Popsugar Challenge 2015 Wrap-up

This was a great challenge for me and I’m excited to try it again next year. It made me read some things that I wouldn’t have otherwise and I appreciate some motivation to broaden my reading. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to complete this challenge, but I definitely plan on making it more of a priority next year!

Links are to my reviews. The red, italicized titles are what I had planned to read, but didn’t get to.

A  book with more than 500 pages – Gone by Michael Grant
A classic romance – Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
A book that became a movie – Austenland by Shannon Hale
A book published this year – A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd
A book with a number in the title – Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless by Liz Czukas
A book written by someone under 30 – I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
A book with nonhuman characters – Prudence by Gail Carriger
A funny book – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
A book by a female author – Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
A mystery or thriller – The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
A book with a one-word title – Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
A book of short stories – My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins
A book set in a different country – Born of Deception by Teri Brown
A nonfiction book – The Monuments Men by Robert M Edsel
A popular author’s first book – The Comeback Season by Jennifer E Smith
A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet – Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
A book a friend recommended – On the Fence by Kasie West
A Pulitzer Prize-winning book – All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
A book based on a true story – The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
A book at the bottom of your to-read list – Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
A book your mom loves – Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
A book that scares you – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
A book more than 100 years old – The Book of Mormon
A book based entirely on its cover – I Crawl Through It by A.S. King
A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t – 1984 by George Orwell
A memoir – Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
A book you can finish in a day – Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
A book with antonyms in the title – Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott
A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit – Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culbertson
A book that came out the year you were born – The Giver by Lois Lowry
A book with bad reviews – Red Girl, Blue Boy by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
A trilogy – The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy by Jenny Han
A book from your childhood – This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
A book with a love triangle – A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
A book set in the future – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
A book set in high school – To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
A book with a color in the title – Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
A book that made you cry – Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
A book with magic – Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White
A graphic novel – In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang
A book by an author you’ve never read before – The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters
A book you own but have never read – Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
A book that takes place in your hometown – Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti
A book that was originally written in a different language – Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
A book set during Christmas – Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
A book written by an author with your same initials – The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu
A play – The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
A banned book – The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
A book based on or turned into a TV show – The 100 by Kass Morgan
A book you started but never finished – MILA 2.0 by Debra Driza

Completed: 46/50

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge: Week Four Update

I know I’m late, okay??? Like I said in my last post, I’ve been so unbelievably busy. Seriously. It’s been crazy. This is the second to last update in this challenge and I must say that I’ve really enjoyed it!

I finished reading the ebook that I checked out, Dangerous by Shannon Hale, and hope to post a review soon. I started reading Born of Deception by Teri Brown which I physically checked out from the Orem Public Library. I’m probably around 2/3 of the way through it and I’ll be reviewing that when I’m done too. I’ve got a bunch of other books checked out waiting for me on my Kindle, but I’m just not sure that I’ll get to them before they’re due (dang ARCs getting in the way!)

This week we’ve been asked to share how often you visit the library.

My answer: Not often enough. I get on Overdrive fairly often (the electronic platform that my libraries use for ebooks) but I don’t get around to going to the real library as often as I’d like to. However, I do see that changing (especially this summer) since I re-realized how many books libraries have just chilling on their shelves that I want to read but aren’t available through Overdrive. Hopefully this can be a once-a-week thing.

Happy reading!

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge: Week Two Update

Quick update on books, I’ve read one physical book that I checked out from the library (Ready Player One) and am in the process of reading a digital book that I checked out (Ruin and Rising). As I said in my April TBR Checkpoint, things are a little slow as I’m trying to get through some ARCs as well (and I’m moving this weekend) but I’m anticipating a good reading week next week.

This week’s challenge topic is:

Books you would like to suggest to your library.

I’m not completely sure how to answer this one…I think libraries in general tend to be stocked pretty well. The only issue I have, I guess, is with the digital library (Overdrive). I have accounts with three different libraries on Overdrive: KCLS, Provo Library, and BYU. Provo and BYU both have a pretty pitiful showing online, but KCLS (King County Library System) rocks. They’re pretty good at getting the newer, popular books on there and the hold times aren’t usually too bad. I guess if I were to suggest some books to my library it would be all the books on my TBR that aren’t already online–but nothing specific.

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge: Week One Update

I haven’t gotten very far in the books that I checked out…shame shame, I know. But I’ll get to them! I just have to get through an ARC first and then I’m good to go.

This week’s challenge topic is:

Tell us a little about your library (include a picture if you can!).

In my sign-up post I already showed pictures of my current local libraries, so I thought I’d talk about the library that really started it all for me: The Kenmore, WA library.

Now, at the end of my senior year of high school they finished constructing the shiny, NEW Kenmore Library, but the one that I grew up going to was anything but glamorous. It was a portable. Literally. You know those portable classrooms that they stick in high school parking lots to make room for more classes? That’s exactly what the library was! It smelled the same and it was very small, but it was one of my favorite places to go as a kid. I can still recall the smell…not anything bad, but kind of musty and old. It just smells like my library. Here’s a picture of the building from Google Maps taken August 2011 (just two months after the new library was completed). It’s hard to see with all the trees, but I think you can kind of get the idea of what it was. The black garbage sack in front is actually covering the old King County Library System sign.

Man, I loved that library. The librarians knew me and my siblings by name and they always asked for our library card number when we were checking out because they knew we had it memorized. If I went in alone they always asked how my family was doing. I dreamed of working there in high school, but because it was such a small library, there were never any openings. This is where I fell in love with reading, books, and libraries.

I think I’ve only been to the new library two or three times (I left soon after it was completed for college), but it’s beautiful. There are a ton of windows and the whole space is open and bright. There’s a parking garage now to accommodate more patrons. It looks modern and new and is easily five times the size of the old library.

 

Libraries have always been and always will be safe places for me. I cannot imagine living somewhere without a local library. Unfortunately, I think a lot of local libraries are suffering from a lack of funding. Now, I’m definitely not asking anyone to go out and donate money, but what I am asking is for people to find your local library. Get yourself a library card. Get your kids library cards. Check out some books, or movies, or CDs. ANYTHING. Just use your local library.

(Pictures of the new library were all taken by Lara Swimmer and can be found here)