Discussion Post: Reading Schedules and Modern Romance

Discussion Post: Reading schedules and how they connect to Modern Romance



I got curious the other day, and decided to count how many 2016 books I currently have, and was both elated and dismayed that the number is already in the 90s. My reading goal for this year is 35, and while I’m on track, I will not end up reading even a fraction of the 2015 review books at my disposal. Part of that has to do with being a busy teacher, but a lot of it has to do with the simple fact that I just don’t read as much as I used to. I’m tired way earlier at night than I used to be before entering the profession, and before bed used to be my go-to reading time. But more than that, more than anything, I “suffer” from having way too many choices which makes me shut down and not read anything.

I literally have thousands of books to choose from every. single. day. Between my Kindle, my over-stuffed bookcases, and my extreme library habit, I will never lack something to read. This is an awesome thing...until it isn’t.

While I found Aziz Ansari’s recent book Modern Romance fascinating (and I really did. If you are single, read it immediately. If you are not, read it anyway), but I didn’t really connect with it in a way other (younger) people probably will. I started dating my husband in the late 90s when we were both in college. There was no such thing as internet dating, and there certainly weren’t apps like Tinder. So, again, while I loved the book, I didn’t get that: Oh yeah, I’ve certainly had my fair share of creeps sending me unwanted dick pics or douche-bags calling me fat because I didn't respond right away (do you follow that ByeFelipe IG account? It is atrocious the way men behave on Tinder!!). The connection I did make with the: ‘there are so many choices, but sometimes you just have to stop looking’ message wasn’t about dating, it was with my TBR. Sometimes you just have to say: this is the next book I’m going to read, and I’m not going to look for another one until this relationship is done.

I’ve long said that I wasn’t going to be a slave to my “reading schedule”. I have a running calendar of the books that I have and their release dates, but I’ve scoffed at the idea of letting a schedule run my life. But the truth is, it does. I’ll be so, so, so excited for a book, but won’t want to read it too early...and then by the time I should be reading it for review, I feel stressed out and won’t do it. It is so silly. A few days ago, I thought, I’m so excited for Wink Poppy Midnight, and even though it doesn’t get released for four months, I’m just going to read it now. And I did. I read it in two days. I read it without getting a wandering eye and in between a handful of other books. I just read it, and it was awesome. A huge part of that was the fact that it was an interesting read (review up next week), but part of it was that I felt free reading something months before I was “supposed to”.

I know this post isn’t new. I know so many of you have talked about reading schedules and reading slumps and just feeling overwhelmed with your own blog, but this is something that has been plaguing me for awhile. Reading has always been my thing. I didn’t discover it late in life or when a certain book came out and it changed everything for me (not, of course, that there's anything wrong with that). My punishment for not cleaning my room when I was little (and, ahem, not so little) was not being able to go to the library to pick out new books. I’ve always gobbled up any book that is placed in front of me. My childhood (and young adult) bedrooms where full of books. The release of a new Baby-Sitters Club or Sweet Valley High book made my week. I majored in English because I love literature and now I teach English to middle schoolers. So the longer and longer book slump stretches are depressing to me. Lately, I will think to myself, “You should be reading,” but will watch another episode of whatever show is on the ID channel instead.

So for once, I’m going to try to just read one book at a time, and not worry about all the other pretty titles that are out there. I'm going to take Aziz's advice (even if it wasn't his intention), and just focus on what is in front of me. I honestly read faster and more when I’m concentrating on a single story anyway. And if the story I really want to read doesn’t come out for 6 months then so be it. That’s the one I’m going to read. But if the book I want to read is the one that has been sitting on my bookshelf for the last two years or the one I just snagged from the library, then so be that. My new(ish) career may be stopping me from reading quite as much as I used to, but it's really my psyche that is hindering me. I need to try to get back to my happy place.

Like always, I'd love to hear from you! Do you try to stick to a schedule, or do you read what you want when you want? Have you read Modern Romance? Sound off below!

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Waiting on Wednesday (125) The Darkest Hour

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. Click the link to see the original post plus a whole slew of links to other blogs. After you read this one, of course.

The Darkest Hour

Author: Caroline Tung Richmond
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: July 26, 2016

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Never underestimate a pretty face.

My name is Lucie Blaise.

I am sixteen years old.

I have many aliases, but I am none of the girls you see.

What I am is the newest agent of the CO-7.

And we are here to take down Hitler.

After the Nazis killed my brother on the North African front, I volunteered at the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, DC, to do my part for the war effort. Only instead of a desk job at the OSS, I was tapped to join the Clandestine Operations -- a secret espionage and sabotage organization of girls. Six months ago, I was deployed to German-occupied France to gather intelligence and eliminate Nazi targets.

My current mission: Track down and interrogate a Nazi traitor about a weapon that threatens to wipe out all of Western Europe. Then find and dismantle the weapon before Hitler detonates it. But the deeper I infiltrate, the more danger I'm in. Because the fate of the free world hangs in the balance, and trusting the wrong person could cause millions of lives to be lost. Including my own.

Why I'm excited:

I almost always love books set during WWII. I find the history so interesting. An organization of girls whose focus is espionage and sabotage sounds amazing. Scholastic has been putting out some awesome titles lately, and I can't wait to dive into this one.

What are you waiting for on this Wednesday? Link me up!

Hey lovely GFC and new followers, please follow me by Bloglovin. (I like to follow back, so please let me know if you're a new follower--and leave a link!) Thank you!!!

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Weekly Rewind 11.14.15

Weekly Rewind
The new books on my shelves and my week in a nutshell.


Since I started this blog I've participated in Stacking the Shelves, which is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga's Reviews, and I'm going to continue linking to that meme. Throughout my student teaching semester I was using my weekend post as a way to let people know what's going on in my life, so I've decided to rename my weekend post because this feature is more personal than just what books I've received. The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves.

My Life and Blog

Life: Heading home this weekend. My husband is coming here next weekend because we have tickets for the Colorado Avalanche/Washington Capital game. The Avs are our hockey team, and I'm SO excited to see them in a new stadium. I don't want to make him do the drive two weekends in a row, so I'm heading up. I don't really want to be away for more than 2 weeks anyway because of my cats...and because it is my home...so I would probably have chosen to do the trip this weekend anyway since I didn't last weekend. Speaking of last weekend, I had the best, most relaxing weekend of all time. I should have cleaned and gone grocery shopping, but I just laid in bed all day Saturday and watched four movies in a row. It was glorious. I got a little bit of reading done on Sunday, but not nearly as much as I originally planned. I don't feel bad, though, it was exactly what I needed to just recharge and unwind. As much as I love my job, corralling 75 sixth-graders all day, every day is draining. It just is.

Blog and reading: Just a WoW week. The book I chose sounds a bit like Thelma and Louise for the YA set, which is intriguing to me. Pretty much every book I was reading got pushed to the side once I got my hands on the new Robert Golbraith book. I'm about halfway through, and am really enjoying it. It has the occasionally chapter from the killer's view this time, which is a convention I love in mysteries. I'm currently listening to Drew Barrymore's new book, Wildflower, which is more a collection of life stories that jump all over instead of the traditional memoir. I love her, so I'm enjoying the book. I definitely know what I'm reading next, though, as I got a book this week that I've been so excited for.

New books: Just one review book this week, but it is one that I've been dying to get my hands on. I was seriously so happy to snag this one. It is definitely next. Because I'm a library addict, of course I have a small library haul to share, as well. So without further ado, I hope you are all having fabulous weekends!

For Review

 

Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke

Just look at this gorgeousness. This is my favorite 2016 cover (so far). I love it. The owl reminds me of the movie Labyrinth, and the rest of it is just awesomeness. The story, about two girls and a guy sounds full of intrigue and unreliable narrators. It says for fans of The Raven Boys and We Were Liars. Sold. So very much sold. I can't wait to start this. I will have probably started this by the time you read this.

What I snagged from the library

   

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

Like I said above, I dropped everything else I was reading to start this once it came in. I'm loving it so far. At about the halfway point, I can honestly say it is my favorite book in the series so far (and as long as it doesn't fall apart in the second half).

For Real by Alison Cherry

I was so excited for this book a couple of years about sisters participating in an Amazing Race type show...and then never got to it. While perusing the shelves earlier this week, it hopped out at me. 

Movies:
Terminator Genisys

I'm skeptical of this one, but you know I'm going to watch it. Has anyone seen it?
Inside Out
I'm not a huge fan of animated films (with a few exceptions), but I love the idea of this film and you can never go wrong with Amy Poehler, so...

Well that's it for me this week. Feel free to leave a link to whatever weekend post you do (Stacking the Shelves, In My Mailbox, etc). I love to see what books people have recently snagged and especially enjoy hearing about my fellow bloggers' weeks. I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

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Waiting on Wednesday (124) Run

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. Click the link to see the original post plus a whole slew of links to other blogs. After you read this one, of course.

Run

Author: Kody Keplinger
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: June 28, 2016

Synopsis from Goodreads:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The DUFF Kody Keplinger is back with a stunning new YA novel about the risks we'll take to save our friends . . . and ourselves.

Bo Dickinson is a girl with a wild reputation, a deadbeat dad, and a mama who's not exactly sober most of the time. Everyone in town knows the Dickinsons are a bad lot, but Bo doesn't care what anyone thinks.

Agnes Atwood has never gone on a date, never even stayed out past ten, and never broken any of her parents' overbearing rules. Rules that are meant to protect their legally blind daughter -- protect her from what, Agnes isn't quite sure.

Despite everything, Bo and Agnes become best friends. And it's the sort of friendship that runs truer and deeper than anything else.

So when Bo shows up in the middle of the night, with police sirens wailing in the distance, desperate to get out of town, Agnes doesn't hesitate to take off with her. But running away and not getting caught will require stealing a car, tracking down Bo's dad, staying ahead of the authorities, and -- worst of all -- confronting some ugly secrets.

Why I'm excited:
So...Thelma and Louisa for the YA set, right? I love stories that focus on female friendships and this one sounds like a fun ride. I'm excited to dive into this one.

What are you waiting for on this Wednesday? Link me up!

Hey lovely GFC and new followers, please follow me by Bloglovin. (I like to follow back, so please let me know if you're a new follower--and leave a link!) Thank you!!!

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Weekly Rewind 11.7.15

Weekly Rewind
The new books on my shelves and my week in a nutshell.


Since I started this blog I've participated in Stacking the Shelves, which is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga's Reviews, and I'm going to continue linking to that meme. Throughout my student teaching semester I was using my weekend post as a way to let people know what's going on in my life, so I've decided to rename my weekend post because this feature is more personal than just what books I've received. The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves.

My Life and Blog

Life: I'm not seeing my honey this weekend. He has to work all weekend, so can't come here...and he truly does have to work all weekend, so it would be kind of pointless to do the eight-hour round trip when he won't even be able to hang out with me. Especially since I've done the drive the past two weekends. It's not even 7PM, and I am beat in a way that is hard to put into words. I'm about to hop in the bath and go to bed...so that's really all the rambling I'm going to do today. So tired.

My students are done with their book club books and started their projects today. All of them decided to do the book trailer. I'm so excited to watch them. It's cool what they can do with apps like iMovie and they really are so creative.

Blog and reading: I participated in TTT and shared the books I couldn't wait to read based on the author's debut. I also posted a WoW this week. I don't tend to read a whole lot of historical fiction, but this one looks amazing, and I'm so happy it finally has a cover. I finished listening to You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) last weekend on the drive back down to VA. I'm frankly not at all familiar with Felicia Day. I know of The Guild, but have never seen it, and even though I'm my own kind of nerd, I've never been a gamer. So. I enjoyed the book, and was especially interested in the whole #gamergate thing which I had only kind of heard about, but I imagine her actual fans would enjoy the book more than I did. I did find it perfectly entertaining, though. My favorite audiobooks have always been memoirs, especially humorous ones, read by the author. I'm currently listening to Paper Towns, and I'm really not enjoying it. I definitely want to see the movie, but if I'm honest, I would DNF if I didn't have only a CD and a half left. I finished reading Guitar Notes this week, too, which was pretty cute. Perfect for my Honor English 6 classes. I'm currently reading Illuminae, Black Widow: Forever Red, and Juniors. I'm hoping to finish all of them this week since I'll just be loafing it, but finishing even one of them would be awesome.

New Books: Not much to show in terms of review books, which is kind of a blessing. I brought enough books down to fill a small shelf on the desk my landlord was kind enough to provide for me...and it is already double stacked with books on top of and in front of other books. I also seriously have, like, two enormous PILES of books from the library. Not to mention that the books on my kindle is staggering. I'm going to break into hives if I think about it too hard. So many books. So, so many. Anyhoo. Sorry. I'm kind of having a day. A tired day. Where I started drinking like the minute I got home. Because day. Which isn't really who I am, but, day. Ahem. There goes my "no rambling" goal for tonight. Anyway, without further ado, I hope you are all having fabulous weekends!

For Review

Hello? by Liza Weimer

This was a late approval as this comes Tuesday, but I'm excited. I have a few friends raving, and I featured this for a WoW post months ago, so yay.

What I bought

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

I was so happy that this was waiting for me last weekend when I went home. I've been dying for this one. I had the web access to this book, but it was so hard to read on the computer that I decided to just be patient and wait for the print edition. It's lovely. Again, I'm definitely hoping to get through this this weekend.

What I snagged from the library

   

Juniors by Kai Hemmings

I have the arc for this, but I often snag the finished copy if I don't get to the arc before the release. I really do want to read this one. I really liked The Descendants (which was made into that movie with George Clooney), so I can't wait to see how she does with YA.

Audio:

Wildflower by Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore has long been one of my favorites. I'm excited to listen to this.

Movies:

Pitch Perfect 2

I saw this in the theater, but wanted to give it a second look...and I'm not sure I need to own this one.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Finally. This is definitely happening this weekend. It's very possible that I won't even leave the house this weekend. Except to maybe get some food.

Well that's it for me this week. Feel free to leave a link to whatever weekend post you do (Stacking the Shelves, In My Mailbox, etc). I love to see what books people have recently snagged and especially enjoy hearing about my fellow bloggers' weeks. I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

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Waiting on Wednesday (123) The Passion of Dolssa

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. Click the link to see the original post plus a whole slew of links to other blogs. After you read this one, of course.

The Passion of Dolssa

Author: Julie Berry
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Release Date: April 16, 2016

Synopsis from Goodreads:

I must write this account, and when I have finished, I will burn it.

Buried deep within the archives of a convent in medieval France is an untold story of love, loss, and wonder and the two girls at the heart of it all.

Dolssa is an upper-crust city girl with a secret lover and an uncanny gift. Branded a heretic, she’s on the run from the friar who condemned her mother to death by fire, and wants Dolssa executed, too.

Botille is a matchmaker and a tavern-keeper, struggling to keep herself and her sisters on the right side of the law in their seaside town of Bajas.

When their lives collide by a dark riverside, Botille rescues a dying Dolssa and conceals her in the tavern, where an unlikely friendship blooms. Aided by her sisters and Symo, her surly but loyal neighbor, Botille nurses Dolssa back to health and hides her from her pursuers. But all of Botille’s tricks, tales, and cleverness can’t protect them forever, and when the full wrath of the Church bears down upon Bajas, Dolssa’s passion and Botille’s good intentions could destroy the entire village.

From the author of the award-winning All the Truth That’s in Me comes a spellbinding thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page and make you wonder if miracles really are possible.

Why I'm excited:
I love a good thriller, and this one sounds smart and interesting. I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but I've heard nothing but good things about this author and have been excited to dive into this one.

What are you waiting for on this Wednesday? Link me up!

Hey lovely GFC and new followers, please follow me by Bloglovin. (I like to follow back, so please let me know if you're a new follower--and leave a link!) Thank you!!!

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TTT: Debuts that left me wanting more

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme/original feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Click the link to go to their site to see the original list for today plus links to a whole slew of other blogs. After you read mine, of course.

TTT: Debuts that made me want more, more, more

(and some 2016 debuts I can't wait to read)

  

Stephanie Oakes

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly blew me away. I loved it. Her upcoming book is The Arsonist  which doesn't have a synopsis beyond being a YA mystery that will be published next year. I don't care what it's about. I can't wait.

  

Julie Murphy

I loved Side Effects May Vary and can't wait to read Dumplin'. I have the arc, I just haven't been able to get to it yet. Her next book Ramona Drowning sounds a bit like Chasing Amy which is a movie I love.

 

Amanda Maciel

Tease was amazing. It was just so real. Neither the "bully" nor the "victim" were just a stereotype. It's a rough one, but so worth reading. Her upcoming novel A Perfect Disaster : "unflinchingly explores ideas of beauty and reputation, as well as issues of slut-shaming and homophobia, in this story of a teen girl learning to truly see herself and her world."

 

Ava Dellaira

So I'm picking some depressing ass books I've just realized, but I really did enjoy Love Letters to the Dead last year. Her next book, 17 Years , isn't scheduled to come out until 2018! The story will alternate between a mother and daughter when they are each 17, respectively.

  

Dawn Kurtagich

I'm actually reading Dead House right now (well I reluctantly took it back to the library because it had holds and then immediately put my name back on the list) and it is intriguing. I can't wait to see how it ends! Her upcoming book releasing next summer is The Creeper Man  which is another psychological thriller. Look at that cover! *shivers*

2016 debuts I need immediately

   

  

The Girl From Everywhere  by Heibi Heilig

A time-traveling pirate ship!!!

Zero Day  by Jan Gangei

This sounds very Homeland-ish in the best way.  

How It Ends by Catherine Lo

So I'm always drawn to messy friendships stories, and this one sounds messy.

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

Special powers + Ottoman Empire = what I can only imagine is amazingness.

Blackhearts by Nicole Catroman

A love story starring Blackbeard.

The Way to Game the Walk of Shame by Jen Nguyen

This sounds adorable, but how charming is that cover?

That's it for me. What debuts had you wanting more? Link me up!

Hey lovely readers. I love meeting and connecting with new bloggers. If you decide to follow, my preferred method is Bloglovin'. Let me know if you are a new follower as I follow back. Thank you!

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