December Rewind

» This month I.... «

▫ Spent the evening I was supposed to be participating in our church's Christmas musical in the emergency room.

▫ Celebrated my twenty-sixth birthday!

▫ Had my first ever Root Canal. -_- It actually hurt way less than I thought it would. Getting my wisdom teeth pulled was a far more painful experience!

▫ Celebrated Christmas with my family.

▫ Went to Barnes & Noble for the first time in forever (and was disappointed).

December Snapshots:*

*I don't take nearly enough pictures and the ones I do usually feature animals. Whoops!

 

» Book(s) I've Been Reading «

» Movies/Shows I've Been Watching «

 CBS' Scorpion

I received the DVD of The Scorch Trials for my birthday!

» Other Favorites «

I am still completely obsessed with The Sims 4 house builds and recently discovered The Sim Cache on Youtube. Their videos are AMAZING.



I began following Dear Scarlet a few years ago. Basically, two parents have dedicated a blog to their daughter, Scarlet, and it is adorable. My love for Dear Scarlet has been reignited and I have enjoyed spending the majority of December catching up on Scarlet's crazy-cute life.



I have also been obsessed with coloring books, particularly the ones by Johanna Basford. "Enchanted Forest" is the one I am currently working on; these books are great for stress relief and are a lot of fun (they also make great gifts)! I am hoping to pick up a few of the others soon.

» What I've Been Up to On Youtube «

The 12 Days of Christmas Book TAG

▫ Book Recommendations | Winter 2015

▫ Top Ten Books of 2015



What have you been enjoying this month?

2015 in Review: Bookish Challenges & Stats

2015 Stats

▫ Number of Books Read: 40
▫ Number of Pages Read: 14,440
▫ Average Rating: 4.0

Best and Worst in Books

1. Longest Book: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling; 870 pages

2. Shortest Book: The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe; 36 pages

3. Favorite in Fiction: Winter by Marissa Meyer

4. Favorite in Nonfiction: Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy-ish Steps by Kelly Williams Brown

5. Biggest Surprise: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

6. Biggest Disappointment: The 100 by Kass Morgan

7. Favorite "New-To-Me" Author: Morgan Matson

8. Favorite Character: Kell from A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

9. Newest Fictional Crush: Bellamy Blake from The 100 by Kass Morgan (mostly talking about the TV show Bellamy here).

10. Favorite Book Covers:

2015 Reading Challenges

✓ Read three books that have been on my physical TBR shelf for more than six months.

1. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson; 14 months
2. Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson; 12 months
3. Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay; 6 months

I'm sure there were others, but I stopped keeping track after I completed this challenge.

✓ Reread three books (not including Harry Potter).

1. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I then managed to reread a few extra books as well!

4. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
5. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

✓ Finish five series/trilogies.

These did not necessarily have to be started in 2015.

1. Ignite Me by Taherah Mafi; the final book in the Shatter Me trilogy
2. The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett; the final book in the Arkwell Academy trilogy
3. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs; the final book in the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children trilogy
4. The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin; the final book in the Mara Dyer trilogy
5. Winter by Marissa Meyer; the final book in the Lunar Chronicles series

✓ Finish rereading the Harry Potter series.

 

           [06.13.2015]                   [11.02.2105]                     [12.10.2015]

. . . .

2015 was a pretty great reading year, despite the constant reading slumps. Here's to an even better 2016!

The 365 Project

This project isn’t the first of its kind. In fact, it’s probably a few thousand down the list of similar projects beginning January first of 2016. Basically, it’s a 365-day journal.

Looking back, I have realized how few pictures and journal entries there are documenting the special, fun and ordinary moments throughout my life, simply because I didn’t have the time or energy to write a post or take/be in pictures. This is a way to remedy that. The 365 Project is a challenge I am creating for myself and will consist of pictures, videos, journal entries, music and random musings that make up the next year. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an every day thing (though I will certainly try my hardest to make it so), but it needs to be something. Something my future self can look back on and say “That was a really fun day!” or, “Maybe there is such a thing as being too obsessed with Bellamy Blake…” (there isn’t).

It is so easy to get caught up in the muddled, hectic occurrences of every day life; I sincerely hope that, by creating this blog, I will be creating something fun, memorable and personal that I can revisit again and again with the knowledge that I challenged myself to better document my adventures for later nostalgia purposes, and succeeded.

Here’s to a great 2016.

Bout of Books 15

!!!!!!!!

"The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team"

See you there?

Winter Book Recommendations | 2015

Mentioned in this video....

1. Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

2. Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

4. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

5. I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak

6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

7. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

8. Hourglass by Myra McEntire

9. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

10. The 100 by Kass Morgan

11. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collis

12. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

13. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

14. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

15. The Fellowship of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein




What books do you like to read during the winter?

Teaser Tuesday [December 8]

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jenn of A Daily Rhythm. All you have to do is grab your current read, open to a random page, and share two teaser sentences (that don't give too much away).



This week's teaser:



How strange. Blood had been all she'd wanted for months. And now she was drowning in it.

— The Wondrous and the Wicked by Page Morgan

Top Ten Tuesday [December 8]

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they update their blog with a list of ten things that have to do with a predetermined topic.



This week's topic is: Ten New-To-Me Authors in 2015.


1. Amie Kaufman (via These Broken Stars).

2. Morgan Matson (via Amy & Roger's Epic Detour) - Lately, YA contemporary seems to be the genre I reach for less and less, but I absolutely adored Amy & Roger's Epic Detour. Matson's writing is very unique!

3. Sarah J. Maas (via Throne of Glass).

4. Gillian Flynn (via Gone Girl) - I never would have picked Gone Girl up if it weren't for a school assignment and, BOY AM I GLAD I DID. Her writing is amazing and tense and I loved it.

5. Victoria Scott (via Fire & Flood).

6. Stacey Jay (via Of Beast and Beauty).

7. Kristen Simmons (via The Glass Arrow).

8. Cormac McCarthy (via The Road) - Again, I probably would not have picked The Road up if it weren't for my English class. While I definitely did not like it as much as Gone Girl, Cormac McCarthy's writing style is very different from anything I have ever read, and I am interested in looking into some of his other work.

November Rewind

» This month I.... «

▫ Celebrated my little sister's twentieth birthday!

▫ Hung out at home over Thanksgiving break with my family; we ended up celebrating the Saturday after.

▫ Read a CRAP-TON* of books!

*Please note: "Crap-ton" now means six.  

November snapshots:

My old elementary school was knocked down this month and they left the front door for last. Much sadness and nostalgia!

Caught a glimpse of some early Christmas lights!

» Book(s) I've Been Reading «

 

» Movies/Shows I've Been Watching «

CBS' Scorpion

I am still hopelessly obsessed with Scorpion, particularly after the "Arrivals and Departures" episode. /quiet sobbing

» Songs I've Been Listening To «

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone soundtrack

» Other Favorites «

I love the Saccone-Jolys and so I decided to finally check out Anna's channel! The great thing about Anna is that she is like a "big sister" to her viewers which, admittedly, is a very appealing concept for me because I am the big sister and have never had an older, sibling influence. She is also very fashionable and gives great makeup, life, and health advice and I absolutely adore her channel.

» What I've Been Up to On Youtube «

Autumn's Document Your Life

▫ Fall Time, Cozy Time Book TAG

▫ Bookish Wishlist | 2015

What have you guys been loving?

Teaser Tuesday [December 1]

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jenn of A Daily Rhythm. All you have to do is grab your current read, open to a random page, and share two teaser sentences (that don't give too much away).



This week's teaser, brought to you by another reread:

She stopped and looked back. For a moment Harry had the strangest feeling that she wanted to say something to him: She gave him an odd, tremulous look and seemed to teeter on the edge of speech, but then, with a little jerk of her head, she bustled out of the room after her husband and son.

— Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling