There seems to have been a problem

 

Once again, I forgot to post Cat Thursday yesterday. Move along. Nothing to see here. 

I apologize. See you next week...if my brain cooperates.

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A Reading Life (47) - #WintersRespite #Readathon & Starting over on The Classics Club #ourclassicsclub

I meant to get the bulk of this done during Mini-Bloggiesta, and I did manage to partially compose my 2017 reading challenge post (went live earlier this morning), and I cleaned up my sidebar (which wasn't even on my original goal list 😄), but didn't get a chance to finish transferring reading challenges (along with starting over my Classics Club) to this blog.

This week, I'm hosting my winter readathon at Seasons of Reading, A Winter's Respite. I'm thrilled because it's now a two week long event! It started yesterday, and it runs through Sunday, January 29.

Here's what I'm reading:

• The Golden Bough, Sir James George Frazier (This is one I'm reading for TuesBookTalk and I have to finish it by Jan. 31).  Decided to not read this.
• Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
• The Chemist, Stephenie Meyer
• Property, Valerie Martin
• The Boy Who Wanted Wings, James Conroyd Martin

Actually, the above are all books I need to read this month so I'm hoping this two week readathon, and the 24 in 48 Readathon this weekend, will help me accomplish it. 

Why not join us? You can sign up and jump in through January 27.

My start date for The Classics Club was March 11, 2012...so my time is up this March. Problem is, I have not hardly put a dent in my list. I've had a lot going on in my life. A separation in late 2012 and finally a divorce in 2014. A job that I hated which sapped my energy and had me getting sick all the time. Plus, being a single mom (or the custodial parent, which means I have the kids the majority of the time). That is why I'm allowing myself a do-over. I'm sure the lovely folks at The Classics Club will understand. My new list, with start and end dates, will be in the menu tab above titled, The Classics Club. Head over there to check it out.

Watching

I saw two movies over the weekend. The Bye Bye Man, a horror film, was pretty scary.
I was hiding my eyes throughout. Passengers. Wow! I really liked it. Not sure why it didn't seem to get great reviews. Definitely worth seeing. 

Some people are grumbling about the season finale of Sherlock. I liked it. I thought the introduction of Eurus was quite interesting, in my opinion. Plus, the very end of the episode was very touching.

Victoria also aired on Masterpiece on PBS Sunday night. I really enjoyed it too. I thought Jenna Coleman did quite a good job in the role.

My youngest son, Reece's 14th birthday was January 10. We had his party this past Sunday at CiCi's Pizza. He had a great time! Why must they grow up so fast?

What's going on in your (Reading) Life?

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A Reading Life (46) - A new year...more #reading and a renewed focus on #writing

So, trying to stay optimistic for 2017, despite a feeling of impending doom. I have moved forward with my First Book of the year and my One Word for the year. My book is The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer and my word is IMAGINE. You can read all about it in my First Book/One Word post. As promised in that post, I have ordered a necklace to commemorate my word. I should have it next week. Here is what it is going to look like...

Check out Jacqueline's work at The Wicked Shop

Regarding my goals with reading and writing, I stated in my 2016 End of Year Book Survey my goal for reading in 2017...

I recently had a talk with myself (yes, I do that) and basically it involved my thinking that there is no reason I can't read more than I do. My goal is to read at least 100 pages each day. Let's face it. 100 pages is really not that much in the grand scheme of things, so I really don't see that as an unaccomplishable goal, and if I can read more than 100, it will really up the ante on my reading.

I would also like to start writing more reviews again on this blog (and my sister blog, Castle Macabre), even if it's just short write-ups on books not for review, and try to do more of these A Reading Life posts. It may not be every week, but that is the ultimate goal.

My all important goal for this year is to truly knuckle down on the prep work and writing of my novel. I've said this before, I know, but I'm not giving up. Once I start making progress, I'll post updates at my writing blog, Stories Inside, maybe with an occasional mention on this blog. 

Reading Challenge News

I mentioned back in September my new perpetual reading challenge, which I'm hosting on my community reading site, Gather Together and Read. The reading challenge is 13 Ways of Looking at The Lifetime Reading Plan. As I said, this is a perpetual reading challenge and I know some people shy away from perpetual challenges because they think these challenges do not hold them accountable with a time constraint. Well, I've solved that problem!

The 2017 13 Ways of Looking at The Lifetime Reading Plan Reading Challenge is open for sign ups! There will be a new challenge each year to help us stay accountable on the perpetual challenge, and to check those books off on the challenge book lists. Read all about it and sign up here (after first signing up for the perpetual challenge here). A big thanks to Aloi from Guiltless Reading (and Read the Nobels) for the challenge within a challenge idea.

This new challenge I'm hosting is a yearly challenge. You can find out all the details and sign up here.

Last, but not least, it's time to sign up for A Winter's Respite Readathon! In case you might have missed the news, I now host four seasonal and two special readathons each year at Seasons of Reading. All six readathons were previously one week long. However, now Winter's Respite (January), Spring into Horror (April) and High Summer (July) will all be two weeks long, and FrightFall will now run for the entire month of October! (SciFi Summer {June} and Christmas Spirit {November} will remain at one week for now) Looking forward to another great year of readathons!

************

I'm working on figuring out what reading challenges and/or reading events I want to sign up for. Plus, I'm going to start over on the Classics Club challenge. I'm currently keeping track of my reading challenges on my challenge blog, but I think I'm going to do it on here...create a page in the menu that goes to a page, instead of directing to my challenge blog, as it currently does. Having another blog means more posts to write. I just don't have time.

One reading event that I know I will be participating in this year is Adam's (Roof Beam Reader) Classic Book-a-Month Club. This list of books is impressive. I know I will be joining in on reading most of the ones I own. 

• January: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• February: The Three Theban Plays by Sophocles
• March: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
• April: Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• May: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
• June: The Confidence-Man by Herman Melville
• July: Paradise Lost by John Milton
• August: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
• September: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
• October: Angels in America by Tony Kushner 
• November: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• December: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

This month, as you might have noticed, is Little Women. One of my top favorite books of all time!

My edition is the Doubleday Large Print Spellbinder's edition. It's a BIG book!

I've listed the schedule below. Adam has also set up a Goodreads group. The social media hashtag is #CBAM2017

• January 1st: Begin reading Little Women.
• January 15th: Check-in post with general thoughts, current questions, etc. goes live. 
• January 27th: Discussion questions posted; conversation in the comments! 
• January 31st: Post final thoughts on the book.

Books I received for Christmas

I was lucky enough to get books from my Bookish Secret Santa and my mom. 

Laura at Book Snob was my Secret Santa and she got me some wonderful goodies and THREE (!) books. California by Edan Lepucki, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and Succulent Wild Woman: Dancing with your Wonder-Full Self by Sark. Thanks again, Laura!

My mom got me...

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer and Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis by Anne Rice. 

That's all for now! Tell me what's going on in your Reading Life?

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A Reading Life (44)

It's looking like I'm now only doing these posts monthly. I always plan to do them weekly, but then I get too lazy. I'll keep trying though. 

So, back in April, I reviewed a lovely poetry book by Rita Maria Martinez, The Jane and Bertha in Me. The author recently shared with me a reading she did at a bookstore in Florida. The Livestream is still available. Those who love the Brontes may want to tune in, as well as those who suffer from an invisible illness (caretakers may also want to tune in). You can watch HERE (Rita is introduced around marker 41:45).

What I'm reading this week...I'm participating in Tif's School's Out Read-a-Thon through Thursday.

• Trying to finish Contact, Carl Sagan
• Reading section of Wilde Lake for TuesBookTalk
• Worlds Elsewhere, Andrew Dickson

I leave for vacation on Thursday! My best friend is getting married this Saturday in my hometown, and my sister and her family still live up there so we'll be visiting for the rest of the time. I haven't been on vacation in AGES! I need this!

Upcoming Events

High Summer Read-a-Thon, July 18 - 24. Sign up here.

Sit Down and Write 8 - July 2016. Sign up here.

I'm also hosting Christmas in July at Christmas Spirit. Details coming soon. You might notice a bit of a revamp on the site if you stop by. 

Recent book acquisitions...

A win from Stacy at Stacy's Books

Thank you!

The Judgment, D.J, Niko (for review)

The Fox Was Ever The Hunter, Herta Muller (for review)

Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good Very Bad Cat,

Amy Newmark (won from Create with Joy. Thank you!)

The Couple Who Fell to Earth, Michelle Bitting (poetry for review)

Wilde Lake, Laura Lippman (TuesBookTalk June read/for review)

Purchased from Goodwill:

The Wife's Tale, Lori Lansens

Blue Labyrinth, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

From Better World Books:

Historical Hauntings, edited by Jean Rabe

Carry The One, Carol Anshaw

Ragnarok: The End of the Gods, A.S. Byatt

A Passion for Books, Harold Rabinowitz

The Fire Gospel, Michel Faber

The White Devil, Justin Evans

Between Man and Beast, Monte Reel

The Burning Air, Erin Kelly

The Big Book of Teen Reading Lists, Nancy J. Keane 

(for Gabe and Reece)

What's going on in your Reading Life?

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A Reading Life (43) - Akhenaten, #BoutofBooks and more #ReadNobels

My thoughts on Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz
This is the story of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Akhenaten, related to a young man by each person who was close to, or who served, the pharaoh. I couldn't help but be reminded of the current state of American politics. Everyone tells a different story. Every single person had a differing opinion on Akhenaten. So, who do you believe? The one consistent thread among all was that he had a strange appearance and that his faith in the One God was unwavering.


I would really like to read other books by Mahfouz, as I'm thinking this probably isn't his best. I mean, it was interesting enough, but the many points of view relating the story made character development difficult...and I'm a big fan of character development. I'm not saying I disliked the book immensely, but I have read other historical novels about various ancient Egyptian royalty and found them much more interesting.

That being said, historical fiction always leaves me wishing I could travel back and find out the real story. A fly on the wall, so to speak. As Akhenaten's life is somewhat of a mystery compared to other pharaohs (due to his name, etc. being obliterated because he was judged a heretic), I especially wish I could learn the truth about him.

Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. An Egyptian writer, he published over 50 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career. Many of his works have been made into Egyptian and foreign films. (Goodreads)

Other books by the author:
Children of the Alley

The Cairo Trilogy: 

Palace Walk / Palace of Desire / Sugar Street 

Midaq Alley

The Day the Leader was Killed

I read this selection by Nobel Prize winner Mahfouz for the Read the Nobels perpetual challenge, the 2016 Read the Nobels challenge and the Where in the world will your Nobel take you? April challenge, hosted by Aloi at Guiltless Reading.

What I'm reading this week:

• For TuesBookTalk, the required section for this week's reading of The Great Mortality by John Kelly
• Get caught up with the reading section for this week's Roots read-along check in on Friday (I'm WAY behind!)
• Blood Sacrifices by Brian Moreland
• I'm going to listen to some audio books about writing too: Writer to Writer: From Think to Ink by Gail Carson Levine and Put Your Heart On The Page: An Introduction to Writing by Anne Perry

I just announced this special event, the Sci-Fi Summer Read-a-Thon, last week! I'm so excited. I need to read more Sci-Fi. This will probably be a yearly event, in between my four regular read-a-thons, like the Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon in November. I hope you will think about joining us. Sign up here!

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Recent book acquisitions...

Win from Bookreporter.com -

Design for Dying by Renee Patrick

From Book Depository -

The Poldark series 1-3 by Winston Graham:

Ross Poldark

Demelza

Jeremy Poldark

From Better World Books - 

Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

Signora Da Vinci by Robin Maxwell

Affinity by Sarah Waters

What's going on in your Reading Life?

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A Reading Life (42) - Read-a-Thon wrap-up and more

So, yesterday ended my Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon. I'm happy to say that I was able to complete two books! I read...

Goodreads

Read my review

I also participated in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon on Saturday (for about 10-11 hours). I actually managed to stay up all night, but only read half of The Troop. My wrap-up post is here.

What I'm reading now...

Finishing up The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James

Continuing with Roots and Akhenaten by Naguib Mahfouz

Coming up next...Children of Darkness by Jonathan Janz, The Great Mortality by John Kelly

What I've been watching...

Mom and I took my boys to see The Jungle Book on Saturday. They are 13 and 14 years old and I was so thrilled that they wanted to see it. They loved it. The Jungle Book is Gabe's (my older son) favorite since he was little. I'm hoping I can get him to read the book this summer. Mom and I loved the movie too. It was visually stunning, exciting, scary in parts...just an all around great film. I highly recommend it. 

Two of my favorites characters...

Raksha voiced by Lupita Nyong'o

Bagheera voiced by Ben Kingsley

Game of Thrones! I was SO excited for the new season. A lot of revelations in this first episode. Don't ask me what, or who, this is...I'm not telling (If you saw it, you'll know). I don't do spoilers. lol

Honestly, I love the Game of Thrones show so much, and the A Song of Ice and Fire series, that I'm seriously thinking about starting book 3, A Storm of Swords, just because I know I'll have to read it slowly (due to other reading obligations) and so will prolong my Game of Thrones euphoria after the season ends. I think I might be addicted. ;-)

I've been watching Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned on Lifetime. It's a three part "mini-series" that originally aired in the UK and it is EXCELLENT (like most British offerings, I've found). I'm finishing Part 3 tonight (as I type, actually) and can't wait to see how it ends. Her husband is such an ass.

Recent book acquisitions...

For review (next month) from Henry Holt & Company

Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys Around Shakespeare's Globe, Andrew Dickson 

(Don't miss the giveaway!)

from Dollar Tree

• The Good Inn: an Illustrated Screen Story of Historical Fiction, Black Francis and Josh Frank (co-written by the Pixies front man...one of my favorite bands!)
• Gameboard of the Gods, Richelle Mead

What's going on in your Reading Life?

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A Reading Life (35) and #Bloggiesta Ending Stats

Bloggiesta stats at end of post

Currently reading:

March, Geraldine Brooks (still)

People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks (yeah, a finish is not looking promising)
The Ancestor's Tale, Richard Dawkins (This one will have to be for another time..too deep for me at the moment)
The House of Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne
All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy (another Classics Club spin that I will not get to *frown*)

Audio:

The Essential Edgar Allan Poe (Stories, Poems, Biography)

Family Reading Project (20 minutes daily, alternating titles):

The Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart (on page 196)
Salem's Lot, Stephen King (we have chosen this for our scary read for Fall. I started reading SK when I was about 12 or 13 and they've already listened to The Stand with me on audio so they're ready)

Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton (on page 131) (The boys have decided that we should not continue with this one. It's way technical and so kind of over their heads for their age...and they're getting bored)

One movie/One TV show I like right now:

I can't believe I haven't been to a movie since my last Reading Life post which was on September 1st! I usually go to a movie every weekend, but with Gabe's  football games on Saturdays, it hasn't been possible. So, the last movie I watched (with the boys) was The Amazing Spiderman 2 and I was NOT happy with the ending. I'll leave it at that.

New show on SyFy...Z-Nation. Zombies...I love zombies. This one is more campy than The Walking Dead, but it's still pretty good. And I SO enjoyed the back to back Miss Marple episodes on Masterpiece Mystery (PBS) last night. One can never go wrong with Agatha Christie.

Life:

Busy, busy, busy! Work has...should I say exploded or imploded...yeah, one of those. lol I have another new client so I'm working more (which means more money...and I got my raise...the positives) and this week I'm the back up for one VA who is on vacation and I'm also the back up for another who is on maternity leave for two weeks. So trying to fit in blogging and reading has been even more of a challenge. And I'm getting ready to start a writing class this week. Eek!

The reason I missed going to the movies this past weekend...I was shopping for supplies for the Christmas planner I'm making. I first went to Walmart and they didn't have everything I needed so I had to go to Michael's (no Hobby Lobby for me). I got a huge book of Christmas scrapbook paper for half off and I also got a cute jar that was on clearance for my TBR jar project. Hoping I will be able to work on both the planner and TBR jar this week. I'd like to have the planner ready to share on Rudolph Day at The Christmas Spirit (my Christmas blog) on Thursday. Good luck, right!?

Read-a-Longs: 

The read-a-long for The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne is still going on (of course, I'm behind on the reading), in conjunction with Gothic September at Castle Macabre. I was hoping to do more with Gothic Septemeber (some themed posts, etc.), but haven't had time to put anything together. Maybe I can for the last week. We'll see...

I'm thinking about hosting a read-a-long of The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice in October at Castle Macabre, in conjunction with The Never-Ending Anne Rice Challenge. Still haven't decided...guess I better get my butt in gear!

TuesBookTalk - We are currently reading two non-fiction books, Unbroken by Laura Hilenbrand and The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins. Unfortunately, Heather and I have decided that we just cannot finish Ancestor's Tale right now. I might try it again later, but it's just too much for me at the moment. Our scary read for October is 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz.

Lit Collective - we are reading and discussing the works of Geraldine Brooks in August ...I extended this through September. Everyone is behind on the reading. (And I'm STILL behind!)

March

Caleb's Crossing

People of the Book

Theme nominations will soon be open for our theme read in March.

Reading Challenges:

 

I'm still trying to get my sign up ready for Rebecca and Tanya's Travel the World in Books challenge. I'll get to it, ladies...I promise!

My upcoming events (challenges, read-a-thons, other reading events):

Banned Books Week commentary on this blog going on right now. Posts went up today and yesterday and if you check out yesterday's (Sunday) post, I'm offering a giveaway. 

Gothic September at Castle Macabre - going on now

FrightFall Read-a-Thon at Seasons of Reading - Sign Up Here

Season of the Witch at Castle Macabre (Oct) - Want to share with us something scary you loved...book, movie, or TV show? Post will go up over there this week. You can email me at truebookaddict (AT) gmail (DOT) com if you're interested in contributing.

Recent Book Acquisitions (including library check-outs):

For review:

Die I Will Not, S.K. Rizzolo
Prisoner of the Queen, E. Knight
Consolamentum, Rebecca Hazell
The Oblate's Confession, William Peek

Library Sale:

The Weekend, Bernhard Schlink
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld
Lydia Bennet's Story, Jane Odiwe
The Long Song, Andrea Levy
Memoir from Antproof Case, Mark Helprin
Against All Things Endings: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Stephen R. Donaldson
Allison Hewett is Trapped, Madeleine Roux
The Woman in the Fifth, Douglas Kennedy
The Old Curiosity Shop, Charles Dickens

Goodwill:
Beautiful Disaster, Jamie McGuire
Dexter in the Dark, Jeff Lindsay
Shadow of Night, Deborah Harkness

Bloggiesta ending stats
My original list with tasks struck through:

1. Add a Family Reading Project tab to pages tab and create a page to keep track of our progress.

2. Write a review for The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

3. Work on my Slideshare projects for my Banned Books Week posts Created one

4. Come up with my list for the Travel the World in Books reading challenge (long overdue)

5. (Possibly) start working on my TBR Jar Project  purchased jar and paper - lol

6. I forgot to add...clean out email, respond to any review requests YES!

7. Cleaned up sidebar - non-appearing images and non-working links, updated other linked badges

8. ???

9. ???

Okay, so I didn't do too hot. Some is better than none, right? My main thing was the email. I have to STOP letting it get like that!

What's going on in your Reading Life?