Task it Tuesday-- week 3 of 2016

 

For a bit about what this is go check out Michelle at Because Reading or to understand what I am setting this up as check out my first post.   Basically if I have it crossed off, I finished it this past week.  Items in red are a week old and now "past due."  I Spaced a bit under each category before adding new tasks for the week.  Old tasks carry over until completed.  The exception is the fun spot at the bottom.  Those aren't red as there are no expectations for completion.  Just a stronger focus over other fun things. 

I didn't get too much done this week.  My back is out and I have been fighting a cold that I am now failing at and by the time you might be readign this, I will be curled up in bed with a hot cup of tea. 

Blogging

• Write/post 3 reviews  (got 1 up)
  
• 1 Discussion Post (meme styles don't count)
  
• Get STS post up to date
  
• Catalog all December/January ebooks I have received/purchases onto Goodreads shelf. (December done)
  
• Check Netgalley/Edelweiss to see if I missed any titles I cannot live without
  
• Finish getting Archive, Genres And Guest Interview pages up to date 
  
• Catalog 100+ books I own 
  
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• Write & post 2 reviews
  
• 1 discussion or other (non linked meme) post
  
• Catalog another 100 books 
  

Books

• Finish Eragon (made progress)
  
• Read Sierra Jensen series Bks 1-8(read bk 1, bk 2 in progress)
  
• Read The Fiery Heart (started)
  
• Read Open Minds (started)
  
• Read Happily Ever After (started)
  
• Read 8 manga (read 6, started another)

Top Ten Tuesday FREEBIE-My mid-winter TBR

 

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week was a FREEBIE topic, so I am doing one of my favorite TTT options that was somehow missed.  My top ten winter TBR.  Well, winter is in full swing, and spring is just around the corner but here are 10 books I really want to read soon.  Not that it always happens, as you will see by the bottom part, where I share my previous season top tens that I have STILL yet to read.-My mood is constantly changing it's mind, but nothing leaves the list until it is read-or I have decided I no longer wish to read the book, period.

**I JUST started Happily Ever after this Sunday***

 

REVIEW: Game by Barry Lyga

 

Jasper Dent: Game (2)

by Barry Lyga

Genre(s): Thriller/Mystery, Young Adult, Horror

Pages:  520

Published: April 2013

Publisher: Little Brown Books

Official Blurb: "Billy grinned. “Oh, New York,” he whispered. “We’re gonna have so much fun.”

I Hunt Killers introduced the world to Jazz, the son of history’s most infamous serial killer, Billy Dent.

In an effort to prove murder didn’t run in the family, Jazz teamed with the police in the small town of Lobo’s Nod to solve a deadly case. And now, when a determined New York City detective comes knocking on Jazz’s door asking for help, he can’t say no. The Hat-Dog Killer has the Big Apple–and its police force–running scared. So Jazz and his girlfriend, Connie, hop on a plane to the big city and get swept up in a killer’s murderous game."

Review:  "WELCOME TO THE GAME, JASPER." Hardly what one wants to see about themselves written on a corpse. This book is darker and more twisted than I Hunt Killers by far. A very riveting read.

Stacking the Shelves 97

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, every Weekend. This is to share books I have acquired from various sources. Physical books & ebooks both are welcome. If its something being sent to me by mail, I will not mention it until I actually receive it. 

So here is more Nov/Dec catch-up.  Again it is not quite everything  but between post 96 and this one, you get to see at least 85% of what I got (got some more  'for review' manga,  a few library books that have come/gone already and a few others were shelved already).   

Please note that while this is a lot of books, it is from over the course of 2 months which is really good for me actually!

My next STS will have my January titles :)  Then I will be up to-date.

♥  ♦  ♣  ♠

For Review

 

Task It Tuesday -Week 2 of 2016

  

For a bit about what this is go check out Michelle at Because Reading or to understand what I am setting this up as check out my first post.   Basically if I have it crossed off, I finished it this past week.  Items in red are a week old and now "past due."  I Spaced a bit under each catergory before adding new tasks for the week.  Old tasks carry over until completed.  The exception is the fun spot at the bottom.  Those aren't red as there are no expectations for completion.  Just a stronger focus over other fun things.

Blogging

• Catch up and finish Parajunkee's New Year challenge
• Write/post 2 reviews  (Did one)
• 1 Discussion Post (meme styles don't count)
• Get STS post up to date
• Catalog all December/January ebooks I have received/purchases onto Goodreads shelf.
• Check Netgalley/Edelweiss to see if I missed any titles I cannot live without (I haven't so far this month)
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• Another 2 reviews
• Discussion Post
• Finish getting Archive, Genres And Guest Interview pages up to date 
• Catalog 100+ books I own 

Books

• Finish Blood of My Blood by Barry Lyga
• Finish Eragon (made progress)
• Finish A Promise is Forever
• Read Sierra Jensen series Bks 1-4(made progress in bk 1)
• Start Sierra Jensen Bks 5+
• Read The Fiery Heart (started)
• Read Open Minds (started)
• Start Happily Ever After
• Start Son
• Start Ashley Bell
• Start You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)
• Read 2 graphic novels 
  

Am I reading a book review or a book report here?!

Have you ever read a book review and feel like you just re-read the book summary? What about written one. I know I have. 

 

I have read some “reviews” that are almost word for word what I can find on the back of the book. And I always end up with a dramatic eye roll and a “Well that was helpful”scoff bouncing through my mind. And yet I started no better myself. I had to learn the differences between a book report and a book review.

2016 Tournament of Books

So I just stumbled across this interesting "Tournament" and thought others might be curious.  It seems silly, involves a Rooster and a myriad of book judging.

16 books have been chosen to participate in this tournament.  Judges will read then and decide who is....err...worthy.  There will be discussions, debates and podcasts.  Just seemed like a fun event.  

Check it out!

GIVEAWAY TIME: Dreaming of Books Giveaway Hop-open INT

 

Any book you are dreaming of up to $12 -These dreams must  have a budget! You can get a print book from The Book Depository OR 1 ebook via Amazon or B&N.

Giveaway is International
as long as The Book Depository can ship to you or you pick an ebook.   

 

2016 New Year's Blogger Challenge Days 10-14

 

Well, this is it. The end of this topic challenge.  I have not done good about consistently doing one day at a time.   So here are the last 5 days worth if this.  Than you so much Parajunkee, for hosting this challenge!

Day 10- Changes I'll be doing in 2016.

Well, a lot of changes you can get ideas from  on My blogger resolutions or my top ten bookish resolutions.   

Being a lot more social this year is one big change you might see.   Random chatting or replies on twitter, more visits and blog comments, etc.  I have got to get out of me shell and actually get to know my fellow bloggers better.  I know of them, and vice versa but I want to step it up a few notches.

GIVEAWAY TIME!! January New Release Giveaway Hop- OPEN INT

Any book published in January 2016 could be yours.  Well, any book up to $15 that is. You can get a print book from The Book Depository OR 1 ebook via Amazon or B&N.

Fiction, nonfiction, Y.A, Adult, childrens, graphic novels...you name it, you can pick it!  It is not limited to the image about although there are some great and popular titles there!

Giveaway is International as long as The Book Depository can ship to you or you pick an ebook.   

 

REVIEW: Finding Emma by Steena Holmes

 

Finding Emma (1)

By Steena Holmes

Genre(s): Contemporary, Mystery 

Pages: 265

Published: April 2012

Official Summary:  "Megan sees her daughter Emma everywhere. She's the little girl standing in the supermarket, the child waiting for the swings at the playground, the girl with ice cream dripping down her face. But it's never Emma. 

Emma's been missing for two years. 

Unable to handle the constant heartache of all the false sightings, Megan's husband threatens to walk away unless Megan can agree to accept Emma is gone. Megan's life and marriage is crumbling all around her and she realizes she may have to do the thing she dreads most: move on. 

When Megan takes a photo of a little girl with an elderly couple at the town fair, she believes it to be her missing daughter. Unable to let go, she sets in motion a sequence of events that could destroy both families lives."

Review:  This was a very empathetic story to read.  Very moving. And any parents worst nightmare.  Two years ago three year old Emma went missing from her home/yard.  One minute she is with her family and the next gone.  No trace or clues are found as to what happened.  I cannot even begin to truly imagine what that must be like.  Steena Holmes does an amazing good of showing us on possible scenario to watch play out.  This is a very down to earth, putting yourself in someone else's shoes. 

Task it Tuesday 1

 

This was such a neat concept for sharing what I am doing and also a level of accountabilit .  Our wonderful host uses it for blogging and real life.  I will step it up slightly and be adding some fun goals as well (such as watch x movie, play a game,go to x place, etc).  So some are real tasks, others more goals/things I like to do.  Next week I will share how I did and share my new goals.

Before we go into this weeks goals, please understand that I have undertaken a mass spring-cleaning of my entire house, basement, yard, etc.  Cleaning and organizing (with what I have to organize with-no major shopping at this time) top to bottom, in and out!So how detailed a space takes can either speed me ahead or hold me up.

Also, please note that I am very good at having more goals than is practical.  I am okay with that as long as I make a good dent.  With that, here we go!

To do by Next Tuesday (or make progress with)

Blogging

• Catch up and finish Parajunkee's New Year challenge
• Write/post 2 reviews 
• 1 Discussion Post (meme styles don't count)
• Get STS post up to date
• Catalog all December/January ebooks I have received/purchases onto Goodreads shelf.
• Check Netgalley/Edelweiss to see if I missed any titles I cannot live without (I haven't so far this month)

Books

• Finish Blood of My Blood by Barry Lyga

Top Ten Tuesday- 2015 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn't

 

Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn't for 2015.....Oh so many...but here are a few I really wish I had gotten to by now.  I did not even look at the past few months to choose these.  I missed so many, and whiel it would take forever to choose only 10, these 10 are ones I REALLY wanted to read and want to read soon.  In no particular order:

 

     

2016 New Year's Blogger Challenge-Days 8 & 9

 

I am still behind on these but working on them as I can.  It seems the first half of January is almost as crazy as the holidays!  Anyways

 

Day 8 was Trends I hope to see in 2016

One trend that is dying but I really hope picks back up is being a more social community.  Commenting has nearing disappeared. I would love to see more conversations on blogs.  Well thought comments that one can respond to.  And not just twitter!!  Blogs, instagram, goodreads, facebook, whereever we can.  WE NEED TO BE MORE SOCIAL and not just in one area but across the board.  And more that 2-3 word responses or  generic copy/paste type of comments go a long ways to making this possible.  Ask question, chime in with your opinions, etc.

Bout of Books 15 wrap up

 

I am keeping this very short and simply as my hand has been causing issues lately and I have other posts and things to still do online, So if you want to know specifically what I read, look at the update posts!  Anyways, downtime was not on my side this past week.  To top it off, I got the spring cleaning bug early  so reading took a backseat.  While I didn't make goal, with everything going on in life, I think I did okay.

Readathon Grand totals

Books Completed: 3

Books with Progress: 4

Pages Read: 777

Other Blogs/twitter/etc challenge or progress I've commented on(not including hosts):13 (yeah, not very many, but I tried)

2016 New Year's Blogger Challenge-Days 6 & 7

  

Yes, I fell behind again.  Some personal stuff happened that threwe me off balance.  So I could not keep up with this, let alone prep the reviews and things I have ready to go.  Hmm, off to a bit of a slow start to the year it seems...

Anyways this post will focus on Days 6 & 7

Day 6-  Worst books of 2015

I didn't read many bad ones.  A few disappointing compared to what I expected (Here's looking as Rosumund Hodge's Crimson Bound) but not many I didn't care for.

The worse were these mangas:

and a short erotic novella ( too inappropriate to share here at this time) 

One that had potential to be good but lost it's story under tons of "subliminal" messaging and propaganda was

 

 Day 7-Top Blogger Peeves of 2015

• The lack of commenting on blogs.  I am guilty of this too but we have all seemed to lose the concept to spend a few extra seconds to leave a comment.  If we had 5 minutes to read what they wrote, typically 1 more minute to respond won't hurt us, right?  Apparently it did.  Because no on was leaving comments for others on oh so many blogs (to those that did-congrats and thank you for keeping others spirits up!).

Bout of Books 15, End of Day 5

 

Day 5 is now over.  Final couple days are here!  I am very confident I will not complete my original goal unless I can manage to free time.  But honestly with everything going on, I am doing alright.  My mindis just so scattered that when I do have a few minutes to read I can barely concentrate even.  Just way too much on my life plate right now.  So I switch books, hoping it helps.  It does, for about 3 pages...*Sigh*  I might actually read less on purpose this weekend just to get things caught up in life.  I would rather do less on this readathon and enjoy my reading later than feel it is a chore and have other things fall behind to boot.  So my goal is a very simple 25 pages a day for these last two days. 

Yesterday I participated in The Book Monsters Scavenger hunt.  You can see y pics for it on instagram.

Books I read a bit of:

Stacking the Shelves 96

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, every Weekend. This is to share books I have acquired from various sources. Physical books & ebooks both are welcome. If its something being sent to me by mail, I will not mention it until I actually receive it. 

 I have not participated in this for 2 months!  Wow.  Crazy were the holidays and my hand "recovery" (which I am now told is chronic-Yippee!***) These are far from all the books I have aquired in those months but it is a good chunk of them.  I will share more on my next STS post but between Bout of books post and the New Year's challenge, I am maxed out on computer times this week.  Hopefully this will quell some curiosity as to what I have been up to though. 
Sorry the one pic is upside down.  my camera/email/picture program or something between it all is having issues.  Took 4 hours just to get pics to send and download.  Argh!

Bout of Books 15, End of Day 4

 

Day 4 is now over and we are entering day 5.  Yesterday was a bit better of a reading day.  Not great but I was able to put some time in.  Did a bit of cheering for others on twitter too! Not a lot but hopefully it encouraged those I was able to reply to.

I finished another book!

 

The ending had me literally crying!

 

Made further progress:

  

Pages read on day 4:  118

Readathon Grand totals

Books Completed: 3

Books with Progress: 3

Pages Read: 537

Other Blogs/twitter/etc challenge or progress I've commented on:10

 

Goal: 1500 Pages

 I don't think I'll make it... Oh well. I had thought I would read my Graphic Novels but overall haven't felt like it.  Still, I have today plsu 2 more days until it is over.  Let's see what I can do!!

 

 

Upcoming potential reads: