanting a recent a recent story published by The New York Times retracted, the Times article found many flaws in the NFL’s concussion research. Here’s the thing, science and cold hard evidence never lie, yet it appears that the NFL refuses to listen to science. They didn’t want to listen to or believe Dr. Omalu. As a fan, I have lost trust in the NFL, especially when it comes to the safety of the players. Another important thing that I learned, is the NFL is nothing but a money hungry machine. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there were more lawsuits against the NFL. Until the NFL stops ignoring evidence and science, and starts listening, I will not believe anything the NFL says. This book and Dr. Omalu’s research are important pieces in understanding the science of concussions.

Skies Over Tomorrow: Constellation by Kelly B. Johnson

I received an eBook copy from the author for review.

I gave this book four stars on Goodreads. I normally don’t read books like this, however I was quite intrigued by the synopsis. There was a lot of military and space language that I didn’t understand at all, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the stories. I also felt that one of the stories, “Lords and Ladies” didn’t fit in with the rest of the stories. It was more like Romeo and Juliet. My favorite thing about the anthology, is the presence of strong female characters, and the writing style of the author. The author, Kelly B. Johnson wrote in a very descriptive way that showed rather than told. Show rather than tell is something that I always look for in books. I would definitely read more from this author. I was taken on an adventure.

Blogging From A to Z April Challenge Wrap-Up

I really enjoyed doing this challenge, and it really was a challenge.  The most challenging thing about this was figuring out what to write for each letter.  Some letters were easier, while others required some more thought. Another challenge was commenting on other posts.  I tried to comment on posts that I could easily relate to.  I decided not to do a theme for this challenge, I thought it would be more fun to just do posts on somewhat random things.

My favorite part of the challenge was finding new blogs to follow.  It’s always fun finding new blogs where you love the content and can relate to most of it.  I found a lot of blogs using the pinned Facebook posts where bloggers commented the links to blogs for the corresponding letter.  I felt that this was a really good way to find other blogs.  My other favorite thing about the challenge was creating mini conversations when commenting on other blogs.

My only wish, is that more people commented on my posts along with liking them.  I really appreciated getting likes on my posts, however it would have been more helpful if people commented what they liked about my posts.  I’m definitely considering doing this challenge again next year, it was something fun and different.

March16 Wrap-up

monthly-wrap-up

This month was another slow reading month for me.  I only read three books and got into a bit of a reading slump, however I did read one of the books on my re-reads list.  I’m also five books ahead of schedule on my Goodreads challenge, so I’m not too worried.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard- Four stars on Goodreads. I loved this book. There were things that I was not expecting at all and I was surprised by some of the things that happened. The cliffhanger ending left me wanting more. I thought the book was beautifully written. However, I wasn’t really a fan of the romance, I thought that aspect could have been better.

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard- I gave this three stars because I didn’t see as much growth from Mare as I was hoping for.  I also wanted more from Mare and Cal, I felt there was just too much tension between them.  I also didn’t like the ending, and though that Mare was so stupid for doing what she did.  While I did like this book, I wanted more, more development in the characters and the relationships.  I’m hoping Mare and Cal finally end up together in book three and there is more development in the characters and their relationships.

Beloved by Toni Morrison- I gave this five stars.  I first read this in a college literature class, and I didn’t really understand the importance of this book.  After re-reading it, I understand it a lot more now.  Because it is historical fiction, there is a lot of historical context and importance that I didn’t understand when I first read it.   The book takes place after the American Civil War and deals with slave trade.  With this book I really saw the trials and tribulations of trying to escape slavery and be free.  I found this book intriguing and haunting.  In my opinion, it’s a must read.