Wednesday, July 31, 2019

N.E.W.T.S TBR

It is that time of year again. It is time for the N.E.W.T.S. I took the OWLS exam in April (which is already posted) to figure out what areas I need to take exams for. I finished all the OWLS except for Ancient Runes. I have the announcement video added in case you would like to join in the fun.
 The Career I chose is Aurologist. All I needed to read in the OWLS was Astronomy, Divination, and History of Magic. For the N.E.W.T.S I need to receive and E in Astronomy and an E in Divination. I have picked out the books I am hoping to read for these. I don't know if you can make out the notes I put on each book. To get an A in Astronomy I need to read a book with Moon on the cover. I have had this book since 2011 and really need to get this read. Sex on the Moon is based on a true story about a college who steals a safe full of moon rocks. For an E I need to read a book with night on the cover. I choose a murder mystery. I don't know what it is about and don't want to know until I read it. The books I need to read for Divination is Read a white book to get an A and I chose GodsGrave. I need to read this book this month because the third book comes out in September. For an E I need to read a short story or a collection of short stories. The Shadow Market is a collection of short stories and I have already read eight of the stories but I haven't read the last two. Reading these four books will get me the career of Aurologist.
 I will not push myself but I want to try to read the rest of the prompts for Astronomy and Divination. The book I chose are for Astronomy is The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet because I need to read a Sci-fi. The book I chose for Divination is Ironside because I need to read the last book I bought/took from the library. Both books are from the library but you are not allowed to double up on challenges.
 Again I will not push myself but if I can I want to try to get an A in every subject that I pass in the OWLS. Again I didn't pass the Ancient Runes exam so I won't be doing anything for that exam.  The book for Arithmancy is to read a book that ends on an even page number so I choose to read Spellslinger. Care of Magical Creatures is to follow the spiders! Why couldn't it be follow the butterflies! Read a book title that starts with a letter A, for Aragog so I chose AngelFall.  Charms read a book that you think has a gorgeous cover so I chose Letters To The Lost. Defence Against the Dark arts is to read a book that's black under the dust jacket and I chose In Search of the Promised Land.
Herbology is to read a Mandrake! Quick, put your headphones on! Listen to an audiobook and I chose Pachinko. History of Magic is to read a fantasy and I chose to read In An Absent Dream. Muggle Studies is to read a book with a cover that includes an actual photo element so I chose to read pictures of hollis woods. Potions is Pollyjuice potion: read your friend's favourite book! I am cheating a little and chose SOS Titanic this is a book that I borrowed from my daughter Bekah. The final one is Transfiguration and that is to read a book with LQBTQA+ representation so I chose Red, White and Royal Blue.
I may change thins up a little depending on my mood or other books that I need to read for book clubs. I did already match up some of the book club reads into the N.E.W.T.S so that I can succeed this month.
I hope you take part in this readathon. If you are what is your career? What are you going to read? Are you going to all the challenges and if you do GREAT JOB.
Until next time keep reading.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Say You Still Love Me Review

Say You Still Love Me By: K. A. Tucker
Atria Books
Women's Fiction
Pages 384
Pub. Date 6 August 2019
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I really enjoyed this book. This is the first book I have read of hers. I had a great time and I gave this book 4 stars.
This book is about a woman named Piper and she is from a rich family. The other main character is a man named Kyle and he is from a poor family with a family with a history of the men spending time in prison.
They met one summer thirteen years ago as camp counselors. This was Piper's first time as a being a counselor and this was Kyle's second year. Piper's mom wanted her to learn about the way other people live. Piper's mom grew up on the poor side and she wanted Piper to  experience this.
Something happen at camp and Piper and Kyle ended up not hearing from each other for thirteen years.
Now Piper sees Kyle in her father's building and it brings back a lot of memories and pain. She still has feelings for him and wonders if he does also.
Do they get back together? What happened in camp thirteen years ago?
The reason I gave this book 4 stars wasn't because of the writing I love her writing style. I gave it 4 stars because I am really not into insta-love. I know teenagers think they are love all the time. Also the intimate scene for teenage love seem a little out of place or knowledge wise for a 17 year old boy.
I would highly recommend that you read this book.

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Book Unhaul

I decided I would make a post about unhauling some books. I don't usually unhaul a lot of books at a time. I wait for a small stack and either donate them to the library free shelf or give them to the thrift store. Most of this stack of books went to several different places and I am glad.
Waking up with a Rake and Ruby went to the library free shelf. I did a review on Ruby and really didn't like this book so I am never going to reread it. This book disappointed me because it was an Oprah Book Club pick. The other one will never get reread and I don't it taking up valuable book shelf space.
The next three books went to my sister-in-law. Those were Stories from my life, Commonwealth and Orange is the New Black. I won't reread them and I had her go through my stack and let her take what she wanted.
The other two went to the thrift store. They are Doc Holliday and Ezra Taft Benson. Again I probably won't reread them and I really need the space on my shelves. I learned about Ezra Taft Benson and enjoyed the book. Doc Holliday wasn't a very good biography about him. The writer didn't go into much detail about his life just about places he has been. I was disappointed.
Let me know if you like this unhaul and would like me to do more. I don't get reid of books very often but I can do one when I have another stack.
Until next keep reading.

Monday, July 8, 2019

June Wrap Up

Well I didn't do a good job of getting a picture of the books that I read for the month. So I had to pull up my stand by that I got some where online. So onto the wrap up. In June I read 16 books not bad since we went on a little trip this month. Stats for the month are as follows. 11 books were from female authors and 5 from male authors. I read 3 adult fiction, 1 middle grade, 3 classics, 2 graphic novels, 1 mystery, 1 short story collection, 1 memoir, 2 non-fiction, 1 young adult, and 1 smutty romance. Out of those 4 were audio books, 1 was an e-book and 11 were physical books. The star ratings were 1 two star, 4 three star, 1 three point five star, 5 four star, 2 four point five star and 3 five star.  Page total came 7008 which comes to about 233.6 pages a day. Now onto the books.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by: Gail Honeyman   I gave this book 3 stars  I also have a review up. I actually started this in May. This is adult fiction
The Ship of The Dead by: Rick Riordan  I gave this book 4 stars. This was also started in May. This is the book that I was reading to David. This is a middle grade. This is the third book in a series.
The Sins of a Child by: SM Stryker This was an ARC for review. I do have a review up for this book. I gave this 5 stars and it is adult fiction.
Ivanhoe by: Sir Walter Scott I gave this book 3 stars. It is a classic and I listened to it on audio.
Moon Struck Volume 1 Magic To Brew by: Grace Ellis I gave this 3 stars. It is a graphic novel. Just wanted something fun and a change in pace.
Speak by: Laurie Halse Anderson I gave this book 5 stars. It was a graphic novel. Aryan didn't like this book in its true form so I decided I would try the graphic novel instead. I will probably go and read the true form. This talks about a girl dealing with  rape.
Anne of the Island by: L. M. Montgomery I gave this book 3 stars. It is a classic and I listened to it on audio. It is the third book in a series or I should say a companion book.
Cherry Scones and Broken Bones by: Darci Hannah  This was an Arc for review. I do have a review up for this book. I gave this book 4 stars. I read this on my kindle and it is a mystery.
Stories From My Life by: James E Faust I gave this book 4 stars. This is a short story collection. This is also a quick read and I was surprised that I enjoyed it because usually short stories aren't my thing.
Julie and Julia by: Julie Powell I gave this book 4.5 stars and it is memoir. I buddy read this book with my daughter Tara. Tara has a book tube channel if you want to check it out. It is buzzword books.
Ezra Taft Benson: A Biography by: Sheri Dew This is another book that I started in May. It is  nonfiction and I gave it 4 stars. I learned a lot about his life and enjoyed it.
The Great Alone by: Kristin Hannah I gave this book 5 stars and it is adult fiction. This book talks about PTSD and the effects of it. It is hard hitting so beware but a great story.
Final Draft by: Riley Redgate I gave this book 3.5 stars and it is a young adult book. This book is about a girl who writes stories.
The Virgin Suicides by: Jeffrey Eugenides I gave this book 2 stars and it is a classic. This book was an audio. About a family with 4 daughters. The title tells you.
Revisiting the Founding Era Edited By: Carol Berkin I gave this book 4 stars and it is nonfiction. I read this because my DAR chapter is helping our local library. I found this little booklet hard to read and not very fun. It is suppose to be gear for the younger children and it isn't.
Waking Up With A Rake by: Connie Mason I gave this book 4 stars and it is the smutty romance for the month. I have found I don't enjoy as much as I use to. I enjoy her writing and the story line was good.
These are all the books that I read. I had a pretty good month and for the most part enjoyed what I read. I hope you find something in this list that you want to give a try. Until next time keep reading.