MS Readathon

The MS Readathon is a fantastic event. I took part in it as a child and have lots of nostalgic feelings from my experiences. I loved to read as a child so it was my favourite fundraising event.

As a teenager I had a teacher, Mrs Belcher (I think that’s right, its been 20 yrs), with Multiple Sclerosis. she was a bloody badass and total inspiration. She put up with zero shit. She was one of my absolute favourite teachers.

A few years ago my uncle was diagnosed and it completely changed his families life. He lived with us a lot while I was growing up and he and his wife mean the world to me. It is a cruel disease.

So this year in honour of my Uncle Mark, my kids are both taking part.

WWW Wednesday

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, you answer 3 questions and hey presto, you are all done.

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I'm taking part in the Olympic Games Readathon this month so I have paused a book and am starting fresh. 

Currently reading –

The Book Of Koli by M.R Carey

The Olympic Games

In June I’m going to be participating in a reading challenge inspired by the Percy Jackson series. The Olympic Games is a fun way to come up with a TBR for the month and distract myself from all the reviews I have yet to write up. I have serious reviewers block and a serious backlog of reviews that need to be written up. Anyway, this challenge has been created by ISHI and if you click her name it will take you to her video. She is joined by a team of hosts and the challenge can take place across all platforms. The effort that has gone into the set up of this is amazing.

How does the challenge work? You take the quiz to determine your cabin and then follow the reading prompts for the god your representing. There are 5 prompts for each god and once those are completed you have the option of completing the advanced prompts.

8 in two readathon

2019 is the year of the readathon. So of course I’m jumping on the bandwagon and taking part in the 8 in two readathon, brought to us by the lovely ladies from 25infive.
This weekend we have a bit on, but I’m hopeful that I can smash out 4 hours of reading each night and that will be enough.

Dancing with fantasy and sci-fi, a kickass reading challenge

I was just checking in with a few blogs and came across a challenge that has piqued my interest. So much so I’ve decided to give it a whirl. Do I expect to complete it? No, I rarely finish the challenges I start as I over-estimate my staying power. Do I let that stop me from starting them? Also no.

My challenge check-in

 

Reading challenges. I love them, I commit to too many of them and then drown in them and don’t complete many of them. This year though, I vowed to be different, to keep on top of them and stop committing to more than I can handle. We are now one month in and I have set myself up to fail a little. I discovered NetGalley… Can’t stop requesting.

I’m aiming for 102 reads for 2018. 8/102 for January which is about the pace I need to hit my goal. Success. 

My clear the TBR challenge – 5/75 completed

1. The Painted Man
2. The Outsiders
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
4. They Both Die at the End
5. Alias Grace

Crushed under my pile of unread books

It’s a common bookworm problem, so many books that need to be read on your shelves, yet new shiny books catch your attention, so you grab them and ignore the ones you already have. Your pile of unread books slowly gets bigger and bigger and next thing you know its time for a new bookcase. I went from two bookcases to four last year, plus a small one. My fantasy case is double stacked and so are most of the others and at least 80% of these are unread. I read a decent amount of books, in 2017 it was 120, down from 163 in both 2016 and 2015, yet I seem to be buying them so much faster than I can read them. Does this knowledge stop me from buying more? Fuck no, read or unread, my shelves are beautiful, so many gorgeous books.. Yes I’ve been known to stroke my books while looking for my next read, sometimes I tell them I love them, sometimes I just sit and stare at them like the creeper I am. The key to my book buying is op shopping. A very large percentage of my books were purchased second hand for between 2-3 dollars. I once walked out of an op shop with the first 4 books in the Peter V. Brett, Demon Cycle series. That was a happy day. I find heaps of urban fantasy, paranormal romance and books that I’m not sure if I would like, so I wouldn’t risk paying full price for it. I have come across some absolute ripper reads this way and new authors that I now love. If you are looking to expand your reading, I fully recommend op shopping. I think I’ve got enough on my shelves now, so I probably wont be doing it much in 2018. I will be getting new books of course, I don’t think I could go on a book buying ban, that’s just crazy, but I will be limiting my purchases to series I already have on the go. Nicholas Eames and Mark Lawrence have books out in the next couple of months, no way will I miss out on those. Also Brandon Sanderson is an absolute work horse, I’m sure he will be releasing something this year and I can’t miss out on that.