Challenges and goals update: How did I do in October

October was a very good month reading wise. Blogging wise...not so much. I was mostly active on my other blog, but with a lot of things going on at the lab, I neglected this site once again. I have some news I would like to share: I got my Canadian residency! Both A and I are very happy that I won't need to be renewing visas and other permits for a long time. But anyway, let's talk books!

Diversifying 2015: Ironically enough, this month was the #Diversiverse month and I only read one book of a POC author: El amor es una droga dura (Love is a Hard drug by Uruguayan author Cristina Peri Rossi. It was quite good and very different from what I had been reading. I should do better next month.

Read Harder: For this challenge I tackled the "A book that someone else has recommended to you" part with Le vieux qui ne voulait pas fêter son anniversaire (The Old guy that didn't want to celebrate his birthday) by Jonas Jonasson. It was completely hilarious and I recommended it wholeheartedly. Also for "A Book published by and Indie press" I read The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison. I liked it but I had very high expectations for it, and it didn't fully attain them. It was interesting didn't really resonated with me. Finally as a "Retelling of a classic story" I read Fairest by Marissa Meyer.

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month / Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month:: Only one this month:
El amor es una droga dura (Love is a Hard drug by Uruguayan author Cristina Peri Rossi.

Read CanLit book per month:For this goal I read Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood, a series of short stories. I absolutely loved it, particularly the first ones that get intertwined. I think there's no book of Atwood that wouldn't find delightful.

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: As mentioned I read The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison.

Finished series:To get "ready" for the final book in The Lunar Chronicles, I finally read Fairest by Marissa Meyer, book 4 of the series. I am so enamored with this world! Seeing a bit of Levana's story surely puts a lot of things in perspective!

Read more already owned books: Off the 10 books I read this month 3 were my own, 1 was borroed and the other 6 came from the library.

Read the picks of the month for each book club: The Sword and Laser pick for this month was The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson.It definitely had an Ancillary Justice vibe, and who knew economics and politics could give you such a rush. While I am happy I got to know this story, I am not sure I love it. Very enjoyable and a great world building, but I was left with the sensation that something was amiss.

Besides the books I already mentioned I also read In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume. It was my first book by the author and I liked it. It was an audiobook, and the narrator (Kathleen McInerney) did a wonderful job. I will eventually give it a try to her YA novels. I also read Still Alice by Lisa Genova; this one got me crying in no time and then I decided to watch the movie, and oh boy, the waterworks!. I think the author does an outstanding job making the reader feel what Alice is going through. Also a first, I read Reality Boy by A.S. King and it got me thinking, why on Earth didn't I read her books before? Her characters are so well built and so complex and real! This might have been a first, but it's certainly not a last one. My last read of the month was Before she Dies by Mary Burton; a thriller, bit of noir novella, was enjoyable, and I never managed to foresee who the bad guy was, which is a good thing!I'm glad I chose it for my Readers Imbibing Peril X challenge.

Well that was it for October. How was your reading?

Challenges and goals update: How did I do in September?

September turned out to be a better reading month that I expected, and once again I’m surprised since I’ve been almost living in the lab lately. At the same time, that means a lot of commuting time, so yeii for public transportation reading! So what exactly did I read in September? Well, I started 11 books, DNF only one of them and another one I am loving but to be fair I started it on the 28th, so I haven’t been able to finish it. So I’m going to do stats only on the 9 books finished. Let’s see:

Diversifying 2015: Of the 9 books I read this month, 2 had a POC author and both had POC main characters. This pushed my percentage to under 30%, but I’m still happy with it, I want it to be at least 30% by the end of the year. The books I read were: Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson and The Round House by Louise Erdrich. The book I DNF was Origins by Neil de Grasse Tyson, but it turned out to be way too much physics for me. My boyfriend read it and loved it though.

Read Harder: For this challenge I tackled the "A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture" part with The Round House by Louise Erdrich. I enjoyed it quite a bit, albeit sometimes it felt a bit slow for a mistery.

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month: As I mentioned, I read 2 this month.

Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month: I read Lo que escondian sus ojos by Nieves Herrero. It was interesting as I learned some about the Franco era in Spain, but it was oh so slow! The subtitle is The hidden passion of the de Llanzol marquess but the romance part took forever to actually develop and even then things kept going to a glacial pace. I guess it was just not for me.

Read CanLit book per month: The Hello Hemlock book club chose Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson for this month read, and I have to say, I wasn’t sure what to expect with it, but I was pleasantly surprised. More of a fantasy set in a dystopian (?) Toronto it was also full magic.

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: Headstrong by Rachel Swaby. This book was an amazing even if it infuriated me several times; reading about so many women disregarded in science was not easy! I am working on the review and should be coming soon.

Finished series: The only book I read (well listened to) this month was The Heir by Kiera Cass, which makes part of the Selection series. As always it was a bit predictable, but entertaining even if the characters get my eyes rolling on constant bases. It was perfect while taking a bath though. As it turns out, it's not the end of the series but a new spin for a trilogy.

Read more already owned books: Off the 9 books I read this month 6 were my own, the other 3 came from the library.

Read the picks of the month for each book club: The Sword and Laser pick for this month was A Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M Miller. Since it’s an old SciFi book there’s some parts that felt dated but I liked what he did with the story and how he depicts humanity. However the first part was very slow-paced and at times I considered quitting it. I am happy I didn’t! As I mentioned, the Hello Hemlock book club chose Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson for this month read.

Besides the books I already mentioned I also read Life of Pi by Yann Martel and I have to say I was disappointed. I don’t know if it’s a book that suffers from all the hype it got, but I was left with a “meh” feeling by the end of it. I also read Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger and again, was disappointed. I liked The Time-Traveler’s Wife, but this one had way less whimsy and the end was unsatisfying. I finally got my hands on Ms. Marvel Volume 3. Amazing as always. My last read of the month was Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell and that one was fantastic. It’s her debut novel and I am looking forward reading more from her; it was the perfect read for the Readers Imbibing Peril X challenge.

Well that was it for September. How was your reading?

Challenges and goals update: How did I do in August?

August is almost gone and I can't believe we are officially entering the last quarter of 2015. Where did this year go? I am happy with my 8 reads this month considering that I spent 2 full weeks at the lab, every single day of the week. It was exhausting, but seems like it was worth it. How was my reading this month, you ask? Let's dive in.

Diversifying 2015: Of the 8 books I read this month, 3 had a POC author and those 3 had POC main characters. My POC reading has been stable at about 30% of what I read, so I am happy. The books where: Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins (beautiful story), After Dark by Haruki Murakami (confirming that I do like the author) and finally, Long Live the Music by Andrés Caicedo (a Colombian author that I had been meaning to read for a long time.

Read Harder: For this challenge I tackled the "Read a micro-history" part with The Birth of the Pill by Jonathan Eig. It was well researched piece of nonfiction and you can read my review here.

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month: As I mentioned, I read 3 this month.

Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month: Listened to Long Live the Musical.

Read CanLit book per month: I read the last book in the Maddaddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood, so except a review of the trilogy coming soon. (spoiler alert, it was amazing)

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: The Birth of the Pill by Jonathan Eig

Finished series: Madddaddam by Margaret Atwood

Read more already owned books: Off the 8 books I read this month only 1 was from the library!

Read the picks of the month for each book club: The Sword and Laser pick for this month was Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It's the second book I've read from her and I can tell you I like her style. In this book in particular I really enjoyed the Polish influences. Hello Hemlock didn't have a pick this month.

Besides the books I already mentioned I also listened to Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, a book I kept hearing being referenced on S&L. It was ok, but it's really not my cup of tea. A LOVED it and he is continuing the series. Oh and I also listened to The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. It reminded me a lot of The Elite but with much better characters IMO. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Well that was it for August. How was your reading?

Challenges and goals update: How did I do in July?

As I mentioned on Sunday's post, July was pretty busy for me. That however meant that my stress was high and high stress usually means lots of reading. I realize it might not make much sense to a lot of people, but that's how it goes here. I need something to disconnect and that's either reading or baking and it's been too hot to bake. Granted, I didn't read any more than I have in other months, but considering the amount of "free" time I had, believe me, it was a lot of books ;). So let's take a look of what I read this month.

Diversifying 2015:

Of the 8 books I read 4 had a POC author (Traficantes de Belleza by Zoé Valdez, Maud's Line by Margaret Verble, La Casa de los Espíritus by Isabel Allende and A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki) and all of those had a POC main character.

Read Harder:

For "A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25" I read St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell. And for "A Romance Novel" I read A Rogue by any other Name by Sarah MacLean.

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month: 4 POC this month guys!

Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month: 2 this month, one in print (Traficantes de Belleza and it was beautiful to read) and one in audio (La casa de los Espíritus)

Read CanLit book per month: This month's pick for The Hello Hemlock book club was Through the Woods by Emily Carroll, an amazing and dark graphic novel. Really, give it a try.

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: Because I've already read 12 NF books this year, and hence my average of one NF book per month would be met, I gave myself a "free" month, just to not force myself into anything. I did start one NF book but it just didn't do it for me, so I just DNF.

Finished series: Nothing finished this month

Read more already owned books: Of the 8 books only 3 weren't mine. :/

Read the picks of the month for each book club: For S&L the pick for this month was Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, which I read last December, so I skipped it this month. 

Aside from that I also listened to 2 a.m. in the Cat Pajama's by Marie-Helene Bertino, it was...different.

Well that was it for July. How was your reading?

Challenges and goals update: How did I do in June?

June was a so/so book for reading. Not because of the book I read, I had quite a varied selection and in general enjoyed them all. However, we are already in July and I haven't finished all the books. Lab was a bit crazy, so I have some reading to catch up. But anyway, let's take a look

Diversifying 2015:

Of the 8 books I read only 2 had a POC author (Tales of Outer Suburbia and De cómo las muchachas García perdieron el acento by Julia Alvarez) and 2 had POC main characters (City of Stairs and by Robert Jackson Bennett and De cómo las muchachas García perdieron el acento) Only one of the books also had a predominant LGBTQ character (City of Stairs)

Read Harder:

For this challenge I read Almost Famous Women by Meghan Mayhew Bergman, which represents "A collection of short stories".

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month: 2 POC authors this month with Tales of Outer Suburbia by and De cómo las muchachas García perdieron el acento.

Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month: Only 1 this month with De cómo las muchachas García perdieron el acento.

Read CanLit book per month: I am still working on the second book of the Maddaddam trilogy by the amazing Margaret Atwood: The Year of the Flood. I am loving the book, just not having enough time t go through it.

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: I read 2 NF books this month: Let's pretend this never Happened by Jenny Lawson and Undeniable by Bill Nye. To date I have already read 12 nonfiction books this year, so I might get a bit more relaxed with that one for now and dive back into NF for NonFiction November :)

Finished series: Not finished, but working on Maddaddam.

Read more already owned books: Of the 8 books only 2 weren't mine. It's still a good average.

Read the picks of the month for each book club: For S&L we read City of Stairs; I really liked it.

I also joined the #EstellaProject3 challenge for the summer, which is why I read Tales of Outer Suburbia, it was a beautiful sequential art specimen. And I finished my Once Upon a Time Challenge with The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan, an amazing use of the Selkie mythology if you ask me.

Well that was it for June. How was your reading?

Challenges and goals update: How did I do in May?

Well, another month gone. It was a fairly busy one but I don't think it showed as much in this blog. I was in charge of this month's Book Bloggers International event, for Canadian Book Bloggers, and boy that was fun but more time consuming than I expected and hence, as may have noticed I wasn't that active around here. I did however finish 10 books, and I want to catch up with reviews as soon as possible. Now let's see about those challenges

Diversifying 2015:

Of the 10 books I read 5 have POC authors with 4 of those books also haddiverse main characters. Only one of the books had an tertiary LGBTQ character.

Read Harder:

I only ticked off the "Guilty Pleasure" one with Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia, but I've already checked 13 items on this challenge, so I'm not stressed yet.

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month: As I mentioned I read 5 POC authors this month with Black Milk by Elif Shafak, En el tiempo de las Mariposas by Julia Alvarez, Bone & Bread by Saleema Nawaz , The Emperor of all Maladies by , and Thorn by Intisar Khanani. This last one was an ARC and I shall be reviewing it soon.

Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month: Only 1 this month with En el Tiempo de las Mariposas.

Read one CanLit book per month: Bone & Bread, it was a beautiful book.

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: The Emperor of all Maladies.

Finished series: I finished The Caster Chronicles with Beautiful Redemption.. I thought I had finished Magic 2.0 too but I think with the end of the third book that they might be some more coming our way.

Read more already owned books: Of the 10 books only 3 weren't mine. Once again I am happy with this part.

Read the picks of the month for each book club: For S&L we read The Sword of Rihannon by Leigh Brackett...it was ok. And for Hello Hemlock we read Bone & Bread.

So there you have it; that was my month in books. How was your?

Challenges and goals update: How did I do in April?

April was a fun month. We had the Read-a-Thon, the weather improved...and A became a PhD. I know, I know it has nothing to do with books, but I am so proud you guys! I read 10 books this month...ok, ok, 9 and ¾ because I am not done with The Tin Drum, but I am ¾ in and should finish it today, so you know.

Diversifying 2015:

Of the 10 books I read on April 3 of them where by a nonwhite author (30% total in the year), and 4 books had POCs as main characters (19% in the year). A Little Life also dealt with sexual diversity (So far, 8% of my reading has dealt with this). 6 of the books were written by women.

Read Harder:

This month I only checked one item of the list, being #2: A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65 with The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro.

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month: 3 books as I mentioned: L'oubli que nous serons by Héctor Abad, Inéd del Alma mía by Isabel Allende and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month: Inés del Alma mía by Isabel Allende

Read CanLit book per month: The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro.

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: 2 books this month: How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran and L'oubli que nous serons by Héctor Abad

Finished series: Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer was the last installment in the Southern Reach Trilogy. I did a review here.

Read more already owned books: 5 of the books I read this month are mine. I had 3 from the library and 2 e-galleys

Read the picks of the month for each book club: No pick for Hello Hemlock this month, but Wyrd Sisters was the pick for The Sword and Laser book club.

It was a great thing the Read-a-Thon, because by then (25th of April) I was a bit behind on my "planned" reading. This was because A Little Life took a lot more time and mostly energy than I expected, but in a good way. I haven't gotten around to writing that review, but soon enough. Unfortunately, this wasn't the best month in galleys, but hey, you win a little you lose a little, am I right?

You will notice that I am not counting comics here, even though I've been reading a fair amount of them. But since I only started reading comics this year, I want to keep those stats separately.

So there you have it; that was my month in books. How was yours?

Challenges and goals update: How did I do in March?

Hello to all ! Once again here is my update for the month of March. It was a good reading month, I was surprised how much I manage to read this month.

Diversifying 2015:

Of the 10 books I read on March, 2 of them where by a nonwhite author, and both had POCs as main characters.Moving Forward Sideways like a Crab had a LGBTQ main character and (although I haven't finished it yet) The Perks of Being a Wallflower has at least so far, 2 LGBTQ characters as well. This month, 50% of the books I read were from female authors.

Read Harder:

I finally read some poetry for the RH challenge, the review for Wife of the House will be up soon. I also read Popular by Maya Van Wagenen as a "self help"...I realize this is a bit of an stretch, but it does say "Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek" so...

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month: Done with Moving Forward Sideways like a Crab by Shani Mootoo and Mi Abuelo explicaba muy bien a los Pájaros by Ivan Castro Rodelo

Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month: Done with Mi Abuelo explicaba muy bien a los Pájaros by Ivan Castro Rodelo

Read CanLit book per month: Done with Done with Moving Forward Sideways like a Crab by Shani Mootoo

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: Done with Popular by Maya Van Wagenen

Finished series: No series finished this month but I did read the second book in the Southern Trilogy series: Authority

Keeping track of my reading (Country represented, Makomori test, etc): done, but this one I will do a total update at the end of the year.

Read more already owned books: 2 books from the library and 2 Galleys, wich still gave me 6 books that I already owned.

Read the picks of the month for each book club: done!

I feel like, in general I am having a good progression on my reading. I had another DNF this month with The Turnip Princess (galley) but in general I am very happy with what I have read so far.

Reviews wise, I only posted 3 reviews this month in the site with 1 more coming tomorrow. However, thanks to the Bloggiesta Event, my Blog is up to date.

How was your reading this month?

Challenges and goals update: How did I do in February?

 

Hello to all ! Once again here is my update for the month of February. Let us start:

Diversifying 2015:

Of the 8 books I read on February 2 of them where by a nonwhite author, and both had POCs as main characters. Lock In had several LGQBT characters, so that was good, but the book itself wasn't either about nor by someone identifying as LGQBT. Only 2 of the books I read were written by male authors, which takes me so far to 65% of my reading coming from female authors.

Read Harder:

This month I didn't read ANY of the books I have in line for the RH challenge, so I will have to work on that.

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month: Done with Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me and Las Hijas de Juarez

Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month: Done with Las Hijas de Juarez

Read CanLit book per month: Done with Oryx and Crate

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: Done with Las Hijas de Juarez

Finished series: No series finished this month...I started 2 though, MaddAddam and The Southern Trilogy

Keeping track of my reading (Country represented, Makomori test, etc): done, but this one I will do a total update at the end of the year.

Read more already owned books: Only 1 of the books read this month wasn't a previously owned book!

Read the picks of the month for each book club: done!

I feel like, in general I am having a good progression on my reading. This month I had my first DNF of the year, but at least I know I gave it a fair try.

Reviews wise, I only posted 5 reviews this month in the site; I did send some short reviews for the books I had from either NetGalley or LybraryThing; I think I might stop doing full reviews for ALL the books I read or maybe start doing a series of short reviews for a couple of them, together, particularly those that I don't have a lot to say. 

Challenges and goals update: How did I do in January?

Hello everybody! As you might know by now, this year I organized my own challenge, I’m participating in Book Riot’s Read Harder and I gave myself a set of goals that I wanted to accomplish. So, every month I will do this update, to see how am I doing. Let us start:

Diversifying 2015:

Of the 8 7 books I read on January, 2 of them where by a nonwhite author, and 3 books had POCs as main characters. Diversity in my reading during this month was more about race, although with Imago I was tempted to count it too as sexually diverse. Anyway, so far I am happy with this part of my reading.

Read Harder:

Theoretically, you have 2 books per month in this list, but this month I manage to cross 5 out of 24. I am a bit behind on my review posting, but I have already read a YA novel (#11), a Sci-Fi novel (#12), an audiobook (#16), a book that was originally published in another language (#19) and finally a book that was published this year (#24). Keep in mind that this challenge is not telling you to only read one book that falls in in each category, so it’s not like I will not listen to any other audiobook this year!.

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month: Done with Imago and Lovetorn

Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month: Done with Solo en Berlín

Read CanLit book per month: Done with As for me and my House

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: half done…last t week was very complicated at the lab, and so I haven’t finished Dead in the city of light yet :S

Finished series: Xenogenesis, and BTW, you should really give that one a try.

Keeping track of my reading (Country represented, Makomori test, etc): done, but this one I will do a total update at the end of the year.

Read more already owned books: 5 of the books I’ve read so far come from my own shelves.

Read the picks of the month for each book club: done!

So there you have it, I feel happy about this so far, I thought my reading was going to slow down, compared to last year, since I’ve been having crazy hours at the lab, but maybe because I need my time down even more than before I am reading almost as much as I was last year. We will see how this continues through the year.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday! Now I am going to keep reading about serial killers ;)

Bout of Books 11: Final Update

Sunday, it is the end of the Read-A-Thon and I am happy to report I managed all of my goals. Finished my 2 books, posted a review and, even though yesterday I didn't read or visit any blog since I was out of the house with no internet all day, today I compensated for both.

I had so much fun! And next one, coming on January 2015, will be my third and I will be officially a professional Bout-of-Booker.

Books started: 

• The Late Starters Orchestra: I received this one through LybraryThing and I really want to get to it before going on vacation next week, when I plan to read The Fever by Megan Abbott.

Books finished:

• The Tumble Inn: I did not love it, but it was a nice read. I will do my best to post my review tomorrow :) 
• The Name of the Wind: This book was simply amazing! 
• How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happen: My third ARC finished for #ARCAugust. My review will be up soon.

Pages read so far: 960

Reviews posted so far:

• The Tumble Inn

Blogs visited today: 

• Bittersweet Enchantment
• Tantos Livros Tão Pouco Tempo

Challenges:

• Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters. You can see my pictures here

• One True Pairing by Infinite Ink. Just in case I am spoiling it for anyone I will only say that my true pairing comes from Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

• Create a sentence by Book Reviews by a Christian Gal. I tweeted my sentence, but just in case:

It was felling night, the first time, standing in a crowded elevator, Eilert Berg was not a happy man.

      The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus

      The Fever by Megan Abot

      The Late Starters orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

      The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg 

• Like This, Try this by Writing my Own Fairy Tale 

      If you Liked this: The Girl with the Dragon Tatooby Stieg Larson

      Try this: The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

     Because they are both set in Sweden, involve very dark, grimy crimes and because actually Camilla Lackberg's noir novellas were out before the Millenium ones and they are pretty cool.

• Recreate a Book Cover by Spines & Covers:

     I chose to recreate The Taker by Alma Katsu

See you tomorrow!

Bout of Books: Friday Update

You guys, today I am in an EXCELLENT mood; after months of work we finally submitted an article and now I am crossing all my fingers hoping it gets accepted. Also, reading has been very good today!

Books started:

• The Name of the Wind: I am at page 505 of 662. I've been devouring this pages, I am very tired after a big day at the lab so I won't be able to finish it, but soon!

Books finished:

• The Tumble Inn: I did not love it, but it was a nice read. I will do my best to post my review tomorrow :)

Pages read so far: 722

Reviews posted so far:

• The Tumble Inn

Blogs visited today: 

• Bittersweet Enchantment
• Tantos Livros Tão Pouco Tempo

Challenges:

• Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters. You can see my pictures here

• One True Pairing by Infinite Ink. Just in case I am spoiling it for anyone I will only say that my true pairing comes from Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

• Create a sentence by Book Reviews by a Christian Gal. I tweeted my sentence, but just in case:

It was felling night, the first time, standing in a crowded elevator, Eilert Berg was not a happy man.

      The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus

      The Fever by Megan Abot

      The Late Starters orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

      The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg 

• Like This, Try this by Writing my Own Fairy Tale 

      If you Liked this: The Girl with the Dragon Tatooby Stieg Larson

      Try this: The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

     Because they are both set in Sweden, involve very dark, grimy crimes and because actually Camilla Lackberg's noir novellas were out before the Millenium ones and they are pretty cool.

• Recreate a Book Cover by Spines & Covers:

     I chose to recreate The Taker by Alma Katsu

See you tomorrow!

Bout of Books: Thursday Update

Hello everybody, the cold is almost 100% gone. Things in the lab are looking up so I have even a bit more energy to spend reading:D

Books started:

• The Name of the Wind: I am at page 304 of 662. Almost half way in and liking it sooo much

Books finished:

• The Tumble Inn: I did not love it, but it was a nice read. I will do my best to post my review tomorrow :)

Pages read so far: 521 that is counting How we Learn, another Galley that I was already working on before the Read-a-Thon started.

Reviews posted so far:

• The Tumble Inn

Blogs visited today: 

• Infusions of Wit
• From Undergrad to Author

Challenges:

• Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters. You can see my pictures here

• One True Pairing by Infinite Ink. Just in case I am spoiling it for anyone I will only say that my true pairing comes from Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

• Create a sentence by Book Reviews by a Christian Gal. I tweeted my sentence, but just in case:

It was felling night, the first time, standing in a crowded elevator, Eilert Berg was not a happy man.

      The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus

      The Fever by Megan Abot

      The Late Starters orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

      The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg 

• Like This, Try this by Writing my Own Fairy Tale 

      If you Liked this: The Girl with the Dragon Tatooby Stieg Larson

      Try this: The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

   Because they are both set in Sweden, involve very dark, grimy crimes and because actually Camilla Lackberg's noir novellas were out before the Millenium ones and they are pretty cool.

See you tomorrow!

Bout of Books: Wednesday Update

Hello everybody, I am feeling better, thankfully so I managed to read a bit more today!

Books started:

• The Name of the Wind: I am at page 120 of 662. I am finally catching up with it!
 

Books finished:

• The Tumble Inn: I did not love it, but it was a nice read. I will do my best to post my review tomorrow :)

Pages read so far: 296, I think this is not bad considering the first 2 days I fell asleep, thank to my always trusty cold!

Blogs visited today: 

• I found a Hobby
• Kittens on Bookshelfs

Challenges:

Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters. You can see my pictures here

One True Pairing by Infinite Ink. Just in case I am spoiling it for anyone I will only say that my true pairing comes from Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

Create a sentence by Book Reviews by a Christian Gal. I tweeted my sentence, but just in case:

It was felling night, the first time, standing in a crowded elevator, Eilert Berg was not a happy man.

The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus

The Fever by Megan Abot

The Late Starters orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

See you tomorrow!

Bout of Books 11: Tuesday Update

Hello everybody, I am feeling better, thankfully so I managed to read a bit more today!

Books started:

• The Tumble Inn: I'm 65% in and I think I will be able to finish it by tomorrow. This takes me to ~125 pages read in total
• The Name of the Wind: So I read 10 pages yesterday and apparently (says the boyfriend) fell asleep. I blame the cold medicine, because it was starting pretty nicely!

No reviews posted yet.

Blogs visited today: 

• The Reading Wench
• The Preppy Page-Turner

Challenges:

Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters. You can see my pictures here

One True Pairing by Infinite Ink. Just in case I am spoiling it for anyone I will only say that my true pairing comes from Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

I am off to try to read as much as I can. Wish me luck!
 
See you tomorrow!

Bout of Books 11: Monday Update

Hello everybody, here is a short update on my reading for Bout of Books. Turns out I am sick guys! A nasty cold crawled its way into my system and here I am all sneeze and sleepy. But I will do my best to read and post...until Tylenol cold hits in.

Books started:

• The Tumble Inn: I just started it today and I haven't read more than 20 pages so it is too early to have an opinion on it, I will keep you posted.
• The Name of the Wind: This is this month's pick for my Sword and Laser Book club and I just got it from the library on Friday. Technically I haven't started yet, but I will as soon as I get into bed

No reviews posted since I just started the books ;)

Blogs visited today: 

• Reading the Paranormal 
• Falling down the Book Hole

Challenges:

Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters

Here are my pictures:

A Book that begins with “B”  (for Bout of Books!): Bossypants by Tina Fey

 A book that has been made into a movie/tv show: Game of Thrones

A series you love: The Taker Trilogy by Alma Katsu

An anthology of poems or short stories: The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories by Tim Burton

A book on your TBR shelf: 2 actually! The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus and The Late Starters Orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

I am off to try to read as much as I can. Wish me luck!
 
See you tomorrow!

Bout of Books: Sunday Update

Hello, Hello

Today, was amazing! I went to the special screening of The Last Unicorn AND Peter S. Beagle was there. I got him to sign my copy of the book. I tried to talk to him, but I was absolutely a mess, I got super emotional and started crying. It was nice because he actually stood up to hug me and calm me down. 

It was a good first Bout of Books too; I manage to finish the 2 books I listed and I accomplished all of my goals. I met some wonderful blogs and had a lot of fun. I will definitely be here next time.

Books started: 

• The Martian 

Books finished:

• Sapphire Blue
• The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

Reviews posted:

• Sapphire Blue

Blogs visited today: New blogs today! 

•  The Book Barbies
•  The Book Tower

Challenges: No challenges for me today :).

Bout of Books: Saturday Update

Hello, Hello

Another day has gone by and here is my update. I am posting earlier than the other days today. I am happy because I managed to finish my 2 Bout of Books reads. I just have to do my visits/comments tomorrow and I will have achieved all of my goals ^-^. I also discovered that Ruby Red has a movie (a German adaptation of the book) and I will be watching that later this evening. 

Tomorrow is the screening of The Last Unicorn and I will meet the author of the book! I am so exited for it.

Books started: 

• The Martian 

Books finished:

• Sapphire Blue
• The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

Reviews posted:

• Sapphire Blue

Blogs visited today: New blogs today!

• Caught Read Handed

• Behind a Stack of Books

Challenges: No challenges for me today :).

Bout of Books: Friday Update

Hello, Hello

Another day has gone by and here is my update. Busy day at the lab today

Books started: Nothing new since yesterday, I did continue listening to Dreams of Gods & Monsters, I would like to finish it soon, it is so good!

• The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There:You guys, I really tried to finish it today, but my eyes are fighting me while writing this post. I think all the sleep I missed this week is coming to get me :(. I should be able to finish it tomorrow...I think

Books finished:

• Sapphire Blue

Reviews posted:

• Sapphire Blue

Blogs visited today: New blogs today!

• The Secret Life of a Bookworm

• Books Beyond Measure

Challenges: Today I am participating on the "Cover Scavenger Hunt" challenge hosted at The Book Monsters. I am a bit bummed because I realize half way through the challenge that I forgot to put the author of the book in my entries and I cannot correct that, but oh well, it was a lot of fun



See you guys tomorrow. 

Bout of Books: Thursday Update

Hello, Hello

Another day has gone by and here is my update. Another day at the conference. But at least today the sun was shinning bright when it finished :)

Books started: Nothing new since yesterday, I did continue listening to Dreams of Gods & Monsters, I would like to finish it soon, it is so good!

• The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There: I read a 100 pages today! taking me to 260 over 344. I think I will finish it by Friday :)

Books finished:

• Sapphire Blue:I liked it. I will post the review soon tomorrow, but in the meantime, let me just tell you that this is a series that has enough elements in it to keep it interesting and different.

No reviews posted yet, at least not related to Bout of Books. However I have posted some reviews from books I finished last week.

Blogs visited today: New blogs today! Man, seeing other people goals and how they are actually managing to keep with them is making me feel bad about mine :$

• Karsyn's Kickass Jocoserious, Kooky, Jannock book blog

• Palmer's Page Turners

Challenges: Today I am participating on the "Spell it Out" challenge hosted at Kymberly Faye Reads. My registration number is 551 at the Sign Up post. I will, as most people did, try and spell out my name (^-^) using all books I read and liked.


C--> Catching Fire by
A--> Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
R--> Red Glove by Holly Black
O--> Old Man's War by John Scalzi
L--> Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson
I--> In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower by Marcel Proust
N-->Night of Cake & Puppets by Laini Taylor
A--> Among Others by Jo Walton




See you guys tomorrow.