Wednesday, December 2, 2015

(Still Alive) Reading Bingo 2015 Check In

Teaching is really kicking my butt this year!

Soon I'll post an update on my New Year Resolutions.

But for now, time to check in on my reading bingo challenge and find out what I still need to read before the month ends.

The bolded categories are ones I haven't read yet, and the book in parentheses next to it is the book I plan on reading for that space.

Card #1

A supernatural book without a werewolf or vampire: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
A book without a happy ending: Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
A book over 350 pages: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
A book with a male narrator: Tracers by J.J. Howard
A fairy tale retelling: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
A book with a villain as the main character: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
A book with multiple povs: Wonder by R. J. Palacio 
A book published in the year you were born: (Stacy's Big Crush by Ann M. Martin)
The end of a series: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
A book about a historical figure or event: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (about St. Mark's Eve)
A book with super humans or cyborgs: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
A book with an unlikely love story: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
Book hangover: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
A book with a dystopian setting: Ash by Sheni Petroff
A book without romance: Cat Stories by James Herriot
A book about siblings: Panic by Lauren Oliver
The start of a series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
A book with music: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale
A book set in the south: Tell Me by Joan Bauer (Virginia)
A book set in the spring: Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan
A book with poetry: (Crank by Ellen Hopkins)
A book set in the future: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
A book with a diverse cast: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
A book you judged by the cover: The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin
A book in third person: Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor


Card #2

A book with time travel: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
A book set somewhere you've traveled: Frostbite by Richelle Mead (Montana)
A book with a non-human antagonist: The Martian by Andy Weir
A book your fave public figure loves: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
A book being made into a movie: The DUFF by Kody Keplinger
A book with a coffee shop: (Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle)
A book with parents who are present: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
A book set in Europe: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
A book about an ancient culture: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
A book translated from another language: (Inkheart by Cornelia Funke)
A book with a LGBTQ character: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
A book involving religion: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Book hangover: Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
A book with an unreliable narrator: Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
A book with elements of horror: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
A book from a debut author: The Registry by Shannon Stoker
A book with an epic monologue: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
A book recc'd by a bookseller: Losing It by Cora Carmack
A book with a number in the title: (A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens)
A book with an adopted character: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
A book by an author you've never read before: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
A book with accents: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
A book based on a true story: (Naya Nuki: Shoshone Girl Who Ran by Kenneth Thomasma)
A re-read of a favorite book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
A book set in the wilderness: The Calling by Kelley Armstrong


Only six to go!

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

What I'm Reading Wednesday - Dog Stories, Shadow Kiss, The Wrath and the Dawn, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

It's been awhile, and you can blame the start of the school year for that!

Dog Stories by James Herriot


I've always loved cat stories, so I bought dog stories from amazon. It's the first non-digital book I've bought in awhile. It was pretty good, but definitely not as good as Cat Stories. 

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead


Third book, read it, still loved it. The ending, though. That ending made me have to put the series away for awhile before I go on. 

The Wrath and the Dawn


I'm reading this one right now and really liking it, even though I HATE not knowing what's really going on!!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling (audio)


Yup, still working my way through the series again. Actually, I'm listening to this as I type :).

Until next time!

Thursday, July 30, 2015

What I'm Reading Wednesday - Cat Stories, Vampire Academy, Frostbite, The Scorch Trials, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I skipped a week so I have quite a few books to post today!

Cat Stories by James Herriot


This was one of my favorite books growing up, and I decided to reread it last week. The stories were just as charming and heart-warming as I remembered.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead


I'm way behind on this train, and decided to finally see what all the fuss was about. I see it! I finished this book in just a few days and immediately started the next one. 

Frostbite by Richelle Mead


Sometimes the second book in a series sucks compared to the first. This was not one of those times. Again, I finished this in a few days and had trouble putting it down. You should have seen the look on my face when my kindle died while I was reading this on the beach. So sad. 

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner


The plan was to continue working my way through the Vampire Academy series. However, when I went to see Paper Towns on Tuesday with my sister, the preview for The Scorch Trials came on and I had to hunker down and plug my ears so that nothing was spoiled. After that experience I realized it was time to finally pull this one out of my virtual to-read pile. 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (audio)


The great thing about audio books and beach vacations is that I can lay back on the beach with my eyes closed and still read a good book. I just have to be careful not to fall asleep and miss something!

Until next time...


Friday, July 17, 2015

What I'm Reading Wednesday - Tell Me and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Tell Me by Joan Bauer


One of my students bought this from the book fair for me and I'm finally getting around to reading it. Even though it's middle grade I'm liking the voice a lot. I'm interested to see how the book handles the serious topic of human trafficking. 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo


Some reviews of this book call the author crazy, but I've only gotten a hint of that so far when she mentioned thanking items before discarding them. I guess I'm not far enough in yet to decide whether this method would work for me. 

Thursday, July 9, 2015

2015 Resolutions - Update 3

It's been 6 months (27 weeks) since the New Year! Halfway there :). Time to check in on my resolutions and see where I am.

Resolution #1: Finish the first draft of TGITP

I have 5 scenes left until I finish the first draft! I will DEFINITELY, FOR SURE, be finished by this Saturday. I'M SERIOUS THIS TIME. 

Resolution #2: Read 70 books
I have currently read 35 books, so I'm halfway there! Goodreads tells me I'm one book behind but I'm halfway through quite a few so I should catch up easily. 

Resolution #3: Write at least 1,000 words a week
In the past 2 months I've missed twice, once for no reason and once because I was at a teaching conference. I'm not sure how this resolution will look once I finish the first draft. I guess it will be 1,000 words a week still, but unrelated to TGITP, kind of like my Camp Nano project. 

Resolution #4: Play an instrument once a week
I only missed once this time, for the teaching conference. I've started working on exercises to increase my hand independence (so that I can play a different melody on each hand at the same time, which is necessary for the song I'm learning) and I'm excited to say that I've already seen some improvement!

Resolution #5: Do 5 pull-ups a week  
Yikes. So I've only missed once, which is good. However, for awhile there I was doing 5 pull-ups a day. I had a routine down, but school ended and that routine died. I need to make a new routine for the rest of summer and stick with it, because I've already seen a loss of muscle definition!

Here are my spreadsheets for May and June. 




That's it! I'll check back in at the end of August, where I may re-evaluate my resolutions. 

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

What I'm Reading Wednesday - Ash, Throw Out Fifty Things, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Ash by Shani Petroff and Darci Manley


I actually haven't started this one yet since I finished UNTOLD this morning. My coworker's daughter recommended it to me and I'm a sucker for dystopian. 

Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke


Haven't started this one either! I'm kind of bored with THE ART OF NON-CONFORMITY so I'm switching to this for now. 

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis by Isabella Wentz


I've put this book down for way too long, it's time to finish. 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling (audio)


As I said a few posts ago I've been craving Harry Potter, and the movies just weren't doing it for me. Back to the books it is!

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

What I'm Reading Wednesday - Untold, The Art of Non-Conformity, and Death by Food Pyramid

 Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan


Onto the second book in the series! We discuss this one at my book club next week so I needed to get on it. It's started off a little jumpy, but I'm intrigued to see where it goes. 

The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau


Just started this one yesterday so I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. The author is very blunt, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

Death by Food Pyramid by Denise Minger


Haven't read much of this one this week but I'm still working my way through it.