Mini Challenge

If you haven't noticed by now, I really haven't read a whole lot of physical books that I own, in fact, they have all mostly been kindle books.  While I enjoy reading kindle books, I'm actually disappointed that I haven't read the physical books like I had planned on.  So I've decided to do a little mini-challenge for the month of August. I'm hoping that it will encourage me to read more of my physical books instead of short kindle stories.

The Challenge:

1. Read one Sherrilyn Kenyon book.  Lord knows I have a crap ton of them in my TBR.  Plus I need to give my favorite author some love.
2. Read one Kathleen E. Woodiwiss book.  I've actually started one of her books so I'm hoping I will finish it soon.
3. Read a book that isn't on my TBR.  I decided to add this in to help spice things up.  Plus, I've started one a while back that I'd like to finish.
4. Read a non-fiction book and a classic.  I really would like to have at least one of those accomplished before the end of the year.
5. Finish a series.  So I have a few series in my TBR right now that need some attention.  So I'm going to marathon the Hunger Games series, I believe.
6. NO KINDLE BOOKS, except for the one that I'm currently reading.  But you heard me, I will not be reading any kindle books for the month of August.
7. Read at least 100 pages a day.  Yes while I know that I wont be finishing a book any time soon, at least this will help me keep on track.
8. Read at least a minimum of 6 books.

So if I accomplish this mini challenge. I think I will treat myself. To what?  I don't know. Probably more books I don't need.  But I would like to actually finish something for once.  Right?  Any way, wish me luck. Happy reading!

2016 August TBR

Hello everyone!  Well the month of August is upon us and you know what that means... TBR time.  And by TBR time, I mean, lets add more books to the ever growing pile of books that I have yet to read.  Which these are the books:

1. Forever in Your Embrace by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
2. One Virgin Too Many by Lindsey Davis
3. Perfect Evil by E.C. Sheedy
4. Dragonbane by Sherrilyn Kenyon
5. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
6. Deception of a Highlander by Madeline Martin 
7. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
8. Devil of the Highlands by Lynsay Sands
9. Come Love a Stranger by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
10. Rasputin by Brian Moynahan
11. Born of Silence by Sherrilyn Kenyon
12. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
13. Jaws by Peter Benchly
14. The Curse by Sherrilyn Kenyon
15. Dark Bites by Sherrilyn Kenyon
16. Everlasting by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
17. Matched by Ally Condie
18. Crossed by Ally Condie
19. Reached by Ally Condie
20. Petals on the River by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
21. Son of No One by Sherrilyn Kenyon
22. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
23. Torment by Lauren Kate
24. Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon
25. Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon
26. Instinct by Sherrilyn Kenyon
27. Illusion by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
28. Silent Truth by Sherrilyn Kenyon
29. Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
30. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
31. MockingJay by Suzanne Collins.
32. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
33. Shanna by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
34. A Rose in Winter by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

And because I decided to be a moron, I've decided to add a few more books to by TBR.

1. Miracles on the Water by Tom Nargorski.  I believe this books is about a ship wreck, but I can't remember if it is a cruise liner or if it was a war ship.  But I remember it sounded interesting.  Plus, this counts as a non-fiction book.
2. The Dewey Decimal System of Love by Josephine Carr.  I've had this book in my collection for ages.  Plus this is a small one so it should be a quick read.
3. Juliet Immortal and Romeo Remembered by Stacey Jay.  This is a duology, I believe.  If I remember the synopses correctly, it's kind of a modern take on the story of Romeo and Juliet.  Plus this counts as a series.
4. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige.  I picked this up a few months ago because it sounded interesting just by the title alone.
5. Married at Midnight (Anthology).  Yes while this does actually count as part of my Kathleen E. Woodiwiss book it is also an anthology!  So another one of my challenge goals to be met.
6. The Secret Conversations by Ava Gardner.  This is a biography/memoir about the actress Ava Gardner.  This also counts as a challenge.

Well so here is my TBR for the month of August.  I'm now up to 40 books that I need to read.  EEK!  Well I plan on doing something exciting for the month of August to hopefully get me in the mood to read actual physical books.  Wish me luck!  Happy reading!

2016 July TBR

Well another month has passed and even though I've read 18 books for the month of June, I've only read one book on this list, which was a kindle book by the way, that was on my TBR.  But I'm going to still post a TBR and my goal is to not read as many kindle books in the up coming months here.  But I have to be honest, it's so convenient.  I have the app right there on my phone and like everybody today, my phone seems to be always near me.  Maybe I should have a vacation from my phone?

1. Forever in Your Embrace by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
2. One Virgin Too Many by Lindsey Davis
3. Perfect Evil by E.C. Sheedy
4. Dragonbane by Sherrilyn Kenyon
5. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
6. Deception of a Highlander by Madeline Martin 
7. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
8. Devil of the Highlands by Lynsay Sands
9. Come Love a Stranger by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
10. Rasputin by Brian Moynahan
11. Born of Silence by Sherrilyn Kenyon
12. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
13. Jaws by Peter Benchly
14. The Curse by Sherrilyn Kenyon
15. Dark Bites by Sherrilyn Kenyon
16. Everlasting by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
17. Matched by Ally Condie
18. Crossed by Ally Condie
19. Reached by Ally Condie
20. Petals on the River by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
21. Son of No One by Sherrilyn Kenyon
22. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
23. Torment by Lauren Kate

And because I'm nuts, I'm going to add a few more books to my ever growing TBR.  I think I do it because I have such a thrill picking things out of a jar.  It must be the surprise that gives me an adrenaline rush.

1. Inferno, Infamous, Instinct, and Illusion by Sherrilyn Kenyon.  So for those of you who don't know I decided to add series on the same slip of paper so that I wouldn't have to read them out of order.  I either will read all (marathon them) or how ever many I wish to read.  These four books are the 2nd through the 4th books in the Chronicles of Nick series.
2. Silent Truth by Sherrilyn Kenyon.  I'm sensing a pattern here with all of the Kenyon titles that are piling up in my TBR.
3. Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.  Woo Hoo! A non-fiction book.  This has been on my shelves for about 2 years now.  So hopefully I will be getting to it soon.
4. Catching Fire and MockingJay by Suzanne Collins.  I know I'm kind of behind the times when it comes to reading this, I've read the first one and seen the movie, but I haven't gotten around to reading the last two nor watching the final three movies.
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  This is another book that I'm kind of excited to read, plus it's kind of thin so it isn't as intimidating as some of the other books on the list.
6. Shanna by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss.  So now this makes it five Kathleen E. Woodiwiss books on my TBR that I must read.  I accept that challenge.
7. A Rose in Winter by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss.  Scratch that, it is now six Kathleen E. Woodiwiss books on my TBR that I must read.  Challenge accepted!

So that adds 11 more books to the 23 that I haven't gotten too yet.  Depending on how many that I read this month, I might not do a TBR for August.  Well wish me luck!  Happy reading!

Reading Challenge Update

Hello Everyone! Well remember at the beginning of the year I mentioned something about creating a reading challenge? Well there have been a couple of parts that I was fantastic at, but unfortunately there were others that I have barely touched. But I still think it would be great to do a update! When I decided to do a reading challenge, it was originally set up for me to read outside of my comfort zone of what I normally read, which is predominately romance, and I also wanted to read more books this year. Which I have. Way above my intended goal.

• Read 35-45 books. 

I have blown this goal out of the water. I am currently at 64 books read! Granted most are novellas or very quick brain dusters, but I'm counting them all dang it!

• Read 5 biographies/memoirs 

1. Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball (I read this book very early on in the year, and I was super excited to read and finish it. I absolutely loved reading about this fantastic woman that I have admired since I saw my first I Love Lucy episode as a child.) 

• Read 5 Non-Fiction books 

I have read ZERO 

• Read 5 Non-Romance novels 

I have read ZERO 

• Read 3-5 Classics 

I have read ZERO 

• Read or finish 3-5 Series 

1. The Fifty Shades of Grey series by E.L. James (I only had to read the last book Fifty Shades Freed to finish the series, but man was I happy to finish this train wreck. And I think the only reason I finished it was because I forced myself to do it to count as part of my reading goal challenge.) 

1. The Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison. (So I pushed myself to finish the last two books in the series: Stop in the Name of Pants and Are These My Basooma's I See Before Me? because I started to read this series when I was a young teen, I believe I was 14. The author passed away earlier this year, so I felt that in a way to honor her memory and comedy wit I'd finish the series. I had stopped reading the books because well, I had found to grow too old to have patience for the main characters childish attitude, but the last two books were very heart warming and as a reader it was refreshing to see the main character Georgia grow up and mature and be comfortable with her own quirky personality.) 

• Read 3 anthologies 

I have read ZERO 

• Read 10 Kindle books 

Oh Boy where do I go with this. I have read a lot of kindle books way more than the 10 that I had originally planned on reading. But lets give it a shot.

1. Bad Boy Daddy by Chance Carter 
2. Unwrapped by Lacey Alexander 
3. The Stocking was Hung by Tara Sivec 
4. Stepbrother UnSEALed by Nicole Snow 
5. Shift out of Luck by Ruby Dixon 
6. Get Your Shift Together by Ruby Dixon 
7. Shift Just Got Real by Ruby Dixon 
8. Does a Bear Shift in the Woods by Ruby Dixon 
9. The Duchess Wars by Courtney Milan 
10. Kissing my Killer by Helena Newbury 
11. Punching and Kissing by Helena Newbury 
12. Hardened by Ophelia Sikes 
13. The Blood & the Roses by Callie Hart 
14. The Island by Jen Minkman 
15. Gypsy Brothers: the complete series by Lili St. Germain 
16. Toughened by Ophelia Sikes 
17. At Any Price by Brenna Aubrey 
18. At Any Turn by Brenna Aubrey 
19. At Any Moment by Brenna Aubrey 
20. Play With Me by Piper Shelly 
21. Jace by Kenzie Cox 
22. Under the Cowboys Control by Lynda Chance 
23. Flirting With Felicity by Gerri Russell 
24. Southern Fried Blues by Jamie Farrell 
25. A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest 
26. A Shade of Blood by Bella Forrest 
27. A Castle of Sand by Bella Forrest 
28. A Shadow of Light by Bella Forrest 
29. A Blaze of Sun by Bella Forrest 
30. A Gate of Night by Bella Forrest 
31. A Break of Day by Bella Forrest 
32. Steeled by Ophelia Sikes 
33. Forged by Ophelia Sikes 
34. Uncovered by Ophelia Sikes 
35. Atoned by Ophelia Sikes 
36. Key West Dreams by Ophelia Sikes 
37. Caribbean Deceptions by Ophelia Sikes 
38. Mayan Sacrifice by Ophelia Sikes 
39. Cancun Betrayal by Ophelia Sikes 
40. Bastian by Lauren Landish 
41. Resonating Souls by Ophelia Sikes 
42. Wine-Dark Dreams by Ophelia Sikes 
43. The Soulless Abyss by Ophelia Sikes 
44. Wanting All by Ophelia Sikes 
45. Love's Heat by Ophelia Sikes 
46. Carved into my Heart by Ophelia Sikes 
47. Lost in Darkness by Ophelia Sikes 
48. Love's Labyrinth by Ophelia Sikes 
49. Flames and Tears by Ophelia Sikes 
50. Shades of Kiev by Bella Forrest 
51. Shades of Kiev 2 by Bella Forrest 
52. Shades of Kiev 3 by Bella Forrest 
53. Dwell in Possibility by Ophelia Sikes 
54. A Soul Ajar by Ophelia Sikes 
55. A Song of Soul and Hope by Ophelia Sikes 
56. Stop One Heart from Breaking by Ophelia Sikes 
57. Half Bad by Sally Green 

So basically out of the 64 books that I have read, 57 of them have been kindle books.

• Read 15 books by authors that I haven't read before 

Refer to Kindle Books. I allowed myself to double dip when it came to the challenge, so I figured the kindle books would have counted since I have never read any of those authors before. 

• Read all unread... 

1. Sherrilyn Kenyon books that I own (I have unfortunately neglected my favorite authors books.) 

1. Kathleen E. Woodiwiss books (I own all that she has had published) 

1. Read and catch up on the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich (I own 1 to 21, and I have read the first 7 in the series) 

1. Seven Up 

1. Hard Eight 

So...basically my reading challenge was dominated by kindle books. I'm hoping that the second half of the year I'll read more physical books and ones that are a part of my list. I'd like to read at least 1 in each category before the year is up. If you have followed my monthly TBR's you will see and huge accumulation of Sherrilyn Kenyon books and also Kathleen E. Woodiwiss books that are just begging for my attention.

Have any of you done a reading challenge? If so please comment below, I'd love to hear what you're doing to broaden your love of reading.

Happy Reading!

June 2016 Wrap Up

Well another month has passed and per usual I've read mostly kindle books.  And most of them were novellas.  But hell, 18 books are still 18 books!  My goal for the up and coming months is the read more physical books that I have neglected in the past months.

1. Bastian by Lauren Landish so I read this at the beginning of June and I have to be honest, it wasn't a very memorable book.  In fact I remember more details to the short story that was added to this download more than this one. RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
2. Resonating Souls by Ophelia Sikes is the first book in the Bermuda Nights novella series. This series follows Amanda and Evan and a cruise ship.  It was exciting and quick to read and of course, left at a cliff hanger so I had to power through the other books. RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
3. Wine-Dark Dreams by Ophelia Sikes is the second book in the Bermuda Nights novella series.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars 
4. The Soulless Abyss by Ophelia Sikes is the third book in the Bermuda Nights novella series.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
5. Wanting All by Ophelia Sikes is the fourth and final book in the Bermuda Nights Novella series.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
6. Love's Heat by Ophelia Sikes is the first book in the Italian Nights novella series.  This story follows Hannah and Brandon who are on a Mediterranean cruise.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
7. Carved into my Heart by Ophelia Sikes is the second book in the Italian Nights novella series,  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
8. Lost in Darkness by Ophelia Sikes is the third book in the Italian Nights novella series.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
9. Love's Labyrinth by Ophelia Sikes is the fourth book in the Italian Nights novella series.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
10. Flames and Tears by Ophelia Sikes is the fifth and final book in the Italian Nights novella series.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
11. Shades of Kiev by Bella Forrest is a mini spin off of the Shades of vampire series.  It leaves off where the 7th book in the series left off and kind of fills the space and time of where books 7 and 8 had.  This series follows Kiev as he is trying to find the good in him as he is trapped in the realm that all of the non-human creatures come from.  He makes friends but tries to figure out a way to survive as he meets Mona who is a witch with no magic.  RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
12. Shades of Kiev 2 by Bella Forrest leaves off where the first book left off.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
13. Shades of Kiev 3 by Bella Forrest follows up where the 2nd book left off.  While it is the end of the series, the ending opens up to how it will play with the rest of the Shades of Vampire series.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
14. Dwell in Possibility by Ophelia Sikes is the first novella in the Worcester Nights series.  This story follows Kate and Sean.  This book stands out like the Vegas Nights series, because it doesn't involve a cruise.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
15. A Soul Ajar by Ophelia Sikes is the second novella in the Worcester Nights series.  RATING: 4 out of 5 stars 
16. A Song of Soul and Hope by Ophelia Sikes is the thrid novella in the Worcester Nights series.  RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
17. Stop One Heart from Breaking by Ophelia Sikes is the fourth and final novella in the Worcester Nights series.  The two in the middle were a little dull but the ending was really action packed.  And out of all of the books that I have read by this author (the main characters are siblings) this one actually had someone that I wish would have been hurt.  I'll go into more detail when I write a review for the series.  RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
18. Half Bad by Sally Green is a young adult paranormal fantasy book that involves witch craft.  Nathan was born as a half white witch and half black witch, and has had to struggle his whole life to prove to those around him that he is a good person.  This is the first in the Half Bad trilogy.  It took me a little bit to get into it but once I did I couldn't put it down.  I have every intention to get the last two books.  But I am debating if I want to get the physical copy or just download the kindle versions.  RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Well this is what I read for the month of June.  Yes it is kind of sad that they were all kindle books, and ever more sad was the fact that only one was actually on my TBR.  But I'm looking forward to next month and all of the books that I could possibly read.  Happy Reading!