Category Archives: Bout of Books

So it seems that winter finally decided to make an appearance in my neck of the woods (after being 54deg and sunny on New Years Day) – so it has been cold and drizzly the last 2 – which has meant hellish commutes for work (because it rains and people seem to forget how to drive) and well as just general lethargy at work and at home. I’m even hearing rumor that we might see snow this weekend (since we haven’t had any yet this year). Day 2 of Bout of Books also marks me recommitting to my 2017 goal of commitment to my nutrition (since anyone who knows me, knows that in general, I prefer the diet of a pre-schooler – up to and including sugary cereal) – but I know that isn’t healthy for me, so i’m making changes. Last night for dinner (and while listening to an audiobook), I made Ground Turkey and Sweet Potato Skillet – it was one of my more successful recipes and I see it going into the regular dinner rotation (and would be easily tweakable to use both ground chicken or bison

Day 2 Tally:
Sarah’s Key – currently at 22% (from 11%)
Fire and Ice – currently at 44% (from 21%)
The Coffee Girl – currently at 42% (from 31%)
The Gift – currently at 25% (from 18%)
What Stands In A Storm – listened to 1hr 14min
Seduction in Death – audiobook/re-read – listened to 1hr 15min

Books Finished
Promises in Death – audiobook – FINISHED

Bout of Books Day 2 Challenge – Book to Movie
Have a book you think would make an excellent movie?
I always suck at questions like this because most books I love, I can never see brought to the big screen – they’d have to cut stuff out to make it fit into prescribed time limits etc. The same is the case on made for TV movies – I was so excited to see that one of Lisa Kleypas’s books was made into a movie (Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor and yet when they turned it into a movie – it just lost the magic – they made changes to what the characters did, how they interacted with each other…they would have been better off to not even say it was based on a book! Heck, they even changed the name of it to Christmas with Holly!!!

That isn’t to say that all book to movie adaptations are horrible – To Kill a Mockingbird, the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice are two of my favorites because they were so true to the story…that being said – I’d be interested to see how the In Death series (JD Robb) could be adapted into a TV show (not I say show not movie, but for a series that is so on-going – I think a show would work better). I’ll also admit that I am intrigued to see Hulu’s adaption of The Handmaid’s Tale that will be out mid-2017 (they also adapted 11/22/63 by Stephen King that I still need to watch). So I know I didn’t really answer the question – but when I saw it, these were the thoughts that came to mind.

How did your Bout of Books Day 2 go?

Whoo-hoo! Today is the first day of Bout of Books 18 and its drizzy cold and wet out – so perfect weather for curling up with a book (although I do have plans to go and do lunch and a movie with a friend who just moved to the area). My to-be-pile is ready to go – I have 5 books that are currently in progress that i’m hoping to finish up this week:
Sarah’s Key – currently at 11%
Fire and Ice – currently at 12%
The Coffee Girl – currently at 31%
The Gift – currently at 12%
Promises in Death – audiobook – currently about 4hrs remaining

One of the things I enjoy the most about Bout of Books are the challenges that the hosts devise, so without further ado, here is my Day 1 Challenge post:

Introduce Yourself #insixwords
triathlete naval officer minions romance reader

(for what its worth…that is harder than I thought it was going to be!) how would you introduce yourself if you only had 6 words – no more, no less!

Well, I can safely say, that day 4 wasn’t much more productive than day 3 for me…lol! Although I did realize that one of the books I was struggling with, I just couldn’t stick with and decided to mark it as DNF. Based on the description, I should have liked it, because I’m a fan of GLBT fiction and short stories, but unfortunately for me, these stories were more like vingettes and scenes, and not really stories. In fact, many of the stories, weren’t even 3 screen changes on my kindle (so maybe 300-400 words). I’m also sore and grumpy from my Physical Therapy appointment which for me made it hard to sit down and concentrate to read. Only a couple more days of Bout of Books left for this round – hopefully, I’ll actually manage to get a couple more books finished (I am closing it on the finish line for a couple of them).

Books Finished:
None

Books Marked as DNF
Best Bi Short Stories – Sheela Lambert (editor)

Books In Progress
Inn at Last Chance – Hope Ramsey
Dangers of Dating a Rebound Vampire – Molly Harper (audiobook)
Openly Straight – Bill Konigsberg
Conning for Keeps – Seleste deLaney
The Viking’s Captive Princess – Michelle Styles
The Rancher and the Rock Star – Lizbeth Selvig
When Books Went to War – Molly Guptill Manning

That was my Day 4, how was yours?

Yesterday (wednesday) was a work at home day for me, which unfortunately meant, I didn’t get a lot of reading time (its weird how you come to appreciate travel time to work in the morning, if nothing else because you can read without feeling guilty)…but after an ass kicking swim work out in the evening (I’m also training for a 5k open water swim), I found that I couldn’t sleep (ugh insomnia) – so I was able to dig in and finish another book, as well as play a few games of Crazy Kitchen (although I’m stuck on level 120 right now!). While driving to and from the pool (as well as getting stuck in road work), I managed to eek in another 1.5hrs of my current audiobook as well – if all goes well, I should have it done over the weekend.

Books Finished:
Flashes of Me – Cynthia Sax

Books In Progress
Best Bi Short Stories – Sheela Lambert (editor)
Inn at Last Chance – Hope Ramsey
Dangers of Dating a Rebound Vampire – Molly Harper (audiobook)
Openly Straight – Bill Konigsberg
Conning for Keeps – Seleste deLaney
The Viking’s Captive Princess – Michelle Styles
The Rancher and the Rock Star – Lizbeth Selvig
When Books Went to War – Molly Guptill Manning

Hopefully my Day 4 of Bout of Books 14 will be more productive than my day 3 😉

Hallelujah – I actually managed to finish a couple of books yesterday. I’m working from home part time and part time from the office, so yesterday was an office day – which means either an 45 min car ride (if there is no traffic) or an hour by the metro…I opted for the metro because it gives me dedicated reading time. I also managed to listen to another 2hrs-ish of my current audiobook (between driving to the metro and then home; as well as heading to the swimming pool for my workout in the afternoon).

Books Finished:
The Wallflower – Dana Marie Bell – 147pgs (PtP – purchased Jun 2009)
The Natty Professor – Tim Gunn – 108pgs (started at 60%) (ARC August)

Books In Progress
Best Bi Short Stories – Sheela Lambert (editor)
Inn at Last Chance – Hope Ramsey
Dangers of Dating a Rebound Vampire – Molly Harper (audiobook)
Openly Straight – Bill Konigsberg
Conning for Keeps – Seleste deLaney
The Viking’s Captive Princess – Michelle Styles
Flashes of Me – Cynthia Sax

I’m slowing plugging away at my different goals. How about you guys?