Bout of Books 18 - Day 4 Challenge

We are officially more than halfway through Bout of Books 18. I am having a great time and I am so glad I joined.

Today's challenge prompt is Book Spine Poetry. I've never done this before but I attempted it today:

Today I started exploring the world of Kindle Unlimited. I've seen it advertised every time I'm on Amazon get more books but I'd never jumped in. There was a book I wanted to read that was available for free to subscribers so I started my 30 day free trial. I ended up downloading 10 books (the max that you're allowed at one time) and I think I'm hooked. That's just what I needed... more books that weren't ones that I already need to read from my shelves. Ah well, I am very glad I started reading the one that made me jump (Love Rebel: Reclaiming Motherhood, a compilation by five Catholic bloggers), and I think that Kindle Unlimited may be my newest best book friend.

Pages Read Today: 121
Total Pages Read: 511

Books Read Today: 3, Love Rebel: Reclaiming Motherhood by Anna Eastland and others, Spilled Milk by K.L. Randis, The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell
Books Finished Today: 0
Total Books Finished: 2

Books Read with the Kids Today: 3
Total Books Read with the Kids: 11

Bout of Books 18 - Day 3

Day 3 is done, almost half way through the challenge! The good news about today is that I read a lot. The not so good news is that I didn't have any inspiration at all for the challenge prompt. However I want to keep my updates flowing so here are today's stats:

Pages Read Today: 143
Total Pages Read: 390

Books Read Today: 3, I finished both Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox, and Like Living Among Scorpions by Jennifer Fulwiler, and also read some of my Bible
Books Finished Today: 2
Total Books Finished: 2

Books Read with the Kids Today: 5
Total Books Read with the Kids: 8

Tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully I feel more inspired tomorrow.

Bout of Books 18 - Day 2 Challenge

Day 2 of Bout of Books 18 is quickly coming to an end. Today's challenge was to post 2017 in a picture. I had no pictures handy of my books I was reading so I did up a graphic that sums up some of my goals for the year:

Today was a mixed bag. I read a bit more in the first two hours of the day than I did in the whole day yesterday. However, I didn't read any more at all after those first two hours. I didn't get any reading with the kids in. Tomorrow is a new day and I'll try again. Now for the update:

Pages Read Today: 124
Total Pages Read: 247

Books Read Today: 2, Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox and Room by Emma Donoghue
Books Finished Today: 0
Total Books Finished: 0

Books Read with the Kids Today: 0
Total Books Read with the Kids: 3

Bout of Books 18 - Day 1 Challenge

Today was the first day of Bout of Books 18. The challenge for today is to introduce myself #insixwords

Grateful wife and Mama to boys

That's me in a nutshell. I'm lucky and I know it.

My challenge to myself in this reading challenge was to read at least 100 pages of my books a day and also to read with my kids. To that end today was a good day. The final tally was:

Pages Read Today: 123
Total Pages Read: 123

Books Read Today: 2, Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox and my short story of the week for the Deal Me In reading Challenge was Burd from Home From the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean
Books Finished Today: 0
Total Books Finished: 0

Books Read with the Kids Today: 3
Total Books Read with the Kids: 3

Deal Me In Short Story Challenge

(Deal Me In logo above created by Mannomoi at Dilettante Artiste)

I came across this challenge and was immediately intrigued. A challenge devoted not to full length books, but rather to the short story? How excellent! The challenge is hosted here and I highly encourage you to join. It involves just a short amount of time a week (enough time to read 1 short story, or even less if you choose a lower option) and at the end of the week you will have covered a lot of different stories.

I am actually going to sign up to do 2 short stories a week. I want to do one for me from my short story collections that have been collecting dust on my overfull bookshelves and I am also to set up a second set to read and discuss with my kids. Each week I will draw one card from each of two decks of playing cards and whatever suit and number is on the card will determine which entry I read for the week. Aces will be the #1, and the face cards will be #11 for Jack, #12 for Queen and #13 for King.

My Selections for me will be taken from the following books:

Home from the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean (all 16 stories)

My Best Stories by Alice Munro (all 17 stories)

Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allen Poe (the first 19 stories)

• Hearts
1. SM - Dave Cooks the Turkey
2. SM - Holland
3. SM - Valentine's Day
4. SM - Sourdough
5. SM - Music Lessons
6. SM - Burd Week #1, Read January 2nd
7. SM - Emil
8. SM - The Birthday Party
9. SM - Summer Camp
10. SM - The Cottage
11. SM - Road Trip
12. SM - Labour Days
13. SM - School Days
• Diamonds
1. SM - A Day Off
2. SM - On the Roof
3. SM - Polly Anderson's Christmas Party
4. AM - Royal Beatings
5. AM - The Beggar Maid
6. AM - The Turkey Season
7. AM - The Moons of Jupiter
8. AM - The Progress of Love
9. AM - Miles City, Montana
10. AM - Friend of My Youth
11. AM - Meneseteung
12. AM - Differently
13. AM - Carried Away
• Spades
1. AM - The Albanian Virgin
2. AM - A Wilderness Station
3. AM - Vandals
4. AM - Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
5. AM - Save the Reaper
6. AM - Runaway
7. AM - The Bear Came Over the Mountain
8. EAP - The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall
9. EAP - The Balloon-Hoax
10. EAP - Mesmeric Revelation
11. EAP - Ms. Found in a Bottle
12. EAP - A Descent into the Maelstrom
13. EAP - Von Kempelen and his Discovery
• Clubs
1. EAP - The Gold-bug
2. EAP - The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
3. EAP - The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade
4. EAP - The Murders in the Rue Morgue
5. EAP - The Mystery of Marie Roget
6. EAP - The Fall of the House of Usher
7. EAP - The Purloined Letter
8. EAP - The Tell-tale Heart
9. EAP - The Black Cat
10. EAP - The Imp of Perverse
11. EAP - The Premature Burial
12. EAP - The Island of the Fay
13. EAP - The Cask of Amontillado

My Selections to read with the kids will be taken from the following books:
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (all 13 stories)
Hans Christian Anderson Treasury (all 11 stories)
Centuries of Stories edited by Wendy Cooling (all 20 stories)
Cautionary Tales by Hilaire Belloc (all 8 sets of tales)

• Hearts
1. RK - How the Whale got his Throat
2. RK - How the Camel got His Hump
3. RK - How the Rhinoceros got his Skin
4. RK - How the Leopard got his Spots
5. RK - The Elephant's Child
6. RK - The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo
7. RK - The Beginning of the Armadillos
8. RK - How the First Letter was Written
9. RK - How the Alphabet was Made
10. RK - The Crab that Played with the Sea
11. RK - The Cat that Walked by Himself
12. RK - The Butterfly that Stamped
13. RK - The Tabu Tale
• Diamonds
1. HCA - The Red Shoes
2. HCA - The Little Mermaid
3. HCA - The Fellow Traveler
4. HCA - The Snow Queen
5. HCA - The Garden of Paradise
6. HCA - The Ice Maiden
7. HCA - The Fir Trees
8. HCA - The Little Match Girl
9. HCA - The Emperor's New Clothes
10. HCA - The Tinder Box
11. HCA - The Wild Swans
12. CoS - In Ancient Time
13. CoS - Into the Dark
• Spades
1. CoS - The Wall
2. CoS - The Valley of Crocuses
3. CoS - Wistan the Strange
4. CoS - A Taste of Freedom
5. CoS - Angel to Angel
6. CoS - Odin's Day
7. CoS - Brother Aelred's Feet
8. CoS - The Hammer and the Cross
9. CoS - A Falcon for a Queen
10. CoS - The Mask
11. CoS - The Death of a Prince
12. CoS - Why Would I Lie?
13. CoS - The Mystery of the Invisable Friends
• Clubs
1. CoS - The Daughters
2. CoS - London Rises from Ashes
3. CoS - Toinette
4. CoS - North
5. CoS - Swimming in Time
6. HB - Cautionary Tales for Children
7. HB - New Cautionary Tales
8. HB - The Bad Child's Book of Beasts
9. HB - More Beasts for Worse Children
10. HB - More Peers
11. HB - A Moral Alphabet
12. HB - Ladies and Gentlemen
13. HB - The Modern Traveler

Newbery Reading Challenge 2017

As soon as I saw this challenge I knew I'd sign up. There are so many Newbery and Caldecott books that I love, and many many more that I've never gotten the chance to explore yet. With a 10 year old, an almost 8 year old and a 6 year old in the house I am planning on choosing books from the list that I can enjoy with them. Anyone that reads this and wants to join us can do so by signing up here.

Here are the rules:​
Each book you read is worth points. You get:

• 3 points for a Newbery Medal Winner
• 2 points for a Newbery Honor Book
• 1 point for a Caldecott Book (Both Medal winners and Honor books are worth a point this year!)

In addition to that, you pick a level to aim for:

• L'Engle: 15 - 29 points
• Spinelli: 30 - 44 points
• Avi: 45 - 59 points
• Lowry: 60 - 74 points
• Konigsburg: 75+ points

We are going to aim for L'Engle to start, but I aim hoping once we get on a roll we may go higher. Our planned list of reads so far is:

1. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
2. Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
3. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
4. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
5. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

That will get us to 15 points, and from there... we shall see!

Literature and War Readalong 2017

I participated in this challenge in 2013 and it was a really positive experience for me so I knew I wanted to do it again this year. It's hosted over at Beauty is a Sleeping Cat. For 2017 there are 10 books to be read over the year as follows:

Now to my book choices. As you will see, with one exception, they are all focussing on WWII. I always strive for diversity and this year is no exception. There are books from five different countries on the list. Every year I include American novels, this year, to make a statement, I chose two Native American writers. Three of the other novels are French, one is Czech, and one German. May’s choice(s) are special because, for the first time, I decided to include poems. We will be reading and discussing British war poems. Some from poets who wrote during WWI, some from contemporary poets like Vanessa Gebbie and Caroline Davies. I’d like to thank Caroline for suggesting I include poems.

January kicks off with House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday, 208 pages, US 1966, WWII.  On January 31st there will be a discussion post over at Beauty is a Sleeping Cat. Join us :)