Wrap-up: August 2018

I finished 10 books this month!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J.Maas (4 stars)
Save the date by Morgan Matson (4 stars)
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Keri Maniscalco (4 stars)

Some Girls are by Courtney Summers (4 stars)
Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers (4 stars)
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Deadly Little Secrets by Laurie Faria Stolarz (3.75 stars)
Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Faria Stolarz (3.75 stars)
Unforsaken by Sophie Littlefield (3.75 stars)
Banished by Sophie Littlefield (3.75 stars)

Bookish Subscription Box: Owlcrate August 2018 Unboxing

What is Owlcrate you ask.

Owlcrate is a subscription service that sends you magical monthly boxes tailored to a chosen theme. Each OwlCrate will contain one new Young Adult novel, as well as 3-5 other bookish treats to help you get your nerd on.

The theme for August Box is "Ruthless Royals"

Video

 All the goodies

Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart (signed, exclusive OwlCrate Edition)Exclusive Grace and Fury Author Letter & Bookmark.

signed

Throne of Glass-inspired Kitchen Towel (designed by Little Inklings Design)

Evil Queens Magnetic Bookmarks (Craftedvan)

The Belles-inspired Pocket Mirror (designed by Catarina Book Designs)

Genuine Agate Ring (Geo Central)

Cruel Prince-inspired book tin (designed by Stella Bookish Art)

Art Print

Owlcrate Leaflet

Sneak Peek Card for September

Spoiler card

Readathon: Bout of Books 23: Stretch them Goals

Stretch Goal

It's the last day of the readathon, so today's challenge is to take a look at the goals you set for the week (if you have them) and decide a) how you can stretch yourself to complete them or b) how you can revise them so you can meet them. Because yes, you can revise your goals! If you didn't set goals for the week, set a small one for yourself today!

I didn't really set goals for myself other than having 7 books to read this week. I'm proud to say that I have almost reached that goal. I have about a book and a half to finish so hopefully, I can do it.

Instagram Challenge: Series Love
I know it's not a series, but it's an author I adore.

Readathon: Bout of Books 23: Books Discovered

Discover Books

Bout of Books is known to add to your TBR instead of reducing it. Embrace it by sharing the books you've discovered through Bout of Books.

Thanks to Erica (@2020hines_sight) for today's challenge.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

A graphic novel I have seen around a bunch and it just looks really cute.

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

I actually have this one on my shelf, and I just need to read it because it sounds magical. Oh, and that cover!

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Another one on my shelf that sounds like a good contemporary read.

Winger by Andrew Smith

I have yet to read an Andrew Smith book, but I have some on my shelf. A friend of mine loves his books. I need to try them out sometime.

Readathon: Bout of Books 23: Songs of the book

Bookish Playlist

What's a song that always reminds you of a certain book? Is it something the characters listen to? Do the lyrics remind you of the plot? Make a list of at least three songs and match them each with a book. Participants could explain their reasoning in greater depth in the form of a blog or twitter thread, show pictures of the books and caption with the song titles in an Instagram post, or even make a playlist on Spotify or YouTube and share it.

Thanks to Emma (@emmareadsthings) for today's challenge.

My playlist is going to be for A Court of Thorns and Roses

The first one is actually a song the artist was inspired by the book.

The others are songs I felt had a bit of connection and I thought about the books when I heard them.

Turn to you by Christina Aguilera
Cold by Crossfade
Broken by Seether Feat. Amy Lee
Tangled up in you by Staind
Feels like tonight by Daughtry
Falling in by Lifehouse

Instagram Challenge: Book/Series I never finished

Readathon: Bout of Books 23: Book Me a Trip

Challenge

Book Trip

Share books set in places you want to visit. Make a road trip of settings in the US or a dream vacation. Or you can think outside the box and choose fantasy, paranormal, historical, or sci-fi setting. Like Hogwarts!

Thanks to Stacie (@SincerelyStacie) for today's challenge.

Real

Paris from Anna and the French Kiss

New York City from Hold me like a Breath

Fantasy

Prythian from A Court of Thorns and Roses

Hogwarts from Harry Potter

Caraval from Caraval 

The Night Circus From The Night Circus

Instagram Challenge

5 Star Read

Readathon: Bout of Books 23: Literary Bad Guys

Literary Villain

Who are your favorite literary bad guys? Can be a villain, a not-so-good-guy, or anti-hero.

Thanks to Darcus (@darcusmurray) for today's challenge.

There are not a lot of villains I really enjoy, but I'm going to go with Tamlin from the ACoTAR series. He's not as bad as the King, but he has his moments of villainous, and then he redeems himself. Then he goes back to being ehh. I honestly think he's just a broken person. I suppose I would be to with everything that happened to him. So he is a love to hate, hate to love kind of character.

Todays Instagram Challenge
Book Spine Poetry

Banished

Down Among the Sticks and Stones

Echoes of Us

Fragile Spirits

Furthermore

A World Without You

Readathon: Bout of Books 23: Book Plot Emoji

Book Plot Emoji

Tell the plot of a book (recent read, favorite, whatever) with emojis. If you need a little emoji help, try emojipedia.org

Thanks to Rebecca (@rebeccabook17) for today's challenge!

Title

A 👑 of  🌵 and 🌹

Synopsis

👧🔫🐺⛓️🀦 👑💑🤴🤺🐛📖🗡️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦  👧☠️💓

Yep, this is what I came up with!

Want to know what it says highlight below starting with A

A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Girl kills a wolf and gets kidnapped to spring court falls in love with the prince. Fights a worm, reads a wall, kills some faeries. Girl dies and then brought back to life.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books that would probably pull me out of a reading slump

Hi everybody! How's everyone's week been going? 

Topic: Books that would pull me out of a reading slump

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyers
Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling
Alice in Wonderland
Any contemporaries by Jennifer E.Smith
Any Kasie West books
ACOTAR Series by Sarah J. Maas
Caraval Series by Stephanie Garber
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Readathon: Bout of Books 23: In Six Words

Introduce Yourself #insixwords

The challenge is simple: introduce yourself on Twitter, Instagram, or on this post using six words, no more, no less. Use the hashtags #boutofbooks and #insixwords so we can learn all about you.

Example: "Needed for survival: books, dogs, coffee."

Fictional Boys

I'm a sucker for the fictional Boys what can I say!

 Badass Girls

These are only a few and ones that have been portrayed in movies, shows. I love to find a good bad ass girl in a movie, books, show.

Animal Sidekicks/companions

Then, of course, you have the adorable animal companions. While I can't show tsome of the ones I absolutely adore in books like Fleetfoot (from ToG) these will work because they are also adorable. 

OLDER BOUT OF BOOKS IN SIX WORDS CHALLENGES
Bout of Books 22

Bout of Books 21

Bout of Books 19

Bout of Books 18

Bout of Books (May 2016)

Bout of Books (January 2016)

Instagram Photo Challenge

Currently reading: Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers

Readathon: Bout of Books 23: Main

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 20th and runs through Sunday, August 26th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 23 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I will be participating again this time around. I even took off the whole week to try and get more reading done. (I still needed a vacation though)

As always I'm ready for Bout of Books. It is one of the few readathons I try to participate in every time. I never get farther than 1 book, but this time I will. I love the challenges as well. I say definitely click on and check out the challenges I always have fun trying to make graphics that go with them.

Monday: August 20th

Number of Pages I've read today:  85
Number of books I've read today: 0

Total number of books I've read: 0

Books: 0
Challenges: In Six Words | Currently Reading

Tuesday: August 21st

Number of Pages I've read today: 285
Number of books I've read today: 1

Total number of books I've read: 1

Books: Fall for Anything
Challenges: Book Plot Emoji | Favorite Color

Wednesday: August 22nd

Number of Pages I've read today: 
Number of books I've read today: 

Total number of books I've read: 2

Books: Fall for Anything, Banished
Challenges: Literary Bad Guys | Book Spine Poetry

Thursday: August 23rd

Number of Pages I've read today: 148
Number of books I've read today: 

Total number of books I've read: 2

Books: Fall For Anything, Banished
Challenges: Book Trip | 5 Star Read

Friday: August 24th

Number of Pages I've read today: 303
Number of books I've read today: 2

Total number of books I've read: 

Books: Fall for Anything, Banished, Unforsaken, Deadly Little Secret
Challenges: Bookish Playlist | Unfinished book/series

Saturday: August 25th

Number of Pages I've read today: 160
Number of books I've read today: 1

Total number of books I've read: 5

Books: Fall for Anything, Banished, Unforsaken, Deadly Little Secret, Deadly Little Lies
Challenges: Discover Books| Published in 2018

Sunday:  August 26th

Number of Pages I've read today: 240
Number of books I've read today: 1

Total number of books I've read: 6

Books: Fall for Anything, Banished, Unforsaken, Deadly Little Secret, Deadly Little Lies, Some Girls Are

Challenges: Stretch Goal | Series Love


BOOKS ON THE LIST TO READ 
 I'm pretty pumped to knock out some books. :)

Books

Bookish Subscription Box: August 2018 Uppercase Unboxing

From the Uppercase Website

"Uppercase is a young adult book subscription box. Simply put: You sign up and receive a YA book and a bookish goody every month! Plus the subscription comes with online access to extras like a live book discussion & recommendations for similar books."