The Weekly Progress (Where have you been all my life Edition)

Aloha! The last few weeks were incredibly busy but it's winding down so this is the perfect time to do a Weekly Progress post. I have a lot planned for this week. I will post fairly often since I'm going to be scheduling posts a little more now and I feel way less stressed than the last few weeks.

Books Read

I was honestly not that impressed with this week's books. I'm not sure if I was just not in a reading mood or what, but I had high hopes for all of these books and I didn't get what I was looking for. I didn't connect very well with the characters in The Maze Runner although the plot was interesting. The Catastrophic History of You and Me was very slow at times, and Dreaming Awake (sequel to Falling Under which I adored) was underwhelming to me. Maybe I was really picky this week (I probably was) but I didn't love any of these books. 

Currently Reading

Maybe this is the book that'll get me out of my funk? 

Stuff I did while I was away

I went to some Teen Author Week events. I co-blog for the library, so I had some fun being a reporter and writing transcripts and taking pictures of the events. I met Leslie Livingston, Catherine Austen, Max Turner, Alex Sanchez, and Mariko Tamaki. 

I also got my G1 and went driving for the first time! I love it; I'll try to take official drivers ed classes in March. 

Recap of posts (ICYMI)

Believe it or not, I did post something while I was away. I posted my review of Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft (4 stars, check it out!), My Personal Yearbook, and Witch Hunt. I also wrote a bit about spoilers in blogs and my theory when it comes to them. 

That's it for last week!

I had a decent week but I'm hoping for more next week. I'll leave you with Rihanna's Where Have You Been, a song that is way too darn catchy (if not a little annoying). 

The Weekly Progress (Sucky Last Week and ALL the Ebooks Edition)

I wasn't feeling very well last week. I signed up for too many things and it was too much. I also didn't feel very well, so it wasn't a very good week. However, you guys on the blog were incredible. Cover Wars was a true battle. Thank you all for voting! I'll be posting the new Cover Wars soon. I didn't read much last week either, but I did some on Saturday. Two witchy books perfect for October! 

Books Read

I enjoyed both of these books. There aren't enough (new) books about witches and I've always loved that kind of thing. I'll have a review for both of these posted in Halloween week so stay tuned! 

Currently Reading

I haven't started it so I can't tell you what it's like, but I'm hoping it's good. It sounds like fun. 

Next I'll Be Reading

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Oh look, more for review ebooks. Uncontrollable is the sequel to Untraceable, so I truly hope I like the first book. Wolf Pact, I'm very excited to read. It's Bliss' story from the Blue Bloods series. 

Random Thoughts

This week I've read entirely on my Kobo. And I loved it. I know, ebooks! There's nothing like holding a book, but after carrying my Kobo everywhere with me all week I started to appreciate it. It's relaxing and light. I can change the font and write notes and find the definition of words I don't know. I don't want to really like it but I do. That doesn't mean I'm not reading print books anymore. I'll probably read them mostly, but ebooks are truly growing on me. I mean the Kobo is so light and pretty! 

Recap

Last week I talked about scary books and creepy stuff for a Book Blogger Confessions post. I also posted a review of, not a YA novel, but something with some good crossover appeal, The Talk-Funny Girl. 

***

The other aspect of the title for this post is sucky last week. I didn't post near anything I wanted to post. I wish I could say I'm anticipating being a little less busy this week, but I'm not. I'm blogging for my city's library and it's Teen Author Week so I'll be covering those, and it's also my birthday on Tuesday. Overall, busy but I hope I can manage at least a couple posts. Anyway, thanks for visiting! Have a great week! 

The Weekly Progress (The Calm Before the Storm Edition)

Last week was a decent week. I read enough, I didn't review too much, and I think I had a good balance of posts. I also learned that weeks like last week won't last. See, this year I said I wanted to be independent. I want to be involved with stuff and make stuff happen. I did that. Now I realize I may have overbooked myself. The rest of October is going to be so busy, but I'll do my best to keep posting quality content.

Anyway, let's start the book recap.

Books Read

I'm not sure what to say- I liked both books but I had higher expectations for each. A Million Suns' ending is crazy- I want to see what happens next! It did feel a bit like a "middle book" so I would have hoped for some more action. T

Currently Reading

Part way through Crank and it's an experience. I'm enjoying the writing style. 

Recap

I posted my review of Waterfall, which was a surprisingly good read. 

I also attempted the impossible and tried to find a good definition for YA. It took just one well written comment to make me rethink my definition. 

There's also an intense Cover Wars going on between Flutter and The Elite. Flutter has dominated all the previous match ups but this time it's a bit closer than normal. Flutter is still leading, but there's still enough time to make the competition interesting. 

Random Thoughts

This week I realized all the ways in which I'm thankful for blogging. I'm going to be a blogger for my local library district and it's something I'm very excited for. I know it wouldn't have happened without this blog and the people that keep me going- you guys. So thanks for helping making me a better person and my life a little bit better. 

Well that's it for this week. I think I'll post a review today/tomorrow so keep an eye out for that! Thanks for visiting! 

The Weekly Progress (Thanksgiving edition!)

It's Thanksgiving, so every post on this blog has been delayed by a day. I've also had a superb weekend. Lots of food makes me a very happy girl. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of this weekend bookwise is that I read three books in three days. That made a very significant bump in my TBR list (I'm at 117 books! Woohoo!) I also made crepes!

Anyway, let's move on to the stuff that really matters. The books. 

Books Read

Some of this is from last week, but I read most of these this week. And holy wow, some of these were so incredibly good. Like, I could rave like a lunatic about how much I loved Froi of the Exiles. Fathomless was really good too, and The Talk-Funny Girl was powerful. I liked Intentions too. The only book I didn't like was Wake. I wrote a review for that, so keep an eye out. 

Currently Reading

I'm curious to read this book. I have read several reviews where people had huge issues with this book, and I can see them, but I still think this book can be entertaining. 

Next, I'll Read 

After that, I'm going to go through all my laptops for the ebooks I'm supposed to review. I think there's 5, but I have to download them again on to my new ereader. It's a little bit stressful. 

Random Thoughts

October is probably my favourite month of the year. I love the fall colours (they're especially stunning here), I love Thanksgiving and Halloween, and it's my birthday month. It's also TV month! Though there won't be the NHL to watch (%@$# the lockout) some of my favourite TV shows come back. I'm a huge TV person: I follow Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries almost religiously. I'm also trying out Arrow, so I'm pretty excited. 

 Recap

This week there was a new Cover Wars: Flutter vs Boundless. 

I posted two reviews of books from this new publishing imprint, Strange Chemistry. Poltergeeks and The Assassin's Curse. I also posted my review for Falling Under. 

I decided early on last week that I needed to read more (guess that worked) so I wrote a discussion post asking when and where people read. 

Also, this post isn't mine but I thought it was very interesting so I'll link you to it. It's called YA Shame and Stigma and it's from Read Now Sleep Later. There's a very good discussion going on and it really makes you think. Personally, I disagree with Isaac Marion, and that's all I'll say about the subject for now. Except that maybe it's not the YA genre that needs to change, but some "adult" reader's attitudes toward YA. For example, a lot of books that could appeal to adults are in YA and they can be found and enjoyed if some adult readers didn't have the perception that YA is lesser writing just for kids. As a teen, I'm open to reading the occasional MG and adult read that appeals to me, so I see no reason for bookish snobbery on an adult's part. 

TTYL

Phew, I guess I have a lot to say. Thanks for reading this entire post! And let me know what you're reading in the comments! 

The Weekly Progress (I was reading, therefore I wasn't blogging & I still posted late edition)

*crickets*

Last week (and part of this week) was (is) sucky for me as a poster. I admit that. But just because I wasn't posting didn't mean I wasn't blogging. Okay, I didn't write many reviews but that's only because I read such great books and I wasn't sure how I could review them properly. I also realized that grade 11 is significantly harder than tenth grade.

Books Read

See? How could I blog when I was reading these! Especially If I Die. Oh, my gosh, I LOVED that book. So much that it's one of my favourites (top 3) books of the year. I read it late but I'm glad I did that because I could read Before I Wake straight after. Problem is that now there's only one book left! *sob* I will be so very sad to see that series end. Then I'll buy all the books and reread them. 

Girl of Nightmares deserves some love to. I thought it was a pretty good ending to the series. I liked the conclusion and how it was satisfying. I'm definitely curious to see what else Kendare Blake will be writing. 

Currently Reading

I'm reading two books for school- Divergence (Divergent en francais), and Brave New World for English. So far I'm enjoying both. And I'm also so super duper over the moon excited to be reading Froi of the Exiles. I adored Finnikin of the Rock so I'm expecting some awesome things from Froi. 

Usually I include a 'next I'll be reading' section, but I honestly have no idea what I'll be reading. See, my Kobo got broken a while back but I have all these books I need to review for October (3 from Kobo, two paper) so I need to start writing and reading those. You can always friend me on Goodreads to find out what I'm reading (I post every book I read on Goodreads.) 

Random Thoughts 

I said I was away because I was reading... that's only partially true. I've been away a lot because of Netflix. See, we got it and I've been trying to figure out which devices it works on (Smart TV- nope, Wii- yes, Android- TBD), and what kind of Internet bundle is the best. Because I absolutely hate how in Canada, we basically have two big ISPs and then we have a bunch of nobodies. Seriously, what companies do people know of besides Bell or Rogers? Maybe Techsavvy? 

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had any recs for stuff to watch on Netflix. I've watched In Time, and some kid stuff though I'm not sure what else there is to watch. I think I'll try Breaking Bad or The Walking Dead- any thoughts about those? 

Recap

Pretty pathetic recap... I posted a review of a contemporary read (yes, I do read those... on occasion) called Rival. It was amusing enough and it's about two girls passionate about music. 

I also posted a new Cover Wars- Flutter vs. With All My Soul. I'm a bit overwhelmed by the support, especially since I didn't really promote it as much as I would have, had I been around more. If you haven't checked it out, vote there. 

In Conclusion

Last week was a lazy week (blogging wise). I'm going to attempt to organize my time better this week. I already got one post done!

Thanks for visiting everyone and let me know what you're reading in the comments! 

The Weekly Progress (Success! Thank you so much edition)

I said last week that I was kind of sucky at posting blog posts. Well, this week I seemed to remedy that. You guys definitely helped though- 300 PAGEVIEWS for one post is absolutely insane. I never ever thought that I'd ever get close to that when I started blogging. I've always dreamed of it, but the fact that it actually happened makes me beyond happy. So thank you.

In other words, here is my week in books. 

Books Read

This week was not my best. Light From a Distant Star ended up not being my type of book at all. I didn't finish it. Underworld and Until I Die were both entertaining, but left a little to be desired. I still love their covers though. 

Currently Reading

Very curious to see read Embrace- I haven't heard too much about it but I'm hoping for some paranormal fun. Also, I'm re-reading Divergent- but in French for French class independent reading. So far it's just as good the second time around. 

Next I'll Be Reading

I'm dying to read Girl of Nightmares, and Wake seems pretty cool too. Good books ahead! 

Random Thoughts

Labour unions have been messing up my junior year. So far my teachers canceled all clubs and there's an NHL lockout. You know, the sport I only became a real fan of last year? 

The worst part is that as a student and a fan I'm getting screwed by both of these disputes, yet there's no one I can really blame. Ontario needs to cut down debt. Teachers are entitled to the right of striking, as it's written in the Charter of Canadian Rights and Freedom. Players shouldn't be forced to always give up money and salary to billionaires. And the owners should be able to have healthy, and profitable franchises. 

I'm taking Law class for homeroom so if there's one good thing about all this is that I can probably do a really awesome summative. 

Recap

It started with a pretty great battle between Asunder and Flutter for last week's Cover Wars. 

I also got two reviews posted- The Power of Six and Hades. I wasn't overly impressed with either title, honestly. 

I also tried something I called TV Talk Thursday where I talked about an upcoming show on the CW called Arrow.

As for a blogging week, it went very well. I got a decent amount of posts, as well as variety. 

Oh, and do not forget to check out the awesome giveaway going on! 4 books! 

In Conclusion

Last week was very awesome. This week will be even better. 

The Weekly Progress (Late, Back to School Edition)

School has started. Woohoo. I'm now an upperclassmen. That's cool. The only significant thing about Grade 11 so far is that I seem to be strangely busy, and I get more homework than normal. Not too bad then. It also has made me a sucky blogger and reader. This is a very slacker Weekly Progress post.

Books Read 

Not much in the "read" department. Last week was a whirlwind, I'm hoping this week will be quieter. Of the two books, I preferred Struck (love the concept and action), but they're both decent reads. And I'm going back to what I love- paranormal. 

Currently Reading

Not having a very good time reading this :(. It doesn't seem to be my type of read. I'm going to persevere though and hope more happens. 

Next I'll Be Reading 

Probably more books to be added to this list, I'm just undecided on them currently. 

Recap

Last week wasn't my best, but I managed to get a review posted of Demonglass (which was a pretty fun read), as well as an Interview & Giveaway with author Heather Beck. Check those out! 

Random Stuff

I'm going to be reading Divergent in french! I'm not sure if I posted my review of Divergent but if I did, you'd notice it was all a gush. Love the book and I'm ready to relive the awesome while also improving my French! 

In Conclusion

Last week was good, but I gotta do better! Have a great week everyone! And let me know what you're reading in the comments. 

The Weekly Progress (Non-stop Babbling Edition)

Sigh... School has (kinda) started. Last week, I went to do some volunteer thing at school from Wednesday to Friday and it showed me how hard it will be to blog consistently with school. I think I can manage it though with some actual use of a calendar (I hate schedules).

So, I'm probably going to be consistently inconsistent starting from this inconsistent feature that is supposed to be posted every Sunday but hasn't been posted for like a month. Well then. I'll stop with the inane ramblings now.

All book covers link to Goodreads.

Books Read

Yes, I had a freaking FANTASTIC book week. I may have not read very much, but seriously I had a lot of fun reading and reviewing (reviews written for The Forsaken and The Immortal Rules) these books. I cant pick a favourite because they all literally were strong in very different areas. The Far West is a pretty unknown book in a great series so I totally recommend checking the series out. It's so fascinating!

Currently Reading

I still love the cover. Just sayin', but it may not be the best representation of the book because the story so far feels pretty light and is surprisingly humourous at times.

Next I'll Be Reading

Light From a Distant Star is for review, so I'm expecting some good things. Struck and Underworld both look like some fun paranormal reads. I think this week will continue my good books streak! 

Other stuff & recap 

In other news, The Ultimate Reviewers' Challenge is over. Boo. I hope you all enjoyed the crazy amount of reviews. I'm going to try to be a little more balanced now. Something really awesome happened and I won Prize Pack 1 from For What It's Worth! I am beyond excited about that- I did a happy dance when Karen emailed me. :) 

Also, last week's Cover Wars was freaking INSANE. I set a new page view record for Cover Wars- 103. Wow. Thank you all for visiting and voting, it truly means a lot! I hope you guys stick around for tomorrow's Cover Wars! 

I actually managed to participate in some kind of meme last week. Crazy, but I did a Top 10 Bookish Confessions post.

I also reviewed a bunch of books, but Code Name Verity was one of my favourites. Check out my review of it!

Really Random Thought

My computer, phone, and every other spell check in the world is annoying me. I AM CANADIAN. I spell honour, flavour, and favourite differently than Americans. Don't you dare change it without me noticing. *I'm looking at you iPod* 

In Conclusion

I'm kind of crazy right now. Pretty hyper which is weird because I'm really hungry but won't let myself eat until I finish this post. Probably some back to school nerves, because this year will definitely be very different from others (from a social standpoint) and I'm honestly not sure what to expect. I'm hoping for an awesome year for me, and a great week for you too, especially if you're still reading this post. Books-wise, I'm set. :) 

Thanks for visiting! 

The Weekly Progress

Hello! Hope y'all had a good weekend and are ready for Monday. Hopefully it will rain next week too. I want my flowers to bloom again.

Anyway, here's The Weekly Progress- an end of the week wrap up post all about chronicling the books of the week.

Books Read

I had a decent reading week and an awful reviewing week. I think I only did two reviews all week, which isn't very good. Of the books I read, Code Name Verity was probably the best, with Jessica Rules the Dark Side being second and Sweetly being third. I wasn't very into The Beginning of After or The Iron Witch. 

Currently Reading

I got an ARC from Strange Chemistry and I'm really excited to check it out. Looks pretty cool, and I think it's already been established that I love paranormal YA. 

Next I'll be Reading

As you can see, I'll be reading a lot of paranormal books for the next bit. That's no surprise because paranormal is one of my favourites, if not my favourite genre. 

Links From the Week

The newest Cover Wars- What's Left of Me vs. Sever

My review of Fairy Bad Day

My review of Circle of Fire

And some cool links from around the YA book blogging world

Where are the animals in YA?! (We Heart YA)

PJV's awesome BB101 topic this week was about greedy bloggers and ARCs. Very interesting stuff about the purpose of ARCs and getting paid for reviews. (Parajunkee's View)

And here's the line up to what is a really awesome and fun idea. The Authors Are Rockstars Tour Hosted by Fiktshun and Two Chicks On Books. The lineup looks incredible. (Fiktshun)

Wrap-up

That's it for this week! I recently have had trouble posting on weekends so I'm going to be trying to post more during the week. I hope everyone is having a great Monday!