Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Wrap-Up

My Thoughts on the Read-A-Thon
I had such a great time with this read-a-thon! It happened to take place at the perfect time for me when I was finally ahead of my review schedule so I was able to read my non-review books that have been sitting on my shelves for months! I had some fantastic reading days, some average, and some not so great but I still got tons of books read and participated in all the challenges! I read so many great books and all but two of them got 4 or 5 star ratings! And in addition to the books I finished I also made some progress on my daily devo book and Les Miserables. All in all it was a hugely successful read-a-thon!

Total Books Finished: 15

Total Pages Read: 5,217

The Books

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 13 Update

Books I Read Today:
The Death Cure by James Dashner (244 pages)
The Cubicle Next Door by Siri L. Mitchell (226 pages)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (179 pages)
Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings (33 pages)
What Your Heart Needs for the Hard Days by Holley Gerth (64 pages)

Books I Finished Today: 
The Death Cure by James Dashner
The Cubicle Next Door by Siri L. Mitchell
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings

Pages Read Today: 746

My Thoughts on Today
I had my second best day of this read-a-thon today! I wasn't sure how much time I'd have since a chunk of my day was taken up by helping to reseed part of our field for my sister's wedding and making broccoli cheese soup for dinner. But I managed to find a lot of free time and got tons of reading in!

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 12 Update & Day 13 Challenge

Books I Read Today:
The Cubicle Next Door by Siri L. Mitchell (114 pages)
Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings (100 pages)
The Death Cure by James Dashner (80 pages)

Books I Finished Today: 0

Pages Read Today: 294

Total Books Finished: 11

Total Pages Read: 4,471

My Thoughts on Today
Another day that didn't go as planned reading wise! I was hoping to try to make up for yesterday but it was not to be. I watched my almost two month old niece all morning and managed to read a little while she took cat naps. Then I switched to watching my four-year-old niece. Add to that a nap (due to lack of sleep), chores, and watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier (I couldn't resist even though I'd already seen it!) with my fam and it made for a smaller reading day. I am hoping to finish these three books before the read-a-thon is over though!

Dream Character Challenge
Hosted by: Wishful Endings

Instructions:
1. Pick your favorite character from a book.
2. List the name, the book he/she is from, and why that was your choice.
3. Pick a celebrity or picture of who you would dream cast for that character.
4. Post or link that picture (or leave the name of the celebrity) with the character's info.

For this challenge I decided to pick Margaretha from The Princess Spy which was the first book I read for this read-a-thon! Part of the reason I chose her was the fact that I am rather horrible at casting characters (my mind just doesn't work that way) and the model on the front looks a lot like an actress on a show I watch so it was a bit of a no brainer! I've only seen this actress in this one show but she does really well and I think she could play Margaretha brilliantly. Margaretha has a bit of a naivete about her but she can be tough when the situation calls for it and so I think Brina Palencia would be the perfect actress to play her!

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 11 Update

Books I Read Today:
Circle of Spies by Roseanna M. White (87 pages)
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (25 pages)
Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings (20 pages)

Books I Finished Today: 
Circle of Spies by Roseanna M. White

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner 

Pages Read Today: 132

Total Books Finished: 11

Total Pages Read: 4,177

My Thoughts on Today
Well I had big reading plans today since I was going to have a chunk of the day with nothing to do but that ended up not being the case! Not that I was too sad since I had a fantastic day! It started with my sister-in-law and two nieces coming over as well as one of my sisters. They were all gone by 2:30 and then a little after three my best friend's mom and sis (who are like another mom and sis to me) stopped in and I ended up going with them to a pumpkin patch and then dinner. From there we went to the gym where my bestie works and I hung out with her for several hours. She drove me home and we hung out even more! So needless to say I had basically no reading time but I wouldn't trade my day for anything!

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 10 Update & Day 11 Challenge

Books I Read Today:
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (335 pages)
Circle of Spies by Roseanna M. White (274 pages)
Breathing Room by Leeana Tankersley (69 pages)
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (49 pages)
Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings (41 pages)

Books I Finished Today: 
Breathing Room by Leeana Tankersley

Pages Read Today: 768

Total Books Finished: 9

Total Pages Read: 4,045

My Thoughts on Today
Today was fantastic! I was hoping to also finish The Scorch Trials and Circle of Spies but I got distracted by some things and wasn't able to manage it. I'm not too sad though since I still had my best day ever!

Color Challenge
Hosted by: Wishful Endings

Instructions:
1. Pick a color.
2. Find five books with covers almost completely in that color (they need to be at least 2/3 that color).
3. List the books or paste the pictures of the books online in a post on your blog or on another site.

I chose Orange because it is my favorite color!

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 9 Update & Day 10 Challenge

Books I Read Today:
Reached by Ally Condie (255 pages)
Strong and Stubborn by Kelly Eileen Hake (157 pages)
Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings (27 pages)
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (48 pages)
Breathing Room by Leeana Tankersley (68 pages)

Books I Finished Today: 
Reached by Ally Condie
Strong and Stubborn by Kelly Eileen Hake

Pages Read Today: 555

Total Books Finished: 8

Total Pages Read: 3,277

My Thoughts on Today
Today was pretty great! I've been mixing up my reading to keep me on my toes as well as get more books finished! I have a fun little system going that is working pretty well! I separate my two fiction reads into four sections and alternate between them whenever I finish one of the sections and every couple chapters I read a chapter of Les Mis and my devo book. And whenever I don't have one of my books with me I pull up my kindle read on my phone! So yeah it's a bit crazy but it works for me!

Greatest Surprise Challenge
Hosted by: Katherine Reay

 "Tell me the greatest surprise/find/delight from your TBR reading. The goal here to share the bookish- love and grow those TBR piles right back up again.

For this challenge my greatest surprise was how much I loved The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen! It shouldn't have been a surprise since I always enjoy her books but for some reason this one never really appealed to me. But I finally decided to just read it and I was so happy to discover it was amazing!

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 8 Update

Books I Read Today:
Reached by Ally Condie (129 pages)
Strong and Stubborn by Kelly Eileen Hake (90 pages)
Breathing Room by Leanna Tankersley (65 pages)
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (55 pages)
Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings (18 pages) 

Books I Finished Today: None

Pages Read Today: 367

Total Books Finished: 6

Total Pages Read: 2,722

My Thoughts on Today
I had a rather eclectic reading day! I was trying to catch up a bit on my daily reading of Les Mis and also get a chunk of my devo book done. Add to that my two paperback and one kindle fiction reads and it made for a rather diverse day! I didn't get as much in as I was hoping to but it was still a pretty good amount so I'll take it!

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 7 Update

Books I Read Today:
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George (203 pages)
Tall, Dark, and Determined by Kelly Eileen Hake (240 pages)
Reached by Ally Condie (128 pages)
Strong and Stubborn by Kelly Eileen Hake (64 pages)

Books I Finished Today: 
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

Tall, Dark, and Determined by Kelly Eileen Hake

Pages Read Today: 635

Total Books Finished: 6

Total Pages Read: 2,355

My Thoughts on Today
Best day yet! I actually thought today would be a slow day since I had church in the morning, a church pig roast in the afternoon, and a visit with my brother and his family in the evening. But despite all that I managed to get a lot of reading in! I hope the rest of this week continues like this!

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 6 Update & Mid-Point Check-In

Books I Read Today:
Crossed by Ally Condie (112 pages)
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George (69 pages)
Tall, Dark, and Determined by Kelly Eileen Hake (79 pages)
Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings (56 pages)

Books I Finished Today: 
Crossed by Ally Condie

Pages Read Today: 316

Total Books Finished: 4

Total Pages Read: 1,720

My Thoughts on Today
I got way less reading done than I was hoping too! I made biscuits while watching Oklahoma! with my sisters, did some yard work for my dad, had my brother and his family over for dinner, and watched my niece for a few hours. All that combined resulted in reduced reading time, sadly!

Mid-Point Check-In

I am not where I wanted to be at this mid-point but I still have got in a bit of reading! I've finished four books and I'm working on three others. I was hoping to have finished at least 6 books by now since that would be half of my total goal but that just means I'll have to read a bit more this next week!

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 5 Update & Day 6 Challenge

Books I Read Today:
Be Still My Soul by Joanne Bischof (255 pages)
Crossed by Ally Condie (127 pages)
Caught in the Middle by Regina Jennings (51 pages)

Books I Finished Today: 
Be Still My Soul by Joanne Bischof

Pages Read Today: 433

Total Books Finished: 3

Total Pages Read: 1,404

My Thoughts on Today
I was surprised by how much I was able to read today! I had a few things going on including a babysitting job so I thought I would have a smaller reading day but I ended up getting to read for a couple hours after the little girl I was watching went to bed!

 Book Cover Opposites Challenge
Hosted by: Wishful Endings

Instructions:
1. Find two books whose covers or titles are opposites.
2. List or make an image of the books and post somewhere

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 4 Update & Day 5 Challenge

Books I Read Today:
The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen (39 pages)
Crossed by Ally Condie (128 pages)
Be Still My Soul by Joanne Bischof (83 pages)
Breathing Room by Leeana Tankersly (28 pages)

Books I Finished Today:
The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen 

Pages Read Today: 278

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 971

My Thoughts on Today
I got a decent chunk of reading in but not quite what I was hoping to accomplish. I accidentally slept in super late, had chores to do, and spent a bunch of time with my sister. So while it wasn't the best reading day it was still a pretty great day!

Regency Quiz Challenge
Hosted by: Donna Hatch

Question #1: Where would a Regency lady wear a pelisse?

A. to a garden party
B. to bed
C. to go outside walking or shopping
D. to the queen's drawing room.

Question #2: Why would a Regency ballroom have chalk?

A. to teach dance steps by drawing the pattern on the floor.
B. to decorate the dance floor and/or hide any flaws in the wood.
C. for dancers to wipe on the bottoms of their shoes.
D. B and C

Question #3: What is a banyon?

A. a men's dressing robe for casual, stay-at-home days.
B. an ornamental tree.
C. another word for a corset or stays.
D. a holiday dessert

Tackle Your TBR Read-a-Thon: Day 3 Update & Day 4 Challenge

Books I Read Today:
The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson (200 pages)
The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen (291 pages)

Books I Finished Today: 
The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

Pages Read Today: 491

Total Books Finished: 1

Total Pages Read: 693

My Thoughts on Today
I had a pretty good reading day! Not exactly what I was shooting for but a good chunk nonetheless!

Five Favorite Challenge
Hosted by: Melissa Wright

"I know it's nearly impossible to list only *one* favorite book, so the challenge for bonus entries is a list of your FIVE favorites.
*The first entry is free.*
For additional entries (chose one):
For one extra entry: List your five favorite titles in the comment section below.
For two extra entries: Share a photo or digital cover mash-up of your five favorites via link in the comment section below."

This is next to impossible but these are some of the my favorites in my favorite series or by my favorite authors

Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren (I couldn't decide on a fav RoT book so I just picked the first one)
A Heart Revealed by Julie Lessman
Here to Stay by Melissa Tagg
Sean Donovan by Lori Wick
Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 2 Update & Day 3 Challenge

Books I Read Today:
The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen(110 pages)
The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson (92 pages)

Books I Finished Today: 0

Pages Read Today: 202

Total Books Finished: 0

Total Pages Read: 202

My Thoughts on Today
Better than yesterday but still not as much as I would have hoped! Both books are pretty good so far!

 Life's a Beach Challenge
Hosted by: Laurie Larson

Post a picture of your favorite beach, along with the name of the beach and location. 

I don't do much vacationing and as a result haven't been to too many beaches. When I was younger I spent a couple hours in the Gulf of Mexico and a few years ago while on a mission trip I was briefly at a beach in Mexico. But the beach closest to us and therefore the one I have visited most is Presque Isle in Erie, PA. Here's a picture I took on one of our trips there!

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon: Day 1 Update & Day 2 Challenge

Books I Read Today: 0

Books I Finished Today: 0

Pages Read Today: 0

Total Books Finished: 0

Total Pages Read: 0

My Thoughts on Today
Sadly I had absolutely no time to read today! I woke up early after getting very little sleep, went to work, stopped somewhere, got dinner, babysat for a few hours, came home and fell asleep!

Random Page Challenge
Hosted by: My Love For Reading Keeps Growing

Pick a random page of the book you are currently reading and share it with us, without giving anything away about the book :).

Book: The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson
Page: 76

He looked away, not meeting her eyes, "Oh, it means...someone who wouldn't make a good spy."
"You have a word in your language that means 'a person who wouldn't make a good spy'?"
He frowned again, but his look was pensive.

Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon Sign-Up & Goals

Sign-Up Here

When I saw my blogging friend Melanie's (Christian Bookshelf Reviews) sign-up post for this read-a-thon I knew I had to join in! I am really behind on my reading for this year and this is the perfect chance to knockout some books before life gets crazy! Since it's almost two weeks long I'm hoping to get at least 12 books done! They may or may not be some of the ones pictured below!