Video: July 2014 Wrap-Up

I had a busy month with work and enough work for my online class to keep myself busy. So how well did I follow my July TBR? ;)

Bout of Books 11 + Tentative TBR

Bout of Books 11 will take place from August 18 to August 24 and I intend to participate! I didn't do so well on the last one because it was at the end of the school year and I had finals to study for, but this one takes place before my classes start! I will be moving back to college on August 19, so I'm not sure how much reading will get done. My TBR for the read-a-thon assumes that I have finished every book for my August TBR (to be uploaded soon). As always, my TBR is highly ambitious because I don't see a point in aiming low.

1. Hollow City - Ransom Riggs
2. Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas
3. Cinder - Marissa Meyer
4. Scarlet - Marissa Meyer
5. Cress - Marissa Meyer
6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Reread) - Queen J.K. Rowling ;)
7. Steelheart - Brandon Sanderson

What will you read during Bout of Books 11?

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 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th 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 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Video: The How I Read Tag!

Questions: 

1. How do you find out about new books to read?
2. How did you get into reading?
3. How has your taste in books progressed since you’ve gotten older?
4. How often do you buy books?
5. How did you get into BookTube-ing?
6. How do you react when you don’t like the ending of a book?
7. How often do you take a sneaky look at the last page of a book?
8. How many people are you going to tag and who are they?

Bout of Books 10.0 Wrap-Up

Last week did not go as well as I had planned, but I still finished one book and started two others, so I am somewhat happy with myself.

I finished Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare! I started Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare and Attachments by Rainbow Rowell!

Also, I think I will be either starting a BookTube channel or using my old channel for BookTube videos. Bottom line: I want to try making some videos!

My apologies for making this such a short post. Have a great week!

Edit: I will be participating in Regan's Read-a-Thon this week!

May 2014 TBR + Bout of Books 10.0!

After not doing so well last month, I am not sure how ambitious I should really be, but I have so many books that I just want to read because they all look so interesting and I hate having so many unread books. Anyway, I have decided to also participate in the Bout of Books 10 readathon, which runs from May 12 to May 18. I also will have some downtime between the end of school and the beginning of my summer internship, so I also want to take that time as an opportunity to read.

This week of classes is bound to be incredibly busy for me, so I don't think that I will finish any of the books on my TBR list. If I do, I'll make sure to mention that in my first Bout of Books 10 update!

Now for the actual TBR list!

1. Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
2. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
3. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
4. The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
5. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
6. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (note: I know that there is no way I'll get through this during the readathon, so if I manage to finish everything else during the readathon, I would like to finish this before the end of May).

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

Edit: I looked at my calendar and there is a good chance I'll be able to participate in Bout of Books 11, too! That one is in August, but it's never too early to get excited.

Updates:

Monday (5/12) and Tuesday (5/13): I read Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare and it was an experience. I'll be starting Clockwork Princess very soon because I can't back down from the trilogy now. This also means that I'll probably finish Clockwork Princess by Thursday or Friday.

April 2014 Wrap-Up

So having a TBR list didn't work out so well this month. I ended up being insanely busy with my classes, but I'm hoping May won't be as bad. So here it is...

I read two books. Yikes. I know. I'm a little ashamed of myself after making such a big deal in my TBR post. I think part of the reason that I didn't read Out of the Silent Planet or The Ask and the Answer is because I really wanted to read Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (which I actually finished in May).

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - This book is about a teenage girl named Hazel Grace Lancaster. She also happens to be a cancer patient who is forced by her parents to go to a cancer support group. At that support group she meets a handsome young lad named Augustus Waters and they develop a friendship that eventually becomes a romantic relationship. I really enjoyed this book. I loved John Green's writing style and it made me want to buy every John Green book. Sadly my bank account and TBR pile held a secret meeting and later told me I couldn't do that, so it might be some time before I buy another book by John Green. I give it a 5 out of 5 stars.
2. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell - This is about two teenagers, Eleanor and Park, who slowly fall in love on their school bus. The book alternates between their perspectives so we can read through their thoughts and see where the relationship stands for both of the protagonists. I have to admit that I didn't like this book as much as I liked Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, but they are also two very different books. I still liked Rowell's writing style, but I had trouble connecting with Eleanor at times. I was also not happy with the way the book ended, but at the same time I thought it was well-written and moving. I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars.

I might participate in Bout of Books 10 because I have so many different books that I want to read soon. What did you read in April?

The Unread Books Tag

I've seen a few people do this tag, so I thought it would be fun to have my own version! I will note that I am not including college textbooks on 

1. How many unread books do you own?: If I have been keeping track properly, I own 21 books that I have not read (including eBooks). If I had no restraint, I would easily have at least 50 unread books on my shelf.
2. How many books do you own that you have read?: I'm not at home at the moment, but my estimate would be between 40 and 50. If I didn't have a habit of selling my old books to Half-Price Books, the number would probably be around 100. And yes, I regret most of my Half-Price Books sales because there are a lot of books I want to reread, and therefore I will have to repurchase them in some form.
3. Do you buy more books than you read?: Now I kind of do, but I have enough self control to not buy ten books for every book I read. I probably buy two books for every book I read.
4. Why do you think you haven't read your unread books?: My reasons vary for this one. I'm not always in the mood to read something that is on my shelf. There is also the issue of time. I'm in college and I try to do classwork before recreational reading.
5. Are you going to go on a book buying ban?: For now I am not. I have a handful of books that I keep putting in my Amazon shopping cart, but I never actually buy them because I want to spend my money more carefully.

I tag YOU! You can comment below or if you make a video or write a blog post, feel free to let me know what you had to say!