Bout of Books Goals and Updates

See my daily updates below!

Even though wedding number 2 is now over, there is still much happening this week! However, I plan to fit in some wonderful reading time. Here're my Bout of Books goals:

• I'm currently halfway done with Words of Radiance (that's 500 pages out of 1000!) and I hope to knock off a ton more pages this week. As part of that, I'd like to write a little halfway post for the read along as so far, I don't think they realize I'm even participating!
• I need to find and read The Rent Collector since I'll be visiting my mom's book club next week where the author will be speaking. Fun!
• I'd like to read some easy for fun fluffy books that are on my Kindle. I don't know which ones yet, so this will be a surprise to us all!
• Scarlet is on my nightstand and is begging to be noticed.
• As is Days of Blood and Starlight.
• As far as time goes, I never know what the day will bring, but I'd like to see a good two or three hours every day. 

I feel like if  I can touch on any of those, I'll be doing great!

Here's to reading! Enjoy!

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Daily Updates

Monday
Pages read: 15% of an ebook and about 50 pages of the "real" book :)
What I'm working on: Words of Radiance and An Ocean Between Us
What I've finished: nothing yet
Hours read: a couple probably. Sheesh, keeping track of hours is nearly impossible as I read in such snatches here and there!

Tuesday:
Pages read: 13% of the ebook and only 30 more pages of the BIG book!
What I'm working on: Same as before.
What I've finished: Nothing!
Hours read: Only an hour or so. It was a crazy evening (my usual reading time) and I ended up not having time in the afternoon either. Ugh! So much for a readathon week, eh?

Wednesday:

I read a little.

Thursday:

I did not read, except for a bit while waiting for kids at the dentist office.

Friday:

The jury is still out. Maybe I'll read this evening? Updated to add: Yes, I read a bunch more in Words...maybe 50 pages or so?

Saturday:

I bought a new book and started reading it... got about 100 pages in. I'll be meeting this author at my mom's book club this week.

Sunday:

There's still time today, but I've added another 30 or so pages to the "new" book... The Rent Collector. I hope to read a bunch more today, but there is now church, then dinner, then The Amazing Race finale, so it remains to be seen!

Throwback Thursday: Book Review on Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I've just finished this book, Wintergirls, for book club next week. Weird that while I was reading it I didn't remember AT ALL that I'd read it back in 2009! But when I went to add it to Goodreads, it reminded me that I'd read it already! So I looked up the review I wrote then. Here's what I said:

Book: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Genre: YA
Rating: A
For: Fun

I was a little bit scared of this book. The subject matter, anorexia and bulimia, is hard to read about. Very hard. Yet the whole experience was very enlightening, and it's totally amazing the way this author can get into the head of a girl going through this stuff.


The story follows Lia's struggles with food, something that began when she was just a very young girl. She and her friend bet each other about who could get the skinniest. Now, years down the road, it's all made worse when that same friend dies in the very opening chapter of the book. Lia feels the death is her fault, so she punishes herself even more. She tries to be "normal" for her little sister, but her parents make her crazy and she fights against everything they do to help her. This part was especially hard for me as I saw myself in the parent role and knowing that no matter how hard you, as a parent, try to help, the teenager struggles even harder to resist that help. 

I am a little reluctant to let my own kids read this one, but I'm not sure I can put into words why. Perhaps because this particular problem is more within the realm of possibility for them then some of the other teenage problems that we often read about, so I don't want to give them any ideas... or something. I don't know. I just know that it's scary.

But, it was a great book! 

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And now that I've read it again, would I say anything different? No, probably not. But I wouldn't rate it as high as I did then. I'm not sure why, maybe because it made me even madder this time then it did then. I don't like how the parents seem so so helpless! And I guess this is totally one of the points that the author is trying to make, but it just makes me crazy! I want them to be able to DO something to help this girl and it sure seems like there is nothing they can do. That all is lost. That she has to hit complete and total rock bottom before anything can be done. Is this REALLY how it has to be? Is this the only way someone with such a big and terrible issue can start getting better? If so, than yeah, that makes me mad. As a parent with  a kid who struggles, that makes me really really mad and frustrated and sad and...and...you know... all the things. 

Well, and so now that I've got that off my chest, and seeing that I already reviewed this book years ago, I won't necessarily update my review here again. We'll be discussing this book at book club next week. If we have anything really interesting to say then, I'll let you know!!

For other Throwback Thursday posts or to add yours to the list, head on over to Mom's Small Victories.

Book Review Discussion: Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale

Book: Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale
Genre: MG Graphic Novel
Rating:★★★★★
For: The Readathon (and supporting local authors!)
From: Bought at the library author extravaganza 

Short Synopsis: Told with wonderfully fun pictures, this is the "hazardous tale" of the tragedy of the Donner Party who traveled to California in 1846. This particular tale is told through the eyes of Nathan Hale the Revolutionary soldier who was executed by the British. However, in this book, just before they hang him, he tells them this story and his both the British guy and the executioner are enthralled.

My Response: I've read many other books about this story and loved this one every bit as much as those others! It covered all the details and all the gruesome facts in a nice "fun" and entertaining way. There were many moments of comic relief and many moments of thought provoking pondering. The maps and pictures and explanations are wonderful.

Bottom Line: I loved it! Awesome story and a great presentation.

Let's Talk About: Have you ever read anything about this story? Do you know what really happened? Do you know all the reasons why it happened? If not, you really should read this book. It's fascinating! Also, do you ever find a subject or a story that you just can't get enough of? This is one for me for sure.

Other Reviews:

His pictures are beautifully rendered and appealing, even when they show horrible experiences. At the book's end, he devotes two pages to show all of the members involved in this trip and what their fates were From KidsReads

Stock this book in your bookshelves, teachers and parents, and watch kids scramble to learn about history. From Mom Read It

The biggest assets of the book are the inclusion of humor as well as the sheer amount of research that Nathan Hale included; cited sources are listed in the bibliography. From School Library Journal

I'm not sure what Hale's next tale will be, but reading Donner Dinner Party made me hungry (no pun intended) to read about Lewis & Clark and I hope the story of these two explorers is told by Hale & the gang some day soon! From Books 4 Your Kids

Signing Up for Stuff!

My blogging friends, Jenni and Kami, are doing this read along and though I'm not totally sure I'm ready for a re-read of this book, I thought I might try, or at least skim around and join in on discussions or whatever. Anyway, here's the schedule:

Fellowship of the Ring (Book 1): May 1 to May 15
Fellowship of the Ring (Book 2): May 16 to May 31
The Two Towers (Book 3): June 1 to June 15
The Two Towers (Book 4): June 16 to June 30
The Return of the King (Book 5): July 1 to July 15
The Return of the King (Book 6): July 16 to July 31

I will be doing much catching up as I need to read a couple of other things first and get the Wedding#2 done, but then we'll see how this goes!

If you want to participate, click on one of their blog links up above!

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And once Wedding#2 is done, I can READ READ READ! So might as well participate in Bout of Books, right? I hope this week after the wedding will be calm and peaceful! And I can get all squared away on what needs reading!

Here are the details for the this amazing week long readathon. For more info, check out the official website at 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

So... what stuff are you signing up to do this month? Don't forget Armchair BEA is happening too! 

Book Review Discussion: The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

Book: The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
Genre: NF Memoir
Rating:★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
For: Book Club
From: The Library

Short Synopsis: This is the story of how the author started reading books with his mom in a two person book club during the last couple years of her life so they would have something to discuss while sitting for hours during cancer treatment. In between the discussions of books, he talks a lot about all the things his mom accomplished during her life, so it's actually more a tribute to his mom than it is a book discussion book.

My Response: Really a fun book to read. Actually, it took me awhile to get into it but the last half flew by. It is hard to read about the realities of cancer, but it was awesome to see this family's devotion to their mom and the way they made the last few years really mean something. The book discussions were fun too and totally makes me want to add a few to my list. I think at book club we decided for sure to add Crossing to Safety to our read some day list.

Bottom Line: Great book club book. We had lots of discussion. There were many favorite quotes and passages that everyone flipped to and read during our meeting. It's a great homage to books and moms!

Let's Talk About: While I haven't thought about an "end of your life" book club, I've often wanted to do a family book club, a sisters/mom books club, or a mother/daughter book club. However, I've only managed the "normal" neighborhood book club up to this point. Have any of you been successful with "specialty" book clubs and how does it work for you?

Other Reviews:

The story of Mary Anne’s illness and how she and her family handled everything really hit home for me, though, and I ended up being more interested in her story than I was about their book club. From Between the Covers
I could literally have filled a post or two on all the wonderful quotes about the joys of reading and bookshops, debates about certain titles, cosy books and confronting and even the debate over e-reader vs. real paper books in your hands – as the book has all of these and more – From Savidge Reads

It's inspiring, but not in a saccharine way. I loved it and have already picked up a few of the books that Will read with his mother. From Avid Reader's Musings

A beautiful book about the relationship between a mother and her son and their bonding over books. From A Bit Bookish

Armchair BEA Coming Soon!

Hey everyone! Can you believe it's almost time for another Armchair BEA week? Yes, this will take place the end of May specifically May 26 through 31. If you are new to the book blogging scene, this is the week many bookish people gather in New York for BEA but some (many!) of us can't make it to that event, so some awesome bloggers (Danielle, Florinda and Tif) years ago created our very own online event so we can enjoy some fun too!

The agenda for the week has already been posted, so you can go check that out and start planning your posts. There'll be Twitter parties and prizes and all sorts of things going on, so be sure to join up and plan to have some bookish fun that week!

British Isles Friday: Digestives...Yum!

This last time when we were in England, we had more opportunity to shop at the local grocery stores. While there, we happened upon a package of cookies that looked really good, so we bought them. We ended up loving them. Wow. They were different and somehow better than a normal packaged cookie. And unlike anything we have here in the US.

Come to find out, later, these cookies are kind of a thing in England. They are called Digestives and they are so so good! There's all sorts of flavors and combinations. And guess what, I've found a local store here (run by a lady from England) that orders stuff from England to sell here, including lots of Digestives. Yay!

Have a British tale to tell? Link on up over at Joy's Book Blog every Friday!