And this other coloring thing also continued to happen:
And thus, my reading plans for the end of October got shot to death (so much for a few days off from work for some Me-Time-Reading-Time...). I had started coloring in one bookmark... then about two hours later, I've got aching shoulders and two fully colored bookmarks. Then things spiraled out of control from there.
Nonetheless, I still managed to finish a bunch of books I had set out to finish, specifically for October. But I still also managed to NOT finish a bunch of books that I carelessly added to my reading list after two library visits and three library hold pings.
And also, I may have spent more time than necessary running around town looking for a decent set of colored pencils to indulge my new-found coloring hobby... which will probably last about two weeks before I get bored of it because I can't find a decent set of 50+ colored pencils even though there's a spot in every store I've walked into for a 50+ colors pack of colored pencils that is sitting empty. Then I'll fall back into reading books, so everything is going to be okay... in my bookish world, at least.
I figure, once I get those coloring bookmarks laminated and put into use, I'll lose interest in all this new coloring book fad that's been going around. I wasn't even all that interested until I started working on that first set of bookmarks... and now I'm just wasting paper because I have this strange habit of making copies of workbooks and working off of those copies rather than using the original pages in the actual books.
Ani's First World Bookish Problems #16: I don't like writing in or marking the pages of any hard copy book/booklet if I can help it; it's too permanent and I'll probably regret that I can't get rid of those markings. Except for textbooks--they don't count and actually look pretty nice highlighted in several different colors to organize my scholarly thoughts with.
It's actually something I've always subconsciously done, even in school--not writing in workbooks so that you can reuse them if necessary. And so the same deal goes for coloring books--not coloring in them so that I can start over fresh if I mess up.
Moving along now...
Books Read
Audio books:
Deadly Heat by Richard Castle
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Haven by Kay Hooper
Her Halloween Costume... His Halloween Fantasy (short story) by Paige Tyler
Hostage by Kay Hooper
Her Secret Agent by Paige Tyler
Haunted by Kay Hooper
Seduction Game by Pamela Clare
Story's End by Marissa Burt
Something Borrowed by Kimberly Kincaid
Crazy Love by Tara Janzen
Raging Heat by Richard Castle
The Copper Bracelet -- collaboration by various authors; conception by Jeffery Deaver
-- audiobook narrated by Alfred Molina
Books Dropped/Put On Hold
None... for now.
Currently Reading
And also listening to:
Reviews & Notable Posts
- Reviews
Her Halloween Costume... His Halloween Fantasy (short story) by Paige Tyler
The Copper Bracelet -- conception by Jeffery Deaver
Seduction Game by Pamela Clare
- Other Posts
Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon -- A pre-post and me
Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon -- Starting at Hour 0
Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon -- Hour 18, end of an official day
Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon -- Wrap Up
Starting: Dracula... as my sort of kind of Halloween read
Reading Wrap-Up
13 books total were read in October. I wish the number could have been higher, but things happen and I tend to get distracted (see ramblings in my introduction of this post). Once again, hopefully this next month will be better and hopefully the reading selections are more to my mood As the year comes to a close, I've found that it's been quite easy to either stop reading a book in favor a of another book I'd rather be reading, or to just drop a book, or not begin a book altogether.
Sometimes you finally realize that you just don't have time for books you're not getting into--so why not just move on?
- Series I started reading in October:
The Dregs by Leigh Bardugo
Grace Valley trilogy by Robyn Carr
The Great Library by Rachel Caine
- Series I completed in October:
Storybound by Marissa Burt
- Series I have made progress on in October:
Nikki Heat by Richard Castle
Bishop/SCU by Kay Hooper
The Watchlist by Jeffery Deaver
I-Team by Pamela Clare
Steele Street by Tara Janzen
My favorite books read in October were Six of Crows and Seduction Game. I've done my squee for Six of Crows. That is all. Seduction Game is a Pamela Clare guilty pleasure read... although I don't deny that this is probably one of Pamela's better installments in the I-Team world even if there were some questionable events going on. I also liked Crazy Love, but that was a given since I've been obsessed with the dry humor and strange amusement I get from reading a Tara Janzen book.
I don't have any big disappointments for October, really, though Kay Hooper's three Haven books in the Bishop/SCU long-running series comes quite close. While I still enjoyed them, they just weren't what I'd been expecting.
Among other things, I'm not quite getting into Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine. It's written beautifully, but as of the first two chapters plus a prologue, I'm still not sure I know what's going on aside from some dragged out activity. Finally, I haven't given Robyn Carr's Deep in the Valley much of a chance since other books keep popping up--it's a narration type that's not quite my cuppa, but I'm going to try to finish it anyway. Ink and Bone, however, is seeing a big probability of being dropped--I have to return it to the library in four days, and being a fairly new book with high popularity, I'm not allowed any renewals. So we'll see how this turns out.
Coming Up Next (tentative scheduling)
- Tentative TBR for This Month
- Tentatively Planned Posts/Reviews
Review: Skylark by Meagan Spooner
Review: Shadowlark by Meagan Spooner
Review: Lark Ascending by Meagan Spooner
Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer
Review: After the Storm by Maya Banks
Review: The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen
Book Haul / TBR Additions
- Amazon Kindle Deals (free)
- Amazon Kindle Deals (discounted/low price)
- Bought as New
- Audible Purchases
Whispersync with Kindle book (low price/discounted):
- Checked Out From the Library
Reading Challenge Updates
Original 2015 Reading Challenge Post
-
General Reading Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge -- GR list/shelf
BookLikes Reading Challenge -- BL list/shelf
My Goal: 150 books
Progress: 145/150 books read
- Outdo Yourself Challenge
Hosted by Book Vixen
My Goal: Getting My Heart Rate Up: read 1 - 5 more books
(I read 154 books for this challenge in 2014 / My goal will be 155 - 159 books in 2015.)
My Progress: 134/155
See Also: 2015 Outdo Yourself Challenge shelf for list of books
- Romantic Suspense Challenge
-- CHALLENGE COMPLETED -- 4/9/2015
Hosted by Book Vixen
My Goal: SWAT: read 21+ romantic suspense novels
My Progress: 71/21
See Also: 2015 Romantic Suspense Challenge shelf for list of books
- Men in Uniform Challenge
-- CHALLENGE COMPLETED -- 3/17/2015
Hosted by Book Vixen
My Goal: Chief: read 16+ men in uniform novels
My Progress: 64/16
-- 16 books read -- COMPLETED -- 3/17/2015
See: 2015 Men in Uniform Challenge shelf for book list
See: 2015 Men in Uniform Challenge post for detailed list
- 2015 TBR Pile Challenge
Hosted by Roof Beam Reader
My 2015 TBR Pile Challenge Summary Post
My Progress: 9/12
See Also: BookLikes shelf / Goodreads shelf
- 2015 Reading Assignment Challenge
Hosted by Because Reading & Fantasy Is More Fun
My 2015 Reading Assignment Challenge Summary Post
My Goal: Reading Level 5: 48 books (4 books/month), 4 Extra Credits, 1 Pass
My Progress: 41/48 (1 Extra Credit used, 3 left; No Passes used)
See Also: BookLikes shelf / Goodreads shelf
- Mount TBR Reading Challenge
Hosted by My Reader's Block
My Goal: Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR pile/s
My Progress: 26/48
See: 2015 Mount TBR Challenge shelf for book list
- The Series That Never Ends Challenge
Hosted by Delighted Reader
My 2015 The Series That Never Ends Challenge Summary Post
My Goal(s):
1) Surviving the Book Tsunami -- 5-9 books -- COMPLETED 6/1/2015
2) Removing the Thorn From My Side -- 10-15 books
My Progress: 17/15 books
Listed Series Goals Completed: 2/3
See: 2015 Series Never Ends Challenge shelf for book list
Final Thoughts
There's not much left to say, really...
I'm happy for the short participation in the 24 Hour Readathon, even if I didn't get to read as much as I had been planning. October went by in quite the rush, and even the best laid plans can backfire on you when you get distracted by colorful things (see above). But hopefully November will be a better month... as I keep hoping each month.
As of current, I've made the decision not to participate in too many Reading Challenges for 2016. In fact, aside from the generic numerical reading goals hosted via Goodreads and BookLikes, the only other reading challenge I'm going to participate in will be the Reading Assignment challenge (posts on that will be forthcoming).
Other such challenges I may speak of will be very personal challenges, such as my own personal Mount TBR Challenge--the one I'm participating in this year is pretty much a flop. I'm only 50% complete on it, and there's no way I'll be able to finish another 20+ books from my shelf by the end of the year--a lot of books I'm planning on reading for these next two months are new books or library books.
Another personal challenge I may give myself is fairly straight forward: finish all those book series I've already started reading... or make the ultimate decision to drop them altogether.
Previous Wrap-Ups
Reading Wrap Up: 2015 So Far (Jan., Feb., Mar.)
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- Looking Back at April
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- What Happened in May
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- So That Was June
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- Oh Sigh, July
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- And Now For August
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- September, September
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