Tag: reading challenge

It’s always a surprise when I actually make these goals. I always feel like it’s a down to the wire kind of experience. Let’s see what I’ve done!

Here’s the link to my star rating breakdown if anyone needs a refresher. It’s recently been moved up in the header, you can now find it on the “Blog” dropdown 🙂

Continue reading “Have You Hugged A Book Today?- December 2017” →

What? A blog post, actually posted on time?

It’s remarkable how often those two traits coincide… ;P

Oh look at that, I fell behind.

In my defense I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts and stuff…which I guess isn’t really much of a defense at all. Oh well, here we go!

Here’s the link to my star rating breakdown if anyone needs a refresher. It’s also up in the header.

Continue reading “Have You Hugged A Book Today?- November 2017” →

Here’s the link to my star rating breakdown if anyone needs a refresher. It’s also up in the header.

Continue reading “Have You Hugged A Book Today?- October 2017” →

Okay, so this is going to be kind of a huge post. Fair warning 🙂 Also, look at that, I’m still ahead of my goal! Woohoo!

Here’s the link to my star rating breakdown if anyone needs a refresher. It’s also up in the header.

Continue reading “Have You Hugged A Book Today?- August/September 2017” →

Hey, I caught up! And got ahead! Get ready for a humongous reading update, like you’ve never seen before! Here we go! 😀

Here’s the link to my star rating breakdown if anyone needs a refresher. It’s also up in the header.

Continue reading “Have You Hugged A Book Today?- July 2017” →

Whoops! I kind of… forgot about reading this month. I’ve been catching up on podcasts (Writing Excuses, The Creative Penn, and the Sell More Books Show to name a few) instead of doing audio books, and that’s really cut into my reading. Hopefully I’ll get caught up and be able to jump back into reading next month, but for now let me show you what I have been reading.

Continue reading “Have You Hugged A Book Today?- June 2017” →

So, I’ve kind of failed at updating my Goodreads this past month. Sorry about that! I’ll try to do better going forward 🙂

Continue reading “Have You Hugged A Book Today?- May 2017” →

Look at this, I’m actually on time with this blog post! Who knew? I certainly didn’t ;P Let’s get started before something terrible happens…

Here’s the link to my star rating breakdown if anyone needs a refresher. It’s also up in the header.

• Books I’m Currently Reading:
  1. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne- I kind of forgot this was a thing I should be reading… whoops. I guess I’ll try again this month 🙂
  2. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) by Brandon Sanderson- This is one that at least one person I know is going to be excited I’m reading (hi, Elissa!). I happened to get it for free from Tor, and it’s pretty good. A little more involved than I was expecting (I now understand the jokes about Brandon’s writing style on the Writing Excuses podcast ;P), but I’m actually pretty intrigued by all the storylines that have been introduced so far. I’m confused as to how they all tie together, but I’m sure that will become apparent the farther along I get. I have faith in you, Sanderson, don’t let me down! ;P
  3. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut- This is… weird. I’m enjoying it, but it’s not a book I can (or want) to read in long chunks. I have a feeling it might take me a while to get through, even though it’s short. Stay tuned!

• Books I’ve Finished:
  1. His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire, #1) by Naomi Novik- Five Stars
  2. Summer Knight (The Dresden Files, #4) by Jim Butcher- Four Stars
  3. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis- Five Stars

Fog’s Book of the Month
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So good, so beautiful, so sad, so happy. Ugh. I can’t even. I don’t even have the words. Worth every bit of five stars 🙂

ETA: Okay, I think I have a few words now. The most beautiful part of this book was how incredibly real it felt, while at the same time feeling like one of those great myths that are told through the generations. It was romantic and funny and painful, all at the same time, and it felt like something that could happen to anyone. I was terribly afraid that it was going to turn Romeo and Juliet on me, but it didn’t. It never got stupid, despite the high school protagonists, it felt young and fresh and immediate, without feeling shallow or unimportant (whether it lasted or it didn’t). It was a beautifully written book, a very immersive experience, Ms. Rowell wins again 🙂

Highly recommend for everyone, especially children of the eighties and nineties for the references (which were super fun to catch, like Easter eggs in book form!).

View all my reviews

Ha! Look at me, winning at blogging today!

I’m gonna go now, before this all goes horribly wrong 😀

I’m finally ahead on my reading challenge! 😀 That’s probably because I had twenty hours of driving I didn’t expect this month, but yay! I’m not failing at something!

Anyway, I read a lot of pretty great books, let’s get started!

Here’s the link to my star rating breakdown if anyone needs a refresher. It’s also up in the header.

• Books I’m Currently Reading:
  1. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne- This is one I’ve read before, but I thought it would be good to review considering I’m right in the middle of editing my novel. I haven’t made a lot of progress on it, because I’ve been so busy, but I’m hoping to get some more in the next month.
  2. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell- This book is super adorable and really touching so far. I’m excited to see what happens next!
  3. His Majesty’s Dragon(Temeraire, #1) by Naomi Novik- I just started this one, but it is already SO CUTE, I am dying inside! I honestly did not expect a book about dragons during the Napoleonic wars to have me squealing like a small child, but seriously, my heart can’t take much more of this…

• Books I’ve Finished:
  1. Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2) by Jim Butcher- Four Stars
  2. The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo- Five Stars
  3. Miles, Mutants and Microbes (Vorkosigan Omnibus, #5) by Lois McMaster Bujold- Five Stars
  4. The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett- Five Stars
  5. Daredevil: The Devil, Inside and Out, Vol. 1 by Ed Brubaker- Five Stars
  6. Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3) by Jim Butcher- Five Stars
  7. Young Avengers, Vol 1: Style > Substance by Kieron Gillen- Four Stars
  8. Young Avengers, Vol 2: Alternative Culture by Kieron Gillen- Five Stars
  9. A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy, #1) by Deborah Harkness- Five Stars

Fog’s Book of the Month

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can’t believe I haven’t already written a review of this book. It was so beautifully done, full of childish wonder and adorable creatures, while at the same time showing just how terrible the world can truly be. I loved the underlying themes of curiosity and the power of knowledge, encouraging you to question the world around you, not in a negative way, but just to understand how things work and why things are the way they are rather than accepting them blindly. I also loved how there were several moments in which the heroes of the story, the characters we are meant to look up to and trust, made mistakes in the name of maintaining the peace and order of their lives. Facing the truth is hard, but necessary, and making the choice to sweep things under the rug or pretend that they aren’t happening isn’t helping anyone. It will always come back around.
On the surface, the book is just a great read, full of humor and fantastical whimsy with plenty of surprising twists and turns. At no point was I ever bored or thinking about moving on to something else. I highly recommend this one.

View all my reviews

No Destructive Creativity Corner this month, I’ve been too busy with editing and family emergencies and generally feeling like a failure 🙂 We’ll try again next month! See you guys in April!