Thursday, August 20, 2015

Four Seasons in Book Covers

Here's my entry for the Bout of Books Four Seasons challenge. You can participate here!

I rummaged through my book shelves for the perfect entry and discovered that I don't read many books with such covers (except for winter books. I seem to have a decent number of those). But here's what I got:

Spring
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Because it's a blooming garden!



Summer
Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
Because it's Greece and by the sea!



Fall
The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith
Because it can rain a lot in the fall!



Winter
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Lots of snow and Lucy doesn't have a coat :( :( :(


Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Bout of Books Book Scavenger Hunt!

Here's my entry for the Scavenger Hunt challenge. You can participate here!

Let's look for:



1. A Book that begins with “B”  (for Bout of Books!)
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh 

2. A book your planning to read/currently reading for Bout of Books
Atonement by Ian McEwan - I'll be reading it as my next book for Bout of Books this week.

3. Blue Book(s)
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

4. Books from your favorite genre!
I have a hard time articulating what my favorite genre is; most people would call it "classics", but I find that term confusing and nondescript as a characteristic. But I'm lacking a better term for now, so let's stick to "classics" (more specifically, I'm super interested in 19th century fiction).
So I picked:
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Shirley by Charlotte Brontë

5. A book on your TBR shelf, or your full TBR shelves
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. I'm planning to get to it right after Bout of Books 14.0 is over.



Monday, August 17, 2015

Fictional World Travel Challenge + Primrose!


Here's my entry for the Bout of Books Fictional World Travel Challenge. You can participate here!


Let's go from the bottom up:

- Dubliners by James Joyce (Ireland)
- The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith (Scotland)
- The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Botswana)
- Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (the Caribbean)
- Chocolat by Joanne Harris (France)
- Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Japan)


And you get a bonus picture of my kitty Primrose, since she was apparently feeling geographical today.


Bout of Books 14.0

My absolute favorite read-a-thon is already here! You bet I'm gonna get reading hard!




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 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd 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 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
 If you wish to participate, you can sign up right here!

My TBR:


1. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Brontë
2. Atonement - Ian McEwan
3. Nine Stories - J.D. Salinger 

My goals:

- read a thousand pages
- update my progress every day
- have tons of fun

Daily updates:

Monday, August 17th

114 pages of "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Brontë

Total: 114

Tuesday, August 18th


97 pages of "Love's Labour's Lost" by William Shakespeare + 46 pages of "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" + 7 pages of "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville = 150

Books finished: "Love's Labour's Lost"
Total: 264

Wednesday, August 19th


50 pages of "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"
Books finished: "Love's Labour's Lost"
Total: 314

Thursday, August 20th


100 pages of "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"
Books finished: "Love's Labour's Lost"
Total: 414

Friday, August 21st

90 pages of "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"+ 31 pages of "Atonement" by Ian McEwan= 121
Books finished: "Love's Labour's Lost", "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (five stars by the way!)
Total: 535

Saturday, August 22nd

5 pages of "Atonement". Clearly not a day for reading.
Books finished: "Love's Labour's Lost", "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" 
Total: 540

Sunday, August 23rd

52 pages of "Atonement". 
Books finished: "Love's Labour's Lost", "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" 
Total: 592

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Rain till the end of day

Rain splattering, sounds fluttering, floundering dreams
through rippling streams, hair unfurling, water current swirling,
leaves whirling, a gale of extremes.
Reeling head, charging ahead eddying thoughts and theories,
obsessive compulsive tropes, deranged hopes and flurries.

Unthink this image, unwrestle this scrimmage,
 unutter this promise, ominous torrents.
With my head unhinged, my stomach twinged, I flicked through the books to see
if there was a certain Mrs. or Mr. to prescribe some words for me.
A plan of development, a sure resettlement, perhaps to Locust Street.
Weather reports every minute or so.
Rain till the end of day.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Bout of Books bookish survey challenge!

Here are my answers to the bookish survey challenge, originally from here.

Questions:
1. How do you organize your shelves?
I don't... mostly. I have a loose organization scheme going on: one shelf is children's books, one is YA, one is poetry, one is Christian non-fiction, one is popular science. Other than that my fiction books are a mess.
2. What is one of your favorite books that’s not in one of your favorite genres?
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It is a memoir/ self-help, which is not a genre I eagerly reach for, but I adore this book!
3. What is the last 5 star book you read?
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (not fair, because it was a reread. Not counting Wuthering Heights, the last 5 star book would be Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. Bronte sisters, you're doing something right!)
4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon?
I'm excited to finish The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen, because it's just so much fun.
5. What book do you recommend the most?
The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell.



Sunday, May 10, 2015

Bout of Books 13.0


You bet I'm participating! You can sign up here

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, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th 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 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books text

Updates: 

Monday, May 11th

129 pages of "Envy" by Anna Godbersen
Total: 129 pages

Tuesday, May 12th

260 pages of "Envy" by Anna Godbersen
Total: 389 pages
Books finished: "Envy" (this series is such great fun, but honestly! the plot gets ridiculous towards the end)

Wednesday, May 13th

245 pages of "Splendor" by Anna Godbersen
Total: 634
Books finished: "Envy"

Thursday, May 14th

146 pages of "Splendor" + 10 pages of "Engleby" by Sebastian Faulks = 156
Total: 790
Books finished: "Envy", "Splendor"

Friday, May 15th

123 pages of "Engleby" by Sebastian Faulks
Total: 913
Books finished: "Envy", "Splendor"

Saturday, May 16th

72 pages of "Engleby"
Total: 985
Books finished: "Envy", "Splendor"

Sunday, May 17th

138 pages of "Engleby"
Total: 1,123
Books finished: "Envy", "Splendor", "Engleby"

Books finished:





Saturday, January 3, 2015

Bout of Books 12.0


It is my second time participating in the Bout of Books read-a-thon, hopefully this time around I'll be
more successful. In May my happy, blissful reading streak was interrupted by an unexpected cannonade of life. Why does this keep happening anyway? Can't life understand that reading gets the priority? Ugh. Hopefully, this time I can get life reined in, especially because I have a relatively free week (well... "relatively" being the key word) so I should be able to get some glorious reading time under my belt.

You can sign up here!


About the 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, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
My possible TBR:



1. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

2. Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier
3. Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier

The entirety of the Ruby Red Trilogy comes to 1148 pages, so I think that's good enough for now. Yet if I finish early, I'm inclined to pick up "The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern" by Lilian Jackson Braun, or "Timequake" by Kurt Vonnegut.

Time devoted to reading:

I am off Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, which sounds good; however, I do have to cram some social obligations and work at home in there, as well as studying for the following week, so sadly, it's not as much time as it seems.

My goals:
  • Read at least a thousand pages. The TBR above is over 1100 pages, and I'll probably read more anyway.
  • Track progress at the end of every day
Updates:

Monday, January 5th

236 pages of "Ruby Red"
Total: 236

Tuesday, January 6th


115 pages of "Ruby Red"+ 40 pages of "Sapphire Blue"= 155 pages

Books finished: "Ruby Red"
Total: 391

Wednesday, January 7th

317 pages of "Sapphire Blue"
Books finished: "Ruby Red", "Sapphire Blue"
Total: 708

Thursday, January 8th

250 pages of "Emerald Green"
Books finished: "Ruby Red", "Sapphire Blue"
Total: 958 

Friday, January 9th

47 pages of "Emerald Green"
Books finished: "Ruby Red", "Sapphire Blue"
Total: 1,005

Saturday, January 10th

152 pages of "Emerald Green", 68 pages of "The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern"
Books finished: "Ruby Red", "Sapphire Blue", "Emerald Green"
Total: 1,225

Sunday, January 11th

117 pages of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" (this page count is a little bit iffy, since it's a play. The 117 pages is my clothbound edition, and that's what I read, but it takes up about 20 pages in my anthology edition of Shakespeare's plays, so that's how the page count is not necessarily solid. But... let's count it, why not)
Books finished: "Ruby Red", "Sapphire Blue", "Emerald Green", "A Midsummer's Night Dream"
Total: 1,342


This was an amazing read-a-thon! Definitely my best Bout of Books experience so far, and the most exciting part of it was the fact that I read some really good books. I never expected to like a YA trilogy so much, I usually try to steer clear of YA with fantasy elements, but the Ruby Red trilogy was SO GOOD. This series became a very big part of my life for a week, and upon finishing it I was feeling befuddled because I missed the characters so much already.
I'm really happy with how this read-a-thon went, and all there is now is to hope that you guys had a similar experience, and that 2015 will be abounding in some more great reading events!

Friday, January 2, 2015

Tangled.

Three years ago I decided to blog daily for a year because I believed it would cure me. Chaos, though it might not seem like a disease, is one of the most serious sicknesses our society has to deal with. For the most part though I don't care too much about society: I observe it, but I rarely want to cure it. Myself, I wanted to get sorted out. Thoughts in my head were often tangled like my hair just after shower and I hoped that through blogging I would gently brush it all off, make it straight and pretty, apply the magical silk conditioner through writing. I might pull more than once and maybe pluck some hair out, but generally it was supposed to make it less perturbed and more put together-looking. This experiment didn't work out - or rather, I have no way of seeing if it would have worked out; I stopped writing after twelve posts. I have no ambitions to go back to blogging this frequently; moreover, I am often terrified at the thought that I'm putting this stuff out publicly, and seriously considering making this blog private. I'm very easily terrified by internet invigilation- type scenarios, and although they sound ludicrous when I vocalize them, they're not that improbable - frighteningly.

What am I doing then? For the first time in my life I don't know. Now the thoughts (and, coincidentally, the hair) are more tangled than they have ever been. I have been being myself for longer now than I have ever before, but so much more repeatedly I feel like I have to become my own self. What I make of myself and take for reality is far from the reality of me for other people, and that to me is like having been writing a story for my entire life, and suddenly, just before publication, when it was finally becoming its true purpose, finding it being set fire to.

Yesterday, I thought about why I don't like to talk to people I like about problems that are important to me. And the answer is this: I have a tendency to blindly follow advice of people I respect. If somebody formative to my world was to give me advice, I would automatically switch off decision making. That it seems to me like I have been doing, yet I'm consciously striving to make an effort to stop it.

When I was a kid I was, for a couple of years, positive that I was the world's best basketball player, as sure as eggs is eggs. This proved to be untrue when I changed schools, and became even more so because my confidence suddenly plummeted. But to this day I get really excited and nervous when I'm about to throw a balled aluminum foil I used as wrapping for my sandwich to a bin across the room. The screams of the excited audience of this feat, if it be successful, can fuel me for the rest of the day, but a failure dispirits me for much longer than appropriate. Because I fear that I'm not living up to be whom I presume (or presumed) myself to be and that makes me lost. And generates much torment I'm usually not equipped to handle. These last sentences were obviously not about trashcan scoring.