New Years Resolutions and Goals

2013 is going to be a great reading year!

Last year, I banned myself from re-reading anything for the entire year. Nothing but new-to-me books for an entire year. I made it, but it was incredibly hard, and is probably the reason I did not make my goal of reading 160 books.  I ended up lowering my goal several times, and in the end I made it to 128. 80% is a passing score, but it was still disappointing to me. I feel like I'd have done better if I could occasionally re-read a book I knew I'd love.

So this year, all that "no re-reading" garbage is out the window. I'll be doing a LOT of re-reading this year.

I have plans to read through as much of Stephen King's work as possible, in publication order, for the most part. I'll be skipping the Bachman books (except Thinner, The Regulators, and Blaze), and reading the Dark Tower series at the end of the year, rather than the beginning, which was originally the plan before I decided to go crazy with the Stephen King re-reads.

I'll also be re-reading Harry Potter. Duh. And some other favorites, like The Lord of the Rings trilogy and some Jane Austen.

Basically anything I want! MWAHAHAHAHA!

We're also continuing with the real life bookclub, which is exciting. I'm really glad that people seem to enjoy it, and it's even growing! We lost one of our members when he moved away, but we've gained a few others, so it's working out. I really enjoy it, and it's caused me to read some books that I really had no intention of ever reading. Some of those I didn't even end up hating! Surprises abound.

January's book is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which is another one that I really had zero intention of ever reading. It was THE "It" book for a while a few months ago, and while I don't really have anything against super-hyped books, I have read a few reviews and it doesn't seem like it will be my cup of tea. But I'm going to read it and give it a chance... who knows, maybe I'll end up liking it. Stranger things have happened, right?

So anyway, this year, my goal is to read 150 books. With all the re-reads that I know I'll enjoy, I don't think I'll have to "OMG I-DUN-WANNA!" reading slumps that I had last year, where nothing at all interested me enough to read it... for weeks at a time. Reading should be enjoyable, dang it!

This year it will be. Or ELSE.

Anywho... if anyone is still reading this defunct blog, do you have any reading goals or plans you would like to share?

September Book Ban - VICTORY! Plus, Giveaway Winner!

I made it. I bought no books. I borrowed no books. I requested no books by swap, trade, gift, ARC, for review or by any other means.

I have conquered. Even over my birthday, with a B&N gift-card burning a hole in my pocket. I feel quite accomplished. :D

So here's a final tally of what I read this month:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Gunpowder
The Haunting of Hill House
Angels, Sinners & Madmen (Review Book & Smut-tember eligible)
The Reapers are the Angels (Review Book)
The Bride (for Smut-tember)
Star Wars: Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
Gentle Warrior (For Smut-tember)
The House of The Spirits
Wait Until Midnight (for Smut-tember)
The Gettysburg Approach to Writing & Speaking Like A Professional (Review Book)

I'm currently reading The Turtle Catcher (Review Book) & Everything's Eventual. And I will also be listening to Stephen King's UR audio very soon as well... Possibly even today if I finish The Turtle Catcher! Not bad, not bad.

Now if you'll remember, I also posted a giveaway for my copy of The Reapers are the Angels. I didn't do a whole heck of a lot of advertising for this one... so I didn't get a lot of entrants. It's like cause & effect! Whoa. (I'm such a slacker. I promise to do better next time!) The Random.org random number....

And the winner of a gently read copy of The Reapers are the Angels is.... *drumroll*

Chris!

You are now the proud owner of your very own zombie apocalypse! Enjoy! :)

And that's that. Now I'm off to get me some books! MWAHAHAHAHA!

Smut-tember... And I'm Spent!

Mission accomplished! I have completed my goal of reading five smutty romance books for the month of September!

For someone who rarely reads romance, this was venturing outside of my genre comfort zone a bit, but it was fun and I learned that I can actually like them! Who knew? Of course, I didn't read a single Harlequin, so the jury's still out on those, but as far as historical romance and romantic suspense? I think I can handle those. The jury's still out on paranormal romance too, because out of the five books I read, that was the one I liked least. Maybe I've yet to find any really good ones? I mean, I enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse series, but after a while, they just started getting annoying. That's probably just due to Eric though. I do expect more from a man than rippling hair and abs.

Anyway... Here's the score for Smut-tember!

1) Angels, Sinners & Madmen by Cate Masters
Type: Historical
Pages: 183 (ebook)
Star Rating: 2/5 (Review)
Steamy Scenes: 1
Steam Level: 4/10 (Revised from previous. I done been learned.)
This book had a lot of potential, but I just felt that it felt a bit flat and hollow.

2) The Bride by Julie Garwood
Type: Historical
Pages: 357
Star Rating: 3/5 (Review)
Steamy Scenes: 4 or 5
Steam Level: 6/10
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It was fun, funny and sexy. :)

3) Gentle Warrior by Julie Garwood
Type: Historical
Pages: 309
Star Rating: 3/5 (Goodreads Review)
Steamy Scenes: 3 or 4
Steam Level: 5/10
This one seemed like the fore-runner to The Bride, and wasn't quite as good, but still pretty decent and fun.

4) Dangerous Tides (Drake Sisters #4) By Christine Feehan
Type: Paranormal
Pages: 354
Star Rating: 1/5 (Goodreads Review)
Steamy Scenes: 2
Steam Level: 8/10
The sexy-time was pretty good here, but the writing was just not good. :(

5) Wait Until Midnight by Amanda Quick
Type: Historical
Pages: 350
Star Rating: 4/5 (Goodreads Review)
Steamy Scenes: 2
Steam Level: 5/10
This was my favorite of the five. Realistic characters, good story and writing and realistic love scenes. I very much enjoyed this one!

So there you have it. I have succumbed to the wiles of romance, at least temporarily, and while I see that I prefer historical romance over other types, I'm still keeping an open mind. (Just don't let Wesley Scroggins see what I've been reading! O_O)

If you participated in Smut-tember with Jackie and I, let us know how you did... or if you read any really smut-tastic books that you wanna share! :)

September Book Ban - Three Week Status

Another week down and no books purchased! :D Had a close call the other day when I was passing the thrift store, which is like a Haven of Inexpensive Paperbacks (Cue angelic singing) or better known as my DANGER ZONE. But I didn't go in. I was strong.

So here's the updated tally of books read this month:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Gunpowder
The Haunting of Hill House
Angels, Sinners & Madmen (Review Book & Smut-tember eligible)
The Reapers are the Angels (Review Book)
The Bride (for Smut-tember)
Star Wars: Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
Gentle Warrior (For Smut-tember)
and I'm working my way through The House of The Spirits.

I'm pretty happy about this. This year I've been averaging about 9 books a month, and I've already met that for this month, and I still have a week left.

Unfortunately, I've very recently formed an addiction to Pawn Stars on Netflix. By "recently" I mean on Saturday night, and by "addiction" I mean that I've watched all of the first season and half of the second since then. This is seriously cutting into my reading time. But I just love it. It's like the BAMF version of Antiques Roadshow! :D

So... that's my update for this week. One more to go, and then I will have succeeded in my goal. Pretty sweet. My birthday is this Friday, which also happens to be payday (DANGER! DANGER!) so we'll see if I can make it through my very own Book Ban Hell Week without caving... Wish me luck! :D

September Book Ban - Mid-way point

September is already half over! This means that summer is officially gone, fall is almost here, and winter is right around the corner. My birthday is coming up in 9 days, and so far, I've been a really good girl when it comes to not acquiring new books, and I've done pretty well in the reading department too!

So far this month I've read:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Gunpowder
The Haunting of Hill House
Angels, Sinners & Madmen
and The Reapers are the Angels

I'm currently reading The House of the Spirits and The Bride (which is for Smut-tember!). Not too shabby!

But still I've been tempted... very tempted to buy books. I went to Barnes & Noble to drool over look at the nook again, because I really think that this will be my next book related purchase. While there, my boyfriend wanted to browse, and he left me unchaperoned in my own personal Temptation Zone. He's a very cruel boy, and one day he will pay.

But I succeeded in being strong and not getting any new books. (Although I did have a minor panic attack when I noticed that they had rearranged the store since my last visit, and I couldn't find their horror section anymore... or more importantly, where they hid Stephen King. I couldn't leave until I'd found him, and was very disappointed when I discovered that he was shunted all the way to the back, like they thought of him as that drunk uncle who always tells the one embarrassing story you wish he'd just forget already because it happened 20 years ago and nobody thinks its funny so maybe he won't be invited to the next get-together, but in the meantime, lets just seat him far away from the NORMAL people at dinner. HMPH. I love you, Stephen King, even if Barnes & Noble doesn't!)

The real temptation was the discount store where the Boy buys paint for his artwork... They sell EVERYTHING there, and they have a rather large discount book section, where Hardcover books are usually around $4 and Paperbacks are $2. And they were having a 1/2 price sale. Every book. It's like they knew I was coming in, and they wanted to make me suffer. Jerks.

I held my own though! I browsed... I touched and held and admired the books, but I did not purchase any. TAKE THAT OLLIE'S!

So... Half the month is gone and I've been good. Hopefully, the 2nd half of the month will go well also! Wish me luck!

If you're refraining from new book purchases this month, whether officially or not, let me know how you're doing. There's safety in numbers, you know! :P

Smut-tember Line-up and Progress Report

I've been a little slow getting this post up, but I like to take my time. *snicker*

I received Jackie's Box-o-Smut about a week ago, and I've chosen the 5 that I'm going to be reading. (She actually sent me 7 books, so that I'd have a variety, but I'll be donating the other two, so they don't count towards my mountain of To-Read books.)

I've also read a Smut-tember eligible book, which I'll count as a bonus in addition to the 5 I've chosen from what Jackie sent. More about that in a moment. First, let's see the goods that Jackie's sent to me. :D

Here's the full list:

1. The Gilded Web by Mary Balogh
2. Dangerous Tides by Christine Feehan
3. The Bride by Julie Garwood
4. The MacLean Groom by Kathleen Harrington
5. Keeper of the Heart by Johanna Lindsey
6. Mistress by Amanda Quick
7. Wait Until Midnight by Amanda Quick

 I decided to go with the ones in bold. The Gilded Web looks interesting, but it seems to be the first in a trilogy, and I didn't want to risk being left hanging later. The Keeper of the Heart seems to be futuristic, and I much prefer historical type romances, if I'm going to read them at all. Let's hope I've chosen well!

So, on to my status report. I just finished Angels, Sinners and Madmen by Cate Masters, which definitely qualifies as a Smut-tember read. It had definite promise and potential, but I felt that the characters were a little flat. The lovin' was pretty steamy though, so that's a plus, although it was a little short-lived!

Pages: 183
Type: Historical
Steamy Scenes: 1
Steam Level: 6/10
Review: 2 Stars - Click for full review

But anyway, I have completed my first Smut-tember read. I feel accomplished! :D

If you're interested in joining the fun, pop on over to Jackie's Blog and sign up!

Read-A-Thon Final Tally

I have a little bit of a headache, so I'm ending my Read-A-Thon a little early to head to bed. Here's the final tally of what I read:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - 768 pages (started on page 150)
Pages read: 618

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 831 pages
Pages read: 831

The Haunting of Hill House - 246 pages
Pages read: 246

Gunpowder - 81 pages
Pages read: 81

Angels, Sinners & Demons - 183 pages
Pages read: 29

Total Books Attempted: 5
Total Pages Read: 1805

Not too shabby! For those of you who participated with me, what were you able to squeeze in? :)

Labor Day Read-a-Thon... Obligatory Official Starting Post

Here we go! My goal this weekend is to squeeze in as much reading as possible! 

First on the list is the remainder of my Harry Potter Re-Read: UK Edition, Half-blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.




 Next up, The Haunting of Hill House, which is our September group read in our Stephen King Fan group on Goodreads. This month we're doing a book that Stephen King would recommend for others to read, and I'm super excited it was chosen! This is one that I've wanted to read for a long time, and it's short, so I'm doing it, finally!

I'm one of those sheltered few who have never seen the movie(s), and aside from knowing that it's a story about a haunting (because it says so on the cover), I don't know anything about it at all. This is my first Shirley Jackson novel, and I must admit that I'm looking forward to it immensely. Thanks to Allison @ The Allure of Books for giving me a copy of this one! :D

Then, I dunno... I will see what jumps out at me... Ooh, probably Angels, Sinners and Demons, because it's an ebook, and I'm notoriously bad about reading ebooks on the computer and I should use this weekend to motivate me, but also because it will fit in with BOTH of the challenges I'm doing on Goodreads right now, and knock a review book off of my list, AND work for Smut-tember! SCORE!!!

Official Stats:
Starting Point - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Page 150

Time to get reading!

September Book Ban - Opening Ceremonies + Kick-off Read-a-thon!

Here we go! The official ban starting count is 218 Owned-To-Read books! The full list can be found here: Read What I Own Challenge.

Over the course of the month, my goal is to read no fewer than 14 books:

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
3. The House of Spirits
4. Angels, Sinners & Madmen (ebook review copy)
5. The King's Mistress (review copy)
6. Keep The Change (review copy)
7. The Reapers are the Angels (review copy)
8. The Turtle Catcher (review copy)
9. The Haunting of Hill House
10. Smut-tember book #1
11. Smut-tember book #2
12. Smut-tember book #3
13. Smut-tember book #4
14. Smut-tember book #5

To jump-start this month of reading, I'm going to do a Labor Day Weekend Read-a-thon! From 6pm Friday, September 3rd through midnight Monday, September 6th, I'm going to read as much as my eyes will take in...

Join me if you want to put this three day weekend to good use...  Happy Labor Day!

Smut-tember Fest 2010

Smut's that you say? Why, yes, it is.

Wipe off your monitors, everyone! Jackie over at The Crafty Reader is steaming up the place with Smut-tember, which is sure to have us all fanning ourselves and wishing for cool October breezes by the end of the month!

Smut-tember is Jackie's first feature, and it's sure to be a fun one! I volunteered for it before she even had it fully planned out because 1) I gotsta support my friend's blog! and 2) I never read any steamy romance before... and what better excuse to give some a whirl??

Because this is my first detour into Swoonsville, Jackie is sending me the 5 books I'll be reading for this month. I don't know what they will be... Could be cheesy, raunchy, funny, dirty, silly, yummy, or blahsome, but one thing I can say is that this will be an entirely new experience for my *ahem* innocent eyes. ...And they are excited! :)

I'll post again when I receive the 5 books she's sending me. I've already factored these 5 into the final "ban count" for September's Book Ban.So don't worry... no cheating there!

If you're looking for an excuse to read some yum-tastic eye-candy, please join! You can read any kind of romance/erotica/smut/PNR etc you want... Just leave your keys in the bowl by the door and pop on over to Jackie's blog and sign up on her Mr. Linky!

Be there or be square! :P

September Book Ban - An Extension of my "Read What I Own" Challenge

As you may be aware, I have 211 books on my shelves that I have not yet read. And I have #212, a review copy of The Reapers Are The Angels on its way to me. Hopefully it will arrive before September 1st, as I am joining A Girl Reads a Book's Bella and The Crafty Reader's Jackie (and more, I'm sure), in a ban on new book acquisitions for the month of September.

Now... It's true that I haven't purchased a book in a while. But I have been receiving books for review, which is not helping to chisel away at Mt. To-Be-Read. Not that I'm complaining, of course. Receiving ARCs for review is like the highlight of my life. (Ok, that seems pretty sad, but still.)

ANYWHO... My point is that I need to read what I have. I've set up my own independent reading challenge here to help, and now I'm joining forces with others to spur myself to victory!

So here are my rules:

1. No purchasing of any new or used books for any reason. 
2. No using the free credit I have on GR Swap. Not even for wishlist books.
3. No visiting the library. 
4. No signing up for new review copy books or ARC tours.
5. No loaner books, trades, swaps, BookMooch, PaperbackSwap, SwapTree, BookCrossing or other free books, including abandoned and/or homeless books that I may feel sorry for and want to give a loving home to.

But this will be hard for me. Why? Because my birthday is in September. My birthday, where without fail, everyone who a) knows me, and b) cares it's my birthday, and c) spends money to honor this day for me will inevitably give me a B&N gift card. And probably cake. Yum.

I love my friends and family. I do. They are awesome. But this will be a hard temptation to overcome. My goal is to make it through September without using any of the giftcards, which is probably doable because my birthday is on the 24th, so it's only a week.

Then, perhaps I will splurge on a nook with them. :D

VICTORY WILL BE MINE!!!

Read-A-Thon Goal Stuff

Monica from The Bibliophile Book Blog is hosting a Read-A-Thon this weekend in which we are supposed to read books from our own shelves. I love this idea, because I really have way too many books to read that I haven't.

But I'm a little late coming to the game, since it's Sunday and the Read-A-Thon will be ending... so I'm nominally joining in spirit and continuing it on my own semi-unofficially. "Semi" because I did make my own little image/button/thingy for my sidebar goal, because I'm just super-creative like that. *snort*

So here's what I will be reading as part of Monica's  Read-A-Thon:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - UK edition.

And the books that I will be reading in my own unofficial Read-A-Thon goal...

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - UK Edition

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - UK Edition

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - UK Edition

Perdido Street Station

Angels, Sinners & Madmen (eBook)

The King's Mistress

The Turtle Catcher

Hell House

Wish me luck! :)