Crazy week coming up...

Pages read: 3851
Pages read this week: 65
Books read: 10
That is wow...It's currently Wednesday and that is wow...pitiful.  I have only read 65 pages of The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness this week, but I really like it!  I will not be on any social media websites the week of August 3rd-10th because I will be traveling, but I need book suggestions that are light and can last a long time (maybe classics?) I am already going to bring The Devil in The White City by Erik Larson but need to bring one more and I'm out of ideas. 
This week is the literal meaning of not enough time to read...Packing, babysitting, reading, rowing, shopping, but I still manages to read a lot of books here is just part of them...

End of the week update

Pages read: 3642
Pages read this week: 688
Books read: 10
So the next few weeks are going to be very busy and I am going to be gone August 3rd-10th.  I will be traveling with no internet connection during that time, but I will be reading and when I get back I will have a very long blog post.  So here are the reviews for Beyonders by Brandon Mull and I recently finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. 
Beyonders by Brandon Mull 4/5

This book begins in our world with the main character Jason working in a zoo and being spontaneously sucked into a magical world called Lyrian though a hippo’s mouth.  Jason quickly learns that this world is ruled by an evil tyrant and the only way to stop him is to collect the letters a special word that would render him powerless.  Along the way he meets a blind king and a girl named Rachel who aids him on his quest.  (If I go any further then I might give a way spoilers) The rest of the book is the fantastical adventure that Jason has collecting the ancient letters.  It was funny and enjoyable to read, but I think my younger brother would appreciate it more.   

 

Review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor 3/5

This book (while I enjoyed it) gave me mixed emotions while the characters lead my imagination on a wild rampage and I loved the character development, but everything seemed rushed.  The part were Karou figures out what she is, in my mind should have been explained in the sequel so people could understand all of her back story instead of just part of it.  I enjoyed it enough to read the entire thing and I want to read the sequel, but it did not capture me and keep me prisoner until the end.  The only part that I want to learn more about is her artwork, I'm hoping the next book be better than this book(not that it was bad it was just...lacking something). Like I said to rushed.

*side note I am reading The Knife of Never Letting go and didn't want to add it to the page count so it will be added to the total pages read tomorrow. 

Update

Pages read: 3244
Pages read this week: 290
Books read: 9
I finished the Beyonders by Brandon Mull this morning it was awesome! I also purchased a kindle a few days ago and have been eagerly waiting for it to arrive! On to the reviews!
The War of The Worlds by H.G. Wells 4/5 stars

This book is a classic and laid the ground work for most modern sci-fi books.  It starts off from the main characters point of view as he witnesses aliens from mars crash land on Earth in giant cylindrical objects.  From this point of the book madness issues and the second half of the book it explains more of what the creatures look like and why they came to Earth.  It was written in the 1800’s so the language is hard to get used to and I wish the copy I had was in a bigger font.   I enjoyed reading this book and would not mind re-reading it in the future.  I was also wondering if someone wrote a companion to this novel but from the alien’s point of view.  I would definitely recommend this book to other people. 

Life of Pi by Yann Martel 3/5 stars

I have 2 versions of the review for you the good and the bad.

1.  This was a wonderful book about the main character, Pi, and his struggle to stay alive after his family and all the animals die after the ship they were on sunk in the Pacific Ocean.  He was the only survivor forced to live on a life raft for almost a year with a tiger named Richard Parker.  The writing helped paint a long lasting picture, which I enjoyed reading. 

2.  I actually enjoyed the beginning while it was confusing; there were philosophical elements about religion and what humanity that ties into the underlying plot of the entire book.  The middle of the book was interesting but I found the writing monotonous, though it did play up to Pi’s character.   The story quickly could have turned into a gruesome reality check, but something kept it from ever messing with my brain.  I did enjoy the fact that Pi’s delusions kept him alive and made for an entertaining story. 

The Fire by James Patterson 2.5/5 stars

Unfortunately I was unimpressed with this book, it only told the reader what the 1^st and 2^nd book had already stated and the cat says it perfectly.

(The review for The Beyonders will be in my next post)

 

Pages read: 2954
Pages read this week: 0
Books read: 8
So the booktubeathon is officially over and I survived finishing 3 challenges out of the 8 and reading 1363 pages during the most busy week of the entire summer.  I plan to continue on doing the challenges because the books that I chose (The Beyonders by Brandon Mull, Inkheart, and The Glass Castle) are really good and by Wednesday I should have the reviews of The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, and The Fire by James Patterson. 

Booktubeathon update

Pages read:  1591

Pages read this week:  690

Books read:  5

I have finished 2 books for the booktubeathon and have enjoyed the challenge so far.  The two books are Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, while they were not books specifically for the challenge they were really good fillers and I am almost done with the other challenge books.  Here are the reviews

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner 4/5 stars (having issues with my computer use to links for the review on my good reads account) http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/655986874

An Abundance of Katherine's by John Green 4.3/5 (see reason above and just click the link)

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/668328124

Count down to read-athon

Pages read: 901
Pages read this week: 479
Books read: 3
SO...I am counting down the hours until the read-athon starts at 12:01 tonight!!! I *gasp!* went to the library yesterday and got The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls on audio book to finish getting the books for the read-athon requirements.  I also got some other books because I realized that I needed more reading material specifically for this event (all summer reading has been put on hold except the Life of Pi because that needs to finished reading).  To survive reading 300 pages a day during which I found out the busiest week of the entire summer I have been preparing for an entire week.  I have planned out my wardrobe to include all my favorite soft  clothing and insane socks (everyday I will post a picture on my instagram account of what I am reading and my socks! don't judge my feet have issues so they get really cold).  Unfortunately so much reading means I will only be posting  this Wednesday, Friday, and next Monday will a rap up of what happened during the week.  I will be posting things on twitter and on Instagram everyday so keep up with me there!

New adventure

Pages read: 774
Pages read this week: 352
Books read: 3
Yesterday I came across a bunch of book-tubers talking about a read-athon that starts July 15th and goes until the 21st.  I did a bit of digging and found that it has become a major force not only on youtube but also on twitter and it is a challenge that everyone can do.  The read-athon is broken up into different challenges; the main challenge is to read 300 pages on average a day (2100 pages in a week) then some of the other challenges are to read a book that is 500+, re-read on book, finish a series, read a book that has been on your shelf for along time, listen to an audio book, read a classic, and as a bonus try to combine as many challenges as you can.  This read-athon is going to be incredibly challenging but I'm excited for it!  Here is my list of what I'm planning on reading starting Monday.  (as you can see it includes books from the bucket list challenge! Two birds with one stone!)
1.  Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (read one book that is 500+ and re-read one books)
2.  The Fire by James Patterson (finish a series)
3.  A Wold Without Heroes (Beyonders) by Brandon Mull
4.  Listen to an audio book: Still haven't figured that out...
5.  The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (classic book)
links to the original information:
 Ariel's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRd8T_...
Raeleen's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p606h...
(the meme at the top explains my life, can't wait for the read-athon to start!)

2 day update

Pages read: 724
Pages read this week: 302
Books read:3
As you can probably tells I did not post anything yesterday, that is because I was waiting to finished Reached by Allie Condie and do both reviews at the same time.
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer 4/5
This book is set in a futuristic North America were drug lords rule the country, and is told by the main character Matt as he grows up on the ranch/palace of El Patron who is the opium drug lord.  Matt's grows up in a life were he is treated like an animal because he is a clone used to keep El Patron alive.  He quickly realizes that other people are deciding what his destiny is going to be and decided to take his future into his own hands.  I slowly started to became completely engrossed in the book after the first few chapters and it was completely worth every minute spent, it was an incredible book (I would explain more but I don't want to give any spoilers!) that I did not want to stop, which is why I am excited to read the next book The Lord of Opium
coming out on 9.3.13!  

Reached by Allie Condie 3.4/5
This was the last book in the best selling Matched Trilogy, and explains how the Society is taken down by the Rising, by means of a plague, which is lead by  the mysterious Pilot.  To help insure everyone's safety Cassie, Ky, and Xander have to help cure a mutation in the Plague that was used to stop the Society.  Many plot twists and potential romances occur (queue the fan-girling) and was definitely a good ending to the series.  To me the thing that stood out most was the cover art of the three books, it is incredibly well thought out and I loved how it tied in with the read, blue, and green pills in the books.   All in all it was a good summer read. 

Need To Keep Reading

Pages read: 645
Pages read this week: 223
Books read: 2
I just finished The House of the Scorpion last night! It was an incredible book that invites you in and slowly takes you on an incredible journey.   Review will be up tomorrow...  I put Reached by Ally Condie down for awhile but started reading it again last night,  and it is by far my favorite of the Matched Trilogy not only are the characters finally being properly developed but the  devotion that they have for each other is inspiring.  Unfortunatly I'm not having a lot of progress with The Life of Pi, while it is well written and entertaining it's a bit weird... But I will keep trying

Weekly post

Pages read: 422
Pages read this week: 422
Books read: 1
My weekend has been insane to say the least... And I did not get to read as much as I wanted to (only 127 pages).  The computer that I usually use has been having issues so that did not help the situation.  Here is the updated book list (it does not have books that I have finished reading...just for future reference)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel pg. 150
The Diviners by Libba Bray pg. 1
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer pg. 269
Reached by Ally Condie pg. 321
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman pg. 3
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher pg. 55
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson pg. 20
Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner pg. 1
and The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness pg. 3

Late post...

Pages read: 295
Books read: 1
I have officially finished The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird! But my sister gave me her copy of The Diviners by Libba Bray and I remembered that I was reading Reached by Ally Condie, so those two books will go only the revised list.

Review of...The Betrayal of Maggie Blair 2.5/5 stars
Set in the Scotland during the 1600's, this potentially amazing setting and well developed characters seems to fall flat with a lack of excitement and adventure.  This book was also misleading, the back of the book advertised that it was about the main character, Maggie, and Grandmother being convicted as witches.  In fact this is not the case it is just the circumstances for which Maggie runs away from home and tries to create a new life.  Despite all of this, the story was sweet and a definite coming of age tale with a history/religion lesson thrown in. 

Daily update...

Pages Read: 264
Yesterday I only read 92 pages...Which is not great, but it's progress.  I hopefully can finish The Betrayal of Maggie Blair and if I am lucky The House of the Scorpion, but that is unlikely.  When I do finish the books (hopefully soon...) a review should be up fairly quickly, the only problem is deciding what book I should read next.

Daily update

Pages read so far: 172

The books that I am mainly focusing on are The Betrayal of Maggie Blair, The Life of Pi, and The House of the Scorpion.  My favorite at the moment is the House of the Scorpion, this book is not only incredibly well written but you get to "grow up" with the main character Matt and become more attached to the hardships he endures(I will have a review up in about a week...) 

I have decided to participate in the bucket list reading challenge hosted by  http://www.thetalescompendium.com.  This challenge is to read books that you have been meaning to get to, they must be over a year old, and the end of the challenge is December 31, 2013

Here is the buck list!

Redwall by Brian Jacques 

My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christoper Collier

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B White 

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells 

Witch and Wizard The Fire by James Patterson 

Game of Thrones by Martin George R.R 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan 

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

(These are just some of the books that I want to read, the only reason they have made the list is either I already have them or people keep bugging me to read)

Summer Read-Athon

It has been exactly 1 week since school has gotten out and I have decided to do something productive with my summer for once.  This is why I have started a blog dedicated to my read habits and hopefully learn more about the book reading community.  For me and many other bibliophiles summer is just on continuous read-athon which for me will start today.  This will entitle daily to weekly posts about how much I have read, book reviews, book hauls, and the occasional DIY.    So to get started the books that I am currently reading are...
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer pg. 32
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel pg. 106
The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird pg. 290
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness pg. 3
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman p.3

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner p.1
Devil in The White City by Erik Larson pg. 20
and...Incarceron by Catherine Fisher pg. 55