Dewey's Readathon - Hour 13 Update

  So I am a little late for my halfway check in but I wanted to finish my second book so I had a good update to give you!

 

Yup just finished The Palace Library by Steven Loveridge! It reminded me a lot of the Chronicles of Narnia.  It took me a while, had to take a few breaks to blow bubbles for the Munchkin.

 

So I wanted to do the halfway survey too . . .

 

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired? I just started getting sleepy now that the house is quiet (Munchkin finally went to bed)

 2) What have you finished reading? I finished Marriage Merger and The Palace Library

 3) What is your favorite read so far? I really liked Marriage Merger but the next book I am really looking forward to

 4) What about your favorite snacks? My Dad's homemade summer sausage with cheese and whole grain crackers! Yum! Later in the night when things start to wind down I will enjoy some of his homemade wine too

 5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love! Met a new fellow reader/blogger through twitter today, Katherine from My Reading Paradise

 

 

How is everyone else doing? Having a good time this weekend so far?  Well Hubby just made me a Captain and coke, hopefully it doesn't put me to sleep and I am off to start reading The Return to Shanhasson! According to my Kindle reading timer I have 8 hours left in the book so it should be a nice finisher for me (if I make it that long!)

 

Good luck this second half to all of you!

 

Dewey Readathon - Hour 4 update

Yup been reading as much as a person possibly can with a toddler in the house! I managed to finish my first book Marriage Merger by Jennifer Probst (and kill the battery on my Nook in the process).

 

 

How is your Saturday going? Been reading? Cheering?

 

 

What's on deck next for me? I think some Minestrone soup with some tasty Italian bread (in honor of the book I just read set in Italy), a shower and maybe run a couple of errands to get Grandma & Munchkin out of the house for a bit.

 

Then its back to reading! I plan on finishing The Palace Library next! Thankfully it is on my Kindle so the Nook has time to charge ;)

Dewey Readathon - Here We Go!

I can't believe I am finally able to participate after years of the schedule not working! I have my tea ready to go and my Nook turned to the page I am going to start with, warm fuzzy slippers and a spot secured on the couch!

 

They have a fun little survey to fill out on Dewey Readathon page so here it is . . .

 

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  Rhode Island USA

 2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Finishing a series with Return to Shanhasson

 3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? My mom and I are going to try making Kale chips this afternoon

 4) Tell us a little something about yourself! Well I am getting to participate in this because my Mom is here to entertain my 1 year old Munchkin all day, though it still might get a little loud LOL

 5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? This is my first Dewey Readathon and I am looking forward to being able to get some reading finished and also meet some awesome new people!

 

 

I will be updating my progress every few hours or so (or at least each time I finish a book) and you can follow me here or on my Twitter page @Easternsunset9

 

Good luck to all the readers!

 

 

 



Graphic Novel Review of Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE Vol. 1 by Jeff Lemire

 

Synopsis: "As a part of the acclaimed DC Comics—The New 52 event of September 2011, it's Frankenstein as you've never seen him before, in a dark new series from acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire and artist Alberto Ponticelli!Frankenstein is part of a network of strange beings who work for an even stranger government organization: The Super Human Advanced Defense Executive, also known as S.H.A.D.E. Leading his new field team, The Creature Commandos, Frankenstein and company must fight against supernatural threats even more strange and dangerous than themselves.

This volume collects issues 1-6 of Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E., part of the DC Comics—The New 52 event."

My Review: Now that is a comic book!! I was just going to pull it out and scan the pages last night since it was going to be the next graphic novel I read, but I just started reading and couldn't put it down! Awesome characters, story line and illustrations. Granted Frankenstein is one of my all time favorite novels and Dr. Frankenstein's creature is my absolute favorite fictional character so there is no way I couldn't love his character here. Father Time is awesome. I loved the dynamic between the characters. Honestly I could go on and on, but it boils down to I think this was awesome and I will be getting Vol. 2 as soon as possible.

 

My Rating: Four Paws and a Stump Wag all the way!! I can't rave about this one enough, so basically just go check it out.

Bedtime Story: Whose Baby am I?

 

Synopsis: "At last! John Butler's popular Whose Baby Am I? is available in a board book format. With the same lovable but realistic baby animal illustrations and simple guessing-game text as the original hardcover edition, this is an irresistible choice for any curious toddler."

My Review: I purchased this book for Munchkin because of the adorable polar bear on the front. That insanely cute illustration style remained through the book, and Munchkin really likes the owl. It was a little short and I think both me and Munchkin would have liked to see more cute babies and parent animals!

 

My Rating: After reading this book time and time again, I would like a little different phrasing because it gets old repeating the same thing every page but other than that it was a super cute book and one Munchkin loves reading over and over.  I give it a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag!

 

 

Good Night! Sweet Dreams!

After Dark Review of The Road to Shanhasson by Joely Sue Burkhart

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 ;)

 

 

Synopsis: "The long awaited sequel to Joely Sue Burkhart's first Shanhasson novel, The Rose of Shanhasson, is finally here. The Road to Shanhasson is the second in the "Blood and Shadows" series, and continues the breathtaking story of Shannari, rightful queen of the Green Lands.

Shannari is about to be made the Khul’lanna of the Plains, wife to the Khul, leader of the 9 camps of the Sha’Kae al’Dan people. Unusual in the land of her birth for her skills as a warrior and prized as the rightful ruler of the Green Lands before being stolen away by Rhaekar, the Khul of the Sha'Kae al'Dan, Shannari is as foreign to these people as they are to her.

Shannari has admitted her love for Rhaekar, and, reluctantly, that she also loves Gregar, the Shadowed man who, along with the other eight Blood guards, protects Rhaekar from danger. Rhaekar, far from being angered by her love for another man, is man enough to give her what she wants, and determines that Gregar shall be her co-mate.

Some of her new people welcome Shannari, but others are angry that a hated Outlander is to become their new queen. Controversy and danger swirls around Shannari and the men she loves, threatening to tear apart the camps. Shannari works with Rhaekar, Gregar, and some new allies to bring peace to the camps, but she forgets that Theo, the current ruler of the Green Lands, will stop at nothing to debase and destroy her, and his bloody pact with Lygon, the god of Shadow, will bring Shannari to her knees."

My Review: I was really looking forward to this one, I couldn't wait to find out what happened with Shannari and Rhaekar and Gregar! The book started out really good and was moving along beautifully. Oh Gregar, I love Gregar so much! Some of the scenes definitely got my tears flowing. But the pace of the book really fell off and the blood sharing really took over along with all the divine meddling. I feel like maybe this should have been spread into two separate books or maybe a full length novel and a novella. I definitely started loosing interest and had to force myself to pick up the book and continue reading a few times, which is a shame because I do love all the characters so much and even the story line.

 

My Rating: While I adore the characters and even where the storyline winds up, I feel like it got a little lost in the middle and a little too drawn out.  I give it a rating of Two Paws and a Stump Wag. Even with that rating though I am going to continue with the series because I do want to follow the characters down their path.

 

Dewey's Read-a-thon

So I just realized that this Saturday is the fall edition of the Dewey's Read-a-thon, and guess what?! Grandma is still here to take care of Munchkin and Hubby is out to work at least in the morning! So maybe just maybe I can get some crazy amounts of reading done (especially considering I am hoping to conquer Nanowrimo this year).

 

 

So here is a short list of books I hope to finish/read:

 

Dark Chatter by Andrew Branch

Palace Library by Steven Loveridge

Marriage Merger by Jennifer Probst

Judgement by Jade Varden

Return to Shanhasson by Joely Sue Burkhart

Tale of the Taconic Mountains by Mike Romeling

 

 

I know that seems like a big list but I already have a good start on most of them and just need a push to finish.

Review of Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

 

Synopsis: "The most tragic love story in history . . .

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.

"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume."
—Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare."

My Review: When I first saw this book I was so excited to read it, yet it sat on my TBR shelf for quite some time. I finally picked it up. The beginning immediately sucked me in, it almost seemed to be written in verse and had a beautiful rhythm that kept you reading until the story itself took over. Unfortunately that rhythm go lost but you didn't mind too much as the story picked up steam. I love the concept behind the story and the author's different take on the classic Romeo and Juliet story. It did loose the pacing and seemed to wander a little bit in the middle. Events started to happen that really didn't have much impact on the main plot line, but may be needed for sequels. That said though the conclusion is brilliant! I loved the ending, it kind of made me smack my head and say why didn't I see that coming.

 

My Rating: I did enjoy this story even though it got a little slow in the middle, the idea is fantastic. I do love reading new takes on fairy tales, why not ones for classic beloved plays?! I give this a rating of Three Paws.

Challenge Update - Time is Running Out!

Yup, you heard right! We are already 3/4s of the way through the year and time is running out to finish those challenges! So I thought I would post an update on mine to give myself the boost I need to finish them.

 

 

Series Challenge: I completed this challenge by reading 3 full series but decided to up it again, so I have one more series to finish.  Thankfully I am only one or two books away from finishing several series.

 

Series 1: Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair

Series 2:  Study Series by Maria V. Snyder

Series 3: Lone Star Sisters Series by Susan Mallery

Series 4:

 

 

Mental Illness Advocacy Challenge: I have been a little slower on this challenge for some reason. I am half way done with it but still have to read two more books. I have started the first and will make a push to finish it this week. I have picked out the final book as well.

 

1. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

2.  Soft Spots by Clint Van Winkle

3.

4.

 

Audio Book Challenge: This one has been going much better than expected.  I have made it a point to listen to a book nearly every Friday night after Munchkin goes to bed while I paint my nails or work on crafts.  I only have one more book to go and am not sure which one it will be but I guess I will have make that decision in the next couple of days!

 

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

2. Stork by Wendy Delsol

3. The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff

4. Wyoming Fierce by Diana Palmer

5.

 

Bedtime Stories: I may not have always gotten the review posted on Friday night but I have managed to have a bedtime story for each week! I think I have almost enough new children's books to finish out the year too.

 

Graphic Novel Challenge: Again I may not have always posted a graphic novel review on the second Saturday of each month but I have read one and posted a review for each month so far! I just picked up a bunch more that I am very excited for as well.

 

Goodreads Challenge: So I started out the year with a goal of 52 books and blew through that goal within the first couple of months so have been raising my goal again and again whenever I come near the total.  My challenge goal has now been raised to 156 books for this year and I have read a total of 140 so far! I think I should surpass that goal by far if I can pull of my Advent event but I don't want to jinx myself so will be leaving the challenge at that number.

 

 

 

So how are your challenges going? Have you finished some? Fallen behind on some? Have you already started planning for next year?!

 

 

I have definitely already started planning for next year. I really want to continue with the bedtime story and graphic novel challenges.  I will also be joining a Mount TBR challenge to get some of my shelves cleared off.  I am also going to set a personal goal to read at least 30 books featuring some kind of equine (horses must play some sort of role in the book ie. setting on a horse ranch/farm, character is part equine, character has a horse and it plays a large role, storyline takes place alongside an equine event, etc.) I already have a good stack of books to fill a lot of this challenge.

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

 

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore (Graphic Novel)
Red Wagon (Bedtime Story)

Books Finished Last Week:
Reviews will be posted at a later date

The Road to Shanhasson
Five Black Cats
Frankenstein Agent of SHADE Vol. 1
 

Currently Reading:

Dark Chatter by Andrew Branch - Kindle - 17%
The Tale of the Taconic Mountains by Mike Romeling - Nook - On Page 32 of 389
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen - PB - on Page 40 of 383
Juliette Immortal by Stacey Jay - PB - on Page 106 of 306

 Books to be Read Soon:

 

Marriage Merger by Jennifer Probst (Series Challenge)
Water Harvest by Eric Diehl (Requested Review)
Judgment by Jade Varden
Dollhouse by Anya Allyn

 



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Got a little reading done this last week and started working on some crafts and gifts for the upcoming holiday season! Gosh can you believe it is already October?! Finally got to go back to work last week, odd to say it but it was nice to be back. Slowly getting caught up there and at home so can get back into some sort of reading routine again.

Oh and I almost forgot to tell you, I finally found an awesome comic book store in my area! I spent some time and some money in there over the weekend! If this keeps up I think I might have to up the Graphic Novel reviews from once a month to two or three ;)

I hope you are all finding time in your busy schedules for a little reading fun too!