Indigo League #ReadThemAllThon Sign Up and TBR

Hey guys! So the lovely Aentee @ Read at Midnight not only created a Pokémon Go Book Tag, but she's also the mastermind behind the Indigo League #ReadThemAllThon reading challenge! The goal of the challenge is to read books based on the eight gyms of the Indigo League in the Kanto Region of the Pokémon universe. The challenge runs from August 14 until September 4, so it doesn't start for quite a while, but I am SO EXCITED. If you're interested in joining or finding out more info, you should definitely check out Aentee's sign up/FAQ post here.

          source

Along with the badges we can collect, there's also the option of choosing ONE Pokémon that starts with 10 CP and based on the number of pages read, badges earned, etc., their CP will increase. For example, +1 CP for every 10 pages read and +20CP for every badge earned, and once they reach a certain CP, they will be able to evolve. There are a lot more details and ways you can earn points as well, but you'll have to read Aentee's post for more details.

The Pokémon I've chosen is Oddish. Oddish has three stages of evolution, and he's also really cute (just saying). I also really want a Vileplume (Oddish's final evolution).

Now for my TBR, shall we? (Credit to Aentee for the fabulous graphics.)

The First Gym

For this challenge, I'm going to attempt to read The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I've been wanting to read it for a while, so I'm really hoping to read it by the end of this summer. Plus, if I succeed, I'll get a TON of CP points for my Oddish.

1258 pages, potential +125CP

The Second Gym

For this one, I'll go with Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Her other novel, Between Shades of Gray, was an incredible book that made me cry, and I'm guessing this one will have a similar effect on me.

400 pages, potential +40CP

The Third Gym

For this challenge, I'm planning to read Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. I started reading this one a while ago since I loved Susan's other books, but the hype was so overwhelming that I had to put it down. And I never picked it back up, but I've wanted to. So now's the perfect opportunity!

415 pages, potential +41CP

The Fourth Gym

I'm going to go with Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst for this gym! I've been meaning to pick it up for a while now after winning it in a giveaway, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

389 pages, potential +38CP

The Fifth Gym

For this one, I think I'm going to have to go with A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. Everyone has been obsessed with this book since it came out, and I've heard it's even better than A Court of Thorns and Roses. I'm really interested to see what all the hype is about in regard to Feysand... since everyone seems to be in love with them.

640 pages, potential +64CP

The Sixth Gym

For this gym, I'm going to go with This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab. I'm so excited to read this book, and I think it's a perfect fit for this challenge.

427 pages, potential +42CP

The Seventh Gym

For this challenge, I'm hoping to read Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby. This book has been sitting on my shelf FOREVER, and I think it's time to finally give it a read.

304 pages, potential +30CP

The Eighth (and Final) Gym

For this one, I'll go with Prodigy by Marie Lu. I may end up switching this to a reread of Legend since I haven't read it in a while and the details of the trilogy are a bit blurry, but we'll see.

371 pages, potential +37CP

Making Waves Reading Challenge

The Making Waves Reading Challenge is a challenged hosted by the Waterwitch Babes, and was created by one of the Waterwitches, Carine @ Ceres Books World.

To make it easier for participants because we all have busy schedules, and Nanowrimo is coming up, we have different levels of participation.  Pick whichever level you feel you can accomplish before January 5th.The challenge starts today and ends January 5th (the day Truthwitch is released!).  For the challenge we are asking participants to read any books that can be related to the elements.  For example, there is an elemental name in the title, or the story itself can be linked to an element as outlined below:

Water: a book about pirates or mermaids
Fire: a romance or passionate, dramatic story
Air: a book about angels or dragons
Aether: paranormal read
Void: a murder mystery, or novel with insanity and blood
Earth: a book with farming or with strong links to the land

Obviously there are a lot of books that can be open to interpretation (part of the fun is trying to fit a book into an element!)

The Levels of Participation: 

EARTH - read 1-2 books

The most practical guesstimate of how many books you feel you can read for this challenge!

WATER - read 3-4 books

Clearly you are making waves in your reading schedule, and the Waterwitch Babes are especially proud of you!

AIR - read 5-6 books

You are literally taking off, this is a stellar amount of books to read for this challenge!

FIRE - read 7-8 books

Your fiery passion for reading is most evident!

AETHER - read 9-10 books

It is truly sublime how dedicated a reader you are!

VOID - read 11+ books

This is the highest level, there is no going back.

~~~

I usually set reading challenge goals extremely high and fail, however this time I think I will actually be able to reach my goal. For now, I am going to say my goal is FIRE, but I have a feeling when December comes around I will have much more free time and will hopefully be able to read even more than seven or eight books.

~Alexandra

Blog Ahead Challenge ~October 2015~

Hey guys! This challenge came to my attention through my blogging friend Nori @ReadWriteLove28. It is a month-long challenge hosted by Anna @herding cats & burning soup and Kimberly @Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Blog Ahead 2015

• Purpose: Increase the number of scheduled blog posts you have ready to publish by 31 posts during the month of October. (You can set your own goal) All post will be scheduled from November 1st or later.
• Who Can Join: Any blogger or author can join. Brand new, been around for years.Blogger, WordPress or other platform. Any heat level, genre or theme, etc. If you blog…you’re welcome to join!
• Types of Posts that Count: Any finished posts count! Meme, review, guest post, interview, discussion. Top Ten Posts, Favorites posts, Shopping Guide Posts, Cooking posts, pet posts, photo posts, etc. Posts do NOT have to be book related.
• Required: The post must be complete and scheduled from November 1, 2015 onward. (So not just blurb, buy links, etc for a review post. The review needs to be complete for the post to count.)

I have been really behind on blogging lately and have been posting fewer and fewer posts, so I am hoping that this challenge will push me to write posts in preparation for the months to come (but of course posts for October are first priority since I have plans for October, but haven't actually written most of the actual posts yet.)

~Alexandra

September is For Sequels 2/3 Update

Yesterday marked the official 2/3-of-the-way-done mark for the September is For Sequels Challenge, so I thought I'd give a quick update. I honestly give myself too much credit when I sign up for these challenges... It's been 20 days and I've only read one sequel (and only two books total) this whole month. I've just started another sequel, but nonetheless I had much higher expectations for myself.

I need to learn that when I sign up to read 8 books for challenges of any length it's just not going to happen... 8 has pretty much been my goal for every reading challenge I've participated in and I've never read more than half of that by the end of the challenges.

Finished:

Currently Reading:

Are you participating in the September is for Sequels Challenge? How are you doing so far?

~ Alexandra

Beat the Heat Readathon Wrap-Up

The Beat the Heat Readathon was officially over Sunday at 11:59 PM, but I never got around to writing the wrap-up, so here it is... Better late than never, right?

My goals (for the readathon) were as follows:
- read 7-9 books total
- read at least one classic
- participate in a few mini-challenges

Okay, this is kind of sad (at least in my opinion), but I did not complete any of my goals for the readathon... Hehe. I only finished three books, and got fifty pages into a fourth, and did not read any classics (although I did read two books from genres I do not normally read). In addition, I attempted some mini-challenges, but did not fully participate in any of them.

The books I read:

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

West with the Night by Beryl Markham

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I'd like to just give a quick shout-out and thank Jessi @Novel Heartbeat and Reanna @Phantasmic Reads for hosting this readathon. Although I did not reach my goals, I still had a lot of fun :)

That's all for this readathon! If you participated, how'd you do?

~ Alexandra

Beat the Heat Readathon - (Brief) Week 1 Update

The first week of the Beat the Heat Readathon is finally over! And so far, I am very behind. If I were to add the number of pages I've read total, it would be approximately equivalent to one very short book, but I have been juggling four different books the past week, and have yet to finish any of them.  Here's how I did so far:

54 pages of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
17 pages of West with the Night by Beryl Markham
140 pages of Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
20 pages of Throne of Glass
_______
231 pages read
no books completed
2 mini-challenges attempted but incomplete

I absolutely have to finish WWTN and MR (for assignments), and I really want to finish Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight (book 2), and Heir of Fire (book 3) since the fourth book releases tomorrow, so hopefully I will have completed at least 5 books by the end of this readathon. Although it is not as much as I hoped, it is still a decent amount for a two week readathon.

~Alexandra

P.S. General blog statement -- I am currently editing a discussion post that should be up by tomorrow or Wednesday!

September is for Sequels Challenge Sign-Up

September is for Sequels is a month-long event hosted by Lisa Loves Literature.  It is an event that encourages us to catch up on sequels (any book in a series other than book one) that have been sitting on our shelves.  I am really bad about following through with series, so I am hoping to make the best of this event!

Objective:
To read and review a minimum of 4 sequels between the dates of September 1st and 30th, 2015.

Rules:

• It would be good if you had a blog to post reviews, or you can be a Goodreads Member and post your reviews on the site.  I'll open it up to people who want to post reviews on Amazon or Barnes and Noble as well.
• The book must be a sequel - it can be any # in the series, just not the first book.  Prequels can count if they were published AFTER the first one in the series.  You can do e-books, even ARCs or e-galleys, as well as good old fashioned books.  And, I'll even let you count the little 1.5 novellas that are often published as e-books only.  
• The deadline to sign up and participate is September 15th.  
• You must post on your blog an entry that has a list of the sequels you're planning to read, but it doesn't have to be complete, or you could even just post your goal, do you plan to read 8, or more?  You can always go back as the month proceeds and enter the books as you read and review them.  If you don't have a blog, then you can just post a comment on this post listing your goals.
• Make sure you grab the button and put it in your entry post, or on the sidebar of your blog.

Goal: I am hoping to read at least 8 books for this challenge.

Some Sequels I Want To Read:

• Unhinged by A.G. Howard
• Prodigy and Champion by Marie Lu
• The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
• Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau
• Once We Were by Kat Zhang
• Deception by C.J. Redwine
• Crash Into You by Katie McGarry
• Promise Bound by Anne Greenwood Brown
• The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
• Two by Leigh Ann Kopans

Other Sequels I Need To Get To:

• Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel
• Torment and Passion by Lauren Kate
• Blood-Kissed Sky by J.A. London
• Reached by Ally Condie

~Alexandra

Beat the Heat Readathon Updates!

And so the craziness begins...

As a reminder, my goals for this readathon are as follows:

- read 7-9 books total

- read at least one classic

- participate in a few mini-challenges

WEEK 1:

Day 1: Monday, August 24
Currently Reading: ---
Progress: ---

Day 2: Tuesday, August 25
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Progress: read 54 pages

Day 3: Wednesday, August 26
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Progress: ---

Day 4: Thursday, August 27
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, West with the Night by Beryl Markham
Progress: read 16 pages of WWTN

Day 5: Friday, August 28
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, West with the Night
Progress: ---

Day 6: Saturday, August 29
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, West with the Night, Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
Progress: read 140 pages of MR

Day 7: Sunday, August 30
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, West with the Night, Mystic River, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Progress: read 20 pages of ToG

WEEK 2:

Day 8: Monday, August 31
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, West with the Night, Mystic River, Throne of Glass
Progress:  read 100 more pages of ToG, read 152 pages of MR

Day 9: Tuesday, September 1
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, West with the Night, Throne of Glass
Progress: finished Mystic River (read 168 pages), read 29 pages of WWTN

Day 10: Wednesday, September 2
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, West with the Night, Throne of Glass
Progress: read 80 pages of ToG, read 21 pages of WWTN

Day 11: Thursday, September 3
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, West with the Night, Throne of Glass
Progress:  read 12 pages of ToG, read 70 pages of WWTN

Day 12: Friday, September 4
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, West with the Night, Throne of Glass
Progress: read 128 pages of WWTN

Day 13: Saturday, September 5
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, Throne of Glass
Progress: finished West with the Night (read 30 pages), read 161 pages of ToG

Day 14: Sunday, September 6
Currently Reading: Shadow and Bone, Crown of Midnight
Progress: finished Throne of Glass (read 35 pages), 

~Alexandra

BookTubeaThon Wrap-Up

Well, BookTubeaThon is officially over, and I only managed to read 2 books within the past week.  I am a bit disappointed, but it's all good!! I was rather busy during the week, and I did manage to complete 3 out of 7 challenges, so I am rather pleased with that outcome, at least. (That's almost half the challenges done! Yay!) Here are the books I read:

Challenge 6 - a book that you really want to read:

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Challenge 1 - read a book with blue on the cover

Challenge 5 - finish a book without letting go of it

So that wraps up BookTubeaThon 2015… I am planning on participating on more readathons in the future, and reading even more great books!

~Alexandra

Beat the Heat Readathon Sign-Up

I am super excited to announce that I am going to attempt another readathon this August!  I have been really behind on my reading for the readathon I am currently participating in, so I really wanted to give myself a second chance and see how well I can do!

The 3rd Annual Beat the Heat Readathon is hosted by Jessi @Novel Heartbeat and Reanna @Phantasmic Reads.

The Rules

• The Beat the Heat Readathon runs from August 24th at 12:00 AM to September 6th at 11:59 PM. What does this readathon entail, you ask? Well, read as much or as little as you want – the main point is to READ! You set your own goal, and for three weeks you read as many books as you can/want to reach your goal!

• There will be mini-challenges throughout the Readathon for participants, along with a grand prize giveaway at the end!

• Sign up here at Novel Heartbeat, or over at Phantasmic Reads. You may join whenever you like, but to be eligible for our grand prize giveaway, you must sign up by August 28th.

• To join, all you have to do is make a sign-up post – even if it’s just a “Let’s do this!” thing – and add your post URL to the linky below! You can put your goals and progress (will be required for the final giveaway) in your sign-up post, or you can make it separate. Totally up to you! (You are welcome to use the template we provide in the kick-off post as well.)

• In order to enter for the grand prize, you must have a post to keep track of your progress so we can see that you participated.

• Follow along on Twitter and share your progress with the hashtag #BtHReadathon!

I am hoping to read a lot for this readathon in order to catch up with some summer reading goals.  My goals (for this readathon) are as follows:
- read 7-9 books total
- read at least one classic
- participate in a few mini-challenges


Good luck to everyone who is doing the Readathon!
~Alexandra

BookTubeaThon TBR

Hi everyone!  My friend recently told me about BookTubeaThon, and I thought it would be super fun to give it a try.  "The BookTubeaThon is a week long readathon hosted by Ariel Bissett [on BookTube]! A time for the BookTube community to all come together and do what we read best: consume books in massive quantities!"  I am not a BookTuber, but I still thought it would be a fun experience and really help me read more books this summer, since I have been dragging behind the past two months.  BookTubeaThon is happening from August 3 (today!) to August 9.  Now for the challenges:

1// Read a book with blue on the cover

I have been wanting to read this one for a really long time (since before it even came out!), but never got around to it.  I'm borrowing it from my awesome book-loving friend, so I really need to get it back to her ASAP.  And the cover is GORGEOUS and blue.

2// Read a book by an author who shares the same first letter of your last name

You have absolutely no idea how hard it was to find a book with an author whose last name begins with Y.  It was pretty much either The 5th Wave or… The 5th Wave.  I seriously had a ton of trouble finding a book to satisfy the challenge.

3// Read someone else's favorite book

The 5th Wave and Falling Kingdoms both satisfy this challenge.

4// Read the last book you acquired

5// Finish a book without letting go of it

For this challenge, I decided to choose The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.  It is a super short read so it shouldn't be too hard to read without letting go of it, even if I do have to take a break from reading.  Also, I have been wanting to read more classics, so there's that aspect of it as well.

6// Read a book you really want to read

People always seem to talk about Shadow and Bone, and I want to know what they're all talking about!  The Darkling is always brought up in conversation, and even though the book sounds great in general, I want to know why everyone seems to love this character that is so bad.

7// Read seven books

The additional books to reach the seven book goal may change, but I have been wanting to read Looking For Alaska for a while (especially since I've seemed to enjoy every John Green book I read more than the last) and I also finally got my hands on a copy of Etiquette and Espionage, so I figured I'd give them a shot if I can squeeze them in this week.

Good luck to all those participating in Booktubeathon… And as Effie Trinket would say, "May the odds be ever in your favor!"
~Alexandra

2015 Discussion Challenge

I recently discovered the 2015 Book Blog Discussion Challenge, hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight, and thought it would be fun to sign up and see how well I can do.

"This challenge is to help get us discussing books and book blogging, so talk about whatever you want as long as it’s relevant to book blogging. Discussions can be book related or book blogging related (or generally blogging related – no discussions about things that are completely off-topic like travel or fashion, etc). Discussions can also be about you personally if it’s a get-to-know-you type post."

Even though more than half the year has gone by already, I have been meaning to write more discussion posts, so hopefully this will be an awesome way to motivate myself to do so, and also discover some more awesome bloggers!

The Levels:

1-12 – Discussion Dabbler
13-24 – Creative Conversationalist
25-36 – Chatty Kathy
37-48 – Terrifically Talkative
49+ – Gift of the Gab

Despite my lateness in joining this challenge, I am going to shoot for Creative Conversationalist.  I believe that if I put my mind to it, I will be able to reach that goal and (hopefully) write up some awesome discussion posts in the process.

~Alexandra