Read Your Freebies 2014 Reading Challenge

A challenge I definitely need to take part in that I just found last night.  Here is the information for it and you can go and join yourself at The Book Vixen.

Reading Challenge Details:

• Runs January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2014 (books read prior to 1/1/2014 do not count towards the challenge). You can join anytime before 9/30/2014. Sign up on The Book Vixen’s blog.
• The goal is to read at least twelve (12) free ebooks. While twelve is the minimum, there is no maximum limit. See the different levels below and pick the one that works best for you. You can move up a level as often as you’d like but no moving down.
• This reading challenge is for LEGALLY obtained FREE ebooks. We do not condone ebook piracy. These can be books offered through bigger sites, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or smaller sites, such as Smashwords and All Romance Ebooks. Ebooks offered through author or publisher websites are acceptable as well, provided they are available free to everyone at the time of download.
• Any ebook format will work for this challenge (azw, EPUB, iBooks, mobi, PDF, etc.). You DO NOT need to have an ereader to participate in this challenge. You can read ebooks using Amazon’s Free Kindle Reading Apps, which you can download for your iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC, Blackberry and more. Free audiobooks also count towards this challenge provided they are free to the public. They can't be free as a condition of signing up for a service and they can't be provided by the publisher for review.
• Only ebooks and audiobooks that were available free, in a legal manner, to the public will count towards this challenge. eARCs, library books, ebooks free through Amazon Prime, and/or books won or gifted are not eligible for this challenge.
• Books can be any genre (fiction, nonfiction, romance, fantasy, mystery, thriller, horror, etc.).
• Crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed, however, re-reads are not eligible for this challenge. The goal is to read the freebies you’ve legally acquired so that they are off your TBR pile.
• To join this challenge, grab the 2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge button and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, LibraryThing, BookLikes, Libib, etc., so as long as you have a dedicated shelf for the 2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge and your profile is not private. The point of linking up is to have a place where people can see what you’re reading.

I have decided to forgo the review link-up for 2014. If you plan to review the books you read for this challenge, link them up in your 2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge post.

Levels:
     Coupon Clipper: read 12 books
     Penny Pincher: read 24 books
     Buying in Bulk: read 36 books
     Super Saver: read 50 books
     Extreme Couponer: read 100+ books


I'm going to go with Coupon Clipper and aspire to Penny Pincher.  I'll list books and reviews here as I finish them.

1.  

***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

2014 Rewind Challenge

I haven't signed up for any challenges this year mainly because I didn't know where my reading or my blog was taking me.  However last night I came across this one and this one really fits with my reading goals for the year.  Simply read books  I received before 2014!  It's an easy challenge.  You propose a goal on a post and then post reviews for the books you read that qualify for the challenge and there is a giveaway each month for those that post reviews to the linky.  You can find out all the details and sign up by clicking the link in the button above or this one: Coffee Bean Bookshelf.

Since my reading is spotty at best lately I'm going with 3 per month as an official goal (I still have new review books, new Kindle books and library books to tempt me so I'm trying to be reasonable).  I am going to hope for 5 books per month but we'll have to see.  So that puts me at 36 books for the year.  I'll list them here and link to my reviews.

1. A Little Too Much by Lisa Desrochers (review book from 2013)
2. Midnight in Death by J.D. Robb (bought for Kindle in Sept. 2013)
3. A Life Without Limits by Chrissie Wellington (bought for Kindle in Dec. 2013)
4. Caress (The Dining Club #6) by Marina Anderson (review book from 2013)
5. Hopeless by Colleen Hoover (bought in 2013)
6. Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines (bought in 2013)
7. The Evolution of Mara Dyer (bought before 2014)
8. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (bought before 2014)
9. Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker (bought before 2014)
10. One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker (bought before 2014)
11. The Bet by Rachel Van Dyken (review book from 2013)
12. Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia (bought before 2014)
13. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (won in 2013)
14. Breaking Nova by Jessica Sorenson (review book from 2013)
15. A Little Too Much by Lisa Desroches (review book from 2013)
16. Trust in Me by J. Lynn (review book from 2013)
17. 
    

Waiting on Wednesday 1/29/14

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. So here is my choice, 

Amity by Micol Ostow

Publisher: Egmont USA

Publish Date: August 24, 2014

Not much to the summary yet, just simply:  

Two teens narrate the terrifying days and nights they spend living in a house of horrors

 And somehow between that and the cover, that's enough for me.

What do you think of this, have you heard any buzz?  Is it your speed and what are you waiting on?

Inside and Out Book Tag

 (I stole the image from Christian Bookshelf Reviews)

As I was going through and organizing and reading my blogs this morning (I'm moving my blog subs to my new email address and new twitter, just for reading/blogging) I came across this tag and it looked like a lot of fun.  I found it first on Christian Bookshelf Reviews who links back to Book, Biscuits and Tea, and Vicky has this to say about it:

Hello everyone! I found an interesting-looking book tag on Sabrina’s blog this morning and since a lot of you seemed to enjoy my previous book tag attempts and I think it’s a great way to get to know each other and our reading habits, I thought I’d join the fun. Let me know what you think and feel free to join in! The tag was originally created by MathomBooks on YouTube. 

So feel free to participate, link up in my comments, I would love to see what you have to say!

I ~ Inside flap/Back of the book summaries: Too much info? Or not enough (Discuss)

It all depends. I now do a cursory reading. I like to read the book and have things surprise me.  But I have to know whether the book will interest me or not.  And then sometimes the back cover doesn't represent what's in the book in the least!  So I'm in a less is better and be accurate camp on this one.

N ~ New book: What form do you want it in? Be honest: Audiobook, E-Book, Paperback, or Hardcover?

E-book for me.  I'm running out of physical room for books, but always have room on my Kindle for a new book or three.  However I do still get excited when I get an ARC or finished copy in the mail for review.  Something about holding a book still makes me happy.

S ~ Scribble while you read? Do you like to write in your books, taking notes, making comments, or do you keep your books clean clean clean? (Tell us why)

 

No writing in a book for me unless it's on my Kindle making notes.  I'm one of those anal people about keeping my books pristine.  I've watched my husband break the spine on a paperback to make it easier to hold and I cringe so there is no way I can defile a book with writing.  The idea even wore off quickly in college.  First semester it was highlight and note like crazy then I quit doing that even in textbooks I planned on keeping.

I ~ In your best voice, read for us your favorite 1st sentence from a book.

I'm not sure about my favorite first sentence, but you'll get my favorite book's first sentence (hear this in James Earl Jones' wonderfully amazing voice.  I'm a girl and sound nothing like him, but I love hearing his voice)

The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years- if it ever did end- began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.

D ~ Does it matter to you whether the author is male or female when you're deciding on a book? What if you're unsure of the author's gender?

Does not matter in the least.  Gender is not something I think about if the book appeals to me.

E ~ Ever read ahead? or have you ever read the last page way before you got there?

No, I just don't do that.

&

O ~ Organized bookshelves, or Outrageous bookshelves?

Not organized at all.  I have a bookshelf that is semi-organized then I have piles of books here and there.  It's awful and wonderful.  I almost think I could organize my Kindle Fire if I was able, but I'm probably fooling myself there as well.

U ~ Under oath: have you ever bought a book based on the cover (alone)?

Of course.  I can't name a specific example, but I know I have been browsing books before and bought on the cover alone.

T~ Take it outside to read, or stay in?

Spring, Summer, Fall and Normal Winter here in coastal NC I would say take it outside and I do as often as possible. In spring-fall my husband puts my hammock on the front porch, but I also have comfy Adirondack chairs in the back yard, will carry my book with me on boat days and have a porch swing.  However with this winter you will find me happily cozied up under my electric throw in my chair in the living room or under piles of cover in the bed!

Please leave a link or answers to one or more questions in the comments, I would love to learn more about you!

 

Question Friday: What book are you looking forward to this year? (+ GC giveaway)

As a way to build some discussion/comments, I thought I would start a Question Friday. No that doesn't have a ring to it, but until my mind is in less of a flare-up fog and I can give it more thought it will be a boring name (if you have a suggestion, it's an extra entry option in the giveaway below).

So I'm trying to figure out the big new releases this year and I need your help.  What do I need to put on my wishlist.  And to answer simply tell me:

What book are you looking the most forward to this year?

If you comment, enter the Rafflecopter form below for an giveaway for a $5 Amazon (or B&N if you prefer that) GC. It's not much but it can either buy some great bargain books or go towards the purchase of a new release!  Open international, ends 1/29.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

AudioBook Review: A Beautiful Wedding by Jamie McGuire

A Beautiful Wedding by Jamie McGuire
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio
Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2013
Beautiful #2.5
My rating: 5.0/5.0




My Review:
A Beautiful Wedding is the perfect ending to the Beautiful Disaster series. Short and sweet, it was just so perfect for me. I have loved Travis and Abby since Beautiful Disaster and loved getting to know them through each side of the story. This seems to be a growing trend in New Adult genre and while I thought re-reading the same story might be boring, I quickly learned it's fascinating to see the two sides to the story.

A Beautiful Wedding presents the two-sides all in one novella. A wedding for Travis and Abby might seem crazy, but their whole relationship has been crazy and this might just have been the one sane thing they have done. I like how they both see the realism of getting married and their situation. They don't go in with rose-colored glasses. They know it will be tough but in the end they realize their love is strong enough to handle the ups and downs. I loved seeing them both have doubts yet reaching this conclusion and the story of them getting to their wedding(s) was a lot of fun!

A Beautiful Wedding completely fits with the tone of the rest of the series and I was not disappointed at all except to see the series end. But Travis and Abby get their hard-fought happily-ever-after and that was all that mattered to me.

I listened to the audio and it is well-done. I enjoyed the alternating voices in each chapter that focuses on a character. The female voice was perfect for Abby and the male voice was perfect for Travis. I listened to this over a few rides to and from work and even on a walk one day because I had to know how it would all come down (a wedding with Elvis?). If you enjoy audiobooks, this one is great and really brings to life Abby and Travis' story.

A great ending to a wonderful series. Would love to see America and Shepley's story too, not sure if it is in the works or Ms. McGuire is going in another direction. Either way she is now on my must-read list. So if you haven't read Beautiful Disaster and love the New Adult genre, I encourage you to start this series. If you have been waiting on their happily-ever-after, run out and grab (or order online) A Beautiful Wedding so you can see what I'm gushing about!

About the Book:
You know that Abby Abernathy unexpectedly became Mrs. Maddox. But what do you really know?

Why did Abby pop the question?
What secrets were shared before the ceremony?
Where did they spend their wedding night?
Who else knew about it . . . and didn’t tell?

Everything about Abby and Travis’s elopement was top-secret . . . until now. Fans of Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster will get all of their questions answered in this whirlwind tale of the wedding day (and night!)—and as with all good stories, this one will definitely have been worth the wait,

***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

Hiatus

Hi all!  Due to my health which has been kind of off this fall/winter and just the general too-much to do of life of a parent, wife and a full-time job I am going to take a hiatus.  I am not reading much, cannot keep up with the commitments of the blog and just feel tired and worn out.  So I need to reduce somewhere in my life and it has to be with my blog.

I'm not sure how long the hiatus will be.  Could be a few weeks, could be a month or two and it could be permanent.  I'm geting to the point I just want to read the large collection of books I have and get others for my Kindle and from the library as I go.  I just want the freedom of stepping away for awhile and not having this stress in my life (and if you are a blogger with a full life you understand the stress running a blog can be.

I'll keep you informed.  If you pray, please send up an extra for me.  I'm hoping in the New Year to get some answers and a firm diagnosis for what is wrong with me. I've gone for years under the catch-all of fibromyalgia, but all my doctors have told me there is something else there and they aren't sure this is the right diagnosis.  I've had brain surgery twice, know I have cysts in my spinal column that account for some of the problems, but not all.  I just want a name and a method to go on with my life in the way that I use to or even just understanding my new normal better.  Something, anything.  I may not get it, but I'm going to really try this time.  Until then I'm concentrating on one foot in front of the other, working to get some exercise in to keep my body moving and I have taken up crochet because it really helps take my mind off of the constant pain (and it's fun). 

So thank you everyone who has stuck with me.  You have been awesome.  If I don't restart the blog, I'll be around the blogosphere I am sure. 

Take care and have a wonderful New Year!