My Reading Plans {Let Me Put My Cake In The Fridge & Deal With The Blogging For Books Cycle}

I recently received the Sleepy Hollow book I requested from blogging for books. This week I saw that they had another book I wanted at blogging for books. If you don’t know blogging for books is a site for readers who have blogs can request books to review on their blogs. The thing is that this site is not like netgalley which, I think is a strength. The difference is that you can only get one book at a time. I explained all this so that you can understand why I am taking 7 days to read Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution so that I can get this other fiction book I want.

The Blogging for Books Cycle

I think that this site works better for me than netgalley because among many other reasons they make you read one book at a time. If you want another book you have to read that book you already requested and do a review. I’m caught in a cycle now where I request a book then hurry and read it to get another book. It happened with Confessions of A Sociopath which I was humdrum about but finished it so I could get Sleepy Hollow. I think it is like a reward. At the end of reading a book you get rewarded by getting a new book. It’s the revolving one that will probably always be a part of my bookshelf because I finish one then get another.

My “Plans”

I gave air quote plans because these are highly subject to change. These plans all depend on how I feel after reading Sleepy Hollow and such.

1. Read Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution (50% already)
2. Review it
3. Request other book
4. While waiting on other book read How To Be A Good Wife or if that sucks classic books

Update on Library Books/Classics

I may read A Tale of Two Cities just because one of my goodreads groups is reading it.

I want to have my cake and it read too but I feel that focusing on one book is the best choice. I might actually finish some books I own. I think that accepting that is okay. I’m actually getting far in a book versus last week where I read basically nothing.

I took  back Akata Witch and In Darkness to the library without finishing them. I do want to come back to them just not right now.  I’m on the fence if I should take my other library books back too.

My “Plans” (Possible November TBR)

1. Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution

10/19  Chapters

157/290  Pages

Hopefully by the time this posts I will be finished with it.

I totally need to think up a solution to protecting my books from damage. I already bent the cover and have a line down the spine.  There is wear on the ends of the book.

2. How to Be A Good Wife

This book should be more protected because I made a book cover for it. I made a bookmark also. If I can figure out how to put it on here I will.

3. A Tale of Two Cites or any of the other classics

I have to make sure I limit the amount of books on my tbr because I get to antsy and want to read all of them to decide who is the best. Basically, the entire reason for the eat cake and read it too posts.

I Don’t Own But That Does Not Stop The Want {Non-Own TBR Books}

I’m actually not supposed to do this because my blog is supposed to be about reading the books I own. Then again I do go to the library at least once a month to get books I don’t own so that’s that.

So the new Ever After High book came out and I want it so bad. This is the entire reason for this post.  I love love that Cedar Wood and Maddeline Hatter view points are in this book (I actually read maybe a paragraph if that of the preview and someone else from the series may have a view point too). Now that I think about it Madeline Hatter had little view points in the first book. I’m just excited for Cedar Wood because she is such a not shown character. My thing is she is friends with Raven Queen but we barely see her. I think they are just really formulating who she is right now. So that is why she is becoming more present now in the show and books.  I’m excited about this book and the others coming.

 

I just love how they are expanding on the characters point of views. ( A Tale of Two Sisters is included in here so I need to get this. I just need my local area libraries to get it.)

These are the last books that Shannon Hale authors in the series. I’m anxious about the new author, Suzanne Selfors. I do like where the series is going though.

Library Checkout 10/20-21/14 {Classics Edition: I Will Have My Cake and Read It Too}

I can see how people can spend all their years in college not reading at all. It’s so easy to do it. You have to fight for your free time. It takes me a  week to read what I did in a day or two.

So even though: I talked about how getting books from the library is not a good idea and such, I still got more books from the library. I got those books I talked about in my last post.

Its crazy to think about my experience with going to the library high school versus college. I go about the same amount honestly but read less.

High School Vs College Libraries {Food Policies}

One of the things that is interesting (at least to me) is that there are big signs that say no food or drinks in the library. In high school the librarian would say something to you. In college people have drinks next to computers they are on. Nobody cares. I think that is one of the themes in college nobody cares.

You are probably wondering why check out books that you already own. I wanted to see the old editions of the books I own and going to the library is exciting.

 

Basically, all the books I showed you in this post.  The ones I got are all old, cool, and have pictures. I got a extra book I did not mention in that post.

[This is not the edition I got from the library. The edition I got is old and does not have a dust jacket. ]

I was looking it up on the school library because I like to do this new thing where I look at the old editions of classic books at my school library.  I talked about the ya section but did not mention that there are so many classic books. So many. Anyway, I was looking it up and on the description it said something about colored illustrations. Even though, I checked out all those books from the last post I still got Ivanhoe. It’s okay that I still have not read one chapter of a book this week. It is okay that I probably will not finish any of these books by the day they are due. Well, at least I get a longer time to read the books.  The books are due in December. I just have to make the time to read them. I’m off to play the read the books or play the sims.

Stop Starting New Books (part 2)

Be prepared to read about every microscopic detail of these books because I’m possibly going to be reading them for the rest of the year (yeah, I’m not a read a set list of books reader).

 

Hardcover ≠ Indestructible

I thought that if it is hardcover it would not be a problem. My Feast For Crows is chuffed up. Hardcovers are way more durable than softcovers but still not indestructible.  It does give me the opportunity to make book covers for each book. I started thinking of what would make a good no spoiler free book cover for A Feast For Crows. Now that we are on it they need to come up with new A Song of Ice and Fire book covers. I (and my mom) thought up a book cover for the book but I didn’t get a chance to make it before I finished the book.  A Feast For Crows is easy to think up book cover ideas, East of Eden isn’t going to be.

Spineography

This is their sizes relative to each other.

Books	Pgs Left To Read	Put This Book Down Because…		Genre
Lolita	228	Lack of progression		literary fiction
Canterbury Tales	288	Long chapter		classic
Scandalmonger	448	Long chapters		historical fiction
Ivanhoe	374	Needed to actively read it and not just audiobook it		classic
East of Eden	440/266*	Needed a break I guess		classic
Sherlock Holmes	281	Reading too many books at one time		classic, mystery
A Feast For Crows	Finished	Finished	Finished it!!!	fantasy

 

*East of Eden: 440 is left if I was counting the page count of the entire book including The Westward Bus. 266 is if I just count pages left in just East of Eden.

I Can’t Stop Starting New Books (Have Your Cake and Read It Too)

I have a problem. Even seeing the effects of starting new books when I don’t have the time or calmness to, I still want to start new books.

I do have a problem with starting new books when I’m already reading a book that is good. Yes, I will put down a book I like to pick up a book that is an unknown.

Usually, this would not really be an issue picking up a bunch of books because that is my default reading mode. College and time are my biggest enemies now.  Right now I think this huge urge to start a new book is coming from me wanting to read a classic. I have 3 classics that are a part of the stop starting new books lists that I could read. I want to read these while starting a new classic book. It seems like too much but I don’t know.

Now, I’m in a conundrum of what should I read now. Here are my picks (other than the Stop Starting New Books Classics):

Now, I’m probably going to spend an entire week reading the first chapter of each of these books. Well, at least I own each of these so it will go towards my books left to read.

A Few Benefits To Classics

• Almost Automatically come with a free ebook and audiobook
• Readalongs and chapter summaries are usually a given

 

Library Checkout 10/8/14 (+First Chapter Test)

I  know that I’m supposed to be doing the Stop Starting New Books thing but I just got these books out of the blue. Well, not completely out of the blue.  Upon reaching the last 200 pages of A Feast For Crows I got this sense that nothing happened.  I hate to put this in peoples heads who have not read the book but in my opinion (and most people who read the book) it is true. I went back to book 1,2, and 3 where I saw that at that point in the book things happened. People are not sititng and twiddling their thumbs but nothing epic has happened. I really started to want a fantasy novel. So I got some library books because I was feeling good and was in the library. I am assuming that by the time I post this I will feel sucky again (blah college). Yep, blah college.  I got these when I was  on the last 81 pages of A Feast For Crows. I probably should have waited until I finished it but I don’t roll that way.

It helps that most of these books  have under 2000 ratings on goodreads. I want to branch out and read more of the lesser popular books in the world. I think that this is sort of a good time because I’m in a new book setting so I can have a sense of starting fresh.

I read the first couple of chapters of this and it seems to be solid so far. It is the best of the books I got from the library so far. I like that I get strong sense of who she is right away. This story feels so unique in so many ways. I hope I like this at the end.

Trying too hard to be dark. I just was not into the questionable things that happened and how we are supposed to root for the main character doing questionable things.  DNF

yep, I got this again just to promptly DNF it.

I did not like this book because it feels bland. It took me a week to read the first chapter of this book. I just was not impressed by it. It has a video game, manga series, and movie by the way. I didn’t realize all this until I decided to stop reading the book.

 

I know that I got too many books for my school workload.

 I feel that this book has some uniqueness to it too just like Akata Witch. I like it slightly less than Akata Witch though.

You’re probably wondering why I got these after all the noise I talk about ya ( I actually think most of these are middle grade. This is why I think middle grade is going more places than ya.). Well, my school library is categorized in the  library of congress style and has reference books mixed in. I feel like it takes more time to find adult books than in the past. Lack of time is something that I’m really dealing with right now. The ya section is nicely organized together in the old style I’m used to. It makes it easier to find random books.

Reading these books reminds me of why I came up with the Stop Starting New Books plan.

All The Reasons I Shouldn’t Have Gotten These Books

– Due date

It puts more stress on me to do something by a date.

-I carried around a 810 page book for about a week I ended up DNFing

It’s Brave Story by the way.

-Having to put work into focusing to see if I like a book.

 

September Bookhaul 2014

Yep, I keep getting more books without taking books off my shelf.

I requested this on shelf awareness not thinking I was actually going to get it. I hope it is good because for some reason I have a bad track record with review books.

Already DNFed Them

So I bought all these books and did not finish any of them.

I found a version of Heidi produced in 1965 that looked awesome. I bought Heidi for my cousin a while back, even then I wanted to read it. I want to read it but am burned from the children classics that I have read in the past. I wonder if I am too me to enjoy the children classics people praise.

I’m trying to get back into the romance genre so that is what these are about. My want for something different in romance (or fiction in general) is strong.  I know that these are not all that different from my assumptions so I might not like these. I’m planning on doing some posts on my journey to get back into  the romance genre with the use of the Genre Checklist thingy.  My initial post is going to be about the things that I want from the genre to get back into. I can’t go back into the genre reading the same things and not addressing the problems that made me leave the genre.

I read a bit of this a couple of months ago when I realized that middle grade may be actually good. I gave on middle grade a while back. I think it is crazy that I’ve been putting my time into reading books that are meh most of the time (ya) when I could be reading in a genre that could be doing more. A lot of the things that annoy me with teen books are not present in middle grade. Anyway, when I read it, it seemed good and had me about to cry a bit. I know this book is probably going to be sad. I’m okay with that as long as it is good.

I also found a book in Korean which is awesome. I don’t know any Korean at all so I can’t look up the image to show it.

Then because my family is enablers, we dropped by another place that sales books. I got these two.

Books That Might Actually May Be Good (Classics Galore)

You probably already know at this point that I generally like older books than newer. It is crazy to read a book from the 18th century be more accurate/enjoyable than a book that is supposed to more progressive. Classic books are not inherently great because I have met a (bunch) of doozies.

Wives and Daughters: I’ve been wanting this book since I saw the miniseries on it. I started the miniseries thinking it would be a good sleep aid, it was not. This is the exact copy that I have, it is so huge (about 500-600 pages. I love the hugeness so much. ) It has girls in dresses on it too which, if I finish it will be apart of my I love girls in dresses theme.

The Mills on the Floss: I read a bit of one of her other books and was not into it. I saw this and thought why not. So hopefully she can do somethings with her second chance.

Voltaire: and other stories:  I talked about this in the past (I think). I saw a comic book cover edition of this book that made me want this book so bad.

The Dead Zone: I found more Stephen King. This would be exciting if I did not read the last few books of his that were doozies. I have it here when I am back into Stephen King.  I do remember reading a bit of this before the big Stephen King bulk get rid thing. It was different from the show.

 

Youngblood Hawke: The name of this book and the absence of a dustjacket lead me to believe this was about a Native American. This could still be a good book.

Far From The Maddening Crowd: I read Tess of the Dubervilles last year. Someone I follow on youtube was talking about Mayor of Casterbridge which sounds awesome. I took a photo of my book cover to show someone the books I got then thought why not put it on my blog. I couldn’t figure out how to change the formatting for it so yeah that is why it is sideways.

The Journey: If goodreads had a better image of the cover you could see all the cool details. I own Aztec by him too and did not want to leave this behind in case I like Aztec whenever I get around to finishing it. At this point I’m going to have to restart it. It was cool as far as I read. I’m going to be honest and say I question if this will be good it has a certain vibe that makes it seem not good.

Endless Night:  Even though I have met some books some books from her that are bad (mostly Poirot and that other lame detetive series, not Miss Marple. I can’t remember the name probably blocked it from my memory. Ugh, it was lame. ) I still have some hope that she can redeem herself.

Queen: I read Roots last year, it was really good for the first half.  Roots was the story of his fathers anchestors (that is under debate if
Alex Halley actually did research on his father. I think he admitted to fabricating most of the story.) Anyway, this is the story of his mothers ancestral  side of the family.

Pretty cool that I found this while reading A Feast For Crows.

My cousins actually came with me one of these times I got books.  So that is why I got more (maybe, probably is about the same honestly) books. I got some input on what my cousins like and already have.

Tally

+14

I excluded the books that I already dnfed so far. I would be all I need to stop getting books but eh. I needed everyone of these books because I was (am) having a not so great time at college. These books have helped me to cheer up even if I have not been able to read most of them.

September Books Left To Read

H&NAS = books I do not have the sequel or first in series to

Green= new books this month

1. I know why the caged bird sings by Maya angelou
2. hard times by Charles dickens
3. prince jack frank spierring
4. Aztec by Gary Jennings
5. Nicholas nickleby by Charles dickens
6. Japanese Americans by harry h.l. kitano
7. Waiting by ha jin
8. samurai by saburo sakai
9. an American in japan, 1945-1948
10. when the elephants dance by Tess uriza holthe
11. Ivanhoe by sir Walter Scott
12. V by a.c. crispin
13. The price of greed & malice
14. A thread of sky by Deanna fei
15. The red tent by Anita diamant
16. A feast for crows by George r.r. martin
17. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
18. Desperation by Stephen king
19. Eli by bill Myers
20. Candles burning by Tabitha king and Michael McDowell
21. The Canterbury tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
22. The complete adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan doyle
23. the book of lies by brad Meltzer
24. the regulars by Richard bachman
25. the girl who loved tom Gordon by Stephen king
26. {east of eden , the wayward bus} by John Steinbeck
27. Martin chuzzlewit by Charles dickens
28. The greatest knight by Elizabeth chadwick
29. False inspector dew by peter lovesey
30. Aladdin and other Arabian Nights
31. Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
32. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
33. A Dance with Dragons by George rr. Martin
34. Scandalmonger by William Safire
35. Insomnia by Stephen king
36. Reluctant saint by Donald spoto
37. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
38. O Jerusalem by Dominque Lapierre
39. Cell by Stephen king
40. The Green Mile by Stephen King
41. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
42. The Tell-Tale Hart by Edgar Allan Poe
43. The book of negroes by Laurence Hill
44. Bag of Bones by Stephen King
45. His Last Bow by Conan Doyle
46. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
47. Brazil-Maru by Karen Tei yamashita
48. It by Stephen King
49. Tono-bungay by H.G. Wells
50. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
51. The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
53. Gerald’s Game by Stephen King
54. A Christmas Carol and other stories by Charles Dickens
55. Tommy Knockers by Stephen King
56. The Talisman by Peter Straub & Stephen King
57. Watership Down by Richard Adams
58. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
59. Complete Miss Marple Novels  by Agatha Christie
60.  My wicked vampire by Nina ~  Wicked Nights [continue]
61. A cast-off coven by Juliet Blackwell ~ Secondhand Spirits  [continue]
62.  The Victoria vanishes by Christopher fowler ~ Full Dark House (lib))
63. Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones
64. Meaniest doll ever by Selznick
65. Professor Challenge by conan doyle
66. The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
67. The Waste Land by Stephen King
68. Song of Susanna by Stephen King
69. The Dark Tower by Stephen King
70. Hopes and Screams
71. After Dark by Manly Wellman
72. Damien Omen II
73. Jennie Gerhardt
74. The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
75. Night Shift by Stephen King
76. Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
77. Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe
78. Dark Love by anthology
79. Masterpieces of Fantasy and Wonder by anthology Ruby Jean Jensen
80. Best Friends by Ruby Jean Jensen
81. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
82. Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
83. Different Seasons by Stephen King
84. The Bachman Books by Stephen King  writing as Richard Bachman {Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, The Running Man}
85. Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King
86. On Writing by Stephen King
87. Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King
88. The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
89. From Buick 8 by Stpehn King
90. The Gunslinger by Stephen King
91. The Shining by sTephen KIng
92. The Dark Half by Stephen King
93. Pet Semetary by STephen King
94. Night Shift and Children of the Corn by Stephen King
95. Three Short Novels by Dostoevsky {The Double, Notes From the Underground, The Eternal Husband}
96. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Fasternak
97. A Treasury of Hans Christian Anderson
98. The Arabian Nights
99. Nobel Prize Library Hemingway Hamsun Hesse
100. How To Be A Good Wife by Emma Chapman
101. Candide by Voltaire
102. The Journey by Gary Jennings
103. Far From The Maddening Crowd by Thomas Hardy
104. Endless Night by Agatha Christie
105. Queen by Alex Haley and David Stevens
106. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
107. Young blood Hawke by Herman Wouk
108. Sandkings by George r.r. Martin
109. Cat Among Pigeons by Agatha Christie
110. Looking Backward by Bellamy
111. Les Liaisons Dangerouses
112. Under The Dome by Stephen King
113. Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
114. Crime and Punishment by Fydor Dostoevsky

+15

-Confessions of A Sociopath, Wives and Daughters, Miss On The Floss

My read to buy ratio is skewed since my reading slump and I started school. I remember when my books left to read was at the 70s it was a glorious time. The likeability of me reaching less than 40 or even 80 at this point are slim.