Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

I've joined the many readers participating in the Dewey's 24-Hour-Readathon! I admit, I'm not really good at these things. Out of the five or so readathons I participated in, I've only succeeded in one. But I'm going to try to devote myself to the 24-Hour-Readathon because it sounds fun.

Within a 24 hour period, readers go on a reading spree and participate on social media. I'll be live-feeding my progress primarily on Twitter using hashtags #Dewey #Readathon and #24HourReadathon. Also, everyone starts at the same time, which is pretty cool. (More information HERE). Since I'm in Los Angeles, my start time is 5am. Maybe I'll wake up in time to start at 5am? If not, I'll still devote my entire Saturday to finishing Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. That's it! I don't want to stress myself out and add to my TBR pile.

I'll be back to update once the readathon is over. Now below is the obligatory TBR photo :)

 

Quarterly Update | Bookish Musings

Whew, it's been such a long time! I admit, I'm disappointed with myself that I've let myself go 3 months without posting anything... But it feels really good to be back in the ol' blogosphere. I think now is a good time to give an update on how I'm doing with my New Year's Reading Resolutions, considering that was my previous post.

1. Read at least 50 books, which is my Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge. I've increased my Goodreads Reading Challenge to 75 books! I've already read 33 books this year and I didn't want to complete my challenge too early. Might as well climb a mountain, than go over a hill. Yay!
2. Read at least one classic a month. This is pretty much a fail. I'm ashamed to admit that I've only read 1 classic (Fahrenheit 451) so far! I've hauled a bunch of classics 2 months ago, but I've been having the worst reading slump. Maybe I'll be able to catch up by reading 3 classics this month?
3. Read more books by the authors of my favorite books, i.e. Charlotte Bronte, Cormac McCarthy, Margaret Atwood, E.M. Forster. This is going moderately well. I've read another book by Cormac McCarthy (The Child of God) and E.M. Forster (Maurice). I've read 3 of 4 published books by Simone St James, who is my new found favorite gothic/romance/historical author. And, I have a lineup of 3 books by Sarah Waters on my TBR shelf. 
4. Read at least 15 books of diversity. This is also a fail :(. I have Amy Tan's The Joyluck Club sitting on my TBR shelf, yet I haven't picked it up. It was on my Read-O-Rama readathon TRR, but I didn't even finish any book during the readathon!
5. Finish or catch up with the series I've started and are on my shelf. I'm working on this! I'll be so proud of myself once I finish The Bronze Horseman and Mistborn trilogy. I can do it!

 

2015 New Year's Reading Resolutions | Bookish Musings

It's the brand new spankin' New Year, which means New Year's resolutions (hurrah!). And I'd like to put my New Year's Reading Resolutions in writing so I'll actually remember and try to live up to them. Without further ado, here they are!

1. Read at least 50 books, which is my Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge.
2. Read at least one classic a month.
3. Read more books by the authors of my favorite books, i.e. Charlotte Bronte, Cormac McCarthy, Margaret Atwood, E.M. Forster.
4. Read at least 15 books of diversity.
5. Finish or catch up with the series I've started and are on my shelf.
 

Here's to 2015!

Let's Do This! | Readathon

This weekend I'll be participating in my first ever readathon! It's called the 24 in 48 Readathon and  you can find more information here. In short, readers must read for 24 hours over the course of 48 hours starting from 12:01 Saturday morning to 11:59 Sunday night.

I'm super excited and I can feel the reading juices flowing! It took a while to warm myself up to set to-be-read lists, thinking myself a "free-spirited" reader; however, I realized they're very good when needing to chip away at never-ending TBR piles.

So without further ado, here's my TBR stack (in reading order) for the readadon!

1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
2. Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins
3. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (if I get this far)

Soothingly Pensive, A Gothic Inspiration and The Worst Sequel | Review

Soothingly Pensive

This is the best book I read in 2014. And I knew this was something special while reading Jeevan's first chapter as he strolls through the snow-covered park. It was absolutely beautiful. Each point of view felt like I was comfortably sitting inside the mind of each character as their thoughts, anxieties, and dreams passed by. The book was so soothingly pensive despite its apocalyptic circumstances.

Usually, post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels dwell on violence, destruction, and the fall of morality. But what's remarkable about Station Eleven is that it doesn't do that. There's endurance which is shown as each character is somehow connected with each other, bringing forth one of the purest form of hope I've seen in a novel.

 A Gothic Inspiration

This book is such an inspiration. In many YA books, I notice historical events are a backdrop to support the romance, paranormal, fantasy, and or supernatural elements of the book. However, The Cure for Dreaming most definitely does not do that. Cat Winters constantly reminds her readers that this book is predominantly a novel about women's suffrage and rights in America and how one girl reflects many others who have had to overcome their limitations during a time fraught with sexism.

It's also amazing how she captures the cusp of this historical movement, while seeping in the creep factors so appropriate for Halloween. I love how she brings the supernatural and paranormal, genres specific to Europe and the east coast, to the Pacific north west. Such transformations are refreshing.

This is one of the best YA books out there and I recommend it to historical and paranormal/supernatural lovers alike. After reading the last page, I was filled with so much promise!

The Worst Sequel to a Trilogy

This is by far the worst sequel to a series I've ever read. Usually, when forbidden lovers finally come together, there is a sigh of relief. I let out a breath of exasperation. Kaidan and Anna's relationship is full of flaws like any other normal relationship. I have no issue with that. What bothers me is the pretense of resolution when there was none, as seen in the chapter when both arrive at Kaidan's bachelor pad and begin cleaning the place up as if they were cleaning up all the problems in their relationship. It was horrible. The imbalance of their relationship is horrible. I'm sure I wasn't the only one ripping my hair out whilst reading Anna's sheer neediness and Kaidan's stupidity. There is a point when a story veers from angsty romance to petty drama.

There was also no character development from anyone. Most of Anna's prophet work was done by her father and friends. And we as readers didn't get any insight on this big strategy. All of Anna's friends were one-dimensional and rotated around for character exposure, rather than significance.

There was so much promise for this series! I loved the paranormal concept, but it really fell apart in Sweet Peril. I actually had to stop reading the book for a week after Anna and Kaidan reunited because I was so frustrated. But I'm going to give this series another chance by reading Sweet Reckoning. 

How to Survive Your Book Buying Ban | Bookish Musings

Do you buy way too many books? Have you been spending more money on books than food? And have you not finished most of the books you bought in recent months? If so, a self-quarantined Book-Buying Ban is in order!

What's a Book-Buying Ban? Well, its exactly what it sounds like. Additionally, it's when readers, quite simply, stop purchasing books because their TBR (to-be-read) pile has gone up and too many books have been on the back-burner. 

I've put myself on the Book-Buying-Ban for obvious reasons. Also, my TBR list has actually hindered my book-shopping experience. Shopping for books is not as enjoyable as it used to be because I'm always thinking of unfinished books and it drives me nuts! It's not the book themselves, it's me and it's got to end.

Thus, I've compiled a list to aid me in Book-Buying endeavors because book-buying bans are a lot harder than you'd think. These tips have helped me successfully achieve my book-buying ban and I hope they help you as well :).

1. Set a goal, usually a number of books you'd like to finish before your next book purchase. Considering the number of books I had on my TBR pile, I set my goal to finish at least five books.
2. Set a deadline. This could be a holiday, birthday, the end of the month, etc. For me, I received a Barnes & Noble coupon that expires on November 16th, which became my deadline. Voila!
3. Resist temptation, in other words avoid bookshops! This is the most simple, yet most difficult obstacle to overcome. Personally, after a hard day at work I have the urge to visit my local bookshop and submerge myself with books and words. It is so tempting! But I think of my goal and deadline and steer (literally) away from the bookshop when driving home.
4. Pick up a random book that has been sitting on your shelf for months and start reading! Most likely, you'll realize the book is amazing and you'll wonder why you hadn't read it sooner. This is true! For example, The Salinger Contract by Adam Salinger had been sitting on my shelf for months. One night, I randomly picked it up and it became one of the best books I read this year.

And The Best Quote of The Year Goes To | Bookish Musings

"That the author is speaking only to us, that he is writing only for us, that no one on Earth has the same relationship to that author as we do. I have the same fantasy every time I read a book I love, no matter who wrote it, no matter when it was written. That the author has written his book only for me." The Salinger Contract by Adam Langer