Goal Updates

I am making an effort to get back into blogging again. Summer always kills me. So, if you're still following me, HI! You look lovely today. :) I have updated my reading challenges over on the right sidebar, so feel free to take a look at those. If there's a book you really want me to review, comment and I'll put it at/near the top of my priority list. I will do my best to review all of them. If there are other things you want posts from me about (I may have promised some stuff I've forgotten about) feel free to bug me about those. Thank you for following/reading/commenting/being lovely.

So, for now I'm going to review my summer goals!

I didn't complete any of my writing goals, unfortunately. :( I did get some work done on "Batty Batty Bats," did some editing, and I wrote a short or two, but writing was mostly a fail.

Reading:

• I DID read The Gathering Storm, but did not read Towers of Midnight. :( I will either start that soon or will save it for Christmas break, not sure. It's BIG. Luckily the pub. date for A Memory of Light got pushed back, anyway, so I have time.
• I DID read many more books! I won't list them here, but I did read. So yay!
• I DID finish the Tolkien bio and Idylls, and it's technically summer until the 21st, so there.
• The only manga I read was Code Geass. So no rereading but I discovered a good new series, so I'm calling this a win.

RYOB Readathon Recap

Pages read: 845

Books finished (they were all started already): 4

My goal was to finish at least 3, so yay! I am a slow reader.

Titles:

JRR Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter

I don't normally read biographies, but I'm a huge Tolkien fan and this is his "authorized" bio, apparently. I liked the way it was organized, I learned a LOT of interesting tidbits, and gained even more respect for him, as well as a new-found respect for one of his children, Christopher (Christopher is a boss genius). 5/5.

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

I've been reading this series since early high school or something, so it's kinda a huge part of my literary life. This book wrapped up or made a lot of progress on a LOT of plotlines, which was fantastic. It also delivered on some VERY LONG AWAITED scenes, some of which I cried over (I won't lie). And the culmination of Rand's issues near the end was beautiful. 4/5.

Idylls of the King and a Selection of Poems by Tennyson

He's Victorian, so yes there is some sexism (not as bad as I was expecting) and a lot of gender stereotyping. HOWEVER, his Arthurian reimaginings were very readable and gripping. The standalone poems varied in quality (I love "Ulysses;" I hate "Locksley Hall"). 4/5.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathon Stroud

This story was somehow darker than I was expecting, so I kept having to update my expectations. Bartimaeus is a fantastic character, though, and I love the world-building, and all of the different demons, and Lovelace was chilling. Nathaniel (one of the two protags) disappointed me. But still a fantastic read! 5/5.

Read Your Own Books Readathon

It's been a while since I've participated in a readathon, and I love this one cuz it forces me to ignore my library books and such.

My goals are to finish as many of my my "currently-reading" on Goodreads, which are:

JRR Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter (finished)-Excellent, suspenseful biography!

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathon Stroud (finished)

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan (finished)- I cried. Yeah whatever.

Idylls of the King and a Selection of Poems by Tennyson (finished) - So sexist, but good poetry!

The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales

First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde

X-Wing: Iron Fist by Aaron Allston

I probably won't get to all of those, so the top three are my shortlist. :)

Snacks:

vats of A&W Root Beer

tortilla chips and salsa

apple slices

Chips Ahoy *Chunky*

Reading Area:

Pretty much anywhere, but most likely my bed or the living room couch. :) I don't notice my surroundings much when I'm in a book, so.....kinda irrelevant.

Update (Saturday):

I dunno why but I am completely uninterested in The Amulet of Samarkand. So I'm working on Tennyson instead.

Update (Sunday):

I figured out my page count so far: 576. Not much, really, but I'm pleased so far anyway. I'm going to do my best to finish "Amulet" today but I have some social things going on so we will see!