I am joining up again today in the Blogtember Challenge. In the Blogtember Challenge the challenge is to blog every day in September. I skipped yesterday because the prompt was favorite instagrammers. My favorites are my long time pals, some of whom only post once in a blue moon, it is with great joy when I finally see their hilarious antics. Pals if your reading my blog, I'd love to see a new update on Instagram soon. The other one of my favorites is an infertility/IVF comrade in Vancouver who is one sassy lady; I relish her sass. So I won't do shout outs for you all to follow these.
But today is a prompt that is near to my heart. Reading. For Monday September 12, the Blog-tember prompt is: 3 Books! One you just read, one your currently reading and one you want to read.
Just Read: Looking for Lovely by Annie F. Downs
I listened to this book read by the author herself. I think listening to her voice made the book so much richer. It was if we were sitting in the living room just chatting about nail polish, sushi, men, podcasts we had just listened to, etc. Annie is so real. Annie is all about exploring the broken-crazy bits of herself in a conversational way, letting God show her the lovely where she has seen ugly & pain & and encouraging her readers to look for lovely in their own lives. It is ultimately a book of transformation --a transformation that has begun and is not yet finished. I like that aspect of incompleteness. It is like we are on a journey together. Annie is not saying, hey everyone this is how you do it because I've done it and I have it all together. I feel like I know Annie in a way after reading this book and I am excited for the next chapter in her life. I resonated with Annie because I too am a quitter. It's not a particularly admirable quality. It shouldn't be hard to lose the 20 pounds I've gained in the last five years since being married but oh it so is! If I just followed myfitnesspal right and committed to losing a pound a week for 20 weeks I'd be there. That's only 5 months. Easy peasy right? I continually lose and regain the same five. Oh and we both have PCOS. Joy. And yet in this book is the reminder to not give up, to persevere, to face the hard things, that the pain is worth it, & the other side glorious. Ladies this is a great read--and if you have a small group of ladies that meet up or something of that type such as a bible study group I would recommend as it has looking for lovely challenges at the end of each chapter & is great subject matter for taking about real life: our issues, insecurities, challenges, relationships, achievements, etc.
Currently Reading: Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard
So early in the summer I was in a book store. I love books stores. I wanted a book for our getaway that was a light read & fun. I had been struggling through a book, that I have yet to finish, and wanted to be swept away in a book. So I picked up Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. It is a young adult fantasy novel. It was kind of like Hunger Games meets Game of Thrones PG version meets Carebears. I finished it in two or three days. I was hooked. It was such a fun read. So of course there is a sequel and now I just have to read that to learn what happens next. This one is not as gripping as the first probably because the main character is getting a little annoying and the betrayals are never ending, but I am a third of the way in and I think I am rounding the corner to where the plot thickens & I just have to keep reading to find out what happens next.
Next in Line to Read: Room by Emma Donoghue
This year I set a challenge for my self to read 26 Books on GoodReads. I thought I would read through the alphabet, with each letter of the alphabet being the start of the title of a book. I also thought I would read more books that would challenge my faith and so looked to the Influence Network for a list of books. These I am finding are not fast easy reads however. Do you know how hard it is to find books that start with the letter z that I actually want to read? Reading challenges are a great way to get us out of our comfort zones of reading & also to spur us on to read more. Last year I read 38 books out of 50 (or 52 if by trilogy category it meant all three) in the popsugar reading challenge of 2015. Currently I have only read 6 of 26 books with 2 more almost finished. So... I am not sure if I will actually meet my goal this year.
That all said, my next book in line is Room. When I was watching the Oscars, for the fashion, I was fascinated by the trailers for Room and have decided to read this novel of resilience before I watch the movie. That is also what I said about Still Alice, which I loved, and have yet to see.
From the author's website: "Room, is the story of a five-year-old called Jack, who lives in a single room with his Ma and has never been outside. When he turns five, he starts to ask questions, and his mother reveals to him that there is a world beyond the walls. Told entirely in Jack’s voice, Room is no horror story or tearjerker, but a celebration of resilience and the love between parent and child....Room was inspired by… having kids; the locked room is a metaphor for the claustrophobic, tender bond of parenthood. I borrowed observations, jokes, kid grammar and whole dialogues from our son Finn, who was five while I was writing it. Room was also inspired by... ancient folk motifs of walled-up virgins who give birth (e.g. Rapunzel), often to heroes (e.g. Danaë and Perseus). Room was also inspired by… the Fritzl family’s escape from their dungeon in Austria – though I doubt I’ll ever use contemporary headlines as a launching point again, since I didn’t like being even occasionally accused of ‘exploitation’ or tagged ‘Fritzl writer’."
Reader Response:
1) Have you read any of these books? What did you think?
2) Are you on Goodreads? Do you know how to follow someone who is also on Goodreads who is not a facebook friend? For instance if you have a favorite blogger who is also a reader and is often talking about their Goodreads?
3) Is there a book you read because it was also being released as a movie but cannot bring yourself to now watch because the book was that good?
Currently Reading: Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard
So early in the summer I was in a book store. I love books stores. I wanted a book for our getaway that was a light read & fun. I had been struggling through a book, that I have yet to finish, and wanted to be swept away in a book. So I picked up Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. It is a young adult fantasy novel. It was kind of like Hunger Games meets Game of Thrones PG version meets Carebears. I finished it in two or three days. I was hooked. It was such a fun read. So of course there is a sequel and now I just have to read that to learn what happens next. This one is not as gripping as the first probably because the main character is getting a little annoying and the betrayals are never ending, but I am a third of the way in and I think I am rounding the corner to where the plot thickens & I just have to keep reading to find out what happens next.
Next in Line to Read: Room by Emma Donoghue
This year I set a challenge for my self to read 26 Books on GoodReads. I thought I would read through the alphabet, with each letter of the alphabet being the start of the title of a book. I also thought I would read more books that would challenge my faith and so looked to the Influence Network for a list of books. These I am finding are not fast easy reads however. Do you know how hard it is to find books that start with the letter z that I actually want to read? Reading challenges are a great way to get us out of our comfort zones of reading & also to spur us on to read more. Last year I read 38 books out of 50 (or 52 if by trilogy category it meant all three) in the popsugar reading challenge of 2015. Currently I have only read 6 of 26 books with 2 more almost finished. So... I am not sure if I will actually meet my goal this year.
That all said, my next book in line is Room. When I was watching the Oscars, for the fashion, I was fascinated by the trailers for Room and have decided to read this novel of resilience before I watch the movie. That is also what I said about Still Alice, which I loved, and have yet to see.
From the author's website: "Room, is the story of a five-year-old called Jack, who lives in a single room with his Ma and has never been outside. When he turns five, he starts to ask questions, and his mother reveals to him that there is a world beyond the walls. Told entirely in Jack’s voice, Room is no horror story or tearjerker, but a celebration of resilience and the love between parent and child....Room was inspired by… having kids; the locked room is a metaphor for the claustrophobic, tender bond of parenthood. I borrowed observations, jokes, kid grammar and whole dialogues from our son Finn, who was five while I was writing it. Room was also inspired by... ancient folk motifs of walled-up virgins who give birth (e.g. Rapunzel), often to heroes (e.g. Danaë and Perseus). Room was also inspired by… the Fritzl family’s escape from their dungeon in Austria – though I doubt I’ll ever use contemporary headlines as a launching point again, since I didn’t like being even occasionally accused of ‘exploitation’ or tagged ‘Fritzl writer’."
Reader Response:
1) Have you read any of these books? What did you think?
2) Are you on Goodreads? Do you know how to follow someone who is also on Goodreads who is not a facebook friend? For instance if you have a favorite blogger who is also a reader and is often talking about their Goodreads?
3) Is there a book you read because it was also being released as a movie but cannot bring yourself to now watch because the book was that good?
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