Books - Mom's Small Victories

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? May 20, 2013

Posted by Tanya M at 12:51 pm Book Reviews 14 Responses »

May 202013

It’s Monday, What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey to recap what I finished reading last week, what I am currently reading and other book-related news. Bloggers link up their lists and it’s a great way to get new book recommendations, discuss our thoughts on the books we’ve read and meet new bloggers. It’s a great start to the week.

www.bookjourney.wordpress.com

Last week I Finished Reading

I participated for the first time in the Bout of Books Read-a-thon hosted by Amanda from On a Book Bender and Kelly from Reading the Paranormal and I was able to finish up 3 books. See my Goals and Updates post to read about everything I attempted and accomplished. I participated in Twitter chats and found LOTS of new-to-me book bloggers, with over 100 participants!

I was able to finish Interview with a Vampire (surprisinlgy loved it!) The Great Gatsby (knew I would and loved it!), I Just Want to Pee Alone (which was lol funny!).

I also posted my Classics Club Spin list, and found out this morning that #6 was chosen. That means I will be reading Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

I finally posted my review of Wicked by Gregory Maguire and see why I empathized with the Wicked Witch.

This week I’m Reading

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. Paperback for my in-person book club, a fictional account of the woman that inspired a painting. Only 30 pages left and enjoying it.

Listening to The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World on mp3 Audiobook. Very interesting analysis of different cultures and their religious and philosophical view on what makes them happy. Results are surprising and I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you.

On Kindle, reading Across Eternity by Aris Whittier which I received from the author. Read 4 chapters so far and interesting story about crossing time dimension, reminiscent of The Time Traveler’s Wife.

Other book-related events and news:

I purchased the Ultimate Book Blogger plugin so slowly but surely you may see some design changes to my site. Hoping to get that done before Armchair BEA starts next week. Armchair BEA is the online version of the big Book Expo America (BEA) that takes place in NYC where bloggers, fans and authors converge in an amazing conference. I am going to take advantage of Armchair BEA and be a commenting cheerleader, cause you know me, I probably spend more time visiting/stalking other great blogs than writing on my own! See my Blogging Events Calendar to find a link to Armchair BEA and my resource to help keep track of these great free events coming up around the blogosphere.

Well, enough about me, what about you? What are you reading this week? Are you participating in the Classics Club Spin or Armchair BEA? Any tips if you have the Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin? Happy reading and thanks for visiting!

It’s Monday, What are You Reading? May 13, 2013

Posted by Tanya M at 8:15 pm Book Reviews 28 Responses »

May 122013

www.bookjourney.wordpress.com

Last week I Finished Reading

Interview with The Vampire by Anne Rice. My first Anne Rice novel and I’d been warned that she’s dark and dramatic. I actually really loved this story. The narrating vampire, Louis, is not a vampire by choice and struggles between his vampire and human identities. Louis is up against the vampire who turns him, LeStat, who seems to be his polar opposite, a violent vampire who enjoys the kill. Full review coming soon.

3rd Generation and Beyond by Danna Pycher. Ms. Pycher’s grandparents were Holocaust survivors and throughout their most devastating experiences, came to appreciate life as beautiful. Ms. Pycher writes about valuable life lessons learned inspired by her grandparents. A fast, easy and powerfully uplifting read. Full review coming soon.

This Week I’m Reading

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. Paperback for my in-person book club, a fictional account of the woman that inspired a painting.

Great Gastby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Audiobook for my Classics Club, the story of the love lorn millionaire Gatsby and an interesting cast of characters. The book immerses the reader in a different, specatular age and Gatsby sure knows how to love it up. I love Fitzgerald’s portrayal of Daisy (the woman Gatsby longs for) and her mesmerizing voice. The book certainly makes me want to watch the movie.

I Just Want to Pee Alone by Some Kick Ass Mom Bloggers (yep, that’s what the cover says). Kindle version. In honor of Mother’s Day and because every mom has probably thought “I just want to pee alone” at some point in their motherhood. Hilarious and relatable essays by various mom bloggers covering all kinds of embarassing situations.

Other book-related events and news:

The Bout of Books Read-a-Thon starts at 12:01 am and is yet another chance to catch up on reading as much as we can, fun challenges and networking with other book bloggers. I’ve already started my read-a-thon personally and finished one of the books on my Bout of Books Goals and Updates post.

Well, enough about me, what about you? What are you reading this week? Are you participating in the Bout of Books? Leave me a link with your goals! I’d love to hear from you! As always, happy reading!

Bout of Books 7.0 Readathon Goals and Updates

Posted by Tanya M at 9:14 pm Book Reviews, Uncategorized 74 Responses »

May 072013

“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 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th 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 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team”

Well my Week in Read-a-thons did not quite go as planned since I was battling some work issues. Now that things are hopefully settling back into a routine, I’m hoping to get back into reading and sharing my book thoughts with you. Up next, another read-a-thon of course!
Goals

(Cover Photos Source: www.goodreads.com)

Original Goals: ~~1. Finish Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice on Kindle~~ Done!

~~2. Finish Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald on audiobook~~ Done!

3. The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

and if I’m really ambitious…4. Make Today Count by John Maxwell

Additional Goals: ~~I Just Want to Pee Alone by Some Kick Ass Mom Bloggers~~ Done!

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest People in the World on audiobook by Eric Weiner

Across Eternity by Aris Whittier

Most of all, I like to meet new bloggers so I hope to participate in challenges, Twitter chats and comment on at least 10 new-to-me bloggers while visiting my book blogging friends who are participating too.

Updates:

Sunday, 5/12/13: Ok, the official read-a-thon does not start until 12:01am, but I was in a read-a-thoning mood and got a head start. I already finished Interview with the Vampire and also started reading I Just Want to Pee Alone by “Some Kiss Ass Mom Bloggers”, which is not on my list but hope to finish this week. It’s a lighthearted, easy, hilarious read. I have also already commented on 30 other Bout of Book-ers goals and there are some great books on these lists.

Monday, 5/13/13: Listened to Gatsby for 30 minutes during commute to work…got to really good part and had to get out of the car! Eeek! Read I Just Want to Pee Alone for 1.5 hours, on page 138 of 185 (75% complete).

Tuesday, 5/14/13: Listened to Gatsby for a couple of hours (about 5 chapters) and commented on at least 17 blog participants from the Day 1 update post. Finished I Want to Pee Alone (about 50 pages) and read 16 pages of The Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Wednesday, 5/15/13: Visited 30 blogs from Day 2 Update post. Purchased the Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin from Ashley at Nose Graze. I like that it automatically updates your book review archive, easier navigation by genre, author and rating, and provides info on book and author automatically. Right now you can try a demo on her site and the plugin is 50% off. I couldn’t resist and can’t wait to try it out. I finished listening to The Great Gatsby, what a fantastic story and see why it’s so popular. I downloaded The Geography of Bliss so I have an audiobook ready for my work commute tomorrow. I participated in the Twitter Chat and read 20 pages in The Girl With a Pearl Earring.

Thursday, 5/16/13: Listened to 2 chapters of The Geography of Bliss. I love this book so far, just the right combination of science, philosophy and interesting facts about different cultures and their perspectives on life and happiness. Read a few pages of The Girl With a Pearl Earring. I played with the new plugin, trying to get one of my posts updated, almost ready to publish but not quite yet. Not my best reading day.

Friday, 5/17/13: Didn’t get much done, commented on a few blogs and was trying to visit Classics Club members who are participating in the Classics Club Spin with me on Monday. Also updated my Blogging events page for this and upcoming Bout of Books dates, updated read-a-thon info for TBR, Seasons Reading, Fairy Tales, Monster and Austen events coming up in the rest of 2013. There are a whole lot of read-a-thons, review-a-thons and blog-a-thons so check it out and let me know if you have a current or past recurring event that I can add to my page. Read 100 pages in The Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Saturday, 5/18/13: Got through the 3rd chapter in The Geography of Bliss. Read about 30 pages in The Girl with a Pearl Earring. Participated in the Twitter chat a litte bit from my phone while playing outside with the kids, which did not go so well, hard to do. So I gave up and had a water gun fight with them instead. :) At night, read 3 chapters of Across Eternity by Aris Whittier, Kindle copy recieved from the author.

Sunday, 5/19/13: Visited, commented and followed 20 different blogs. Read The Girl with a Pearl Earring and have about 30 pages left. Participated in the If You Like This, Then Recommend That mini-challenge. I am pretty pleased with my Bout of Books progress, how did you do?

Thanks for visiting me! Are you participating in the Bout of Books 7.0? What are you reading? Do you have a favorite read-a-thon or blogging event that you participate in or host? Please share the info with me! As always, happy reading!

Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon

Posted by Tanya M at 10:16 pm Book Reviews, Uncategorized 21 Responses »

Apr 262013

Yep, you read that right…Dewey’s is a 24 hour read-a-thon where book lovers converge to read as much as they can, network with other book bloggers and participate in hourly challenges. This is my first time participating in Dewey’s and though I initially wanted to be a reader, with a family of young, active boys, I’m better suited to cheering on other diligent readers throughout the day. My favorite part of big events like these is finding new-to-me bloggers anyway so cheerleading is perfect for me.

When I have time, I will continue to read Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice for the Spring into Horror Read-a-thon which has been going on this week and ends on Sunday.

I just finished listening to Little Women on audiobook and will be starting to listen to The Great Gatsby for both my Classics Club and Back to the Classics Reading Challenge. I have really been enjoying listening to classics on audiobook since I want to read so many of them but don’t have as much time to read at night. Audiobooks are perfect to download to my phone and take and listen on the go, I even listened to my audiobook while out shopping the other night.

For more on the various challenges I’ve signed up for, visit my Classics Club page and Reading Challenges 2013 page.

Update: To start, we need to complete an Introductory Questionnaire so here are the questions and my answers:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

My answers:

1) North Carolina in the US.
2) Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
3) Chocolate Ice cream sundae, yea it’s been a long week, I deserve it!
4) It’s my first time participating and I will be sneaking reading time in as much as I can.
5) As I said above, I’m most looking forward to meeting other book lovers! and why I’m so glad to be a cheerleader for this event!

Update #2: I’ve cheered, commented and followed 31 blogs during my son’s naptime, participated in the Best and Worst Cover mini-challenge, won a random prize (yay, what a nice surprise!) and I’ve listened to the first chapter of The Great Gatsby. Now while the family watches Wreck It Ralph, I’ll be catching up on some vampire reading. I had my chocolate ice cream and time to enjoy the sugar rush.

Final Update: I read about 60 pages in Interview with the Vampire before falling asleep. I need my sleep if I don’t want to deal with joint pain this morning and gotta cook breakfast, French toast and hash brown casserole. I’ll be visiting a few more blogs before 8 am. It was a joy meeting everyone and hopefully next time I can get more reading done! What a fantastic read-a-thon, I loved the hourly guest posts to keep motivated to read and have fun. I’ll be certainly signing up again.

Are you participating in Dewey’s Read-a-thon? What are you reading? Happy reading no matter what’s on your reading list!

Blogaversary Winner Announced and It’s Monday what are You Reading? April 22, 2013

Posted by Tanya M at 8:24 am Uncategorized 12 Responses »

Apr 222013

First and foremost, thanks to everyone who entered my first blogaversary giveaway for the $20 Amazon Gift Card. My small way to say thanks to new and old subscribers who support my blog. And with, no further ado, the winner is…Angela L.!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Angela has 48 hours to respond to the email I sent out this morning to her and hope I brightened her morning a little by the good news!

As for my usual, It’s Monday, What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey to recap what I finished reading last week, what I am currently reading and other book-related news. Bloggers link up their lists and it’s a great way to get new book recommendations, discuss our thoughts on the books we’ve read and meet new bloggers. It’s a great start to the week.

www.bookjourney.wordpress.com

Last week I Finished

Wicked by Gregory Maguire. Yay! I finished Wicked just in time for my book club meeting this week. The story ended well for me so although this book had parts that shocked and awed me, and parts that bored me, overall I liked it. Full review coming soon.

This Week I’m Reading

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott on audiobook for my Classics Club, 2013 Back to the Classics Reading Challenge children’s literature selection and April Monthly Keyword Reading Challenge. I am really enjoying this story, the tight-knit relationship between the sisters despite their little cat fights and their story of growing up in a simpler time. Lots of memorable quotes in this book I’d like to keep to remind me of the important lessons in life as a woman and mother. I have a feeling it will be one of my favorites. Click here to visit my Reading Challenges page that gives an overview of the challenges I’m participating in and what I’ve completed so far.

Interview with a Vampire for the Spring into Horror Read-a-thon that began yesterday. Although only one horror, mystery/thriller, or scary book is required this week, I am going with this classic vampire story as read-a-thon host Michelle says Anne Rice is her favorite author. I started reading a little the other day, and it hooked me from the very start.

Well, enough about me, what about you? What are your favorite horror, scary or mystery/thriller novels? What are you reading this week? I’d love to hear from you! As always, happy reading!

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