September 2015 Wrap Up

For the month of September, I've read 1 book. Another month were we didn't do so well.

Book #1: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarves. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse unknown dangers. Finally, it was Bilbo–alone and unaided–who had to confront the great dragon Smaug, the terror of an entire countryside...

I have owned this book for longer than I care to admit to, and have read it many many times. Probably ten to twelve times? My own copy is so well loved the cover is just about an ad for Scotch-tape and Index Cards. I love it. My friend and I decided to marathon all three of the movies because they were out on DVD and available at my local movie rental place. I have to say they did not do the book justice. I loved the original. It's one of my absolute favorite books in the world. I gave it a 5/5.

Goodreads Tag

I love doing these. Expect more in the future. I did update part of it because it was from last year's tag so the original question said 2014 reading challenge, instead of 2015. On with the tag!

1. What was the last book you marked as read?

The last book I marked as read was The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien because I'm re-reading the entire series.

2. What are you currently reading?

Currently? I'm reading Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, GREY by E.L. James, The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. I can never read only one book at at a time.

3. What is the last book you marked as To-Be-Read?

That would have to be Fallen by Claire Delacroix. A friend gave me a copy of the second book in the series and I marked the first one as To-Be-Read so I could remember it.

4. What book are you planning on reading next?

Cujo by Stephen King. I have been meaning to read some King for a long while. My mom is a big fan of his and I figured if my sister (who is not really a big fan of reading) can read his books, I can, too!

5. Do you use the star rating system?

I do. I actually have those extra shelves that you can use, marked with 1-Star, 2-Star, 3-Star, 4-Star, and 5-Star so I can keep better track of which books I liked and which books I didn't.

6. Are you doing a 2015 reading challenge?

Not any more I'm not. I did do the 2015 Challenge and met my goal almost 10 books ago. I read a lot more than I thought I was going to during the challenge this year. I normally read really slowly.

7. Do you have a Wish List?

If you mean on Amazon, then yes. I do. I keep a list exclusively for books:

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/17R2MLEV12YP8/ref=topnav_lists_1

8. What book do you plan on buying next?

Whichever one strikes my fancy at the given moment. I'm not one to plan buying books. I just let it happen as it happens. I mean, two weeks from now I don't know of a book I saw will still be interesting to me, so why get all worked up about buying it when I don't know if I'd like it any more?

9. What's your favorite quote?

Hmm...I don't think I actually have one from a book. At least, not one that I can remember right now. Yeah even the "Favorite Quotes" section of my reading journal is empty. I got nothing.

10. Who are your favorite authors?

J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, Vaun Murphrey and Jane Austen. I love their books very much. Cliche, I know, for some of them, but not a lot of books strike me as favorites. I just read them and enjoy them and move on to the next.

11. Are you part of any groups on Goodreads?

Not that I know of. I might have joined one and forgotten about it? I do that a fair bit.

12. What could Goodreads do better?

Oh I don't know. Everything seems to be running fairly well from my standpoint. I don't know if I'd want anything to change at the present.

How I Read Tag

Hello my lovelies! I think this might be one of the first (and probably still going to be rare) blog posts that have no book images in them whatsoever. Been watching a lot of tags recently and there was one that made me want to actually write my own blog version. I found it on Tiernan's BookTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEEjKu_ukYY3L-eKonCdj9w). I will answer each one of the questions as honestly as I can (to the best of my ability of remembering back that far)....

1. How do you find out about new books to read?

I usually find them by just browsing shelves in used bookstores, library sales, yard sales. I love looking through collections that are available at these sales. You never know what you're going to find. I sometimes find really good books by looking at the seasonal “must reads” table at my local Barnes & Noble. I also find a lot by watching book hauls on YouTube. If you know, 5-10 people all rave about a book, I'm going to want to check it out.

2. How did you get into reading?

I had no cable. Growing up in a small town with the inability to pay for cable television leads one to spend many many hours in their local library. I think there is a one time payment of $5 then its a quarter to replace your library card if you happen to lose it. Not that you really needed it to start with. You just have to know your number. My mother and paternal grandmother also read a lot. My dad didn't read much when I was younger, but now that e-readers are popular and common things, he reads a lot too. I think he might actually have more books than I do.

3. How has your taste in books changed as you've gotten older?

Hmm. This is a good question. I suppose my taste has stayed just about the same, with a few minor changes. I still absolutely love fantasy books and paranormal stuff. I've gotten more into contemporary and historical romance than I was before. I didn't like it before because I didn't understand it at all. My tastes certainly expanded in the genres I already liked, but I didn't add too much of new things.

4. How often do you buy books?

Not very often. I have a standard set up where I have to finish 5 books before I can buy 1 new (at least, new for me) book. So far for the year of 2015 I have only been allowed to buy 6. I bought about 30. I implemented my new plan in June I believe, so it isn't that bad. Usually I only buy books from a regular bookstore if I have the money and REALLY want it. Otherwise I will rarely pick up books at yardsales and such.

5. How did you get into book blogging?

(Confession, I changed this from BookTubing to book blogging, because I don't have a BookTube channel.) I...am extremely shy. To be more specific, I have issues with speaking aloud when either I'm completely alone or when I'm in a crowd. It's weird, I know. I much prefer to use written words to communicate if I actually have to.

6. How do you react when you don't like the end of a book?

I don't really react all that badly I don't think? I just shrug it off and move on to the next book I want to read. It doesn't bother me that much. Unless I'm almost at the end and just really not happy with the book, in which case I will put it down and just not pick it up again.

7. How often have you taken a sneaky look at the back page of a book to see if it's a happy ending?

No. I haven't. I'm not that curious. I'm generally a slow-average reader, so I figure I'll get there when I get there. I don't usually have the curiosity that leads people to check that last page. I'm not likely to remember anyway so why bother?

8. How many people are you going to tag, and who are they? 

Everybody who wants to do this tag either via a blog or on YouTube!

Top 15 Books I Want to Read Before 2015 Ends

I've seen people doing these a lot on BookTube, usually making the number of books they want to read match the last two numbers of the year (sucks when you're in like the '50s-'90s). So I decided that I will do only the top 15 for every year, but this time I'm just starting with the 15 I want to read now before this year is over. I won't feel bad if I don't manage to read them all. Sometimes other books just come up that are far more interesting to read that I just need to get done. These aren't written in priority like the first one is the one I most want to read. They are just written in the order I thought of the book. Now then, let's get on with my list!!

Book #1: Cujo by Stephen King – Why this book? I actually borrowed it from my mother last year and I still haven't finished it. It's gotten so long since I picked it up last that I will actually need to start it again because aside from bats...I don't actually remember what I've already read.

Book #2: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – My sister lent me this book saying that I needed to read it. I have had it for like four or five months now and haven't even started it yet. I feel so ashamed of myself. It isn't the kind of book I would normally read, as I am not a fan of contemporary, but I promised my sister I'd try.

Book #3: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – Oh yes, a classic. I got a set of gorgeous leather bound gilded classics one year from my dad for Christmas, and despite many starts, I've never actually read the entire unabridged version of Charles Dickens. I'm actually pretty sure I've never read an abridged version either. This one I have is gorgeous though I will only be reading it at night. It weighs about seven pounds by itself and is gigantic with tiny font.

Book #4: Grave Beginnings by R.R. Virdi – I actually know him. Sort of. He's in a group I am on Facebook and I think his was the second ebook I actually bought for my Kindle. I'm part of a site that sends me free ebooks for Kindle (because I'm broke). I got a bit of money in and I bought this one because I'd heard so much about it and it sounds so good. Note this is also the only ebook on my list.

Book #5: Wicked by Gregory Maguire – I actually thought I lost this. I had lent it to a friend and her mom, and they did return it, but I thought I had left it in the bottom of a box of junk from my dad's house that I didn't want any more. I knew I had snagged the important stuff and I had just thought it was gone. I found it in another room of the house. I am going to re-read this before starting the other books because it's been so long that most of the details are fuzzy.

Book #6: Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire – Really? Did anybody not see this coming? I got them all for Christmas (though not all the same Christmas which was fun). I did start this, but then put it down for unknown reasons and never picked it up again. I want to actually read the entire series.

Book #7: A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire – I just haven't gotten to it, and I am counting them as their own individual books instead of as a series because hello, I am a terribly slow reader. I plan to get to this one as soon as I can.

Book #8: Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire – I want to finish the series. I love the Wizard of Oz and I loved Wicked and I think I enjoyed what I read of Son of a Witch. It's been so long that I don't remember even reading it, but hey, I can always re-read the books and then finish up these ones.

Book #9: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – Because September 27 to October 3 is Banned Books week and this one was on the 2014 Top 10 Challenged Books list. I've never actually read a banned book during banned book week that I am aware of. I know I've read them before, I just have never timed it to coincide with the special week dedicated just to banned books.

Book #10: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien – I have read this one before, but again like with Wicked, I don't remember what it was that I read. It's been so long since I read it (years) that all information I had is now gone from my mind. I know I really really enjoyed the book and I thought I'd give it one more read before my copy is too old to be read again.

Book #11: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien – I made it like 95% of the way through this book. I got to almost the end and just fizzled out. I couldn't do it. I don't even remember where I stopped. I just couldn't do it any more. I now know, thanks to a friend, that this is actually the slowest of the three books. I really want to finish it this go round.

Book #12: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien – I am a terrible fan of LOTR. I have owned this book since 2001, probably earlier...and never actually read it. This was one of the first purchases I ever made through that Scholastic magazine thing that they would send to schools with books in them. I grew up in a household where money was often very tight and to be allowed to spend $20 on a set of books was like Christmas in September.

Book #13: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman – I tried to read these before. A friend (the same one that told me about The Two Towers in fact) lent them to me and I didn't even make it to chapter 4 of this book. I loved the movie, adored it, and I want to see how close they got to the book(s).

Book #14: The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman – As long as I have all three of them in the series I may as well read them, right? It's not like an opportunity will present itself like this all the time. I heard lot of good things and a lot of bad things about this book series. I don't know which one I am going to believe, but as long as the story is well-written, I don't think what the writer's personal life is like is all that important.

Book #15: The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman – Because I have all three of them. That is the only reason why this book made it onto the list. I don't want to leave the series unfinished unless I really really don't like the first and/or second volume of the book. I know I liked what I read of volume one, I just got very busy and had to put it down.

Well that's my list. I'd love to know if you read any of these books or if you have suggestions for books I should read. If I don't get to all of these books by the end of December, they will just go into the 15 Books I Want to Read in 2016 pile. 

Unpopular Opinions Tag

I've been watching this tag on BookTube a lot and decided I would do a blog version of my own. I used a lot of genres in this because I read a wide variety. I don't mean to offend anybody. These are only MY opinions. If you like these books, or don't like them (see question #2) that's all up to you. Without further adieu, onto the questions:

1. A Popular Book or series that you didn't like. 

Twilight. Everybody I know was really into it when it first came out, so I'd found them all on sale in hardcover at Waldenbooks (haha yeah those existed still when I bought my copies), but I just didn't like them. I mostly didn't understand them really. I'm going to be giving them a re-read soon to see if age changes my opinion on them.

2. A Popular Book or series that every one else seems to hate but you love. 

I....could not think of one, but for this I will say the Harry Potter series. Mostly because of all the haters out there who probably didn't even bother to read the book (insert that hysterical satiric fanfic here). There has been a lot of outrage about this series but I love it. I loved it when they came out and I still love them today.

3. A Love Triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did NOT want them to end up with (warn ppl for spoilers) OR an OTP that you don't like.  

For this one, I'm going to have to say Clark and Tina from Josie Bordeaux's Breathless Promise. Tina is in my opinion pretty much using Clark as a boy-toy every time she has some kind of falling out with her boyfriend and doesn't actually like him. 

4. A popular book Genre that you hardly reach for. 

Non-fiction, because I literally do not ever go for these books unless they are Japanese or Greek history and culture. I like fiction way better because it actually says a lot about people. I can't really say why I don't go for them beyond the fact that they never held any particular draw for me.

5. A popular or beloved character that you do not like. 

I don't know if she's beloved or popular (because I like reading older books as well as newer ones), but the person that pops to the forefront of my mind for this question is Emma Bovary. She has these aspirations of grandeur and just about blames everybody else for not being the wife of a Count or Viscount and living in Paris. I really did not like how she tried to change her husband to fit her ideas of what a town person should be like.

6. A popular author that you can't seem to get into. 

Suzanne Collins. I have tried, several times in fact, to get into the Hunger Games series...but I just can't do it. I never made it past page eight. My sister actually got my copy of the first book because I just gave up. This isn't to say that the people who like this series are wrong, just that I have different tastes than they do. 

7. A popular book trope that you're tired of seeing. (examples "lost princess", corrupt ruler, love triangles, etc.) 

Overpowered MC. Seriously. Just because "s/he of the oddly spelled name" is the main character, doesn't mean they get to have more or better powers than the supporting characters. How about we give the other characters a chance to shine? Maybe they have better powers or are smarter than the MC?

8. A popular series that you have no interest in reading. 

The Vampire Diaries by what's-her-name because it just sounds really dumb. I've seen snippets of the show and I am just like "This makes no sense." I don't want to read something I don't follow at all and is an overused trope. If I hadn't picked overpowered MCs, I would have picked supernatural love-triangles for the trope question.

9. The saying goes "The book is always better than the movie", but what movie or T.V. show adaptation do you prefer more than the book? 

Uh....the only one where I thought that was Fifty Shades of Grey because you could finally see Christian's side of the story. When everybody was losing their minds over the scene with the flogger, I realized that he felt bad. He didn't want to do it. He actually felt terrible for flogging her. (In my defense, I haven't actually read very many books that have a movie or show tie in).