Tuesday, October 31, 2017

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...

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

#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

Monday, October 16, 2017

#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! :)

Thursday, October 5, 2017

#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


Michael - @mrh0691
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!

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

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