#TheReadingQuest Week 2 Update!

Week 2 of The Reading Quest is complete! I'll be perfectly honest - it did not go according to plan. I had the whole weekend to read my butt off, but for whatever reason, I really did not prioritize it and kept getting very distracted by everything else (like watching the entire second season of Last Chance U ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). 

I've started to panic just the *tiniest* bit when it comes to this reading challenge because I have now entered the busy season at work (like, I won't have a *guaranteed* day off 'til September 10th... the last day of this challenge...) and have only ticked off one challenge along the Mage Quest Path. I've decided to switch gears and start to focus on my Mage Quest Path books (even though I've been really loving my side quest reads!) so I can at least finish that challenge, and then refocus on the side quests and get as many of those done by then end of the challenge. Hopefully I can still finish all of the books that I want to read, but we shall see!

Keep reading to find all of my stats for Days 9-16!

And don't forget to check out my #TheReadingQuest playlist on YouTube to see my vlogs of this experience!

TBR UPDATE

Two of my #TheReadingQuest TBR picks got called back to the library this week before I had the chance to read them, so I had to swap those out. Here's what I'll be reading in their place:

One World Title: Changing from Walkaway by Cory Doctorow to Release by Patrick Ness

Open World: Changing from We Are Okay by Nina Lacour to How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

WEEK 2 STAT BREAKDOWN

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

404 pages

Completes First book in a series Mage Quest Path challenge

+10 EXP

+40.4 HP

in progress...

Winter by Marissa Meyer

301/823 pages

Grind side quest

+30.1 HP

Release by Patrick Ness
109/287 pages
One word title Mage Quest Path challenge
+10.9 HP

TOTALS AFTER WEEK 2

Pages read: 2,024

Books completed: 5

Quests completed: 5

Level: 2

EXP: 70

HP: 200.4

What's on my Kindle? E-Book TBR

I do not use my Kindle NEARLY enough. I love my Kindle Fire HD and I love reading on it, but I tend to forget to reach for my Kindle books because I don't physically see them on my shelf. I decided to do a What's on my Kindle video to revisit what I actually own for e-Books, and have also been inspired to try and read at least one Kindle book a month for the rest of 2017 to hopefully get me back into the habit of reading on my Kindle! Click play or keep reading to see what I currently own on my Kindle, and let me know which ones I should start with!

Unread E-Books on my Kindle 
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic ...But I'm Not Racitst!: Tools for Well Meaning Whites by Kathy O'Bear The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck by Sarah Knight Tales of Iceland or Running with the Huldufolk in the Permanent Daylight by Stephen Markley The Mountaintop School for Dogs and Other Second Chances by Ellen Cooney Waiting to be Heard by Amanda Knox All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven High Fidelity by Nick Hornby A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton The 8 Mistakes of Amy Maxwell by Heather Balog Amy Maxwell and the 7 Deadly Sins by Heather Balog The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry

#TheReadingQuest Week 1 Update!

Week 1 of #TheReadingQuest is complete! I'm here to give you an update on my progress for Days 1-8. This past week was rather difficult for me to focus on reading. There has been so much happening in the United States that I've been wanting to pay attention to and it has made it extremely easy for me to fall down a Twitter rabbit hole in order to feel like I'm staying up to date on what's been going on in my country. Between that and also managing additional buddy reads that don't have anything to do with my #TheReadingQuest TBR, it's been really tough to get through the things I've wanted to read for this challenge.

However, with my BookTube Birthday 24 hour readathon and motivation from bookish friends, I managed to get through the majority of the books I wanted to complete for this quest this week and I am really happy with my progress thus far! I'm hoping that despite an increasingly busy schedule over the next 3 weeks I am able to complete the rest of the challenges I've set out to conquer! Keep reading to see my progress after the first week of #TheReadingQuest, and make sure to check out my #TheReadingQuest playlist on my channel to see my vlogs from the past week!

TBR UPDATE

I've added in Fairest by Marissa Meyer to complete the Expansion side quest

as it is a companion novella in the Lunar Chronicles series! :)

WEEK 1 STAT BREAKDOWN

Barefoot Gen, volume 2 by Keiji Nakazawa

Graphic Novel, 240 pages

Completes Mini-Game side quest

Marginalized Author

+10 EXP

+12 HP

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

465 pages

Completes Multiplayer side quest

+10 EXP

+46.5 HP

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

306 pages

Completes Time Warp side quest

Marginalized Author

+20 EXP

+30.6 HP

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

222 pages

Completes Expansion side quest

+10 EXP

+22.2 HP

in progress...

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

77/404 pages

First book in a series Mage Quest Path challenge

+7.7 HP

TOTALS AFTER WEEK 1

Pages Read: 1,560

Books Completed: 4

Quests completed: 4

Level: 2

EXP: 60

HP: 129

BookTube Birthday Bash! 24 Hour Readathon & #BoutofBooks 20 TBR!

Today is my BookTube Birthday! :D
*see my note on this TBR at the bottom of this post*

Today marks one year since I uploaded my very first book haul to YouTube, what I consider to be my first BookTube video! I've been on YouTube for nearly 10 years (!!!), but I feel like I really found my YouTube home when I entered into the BookTube community. I am so thankful I have found my way into this community. I have met so many great people, have participated in so many great events, and just all around have had the most fun I've had within an internet community as a part of BookTube. So in order to celebrate one full year on this wonderful slice of the internet, I am going to throw myself a BookTube Birthday Bash!

As this blog post & video publish, I am taking part in my very own 24 hour readathon. I had such a fun time during the Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon and I've seen a lot of BookTubers do 24 hour readathons on their own so I thought, WHY THE HELL NOT TAKE ON MY OWN, TOO?! So I'll be spending my ~actual~ BookTube Birthday (August 19th!) reading for 24 hours starting at 8AM! I will also be taking place in Bout of Books Round 20 from August 21 to August 27. Bout of Books 17, which took place last August, was the first readathon I ever participated in so it only felt right to jump into their August round again this year!

I am so thrilled to be celebrating one year on BookTube and I am looking forward to another fun year filled with friends, videos, and, of course, lots and lots of books! :D Keep reading to see what I'll be reading during these two readathons, and watch the video above to hear a bit more about each one! <3

24 Hour Readathon TBR

Stitches by David Small

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Maus I: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Bout of Books 20 TBR

Winter by Marissa Meyer

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

***NOTE: This TBR was decided and video was recorded, edited, uploaded, and scheduled roughly three weeks prior to the August 11-12, 2017 events in Charlottesville, VA, and published one week after. The recently renewed uprising in white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and other fascist groups' rallies, demonstrations, and violence in the United States in the wake of the election of Donald Trump has made a few of the items on my TBR coincidentally (and unfortunately) very timely and more important to read than ever. Fighting hate with education is so important, and delving deeper into the horrific subject matter of WWII & the Holocaust (among many other subjects) will help me (and everyone) in that pursuit. Fuck Nazis. Fuck White Supremacy. Fight the hate and bigotry that is rearing its ugly head in our country any way you can. We cannot let history repeat itself.***

Vlog: #ViewAThon Round 1

Last week was #ViewAThon! It was a really fun week of watching TV & movies that I wouldn't normally watch and while I didn't do as well as I originally had hoped, I still found some things that I really likes and am looking forward to continuing! This was a fun little experiment and I hope to do another one of these in the future! Click above to watch the vlog and see how I did on my challenges! :)

Summer 2017 Book Haul!

It's time for another book haul! It's always so fun to show off all of the new editions to my personal home library, and this one is no different. I have a *ton* of books to show you in this video. So many that I could not possibly lift all 31 of them in my thumbnail without giving myself a concussion. I hope you enjoy looking at all of my beautiful new books, and if you see any that I should definitely get to soon, let me know in the comments!
Books Acquired this Summer
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab Citizen: an American Lyric by Claudia Rankine Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (20th Anniversary House Edition in Gryffindor) Wing Jones by Katherine Webber Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (pre-order) Animal Farm by George Orwell The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson Release by Patrick Ness Geekerella by Ashley Poston Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (audiobook AND hardback) Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
June Book of the Month Box
Chemistry by Weike Wang Into the Water by Paula Hawkins I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
July Book of the Month Box
Final Girls by Riley Sager Ready Player One by Ernest Cline The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
August Book of the Month Box
Eat Only When You're Hungry by Lindsay Hunter Exit West by Mohsin Hamid The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
If you'd like to reference my rules for #Project5, you can find them here!

Friday Reads! {8.11.17} + Run with Me!

I have SO MUCH READING TO DO! Between several buddy reads, The Reading Quest, and just trying to accomplish my TBR goals for the month, this weekend is going to be chock full of reading. This weekend, my main focuses are the following:
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame The Way We Bared Our Souls by Willa Strayhorn Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Click play on the above video to hear what my full plans are for each book, as well as a fun update on a virtual race I'm promoting called the Dash for Donuts! If you're interested in signing up, you can do so with a 10% discount by using this link! And definitely let me know if you plan to run with me in September! :D

Library Book Haul! {#003}

It's been such a long time since I took new books out from the library! I made a trip to my library last week to return a few books and I decided it was time to pick some more up. Here's my very long overdue (ha) library book haul from my last trip! I'm excited to get to all of these books. I really need to start making it a habit to do library hauls on my channel. They're so much fun! :D
Books I Checked Out:
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour Walkaway by Cory Doctorow The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel Mooncop by Tom Gauld Barefoot Gen, volume 1 by Keiji Nakazawa* Barefoot Gen, volume 2 by Keiji Nakazawa
*Apologies for misreading this author's name in the video! I orginally read it at "Kenji" which is incorrect. It's Keiji!

Friday Reads! {08.04.17} Buddy Read-a-Palooza!

Happy Friday, everyone! Here's another Friday Reads video for you guys. I've been really liking putting these quick videos together and while I don't think I'll be doing them *every* week, don't be surprised if you see them popping up on my channel more often! It's a nice way to check in at the end of each week and to share what my plans are for the weekend. I also really loving watching everyone else's! It's like we all get together to quickly check in with one another every week. :P Anyway, here are my reading plans for the weekend! I have so many buddy reads planned this weekend so I'm deeming it Buddy Read-a-Palooza! :P I'm looking forward to all of these books this weekend and hope they're all enjoyable reads!
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins (buddy reading with Andie) Geekerella by Ashley Poston (buddy reading with Becky) The Way We Bared Our Souls by Willa Strayhorn (buddy reading with Shannon) Barefoot Gen, volume 1 by Keiji Nakazawa

#TheReadingQuest!

GUYS I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS READING CHALLENGE!

Between August 13th and September 10th, I will be taking part in...

#THEREADINGQUEST!

All of the beautiful artwork you see in this post is done by CW at Read, Think, Ponder! *heart eyes emoji*

#TheReadingQuest was created by Read at Midnight and I am SO PUMPED to be taking part in this challenge. Read at Midnight has done a few of these really fun reading challenges in the past and I feel like I always miss them and they always seem so fun and unique. I'm excited I was able to find out about this challenge in time and I am PUMPED to participate!

This is a reading challenge that takes place over the course of 4 weeks. You must pick a character and complete that character's path on the bingo board (above) by reading a book that matches the challenges on the path. The aim is to get your character as many Experience Points (EXP) as possibles, level up, and complete its quest. For each book you complete, you will receive +10EXP, unless it is a graphic novel, which you will receive +5EXP. If your book is written by a marginalized author, you will receive +20EXP.

Your character also earns Health Points (HP) which correlates with the number of pages that you read. You receive +1HP for every 10 pages you read unless it's a graphic novel, which you will receive +1HP for every 20 pages you read. You can also earn HP by posting on social media using the #TheReadingQuest. Make sure you check out the sign up post to see detailed instructions on every way you can earn HP.

Additionally, there are side quests you can take on at anytime which are located in the middle of the board. I will definitely be reading to complete quite a few side quests and I love that they have included these to complete while you're working on your character path. These quest are fairly random and can be fulfilled with a lot of different types of books, so I definitely have a few of these in mind that I would like to attempt.

You might be wondering what character path I'm planning to take on. Well, because I always want to feel a bit ~magical~, I'm going to be going down the path of the Mage! Not only does the idea of the Mage really capture my attention, I really liked the challenges on the Mage's path and was excited to build a TBR surrounding the character. That will be the character I am playing with during this challenge and I am so excited to see how well she does! Keep scrolling to see what my TBR for this challenge!

MAGE PATH

A book with a one-word title: Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

A book that contains magic: Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, Illustrated by Jim Kay

A book based on mythology: Tales of the Greek Heroes by Roger Lancelyn Green

A book set in a different world: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness*

The first book of a series: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

SIDE QUESTS

POTIONS - A book concocted by 2+ authors: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

MULTIPLAYER - Buddy Read a Book: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

GRIND - A book with 500+ pages: Winter by Marissa Meyer

TIME WARP - A book set in either the past or the future: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead*

OPEN WORLD - Read whatever you want: We Are Okay by Nina LaCour*

MINI GAME - Read a graphic novel, novella, or poem collection: Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa* (volume 1 or 2, depending where I am when the challenge starts)

ANIMAL COMPANION - A book referencing an animal in the title: Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rivka Brunt

*written by a marginalized author, +20EXP if completed

For a lot of these challenges, I was able to choose books that I was already planning on reading in the near future/are on current or upcoming monthly or readathon TBRs, so it really worked out nicely! I am excited to get to so many of these books. A lot of them have been waiting patiently on my shelf for over a year so it will be great to finally read them! :)

I am planning to do weekly updates of my progress here on the blog, as well as weekly vlogs of my experience of taking on this challenge, so be on the lookout for those! I am SO PUMPED for this challenge and I hope you are able to join in as well! See you all in a few weeks with my first update!

Shout out to Read at Midnight for this amazing challenge and to CW at Read, Think, Ponder for the adorable artwork!

August 2017 TBR!

Wahhhh I am SO SAD that is the last month of my actual summer "break" for work! :( 

I am definitely planning on taking advantage of the last few weeks of a slow schedule to read my dang face off. I am planning to take part in Bout of Books 20, as well as celebrate my BookTube birthday (August 19th!) in a really fun way - details on that coming soon. ;) I really want to embrace this last little bit of free time I have before another academic year begins and what better way to do that than give myself a LOT of books to read? :P

This month's TBR, I decided to have a little bit of fun and get my dogs involved. You read that right, my dogs helped me pick my August TBR! You'll need to click my video to find out how that actually happened, but Lupita and Poppy helped me pick my Classic, Non-Fiction, Diverse, and TBR Jar picks for August. I had such a blast filming this video, and I think the pups did as well. :) Click play on the video to watch the action, and scroll to the bottom of the post to see the list of books I will definitely be reading this month!

2017 Goal Picks

Classic: Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Non-Fiction: Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond by Jane Maas

Diverse: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

TBR: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Buddy Reads

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins (with Andie from It's a Reading Thing)

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (with Michael who is back on BookTube! YAY!)

The Way We Bared Our Souls by Willa Strayhorn (with my IRL reading pal, Shannon)

Geekerella by Ashley Poston (with Becky from Beck's Books)

July 2017 Reading Wrap Up!

Another reading month has come and gone and this past month was probably the most successful reading months of my entire life. I read a whopping 17 books and enjoyed the majority of the books that I read! I also participated in 2 readathons, completed 3 buddy reads, and checked off a number of my reading challenges for 2017! It's going to be extremely hard to top July 2017 in terms of reading, and I'm so happy that I had such a blast with my books this month! Watch the wrap up video above to hear my thoughts on the books that I read, and keep reading for more stats! READING STATS FOR JULY

Participated in 2 readathons (#24in48 & #BookTubeAThon)

Completed 6 reading challenges

Continued 1 series

Completed non-fiction, classic, diverse, and TBR jar reads

5,114pages read

17 books completed

BOOKS COMPLETED

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham
Physical copy, 4.5/5
Reading challenge fulfilled: A book by a celebrity you love

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (Review)
Audiobook, 5/5
Reading challenge fulfilled: A book set in a country you've never been to

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern (Review)
Physical copy, 1/5
Diverse pick for July

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwoood
Physical copy, 5/5
Classic pick for July

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon (Review)
Physical copy, 3/5
Buddy read with Anita

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
Physical copy, 5/5
Non-fiction pick for July

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
Physical copy, 4.5/5
Buddy read with Michael

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Physical copy, 4.75/5
Reading challenge fulfilled: A book that features an LGBTQ+ character
Buddy read with Shannon

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid
Kindle e-Book, 3.75/5
Reading challenge fulfilled: A book set in multiple states or countries

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Physical copy, 3.5/5
TBR Jar pick for July

Lumberjanes, vol. 4: Out of Time by Noelle Stevenson et. al.
Physical copy, 5/5

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde
Physical copy, 4/5

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
Audiobook, 3/5

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Physical copy, 5/5

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple
Physical copy, 3.5/5
Reading challenge fulfilled: A book by an author you know you enjoy

Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Physical copy, 3/5

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: the Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling
Physical copy, 4/5
Reading challenge fulfilled: A book to movie adaptation (read the book and watch the movie)