Bout of Books 23: August 20-26, 2018

It's time for Bout of Books again! Get all the details and sign up here.

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Yay for a low-key readathon with a fantastic community of book lovers. Whether you read a lot or a little this week, be sure to stop by to say hello and connect with people who love books. I'll be ogling everyone's stacks and adding to my ever-growing TBR. 

Monday, August 20, 2018

Day 1 Challenge: Describe yourself #insixwords

My TBR list will outlive me. #truestory

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Day 1 Instagram Challenge: Currently reading

Books joined in progress: 1(Jane, Unlimited--264 p)

Book started: 2 (Romancing the Duke--384 p; Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake--50 p)

Books finished: 2

Pages read: 698

Creatively structured series of five interconnected novellas, each presenting the MC with a different choice and in a different genre. The more I think about it, the more brilliant it seems. Begs for a reread.

☆☆☆☆✩

A destitute author's daughter inherits a castle from her godfather. Unfortunately, it's already inhabited by bats and a grumpy, blind duke who is unwilling to relinquish his ancestral home. 

☆☆☆☆

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Day 2 Challenge: Book plot emoji

👩💬🤵👉👌😍🥞

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare

Day 2 Instagram Challenge: Covers featuring a favorite color

Green

Books started: 2 (Amina's Voice--50 p; A Kind of Freedom--110 p)

Books finished: 1 (Nine rules--270 p)

Pages read: 430 

Sick of following society's rules, Lady Calpurnia makes a scandalous list of things she's always wanted to try and enlists the help of a notorious rake to help her check items off the list.

☆☆☆☆

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Day 3 Challenge: Literary Villain

An anti-hero you'll love to hate/hate to love = Victor Vale from Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Day 3 Instagram Challenge: Spine Poetry

My haiku inspired by the wildfires burning across the Pacific Northwest, and way to close to my house.

Fire, Burn, Ash--

Flame in the Mist

Books started: 1 (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet--120 p)

Books finished: 1 (A Kind of Freedom--120)

Pages read: 240

An African-American family saga spanning three generations that shows the lasting legacy of slavery and racial discrimination in America.

☆☆☆☆✩

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Day 4 Challenge: Book Trip
My travel wishlist includes a tour of bookstores around the world, followed by am extended stay in Paris.

Day 4 Instagram Challenge: 5 🌟 Reads
Just a few of the favorites currently living on my bookshelves.

Books started: 1 (A Tale for the Time Being--70 p)

Books finished: 1 (Hotel on the Corner--184 p)

Pages read: 254

A love story between a Chinese-American boy and a Japanese-American girl that jumps back and forth between 1942 and 1986.
☆☆☆

Friday, August 24, 2018

Day 5 Challenge: Bookish Playlist
I don't listen to music as I read, but my favorite book-inspired songs are "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush and "The Battle of Evermore" by Led Zeppelin (featuring Sandy Denny).

Day 5 Instagram Challenge: Unfinished Book/Series
This is a so-far unfinished series, only because Libba Bray is still working on the final installment.

Books started: 1 (Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake)
Books finished: 3 (A Tale for the Time Being--362 p; Lots of Candles--224; Amina's Voice--158)
Pages read: 744

Ruth, a blocked writer, finds a freezer bag filled with old letters on the beach and gradually gets drawn into Nao's story. I didn't love the touch of magical realism at first, but it all came together in the end, so I got on board.)
☆☆☆☆☆

A memoir about turning 60, filled with wit and wisdom. I loved it!
☆☆☆☆☆

Middle grade realistic fiction featuring Amina, a Pakistani-American girl navigating friendships, faith, and family as everything around her seems to be changing.

☆☆☆

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Day 6 Challenge: Discover Books
Looking at everyones book stacks reminded me that I want to read The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig. And also to add Crazy Rich Asians to my library hold list. 

 

Day 6 Instagram Challenge: Books published in 2018

Except for Circe, these are books I have purchased, but not yet read. Circe is one of my favorite reads of the year, so far.

Books started: 3 (Hate to Want You--90 p; The Curated Closet; Dark Places--110)
Books finished: 1 (The Curated Closet--265)
Pages read: 465

Good advice for identifying your personal style and creating a wardrobe that reflects it. I liked the focus on wearing what makes you feel confident, rather than on following rules or trends.

☆☆☆☆

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Day 7 Challenge: Stretch Goal
I'm stretching to finish one more book today!

Day 7 Instagram Challenge: Series Love
One of the series I'm most excited to read. 

Books started: 0
Books finished: 1 (Hate to Want You--294; Dark Places--432)
Pages read: 726


FINAL STATS FOR THE WEEK:
Books joined in progress: 1
Books started: 10
Books finished: 11
Pages read: 3557

Bout of Books 21 (January 8-14)

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BOUT OF BOOKS 21

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins at 12:01 am on Monday, January 8 and runs through Sunday, January 14 in your time zone. Participation is low pressure and challenges and giveaways are completely optional. Visit the Bout of Books blog for official info and updates.

Totally wingin' it on this one. Let's see how it goes!

Starting by switching between three books because each (for different reasons) is hard to handle all at once.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff

Monday, January 8
Introduce yourself #insixwords
Lavender farmer - loves books, cats, popcorn.

Tuesday, January 9
Share your 2018 reading goals #2018readinggoals
Read 200 books
Buy and read mostly books by women and POC authors

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

★★★★⭑
Mainly dismissed when it was published in 1937, the book was rediscovered in the 1970s when Alice Walker wrote about her quest to find, and put a marker on, Hurston’s unmarked grave.

“Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches.”

There isn’t a whole lot of action, except for the last few chapters, as the story is focused on Janie’s inner life, on her quest for personal growth, on finding her own voice. 

Raised by Nanny, who wants to see her future safe and secure before she dies, Janie is hustled into marriage to a wealthy old man. She tries to make the marriage work, but feels nothing for her husband. Before long, a stylish man passes through town and catches her attention. He’s got big dreams and wants her to run away with him. Without bothering to divorce her first husband, she does. 

“The morning road air was like a new dress. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road and walked on, picking flowers and making a bouquet.” 

Jody insists on putting Janie on a pedestal, keeping her separate and protected from anyone but him. His jealousy and need to control her chafes at Janie. She wants to experience life, not sit in a glass display case, admired but unheard. 

“All dis bowin’ down, all dis obedience under yo’ voice—dat ain’t whut Ah rushed off down de road tuh find out about you.”

Finally, Janie finds a life partner in her third husband, Tea Cake. She tells her friend, Pheoby, “Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is a love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine.”

Though Janie never gets her happily-ever-after ending, her journey brings her full circle, where she finds herself.

Read it slowly. This is one to savor.

Wednesday, January 10
#BookSpineRainbow
My rainbow consists of books by women. Some I've read and loved; some I hope to read and love this year.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

★★★★★

This is my favorite of Atwood's novels.  Set in a dystopian society where right wing religious fanatics have taken over the government, it provides a chilling reminder about why it is so necessary to separate church and state.  

In a time when fertility rates have dramatically fallen, young women who have previously had children are prized as breeders, but have absolutely no rights.  The story is told by Offred, a woman who has been separated from her husband and young daughter and given to a childless married couple.  The monthly babymaking ceremony is absolutely revolting, made even worse by the bible reading that accompanies a glorified rape.

The most frightening aspect of this novel is how easy it was for fundamentalists to take over the country.

Every time I reread this, Atwood’s chilling vision seems closer to current reality. 

“Better never means better for everyone. It always means worse, for some.”

Friday, January 12

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

★★★★⭑

4.5 stars. Gorgeous writing and comprehensive research. I learned quite a bit about the tea industry. 

Li-Yan is a member of the Akha, one of many Chinese minority tribes. Her tiny village is remote and the people eke out a living by picking tea leaves. A stranger arrives from the modern world, in search of the rare Pu’er tea made by her mother from the leaves of an ancient tree that has been cared for by the women of her family for generations. 

She falls in love with a boy of whom her parents do not approve and ends up pregnant and unmarried. According to the tribe’s traditions, her child should be killed immediately after birth. Instead, Li-Yan gives birth to a daughter in the secret grove. She leaves the baby in a cardboard box in front of an orphanage, a tea cake made from the leaves of the ancient mother tree tucked into the swaddling. 

By the time she returns to the orphanage, the baby (renamed Haley) has been adopted and sent to California with her new family. 

Tea plays a foundational role in the lives of both mother and daughter as they wonder about each other and search for a reconnection that may never come.

Saturday, January 13
Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam #1) by Margaret Atwood

★★★★

MaddAddam trilogy, book one. 

In a world destroyed by bioengineering and corporate greed gone mad, Snowman appears to be the last man on Earth. He tells his story through a combination of flashbacks and his interactions with the Children of Crake. These genetically-engineered beings are the new humans, created by Snowman’s lifelong friend, Crake, in an attempt to usher in an era of peace. 

As in Atwood’s other speculative fiction, this is a world that is eerily close to the path we’re already on.

Sunday, January 14
Didn't finish anything today. Reading in progress included in final stats:
Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff (275 0f 336 pages read)
The Year of the Flood (MaddAddam #2) by Margaret Atwood (218 of 431 pages read)
The Vegetarian by Han Kang (125 of 188 pages read)

FINAL STATS:
Books started:7
Books finished: 4
Pages read: 1,950

Bout of Books Readathon 19

I must say, I am loving the readathon thing right now. As an avid reader who hasn't been reading all that much lately, it feels amazing to get a shot of book excitement and to connect with other book lovers. 

The readathon goes from today, May 8, to Sunday, May 14. You can find out all of the details at the Bout of Books website. I'll be playing along here and updating as the week progresses.  I'll also be posting updates using #boutofbooks on Twitter. 

Goals for the week:

I will read one book every day. I will read for (at least) two hours every day.

Books to read (subject to change):

Challenge #1: Introduce yourself #insixwords.

Introverted reader, writer, teacher, atheist, feminist #insixwords

Updates:

MONDAY

Pages read today: 1064
Total pages read: 1064
Books started: 10
Books finished: 9
Books read: Lunch Lady series (books 1-9) by Jarrett J. Krosoczka; (Cress in progress)

TUESDAY

Pages read today: 530
Total pages read: 1594
Books started: 2
Books finished: 2
Books read: This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen; Cress by Marissa Meyer; (Persepolis and Fairest in progress)

Challenge #2:  #notafont

My book covers are extremely font-y. Here's as close as I can get to #notafont.

WEDNESDAY

Pages read today: 631
Total pages read: 2225
Books started: 2
Books finished: 2
Books read: The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi; Fairest by Marissa Meyer; (The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar and Winter in progress)

Challenge #3:  #shelfie4boutofbooks

THURSDAY

Pages read today: 1251
Total pages read: 3476
Books started: 2
Total books started: 16
Books finished: 2
Total books finished: 15
Books read: The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar; Cleopatra in Space: Target Practice by Mike Maihack (Winter and Women, Food, and Desire in progress)

Challenge #4:  #characterdatingprofile

Laird of Lallybroch, looking for love, likes kilts (James Alexander Malcom MacKenzie Fraser, Outlander)

FRIDAY

Pages read today: 239
Total pages read: 3715
Books started: 1
Total books started: 17
Books finished: 1
Total books finished: 16
Books read: I Could Chew on This and Other Poems by Dogs by Francesco Marciuliano (In progress: Winter; Women, Food, and Desire)

Today was a flailing, not failing day. I didn't get nearly the amount of reading done that I'd planned, but I still read a cute book of poetry that I would recommend to animal lovers. And check out the companion book, I Could Pee on This, with poems by cats. 

Challenge #5:  #bookspinerainbow

SATURDAY

Pages read today: 207
Total pages read: 3922
Books started: 1
Total books started: 18
Books finished: 1
Total books finished: 17
Books read: Winter by Marissa Meyer (In progress: Gaia's Garden)

Challenge #6:  #seasonsofbooks

Spring: Green Angel and Green Witch by Alice Hoffman--magical realism all about healing and new life

Summer: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald--a summer vacation that's all about books and helping people bloom

Fall: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar--back to school time

Winter: Lisey's Story by Stephen King--death and madness (Guess which season is my least favorite.)

SUNDAY

Pages read today: 414
Total pages read: 4336
Books started: 3
Total books started: 21
Books finished: 3
Total books finished: 20
Books read: The Graduation of Jake Moon by Barbara Park; Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway; Celtic Night by Bridget O'Dwyer (In Progress: The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo)

I just started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Amy Schumer. Though I'll be able to keep reading for another hour or so, I have family coming into town and won't have time to update later. I've had a blast reading with the Bout of Books community this week and the readathon pushed me to read more than I would have on my own. 

Here's my final stack. Until next time!