My Book Life

Clean Slate is over, and it was a pretty awesome eight days of reading.  I was able to get a few things off my TBR list and nearly finish on of my most anticipated books of 2015.  So how did I do?  Not to shabby, if I do say so myself.  Don't take my word for it though. Let me throw up the final count of what I read during the Read-A-Thon.

Books Read: Princess Decomposia & Count Spatula

                       Rocket Raccoon Volume 1: A Chasing Tale

                      Rasputin Volume 1: The Road to the Winter Castle

Books Unfinished: Illuminae - 66% done

Pages Read: 872 out of 1071

I'm hoping with my afternoon off that I will be able to finish Illuminae, I'm only about 200 pages away from the end.  My back-to-back work schedule on Mondays and Tuesdays make it hard to read with getting in late and up early.  Still, I'm hoping that I can keep pace with my reading for the rest of the year that I've kept with both Clean Slate and Bout of Books.  Both were great fun and I'd love to participate in both again.  I might just make a dent in my TBR pile this year after all.

Ugh, 200 pages to go and I'm still not sure what Phobos is, if the Lincoln is coming, or if both our main characters will survive or not.  It's tense, it's almost over, and I have remember this is in fact a series.  So they both can't die, right??

Last day of Clean Slate Read-A-Thon!  The upside is I got to spend the entire afternoon reading, because I didn't have to a pull a double yesterday.  I'd like to say I came home and read more, but while that was the plan I ended up getting sidetracked by other things.  All in all it was a good eight days of reading!  Tomorrow after work I'll toss up a wrap up post with everything.

Sunday, January 10
Reading: Between work and a need to re-watch Pysch I got nothing read today.
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Monday, January 11
Reading: See Sunday, same excuse. :(
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Tuesday, January 12
Reading: Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula
Pages Read: 172
Books completed today: 1

Wednesday, January 13
Reading: Rocket Raccoon, Chasing Tale, Rasputin, the Road to the Winter Palace,and Illuminae
Pages Read: 320
Books completed today: 2 and 20 pages into Illuminae

Thursday, January 14

Reading: Illuminae
Pages Read: 100
Books completed today: N/A

Friday, January 15

Reading: Illuminae

Pages Read: 135

Books completed today: N/A

Saturday, January 16

Reading: Illuminae

Pages Read: 73

Books completed today:  N/A

Sunday, January 17

Reading: Iluminae

Pages Read: 92

Books completed today: N/A

Despite having to work I still managed to get a few pages in of Illuminae.  AIDEN if officially awake and I don't think anyone safe, because that AI is like HAL level of crazy.  Something very bad is coming, I feel it in my bones.  

Day 7 also came with a mini challenge from Lost in Lit, but with the sheer amount of people in the bakery yesterday I was too tired to dig though my books.  I'm a little bummed because it was Bookcase Scavenger Hunt.  The need to get back to Illuminae was just a bigger pull.  I have to know what's going on!

Sunday, January 10
Reading: Between work and a need to re-watch Pysch I got nothing read today.
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Monday, January 11
Reading: See Sunday, same excuse. :(
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Tuesday, January 12
Reading: Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula
Pages Read: 172
Books completed today: 1

Wednesday, January 13
Reading: Rocket Raccoon, Chasing Tale, Rasputin, the Road to the Winter Palace,and Illuminae
Pages Read: 320
Books completed today: 2 and 20 pages into Illuminae

Thursday, January 14

Reading: Illuminae
Pages Read: 100
Books completed today: N/A

Friday, January 15

Reading: Illuminae

Pages Read: 135

Books completed today: N/A

Saturday, January 16

Reading: Illuminae

Pages Read: 73

Books completed today:  N/A

Sunday, January 17

Reading: Iluminae

Pages Read:

Books completed today:

I've officially been put in the conscious of AIDEN, it's not a happy shiny place.

Oh Friday, what a day.  I realized my days for the Read-a-Thon posts were all wack-a-doodle.  So it took forever to figure out what I was doing, but it all managed to iron itself out.  After that it was back to reading.  Putting down Illuminae is no easy task.  I had to make myself find a stopping point last night. So good!!

Sunday, January 10
Reading: Between work and a need to re-watch Pysch I got nothing read today.
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Monday, January 11
Reading: See Sunday, same excuse. :(
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Tuesday, January 12
Reading: Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula
Pages Read: 172
Books completed today: 1

Wednesday, January 13
Reading: Rocket Raccoon, Chasing Tale, Rasputin, the Road to the Winter Palace,and Illuminae
Pages Read: 320
Books completed today: 2 and 20 pages into Illuminae

Thursday, January 14

Reading: Illuminae
Pages Read: 100
Books completed today: N/A

Friday, January 15

Reading: Illuminae

Pages Read: 135

Books completed today: N/A

Saturday, January 16

Reading: Illuminae

Pages Read:

Books completed today: 

As part of a way for me to keep myself active on here between reviews and read-a-thons, I thought I would share my Most Anticipated books for each month.  My hope is that the rest of the year these will get up a little earlier in the month, if not around the time of my Monthly Wrap-Ups.  It's still a work in progress.  So the set up might change as the months pass as I find the best way to do this.

January's Most Anticipated Books:

Release Date: January 5, 2016

Author: Kathryn Tanquary

Genre: Middle Grade & Fantasy

Series: Stand Alone

Shelf: Library - on Hold

The last thing Saki Yamamoto wants to do for her summer vacation is trade in exciting Tokyo for the antiquated rituals and bad cell reception of her grandmother's village. Preparing for the Obon ceremony is boring. Then the local kids take an interest in Saki and she sees an opportunity for some fun, even if it means disrespecting her family's ancestral shrine on a malicious dare.

But as Saki rings the sacred bell, the darkness shifts. A death curse has been invoked... and Saki has three nights to undo it. With the help of three spirit guides and some unexpected friends, Saki must prove her worth - or say good-bye to the world of the living forever.

Release Date: January 5, 2016

Author: Susan Dennard

Genre: Young Adult & Fantasy

Series: Yes. The Witchlands #1

Shelf: Library - on Hold

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others. In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.

Release Date: January 26, 2016

Author: Kali Wallace

Genre: Young Adult & Paranormal

Series: Stand Alone

Shelf:  Library - onHold

When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

These are three books I'm most excited for this month.  I do have a lot of books on my TBR that will be released this month, but these are three I want to make sure get crossed off into the READ section of my GR shelves.  Also, the books description where pulled from their respective Goodreads page.

What about you all, what books are you looking forward too?

When the 32 hours until the bad guys finally catch up to you is the least of your current worries, maybe it's time to panic.  I'm panicking and I'm just reading the book.  Well, going to bed because if I don't find a stopping point the next thing I'll know my alarm will be going off.

Another slow reading day with work, but today I'm off and plan on busting farther into Illuminae.  I fell asleep reading it last night that's how addicting this book.  I also realized my days were off on my posts so I was forced to pause and do some blog editing.  This is why I should proof read things and not get trigger happy with the post button.

Now today isn't just an update.  Oh no!  Today is a mini challenge brought to us by Latte Nights Reviews, and it is Book Cover Hunt.  Some of them I knew right off the bat, other's I had to dig for just a bit.

The Challenge:

I was given 12 small chunks of book covers that will be released this year, and I was to find the title of each one.  Since I work the next two days and it's the weekend I knew had this afternoon to get it down.  Now I've edited this realizing I shouldn't have posted the covers or the answers just in case someone hasn't solved it.  I don't want to ruin it!!  It took me 2 hours, with a break for laundry and finally managed to find the three that were alluding me.  BOOM! It was fun and the cats enjoyed watching yell, WHAT ARE YOU?!, at the computer screen.

Sunday, January 10
Reading: Between work and a need to re-watch Pysch I got nothing read today.
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Monday, January 11
Reading: See Sunday, same excuse. :(
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Tuesday, January 12
Reading: Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula
Pages Read: 172
Books completed today: 1

Wednesday, January 13
Reading: Rocket Raccoon, Chasing Tale, Rasputin, the Road to the Winter Palace, and Illuminae
Pages Read: 320
Books completed today: 2 and 20 pages into Illuminae

Thursday, January 14

Reading: Illuminae
Pages Read: 100
Books completed today: N/A

Friday, January 15

Reading: Immuniae

Pages Read: 

Books completed today:

I've made it only a little bit through Illuminae, but I'm loving it!!  Ezra is a mouthy little hothead and I adore him.  The pace of the book is fun and the conspiracies have already started to build.

Just a quick update from yesterday.  It was a pretty good reading day, and a pretty good day all around.  Grabbed coffee with a friend, got some work down around my office, and even made a pretty epic chicken and red sauce.  More importantly I finally managed to bust into Illuminae.

Sunday, January 10
Reading: Between work and a need to re-watch Pysch I got nothing read today.
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Monday, January 11
Reading: See Sunday, same excuse. :(
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Tuesday, January 12
Reading: Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula
Pages Read: 172
Books completed today: 1

Wednesday, January 13
Reading: Rocket Raccoon, Chasing Tale, Rasputin, the Road to the Winter Palace, and Illuminae
Pages Read: 320
Books completed today: 2 and 20 pages into Illuminae

Thursday, January 14

Reading: Illuminae

Pages Read:

Books completed today:

The very first thing that drew me toward Monstrous was the cover, because Kymera really is and adorable thing.  The other part was the synopsis of the story itself sounded too cute to pass up. A MiddleGrade mash-up of Frankenstein and the Brothers Grim. Yup, I'm sold. Plus, since it's a debut novel that makes it a BINGO book.  Really before I even cracked it opened Monstrous had checked all the right boxes.  Luckily for me it didn't really disappoint me.

Monstrous is an adorable fantasy for any MiddleGrade reader to pick up.  You see the entire world from Kymera's point of view from the first day she wakes up in father's laboratory until the final pages of her defending Bryer from the evil wizard.  It was hard not to fall in love with her as a main character because she so wants to do the right thing.  Despite all the obstacles put in front of her, the betrayals, and wrong decisions she never gives up.  Which I think was my favorite part of the story. 

MarcyKate Connolly wrote a female character that made mistakes, was flawed, and didn't look like other girls at all.  In fact Kymera is true to name and is three different creatures: a human girl with the tail of snake and the wings of raven.   Despite all of it Kymera stays true to herself and I felt like it was something girls reading MiddleGrade novels need to hear.  They need to see a girl who falls in love but isn't loved back who realizes it's okay because they are special in their own.  It's also a great story on why you should never judge a book by it's cover.  Kymera was more than just her parts.

Of course that's just the message from the book all around.  To never give up even when it seems impossible.  No matter how people look at you, sometimes you have to believe in yourself and what you can do.  It's a great story for the boys too.  Ren, Kymera's crush, is strong and brave and also a bit flawed.  Only he learns to forgive and apologize.  Did I mention he's brave.

The story itself was wonderful.  The world of Byre was opened through Kymera's eyes and I honestly felt I was on the journey with her.  It really did feel like a little Kingdom taken from the Grim stories, but told in a way for kids.  It was adorable and toward the end I couldn't put it down.

Really the only downside of Monstrous was that a few chapters in I had figured out who our evil wizard was.  Which is probably because either I'm a little over the age bracket this was written for, or maybe that was what MarcyKate Connolly wanted.  She wanted the readers to know who the wizard was, but for us to have sit and see Kymera figure out and kind of break our hearts when she did.  Either way it didn't stop me from plowing through.

Personally I thought it was adorable book and a great way to start of my reading of 2016 on a high note.  I've already recommended to my friend as something she could read to my niece before bed, and I've put it on my cousins to read list as well.  I've already put the second book, Ravenous, on my Hold list from the library, and it comes out February 9th of this year.

I total recommend Monstrous to anyone who wants a fun quick read that leaving you smiling.  Anyone with kids that love fantasy books.  Even those that are fans of the Brothers Grim.  Basically if you pick up a MiddleGrade novel here and there, and you should because they are adorable things, Monstrous should make the list.

Day 2 was a bust with zero reading on my part.  I have no excuse except that it's all Shawn Spencer's fault.

Despite the day trying my very last patience, Day 3, because apparently I was not meant to ever get to go home, I managed it.  I even manged to make it time to cook dinner and watch Shadowshunters on what we call the Harry Potter Channel (but it is actually ABC Family, well Free Form now, they really should just call it the Harry Potter Channel.  Afterward I did manage to curl up and read.  Since the day had been a little rough I wanted something light and funny so I grabbed Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula.  It was the perfect way to end a pretty hectic day.  First Second rarely lets me down.

Just like last week the Clean Slate Read-A-Thon also comes with some Mini-Challenges.  Day one came with a challenge,  Bookish Resolutions.  Which I took the time figure some out in what felt like never ending traffic last night.

Book Resolutions:

1. Read more of the books I actually own.

2. Limit my book hauls for the year.

3. Shake up the kinds of books I read.

4. Find more time to read then just my two days off.

Blog Resolutions:

1. Stay active with posts and people I follow.

2. Schedule a few things each month to post.

3. Try to do at least one discussion post this year.

4. Throw up a giveaway to introduce at least one more person to one of my favorite books.

Personal Resolutions:

1. Get my stuff more organized. 

2. Do more things for me.  Things I say I want to do, but then find a reason not to.

3. Starting putting my novel out there for people to see.  Time to be brave.

I included my personal ones because now I have no choice but to stick with them because as we know, what's it's on the internet it never goes away.  Also though, they are three simple little things I've either put off or fallen away from.  I want 2016 to be a good year.  Last year hit some bumps, as life is want to do, but I want less of those this year.  I've already started with #2 and I'm planning a trip to see the family soon.  Now I have Pita Chips to cook and books to read.

Sunday, January 10
Reading: Between work and a need to re-watch Pysch I got nothing read today.
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Monday, January 11
Reading: See Sunday, same excuse. :(
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Tuesday, January 12
Reading: Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula
Pages Read: 172
Books completed today: 1

Wednesday, January 13

Reading: Rocket Raccoon, Chasing Tale, Rasputin, the Road to the Winter Palace,and Illuminae
Pages Read: 
Books completed today:

Bout of Books 15 has officially ended, but I'm not through yet.  I am on to my second Read-A-Thon of a month, and my last for January.  Who knows what February will bring.  I haven't looked that far ahead yet.  All the info for this week's Read-A-Thon can be on my blog here or on the Novel Ink book blog here.  This post is basically my TBR for the week.  I'm not even a little ashamed of the amount of Graphic Novels dawning this list.  Most of my week will be spent on one book, the one I've been waiting for it to be my turn to borrow from the library.  Now it is mine and I have carved out both of my days off to devour it!

The Books:

 x  x x    

Illuminae would be the book that I will devouring on my days off.  I'm sure it will have me reading way past my bed time.  My hope for this book is as good as I've read it is.  All the blogs I follow have loved this book, and the cover!  The concept!  I really liked the last book, Supernatural Enhancements, that I read that was written similarly to Illuminae. The graphic novels were sort of a happy accident that too came in at the library and were published in 2015.  All of which have been sitting on my TBR. I started both Rocket and Rasputin over the spring last year until our move fussed with that.

Daily Updates and Stats: 

Sunday, January 10
Reading: Between work and a need to re-watch Pysch I got nothing read today.
Pages Read: 0
Books completed today: N/A

Monday, January 11
Reading:
Pages Read:
Books completed today:

Tuesday, January 12
Reading:
Pages Read:
Books completed today:

Wednesday, January 13
Reading:
Pages Read:
Books completed today:

Thursday, January 14
Reading:
Pages Read:
Books completed today:

Friday, January 15
Reading:
Pages Read:
Books completed today:

Saturday, January 16
Reading:
Pages Read:
Books completed today:

Sunday, January 17
Reading:
Pages Read:
Books completed today:

I'm day late throwing this up, but last night I had a book to finish.  The last day of my first Bout of Books was a good one (even work was kind of mellow).  I finished Monstrous managed another section into Quotable Doctor Who.  While I'm enjoying the Doctor Who book it's not something I can sit and read for hours, but I do have a need to re-watch all of Classic Who.  Anyway, despite my reading time being pretty slim I did finish Monstrous which was well worth reading past my bedtime.

Day 7 didn't have a challenge it was.  It was a free day, which was perfect because I worked open to close! 

Now instead of doing a second post with a wrap-up all on it's own I thought I'd combine the two.  Mostly because my update for the last day of Bout of Books 15 was pretty small with my long work day.  I don't think I did half bad considering it was my serious attempt at any kind of Read-A-Thon mixed in with a full work.  

Bout of Books 15 Stats:

Two books read:   and     Between the two, Monstrous was my favorite read during the Bout.  It was pretty adorable and I've already added it the nieces to read pile.  Wytches was a little disappointed considering my high hopes for it.  I'm hoping to have a review up for Monstrous up soon.

Pages read: 576

Books left unfinished:     I'm about halfway through this one, and I like it so far.  It's just not something I can sit down and read for hours on end.  After a while I get distracted.  Without a doubt I'll keep it reading it here and there. 

BINGO Books:  2 out of 3, and technically Quotable Doctor Who would go on the Free Space.   

My flatmate had a little better week than I did, but only because she's a speed reader.  So I rarely feel bad when she runs circles around me with book count.  Right now our BINGO boards are tied up, which is all that matters!  I have to say I enjoyed the last week.  The challenges were fun and it was awesome to get back into the habit of reading.  Plus, I think Maxwell, the fat cat, needed some hardcore cuddling.  Bout of Books 16 will be back May 9th through the 15th!  Both me and the blog will be ready.  Now, on to the Clean Slate Read-A-Thon.

Whelp, I got about three chapters worth of reading down between when I ordered dinner and when it arrived at my door.  What I thought was about to be a quiet day at work turned out to be a all of a swarmed by all the people needing all the cupcakes.  So I was late getting home, but hey at least it was an easy fix.  I do plan on reading myself asleep tonight because I need to know how Monstrous ends.  I mean I'm pretty sure I know how it's going to ends, maybe eighty percent sure.  Sleep is for the weak!  My day tomorrow is just long not exactly hard.  There will definitely be more reading time tomorrow.

There was in fact a bookish challenge today by Once Upon a Chapter and it was all about a Comfy Reading Spot.   Last night I posted the reading nest that has taken over the floor of my office.  I also have a leather couch, a Unicorn we call Captain Sparkles, and a popuson chair that I've been known to curl up on to read.  Though I mostly only used the popuson in the summer when I can drag it out onto our patio.

Now, I'm going to grab my cat and my tea and curl up in my bed.  I feel the need to read about teenager monsters, dragons, and evil wizards!