Barnes and Noble Book Haul

 In July I went to Barnes and Noble twice. They had a 4th of July sale and also I received coupons in the mail. I can't remember which trip I picked up these books so I just have them displayed as I bought them. All of these books I heard about and wanted to read them. Yes I know I have a lot to read but I like a variety to chose from. So let me tell you a little about each book.
Girl Made of Stars by: Ashley Herring Blake is about twins who are very close. The girl twin's friend accuse her brother (the boy twin) of rape. The girl twin doesn't know who to believe. This story takes you through that adventure and has a few surprises. I am not looking forward to read about rape but I am hoping this is a false tale. Long Way Down by: Jason Reynolds is a book told in verse. Not sure what this story is about. The book cover isn't telling you much. I just loved the cover. The Poppy War by: R.F. Kuang is another book I heard a lot about. It is about a girl who has aced the Empire wide test to  find the most talented youth to study at the academics. Everyone is surprised that a war orphan could pass these test without cheating.  This is her story. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by: Gail Honeyman is yet another book which has been getting a lot of notice. I want to read this to see what the hype is about. It was also a Reese  Witherspoon Book club pick. She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. My kind of lady. That is all I needed to know.

Now onto the next group of books. Calypso by: David Sedaris is a book that I got for really cheap. That is main reason why I bought it. It is a darker book so I may not like it. I don't tend to read these but I do enjoy listening to Stephen King when it isn't dark outside. Don't like scary at night. I do need to be able to sleep.Listen To Your Heart by: Kasie West is a Young adult contemporary. I have read a couple of her books and they are quick and sweet. Just something to lighten the day and a change up from my normal reads. Vicious by: V.E.Schwab is a fantasy book. I hardly read this type of book but I have read some. I heard she is a great writer so I am hoping that I will enjoy this book. The second book comes out soon and I want to see if I will like her. I have several other her books that I need to read so I am hoping she is good. Here is what the back of the book says. Victor and Eli started out as college roommates-brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extra-ordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Doesn't that sound exciting. Girl In The Blue Coat by: Monica Hesse. This book is set during the second world war. It is a historical fiction book. At the bottom of the back cover it says beautifully written, intricately plotted, and meticulously researched. This is an unforgettable story of bravery, grief and love in impossible times. That is enough for me to want to read this book. The last two books are a series and I bought them because I loved the this author when he co wrote the Illuminae series. He is a fantasy writer so I am hoping I will like these two books. There is a third book that will be coming out in September. It is basically a book about revenge. A woman is seeking vengeance against the powers that destroyed her family. In this world where she is living the sun almost never sets. Maybe I will like it. It sounds a little like The Mistborn Series. Won't know until I read it.
Well that is all that I bought brand new for the month of July. Hope this gives you some reading ideas.Until next time keep reading.

July Wrap Up

 These are not the only books that I read this month. If you have been reading my previous post you will know that I have done quite a few readathons. These are the books that didn't fit into those readathons. The Stephen King book that I listened to this month was Thinner. I wasn't impressed with this book. The book is about a guy who starts losing weight at an amazing rate after coming in contact with a gypsy. He is pretty sure that he put a curse on him. The other two books I have a review up.

 I also read two classics. I wasn't thrilled with them. Both were slow going. I did enjoy reading Rebound to David. We even laughed in some places. This author wrotes in verse. It is better good once you get use to it.

I finished these the last two days of the month. You have to read Final Girls. It was a great thriller. The other book is short stories about the civil war and the possibility of ghost hanging around parts of where the civil war took place. Some stories are better than others.
So to wrap up I read 26 books that totaled 8799 pages. This average out to 284 pages a day. I read 12 books by female authors and 14 books by male authors. I had a great month of reading and read some amazing books.
Until next time keep reading

O.W.Ls Challenge

This is a new challenge that is out on YouTube that I decided to give a go. This challenge was actually done in April but I didn't find until late June and decided to try it in July. There are twelve exams in this challenge. You are to read a book in each area and you can't double up. I was able to finish eight of the exams. Here are the exams and the challenge .
Ancient Runes: A book with a symbol on the cover and I read the book The Wicked Deep. You will notice I also read this book for the biannual readathon.
Arithmacy: Read a book with a number on the cover or in the title. I didn't get this done
Astronomy: Read a science fiction book. Again I didn't get this done.
Care of Magical Creatures: Read a book that includes magical creatures or features a magical creature on the cover. I read The Mystic Horse. (Not shown borrowed from the library)
Charms: Read a Fantasy Book. Didn't do
Defense of the Dark Arts: Book about/featuring secret societies/clubs. Didn't do
Divination: Read a book featuring prophecies. I read Furyborn
Herbology: Read a book with a natured related work in the title. I read The Sun and Her Flowers. I also read this book for the Read-EH-Thon.
History of Magic: Read a Historical Fiction. I read I Survived the Children's Blizzard of 1888
Muggle Studies: Read a non fiction book. I read Trail Dust
Potions: Read a book about/with alchemy. I read A Clash of Kings (not shown again a library book)
Transfiguration: Read a book that deals with transfiguration/shapeshifting or similar theme or a book with a cat on the cover. I read the Silence in the Library.
I had fun doing this and it got me to read some books I probably wouldn't have read.
This is also in preparation for the NEWTS in August. This is the last exams that happen in the Harry Potter Series. You can do this challenge any time you want but you must do these before you can do the NEWTS. If you want to know about this you can go to You Tube and look up Book Roast and she goes into great detail. These are her challenges and she even has the paper work all ready for you copy to follow.
I hope you give this a try.
Until next time keep reading.

Thrift store book haul

 I haven't done a book haul in awhile, so decided to do quick one. These books I bought from the thrift store. The thrift store I go to has a 50% sale every Saturday. I try to go at least once a month to check out the books.  In this photo I have already read two of the books. Those would be To Kill A Mockingbird and Catering To Nobody. I watched the movie to Austinland. The other two just sounded good.

 I found another Roald Dahl book that I haven't read so picked it up. The Lost Boy is the sequel to A Child Called It. Kristen Hannah is suppose to be a great author so I found yet another book that she wrote. This is the fifth book that I have but still haven't read any of them. The last two books are on a list of books that you should read when you are young and I haven't read yet.

Tara got me into this series. I am only on the fourth book in this series. When I see this series at the thrift I just pick them up to add to my pile of to be read. I am enjoying this series because I love the Grandma.
Just wanted to do a quick post. I hope you enjoyed and get in some reading time.

Summer Biannual Bibliathon

This month I have decided to take part in many different readathons. This is the third one that I have done. There are seven challenges in this readathon and I completed five of them.
They are 1. Read the group book. The group book was The Wicked Deep By: Shea Ernshaw. I liked this book. I gave it 4.5 stars. 2. Choose from someone else's TBR. The book I chose was Dread Nation By: Justina Ireland. I borrowed it from the library and had to return it before I could take a picture. I also liked this book and gave it 4 stars. 3. Try the first chapter of 3 books and pick one. For this I read the first chapter of This Adventure Ends By: Emma Mills, One of Us Is Lying By: Karen M. McManus and Low By: Rick Remender. I choose Low because it was short. It is a graphic novel and reads fast but I didn't like it and will not be finishing the series. 4. Read a book that has been on your TBR for over a year. For this I read The Rosie Effect By: Graeme Simsion. It was an ok book. I gave it 3 stars. The first book was a whole lot better. 5. Read a predicted 5 star read. As you probably can tell by the picture I choose Two Little Girls In Blue By: Mary Higgins Clark. She didn't disappoint me and I gave it 5 stars.  I have done a review on this book. The two challenges that I didn't complete were 6. Own voices that is different from me. 7. Read the last book you bought. I ran out of time. That is a lot of reading in one week besides trying to do my normal every day stuff. I did enjoy myself and finally got to some books that I have been wanting to read. Hope you join in next time. The next one is in winter.
Until next time keep reading.

Tome Topple

As the title states I also decided to try the Tome Topple readathon. This is a 2 week readathon. It took place from June 29th through July 12th. Tome Topple is where you books over 500 pages. As you can see I was only able to get two books read for this round. But as you know I was also doing another readathon during this readathon also.
There were 5 challenges and I was able to complete 4 of them with these 2 books.
The challenges were 1. Read more than 1 book. 2. Read a graphic novel (didn't complete this one)
3. Read a tome that is part of series. A Clash of Kings is the book in the Game of Thrones. 4. Buddy read a tome. I buddy read A Clash of Kings. 5. Read an adult novel.
Rob Roy had 501 pages and A Clash of Kings had 761 pages. I gave both books 3 stars. Neither one of these books are my normal reading genres but I am trying to reach outside of the normal. I did have fun doing this though.
Until next time keep reading.

Read-EH-Thon Wrap Up

These are the books that I read during the Read EH Thon. This reading happened from July 1st through July 8th. This was focused on Canadian Authors. I was surprised to know that I had quite a few books written by Canadians. I did have to purchase one book but I have been wanting to read it any way. There were 5 challenges and I was able to complete 4 of them.
The first challenge was to red a book with a red cover. I read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. This is the book that I had to buy. I really enjoyed this book and makes one think about what could happen. I suggest you read this book if you haven't already.
Challenge 2 was to read a book by a Canadian Woman author. All the books that I read were by Canadian Women  but for this challenge I chose The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur. This book is written in verse. If you want a quick read it is an ok book. I really don't have much to say about it.
Challenge 3 is to read a book with "E" and "H" in the title. Try to get them together. Well I couldn't find a book with these letters together. The book I read for this challenge was A Stranger In The House by Shari Lapena. I loved this book. It was great and at first I thought it was going to be like Gone Girl and I was dreading it because I didn't like that book. There were some twist in this story and I thought I had it figured and I was wrong. You must read this book.
Challenge 4 I didn't do because I couldn't find one. The challenge was to read a book by an indigenous author.
Challenge 5 was to read a book set in a province you've never visited. Well this was easy because I live in the US and have only been to British Columbia. I chose Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. This book and the rest of the series is set in Prince Edward Island. This is the second book to the Anne of Green Gable series. I enjoyed this book and will continue with the series. This one is about Anne being a teacher and the experiences she has.
I really had fun doing this and found some good authors that I would like to read more of. I have tried doing readathons before but always seem to fail at them so it was nice to finally finish one and do well. I would suggest you try one.
Until next time keep reading.