Double-Stacked Bookshelves

Bout of Books Challenge Update Day 4 There are only a few more days left in the challenge , so I better pick up the pace!  Here's how yesterday went: Currently Reading:  Allegiant by Veronica Roth...I feel like this might be the only thing I get done for the challenge... Read 125 of 526 pages last night.  That puts me on page 379. I still have hope to at least start another book for the challenge, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Total number of pages read:  379. Happy reading, fellow Bout of Bookers!

Bout of Books Challenge Update Day 3 Heading into the midway point of the Bout of Books Challenge and I'm feeling pretty confident.  Here's how yesterday went: Currently Reading:  Allegiant by Veronica Roth Read 96 of 526 pages yesterday.  On page 254. Still planning on reading the books I've mentioned before.  Also hoping to finish one book soon.  Soon... So fare I've read a total of 254 pages. Happy reading, fellow Bout of Bookers!

Bout of Books Challenge Update Day 2 The second day of the Bout of Books Reading Challenge has come to an end and here's how yesterday went: Currently Reading:  Allegiant by Veronica Roth Read a total of 70 of 526 pages yesterday To Read:  Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and Stuart Little by E.B. White (will count for Bookish Bingo ) So far I've read 158 pages in the challenge.  Not stellar, but there's still plenty of time :) Happy reading, fellow Bout of Bookers!

Bout of Books Challenge Update Day 1 Hey All!  Today is rolling in to Day 2 of the Bout of Books Reading Challenge , and here is how day 1 went: Currently Reading:  Allegiant by Veronica Roth Read a total of 88 of 526 pages yesterday To Read:  Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden So...read a total of 88 pages on Day 1. I'm still trying to figure out what else I'll be reading because I'm using Bookish Bingo to kind of dictate my choices at the moment.  I'll update as I go! Can anyone think of a great book with music or dance themes???? Happy reading, fellow Bout of Bookers!

Beat the Heat Readathon   I am a reading challenge junkie...and I make no apologies!  The Beat the Heat Readathon is hosted by Jessi @ Novel Hearbeat and Reanna @ Phantasmic Reads  and runs from August 11th-September 1st.  Since I'm already participating in the Bookish Bingo Challenge, I thought this would coincide nicely.  Here are the rules! The Beat the Heat Readathon runs from August 11th to September 1st. What does this readathon entail, you ask? Well, read as much or as little as you want – the main point is to READ! You set your own goal, and for three weeks you read as many books as you can/want to reach your goal! There will be mini-challenges throughout the Readathon for participants, along with a grand prize giveaway at the end! Sign up here at Novel Heartbeat or over at  Phantasmic Reads . You may join whenever you like, but to be eligible for our grand prize giveaway, you must sign up by August 24th. To join, all you have to do is make a sign-up

Bout of Books 11 Goals We are very quickly approaching the start of Bout of Books 11 and I'm super excited to be participating again!  I participated in the last Bout of Books Challenge, my first time joining in, and would like to think it was rather successful for me.  However, I want to do more this time!  Here is what I hope to get done Finish the Divergent series by Veronica Roth (this will count for this challenge, Bookish Bingo , and the Beat the Heat Challenge I'm currently participating in).  I'm just starting the first in the series, so I should be able to accomplish this. Read Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.  This will also count for all three challenges! Read more pages than I did for the last Bout of Books...a total of 779 pages last time. Participate in as many mini-challenges and chats as feasible! I'm thinking this is doable.  If you're interested, there's still time to sign up!  Here's the link . Happy reading!

Teaser Tuesdays:  Divergent Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading . Here are the rules: grab whatever you're reading, open to a random page, select no more than two sentence (NO SPOILERS), share the title and author, and GO! Here's today's teaser: "It would probably be wise to be careful around Four, I realize.  He seemed placid to me on the platform, but something about that stillness makes me wary now." -- page 63            ----- Divergent by Veronica Roth I'm finally getting around to reading this series.  I have about 40 pages left in the book I'm currently reading and then it's on to another YA adventure. Happy reading!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and it's a way to share what you're loving in list form. The topic changes every week, so there is always something new to discover! This week's theme is:  Books I'm Not Sure I Want to Read .  Now, if you are a friend on Goodreads, you know that I have nearly 2500 books on my To-Read pile, and it keeps growing.  This is completely unrealistic and kind of ridiculous.  But I think I'm a To-Read junkie.  Hi, my name is Melissa and I have a problem... Here are my choices: Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller.  I read Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance and really enjoyed it, but I'm just not sure I care enough to read this one... The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell.  I love her fiction works. Little Nuggets of Wisdom: Big Advice from the Small Star of Chelsea Lately by Chuy Bravo.  Not high on my list. Eating An

Here's what I'm thinking about today: In May, a dear friend and I had tickets to Lady Gaga's concert up in Seattle.  That's about a 5 hour trip (depending on traffic) for us.  It was on a Tuesday, so we both took time off work and made the trek up I-5.  Upon arriving, we hit up the Taphouse Grill for some pre-concert libations and appetizers.  Right before ordering, my friend gets an email from the venue saying that the concert had been canceled.  WHAT?!?  Needless to say we were incredibly disappointed and were at a loss as to what to do.  Do we drive home?  Do we find something else to do in the city?  Do we make hotel reservations instead of staying at one of her friend's houses if we stay out late?  Decisions, decisions!  After scouring a few "Things to Do in Seattle" websites, we decided to check the Mariners website to see if they were playing.  Lo and behold...VICTORY!  We had about 45 minutes until the game started, so we popped over to book a

Teaser Tuesday:  An Unnecessary Woman Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading . Here are the rules: grab whatever you're reading, open to a random page, select no more than two sentence (NO SPOILERS), share the title and author, and GO! Here's today's teaser: "I long ago abandoned myself to a blind lust for the written word.  Literature is my sandbox.  In it I play, build my forts and castles, and spend glorious time.  It is the world outside that box that gives me trouble." --page 5           ----- An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine Loving this book so far!!! Happy reading!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and it's a way to share what you're loving in list form. The topic changes every week, so there is always something new to discover! This week's theme is:  Books I'd Give to Readers Who Have Never Read Holocaust Literature .  Sorry it's going to be a heavy topic, but there are so many wonderful HL books and authors out there who NEED to be read!  Some will be works of fiction, others will be survivor literature/testimony.  All are necessary! Here goes... Poems of Paul Celan by Paul Celan or Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew by John Felstiner A Holocaust survivor, Celan turned to poetry in an attempt to cope with the atrocities he faced while imprisoned.  He is known as THE writer of the Holocaust and he's brilliant; and the poems are NOT pretty.  The first is a collection of his poetry.  The second is a biography that is fantastic. This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by

Musing Mondays #7 Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading and is quite simple, really. It asks you to comment/muse each week on one of the following prompts: Describe one of your reading habits. Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s). What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! Tell us what you're reading right now--what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; why you are (or aren't) enjoying it. Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us! Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books--let's here it, then! Here's what's on my mind today... I recently discovered an amazing book site, Book Riot , and have been pretty much obsessing over all it has to offer to readers.  If you hav