Winter 2015 Book Challenge

So, I’m going to do another reading challenge! I loved the Literary Ladies Challenge and I love planning books for various categories and really spreading my wings with reading different things.

Here’s my preliminary list for the Semi-Charmed Life 2015 Winter Book Challenge hosted by Megan at Semi-Charmed Kind of Life (anyone else always get Third Eye Blind in their head when they head over to her blog?? I think that’s part of the point!!) 🙂

5 points: Read a book that has between 100 and 200 pages.

I’d recommend this list here and I’m going with A STUDY IN SCARLET (Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes # 1)

10 points: Read a debut book by any author. (The book does not have to be a 2015 debut.)

NORTHANGER ABBEY or SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (Jane Austen) (There is a bit of a debate over which was her actual debut book but I plan to read both of them during this time frame so here we go).

10 points: Read a book that does not take place in your current country of residence.

BLACKMOORE (Julianne Donaldson)

10 points: Read a book that someone else has already used for the challenge. — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Kristen @ See You in a Porridge.

WONDER (R.J. Palacio) (used by What Low Reads en Francais!!!)

15 points: Read a book published under a pseudonym (e.g. Robert Galbraith, Sara Poole, J.D. Robb, Franklin W. Dixon, Mark Twain, etc.). — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Megan M.

THE SILKWORM (Robert Gailbraith AKA J.K. Rowling)

15 points: Read a book with “boy,” “girl,” “man” or “woman” in the title (or the plural of these words).

LITTLE WOMEN (Louisa May Alcott)

15 points: Read a book with a one-word title (e.g. Attachments, Americanah, Uglies, Wild, etc.).

WINTER (Marissa Meyer) can’t wait for this one!!!!!

20 points: Read a book with a person’s first and last name in the title (e.g. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle).

ARTEMIS FOWL – (Eoin Colfer) OR BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY (Helen Fielding) depending on my mood…haha

20 points: Read a food-themed book. — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Jamie @ Whatever I Think Of!

BELLA’S CHRISTMAS BAKE OFF (Sue Watson via Netgalley)

20 points: Read a book with a verb in the title. (For any grammar nerds out there, I mean “verb” in the most general sense, so gerunds count. For non-grammar-inclined people, just use any book that appears to have a verb in the title!)

ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE (Anthony Doerr) or WHAT ALICE FORGOT (Liane Moriarty) depending which one comes to me first in my library holds 🙂

30 points: Read two books with the same title (by different authors). — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher bevchen @ Confuzzledom .

THE ALCHEMIST (Paulo Coelho – REREAD) and THE ALCHEMYST (Michael Scott) and can I just say that I had an absolutely impossible time picking this category even though it’s fun??

30 points: Read a nonfiction book and a fiction book about the same subject (e.g. a biography and historical fiction novel about the same person; two books about a specific war or event; a nonfiction book about autism and a novel with a character who has autism, etc. The possibilities are endless!).

I am pretty indecisive when it comes to non-fiction so I made two possibilities (well, 4 total) for this category and I will do one of these (LOL).
POSER: MY LIFE IN 23 YOGA POSES (Claire Dederer) and CORPSE POSE (Diana Killian)

OR:

THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB (Heather Vogels Frederick) and HELP WANTED: MOMS RAISING DAUGHTERS (Darlene Brock)

Check out others’ lists here and follow along as I update my progress on this over at Goodreads! The challenge runs Nov 1 2015 – Jan 31 2015!!

10 Great Websites for Book Lovers

All of the reading I’ve done this year has really made me a lot more interested in book websites and book blogs. I could write a whole separate post about my favourite book blogs, so maybe I’ll do that someday, but today I’d like to share some book websites that I love. Let me know if there are any great gems out there that I missed!!

1) Goodreads (Obviously. You can connect with me here).

I love the ability to track what I’m reading. It’s also so easy to read others’ reviews and see recommendations. The groups are great. The lists are addictive. I will admit that I do find it overwhelming at times, and I try not to think about the fact that my to-read list is massive. I am trying to add books that absolutely only interest me and not just books that are popular with my Goodreads friends. So many books, so little time! 😉 Here are a few great posts about enhancing your experience on Goodreads:

Get Organized on Goodreads from Hannah at So Obsessed With
11 Ways to Love Goodreads Even More (I learned a lot from this one – especially about adding your library in the Bonus Round section)

And one humorous read that I can’t help but agree with: How I will Improve Goodreads when I rule the World. <– Totally agree with the half stars!

2) BookBub

I’m not sure how I first stumbled upon this, but it is a GREAT source for finding free or cheap e-books at Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Kobo, etc. You can choose which categories you’d like to hear about, and which platforms you read on (I’d highly recommend selecting as many as you can – I have a Kobo and I still subscribe to the Amazon ones because I can read those on a tablet with the Kindle app if I really find a good book for free!) This is a wonderful resource and I can’t recommend it enough. I get an e-mail every day and some of the offers only last for that day, so I usually skim it quickly but if you end up not checking it every day, no big deal either. It’s like Groupon for books. They also have a BLOG which you can access here. A similar service to this one is called ManyBooks.

3) BuzzFeed Books

I get an e-mail from Buzzfeed books once or twice a week with some great lists about books and book-related things. It won’t be relatable all the time, but it’s still fun to check out.

Some examples:
Charts for People who Love to Read
Things Everyone who grew up a booknerd will understand.
46 Brilliant Short Novels You Can Read in a Day (in case you need some helping reaching your Goodreads reading goal!)

4) Reading Room

I follow this site on Facebook and they are always sharing interesting things, like beautiful pictures of libraries or places you should go if you like “…”. Again, maybe it’s not for everyone, but they do share some great recommendations and I think every book lover should at least check it out 🙂

5) Librivox

Home of many, many audiobooks that are in the public domain. Very easy to use and some GREAT narrators. You can search by novel, author, narrator etc. Elizabeth Klett is my personal favourite so far. I’ve listened to Pride & Prejudice and Jane Eyre via downloads from this website and I have Little Women cued up too. I kind of want to be a reader for this site someday. I think it would be fun!!!

6) Project Gutenburg (Canadian) (American)

This is the e-book equivalent to Librivox, and it has hundreds of titles that are in the public domain available for download. Great for reading the classics!!

7) Whichbook

Some might say that you can accomplish this site’s idea through Goodreads and while that is definitely true, this one is still fun to check out if you’re really looking for a general recommendation, or if you feel like you’re in the mood for something in particular (then you can go and look up their suggestions on Goodreads :)).

8) Overdrive

I read or listen to most of my books via my public library or the above mentioned resources. The Overdrive app is AWESOME because you can listen to audiobooks from it directly (kind of like Audible), renew, or read e-books in it. I prefer to read my ebooks on my Kobo, so I usually download them onto that from the Overdrive site, but I am loving it for audiobooks. You can easily link your library to it so you can browse and sign out immediately!

9) NetGalley

I don’t consider myself to be a big blogger by any stretch of the imagination and I have still scored a few books via NetGalley (one of which I haven’t read yet and one of which I still have to review). It’s worth checking it out because it doesn’t seem extremely hard to get approved if you are either a blogger, active on Goodreads, or very interested in books. The selection isn’t always the best, but it’s worth checking out!!

10) Audible

I’d be pretty amiss if I didn’t at least mention this one. While I don’t subscribe to this (I’m not into audiobooks enough to really use the subscription service, but maybe someday), I have still used it occasionally and I definitely appreciate its value. Here are a few great posts on getting the most out of Audible:

A trick to save bigtime on Audiobooks from Modern Mrs. Darcy
Get the most out of Audible
Getting the most out of your Audible Membership

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

#Bookstagram #books #currentlyreading #bookblogging and other book tags on Instagram and Twitter – here are a few posts with suggestions: HERE, HERE, HERE.
I am intrigued by Scribd and Oyster, but I don’t want to read books on our tablet (too much screen time) and I don’t have a Kindle so I am uncertain whether they’d be worth my time and effort. Any input on these “Netflix for Books” sites, anyone??

What book websites do you love??

PS – Tomorrow is the monthly Show Us Your Books link up with Steph and Jana…the one year anniversary! Check it out for even more book love!!!

Fall To-Be-Read Books (Top Ten Tuesday)

Last week, I jotted down a list of books that I really wanted to get to this fall, so this week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a perfect topic for me! My own list has more than 10, but I’ll share my favourites! I’m waiting for a few of them from the library, but I am hoping I’ll get to all of these before Christmas 🙂

All images via Goodreads

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling

I read the first in this series and although it was a bit slow at the beginning, I was hooked by the end. Looking forward to following Strike’s story in this one. There’s a third in the series coming out this fall too, so maybe I’ll get to that one before Christmas.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

I loved Fangirl and I can’t wait to read this story about the fan fiction 🙂 Comes out in October!!

Winter by Marissa Meyer

The much-anticipated finale to the Lunar Chronicles…comes out in November and I can’t wait to see how it all ends. I’m listening to The Fairest right now, and it’s an interesting perspective on Queen Levana.

The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty

This will be my second Liane Moriarty book, so I hope it lives up to how much I loved Big Little Lies!

Persuasion by Jane Austen

I can’t believe I haven’t read this yet, but I can’t wait. I know the storyline (although I haven’t seen the movie either!) and I think I will really enjoy it. I might listen to some of it on audiobook and read parts of it…we’ll see how it goes.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

This book is recommended for fans of The Martian (even though it is not at all the same) – It seems like it will be a fast paced read.

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this regency book and I think it will tie in well to all of my Jane Austen reading over the next few months 🙂

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

I’m already partway through this short read and feeling so motivated to GET RID OF THINGS. Now if only I can get my husband on board?? 😉

At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen

I loved Water for Elephants and I have heard this one isn’t quite as good, but it’s still worth a read.

My True Love Gave to Me (Various authors/ short stories)

To read in November (or sooner – whenever the library gives it to me?) in anticipation of a wonderful holiday season!!!

To check out some other Top Ten Tuesday lists, go to the link-up HERE. Thanks to the Broke and the Bookish for hosting!

What’s on your reading list for the fall???

Literary Ladies Summer Reading Challenge Final Link Up

When I first saw the info about this summer reading challenge on Kristen’s blog, I immediately went to work writing down possible books for the categories. I did end up changing my mind a bit, but my final list was as follows:

YA Book – Sloppy Firsts 4/5 Stars

A book with a one word title – Cinder 4.5/5 stars

A book about summer, or a book with summer in the title – Twenty Boy Summer 2.5/5 Stars

A book recommended by a blogger – The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry 4.5/5 stars

A book by a non US author – Big Little Lies 5/5 Stars

A book on my TBR list for more than a year – The Perks of Being a Wallflower 4/5 Stars

A book with a female heroine – Jane Eyre 5/5 Stars

A suspenseful book – Gone Girl 3.5/5 stars

Book written by a celebrity or comedian: One More Thing 4/5

Book that will be a movie or TV show – The Martian -5/5

And as I mentioned in my last update post, I finished all the books from my list in August!

The books I would absolutely recommend that I read: The Martian, Big Little Lies, Jane Eyre, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I also (obviously) loved Cinder and I have gobbled up the rest of that series in the past month or so.

I’d like to take a minute now though to reflect on the challenge and how I feel about reading challenges now that I’ve got this one under my belt 😉

One thing I absolutely LOVED about the reading challenge was that I really expanded my horizons in reading. There were some books on my list that had been on my “to be read” list for WAY too long and I knew that if I thought I “had” to read them, I would. And I’m so glad I did!! I also loved the interactive component of this challenge and the fact that it increased my participation on Goodreads/commenting on blogs/talking to other book lovers about similar choices. Additionally, I liked that I didn’t binge on one particular series. Usually (like most people, maybe?), if I read a good book, I will read the sequel immediately after, and then the next in the series, etc until I’m done it and in withdrawal. haha. This really forced me to move onto another book for a bit and absorb each series bit by bit. I wouldn’t necessarily do this moving forward, but it was interesting. Finally, I liked how this challenge made me fall in love with audiobooks. Throughout the challenge, I’d usually have 1 (or 2!) books on the go, and an audiobook, and I loved that because sometimes you have time to read, but sometimes you need to wash dishes or go for a run, and then you can turn to an audiobook at that time.

The only thing that I didn’t love about myself during this challenge was how intense I got about it…haha. By that I mean I really wanted to finish first so I felt like I chose books that weren’t TOO TOO long or hard (although some were longer, and none of them were necessarily SUPER easy). I also rushed through a couple of them, and I felt like I should be reading every single second that I wasn’t with the kids or working…so that was a bit weird, but I did enjoy all the reading I did this summer!! And this feeling isn’t the challenge’s fault, it’s all mine. 😉

I’m not doing any other challenges at the moment (although a fall one would be great!!) but my current reading goals include finishing all of Jane Austen’s books (I haven’t read a few of them yet!) by Valentine’s Day 2016, finish 100 books by December 31 (Goodreads tells me I am a few behind schedule but it doesn’t realize that summer socializing is coming to an end LOL) and if I finish 100 books I will allow myself to read Harry Potter again for the 10th ish time 😉 I am dying to read it again, and I know I should just say OK go ahead, but I’m also trying to really broaden my horizons a little bit. So many books, so little time!!!

Thanks for hosting such a great reading challenge ladies! I’m looking forward to the next one!! 🙂

Fabulous Friday Favourites

Today is a good day. The sun in shining, it’s warm but not too hot, and it feels like fall. I finished the Sea of Tranquility this morning on my way to work, and I loved it. It reminded me of how I finished when I finished reading Eleanor & Park. It was a good read. I am actually loving how many great books I have read this year thanks to being more interactive on Goodreads and listening to others’ recommendations. I’ll be posting my thoughts on the Literary Ladies Summer Reading Challenge on Monday 🙂

Here are some of my Friday Favourites for the week!!

FAVOURITE MUSIC:

I love this one for running…great beat!!!

z

FAVOURITE YOUTUBE VIDEO:

I can’t wait to watch it this weekend, since I missed it the first time around on TV in June.

FAVOURITE LINKS AROUND THE WEB:
11 ways to love Goodreads even More
Listen to Your Kids <— this has really stayed with me since I read it
This post from today on Gilbert Blythe vs. Mr. Darcy

FAVOURITE PHOTO OF THE GIRLS:

My tiny walking toddler machine

Because every 4 year old needs a huge pink unicorn to call their own

FAVOURITE RECIPE:

I made some cold brew coffee this week after spending $5 for a cup of it last week (just black – ridiculous!) Here’s the recipe:

Cold Brew Coffee via Sage the Blog

FAVOURITE LOLs:

FAVOURITE INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE:

FAVOURITE QUOTE FROM A BOOK I READ RECENTLY:

From The Sea of Tranquility

Happy weekend, everyone!! xo

Literary Ladies Update #2 and current reads

I’ve drafted several posts lately and then I haven’t had enough time to edit them or add pictures, so they’re left sitting as drafts and the moment has passed. BUT here I am today, so that counts for something?? We have had an insanely busy past few weeks. Stressful moments at work followed by nights at home with a screaming, tired, preschooler and a teething toddler have left me totally burnt out. Every day this week, I actually felt like digging myself a hole and hanging out there for awhile on my own with some peace and quiet. However, I let a few things go for this weekend, and my mind is MUCH clearer today, and I think I will survive now 😉

So, aside from turning 30 last Friday (ahh!!) I have been doing a lot of running, reading, and listening to great tunes and podcasts lately. Here is my update for the Literary Ladies Summer Reading Challenge:

Books read: 10/10!!

Books read since last update: The Martian (see thoughts below) and One More Thing.

I finished all my books awhile ago (almost within the first month, but The Martian on audiobook took a bit longer and One More Thing did too). Here’s my previous update, in case you want to know what I thought of the other 8 books I read.

My favourites from the challenge:

The Martian – honestly one of the best books I have read (listened to?) in years. It was amazing as an audiobook, and I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed the print version nearly as much. I can’t wait to see the movie. By the end of the book, I was actually squirming with anticipation to find out what happened with Mark Watney. Amazing, amazing book. Thanks to Kristen’s recommendation…I hadn’t even heard of it until I read about it on her blog, and I have already recommended it to everyone I know (my dad and my brother both absolutely loved it too!)

Big Little Lies – this book had me hooked right from the beginning and I couldn’t stand not knowing the ending so I finished it in about 2 days.

Jane Eyre – I can’t believe it took me so long to read this book (I listened to most of it, actually). Classics are classics for a reason.

Cinder – I have since finished Scarlet and Cress, and I love this series. I can’t wait for Winter to come out this fall. I have been actively seeking out more fairytale retellings too and I think I will try to get back into watching Once Upon a Time sometime soon too.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry – this was a heartwarming and pleasant read, and I loved it.

I’m so glad I did this challenge. It definitely broadened my reading scope and got me to read more books this summer than I otherwise would have. Now that I’ve caught the reading bug again all the time, I don’t think I’ll stop anytime soon!

Right now I’m reading In the Unlikely Event (so far it’s about 3/5 stars for me, but I’m only about a third of the way through – I’m interested but not 100% hooked on the characters and I have an ominous feeling about what is to come)…and I have these others on the horizon in the next week or so and while I’m off work for a week (Sept 1-8) 🙂 This one is for the Literary Ladies Book Club pick of the month.

I just finished the other two Lunar Chronicles books, and I loved them. Cress was probably my favourite of the three so far. I liked Scarlet too, but the storyline just wasn’t as exciting to me as Cinder and Cress. I am actually glad in a way that I didn’t discover this series until this spring, because now I don’t have to wait quite as long for the fourth book to come out 😉

I’ve also read the 2nd and 3rd Jessica Darling books – the third wasn’t my favourite but I am hoping the fourth will be better! Still a good series to pass the time 😉

I have heard amazing things from many bloggers about the Sea of Tranquility, and I hope it isn’t TOO emotional for me, haha.

Anyway, I’m off to go for a run on my lunch hour here…hope everyone has a great weekend!! I hope my weekend looks a little bit like this photo:

But I’m sure it will end up being more like this: