December 2013 Wrap-Up

Here's a summary of my book-related activity for December. Basically, I knew I wasn't going to complete most of my challenges, so I focused on completing the few that were still achievable. And I succeeded in that!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and I'll see you in the new year!

Books I read (linked to the reviews)

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (free ebook)
Angel Omnibus by Christopher Golden, Joss Whedon, etc. (TBR pile)
Apocalyptic Organ Grinder by William Todd Rose (NetGalley)
Will O' the Wisp by Tom Hammock (NetGalley)
Basilisk by N. M. Browne (TBR pile)
Sworn (The Vampire Legends #1) by Emma Knight (free ebook)
The Price (A Selection Novella) by Kiera Cass (new book)

Books I bought at my friends' moving away sale

Cry, the Beloved Country
by Alan Paton

The Plague
by Albert Camus

Books I bought with Christmas gift cards (ie. sequels I was so excited for!)

Insurgent (Divergent #2)
by Veronica Roth

The Elite (The Selection #2)
by Kiera Cass

The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner #2)
by James Dashner

The Ask and the Answer
(Chaos Walking #2)
by Patrick Ness

Ebooks I bought

The Prince (A Selection Novella)
by Kiera Cass

Progress on challenges

I completed the following letters for the A-Z Book Challenge: none

I read 2 books for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

I read 0 books for the Anne Rice Challenge.

I completed the following squares for the Book Bingo Challenge: read 4 books from your TBR pile, read 4 books everyone but you has read

I read 0 books for the Nerdy Non-Fiction Challenge.

I read 1 book for the Dystopia Challenge.

I read 1 book written by women.

I read 0 books for the Seriously Series Challenge.

Progress on my TBR pile: I added 7 books to my to read list and removed 5, so my pile increased by 2 this month.

Challenge Completed: 2013 Book Bingo Reading Challenge

Well, I was going for the whole board, but the two row and two columns that I did complete technically mean I got Bingo. :) Listed below are all the books I read for this challenge. For books everyone has read but me, I used a combination of books that are huge in the blogosphere these days (so it seems every other book blogger has read them) and older books that are hugely popular. Some of them I picked by sorting my to-read shelf on Goodreads by number of ratings.

read 1 book from your tbr pile: (finished January)
-Geomancer (The Well of Echoes #1) by Ian Irvine

read 2 books from your tbr pile: (finished April)
-The Witches by Roald Dahl
-Ghosts Beneath Our Feet by Betty Ren Wright

read 3 books from your tbr pile: (finished October)
-Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
-Taltos (The Mayfair Chronicles #3) by Anne Rice
-The Escape (Animorphs #15) by K.A. Applegate

read 4 books from your tbr pile: (finished December)
-The Warning (Animorphs #16) by K.A. Applegate
-Haunted (Women of the Otherworld #5) by Kelley Armstrong
-Angel Omnibus by Christopher Golden, Joss Whedon, etc.
-Basilisk by N.M. Browne

read 5 books from your tbr pile: (finished April)
-The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl
-Burnish Me Bright by Julia Cunningham
-The Ghost Witch by Betty Ren Wright
-Getting the Most Out of RootsMagic Version 5 by Bruce Buzbee
-The Host by Stephenie Meyer

read 1 book that is part of a series: (finished April)
-The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (An Eclipse Novella) by Stephenie Meyer

read 2 books that are part of a series: (finished January)
-The Secret (Animorphs #9) by K.A. Applegate
-Lasher (The Mayfair Chronicles #2) by Anne Rice

read 3 books that are part of a series: (finished in September)
-The Unknown (Animorphs #14) by K.A. Applegate
-The Show (Northwest Passage #3) by John A. Heldt
-Glitches (Lunar Chronicles #0.5) by Marissa Meyer

read 4 books that are part of a series: (finished February)
-The Android (Animorphs #10) by K.A. Applegate
-The Forgotten (Animorphs #11) by K.A. Applegate
-The Reaction (Animorphs #12) by K.A. Applegate
-Uglies: Cutters (Uglies: Graphic Novel #2) by Scott Westerfeld

read 5 books that are part of a series: (finished in June)
-The Change (Animorphs #13) by K.A. Applegate
-Dime Store Magic (Women of the Otherworld #3) by Kelley Armstrong
-Industrial Magic (Women of the Otherworld #4) by Kelley Armstrong
-Lichgates (The Grimoire Saga #1) by S.M. Boyce
-The Dark Victorian: Bones (The Dark Victorian #2) by Elizabeth Watasin

read 1 book that is released in 2013: (finished in May)
-Angel on the Ropes by Jill Shultz

read 2 books that are released in 2013: (finished in July)
-Riding on a Beam of Light by Ramsey Dean
-Love Rehab by Jo Piazza

read 4 books that are released in 2013: (finished in August)
-Red Moon by Benjamin Percy
-The First Rule of Swimming by Courtney Angela Brkic
-Three Lives of Tomomi Ishikawa by Benjamin Constable
-The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler

read 5 books that are released in 2013: (finished in May)
-The Archived (The Archived #1) by Victoria Schwab
-The Testing (The Testing #1) by Joelle Charbonneau
-Wars in Toyland by Joe Harris
-The Orphanage of Miracles by Amy Neftzger
-The Testing Guide (The Testing #0.5) by Joelle Charbonneau

read 1 book everyone but me has read: (finished in September)
-Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

read 2 books everyone but me has read: (finished in August)
-Mockingjay (Mockingjay #3) by Suzanne Collins
-Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

read 3 books everyone but me has read: (finished in October)
-This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
-Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
-Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

read 4 books everyone but me has read: (finished in December)
-The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) by Patrick Ness
-The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kiera Cass
-The Maze Runner (Maze Runner #1) by James Dashner
-A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

re-read 1 book: (finished in May)
-The Andalite Chronicles by K.A. Applegate

reread 2 books: (finished in September)
-Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson #1) by Louise Rennison
-On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson #2) by Louise Rennison

The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler

Title: The Bookstore
Author: Deborah Meyler
Publication Date: August 20, 2013
Length: about 354 pages (ebook)

Esme is a young English woman, studying art history in New York City. She's pretty happy, even though her boyfriend, Mitchell, is the world's biggest douchebag. One day, she realises she's pregnant, and when she goes to tell Mitchell, he dumps her before she has the chance. Determined to stay in school and keep her scholarship, she gets a part-time job at a used bookstore.

The most frustrating thing about this whole book is that Mitchell is SO horrible and Esme never seems to quite understand that. Just when you think she's going to be happy without him and move on, he swoops in again and she just totally forgets what an idiot he is in favour of her mysterious attraction to him. Very annoying.

But other than that, I enjoyed this book, for the rather undefinable reason that it felt "real" to me. Even though all the other characters who worked in or frequented the bookstore kind of blended together and weren't very memorable, Esme herself really held my interest. And I found the book to be surprisingly feminist. Esme goes through the process of debating whether or not to have an abortion. She struggles with the realities of becoming a single mother, while her douchebag boyfriend offers her a rich and comfortable life as a decoration on his arm. Ultimately, despite having a depressing weakness for the jerk in her life, Esme is a strong, independent woman, and I enjoyed reading about her.

4 stars.

Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

New Year's Resolutions for 2014

The year is almost over, and when it comes to reading and blogging, the new year feels very much like a fresh start for me. In the last few months, my schedule has become so crazy and my reading time so limited. Combine that with overly-ambitious reading goals and too many review copies, and you have a less-than-ideal environment for actually enjoying recreational reading.

So, my main resolution for 2014 is to enjoy my reading more. I've already started taking steps to ensure that I follow through with this: I've signed up for reading challenges at lower levels for 2014, so that they're fun instead of unachievable, and I've hugely decreased the number of review copies I accept. I want to get back to where I can read what I feel like when I feel like it. I want to be able to read a 1000 page book without having to worry if I have time for it. And I even want to be able to take out library books without feeling too guilty about my towering pile. I feel a weight off my shoulders just thinking about it. So I'm going into 2014 feeling pretty darn good. :)

2014 New Year's Reading Resolutions:

1. Have more fun reading by allowing myself more freedom in what I read and when.
2. Keep review copies from overwhelming me by never allowing a backlog of more than 3.
3. Start reading some of the Beyond Reality books of the month again (like I used to do way back in high school, in the pre-Goodreads days if you can believe that!).
4. Write reviews soon after finishing a book, or at least start them. That way I won't be trying to remember details of a book I read 3 months ago, like has happened this year!

What are your reading resolutions for 2014? Share in the comments!

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Title: A Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens
Publication Date: 1843
Length: about 76 pages (ebook)

We all know the story of this one. I've seen countless movie adaptations, but had never read the book until now. Scrooge, a grumpy old man who cares only for money, is visited by the ghost of his dead partner, who regrets the life he lived and the life Scrooge is still living, and tells Scrooge that he will be visited by three spirits. The ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future all visit Scrooge that night, teaching him the error of his ways.

I knew I loved the story, but I didn't know if I'd like the writing. I've heard so many mixed things about Dickens. But this story is beautifully written. Perhaps that explains why so many scenes are reproduced word-for-word in the various movies.

This is a wonderful story to read around the holiday season. Very heart-warming.

5 stars.

2014 Book Bingo Reading Challenge

Just when I thought I was done signing up for 2014 challenges, I discovered that the Book Bingo challenge has returned! And the board is different this year! In some ways, the new board adds new challenges for me (eg. requiring me to read a romance and a mystery if I want to complete the whole board), but in some ways it's also easier. I'm particularly glad that the confusing free square of last year has been replaced by free squares that can be filled by any book. There are also fewer total books that need to be read to fill the board. See the challenge page for full details and to sign up yourself!

Like last year (my final scorecard for 2013 will be posted soon, by the way!), I won't be aiming for any particular goals besides getting some kind of bingo, but I am hopeful that I'll be able to fill the card this year.

Challenge Completed: 2013 Dystopia Challenge

Success! With just over a week to spare, I have met my goal of reading 15 dystopian books in 2013. For the list of books I read, check out my challenge sign-up post.

When perusing the offerings of 2014 challenges, I did see another dystopian challenge happening, but I'll be skipping that one next year. Believe it or not, I actually read pretty much all of my dystopian books for this challenge! I only have one left on my TBR shelf, and maybe one or two I wouldn't mind rereading (I keep meaning to revisit 1984). So I read almost all of the ones I already owned and was planning to read, plus several review copies and one library book.