Social Distancing Readathon

In my links (Places to Find Me) you'll notice one called My Book Pledge.
MyBookPledge.com is a site where you can track your reading - based on the premise that you are pledging to read a certain number of books per year. I always pledge the standard 50, no matter how many books I plan to read on Goodreads because the site used to be called the 50 Book Pledge.

Anyway, TheSavvyReader.com is the site where this Book Pledge originated. I believe it's the Social Media interactive for Harper Collins publishing. Savvy Reader is hosting a week-long Social Distancing Readathon this upcoming week from May 4th to May 10th.

It doesn't require any serious commitment.  Read what you can - because reading is stress relieving, depending of course, on what you're reading.  But you do have to sign up, and there are prizes to be won. And if you're already signed up on mybookpledge.com you get a badge for participating in the readathon. And really, who can't be motivated by an internet badge?

Anyway, visit the Social Distancing Readathon and check out the FAQ and maybe decide to read a little bit next week.

I Read: P.S. I Still Love You

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
(Second in the To All The Boys trilogy)

I read this one in just over 12 hours, with the regular real-life distractions. It was a Sunday, during a pandemic so there weren't a lot of those, but I did take some time to watch television and cook some meals in there. And I think I cleaned a little.

Anyway, this one is super short because there's still Book 3 to read in the series and I want to do that.  I still like the characters, and I still get invested enough to tell them off when I can see what they're doing, but they can't. These are great, fun reads. If you don't mind living in the world of a teenager for a little while. (And considering their teenage lives are much more interesting than mine ever was, I'm okay with it.)

Four stars.  On to finish Book 3.

#28-2020

I Write: Assignment - Childhood Memory

Assignment in Creativity for Writers: Write a 250 word description of your most vivid and earliest memory.

We were getting ready to go somewhere, my dad, my mom, and I. It was late afternoon or early evening and it was summer. My mother was in the shower; the bathroom was around the corner from my bedroom and I could hear the water running. I was in my bedroom, trying to be independent. My dresser was several drawers tall, four or maybe five. For some reason, my socks were kept in the top drawer. The top drawer was above my head, as I was then, and still am, fairly short.

I read: To All The Boys I've Loved Before

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

(First in the To All the Boys trilogy)

I picked up this series as I started hearing about how much people loved the movie on Netflix. By the time I've started reading them, all three books have been turned into Netflix films with the first two released. 

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I picked them up. Fluffy from com, I imagine. And from that standpoint, it really delivered. I finished it in under 24 hours, if that gives you any indication of how interested in finishing it I was.

I read: Chosen Ones

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

I'll be totally honest - I pre-ordered this book based solely on the fact that Veronica Roth wrote the Divergent and Carve the Mark series'.  I also fully admit that I was not a fan of her characterization in Divergent. I completely hate the way Tris is written. She's whiny and annoying. But I enjoyed the story, even with holes, and I did get very attached to Four, which from reading about Roth later I realize was actually her issue also.

But I enjoyed Carve the Mark, and I saw a lot of growth in the writing and the story, so I assumed, no matter what I'd get something I liked out of this new novel. I didn't read anything about it beforehand, just based the decision solely on author name and reputation.

I read: ME

ME by Elton John

I was never a really big Elton John fan. I've always known his music, and I knew he was an exceptionally big personality. But the theatrics were never really what I was into.  The music was the thing. I knew he was an exceptional musician, but I kind of felt like the grandioseness of his persona took away from the music.

Before I saw "Rocketman" I didn't know a lot about John's backstory. Little bits and pieces, drugs being the main thing. I think I learned the most about him in connection with Princess Diana. I saw the movie twice. And it led me to pre-order this book.

I read: Amelia Bedelia Boxed set

Amelia Bedelia Boxed Set by Harry Parrish
Contains:
Amelia Bedelia Means Business
Amelia Bedelia Unleashed
Amelia Bedelia Road Trip!
Amelia Bedelia Goes Wild!
Amelia Bedelia Shapes Up
Amelia Bedelia Cleans Up
Amelia Bedelia Sets Sail
Amelia Bedelia Dances Off

I picked up this boxed set because it was inexpensive and I remember reading Amelia Bedelia stories as a kid. I didn't realize at first that this set is written after my childhood by the son of the original author, Peggy Parrish, but the books are still written in the same style.

I write: Creativity for Writers

Today starts a new online course for me toward the Creative Writing certificate. Creativity for Writing is an entirely online course (and was always intended to be online) and features writing, and blogging for 8 weeks. I'm not sure how this one is going to go, as sharing my work has always been the hardest part and this is actually a graded course, which means I have to share and participate in order to earn my grades.

Sharing may actually be easier when you don't have to be face-to-face with anyone. The only contributor is a faceless name on the screen rather than having to see anyone's face as I publicly share. I will also share items here as I've done previously. I have a couple of things from the Science Fiction and Fantasy class that I haven't shared as of yet because I was waiting to see if there was going to be any feedback - which there wasn't.  But that's okay - I missed the last class anyway.

Waiting currently for the Wikispaces blog space that I need for the class in order to do the first piece of my first assignment. Looking forward to the new writing challenges to come.

I read: Reflections & Dreams

Reflections and Dreams by Nora Roberts

This 2 in 1 collection contains the previously Harlequin published Reflections and Dance of Dreams.  Both original novels share characters, and this particular pair is sometimes referred to as Davidov #1 & 2.

I'm not going to review these in-depth - I only read them because they're fluffy and easy to read. They don't require a lot of thought, which is nice sometimes.

I read: Wolf's Curse

Wolf's Curse by Kelley Armstrong
(Book 2 in the Otherworld next-generation duology)

Starting from the cliff-hanger we ended on (and that greatly upset a lot of people) in Wolf's Bane, this novel picked up and ran us through a number of new mystery theories before depositing us back to the original problem, and solving that all while keeping us entertained with relationship drama and teen angst.

Armstrong's writing never fails to entertain.  It makes me sad that this is the final Otherworld book that we're likely to see potentially forever. But I know that we have many other great offerings in the future.