Video: 2021 Running Goals & Race Plans (Updated!)

Last week I posted an UPDATED 2021 Running Goals & Race Plans video to my channel! You might have seen my Race Plans blog post from a few weeks ago, but I've added and changed a few things to this list, so make sure you watch the video for the most up-to-date version of my 2021 race plans. I'm looking forward to running all the miles in 2021 and sharing them all with you! 🏃‍♀️

Video: One Second a Day // 2020

I recorded one second every day during the year 2020! I've been wanting to do one of these videos for such a long time and I am so happy that I did so this year. It's so cool to look back and see 2020 captured in a 6 minute video. Every frame will be something that I remember about this year and that is so special to me. I am going to try and complete another year of this project in 2021, because this is so cool to have! Happy New Year, everyone!

OWLs TBR 2020 🦉✨

Happy April & Happy OWLs, y'all!  For a third year in a row I will be participating in the OWLs Magical Readathon! This year I am hoping to pursue the Hogwarts Professor career as it's the magical career that it closest to my current role of working at a university. For OWLs, I need to read 7 books: a Defense Against the Dark Arts book, a book of the subject that I wish to teach (I'm going for Care of Magical Creatures!) and 5 other subjects of my choosing. During this time of social distancing, I have a lot of free time on my hands so I think the 7 book minimum for this readathon is totally doable. Here are the books that I'll be reading! The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks Subject: Defense Against the Dark Arts Prompt: Set at sea/on the coast Reverie by Ryan La Sala Subject: Care of Magical Creatures Prompt: A creature with a beak on the cover The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak Subject: Ancient Runes Prompt: A heart on the cover/in the title The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver Subject: Astronomy Prompt: Read the majority of this book when it's dark outside The Oracle Year by Charles Soule Subject: Charms Prompt: A book with a white cover Miracle Creek by Angie Kim Subject: Herbology Prompt: A title that starts with an "M" Startup by Doree Shafrir Subject: Muggle Studies Prompt: A book from the POV of a Muggle

Race Review: 26.2 in the Big Easy & Celebrating a New PR! ⚜️ // Rock n' Roll New Orleans Marathon Weekend Days 3 + 4

This post is part of a series about my trip to New Orleans February 7-10, 2020. 

Make sure you check out my day 1 & day 2 posts first!

I'm so excited to finally be talking about race day at the Rock n' Roll New Orleans Marathon! The Cheer Squad and I were up bright and early to head down to the starting line. We were out the door by 6:15am and opted to take the trolley downtown. As I've found at other large races, there was definitely a delay in the transportation that morning. When thousands of people are all trying to get to the same location it's only to be expected, so make sure you're planning for travel time to the start the morning of the race! 

I believe we got on the trolley by 6:45am or so and were off and walking toward the start by 7. There was a big construction site in the middle of Canal Street during our visit due to the collapse of the Hardrock Hotel, so we had to walk the rest of the way to the start. The start was scheuled for 7:30am so the pressure to get to the start was a little stressful! But we made it in plenty of time. I missed the Maniacs photo by literally 10 seconds which I was kinda bummed about, but honestly I was just excited to be there!

I said my goodbyes to the Cheer Squad and headed into my corral. While I was waiting for the starting gun, I looked down at my watch and realized that even though it had been on the charger all night it was still at 18% battery. 🤦‍♀️ I rely heavily on my watch to make sure I'm hitting my paces, so because I wasn't quite sure how long my watch's battery would last I decided to load up Strava's record feature on my phone which I had never used. 😂 Naturally I had no idea what I was doing, but I managed to figure out how to get it to tell me my mile splits through my headphones. It would have to do!

I waited in the corral for quite some time. It seemed to be about 30 minutes or so before I finally got to the starting line, but once I did my corral got stopped *right* at the front! For the first time ever, I got to be right at the line when the gun went off which was super cool. I don't think it will be often that I will be able to be one of the first to cross the start when the gun goes off, so I tried to savor the moment!

Knowing that I was running Strava off of my phone, I didn't take a ton (or any) photos during the race. I didn't want my phone to die mid-run because I already knew that my watch was going to! Luckily the Cheer Squad took a few great photos to share with y'all and a ton of video for the vlog which you can find at the end of this post! 😊

It was an absolutely *gorgeous* day for a marathon and I was so thankful for the weather. It was a bit humid but not unbearably so, and running in the warmth for a change was so pleasant. The first few miles of the race was an out-and-back section through a neighborhood. (You can see the course map here.) The streets were full of spectators and a few live bands. I really enjoy out-and-back sections because I love being able to see the other runners on the opposite side of the road from me. I got to see the elites roll by which is always so inspiring, and having both sides of the roads filled with marathoners and half marathoners was so much fun.

The first 7 miles of the race seemed to FLY by. I was doing my best to not get too caught up in the excitement of the race and focus on my fueling plan, and eventually I fell into a good rhythm with my pacing. Unfortunately around mile 6.5 or so I really started to feel the impact of the roads on my feet. I know I was a bit overdue for some new running shoes but I wanted to stick with my trust purple Adrenaline 19's since I've been doing all of my training in them. Sadly I definitely felt the impact of having worn out shoes and have learned my lesson to buy a new pair mid-way through my training cycle next time.

At mile 9 we arrived in the French Quarter and I found the Cheer Squad in Jackson Square around mile 9.75! It is always so unbelievably motivating to see friendly faces mid-way through a marathon and know that they'll be waiting for you at certain points along the course. It gives you something to look forward to throughout long, lonely stretches of the course and also motivates you to work that much harder for the people who are there for you. I always love having my Cheer Squad with me and I'm grateful I have folks who are willing to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn to watch me run a lot of miles. 😂💗

This course has one of my *least* favorite features of any race that has both a half and a full marathon running simultaneously. They bring the full marathon right by the finish line of the half before the runners continue on for another 13 miles. It's always such a mood killer to know that the finish line is that close and yet you still have so far to go! 😂 As usual, as the half marathon veered off to finish, the course became quite a bit more open. However, the field to this race is so large that I never was alone on the course, which was nice!

Once I passed mile 16 and took the turn onto the section along Lake Pontchartrain, the wind SIGNIFICANTLY increased. After doing some research on the wind conditions, it looks like there was 20+ mph wind gusts and they were mostly ALL headwinds! There were certain points where I felt like I was getting blown backwards. It was crazy! Definitely not something I was prepared to experience so it was a challenge to keep myself pushing through. I was also feeling off stomach-wise for most of the day so this additional challenge really made me have to fight even harder mentally to keep pushing as hard as I could.

Around mile 17.5 I pulled over to refill my Camelbak. As y'all know, I like to run with a pack as I drink a ton of water while running. One of my favorite features of this race was the fact that there was a water stop at almost every mile, and each stop featured an ENORMOUS water jug that you could use to fill up your own water supply if you wanted. I was able to take advantage of that which I was super grateful for. Unfortunately my stop reflected on the GPS tracker Erin, Brett, and Cullen were using to see my progress and they were a little worried if I was okay or not. Brett called me right before I passed mile 18 to check in, and hearing his voice gave me a boost of energy. He let me know that they were waiting for me around mile 20.5 which I was so looking forward to!

As promised I saw their three smiling faces midway between miles 20 and 21. Erin ran with me a bit of the way until we met up with the guys where they were camped out. I was still on track for a sub-5 race so I didn't want to linger too long with them but again, it was so good to see them and get good vibes and high fives all around before heading into the last portion of the course. I would see them at the finish!

Unlucky for me, I started getting some serious leg cramping about 5 minutes after I saw them. I started to have to take stretching breaks which I hate having to do mid-race, but I needed some relief from the cramping! The wind + the old shoes + the exhaustion of running that far was really taking its toll on my body, but I kept my race goals in mind and kept pushing hard. I took a pattern of Run → walk → stop and stretch over the next few miles in order to give myself some relief every so often.

Around mile 23 we finally started to get some relief from the wind. I wasn't totally sure that I would be on track for a sub-5 anymore at that point, but I still was fairly sure I could PR. My watch had been dead for about 10 miles and I wasn't sure how accurate Strava was, so I really had no idea where I stood. I just kept myself moving forward at as quick a pace as I was able to. Once I hit mile 25 I just sucked it up and kept myself running. I was close enough to the finish that I just wanted to put my head down and get it done! The race volunteers and police that were staffing the course were smiling and enthusiastic toward every single runner and I am so appreciative of that. There's nothing worse than being a back-of-the-pack-er and seeing volunteers look annoyed at the fact that you're still running and they can't go home yet.

Eventually I turned into City Park and I knew the finish line was SO CLOSE! As you turn toward the finish chute the energy and crowd was unreal. The music was pumping, every member of the crowd was cheering for every runner, and it just felt so good to be able to be welcomed to the finish line in that way. I saw the Cheer Squad to my right, waved and blew them a kiss, then gave my final push across the finish line. Another state done! ✅

The volunteers at the finish were great. You were given your medal and had a couple opportunities to take your photo with them. You were handed snacks, water, and Gatorade, and congratulated left and right. When you're super delirious after 26.2 miles it's really hard to think coherently and the volunteers at the finish line made it so you didn't have to. That way you could just reflect on what you just accomplished. I took my medal and a handful of snacks and drinks and met up with the gang so I could finally sit on the ground. 😂

We didn't think to take finish line photos of our own for whatever reason (maybe because I was dead 💀) so here are some close up shots of my medal!

Again, I wasn't sure what time I finished in. My watch was dead, I wasn't sure how accurate Strava was, and I guess the Rock n' Roll tracking app said I arrived to the finish line WAYYY before I actually did. Strava said I finished in 4:58 (and later said I finished in 5:01?) and my unofficial time from Rock n' Roll was 5:04:13 but because the app said I arrived several minutes before I actually did I was worried that my time was much longer than that. It wasn't until later that evening that we got official results, and it turned out my unofficial time of 5:04:13 was my official time! I HAD SET A NEW PR!!!! 🎉🎉🎉 Regardless of what my time would have been I was super proud of myself and how I performed that day. I knew my training had made me a much better runner and had made my marathon experience much better for it. I was super happy and ready to celebrate!

One of the *only* things I would criticize this race on is that the finish line festival was SO. FAR. from the actual finish! City Park is a huge place and the organizers opted to put the finish line festival all the way across the park from the finish line. I was really confused by that decision because there was so much empty space at the park much closer to the finish line that could have easily been used for the after party which would have made it so much easier on the runners. I can speak for myself when I say I am definitely not up for walking super far after running 26.2 miles, and I'm sure other runners could say the same for any of the race distances that were offered. Unfortunately because it was so far from the finish I had zero desire to check it out, even though I'm sure it would have been really fun! If it was closer to the finish and I didn't have to go as far, I likely would have gone and checked it out. 

But if that's the only thing I'm criticizing the race on, I think that it's a pretty damn good race! 😉

For real, this race was great. The volunteers were so helpful and friendly, the pre-race communication was excellent and I knew exactly what I needed to do as a participant, the on-course experience was so vibrant and fun, and I just felt happy the entire race! This was my first Rock n' Roll race experience and I am so happy it was a positive one. I've heard really mixed things about this race series and I'm glad that my experience was one that makes me excited to come back to it. I'm really looking forward to heading to Seattle and Savannah with Rock n' Roll later this year!

After the race, we went back to the AirBnB to chill for a couple hours. The Cheer Squad needed naps and I needed a shower and a place to sit down. 😂 Eventually, though, we needed to venture out for food because I had burned a LOT of calories that morning! We opted for my fave - PIZZA. We hit up Louisiana Pizza Kitchen in the French Quarter and like all of the other food we had that weekend, it was BOMB. All I need in my life after a long run is some cheese pizza and I absolutely devoured it. I was excited I was able to eat whatever I wanted again, and partake in some cocktails! Erin and I opted for a carafe of peach sangria and it was delicious.

It was Brett's first time in NOLA so we had to spend some time on the world famous Bourbon Street. I was really hankering for a post-race Hurricane so we headed over to Pat O'Briens to grab a few! We got a table in the courtyard and it was a beautiful night to sit and chat about the day with pals.

After wandering Bourban Street for a bit, acquiring beads, dancing to street performers, and enjoying a couple of Hand Grenades (you can see all of that on the vlog below!), we knew that our final stop of the evening had to be to snag a couple order of beignets! We were going to go to the famous Cafe Du Monde, but we opted to stop at Cafe Beignet instead (because it was closer and we were tired lol). I'll tell ya that the beignets were *incredible * and good if not better than Cafe Du Monde - there's more than one place to get beignets, folks! 😍

Sadly Erin and Cullen had a super early flight so we woke up around 3am and sent them on their way to the airport. We were able to hang around in our AirBnB until 11, so we relaxed and gathered our things before heading out midday on Monday. Before heading to the airport we went to The Ruby Slipper for brunch and it was super delicious. I had this amazing vanilla iced coffee that I had so snap a photo of. I'm not sure why (maybe I was still hungry from the day before haha) but it honestly tasted SO GOOD. Everything tastes good post-marathon. 😂

After brunch we headed to the airport to catch our flight home. This was such a fantastic trip and I feel like this is one of those cities that I will definitely be back to again in my lifetime. There's still so much of this city to eat, drink, and explore and I look forward to experiencing more of it in the future!

For more marathon & NOLA adventures, check out the vlog from days 3 & 4 of our trip below!

⚜️

August 2019 Reading Plans (feat. N.E.W.T.s and another round of Book of the Month Month!)

August (and the end of summer 😭) is right around the corner and I want to make the most of my reading while I still have time in my schedule before students return to campus for the year! This month I will be participating in the N.E.W.T.s magical readathon (and honestly, if you haven't heard of this readathon yet, where have you been?) as well as taking on another round of my Book of the Month Month project. I wanted to share with you the books that I'm hoping to read over the course of the next month and hopefully squeeze as much summer reading in as possible while it lasts.

As a referesher, I was able to complete all 5 of my O.W.L.s back in April, which honestly I was pretty shocked by considering how stinkin' busy I was all month. 😂 I will need to pass at least 3 N.E.W.T.s to become a Wandmaker, all to varying grades. I will need to achieve an O in Herbology (3 books), an E in Care of Magical Creatures (2 books), and an A in Charms (1 book), totaling in 6 different books I will need to complete over the course of the month which is very achievable! All of my books (except one - the audiobook!) will be Book of the Month books as well, so sticking with that theme!

Charms
(need "Acceptable")

Acceptable: Read a book that you think has a gorgeous cover

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Care of Magical Creatures
(need "Exceeded Expectations")

Acceptable: Follow the spiders! Why couldn't it be follow the butterflies? Read a book with a title that starts with "A" for Aragog!

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

Exceeded Expectations: A book under 300 pages

#fashionvictim by Amina Akhtar

Herbology
(need "Outstanding")

Acceptable: Mandrake! Quick, put your headphones on! Listen to an audiobook.

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Exceeded Expectations: Read a book betweek 350-390 pages

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

Outstanding: Read a book with a flower on the cover

This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura

I do have an additional vacation built in to the month of August where I don't have ANY plans whatsoever, so I'm assuming I'll be able to complete my N.E.W.T.s fairly quickly. If that is the case, I'll need an additional stack of BOTM books to read through (which, let's be real... that is not an issue at all *stares at my 30 unread BOTM books*). I've pulled a pile of BOTM titles off my shelf that I'm thinking will be ones that I'll really enjoy. There's a variety of genres in this bunch and I tried to select books from a range of when I received them (oh whattup, 2017 titles?). Hopefully I'll find a few 2019 faves in this bunch like I did during my last BOTM month!

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs

The Oracle Year by Charles Soule

Still Lives by Maria Hummel

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Lot by Bryan Washington

24 in 48 & Reading Rush 2019 TBR!

It's the online bookish community's favorite time of year - The Reading Rush (formally the BookTubeAThon) will be here in less than two weeks! My schedule this year during The Reading Rush is a little tight. I work full time and my mom will also be visiting me toward the end of the week, so I'm unsure how much reading I will be getting done, how many challenges I'll be participating in, and overall how involved I'll be this time around. It's a total bummer because I love this readathon, but I'm still going to give it my best effort. Who knows? Maybe it'll be easier to stay on top of things than I'm anticipating it to be. Either way, I'll still be reading as much as I can and sharing a week long vlog with you at the end. ☺️ Because the Reading Rush will be a little on the busy side for me this year, I wanted to participate in the 24 in 48 readathon the weekend leading in to the Reading Rush and hopefully make up for any lost reading time I'll get during the week. 24 in 48 has one of my favorite readathon concepts that I've ever encountered, and I'm happy I'll be able to partake again this summer! I have 5 books chosen for 24 in 48, and hopefully I can beat my record of 13:09:05!

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Educated by Tara Westover

Lucky Few by Kathryn Ormsbee

Paper Towns by John Green

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

1. A book with purple on the cover

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

2. Read a book entirely in the same spot

Bloom by Kevin Panetta

3. A book you meant to read last year

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emie Lang

4. An author's first book

The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

5. A book with five or more words in the title

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz

6. A book with a non-human main character

The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man by W. Bruce Cameron

7. Read a book and watch its adaptation

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle

Are you participating in either one of these readathons?

7 Month Book Haul! 😱 (December 2018 - June 2019)

It's been such a long time since I did a book haul and shared with you all what books I've added to my personal library! Life got in the way, and then the pile got so big that the thought of sitting down and filming was super daunting. I decided that enough was enough and just buckled down and got it done so now I have a GIANT book haul for you guys! I've divided the haul into where I acquired each book from, so hopefully that keeps things organized. Hopefully I won't wait this long before my hauls in the future! 😂

Book of the Month

January

Maid by Stephanie Land

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

Golden State by Ben H. Winters

April

Lot by Bryan Washington

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

Early Riser by Jasper Fforde

May

How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoant

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

June

Recursion by Blake Crouch

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura

Amazon

Freshmen by Tom Ellen

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

Carrie by Stephen King

Esio Trot by Roald Dahl*

Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas*

Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 13-15 by Hiromu Arakawa*

Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 16-18 by Hiromu Arakawa

Saga, vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughn*

Giant Days, vol. 4 by John Allison*

Giant Days, vol. 5 by John Allison*

I Hate Fairyland, vol. 1 by Skottie Young*

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl*

The One Hundred Nights of Heroby Isabel Greenberg*

The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant*

Heartstopper, vol. 1 by Alice Oseman

Audible

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin*

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*

Local Book Shops

The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

Paradise by Toni Morrison

The Mad Cub by Michael McClure

Thinner by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)

Ticktock by Dean Koontz

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Gifts

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall (Christmas gift from my parents)

Us Against Them by Fredrik Backman (Birthday gift from Michael)

In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (Birthday gift from Michael)

Bloom by Kevin Panetta (Birthday gift from Lindsey via Amazon Gift Card)

Meet Cute edited by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Birthday gift from Lindsey via Amazon Gift Card)

My Brother's Husband by Gengorah Tagame (Birthday gift from Lindsey via Amazon Gift Card)

Alice's Advetures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Birthday gift from Lindsey via Amazon Gift Card)

Professional Development Book Club

Dare to Lead by Brene Brown

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Educated by Tara Westover

January 2019 Reading Wrap Up!

We're off to a slow start in the reading year, folks! I know it's because of how super busy I've been both in my personal and professional life, so I'm doing my best to not burn out by trying to accomplish EVERYTHING, so reading's taken a bit of a backseat. I'm okay with it at this moment because honestly any added pressure on myself I know will not be a good thing, so I'm just doing my best to enjoy my downtime without stressing about reading X number of books. Once this season of life passes I'm sure I'll be back to my top reading game, but for now I'm just enjoying the ride!
BOOKS COMPLETED IN JANUARY
Matilda by Roald Dahl (240 pages)
Physical copy, 5/5
Challenge completed: A book that has over 100,000 ratings on GoodReads

This One Is Mine by Maria Semple (307 pages)
Physical copy, 3/5
Challenge completed: A book with multiple POVs

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert (327 pages)
Physical copy, 4/5
Challenge completed: A book with a form of punctuation in the title

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin (1,061 pages)
Audiobook, 4/5
Challenge completed: A book with more than 600 pages

Less by Andrew Sean Greer (261 pages)
Physical copy, 3/5
Challenge completed: A book you bought on a trip

Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 10-12 by Hiromu Arakawa (576 pages)
Physical copy, 5/5
Challenge completed: A book that is a continuation of a book you've already read

Elevation by Stephen King (146 pages)
Audiobook, 4/5
Challenge completed: A book with 150 pages or less

TOTALS FOR JANUARY

Books completed: 7

Pages read: 2,918

2019 challenges completed: 7

10 Book TBR #3 books completed: 0 (3/10 total)

TOTALS FOR 2019

Books completed: 7/150

Pages read: 2,918

2019 challenges completed: 7/52

Top 18 Books of 2018

I'm finally sharing my favorite books of 2018 with you all! It actually worked out that I was able to identify 18 books that I consider to be favorites from 2018, and I'm so pleased that I was able to read so many favorites in one year. 2019 has big shoes to fill! Keep reading to find my list of favorites from 2018 - listed in order of when I read them - and make sure you watch the video above if you'd like to hear my reasoning behind each of my picks!
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch Big Little Lies by Lianne Moriarty Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa 2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajama's by Marie-Helene Bertino Autoboyography by Christina Lauren The Long Walk by Stephen King A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir Nevermoor: the Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid We Are Okay by Nina LaCour Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson Beartown by Fredrick Backman An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti Orange by Ichigo Takano

December 2018 Reading Wrap Up & Reading Goals for 2019!

Reading poolside on Christmas Day 🤗

This past month I had one specific goal in mind - finish 11 books so I can say I read 150 books in 2018. My GoodReads goal for the year was 100 books, which I accomplished several months ago, and I didn't really have it in my head to shoot for 150 until November when I knew the goal was within reach, so I decided to go for it. I knew this would be an ambitious task, given the nature of the holiday season, but I'm happy to say I pulled it off! I buckled down during the afternoon of New Year's Eve and powered through the last 130 pages of book #150 (which ended up being Misery by Stephen King) and entered 2019 feeling super accomplished with my reading. I will be doing a more thorough wrap up of my 2018 reading later on this month (my January is just as busy as my December x_x), but for now here's how my December reading went:

READING STATS FOR DECEMBER

Participated in 1 readathon (Christmas at Hogwarts)

Completed 1/10 books from 10 Book TBR #3 (3/10 total)

3,108 pages read

11 books completed

BOOKS COMPLETED

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty

Physical copy, 5/5

Olivia Takes Ballet by Cordelia Evans

Physical copy, 3/5

One Day in December by Josie Silver

Physical copy, 4/5

Dare to Lead by Brene Brown

Audiobook, 5/5

The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle

Physical copy, 3/5

Warcross by Marie Lu

Physical copy, 2/5

Orange, the Complete Collection vol. 1 by Ichigo Takano

Physical copy, 4/5

Orange, the Complete Collection vol. 2 by Ichigo Takano

Physical copy, 5/5

Haruiro Astronaut by Ichigo Takano

Physical copy, 4/5

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Physical copy, 4/5

Misery by Stephen King

Physical copy, 4/5

~

Now that 2018 is officially closed, it's time to work on some new goals for the new year! I posted this video the other day and am just now realizing that I didn't share my goals here with you all, so let's fix that! I've rolled over a couple of my 2018 goals into 2019 as I'd still like to accomplish them, but I've also added a couple new goals as well which I'm excited to get started on! Click the video below to hear me talk about each goal a little bit, and keep reading to see a list of my goals as well as my full list of reading challenges for the year!

2019 READING GOALS 1. Continue using the 10 Book TBR strategy 2. Continue to work through my re-read list from 2018 3. Cut my owned TBR pile in half 4. Read 150 books 5. Complete a reading challenge PROMPTS FOR MY 2019 READING CHALLENGE
1. A book with a time of day in the title
2. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift
3. A book by multiple authors
4. A book with alliteration in the title
5. A book by an author who uses a pseudonym
6. A book with pictures
7. A book you bought on a trip
8. A bestseller from 2018
9. A book with multiple POVs
10. A book that is a continuation of a book you've already read
11. A book published in 2019
12. A book set in a fictional location
13. A book with a form of punctuation in the title
14. A book with 5 or more words in the title
15. A book with a one word title
16. A book set in North America
17. A book set in South America
18. A book set in Europe
19. A book set in Asia
20. A book set in Australia
21. A book set in Africa
22. A book set in or featuring Antarctica
23. A book with a shiny cover
24. A retelling
25. A book with more than 600 pages
26. A graphic novel
27. A book with an animal on the cover
28. A book that was published in your birth month
29. A book with a location in the title
30. A book featuring a historical event that happened during your lifetime
31. A young adult novel
32. A middle grade novel
33. A book with an emotion in the title
34. A book that is the first book in a series
35. A book that has been adapted to a film or television series
36. A book by a favorite author
37. A love story
38. A book with magic in it
39. A book with a face on the cover
40. A book that has 100,000 or more ratings on GoodReads
41. A book that was picked out by a friend
42. A book with a black and white color scheme on the cover
43. A book you're nervous to pick up
44. A book with a main character you have something in common with
45. A book from an author that has written more than 10 books
46. A book you will read within 24 hours
47. A book with your initials on the cover
48. A book you heard about from BookTube
49. A book with 150 pages or less
50. A book written by an actor
51. A book that has won an award
52. A book with geometric features on the cover

Fall 2018 Book Haul!

The end of a season means it's time for a book haul on my channel! As I do my hauls quarterly, they tend to be quite large, but I've been making an effort to scale back my book buying as much as possible and as a result, my haul for this season is a bit smaller than they have been in past quarters. I'm aiming for an even smaller haul for the winter, but we shall see how that goes! 😂 Anywho, I've listed the books I acquired in the fall below, and if you'd like to hear me speak a bit more about each, make sure you hit play on the video above! 🤗

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 10-12 by Hiromu Arakawa

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Ried

A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

Matilda by Roald Dahl

The BFG by Roald Dahl

The Witches by Roald Dahl

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt

Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin

One Day in December by Josie Silver

No Exit by Taylor Adams

Severence by Ling Ma

What If It's Us by Adam Silvera

Christmas at Hogwarts Readathon TBR!

The Magical Readathon is back next week with yet another amazing reading challenge - the Christmas at Hogwarts Readathon! This readathon will be taking place between December 17 and December 23 and it's just what my little HP loving self needs during the week leading up to Christmas. This readathon is both Christmassy and Harry Potter themed (if you couldn't tell from the title), but I think my favorite part about this readathon is the concept that you need to follow a map to know what book you'll be reading next!

I really love these unconventional readathons. They help me stay interested and keep me motivated to complete as many challenges as possible! Major props to G over at the Book Roast for absolutely killing it in the creativity department with the readathons she's been coming up with over at the Magical Readathon.  If you haven't checked out the Magical Readathon, I would highly recommend following the Twitter account. I feel like there's a new idea for a readathon about every other month and I'm always so excited for each other them!
Find out which books I will be reading for this readathon by clicking play on the video above! :)

#BorrowAThon Round 5 TBR!

Today I am sharing the books I will be pulling from during the next round of BorrowAThon! Because my library system is new to me this time around, I took a different approach to building my TBR. Instead of thinking of specific books to fill each challenge, I decided to take out a stack of books that could fill multiple challenges and just kinda see how I feel during the week of the readathon. Hopefully this approach makes things a bit easier during the week!
The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin History of Wolves by EMily Fridlund The Cat King of Havana by Tom Crosshill Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel The Assistants by Camille Perri The Witch Elm by Tana French Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
For more info on #BorrowAThon Round 5, be sure to check out the informational blog post!

Finally Fall Book Tag!

I didn't have a video lined up for this week so I thought I would do an impromptu book tag! When I asked which one folks would like to see on Twitter, the majority of people voted for the Finally Fall Book Tag, originally created by Tall Tales. I really liked the prompts in this one so I'm happy that I took a moment to record this tag! I know this tag has been floating around for a long time, so if you haven't done it yet, consider yourself tagged! ;)
QUESTIONS

1. In fall, the air is crisp and clear: name a book with a vivid setting! 

2. Nature is beautiful… but also dying: name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief. 

3. Fall is back to school season: share a non-fiction book that taught you something new. 

4. In order to keep warm, it’s good to spend some time with the people we love: name a fictional family/household/friend-group that you’d like to be a part of. 

5. The colorful leaves are piling up on the ground: show us a pile of fall-colored spines! 

6. Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: share a book wherein somebody is telling a story. 

7. The nights are getting darker: share a dark, creepy read. 

8. The days are getting colder: name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody’s cold and rainy day. 

9. Fall (luckily, it’s my favorite season) returns every year: name an old favorite that you’d like to return to soon. 

10. Fall is the perfect time for cozy reading nights: share your favorite cozy reading “accessories”! 

11. Spread the autumn appreciation and tag some people!

Finished the Book Tag!

It's been a LONG time since I've done a book tag, and recently Alyssa at Books and Cats tagged me in the Finished the Book Tag, originally created by Headless Reader! I was psyched to get tagged because I honestly forgot that book tags are options for video ideas. XD This tag really talks about what I do when it comes to finishing books and discussing things like star ratings, statistics, and reviews. Hopefully one of those things piques your interest and you enjoy the video!
QUESTIONS

1. Do you keep a list of the books you have read?

2. If you record stats, what stats do you record?

3. Do you give star ratings for books and if so, what do you score books out of and how do you come about this score?

4. Do you review books?

5. Where do you put your finished books?

6. How do you pick your next book?

7. Do you have any other rituals for when you have finished a book?

8. Who do you tag?

Lowest vs. Highest Rates Books On My TBR

*adds another reading challenge to the list*
I've been wanting to take on this challenge for a while because I just absolutely love the idea of it whenever I see it pop up on someone's channel! The idea is to make a TBR out of your highest or lowest rated books (or in my case, both) on your to-read pile on GoodReads and then read and react to them! I'm hoping to do a reading vlog/book diary for each of these, then after reading everything rank these 10 books as a whole and see how my opinions compare to the opinions of GoodReads! This should be a fun series to take on and I can't wait to see what I think about each book. Lowest Rated Books
Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam American Nerd: The Story of My People by Benjamin Nugent This One is Mine by Maria Semple The Vacationers by Emma Straub The Mountaintop School for Dogs and Other Second Chances by Ellen Cooney
Highest Rated Books
Orange, vol 1 by Ichigo Takano A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti Deathnote, vol. 1 by Tsugumi Oba Body Positive Power by Megan Jayne Crabbe Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 10-12 by Hiromu Arakawa

5 Thriller Recommendations!

As the cooler and spookier months are right around the corner, I thought it'd be fun to share some spookier books that folks might like to put on their TBRs! I really love horror/thrillers. I think they're so much fun to read and always leave me wanting to continue to flip the pages to find out what will happen next. I've compiled a list of 5 thrillers, all of which are unique and bring different strengths to the table, that you might want to try out for yourself. Let me know in the comments if you might pick up any of these titles this season!

1. The Long Walk by Stephen King

2. Intensity by Dean Koontz

3. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

4. I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

5. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Clean Out Your E-Reader (#COYER) Wrap Up | Summer 2018

During the summer I participated in the COYER readathon for the first time in an effort to make time to read the books that were on my Kindle. I'm happy to say that I was able to read 13 total eBooks, 8 of which were Kindle books at 5 of which were audiobooks! I'm really happy now that I'm in the habit of reaching for my Kindle books again because I really do love reading from my Kindle and often can forget to pick it up. This readathon definitely helped me take advantage of my collection of eBooks and I'm so happy that I'm back in the swing of reading my Kindle!
BOOKS COMPLETED
99 Days by Katie Catugno A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin Red Rising by Pierce Brown Running Man by Charlie Engel The 8 Mistakes of Amy Maxwell by Heather Balog Noteworthy by Riley Redgate The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton Ms. Marvel, vol. 1 by G. Willow Wilson A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Summer 2018 Book Haul!

The end of a season means that it's time to haul all of the books! Again, I have a decent amount of books to share with you all, all of which I am super pumped to get to at some point. Why isn't there more time in the day to read?! I just want to get to all of these stories! Let me know if there are any books in this giant pile that you think I should get to sooner than the others!

Amazon

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Deathnote, vol. 1 by Tsugumi Ohma

Providence by Caroline Kepnes

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 7-9 by Hiromu Arakawa

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

Audible

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

Undead Girl Gang by Lilly Anderson

Book of the Month

July

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

August

The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle

Goodbye, Paris by Anstey Harris

The Line That Held Us by David Joy

September

#fashionvictim by Amina Akhtar

Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough

November Road by Lou Berney

Book Depository

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

(20th anniversary house edition - Gryffindor)

Orange, vol. 1 by Ichigo Takano

Orange, vol. 2 by Ichigo Takano

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

Kramerbooks (Washington DC)

Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Barnes & Noble

Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore

Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory

Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami

Modern Lovers by Emma Straub

The After Party by Anton DiSclafani

Moonglow by Michael Chabon

Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam

#ContemporaryAThon Round 3 TBR!

One of my favorite readathons, the ContemporaryAThon, is returning next week (September 17-23)! I really love how laidback this readathon, and I've found that the group of folks that host and participate in this readathon are all so lovely to read with throughout the week. It's been a little while since I've participated in a week long readathon, so I'm excited to see how much reading I will accomplish next week. I hope you all will participate as well!
CONTEMPORARYATHON TBR
The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock The Good Girl by Mary Kubica We Are Okay by Nina LaCour The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson