Rocky Top Real Talk: May 2014

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Bout of Books 10.0: Challenge #1

I decided to do a different format since I'm not regularly posting here on the blog anymore and therefore an extra post or two won't clog it up...

This week is Bout of Books readathon week! WOOO! It's my 7th time participating and I have missed it :)

This challenge comes from Shannon of River City Reading: here. The premise is to share a list of books I'm looking forward to reading...so my specific theme is going to be

Next Books in a Series that I'm Looking Forward to Reading :)

The Kickass Female Lead Group
[Rose, Mila, Cinder, Deuce, Gin, Karou, & Juliette]

Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #3)

The Fantasy/Paranormal Books

[You know dragons, ghosts, vampires, demigods, hot teenage aliens...]

The King (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #12)

The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus, #4)

A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)

...and, of course...my guilty pleasure YA "chick-lit"

[that's what I'm calling it]

Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2)

I'm hoping there wasn't a limit because I had a super hard time narrowing these down! :)

Monday, May 12, 2014

Bout of Books 10.0: Daily Updates

I've been so busy that I almost forgot BOB starts today. Eek. So here we go! My goals are:

Read a little every day
Finish 2 books
Participate in a few challenges
Participate in one twitter chat

Simple and to the point.

Wrap Up!
I was able to read a little each day and finished 2 books this week, which is amazing! I haven't finished 2 books in a week in forever :) I participated in 1 challenge, but wasn't able to do a chat. I have been working on a bunch of papers...I turned one in Thursday, two in Friday, finished another on Saturday and Sunday. Plus I completely forgot about doing my wrap up and the last few days because I've been working on yet another blog: Teacher's Pet to Teacher. I've been nice and busy :)

Friday 5/16 through Sunday 5/18
Currently reading:

Pages read: 159 pages (451 pg total)
Books finished: 2
Challenges: n/a
Thoughts: 9am I am seriously loving Frostbite. Hoping to finish it today or tomorrow :)

But wait! There's more of this post...click here!

Monday, May 5, 2014

Bout of Books 10.0: Goals

Typically, I have a book list and like super awesome goals - and the last couple of BOBs I have also been an expert...however...this go-around I will be using my TBR jar and reading as much as I can as long as it doesn't get in the way of my college stuff. I have about a month and a half left in my term and a lot of different deadlines I'm trying to meet. Plus I have my fifth and final Praxis exam on the 19th, so there will be studying for that too.

So my simple goals are to:

Read a little every day
Finish 2 books
Participate in a few challenges
Participate in one twitter chat

*Update 5/7: I forgot to mention this is my 7th BOB :)

Friday, May 2, 2014

2014 Book Blogger Summer Reading Program

[Hosted by: Katie's Book Blog]

So I probably shouldn't be signing up for any challenges or anything like that, but I can't help it. Katie is one of my favorite book bloggers and I really like the idea behind this program. For more details, check out Katie's post: here.

I am massively behind on my TBR...due to school. I'm currently attending WGU - started in January - and I'm accelerating like a mad woman. I've already knocked out 6 courses and 4 Praxis exams, plus I've done a state and federal background clearance, set up observation at a middle school, and basically done all the little stuff that needs done before observation and student teaching in just 4 months. I have 2 months left in my term and 6 more classes I want to finish. So reading will still not be an easy task until June.

Since Goodreads is down...I'll have to update with my plan later. But it will be posted soon :)

Update 5/6:
Alright so my goal is to finish 20 books from 1 May to 1 Sept - this is a tentative list of what I'd like to finish although it is subject to change!

Update 7/13:
I am horribly not sticking to my tentative list...whoops! I've read 2 of the books (and deleted them below and put an asterisk next to them on my text list below).

Alice in Zombieland (The White Rabbit Chronicles, #1)

Confessions of a Shopaholic (Shopaholic, #1)

All These Things I've Done (Birthright, #1)

The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4)

Books read:

Shades of Earth by Beth Revis - done 5/6
Ali's Pretty Little Lies by Sara Shepard - done 5/12
Frostbite by Richelle Mead - done 5/18
Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead - done 5/28
Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi - done 5/29
Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi - done 5/29
Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi - done 5/29*
Take Me On by Katie McGarry - done 6/1
Diners, Dives, & Dead Ends by Terri L. Austin - done 6/2
Losing It by Cora Carmack - done 6/4
Uganda Be Kidding Me by Chelsea Handler - done 6/22
Buzz Books 2014: Young Adult - done 6/30
The Queen's Choice by Cayla Kluver - done 7/9
ARV-3 by Cameo Renae - done 7/10
Deeper We Fall by Chelsea M. Cameron - done 7/12*
The Hunt by Stacey Kade - done 7/27*
Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - done 8/19
Wide Awake by Shelly Crane - done 8/21

Total books: 18
Total pages: 5635

Thursday, May 1, 2014

May TBR List + Upcoming Releases

I've been going a little rogue for my reading this year and not sticking to my TBR at all. In the Goodreads group I mod for (here), we have a Pick-It-For-Me challenge where you list 5 books and someone else picks your next book. I've been using my TBR jar to pick 5 and then letting someone pick which of those to read next. My TBR jar consists of all the books on my TBR for Jan-April and also contains all the series I'm in the middle of right now. So if I draw a series, I read the next book in it. I had a much more successful reading month in April finishing 6 books, so I'm hoping to continue the momentum in May. I really want to make a dent in the leftover section!

Currently reading: