Category Archives: misc

Bout of Books 7.0

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boutofbooks7

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Alrighty! It’s been a while since I’ve done a readathon, so I’m again participating in Bout of Books.

I’ll update with my goals tomorrow, as I haven’t yet figured out what they’ll be. Lots of reading and writing reviews, of course! I want to visit other participants as well, and maybe find some new blogging buddies. Tonight I plan to have one long night of Warcraft, and then I’ll devote the upcoming week to reading and getting ahead.

Goals:
REVIEWS:
Review AMITY & SORROW by Pegy Riley
Review THE BOLEYN KING by Laura Andersen
Review VICTORIA REBELS by Carolyn Meyer
Review ALPHA GIRL by Kate Bloomfield
Review THE END GAMES by T. Michael Martin
Review ROSES HAVE THORNS by Sandra Byrd

FINISH AND FINISH REVIEW:
Finish/review DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS by Staci Hart
Finish/review SUBMERGED by Nicole Sobon
Finish/review TWISTED SUMMER by Lucy V. Morgan
Finish/review COMES THE NIGHT by Norah Wilson and Heather Doherty
Finish/review THE BORGIAS: THE HIDDEN HISTORY by G. J. Meyer

READ AND REVIEW:
Read/review THE PROGRAM by Suzanne Young
Read/review PULSE by Patrick Carman
Read/review DARK TRIUMPH by Robin LaFevers
Read/review DON’T TURN AROUND by Michelle Gagnon
Read/review CRYSTAL BONES by C. Aubrey Hall
Read/review INSIGNIA by S. J. KINCAID

As you can see, I have a LOT of reviews I need to write. I doubt I’ll get to all of them, but having yet another list is a good reminder that I need to get better about taking notes as I read! I’ve been trying to do this, because it helps, but sometimes I get through a book way too quickly or I’m too into it to take notes.

I’m also trying to give myself some variety with the books I need to read next, so we’ll see what I actually pick up to read.

Lastly, I want to get around to some of the other participating blogs and maybe make some new blogging friends. I’m also going to attempt to be more active on Twitter while reading. We’ll see!

Progress:
MAY 13:
Finished review for DEER IN HEADLIGHTS
Finished post for SUBMERGED
Read half of PULSE

MAY 14:

MAY 15:

MAY 16:

MAY 17:

MAY 18:

MAY 19:

– leeanna

May Page Count Contest

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I’m participating in Reading Angel’s page count contest. It’s a fun way to push yourself to read more. My goal for May is 8,500 pages.

Title Author Page Count
Amity & Sorrow Peggy Riley 320
The Boleyn King Laura Andersen 368
The Forgotten Ones Laura Howard 177
Victoria Rebels Carolyn Meyer 265
The Last Academy Anne Applegate 320
Alpha Girl Kate Bloomfield 188
The End Games T. Michael Martin 384
Roses Have Thorns Sandra Byrd 336
     

Running count: 2,358

– leeanna

April 2013 Page Count Contest

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I’m participating in Reading Angel’s page count contest. It’s a fun way to push yourself to read more. My goal for April is 8,000 pages and I’m going to get this this month!

Title Author Date Finished Page Count
The Last Olympian Rick Riordan 04/01/13 381
Strangelets Michelle Gagnon 04/01/13 272
Fang Girl Helen Keeble 04/02/13 342
Pretty Girl-13 Liz Coley 04/03/13 344
Eternal Revelations Candis Vargo 04/07/13 282
The Lost Hero Rick Riordan 04/07/13 557
The Son of Neptune Rick Riordan 04/10/13 560
The Immortal Rules Julie Kagawa 04/11/13 464
Innocent Darkness Suzanne Lazear 04/11/13 391
Stung Bethany Wiggins 04/11/13 304
Nefertiti’s Heart A. W. Exley 04/12/13 280
Wasteland Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan 04/13/13 336
The Mark of Athena Rick Riordan 04/15/13 608
Incarnate Jodi Meadows 04/16/13 400
Asunder Jodi Meadows 04/19/13 408
School Spirits Rachel Hawkins 04/23/13 304
Poison Bridget Zinn 04/24/13 276
If You Find Me Emily Murdoch 04/25/13 248
The Eternity Cure Julie Kagawa 04/27/13 436
Portrait of a Crossroads Kelly Rand 04/27/13 40
The Fire Horse Girl Kay Honeyman 04/27/13 336
The S-Word Chelsea Pitcher 04/28/13 304
Hannibal Thomas Harris 04/29/13 560
Influential Magic Deanna Chase 04/29/13 310
       

Running count: 8,743

– leeanna

March 2013 Page Count Contest

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I’m participating in Reading Angel’s page count contest. It’s a fun way to push yourself to read more. My goal for March is 8,000 pages.

Title Author Date Finished Page Count
Black Feathers Joseph D’Lacey 03/01/13 432
Writing Scary Scenes Rayne Hall 03/02/13 83
The Holders Julianna Scott 03/04/13 320
The Enchanted Truth Kym Petrie 03/05/13 46
Cinders & Sapphires Leila Rasheed 03/09/13 400
Madame Serpent Jean Plaidy 03/11/13 416
The Italian Woman Jean Plaidy 03/13/13 400
Queen Jezebel Jean Plaidy 03/16/13 464
Rae of Hope W. J. May 03/16/13 248
Dark Nebula W. J. May 03/17/13 265
Cinder Marissa Meyer 03/19/13 448
Neferet’s Curse P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast 03/19/13 160
Terra Gretchen Powell 03/20/13 286
The Girls of Atomic City Denise Kiernan 03/20/13 352
Dark Oracle Alayna Williams 03/21/13 336
Rogue Oracle Alayna Williams 03/21/13 360
Scarlet Marissa Meyer 03/24/13 464
The Creation of Anne Boleyn Susan Bordo 03/25/13 305
The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan 03/26/13 375
The Sea of Monsters Rick Riordan 03/27/13 304
The Titan’s Curse Rick Riordan 03/28/13 312
The Battle of the Labyrinth Rick Riordan 03/29/13 361
Kings of Ruin: Adventures in Music City Sam Cameron 03/29/13 193
The Waiting Tree Lindsay Moynihan 03/30/13 218
       

Running count: 7,548

– leeanna

where oh where have I been?

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I know the blog has been sort of quiet lately, for which I apologize. I’ve spent the last two weekends sick, which has put quite a damper on most things, including reading and blogging. Although I have lots of content I could schedule, I never seem to get ahead enough with prepping reviews.

I feel like I’m falling into a rut with reviews lately. Like I’m writing the same thing over and over again. I have a few half started reviews that I’ve been trying to write for 2 weeks. So, I’m taking a mini review vacation. However, you shouldn’t really notice anything. I’ll still be posting reviews and blog tour stops, but what I won’t be doing is attempting to review every single book I read. Or maybe I’ll just write something short, since I do like knowing what I thought about a book, and seeing if my thoughts change if I happen to reread it. I’ve been rereading World of Warcraft books lately, as well as Harry Potter, and I know my thoughts are different now than they were 2-3 years ago.

So, all in all, not much is changing, I’m just going to try and ease up some self-induced pressure :)

Also, for right now, review requests are closed. I have a few emails to reply to, so if you’ve contacted me and I haven’t gotten back to you, I will soon! I’m just finishing up my scheduling calendar.

– leeanna

Wicked Valentine’s Read-A-Thon

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At the last minute I decided to sign up for the Wicked Valentine’s Read-A-Thon, mainly because I want to get a lot of reading done, and I think the bat on the banner is cute! I like bats just as much as I like owls.

The readathon runs from February 7 to February 14, and I’m going to put all updates in this post. I will probably spam Twitter and Instagram with updates too, so follow/interact with me there — links are on the sidebar.

Goals:
01: Finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
02: Read Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell
03: Read Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black
04: Read Blood’s Pride by Evie Manieri
05 Read The Holders by Julianna Scott
06: Review Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell
07: Review Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black
08: Review Blood’s Pride by Evie Manieri
09 Review The Holders by Julianna Scott
10 Review Incarnation by Emma Cornwall
11: Review Lady at the O.K. Corral by Ann Kirschner
12: Review City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster
13: Review Trickster by Jeff Somers

As you can see, my main goal is going to be reviewing all the books … I hate getting behind in reviews. I might also start a reread of something fun, either Percy Jackson or World of Warcraft.

Updates:
February 7: I read to page 351 of Shadow on the Crown.

February 8: I finished Shadow on the Crown sometime in the early morning. Because I have quite a few reviews to write, I’ve picked up World of Warcraft: The Well of Eternity for a fun read. I even got a couple hundred words in last night, writing-wise. So far I’m having a good run … and I probably just jinxed myself.

February 9: Sick.

February 10: Sick.

February 11: Sick.

February 12: Sick.

February 13: Ugh! It seems to be my luck that I always have SOMETHING interfere when I try to do a readathon. I’ve been suffering from a weird cold for the past few days, which has put a huge damper on my reading/computer time. I spent most of the time flat on my back, a heated beanbag or pillow over my eyes, because I had such a bad headache. After a few days away, I feel oddly disconnected from the blogosphere. Fortunately now I’m almost back to normal, and I did get in a little reading time. With real books. How old fashioned :D

Here’s what I’ve read:
World of Warcraft: The Well of Eternity, War of the Ancients 1 by Richard A. Knaak
World of Warcraft: The Demon Soul, War of the Ancients 2 by Richard A. Knaak
World of Warcraft: The Sundering, War of the Ancients 3 by Richard A. Knaak
World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden

I’m in the middle of The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle and Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black. I had hoped to have a review up for Dance of Shadows yesterday, but got sidetracked with being sick. Both of these were actually started earlier in the week, and I anticipate finishing them before much longer.

I’ve been rereading the WoW books for fun, and I have to say that I’m sort of missing my days playing World of Warcraft. Uhoh.

February 14: The last day. Sadness. I didn’t get to hang out on Twitter like I’d hoped, but at least I got some reading accomplished. Not as much reading or reviewing as I’d hoped there either (I’m starting to sound like a broken record) but it was still fun! Today I finished The Hallowed Ones and am more than halfway through World of Warcraft: The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb. I may or may not finish it tonight.

And that’s it!

Total books read: 7
Total reviews written: 2

– leeanna

February 2013 Page Count Contest

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I’m participating in Reading Angel’s page count contest. It’s a fun way to push yourself to read more. My goal for February is 6,000 pages.

Title Author Date Finished Page Count
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J.K. Rowling 02/02/13 870
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J.K. Rowling 02/03/13 652
City of a Thousand Dolls Miriam Forster 02/04/13 368
Trickster Jeff Somers 02/05/13 384
Shadow on the Crown Patricia Bracewell 02/08/13 432
WoW: The Well of Eternity Richard A. Knaak 02/09/13 384
WoW: The Demon Soul Richard A. Knaak 02/11/13 384
WoW: The Sundering Richard A. Knaak 02/12/13 384
WoW: Rise of the Horde Christie Golden 02/13/13 355
The Hallowed Ones Laura Bickle 02/14/13 311
WoW: The Last Guardian Jeff Grubb 02/14/13 320
Dance of Shadows Yelena Black 02/15/2013 447
WoW: Tides of Darkness Aaron Rosenberg 02/16/13 320
WoW: Beyond the Dark Portal Christie Golden & Aaron Rosenberg 02/18/13 384
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows JK Rowling 02/20/13 784
WoW: Lord of the Clans Christie Golden 02/22/13 302
The Murmurings Carly Anne West 02/26/13 384
The Passion of Artemisia Susan Vreeland 02/28/13 352
       

Running count: 7,817

– leeanna

Bout of Books 6.0

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I made a spur of the moment decision to join Bout of Books 6.0. I’m joining in a day late, but I can still catch up.

Don’t know what Bout of Books is?

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books 6.0 team

Goals:
Read:
1. Read Mind Games by Kiersten White
2. Read Katya’s World by Jonathan L. Howard
3. Start Counting One’s Blessings: The Selected Letters of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother edited by William Shawcross. Not sure how good this is going to be, but I want to give it a chance.

Reviews:
1. Review The Queen’s Vow
2. Review Mind Games
3. Review Katya’s World

I’ll be keeping all my updates in this post, because it makes everything neat and tidy. Hit the “Continue reading” link for updates.

Continue reading →

January 2013 Page Count Contest

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I’m participating in Reading Angel’s page count contest. It’s a fun way to push yourself to read more. My goal for January is 6,000 pages.

Title Author Date Finished Page Count
Vampires Revealed Rebeka Harrington 01/01/13 106
Desires Revealed Rebeka Harrington 01/01/13 128
The Cadet of Tildor Alex Lidell 01/02/13 400
The Queen’s Vow C.W. Gortner 01/05/13 400
Broken A.E. Rought 01/01/13 320
Mind Games Kiersten White 01/08/13 256
The Last Queen C. W. Gortner 01/13/13 400
The Queen’s Vow C.W. Gortner 01/18/13 400
Counting One’s Blessings ed. William Shawcross 01/18/13 666
Incarnation Emma Cornwall 01/19/13 352
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone JK Rowling 01/20/13 332
Star Wars: Scoundrels Timothy Zahn 01/21/13 464
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets JK Rowling 01/22/13 341
Magisterium Jeff Hirsch 01/23/13 310
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban JK Rowling 01/26/13 448
daynight Megan Thomason 01/26/13 324
Lady at the O.K. Corral Ann Kirschner 01/28/13 244
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire JK Rowling 01/28/13 752
Marie Curie and Her Daughters Shelley Emling 01/30/13 211
       

Running count: 6,854

– leeanna

December 2012 Page Count Contest

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I’m participating in Reading Angel’s page count contest. It’s a fun way to push yourself to read more. My goal for December is 7,000 pages.

Title Author Date Finished Page Count
Sister Queens Julia Fox 12/08/12 480
ReVamped Ada Adams 12/13/12 298
ReAwakened Ada Adams 12/13/12 337
Debris Dreams David Colby 12/16/12 292
Delusion Laura L. Sullivan 12/18/12 341
The Six Wives of Henry VIII Alison Weir 12/19/12 656
Fall to Pieces Vahini Naidoo 12/19/12 314
The Children of Henry VIII Alison Weir 12/23/12 416
Innocent Traitor Alison Weir 12/24/12 407
The Lady Elizabeth Alison Weir 12/25/12 512
Velveteen Daniel Marks 12/26/12 450
The Madman’s Daughter Megan Sheperd 12/27/12 432
The Shadow Society Marie Rutkoski 12/30/12 416
The Life of Elizabeth I Alison Weir 12/31/12 560
       

Running count: 5,351

– leeanna