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Cookie Read-A-Thon: Day 1

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I didn’t start until the afternoon, but I’m pretty proud of my marginal progress already. Why, you ask? I finished Persuasion! I even enjoyed it! And I am now officially 5 books away from my goal for the year that I set on Goodreads.

Books Read Today:

Time Spent Reading:  3 H 26 M

Total Pages Read:  163

Total Time Spent Reading:  3 H 26 M

Books Completed:  1

Normally I would keep going, especially during a read-a-thon, but I’m weirdly sleepy and I’m going to try and take advantage of that since I don’t usually get much sleep at all.

My goal for tomorrow is to finish the first Gallagher Girl book that I started today and make some sort of start on a new book to be chosen when the time comes from the books I have checked out from the library (pictures can be seen in my Kind of Daily Challenge post for today if anyone would like to offer opinions on what I should read next).

I hope everyone else is having a great read-a-thon! 🙂

Persuasion Project Master Post

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In August of this year I started a project with the goal of finally reading Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I have owned this book for over a decade and in that time have tried to read it with no success. The exact number of times I couldn’t say, but I know it was at least 7 or 8, and each time I would get only a few chapters in before I would get bored and give up.

I still don’t know exactly what it was that made it so hard for me to get into Persuasion, especially since I love all of Austen’s other work, and probably I never will know.

However, I set a New Year’s goal for finally reading Persuasion in 2017 and about halfway through the year decided it was time to make that happen. Thus, the Persuasion Project was started. I knew I couldn’t sit down and read it in one sitting, so I decided to only make myself read a single chapter a week, which I would then post something about. I figured even if I hated every single chapter, at least when it was done I’d have accomplished a long-time goal.

I actually finished much sooner than expected, taking only 11 weeks instead of 22! Hurray! I have now read all of Jane Austen’s novels.

The Cookie Read-A-Thon Kind of Daily Challenge, Day 1: TBR & Book You’re Most Excited About

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I’m doing The Cookie Read-A-Thon, started by Mary @ Books & Cookies (on her tumblr blog though). Learn More

My actual TBR is pretty long, you can see it here, but the books in the pictures below are the ones I will be picking from during this Read-A-Thon. If you’ve read any of them I’d love to know what you thought, it would help me decide which books to read.

As for the book I’m most excited about… Well I managed to get an ILL hold on Forest of A Thousand Lanterns by Julie C Dao which means I may actually get to read it pretty soon! Hurray!

Musing Monday: October 9, 2017

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Musing Mondays is a weekly meme, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ____, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Have you ever read a book that changed your life?

I blogged about ____ this past week…

Have you ever read a book that changed your life?
To be honest I’m pretty sure every book I’ve read has changed my life in that the books we read shape the way we think and view the world in minute ways, but as for books that changed things significantly…

The Harry Potter series did, around middle school. I had always loved reading, even as a toddler, but around 6th grade my depression began to get overwhelmingly bad and I was struggling just to get through the days, with no energy left over for things like pleasure reading. Then in 7th grade I saw a chance to do something I wasn’t allowed to do and get away with it, which I always loved. (That thing being reading Harry Potter.) Thanks to those books I rediscovered my love of reading. In addition I discovered that reading could take me away from the struggle in my own life and mind, could give me an escape. I’ll always be grateful for that.

Cynthia Voigt’s books changed me too. Her writing changed the way I think. They taught me to look at problems differently, to face challenges differently. I think they helped me learn to be resilient. I learned from characters of hers how I could think to help me enjoy hard work, ways to appreciate small things and see beauty around me. Not that I couldn’t sometimes do those things already, but not as well. Her characters taught me how to arrange my thoughts to appreciate the things already around me. When I want to feel like my best self, I always reread a Cynthia Voigt book. It bothers me that more people don’t know about her books because they had such an impact on me.

Robert Fulghum is another that changed me I think. His books taught me an introspective way of thinking, taught me to look for meaning in my experiences. They also taught me to look at everything with a dose of humor, to laugh at myself, and to enjoy experiences in a more childlike way even as I became more mature. And on a lighter note, they were the first books I ever read that weren’t marketed specifically to children or teens, and I discovered I could like adult books.

I’m sure there have been others, but those are the ones that stand out in my mind. What books have changed you?

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: October 4, 2017

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What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. Sons from Afar (The Tillerman Cycle, book 6) by Cynthia Voigt
  2. Maybeth always did that, brought her good news to the table and held it out, like a little kid holding out her hand, then unwrapping her fingers to show some treasure, some stone or flower. She held her good news out to them all, giving it to them.
  3. Oh man I’d trade most of the things in my life to be a Tillerman…

WWW Wednesday: October 4, 2017

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Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:  Sons from Afar (The Tillerman Cycle, book 6) by Cynthia Voigt
I didn’t actually intend to do more on the Tillerman Cycle books before finishing the Lynburn Legacy, but I got like borderline slumpy, so I figured going for books I know I enjoy would be better. We’ll see if it actually helps.

Sons from Afar was actually one of my least favorite in the seven book series, but since I haven’t read it in a while, I’m wondering if my opinion will change any.

That being said, it’s still just as amazing as the rest of The Tillerman Cycle.

Unmade (The Lynburn Legacy, book 3) by Sarah Rees Brennan
I’m not very far into this one yet, but I anticipate enjoying it just as much as the other two. This book isn’t the reason for my current slump-ish-ness.

So far I’ve spent the beginning of this book worrying about Jared and annoyed at Kami’s mother. Like if I stop and really consider things, I can understand why she’s reacting the way she is to everything, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating to read about. I think maybe I just don’t like her at all…

And as usual, I’m still working my way through Persuasion by Jane Austen, and I’m ahead of schedule so that’s nice.

Recently Finished:  Come A Stranger (The Tillerman Cycle, book 5) by Cynthia Voigt
Like I mentioned earlier, I took a little break from Unmade to read on the Tillerman Cycle because I was slumpy. I think it might have been a book hangover from Dreams of Gods & Monsters.

This book is really special to me. I mean I love all the Tillerman books, but this one was one of those perfect storm sort of books. It dealt with some things pretty personal to me at exactly the right time in my life. I don’t think I’d have dealt with some things nearly as well without Mina’s perspective in my mind from reading this book. If someone were to ask me for coming-of-age recommendations, this would be a top one for sure.

Reading Next:  Seventeen Against the Dealer (The Tillerman Cycle, book 7) by Cynthia Voigt
I love how synchronistic it is that the series begins and ends with Dicey.

I look forward to reading this one again with the change in perspective that being older gives; I haven’t read it since I was a teenager.

After this one I’ve got literally no idea what I’m going to read so if anyone has a suggestion I’d love it.

Musing Monday: October 2, 2017

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Musing Mondays is a weekly meme, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ____, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: What do you do with your non-keeper hard copy books?

I blogged about ____ this past week…

What do you do with your non-keeper hard copy books?
Well, I know a lot of the online book community members are major e-reader people, but I am not. I don’t actually have anything against them, I’m not one of those people. I actually like them, I love how available they’ve made books to everybody and I have noticed I read faster on e-readers (or it feels that way because I can’t mark my progress the same as with a physical copy), but I have a little trouble with reading on screens and let’s face it, there is nothing like holding a book in your hands. The weight, the smell, the texture, everything about physical books appeals to me.

All of this is to say:  I have lots of hard copy books. Not as many as some people, but considering I have so little money, I think 600 books is quite a stash.

I try to stick to the rule of only buying copies of books I already know I like. If it’s a book I haven’t read I like to just get it from the public library, and if I like it I’ll put it on my list of books to buy. That way I don’t spend my extremely limited book buying money on books I don’t like.

However, I am pretty terrible at following my own rule… I go to my favorite bookstore, Recycled Books, and I start off looking for books from my list and next thing I know it’s been 3 hours and my my husband (or mother) is standing over me where I’ve sat down on the floor with at least 2 stacks of books, probably more, and lost myself in some book or other. (Tip: If you tell yourself you’ll just read a page or two to see if you want to buy a book, don’t believe yourself. If you are anything like me you will read several chapters before you even realize it.)

AND NOW THAT I’VE TALKED ABOUT A TON OF STUFF LET ME ANSWER THE ACTUAL QUESTION:  When I do wind up with physical books I don’t want to keep, either because I got distracted from my list or because I hit up some garage sale where they had books for a quarter and I couldn’t stop myself, what do I do with them?

I take them back to the aforementioned favorite used bookstore and trade them in for store credit! And then I get to go shopping for more books!! Hurray!

(I’m so sorry, I really didn’t stay on topic even a little bit today…)

Persuasion by Jane Austen: Week 9

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Lee is on page 142 of 260

Chapter III

Riddle:  What has two thumbs and has a weird feeling that Mr. Elliot is totally not to be trusted?
Answer:  This guy right here!

Seriously, he’s too perfect, something is not right here. Which is a shame because he’s basically the only person to immediately appreciate Anne…

In this post I explained my plan to finally work my way through Jane Austen’s Persuasion (the only book of hers I don’t like at all).

At the end of each week, either Friday or Saturday, I will post an update of my progress and any thoughts, should I have them.

To Analyze or Not to Analyze

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Krysta over at Pages Unbound put out this post:  Analyzing Books Does Not Have to Ruin the Fun. I was going to just comment on that, but it turned out I had several things to say (also there was a whole “dumb cat posts keyboard smash comment” incident, sorry again Krysta) so I’m just writing up my own post about it.

I’ll admit, until high school I was one of those “why do I have to pick it apart?” kind of people. I either liked a book or I didn’t. And with the exception of Harry Potter — which I wouldn’t even say I looked at critically at the time, just that I talked about what was happening in the books quite a lot — I didn’t really have in-depth discussions about books (my friends weren’t readers).

Then in 9th grade there was this discussion of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and I got way more into it than I expected to. I wound up making a connection that shocked my teacher and sent the class discussion in a totally different direction and ended with the teacher giving me French candies and taking a bunch of notes to talk about that thing with future classes. She told us that in 9 years of teaching Ender’s Game she had never made that connection herself, nor had any of her students. Needless to say I left class with a new appreciation for analyzing novels!

These days I have three main reasons for looking deeper into the books I read:

  1. If it’s a book I enjoyed, analyzing it helps me review it so I might convince others to read it too. The more specifics I read in a review the more likely I am to take the reviewer’s recommendation, so I try to apply that to my own reviews.
  2. If it’s a book I didn’t enjoy, I’ve found dissecting it to be incredibly cathartic. There’s nothing like digging into a disappointing book to lay out all the reasons it didn’t measure up! And if you’re lucky enough to know someone else who hated it, the two of you can sit for hours and completely eviscerate it and when you’re done you’ll have cured yourself of the feeling that you just wasted a whole day of your life on crap.
  3. The third and most important reason (to me at least) is that if I don’t analyze a book just a little I won’t remember it! No matter how much I enjoy a novel, if I don’t get some chance to talk about it, even just a little, I’m likely to forget everything that happened. Which admittedly can be nice when it comes to rereading a book, but overall I’d rather remember the story the first time!

Now this isn’t to say I make myself delve deep into everything I read. Sometimes I just don’t have the energy for it, or if it’s one of my favorite books I’ll have read it so many times it wouldn’t make sense to analyze it every single time I reread it. But I try to do a little. That’s part of the reason I started doing a monthly wrap-up post, so I’d have to say at least 2 things (favorite/least favorite thing) about every book I read.
It would be more fun if I had people to analyze my books with, instead of always screaming into the void on wordpress and tumblr, but anti-social beggars can’t be choosers!

I do run into one big recurring problem though:
I find it ridiculously hard to analyze a book I really like! The more I like the book, the harder it is for me to pick it apart into individual elements. I have yet to come up with any sort of solution to this problem though. Instead I just stare at the book for a ridiculously long time and eventually in a week or so I either manage to cobble together a review or I give up.

I’d love to know if other people have the same problem, and if they have any solutions.
Which is easier for y’all, analyzing a book you love or a book you hate?