Top Ten Books That I'm Not Sure I Want to Read

This week for Top Ten Tuesday the theme is "books I'm not sure I want to read". Most of these are more modern books and I tend to be wary of modern books. 

1. Wuthering Heights- Unfortunately it's on my Classics Club list so I'll have to read it eventually. I even bought it for fifty cents at Goodwill so I had no excuse. :)
2. Fangirl- There was a lot of hype about it in the book blogging world in the last few months and I thought it might actually be a new book worth reading but then I heard a few negative reviews about it so then I couldn't decide. Still haven't decided whether or not I want to pick it up or not. 
3. Eleanor and Park- Same as above. I figure if I read either of the two it will be Fangirl and then if like it I'll read Eleanor and Park. 
4. Atlas Shrugged- Another book on my Classics Club list. It's so long and more modern. 
5. The Fault in Our Stars- A modern favorite that just got adapted into a movie that is incredibly popular. It sounds interesting but I think I would disagree it on a theological level. 
6. War and Peace- Because it is so long I'm just not sure I want to get started on it. :)
7. The Help- A modern book I've heard lots of good things about but I'm normally wary of modern books but I think I'll give it a try. 
8. The Luthier's Apprentice- A modern historical novel that I heard good things about. I think I'll try it out as well. 
9. Memoirs of a Geisha- Another modern novel that is quite popular and I think will be safe for me to try out. It is historical and I always like history. 
10. Howl's Moving Castle- A more moderne fantasy novel I've heard great things about. I love good fantasy and I hope this proves to be one. 

If you've been keeping up with the blog you'll know that I'm participating in my first "Bout of Books" coming up soon, which I'm super excited about! Also, I got myself a pet pig! Read about my Wilbur here. :)

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Bout of Books Goals

As I mentioned earlier today I'm going to be participating in the Bout of Books and you can check the blog out for more information here.  So here are my goals for my very first bout of books!

Time Devoted to Reading

Two hours a day hopefully. It's my first week of school so I can't just douse myself in reading like I'd love to be doing. :) Some of the books on my list I have as audiobooks so that might make it easier. 

My Goals

To read/finish five books. 

Books I Hope to Read

• Hamlet (finish) by William Shakespeare
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare
• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
• Bridge on the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle
• Our Mutual Friend (Finish) by Charles Dickens
• Harry Potter (not sure how many) by J.K. Rowling
• Time Machine by H.G. Wells

Updates 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

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Signing up for Bout of Books!

A while back was the last "Bout of Books" and a bunch of my fellow book bloggers were doing it and at the time I thought it sounded really cool so now that there is another one I'm going to join in! Sure it runs through my first week of school but I don't really need to study. ;)
Here's what "Bout of Books" is all about.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I think this is going to be tons of fun!

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It's Monday and I'm Back and Reading!

After a two month or so hiatus from doing the "It's Monday and I'm Reading" posts with Book Journey I'm back kicking and reading! As I mentioned last week in a blog post my last day of work at the pig farm was last Friday and next week I'll be starting school up again. I did get a good amount of reading done this summer and if you have been following me on Goodreads (which I encourage you to do! Follow this link!) then you'll have seen all I've been reading. However, here's what is going on with me and my reading right now.

Currently Reading

1. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
2. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
3. Hamlet by William Shakespeare (audiobook) 

Coming Soon (Hopefully)

1. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (audiobook)
2. Macbeth by William Shakespeare (audiobook)
3. The Bridge on the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle

What I read this summer

1. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
2. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
3. Little Dorritt by Charles Dickens
4. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
5. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham (re-read)
6. The Book of Lost Tales Part 1 by J.R.R. Tolkien
7. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
8. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (audiobook)
9. World War 1 by Richard J. Maybury
10. As You Like It by William Shakespeare (audiobook)
11. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
12. Henry V by William Shakespeare (audiobook)

I got sick one day at the pig farm so I lay around all that day sleeping, reading or listening to audiobooks so I got a good chunk done then. Overall it has been a pretty good summer for reading and I'm only a little behind on Goodreads for my year's goal. If you haven't been keeping up with me summer be sure to check out this post about my new pet
Hope y'all had a great summer and I look forward to hearing about what you've been reading!
P.S. The number spun for the Classics Club spin was a 17 so I'll be reading H.G. Wells' book The Time Machine, a book I am intrigued to read. :)

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Classics Club Spin #2

Time for another Classics Club Spin! I'm going to make a list of twenty books off of my Classics Club book list and then on Monday the number that is spun I'm going to read that book off my list. I'll then have to read that book by October 6th. We'll see how it goes!

Books I'm excited about! 
1) Pygmilion Bernard Shaw
2) Armadale by Wilkie Collins
3) The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
4) The Importance of Being Ernest by Anthony Trollope
5) Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring
Book's I'm Neutral About
6) For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
7) As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
8) An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
9) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
10) Bridge on the River Kwai Pierre Boulle
Books I'm Dreading Reading
11) Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
12) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
13) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevesky
14) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
15) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Books I'm Intrigued to Read
16) Dracula by Bram Stoker
17) The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
18) Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
19) Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
20) The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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Piggy Peeps Post #5- The Last One!

Today was my last day of work at the pig farm! I have one week off and then I'll be starting back up at school for my last year of nursing school. Towards the end I was actually really coming to enjoy the work. I finally decided that pigs can be cute sometimes. I loved the little Dalmatian piglets. :)
My last day I mentioned to my cousin that I wanted to ask and see if I could get one of the baby piglets to take home. I loved cuddling the little newborn piglets so I wanted one of those. However, as my cousin reminded it was unlikely they would let me take home a piglet. We went and took our break a little earlier and while we were sitting in the break room in walked one of the employees just randomly holding a pig. Turns out that it had climbed out of the truck when we were weaning and had been running outside ever since. However, because it had been outside and could have been contaminated we had to kill it. A quick phone call to the boss and the piglet was mine! It was incredibly providential how it came about and I'm still shocked that I'm currently the owner of a piglet! My plan is to raise it until it is old enough to butcher and then send it to a meat locker. It's name is Wilbur Laszlo Psmith (the P is silent as in psychology). Wilbur because of Charlotte's Web, Laszlo from Doctor Who, and Psmith from Leave it to Psmith.
We'll see how it goes. :)

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Top Ten Books I'd Give to Readers Who Have Never Read...

Top Ten Tuesday's theme this week is the top ten books I'd give to readers who have never read X genre. I'm going to just give a couple for each of my favorite genres. :)

Science Fiction

1. Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
2. Dune by Frank Herbert

Fantasy

1. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Historical Novels

1. The Cat of Bubastes by G.A. Henty
2. Coronation of Glory by Deborah Meroff

Classics

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. Little Dorritt by Charles Dickens

Mystery

1. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
2. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

I know The Lord of the Rings isn't an easy read for many people but it is the defining fantasy work of literature and in my opinion an amazing book! :) I would recommend these books to any and all. They are some of my favorites and I hope they become some of your favorites too. :)

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Top Ten (eight) Authors I Own the Most Books From

I'm still working on my personal library and it's really coming along.  A few years ago I'm not sure I could have said much for it. Years of my family having thousands of books gave me excuses not to by buy books. I'm so glad though that I've started building up my library so when I have kids of my own I'll be able to share my love of reading with them. I've only included my top eight as there are only eight authors that I have more than one of their books.

1. C.S. Lewis- Eight books. I have all of his Chronicles of Narnia series but two copies of my favorite- The Horse and His Boy. :)
2. Agatha Christie- Seven books. Various titles. :)
3. Jane Austen- I have all of her books including her unfinished works at the end of my copy of Persuasion. 
4. J.R.R. Tolkien- Five books. I have a copy of The Hobbit, two copies of The Two Towers and one copy each of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King. 
5. William Shakespeare- Four books. I have a copy of a collection of Shakespeare stories and then one copy each of The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew.
6. Charles Dickens- Three books. I have David Copperfield, Barnaby Rudge and Our Mutual Friend. 
7. Brian Jacques- Two books. I have Mariel of Redwall and The Sable Queen.
8. Mark Twain- Two books. I have Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. 

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Top Ten Characters I would want with me on a Deserted Island

Hi y'all! I hope you're enjoying your summer. Here in Kansas right now the weather has been amazingly cool and I'm really liking it as the house I am staying at on the farm doesn't have a working air conditioner yet. :( However, I know the heat is going to catch up with us soon.
Today for top the Tuesday the theme is top ten characters I would want with me on a deserted island. There are lots of options obviously as there are so many memorable characters from literature so picking a worthy group of ten was not easy but here is my list. :)

1. Samwise Gamgee- I will always remember Sam as the most loyal and caring of friends and I think that would be a something I would want on a deserted island. :) From J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
2. Ronald Eustace Psmith (The P is silent as in psychic, ptarmigan, phthisis)- Because he would always make me laugh. :) From P.G. Wodehouse's Leave it to Psmith
3. Gandalf- It's always useful to have a wizard around... just in case. :) From J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
4. Jeeves- Because he is very adept at just floating through life making everything better and coming up with solutions to impossible situations. :) From P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster series
5. Henry Tilney- Because it would be ideal to have a pastor there on a deserted island and he's my favorite pastor from literature and one of my favorite male characters from literature. He too will always make me laugh. :) From Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey
6. Sherlock Holmes- Very clever. The kind of person who could think up a solution to get off the island. As would Jeeves of course. The possibilities of Jeeves and Sherlock Holmes together makes the mind race! From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes
7. Mr. Knightley- Along with Tilney he would always keep me accountable and not be afraid to tell me if I do something wrong. From Jane Austen's Emma
8. Dr. Watson- Good asset for Holmes plus a doctor will be handy for any injuries that my nursing skills can't handle. :) From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes
9. Robinson Crusoe- He has experience with deserted island so he can help me out. :) From Daniel Defoe's Robin Crusoe
10. Aragorn- To protect me from all of the horrors of the island! :) From J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings 

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Top Ten Favorite TV Shows

Today for Top Ten Tuesday you can chose your top ten favorites of a non book story like movies or TV shows. Since my top the favorite movies would be way to hard of a list to write, I'm going with my top ten favorite TV shows because I watch less of those. :) These aren't in any particular order except of course Doctor Who is my favorite. :) Enjoy.

1. Numer one is definitely Doctor Who. Even though I only started watching it last fall it has quickly become my favorite. You can read about my love of all things Doctor Who here. 
2. Monk 
3. Psych 
4. The Adventures of Merlin
5. Human Target
6. The Andy Griffith Show
7. Castle
8. Foyle's War
9. Sherlock
10. Call the Midwife and Stargate Atlantis- I'm putting these at the end because to be fair I haven't finished these. I'm part way through the first season of Stargate Atlantis and I only ever watched the first episode of Call the Midwife, which I loved! Hopefully I'll finish these up soon. 

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