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2026 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


30 / 30 bookish books. 100% done!

2026 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

2026 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


46 / 50 books. 92% done!

2026 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (2)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (8)
- Colorado (2)
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- Delaware
- Florida (3)
- Georgia (1)
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- West Virginia
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- Wyoming(1)
- Washington, D.C.*

International:

- Australia (7)
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- Canada (3)
- England (24)
- Fiji (1)
- France (1)
- Ireland (3)
- Italy (2)
- Mexico (1)
- Morocco (1)
- New Zealand (1)
- Norway (1)
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- The Bahamas (1)
- Vatican City (1)

My Progress:


43 / 51 states. 84% done!

2026 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


25 / 25 books. 100% done!

2026 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

My Progress:


34 / 50 books. 68% done!

Booklist Queen's 2026 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


40 / 52 books. 77% done!

2026 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


37 / 52 books. 71% done!

2026 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


25 / 40 books. 63% done!

2026 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


30 / 51 cozies. 59% done!

2026 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge

2026 Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


25 / 25 books. 100% done!

2026 Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


45 / 52 books. 87% done!

Shelf Reflection Candy Reading Challenge for Kids (and Adults)

My Progress:


59 / 65 books. 91% done!

2026 Countdown Reading Challenge

My Progress:


55 / 55 books. 100% done!

2026 Series Reading Challenge


25 / 36 books. 69% done!

Dragon Rambles' Law of Fives Bingo

Dragon Rambles' Law of Fives Bingo

My Progress:


74 / 125 books. 59% done!

2026 Southern Literary Reading Challenge

My Progress:


18 / 20 books. 90% done!

2026 Reading Challenge (by Linz the Bookworm)

My Progress:


41 / 60 books. 68% done!

2026 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge

2026 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge

My Progress:


10 / 40 books. 25% done!

European Reading Challenge 2026

My Progress:


7 / 50 books. 14% done!

2017 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge (retired challenge - doing old boards for fun)

My Progress:


80 / 125 books. 64% done!

2026 Reading Challenge Addict Reading Challenge

My Progress:


4 / 5 challenges. 80% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


98 / 100 names. 98% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


76 / 80 skills. 95% done!
Saturday, February 15, 2014

Skinny: It's About More Than Just The Pounds

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Ever Davies knows she's fat.  The 15-year-old weighs over 300 pounds, so it's not like she's surprised when someone calls her an elephant or a whale or a freak or whatever.  Not that the words don't wound—of course they do—but she's so used to hearing the labels that she hardly notices anymore.  Besides, if real people aren't calling Ever names, she's got Skinny—the constant, nagging voice in her head—reminding her that she's an out-of-control blob who will never be loved.  Ever's so used to living (if you can call it that) this way, she's almost given up trying to change things.  What's the point?  As Skinny is so quick to note, Ever is too pathetic and helpless to do anything right.  

After a humiliating experience at school, Ever's finally had enough.  Determined to gain some control over her life, she embarks on a risky journey to slim down, get healthy and prove to the world that she's someone worth noticing.  And yet, even as the pounds melt off, Ever can't stop hearing Skinny's snarky criticism.  Is it possible that Skinny's been right all along?  Is Ever destined for failure, no matter how hard she works?  Is she really too worthless to bother with—or can Ever find something inside herself that's worth saving, even celebrating?  Most importantly, what will happen when she reaches her weight loss goal?  Will Ever Davies finally be happy? 

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I wanted to read more books about obesity, especially about teens who struggle with the issue.  An author friend of mine mentioned that she'd heard good things about Skinny, a debut novel by Donna Cooner.  Cooner, who's written picture books, textbooks and children's television shows, is also a former gastric bypass patient—obviously, weight loss is something with which she's intimately familiar.  That insider's view makes Ever's fight for control over her body an authentic and poignant one.  Cooner's personal experience with bariatric surgery also makes for a story peppered with interesting details about the process.  All of that kept me interested.  What annoyed me about Skinny, though, is its lack of a well-defined central conflict.  Ever's goal is to lose weight, yes, but since the pounds are "magically" disappearing via surgery, she achieves what she wants a little too easily for my tastes.  I want to see a hero or heroine really struggle to attain the story goal, and Ever really doesn't that much.  Yes, she still has to banish the voice in her head (which, really, is the point of the story), but still ... the central conflict didn't feel like that big of a conflict, in my *humble* opinion.  In the end, while I appreciated Cooner's realistic look at a teen undergoing weight loss surgery, Skinny just didn't quite satisfy me. 

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Butter by Erin Jade Lange and 45 Pounds [More or Less] by K.A. Barson)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for brief, mild language

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Skinny from the generous folks at Scholastic.  Thank you!
Friday, February 14, 2014

A Love-Filled Valentine's Vlog

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday full of love.  As a special V-Day treat, I have Holly Schindler visiting today.  I talked about the author yesterday, so we're just going to continue on with the Holly-love.  Holly's prepared a little vlog for us about the part love plays in her new middle grade book, The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky.  Since she does a great job explaining what the story's all about, I won't bother with a plot summary.  You get to hear it straight from the author herself!

I haven't had a chance to read The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky yet, but it sounds like a sweet, empowering story.  I'm excited to see what it's all about!

Holly's put together a blog tour for the book that's full of fun posts.  Click on the icon below to follow along:


Thursday, February 13, 2014

Cover Reveal: Feral by Holly Schindler

I first heard the name Holly Schindler back in 2010, when the generous folks over at Flux sent me an ARC of her debut novel, A Blue So Dark.  The taut YA drama about a teen dealing with her mother's schizophrenia touched me, while convincing me that this author was one to watch.  Schindler's sophomore novel, Playing Hurt, also impressed me.  Tomorrow, I'm going to talk a little about her recently published middle grade novel, but today I'm excited to be a part of the cover reveal for Schindler's fourth novel, Feral:


Oooh, it's so mysterious and intriguing.  I love it!

And here's a plot summary for Feral, which will release from Harper Collins on August 26, 2014:

It’s too late for you. You’re dead.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Those words float through Claire Cain’s head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal beating. And the words continue to haunt her months later, in the relentless, terrifying nightmares that plague her sleep. So when her father is offered a teaching sabbatical in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out of Chicago, away from the things that remind her of what she went through, will offer a way to start anew.                                                                                                                                                                                      
But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire quickly realizes something is wrong—the town is brimming with hidden dangers and overrun by feral cats. And her fears are confirmed when a popular high school girl, Serena Sims, is suddenly found dead in the icy woods behind the school. While everyone is quick to say Serena died in an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it—for she was the one who found Serena, battered and most certainly dead, surrounded by the town’s feral cats.                                                                                                                                       
Now Claire vows to learn the truth about what happened, but the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to discovering a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley.                                                                                                                                                                                  
With an eerie setting and heart-stopping twists and turns, Holly Schindler weaves a gripping story that will make you question everything you think you know.

Sounds like a perfect Halloween read.  I don't know about you, but I can't wait.  I love the always versatile Holly Schindler and I'm anxious to see what she does with this newest book!

What do you think about the cover?  The plot?  Does it look and sound like something you might find interesting?

If it does, be sure to add it to your Goodreads bookshelf and pre-order yourself a copy from Amazon or your favorite bookstore.  
Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Innocence: I Didn't See That Coming

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Sometimes the jacket copy on a book is so succinct, so scintillating in its simplicity that it's absurd to try to rewrite it in my own clumsy way.  I'm not much for reinventing the wheel, so I give you the professionally-written plot summary for Innocence, Dean Koontz's newest mystical thriller:

He lives in solitude beneath the city, an exile from society, which will destroy him if he is ever seen.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   She dwells in seclusion, a fugitive from enemies who will do her harm if she is ever found.                                                                                                                                           But the bond between them runs deeper than the tragedies that have scarred their lives.  Something more than chance—and nothing less than destiny—has brought them together in a world whose hour of reckoning is fast approaching.

Lovely, right?  I think the text offers a perfect boiling-down of a novel that's actually very difficult to describe.  Like Koontz's popular Odd Thomas books, Innocence is a mix of mystery, mysticism and otherworldly suspense.  It's a strange tale, confusing at times, beautiful at others.  Overall, it held my interest while making me very curious to see just what made the main characters so repugnant to society.  The answer was one I really did not see coming.  At all.  I loved the big reveal—it surprised and delighted me, while making me ponder my own beliefs.  I didn't adore every aspect of this novel, but overall, I enjoyed it.  

(Readalikes:  Reminded me of Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz)

Grade:  


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for language (no F-bombs), violence, and adult subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find
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