Bout of Books 11.0: Day 7 Wrap-Up

We've made it, everyone! *throws party confetti* I'm so proud of everyone for all that they've accomplished this week...I meet some really great people through Bout of Books! :) It's time for my final update...someone pass me a Kleenex!

---Daily Update---

Pages Read Today: Today I read a grandslam of 305 pages.
Pages Read In Total: All right, drum roll please. During the entirety of Bout of Books 11.0 I have read 1,624 pages.

Books Finished Today: Today I started and finished Legend by Marie Lu.

What I'm Reading Next: Now that Bout of Books is done I am going to read Prodigy by Marie Lu and Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley. 

How Am I Feeling: I'm feeling good. Kind of sad, to be honest, but I am glad that I read so much during this read-a-thon. Thank you to everyone who supported me through this! 

---Gif Update---

LEGAND BY MARIE LU

This is basically how I feel whenever I read Dystopian books. A ruthless Republic with a well-trained army and the ability to give you the plague without a second glance? No thank you!

I simply love this book. It's a fun read that is fast paced and is never boring. Since this is my second time reading it, I already knew a lot of what was going to happen but I still enjoyed the book which is good. I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy! :)

Guys.
I finished all of my books on my TBR...how did that happen? I am giddy with the fact over how much I read. I am ticking off the days until January 5th for Bout of Books 12.0!

For the last time of this read-a-thon, happy reading! :)

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 6 Update

---Daily Update---

Pages Read Today: Today I only read 134 pages of The Good Girl.
Pages Read In Total: In total I have read 1,319 pages during Bout of Books 11.0
Books Finished Today: Today I finished The Good Girl! Woohoo!
What I'm Reading Now: Tomorrow I am going to start Legend by Marie Lu.
How Am I Feeling: I'm feeling kind of sad today, to be completely honest. The reason is didn't read much today is that two of my best friends are getting on a plane and going off to college tomorrow morning so I spent the majority of the day with them. Unlike other days, I don't feel bad for putting my reading on the backburner. Oh well, I finished a book so that's good! Goodbyes are hard(to good friends and good books).

---Gif Update---

THE GOOD GIRL BY MARY KUBICA

This is how I felt basically during the end of this book, nay, the ENTIRE book. This book is never boring and you are always learning new things. I actually think I might right a full review on this book...We'll see.

Goodness. This book ended exactly how I was hoping (no spoilers) but Mary Kubica really should have left the epilogue out. I just feel like there were enough twists that made the book interesting and that the las minute twist was unnecessary. I do want to reread this book further down the line and see if the book is any different with the "twist", but I am just disappointed right now with the copout ending. Some reviews I read said that people LOVED the ending...but I didn't. Without the epilogue, though, the ending was perfect.

Oh well, I still loved The Good Girl! :) We're almost to the finishline! Time to finish last minute reading! :)

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 6 Challenges

Once reading about this challenge I knew I couldn't pass it up…so much fun! :)

SPELL IT OUT CHALLENGE

I decided to spell out my name with books for this challenge! I actually had difficulty finding books that start with "L". Here, without further ado, is my name written in books!

C- Cress

A- Allegiant

L- Love Anthony

L- The Lovely Bones(my copy is worn so it's hard to see in the photo)

I- Insurgent

E- The Elite

And there you have it! I had so much fun participating in this challenge and can't wait to see everyone's photos…if you did this challenge leave your link below and I'll check it out! :)

Happy Reading! 

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 5 Update

---Basic Update---

Pages Read Today: Today I read 218 pages of The Good Girl.

Pages Read In Total: In total I have read 1,185 pages in total! Go me!

Books Finished Today: I didn't finish any books today but I'm getting close to finishing with The Good Girl.

What I'm Reading Now: I will be finishing off The Good Girl and then starting Legend.

How Am I Feeling: I'm feeling good! The Good Girl is fantastic so far! I am hooked. The feeling of reading a great book always puts me in a good mood.

---Gif Update---

THE GOOD GIRL BY MARY KUBICA

It's official. This book is addicting! I 110% recommend reading it. I can't believe this is Mary Kubica's debut novel! She's so talented! I honestly can't seem to put this book down.


This book has me on the edge of my seat. Throughout this entire book small pieces of the puzzle fall into place but I'm still engrossed in every detail. SO. GOOD.

Alright, time to go to sleep...hopefully I can get some quality book time tomorrow! Happy reading! :)

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 4 Update

---Basic Update---

Pages Read Today: Today I read the last 40 pages of The Eleventh Plague, 136 pages of The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, and 28 pages of The Good Girl!

Pages Read In Total: In total I have read 967 pages this week! Whoopie!

Books Finished Today: Today I finished Volume 1 of The Superior Foes of Spider-Man and The Eleventh Plague.

What I'm Reading Now: I am reading The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

How Am I Feeling: I'm honestly feeling fantastic. I just got home from friends' graduation bonfire and, although it took major time away from reading, I'm feeling great. Breaks with good friends are definitely needed during read-a-thons!

---Gif Update---

THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE BY JEFF HIRSCH

All I can say is that there is this badass battle scene that I was totally into. It was ACTION PACKED.

The ending, as I was expecting, was subpar. Luckily I wasn't expecting much so that's okay.

THE SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN: VOLUME 1 BY NICK SPENCER AND STEVE LIEBER

This comic is SO clever! I was actually giggling the entire time I read it. The humor in this comic made me not want to put it down.

THE GOOD GIRL BY MARY KUBICA

THIS BOOK IS SO SUSPENSEFUL! Goodness, I had a hard time putting this book down because I just want to know what happened. Ugh. Read this book.

I really want to get back to The Good Girl but, for now, I have to sleep. Happy reading everyone! 

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 4 Challenges

I have been having so much fun looking at everyone's book reccomendations today! I love finding new books. :)

LIKE THIS, TRY THIS CHALLENGE


If you liked the cute, squeel-worthy movie She's The Man then you will love Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman! This book is your typical boarding school novel! Natalie, our MC, is the romance columnist in her high schools newspaper. The boys at her school won't seem to give her any straight forward answers about love. Taking matters into her own hands, Natalie decided to dress up as a boy and enroll in a private, all-boys boarding school. Of course, like most cutesy books, Natalie falls in love with her roommate. I know my favorite part of She's The Man was when Viola almost gets caught...and trust me, Babe in Boyland has plenty of close-call moments.

Great, now I want to go watch She's The Man.

Oh well! Time to get back to reading! :)

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 3 Update

---Basic Update---

Pages Read Today: I read 240 pages of The Eleventh Plague today.

Pages Read In Total: In total I have read 755 pages during Bout of Books 11.0 so far.

Books Finished Today: I didn't finish any books today but I am close to finishing The Eleventh Plague!

What I'm Reading Now: I'm finishing the last few chapters of The Eleventh Plague.

How Am I Feeling: Really good! I was pretty busy today so I didn't have much time for reading but I binge read for a couple hours and made a huge dent in my book! Yippe! Plus I got a great nights sleep last night so I feel really well rested.

---Gif Update---

THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE BY JEFF HIRSCH

I'm going to have to fess up to this...Any book about the post apocalyptic world/zombies is a guilty pleasure for me. No matter how poor the writing is I will LOVE any book that has to do with these topics. Its awful but I can't seem to lull my obsession. Oops.

So yes, I am bias to say that this book is really enjoyable! Each time something happens in this book I wriggle around in my seat and clap my hands like a child. I LOVE POST APOCALYPTIC BOOKS GUYS.

Until tomorrow, HAPPY READING EVERYONE :)

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 3 Challenges

This challenge was TOUGH for me.

I had to ask my brother if I could look through his bookshelf because I couldn't make a coherent sentence for the life of me.



CREATE A SENTENCE CHALLENGE

Books I used and their first two words:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green- Late in
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines- I was
Acacia by David Anthony Durham- the assassin
Burn For Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian- The morning
The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester- Piper decided

My sentence:

Late in the morning Piper decided I was the assassin.

That was rough. As stated earlier, I tried my best.  

I need to get back to reading because I am WAY behind today...oops!

As always, happy reading :)

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 2 Update

---Basic Update---

Pages Read Today: Surprisingly, I read 235 pages of The Atlas of Love. I was busy all day so I'm surprised I read that much!

Pages Read In Total: So far, I have read 515 pages during Bout of Books!

Books Finished Today: I finished The Atlas of Love today

What I'm Reading Now: In the morning I am going to start The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

How Am I Feeling: I'm feeling okay. I'm still super pumped about this read-a-thon but I really could go for a loooong nap(a sleep-a-thon?).

---Gif Update---

THE ATLAS OF LOVE BY LAURIE FRANKEL

This book, as I said yesterday, is mega cute! The last, I'd say, 3rd of the book was absolutely CRAZY! I of course loved it. It was dramatic and I didn't see it coming! I'm glad I read this one despite some people hating it. :)

Yay! I'm so glad I get to start a new book tomorrow...I think that's what I love about Bout of Books so much...You get the exciting feeling of a new book EVERYDAY!

Until tomorrow, happy reading! :)

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 2 Challenges

I survived day one! And if you're reading this, you did too! HOW GREAT IS THAT? :)

All excitement aside, I did both challenges again! Yay for reading challenges!

ONE TRUE PAIRING CHALLENGE

When I saw this challenge I didn't have a doubt in my mind which couple I would pick.

***kind of spoilers but not really just read the dang book its so good***

Cath and Levi from Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl are my ultimate OTP. Everything from Cath reading to Levi (DREAM DATE…cute boys + reading = yes please) to Levi simply bringing her coffee melted my heat.

The lack of sweet, kind love interest in books is pretty sad. It seems like most people think that a love interest has to be overly-sexual and rude to be a suitable candidate for a romance. Don't get me wrong, I love myself a bad boy. But I have to say that Levi being sweet to Cath is refreshing in contemporary novels.

And can we just talk about how freaking cute he is! He's tall, quirky, goofy, and smiley. He's honestly the perfect guy for Cath. I would TOTALLY read a fluffy book about Cath and Levi being married. Sign me up!

And Levi is a very under appreciated flirt throughout the entire book! I LOVE IT!

He's so swoon worthy and I just about starting squealing when they were kissing in Levi's room. Cath and Levi's flirty banter is adorable and simply writing this makes me want to go reread Fangirl.

“She smiled, and her eyes started to drift downward. 
"Cather..." Back up to his eyes."You know that I'm falling in love with you, right?”

sa-woooon! 

BOOK SPINE POETRY CHALLENGE

I'm going to be honest, this challenge took me forever to do. I just couldn't seem to make sense, let alone make poetry. After the third try, I finally figured out something that made sense. Woohoo!

Perfect

Someone Like You

is

Anything but Typical

I am

Not That Kind of Girl

Are you

The One?

Are we

Meant to Be?

Its

Something Like Fate

Perfect

Eh? 8 books = 8 free words

Well, I tried my hardest. Also, why in the heck do I own two books named Perfect? 

Happy reading, everyone! :)

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 1 Update

---Basic update---

Pages Read Today: Today I read 179 pages of The Giver and 101 pages of The Atlas of Love

Pages Read In Total: I have read 280 pages in total!

Books Finished Today: I finished The Giver

What I'm Reading Now: I am reading The Atlas of Love

How am I feeling: I am super pumped but have a headache...I'm hoping a full night's rest will cure this!

---Gif Update---

THE GIVER BY LOIS LOWRY:

...in other words, I questioned humanity and refell in love with Lois Lowry's writing

THE ATLAS OF LOVE BY LAURIE FRANKEL:

friendship + babies = ULTRA CUTENESS

As I said above, I will attempt to get a good night's sleep and wake up tomorrow prepared for more epicness!

Until next time, HAPPY READING! :)

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 1 Challenges

IT'S FINALLY HERE! :)

As you can tell, I'm pretty pumped.

Alright, all flailing and squealing aside I am having a fantastic experience so far. Everyone is so nice and accepting. I love the reading community! :)

BOOK SCAVENGER HUNT CHALLENGE

I did this challenge over at my Instagram (follow me @ifoundcallie)

Although I recommend checking out my instagram, these are the books! 

BOOK PLAYLIST CHALLENGE

The book I chose to make my playlist off of is The Giver by Lois Lowry

1. Happy Little Pill - Troye Sivan

2. Don't Stop (Color On The Walls) - Foster The People

3. The Freedom Song - Jason Mraz

4. Come Together - Echosmith

5. Ordinary Human - OneRepublic

6. Runaway - Linkin Park

7. Ants Marching - Dave Matthews Band

8. Blinding - Florence + The Machine

9. I Will Not Bow - Breaking Benjamin

I have specific reasons for picking these songs so if anyone would like to know one, just ask! (I would type them all up but this girl needs to get back to reading!) 

Good luck reading, everyone! 

READ-iculous Book Haul

Oh boy. I knew this would happen.

I have a problem. Okay, so I found out about Book Outlet for the first time a week ago and, well, books + sales = dangerous. I am a huge bargain shopper and this website was just addictive. Not only that, but my mom wanted to go to Half-Price Books with me and I couldn't say no.

So, without further ado, here is a humongous book haul.

That's right…11 books. Yikes.

Okay, that may not seem like a lot but I swore off buying books a month ago…as you can see, that's not going so well.

Ahhh…Stephen King. I've always had a soft spot for any book with his name on the spine. I love Stephen King's writing and am glad I finally picked up The Dead Zone. I got this book from Half-Price Books and can't wait to start reading. :)

I've heard fantastic things about Ellen Hopkins and have always been cautious to pick up one of her books. But, like the impulse buyer I am, I finally caved and bought this bad boy at Half-Price Books. I know Ellen Hopkins is coming out with a new book soon so I thought I better start reading! Yay for clearance books!

YES! I recently finished the first Miss Peregrine book and fell in love. When I saw this for 20% off I knew that I needed to snag it. I plan on doing a review of the two books once I finish this one. I love the concept to the pictures and books colliding…Ransom Riggs is a great author!

This is the last book I got from Half-Price Books and, let me tell you, I am VERY excited. I have heard people raving about this series and was just about to pick this up from my local Barnes and Noble when I saw this for pretty dang cheap(for a hardcover, none the less!). I can't wait to make my own opinions of this series! Yay!

I've heard very mixed opinions on this book. Because of this, I never wanted to spend the money to find out if I liked it. On Book Outlet it was for under $2.00…WHAT A STEAL! I am so excited to finally read this book and see if I like it.

The Joys of Love! I haven't heard much about this book but knew I had to get it once I saw it on Book Outlet. Madeleine L'Engle is the author of A Wrinkle In Time. I absolutely loved that book when I was younger so I hope to love her writing in this. Apparently she wrote this really early in her career as a writer but it was only published recently. Also, its about theatre so I know I'll love it.

This is another book that I heard somewhat mixed reviews on and wanted to make my own opinions on. I love the spine of this book and the premise seems interesting. I will definitely be doing a review on this once I finish it.

I am a huge contemperaty fan and this book just seemed like the perfect cutesy book. Not only is the cover gorgeous, but the storyline seems like the type that will leave me squealing and swooning. I'm such a sucker for cute books.

Okay, I should explain this book. I read this online YEARS ago. I remember waiting every week for chapters to be updated and remember commenting on every post giving encouragement. A month or two ago I was walking through my local Barnes and Noble when I saw this. I stopped in my tracks and instantly flipped through to see if this was the book I had so fondly read years before. IT WAS! Since I had technically already read it, I didn't get it. Once I saw it on Book Outlet, I knew I had to get this. What a small world!

This is another book that I have heard so many people talking about. So many people love these books and I really wanted my own copy. Plus, LOOK AT THAT COVER! It's gorgeous! I will read this book and it's sequel and post a review on here!

Last but not least, Cinder! I saw this book all over the place and was nervous to read it. I hated all of the movie renditions of fairy tales (oops) and was nervous that this would be another bad twist on classic fairy tales. But, from what I've heard and what I've read, this is far from what I thought it was. Cyborgs? Sign me up!

Alright, I'll leave you with this pun that was on the box of the Book Outlet box that had me in stitches. I'm STILL laughing.

READ-iculously? GET IT? :)

TBR for Bout of Books 11.0

Hello all! As I posted about earlier, I am participating in Bout of Books 11.0. If you want to read more about this awesome read-a-thon, please check out their website: http://boutofbooks.blogspot.com/

Time Devoted To Reading:

If I'm going to be completely frank, I'm not sure how much I'll be reading during this week. I hope to be reading 24/7, but that's not realistic. I will for sure be trying my hardest to read as much as I can!

My Goals:

My goals for this read-a-thon were mainly picked for random reasons. Whether it be I planned on reading it next anyways or that I just wanted to check it off my reading list, I knew that these books all would be great reads for a read-a-thon.

Woohoo! Here are my goals for Bout of Books 11.0. I might end up reading other books than these but these are what have decided for now. As you can see, I plan on reading 6 books for this read-a-thon.

The first book I plan on reading for Bout of Books is The Giver by Lois Lowry. This book is 179 pages and is one of my favorite books of all time. I have read this book about four years ago but I don't remember it very well…I just remember reading it in one sitting and loving every second of it. I was already planning on rereading this book before seeing the movie adaptation so this is the perfect opportunity to do so!

The next book I will be reading for Bout of Books is The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch. I picked this up at my local Half-Price Books a while back and have been eyeing it ever since. Because this book always seems to be pushed aside when I choose my next read, I decided that I would finally pick it up for this read-a-thon. This book is 278 pages and is about my obvious obsession: zombies. 

The third book I will be reading is The Atlas of Love by Laurie Frankel. I recently saw this book at the Barnes and Nobles' clearance rack and knew I had to get it. This is a cute, fluffy read that I know I will breeze through quickly! This book is 321 pages of pure happiness(with that cutie on the cover how could it not?).

Ahhhh, finally we've gotten to Legand by Marie Lu. I read this book when it first came out and remember liking it. My brother bought me the sequel this Christmas and I can't read the second (or third, for that matter) until I reread this…I remember vague details of this but really just need to buckle down and get through it. This beautifully written book is 305 pages and I can't wait to refall in love with Marie Lu's writing…I mean, come on! The different point of views are in different colors. How cool is that?

The next book I will be powering through for this read-a-thon is The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. I got this book from Barnes and Noble this week because the author is doing a signing right after Bout of Books is over. This is my MUST READ for this week because I need to finish it before I go to the signing. This thriller is 350 page. I can already tell that once I pick this up I won't be able to put it down. 

Last, but not least, is The Superior Foes of Spider-Man (Issue 1) by Nick Spencer. I am a huge comic book fan and was told that this one was a must read. My brother gave me his copy to read and I have been waiting to dive right into this. The artist, Spencer Lieber, did a fantastic job in this comic and I am in awe of each page. Not only is this comic beautiful, but I've heard that it's hilarious. 

As you can tell, I am very excited for this read-a-thon and can't wait to start reading. :)