This is a bit later than I anticipated, but here it is! I read 5 books in the first month of 2017, and I completed 5 PopSugar challenges. It was also a strange conglomeration of a bunch of different genres, physical books, audiobooks, etc. I’ve only review 2 of these on the channel so far, so I promise there is something interesting in here!
monthly wrap up
October 2016 Wrap Up
I am in love with this video for several reasons. The first is that October was a seriously weird reading month, so the books I read are all over the place and only like one of them was good. I think it was so good that it leeched all the potential for the rest of the month. Also, it’s the first time I’ve DNFed something in a really long time. Then there is the fact that I begin to slowly lose my mind as the video goes along. Anyways. Uh. Enjoy?
September 2016 Wrap Up (FTN)
September was a pretty dismal month for me, reading wise. It was also pretty dismal, life wise.I talk about where I was last week very briefly as well. HOWEVER, there is also some neat news for the coming videos (hint: scenery change!), which will also lead to (hopefully) a better schedule of joint videos for me and Michaela. ANYWAYS. Here’s this quick video!
August 2016 Wrap Up
So, maybe August wasn’t as great as July. It still wasn’t bad! I listened to 2 audiobooks, read 4 books and ticked off two more categories for my PopSugar Challenge. It also includes more re-reading than usual, but I’ve already admitted to that so. There you have it. Somehow I am still 2 books behind in my Goodreads reading challenge (I want to read 100, I’ve read 65), but I hope to pick those up soon!
From the Notebook: July 2016 Wrap Up
GUYS. I read NINE books in July! What a spectacular feat. Four of them were even for my Popsugar Challenge. Not to mention the fact that I even LIKED most of them. I also did really well for reviewing the books I was reading, even if my Winner’s Curse review won’t be out until Friday and I haven’t filmed my Assassin’s Heart review yet. Both are coming, I promise! Other than that, here we go!
From the Notebook: June 2016 Wrap Up
Hey guys! Back this week with my June wrap up, even though it’s a bit later than I wanted. I only read 5 books this month, and only 1 for my PopSugar challenge, BUT I’m 50% of the way there and on track for my 100 book overall Goodreads challenge goal!
May 2016 Wrap Up
Instead of a From the Notebook video, you get a wrap up a few days early! Even early, May was a MUCH better reading month to me than April. I’ve gone from 10/40 in the PopSugar Reading Challenge to 15/40 AND I’m almost halfway there in my Goodreads goal of reading 100 books this year. Go me!
Posts mentioned in video:
- April 2016 Wrap Up
- Review: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
- From the Notebook: Why There’s No Love Triangle in ACoMaF
- Betwixt the Books Reviews: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
- #imbibliomancy: Drunk Book Club with Death Vigil by Stjepan Sejic
- Review: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
- Thesis Thursday: Big News that has Nothing to do with My Thesis
April Wrap Up + PopSugar Challenge Update
If we’re being honest, this is the saddest wrap up I think I’ve ever written. Seriously. I know that April isn’t QUITE over yet, but I can promise you that I won’t be reading anything else over the weekend because I have a LOT to do.
I read four books in April. Four. Three, if we’re being truthful, all the way through. And none of them counted a thing for my PopSugar Challenge, so that is still standing at 10/40, as it was in my March wrap up. Here’s what I DID read in April!
If the Oceans Were Ink by Carla Power is a powerful spiritual memoir about her friendship with a Muslim Sheikh and her desire to understand the Quran for herself. This is for my Spiritual Journeys class, and by far is my favorite that we’ve read in the class. I wrote a longer review of it if you’d like to learn more!
Though I did not read the entirety of this work, I am counting Fyodor
Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground to this list. I gave it two stars on Goodreads, because what I did read was almost impossible to get through and really, really boring. It was useful for my senior seminar, yes, but as pure reading enjoyment … no. I also didn’t review this, and have no plans to. You’re welcome.
I FINALLY FINISHED GET IN TROUBLE BY KELLY LINK! If you didn’t catch Michaela’s last 30 Seconds to Disagree, then you might not understand why that’s all in CAPs but … trust me. I’ve had Taylor’s copy of this book in my apartment since last semester, and he was getting really angry with me about it. BUT. I finally finished it! A longer review of this will be coming in May.
My one enjoyable, read it in a day read–my only for a while, really–
was Renee Ahdieh’s The Rose and The Dagger. This is the sequel to The Wrath and The Dawn, which was one of my favorite books of 2015 AND the very first book I showcased in my Worth It Wednesday series. A longer review of this will be coming later, but … well. I have thoughts. And not all of them good, sadly.
So … yeah. That’s it. There should have been more, but there wasn’t. School is crazy, guys. Hopefully May will bring better things! At the very least, school ends pretty soon, so I should have more opportunities to read then!
Weekly Wrap Up + What We Read 4/3/16
Better late than never! The weeks are only getting crazier for Michaela and me, but never fear! We will never abandon you. This week we managed to be very impressive with the blogs, but not so much with the reading. This is fine. Next week we might even manage to read something!
Monday:
- Gretchen’s From the Notebook on What Happened to My TBR
- Michaela’s Call for Help with Time Management
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
- Gretchen’s Worth It Wednesday: Graceling by Kristin Cashore
- Michaela’s advice on How to Find a Comic Book Store
Thursday:
Friday:
March Wrap Up + PopSugar Challenge Update
Wasn’t it kind of March to end on a Thesis Thursday day? Especially because I don’t have a thing for a Thesis Thursday as of yet? Yes, yes it was. Unlike my February wrap up, I’m doing this one as a post because this is about the amount of time I have right now. GO COLLEGE!
I read 9 books in March. This is two down from last month, which is super depressing because February is so much shorter than March. Whatever. Spring break got in my way, if you remember.
The first three books I read in March were all for my thesis. By Goodreads’ match, the first one I finished was Judging a Book By Its Cover: Fans, Publishers, Designers and the Marketing of Fiction edited by Nicole Matthews and Nikkianne Moody. While I originally picked this up for it’s section on book cover design, it will also be very helpful in my last chapter that talks about marketing and publishing books for young adults.
Then, I finished By Its Cover: Modern American Book Cover Design by
Ned Drew and Paul Sternberger. This book was not at all what I expected, as it was a coffee table sized book with almost more pictures than words. It spanned decades of American cover design, but often only for the most “literati” books for the most popular of designers. I still managed to quote it though!
Wrapping up this month’s thesis work, I read Theodor Adorno’s The Culture Industry. If you are into theory about the mass production of culture, this is very interesting and I was so happy that one of my professors lent it to me. However, while the previous two books are nice reading for the lay-reader … this one is not. Don’t pick it up unless you want a headache.
In actually exciting news, Taylor and I both finally finished Mermaids
and Other Mysteries of the Deep, a short story anthology edited by Paula Guran. We had been promising this video since we did our review of After: 19 Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia, but it took us FOREVER to finally get done. While it is a longer video, we both found this anthology better than After. Very worth the watch and read!
I re-read three books while I was on spring break, two of which were by Tellulah Darling. I read the 2nd and 3rd books in her Blooming Goddess trilogy, My Date From Hell and then My Life From Hell. When I came back, I did a series review of all three because I wanted to talk about them all so much. While these are hardly the best books I’ve ever read, they’re the kind of fluffy mind candy that you just NEED to read sometimes. I also enjoy a new take on the Hades and Persephone myth any day.
The last book that I re-read on break was Aimee Carter’s Goddess
Interrupted. This is the 2nd book in her Goddess Test series (another Hades and Persephone retelling) and my favorite. I fully plan on doing a series review of this very soon because re-reading this reminded me just how much I love AND hate this series.
I got through one single ARC read this month, which was Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan. This is a standalone novel that is far darker than anything you might expect by SRB. I don’t want to say too much, because the review is coming out tomorrow, but … oh dear guys. I really, really didn’t enjoy this one at all. I was so disappointed.
Last but not least, I read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. This
was for our spectacular March Imbibliomancy episode, in which me, Taylor and Michaela get drunk and talk about themes–or try to. I am so angry, but I really like this one. Like, a lot. I almost gave it five stars. You should really, really check out that video for more on that and also serious hilarity!
For my PopSugar update, I only ticked off two more boxes. I decided to count Tell the Wind and Fire as my “book published in 2016” because I was so proud that I didn’t DNF it. Station Eleven also counted as my “book from the library.” That makes it 10/40!
Here’s to more reading in April! Or at least attacking the “currently reading” list on my Goodreads that is 7 books long right now. YIKES!
My Life is a Notebook 