#ayearathon January 2015 Wrap-Up

During this past week I participated in the #ayearathon by attempting to read the group book choice of this month's read-a-thon, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.

Here is the synopsis of this book which has since been made into a movie (that I have yet to see):
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.


My initial impressions:

It took me a little while to get used to the narrator being Death, and remembering that as the story progressed (as there are times when the story seems to not have a narrator at all before "he" appears again). Also I didn't care for the times when Death was too impatient to let the story progress before the reader finds out a character's ultimate fate and instead tells you seeming out of the blue sometimes years ahead of the natural story progression.


I also realized that this is the first book I remember reading from the perspective of the Germans that sheltered Jews during WWII instead of the perspective of those being sheltered. Which was a nice change.


Progress:

During the RAT I wasn't able to complete this book. I did however read 366 of 550 pages this week. I hope to be able to finish this book soon as I was enjoying it very much (despite Death at times) and am now even more eager to watch the movie as I have heard from several sources that it is well worth seeing.


Have you read The Book Thief and/or seen the movie? If so what did you think? (remember I don't know how it ends, officially, yet)

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.

Bout of Books 11.0 | TBR

Here's what I'd hoping to read. Despite being away at camp from Monday night to Saturday afternoon. So it is fairly ambitious.

1. The Giver by Lois Lowery
2. Roost by Ali Bryan
3. Choral Society by Prue Leith
4. The Trap (The Hunt #3) by Andrew Fukuda (audiobook) - already half way through
5. Darkest Powers Bonus Pack #1 (Darkest Powers Trilogy 0.5, 1.5, 2.5) by Kelley Armstrong
6. Darkest Powers Bonus Pack #2 (Darkest Powers Trilogy #3.5, 3.6) by Kelley Armstrong

Have you read any of these? What did you think? Are you participating in this read-a-thon?

#ayearathon/7-in-7 Read-a-thon Wrap-Up - August 2014

Here's what I was able to accomplish:

#ayearathon - hosted by Alyssa, Ke-sha, Allyn J'nae, and Kristina (August 4th-10th)
theme: middle-grade

1. George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl
   length: 96 pages
   completed: August 5 (started same day)
   rated: 3/5 stars
2. Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
   length: 224 pages
   completed: August 7 (started August 6)
   rated: 3/5 stars
3. Flyte (Septimus Heap #2) by Angie Sage
   length: 521 pages
   completed: August 8 (started August 4)
   rated: 4/5 stars
4. Shadow Breakers by Daniel Blythe
   length: 256 pages
   completed: August 10 (started August 8)
   rated: 4/5 stars
5. Odin's Ravens (Blackwell Pages #2) by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr
   length: 342 pages (during RAT: 14)
   completed: not yet (started July 10)
   rated: -/5 stars
   currently on page: 78
   
   
   7-in-7 Read-a-thon - hosted by Frankie and guests (August 4th-10th)
   goal: read 7 pieces of literature in 7 days
   In addition to those books above I also read (minus the one I didn't finish):
   
6. The Little Android (Lunar Chronicles #0.6) by Marissa Meyer
   length: 35 pages
   completed: August 4 (started same day)
   rated: 4/5 stars
7. Kat (Darkest Powers #0.3) by Kelley Armstrong
   length: 20 pages
   completed: August 10 (started same day)
   rated: 3/5 stars
8. Hunting Kat (Darkest Powers #0.4) by Kelley Armstrong
   length: 54 pages
   completed: technically August 11 by a few minutes (started August 10)
   rated: 4/5 stars

Total pages read for the week: 1247

Bout of Books 11.0 - Participating

Hey all this August I am planning to participate in the Bout of Books read-a-thon again. However I later realized this is the same week I am going to camp so won't be able to read quite as much, also packing a bunch of physical books might be an issue so my TBR will consist of mostly ebooks and audiobooks (once I figure out what I'm reading).

"The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team"

Let me know if you are participating too! :)

July Wrap-up

Here are the books I read in July 2014. I participated in 4 read-a-thons so I'll mention each and let you know how I made out for each.

#finishitathon - hosted by Katie (June 30th - July 6th)
theme: finish books you've already started but maybe set aside

1. The Goddess Queen (Goddess Test #2.54) by Aimee Carter
   length: 75 pages
   completed: July 2 (started April 22, 2014)
   rated: 4/5 stars
2. Bitten (Women of the Otherworld #1) by Kelley Armstrong
   length: 422 pages
   completed: July 6 (started Sept 29, 2013)
   rated: 4/5 stars
   
   
   #ayearathon - hosted by Alyssa, Ke-sha, Allyn J'nae, and Kristina (July 7th-13th)
   theme: classics
   
3. Moby Dick (graphic novel) by Lance Stahlberg (and Herman Melville)
   length: 88 pages
   completed: July 11 (started July 11)
   rated: 2/5 stars
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
   length: 659 pages (during RAT: 491)
   completed: not yet (started July 7)
   rated: -/5 stars
   Didn't get this finished by the end of July but got to page 566.
   
   
   #booktubeathon - hosted by Ariel and guests (July 14th - July 20th)
   theme: read as much as you can and try to complete 7 reading challenges (max 2 challenges per book)
   
5. My Point...And I Do Have One by Ellen DeGeneres
   length: 211 pages
   completed: July 15 (started July 14)
   rated: 3/5 stars
   challenge(s): read a book from the genre you've read the least of this year (memoir), read a book chosen for you by someone else (mother)
6. Sgt. Frog, Vol. 1: Enter the Sergeant (Sgt. Frog, #1) by Mine Yoshizaki
   length: 188 pages
   completed: July 16 (started July 14)
   rated: 3/5 stars
   challenge(s): read a book with pictures in it
7. The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1) by Jeanne DuPrau
   length: 270 pages
   completed: July 17 (started July 16)
   rated: 4/5 stars
   challenge(s): start and finish a series (part 1 of 4), read a book with a movie adaptation then watch the movie
8. The People of Sparks (Book of Ember, #2) by Jeanne DuPrau
   length: 338 pages
   completed: July 19 (started July 17)
   rated: 5/5 stars
   challenge(s): start and finish a series (part 2 of 4)
9. The Prophet of Yonwood (Book of Ember, #3) by Jeanne DuPrau
   length: 289 pages
   completed: July 20 (started July 19)
   rated: 3/5 stars
   challenge(s): start and finish a series (part 3 of 4), read a book with red on the cover
10. The Diamond of Darkhold (Book of Ember, #4) by Jeanne DuPrau
    length: 285 pages
    completed: July 20 (started July 20)
    rated: 5/5 stars
    challenge(s): start and finish a series (part 4 of 4)
    #booktubeathon stats:
    Total read: 1595 pages, 6 books Challenges completed: 6/7 Missed challenge: Read 7 books or an average of 300 pages a day
    
    
    #underhypedreads - hosted by Charlotte (July 21th - July 27th)
    theme: read books with under 5000 ratings on Goodreads
    
11. Peggy of the Cove: A legend brought to reality by Ivan Fraser
    length: 124 pages
    completed: July 26 (started July 21)
    rated: 2/5 stars
    Other Goodreads ratings: 5
12. Doctor Who: Martha in the Mirror by Justin Richards (narrated by Freema Agyeman
    length: 256 pages (listened to audiobook)
    completed: July 25 (started July 23)
    rated: 4/5 stars
    Other Goodreads ratings: 641
13. Witch & Wizard: The Manga, Vol. 2 by James Patterson
    length: 252 pages
    completed: July 26 (started July 26)
    rated: 4/5 stars
    Other Goodreads ratings: 314
14. Anna From Away by D.R. MacDonald
    length: 288 pages (during RAT: 77)
    completed: not yet (started July 26)
    rated: -/5 stars
    Didn't get this finished by the end of July but got to page 85.
    
    
    Others not connected to a read-a-thon:
    
15. Ghosts(Otherworld Stories, #1.1) by Kelley Armstrong
    length: 9 pages
    completed: July 6 (started July 6)
    rated: 4/5 stars
16. Bedtime Kisses by Karin Larson and Ginger Nielson
    length: 28 pages
    completed: July 30 (started July 30)
    rated: 4/5 stars

April Wrap-Up

Here's the books I have finished in the month of April.

1. Twilight (Twilight #1) by Stephenie Meyer -  finished April 4, 2014 - rated 3/5
2. The Goddess Hunt (Goddess Test #1.5) by Aimee Carter - finished April 4, 2014 - rated 4/5
3. The Shadow Throne (The Ascendance Trilogy #3) by Jennifer A. Neilsen - finished Apr 8, 2014 - rated 4/5
4. Doctor Who: Snowglobe 7 (audiobook) by Mike Tucker - Apr 12, 2014 - 3/5
5. The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew #1) by Carolyn Keene - Apr 12 - 4/5
6. The Woman in White (audiobook) by Wilkie Collins - Apr 12 - 4/5
7. The Hidden Staircase (Nancy Drew #2) by Carolyn Keene - Apr 13 - 4/5
8. The Bungalow Mystery (Nancy Drew #3) by Carolyn Keene - Apr 21 - 4/5
9. Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2) by Aimee Carter - Apr 22 - 3/5
10. Girl with Glasses: My Optic History by Marissa Walsh - Apr 29 - 3/5