Currently Reading: 21 June to 27 June 2020

Currently Reading

- Not a Hero by Cherise Sinclair (49%)

-  IT by Stephen King (40%)

- Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en (39%)
- The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (59%)

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Yearly Goal

50/50 (100%)

* * *

I have no idea what it was I was doing last week that made me entirely skip a week of my reading blog? Who knows. I remember being obsessed with tracking last Book Outlet order, which took a full week to actually go from "Label Created, Not Yet in System" to "Received by Partner Facility In -------" How does that take a week? 

Hmm...I also signed up for Once Upon a Book Club. It was supposed to ship on the 17th. I don't know if it did or not and how long it will take to get here. Opted into the month-to-month one. I can't wait to see what book I get and what bookish goodies I get to open with it. Do I play by the rules or do I open them all first and potentially spoil myself for whatever is in the book? I think for the first box, I should play by the rules. Open each item when I get to the corresponding page in the book and find the little "open your gift" post it note. That was a fun idea to even wrap the little themed items. As far as I know, none of the other book boxes do that. You get all random literary themed things. The fact that Once Upon a Book Club box themes it to their pick is brilliant as well. I would not care all that much about stuff from a book box where I have not read the book in question. Like Game of Thrones, Outlander, or Cassandra Clare's numerous series. Never read them. Don't give a sh*t about the merchandise. 

I completely forgot that Camp NaNo is next week. I haven't declared my project yet. I think I will work on "The Lost Star" this time, since I already sort of know where it is going. So it won't be as hard to jump back into the plot. I will read over what I already have and start with chapter 8 in a new google doc. That way I can write anywhere I am on my tablet or phone. Computer when I am home. Decision has yet to be made over if I am writing 500 or 1000 or even 1500 words per day. I am leaning more toward 500-1000. 1500 is pushing my limit. Especially with my next subject in mind.

I think I have mentioned this before, but I am doing the Four Nations reading challenge next month. If I forgot to explain, I will do so again. If I remembered to explain, then ignore this bit of me rambling. The Four Nations reading challenge is based on the Nickelodeon series Avatar: the Last Airbender (henceforth to be referred to as ATLA). In the show there are different groups of people that each have a different style of bending they can do. The Air Nomads can manipulate the air and wind, Water Tribes ice and water, Earth Kingdom soil, stones...and the Fire Nation, well, if you haven't figured that out by now, there is no sense in telling you. Aaaanyway, everything was going swimmingly until the Fire Nation decided they wanted the all of it. They attacked the other countries, subjugating their people. The Avatar, capable of bending all four elements and keeping peace between the nations...disappeared. Fast forward one hundred years and we are now following the tale of Aang, the Avatar and last remaining Air Nomad. The entire rest of the population wiped out by the Fire Nation. This readathon is completely inspired by the path Aang had to take to master the five bending types to become Avatar. I totally plan to follow his lead. I am starting with the Air Nomads and planning to try to get all the way to Avatar. Eventually. I will totally let you all know of my progress! I can only hope to make it at least to master airbending. 

My team in the Discord server Com-page-titions is in first...again. This is the fourth week in a row that we have. I was quite surprised when they announced that it was the Emerald Bookshelf that had won. With some of the other teams and their members, we all had been convinced that another team, The Sunflower Scribes, would have totally taken first place. We managed not only to beat them, but to beat them by 1000 pages! I still have no idea just how we did that. 

I'm so proud of myself! I did it! I reached my goal for 2020 before the first half of the year was over. Now I could go and up the goal to like 75-100 or something, but I have made a rule with myself to always set it at 50. If I read more than 50, great, if I don't....also great. I never really concern myself with if I can actually hit the goal or not. 

Currently Reading: 07 June to 13 June 2020

Currently Reading

- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (11%)

- The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (57%)

- Not a Hero by Cherise Sinclair (14%)

- The Last Manchu by Henry Pu Yi (58%)

- The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson (14%)

-  IT by Stephen King (40%)

- Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en (39%)
- The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (59%)

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Yearly Goal

42/50

* * *

Another book that didn't really make it into the Currently Reading post. I read Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza for the prompt of "First Classes", however I started and finished it in the week that we are currently reviewing. So, you keep missing any and all updates for the books I'm on, because I am going through them that fast. You may not even see my current Axis Libri read if I keep up the pace! The Poppy War is significantly longer, so it may take me more time to get through it, but I blazed right through my adult psychological thriller. Holy sh*t. 

What else interesting has happened this week that I ought to tell you about? I have effectively put myself on a book buying ban/restriction. I really do not need to be buying more books. I need to be cataloging the ones I already own and making sure to tick off the ones I've already read of those. I think I will also have to redo the data sheet for it, Author Last Name, Author First Name, Title, Read, Rating. Then I will actually get around to sorting column A "A<-->Z", something I don't normally do...

Got an email from Book Outlet this week. They are going to send me the three books that were missing from my order completely free of charge. See this is why I appreciate people and whomever is doing the packing. After that, I am no longer ordering from their site. Already deleted it from my saved tabs. I wish people weren't so rude to one another. I saw a few news articles that stated BO has been denying the applications of POC vloggers to be "Vlogger Friends" and that the last (and only?) one to be hired on was back in 2015. When confronted about this, instead of rectifying their mistake and hiring on POC vloggers....they said they were only hiring "family friendly" content creators. This implies that in the eyes of the BO execs, if you are a POC, you are not family friendly. Then they removed the button and page allowing the general public to see their vlogger friends. Oh well. So much for that site. 

Currently Reading 31 May to 06 June 2020

Currently Reading

- Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza (04%)

- Not a Hero by Cherise Sinclair (06%)

- The Last Manchu by Henry Pu Yi (33%)

- The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson (11%)

-  IT by Stephen King (40%)

- Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en (39%)
- The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (59%)

* * *

Yearly Goal

41/50

* * *

I figured it wouldn't make much of a difference if I posted weekly or bi-weekly, so we're going to go to weekly Currently Reading posts. Just to simplify my life and put me on a schedule I may actually be able to keep. With that spirit in mind, let us begin the currently reading post for 31-05 to 06-06. 

I am going to start my wrap ups again this month, skipping May entirely. I know, I know. I want to get back on some kind of proper listing. I never do though! I will also start up my book hauls again with June 2020. 

Reading for the various groups and I've finished one, and got 1/9 for another. Not too bad I think? I've finished the Reading Sprint's group read of The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. Yeah, it had been so quick that the book didn't even manage to make it to my Currently Reading list. Then I got through Knowing Your Power for the Axis Libri reading challenge. Hopefully I can make it through everything I am supposed to get through this month. I mean, if not, oh well? Sh*t happens? 

I made one of those decisions I am surprisingly good at. On Sunday, 31 May 2020, I made another $300 purchase from Book Outlet. I think I need an intervention. I bought 58 books. Sadly of those 58, only 55 were what I ordered. I did not order a children's book about princesses, a middle grade science fiction book, or a middle-school Language Arts primer. I haven't taken Language Arts (it's just called English in high school), in quite a long time. Is the world trying to tell me something? Read more kids' books? I wanted scary books. Got princesses. 

Hopefully Book Outlet can do anything about it. Tomorrow we will find out. 

Currently Reading: 18 to 30 May 2020

Currently Reading

- The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (19%)
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (07%)

- The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow (52%)

-  IT by Stephen King (40%)

- Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en (39%)
- The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (59%)

* * *

I am quite proud of myself. I guess, technically I am quite proud of dad, but the sentiment remains. We did it. Saturday morning (the 23rd) we put in the flooring, repaired the part of the wall we damaged, added a stuff and junk shelf, and put the curtains back up. My library is effectively finished. A little touch here (table) and there (rug under said table) will complete it and I will not have to do any more work on the library. I even put my Belle plaque up. It's right inside the door. I am quite proud of myself for having everything finished. 

Naturally since I got done, I took the children down to see it. They are impressed by the library though I do not understand why. Regardless, my niece asked me a very interesting question: "Dodo, how many books do you have?" Of course, I then had to count. I couldn't not tell her. So, barring anything that does not belong to me or is not in the room at the moment (I cannot remember if I lent anything out or left it in another room) I have 1,625 books that I personally own.

Since this will be going up right before June, I am going to share something. I'm participating in another readathon. The Calling from the Discord group Axis Libri and it looks amazing. There are six "lands" you can choose from: Sun, Moon, Earth, Water, Fire, or Air. I'm in the Air Land myself. Go Anemoi! Anyway, there are a total of 8 challenges for the readathon. 3 Main and 5 Extra. You are encouraged to try to make your 3 main challenges first before the 5 extra or bonus challenges, as follows:

MAIN

(1) Knowing Your Land: Read a book with the color of your land on it.
 - Sun: Yellow/Gold
 - Moon: Purple/Silver
 - Earth: Green/Brown
 - Air: White
 - Fire: Red/Orange
 - Water: Blue
(2) Finding Your Land: Read a book featuring a map.
(3) First Classes: Read a book you know nothing about.

EXTRA

(4) Unpack Your Bags: Read a book while doing exercise

(5) Get a Pet: Read a book with your favorite animal on the cover or in the story.

(6) Take a nap: Read a short book.

(7) Legends & Myths: Read a retelling.

(8) The Ball: Read a book with a ball scene or a ball gown on the cover.

I think it's a fun challenge and I cannot wait to participate in it. I already have my TBR mostly sorted out. I'm waffling between two for one of the extra prompts. My favorite animal is an owl. I have a whole series of books where each and every one has an owl on it, the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series by Katheryn Lasky. Then I also have The Midnight Queen by Sylvia Izzo Hunter, which also has an owl on the cover that I just bought that I want to read. 

Huh. Been a while since my Currently Reading has been that low. I'm more than halfway through The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow, so I should be able to get at least six, maybe seven books done for May. Pretty good. I have been reading a lot more than normal with the fact that we have been stuck indoors and that I now have a little library hidey hole.