Bout of Books 8.0 Goals and Updates

I am going to participate again in this read-a-thon! It is my 3rd time.  I really need to get caught up on some books and when I saw others participating in it I knew it was perfect for me.  It starts on the 19th!

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, August 19th and runs through Sunday, August 25th 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 8.0 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 be doing a master post as the read-a-thon gets closer with all the books I plan to read and with all the challenges I do!  Can't wait to get started!

Time Devoted to Reading:

I have no idea how much reading I am going to get done this week.  I am in TX helping out family and have tried to read while here with no luck.  Sooooo here's hoping for at least one hour a day.  I know that is WAY sad for a readathon.

My Goals:

I brought 3 books with me to read, I would like to get through at least 1!!

Updates

Monday
Number of books I've read today: 1
Name of book: every day by David Levithan
 Total number of books I've read:1
Number of hours read: 2
What else I did:Participated in the whole hour of the BoutofBooks twitter chat, visited a bunch of blogs, wrote my review for Every Day, and wrote up my video game review for this week!!  I got a lot more done then I thought I was going to !!

Tuesday

Number of books I've read today:0
 Total number of books I've read: 1
Total pages: 200
Name of Book: Prodigy by Marie Lu
Number of Hours I've read: 3
What else I did: Posted my Top Ten Tuesday ... blog hopped... read...


Wednesday

Number of books I've read today: 0
Total number of books I've read: 1
Books: 0
Number of Hours I've Read: 0
 What else I did:  Today I didn't end up reading at all.  Instead I went to a water park and now I am catching up on the blogs I follow.  So there is that!!  Tomorrow I will be back to reading.

Thursday

Number of books I've read today:0
Total number of books I've read:1
Books:
Number of Hours I've Read: 2 hours
What else I did: I have noticed that at the end of Bout of Books I lose steam!!  Today I did a lot of driving on my road trip so I listed to 2 hours of my audio book American Gods by Neil Gaiman.  I didn't add that to my bout of books goals ... well because I forgot I was listening to it!  :)

Friday

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:  0

Saturday

Number of books I've read today: 1
Total number of books I've read: 2
Books: American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Number of Hours I Read: 9
What else I did:  I did my road trip and finished listening to my audio book!  So I got in 9 hours of audio books.

Sunday

Number of books I've read today:0
Total number of books I've read: 2
Books: Reading Prodigy
Number of hours I read: 2
What else I did:  Going through my blog and updating.  Wrote the review for American Gods and updated goodreads. 

Challenges/Giveaways

Monday 8/19
Bookish Bucket List -- Sarah Says Read
My answer... go to BEA of course!

Pairathon -- Book Pairing
Of course I picked Mountain Dew... I am addicted to the stuff.  You can't tell in the picture but that is a tiny can of the Dew.  I try to not drink so much!

Tuesday 8/20
Re-Title It -- Music Plus Books

Wednesday 8/21
TBR List Challenge -- Musings of a Bookshop Girl
Book Spine Poetry -- Such a Novel Idea

Thursday 8/22
Book Road Trip -- In Wonderland
I Spy... -- Paperback Dreamer

Friday 8/23
Bookish Mad Libs -- The Space Between


Saturday 8/24
Bookish Wishes -- Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf
Acrostic Book Poem -- I Read, Ergo I Write

Sunday 8/25
New Bout of Books Blogs -- Little Lovely Books


Twitter Chats
(chats last approximately one hour)
TZC = Time Zone Conversion

Monday: 1pm CST (TZC)
Wednesday: 8pm CST (TZC)
Saturday: 10am CST (TZC)

Harry Potter Moment of the Week- Favorite Triwizard Task!

I am participating in Harry Potter moment of the week hosted by  Uncorked Thoughts .  Here is what we do:

This is a meme hosted Uncorked Thoughts.  The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/ films/ J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! I will be picking a topic within HP for us to focus on each week and then if anyone wants to take part feel free!  There is now a full list of the topics to come here.

Q. Favorite Triwizard Tournament Task

A.  My favorite task was the one with the egg puzzle and then going in the water to save the competitors friends. I love the idea of the egg and figuring out how to open it.  This introduced us to the prefect's bathroom.  I love the description of it in the book.  With the different fountains that produce different color bubbles.  I just love it!

 

We get to hear the mermaids sing... and of course there is the creepy scene with Moaning Myrtle and Harry in the bathtub!  This challenge was really funny in the movie to me.  I like how they involved Neville and he says "I've killed Harry Potter!"  I love that line.   

 

What about you??  What's your favorite task?

Follow Me Friday -learning about blogging!

 

This is the day of the week where we get to know each other better by answering a question devised by our lovely hostesses Parajunkee & Alisoncanread. Sounds like GFC is eventually going away..  so you may want to follow by email or bloglovin/feedly (I love both). And now for this week's question....

Q. Share something about you've learned about book blogging or just blogging in general in the past month?

A.  In the past month huh?  Well I had a lot of drama with comments and my blog template and then I had drama with my blog being marked as spam!   For real you guys need to read those posts.  What I have learned that I can pass onto others is that you should go to McAfee and make sure your blog is NOT marked as malicious.  The scary thing is that it might be and you don't even know it! 

I look forward to reading everyone's comments this week for the Follow Me Friday question.  I love to learn new things about blogging.   Leave a link to yours!


Off to OZ Book Giveaway Sign-ups

A-Z Reading Survey !

Well... I have noticed everyone doing the A to Z survey and since I won't be getting too much reading done the next two weeks I thought.. well I might as well do this too!  Plus it looks fun! I found the A-Z Meme at The Perpetual Page-Turner (love her blog)!

 Author you've read the most books from:

Easy for me... Stephen King.  His books are what got me into reading in the first place!!

Best Sequel Ever:

Oh wow... EVER?  I would say Two Towers from Lord of the Rings

Currently Reading:

Every Day by David Levithan

Drink of Choice While Reading?

Easy... Mountain Dew.  I am drinking one now.  I am very addicted even though I know it rots teeth!

E-reader of Physical Book?

I love my Nook... but I prefer of course to hold a book, smell a book, be able to look down and see how many pages I have left. 

Fictional Character You Probably Would've Dated in High School:

I liked bad boys back then... so maybe Erik from the Sookie Stackhouse books or Ranger from the Stephanie Plum series.  

Glad You Gave This Book a Chance:

Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice.  I am not a big romance reader.. and I had just started reading classics.  So glad I found Jane Austen books I love them!

Hidden Gem Book:

Emily Post's Etiquette Book , honestly no one really has manners anymore because no one teaches people them.  This book really helps us.. including what to do with your cell phone! 

Important Moment in Your Reading Life:

Well for me it was finding goodreads because I don't know anyone who reads in my real life.  Blogging has been pretty important too.  I have had a lot of fun with it!

Just Finished:

The 39 Clues Day of Doom.  I thought this was going to be the final book in the 39 Clues series but they are continuing it.  I am going to stop here though because the number of books in this series are getting crazy.

Kind of Books You Won't Read:

Well there is nothing I won't read... but I don't like biographies, romance, religious, and non-fiction.  Just can't do it. 

Longest Book You've Read:

I think that is either the Stand or Under the Dome by Stephen King.  Sometimes he can really write some long books! 

Major Book Hangover because of:

I loved the Hunger Games. I really do think those are amazing books.  Just great great writing.  Also Harry Potter when they first came out and I had to wait around for the next book in the series to come out! 

Number of Bookcases I Own:

3.  They are old bookcases that were my moms.  I love them.

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:

Harry Potter of course! 

Preferred Place to Read:

I my recliner in my living room with my kitty at the bottom and the TV on my favorite reality shows.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you've read:

Is it sad that I don't remember any quotes from books?

Reading Regret: 

I regret all the bad books I read that I DNF!

Series You Started and Need to Finish (all books are out in the series):

I need to finish the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini

Three of Your All Time Favorite Books:

Harry Potter, Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, and  The Secret Garden by Fances Hodgson Burnett

Unapologetic Fangirl For: 

The Drizzt Series.  Which is a RA Salvator series about characters from the Dungeons and Dragons universe.  Haters gonna hate!

Very Excited for This Release More than All Others: 

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King.. the sequel to the Shining!

Worst Bookish Habit: 

Not reading fast enough.  Sometimes I just watch too much TV! 

X Marks the Spot: Start at the top left of your book shelf and pick the 27th book:

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Your Latest Book Purchase:

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris, the last book in the Sookie Stackhouse series.  I haven't read it yet.

ZZZ-snatcher book: (Last Book that kept you up way too late):

Under the Dome by Stephen King

That was pretty fun... did you participate too???  Leave a link to your A-Z if you did!!

Injustice - Video Game Review

 

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Time for a video game review here at Angela's Anxious Life.  I look forward to these every week!  This week we are going to chat about Injustice.  I love this game.  I first heard about it at San Diego Comic Con in 2012.   I love superheroes so I was really hoping this would be a good game.  Sometimes I get really excited about a game and then it is no good.  This is not the case here.

It is a fighter game... so it's similar to the Mortal Combat/Street Fighter type game play.  The graphics are amazing and make the game really fun.  The stages where you fight are fun, these include the Batcave, the Watchtower and Fortress of Solitude. Each of the charcters (see picture below) has their own power while playing.  For example, Superman when powered up will send you straight into space, Batman will send his car to run you over, and Aquaman will send a giant shark to bite you.  When new to the game it was neat to play each character and unlock these powers. 

One thing the game has done to keep people wanting to play is to have downloadable content to keep adding new characters and skins (outfits for the characters) to unlock.  I think this helps make the game addictive which is keeping someone playing.  The story mode in the game is neat.  It is separated into different chapters where you are in an alternate reality where you meet the same superheroes who are bad so you have to defeat them.  Unfortunately redbox did not carry this game but luckily a couple friends of mine bought it so I was able to play it through them.

I recommend this game to everyone who likes either superheroes/comics or fighting games.  It is available on WiiU, Xbox, PS3 and iOS.  Conan O'Brian does a hilarious video in his video game series where he as a non-gamer tries out this video game. You are able to see the game play in this video too.

HA! He is so funny. Oh and by the way... I button mash soooo much when playing fighter games.  BUTTON MASH FOR THE WIN!  I like the controllers that Conan and his friend are using.  Not sure what system they are for?  Does anyone know?

Well... this game is amazing!

10 out of 10!!

Utah Book Month -author spotlight Kristen Chandler

Hello all!  Hope you are having fun checking out the Utah Book Month!  If you are wondering what it's all about click here to go to the website and see the schedule.  Today I am doing an author spotlight on a Utah author, Kristen Chandler.

I am excited to check out her two books Wolves, Boys and Other Things that Might Kill Me and Girls Don't Fly.  I just picked up both books from the library so I should be getting started on them soon.  Turns out that Kristen is a birder and loves to be outside.  This made me smile because I too am a birder.  She told me that "  Like most people I've dreamed I could fly, a lot, and I have wondered  why. I finally decided that its because there are ways that we do fly in our lives and I wanted to capture that feeling in a story. I also wanted to write about the conflict girls feel between following their dreams and looking out for the people they love. So I put the stories together!  I'm not a hard core birder but for research I spent time with bird folk and caught the fever a little. My favorite aspect of my research was when I had the honor of being shown around Utah Lake by Merrill Webb, the premier bird guru in Utah and a hilarious story teller to boot. He allowed me to sit in on his AP biology classes for a few days and I adored his students."   I love birds so much so this is exciting for me to read about.


Kristen enjoys writing Young Adult books.  She says she loves teenagers so it's not a big stretch to write for them.  She loves all age groups of people but teenagers are the awesome because they are on the edge of their lives. Kristen says "You do so many things for the first time in such a short time span when you are a teenager. It's freakin' DANGEROUS. I love books that capture that vulnerability and have a great voice. I also love books that make me think and grow and ache inside. I'm all about the ache."

So what's next for Kristen's books? She is working/obsessing/loving on a book about a girl that goes to live at a dude ranch after being raised in a very "inside the lines" kind of situation. It's kind of like White Fang for teenage girls with hot cowboys.  That's a joke!  It's a story about love and mustangs and wide open spaces. Are you swooning yet? That's what she's going for here!

Would would Kristen recommend to all of us to read for great YA??  Well she has a huge list of course! She says "if you want to read realistic YA you should sample John Green, Francisco X Stork, Matthew Quick, Carol Williams, Sherman Alexie, Daniel Handler, Stephanie Perkins, Laurie Halse Anderson, Sara Dessen, Sara Zarr, Martine Leavitt and me. I'd love it if you read me, for entirely selfish reasons of course .There are fifty other authors I should be naming here but I have a deadline and you're making me feel awkward."  I am totally in!

Of course I had to ask her about Utah!  Kristen says she "loves being a Utah Author. It's amazingly supportive. I love every author in the state. Even the ones I don't know. Except James Dashner. Him we all like to make fun of. Actually I think he's great! But you knew that. What do I love most about Utah? How it smells. Like in the morning when I'm running in the foothills behind my house and the mint and sage give the air a sharp edge that makes me feel five and immortal all at the same time. I also like my family and friends. They smell good too."  I have to agree with her.. I love the smell of Utah.. until the lake smell covers everything.  Then I just want to run inside.


Be sure to watch out on my blog this month for the reviews of both her books!  I loved the Q&A with her... I felt like I was talking to a REAL person.  She is just great to chat with.  For real guys.. we all need to check out these books!

Find Kristen on twitter, her blog,  and facebook.

Pride and Prejudice - Graphic Novel Review

Pride & Prejudice MARVEL

I am really interested in reading all the Marvel Classics graphic novels.  It's hard to find a complete list of all of them but I think I finally found one that includes books from Treasure Island to The Odyssey.  I have been wanting to read the Pride and Prejudice one for a while and was finally able to get it from my library.

I didn't love the story in the graphic novel series. I was a little confused.  I think there should've possibly been more comics in the series maybe to help get the story out better.  There was a lot of text on the pages and I felt it jumped from one plot line to the next pretty fast.  The lines from the book are all in here though.  I think this is a good introduction to the story for readers who haven't read the novel by Jane Austen and are wondering what the story is all about.

Now for the art work.  I just really didn't think it fits this book's era.  I enlarged this page from the comic so you can see just all the text I am talking about in the artwork.  I think the novel makes the ladies look like the makeover that Disney recently did on the princesses.  

I see in some reviews that people are talking about the fact that the cover of the graphic novel is different then the panels inside the comic.  This is quite common in comics that I have seen.  I never like to say someone's artwork is bad.  I love art, so I believe art is in the eye of the beholder.  What I like to say is that it's not my style.  In this case I just felt it was just not perfect for this type of story.  though I do love the covers for each of the comics included in the graphic novel.  I think they are neat!

Now even though I didn't love this graphic novel.. I still love the idea of the novel.  I am really excited that Marvel is taking on the Classic stories and look forward to what they have to come in the future.  I would pick this up from the library if you are interested in reading it.  It'll be an afternoon of a little fun!

The Crystal Ball says:

Rain is pouring...  Not sure if this was really worth my time, must get umbrella.