Fun with Munchkin: Blanket Fort

As part of my resolutions for 2016, I wanted to do more fun things with Munchkin and as a family.  I will be posting sporadically about some of the fun adventures we are having together.

 

 

So you know those beautiful picturesque fall scenes you see all the time? That is what so many think it is like in the fall here in NE, but in actuality the majority of the time it is rainy and cloudy in the fall. Last weekend was no different, and Munchkin was feeling a little under the weather so I planned something fun for him . . .

 

 

Blanket Fort!

It was huge, took up our entire living room and fit the coffee table and a queen sized mattress in it.

See the inside, nice and cozy and comfy (sorry about the giant spot light).

 

Munchkin had fun Skyping with Grandma & Grandpa from inside his fort

And we watched movies and cartoons with popcorn and snacks.

 

We didn't sleep in it just because Munchkin does not sleep well anywhere but his own bed, but we did keep it up all weekend long. He wasn't too happy about taking it down but promises were made to do it again!



Bedtime Story: David Gets In Trouble by David Shannon

Read for: Children's Book Challenge

 

Synopsis: ""When David gets in trouble, he always says . . . 'NO! It's not my fault! I didn't mean to! It was an accident!'" Whatever the situation, David's got a good excuse. And no matter what he's done "wrong," it's never really his fault.
Soon, though, David realizes that making excuses makes him feel bad, and saying he's sorry makes him feel better. Once again, David Shannon entertains us with young David's mischievous antics and a lighthearted story that's sure to leave kids (and parents) laughing."

My Review: We love No David and so had to pick this one up too. It wasn't quite as good as the first book but it was still good. It did spark some conversations about lying and being responsible for mistakes, but unfortunately these ideas never really were in Munchkin's mind until reading the book. So instead of really learning a lesson it has sparked a couple of issues. But if your little one is already denying responsibility it may be a great book to bring on those discussions.  

 

My Rating: Even though we had a few issues come up with Munchkin after reading this book, it is still a very good book. Munchkin does love it and has it memorized and now we have been able to discuss why using excuses or lying isn't right.  We give it a rating of Three Paws.

Beginning Reader Review of Bambi's Hide and Seek by Andrea Posner-Sanchez

Read for: Early Reader Challenge

 

Synopsis: "Boys and girls ages 4-6 can play hide-and-seek with Bambi and Thumper in this Step into Reading leveled reader based on the classic animated film Disney's Bambi!"

My Review: This is a great level one book, it consists of sight words, large print and simple sentences. The familiar characters from Bambi will attract young readers attention. This book also presents an interactive way for them to engage with the book by finding someone hiding on each page. Munchkin enjoyed this one and has asked to read it again a few times.

 

My Rating: We enjoyed this one and have revisited it a few more times.  A nice way to expand on it is to give hints to little ones about where Thumper is hiding by using words like under, behind, etc. We give this one a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag.

 

After Dark Review of More Than Candy Corn by Christine Depetrillo

I have added After Dark Reviews to my blog as a way of notifying you of a review of a book with Adult themes and scenes. From now on I will keep my reviews of all books I read that have explicit scenes in them for late night posts for those of you who prefer to avoid them or easy to find for those of you who seek them out ;)

 

 

Read for: Mount TBR Digital/ Series Challenge

 

Synopsis: "A Halloween Maple Leaf Series Novella

Sienna Faye makes her living designing toys for her father's Boston company, Faye Toys. Working for her father brings many pressures, some in the form of a video gaming heir he wants her to marry because it would be "good for business." Attending Super Con in St. Martin right before Halloween is just the escape she needs to hide and avoid telling her father she won't use marriage as a merger. The conference also gives her an excuse to have some fun in a fairy costume.

Max Devon writes and illustrates graphic novels for his rabid teen readers. He loves his work, but every woman he's been with so far has trashed his career, telling him he'll never grow up if he always surrounds himself with superhero figurines and other nonsense. They just don't understand where inspiration comes from. Super Con is his chance to take a break from women or, if he takes his brother's advice, it could be a place to "just get laid," no strings attached.

When Sienna stops at Max's booth at Super Con, the connection is instant. But if Sienna brings Max home, her father will flip. If Max lets Sienna into his heart, she could stomp all over it. Is a magical time in St. Martin enough to change everything for them both?"

My Review: I have been following the Maple Leaf series from book one and have been really enjoying the characters and storyline. The last book was some what connected to the previous three but this one has a very vague connection, I am hoping that maybe these characters come back later in the series and connect with the others some how. It was almost a stand alone novella. With that said this is a fun book to read, I love the quirkiness of the characters, their personalities come out in full force even with a shorter timeline. It is a nice combination of beach read and autumn read that is great for the transitional weather.

 

My Rating: While the connection with the rest of the series is kind of cloudy in this one, I loved the setting and the characters so much it didn't matter. It would be a great standalone read if you wanted something Halloween themed for the month. I give it a rating of Four Paws!



Pen to Paper: Saving Responded Letters

 

 

Good Morning everyone and welcome back, finally, to Pen to Paper! I am finally finishing up with my pen pal organization series today with what to do with all your letters after you have responded to them.  For me and most people, letters are something to cherish and hold on to so you can look back on those friendships in years to come.  So after I have taken my letters out of the incoming box and responded to them, they head to my responded bin.

 

 

This bin is usually on my dresser in my room next to my extra pen pal and planner supplies, but Hubby was sleeping this morning and I couldn't take a picture in there.  So I have this nice little wicker basket that I keep all of my responded pen pal letters for the people with whom I am actively corresponding.  I have them organized by pen pal with their oldest letters. I don't have little dividers for them because each pen pal had a unique style of envelopes that makes it easy to find each pen pal. This basket is getting kind of full so I might have to get a second basket and have one for international pen pals and one state side pen pals. 

 

In the case of when a pen pal and I have parted ways, it is not like a high school break up and I dispose of all reminders of them lol, I simply binder clip or rubber band all of our past letters and place them in a storage box. I only have a few of these so right now it is just a small shoe box.

Eventually with so many pen pals and so many letters coming in I will have to find a new way of storing my past letters. I have seen some people use binders with page protectors and others who have put them straight into a storage box.


So do you keep  your old letters? How do you organize them?

Review of Orphan Trains: Taking the Rails to a New Life by Rebecca Langston-George

Read for: Requested Review/ Netgalley

 

Synopsis: "Tells the story of seven orphans who were settled with families in the Midwest by the Children's Aid Society."

My Review: I was really intrigued by this book when I came across it. I had never heard of the Orphan Trains even though my entire family is from the Midwest. I found this book to be informative but not all encompassing, it was written in a manner that presents individual stories of orphans on the trains, which leaves you wanting to learn more and continue learning and researching the subject. One of the things I really enjoyed about this book is that it is written in  a way so that nearly all reader levels can enjoy it, I think it would be a fantastic book for middle grade readers to have in school. It also leaves me wondering why I didn't learn anything about this subject in school, granted it is a tiny part of history but I think it is an important one that will young minds will connect with.

 

My Rating: While I did enjoy this book, I did find it to be a little disjointed. It jumped from individual story to individual story leaving them off hanging only to finish them with a quick epilogue for each person at the end which made you have to flip back to the story to refresh your memory as to who was who.  I do still give it a rating of Three Paws.

 

 

I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

You can find out more about Rebecca Langston-George and her works on her

Goodreads Page

 

You can also obtain your own copy in digital or print format from Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Tea Time Tuesday: Tea Collection and Organization

This is a new series of blog posts to share my love of tea and some discoveries I am making as I dive more into that love. (And honestly, what goes better with books than a nice cup of tea?)

 

 

 

Hello all my fellow tea drinkers! I feel like it has been ages since I posted a Tea Time Tuesday post.  So while everyone seems to like to spring clean, I tend to prefer a fall purge. My husband has been complaining about my tea collection attacking him every time he opens the cupboard to get coffee filters. So I decided to pull it all out to purge and organize . . . 

 

I had a lot more tea than I thought I had, and some of it was rather old and not to my tastes anymore.  I guess I must have really loved green tea and anything peach and orange flavored because I had insane amounts of those. Now I tend to prefer black tea or red tea, so I purged a lot of the tea that isn't to my taste anymore (I did save a few of each in case I get the urge though). 

 

 

This is much more manageable now. 

This is my iced tea collection, most of these teas are large pouches for brewing whole pitchers of iced tea. The blushberry might be my favorite of the iced tea flavors, though the raspberry is really good too.

Here are my loose leaf teas and a couple other nice containers of tea.  It is suggested that loose leaf tea be stored in a tin or glass container and should be kept out of light.

I kept this nice little set of drawers to keep all my tea infusers together (instead of getting lost in the silverware drawer), it also holds the sweeteners I use on occasion and the top is for a few small loose leaf tea samples that I have gotten along the way.

For individual tea bags I made this little organizer book using a regular cardboard box from a package I received, I wrapped it with pretty gift wrap and added a little magnet to help keep it closed.

 

Now my cupboard is all nice and organized, I only use one tiny shelf and then my tins are stored in the garage.

 

Fall is definitely here as is the season for hot tea.  Next time I post Tea Time Tuesday I will talk about my favorite iced teas of the summer and some of the hot tea I am looking forward to enjoying in the cooler weather.

 

How do you organize your tea? What is in your collection? Do you have a favorite? 

 

 

 

Audio Book Review of One Lavender Ribbon by Heather Burch

Read for: Mount TBR/ Audio Challenge

 

Synopsis: "Can a stack of long-hidden love letters from a WWII war hero inspire a heartbroken woman to love again? Reeling from a bitter divorce, Adrienne Carter abandons Chicago and retreats to the sun, sand, and beauty of Southern Florida, throwing herself into the restoration of a dilapidated old Victorian beach house. Early into the renovations, she discovers a tin box hidden away in the attic that reveals the emotional letters from a WWII paratrooper to a young woman who lived in the house Synopsis: "Can a stack of long-hidden love letters from a WWII war hero inspire a heartbroken woman to love again? Reeling from a bitter divorce, Adrienne Carter abandons Chicago and retreats to the sun, sand, and beauty of Southern Florida, throwing herself into the restoration of a dilapidated old Victorian beach house. Early into the renovations, she discovers a tin box hidden away in the attic that reveals the emotional letters from a WWII paratrooper to a young woman who lived in the house more than a half-century earlier. The old letters—incredibly poetic and romantic—transcend time, and they arouse in Adrienne a curiosity that leads her to track down the writer of the letters. William “Pops” Bryant is now an old man living in a nearby town with his handsome but overprotective grandson, Will. As Adrienne begins to unravel the secrets of the letters (and the Bryants), she finds herself not yet willing to give up entirely on love." My Review: I downloaded this audio book on a whim last year and am finally getting around to reading it. I really enjoyed this book, it definitely hit me in the feels. It was a slow moving story but one with such great characters that you can't help but be drawn into the story. And while it is a romance story at the base, there are so many more levels to the story. I absolutely loved Pops and his story is the most amazing one to follow. The interactions between all the characters seem genuine and the characters themselves are each unique and with good depth. I really enjoyed this one.    My Rating: This was a beautiful story, it was a little long and probably didn't need to be so long but it still made my eyes a little misty. I give it a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag!

Magic Tree House Monday: Book 34 - Season of the Sandstorms

Welcome to Magic Tree House Monday!

Each Monday (other than when special events are planned) I will review one book of the Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne.

 

We continue Jack and Annie's adventures in learning to use a little magic in our world. This time they travel to Baghdad and the middle east, they must travel by camel across the desert and face many dangers including raiders and sandstorms.

 

 

 

My Review: I really enjoyed this installment in the Merlin Missions. Jack and Annie had to rely entirely on their own knowledge and skills with only the help of their research book and book of rhymes. With all the negativity surrounding the middle east in today's media it is nice to be reminded it was at one point an important trade location. This was quite the adventure with plenty of danger, some magic and interesting characters and friends.

 

My Rating: Another great adventure in this series, I really do like how it touches on such a variety of places, modern, historical and magical. This book held up to the standard and I like how we are returning more to the research books, at least in this one. I give it a rating of Four Paws.

Monday Reading List

Its Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Shelia at Book Journey. Share what books you have finished in the last week, are currently reading and what might be coming up next!

Reviews Posted Last Week:

Links will take you to my review

Draw Me a Star by Eric Carle
The Giver by Lois Lowry
1984 by George Orwell
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Saga Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
 

 Books Finished Last Week:

Reviews will be posted at a later date

1984 = 5pts
Fahrenheit 451 = 3pts
The Great Tree of Avalon = 5pts
And Tango Makes Three = 1pt

 

Currently Reading:
 

Moon Chosen by PC Cast - Kindle - on page 36 of 608
A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir - Audio - 46%



 Books to be Read Soon:

Tale of Elske by Cynthia Voigt

 

Total Points Earned
     239 points + 14 points = 243 points

Total Points Earned this Year: 2013
Total Points Spent this Year: 884

Pages Read/ Time Listened
223:45 Hours Listened (5:01 listened this week)
36,375 Pages Read (824 this week)

Books Added to Shelves



Interesting Tidbits on the Web:


 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Boy has it been a whirlwind couple of weeks here on the blog! I felt like I have barely kept up with reading and posting reviews, but I really hope you enjoyed the Banned Book Week event. I promise next year to read more currently challenged books but the ones I read this year are some that have been sitting on my shelf just waiting. It will be nice to get back to regular posting this week. 

Did you know that I have been blogging here now for 6 years?! I always forget to plan an event for my blog-versary every year, but maybe throughout the month I will do some looking back posts.   October is another crazy busy month but one filled with book events, many of which I can't make. The 14th - 16th I am going to an event called Falling in Love in New England in New Hampshire with a friend of mine, I can't wait for this event! That weekend also happens to be the Boston Book Festival and the RI Children's Author Festival that I won't be able to attend, but maybe next year. We also have Dewey's Fall Readathon coming up on the 22nd, do you think I can convince the Hubby to allow me to have 2 book weekends in a row?

Anyway, it is looking like another fun and busy month but should be full of books and reading!
 

Challenge Update

Wow, I feel like the last three months have flown by, I really dislike how crazy I get the second half of the year. I also don't think I have gotten as much reading done as usual either. Oh well, I guess I better check in on the status of my challenges to see how much reading I will need to do in the next 3 months!

 

 

 

 

Children's Book Challenge

 My goal is to read at least 60 but no more than 80 Children's books this year. I always complete this challenge and have more trouble keeping it under control but I think I have been doing really well so far this year.  I only need 5 more books to complete the challenge but if I can keep it less than 15 before the end of the year I think that will be perfect!
 1. Snowballs
2. Sneezy the Snowman
3. The Little Snowplow
4. Curious George Makes Maple Syrup
5. Just a Snowman
6. A Magical Snowman
7. Hug Machine
8. Pup, Pup and Away
9. Monday is One Day
10. What Pet Should I Get?
11. Clifford's Spring Clean Up
12. I'm Not Sleepy
13. Curious George Plants a Tree
14. Little Cloud
15. Red: A Crayon's Story
16. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
17. The Secret Pizza Party
18. A Big Guy Took My Ball
19. The Adventures of Beekle
20. Star Wars: A New Hope (with Audio CD)
21. I am Helping
22. If you Give a Dog a Donut
23. The Storm
24. How Rocket Learned to Read
25. I Wish You More
26. Star Wars; The Empire Strikes Back (with Audio CD)
27. Dragons Love Tacos
28. The Grumble Bee
29. Interrupting Chicken
30. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (with Audio CD)
31. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
32. Let's Go for a Drive
33. Itty Bitty Kitty Rescue
34. Goodnight Loon
35. Curious George Takes a Train
36. Up On Daddy's Shoulders
37. The Fire Engine Book
38. Curious George & the Firefighters
39. Winnie the Pooh's A to Zzzz
40. The Thank You Book
41. I Am Sharing
42. What a Bad Dream
43. Curious George's Dinosaur Discovery
44. David Gets In Trouble
45. The Gruffalo's Child
46. Llama Llama Mad at Mama
47. Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
48. Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes
49. Pug in a Truck
50. Pete the Cat: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
51. Llama Llama Misses Mama
52. Fly
53. Draw Me a Star
54. Howl for Halloween
55. And Tango Makes Three



Early Reader Challenge

 My goal for this year is to read 60 books. Again, I am nearly complete with this challenge but am going to be able to keep it under control too.
1. Smash Trash
2. Hello, Olaf!
3. Just a Little Sick
4. Plane Pals
5. Splat the Cat: Blow, Snow, Blow
6. Rubble to the Rescue
7. Rocket's 100th Day of School
8. Mama Loves
9. Run, Remy, Run!
10. How to Help the Earth By the Lorax
11. The Berenstain Bears Clean House
12. Pete the Cat and the Bad Banana
13. Ewoks Join the Fight
14. Zeg and the Egg
15. Pit Crew Pups
16. The Foolish Tortoise
17. Go to the Moon
18. Clifford Sees America
19. Nat. Geo. Kids Owls
20. Pete at the Beach
21. Can You See What I See? Nature
22. The Ice Cream Shop
23. Paul Bunyan: My Story
24. Flying High
25. Learn About the Weather: Sun
26. Star Wars: Feel the Force
27. Bees and Wasps
28. Best Dad in the Sea
29. Flip Flop!
30. Clifford: Camping Out
31. Picnic
32. Nat. Geo. Red Pandas
33. Ice Cream Soup
34. Baby Dolphin's First Day
35. Curious George Fire Dog Rescue
36. Brave Firefighters
37. Monsters One to Ten
38. Bambi's Hide and Seek
39. Charlie Goes to the Doctor
40. There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Desk
41. Just Critters Who Care
42. Popcorn
43. Fly Dumbo Fly
44. Trucks
45. Mega Machines


Graphic Novel Challenge

 My goal is to read 26 this year. I am still on target with this challenge but oddly enough haven't been reading many GNs or been wanting to really either.
1. Korgi Vol. 3: A Hollow Beginning
2. How Mirka Got Her Sword
3. Morning Glories Vol. 1: For a Better Future
4. Winterworld Vol. 1: La Nina
5. Redhood and the Outlaws Vol. 1: Redemption
6. Rapunzel's Revenge
7. Angela Asgard's Assassin: Vol. 1: Priceless
8. Good Night Darth Vader
9. Apollo: The Brilliant One
10. Dogs of War
11. The Lion
12. The Lumberjanes Vol. 1 Beware the Kitten Holy
13. The New York Four
14. Blood of the Empire
15. Saga Vol. 3
16. Threat of Peace
17. Cinderella
18. Saga Vol. 4
19. Dragon Age Vol. 1: The Silent Grove



Audio Book Challenge - COMPLETE
I intended to listen to 24 audiobooks this year. I am definitely going to have to shoot for a higher number next year.  I am a complete audio book convert.
1. The Selection
2. The Elite
3. The One
4. The Heir
5. Dante's Fire
6. When We Where Very Young (Winnie the Pooh #3)
7. The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie
8. Mary Poppins
9. The Handmaid's Tale
10. Marked
11. Now We are Six
12. Anathema
13. Princess in Pink
14. Princess in Training
15. The Crown
16. Party Princess
17. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
18. The Vacationers
19. Princess one the Brink
20. Princess Mia
21. Forever Princess
22. Royal Wedding
23. Heart Mate
24. Angel of Fire
25. Everywhere and Every Way
26. An Ember in the Ashes
27. The Green Ember
28. One Lavender Ribbon
29. Fahrenheit 451


Series Challenge - COMPLETE 
My goal was to read 5 series completely, which I have done, granted they were not the series I had originally planned on reading but oh well. I still have a couple more that I will be finishing before the end of the year.
1. Nine Kingdoms by Lynn Kurland - Book 1

2. The Hound Saga by Mette Ivie Harrison - Book 1,

3. Deadly Liasons by Leigh Wilder - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4 - COMPLETE

4. The Selection by Kiera Cass - Book .1, Book .2, Book 1, Book 2, Book 2.1, Book 2.2, Book 3,  Book 4, Book 5 - COMPLETE

5. Heart Mates by Robin D. Owens - Book 1,

6. Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 4.1, Book 4.2, Book 5, Book 6, Book 6.5, Book 7, Book 7.5, Book 7.75, Book 8, Book 9, Book 10, Book 10.2, Book 10.5, Book 11 - COMPLETE

7. Compass Girls by Mari Carr - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4 - COMPLETE

8. Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborn - Book 1 (re-read), Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, Book 6, Book 7, Book 8, Book 9, Book 10, Book 11, Book 12, Book 13, Book 14, Book 15, Book 16, Book 17, Book 18, Book 19, Book 20, Book 21, Book 22, Book 23, Book 24, Book 25, Book 26, Book 27, Book 28, Book 29, Book 30, Book 31, Book 32, Book 33, Book 34

9. Tales of the Kingdom - Books 1-4 are all owned - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4

10. Beasts of Olympus - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, Book 6 - COMPLETE

Mount TBR
This year I thought I would split my TBR in half to make sure I read both print and ebooks. So my goal is to read at least 50 print books and 50 ebooks off my TBR pile. I am still mostly on track with this challenge, but have fallen farther behind than I had expected to, I will really have to stop reading all the new exciting books and audio books and focus on my shelves.

Digital TBR
1. Drain Me Dry
2. Addicted to the Bite
3. The Queen
4. The Prince
5. Club Midnight
6. Bloodlines
7. The Guard
8. The Favorite
9. A Collector of Affections
10. Winters Thaw
11. Hope Springs
12. Summer Fling
13. Falling Softly
14. Blue Sky Days
15. The Street or Me
16. A Tale of Two Dragons
17. His Wicked Games
18. Truth or Dare
19. Sweet Victory
20. Sworn to Raise
21. One Night of Sin
22. Sworn to Transfer
23. Sworn to Conflict
24. Playing for Keeps
25. Night after Night
26. More Than Pizza
27. Resist
28. Surrender of Persephone
29. Starfire
30. Here All Along
31. More Than Words
32. Longing
33. Unexpected
34. More Than Candy Corn
35. The Green Ember


Print TBR
1. The Ice Dragon
2. Collecting Seashells by the Seashore
3. The Princess Diaries
4. The Beast Within
5. What is the Super Bowl?
6. Princess in the Spotlight
7. Announcing the Thaw
8. Into Your Light
9. A Cat Named Dog & A Dog Named Cat
10. The Ferry Home
11. Princess in Love
12. Magic & Melee
13. Princess in Waiting
14. Vorn the Onyx
15. More than Cookies
16. GI Cowboy
17. There Was a Fire
18. Esio Trot
19. Star Wars: Jedi Academy
20. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
21. The Princess and the Hound
22. The Tale of Gwyn
23. Etiquette and Espionage
24. More than Rum
25. Gone Fishing
26. Tale of Birle
27. Inside Out & Back Again
28. Tale of Oriel
29. The Giver
30. 1984
31. The Great Tree of Avalon


Rhode Island Authors - COMPLETE
 My goal is to have at least 15 books. I had a really outstanding RI Author month in April. I have one more that I want to read for this year and then the rest will be in preparation for next year's RI Author Month!

1. Ducky Ducky Likes to Moo
2. Hippo Hippo's Cranky Day
3. Collecting Seashells by the Seashore
4. A Collector of Affections
5. Lolly's Picnic
6. Announcing the Thaw
7. Edgar Graduates
8. Into Your Light
9. A Cat Named Dog & A Dog Named Cat
10. Ferry Home
11. The Street or Me
12. Magic and Melee
13. Vorn the Onyx
14. There was a Fire
15. More than Cookies
16. Waking the Merrow
17. One Night with You
18. More than Rum
19. Fishing In Narragansett Bay
20. Flight over Newport
21. More Than Pizza
22. More Than Candy Corn



Requested Reviews:
I will be accepting only 15-20 reviews sent by authors (please be sure to check my policy page before sending a request) and I will read/ request no more than 17 books on Netgalley.  I have been keeping this relatively under control as well, I have a few more books to read and some authors to email back but I feel like this was a good amount of books this year, not more than I could handle.

Netgalley:
1. The Face in the Mountain
2. Gwendolyn's Sword
3. Night Study
4.The Storm
5. The Lion
6. Let It Out
7. The Pages of the Mind
8. Sweet Tomorrows
9. A Promise of Fire
10. Destined for a King
11. Orphan Trains: Taking the Rail to a New Life
12. War Dogs; Tales of Canine Heroism, History & Love
13. My Wild Irish Dragon


Direct Requests:
1. The Changing Season
2. Trina Bell's Humming Summer
3. One of A Kind Cat Book
4. A Life With You
5. Mabel Crowley Book One
6. Horsefeathers
7. Random
8. The Fairy Boy of Calton Hill
9. Jesper Jinx and the Scrumptious Snacks
10. Delbert: The Reluctant Spy


After Dark Challenge - COMPLETE
Now I wasn't sure if I was going to do this challenge or not but I have a bunch of books on my list for this year so I decided to keep track of them as well.  My goal is to read 25 this year.  I hadn't been planning on this challenge but it just kind of happened, especially with a romance author convention coming up in 2 weeks!
1. Drain Me Dry
2. Addicted to the Bite
3. Club Midnight
4. Bloodlines
5. Winters Thaw
6. Hope Springs
7. Summer Fling
8. Falling Softly
9. Hearts in Darkness
10. Love in the Light
11. Marked
12. One Night with You
13. A Tale of Two Dragons
14. His Wicked Games
15. Truth or Dare
16. Sweet Victory
17. One Night of Sin
18. Sinner
19. Playing for Keeps
20. Night after Night
21. Foerver in the Light
22. Only, Always, Forever
23. Hard Ever After
24. Protecting His Own
25. Resist
26. The Surrender of Persephone
27. HeartMate
28. Here All Along
29. More Than Words
30. Longing
31. I Dream of Dragons
32. Savage
33. Unexpected
34. The Lion and the Doe
35. The Landscaper
36. My Wild Irish Dragon
37. Bear to Want
38. You Are Mine
39. Can't Stay Away
40. Hot Burning Love

Goodreads Challenge
I set my goal at 325 this year with no intention of changing it as I have had to do in years past.  So far I am at 312 books this year, I do have a couple more reviews to post tomorrow.

Goodreads Challenge Page

Advent Reads:
I figured I better add this one in since we are getting to that season. I need to read 25 Christmas/ Winter Holiday themed books for my Advent Reads event in December! I haven't started yet but you better believe that will be coming up very soon!



So there you have my challenge update for 3/4 of the way through the year! Things are looking good and I don't seen any issues with being able to finish most if not all of these challenges.  I do kind of miss having my monthly check ups so I think next year I will add back my end of month wrap up posts with a short challenge check up. 

How are your reading challenges going so far this year?  Are you on track or playing catch up or maybe you have already completed them?