Bout of Books 7.0 Goals and Updates

I am going to participate again in this read-a-thon!  I really need to get caught up on some books andwhen I saw others participating in it I knew it was perfect for me.  It starts on the 13th!

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 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.

Don't forget to use the #boutofbooks hashtag when updating on Twitter and follow boutofbooks.
I will be updating my progress here on my webpage and on my my twitter page. 
I will only be updating to this page so check back here. I also will be doing my challenges on this link so scroll down to the bottom to see them!

Time Devoted to Reading

I will be reading 2 hours a day/during the week/ not exactly sure how much reading I will get in on the weekend... but hopefully a lot!

My Goals:
I would like to read 3 books.  I am in the middle of a Harry Potter re-read and really would like to get it done this week finally.  I have 1 book left. NOS4A2 is a long book... so I may only get Harry Potter done and this one.  I might get to Reached... hoping to.

I would like to participate in a twitter chat.  I participated in one last time around and it was a lot of fun and a GREAT place to get advice from other people.   

Updates

Monday
Number of books I've read today: 0
 Name of book:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Total number of books I've read: 0
Number of hours read:  3 hours!!
What else I did: Today was busy.. I waxed my car... did a whole bunch of yard work.  So I didn't start reading until about 530 PM.  But I am getting pretty far in the book!  Harry Potter re-reading is almost complete!

Tuesday

Number of books I've read today: 0
Total number of books I've read: 0
Name of Book:  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 Number of Hours I've read: 0
 What else I did: Today I did not get any reading in.  I would've but I planned a Halo video game night with a good friend who lost her spouse last month.  This was the first time she wanted to get back into gaming since then.  So I spent about 4 1/2 hours playing with her.  I feel good about this.. so missing some reading is OK in my book!  Tomorrow will be better for reading!


Wednesday

Number of books I've read today: 0
 Total number of books I've read: 0
 Books: 0
Number of Hours I've Read: 0
What else I did:   I worked in the yard all day.. and then had to stand in line for Star Trek the new movie.  I thought I would read in line.. but yea right!

Thursday

Number of books I've read today: 1
Total number of books I've read: 1
 Books:The Frog Princess by E.D Baker
Number of Hours I've Read:3
What else I did: Can you believe it.. I read a book.  214 pages.  I had to squeeze this one in because tomorrow is my Project Disney post about The Princess and the Frog.  This book just came in today so I was forced to read it!!  Be on the look out for my post tomorrow.

Friday

Number of books I've read today: 0
Total number of books I've read: 1
Books: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Number of Hours I've Read: 1
What else I did:  Today I was busy and then I finally went to see Iron Man 3.. so my reading time wasn't all that great.  :(

Saturday

Number of books I've read today:
Total number of books I've read:
Books:
Number of Hours I Read: 
What else I did:

Sunday

Number of books I've read today:
Total number of books I've read:
Books:
Number of hours I read: 
What else I did:


Challenges:
Challenge 1:
Book Spine Poetry hosted by Escape Through the PagesMake a Book Spine Poetry Poem.  Well I suck at poetry and I mean big time!!  
so here is what I came up with:

It says... The Historian is Missing... BLOOD! Said the Cat.... The Gunslinger only found Shadow and Bone.  Yea I had to add words to make it make sense!!!  I don't have a large collection of books because I get most books from the library.  And the two in the middle are OLD books from when I was in middle school and my mom would buy me Fear Street books.  They had the most interesting titles to use.  This was so much fun!!


Challenge 2:
Book to Music hosted by Medusa's Library

Do I have any books tied to music?  Well this is a good one.  I have to think.  I don't normally think of music to books. Unless the book has music mentioned in it.  So I guess I will go with those...
I recently read Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.. which of course takes place in the 80s.  So that made me think of Rock Of Ages (the broadway show.. the movie was so-so... but Tom Cruise was hot...) Ok back on subject...

So Eleanor and Park + the 80s + Rock of Ages =

+

MEANS Some Journey!! I love Steve Perry!!









Challenge 3:
Alternate Titles hosted by The Book Barbies

I have never really loved the title for the Harry Potter book I am reading.. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  I don't know why.   It's just I feel like the book was more then that.  Harry Potter and He Who Must Not Be Named.  That should've been the name of at least one of the books I think... I used to have this poster long before the movies came out that said "He Who Must Not Be Named".  I must've thrown it out years ago.

Challenge 4:
Create a Cover hosted by I Talk Books!
 GAW!  Didn't get to this one

Challenge 5:

Acrostic Poem hosted by Harley Bear Book Blog



Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler is what I am going to pick.  This book made me obsessed with cupcakes! 
Blueberry Cupcakes
 Iceing
 Taste the frosting

 To the cupcake shop
 Every day a new flavor
 Raisins on top please
 Sweet tasting
 Waist getting larger
 Eat them all
 Every flavor
 Thankful for napkins

Challenge #6
Personify a Book hosted by Kimberly Erskine

Wow... well let me think... I am going to pick Superman comics... yes all Superman comics!!  Superman is my husband Eddie.  He is amazing.

Superman and my husband are brave and kind-hearted hero with a strong sense of justice, morality, and righteousness.  I believe that my husband really tries to help others without question.  His integrity drives me nuts sometimes.  He refuses to be a bad person and we need more of him in this world.  Here we are!!

Waiting On Wednesday-Joe Hill NOS4A2

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly book meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, where we have the chance to share what upcoming releases we are on the edge of our seats in anticipation for.

This week I am very excited for NOS4A2 by Joe Hill!!  I am really also excited to find out that he is going to be in Denver at the Tattered Cover for a book signing in May!!  First up I have the limited edition cover.. which I just found out about today.  It is done by the same artist Gabriel Rodriguez who is the artist of Locke and Key Joe Hill's graphic novel.  So of course it's sold out:

 and here is the cover of the copy I will have to get:

 

Here is an excerpt of NOS4A2 if you want to read it.  And here is the goodreads description of the book:  

Charlie Manx burned a man to death in his black 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith, but that’s not the worst of it. Rumor has it that he kidnapped dozens of children, taking them to a place he calls “Christmasland.” The only child ever to escape was a very lucky girl named Victoria McQueen.

Vic has a gift – she can ride her bike through the Shorter Way bridge and she’ll come out the other side wherever she needs to be, even if it’s hundreds of miles away. Vic doesn’t tell anyone about her ability; no one would understand.

When Charlie Manx finally dies after years in prison, his body disappears...after the autopsy. The police and media think someone stole it, but Vic knows the truth: Charlie Manx is on the road again...and he has her kid. And this time, Vic McQueen’s going after him...

What are you waiting for?

Horns by Joe Hill Review

Horns by Joe Hill

I had put off reading this book for way too long. Every since I heard Stephen King had a son who's an author and people were loving Hill's books I was like.. I have to read this now!  But then... all these other books got in the way.. and blah blah.  Then last weekend someone on my Stephen King Fans group on goodreads wanted to do a buddy read with someone with Horns.... and I was like OK I'm in.  Well... I ended up being stood up by this person, but that doesn't matter.. I don't think they could've stayed caught up with me I almost read this book in one day!  Here is the goodreads description:

At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real. 
Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic. 
But Merrin’s death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside. . . . 
Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It’s time for a little revenge. . . . It’s time the devil had his due. . .

When I say this book is amazing.. I am not joking.  I love these kinds of books.  Makes me happy, sad, angry, confused, and then finally if it's a good ending like in Horns I feel fulfilled. This book brings you into the world of Ig... it starts off with a bang.  And then you go back and forth between the present and the past.  You get to see each characters part of the story through their own re-telling because when Ig touches them their inner demons come out.  This book had just enough horror to be perfect.

In case you don't know, horns is about to be a movie... starring Harry Potter himself Daniel Radcliffe.  I think he is going to do well in the role.  I saw him in Woman in Black and thought he did a fantastic job!

 

The love story in this book was amazing.. and using mores code was really clever for a love letter. If you look inside the book cover you will see mores code drawn in there.  It made me smile after reading.   I really actually got teary eyed when reading the note.  I loved the mysterious tree house.  Though where did that tree house come from and exactly why Ig was the devil I am not sure.  The way Hill writes the villain Lee was great.  I really was scared of this guy.  I mean he let his mother suffer for weeks and weeks just to see how far he could go.  

This book makes me wish I was a better reviewer.  I have never been that great at putting things in words.  The funny thing though is as I look through the reviews on goodreads everyone is saying the same thing.. they loved the book so much they don't know what to say about it!!  I can only tell you to just go out and pick this book up and you will not regret it. 

I mean how cool is this guy (this is Joe Hill by the way)

The crystal balls says:

Sun is shinning!!!  Great day to go outside and read this book.

Locke and Key Volume 5 by Joe Hill Review

 

Locke and Key Volume 5 Clockworks by Joe Hill 

This is the latest Locke and Key out until volume 6.. which has no release date so I am patiently waiting to see how this series will end!  Here is the goodreads description:

Colonel Adam Crais's minutemen are literally trapped between a rock and a hard place; in the first days of the Revolutionary War, they find themselves hiding beneath 120 feet of New England stone, with a full regiment of redcoats waiting for them in the daylight... and a door into hell in the cavern below. The black door is open, and it's up to a 16-year-old smith named Ben Locke to find a way to close it. The biggest mysteries of the Locke & Key series are resolved as Clockworks opens, not with a bang, but with the thunderous crash of English cannons.

So for those of you following my blog this is the last Locke and Key review you have to see for a while. Yes I know... I keep posting them. But the next one doesn't come out for a while so it's your lucky day!!

This volume is sooo revealing!  You actually start to feel bad for the villain on these graphic novels!  I don't want to add spoilers in here so I won't.  A few more keys are seen in this one.. but mainly you get to see all the keys used.  Especially in the past in this book.. which I always love a good flashback in books.  The more I read these novels the more Rodriguez's art sucks me in.  It is now becoming soo creepy.  Here is some of the variety of illustrations that you will find in this volume:
 This amazing drawing is looking inside someone's mind:

And here is a scary picture!!!

Looks like this volume came out in June of this year so I won't get my hands on the next one for a while.   

Want to see my review on the other volumes?  Here they are!
Welcome to Lovecraft Volume 1
 Head Games Volume 2
  Crown of Shadows Volume 3
Keys to the Kingdom Volume 4

Crystal Balls says: