Wednesday, December 31, 2014

TBR Pile Challenge Wrap up Post

I read a wide variety of books this year for my TBR Pile Challenge hosted by Roof Beam Reader (be sure to check out the 2015 challenge!). It was tons of fun to finish up books that had been on my TBR list for years as this forced me to finally read them and many of them have become new favorites. Be sure to check out the links below to read my reviews! :)

2. The Warden by Anthony Trollope (was an alternate)

Have a great end of the year and here's to the new one! :)

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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

2014 Book Kaleidoscope- Day 5

The theme today for the Book Kaleidoscope is my top five books. I hate it when I have to rate my top books. I feel sorry for the ones I left out! I feel like they need mentioning too! And, as always, I somehow cheat on my list... today is no exception. ;) Links take you to my reviews if I wrote one. So in no particular order... enjoy! :)
  1. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell- A very Pride and Prejudice like story with strong memorable characters and a moving pollen. 
  2. Our Mutual Friend and Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens- Both great Dickens works with the standard unforgettable characters that only he can create. :)
  3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett- This was a modern classic for me. The characters and the plot line moved me. 
  4. Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machem- A great piece of non-fiction work that is just as true today as it was when it was written over ninety years ago. 
  5. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton- A truly magnificent biography of Martin Luther that was captivating throughout. 
So yeah I got six in there but I'm sure nobody will notice. ;)

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Top Ten Goals/Resolutions for 2015

This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme is the top ten goals or resolutions for 2015 bookish, blogging or otherwise. :) I'm not much of a resolution maker... I do have goals in life though... like finish nursing school without having a nervous breakdown and getting married and having children but not really yearly resolutions for my life. Now blogging and reading wise is an entirely different matter. I have goals for those and I'm sticking to them! Well hopefully that is. ;)
  1. Read 100+ books in 2015!
  2. Complete 90% of the multiple reading challenges I signed up for in 2015. Preferably all but I'm trying to be realistic here. 
  3. Complete reviews for all of the books I read this year. This is going to be a challenge for me! 
  4. Participate in a read-a-long for the first time.
  5. Reach 80 followers on Bloglovin!!! That's double from what I currently have so maybe a little ambitious. :)
  6. Listen to 10+ audibooks
  7. Read at least one eBook
  8. Read 50+ re-reads
P.S. As the new year is at our doorstep remember to consider signing up for my Hard Core Re-reading challenge or my Birthday Month Reading Challenge! I hope y'all have a great year of reading next year! :)

Linking up with Broke and Bookish 

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Monday, December 29, 2014

2014 Book Kaleidoscope- Day 4

Today for the Book Kaleidoscope I have a freebie theme! I'm going to go with top five heroines! :) So here you are in no particular order.

  1. Amy Dorrit from Charles Dickens's Little Dorrit
  2. Bella Wilfer and Lizzie Hexam from Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend
  3. Margaret Hale from Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South
  4. Mary Poppins from P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins series- A re-read this year but I love this eccentric nanny! 
  5. Agnes Grey from Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey
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Sunday, December 28, 2014

2014 Book Kaleidoscope: Day 3

Today the theme for the Book Kaleidoscope is my five favorite book covers of the year. These again won't be in any particular order except the first one is probably my favorite. :)

1) The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien- This cover just conveys such epicness! The soldier looking off into the distance with the battle behind him and the mist is so perfect! :)


2) The Book of Lost Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien- I love the simple setting of telling a story that this cover evokes.

3) Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens- The cover is simple but I love how it captures the theme of the story... money. 

4) Marry Poppins by P.L. Travers- A Re-read for this year but I still love the cover. :)

5) The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling- Another re-read for this year. I have always loved these covers for this series and was kind of oblivious until searching images for this post that there were other covers out there. :)



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It's Monday! Enjoying the Break :)

It's been a nice relaxing week with a little reading and a lot of watching Stargate: Atlantis. I'm almost done with it!!! :)

Completed this week

  • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  • Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James

Currently Reading

  • Nothing- I probably won't start anything new until the new year. :)
Just a quick reminder as the new year begins this week: Don't forget to sign up for my Hard Core Re-reading challenge or my Birthday Month Reading Challenge

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Friday, December 26, 2014

2014 Book Kaleidoscope- Day 2

The theme for today for the Book Kaleidoscope is the Top Five Most Memorable Quotes. I'm really bad at keeping track of quotes though oftentimes I will photograph especially memorable ones but I don't always get that done. Therefore there could be great quotes from these books that I missed. :(

1) This is a great quote from Hugh Binning's book Christian Love. “Self-love is the greatest enemy to true Christian love, and pride is the fountain of self-love” “He whose sins are covered by God’s free love cannot think it hard to spread the garment of his love over his brother’s sins” “Humility makes a man compare himself with the best that he may find how bad he himself is, but pride measures by the worst, that it may hide a man from his own imperfections”



2) I love so many quotes from John Bunyan's book Prayer but out of my gracious heart I'm only giving you one. ;)




3) This quote from Roland Bainton's book Here I Stand was especially touching for me with the recent passing of my grandfather. Martin Luther uttered these words after his daughter died. "How strange it is to know that she is at peace and all is well and yet to be so sorrowful!" 


4) Henry V (by Shakespeare of course) has two of my favorite passages in literature. I was familiar with these long before I read it and actually reading them has just increased my love for them. :)
This is Henry V's famous Crispin's Day speech
What's he that wishes so?     
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;     
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow     
To do our country loss; and if to live,     
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.     
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.     
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,     
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;     
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;     
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.     
But if it be a sin to covet honour,     
I am the most offending soul alive.    
 No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.     
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour     
As one man more methinks would share from me     
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!     
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,     
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,     
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,     
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;     
We would not die in that man's company     
That fears his fellowship to die with us.     
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.     
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,     
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,     
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.     
He that shall live this day, and see old age,     
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,     
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'     
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,     
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'     
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,     
But he'll remember, with advantages,     
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,    
Familiar in his mouth as household words-     
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,     
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-     
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.     
This story shall the good man teach his son;     
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,     
From this day to the ending of the world,     
But we in it shall be remembered-     
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;     
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me     
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,     
This day shall gentle his condition;     
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed     
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,     
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks     
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

This one is the chorus to the first act of Henry V
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend 
The brightest heaven of invention, 
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act 
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene! 
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, 
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels, 
Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire 
Crouch for employment. But pardon, and gentles all, 
The flat unraised spirits that have dared 
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth 
So great an object: can this cockpit hold 
The vasty fields of France? or may we cram 
Within this wooden O the very casques 
That did affright the air at Agincourt? 
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may 
Attest in little place a million; 
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt, 
On your imaginary forces work. 
Suppose within the girdle of these walls 
Are now confined two mighty monarchies, 
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts 
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder: 
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts; 
Into a thousand parts divide on man, 
And make imaginary puissance; 
Think when we talk of horses, that you see them 
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth; 
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings, 
Carry them here and there; jumping o'er times, 
Turning the accomplishment of many years 
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply, 
Admit me Chorus to this history; 
Who prologue-like your humble patience pray, 
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.

5) Finally, this dialogue from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame cracks me up. :)
 (Frollo trying to convince Gringoire to help rescue Esmeralda) "What then? Why, she will go into your clothes and you will remain in hers. You may get hanged, perhaps, but she will be saved."
Gringoire scratched his ear with a very serious air. "Well," said he, "There is an idea that would never have come into my head of itself."
(Frollo) "Well, Gringoire, What say you to the plan?"
"I say master that I shall not be hanged perhaps, but that I shall be hanged indubitably.


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Thursday, December 25, 2014

2014 Book Kaleidoscope- Day 1

Fanda from Fanda Classiclit is hosting the 2014 Book Kaleidoscope. This is a way of summing up the year of reading. :)
There are five days with different prompts for each. For this first day the prompt is Top Five boyfriends/girlfriends.
Well first off... awkward! Secondly... hmmm. I really don't have crushes from literature and I suppose I'm more an Elinor Dashwood in that I would say I "esteem them" and all of the Marianne Dashwoods throw their hands up in despair at such tame and unromantic language but there you are. :) So here are the men I "esteem" in no particular order.
Mr. Harding from Anthony Trollope's The Warden

  1. Arthur Clennam from Charles Dickens Little Dorrit- Always taking an active interest in other people. :)
  2. Mr. Harding from Anthony Trollope's The Warden- This man is so kind hearted and so considerate of others it really wrenches the heart sometimes. 
  3. John Harmon and Mr. Boffin from Charles Dickens Our Mutual Friend- You'd have to read the book to really get how great of characters they are. I can't really explain it without spoilers. :(
  4. John Thornton from Elizabeth Gakell's North and South- Proud but disciplined, he's a man of integrity and with a soft heart you don't expect. 
  5. All of the men from Jeff Shaara's God's and Generals- There's so many and I don't recall all of their names but I highly respected them all. I guess specifically Jackson and Lee. :)


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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

2014 Reading Year in Review

Lianne at Caffeinated Life hooked me up with this link up hosted by Perpetual Page Turner and I liked how it looked so I thought I'd give it a try too. :)

reading-stats-2014

Number Of Books You Read: 62
Number of Re-Reads: 13
Genre You Read The Most From: Classics

 best-YA-books-2014

1. Best Book You Read In 2014?

(If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)


2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?


 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014? 


  • I was pleasantly surprised by Kathryn Stockett's The Help

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?


  • I don't really push people to read books. However, my best friend did finally read Mansfield Park after years of my telling her too. She liked it. :)

 5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?


  • I didn't read any series in 2014 but I did RE-read the Harry Potter series which as always was great! :)

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?


7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?


  • Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow by Orson Card from the sci-fi genre... which I don't at all normally read. 

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?


 9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?


  • Well I don't normally re-read books just a year after I read them but if I were going to re-read one of them in 2015 it would be Christianity and Liberalism because I feel there is always more you could get out of this book

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?

The epicness of this cover I think speaks for itself. :)

11. Most memorable character of 2014?


 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?


13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2014?


 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read? 


  • A lot, really most of them but I guess I'll go with Anthony Trollope's The Warden, as I read it's sequel Barchester Towers years ago. 

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?

  • I'm not very good at keeping track of quotes but this one from Hugh Binning's book Christian Love is very good. 
“Self-love is the greatest enemy to true Christian love, and pride is the fountain of self-love” “He whose sins are covered by God’s free love cannot think it hard to spread the garment of his love over his brother’s sins” “Humility makes a man compare himself with the best that he may find how bad he himself is, but pride measures by the worst, that it may hide a man from his own imperfections”

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?


  • Longest- Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
  • Shortest- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)

  • Probably Pierre Boulle's Bridge on the River Kwai... the ending just.... shocked me!
  • Also Aldous Huxley's Brave New World shocked me because of the reality it presented. 

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)
  • I don't like the OTP/shipping thing but I suppose I can answer this with Amy Dorrit and Arthur Clenham from Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

  • Bean and Ender Wiggins from Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. 

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

  • Well my brother has been raving about Hugh Binning's Christian Love for the longest time and I finally caved and read it. Probably would never have read it or heard of it if it hadn't been for him. 

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?

  • All of these romantic questions! Umm... well I don't really have fictional crushes. I highly esteem men from literature like Mr. Knightley and Mr. Tilney but I don't have a crush on them. I guess though my new favorite "highly esteemed" male for this year would be Arthur Clenham from Little Dorrit

23. Best 2014 debut you read?


  • I had to remind myself that I had read two 2014 books this year.  I just don't normally read modern books. My favorite of the two would definitely be Wouldn't it be Deadly, which while not being great was not bad. :)

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?


  • Frank Herbert's Dune 

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?


  • Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors was quite hilarious... given the title I think we can assume it was supposed to be. ;)

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?


27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?


28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?


29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?


book-blogging


1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2014? 


  • I discovered a LOT of great ones! I don't even know where to start... so I won't. :( If I visit your blog fairly often know that I love it and if I took the time to make a list you would be on it. :)

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2014? 


  • I love how in depth I got with this review of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Normally I don't make that much of an effort but I just write a little about what I liked and didn't like then done. I suppose you could say that Hunchback made me think more. :)

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?


4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?


  • I love doing the Top Ten Tuesday memes and the It's Monday What are You Reading meme

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014?


  • Bookish- I'm very proud of the amount of Dickens I read this year and overall so far. Can't wait to get some more read next year! 
  • Blogging- I'm up to 36 followers on blogger and 40 followers on Bloglovin'! :) That may seem like a small number but it's a big leap for me. :)

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?


8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?


  • Ummm... awkward! I don't know.... all of them! ;) I suppose I like this post a lot and I feel like it expresses a lot of my sentiments. :)

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

  • I love Novel Challenges for finding reading challenges and I'm continually discovering the wonders of Goodreads every day. :) I'm also utilizing Amazon more for buying books... especially used books. 

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I completed ALL of them!!!!! See my accumulation page of the reading challenges I competed in this year HERE


looking-ahead-books-2015


1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015?


  • Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier- I really wanted to read that this year but it didn't get done. 

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2015 (non-debut)?


  • Barnaby Rudge, Gone with the Wind and Rebecca. 

3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?


  • I don't really read or keep track of new books much. 

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2015?

  • I like N.D. Wilson's Ashtown Burials series and I'm hoping the last book is coming out in 2015. I haven't read the one before that though so probably I should get around to that too. ;)

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2015?


  • Write a review of every book I read in 2015. Ambitious I know and I can't believe I'm considering it. 

6. A 2015 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:


  • Again, I don't read modern books much, so no... 
This was fun to fill out and I hope y'all enjoyed it too! 
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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind "Santa" Bringing This Year

Books are always, always, ALWAYS an acceptable gift for me.... yes that's a hint. ;) I'm really trying to bolster up my personal library right now as even though my parents have thousands of books I'm trying to get my own copies of all of my favorites.
  1. The Valley of Vision... I actually asked for this for Christmas so hopefully I will get it. I haven't read it yet but I'm looking forward to it. 
  2. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
  3. Any Dickens (except Barnaby Rudge, David Copperfield and Our Mutual Friend because I already have those). 
  4. Coronation of Glory: The Story of Lady Jane Grey by Deborah Meroff- One of my favorite books and one of my most re-read books. 
  5. Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara... I already have Killer Angels but I'd love to have it's prequel as well. They're both great. 
  6. Any Agatha Christie except the ones I have... which I can't recall the titles so just be psychic and don't get them for me. ;) 
  7. Any P.G. Wodehouse
  8. Mary Poppins or any in that series
  9. The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
  10. Any of the Harry Potter series except four and five as I already have copies of those. 
Linking up with Broke and Bookish 

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