Hello, bookish friends! Today I am going to talk about the month-long readathon and Bookstagram challenge that I will be participating in throughout April! It's Harry Potter themed, and the creator has worked SO HARD on putting this together and making it super interactive and fun! owls readathonIf you're a Harry Potter fan, you'll know about the Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) exams that Hogwarts students take in their fifth year. Well, @book_roast created a readathon based on these exams just last year! She listed the various class subjects and then assigned a characteristic for each one. Each book you read throughout the month toward your O.W.L.s gets you closer to being able to take those subjects for N.E.W.T.s in the fall! Now, this is the second year that @book_roast has hosted this readathon. Last year, she kept it simple and didn't realize how well it would take off. This year, she decided to add an element: a career book! @book_roast created a career book listing magical jobs, descriptions, characteristics for those jobs, and what subjects you need to pass, both at the O.W.L. level and the N.E.W.T. level. Check out the full book here! So, throughout April, I will be doing my best to get through my O.W.L.s! After looking through the career book, I think that my top three choices would be a Wand Maker, a Magizoologist, or an Aurologist. In order to get to those, I need to complete Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Herbology, Potions, Astronomy, Divination, and History. Luckily, three of these are the same between the Wand Maker and the Magizoologist (Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, and Herbology), so I'm going to work on those first and then keep going and get as far as possible! Oh! And along with this readathon, I'll also be participating in @abookworld_'s #OWLS2019 Bookstagram challenge for April! So you can keep up with my progress both here on my blog as well as on Bookstagram! my #owlsreadathon2019 tbr
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Why I Picked ItThis book was one that I found at Goodwill (surprise, surprise!). I've been trying to read a few self-improvement books every year, and this book was one I thought would really help me. I liked the idea of being able to be more fluid and memorable in both the business world as well as in my creative writing. Looking at this book made me think that it could help in that regard. SummaryThis book talks through ways to make your ideas "sticky". It brings up stories and myths and lessons that have stuck over the years and breaks them down so that the reader can learn about the concepts necessary to make ideas stick with listeners or readers. It walks through the SUCCES model, telling the characteristics that will make an idea memorable. There are a lot of examples of short stories/presentations/information presented in different ways: not sticky, kind of sticky, very sticky. What I likedI loved all of the real-life examples. Chip & Dan Heath did a good job of bringing in stories that I've heard, which truly does show how sticky some ideas (even fictional ones) can stick with someone. The voicing was also really good. It was relaxed and conversational to a point, which helped the flow of the book work better for me. what I didn't likeThe book was a little slow at times. I started it back in June, and I didn't finish it until now. I did okay in the first couple of months, but then I got burnt out on it, and I just didn't touch it until a couple of weeks ago. Then I finished it in two days. So in other words, I was either going through it really quickly, or I wasn't budging. overall impression 🌟🌟🌟I give this book a 3/5 stars. It was decent. Not one of my favorites, but not a least favorite either. I liked what I learned from it, I got some good notes, and I hope to utilize the new knowledge at work and in my hobbies.
Why I Picked ItIt was time for another audiobook, and since I liked Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children so much, I knew I needed to continue the series. The movie had also been on a few days after I finished the first book, and the ending was nothing like the end of the book. So I thought that maybe they had kind of combined the books to give it an ending in the single movie. I needed to keep going in the series so I could see if that was true (It isn't. The movie is SO DRASTICALLY different than the book). SummaryMiss Peregrine is hurt and can't go back to her human form. Not only that, but the kids are on the run from the Whites and the Hollows. In order to get to safety and to save Mrs. P, the kids are on a mission to find another ymbryne to help them. They travel to different loops, and eventually make their way to London. What I LikedI really enjoyed the gypsy caravan that the peculiars run into. The new characters (gypsies and a few others included). The carnival characters were also pretty cool. What I Didn't Like As much as I loved the new characters, I noticed toward the end that after being introduced to the characters, they were normally referred to by their defining characteristics instead of their names. That bothers me. As bad as I am at names, I think that it is important for the characters to be called by name. It makes them more real, rather than just referring to, for example, one of the carnival characters as "the folding man" instead of by his name (which I now can't remember because he was primarily called "the folding man"). I also felt that in the first book, Bronwyn was a fairly young and naïve character. Then, when it came to the second book, she was suddenly the mother hen to the bunch. Some of the new characters and other plot pieces became very extremely far-fetched, even for this book. I loved the first book, but everything in this book was too perfectly coincidental. For example (small spoiler), when a bomb hits near the kids, EVERYTHING around them is destroyed, but MIRACULOUSLY the kids just happened to have received some special sweaters earlier in the book that ended up saving all of their lives (though, that wouldn't have saved their heads or legs from the shrapnel and debris flying through the air…). There were just things that didn't make sense in this book, and they actually just made me angry. The ending was alright. There was a huge twist toward the end, which made sense. I actually kind of liked it, but then it just kept going and got a little weird. Also, the kids run into a couple new peculiars in the book. One of them, they tell that he can't join them because it's too dangerous, etc, etc. The other one, get this, they are disappointed when she doesn't join them. Even though that would have meant that the new character's little sister would have been left alone. It made no sense. Overall Impression 🌟🌟Overall, I give Hollow City 2/5 stars. I was not a fan of this book. Everything was just too coincidental, or too weird, or just maddening. At first I wasn't sure I'd want to read the third book, but now I'm thinking I need to so I can see if Ransom Riggs redeems himself. However, with my current TBR pile, it makes it hard to keep going with a series I'm not sure I even like anymore.
What do you do when a book in a series disappoints you? Do you keep going in the series, or do you move on to something new? One of the eternal questions.Some people love hardcover books and can't stand the feeling of paperbacks. Some are fine as long as they have any type of physical book in their hands, yet they don't consider an audiobook a book. Some people live for the convenience of their eBooks, and others cannot stand them. Me? I see the appeal of any of the above!Personally, I do prefer to read a physical book, either in hardcover or paperback form. I just like to flip the pages, read over sections that I didn't really understand the first time (or, you know, I spaced because SQUIRREL). It can be harder to do that with an eBook, and especially hard to do with an audiobook (how far back did I stop paying attention? Oh, crap, I remember this…I went too far. Let me just go forwa-NO TOO FAR I'M GOING TO SPOIL MYSELF). Plus, what if I get overly upset with a character or author (which I tend to do once in a while…)? I can't slam my tablet/phone/eReader on the ground unless I truly want to break something, and clicking pause on an audiobook just doesn't have the same effect of slamming a physical book shut. I've always preferred physical books.
Audiobooks have been iffy for me. My siblings all live in different states (my parents hope I stay in Iowa for them), so when we'd go on road trips to visit one of them, my mom always had to get a pile of audiobooks to listen on the ride (always mystery. My parents didn't read often, but they just loved listening to mysteries on the road). I'd normally tune in with them for the first few chapters, but then I'd get tired and fall asleep. By the time I woke up from my catnap in the back seat, I'd be lost and have to either read my own book or listen to my iPod. My cousins also loved audiobooks. One of them has some minor dyslexia and struggles to read quickly, but his mom is a librarian and he has always LOVED books (specifically YA fantasy). We were major fans of a lot of the same books growing up (especially Harry Potter), and they'd always recommend books for me. Since my cousin read too slow even for himself, he went to audiobooks. He'd turn one on and play a video game at the same time. I never understood it. I would get too involved in the book and mess up royally in the game, or I'd get involved in the game and miss part of the book. But that's how he got through his books, and it still works great for him. Lately though, I've really started turning more and more to audiobooks. The last couple of months have been slow at work and there have been days I've been manning the office alone. When I have days like that, especially when I need to do some organizing or filing of paperwork, I like to listen to an audiobook to pass the time. It helps my brain do something other than wander to random subjects while I file or clean. Soon, I started continuing on in the audiobook at home while I worked on my DIY wedding décor or as I cook dinner. The problem is, I tend to space when I listen to audiobooks. I'm getting better, but I still will miss sections, and I've just learned to deal with it and move on. Normally, I don't miss a lot, and if I find myself really lost, I'll go back to the beginning of the chapter and see how that feels. Now, I've learned to have two books going at once (which I don't typically do!). One physical book that I read before bed and when I have long periods of time that I want to dive deep into a story, and one audiobook that I'm okay with maybe not diving quite as deep into, but that helps me stay focused on physical tasks like crafts, cooking or cleaning. Now eBooks. Though eBooks are my least favorite way to read, I don't despise them either. I just don't prefer them. Throughout college, eBooks were my saving grace. When I would (rarely) have an easy(ish) semester that I could find a few moments to dig into recreational books instead of text books, I used the Bridges online library ALL THE TIME to download eBooks to read. I didn't want to get a library card at the local public library since I didn't feel I would use it often enough, I honestly never ended up finding the fiction section of our college library (I barely used the library for anything except finding my voice music or walking through to get to Phonathon on the third floor until I finally discovered how much I loved the study spaces my senior year), and I didn't want to clutter my small room with the few books that I had for my personal library. So eBooks became my good friends. Now, though, I live on my own and have my shelves to house my books. I went to the library within the first week that I moved here and made sure to get my library card. And I still use my Bridges account, but mostly for audiobooks instead of eBooks. eBooks have their place in my heart. Unfortunately for them, that place is when I'm getting ready for a trip that I don't want to haul physical books around with me (and I don't do many of those). How about you? What's your favorite way to absorb books? Are you like me and like a little bit of everything, or are you hardcore for one specific form? I want to hear from you! why I picked itFairest is book 3.5 in the Lunar Chronicles. It is a short novella of Levana's story. It gives more background on Queen Levana before she even becomes queen. summaryThis gives a lot of background on Levana. You start out with her when she is 15 years old, and that helps us as readers to understand how she grew up under her sister Channary's shadow. You also learn more about letumosis, the Lunar Special Operatives, and glamours. what I likedI loved getting to know the background. It's interesting to see that Levana had reasons behind some of the things she did (not always good ones, but reasons). I also learned more about her personality. Like, there are definitely some areas why I understand her dislike of certain things, yet at the same time, she definitely always had the underlying problems and aggressive nature. I like that we didn't learn that Levana was a sweet child who was ruined by her family or situations. Those things may not have helped, but they definitely weren't the only problem. It's just that sometimes, authors try to give the bad guys a terrible background so you really truly feel awful for hating them. But, here, you see the problems even while sympathizing a bit for her situation. what I didn't likeThere wasn't much. It gave enough background that I learned some things, but it didn't give too much. overall impression 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟Even with this short novella, I give it a 5/5 stars. I think Marissa Meyer keeps doing better with each addition to the series!
That is the question.When you really can't get into a book, or you just really don't like it, do you power through, or do you DNF (Do Not Finish) the book?
There are arguments on both sides of this bookish issue. I'm here today to put in my two cents. Personally, I don't like to DNF books. I never really have. There are few books in my life that I have just stopped reading with plans to never pick it up again (Eragon - though I'm starting to think it might be time to try again?). There are books that I started and haven't finished because life got in the way and so I just gave up for now with the intention of getting to it eventually (sorry Girl with the Dragon Tattoo…). However, as I'm getting back into reading all the time, I'm trying to learn that DNFing books is okay. As I watch more of this conversation unfold, I'm realizing that sometimes you just really don't like a book, and why waste valuable reading time trying to finish something you don't like?? Recently, I DNFed Fahrenheit 451. I wanted to read a more classic novel, and it was one I'd heard mentioned a lot. So I decided to try it. The concept seemed very intriguing. But I couldn't get into it. I kept waiting for it to pick up, and instead it stayed pretty stagnant. There were parts I just wasn't understanding well, and it was so random at times, so I just gave up. I got probably 50-60% of the way through it, and I just decided it was time to move on. I want to finish these books. I'm a major advocate for reading things in the opposite opinion of yourself and things that really make you think in ways you don't normally consider. I think that helps me to grow as a person and understand different perspectives much more easily. So yes, I think that just DNFing a book just because you don't like the point of view or the direction it is going maybe isn't the best idea. Though I think you and I can learn from these books, I'm also learning that sometimes I just need to DNF a book. With books like Eragon and Fahrenheit 451, I got into a really bad funk. I would avoid reading because I had no interest in learning what was next in the book. There was no curiosity pushing me forward, pushing me to dive into the book's world and travel alongside the characters. When I try to push through with books like this, I end up making my reading come to a SCREECHING HALT. I will go weeks without reading anything because I just avoid it at all costs. These are the books that I need to learn to DNF (and preferably before my reading rhythm is ruined). Normally, it depends on where I am in the book as to whether I push through to the end or I put it down. For example, both with Milk and Honey and She's Come Undone, I got about 75% of the way through before it was too much for me and I wanted to DNF them. But, by that time, I kind of had this hope that it would get better. Plus, I was close enough to the end that I just wanted to keep going until it was over. A lot of times, when I'm close to the end, I'll just binge read until it's over so I can move on to the next one. The books I truly DNF are the ones that I only get the first few chapters into or just at the halfway point and I can tell that I'm no longer interested and have no hope for them to get better. So what are your thoughts? Which side of the fence do you fall on in the great DNF debate? Let me know in the comments below!! Why I picked itI'm on the worship team at my church as well as the current worship leader for the youth group. This book is a strongly recommended read by my pastor for anyone who helps lead worship. I don't blame him. It's great and teaches a lot about the origin of worship, what kind of things are necessary to lead in worship, and how to be better. summaryWell, I kind of just said it! It's a collection of personal stories and research about worship. Don Potter talks about the things that he has gone through as a worship leader and the things he has learned over the years. what I likedAs a person who strongly believes in the Bible and wants anything being preached at me to be based in the Word, I really appreciated all of the references to the Bible in order to support all of his claims. I could tell that he researched a lot and took a while to pull together these thoughts. I also really liked that he added a lot of real-life experiences he's had to back up what he said. And he isn't afraid to talk about the times he has fallen short. I really learned a lot from this short read! what I didn't likeOverall it was great, but there were a couple of times it seemed to drag a bit, or he would really reiterate the same thing over and over. overall impression 🌟🌟🌟🌟I give it a 4/5. I'm glad that my pastor recommended it, and I know that my fiance will love it as well. I want to read through it again, a little more in depth, as a personal Bible study at some point. I'll actually look up more of the verses referenced to gain more perspective and context about what he talked about. And I may do some more research myself to expand on my knowledge.
Why I Picked ItI've been working through the Lunar Chronicles and have been loving it. The series just keeps improving. I already can't wait to read Winter and the two novellas that go with the series! SummaryCress is a retelling of Rapunzel. Think: Rapunzel in space. It's pretty neat. Cress is trapped up in her satellite, trying to help Cinder and her friends to overthrow Levana, the wicked queen of Luna. She has these grand dreams of how the group will save her and they will all win over Levana, and she will fall in love with Captain Thorne and…let's just say reality hits her pretty hard. what I likedI love Cress. She's such a perfect character. She's a little nutty, but who can blame her when she normally only ever had contact with one or two Lunars every couple of weeks when they came to drop off supplies. Otherwise, for most of her life she had grown up alone, coding and hacking and obsessing over Earthen dramas (though secretly. Her mistress wouldn't approve if she knew). It's awesome how she has all these grand dreams of what Earth and the outside world are like, and she soon realizes that it's not at all like the dramas. I also love that she has to play a part once in a while to calm herself down. She has to pretend she's a different person in a different situation in order to keep control. I also love Jacin, a new Lunar character. He's interesting, and I can't wait to learn more about him in Winter! All of the characters just keep developing, and connections keep being made. I love seeing a soft side to Captain Thorne, I still love Wolfe with all my heart. And seeing another side to Cinder has been interesting too. I think Meyer did a great job in retelling the story of Rapunzel. It was enough alike that you could definitely tell what story it is, but it's different enough that it's totally new and intriguing. what I didn't likeCan I say that I didn't like the fact that Scarlet wasn't in this book as much as I wanted? Will that work? Even though I really like where the story is going because of that, and it gave a good intro to Winter, I still wish Scarlet would have been a bigger part of the book. That's the worst part about bringing all these stories together, I think. It's hard to give the characters enough time yet still get the other storylines tied in. overall impression 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟5/5 stars. This one finally got me. I was trying to play hard to get, but Cress was just so good! I couldn't give this only 4/5 stars. Marissa Meyer just keeps improving the whole series and storyline and everything! I want this series to continue forever, though I'm starting to see the end get closer. I just plan to savor the last novel and couple of novellas!
Or should they just stick to their niche?Recently I read (well, listened to) First Love by James Patterson and Emily Raymond.
Let me say that again. First Love. By James Patterson. And Emily Raymond. My fiancé likes to read as well, though he's gotten out of it because he's busy with school (as I did when I was in high school and college too). He's not nearly as versed in literature as me, but he still knows enough that I can hold great conversations with him about books. When I told him I was about to read a romance novel by James Patterson, he did a double take. Just like I did when I first saw the title. I had no idea what to expect from this typically-thriller writer that all of a sudden had a young romance novel in front of me. I wasn't sure if I was going to be very happy with his new style, or if I was going to just shake my head at his attempts at the very different genre from his norm. I have to tell you. I was very impressed. I think that he and Raymond did a great job of creating a high school love story that seemed legitimate and that I could relate to. Read more in my full review. Like bloggers, authors oftentimes have a niche. Before First Love, I would have told you that James Patterson's niche is in thrillers and mysteries. Stephen King is in that same realm. Jodi Picoult does a great job with contemporaries and romance, and she loves to bring in major social and ethical issues into her writing. Then you have the YA fantasy writers like Marissa Meyer, Cassandra Clare, and Rick Riordan. I'm not saying that these authors can't step out of their comfort zones once in a while, but as a reader, what do you think? Are you like me, intrigued as to how they are going to handle the new genre, or are you turned off by them trying to do something that they aren't known for? why I picked itIt's a young romance novel. About high school lovers. Written by James-Freaking-Patterson (and Emily Raymond). I saw James Patterson's name plastered on the front of this very obviously ooey-gooey romance, and I was ready to be…honestly I don't know what I was ready for. I was just so intrigued that an author so well known for his thrillers had written a young romance book. I didn't know if I was going to be pleasantly surprised or completely put off by this author stepping out of his typical genre. (Review spoiler: I was very pleasantly surprised.) summaryThis is a story about two high school sweethearts. Axi is a goody-two-shoes. She is in multiple AP classes, she loves literature and can quote many well-known authors. She takes care of her alcoholic father and still manages to hold a 4.0 GPA. Robinson is a "bad boy" as Axi's dad likes to put it, and she can't say that he's wrong. But Robinson is also her best friend. They've been through a lot together (and I mean a lot). So when Axi decides it's time to shed her "GG" (good girl) attitude by taking an impromptu road trip with Robinson, he's all about it. Of course, by impromptu, I mean that Axi has the route and transportation all planned out to a T. Soon, though, the two of them are breaking the law, running from the cops, and trying to outrun their secrets. Will their journey end faster than they planned? what I likedHonestly. Patterson and Raymond captured the teenage girl overthinking love thing perfectly. As a girl who went through a MAJOR life stage of obsessing over a boy who just happened to give her plenty of little signs to overthink and obsess over, I totally felt for Axi. She is maybe starting to feel more for Robinson than she ever planned, but she isn't sure that he feels the same, yet he keeps calling her his "beloved Axi" which could either be a friendly pet name or an actual term of endearment meaning he loves her. She can't tell. And we can't either for a long time! I also like the banter between Axi and Robinson. "You're crazy." "But you love me." Honestly, I say this to my friends and my fiance all the freaking time. It's so totally true. There's also the whole "what is their secret?" thing going on throughout the book. It wasn't a HUGE surprise to me when it finally came out, but it was good, nonetheless. what I didn't likeAxi is portrayed as such a good girl. But honestly, there were a lot of crimes that Robinson talked her into WAYYYY too easily. Once again, as a girl after Axi's own heart (I'm definitely a type-A goodie-two-shoes), I can almost guarantee that she would have put up a bigger fight, no matter her feelings for Robinson. So I guess what I'm saying is, she shouldn't have been portrayed as quite such a good girl, or she needed to fight back more and not just give in to Robinson every time he did something insane. Also, how likely is it that a couple of high school kids would actually make it from Oregon to New York to the Carolinas without getting caught? Especially with a trip they have to make to a hospital at some point. You'd think that they would have gotten caught at some point. Somewhere along the line. And maybe I wonder about this because I have a partially written book that I battled myself on this at one point. overall impression 🌟🌟🌟🌟This was a really good book. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I think that Patterson and Raymond did a great job portraying the young love, and I liked the characters (minus the whole, Axi-isn't-as-good-as-you-think thing). My biggest problem is the reality of it (and I know, it's a romance, reality isn't really the point here). But the love, the travel, the lessons they learned about life and one another, those were all very good. Overall, good read!
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AuthorJust sharing my passion of reading through my passion of writing. Archives
May 2020
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