Hello Again! Updates.

Wow it has been awhile. Sorry about that. Hope everyone had a great holiday season and new year!


Last year my main Goodreads reading challenge goal was to read 80 books. However other hobbies like knitting and binge watching tv series (that's a hobby right?) took away from my reading time in the later half of the year. This lead me to only reading 59 books for the year. That in mind my 2015 goal is set for 65 books.


I am also attempting again to complete the Alphabet challenge where you read 26 books, one for each letter of the alphabet (based on the first letter in their title). I have attempted this for the past three years and have yet to complete it. The most I've gotten to is 20 (in 2012 and 2013) books and the least is 17 (in 2014). I am hopeful for 2015.


Current/Upcoming Read-a-thons:


January 5th to 11th, 2015

#ayearathon year 2! This month's theme is Standalones and their group read book is The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.

I started this read-a-thon reading The Book Thief and as of half way through the last day of the RAT I'm at 243/550 (44%). This is based on reading and finishing The Darkest Powers Bonus Pack 1 by Kelley Armstrong (not a standalone) for one day, not reading anything for a couple days and reading The Book Thief for the other 4 days (and working 9.5-10hr days). On my TBR for this read-a-thon was also Still Alice by Lisa Genova but at this point I don't think I'll get to it, though it's still on the list for reading soon (ideally before the movie comes out).


January 12th to 18th, 2015

Random-a-thon by SarusheTheReader

The theme is graphic novels and each day has a different mini challenge to complete. My plan is to get through some of my manga/graphic novels I planned to read for Dec 2014's #ayearathon and didn't get to. TBR to follow? Hopefully this will be a good way to start off the year and boost up my overall book count.


January 19th to 25th, 2015

#underhypedreads - theme: read as many underhyped books (under 5000 ratings of GR) as you can in the week.

TBR to follow. I am thinking I'll read a mixture of local authors and Doctor Who in order to get through more of the unread books on my shelves.



Otherwise this year I plan to read more of the books I own, borrow less from the library, and buy less from stores.

Buddy Reads - Divergent and City of Bones

Synopsis:

 In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

I just finished reading this book and I loved it. I will hopefully have a review of it up soon (as I seem to be saying a lot - to myself anyways - oh dear). It is the first in the Divergent Series by Veronica Roth and I would definitely recommend that everyone who likes dystopian type books to pick up this one if you haven't already. If you haven't read it yet, or are currently reading it here's a link to the Buddy Read thread I have been participating in to discuss the book.

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Synopsis:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Although I have owned for some time now the box set of the first three of this series (The Mortal Instruments) and have recently acquired both the fourth book "City of Fallen Souls" and the first of the prequel series (Infernal Devices) "Clockwork Angel" I have yet to read any of them or anything by Cassandra Clare for that matter. I have heard a lot of good things about her work. So I decided to start in on this series with City of Bones thanks to the starting of a  Buddy Read for the book that you are all welcome to join in on. The more the merrier to discuss City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.

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If you have read either of these books leave me a comment about what you thought about them (without leaving too many spoilers) and/or if you are a member of Goodreads feel free to stop by either of the buddy reads threads I have mentioned! Hope to see you there! (or here!) :)

So Excited

Today I found out I won a book on Goodreads through their First Reads Giveaways. I have been entering their giveaways for only about a week now so I never expected I'd win one so quickly. The book I won is Season of Darkness by Maureen Jennings. This is one that I really hoped I would win as I have hear a lot about several of her other books but have never had a chance to read one. I have however enjoyed watching the TV series Murdoch Mysteries which is based on some of her books.

I also really like the idea that this book is the first of a trilogy. I always like reading books that are a part of a series so then if I enjoy it I'll be able to find another book with either the same characters or setting by the same author.

The Author
Here is what McClelland and Stewart have to say about Maureen Jennings:
MAUREEN JENNINGS was born in England, and emigrated to Canada as a young woman. Her first mystery series, set in Victorian-era Toronto, featured Detective William Murdoch. The first Murdoch mystery, Except the Dying, was shortlisted for both the Anthony and the Arthur Ellis Best First Novel Awards. It was followed by Under the Dragon’s Tale, Poor Tom Is Cold, Let Loose the Dogs (shortlisted for the Anthony Best Historical Mystery Award), Night’s Child (shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award, the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award, the Barry Award, and the Macavity Historical Mystery Award), A Journeyman to Grief (nominated for the Arthur Ellis Award), and Vices of My Blood.  Shaftesbury Films adapted the first three novels into movies of the week, which were then developed into a series called the Murdoch Mysteries, now going into its fifth season, and broadcast in over one hundred countries around the world. Maureen’s new trilogy of mysteries set in World War II–era Shropshire, England, will be launched with Season of Darkness in August 2011.  A new six-part television series entitled Bomb Girls, produced by Back Alley Films and Muse Entertainment for Global Television and inspired by the second book in the trilogy (Beware This Boy), will air in early 2012.

The Book (Season of Darkness)
Following the disastrous retreat of the British army from Dunkirk in 1940, England is plunged into a state of fear. The threat of a German invasion is real, and many German Nationals are interned in camps across the country. One such camp is on the ancient moor land of Prees Heath, near the small town of Whitchurch in Shropshire, where Tom Tyler is the sole detective inspector. Young women from all walks of life have joined the Land Army, to help desperate farmers keep the country fed. When one of these young women is found murdered on a desolate country road, Tyler is almost glad for the challenge; he has been fretting for some time about the dullness of policing in a rural community. In addition, a former lover has reappeared and turned his emotions upside down; his soldier son seems utterly changed by his experience at Dunkirk; and his sixteen year old daughter is unhappy. As he pursues the murderer, Tyler finds himself drawn into an uneasy alliance with one of the Prees Heath internees, a psychiatrist, who claims to be an expert on the criminal mind.

Interested?
If this book peeks your interest you can find it in bookstores beginning August 2, 2011. If the postal strike here in Canada doesn't continue for too long then I hope to receive my copy soon so I can read it and let you all know what I thought of it. Thanks again to Goodreads Giveaways and McClelland and Stewart who made my winning of this book possible.