Plunging into the Icy Depths of Suckage

So I talked about here whether or not I was going to partake in any reading challenges this year. And while I'm still on the fence as to whether or not it's a "good" thing for me to do, I went ahead and did it. I claimed I wanted to read 50 books this year on Goodreads. And then this happened:

 

Seriously... Goodreads is already telling me I suck. *sigh*

But oh well. I laugh in the face of suckage. 

That's what I'm going with, anyway. To be fair, I would have been at 0% and x amount of books behind no matter what number I set for myself, since I haven't read a single book this year (outside of picture books, of course, as I have small children and considering it's what I do for a living... lol).

So... 

Happy reading to you all and may you reach your goals.  :)

Smiles,

B

Bookish Goals

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they provide a Top Ten topic for you to create your list, then you share it on their post so others can find you. :)

Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2013

1. Read more books to my kids
   We read a book before bed nearly every night, so we read at least one a day, but I would like see us reading more than that a day. And on the weekends, when we're home all day, I'd like to actually read closer to ten or so books together. Mind you, my kids are 1 and 3, so it's not like this would take all day, just a little bit of time. We get so sidetracked with other things that need to be done, or playing with toys or playing games, sometimes we don't read much. I know we may read more than some others, but my personal goal is to read more with them this year. :)
   
2. Read more books for myself
   This seems like a no-brainer, but I would like to read more books this year. I feel like I strained reaching my goal for Goodreads last year of 25 books; and I even included picture books in that count! :(  In my defense, I did have a wonderful little girl last January, so I spent the better part of the year acclimating to having a newborn in the house again. But still. More books. :)
   
3. Review all books read
   Usually I do pretty good at this, but I want to make it a goal so that I stick with it. Or, at least, be more apt to stick to it.
4. Have more consistent blog posts
   I want to make sure I post on average five times a week. I would say six, but unless I get really good at scheduling, and that's not looking likely, I will fail at that. I don't have internet at home and posting from my phone just isn't as fun or easy. Unless I'm missing something. lol 
5. Make more blogging friends
   I have really enjoyed 'meeting' and interacting with the bloggers out there. I'd love to continue to do so. :)
6. Expand my genre-reading
   I have read mostly YA this year. I did read a couple of one adult novel, but mostly they were YA and included some sort of supernatural theme, with the exception of Code Name Verity (off the top of my head). I would like to mix it up more this year. I am thinking a few more contemporary pieces, whether YA or not, and at least two adult novels. I find this hard... working with children and YA books in the library causes me to prioritize those over the adult books I might read.
7. Read at least one 'classic' piece of literature
   There are so many classics out there that I haven't read. Let's be honest; most of them would make that list. My friends and I have decided to read Jane Eyre this year and we have set a deadline for each of us to have read it by. June. Surely I can manage that. Y'think?
8. Take notes
   This one doesn't sound so bookish. But I'd like to actually make notes when reading. The few times I have, I've found I write a better review and sometimes even have a better understanding of how I feel about the book. :) It does make sense, I suppose, but sometimes when I do it I feel like I'm working more than enjoying, which then irks me so I stop. Counterproductive, really.
9. Get rid of some books
   GASP  Yeah... I really need to weed some of my books out. That doesn't happen very often and it's always so hard to part with some of them. I'm not sure if this goal is realistic. I'm putting it here anyway. For now.
10. UmmmmmYeah. I'm going to leave it at 9. I feel I stretched making a few of those, so I'm going to not do ten. I could make it 'watch less tv' which would therefore make for more reading time. But that's not exactly realistic for me. I do love me some tv. lol

Do you have any bookish goals for the year? Maybe I'll read some of yours and change mine up a bit. :)

Hope you all have a wonderful reading and otherwise year no matter what your goals... bookish or not.  

Smiles,
B

2013 Reading Challenge

 

I came across this challenge from Evie Bookish. I thought it sounded like a great way to attempt to deplete diminish my TBR list. We shall see. lol

Here are the levels:

(how many books you're planning to read for this challenge in 2013)

1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children  

If you look at my original post about this challenge, you'll see I want to commit to reading 21-30 books. Although I would love to commit to more, I would love to read more, I want my goal to be realistic for my life. So, I'm sticking with that. If I meet it and exceed it, then great! Since we can move up but not down in goals, I guess I could, in theory, raise my goal if I see I'm getting close enough at some point... but we shall see how it pans out.

More on the challenge...

Challenge Guidelines:

1.  This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2013 - Dec 31, 2013.
2. Anyone can enter! You don't have to be a blogger, as long as you review the book you've read (on your blog, Amazon, or Goodreads/Shelfari).
3. Any genre, length, or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2012 and earlier. NO 2013 ARCs and 2013 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed.
4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge (if you don't have a blog, post about it on Facebook or Tweet!).
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign ups will be open until December 15, 2013, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
8. On the 20th of each month, one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it's unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway, and place for you link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from the Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. The giveaway will be open until the next wrap up post goes up (i.e. the entire month)!
9. If you miss a wrap up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking. :)
10. December is a wrap up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January - November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - a box of books.
11. You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways.

What books are going on the short list? Let's see... I'm going to attempt to list some books I know I want to devour read this year.. :)  The hard part is there are so many 2013 books I am looking forward to as well! lol

Update: As of today, November 11, I've read 11 books off this list. Others I've read with a pub date pre-2013 include:

1.  Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
2.  Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
3.  Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
4.  Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
5.  Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi
6.  Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
7. Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
8. Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake
9. Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
10. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
11. Heist Sociey by Ally Carter
12. Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
13. The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
14. Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
15. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith
16. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
17. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
18. Divergent by Veronica Roth
19. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
20. The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
21. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
22. Dream Team by Lisa Ard

And makes a total of 33 books. I've already surpassed my goal! That makes me happy. :) What doesn't make me happy is the lack of reviews to go along with these. I got in a funk with writing reviews - even short ones that said basically nothing. lol  Hopefully I'm past that. We'll see. :)


Ones I Own:

1. Looking for Alaska by John Green
2. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
3. Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
4. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
5. Ashen Winter by Mike Mullins
6. Hana by Lauren Oliver
7. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
8. Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
9. Last Summer by Anne Brashares
10. The Effects of Light by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
11. The Fallen Star by Jessica Sorenson
12. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
13. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
14. Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
15. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
16. Hare Moon by Carrie Ryan
17. Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern
18. Matilda by Roald Dahl
19. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
20. Here Today by Ann M Martin
21. Falling Stars by Sadie Grubor
22. Stellar Evolution by Sadie Grubor
23. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
24. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
25. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
26. Switched by Amanda Hocking
27. The Curiosities by Maggie Stiefvater, Brenna Yovanoff, & Tessa Gratton
28. The Narnia Series by CS Lewis 
29. Flutter by Gina Linko 
30. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Ones I Don't Own:

1. Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl Now Own :)
2. Sweethearts by Sara Zarr Now Own :)
3. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
4. Crossed by Ally Condie
5. Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler
6. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
   Now Own :)
7. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
8. Unwind by Neil Schusterman

I think that's all I want on there... for now, at least. lol 

What books have been on your TBR list that you plan on reading this coming year?

Smiles,
B

End(ish) of the Year Recap ♥

This survey of awesomeness was created by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner.

Note: The survey is for books you read and is not limited to just books that came out in 2012.Also, most links will take you to the Goodreads page for that book. :)

Best in Books 2012

1. Best Book You Read in 2012 (You can break it down by genre if you want)

Contemporary Fiction:

• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Supernatural Fiction:

• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
• Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
• The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Dystopian:

• Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Historical Fiction:

• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

2. Book You Were Excited About and Thought You Were Going to Love More But Didn't
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan. I mean, these two together should equal amazing, right? For some it did, I suppose. Not for me. Still pondering why.

3. Most Surprising (in a good way) Book of 2012
Almost by Anne Elliott. I got this as a free Kindle book. The synopsis sounded just okay, but it turned out to be really good.

4. Book You Recommended to People Most in 2012
Toss up, depending on what genre they might be leaning toward:

• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater 
• The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 
5. Best Series You Discovered in 2012
Toss up:

• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl. 

6. Favorite New Authors You Discovered in 2012
I love that this has the plural of author here or I'd be in trouble. :)  Note: These links take you to the author's website.

• Maggie Stiefvater
• Lauren Oliver
• Kami Garcia
• Margaret Stohl
• Elizabeth Wein

7. Best Book That Was Out of Your Comfort Zone or Was a New Genre for You
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. If you've read my blog much you'll know that I'm rather new to liking Historical Fiction. But I *love* this book. :)

8. Most Thrilling, Unputdownable Book in 2012?
Oh my. I can't choose one. I'll say this: These are the books I lost sleep over...

• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

9. Book That You Read in 2012 That You Are Most Likely to Re-Read Next Year

• Delirium & Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver ~ I will want to re-read them before I read Requiem.
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, most likely, for the fourth time, before the movie comes out as well.
• Beautiful Chaos before I [finally] read Beautiful Redemption.

 
10. Favorite Cover of a Book You Read in 2012
The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff ~ there's just something about her covers. The Replacement I bought without even reading the jacket flap; the moment I saw the cover I just had to have it. I got the Space Between as a gift when my daughter was born and just loved the cover.

Honorable Mentions:

• The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl ~ Beautiful and dark
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater ~ Wonderful

11. Most Memorable Character in 2012

• Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Julie and Maddie from Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

12. Most Beautifully Written Book Read in 2012
Most of them did not let me down in this department. Some stand out ones (with the first two deserving an extra star...):

• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
• The Scorpio Races & The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater 
• The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

13. Book That Had the Greatest Impact on You in 2012
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green ~ Just WOW

14. Book You Can't Believe You Waited UNTIL 2012 to Finally Read
Most books I read in 2012 were not older books. The picture book that I can't believe I waited so long to read was Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems. Not only am I mom, I'm also a Children's Librarian. I was just surprised I hadn't read it yet. It was super cute and I loved it. :)  The oldest book I read otherwise was An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. The surprising part is how much I love John Green and how not quick I am to seek out his books when I'm ready to start a new one.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From a Book You Read in 2012
Really? One?

• "It's like being in love, discovering your best friend." ~Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• "Blue never grew tired of feeling particularly needed, but sometimes she wished needed felt less like a synonym for useful." ~The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
• "We don't get to choose what is true. We only get to choose what we do about it." ~Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
• “There are moments that you'll remember for the rest of your life and there are moments that you think you'll remember for the rest of your life, and it's not often they turn out to be the same moment.” ~Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
• "What a slut time is. She screws everybody."~The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read in 2012

• Longest: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl ~ 563 pages
• Shortest (Excluding picture books here at 40 pages): The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman ~ 207 pages

17. Book That Had s Scene in it that Had You Reeling and Dying to Talk to Somebody About It (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be Careful of Spoilers!

• Beautiful Chaos ~ Can't say much, but the ending. Wow.
• The Fault in Our Stars ~ I sort of saw it coming, maybe not something as drastic, but something, and it still hit me like a ton of bricks.

18. Favorite Relationship From a Book You Read in 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc.)

• Ethan/Link in the Caster Chronicles
• Dash/Lily in Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
• Lena/Alex in Delirium
• Augustus/Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars
• Maddie/Julie in Code Name Verity

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From an Author You Read Previously
Tie:

• The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff 
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Both are wonderfully amazing.

20. Best Book That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Someone Else
Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater ~ My best friend gave it to me as a gift; I can honestly say I'm not sure I would have picked it up otherwise... She and I have similar tastes and she nearly hated Shiver. I owe my current ♥love♥ affair with Maggie to Malissa. :)

Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2012 (Optional)
I'm so new ~ I just started in September. I'll skip a few (or most?) of these. ;)

1. New Favorite Book Blog You Discovered in 2012
I don't know that I have a favorite - yet. Ones I visit regularly include:

• Jen Ryland/YA Romantics
• The Broke and the Bookish
• The Perpetual Page-Turner
• Writer of Wrongs
• Winterhaven Books

2. Favorite Review You Wrote in 2012
I only posted a few on the blog because it's the end of the year and my reading slowed down. My goal next year is to write more! :)

3. Best Discussion You Had On Your Blog

4. Most Thought-Provoking Review or Discussion You Read on Somebody Else's Blog

5. Best Event That You Participated In (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc)
Memes have been a great way to hop around and meet different bloggers and see all the different fun things there are to see. :)

6. Best Moment of Book Blogging in 2012
Starting one? :)

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)
Memorable Monday 11.17 with 124 views.

8. Post You Wished Got a Little More Love
My Future Fun post. :)

9. Best Bookish Discover (book-related sites, book stores, etc)
The book-blogging world in general. It's been great. :)

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I did meet my small Goodreads goal of 25 books, even though there were, I think, 4 picture books on that list. I'm setting a similar goal for next year, of 30 books. :)

Looking Ahead...

1. One Book You Didn't Get to in 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013

• Beautiful Redemption ~ I need to know how this series ends.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating for 2013

• Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
• Requiem by Lauren Oliver

3. One Thing You Hope to Accomplish or Do in Your Reading/Blogging in 2013

• Reading: 
• I want to read more and review all the books I read . :)
• Blogging: 
• Be more organized with my blogging
• Come up with a 'logo', or 'feel' for my blog  :) 
• Discover more bloggers and create better/more blogging relationships. 

That's all, I believe. :)

Have a great day!!!

Smiles,
B