The Alchemist and Veronika Decides to Die

After posting last nights post I started think about what I was going to post about tonight. I started thinking about my last post and decided to talk about the two books I have read by Paulo Coelho. he has written some of my favorite books. I highly recommend his books. Of course I may be biased because I am border line fan girl. The first one I read was The Alchemist. I actually listened to the audio book. It is narrated by Jeremy Irons, which is delightful I must say. I actually have a copy of the book and the graphic novel version. It is a story about a shepherd boy who is searching for his personal legend. It is an interesting story of finding out who you are and what you want. This book is appropriate for all audiences.

The second book is Veronika Decides to Die. This book is amazing. It does have some adult content in it abd is not recommended for younger readers. It is the story of a girl who tries to commit suicide and her time in a hospital following the incident.  I found this book very engaging and the language he uses is lovely. This book has also been made into a movie starring Sarah Michelle Geller. I haven't seen the movie yet but it is high on my to do list. The best way to describe the book is hauntingly beautiful.  It is about taking risks and chances and not being afraid to make changes. It also shows the power of treasuring life and what you have in front of you. That sometimes what we think is the end of our journey is simply a new beginning and a chance to explore something new, no matter how little time we may have.

Audio book

Now I have listened to audio books and I enjoy listening to them in the car or when I am doing data entry type tasks. My new goal is to make a conscious effort to try and listen to one more often. Right now the only one I had in my car was The Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho. I actually have a signed copy of the book. The book isn't that long. It is only two CDs. So I started that on my way home from work tonight. I figured listening to audio books when I am cleaning, driving, or doing other tasks would build in more reading time. So now I am on the look out for other audio books to enjoy. This is the second time I have listened to it. And like rereading a book, you discover new things when you listen to an audio book again. 

So I may go to the library this weekend to see what I can find to listen to. I may also look into Audible and see if that would be worth. I know some people who really like it and I can use the app on my phone to listen to the books on that. So we shall see the most efficient way for my new goal. 

Reading challenge

So as we are early into the year I was looking at how much I have been reading so far. Now I have been reading a good amount each day. While I haven't read as much as would like I am doing pretty well. I finished Ghost Story by Jim Butcher last week. I'm a little over half way done with Cold Days. I am really loving that book so far. But it is over 600 pages, so I should be done with it this week. Then I will post a complete review. I originally had the book as my fantasy but I may put it in the chunker category since it is so long. It really doesn't matter because I have quite a few books this year on my list that are pretty long. 

I am trying to decide what to read next. I have so many good books waiting to be read and I am trying to decide what I want to read. So as is there tonight and continue to read Cold Days. I am hoping to finish tomorrow or Friday. I am comfy with my blanket and my cup of tea. 

Coozies

In 2009 I went to a romance convention in Orlando, Florida. It was the best book convention I had ever gone to. Ever since then I have been on the look out for other book conventions. I got to meet author and get signed books, I was in heaven. During that I picked up some really cool stuff. One of the free promotional items was a bright pink coozie the one one side said "The Club" and the other said "The Last Seduction." I love this coozie. I used it all the time. Well that was four years ago or so. So my coozie has seen better days. It is dirty and well loved. I didn't want to get rid of my coozie. This coozie was given out by the author Sharon Page.

A couple months ago I emailed the author Sharon Page to see if she happened to have any extra I could get. I had looked on her website to see if she had any for sale. She asked me for my info and that she had some extra ones! I was ecstatic!! With holidays and life in general it took a bit to get them. Which I was fine with waiting as long as it took. I was in no rush. I was so impressed when I got her package. In it she sent me two coozies and a Christmas card. Let me tell you I went a little fan girl about it. I was very excited about it and can not wait to use my new coozies!

 

Box of books

So tonight I was excited when I came home and discovered I had received some packages. Now I could not remember what I had ordered so I was I terested to see what had arrived. One of the boxes that was delivered was from Barnes and Nobles. I had bought some books when they were having their really good sale. So all the books I got were between $3-$4. Since they were cheaper then I could get on my Nook I bought the physical copies. So the books I bought were:

For Teachers Only by Vicki Hathaway

Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees

Frozen Heat by Richard Castle

The Stand (graphic novel) by Stephen King

So Dream Lake and The Stand are going on my to read pile. The others will be added later on the year. I bought Frozen Heat because it was so cheap. I have the first two on my Nook. So that is definitely on my reading list for eh summer. 

I had not expected that box to come till tomorrow so that was a pleasant surprise. So I have put those books away and am excited to get to them! 

Ghost Story

So I have finished my first book of 2014. Now I had started this book last year, but every year I have some books that follow me into the new year. Now I am not using this book for the 25 genres/categories challenge because the rules state that the book needs to be started in 2014 to count. But it does count towards my overall total. 

My first book for 2014 was Ghost Story by Jim Butcher. It is the thirteenth novel in the Dresden Files series. This book took me awhile to read. I had trouble in the middle and thought it got the really slow. Now once I got through that slow point for me the ending was amazing. If there is one thing Jim Butcher can do it is wrap up his books with a bang. I think it was interesting look at the different characters and what would happen if something happened to Harry. In this book we are dealing with Harry's Ghost. We see the development of different characters and how they cope. I thought it was a very interesting way to progress the story and the characters. 

My favorite characters in the series are Butters and Bob. Now in this book I also feel in love with Mort the ecnomancer. It is worth reading, especially if you have been reading the series. There are so e lovely scenes and Jews in this book, just like most of his books have. 

I am actually interested in reading his other series and see how much I like that one. I think it is worth looking into. 

I have now started Cold Days by Jim Butcher. I will write more about what I think about that book in a later last. 

Challenge #2

The second challenge I am undertaking is the monthly genre challenge. Here is the link for those of you who are interested: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/118012-the-2014-reading-challenge-group. Know this group has a variety of reading challenges on it since it is the 2014 Reading Challenge Group. So this allows you to select a challenge that is right for you. I selected the genre challenge which means each month you read a specific genre. You can read one or as many as you like. I have chosen to read one book for each genre. Here is the run down....
January - Historical
February - Romance/Chick-Lit
March - Young Adult
April - Humour
May - Fantasy/Science-Fiction
June - Contemporary
July - Utopian/Dystopian
August - Crime/Mystery
September - Classic/Literary
October - Horror
November - Non-Fiction
December - Adventure

This group is pretty active and I like when i can see what other people are reading and talking about. it helps me select books and get an idea of what may be good or interests me. 

So that those are the challenges I am trying this year. So my goal is to read 52 books this year, the 25 genre or category challenge, and the monthly genre challenge. I am very excited to get started on my reading adventure!!

Challenge #1

So as of today I have added two more titles to my reading list. There are 25 genres that were selected by the Goodreads group I am following. They are: read a chunker (+600 pgs), mystery, young adult fiction, accidentally watched the movie first, relive the magic, gathering dust, loved by others, second chance, award winner, classic, biography/memoir, contemporary fiction, non-fiction, adult fiction (romance), fantasy, horror, lost in translation, secret Santa, short stories, graphic novels, banned books, true crime, current NY Time #1 best seller, cover story ( a book selected only by cover), and humor. 

Here it's the link for those of you who are interested. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/119797-2014-book-challenge

Now I selected this challenge because some of the categories are out of my comfort zone. I also have most of the categories covered by what is already on my bookcase. So this is to try reading a bit more variety the. I may usually try. I have branched out throughout the years and am trying new this. Now this is one of the challenges I am doing. I am also doing a genre challenge that is a different genre each month. Now to an extent I may try and get so e crossover between the two. But since my goal is 52 books this year and one challenge is 25 and the other is 12 which is only 37. It should not be a problem. I am very excited and have the books I will start with all mapped out. 

As for starting the challenges I should be ready to start hem next week. I am finishing up Ghost Story by Jim Buthcher, which will count for 2014, but not for my challenges. So I will keep chugging along with that one for now. 

Next post will cover the second challenge I am doing. 

Reading list

So I have been compiling what books I have to read for my reading challenges. I am hoping to read a lot of books that I have just had sitting on my shelf. Below I have taken a picture of the books I plan to read for the 25 genre challenge on Goodreads. I have put a post it note on each book to remind me of the category I chose it for since some of my books fall into more then one category. I did select two for so e genres since I was not sure which to choose. I may just read both. I am missing four selections and will upload a new picture once those have been selected. 

Right now I have to swinish up the books I was already reading. So first I need to finish Ghost Story by Jim Butcher and The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. The. I can get started on the reading challenge in the picture!

New Years

Well it is the first day of a brand new year. While many people make resolutions, I take on reading challenges. This year I am completing two challenges. They overlap, but that is a moot point. So for 2013 I managed to read 57 books. Which I was quite proud of myself! My original goal had been 50 books. So with that data from last year I decided my goal for this year will be 52. So that is about a one book every week. I am very excited to get started.

The second challenge is one that I found on Goodreads. The moderators of the group came up with 25 different genres of books to read. So the goal for that challenge is 25. Now there are some pretty long books I am considering using for this challenge. So we will see how it goes as the year progresses. My book club will all be trying this challenge. So this one should be both interesting and fun. it will be nice to have people do it with me. I will be posting what I am mapping out for my challenge later this week. I am going through each category and pulling books off my bookshelf that I have not read yet. For most of the categories I think I have books that will be great to read.

So with that I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and has a great reading list ahead of them.