Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Bout of Books 17: Day Seven!

Bout of Books

» Day Seven Recap: «

What I read:

Refresh Refresh by Benjamin Percy

Thoughts on the book so far:

I read this short story for my fiction writing class, so I am going to refrain from rating or commenting on it too much. It was definitely interesting!

Challenges I participated in:

NONE

» Day Seven Stats: «

# of hours read: .5
# of pages read: 11
# of books completed: 1 (short story)
# of challenges completed: 0

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Total:

Hours: 15
Pages: 1.082
Books Completed: 3 (plus one short story)
Challenges Completed: 1

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Bout of Books 17: Day Six!

Bout of Books

» Day Six Recap: «

What I read:

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Thoughts on the book so far:

The ending to this series was just as good as I remembered! I had lots of time to read on day six, so finishing this book was relatively easy. Gripping, fast-paced, action-packed and fun, I absolutely love the Percy Jackson series and I don't need an Oracle to know that there will be many, many PJO rereads in my future.

Challenges I participated in:

NONE

» Day Six Stats: «

# of hours read: 3.5
# of pages read: 272
# of books completed: 1
# of challenges completed: 0

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Total:

Hours: 14.5
Pages: 1,071
Books Completed: 3
Challenges Completed: 1

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Bout of Books 17: Day Five!

Bout of Books

» Day Five Recap: «

What I read:

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Thoughts on the book so far:

I meant to pick up A Gathering of Shadows, I honestly did, but I have been on such a big Percy Jackson kick recently, and I didn't want to make myself fall into another reading slump by picking up a book I wasn't in the mood to read. I am very, very excited to be reading The Last Olympian again as it is probably my favorite book in the series (tied with The Lightning Thief).

Challenges I participated in:

NONE

» Day Five Stats: «

# of hours read: 2
# of pages read: 109
# of books completed: 0
# of challenges completed: 0

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Total:

Hours: 11
Pages: 799
Books Completed: 2
Challenges Completed: 1

Friday, August 26, 2016

Bout of Books 17: Day Four!

Bout of Books

» Day Four Recap: «

What I read:


Thoughts on the book(s) so far:

I finished Battle of the Labyrinth yesterday! Because I did not remember much of the plot, rereading it was actually like picking it up for the very first time. I very much enjoyed seeing more of the characters and witnessing development and small moments that I had completely forgotten about. On to the fifth and final book!

I also managed to read about sixteen pages of The Lie that Tells a Truth, which is a guide to fiction writing that I have been assigned to read for one of the classes I am taking this term. It's really interesting so far; I hope the advice and exercises continue to give me inspiration going forward!

Challenges I participated in:

NONE

» Day Four Stats: «

# of hours read: 2.5
# of pages read: 215
# of books completed: 1
# of challenges completed: 0

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Total:

Hours: 9
Pages: 690
Books Completed: 2
Challenges Completed: 1

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Bout of Books: Day Three!

Bout of Books

» Day Three Recap: «

What I read:

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Thoughts on the book so far:

The Battle of the Labyrinth is probably the book I remember the least from in the series, so it is nice to pick it up again and reintroduce myself to the adventures that take place within its pages. I'm so close to the end of rereading the series now, it's crazy. Makes me want to go back and do it over again!

Challenges I participated in:

NONE

» Day Three Stats: «

# of hours read: 2
# of pages read: 101
# of books completed: 0
# of challenges completed: 0

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Total:

Hours: 6.5
Pages: 475
Books Completed: 1
Challenges Completed: 1

Bout of Books 17: Day Two!

Bout of Books

» Day Two Recap: «

What I read:


Thoughts on the book so far:

I completed The Titan's Curse on day two, and it was just as good as I remembered! This series will forever have a special place in my heart, and I love going back to read them over and over again. 5/5 stars. It was a very exciting, fast read. Though I had planned to pick up another books after TTC, I ended up picking up the next book in the series, The Battle of the Labyrinth instead.

Challenges I participated in:

NONE


» Day Two Stats: «

# of hours read: 2.5
# of pages read: 175
# of books completed: 1
# of challenges completed: 0

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Total:

Hours: 4.5
Pages: 374
Books Completed: 1
Challenges Completed: 1

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Bout of Books: Day One!

Bout of Books

» Day One Recap: «

What I read:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/561456.The_Titan_s_Curse?from_search=true
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Thoughts on the book so far:

This is a reread, so my thoughts are basically the same as they were years ago, when I first picked up this series. Percy is amazing, as always, and I really love getting back into this world and following his adventures once again!

Challenges I participated in:

1. Book-to-Movie Adaptations


» Day One Stats: «

# of hours read: 2
# of pages read: 199
# of books completed: 0
# of challenges completed: 1

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Total:

Hours: 2
Pages: 199
Books Completed: 0
Challenges Completed: 1

Monday, August 22, 2016

Bout of Books 17: Movie Adaptations

Bout of Books

Today's challenge is hosted by Writing My Own Fairytale and is all about book-to-move adaptations! Now, I am extremely lenient with adaptations. For the most part, I am able to go into them with fairly low expectations and can usually view them as something completely different from the books. Because of this, there aren't too many that I absolutely loathe. As an example: I enjoyed the Percy Jackson movies even though they were so, so different from the books. Pretty crazy, but that's just how I operate.


Favorite adaptation:


I recently watched movies 2-4 of the Hunger Games this year and, out of all of them, I felt like Catching Fire did an amazing job at staying true to the books whilst providing the *new* and *exciting* we expect when seeing something in movie format. The acting was great, the storyline was emotional and tense, the scenes were edited together nicely and I just felt like it was so much more than the first one. I absolutely loved it!


Least favorite adaptation:


Ah. As someone who is lenient with movie adaptations, this one definitely pushed the boundaries of my patience. I wasn't really a fan of the book to begin with (TMI is not my favorite Cassandra Clare series), but the movie offered nothing new or exciting, and took out everything from the books that could have salvaged the experience, to be honest. The acting was awful, the romances were even more cringe-y, and I didn't really enjoy it, overall.


And there you have it! What are your favorite or least favorite book-to-movie adaptations?

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Bout of Books 17 TBR!

Bout of Books is almost here!

I am not quite sure how much reading I will be able to do this coming week - I am currently working full-time and am in the running for a supervising position that I should *hopefully* find out about this week, so the stress is real - but I have chosen a few books to pick up anyway!

Bout of Books 17 TBR

1. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab: I started reading this book in February and an ill-timed reading slump (aren't they all?) made reading anything at the time very, very difficult. When I put it down, I was about halfway though the book, so I am hoping to finally pick it up this week and finish it, particularly because I was really enjoying it before the slump.

2. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan: As I am sure you know by now, a 2016 reading goal of mine was to reread the Percy Jackson series. I am currently ready to begin book three and since these are such quick reads, I should have no problem finishing this one as well!

3. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis: An unofficial reading goal was to read the Chronicles of Narnia series. I haven't been working on this one much, to be honest, but each story is relatively short (about a hundred pages or so), so if I have the time, I will probably pick up this one as well unless I get distracted by something else.


Are you participating on Bout of Books 17? What are you planning on reading? I think I may vlog my progress this time, so keep a look out for that! Good luck!!

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Bout of Books 17!

Bout of Books 17 is here!!


I will, once again, be participating and may even vlog my progress! Maybe. I haven't quite made up my mind about that part yet. See you there?

Bout of Books

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, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th 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 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team


Monday, August 8, 2016

Shelfie [August 8]


Shelf #2: Cassandra Clare

Normally I do not section my bookshelves off by authors but, like Rick Riordan, I seem to have acquired quite a few Cassandra Clare books and the collection only appears to be growing. I will admit that I have kind of fallen off of the bandwagon with her work—I have yet to read the final book in her Mortal Instruments series or the first in her The Dark Artifices series—but she still remains one of my favorite authors and I love looking at all of her books together on one shelf!