gracerene
07 January 2015 @ 09:00 am
Because I am obsessed with reading, I'm doing another challenge! :D

My goal for the year is 100 books, and though I have a ton of books just sitting around my apartment waiting to be read, it's likely they will be thrown over for newer, shinier (easier) books. Which is where the TBR Pile Challenge comes in! (thanks for bringing this awesome thing to my attention, [livejournal.com profile] josephinestone)

Basically you pick 12 books that you haven't read yet that have been sitting on your bookshelf for over a year, and you read them within 12 months!

I'm currently finishing up the Heroes of Olympus series before they are due back at the library (1 down, 4 to go!), but then I will pick one of these! Any suggestions about where I should start?

The List
1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling (review)
2. 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
3. Persuasion by Jane Austen (review)
4. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
5. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne (review)
6. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
7. The Gauntlet Thrown by Cheryl Dyson (aka [livejournal.com profile] dysonrules)
8. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
9. Oh the Glory of it All by Sean Wilsey
10. Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe
11. Mr. Perfect by Lisa Howard (review)
12. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Alternates
1. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
2. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

(Wow, finding books was a lot harder than I thought it would be! Turns out I don't have very many books lying around that I haven't read!)
 
 
gracerene
I like to take advantage of the Amazon Prime Kindle Lending Library, and I'm trying to pick out a free book for October. So I was wondering if any of you guys use this program and have any recommendations? I've been mainly reading m/m romances, but I'm pretty open.

So far I've read:
The Backup Boyfriend: FANTASTIC
Blue Notes: Enjoyable + cross gen :D
A Marked Man: Not a fan. Boring story, no chemistry between the characters, and not great writing.
Winter Wolf and sequel City Wolf: Surprisingly enjoyable, though the last book ends on a cliff hanger...

Like I said, any recs are welcome. Even if you don't have Amazon prime, I'd love to hear if you have any new m/m recs! I've really only been reading about one a month lately, and I miss reading them. :D
 
 
Current Mood: curious
 
 
gracerene
10 April 2014 @ 11:50 am
One of my more specific New Years Resolutions was to read at least 12 books. Before college I used to read ALL the time, usually multiple books per week, but I stopped making time for personal reading once I got busy with classes and homework and textbooks. I've since graduated, but it's hard to get back into the habit, especially since reading fanfiction has seemed to take its place.

I've decided to keep a post with the books I've read just to see progress! My newly formed book club should help with this, but since some of the girls are going to be moving away in a few months, I can't count on it alone to get me through the last part of the year.

Books I Have Read in 2014:
1. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
3. The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth (technically 3 books, but I'm going to count it as one)
4. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
5. Promises by Marie Sexton
6. Maze Runner by James Dashner
7. Cut & Run by Abigail Roux
8. Merrick by Claire Cray
9. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
10. Catch a Ghost by S.E. Jakes

Currently Reading:
• Moneyball by Michael Lewis (for April's bookclub)
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Things On My Bookshelf I Still Need to Read:
• Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
• Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
• A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
• Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
• Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling (actually my roommates, but I want to read it)
• Oh the Glory of it All by Sean Wilsey
• Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi
(read the first book when it first came out, bought the last two, then my friend borrowed the 1st and 2nd book, left them at her parents house 2 hours away from Seattle, and moved to Germany for a year. I am DYING to read the last two, but too stubborn to pay for books I already own....this one might be awhile)
 
 
Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: In My Place by Coldplay
 
 
gracerene
06 January 2014 @ 01:04 pm


Fandom Snowflake Challenge banner


Day Six

In your own space, share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Something that impacted on your consciousness in a way that left its mark on your soul.


There are probably several things that I could put here, But I am going to have to go with Harry Potter.

Okay, this turned out to be way, way longer than it really needed to be... )
 
 
Current Mood: nostalgic
 
 
gracerene
25 December 2013 @ 10:34 am
chistmas copy


I am working part of today and my family lives a few hours away, so I will be celebrating this weekend. Which means once I finish with work I have all day to catch up on some of those long fics I have bookmarked! I hope you all have a fantastic day/week/holiday season and that you all have plenty of time to relax with your loved ones!
 
 
Current Music: Baby, It's Cold Outside by Bing Crosby and Dorris Day
Current Mood: calm
 
 
gracerene
04 December 2013 @ 01:38 pm
I have seen a ton of people doing this Book Meme on LJ and on tumblr and I have been wanting to join in for awhile, so... I've always been a huge reader and I actually still have a list of "books to read" that I got in high school from my freshman Honor's English teacher that I have been steadily working my way through. Anyways, not a lot of * on this list because I find it extremely difficult to leave a book unfinished, even if I don't like it that much...But there were actually several book son this list that I have never even heard of!

I used to read at least a book a week in high school, but when I got to college, that number dropped dramatically. If I had time to read, I was reading textbooks. And then I discovered the wonderful world of fanfiction my senior year of college, and that became my funtime reading, because it was so much easier and quicker to read short sexy stories than a classic novel (despite the fact that several of the fanfics I've read are novel-length). I graduated this last June though, and I think it is time that I get back into reading. Fan-fiction is awesome and some of it is so so well-written, but this list has made me miss some of the subtitles of the classics :)

List of 100 Books Below! )
 
 
Current Music: Lord of the Rings Soundtrack
Current Mood: productive