June Wrap Up

I'm loving this hot weather we are having in Wisconsin.  It's perfect for sitting outside after work, sipping ice tea and reading.  It always makes me sad in winter when I leave for work in the dark and return home from work in the dark, so I'm trying to soak up the sun as much as I can.  I'm extremely excited for the 4th of July and all the fireworks!  I absolutely adore fireworks and try to see as many displays as I can over the summer.  In Milwaukee, the 4th of July also means Summerfest, which is the world's largest music festival.  So I'll be sure to head over there a couple of times to relax by the lake and listen to some great music. 


Books I reviewed:

 

Paper Towns by John Green--4.5 stars

 

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith--4 stars

Virals by Kathy Reichs--4 stars

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa--4 stars

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey--3.5 stars

 

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer--3 stars

 

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Out of Sight, Out of Time (Gallagher Girls #6) by Ally Carter--5 stars

 

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness--4 stars

 

Progress on Challenges:

1. Debut Author Challenge - 12/12
2. Audiobook Challenge - 21/25
3. YA Contemporary Challenge - 8/15
4. TBR Pile Challenge - 11/20
5. Why Buy the Cow Challenge - 5/12

Top Ten Lists:

1. Top Ten Items Inspired by Books
2. Top Ten Books I'd Recommend as Beach Reads
3. Top Ten Books on my Summer TBR List
4. Top Ten Characters Who Remind Me Of Myself Or Someone I Know In Real Life

 

Friday Night Date Night:

 

Eat, Pray, Love

Avengers

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

 

 

May Monthly Wrap-Up

May is a great month!  Why you may ask?  The school semester is over.  I still have to do research, but no more teaching.  It is a wonderful feeling to get a break after a tough semester.  Hopefully it also means that instead of grading at night I get to read!  What else happened in May?

From Goodreads.com

Books I reviewed:

Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward--3 stars
Eve by Anna Carey--2 stars

Where it Began by Ann Redisch Stample--3 stars 

Father Mine: Zsadist and Bella's Story by J.R. Ward--3 stars 

The Boy on Cinnamon Street by Phoebe Stone--3.5 stars 

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin--4 stars 

Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig--2.5 stars

Bluegrass State of Mind by Kathleen Brook--4 stars 

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins--3.5 stars

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong--3.5 stars 

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer-- 4 stars

Progress on Challenges:

1. Debut Author Challenge - 12/12
2. Audiobook Challenge - 15/25
3. YA Contemporary Challenge - 7/15
4. TBR Pile Challenge - 10/20
5. Why Buy the Cow Challenge - 4/12 

Top Ten Lists:

1. Top Ten Books I'd like to see Made into a Movie
2. Top Ten Favorite Quotes from Books 
3. Top Seven Ten Authors I'd like to see on a Reality Show
4. Top Ten Blogs/Sites you Read that ARN'T about Books
5. Top Ten Books Written in the Past Ten Years that I Hope People are Still Reading in 30 Years

From geekscape.net

Friday Night Date Night:

X-Men: First Class
The Other Woman
The Fighter

Yikes March is already over?

Do you remember when you were young and people would tell you that when you're older time would fly by.  Meanwhile you in an all school assembly watching the minutes tick by ridiculously slow and thinking to yourself that this person is certifiably crazy?  Well I guess you can commit me because I cannot believe how fast time goes by.  Another month of 2012 is over and I'd like to have a little talk with Father Time about slowing things down a bit or maybe I should just chat with Hermione and ask to borrow the time-turner.  That being said...what did I accomplish this month?

Books I reviewed:

1. Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck--3 stars 
2. Sleeping Tigers by Holly Robinson--5 stars
3. A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young--3 stars
4. Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer--4 stars
5. Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John--5 stars

*Not as many as I would have liked...but what's a girl to do.

Progress on Challenges:

1. Debut Author Challenge-6/12
2. Audiobook Challenge-8/25
3. YA Contemporary Challenge-2/15
4. TBR Pile Challenge-7/20
5. Why Buy the Cow Challenge 1/12

Top Ten Lists:

1. Top Ten Books On My Spring To-Be-Read list
2. Top Ten Five Books I'd Play Hooky With 

Friday Night Date Nights were put on hold this month as I participated in the Kiss Me I'm Irish: Hounded Read-along.  It was so much fun and I loved hearing every participant's different opinions on all the topics.  Plus the book rock...review to come!

Kiss Me I'm Irish Read-along:

Week 1
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5

It was kind of an uneventful month, but I enjoyed my much needed vacation and the unexpectedly warm spring weather was nice too. 

I hope you all had a wonderful March and Happy April! 

Where did February go?

While February has two or three less days than other months (except for this year...Happy Leap Year!) it always seems to fly by twice as fast.  That being said I wish I could have had more time to relax and read, but that's life.  So what did I do blogging-wise in the month of February: 

Books I reviewed:

1. Burned by P.C. and Kristin Cast-2 stars
2. Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward-5 stars
3. Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom-4 stars
4. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater-5stars
5. Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward-4 stars
6. Hold Still by Nina LaCour-4 stars
7. The Whole Story of Half a Girl by Veera Hiranandani-3 stars 
8. After by Amy Efaw-3 stars
9. Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic-4 stars
10. Everneath by Brodi Ashton-3 stars
11. Looking for Alaska by John Green-5 stars
12. Slide by Jill Hathaway-3 stars

Progress on Challenges:

1. Debut Author Challenge-6/12
2. Audiobook Challenge-6/25
3. YA Contemporary Challenge-2/15
4. TBR Pile Challenge-5/20
5. Why Buy the Cow Challenge 1/12

Top Ten Lists:

1. Top Ten Eleven Books That Broke Your Heart A Little
2. Top Ten Books I'd Quickly Save If My House Was Going To Be Abducted By Aliens 
3. Top Ten Nine Books I'd Give A Theme Song To  

Friday Night Date Night Movies:

1. The Brothers Grimm
2. One for the Money
3. Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story
4. Nicholas Sparks movies-male characters

I hope February treated you good and that March is even better!

What Happened in January?

One of my New Year Resolutions was to do a monthly wrap-up on my blog.  So here it goes...

I can't believe January is over.  Yikes, time is going so fast.  I remember people saying this to me all the time and I never believed them.  Now I am one of those people.  Anyways...overall I have had a pretty good month.  Here's the stats

Books I reviewed (10/13 read in January):
Enclave by Ann Aguirre-4 stars
Saving June by Hannah Harrington-4 stars
White Cat by Holly Black-3 stars
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan-2 stars

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi-5 stars

Red Glove by Holly Black-3 stars

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor-4 stars

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson-3 stars

Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward-4 stars

Ripple by Mandy Hubbard-3 stars

Hate List by Jennifer Brown-4 stars

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix-4 stars

Progress on Challenges:

Debut Author Challenge-1/12

Audiobook Challenge-2/25

YA Contemporary Challenge-0/25--yikes!
TBR Pile Challenge-4/20
Why Buy the Cow Challenge 1/12

Top Ten Lists:

Top Ten Books I'm Excited To Read in 2012

Top Ten Seven Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book

Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't Read YA

The Top Ten Bookstores I want to visit

Top Ten Books I Think Would Make Great Book Club Picks

Friday Night Date Night Movies:

One Day

Tangled

Secretariat

Love and Other Drugs
 

I hope January treated you good and here's to the month of love!