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Karsyn's Kickass Jocoserious, Kooky, Jannock book blog: April 2014

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

April Reading Log

My April Reading started out pretty slow, until a 24 Hour Read-a-Thon on the 26th got me going!  Month ended up pretty good after that.  :)  I hope you enjoy reading about what I've been reading!   ~ ImzadiRose

New Color Coding ~     5★,  4★,  3★,  2★,  1★


April ~

1 ~ Panic by Lauren Oliver
Completed 4/05
3.5 of 5 stars
Panic is a dangerous game played out for graduating seniors. There’s a prize pool of money with only one winner. An enjoyable storyline, really cool game, less than appealing characters. If you can look past a few annoying characters, it’s a enjoyable fast read.


2 ~ The Shadow of the Wind (Cemetery of Forgotten Books 01) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Completed 4/8
5 of 5 stars
I’m not a fan of historical fiction, nor do I normally read books outside the US. So why did I try this book? I’m not really sure except the blurb on GoodReads Caught my attention. FANTASTIC freaking book!! I had a headache by the time I was finished reading it but OMG it was sooooo good. Not to be missed, go read it now, no matter what kind of books you like, or don’t. You won’t be sorry!


3 ~ The Angel’s Game (Cemetery of Forgotten Books 02) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Completed 4/13
4 of 5 stars
While, to me, not as compelling as the first, still a fantastic read and so enjoyable! Such a great series and I can’t wait to read the 3rd, but the time that I’m getting this written out, I’ve had to read some other books first. Soon, after my next book! I wanna read it!


4 ~ Deadly Fantasies (Kate Springer 02) by Kelly Miller
Completed 4/14
4 of 5 stars
I was sent this ebook by the author for my review of it. It was a mystery surrounding the death of a colleague’s husband. The story was fast paced, the plot was interesting. Overall it was good, though I really disliked the main character.


5 ~ 500 Days by Jessica Miller
Completed 4/16
4 of 5 stars
This was another book I received from an author for my review. It was a good simple erotica, so not many details. It was more story based, but there was tons of sex too. The female main character was quite over the top and the male could be as well, but I prefered him. Overall a good storyline and good read.


6 ~ Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Completed 4/18
4 of 5 stars
Obviously I’m pretty generous with my 4 stars, as you can see. If I really love something but not gaga over it, it’s gonna get 4 stars from me, because I accepted it and liked it for what it was. I’d never go comparing something like 500 days to the 2nd Zafon, but for what it was 500 Days was great, and by the same, MP24HB was also fantastic. For me, it was a little Ready Player One, a little Mr Lemoncello’s Library, a little Forgotten Books, meets Google and Warehouse 13. So, it was a mishmash of a ton of things but it worked and it was a fun read.


7 ~ The Prisoner of Heaven (Cemetery of Forgotten Books 03) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Completed 4/22
4 of 5 stars
The end of this amazing series, though I’m going to hold out hope that there will be more. He definitely left it where he could do more, but his books are pretty far apart when they were written, so I don’t know, and his blog is in spanish. Anyways, I LOVED this series, and I liked this 3rd book better than the 2nd. They were all super great, and I highly recommend them.


8 ~ Rose of Fire (Cemetery of Forgotten Books 02.5) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Completed 4/22
3 of 5 stars
I’m not a fan of short stories in general but this one was good for a short story. I just wish it had been longer and gave more of the story.


9 ~ Inkheart (Inkworld 01) by Cornelia Funke
Completed 4/26 (completed ~ last 49% ~ during 24hr RaT)
3 of 5 stars
I read Inkheart for part of my Reading Challenge #4. It was a good read. I didn’t love it, but it was enjoyable. I’d never read it before, nor have I seen the movie. I will probably read the others in the series.


10 ~ With this Collar (Mastered 01) by Sierra Cartwright
Completed 4/26 (completed during 24hr RaT)
4 of 5 stars
This is an erotica, so I won’t give any details of it, as I never know who would hate to hear it. It was an enjoyable read and done right!


11 ~ The Selection (The Selection 01) by Kiera Cass
Completed 4/27 (completed during 24hr RaT)
5 of 5 stars
I read this book for the CL Book of the Month, and I LOVED it. Great story line, really likeable characters. It was so great. Loved it.


12 ~ Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Completed 4/27 (completed ~ last 21% ~ during 24hr RaT)
2 of 5 stars
I had been listening to this on audio and since it’s so long, it took FOREVER for me to read. I am not a fan of this book. I found it dull, boring and the characters completely unlikable. It helped that I didn’t like it, as it put me to sleep at night, but I was glad when I finally finished it up. It took NINE hours during the RaT to listed to about 178 pages.


13 ~ The Prince (The Selection 00.5) by Kiera Cass
Completed 4/27 (during 24hr RaT)
3 of 5 stars
This was an enjoyable short story from his point of view before The Selection. It was good for what it was.


14 ~ The Elite (The Selection 02) by Kiera Cass
Completed 4/27
5 of 5 stars
The second in the Selection series. America is getting on my nerves a little, but it still was really enjoyable, I’m glad the next book is out soon.


15 ~ The Guard (The Selection 02.5) by Kiera Cass
Completed 4/28
2.5 of 5 stars
Another short story, not as enjoyable as the first but not awful.


16 ~ The Insider (Kingdom Keepers 07) by Ridley Pearson
Completed 4/30
1 of 5 stars
This series, which I loved at first, how could I not? Some kids running around WDW after hours battling the forces of evil, it was great! It also should have ended 3 books ago.




WWW Wednesday



W.W.W Wednesdays is a weekly event bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading


To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?




What are you currently reading?

Currently, I am listening to Redshirts by John Scalzi on audio which is read by Wil Wheaton. It's so funny and good. :) Though I've been saying it for a while now, I'm still trudging my way through The Insider, by Ridley Pearson and I am determined to finish it today. This series should have ended a while ago and if I didn't need an "I" title (or author) I'd probably just skip it.



What did you recently finish reading?

For the Read-a-Thon, I started, and loved, The Selection by Kiera Cass. Since then (Sat), I have finished up the current books in the series, and am anxiously waiting for the new one. :)



What do you think you’ll read next?

Once again, I'm not sure what I'm going to read next. I started a book by a favorite author of mine and hated it, so I'm bummed about that, and so far, The Insider isn't holding my attention. I definitely need something really good to get into. Right now I'm considering ~




What are you reading? Did you love it? Leave your post, and I'll come visit!
Good Reading to you all!



Monday, April 28, 2014

Book Bloggers Summer Reading Program

Since I spend most of my time reading anyways, I thought I'd join in with the Book Blogger 2014 Summer Reading Program which is hosted by Katie's Book Blog.

My goal, since I've slowed down on my reading a lot but want to get back to doing more, will be to read 75 books in the challenge time of May-September.

Here will be my GoodReads Challenge Shelf where I will keep track of them all.


It's Monday! What are you reading?




It's Monday! What are you Reading? ~ Hosted by BookJourney




I am currently listening to the audiobook, read by Wil Wheaton, of Redshirts by John Scalzi. I just started it last night and it's FUNNY!! I'm enjoying it so far and will probably get through it quickly.

Today, I will also read and finish the short story ~




I started The Selection during the Read-a-Thon and loved it, read the other short story and finished up The Elite last night. Since I just discovered this series, I'm super glad I don't have to wait long before the 3rd book comes out!! :)

I'm not sure what I'll start after that. I have a few options, so I just need to figure it out. :)



Sunday, April 27, 2014

Another RaT? Yes Please!! Bout of Books RaT!

I'm glad to have found this awesome community of Read-a-Thoners. :) The 24 Hour RaT was sooooo much fun for me, even if I've only slept for an hour in the last 32 hours! (I couldn't fall asleep after the RaT, I ended up dozing just an hour.)

So, I'm definitely going to join, for the first time, the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon.


Bout of Books

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. ~ from Bout of Books team


I'm looking forward to doing another one, even if more relaxed. I plan to get loads of reading done. I'm not, nor will I ever be, into the whole "twitter" thing. I am a LONG WINDED person, so "tweets" just don't do anything for me. It kind of stinks because I know I missed out on a lot of Dewey's 24 Hr RaT action on Twitter and I likely will miss out on some with this, but if you have a blog, I'll be happy to follow along, just leave me a comment and I'll add you to my Bloglovin' feed. I loved checking in with others during the 24 hr RaT, so I'm sure I will again for this one!


My Bout of Books Goals

Time devoted to Reading 
  •  Daily, most of the day, keeping offline except for updates, so I'm not distracted
GOAL
  • Complete at least EIGHT (8), changed to TWELVE (12), books
  • Start (but perhaps not finish) at least 2 others
  • Complete at least 2 series in which I only have 1 book left to read
Books to Read
  • I don't like to plan ahead, but here are some possibilities

Completed top 3~

Started ~

Still could read ~


Updates


Monday

Number of books I've read today: 4
Total number of books I've read: 4
Current Book:
Pages Read: 1000 (384 pages, 111 pages, 228 pages, 277 pages)
Time Read: 9 hr
Challenges Participated in: If you like X, try Y
Completed Books:



Tuesday

Night Time Audio listening time/pages: 1 hr / 60pages (1-2am Tues)
Number of books I've read today: 2
Total number of books I've read: 6
Current Book:
Pages Read Today: 624 (60, 368, 196)
Total Pages Read: 1624
Time Read Today: 6 hr 30 min
Total Time Read: 15 hr 30 min
Challenges Participated in today: Books You're Looking Forward To
Today's Completed Books:



Wednesday

Night Time Audio listening time/pages: 1 hr 30min / 95pages (1-230am Wed)
Number of books I've read today: 1
Total number of books I've read: 7
Current Book:
Pages Read Today: 480 (95, 385)
Total Pages Read: 2104
Time Read Today: 7 hr 30 min
Total Time Read: 24 hr
Challenges Participated in today:
Today's Completed Books:



Thursday

Night Time Audio listening time/pages: 1 hr / 97pages (12:30-1:30am Thurs)
Number of books I've read today: 1
Total number of books I've read: 8
Current Book: Sunrise by Mike Mullin
Pages Read Today: 777 (97, 55, 447, 177)
Total Pages Read: 2880
Time Read Today: 7 hr
Total Time Read: 30 hr 30 min
Challenges Participated in today: Spell-it-Out Challenge
Today's Completed Books:



Friday

Night Time Audio listening time/pages: 1 hr 15 min / 79 & 21 (1-145am, 10:30-11pm)
Number of books I've read today: 2
Total number of books I've read: 10
Current Book: The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin
Pages Read Today: 496 (79, 289, 49, 79)
Total Pages Read: 3376
Time Read Today: 5 hr
Total Time Read: 35 hr 30 min
Challenges Participated in today: Rainbow of Books Challenge
Today's Completed Books:



Saturday

Night Time Audio listening time/pages:
Day Time Audio listening time/pages: 6 hr / 785 pages
Number of books I've read today: 4
Total number of books I've read: 14
Current Book:
Pages Read Today: 785 (113, 224, 208, 240)
Total Pages Read: 4161
Time Read Today: 6 hr
Total Time Read: 41 hr 30 min
Challenges Participated in today:
Today's Completed Books:



Sunday

Night Time Audio listening time/pages: 1 hr / 90 pages
Day Time Audio listening time/pages: 3 hr 30 min / 454 pages
Number of books I've read today: 3
Total number of books I've read: 17
Current Book:
Pages Read Today: 635
Total Pages Read: 4796
Time Read Today: 3 hr
Total Time Read: 47 hr
Challenges Participated in today:
Today's Completed Books:






Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Ending.....

:( Does it HAVE to end? But I don't want it to!!



End of Event Meme:

Which hour was most daunting for you?
Will anyone believe me, if I say none?  :)  I've only started yawning since around quarter after 6, and my hubby woke up at 6:45 so I'm all chipper again though I am planning on a nap around 9 or so.

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Um, not sure.  I really enjoyed The Selection by Kiera Cass a lot more than I thought that I might.  That's what I ended up going with, beyond a shorter book and finishing the two I had been working on.

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
No, not right now, everything has been great!!  

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
It seemed to me it all went well.  I followed a few blogs and mine was followed a little bit.  I was too late for a cheerleader, but I didn't mind that at all.

How many books did you read?
I finished up 5 books ~ 2 were ones that were long and I had started prior to RaT.  One was 846 pages, the other was 545.  I listened to 178 pages of the longer and read 276 of the shorter.  I also read a shorter book at 171 pages, a novella at 128 pages and a regular novel at 338 pages.  I read for about 20 of the 24 hours and finished 1083 pages.

What were the names of the books you read?
  • Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (276 pages ~ from 51%)
  • With this Collar by Sierra Cartwright (171 pages)
  • The Selection by Kiera Cass (339 pages)
  • Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (178 pages ~ from 79%)
  • The Prince (Selection Novella) by Kiera Cass (128 pages)
Which book did you enjoy most?
The Selection by Kiera Cass

Which did you enjoy least?
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I was a reader.

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I do plan on joining in again and I will likely be a reader again, though with as much blog hopping as I did, I wouldn't rule out cheering as well.

The only thing I personally would change would be a different variety for challenges.   I mean, they were good but for me personally, they weren't my thing.  I don't take photos of myself, so that left me out of quite a few challenges, and I don't have much of a physical TBR so I couldn't do much with that.  I loved the Best of Lists the most, something I could easily do without photos or physical books (even finding a certain page on my Kindle is a pain).  Other than that, and that's just me being weirdly me, all was great!!  :)



My overall update ~

Read ~ 20 hours total (8-11am, 12-2:30pm, 4pm-2:30am, 3:00am-7am)
Completed ~ 5 books, going to start another in this last half hour
Current pages read ~ 1083 pages (178 of that was listening to audio for 9 hours.  YIKES!!)
Bloging Breaks ~ 4 hours total (11am-12pm, 2:30-4pm, 2:30am-3am, 7am-?)
Food ~ Oreos, Hot Dogs (lunch) & Mt Dew ~ pizza (dinner) ~ upcoming breakfast ~ Cinnamon Rolls!
Mood ~ Feeling good, slightly sleepy, little bit of a headache.  Hubby going to put cinnamon rolls in for breakfast soon, then I'll take a nap in a bit!!  :)


A VERY special THANK YOU to the bloggers who checked in on me through the night, it was fun to get comments and hear from others.  A special thank you to ~ <a href="http://ashleyfictionista.blogspot.com">Fictionista</a>, <a href="http://wall-to-wall-books.blogspot.com">Wall to Wall Books</a>, <a href="http://wavesoffiction.blogspot.com">Waves of Fiction</a> & <a href="http://www.tiftalksbooks.com">Tif Talks Books</a>!  Thanks ladies!!







Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon Hour 3am-6am

Update #6 ~

Geeeesh, FINALLY. I have been listening to this LONG and tedious book on audio since 3/31. I, until this RaT, read just at nights, an hour or so a night, sometimes more and sometimes less.

I should have listened to my husband who told me, time and again, that I would not like this book. But it had been suggested to me quite a few times, so I gave it a chance. At least it helped me fall asleep at night because it was dull and boring. I HATED all the characters. I like likable characters, not characters to hate, or love to hate ~ which I did not. I am glad to finally be done with this book!!

I had started this book prior to the RaT, and started it at 79% for the RaT ~ page 668 of 846 pages. I listened until the end, which for 178 took about 9 hours. YIKES!!! (Listened 5-11pm & 3-6am)







Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon 10pm-2:30am

Update #5 ~

I'm still here and still going STRONG!! :) 2:30, or so, is my usual time that I start heading to bed, then I usually listen to an audiobook for a half hour or more, so most nights I'm rarely asleep before 3am, usually closer to 4, so this is quite easy for me. I'll probably start to crash around 6 or 7.

So ~ What have I been up to? I ended up listening to my audiobook until 11 I believe it was, before turning it off. I'm sorry for whoever out there loves Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ~ I'm NOT a fan. I don't HATE it, but let's just say I have enjoyed it for my night time reading because it helps me fall asleep. It's sooooooo dull!! Not to mention, not a likable person in the story, so yeah. I'm looking forward to FINALLY being done with it hopefully tonight. After I make some rounds, I'm going to start listening again and get through it finally.

From 11pm-2:30am I read, and finished, The Selection by Kiera Cass. I LOVED it. Great characters and story. I'm thinking about moving on to the 2nd one tonight, but haven't decided. I did have a few distractions, like hubby playing a new Big Bang Theory that we somehow missed watching on Thursday.

Speaking of my hubby, he took a nap today but even when he takes a nap, he's usually in bed around 11-12 and he stayed up with me until 2. YAY!! I just hope he can sleep in, as he typically wakes up soooo early because he's used to it for work.

So, my overall update ~

Read ~ 16 hours total (8-11am, 12-2:30pm, 4pm-2:30am)
Completed ~ 3 books, currently reading 1 other
Current pages read ~ 777 pages (+ listened to roughly 110 pages on audio)
Bloging Breaks ~ 2.5 hours total (11am-12pm, 2:30-4pm)
Food ~ Oreos, Hot Dogs (lunch) & Mt Dew ~ pizza (dinner)
Mood ~ I yawned for the first time at 1:30am, but haven't since. LMAO!! Feeling good, wanna get around to blogs and do challenges! :)