WWW Wednesday

Some slight blogging changes…

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So I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed lately with being in charge of everything to do with moving to a new place and moving my mom in with us and working hard on my recovery, so my blogging is really falling by the wayside.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about original content vs. the weekly book memes I do. Obviously my blog is weighted to the latter and I’d rather it was more even.

So I’ve been thinking about what I can change.

First of all, I found a new format for my quotes. Instead of posting them all in one post I’ve been scheduling daily quote posts whenever I finish a book. I really like doing it this way and I’m definitely keeping that.

Which brings me to the fact that I have several book meme posts that are quote centric, and that seems redundant…

So secondly, I’m cutting out Thursday Quotables. I love it, but it just doesn’t make sense to have it when I have my other quote posts.

I’m definitely keeping First Lines Fridays, it’s my absolute favorite of the bookish memes I do. I love the idea of judging a book solely off the first line(s). But as we all know some really good books have really boring first lines, so I don’t do a FLF for every book I get like I could.

Which brings me to the third thing:  From now on, Teaser Tuesday is solely to supplement First Lines Fridays. Whenever a book has a first line so crappy I’m not willing to do an FLF post for it, I’ll do a Teaser Tuesday on it! That way I get at least one teaser “judge this book on a quote” style post for each book I read.

Fourthly, I’m going to quit WWW Wednesday because I feel like I repeat myself too much when I use that one… Almost everything I have to say about the books I say someplace else in some other format.

Fifth on the list of changes, I will now be alternating What Are You Reading Wednesday and Friday 56. Meaning, if I do one on a book I’m reading, I won’t do the other. Sometimes when I’m looking on page 34/34% I can’t find anything worth posting, so when that happens I’ll try using page 56/56% instead. That way I have at least one post of that sort each week.

I plan to keep doing Top 5 Wednesday whenever I have something for the prompt, and I would like to get back on top of Musing Monday. So those aren’t changes, just something I’ll try to make more of an effort on.

As for book photo posts:  I will keep doing my original Dedication Spotlight idea, and I will keep doing Tomes & Tea occasionally. I’m also hoping that after this move is done I can get back into doing some Book Photo Challenges.

And of course I hope to keep coming up with reviews and other original content.

Older posts from the book memes I’m quitting will still be available on my blog, they just won’t be linked in the sidebar anymore, and for the record I still totally like those lovely memes, I just feel like I need to focus a bit more.

That’s everything, I think. Wish me luck!

WWW Wednesday: April 25, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

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:  What’s Left of Me (Hybrid Chronicles, book 1) by Kat Zhang

I’m enjoying this one, but I feel like I shouldn’t be considering how slow it’s going so far? I mean when I think about it and break it down into what has actually been happening, I feel like I should have DNF’d this by now, but for some reason the actual reading process is going pretty easily and it doesn’t feel slow.

I’m also still technically reading Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell and the audiobook of American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I can already tell I won’t finish American Gods before hoopla auto-returns it, but that’s okay, I’ll just check it out again afterwhile. I am enjoying it, even if the pacing is a bit strange to me in a way I can’t place.

Recently Finished:  Once and for All by Sarah Dessen

This was my pick for one of the April reading challenges that this book club I’m in is doing. The challenge was to read a book with a pastel cover, and I wasn’t sure this counted, but I took a little poll of sorts and everyone agreed it was pastel enough to count for the challenge.

I was a little afraid I wouldn’t enjoy this book because I haven’t read anything by Sarah Dessen since high school, when I was the same age as the protagonists. I was worried I might have outgrown it or that her writing may have changed in a bad way. I wouldn’t rate this one as high as I have some of her other books, but since it’s been a while since I read them I can’t tell if that’s because I was right about aging out of her demo or if it’s just this book in particular. I’m thinking next month I might start on a little Sarah Dessen reread to answer that question.

Reading Next:  Heartless by Marissa Meyer

I don’t know exactly what to expect with this one. It’s another of my April Challenge books (read a book with a one word title) and my husband actually chose it off my TBR for me.

I hope I like it? I’ve only read one other book that was an Alice in Wonderland retelling, and I don’t remember enjoying it, but obviously that may have nothing to do with the setting and more to do with the writing.

I’m probably hopeful.

WWW Wednesday: April 11, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

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:  White Oleander by Janet Fitch

This book was recommended to me by a friend in a Book Club I am in as part of a “buddy reads” program. This is absolutely not my usual genre, and I was pretty nervous about that, but so far I am loving it.

I’ve had to take a bit of a break from it for a few days because the excellent writing which easy drew me into the main character’s world and mind, also makes for excellent dissociation fodder. By which I mean, I over-empathize and get so caught up in the emotions and thoughts of the character that I get stuck in them and it takes me a little while to recover. This is how I know a character/book is really well written, because a poorly written novel wouldn’t suck me in so deeply. But it also means that if the subject matter is a little darker or the protag a little more troubled than my usual YA genre novels, then I need breaks to keep from being overwhelmed by it.

Totally fucking worth it though.

Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined (Twilight Saga, book 1.75) by Stephenie Meyer

Welp, I’m reading another Twilight Saga novel, and before you ask, yes I am Suffering. Honestly I’ve been having trouble going through this one as quickly as some of the others because I keep having to stop and reorient my thinking due to the gender and name swapping. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve taken to keeping a list of each character and their new gender swap name so I can refer to it when I get confused.

Of course, I also keep getting held up by the amount of times I have to stop and heave an exhausted sigh or roll my eyes or groan or some combination of the three.

I’m in the middle of this one, but will definitely finish it by the end of the day today.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

*** Audiobook ***

So basically I have very little self-control, so when I learned of the existence of full-cast audiobooks I was incapable of stopping myself from checking them out. I listened to one full one already, and then started this one because it was recommended to me as a quality FCA.

I have to say though, listening to some man reading me that Bilquis scene was pretty damn awkward!

Right now I’m paused at the part where Shadow is at the funeral and he’s about to learn some hard truths!

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

I’m still reading this technically, but I’m taking a short break because I have 5 other books I have commited to reading this month, and 2 others that I’d like to finish within the week. Because moderation is for quitters!

Recently Finished:  Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, book 5) by Sarah J. Maas

Well it took me like a month, but I did finally finish it. Don’t even talk to me about the ending I’m not dealing with that right now. I refuse.

I had some troubles which I’ll talk about in my April Reading Wrap-Up, but one thing I have to say is like…. Why is everyone having sex every 10 seconds? Like I was trying to read a book about magic and war and all that. And my husband and I have theorized that if you cut out all the sex scenes the book would lose like half its volume so seriously, why was all that necessary?? Can we just chill even a little bit because I didn’t sign up for erotica at this time.

The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, book 1) by Shannon Hale

*** Audiobook **

I decided to listen to this on a whim. As I mentioned earlier I have only just learned about full-cast audiobooks, and when I discovered that one of my favorite stories had been done in that way I had to try it.

I wrote a Mini-Review, specifically about the audiobook version I listened to, not about the story itself. The story itself was as enjoyable as I have always found it to be.

It was more of a test of the FCA format, so I probably won’t keep going with the entire series at this time, especially since I’ve got so many other books to read right now.

Reading Next:  Once and for All by Sarah Dessen

I’ve been meaning to get to this one, and I found the perfect motivator. That book club I’m in has monthly challenges, and one of them is to read a book with a pastel cover.

I have some others that I need to read this month, but I’ve also been reading a lot of fantasy this year so I figured I should extend my genre break by reading a Dessen novel.

And if I’m honest, all the talking about Dessen novels I’ve been doing I’ve been considering a reread anyway, but I can hardly justify a Dessen reread if I haven’t even read the two newer novels of hers yet.

WWW Wednesday: April 4, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

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:  Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, book 5) by Sarah J. Maas

So I’ve been working on this book for like 3 weeks now, which is frustrating since it’s the first one of the series that I haven’t read before, but I feel like I’m finally getting back to making some progress on it.

I’m about a quarter of the way through, and my main thought right now is “oh no, Manon!” so we’ll see where that goes. I’m pretty worried right now.

I’m hoping to finish this within a week so I can move on to the next one.

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

I’ve only barely started this one, but I’m aiming to take it a chapter or two at a time so I’m doing pretty well.

I learned when I read Persuasion last year that I pay a lot better attention to the minutia of a classic text when I read it really slow. Not to mention, a lot of them have a very dense feeling to them because of how people spoke and wrote at the time, and reading them slow helps to not get sick of that.

So far I’m really liking it, even though nothing much has happened yet. Mostly just a girl met some ladies. But I’ve seen a screen adaptation of this so I know when things will start happening and I’m not discouraged in the least.

Recently Finished:  The Twilight Saga // Stephenie Meyer

I hate myself for rereading these, but they served their purpose.

I explained the purpose in this post, but basically I wanted to punish myself for being stuck on Empire of Storms for weeks.

Of course I also had an ulterior motive. That is, I am a lot more likely to make a post complaining about something I hate than I am to make a post about something I like. Because the things I like I’m engrossed in, and the things I hate I want to procrastinate on! So I hoped that reading a book I knew I’d want to complain about would make me blog more.

Oh look, it totally did! Success!

Reading Next:  Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, book 6) by Sarah J. Maas

To be honest, I’m not sure what to expect here so there’s not much to say. I’ve heard both good and bad things, but I’m hopeful.

If anyone has read this and has an opinion I’d love to hear it.

WWW Wednesday: February 7, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

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:  Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, book 1) by Sarah J. Maas

I have been planning, and talking about planning, to reread the Throne of Glass novels so that I could read the newer ones for I think two years now. And finally I’m getting started on it!

I’ll probably read them a bit slower than I would normally, just because I read them once before and didn’t retain the information very well. Major plot points, I still got, but everything else is just too fuzzy.

Wish me luck, y’all!

Recently Finished:  Elske (Tales of the Kingdom, book 4) by Cynthia Voigt

I hated ending this book! I tried to read it as slow as I could to make it last, but it still feels like it zipped by too fast!

I love the Tales of the Kingdom so much. In fact, I think I love them more every time I reread them, which doesn’t usually happen for me.

I know I say this a lot, probably more than anything else I blog, but seriously if you like YA Fantasy, or even just YA Fiction of all types, you should totally give these books a try. They are older so most people don’t even know about them, and they are so worth knowing!

  OR  

Reading Next:  Undiscovered Gyrl by Allison Burnett OR Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, book 2) by Sarah J. Maas

I’m torn. I can’t decide if I should jump straight into the next Throne of Glass novel or break up my reread by reading other books inbetween, such as this book Undiscovered Gyrl.

I grabbed this book because I saw the film adaptation. (Sometimes when I’m stressed I like to watch movies that make me dissociate. How’s that for unhealthy coping mechanisms?) And I figured since I’ve been trying to read some different sorts of books, I might as well give this one a try.

I guess I’ll have to decide based on how easily I get through ToG and how I feel afterward, but I’d rather know ahead of time.

WWW Wednesday: January 31, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

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:  Elske (Tales of the Kingdom, book 4) by Cynthia Voigt

Alright now, I’m determined to read this book slower this time around. It’s the one I’ve read least often of all the Tales of the Kingdom books, for unknown reasons, and because of that, I tend to speed through it! This time I’m going to take my time and imagine every little detail. I mean it!

Read my Review of Elske!

Note:  Also published as The Tale of Elske, which is the version I’ll be reading this time since I don’t have access to my own copy.

Recently Finished:  The Third Eye by Lois Duncan

I decided about a week or so ago that I should go back and reread Lois Duncan’s novels, as well as read the ones I never got to the first time around. And in a remarkably unusual turn, I actually got a bunch of her books from the library and went through with a plan before a whole year passed! Amazing!

This is only the second book I’ve gotten to of hers so far, but I’m enjoying myself. I always like a good psychic story! And despite the cheesy-ness I liked who the little girl turned out to be.

Read the Mini-Review!

Reading Next:  Locked in Time by Lois Duncan

This is the third book I grabbed up by Lois Duncan, and the first so far that is a reread.

I can’t remember much about it because I read it back in like middle or early high school, so I don’t even remember if I liked it or not.

I may read it before I actually finish Elske, just to force myself to slow down on that reread.

WWW Wednesday: January 24, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

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:  The Wings of a Falcon (Tales of the Kingdom, book 3) by Cynthia Voigt

I’ve actually lost track of how many times I’ve read the Tales of the Kingdom books, but they are still my favorite.

Anytime I talk about a Voigt novel I talk about loving the way the protag thinks, and it’s never more true than in The Wings of a Falcon.

There is, and always will be, a special place in my heart for Oriel and Griff.

Note:  Also published as The Tale of Oriel, which is actually the version I’m reading this time because I don’t have access to my own copy.

Recently Finished:  Counterfeit Son by Elaine Marie Alphin

I was puttering around Goodreads looking for new books or old books I had forgotten about, and was suddenly reminded how many books I read around middle school/early high school which featured teens who had been abducted as children…

This one in particular stood out in my memory and with it being a fairly easy read, I decided to just reread it that very night. I’ll admit the ending felt a bit rushed, but other than that it held up fairly well.

Reading Next:  Elske (Tales of the Kingdom, book 4) by Cynthia Voigt

Oh man I loooove me some Elske! She’s such a little badass.

It kills me that so few people seem to know about these books now, because they are so good. If you like Fantasy novels, you should really give Voigt’s Tales of the Kingdom series a try!

Note:  Also published as The Tale of Elske, which is the version I will be reading since I still don’t have access to my own copy.

I may make myself read something between Oriel and Elske just to drag it out a little longer, especially since my TBR is only growing these days. Not sure yet.

WWW Wednesday: January 10, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

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:  Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham

I grabbed this one because I was getting a little stuck on the other book I’m reading. Lauren has a quarter-serious, mostly comical way of looking at her life and it’s pretty fun to read.

I almost feel as if she’s sitting there just chatting to me rather than me just being curled up reading a book.

I’m looking forward to finding out about behind-the-scenes Gilmore Girls things, but I don’t see how she can top the Top-Secret Hollywood Secrets on dieting.

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

I am both enjoying, and not enjoying this book…

Basically, it’s fascinating and strange, exactly like I was hoping it would be. But I don’t like it as much as I hoped.

I was warned that it might seem less magical than TRC, which when I first started I thought was erroneous, but the more I read of it the more I start to see what they meant. That’s not to say there isn’t any magic, in fact there’s quite a lot. But that’s my problem. There’s so much magic, it feels… somehow less magical…. And I can’t really explain that very well, but there it is.

Recently Finished:  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The decision to read this was pretty spur of the moment. Some other readers had made me want to try out Gillian Flynn’s novels, but I wasn’t going to for little while yet. And then I just sort of…. did? I have no idea what made me do it, but I’m sooo glad!

It was amazing. Except for the parts where I wanted to climb into the book and push Nick off something tall for being a pretentious douche… But otherwise, completely amazing!

I’ve already ordered it online because I know I’m going to want to reread it.

Reading Next:  Jackaroo (Tales of the Kingdom, book 1) by Cynthia Voigt

I’ve found myself in a major YA Fantasy mood and I haven’t even managed to finish the two books I’m currently reading!

I thought about looking for a book I hadn’t read before, but I know how much I love the Tales of the Kingdom books so I’m going to reread them yet again. After all, it’s been just slightly over a year since I reread them last!

The hard part will be making myself wait to start until I finish the two books I’m already on.

WWW Wednesday: November 22, 2017

LeeLeave a comment

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:  The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus, book 5) by Rick Riordan

I’ve only just now started this one, like I’m still on the first page, but I’m very excited! Only I have to admit, I can’t see how they’re going to solve all their problems and I’m very worried about that.

Also, I’m kind of hoping they’ll all get a vacation after this… The poor demigods deserve some R&R big time! Honestly I don’t know how they keep going, I would have been done with the gods and their errands of doom like 9 books ago for sure. I get tired just witnessing Percy & Co. constantly go-go-going and fighting and struggling.

Recently Finished:  Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Heroes of Olympus // Rick Riordan

I’ve been going with these books non-stop for a week, finishing at least one a day. Honestly, I’m starting to have dreams set in the same world when I take breaks to sleep! I admit to being a little worried about the book hangover I may wind up with when I finally finish all the books, but obviously I’m not worried enough to stop.

Reading Next:  The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, book 1) by Rick Riordan

So according to the internet, The Trials of Apollo is a sequel series ot Heroes of Olympus, so even though Rick has 2 other series out as well, I’m going to jump to this one next.

I haven’t decided yet if I will read the Kane Chronicles or Magnus Chase books… I’m worried I won’t enjoy them as much after spending so much time with the Greek/Roman gods and the demigod characters in this group of stories. I may decide to keep them in the TBR and just take a break from Rick Riordan’s books so that I’m a little fresher when I do read them. Who knows.

WWW Wednesday: November 8, 2017

LeeLeave a comment

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:  Mind Games (Mind Games, book 1) by Kiersten White

I meant to finish this last week, but to be honest I only read about a chapter before I got distracted by other things! Oops!

So this week I’m determined that I’ll finish it I just hope it gets less depressing than it was last time. But I’m hopeful because it seemed like some real action was about to start up.

I still haven’t quite figured out the whole powers thing. I think only women have powers? But it’s never actually explained outright how any of this came to be or how it works, I’m just putting it together as I go along. Or maybe it was explained and I just missed it somehow, who knows.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

I decided earlier this year after rereading Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility that I might as well go through and reread some more of Austen’s novels. So now I’m starting on Mansfield Park.

I didn’t realize this until just now, but I’m actually rereading them in the order I like them. (With the exception of Persuasion which I actually read for the first time ever, so I’m not counting it here.)

Despite all the annoying Bertrams and Crawfords, I really enjoy this one a lot. I think it’s because Jane is so subtly snarky about everything.

Recently Finished:  The Underland Chronicles // Suzanne Collins

I literally just woke up with the urge to read these and couldn’t stop myself from getting them all from the library. I also meant to space out the reading a bit, but if considering I read the last three in one day I can’t really say I managed that either…

Reading Next:  The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 1) by Rick Riordan

For a while now I’ve been wanting to get back to Rick’s books, but it’s been so long since I read the Percy Jackson ones that I only remember parts of them. I feel like it would be best to just start all the way over.

I’ve got the ebook version of The Lightning Thief from the library so I can start it as soon as I finish Mind Games.