Bout of Books 15 Master Post

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

My Sign-up Post and Read-a-thon TBR

Bout of Books Read-a-thon 15 Wrap-up

Overall Bout of Books Stats:

Total Pages Read: 375

Total Books Read: 5

Total Books Completed:4

Dispite the fact that my progress seemed to die out towards the end of the week, I am very happy with the books I completed and read. The first three books were short stories, so they didn't take me long to read. I picked shorter books this time for this reason. Also because it is a great way to stock pile reviews. The last book I was in the middle of when the read-a-thon began, so it was nice to be able to finish that up. 

Unfortunately I didn't participate in all of the challenges and I didn't interact very much with the other participants. Hopefully I will remedy that when the next read-a-thon comes around.

 

 

Sunday Stats:

Total Pages Read: 0

Books Read: 0

Challenges Completed: 0

Comments: Yep.. big fat zeros all down the board for me on this last day of BOB. Basically I slept.. all day long and didn't pick up a book at all. Not a great way to cap off the week, I know, but it happened

Saturday Stats: 
Total Pages Read: 35

Books Read:
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

Books Completed: 0

Challenges Completed: 0

Comments: Do you ever have those days where you thought that you read more than you actually did? Yep that was Day 6 for me. I didn't participate in the challenge either. :(

Overall Bout of Books Stats:

Total Pages Read: 375

Total Books Read: 5

Total Books Completed:4

Friday Stats:

Total Pages Read: 28

Books Read:

 The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

Books Completed: 0

Challenges Completed: 0

Comments: Clearly not such a great day in reading. And I didn't participate in the challenge. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Overall Bout of Books Stats:

Total Pages Read: 340

Total Books Read: 5

Total Books Completed:4

Thursday Stats:

Total Pages Read: 61
Books Read: 1
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede

Books Completed: 1

Challenges Completed: 0
Comments: I'm glad I was able to finish off this book that I had been reading previous to the read-a-thon. Unfortunately I didn't participate in the challenge.


Overall Bout of Books Stats:

Total Pages Read: 312

Total Books Read:4

Total Books Completed:4

Wednesday Stats: 
Total Pages Read: 40

Books Read:

The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede

Books Completed: 0
Challenges Completed: 1


Challenge 3: The Rainbow Author Challenge hosted by Ranty Runt of a Reader


R- Rosnay, Tatiana de
O- Oke, Janette
Y- Young, Wm. Paul
G- Gowda, Shilpi Somaya
B- Brashares, Ann
I- Ius, Dawn
V- Vonnegut, Kurt

Comments: Eh, only 40 pages read today. Not so great, but I did participate in the challenge and I am enjoying the book I'm reading. I hope to get it finished on day 4.

Overall Bout of Books Stats:

Total Pages Read: 251

Total Books Read:4

Total Books Completed: 3

Tuesday Stats: 

Total Pages Read: 62

Books Read:

Steak in a Drawer by Eric Conroy

Books Completed: 1

Total Challenges Completed: 1


 Challenge 2: Would You Rather? Hosted by Writing My Own Fairy Tale

1. Would you rather: Lend books to someone who dog-ears or to someone who reads with cheesy Cheetos fingers?Both of these options make me cringe, but I'd go with someone who dog-ears because then I could still read the book again.
2. Would you rather: Be able to meet one character of your choice or meet one author of your choice?I would rather meet the author because they know their characters better than anyone else, so in turn you are essentially meeting both.
3. Would you rather: Never be allowed in a bookstore again or never be allowed in a library again?I would go with never being allowed to go into a bookstore again. Mostly because it would save me a lot of money, ha!
4. Would you rather: Have to choose one of your favourite characters to die in their book or have to pick one of your favourite couples to break up in their book?One of my favourite couples to break up because that way at least I can still enjoy these individual characters. And there is always the chance they could reunite.
5. Would you rather: Be required to read Twilight once a year for the rest of your life or The Scarlet Letter once a year for the rest of your life? I have never read either of these books, but reading The Scarlet Letter interests me more than Twilight.
   
   

Comments: I didn't spend as much time reading on day 2, but I did start and finish 1 book. I also participated in the challenge. So far I am happy with my progress.

Overall Bout of Books Stats:

Total Pages Read: 211

Total Books Read: 3

Total Books Completed: 3

Total Challenges Completed: 2

Monday Stats:

Total Pages Read: 149

Books Read: 2
Total Time Read: 2.1 hrs

Books Completed:
The Mitford Snowmen by Jan Karon
Full House by Maeve Binchy 

Total Challenges Completed: 1

Challenge 1: Introduce yourself using only 6 words.

#insixwords #boutofbooks

A Canadian blogger and book lover.

Comments: I am really happy with my progress for Day 1. I read two short stories and participated in the first challenge.

Overall Bout of Books Stats:

Total Pages Read: 149
Total Time Read: 2.1
Total Books Completed: 2

Total Challenges Completed:1

Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Resolutions for 2016

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

As we make our way through the first full week of 2016, we are discussing our resolutions for the year. Normally I am not one for setting a strict resolution for myself, because lets face it; I know I won't keep it. So instead I am going to list some blog and reading related goals and good intentions I hope to achieve and stick with over the next 12 months.


1. Having completed my Goodreads challenge early and upping my total goal several times in 2015, this year I plan to set a goal that will actually challenge me, without being too daunting.

2. I would like to connect more with my readers and fellow bloggers. I hope to get to know them more and make some new friends. To do this I plan to get more involved in comments and discussions.

3. I would like to set up a good posting schedule so that I am updating more throughout the week.will be using this notebook to keep track:

 

4. Also using my notebook I will keep track of my monthly reviews and when they are due to be posted. This way I will keep up with my deadlines. 

 5. Aside from my annual Goodreads challenge I will be participating in some new challenges this year. Two of those include:

6. Being from a small town my local library has a small amount of cardholders and unfortunately it is struggling to compete with larger branches. This year I hope to do my part as a community member and borrow more library books both in physical and audio copy. 

7. I hope to take time to re-read some old favourites including the Harry Potter series.

8. And to catch up with and finish some series I am behind in. Like; 

...And...

9. I plan to keep up with DNF'ing books that I can't seem to get into or like.

10. And last but not least I want to just simply have fun, because that really is why I blog afterall.

 

Do you normally set a New Years resolution for yourself? If so what do you hope to achieve this year? If you participated in this weeks Top 10 Tuesday don't forget to leave me your links in the comments.

 

Bout of Books 15 Sign-up and TBR

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Its Bout of Books time once again! This week long event is one of my favourite read-a-thons to participate in. It kicks off in just over 2 hours and I am excited to see what progress I can make.

The past two times I took part in this read-a-thon I just tried my best to complete the books I was already reading. But this time I decided to change things up a little bit.

I have selected 3 short books that I will be reading and only when I complete those will I allow myself to continue on with the books I am currently in the middle of.

So here is my Bout of Books 15 TBR:

The Mitford Snowmen by Jan Karon
Full House by Maeve Binchy

Steak in a Drawer by Eric Conroy

Then once I have completed those three books I will continue on with:

The Day the World Came to Town: 911 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim Defede

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

I would like to wish the best of luck to all who are participating. 

Happy reading to all!

Sunday Wrap-up: Jan. 3 2015 and January Book Haul

Happy New Year Everyone!

Offline Ramblings:

Well here we are, the first sunday in January. Where did 2015 go? It just flew by. I hope that you all had a wonderful New Years Eve/Day.

What did I do? Well truth be told, not a whole lot. New Years eve we opted to stay in and have a quiet night at home. It was a welcome change from such a hectic few weeks. We ordered takeout from our favourite Chinese restaurant and watched a movie. By 11:30 we were both falling asleep on the couch and decided to go to bed. So we were just dozing off as the new year was rang in. Kind of lame, I know, but thats ok. I don't mind staying in on NYE.

The next day we went out for dinner with my best friend and her husband. It was nice to finally see them. Even though we don't live too far away we have very different schedules, so we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like.

On the Blog: 

Recent Posts:

Tuesday: Submerged (Alaskan Courage #1) by Dani Pettrey (Book Review) Rating: 5/5
Wednesday: Christmas Morning Breakfast: Crock Pot Hash Brown and Sausage Casserole (Recipe)
Friday: Monthly Wrap-up: December 2015
Saturday:  Celebrating 1 Year Blogging

Aside from celebrating my 1 year anniversary of blogging, I also surpassed 10,000 page views! Which absolutely blows my mind. I would like to send out a huge thank you, once again to everyone who has stopped by. It really means a lot to me.

Upcoming Posts: 

This week I will be participating in the Bout-of-Books Read-a-thon, so stay tuned for daily posts.
Tuesday: Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Resolutions for 2016

Currently Reading:

 

January Book Haul 

This past week I brought more books into my house than I have since my summer vacation book haul. And I don't regret a thing, HA!

After learning that the Bout of Books read-a-thon was starting on Monday, January 4 I decided to stop by my library and pick up a few books. 

(Click on the links to be redirected to the Goodreads description for each book) 

I was browsing through my library's book sale section and I came across as hard cover copy of In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume.  It was in great condition and only cost me $1. 

  

These next two short books, I selected for the Bout-of-Books Read-a-thon.

The Mitford Snowmen by Jan Karon

Full House by Maeve Binchy  

 

Then yesterday (Saturday) I decided to go check out the deals at my nearest Chapters book store. I had a few gift cards given to me for Christmas and thought this would be a good time to use them.

Here is what I bought:

Open Heart, Open Mind by Clara Hughes was on sale for $10. Great deal! 

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume II by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I now have the complete two book set.

The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance by Kirsty Greenwood. I've loved this cover since the first time I saw it.

The last two books I had never heard of before and found in the bargain section.

The Villa by Rosanna Ley
Secrets of the Lighthouse by Santa Montefiore 

Have you read any of these books? If so let me know what you thought of them in the comments.

Today I am linking up with:

The Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer

It's Monday What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Date

 

Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

-Melissa Lee

Celebrating 1 Year Blogging!

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of my very first blog post. Its hard to believe that just 12 months ago I decided to start up my own page to share to the world of book lovers.

It all began with my introductory post and first review, then on from there.

I have met some amazing people. Bloggers, authors and readers alike. I have discovered some great books that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to read otherwise.

It has been a wonderful learning experience and I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Thank you to everyone who has taken time out of their day to check out my blog. To those who subscribe and those who come across my posts through memes. I appreciate each visit and comment and I look forward to many many more. 

Monthly Wrap-up: December 2015

Boy am I ever glad to have this month over with. Normally I am giddy with excitement and Christmas spirit, but this year was totally different. If you have been following along with my posts you know that the past several weeks have been very difficult. On the December 8 I had to have surgery to replace my pacemaker. It all went well and I am healing very fast, but the emotional side affects from the past trauma is really hard to overcome. So that is why I just wasn't into the holidays this year. I didn't even put up any decorations. Ah well hopefully next year will be better and I will go all out.

We spent a lot of time with our family over the holidays. Enjoying their company and some yummy food.

Also on the 8th my man and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. He took me out for a nice Irish dinner the weekend before.

And really that is about it on the personal front, so lets move on..

My December Reading Progress 

This month I completed 3 books, which is less than I normally read in a month. However I'm not upset about this because it was very hard for me to get into a reading mood. Also I am very pleased with my reading progress this year. I do hope to aim for more books read for the month of January though, but we will see what the following weeks bring.

Books Completed:

1. Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum #16) by Janet Evanovich (Rating: 3.5/5)
2. Submerged (Alaskan Courage) by Dani Pettrey (Rating: 5/5)
3. Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay (Rating: 4/5) REVIEW COMING SOON

As you can see from my rating that I did enjoy the books I read this month. It was definitely quality over quantity as far as content is concerned.

The Stats:

Favourite Book of the Month: Submerged (Alaskan Courage #1) by Dani Pettrey
Favourite Setting: Yancey Alaska (Submerged)
Favourite Character: Cole McKenna (Submerged)
Longest Book Read: Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum #1) by Janet Evanovich 326pgs
Shortest Book Read: Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay 293pgs
Total Number of Pages Read: 939 pgs
Total Number of Fiction Books Read: 3
Total Number of Non Fiction Books Read: 0

Currently Reading

January TBR

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season and wishing everyone a very happy new year!


EDIT:  I knew I forgot something..

Linking up with:

Month in Review hosted by Kathryn at Book Date