Happy Vlogidays 2017!

Another December has somehow come and gone which means Happy Vlogidays 2017 is over! I wanted to share the vlog playlist with you all here on the blog so you can have a one-stop shop for all things related to my holiday 2017 experience! (It was great, to say the least. I mean Christmas at the beach? What beats that?) You might want to grab a snack before hitting play because the majority of these videos are about a half hour long. How? Who knows. Probably because I don't know when to stop talking. :P Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful end to your 2017! <3

Vacation TBR! | Holidays in Florida & the Bahamas!

I am leaving for a much needed 2-week long vacation on Friday and I am SO PUMPED! Brett and I are traveling down to Florida to visit my parents for Christmas and to spend a week with them, for New Year's we are headed to Miami to party with our dear friends Erin & Cullen, and then the four of us are going on a cruise to the Bahamas for a few days in the new year! We are thrilled to be taking a break from our crazy lives, and *of course* I needed to think up a stack of books I wanted to take along with me!

I didn't want to take too many big, bulky, physical books with me so I settled on 4 physical books and 3 eBooks to work on while I'm relaxing. By no means do I think I'll get through all of these in the two weeks I'm away because my main goal is to just relax and have fun, but I'm hoping that these books will be a perfect beach/poolside companion over these next two weeks!

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan & Rachel Cohn
It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

This One is Mine by Maria Semple

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Black Friday 2017 Book Haul!

GUYS. STOP LETTING ME BUY BOOKS. This is definitely going to be my last book haul of books that I purchased myself (aside from BoTM) for a WHILE. I do not need any more books for a long time. I have so many that I'm excited to read! Check out the list below and the video above to see the books that I picked up around Black Friday!

Paperback Swap

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Phantoms by Dean Koontz

Book Depository

Body Positive Power by Megan Jayne Crabbe

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

All That She Can See by Carrie Hope Fletcher

Warcross by Marie Lu

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Euxupery

Book Outlet

The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee

The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

2AM at the Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd

Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Christine by Stephen King

Insomnia by Stephen King

The Vacationers by Emma Straub

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney

Lucky Few by Kathryn Ormsbee

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

Want by Cindy Pon

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Amazon

With Malice by Eileen Cook

Lumberjanes, vol. 6: Sink or Swim by Noelle Stevenson et. al.

Lumberjanes, vol. 7: A Bird's Eye View by Noelle Stevenson et. al.

21 Proms edited by Scholastic

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater

Book of the Month

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

Audible/Kindle eBooks

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Audiobook

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

Kindle eBook

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Kindle eBook

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

Kindle eBook

#GrinchAThon TBR!

I am so pumped for this readathon!

So my BookTube pal Izzy decided to come up with an alternative to the holiday readathon and I am so thrilled to take part. It's called the #GrinchAThon and it's going to take place December 17-23, 2017. It's aimed at folks who do not enjoy the holiday season OR for folks who might have a harder time with the holidays than others. I fall into the latter category for sure.

While I love the idea of the holidays and love the decorations and movies and traditions, I alwayalwaysalways have a really difficult time constantly being out of the house. As an introvert, having no time to recover between work every day during the week and social gatherings every weekend really impacts my mental health in a negative way. Not to say I don't enjoy spending time with my friends and family (because I absolutely do!), but unfortunately the reality of my experience with anxiety is: more exhaustion = more anxiety. It's really not a super fun time.

That's why I'm so thankful that Izzy came up with the #GrinchAThon. It's going to be a nice way to relax in the week leading up to Christmas and focus on some non holiday-related reads and *hopefully* distract from the stress. If you're interested in joining in with this readathon (and I totally recommend you guys do!) then check out the challenge announcement video and the GrinchAThon Twitter page for more information!

Here's what books I'll be reading next week and the challenges that they are corresponding with:

1. A book you've been meaning to get to

Popular by Maya Van Wagnen

2. A mental health related book

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

3. A feel good read

Lumberjanes, volume 6: Sink or Swim by Noelle Stevenson et. al.

4. A book with a black cover/A dark book

The Shining by Stephen King

5. A warm book

Lumberjanes, volume 7: Bird's Eye View by Noelle Stevenson et. al.

6. A diverse book

Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

Dear Santa...

I say it every year, but I absolutely love to do these blog posts, especially since I've gotten older. I've found it more difficult in recent years to answer the question "What do you want for (insert gift-giving holiday here)?" I find that being on the spot with that question, I can never actually remember things I'm actually interested in owning that I wouldn't typically go out and purchase for myself. This blog post every year kind of forced me to really think about the items I'm interested in receiving, and I think they're so much fun to pull together AND to read from other folks' blogs! Here's what I have on my radar for this year's holiday season:

1. Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

I've been eyeing this book for a couple months now. It's an adult horror novel that has some themes that are very reminiscent of Scooby Doo and I am SO INTRIGUED. The only thing that has been holding me back from purchasing this book myself is the price. I haven't seen this book go under $19 since it released, even on Amazon, so I continue to wait to read this beauty until it falls under a price that I can justify. I would LOVE to find this under the tree Christmas morning, though!

2. Luna Lovegood with Lion Head Funko Pop

This has got to be hands-down the cutest Harry Potter Funko Pop I've seen to date! Luna is, of course, a fan favorite and I feel like her Lion Head scene is iconic. I would love to add Lion Head Luna to my Funko Pop collection, especially to put near all of my editions of Harry Potter! <3

3. Scrubs the Complete Collection

For some reason, NETFLIX KEEPS REMOVING ALL OF MY FAVORITE SHOWS THIS YEAR. As someone who prefers to watch the same 5 shows on repeat, this is heartbreaking for me. Scrubs was one of the casualties this year, and I would absolutely love to own the series so I can watch it anytime I'd like. (I also wouldn't mind 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother, two more of my favorites that got the ax from Netflix in 2017!)

4. Dobble

I don't remember who I saw this from, but I was watching through Instagram stories one day and someone I follow was playing this game and it looks SO FUN! I don't want to spend the time explaining how to play it, so here's a quick handy video if you're interested in how it works:

5. Ever Oasis

Another game that I'm super interested in owning. I stumbled across it when Brett and I were in GameStop one day and it looks so cute and fun! I would love to own this for my 3DS and maybe it can rekindle my love of video games. It's been a long time since I've played and I want to get back into it!

6. Planet Purse

Amazon keeps suggesting such fun statement purses and I gotta tell ya - I LOVE IT! I found this one as I was perusing through the site and absolutely fell in love. I tend to wear solids and neutrals, so I would love to have something bold and fun that I can add to a plainer outfit. I think something like this would be perfect for a night out!

7. Pikachu Nintendo DS Pouch

I saw this in GameStop a few weeks ago and was immediately like, "NEED". Like I mentioned above, I haven't been playing my 3DS as much as I'd like to. I still love my 3DS and love playing it, but it often get put on the back burner when I have free time because I'm usually reading! However, I'd still like to get games and accessories for my 3DS because they're just so freaking fun and adorable! <3

8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling and Illustrated by Jim Kay

And you can't go a Christmas as a Harry Potter fan anymore without wanting to get one of these amazing illustrated editions from Santa. I absolutely love the fact that these are being produced and 100% want/NEED the Prisoner of Azkaban to keep my collection up to date! :D

What do you want for the holidays this year?
Let me know in the comments!

Check out my Dear Santa posts from previous years!

2016

2015

2014

BookTuber BookTuber Tag! ♥

When I originally saw this tag I knew I had to do it despite not being tagged. This is a tag for BookTubers to shout out other BookTubers, and I have felt so much love from the BoookTube community so I wanted to spread a little more! Take a look at my answers for each of these questions and especially make sure you check out the BookTubers that I mentioned in this video because they are all so awesome! <3
People I Mention/People I Tag:
Kristina, Sophie, Joce, Lauren, Simon, Julie, Dana, Chelsea, Christina Marie, Alyssa, Michael, Izzy,Morgan, Becky, Anita, & Andie!

Original by Peter Likes Books

December 2017 TBR!

BLAAHHH IT'S THE LAST MONTH OF THE YEAR! Time to scramble to get all of our reading goals completed for 2017! I have quite a few books that I definitely need to read in order to meet all of my reading goals for the year and if I'm being honest, I'm panicking a little bit. O_O But it's okay! We'll make it through! I'm actually very excited to finally be getting to some of these titles, so hopefully that will make scrambling to the finish line all the more fun! :D

The Shining by Stephen King

Kindle book for December, Group read with Becky, Michael, & Anita

Series to Finish/Catch Up To

Lumberjanes, volume 6: Sink or Swim by Noelle Stevenson et. al.

Lumberjanes, volume 7: A Bird's Eye View by Noelle Steneson et. al.
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

Reading Challenge Picks

A book set during a holiday: Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

A book by an author that is no longer living: It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

The first book you see on your shelf: Maus, vol. 1: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

2017 Goal Picks

Non-Fiction: Popular by Maya Van Wagenen

Classic: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Diverse: Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

TBR Jar: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

November 2017 Reading Wrap Up!

Okay, I'm just going to cut to the chase - I read a shit ton of books in November. After feeling slumpy AF through the end of September/beginning of October, my reading came back with a vengeance in November and I read ALL THE THINGS! I'm just going to let my wrap up and stats speak for themselves. Let me know if you've read any of these books and let me know what you thought! :D

READING STATS FOR NOVEMBER

Participated in 2 readathons (#BorrowAThon & #ContemporaryAThon)

Completed diverse, TBR jar, classic, and nonfiction reads

Completed 4 reading challenges

Continued 1 series

5,453 pages read

21 books completed

BOOKS COMPLETED

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Physical copy, 3.75/5
Buddy read with Megan

Lumberjanes, vol. 5: Band Together
Physical copy, 4/5
Continuing a series

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery": the Authorized Graphic Adaptation
Library book, 4/5

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
Library book, 4/5

Kill My Mother by Jules Feiffer
Library book, 1/5

Class Mom by Laurie Gelman
Library book, 4/5

Bitch Planet, vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Library book, 4.5/5

March: Book One by John Lewis
Library book, 5/5
Non-fiction pick for November

Wonder Woman: Love and Murder by Jodi Picouly
Library book, 3/5

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
Library book, 2/5
Classic pick for November

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Physical copy, 5/5
Traveling book

The One-Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg
Library book, 5/5

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
Physical copy, 4/5
Reading challenge fulfilled: The newest book to your shelf

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Physical copy, 4.75/5
Diverse pick for November
Buddy read with Michael

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran
Physical copy, 3.5/5
Reading challenge fulfilled: A book with a green cover

The Bear by Claire Cameron
Physical copy, 4.5/5
TBR Jar pick for November

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Physical copy, 1/5
Reading challenge fulfilled: The book that has been on your shelf the longest

Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties by Dianne Lake
Audiobook, 3.75/5

More Happy than Not by Adam Silvera
Physical copy, 4.5/5
Traveling book

Snow White by Matt Phelan
Library book, 4.5/5
Reading challenge fulfilled: A book with a color in the title

Barefoot Gen, Vol. 3: Life After the Bomb by Keiji Nakazawa
Library book, 4/5

Book Talk: The Lunar Chronicles

I've been wanting to make this book talk for a while (and I'm thinking I'm going to continue making book talks for series that I finish), but I'm finally sharing my spoiler-free thoughts on The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer! This YA sci-fi series that is based on fairy tale retellings is an extremely enjoyable and entertaining read and I really had fun during my time reading through each of these books! Click play on my video to find out about my thoughts on the series as a whole.

Books Discussed:

Cinder

Scarlet

Cress

Fairest

Winter

 All by Marissa Meyer

Vlog: Miscellaneous Vlog | September & October 2017

Over the past few weeks I've been recording random video clips of exciting things I've been participating in. Time got away from me and I never posted any of the footage, so I thought I'd throw it all into one miscellaneous vlog! In this vlog you'll see me attending the Katy Perry concert at the Garden, running the Wineglass Marathon in Corning, NY, and getting the chance to watch the Patriots vs. Chargers game from some amazing seats! It was great to look back on these awesome memories, so I'm excited to share them with you all! I hope you enjoy. :)

Book Haul Revisit #2 | Tackle Your TBR & RYBSAT Round 9 Vlogs

Happy Black Friday, everyone! In the spirit of spending ridiculous amounts of money, I thought I'd post a book haul revisit and see if I've actually read the books I've spent my money on! This time around I'm taking a look at the books I hauled during my RYBSAT Round 9 & Tackle Your TBR vlogs from last fall, which totaled in 22 books between the two vlogs. Click play on the above video to see how I did! :)

Vlog: #ContemporaryAThon!

Last week I participated in the #ContemporaryAThon! This was such a brilliant idea to focus on just reading contemporaries for the duration of a readathon. Contemporaries are so much fun and such a breeze to read so I'm happy the Chelsea and Julie came up with this idea! I had a really fun week focusing on my TBR and also hit a very exciting milestone on my channel! Hit play to see what I got up to over the course of the week. I hope that another round of ContemporaryAThon comes about sometime in the future! :)

BookTube About Me Tag!

It's been a bit since I've done a book tag, and posting this seems to have come at a very serendipitous time because I recently surpassed the 1,000 subscriber milestone thanks to a shout out from the lovely  Chelsea Dolling Reads! What better way to introduce myself to my new friends than answer some random questions about myself? :P Press play to hear my answers for this tag and keep reading to get the questions so that you can do this tag yourself!

Questions:

1. What do you study/what is your job?

2. What is your favorite social media channel?

3. If you had another channel what would it be about?

4. Do you play any instruments?

5. What are your hobbies other reading?

6. Favorite TV shows?

7. What got you into reading?

8. What are your favorite and least favorite genres?

9. What books define your childhood?

10. Tell us an interesting fact about you

Original Tag by Harriet Rosie

I was tagged by Becky at Beck's Books!

I TAG:

Izzy @ punkrockgirlpa

Alyssa @ Books and Cats

Fall 2017 Book Haul!

Hooray! It's finally time for another book haul! These are some of my favorite videos to watch and to make, so I'm always very excited when I get to sit down and show off the books that I've purchased over the course of the last few months. This time around I managed to rack up 34 books. 

I know what you may be thinking - what happened to your Project 5 book buying plan?! (You're probably not thinking that but I feel weird not explaining myself SO I'M GONNA.) Basically, it went out the window this fall. I went through a really tough period of time in September/October and one of the things that brought be comfort was buying new books, so I allowed myself to do so. 

Overall, though, I'm finding that through my Project 5, I have less of an inclination to buy books that I'm not sure if I'm genuinely interested in and don't have foreseeable plans to actually read in the near future, which was the whole point of putting myself on this plan in the first place. So, SUCCESS! Moving forward, I think I'm going to continue to be cautious with my book buying and if I'm finding that I'm back on a "buy 20-books from Book Outlet for no real reason" habit, I'll turn back to Project 5. It's honestly been such a great help in learning to curb my book buying habits!

Anyway, here are the books that I've purchased for myself this fall. If you'd like to hear me talk briefly about each of these books, click play on the video above! Definitely let me know if you've read/enjoyed any of these books. I'd love to hear from you!

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice & Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Audiobook

It by Stephen King

Physical copy & audiobook

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Physical copy

Sourdough by Robin Sloane

Physical copy

September Book of the Month box

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Physical copy

September Book of the Month box

Startup by Doree Shafrir

Physical copy

September Book of the Month box

This One is Mine by Maria Semple

Physical copy

Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North

Physical copy

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Physical copy

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Physical copy

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Physical copy

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Physical copy

Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey, White House Years by David Litt

Audiobook

Lumberjanes, volume 5: Band Together by Noelle Stevenson, et. al.

Physical copy

More Than This by Patrick Ness

Physical copy

Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash

Physical copy

The Long Walk by Stephen King

Physical copy

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

Physical copy

Misery by Stephen King

Physical copy

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Physical copy

October Book of the Month box

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang

Physical copy

October Book of the Month box

The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

Physical copy

October Book of the Month box

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Physical copy

Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds

Kindle eBook

Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness that Ended the Sixties by Dianne Lake

Audiobook

Artemis by Andy Weir

Physical copy

November Book of the Month box

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Physical copy

November Book of the Month box

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

Physical copy

November Book of the Month box

The Shining by Stephen King

Kindle eBook

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Kindle eBook

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Kinde eBook

The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking

Kindle eBook

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

Kindle eBook

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

Kindle eBook

Vlog: #BorrowAThon Round 3!

I'm so sad that #BorrowAThon round 3 has come to an end. I always have such a great time with BorrowAThon. The community around this readathon is so awesome and I think this round has been the best one yet! Major shout outs to all of the hosts that helped me out this round, as well as all of the folks that joined in and had a great time with us! Click play on the vlog above to see what I got up to last week and to hear my thoughts on all of the books that I read throughout the readathon! :)
Check out more round 3 videos on this playlist! And don't forget to follow BorrowAThon on Twitter!

#ContemporaryAThon TBR!

GUYS! I'm so excited for this readathon! A few weeks back, Chelsea and Julie announced the ContemporaryAThon which, pretty obviously, is a readathon that encourages you to read exclusively contemporaries for a week. I am ALL ABOUT THIS! Contemporaries are usually so much fun to fly through and such feel-good reads and honestly, that's what I need in my reading life right now. I am so excited! :D The readathon will be 7 days (November 13-19, 2017) and Chelsea and Julie are encouraging folks to just have a low-key fun time, which I'm totally here for.
Keep reading to see what I'll be reading for this readathon and click play on the video above to learn a bit more about the books I picked! :)
The most recent contemporary book that you purchased/acquired Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
An adult contemporary Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
A contemporary with characters on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
A romance that is 5 years old or older This is the only challenge I didn't have a book I could read on my shelf! It's okay, though.  Romance doesn't tend to be my favorite genre, anyway.
A contemporary that is not set in summer How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran
A dark/taboo contemporary Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Buddy read a contemporary I will be buddy reading both Little Fires Everywhere and Dark Matter with Michael!

November 2017 TBR!

Somehow it's November again and it's time for another monthly TBR! This month I will be participating in two readathons - BorrowAThon (TBR here) and ContemporaryAThon. Because I'm posting separate TBRs for those readathons, I'm only talking about my goal reads and a miscellaneous buddy read I'm planning for this month. Trust me, there's a lot more on my reading plate in November! Stay tuned to find out what else I'm reading this month, but for now, here are my goal picks for November.

Buddy Reads

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Buddy read with Libby

2017 Goal Picks

Classic: The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

Non-Fiction: March by John Lewis

Diverse: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Buddy read with Michael

TBR Jar: The Bear by Claire Cameron

October 2017 Reading Wrap Up!

October has been a fairly decent reading month considering everything that has been going on in my personal life on top of going through a reading slump at the beginning of the month! I am really thankful that I'm back in the groove of reading and I'm hoping that this groove continues for the rest of the year! Keep reading to see my stats and the books that I read during the month of October, and to hear what I thought of each title, hit play on the video above!

READING STATS FOR OCTOBER

Participated in 1 readathon (#SpookAThon)

Completed diverse, TBR jar, classic, and nonfiction reads

3,874 pages read

10 books completed

BOOKS COMPLETED

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Library book, 4/5

Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Library book, 5/5

The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck by Sarah Knight
Kindle e-Book, 4/5
Non-fiction pick for October

Final Girls by Riley Sager
Physical copy, 4/5
Buddy read with Becky & Michael

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
Physical copy, 4.5/5

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Physical copy, 5/5
Classic pick for October

It by Stephen King
Physical copy/Audiobook, 4/5
Buddy read with Becky & Michael

Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years by David Litt
Audiobook, 4.5/5

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
Physical copy, 3/5
Diverse pick for October

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison
Physical copy, 4/5
TBR Jar pick for October

Vlog: #SpookAThon 2017

Happy Halloween, friends! 
To celebrate, not only am I wearing my Georgie Denbrough costume to work today (see below), but I'm also sharing my #SpookAThon reading vlog with you all! This year's SpookAThon came at the tail end of a reading slump I was going through, so vlogging AND reading during the week proved to be a bit difficult for me. However, I did manage to snag a bit of footage over the weekend and was able to put a ~somewhat~ decent vlog together. I'm happy that this readathon pulled me out of my slump and will now remember to pick up a thriller or two if I'm ever feeling slumpy again in the future! ;) Click play to see what I got up to over the weekend of SpookAThon!

My Georgie costume, complete with paper boat!

I'm not supposed to take stuff from strangers...

#BorrowAThon Round 3 TBR!

AHHHH BORROWATHON IS SO SOON! 
I'm so excited that I've already picked out my TBR for the readathon and wanted to share it with you all! If you're looking for information on Round 3 of BorrowAThon, check out my information blog post. If you're just curious what I'm reading for the readathon, check out my above TBR video or see my list of books below! I can't wait to see what everyone else will be reading for this readathon and to get back to interacting with everyone who participates in BorrowAThon and makes it super great! :D
ROUND 3 TBR
1. Give an author a second chance Wonder Woman: Love and Murder by Jodi Picoult
2. Start a new-to-you series March: Book One by John Lewis
3. A book with 5 or more words in the title The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
4. A 2017 release Class Mom by Laurie Gelman
5. A book you found in a #LibraryHaul Bitch Planet, vol. 1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick
6. A book featuring a library The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

#SpookAThon 2017 TBR!

Happy #SpookAThon everyone! I didn't get around to posting my TBR over here yet. The last few weeks have been particularly difficult for me (I talk a bit about it in my most recent Friday Reads video), so I've kind of been skimming by, trying to take care of myself to the best of my ability, and so things like social media posts, reading, and basically everything else in my life besides Netflix got placed on the back burner. Over the last few days, though, I've been really trying to change my attitude and put more effort into being happy. Things have since made a turn for the positive and I hope they continue to do so!

ANYWAY, I wanted to share my TBR for SpookAThon with you all, now that I feel well enough to sit down and write a blog post. SpookAThon is running today, October 16th, through Sunday, October 22nd and it's one of my favorite readathons because it focuses on ~spooky~ reads which I absolutely love! Here's what I'm planning to pick up and read this week:

Final Girls by Riley Sager

A book with a spooky setting

I Let You Go by Clark Mackintosh

A book that features a childhood fear

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

A thriller

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

A book with a scary word in the title

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

A book with orange in the cover

Check out my TBR video below to hear me talk more about each title and why I chose them for SpookAThon! :)

#BorrowAThon Round 3 Announcements!

AHHHHH IT'S ANNOUNCEMENT DAY FOR ROUND THREE OF BORROWATHON!

If you're not familiar, BorrowAThon is an eight day readathon where the only rule is you have to read borrowed books. This could be borrowed from the library, from a friend, a family member, a partner, a coworker, a stranger, etc. As long as you don't personally own the book, you can read it for BorrowAThon! :D This round will be taking place from Sunday, November 5th at 12AM in your time zone and will be going through to Sunday, November 12th at 11:59PM in your time zone.

I'm so excited for this round of BorrowAThon! We have so many fun things planned for this round and the BorrowAThon community is always such a lovely group of people to hang out with every time a round comes along! I can't wait to be surrounded by so many amazing people in the bookish community and celebrate our love of reading! I have thrown together *all* of the information for round 3 in this post, so if you prefer to read your information, be sure to continue reading! If you'd rather see my idiot face tell you the information, skip to the bottom to watch my announcement video! :P

HOSTS!

I have an amazing team of hosts this round that I am so thrilled to be working with! They're going to be helping me make this round the best one yet and I feel so lucky to have them on my side to help bring you an awesome event! Here's who will be hosting this round:

Riley (me) - @rmfickfack

Alyssa - @booksandcats97

Andie - @andie_reads

Megan R. - @RogersReads79

Megan B. - @lightening_boot

Izzy - @punkrockgirlpa

Michael - @mrh0691

Lisa - @ladybookdragon

Kaeley - @kaeleyscruggs

SPRINTS!

We will, of course, be giving the people what they want with sprints this round! We will be having them at a consistent time every night: 9PM - 12AM EST. That way you'll know when to expect a round of sprinting each day of the readathon! A different host will be running sprints every day. If you're curious of who will be hosting which night, check out the schedule below!

Day 1 (November 5) - Riley

Day 2 (November 6) - Alyssa

Day 3 (November 7) - Andie

Day 4 (November 8) - Megan R.

Day 5 (November 9) - Megan B.

Day 7 (November 10) - Michael

Day 8 (November 12) - Lisa

CHATS/LIVE SHOWS!

Chats are my absolute favorite part of this readathon each round and this time we're going to be doing them a bit differently. Instead of hosting chats on Twitter like we have for the past two rounds, we're going to be hosting them on my channel in the form of some live shows! We will be live streaming on my channel and there will be a chat room that we will be able to interact with you in real time. I'm so excited to try this version of chats for round 3 and hopefully everyone will have a chance to join in one of our two chat times!

Live Show/Chat #1: Sunday, November 5th at 8AM EST

Live Show/Chat #2: Saturday, November 11th at 7PM EST

SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE!

The lovely Kaeley will be hosting an Instagram challenge over on her blog Spoilers May Apply during round 3 of BorrowAThon! There will be more information released about this challenge during the readathon, so keep an eye out for information regarding the challenge on our Twitter page!

READING CHALLENGES!

The moment everyone has been waiting for - the round 3 reading challenges! We have 6 challenges again this round which are completely optional. You can try to accomplish as many or as few as you like, and you can even double up challenges if you'd like. If you find a book that accomplishes all 6 challenges, go for it! These are just for fun. :)

1. Give an author a second chance

2. Start a new-to-you series

3. Read a book with 5 or more words in the title

4. Read a 2017 release

5. Read a book you find in a #LibraryHaul

6. Read a book that features a library

Stay Up to Date!

All updated information for BorrowAThon will go up on our Twitter page first, so make sure you are following us at @BorrowAThon for all updated information! Also make sure you're using the hashtag #BorrowAThon to share your TBRs and readathon updates so we can find you and connect with you!

Check out my announcement video below if you'd like to see me talking about all things Round 3!

October 2017 TBR!

Happy October, friends! I LOVE October and spooky season, so I am thrilled that one of my favorite months is here! I have picked out a couple of spooky reads to tackle this month and also have quite a few buddy reads I will be taking on, but I am really excited to get to all of them and I hope to have a really successful reading month in October. I hope you're able to enjoy your October as well! :D

I will be having a Halloween-themed live show on my channel on Saturday, October 14th at 8PM EST, with special guest Michael! I hope to see you there. :)

Reading Challenge Picks

The newest book to your shelf: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Buddy read with Becky & Michael

A book with a color in the title: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2017 Goal Picks

Diverse: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Buddy read with Becky

Classic: The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Non-Fiction: The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck by Sarah Knight

TBR Jar: The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving

Other Buddy Reads

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Buddy read with Shannon

Final Girls by Riley Sager

Buddy read with Becky & Michael

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Buddy read with Megan

September 2017 Reading Wrap Up!

September, as anticipated, was a bit of a slower reading month because I had SO DAMN MUCH GOING ON. I basically worked the majority of the month and ended it with a trip to upstate New York for a marathon I was running! Needless to say, reading was a bit more challenging this month, but I still managed to read 8 books which I am actually really happy about!

READING STATS FOR SEPTEMBER

Participated in 1 readathon (#TheReadingQuest)

Continued 1 series

Finished 1 series

3,158 pages read

8 books completed

BOOKS COMPLETED

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling & Illustrated by Jim Kay

Physical copy, 5/5

Reading challenge fulfilled: A re-read

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

Physical copy, 3.75/5

Continuing a series

Tales of the Greek Heroes by Roger Lancelyn Green

Physical copy, 4/5

Classic pick for September

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Physical copy, 4.5/5

Buddy read with Michael

Waiting to Be Heard by Amanda Knox

Kindle e-Book, 3.5/5

Non-fiction pick for September

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Physical copy, 4/5

Finish/catch up to a series (fulfilled 1 of 3)

Chemistry by Weike Wang

Physical copy, 5/5

Diverse pick for September

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois

Physical copy, 3/5

TBR Jar pick for September

SSSBC July & August Vlog

Don't worry guys, I didn't forget about this project! (That doesn't mean I got that much more done on it, but it was always in the back of my mind! :P)
The rest of my SSSBC Project went about as well as it did in June. I continued to fail to prioritize making time to write creatively, and it ultimately became a source of stress for me than a fun, creative outlet. I'm pretty bummed that this project really didn't go as planned, but I will say that I did learn a lot about myself and a lot about creative writing.
I definitely want to do something like this again in the future and to continue on with my caffeine writing project, but I'm not going to put a set timeline on myself for when I revisit it. I hope it will be sometime in 2018, but I think we'll just have to see whenever the writing bug bites again. I would like to set aside a period of time (like a week or a month) where all I do in my spare time is write and see what happens, so maybe that will be something you'll see from me in the future!
Overall, I think this was a really positive experience, even though I was stressed about it a lot of the time and I didn't do as well as I had hoped. We will try again, though, and we'll do better next time!
Watch the below vlog to see my last two months of SSSBC and some final thoughts on the experience!