Say What Now?

So lately I've had a really hard time reading an entire book. Despite joining two book clubs, technically three if you count my upper elementary one I am starting at work, I just couldn't find the desire to read on. The books weren't grabbing me by shoulders and pulling me in. They weren't screaming at me to open them back up when I folded their covers over their words. No. And, unfortunately, it was making me feel entirely way too guilty. I mean, I was feeling guilt over not reading books. I was still reading - blog posts, news articles, stuff for work, books to kids (my own and my work kids...). I still got up in the mornings and got my oldest off to school and youngest off to daycare, arrived at work, did my job, went home and did the "home" stuff... laundry, cooking, homework, cleaning, yard work, etc. So why in the world was I feeling guilty over NOT reading? Of all the things to feel guilty about not doing, why was this the one that was getting to me?


The past week or so I finally started trying to talk myself out of focusing on all the books sitting around that I wasn't reading. The books that were gathering dust on my shelves rather than gathering love (or dislike) from me. The constantly battery-drained e-reader lounging on top of said dust-covered books. I decided not to care (easier said than done, but I think I did fairly well). Screw the taunting cries from the books as I walked by on the way to my bedroom, or the cries of feeling unloved from the shelves at work. I hit the mute button. And you know what? I felt better. All week. And yesterday, instead of taking my tablet to lunch with me and watching the addictive Once Upon a Time (seriously, it's probably good that show isn't trying to sell me drugs... I might just partake for the first time ever... anyone know how to make VooDoo dolls? I think I need to torture the people (my Dad, for one) who suggested I watch it because I'd love it... it's been roughly two months and I've watched nearly all three seasons on Netflix... damn him... ;)), I took a book. I grabbed a YA one that's been on my TBR list for quite some time, and I started it while I ate cold pork chops and pasta salad. I read 68 pages on my lunch break (at 2 pm) and finished it last night before going to bed (at 10:53 pm). Not only did I actually want to keep reading and find out what happens, I didn't want to close it and wait. So thank you, Jennifer E. Smith, for writing such a fun story with characters I cared about.


So... color me excited. Would that be yellow? Pink? Purple? I don't know. Whatever it is, I'll take it. ;)  Now I have a book group to read by Friday. Let's hope it's as enticing.


What about you? Do you ever make yourself feel guilty about not doing something? Reading, writing, watching tv, scrapbooking? Those things, hobbies, that really aren't "essentials", but yet feel like it to you. And why do we do this to ourselves? These things are supposed to be fun. Not make us feel like we're somehow doing something wrong for not doing them.

Books That Make You Go "Meh"

So I really just suck at this whole keeping up the blog thing. I think about it a lot. I want to write more. I want to talk more. I want to interact more. But, alas, it doesn't happen. Oh well.

Let's talk books, tho. Y'wanna? I *still* am having trouble getting into books lately. I finished AG Howard's Splintered series, and loved it. But other than that? It's hit and miss and a lot of 'meh's'. I haven't LOVED much past that. Maybe I'm expecting too much when I pick up a book? I want to be hooked, to love/hate the characters, to care what happens to them.

I started reading Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the Replacements and The Space Between. Paper Valentine left me wanting, but I was REALLY hopeful for Fiendish. After 126 pages I've decided to reshelve it for later. The writing is still good. But I'm not connecting whatsoever to anyone in the story. And, it's not a spoiler since it happens right away, this girl is locked in a cellar and is being overtaken by roots for ten years. At the age of seven. Gets out at the age of seventeen... and has no problem walking and talks as if she were seventeen... as if she'd lived her life normally. There's obvious magic at work with the entirety of the novel, but for some reason that just annoyed me.

It's like I'm having trouble connecting to anything I read. Hopefully that will change. Short of not reading at all, it can only get better, right?

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

A Little of the Storytime Life {Snow}

For more on what A Little of the Storytime Life is, here's the original post. :)

The books I chose to use for this week:

It Feels Like Snow by Nancy Cote
Cleo in the Snow by Caroline Mockford
Snow by Uri Shulevitz

There are an abundance of snow/winter books out there. Next week I'm doing snowmen, so this week I wanted to stick with books that weren't about snowmen.  

It Feels Like Snow is a bit longer than I usually go with for my storytime books, but it's cute. And we talk about the body parts - her toe throbs, nose tingles and her elbow clicks. And the snow gets ankle, knee, and waist deep. So it's a great way to introduce/practice body parts.  

Cleo in the Snow is awesome for the younger crowd. It doesn't have a great story to it, but I do love the contrasting colors against the white snow. It does rhyme, although it's spaced oddly throughout the pages so the first time I read it I actually didn't catch that it rhymed. There's a lot of talk about what's in the pictures and what's going on, since there's not much story to it.

Snow isn't one that I actually read this week. We had, fittingly, some snowfall and plummeting temps this week, so my storytimes were very sparse. While I enjoy the book, knowing the few kids that showed up it didn't seem like the book for them.

We made snowglobes out of construction paper and paint this week. The kids had a lot of fun doing it and, since there were so few, I was able to do it along with them each time. Here's a few of them...

 

As usual, I told the kids they could put the snowglobe together however they wanted - complete snowman, falling apart, however they chose. They had a great time gluing it together and then painting the snow.

Are there any snow/winter books for kids that you've come across and loved?  

Xoxo,

B

Reading Challenges - To Partake of the Golden Cup?

Anyone else have this happen to them?

It's not as if 75 is a *lot* of books to read. I mean, really. AND I even included picture books and didn't reach my goal. Granted, I didn't include every picture book I read this year (that'd be an astronomical amount of books... between my own kids and storytime... whew!), but still. Some that I really enjoyed or got a great reaction from I did. So... what happened?

Truth be told, I can't say for certain. I'm definitely a mood reader. This much I know about myself. And much of this past year has been spent with trying to figure some things out on a personal level, and that seems to have left less energy for reading. On another note, it was a pretty lofty goal, I think, given that I knew I was struggling with other things that required more of my focus.

That being said, I haven't yet decided if I'm even going to set a numeric reading goal. Gillian of Writer of Wrongs said it great when she said she'd end up way too married to that number. Reading is supposed to be a fun thing, not something that you feel pressured to do. And I do think that might've happened to some extent for me. Not nearly on the same level as Gillian or those other rockin' bloggers out there who are more hardcore at this than I am, but still. It is a challenge you set for yourself so it's most likely in the forefront of your mind every time you pick up a book. There's that "Oh, I'm reading this and I get to add it to my challenge and help my numbers," and then there's the "Well, purple platypus! I didn't meet my goal!" when you fail. Seriously? Why take the fun out?

Still debating, but I figured I'd just spew some word vomit out there for y'all to consider. Mostly because it's in my head and I needed it out. You're welcome.

Xoxox,
B

How Do I Love Thee... ???

My daughter is two and a half. Can you guess what she's into? Yep... princesses. Which I don't mind as much as I thought I would. I guess I am girlier than I let myself believe. ;)

I went to look for her one day and found her here, reading "Ariel", aka, The Little Mermaid. :)

So we've been reading a *lot* of fairytales. Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast... and watching some movies, as well (can anyone say Frozen?). But these stories have really got me thinking about my own taste in stories and the books I read. Specifically the love/romance part of stories.

Who doesn't like a good romance in a story? But how many times have we (in general) complained about the lack of buildup, the insta-love? As long as it feels real, is well done, I'm typically okay with it. But so many times, it's not. It's just there and it doesn't make sense. BUT... what do these fairytales have in common?



INSTA-LOVE! Seriously. Snow White's prince saw her at a well and fell in love, and when he kissed her to wake her up - wala! - she's in love with him. Princess Aurora/Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty met Prince Philip in the woods and danced with him, falling in love without even knowing his name. Cinderella danced with the prince at the ball and they fell in love... apparently they never even spoke while dancing, since he didn't know her name, where she lived, or anything about her other than she wore glass slippers. And Jasmine? She falls REALLY quickly for a guy on a magic carpet. I gotta hand it to Belle, though... she, at least, took some time to fall for the Beast.

For real, though. These love-at-first-sight stories have been around for longer than any of us. It's just all about how well (or not) they're done. Apparently, given the time test, some of these can last forever. I just hope that my daughter grows up to understand that that's not typically how love works (not saying it can't happen, just that it's rarer than stories let on...)... and that it's not ALWAYS happily ever after, that it takes work, which equals LOTS of frustration along the way to happily ever after. It's a little more like this ~

Happy Saturday

I'm sitting here anticipating this evening (Friday) when we will go Trick or Treating with the kids. (Why did I capitalize trick-or-treating but not include the hyphens the first time? *shrug*) I actually don't generally like Halloween. Which is funny to me since I absolutely love fall. I love the colors, the smells, pumpkins, bonfires, the slightly cooler weather. None of that lasts long enough, though. But I am excited to see my kids get all excited about dressing up (well, Eli does... Zoe, not so much yet, although she does like to put on her ladybug dress...). We'll be handing out some candy and then we'll head out to a few places to get our own goodies. Fun times with family ahead!

So, onto Day 2 of my thankfulness. :)  I'm thankful for books. Without them, it'd be harder for me to escape from 'real life' when I need to, and I wouldn't have connected with all kind of amazing peeps. My love of reading has allowed me to bond with some great people... in real life and on the internet. It's been awesome finding a place to share my passion with people who don't think I'm on the other side of crazy.

What about you? Anything you're thankful for today?

Smiles,
B

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 2 | Bedtime Reading Ritual

I ran across this today and decided to participate in Good Books & Good Wine's 15 Day Book Blogging Challenge. :)  It's a chance to get to know each other a bit better and have fun doing it.

What is it, you may be asking? Well, she has a list all made up (see below) and each day you answer a different question or write based on the prompt. Easy peasy, right? Probably not, but fun nonetheless. If you're interested, just click on the link to learn more.

 

Day 2: Bedtime Reading Ritual

Today's post is about my bedtime reading ritual. I will say that I won't read in bed. I will never go to sleep if I do. But, here's a typical evening:

The kids get put down for nap. Usually this takes about an hour by the time baths are done, teeth are brushed, stories are read, and we've made sure bladders are empty, water is by the bedside, and they are tucked in snug as a bug. Depending on the day I've had, I will either poor myself a glass of water after that, or a glass of wine. If there's a show I want to catch up on, I may watch that if I'm not too anxious about what happens next in the book (as was the story last nite). But usually the hubby is home and wants to watch sports *stifles a yawn*. Then I'll pick up my book and read until he's sports-out and turns off the tv. When he then asks if I'm ready for bed, I'll say yes or no, depending on how the book is going. Sometimes I'll be up late reading, always on the floor or the couch (never rarely the bed) after he is sawing logs. If the story is at a good stopping point, I'll close the book and head to bed, usually doing number puzzles to clear my head enough to sleep.

I never really thought I had a bedtime reading ritual until now. I guess I do. I would guess that it's a higher percentage of nights that I read than that I don't. Especially in the summer when most of my fave shows are on reruns. :)

What about you? Do you have a bedtime reading ritual?

Smiles,
B

Follow Friday :)

Hosted by Parajunkee's View & Alison Can Read, the goal is to gain new followers and to follow new people yourself! :)

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

(Taken straight from the hosts)

• (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
• (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
• Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
• Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.
• If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
• Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”
• If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers.
• If you’re new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday!

This week's question/activity:

Is there a song that reminds you of a book? Or vice versa? What is the song and the book?

Despite my love of music, mostly I do not associate certain songs with books. I find this weird. One would think that with these two things being my means of escape, of healing, that I would connect the two more often. But, alas, I do not. :(  There are a couple of country songs about military men and the letters/pictures from home that do remind me occasionally of Nicholas Sparks' Dear John.

What about you?

Smiles,
B

WWW Wednesday ♥

WWW Wednesdays was started by MizB over at Should Be Reading,

To play along, simply answer the following three (3) Questions:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

Currently Reading

The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr
Malissa sent me her ARC of this to read. I am really enjoying it. :)

Recently Finished

 

 
 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
Divergent by Veronica Roth

While I enjoyed all of these for different reasons, I loved Divergent and am anxiously waiting for Insurgent to come in at my library so I can read it. :)

What I Might Read Next

  Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Mystery Book by ? 

While I am stupidly excited for Insurgent to come in, I am equally excited about my mystery book Malissa sent me. In case you missed it and care to know... you can find out about our mystery books here.     

What about you? What have you been reading?

Smiles,
B

WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays was started by MizB over at Should Be Reading,

To play along, simply answer the following three (3) Questions:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

Currently Reading

As I type this I am seriously not reading anything. *gasp* But, in all fairness, I finished Requiem at lunch and have yet to start something new... see below for what that might be. :)

Recently Finished Reading

    

I have finished both of these in the past week. Very different, but thoroughly enjoyed both of them.

What I Might Read Next

      

Honestly can't decide between these two. On the one hand, I want to finish the Beautiful Creatures series. By the time I got Beautiful Redemption, my burning desire had fizzled some, but I still want to know how it all wraps up. On the other hand, Shiver has been sitting on my shelf since Christmas and it's Maggie Stiefvater. ;)

What have you been reading?

Reading Blind

So recently, Malissa & I have discovered that we rather enjoy reading a book in which don't really remember the synopsis that well. You know, the ones that you remember thinking sounded really good, or an author that you know you've loved in the past, but can't recall what the book is actually about? Yeah, those.

This led to a discussion and a decision. We're going in blind. 100% blind. We decided we would pick out a book for each other, wrap it up, and give it to the other to read. After carefully going through Malissa's Goodreads read and to-read shelves, along with her Amazon wish list, I made a decision. And the book is... well, I can't say. Yet. But here's what it will look like when she gets it. :)

Then, to further the fun, I used nearly an entire stack of Post-it notes...

We can't have her knowing what the title is because I didn't cover the Title Page, can we? ;) I even covered the spine, so she can't peek beneath the red cover. Not that I think she would try to cheat, but still.

I'm very curious to see what book she chose for me. I'll be reading it soon, I hope. I'm going to mail hers as soon as I find a box to send it in. :)

Fun!

What about you? Do you prefer knowing more of what you're getting into or does it matter?

Smiles,
B

WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays was started by MizB over at Should Be Reading,

To play along, simply answer the following three (3) Questions:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

Currently Reading

 

Looking for Alaska by John Green

This has been on my to-read list for a LONG time, and on my shelf for just as long. I am excited to finally start it! :)

Recently Finished Reading

 

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Loved this one! Such a great story about finding yourself in the midst of life changes that leave you broken and unsure about everything.

What I Might Read Next

 

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys 

Ever since I read the first page at the bookstore a few weeks ago I've been dying to read this one. I am looking forward to it. Plus, Malissa started it. If I hadn't already started Looking for Alaska I would've started this one with her. :)

What about you? What have you been reading?

Smiles,
B

 

~Follow Friday~

Hosted by Parajunkee's View & Alison Can Read, the goal is to gain new followers and to follow new people yourself! :)

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

(Taken straight from the hosts)

• (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
• (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
• Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
• Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.
• If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
• Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”
• If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers.
• If you’re new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday!

This week's question:

What is the last book that kept you up late into the night just to finish it?

I don't do this very often as I have to young children that will likely get up at the crack of dawn if I do, but Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys made me do it. It was taunting me, I swear. I tried putting it down and I am pretty sure it called me names and bullied me into finishing it. And Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein? My goodness I couldn't put it down for anything. Kids schmids. Really. Who cares how tired I would be the next day when they decided 5 am was an acceptable wake up time. It was Code Name Verity for goodness sake! Okay. So maybe lately I have done it more than I thought. Dang them. :)  (If you're interested, my reviews are here - The Raven Boys, Code Name Verity)

Thanks for visiting! What books have kept you up late? ;)  Leave a comment below and if you have your own Follow Friday post leave a link to it and I'll visit! :)

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

Future Fun

Creating readers within my family is not only a goal of mine, but a passion as well.  I'm documenting how quickly they are advancing, as evidenced here.

Madison loves reading just as much as we do.

Zoe is trying really really hard to hold it up.

Eli, already has his nose in a good book.  I assume given who the author is, it's going to be good; I'll read it as soon as I finish my current read.

I think he's trying to understand the lack of pictures.  Or he's a speed reader.  ;)

And me.  I would have added my husband, too, but he wasn't home.

Obviously, unless you really think my three-year-old is quite advanced, they aren't really reading Raven Boys.  I do hope someday, though, they will be interested in reading it, or any book for that matter.  I'll be honest, I took the pictures for a giveaway Maggie Stiefvater, author of Raven Boys and one of my favorite books, The Scorpio Races, was doing.  But then I thought, there's more to this than that.  They turned in a glimpse of what I hope for my children's future, and Madison's, if she had the capability.  I do think she enjoys listening to stories being read, though.  She will come into Eli's room at bedtime with us.  I like to think it's for the story; allow me that delusion, please.

Smiles,
B