Bout of Books 10.0: Day 3 (Wednesday, May 15)

Reading Completed:

Today I read a total of 247 pages.  I surpassed my goal :) Here is what I read today:

• Finished Awakening Dream (44%-end; 131 pages)
• Continued Thrive (76%-87%; 25 pages)
• Read some out of my Bible from the Book of Job and the Book of Psalm (5 pages)
• Continued reading Deception (15%-38%; 86 pages)

I enjoyed Awakening Dream so much more than the first book in the series, Awakening Dream.  The plot was so rich!  More about that though in the review that will be posted tomorrow.

I am really enjoying Thrive, but it is very rich in spiritual inspiration and guidance that I can only read so much in one sitting.

I did a Bible study with my fiance and read some out of Psalms today.  I continued my reading of the Book of Job also.  It's really great, of course.

Deception is so amazing!  It is one of the best and unique vampire books I have read in a long time.  It is written so well.  I cannot wait to read the rest of this book!

 

Other Bout of Book News:

Today I did one Bout of Books challenges: This Made Me Think of That

 I also participated in several informal reading sprints and the twitter chat.  Here are some of the questions and some of my answers for this twitter chat:

Q4. You’re being written into a book as a character. What type of character would you be and why? #boutofbooks
— Kelly Rubidoux (@soulswallo) May 15, 2014

A4: I would be the nerdy best friend that is too focused on reading a good book that the main character dies #boutofbooks
— Jessica Bradley (@blog_gal) May 15, 2014

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Q6. Fill in the blank: “Did you know that I___?” (tell us something unique about yourself!) #boutofbooks
— Kelly Rubidoux (@soulswallo) May 15, 2014

A6: Did you know that I do not know how to ride a bicycle #fail #boutofbooks
— Jessica Bradley (@blog_gal) May 15, 2014

Here are some other great/funny answers:

A6 everyone else is saying awesome stuff and I'm sitting here like....... I like potatoes #boutofbooks
— Beth's Books (@booksbybeth) May 15, 2014

A4: I would be the one who reads all the time but secretly time travels and solves mysteries... #boutofbooks
— What Katie Read (@KatePoseyPhD) May 15, 2014

 

So Today I: 

• Continued and Finished 1 book
• Continued Reading 2 books
• Read 247 pages
• Participated in 1 Bout of Books Challenge
• Participated in unofficial reading sprints
• Participated in the Twitter chat 

Bout of Books 10.0 Day 3 Challenge: This Made Me Think of That

Today's Bout of Books 10.0 challenge is entitled, "This Made Me Think of That".  Here is a blurb from the host of this challenge, The Overstuffed Shelves:

Just think about the book you are reading now, or one you've read before, and tell me something you think goes with it and why.
The something can be another book, a movie, a song, a ballet, a drink, a special food or meal...no need to get Proustian about it, but if madelines are involved, it's okay.

 I am going to relate the Unusual Awakening by S.M. Knowles to a few things.  I just finished this book yesterday for Bout of Books, so it is fresh on my mind.

This:

 

 made me think about:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2013/jun/18/sick-man-etiquette-short-term-illness

 

 

and

http://annawrites.com/blog/2013/08/14/real-family-real-sacrifice-whats-that-about/

This book made me cry so many times because of the bad circumstances that Rylee was in.  It also made me think about the importance of my family because Rylee's family was very important to her.

Bout of Books 10.0: Day 2 (Tuesday, May 13)

Reading Completed:

Today, I read a total of 210 pages.  I barely reached my goal of 200 pages.  Here is what I read:

• Finished Unusual Awakening by S.M. Knowles (last 60%; 107 pages)
• Started Awakening Dream by S.M. Knowled (44%; 103 pages)

I plan on finishing Awakening Dream tomorrow so that I can have a review out by Thursday for a blog tour.  I am enjoying this second book in the series much more than I enjoyed Unusual Awakening.

I also plan on reading and possibly finishing Thrive by Mark Hall.  I am currently 76% finished with this book.  I am not sure which book I will tackle after that to get my finishing pages for my 200 page goal.

Other Bout of Book News:

Today I did two Bout of Books challenges: Bookish Battle Royal and Most Anticipated Books.

I also participated in several reading sprints that were hosted by participates of Bout of Books, @bookishlou, @AliciaJespersen, and @HelenTheBookowl.  I also hosted a few sprints myself and plan on hosting a few tomorrow as well.

My favorite part about this read-a-thon so far is not meeting my goals, but rather meeting and sociallizing with new people.  I have met so many people through the sprints, challenges, and twitter chats.  I have also found new book review blogs that I am interested in keeping up with.  I cannot wait to see what tomorrow holds with this read-a-thon!

So Today I: 

• Continued and Finished 1 book
• Began 1 book
• Participated in 2 challenges
• Participated in several informal and unofficial reading sprints   

Children's Book Review Tuesdays: Educational Books

Book Title: Boy Meets Dog

Author:  Valerie Wyatt

Illustrations by: Dave Whamond

Publish Date: August 1, 2013

 Why I Read this Book: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes from Edelweiss.  This in no way influenced my review.

Find It Here: Amazon (affiliate link)

Review

This is a great interactive book!  This book starts out as a simple word game (changing one letter at a time in a word to make it another word) and became a cute little story. I would definitely recommend this book for children!

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age:  4-8

Overall Rating: 5/5

Book Title: The Wonderful Egg

Author:   Dhalov Ipcar

Illustrations by:  Dhalov Ipcar

Publish Date: May 13, 2014

Why I Read this Book: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes from Edelweiss.  This in no way influenced my review.

Find It Here: Amazon (affiliate link)

Review

I found this book a bit dry and I think children may find it dry also.  I liked the overall idea behind the book, but I do not think it was executed well.  I did like the illustrations.  It would be good for children who want to learn more about the different types of dinosaurs.

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age:  4-8

Overall Rating: 2/5

Bout of Books 10.0 Day 2 Challenge: Most Anticipated Books

This challenge is hosted by River City Reading.

Here is a blurb from her blog about the challenge:

Last month I created a list of ten summer titles I'm looking forward to. Your challenge is simple: create a list of titles you're looking forward to reading. They can be upcoming titles in a specific season, titles that have been on your shelves, it's up to you!

I am going to list the top 5 most anticipated books that I have on my shelf.  If I did the most anticipated books in general, we could be here for days.

 1.  The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
This book I picked up at a local library book sale.  It is an adult mystery.

 2.  Messiah in the Story of the Hebrew Scriptures by Greg Zhelezny

This is a book that shows how Jesus is in the Old Testament and not just the New Testament.  The mother of the author came to my church to talk about how Jesus is expressed in the Passover dinner.  This is when I picked up this book.

 3.  The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

I picked up a copy of this book at the Goodwill.  It is the version with the beautiful cover from the movie.  This is a young adult book about a girl who has died and gone to Heaven and is looking down to earth as life continues on earth.  Included in the people she sees is her murderer.

 4.  Gone by Michael Grant

I got this book from Book Outlet for a really good price.  This is a young adult book about when teens wake up everyone is gone except for the young.

5.  Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson

I got this book for Christmas last year.  This is an adult christian fiction novel about a female homicide investigator and a male FBI agent.









What are your most anticipated books on your shelf?  Comment or link your posts below.

Bout of Books 10.0 Day 2 Challenge: Bookish Battle Royal

This challenge is hosted by Christina @ My Life in Books.  Here are the rules:

1. Choose three or more fictional characters as combatants – they can be haphazardly picked or themed
2. List three strengths and weakness for each contender
3. Determine who would come out victorious and give a little explanation why you think they would win – get creative with the outcomes!
4. Link in the comments and if you tweet about this challenge make sure to use the hashtag #bookbattleroyal in addition to #boutofbooks because I want to see all your dueling characters!

I chose to pick an epic battle of paranormal proportions.

The Contenders

Our first contender is Gabil from The Lost Books Series by Ted Dekker.  Gabil is a rouch who oddly enough looks like a fluffy white bat.  He has amazing karate moves that are used best by flying creatures like himself.  He loves to boast, which may be seen as a disadvantage because he is unable to realize his own weaknesses due to his arrogancy.  He has the ability to swoop in from the skies and startle his opponents.  Will he win in this epic paranormal battle?

Our second contender is Samantha Ruiz from Rippler by Cidney Swanson.  Samantha Ruiz, called Sam by her friends, has the ability to disappear within seconds.  This ability may come in handy if projectiles come towards her.  The disadvantage to this technique is that she has to be extremely calm in order to be able to disappear, AKA ripple.  She is a fast runner as she participates in the track team at her high school.  She is light weight and people may not be able to see her coming (haha! ripple pun!).  She does have a clumsiness about her that may lead to her defeat.  Will Sam's ability to ripple give her the win in this epic paranormal battle?

Our last contender is Fluffy from the Harry Potter series.  Fluffy is a three-headed dog with a vicious growl.  His weakness is that he falls asleep rather quickly when music is played.

The Battle

Here we are at one of the lakes located in the forests of the Lost Books series.  I am your commentator, Lee Jordan from the Harry Potter series.  Fluffy seems to be ready to battle but where are our other contenders?  Oh there is Sam she just appeared from no where.  She is mighty fast and rather attractive, too.  Gabil comes flying from the sky with a...what is that?  Is that a flute?  Does he plan to use it as a sword?  No it seems as if he is playing it.  How does he fair that will help him in this competition?

Ohhhh... Fluffy seems to be falling asleep.  That flute seems to hold some power over the giant dog.  Hagrid its okay.  There is always next years competition.

As he continues to play the flute, Gabil seems to be flying in for a mighty roundhouse kick, but Sam quickly ripples out of sight.  Man this competition is really getting tough.

Oh there is Sam again, but her arm seems to be stuck in a tree.  Man that is bad luck for her as Gabil comes in with one of his famous kicks and Sam is out.  That arm is going to hurt for a while.  Maybe I can carry her books to class for her.  Well anyways, the winner is Gabil, the fierce rouch warrior.

Bout of Books 10.0: Day 1 (Monday, May 12)

Today I got quite a bit of reading done.  I was in a slump during the morning hours; I was reading a book that I did not really enjoy.  I picked up on my reading later in the day though.

Reading Completed:

I ended up reading 245 pages today (45 pages over my goal per day).  This included:

• Starting and Finishing Second Chances 101 by Donna K. Weaver (144 pages)
• Finishing Chosen by Ted Dekker (pages 230-260; 30 pages)
• Starting Unusual Awakening by S.M. Knowles (40%; 71 pages)

I really enjoyed Second Chances 101.  This is the 5th book in a romance novella series called The Ripple Effect Romance Novella series.  I am reading this novella series as part of a blog tour.  My review for this book will be posted on Friday.

I also really enjoyed the ending of Chosen by Ted Dekker.  This is a re-read, but it has been over 5 years since I first read this series.  A review for this book will be coming in the upcoming weeks.

I am not enjoying Unusual Awakening by S.M. Knowles.  This is the first book in the Rylee Everley series.  I am reviewing this as part of a blog tour and my review will be up Thursday.

Other Bout of Books News:

I also participated in a Twitter chat today and the challenge, "If you like X, try Y".  Here are some of my blurbs from the twitter chat:

Q3. Fill in the blank: “I’m a reader who is known for ___” #boutofbooks
— Amanda Shofner (@BookBender) May 12, 2014

A3. I am a reader who is known for reading way too many books at the same time. I am often asked "How do you keep up?" #boutofbooks
— Jessica Bradley (@blog_gal) May 12, 2014

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q6. Share your #boutofbooks strategy. How do you stay on top of your goals?
— Amanda Shofner (@BookBender) May 12, 2014

A6. I just keep saying "only 50 more pages" or "if you get to 50 % in this ebook you will be almost done" #boutofbooks
— Jessica Bradley (@blog_gal) May 12, 2014

I also participated in a second challenge through twitter where I showed a picture of my book buddy.  Here it is:

My book reading buddy :) Are you ready to get your read on? #boutofbooks pic.twitter.com/6JlwYWITKw
— Jessica Bradley (@blog_gal) May 12, 2014

So today I:

• Started 2 books
• Finished 1 book that I had started last week
• Finished 1 book I started this week
• Read a total of 245 pages
• Participated in a twitter chat
• Participated in a challenge

Bout of Books 10.0 Challenge: If you like X, try Y

I just got up around 6:30 Eastern Time and started reading.  I have only read about 10% (15 pages) of my first book for #boutofbooks, but I thought I would go ahead and do the Bout of Books challenge for today.  This will also be posted on Twitter.

Let's get started!  Today's challenge is to recommend a book in the format of "If you like ____, try ____".

I am going to make a few recommendations based on my recent reads. Here they are:

If you like paranormal romance, try Rippler by Cidney Swanson.

If you like Christian fiction, try The Sinner's Garden by William Sirls.

If you like historical fiction, try Frame 232 by Wil Mara.

If you like YA books with strong female leads, try Pivot Point by Kasie West.











This challenge was hosted by The Book Barbies.  Go check out her blog :)

Bout of Books Goals and Updates

As the bout of books read-a-thon approaches, I am making an official goals post.  Link your goals in the comments if you are also participating.  Throughout the week, I will update this post to update you on my progress.  I will also be making daily update posts where I state what I have accomplished in detail and my thoughts on each day of reading.  Also, follow me on twitter (@blog_gal) for updates.

 

Time Devoted to Reading

I will read at least 200 pages everyday.

My Goals

• Read 200 pages everyday (total of 1400)
• Participate in all Twitter chats
• Watch the #boutofbooks live air chat
• Participate in all challenges

Books to Read (This is tentative)

• "Endless" by Amanda Gray (Given for Review via Netgalley)- 384 pages
• "Deception" by Stacy Claflin (Given for Review from Author)-365 pages
• "Unusual Awakening" by S.M. Knowles (Blog Tour)-204 pages
• "Awakening Dream" by S.M. Knowles (Blog Tour)-234 pages
• "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach (Epic Rec)-112 pages
• "The Legacy Letters" by Carew Papritz (Given for Review by Author)-248 pages
• Finish "Thrive" by Mark Hall- approx. 108 pages remaining
• Finish "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis- 111 pages
• Finish "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien- 211 pages remaining
• Finish "Chosen" by Ted Dekker-57 pages remaining

This is a total of 2034 pages.  This is obviously larger than my goal of 1400 pages, so I am not planning on reading/finishing all of these books.  We will see how it goes :)

Updates

Monday

Number of books started today: 2
Number of books finished today: 2
Number of books DNF: 0
Pages read: 245
Challenges completed: 2 ("If you like X, try Y" and Introduce Yourself)
Twitter chats: 1 (2-3 PM EST)
Books:

• Started and Finished Second Chances 101 by Donna K. Weaver (144 pages)
• Finished Chosen by Ted Dekker (pages 230-260; 30 pages)
• Started Unusual Awakening by S.M. Knowles (40%; 71 pages) 

Full update for Monday  
  

Tuesday


Number of books started today: 1
Number of books finished today: 1
Number of books DNF: 0
Pages read: 210
Challenges completed: 2 (Bookish Battle Royal and Most Anticipated Books)
Twitter chat: N/A
Books:

• Finished Unusual Awakening by S.M. Knowles (last 60%; 107 pages)
• Started Awakening Dream by S.M. Knowled (44%; 103 pages)

 Full update for Tuesday

Wednesday

Number of books started today: 0
Number of books finished today: 1
Number of books DNF: 0
Pages read: 247
Challenges completed: 1 (This Made Me Think of That)
Twitter chats: 1 (9-10 PM EST)
Books: 

• Finished Awakening Dream (44%-end; 131 pages)
• Continued Thrive (76%-87%; 25 pages)
• Read some out of my Bible from the Book of Job and the Book of Psalm (5 pages)
• Continued reading Deception (15%-38%; 86 pages) 

Full update for Wednesday
 

Thursday

Number of books started today: 1 audiobook and 3 regular books
Number of books finished today: 1
Number of books DNF: 2
Pages read: 216
Challenges Completed: 1 (Spell It Out Challenge)
Twitter chat: N/A
Books:

• I began an Audiobook of The Scorch Trials by James Dashner yesterday, but I did not get far at all (less than 3 minutes).  I continued the Audiobook today and finished part one and went onto a little of part 2 so that I could finish the 8th chapter (1 hr 15 min; Chapters 1-8; 11% complete)
• Continued and Finished Thrive by Mark Hall (86%-end; 30 pages)
• Started Unstoppable by Nick Vujicic (page 1-17; 17 pages) 
• Started and DNF Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn (page 1-30; 30 pages)
• Started and DNF Prom Anonymous by Blake Nelson (page 1-16; 16 pages)
• Continued Deception by Stacy Clafin (38%-71%; 123 pages)

Full Update for Thursday


Friday

Number of books started today: 0
Number of books finished today: 0
Number of books DNF: 0
Pages read: 30
Challenges completed: 0
Twitter chats: N/A
Books:

• Continued Deception (71%-79%; 30 pages)

Saturday 

Number of books started today: 1
Number of books finished today: 1
Number of books DNF: 0
Pages read: 112
Challenges completed: 1
Twitter chats: 0
Books:

• Continued and Finished Deception by Stacy Claflin (79%-100%; 79 pages)
• Started My Name is Chloe by Melody Carlson (pg 7-40 [book started at page 7]; 33 pages)

Sunday 

Number of books started today: 0
Number of books finished today: 0
Number of books DNF: 0
Pages read: 107
Challenges completed: 1
Twitter chats: N/A
Books:

• Continued My Name is Chloe by Melody Carlson (pg 40-149; 107 pages)  

Total

Number of books started: 7 regular and 1 audiobook
Number of books started and completed: 3
Number of books completed that were started before B.O.B. 10.0:3
Number of books DNF: 2
Pages read: 1167
Challenges completed: 8
Twitter chats: 2
Books: 

• Started and Finished Second Chances 101 by Donna K. Weaver (144 pages)
• Finished Chosen by Ted Dekker (pages 230-260; 30 pages)
• Started and Finished Unusual Awakening by S.M. Knowles (178 pages)
• Started  and Finished Awakening Dream by S.M. Knowles (234 pages)
• Continued and Finished Thrive (76%-100%; 55 pages)
• Read some out of my Bible from the Book of Job and the Book of Psalm (5 pages)
• Continued and Completed Deception by Stacy Clafin (15%-100%; 318 pages) 
• Audiobook of The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (1 hr 15 min; Chapters 1-8; 11% complete)
• Started Unstoppable by Nick Vujicic (page 1-17; 17 pages) 
• Started and DNF Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn (page 1-30; 30 pages)
• Started and DNF Prom Anonymous by Blake Nelson (page 1-16; 16 pages)
• Started My Name is Chloe by Melody Carlson (pg 7-149 [book started at page 7]; 142 pages)

The template for this post was provided by Bout of Books.

Blog Tour, Giveaway, and Review: Lost and Found

 

Tour Schedule

 

Lost and Found by Karey White

Lydia was supposed to have an adventurous and exciting summer. Instead she's done nothing more than read and eat takeout. Now it's time to go home, and what does she have to show for it? A big fat nothing. Unless, of course, her trip to the airport somehow turns into something more than just a flight home.
 
Blake feels like he's been sent on a wild goose chase. While work is piling up back in Denver, he's on the other side of the country, hunting for some mysterious box that his grandfather left him. Well, no more. Nothing inside that box could possibly be more important than the opportunity to make it as the youngest partner at his firm. So he's going home, and that's that. But that's before he discovers his flight has been cancelled.

When these two strangers meet at the airport, they make a split-second decision to search for the box together. Maybe with both of them on the hunt, Lydia can have her adventure and Blake can find the box. And maybe, if they’re lucky, they’ll even find some romance.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo

 

 

Review

I enjoyed this book, but I could not get past the premise.  Two people meet at an airport and they decide to cancel their plans and spend two days together.  I do not think that this is realistic.  I really enjoyed the romance aspects of the book and the other parts of the book, but I could not get past this premise.

 

 

Rating

5/5

 

Author Karey White

Karey is a USA Today best-selling author. She grew up in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Missouri. She attended Ricks College and Brigham Young University. Her first novel, Gifted, was a Whitney Award Finalist.

She loves to travel, read, cook, and spend time with family and friends. She and her husband are the parents of four wonderful children.




 

Website * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads

 

 

The Ripple Effect Romance Novella Series

Enjoy this exciting new series of clean novellas by six critically-acclaimed authors.




"Like a pebble tossed into calm water, a simple act can ripple outward and have a far-reaching effect on those we meet, perhaps setting a life on a different course—one filled with excitement, adventure, and sometimes even love."




Book 1: Home Matters by Julie N. Ford




Book 2: Silver Linings by Kaylee Baldwin




Book 3: Righting A Wrong by Rachael Anderson




Book 4: Lost and Found by Karey White




Book 5: Second Chances 101 by Donna K. Weaver




Book 6: Immersed by Jennifer Griffith

 

Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash




Ends 5/12/14




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