Bout of Books: Day One!

» Day One Recap: «

▫ What I read:

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

Bout of Books 17: Movie Adaptations

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?

BoB 16: Day One!

Bout of Books 16 has begun! I am so excited to be participating again.

» Day One Recap: «

▫ What I read:

Just a Few Inches by Tara St. Pierre

▫ Thoughts on the book so far:

Though I am not usually a fan of contemporary, I am really digging the Sci Fi elements to this story!

▫ Challenges I participated in:

Describe Yourself in Six Words challenge:

» Day One Stats: «

# of hours read: 1
# of pages read: 47
# of books completed: 0
# of challenges completed: 1

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▫ Total: 

Hours: 1

Pages: 47

Books Completed: 0

Challenges Completed: 1

BoB 14: Fictional World Travel

Today's Bout of Books challenge is "Fictional World Travel," hosted by Between Library Shelves! For this we must list 3-6 books that take place in a country that is not our own.



I live in the United States, so here are my six choices:

1. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare [London]

2. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake [Canada]

3. The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan [Paris]

4. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs [Wales]

5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer [The book takes place in "New Beijing," which is thought to be in or around China]

6. Across the Universe by Beth Revis [Space ;)]

BoB 13: Bookish Survey Challenge

Today's Bout of Books challenge is a "Bookish Survey," hosted by Writing My Own Fairytale! We are given five questions to answer, which are listed below:

1. How do you organize your shelves?

Mine are organized by series (with separate shelves for those that are complete and incomplete), standalone books and specific author. I have separate bookshelves for my favorite books and TBR.

2. What is one of your favorite books that is not in one of your favorite genres?

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I don't read too many adult books, but this one was fantastic!

3. What is the last 5-star book you read?

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson.

4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon?

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I have heard some pretty amazing things!

5. What book do you recommend the most?

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. It has a little bit of everything.

Bout of Books 10: Day one

Author: Victoria Schwab
Series: The Archived #2
Publisher: Hyperion
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Pages: 368
Format: Hardcover
Average Rating: 4.43

On day one I read The Unbound by Victoria Schwab, the second book in the Archived series. 

I am pretty sure Schwab has become one of my new favorite authors, and these books a new obsession. They are breathtaking; full of beautiful characters, scenarios and scenes that are both eerie and incredible. I had to force myself to read another book while I waited for this one in the mail, and I am absolutely delighted that it will be my first read of the Bout of Books read-a-thon. Unfortunately, day one's progress was a little slow—due to lack of reading time—but I definitely plan on making it up later.

» Progress...

▫ Began reading The Unbound by Victoria Schwab
▫ Read for about 3 hours
▫ Read 121 pages
▫ Completed the If You Like X, Try Y challenge at The Book Barbies

» Challenges...

If You Like X, Try Y

This challenge is pretty self-explanatory. You choose a certain type of book and/or author and then give a few examples of works that are similar; whether they be from the same genre, author, or posses the same qualities as your original choice. Here is my entry:

"If you like John Green and Rainbow Rowell, try Robyn Schneider. Her book, The Beginning of Everything, possesses many of the qualities I adore in both Green and Rowell's books; a dry, crass sense of humor, clever wit/sarcasm, and amazing characters that you cannot help but fall in love with.

If you like Twilight, try the Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Paranormal romance with an intense plot and mortal/other character attraction.

If you like Sarah Dessen, try Sarah Ockler. Both are contemporary authors who favor writing books that posses a little extra bit of depth that I, personally, find very refreshing.

If you like creepy, physiological thrillers with a bit of romance, try The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin."

. . . . 

I cannot believe it is already day two! These things go by way too fast. How is it going, fellow participants?

Bout of Books 9.0: Day one

× On day one I was reading....

Author: Marcus Zusak
Series: N/A
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Release Date: October 1, 2002
Pages: 357
Format: Paperback
Average Rating: 4.11



In an attempt to read for BoB and knock out a personal challenge of 2014, I picked up Marcus Zusak's I Am the Messenger during day one of the read-a-thon. I only made it about a third of the way through, but it is a relatively average-sized book so I am not too worried about running into trouble with my reading later on this week. I really like Ed's character, and the ways that he reacts to the situations he is thrown into are simultaneously hilarious and heartwarming. So far, so good. :)

× Day One Progress:

▫ Read for about 3.5 hours
▫ Read 123 pages
▫ Completed the Book Buying Spree challenge at Bookish Comforts
▫ Completed the Mad Libs Challenge at Cheap Thrills


» Book Buying Spree Challenge:

For this challenge, we were given an imaginary situation in which we won a virtual spending spree—to the amount of $100—and were asked to list the books that we would buy with our prize. Here were my choices:

1. The Princess Bride (Paperback) by William Goldman – $8.95
2. Warm Bodies (Paperback) by Isaac Marion – $12.24
3. Sisters Red (Paperback) by Jackson Pearce – $8.99
4. Cinder (Hardback) by Marissa Meyer – $15.02
5. Mystic City (Hardback) by Theo Lawrence – $14.14
6. The Silver Lining’s Playbook (Paperback/Movie Tie-In Edition) by Matthew Quick – $13.61
7. Angelfall (Paperback) by Susan Ee – $7.99
8. Romancing the Bookworm (Paperback) by Kate Evangelista – $18.20

Total = $99.14


» Mad Libs Challenge:

If you have ever played Mad Libs, then I am sure you have a general idea of how this goes. Given a list of words to match with a corresponding book title, you insert your choices to complete a short story. Here is my entry:

Character name: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Adjective #1: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Adjective #2: Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
Item: Hourglass by Myra McEntire
Occupation: I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak
Act of violence: The Kill Order by James Dashner
Adjective #3: Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
Noun #1: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Noun #2: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

I just read the greatest book!

This girl MARA DYER ends up in the middle of a BEAUTIFUL conspiracy. Turns out her ancestors were pirates, and she might be the key to finding the PAPER HOURGLASS. It’s a mythic artifact that disappeared centuries ago, and now a shadowy group of MESSENGERS are looking for it. No one knows what uncovering it might do, but these guys are willing to KILL for it.

I won’t say anything else. But believe me, if you like MONSTER stories with CIRCUSES and CITIES you have to read this one.

. . . . 

How did your first day go? Here's to a week of non-stop reading!

Bout of Books 8.0: Day One

Hello, fellow Bout of Book-ers! Day one is officially complete, and I am already doing quite poorly.



Not only did I not read at least three hours yesterday, but I only managed to get 88 pages into my book before growing too tired to continue on. So to sum yesterday up in one sentence: it was just not that great of a reading day for me. But that's okay, because there are still six days left in the Read-A-Thon! Plenty of time to read (and/or procrastinate). As for the book that I am currently reading, that would be this gem:


 
Author: Beth Revis
Series: Across the Universe #3
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: January 15, 2013
Pages: 369
Format: Hardcover
Average Rating: 4.20

Shades of Earth; book three in the Across the Universe series by Beth Revis. I have enjoyed this series from the very beginning and am definitely looking forward to finding out how the it ends. So far, so good!

Challenges:

 I completed two challenges today; including The Bookish Bucket List, hosted by Sarah Says Read, and the Pairathon hosted by BookPairing. Here are my entries:

Challenge #1 - The Bookish Bucket List

For this challenge, we were supposed to leave a comment telling Sarah a bookish thing that we would like to do before we die/one thing we would like to do that was inspired by a book. This was my answer:

You know that feeling you get when you walk into a library or bookstore? Like you are someplace holy, sacred, and all you want to do is stand there and soak up their (the book's) presence, despite the looks that you are sure to get from people passing by? Well, my bookish goal is to travel the world and walk into any and all bookshops that I can find—old, new, popular, second-hand—and just experience it. To explore the shops and enjoy the company of their books. I would not even have to buy anything (though, let’s be honest, I probably will); I just think that traveling to different places across the globe and taking part in something like that would be wonderful, awe-inspiring, and pretty darn amazing.

I would also like to attend BEA or some other book festival, as well as acquire enough books to create my own little library of sorts, one day.

Challenge #2 - Pairathon

In this challenge, we were asked to post a photo (or leave a comment, describing) what it is that we are pairing with our current reads; food, drink, pets. Here is mine.

Some yogurt, Special K Cracker Chips, a Dr. Pepper, 

and Shades of Earth by Beth Revis.

BoB Progress:

Number of Books Read Today: 0
Number of Pages Read Today: 88
Number of Challenges Completed: 2
Total Number of Books: 0
Total Number of Pages: 88

Links:

Bout of Books blog
Goodreads

Here is to a productive second day!