{September Wrap-Up}

Books Read

  

// The Total Money Makeover // The Son of Neptune // Twilight //

I'm really grateful to have finally read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. I would recommend this book to everyone! Right now I'm currently on Baby Step 2, and using the debt snowball to pay off my student loans (so far I've paid off 3 out of 5 loans, plus my car!). You have no idea how much these student loans have been plaguing me - I would not wish these worries on anyone!

I also finally finished reading book two of The Heroes of Olympus (which was so much better than book one because it had Percy!!!). And yes, I re-read Twilight, and ended up knocking my rating down from five to three stars. This is like my 4th time or so reading the series, and for some reason this time around I just could not get that into it. I think that before when I read it, I was too busy swooning over Edward (like everybody else) to realize how completely devoid of substance their relationship is. "You are my life now" - GAHHH!!! You barely even know her! [Though if I re-read this once more in a few years, and when I'm in a happier mood, maybe I'll love it again...who knows.]

Movies Seen

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was definitely not as good as the 1990's film. I mean, it was okay, but there really wasn't as much plot substance as their was action. I probably wouldn't really care to see this one again. I did, however, enjoy watching The Mist more than I thought I would. This was the first film I saw to kick of R.I.P. X, and I enjoyed the mystery and twists. I also saw Altar for the challenge, which was an "okay" British gothic horror film that didn't really stand out much from the genre.

Songs I Had On Repeat

Galantis - Peanut Butter Jelly

Highly Suspect - Lydia

Imagine Dragons - Roots

MAGIC! - No Way No

Nicky Jam - El Perdón (ft. Enrique Iglesias)

Nothing More - Jenny

X Ambassadors - Renegades

Recommended Reads

17 Things You Should Do To Every Blog Post Before & After You Hit "Publish"

Why We Need To Build More Diverse Worlds In Fiction

What's In My Bag: What Refugees Bring When They Run For Their Lives

5 Steps To Prepare For A Trip Like A Librarian

Thoughts On September

This month was insane. I think I'm already looking forward to next year - it couldn't come fast enough, haha! Fall is normally my favorite season, but it's pretty hard to feel like fall when it's hot as hell and sunny outside. Is it just me, or does summer just keep ending later and later each year? Darn global warming! Where's the sweater weather?!

Seriously, though, I've been pretty stressed out this month. I know I should be grateful that I'm making some headway on my student loan debt, but I just discovered that our broker hasn't paid any money towards the bank for the original owners' home loan in over a year! We pay our mortgage every month and never miss a payment, and to find out that our house was heading slowly towards foreclosure is pretty devastating. If it's not one thing, it's another! Now I'm trying to learn all I can about this home buying process, because I've pretty much been in the dark about it (I live with my mom & sister, so this is actually my mom's house I'm talking about). Sometimes, people can really suck!

At any rate, I haven't read much this month, but I did make a lot of progress on The Sixth Extinction, which I'm pretty proud of since it's a rather slow read due to the writing style of the author. I also saw some pretty great television premieres, and am recommending the following shows: Scream Queens, The Muppets, & Grandfathered.

Thank goodness October is upon us - I love the Halloween season! Please let me know of any Halloween reading challenges or blogger events that are out there - I'd like to participate in as many as possible!

{August Wrap-Up}

Books Read

// The Battle of the Labyrinth // The Demigod Files // The Last Olympian // 

// Gotham Academy, Vol. 1 // The Lost Hero //

I'm really on a Percy Jackson kick right now, so I can tell you now that you probably won't see me reading much else until I've finished The Heroes of Olympus series.

Movies Seen

Trainwreck was an okay movie, but I don't think I'd really care to watch it again. I saw this one with my sister. I'm glad to have finally seen Rise of the Guardians, though - I kept seeing fanart all over Tumblr that shipped Elsa (from Frozen) and Jack Frost, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. I loved it!

Songs I Had On Repeat

Vocabulary Learned

Praetor - each of two ancient Roman magistrates ranking below consul
(from The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan)

Recommended Reads

How To Start A Successful Book Club

If Chris Pratt Were Your Boyfriend

20 Surprising Things About Parenting In Cuba

Thoughts On August

Wow, I was on such a long hiatus that I completely forgot how much fun blogging was! I truly do love putting together posts, participating in tags, and coming up with content - I just allowed myself to get too overwhelmed with life and work to really get to enjoy myself anymore. Sadly, this is something that I've been seeing a lot of in the book blogosphere - it seems that almost every couple of weeks I see a new post on my feed in which a blogger either apologies for a hiatus, announces that they're taking a break from their blog, or writes about how they are stopping their blog completely. I really don't want that to be me, so I'm working hard to come up with a turnaround plan, including having an internal debate on whether or not to make the switch to WordPress (though Blogger is working for me well enough right now, so we'll see).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't see why I should give up on something that I truly enjoy. This month has been really interesting for me, and I've been able to reduce some stress by finally paying off my car, as well as three of my smaller student loans (I had five total), so I'm hoping that with the extra breathing room, I can allow myself some more enjoyment (money has always been my biggest stressor).

{October Wrap-Up}

Books Read

 

Movies Seen

    

  

Songs I Had On Repeat

Most Viewed Posts

My Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit & Crew

Semi-Charmed Winter 2014 Book Challenge

Top 10 New Series I Want To Start

Thoughts On October

I really didn't read much this month - especially compared to the previous month. I mean, c'mon - TWO books?!  If it counts, I've been reading Stephen King's It, which is super good but super long. Also, because it was the Halloween season, I spent my excess free time watching Halloween specials and movies, as well as playing creepy hidden object games on Steam for the spooky atmosphere (they're quite addicting). Besides, I read enough books in September to tide me over for a little, lol.

At any rate, I hope to jump back into reading with Megan's Semi-Charmed Winter 2014 Reading Challenge. I already have some books in mind, I just hope I don't allow television to continue being a distraction. All Halloween night, I watched Treehouse of Horror episodes, waiting for the non-existant trick-or-treaters to show up.

That's right - I bought a giant back of chocolate, and NO ONE showed up. In fact, no one went down our street, and I didn't see any trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood at all when I left give my mom a ride to work. Do kids just not do that anymore? If this were the 90's, my neighborhood would have been swarming with children. This is incredibly sad...

{September Wrap-Up}

Books Read

Movies Seen

 

Songs I Had On Repeat

Vocabulary Learned

niggle -  to cause slight but persistent annoyance, discomfort, or anxiety

(from Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout)

chassis - the base frame of a motor vehicle or other wheeled conveyance
(from The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan)

Most Viewed Posts

Top 10 Authors I've Only Read One Book From, But NEED To Read More Of!

Where I've Read

Countdown Survey

Thoughts On September

Wow - I sure read a lot of books this month. In fact, I've just completed my goal of reading 52 books for the year! This is pretty awesome, considering I was in a big reading slump once summer started, and had been about 13 books or so behind in my reading goals. I feel like I cheated a bit, since the only reason I read so many books was because I had started the Lux and the Bloodlines series, both of which are impossible to stop once they've been started.

But one thing I'm disappointed about is that I'm still really behind on my reviews. I haven't written a book review in ages, and I'm actually in the process of tweaking how I write them. Normally, I just read a book and write the review afterwards, but I think that now I am either going to have to keep a notebook to write down my thoughts while I'm reading, or start using my voice recorder to record my thoughts vocally. I tend to have stronger thoughts while I'm actually reading the book then I do once I am finished with it, and I don't want to leave anything out in my reviews. If you have any tips, I'll be glad to hear them!

Also, OCTOBER STARTS TOMORROW!!! Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I will be on the lookout for any Halloween-related blog events I can find. If you know of any, please let me know - I'd love to check them out!