BOTY Progress Update & Brackets for the 2014 BOTY Bracket Challenge

Well...another month down. It seemed to go pretty darned fast. (I've found that seems to be more of an epidemic as I get older.) I got quite a bit of reading done this month thanks to my participation in Bout of Books 10, so I'm feeling pretty happy with where my reading stats for 2014 currently stand. Thanks to a minor obsessive streak with Sims 3 this past week, I am behind again on my Goodreads goal, but that should turn around again without too much trouble. And if not...well, I have Bout of Books 11 coming up in August. It's all good.

With May coming to an end, it's time to do some cleanup for this month's theme. Since it was all about books, that means a Book of the Year progress update, a view of the bracket as it currently stands, and a little something extra just for you.

Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth

 Title : Divergent

Author : Veronica Roth

Series : Divergent Trilogy #1

Genre : Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction (Dystopia)

Number of Pages : 487

Rating : 

Title : Insurgent

Author : Veronica Roth

Series : Divergent Trilogy #2

Genre : Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction (Dystopia)

Number of Pages : 525

Rating :

Title : Allegiant

Author : Veronica Roth

Series : Divergent Trilogy #3

Genre : Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction (Dystopia)

Number of Pages : 526

Rating :

I choose which books I review on my blog and on my Goodreads profile. I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews. My reviews are always honest...I never lie about books. My opinions are my own and may be positive or negative depending on my feelings about a specific piece. Keep in mind, just because I may like or not like a book may not mean that you will feel the same way.

Summary Sunday: Memorial Day Weekend Edtion

Whoa. I kind of lost track of time today. In fact, I think I lost track of what day of the week it was. I just now remembered that I needed to write a Summary Sunday post.

It's Memorial Day weekend, which means a little more time at home for both myself and Collin. It's kind of nice. We actually managed to spend some time together both yesterday and today. That was totally a change of pace. Unfortunately, he has to work tomorrow...so it was a short lived event. But it was still very nice to feel so relaxed at home with him.

I took a little time off this week and cut back on posting from what I have been doing recently. After doing the A to Z Challenge, Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-Thon and Bout of Books 10, I really felt drained. So I took a small respite and two whole days off from blogging this week. It was lovely. I've been doing a little blog reading catch up and it's been nice to see what everyone else has been up to.

Next week is the last week of my book-themed month. There will be a small handful of book reviews and then an update on the progress of my BOTY bracket. A week from today, I'll be drawing my selections for the first round of my Classics Spin and Deal Me In Challenges. I got all of the books assigned, so now it will just be a matter of seeing which ones are randomly picked. I'll announce those in the next Summary Sunday post.

After that, it's on to June and a Pinterest themed month. I'll be posting a few recipes that I got from pins as well as doing some of the projects that I've pinned along the way. We'll see what all I wind up getting accomplished.

What about this week? Let's see what I got done...

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Title : Amy & Roger's Epic Detour

Author : Morgan Matson

Series : N/A, Standalone

Genre : Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary

Number of Pages : 352

Publication Date : May 4, 2010

Publisher : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Rating :

I choose which books I review on my blog and on my Goodreads profile. I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews. My reviews are always honest...I never lie about books. My opinions are my own and may be positive or negative depending on my feelings about a specific piece. Keep in mind, just because I may like or not like a book may not mean that you will feel the same way.

I'm a Penelope

Alright, it's time to come clean. I am a Penelope.

And now you're scratching your head. What in the world is a Penelope? Well...basically it's a code word created by Meredith over at Penelope Loves Lists (and her sister) that reflects a certain type of personality.

A Penelope is a lister, an organizer, a storage freak. Oh my...it's so me. I am an addict. That's right. I'm saying it. I am addicted to lists and challenges and being able to check things off those lists and challenges. I can't help myself.

Acts of Contrition by Jennifer Handford

Title : Acts of Contrition

Author : Jennifer Handford

Series : N/A, Standalone

Genre : Women's Fiction, Contemporary, Christian Fiction

Publication Date : April 15th, 2014

Publisher : Amazon Publishing

Rating :

Bout of Books Post-Mortem

Bout of Books is over and done. I'm kind of sad to see it go, but a little bit glad I'll be able to spread my time out on other things now. I really need to spend some time getting stuff ready for the Etsy shop (currently set to open June 1st). Things did not go as planned yesterday, so I'm a post shy...but we'll get all the round up pertinent information down today. 

The plan for the next couple of weeks is to keep going on this month's theme of books, so there will be a lot of book reviews coming up. I'm also working on updating the new tab system that you can see up at the top of the screen, so that the challenges are all posted and not just displaying "coming soon". I expect I'll have those all ready to roll fully before the end of the month (which is when I'm setting the starting date for everything).

Oh...and if you haven't already, please go check out the 2014 BOTY Bracket Challenge that I'm hosting. It's fairly straightforward. Enter all of the books you read between January 1st and December 31st, 2014 into an NCAA style bracket and then whittle them down to one winner that you'll crown as your 2014 Book of the Year on January 17th, 2015.

Now...how about we wrap up Bout of Books 10?!

Bout of Books Update: Day 6 (Saturday)

It's day SIX of the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon. We've had a nice full day of reading. We got up at about 9am and participated in the Bout of Books Twitter chat. We had a good time and I found some new book-lovers to follow and some new books to read. We've spent the rest of the day having our own little read-a-thon. Our plan is to go all night. We'll see how well that goes. Right now we've both suited down into pajamas and we're hanging out on my bed getting ready to launch into our second half. But for now...it's time for an update.

Bout of Books Update: Day 5 (Friday)

It's day FIVE of the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon. Time for another short post. We've been busy today and just got home a few minutes ago. I'm going to wrap this one up fast so I can get a little reading in before I hit the hay. Tomorrow, Darian and I are planning on starting a 24 hour read fest. Whoever wakes up first is waking up the other one and then we'll get started. It's going to be a big push to help us reach our goals before a short sleep and then a leisurely Sunday read to wrap up the whole shebang.

Bout of Books Update: Day 4 (Thursday)

It's day FOUR of the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon. This one is going to be a short post. It's been a long day, not a lot of reading accomplished, and I'm currently in the middle of washing everything on my bed because it would appear that Collin forgot to give Piper her medicine this morning. Ugh.

Bout of Books Update: Day 3 (Wednesday)

It's day THREE of the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon. Another crazy day around here. We're really hoping Friday comes soon.

We both participated in the Bout of Books Twitter chat this evening and had a lot of fun. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I think we figured out a system. We keep my laptop screen up on Tweetdeck, while watching the email notifications on my phone. That way we don't miss a mention, a reply or a favorite. I found a few more people to follow and we were both sad that it was over so soon. We're looking forward to Saturday's chat.

Neither one of us got as much accomplished as we wanted to today, but we still upped our stats. Here's where we are as of this evening...

Bout of Books Update: Day 2 (Tuesday)

It's day TWO of the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon. So far, I'm ahead of my goals (yay!). Darian is a little behind on his, but that's only because I think he was crazy to aim for 1200 pages and 5 books. I have far more time to read than he does. But...we'll see. He's determined.

I had the luxury of having the day off today, but somehow that didn't translate to more reading time than yesterday. I managed to get up early enough to be ready, run to the school twice, and work on this post before the 10am (MST) On-Air Chat this morning. That worked out nicely. Unfortunately, I then burned the last of the morning working on the challenges for today and getting caught up on a few other internety/bloggy things.

We also lost a little bit of reading time tonight due to a couple of meetings at his school. I regained a little bit of my time by making tonight's dinner ruling: leftovers. Clean out the fridge and save me an hour of time? Perfect. Double win. I also got to read outside in the sunshine for a bit this afternoon. That was lovely.

The plan is to keep posting our updates around 10pm MST, just enough time after Darian goes to bed for me to finish writing and get them polished. He gives me his stats before he heads up and I take care of the rest.

Today was another good reading day!

Bout of Books Update: Day 1 (Monday)

It's day one of the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon. I've been hanging out reading for a decent portion of the day. Darian managed to get his homework and chores done and join me for a bit until he started nodding off after dinner. So...before he heads to bed, we've decided to do today's wrap up and challenge.

Summary Sunday: Mother's Day Edition

Me & my amazing mother.

Well Happy Mother's Day everyone! I'm getting to this post a little late, but only by about an hour. I call that okay. (Just pretend with me...okay?)

The major reason for the delay is some blog surgery I've been undertaking this evening. It's still not all complete, but I've gotten a few of the big things taken care of.

1. I've truncated my posts from the last month and a half. Upcoming posts will all be truncated. The reason I've gone this route is two-fold. First off, to protect the blog from having content stolen. This isn't really the primary reason, but it's an added bonus. The real reason I'm doing it is to clean up the home page. Now when you come to the main page, you can easily scroll through the posts without feeling like you're scrolling for eternity. It just looks a little nicer.

2. New header. This one took me a while. I've altered the header to go from the blocky thing that Blogger stuck me with to a more rounded and softer looking logo. I've also added the dotted outline and changed the font. Minor changes overall, but I like it much better.

3. Tabs with drop down menus! This one is my favorite. It still has quite a bit of work to go, but the basic structure is complete. This took a lot of research into programming...something I'm not terribly skilled at. But now you can access a lot of things very easily by going straight from the menus. I'll be working on this more, but it may take me a while since I'm focusing on Bout of Books this week. Don't panic if you follow a tab to a blank page for now. It will get there, I promise. Bear with me...

Now...let's see what else I accomplished this week...

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I had been looking forward to reading Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell for quite some time. I had been hearing about it everywhere. It was totally the book of the moment. And everyone kept singing its praises. I knew I needed to get my hands on it.

And then I read it. And I was a disaster. This book completely ripped me apart, you guys. My heart was squeezed and beaten. There was raw emotion all over the place. Uncontrollable feels...oh, the feels...

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

...Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

...He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star crossed sixteen-year-olds - smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

-Goodreads 

Blackbird by Melanie Schulz

Did you ever have one of those days where you felt like you were forgetting something all day long and just couldn't figure out what it was until it was almost too late? Ya...today was that day. It was bugging me from the moment I woke up, but I couldn't figure it out. Until just a few minutes ago...when I sat down to check off today's post from the blog planner...and realized that I hadn't written it. Ugh. Dumb. So...I apologize for the lateness of this post today (which should have gone up about 18 hours ago), but the good news is that it will still be posted on the 9th as planned. Minor victories...I'll take them.

I met Melanie Schulz online during the A to Z Challenge. She was a fellow blogger participating in the craziness. Each day she would right a small piece of flash fiction based on the letter of the day and providing a bit of back story for the main character in her novel, Blackbird. I didn't find her until just after the midway point (I was picking my way through the list of over 2000 participating bloggers), but once I read her post on day "N", I was hooked. It piqued my interest and I hustled myself right over to Goodreads to read the blurbs on her books, including Blackbird, which she was offering up for review.

Blackbird: Book One in the Newstead Anthem. Steven Raynor is hiding things at a place where nothing gets hidden, at least not without a price. When his junior year starts and he gets stuck with a new roommate, he assumes the time has finally come. But he forgot one thing: At Newstead, there is no cost too high for a traitor. Newstead Anthem is a Saga about a private high school hidden in the Green Mountains of Vermont where one hundred and thirty-three giants are being trained to be tomorrow's rulers, tomorrow's dictators, tomorrow's gods. (Goodreads)

It reminded me a little of the premise from the Fallen series by Lauren Kate, which I had really enjoyed, so I requested a copy. I read Blackbird during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon and I was not disappointed. It was a very good choice for a quick-paced reading challenge. I picked it up and didn't want to put it down.

Bout of Books 10 - Setting Some Goals

Wow. This month is already flying by. It's time to set some goals for Bout of Books 10...which starts MONDAY.

I am super excited to get started!

For those of you not familiar with Bout of Books...

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Where She Went by Gayle Forman is the sequel to her novel, If I Stay. I had actually been looking forward to reading this book for quite a while--ever since I finished the last page of If I Stay. Though many readers felt that it worked well as a standalone novel, I needed more. I needed this sequel.

If you haven't yet read If I Stay, but are planning to...stop reading now. There are bound to be some things you'll learn in this post that will wreck the first book in the series for you. I don't want to be responsible for you happening upon spoilers.

Book of the Year Bracket Challenge Sign-Up

Today was supposed to be a Wordless Wednesday post according to my blog planner, but I just can't help myself.

Instead, I'm announcing the 2014 Book of the Year Bracket Challenge!

What is the BOTY Challenge, you ask?

After posting my Read All the Books post explaining how I do my annual Book of the Year Bracket, Karsyn over at Karsyn's Kickass Jocoserious, Kooky, Jannok Book Blog (KaKiJoKoJa) suggested we make this a group project. I thought that was a wonderful idea. I've been inspired to throw down the gauntlet, host my first very own blogging challenge, and have other blogger-readers join me in creating their own BOTY brackets this year! Let the challenge BEGIN!

You don't have to be a book blogger to participate. Any blogger who reads is welcome to join!

The Undiscovered Goddess by Michelle Colston

The Undiscovered Goddess is the breakout novel by author Michelle Colston. I requested a copy of this book based on the blurb I read over at Goodreads.

Who knew a Cosmo quiz and a bottle of wine could change a woman's life? Holly, housewife and frazzled mother of three, is determined to discredit the lackluster result of a Cosmopolitan magazine quiz. After buying a workbook geared toward helping her find her inner goddess, Holly sets off on a year of self-discovery, journaling through each exercise as she goes. Facing inner demons, yoga, an explosive colon cleans and REALLY spicy curry, the lessons are hard on her emotions, not to mention her digestive system. But does she succeed in the end? Beyond the superficial, what important lessons does Holly's inner goddess have the power to teach her...and what can Holly teach you?

Let me tell you, I loved Holly right off the bat. My first impression was that she actually talks a lot like me. She's full of sarcasm and sardonic wit. She's sassy. I wanted to give her a hug and be her best friend. I was thrilled at the beginning of the novel and couldn't wait to get going.

A to Z Challenge Reflections

I had SO much fun doing the A to Z Challenge this April. It was a really great time for me. I got a lot of crafts up on the blog, added a lot of traffic, and met some great bloggers. Today, I just want to share how the month went for me.

Summary Sunday: Meal Prep Revamp Edition

Well...I'm getting to this a little later than I had planned. It's been a busy weekend.

I spent most of my time getting everything ready for a grocery run. It's the first big one I've done since last August.

This time, I changed things up a bit. It's in the learning curve stage, but I think it's going to work out quite well. Once I run with this procedure one more time to get out the kinks, I'll be sure to share it. It should wind up saving me about six to eight hours of prep and an hour of shopping time. Well worth it.

Today's haul was not bad. I have nearly everything we need for meals until September. I will need to pick up a little bit of produce here and there, along with some dairy. I also need to get some of the meat rounded up. I'm planning on doing that tomorrow. (It's taking a trip to a second store...the prices at my primary store were terrible on anything beef.) As of right now, we're sitting at just under $600. I've saved over $100 in simple couponing. I've changed the way I do that too, so it's less chaotic. We no longer have a newspaper subscription and I get all of my coupons online. I don't use as many coupons, but it's pretty close. And the prep work takes me a lot less time.

Anywho...how about we get this show on the road and see what I accomplished this week?

I Was Nominated for a Liebster Award!

A couple of weeks ago, I received a comment from the lovely Alix over at Kreativ77. (Go check out the stuff she and Chelsea manage to come up with over there. It's pretty darned good.) She was nice enough to nominate me for a Liebster Award. I was actually initiallly nominated for this award a couple of years back, but things have severely changed over here at EPJ since then, so I jumped on the chance to accept her nomination. I had to delay posting it for a bit since I was wrapped up in my A to Z challenge, but now the time has come.

Read ALL the Books!

Well, happy May! We ushered it in over here with some very lovely sunshine. It was great...even if I only got to experience it for a short period of time since I was at work. I'm hoping that I'll have some time this weekend to hang out in the nice weather and maybe put some sun on my super pasty legs.

Now that we've left the craziness that was the A to Z Challenge, it's time to shift gears. That means shifting themes. I'll be making a pretty big transition for this month, moving my focus from individual projects to one project...books. That's what May is going to be all about. It's the first of my two book-themed months. (The second one is August.)

What does that mean? Well, basically I'll be doing a LOT of book reviews and I'll be participating in Bout of Books 10 from May 12th through the 18th. I'm pretty excited about that.

Today, how about a little warm up? Maybe a Book of the Year update? I think so.

April Month in Review

Whoa. What a crazy month. Let me tell you...that A to Z Challenge was insane. I had a ton of fun though. I'll definitely be doing it again next year. I will be posting an A to Z reflections post regarding the challenge on next Monday, the 5th...yup...Cinco de Mayo.

If you missed any of the projects from last month's A to Z...here's a link list for you: