Meeting Goals & My #1 Book of 2017 (December Book Wrap-Up)

Guys, it's the last day of 2017. What happened? This year breezed right on by! We're looking at entering 2018 tomorrow. Crazy. I have a lot to cover in one post, so let's get to it, shall we?

Writing
After NaNoWriMo ended I told myself I didn't have to do any more writing on Follow the Raven in the first week of December if I didn't want to. As it turned out I did end up writing another 2,000 words a few days after the finish line, so the story is currently sitting at 52.2k. I optimistically hoped I could finish the entire thing before the New Year, but obviously that didn't happen. I don't have much left to write; that will have to be done in 2018 at this point. Regardless, I'm very proud of myself for having rewritten 95% of it and thus completing 95% of my 2017 New Year's Resolution. It's a huge accomplishment for me, and I'm (mostly) looking forward to the editing/revision process during the "Now What?" months, which I plan to participate in for the first time starting in January.

As for Wattpad, I am very happy to say that I've successfully released a chapter a week since my newest story's initial release in late November! "The Dimension Keepers" has taken off in a way none of my previous stories on Wattpad have before; my readers seem really excited about the new direction I'm taking Kay's journey. I can't wait to see their reactions to certain upcoming events next month. My current stats for this latest book are 242 reads, 33 votes, and 15 comments.

Reading
While November is primarily focused on writing, December (for me) is primarily focused on reading. I managed to finish six books this month - just in time for 2018 - which makes 50 books total for the year! For the first time ever, I completed my Goodreads reading challenge! I told you all this was the year! I did it! :D

• Psion by Joan D. Vinge
• Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
• A Hero for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
• Lock and Mori: Final Fall by Heather W. Petty
• What Light by Jay Asher
• A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

**Spoilers Ahead**

Considering the amount of praise Everything, Everything has received, I expected much more from it than what I got. The story sounded promising in the beginning. It was a unique concept: A girl allergic to life outside her home falls for the boy next door and risks everything to be with him. Only...not. Because as it turned out, the whole premise was one big lie to both the protagonist and the readers. The author chose such a cop-out ending for the story. I was so disappointed that she felt the need to have a happy ending rather than continue down the dangerous road she had previously set up for her main character. What began as a YA romance that promised uniqueness ended up being exactly the same as the rest of its kind, and I just don't understand how so many people can give high praise to an ending that makes it feel like you as the reader were lied to as well. I'm not really inclined to read this author's other book because of this.

The long-anticipated ending to the Lock and Mori trilogy was finally released in late November, which meant my library got it in early December for me to start reading. I was so excited going into Final Fall; I couldn't wait to find out how everything went down and how loose ends would be tied up and whatnot, since this was only meant to be a trilogy. So you can probably imagine my surprise when I held the book in my hands for the first time and discovered that it was only 200 pages - shorter than either of its predecessors. I had no clue how the author was going to fit everything there was to fit in 200 pages, especially once I started reading and Mori was still imprisoned 70 pages in. I really shouldn't have doubted, though, because if I've learned anything about Heather Petty as an author it's that she knows what she's doing. Mori resolved her evil father problem halfway through the book, and the other half was about her trying to get the heck out of London while avoiding the police and Sherlock himself, as he finally began to turn on her once he saw who she was becoming.

There were a lot of things I really appreciated about this book. First and foremost being that Sherlock and John Watson (who only made cameos in the first two books) FINALLY began to hang out together. That happened at some point during the five months Mori was away, and I cannot tell you how much I fangirled when she realized Lock was spending time with John in her absence. Another thing I appreciated was how much we really began to see the classic Moriarty in Mori with this book. Not only that, but we got to see how and why she became such a bad person by the end of it all. And what she did to Sherlock in the end! Man! I never saw that coming. Lock, too, really began to become the true Sherlock Holmes by the end of the series; I even noticed that as things became worse between the two of them Mori stopped referring to him as Lock and began to call him Sherlock again. I don't know if that was intentional, but either way it was expertly done.

However there were a couple of things I didn't care for with this novel as well. First being that - as I mentioned before - so much of the first half of this book was Mori imprisoned, being snarky to her captors, and trying to find a way out. She didn't actually escape until after 70 pages of what I felt to be unnecessarily drawn-out content. Then when she did finally get back to London, she solved her evil father problem almost immediately, without really having to fight him much. I thought that was a bit anticlimactic, given the plots of the first two books. I also didn't care for how much back and forth internal dialogue was going on with her. I could understand why some of it needed to be there - I think she realized she was becoming the person she hated but knew it had to be done - but she would have her mind made up about something and then two seconds later she'd read a postcard and suddenly she was changing her mind again. Her internal dialogue just felt confused and unnecessary most of the time.

Finally - and seriously, I think this is the biggest thing that stands out to me right now - there was a line in this book that was never explained. Like, a really, really important, you-cannot-overlook-this line concerning John Watson. I don't want to give too much away, but Mori mentioned that as it turned out she would have to apologize/answer to every citizen in London for making Sherlock who he was, except for John. And that was never explained! By the end of the book there wasn't even an epilogue detailing what happened to her after she did what she did in the end. If this was only meant to be a trilogy, considering how different the Sherlock/Moriarty rivalry is in this alternate universe where Mori is a female AND when their rivalry begins when they're teens instead of adults, you can't just assume your readers are going to know what that means. Of course I have an idea of what she meant by that line - I'm a Sherlockian, after all - BUT it was so massively important that I seriously think that Heather Petty needs to write one more book just to explain what she meant by it. It implies so many things about what became of Mori after the trilogy ended that I just...I need an explanation! Please!

Despite these complaints - and my desperate desire to see what became of these two after this trilogy ended - I really, really enjoyed Lock and Mori. I reread the reviews I wrote for the first two, and I think it's interesting that I didn't think Sherlock was really in character way back in the beginning. Of course he wasn't - nothing had happened to make him the Sherlock we know yet. By the time all three books were over I think we got a really great look at how things would be different for Sherlock and Moriarty had one of them been female instead, and I absolutely loved this series. I want to own these books. I want them on my shelves. Without a doubt, this was the best young Sherlock I've read to date. Well done, Heather Petty.

My Top Books of 2017

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for! Below is a list I've compiled of books I chose as the best of the bunch I read in 2017. I will say before you read the titles that this list was way harder for me to put together than last year's. In 2016 six books managed to get a 5/5 star rating from me, which made the list obvious and easy. This year only two books managed that, while there were 15 runners-up that got a 4/5 from me. I had to narrow down my options quite a bit, and it was not easy, but after contemplating it for several days I am satisfied with what I've chosen. They all earned their place at the top, that's for sure.

(Note: I have not listed the Skulduggery Pleasant books I read this year - the first of which gained a 5/5 while the others got 4/5 - for the sake of discluding the obvious. But I did definitely enjoy all of them!)

The first two on this list are the 5/5 star books. I also decided to count the first three books of The Selection as one since they are part of the original trilogy, I read them so close together, and I gave them all the same rating.

• The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
• One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
• Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven
• The Selection #1-3 by Kiera Cass
• Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
• Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Of these seven books, the ONE that I believe is the best book I read this year is One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus. I can't even put into words how brilliant this book is. It captures such real, raw emotion and made me so angry on behalf of each of the four main characters for completely different reasons, as they were all so different from each other. I think the best part about it, though, was that the answer to the mystery was staring us all in the face the entire novel, but it wasn't until the author chose to reveal said answer that it all became clear. The title of the book is on point, and it is absolutely, 100% fantastic.

My Goodreads Reading Challenge for 2017 - as with the two years previous - was 50 books. And ladies and gentlemen, I JUST made it to 50 this year. I did it! I finally, finally did it! I am so proud of myself for having made it happen this time around. I knew I would reach the goal sometime! That said, though, I'll be changing up my game plan a little bit in 2018 in terms of reading, for various reasons that I'll detail in another post coming soon. For now, suffice it to say I could not be happier with how 2017 turned out for me, both in reading and writing, and I can't wait to try new things in the New Year!

I'll see you in 2018, everyone. Big things are coming your way! Happy New Year! :D

Reading Like a Boss

I wanted to write a full-length blog post about halfway through the month, but things are so nuts right now with my reading and with Christmas and New Year's coming up that I simply can't find the time to do anything longer than what you'll see here. So just to keep you up to date with things, here is a brief overview of the craziness that has been December so far.

I was fully recovered from the insanity of NaNoWriMo by about December 10, and I ended up writing another 2,000 words of my novel in that time. It's still not finished, but it's pretty close. I'm satisfied with where it is for now.

I gave myself a couple of days at the beginning of the month to just do nothing. No writing, no reading - nothing that would tax my already melted brain. But it wasn't long before I finally picked up a book and started my reading quest. As of the last time I posted something here I was reading Psion and Everything, Everything. I have finished the latter; I'm still about 100 pages away from finishing the former. My review for at least one of those will be in my wrap-up at the end of the month.

After I finished Everything, Everything, though, I got a little overzealous with my reading and...well...I am now currently reading four books at the same time.

Yes, yes, I know I'm crazy. But there is a method to my madness - or at least there was when I decided to go ahead and start reading that fourth book. To be fair to myself I am almost done with two of them, and I'm hoping that even with the craziness of Christmas weekend coming up I'll be able to get a decent amount of reading done. My plan is to finish those two books this week so that I'll only be reading two at once, and then power through a shorter book toward the end of the month to get to my goal of 50. Either way, guys, this is the year - I am actually going to make my Goodreads goal for the first time!

This has been a great year for me in terms of both reading and writing. At this point I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get any more work done on Follow the Raven before the New Year, but all things considered, I did really well at getting 95% of my rewrite done in 2017. (Thank you, NaNoWriMo!) And finally reaching my goal of reading 50 books in a year is an awesome accomplishment to add to my other amazing accomplishment. I'm feeling really good about how 2017 treated me in the realm of books. It's a perfect springboard to try something new next year for both reading and writing! (You'll hear more about that in my wrap-up.)

That said, I'm off to finish my reading goals. I'll be back on December 31 with my wrap-up for the month as well as the year, and I'll get to tell you about my grand bookish plans for 2018 as well. See you next time!

I Freaking Did It (November Book Wrap-Up)

I'm alive! This was yet another NaNoWriMo that was difficult for me (but in a good way) and left me not wanting to do anything for a couple of days. Thus, the late November book wrap-up. But we're here now, and I'm about 50% recovered, so let's get to it!

Writing
Last month I committed to sitting down and writing 50,000 words in 30 days, as I had done three years previous. Once again I emerged victorious and I beat my word count from the previous years, and for the first time ever, I finished NaNoWriMo but not the book I was working on. As it stands right now I estimate I only have a few thousand words left to finish the novel, but my biggest concern as of a few days ago was hitting 50k and validating before midnight on November 30, which I did. I won my fourth year in a row.

My chart above kind of speaks for itself; I started off the first couple of days strong, but then I fell behind and did not catch up again until the very last day when I won. I would say that the first half of the month went fairly well in terms of ease of writing, but as the month drew to a close and I was nearing the climax of the story I found it more and more difficult to sit down and write. I majorly changed the plot at least twice (something I can fix in January and February) and I was writing a lot of excess dialogue and description that I didn't necessarily need just to fill up my word count. And I still didn't finish the actual novel after all that, ironically. By the time it was the last few days of November I simply did not want to sit down and write. Not because I didn't want to write the story but because the deadline was stressing me out and I hated feeling pressured. But as with three years before I made it through and pulled it off in the end.

I think it's safe to say this NaNoWriMo was probably the hardest one I've done so far. The story I was writing was something I have wanted to rewrite for years but never had the discipline or desire to actually follow through with until this year - and even then I wasn't originally planning to write Follow the Raven for this year's NaNo, as you read in my last couple of wrap-ups. The story still isn't entirely figured out, but at least I have a much better feel for my characters than I did before since I opened up my mind a little and let them tell their own story rather than try to control everything myself. And of course, the stress of that deadline wasn't helping as I neared the end of November. But even though this was the hardest NaNo I've done thus far, I think it was also the most rewarding. I finally did something I've wanted to do for years. I only have a few thousand words left to finish my rewrite of Follow the Raven, rather than the daunting entire novel I was staring at a month ago at this time. I'm really proud of the winner's certificate I got this year. It is hanging proudly for all to see. I freaking did it, guys.

In unrelated and smaller news, I also released the prologue and first chapter of my newest Wattpad story, "The Dimension Keepers." It has been received extremely well so far, and I'm so, so excited to really get into this book and introduce a lot of neat things that I think hardcore fans of Sonic will really enjoy. Since we still don't know much about the Boom universe I've taken many creative liberties with this story. There are lots of references and alternate dimension theories coming soon, along with lots and lots of action. (This is a book about war, after all.) This book went live on November 17, and it already has 74 reads, 10 votes, and 5 comments. Crazy! I'm very excited to release more chapters this month and see what my readers think.

Reading
As November was primarily focused on writing, I did not get much reading done at all. Like, at all. There were a couple of days where I just felt really burnt out from writing and decided to read instead, which was refreshing, but ultimately I only managed to finish the two books I'd already started going into NaNoWriMo.

• Too Many Ghosts by Paul Gallico
• The Silver Eyes by Scott Cawthon

Too Many Ghosts was a book I picked up at the library from our sale/donation cart. At the time they had a bunch of older books on there and this was one of three that I picked up over the course of a couple of weeks. I started it in October because I figured it may be some kind of classic ghost story, and it was, in a sense. It took me forever to get through it because the writing was way different from the kind I'm used to reading in today's YA fiction (Too Many Ghosts was published in the 50s), but ultimately I really enjoyed it. The only part that really freaked me out was the beginning, when we didn't yet know it wasn't actually ghosts doing the things that scared everyone in the mansion. Other than that it was just an enjoyable, classic read.

The Silver Eyes, as I explained last month, is one of a couple of books based on the Five Nights at Freddy's game series that scared the crap out of me a couple of years ago when they first came out. I had hoped that the book would be just as scary if not more so, but there were only one or two parts in the entire almost 400 pages that really had me scared or creeped out. The rest was really bad writing that I ended up skimming through because I'm a nerd and I wanted my answers. A lot of my personal questions/theories were answered/confirmed, but now I'm on the fence about whether I want to read the second book as well. Time will tell.

Now that the insanity of National Novel Writing Month is over, I'm going to shift gears this month and focus primarily on reading. I am currently in the middle of two books - Psion and Everything, Everything - which you'll hear more about at the end of this month when I've finished them. GUYS. I am SO close to reaching my goal of 50 books this year. I've had this goal for the past three years and gotten really close the last two, but I seriously think I'm going to make it this time! Once I finish the two books I'm currently reading I'll be at 46/50. I'm so excited; I'm actually going to reach my goal of 50 this year. 2017 is the year! YES!

That said, I'm going to go read. Make sure to check back here at the end of December to see if I made it to 50, and to find out what I believe were the best books I read and/or discovered this year. See you next time!

NaNoWriMo 2017 Update #2

A couple of days ago I got this HUGE burst of competitive writing energy because a friend of mine who is also doing NaNoWriMo has been consistently ahead of me by just a thousand or so words all month and I was finally like, "Enough is enough!" So yesterday I wrote 5,000 words to catch up by a couple of days and surpass her, and I am very proud of myself for now being ahead of her for once! I'm the one who wants to write for a living. Behind behind so much for so long was just sad. But no more!

I'm now finally in the middle of the story, after having passed the 25k mark yesterday during my crazy burst of inspiration, except now I've come to a point where I think I'm a little confused as to what the actual plotline is that I'm following, so most of my writing today has been one of my characters kind of figuring that out for me kinda sorta maybe. I don't know. We'll see. But this alternate-chapters thing has suddenly become difficult where it used to be super easy for the first ten days of this month. (Cale and Amber's chapters finally synced up, by the way - all on their own!) Here's hoping I can pull through and figure things out in time for my characters to start dominating the 30,000s and beyond this Thanksgiving week!

I am determined to stay ahead of my friend from now on. You don't even understand how upsetting it was to be behind someone who hasn't spent her whole life learning how to be a good writer.

I am currently at 27,203 words.

NaNoWriMo 2017 Update #1

I'm pretty sure I've not been this far behind this early on in NaNoWriMo before (with the obvious exception of the year I didn't win), but it's only 7k words. Compared to the 25k I was behind two years ago, I'm SO not worried about it. I'll catch up, no problem. Especially once the story really starts to get underway.

So far I'm still kind of in the beginning stages of Follow the Raven (again), so the story hasn't exactly picked up yet. It's been kind of interesting to switch from the third person in every other version of this story to first person in this current rewrite, because in some ways it's easier and in other ways it's hard to keep up because Cale and Amber started telling their sides of the story at different points in time. So right now Cale is actually talking about what happened before she met Amber while Amber is talking about how she met Cale and what became of that. It's different, but I'm kind of liking it. (Also I've become a master at secret noveling, which is something I've never done before. Most of the writing I did this week was done at work when I had a few spare minutes here and there. My average is 800 words a night. Shh!)

In other news, I'm really stressed about my reading right now because WHY did I think it would be okay for me to go into NaNoWriMo while still in the middle of three books?! I'm almost done with two of them, and I think finishing them will help immensely, but still. WHAT have I done. Help meeeee. I sincerely hope that by the next update I'll only be reading one or maybe two at the same time, because I cannot continue to handle all this stress. XD

I am currently at 8,018 words.

The First DNF of 2017 (October Book Wrap-Up)

Happy Halloween! Hard to believe it's the end of October already, and with NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow November is going to fly on by as well. What a year, already! This month I hosted my very own readathon (which had one other participant besides myself), but despite that I didn't get as much reading done as I would have liked. My NaNoWriMo planning took a complete u-turn, as well. Let's talk about it!

Writing
As NaNo loomed on the horizon this year I knew I truly wanted to focus on Follow the Raven, but at the same time I felt the story was going nowhere, which is why I allowed myself to think of other ides for this November. But once the story hit a standstill and I had some time to think about it, I realized that if I ever, ever want to really get on the road towards publication, I have to put in the effort, even if there are times when I'd rather do anything else. In last month's wrap up I talked to you guys about the novel I'd been planning to write, Star Island. While it is a really fun idea that I hope to give life to later, I ultimately decided not to work on that project this year in favor of sticking to my 2017 New Year's Resolution of rewriting Follow the Raven, which is the novel I hope to have published first. I've done some rethinking and opened my mind up to a few new ideas, and I'm hoping to take those ideas and implement them in the 3.0 draft I'll be writing starting at midnight tonight.

I want Follow the Raven to take center stage until it is done. The biggest issue I've been struggling with recently is that I haven't been able to get through that rewrite. At the end of every November for the past three years, I've had a completed draft of a novel. This year, that draft will be Follow the Raven. After that I'll at least have something to work with, and I can focus more on revising and editing. I'm hoping I can use this year's NaNoWriMo as a springboard for my grander plans down the road.

Reading
In terms of reading, I did manage to finish three books this month and start two others, although that wasn't as much as I was hoping to finish - especially with the readathon that happened last week. My bookworm friend on Goodreads completely left me in the dust with that one, having finished almost three books over the course of seven days. She's awesome. But alas, my slow reading pace plagues me again. Here's what I was able to finish in October:

• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

• The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles by G.S. Denning

• One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

I can't even put into words how amazing A Monster Calls was. I really don't even remember why I picked it up; I think I was trying to be thematic with Halloween coming up and whatnot, searching for books about monsters and ghosts and things. "Monster" is literally in the title, and the synopsis was intriguing, so that's probably what did it. But oh, my goodness, this was so much more than just a monster story. It was so amazing, and so heartbreaking, and just so well done. I absolutely loved the dynamic between the Monster and Conor, and how their relationship grew over the course of the novel. I don't want to spoil too much, but I will say that this is the first book in a while that has made me cry in a good way.

The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles was the second book in the Warlock Holmes series. You may recall last year at about this time how I was raving about the first book and couldn't wait for the second and so on. I was super excited for this second book because the case of the Baskervilles has always been my favorite Sherlock mystery, and I was curious to see how the author of Warlock Holmes would parody it. Ultimately, though, while I thought it definitely had its moments (Warlock's backstory was outstandingly well done), I feel like I was just hoping for...more. I mean, it was decent, but I feel like I trudged through the last 150 pages or so because there was just so much happening all at once and it was too difficult to try and keep up with. The hell-hound itself was a straight-up disappointment (although the way it came into being was brilliant), and all the smaller mysteries that came before the primary story seemed kind of pointless. I don't know. It was still a fun read, but when it came to the Baskervilles mystery I feel like I was left wanting more, and not in a good way. With that said, however, I am definitely going to read book three next year.

I'm not sure I can go into a lot of detail about One of Us Is Lying without also having to go on a rant/rave, so I'll try to keep this brief. I chose this audiobook for October because it was a murder mystery (again, I thought it was thematic). In short, this book was incredible. I could only read it in spurts because it made me so mad in all the best ways; the injustice of what was happening to the four main characters was just too much on top of all the personal crap each of them were going through. And when it all came together in the end...oh my goodness. I cannot recommend this book enough. It was absolutely, without a doubt, completely and 100% fantastic. 

(Side Note: The narrators for this book were all pretty good; I was impressed with the voice of Cooper for not trying to go over-the-top with the Southern accent. And I actually just found out that the guy who voiced Nate also voices Olly's part in the audiobook for Everything, Everything which, coincidentally, is the next audiobook I've chosen to listen to. That was not planned! Haha!)

Now it's time to talk about the title of this blog post. I am sorry to say that for the first time this year (and longer, for that matter), I had to DNF a book that I'd planned to read this month. That book was The Farm by Emily McKay. The really sad part is I'd had my eye on this book for years - literally, years. The premise sounded really good, and I think if the right author had done it it would have been good. But Emily McKay simply could not pull it off. Not just because of how unbelievable a lot of things were, but because of the awful writing and how unlikeable the main character was. I cannot begin to describe to you how terrible the writing was. It was like reading a fanfiction that was trying too hard to be canon. The way the characters spoke to each other was cringeworthy at best, and the main character (I don't even remember her name now) would NEVER let anyone else talk. She'd interrupt them when they were trying to explain something important to her, asking a bunch of sarcastic questions, and then a few pages later she'd be all mad because "no one told me about this." Well DUH. She was just not a character I felt I could get behind. Also the author decided to write from multiple POVs, which is fine, but every time she got to Carter's POV she wrote in the third person. That doesn't even make sense! And having chapters from Carter's POV completely ruined the suspense of the novel, because everything was revealed right away, so there was no mystery as to why he was acting the way he was.

It was just bad writing all around, a really awful main character, and an unbelievable story. (Like, the Ticks invaded less than a year before the start of this novel, yet everyone is now suddenly calling the pre-invasion "The Before?" Not that fast, they wouldn't. Maybe five or six years down the line, but less than a year? No one would call it "The Before." They'd just say "before." Come on.) I was really sad about it, but I just did not feel like powering through something so poorly written, so I DNF-ed at 112 pages in. Better luck next time, McKay. (Also this book was published by an imprint of Penguin. HOW.)

As I said earlier, I started two other books in addition to the ones I actually finished this month. I just couldn't get to the 100 pages or less mark in time for them to count for October's wrap-up, so you'll see them next month. I am currently reading Too Many Ghosts by Paul Gallico and The Silver Eyes by Scott Cawthon. The former is kind of slow, but still interesting. I'm liking it so far. The latter is something I tried to get my hands on last year at this time but couldn't; I'm just over 100 pages in and it's just now getting to the part that may actually be scary. If you don't know, Scott Cawthon is the guy who created the Five Nights at Freddy's games, and this book is supposed to be based in that world / provide some extra story behind the animatronics being so hell-bent on murder. The FNAF series scared me when it came out initially, but now I'm kind of used to it. I hope the book will change my mind about that. We'll see!

As for the readathon, I already mentioned above but despite my constant posting about it on Twitter and even here on my blog, only one other person joined me in my quest to read three horror novels in a week. And, as mentioned above, she blew me away. I didn't even touch the third book I had lined up, and I barely got started with the other two. Ah, well. It was fun to try, and I'll probably do it again next year just for the heck of it. Haha!

Now...on to National Novel Writing Month! :D


Note: I apologize if the format of this blog is wonky for some of you. I don't know what happened to Blogger as I was editing this but it suddenly decided to change the font and text size of certain paragraphs on me and I had to do some work to get it back to looking mostly normal. Technology, right?

I'm Hosting a Readathon!

That's right! Last month in my book wrap-up I briefly mentioned that I had decided to host a readathon, despite how small I anticipate it being. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, I absolutely love Halloween, and I also love reading. I thought it would be fun to have a horror-themed readathon in the week leading up to Halloween for those who enjoy a good scary story, and also for those (like me) who are planning on doing NaNoWriMo next month and will have little to no time for reading. Second, I thought it would be fun to try and take the reins for once, so to speak. I've participated in a lot of readathons but I've never hosted one until now, and it got me really excited to try it out. It may just be me and my bookworm friend Kailey, but hey, it will be fun either way.

All that said, bear with me here, as this is my first time hosting a readathon and I've yet to work out any kinks.

Dates
The official name for this readathon is inspired by my friend Kailey, who came up with it after I informed her that someone else had beaten me to the original name I had in mind. Thus I present to you the Hallowreader's Marathon of Monsters! This year's readathon will take place from Monday, October 23 - Sunday, October 29, starting of course at midnight on the 23rd and ending at midnight on the 30th, in your respective time zones.

Challenges
As this is the first year I'm doing this, I've come up with three challenges for participants:

• Read a classic horror story (Dracula, Turn of the Screw, Frankenstein, etc.)
• Read a horror story that was published this year
• Read the horror story that has been on your TBR/WTR the longest

Of course if you want to try the classic "seven books, seven days" challenge you can feel free to do that, as well as any other personal challenges you come up with. These are just the "official" ones which are, of course, completely optional. The point is just to read scary stuff!

How to Join
If you're interested in joining this readathon and are a member of Goodreads, you can find the link to the group I've created for this event here. The only reason I've made this group private is so I can keep track of who joins, basically. There's no criteria; just ask to join and I'll make it happen!

If you don't have a Goodreads account or are simply not interested in joining the official group, just tag me on Twitter (@ForeverMobian) letting me know you're interested. If you want to go ahead and follow me, too, that will be a good way to keep up with any further readathon info, as well as a way to share TBRs and other challenge ideas and etc. (Fair warning - if you follow my Twitter be prepared for lots of nerdy fangirling and some ranting.) Depending on how many people join I may host some reading sprints, too. We'll see!

If you would prefer to do neither of the above, you can also comment on this blog post to let me know you're in.

I'm very excited to host this readathon and see how it goes! It may be a total flop, but I'll have fun with it either way. I've got at least one other person joining me. That has to count for something, right? I look forward to seeing if anyone else is interested in this very first Hallowreader's Marathon of Monsters!

What Happened to September? (September Book Wrap-Up)

I swear I blinked and September was over. I was so excited for it to get here because it means fall and cooler weather and cozy days indoors with hot chocolate, but it all happened too fast, and now we're entering October! Yikes! I feel like I didn't get a lot done this month, but looking back on it now I think I did all right. This always seems to be the time of year where I start to lag a little bit in terms of both reading and writing. Compared to last year at this time I'm definitely ahead of the game.

Writing
In lieu of working on Follow the Raven, I've begun planning for NaNoWriMo 2017! September and October are both prep months for the main event in November, and I spent most if it initially listing stories I was interested in, then narrowing down my choices to six, then to three, and finally choosing the one I think I'm going to stick with. The working title for it is Star Island. I'll tell you more as I develop and plan more. I think it goes without saying that I'm very excited for this year's NaNo!

Alas, "Everything Changes" over on Wattpad has come to a close. Yesterday I released the final chapter and epilogue of the story, which were both received extremely well. My readers are excited for the next book (which I'll be releasing in November), and I'm excited to finally get into the more action-packed parts of Kay's newest adventure. (And don't worry - I have a plan for balancing both this story and my actual novel in November. I've thought ahead.) My stats for this story have currently rested at 2,821 reads; 224 votes; and 62 comments.

Reading
I feel like this was a slow reading month for me. I didn't get as much reading done as I would have liked, but the books that I did read were all very good in their own ways.

• Mortal Coil by Derek Landy
• The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
• Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
• The Siren by Kiera Cass

It took me the entire month of September to finish Mortal Coil, which is the fifth book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series. I can't even really explain why. I think it was a combination of it being just shy of 600 pages and the fact that I had fairly flown through the first four books to get to that one. Either way I think I've reached some sort of Skulduggery Pleasant burnout (even though I would never have thought it possible) and I've decided to revise my initial goal of reading the entire series by the end of the year. At this point I'd like to at least finish book six, which will be the end of the second arc in the series. I feel like that's much more manageable and less stressful at this point in time, and in a way I'll still be completing some part of the series, at least.

With all of that said, I enjoyed Mortal Coil. It was much darker than the rest of the books before it, but I liked it more because of that. Valkyrie had a lot of character development in this one, and the primary threat was much bigger and more dangerous than ever before as the book neared its end. I'm really intrigued by the concept of the Death Bringer and I'm curious to see how Valkyrie is going to handle it all.

The Love Interest is a book that I added to my WTR the instant I saw it on Goodreads back in April. Then, while on vacation in the Yellowstone area, I saw it sitting on the shelf at the town's public library and I was like, "Heck yeah, I'm getting that!" So I checked it out while on vacation and then brought it home with me to read, since it was from another library in the state and I was allowed to do that. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. I loved the unique - very unique - spin on the classic love triangle story and the fact that it was told from the perspective of one of the guys instead of the girl. I felt like I was being introduced to the love triangle trope for the first time, in a way. I absolutely loved it and I'm so on board with whatever this author comes up with next.

Howl's Moving Castle and The Siren were both books that were a) from my TBR and b) audiobooks I listened to this month. I had watched the movie Howl's Moving Castle as a kid but never really understood what was going on. My roommate in college and now best friend is a huge anime fan and so when she and I saw the book sitting on the shelf at Hastings before it closed down, I gave it a second look and she convinced me to buy it. I put off reading it for a while, but when I finally did I couldn't get enough of it. Oh my goodness this book was so amazing. I loved absolutely everything about it, and the narrator was fantastic! I love Howl and Sophie so much, and now that I've listened to the book I want to try and find the movie to watch again so I can compare the two and see if I understand it any better now that I'm older and have read the book it was based on.

Earlier this year I read the first three books of The Selection series by Kiera Cass and absolutely loved them. They were amazing in all the right ways. So when I saw The Siren sitting on the shelf at a little bookstore in the Yellowstone area, it only took a moment for me to decide I wanted it. I not only loved the audiobook version of this novel (with yet another fantastic narrator), I completely fell in love with the entire story because of how incredibly unique and pure it was, just as The Selection series had been. To date I've rated every book I've ever read from Kiera Cass four stars, and I think she's quickly becoming a new favorite author for me. (Plus I just recently found out that she's a woman of the faith in a mainstream publishing world, which is absolute goals, so I admire her doubly for that.) I fully intend to read the rest of The Selection series (with America's daughter) as soon as I can, and I'm super excited to see what Kiera Cass comes up with next.

That's all I have for September, but I have big reading (and writing) plans for October! I have no idea if anyone besides myself and my bookworm friend Kailey will even be interested in doing this, but I've officially decided to host my first readathon! I initially was going to call it Halloreadathon, but as it turns out, that's already been taken. So I'll have to come up with a new name. The readathon will take place from October 23-29, and there are three challenges that go along with it. The overall goal is to read a bunch of horror novels (in the spirit of Halloween) and to get those last minute books in before the craziness of NaNoWriMo starts in November. I'll be posting a full, in-depth overview of this readathon here on Endless Possibilities very soon, but in the meantime if you're interested in joining feel free to let me know! (I may or may not be stating a Goodreads Group for it. We'll see.)

Anyway, that's all she wrote, folks! See you in October! :D

Epic Reads Book Tag (August Book Wrap-Up)

Before we begin this book update I'd like to state for the record that I was gone for a week in the early part of August on vacation to the Cody / Yellowstone area, and then for another two days last weekend for an overnight trip to Montana. Therefore I got less reading and writing done this month, and I'm actually okay with that. It was nice to take a breather for a while.

Writing
Let's not talk about Follow the Raven.

Once again this month I only posted one chapter of "Everything Changes," but I daresay it was the most popular chapter I've released of this story so far. A lot of people are really on board with the direction I'm taking the story, and I couldn't be happier about it! I can't wait to see how they react when we get to the cliffhanger ending next month when I wrap up the story. (Yes, sadly, this book is drawing to a close.) My current stats are 2,504 reads; 202 votes; and 54 comments.

Reading
While I am even further along in my Skulduggery Pleasant readthrough now, because I took so much time off this month I was unable to complete book five in time for it to count for August (as there are more than 100 pages left for me to read at this time). You'll get to see my full thoughts on it next month, but in the meantime, these are the books I did manage to complete:

• Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
• Matched by Ally Condie
• Invasion of the Overworld by Mark Cheverton

Grave Mercy is the most recent audiobook I listened to, and it was so long that it took me two months to get through it (14 hours!). At one point I almost DNF-ed it, but I decided to push through and I'm really glad I did. It was good, albeit kind of difficult to keep up with all the names and whatnot while listening vs. actually reading the thing. The thing I liked most about it was that it was more than just a love story, and at that it really wasn't even a love story. It was a political story, and love just happened to come along. It was a nice change of pace.

Matched is an audiobook I listened to while I was on vacation, and I'm proud to say I finished the entire thing while I was out of town. I knew we'd be in the van a lot driving around, especially in Yellowstone, so I figured I'd give on-the-road-audiobooking a try, and it worked out well! The story was good, the narrator was great, and I'm totally down for listening to the other two as well.

The story of how I came to own Invasion of the Overworld is both funny and kind of sad. A few years ago I got this book for my brother for Christmas, in what ended up being my last-ditch attempt to get him to like reading. He was really into Minecraft at the time, and I liked the idea of the book because it's basically published fanfiction. (And as you know, I'm a fanfic author myself.) I figured I'd be appealing to his interests that way, but it ultimately didn't work. He read all of about ten pages in the three years he owned the thing, and then earlier this year he was cleaning out his room and asked if I wanted the book since he'd decided he didn't anymore. Of course I took it, and added to to my TBR. Fast forward a handful of months later, and now I've read it, and it was actually not bad! It was a fun, quick, easy read, and I really think he would have liked it too had he given it a chance. C'est la vie.

As I mentioned earlier I'm not far enough into Mortal Coil (SP #5) to put it in this wrap-up, but I am a little under halfway through it at the moment and very much enjoying it! This one is darker than the first four were, and I'm loving that. I can't wait to see where this all goes, since the title of the next book is Death Bringer. Check back here at the end of September for my full thoughts on both. :)

Epic Reads Book Tag

1) If you could invite one author and one of their fictional characters to tea, who would you invite and what would you serve them?

• I'm going with the first thing that came to mind here. So I'd invite Julie Kagawa and either Megan or Ash from her Iron Fey series, and I'd most likely serve them spaghetti, since that's one of very few dishes I can make well. (Don't judge me!)

2) What book do you wish the author would write a prequel for and what would the main storyline be?

• I'm not a big fan of prequels, except in extremely rare cases.

3) Which two characters (not from the same book) do you think would make a good couple?

• Puck from the Iron Fey series and Sybella from the His Fair Assassin trilogy. They were the first two to come to mind and honestly, I think the whole opposites-attract thing would totally work for them.

4) If you ran into your favorite author on the subway and could only say one sentence to them, who is it and what would it be?

• It would be Derek Landy, and I would say, "Thank you so much for Skulduggery Pleasant." Maybe cliche, but if I could only say one thing, it's what I'd tell him.

5) What book made you a reader and why?

• I've been reading my whole life, even before I could remember. I'm pretty sure there was no one book that set me on that path; I just loved books in general from the very beginning.

6) Your bookshelf just caught on fire! Choose the one book you save.

• Just one?! Honestly, I have a lot of really great, rare edition books I'd like to save if possible. But if I really only could choose one, I would probably go for a specific children's book that my dad had growing up and gave to me when I was a kid. It's old and probably not in print anymore, but it's very precious to me.

7) Which dystopian world would you want to live in if you had to choose one and why?

• I am not a fan of dystopia generally speaking; I never understood how people could get so into it when it was the "big thing" back in the early 2010s. I only ever actually read three or four dystopia novels, and considering my choices I think the gentlest, least-violent one is probably the one I'd go for, and that's Matched by Ally Condie. Although if I were to choose one I haven't read personally but sounds decent, it would be Delirium by Lauren Oliver.

8) What is your most epic read of all time?

• I know what you're expecting to see for this answer, but I'm going to surprise you. My most epic read of all time is actually A Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. I read this book when I was a sophomore in college and it blew me away. It's a masterpiece, and I recommend that everyone read it.

That's the end of my summer of book tags, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this short break from the norm, and maybe learned a few things about my reading preferences along the way. Next month we return to regular book wrap-ups, but keep the same level of excitement about them! See you next time!

Let's Talk About Boys

I feel like this post has been a long time coming. I've just not really wanted to face it head-on or risk receiving criticism and negativity like I did when I told everyone I was taking a break from school. But the longer I keep this in the more lost and hopeless I feel, and I refuse to let my previous relationship ruin all future relationships for me. So...here we go.

Most everyone who knows me knows that from October 2014 to about February of this year I kept having this on-again, off-again relationship with a guy I met on my college campus. We met solely because I happened to be wearing a Sonic shirt that day. He probably never would have given me the light of day otherwise.

I'm not going to go into all the details of what happened after that here. Suffice it to say we hit it off right away, but afterwards things got really bumpy. I'll get straight to the point.

On the outside this guy was everything I could have hoped for, and my parents really liked him. I believe they probably still do. But over the course of the two and a half years I knew him, I began to see who he really was behind closed doors and no matter how hard I tried for the sake of my parents and my church, I just couldn't bring myself to keep at it. There were just too many things about him that didn't line up with what I believe, and weren't what I was looking for in a future provider and father. Despite his perfect exterior when around my parents and the general public, he was not the best to be with in private settings. I think I knew that for a long time, but I didn't really do anything about it until earlier this year.

In January of this year the two of us officially came forward in the church as a courting couple. Courting, not dating. If you want to know the difference go look it up. Educate yourself. I think officially we broke up for the last time in early March, but I knew about a month earlier that I just could not continue to try and see this man anymore. I know my parents were happy about our making it official after two years of on-again, off-again-ness, and that they were bummed when I told them we'd broken up that last time. But in the long run I strongly believe it was the best decision.

The reason I'm giving you this backstory is so you'll have a better understanding of why when I say that despite the fact that he moved out of state in May (finally), this man has completely changed the game when it comes to my personal desire to experience romance and get married one day. He sexually harassed me over and over again, and it has made me less trusting of other guys and of myself.

(Note: Nothing sexual ever truly happened between us, for which I thank the Lord to this day. The harassment always came in the form of unwanted advances, uncomfortable conversation topics that alluded to sex, etc. It was harassment because I repeatedly asked him to stop, but he would only become upset or even angry and blatantly refuse to heed my wishes.)

Because I had encounters like this almost every time I saw him - especially in those last several months - while I look at men my age today with mild interest every now and then, I also have doubts ringing in the back of my mind, saying, "What if he ___?" or "I bet he's into ___, and I'm not." I've even caught myself saying, "You are going to die alone" to my reflection in the mirror. And you know what? I'm sick of it.

One failed relationship does not define whether or not I will have successful ones in the future. Everyone makes mistakes. It happens. We just have to learn from them and move on. I had a bad experience with a boy in high school. I had a really bad experience with a boy in college. But you know what? I've grown from both of those experiences. And I don't want what happened with my ex to have a lasting impression on me and how I perceive other men my age. Or even in general.

Not every man I meet is going to disrespect me like my ex did. Not every man is going to be seemingly picture-perfect, either. And that's okay.

I think the biggest thing that bothers me about this whole ordeal is the fact that my parents still really like the guy I was with. But they don't know about the harassment, and honestly, I doubt they'd believe me if I told them. Especially since I won't tell them exactly how it all went down. Despite what he did to me, I'm not going to openly expose certain things that he shared with me. It would be disrespectful to him, and that's not how I roll. To my parents he was the picture of a good, Christ-following man, and they probably think I missed out. But I know that they won't keep referring to my ex if and when I openly show interest in someone else, no matter how much my mind may tell me otherwise.

And yes, part of the reason I'm writing this all out is because I do have an interest in someone else now. There's a young man in my church whom I've noticed recently, and despite not knowing anything about him (even his name) I would really like to get to know him. He sits on the same side of the sanctuary that I do; we've even shaken hands during the greeting time once. He always comes in alone and sits alone, but he's friendly and isn't shy about going to greet others when the time comes even though at first (I'm assuming) he didn't know anyone. I've watched him pray before every service and get into the worship time. He focuses on the sermon intently; I don't think I've seen him leave the sanctuary during a sermon, ever. All of these things made him stand out to me, and while I can only assume that he's around my age (I'm guessing a couple of years older), I'd like to at least learn his name soon.

I like this guy. And I'd really like it if I didn't feel like I had to hide the fact that I like him for no legitimate reason.

I've been through a lot in the last few years when it comes to boys, and I've walked way often feeling hurt or betrayed or even scarred. And while I do have my doubts and anxieties when it comes to the thought of any future relationships, my hope is that I'll be able to push past them and be able to find happiness with someone in the future. That I'll be able to fall in love again, and have them love me in return. I imagine it will be a beautiful thing.

As a Christ-following woman I have different standards than most when it comes to guys, but I'm not like a lot of women out there who have these ridiculous lists of qualities they require their partners to have. My number one requirement is that he be a truly dedicated Christ-following man; not someone who puts on a show just to convince others. All other qualities or aspects that I tend to prefer in guys are negotiable. In the long run it really doesn't matter if he wears glasses or is taller than me or isn't overly gushy when it comes to romance. In the end what I'm truly looking for is someone who will be a good husband, provider, and father for my children. I don't just want a "bubblegum boy." I want a real, mature man of God.

That being said, I believe I've reached the end of this post and said all I really wanted to say. This is what I've been dealing with recently, but I'm tired of just "dealing." I want to start healing. I'm going to attempt to put myself out there again and maybe learn the name of this guy I've had my eyes on for about a month now. I refuse to let my doubt and fear get the better of me. Starting today, I'm not just telling God about my mountains. I'm telling my mountains about my God.

Passenger Book Challenge (July Book Wrap-Up)

This month I participated in both Camp NaNoWriMo July and the annual BookTubeAThon, and while I feel like I got more writing and reading done than I would have otherwise, I didn't necessarily complete my goals in either event. Still, progress is progress!

Writing
As I'm sure you know, my goal for this session of Camp NaNo was 10k words, as it usually is during the camp months. You may also recall that I strongly felt this was the year I'd win both camps. Well...I'm sorry to say I didn't, but I did get halfway there! I wrote just over 5k of Follow the Raven in July, and I've finally gotten past that scene that was keeping me from moving forward, so I consider that massive progress. I'm feeling much better about it now.

"Everything Changes" was very slow going this month. I only released one chapter. I wanted to go ahead and release the rest of the story in July (since I literally only have three chapters left to post), but things just got kind of crazy with Camp and BookTubeAThon, and I wanted to give those two things priority. So while I may be a bit "behind" now, I feel that I'll be able to wrap up the story in August when I get back from my vacation and move on from there. My current stats are 2,208 reads; 193 votes; and 51 comments. (I find it worthy to note that at one point this month I got over 50 reads on this story in one day. That never happens. I don't know what all the sudden hype was about, but hey, I'm glad people are still liking my content!)

Reading
I'm further along in my Skulduggery Pleasant readthrough now; I'm officially in unread territory! And I have to say, it's been an interesting experience breaking away from the familiarity of the first three books and entering into a whole new arc of bad guys and evil plots and fresh characters. But along with the couple of SP books I read in July, I also read another couple of on-the-side titles as well. Here's what I managed to finish this month:

• The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy
• Beauty and the Beast (Movie Novelization) by Elizabeth Rudnick
• Dark Days by Derek Landy
• Easy by Tammara Webber

As with Playing With Fire from last month, reading The Faceless Ones (SP #3) for the second time was like reading it for the first time in that I really didn't remember a whole lot of the story, save for the very end. The ending I remembered almost exactly, probably because of that cliffhanger I've been clinging to for so many years. But the one thing I really want to note about the third book is that I understood so much more of what was going on this time around and how all the events in the first three books combined led up to the moment when Skulduggery was lost. It all made so much more sense; I really understood the weight and importance of his loss. Thank goodness I had book four to dive into immediately after this time!

Dark Days was really different from the books before it in that Skulduggery didn't show up until almost 100 pages in, whereas he usually made his first appearance in the first chapter of every other book. It just made me miss him more, and helped me realize how messed up things were without him around to keep everyone in line. It was also really different to see him almost totally disoriented and temperamental when he returned from what everyone in the book simply deems as "hell," where he'd been tortured daily and struggled to keep his sanity. He would train his weapons on good guys and spontaneously explode with rage for a while, which was way out of character for him, but I think that it was an accurate change considering what he'd been through. I'm not entirely convinced he's completely readjusted to life on Earth, but I suppose I'll see whether or not that's true as I move on to book five in August.

Passenger Book Challenge
The basic idea of the Passenger Book Challenge is to find/read/recommend books that take place outside of the country you live in. In my case, of course, that's the United States. The challenge was inspired by Passenger by Alexandra Bracken and is over a year old now, but I've been reading way more beyond-USA books as of late so I thought this was a good opportunity to finally do this myself.

1) Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (takes place in Ireland)

• Do I really even need to say why I'm recommending this one at this point? Haha!

2) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (takes place in the Middle East)

• I recommend this book because it is super informative and oh my goodness it messed me up so much, but that's probably a good thing.

3) The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (takes place primarily in Germany)

• I usually hate reading books that talk about the Holocaust, but this one really stood out and I feel like I learned more from it than from any history book. (This one also messed me up.)

4) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (takes place in Africa)

• I didn't know much about African culture before reading this book, and even though it was required reading in college I have a personal copy for myself because I liked it so much.

5) Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan (takes place in Australia)

• I knew nothing about Australian culture, which is exactly why I picked up this book last year. I learned a lot, and it touched on certain details that are usually left out of survival stories, which I very much appreciated.

Honorable Mentions:
These are books that I wanted to have on the above list but disqualified because they are based 1) in a neighbor country, 2) another popular country for books, and 3) not on Earth.

1) The Story of Owen by E.K. Johnston (takes place in Canada)
2) Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Warlock Holmes by G.S. Denning (take place in England)
3) The Word For World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin (takes place off-world)

And with that, I'm off for a vacation to Yellowstone National Park - which I've never been to! Maybe I'll get lucky and see some wolves. If nothing else I'll see Old Faithful. Be back next month!

I Am the Reader Book Tag (June Book Wrap-Up)

My Skulduggery Pleasant readthrough has begun! I am loving this return to the world of Irish magic and sorcerers, and the fantastic banter that comes with Valkyrie Cain's partnership with the skeleton detective. I'll tell you all about my rereading of the first two books in a minute. But first things first!

Writing
Let's not talk about the fact that I didn't do any more writing on Follow the Raven this month either and instead focus on the fact that Camp NaNoWriMo July starts tomorrow! I've set my goal at 10k words again and I will make it! This will be the year that I win BOTH camps in the same year - not to mention the main event in November. I can feel it!

I only posted a couple of chapters of "Everything Changes" this month - both during Sonic and Shadow's birthday week. My readers seem excited about the direction I'm taking the story. If all goes as planned I'll be wrapping up this book in July, since I planned for it to be 20 chapters just like my first Sonic fanfic was and I've already posted 16. My current stats for this story are 1,942 reads; 185 votes; and 45 comments.

Reading
Obviously the highlight of my reading this month was the beginning of my months-long Skulduggery Pleasant readthrough, but I did read a couple of other titles as well. I also didn't get as much reading done as I wanted to this month, but four books is better than none. Here's what I read:

• Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
• The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
• Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
• Playing With Fire by Derek Landy

Crenshaw is a book I picked up at the beginning of the month because I needed something light and fluffy to read to get my mind off of other things. It is a children's book; I finished it in two days. It was cute and really good considering the age group it was targeted at. I also listened to the audiobook version of The Amaranth Enchantment, just to give the audio experience another try with a different story and narrator. It had its moments, but overall I'd say it was fairly predictable and definitely meant for the younger side of the young adult genre. It took me the entire month to get through this eight hour audiobook, as I would go days at a time without the desire to keep listening. Although I never wanted to DNF it. I just didn't force myself to listen to it when I wasn't in the mood is all.

Every word of the first Skulduggery Pleasant book was exactly how I remembered it (of course), and I found myself quoting certain lines out loud before reading them on the page because I am so familiar and in love with them at this point. I enjoyed the journey this time just as much as I did the very first time I read it. I noticed this time, however, that I was picking up on things that had slipped my attention before, and I grew to like characters I used to dislike (aka Tanith Low). I'm curious to see if that will keep up throughout the series.

I've read books two and three only once before, and I've never read books four and beyond (which is why the real reviews and thoughts will come out next month, I think). Reading Playing With Fire for the second time was almost like reading it for the first time in that I remembered certain key events but overall I didn't recall how the story went or how it ended. It was neat to see the character growth in both Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and watch their partnership be tested and strengthened over the course of the 345 pages of the book. I've already begun the next book in the series, but as I'm not even 100 pages in yet I'll save that for next month's wrap-up. Overall, very excited to reread this third installment and then finally move on into uncharted territory!

I Am the Reader Book Tag

1) Name one word that describes being a reader.

• The first word that popped into my mind for this one is "fabulous." Being a reader means you get to escape reality whenever you want, go on awesome adventures of your own choosing, live a thousand lives, meet hundreds of people you never would otherwise, learn new things about a variety of topics, and so on. It's just...fabulous.

2) What's the very first book you fell in love with?

• The first book that I can vividly remember loving and devouring over and over is F Is For Freedom by Roni Schotter. The American Civil War era has always been my favorite historical period, I think because I like to see people fight for each other, regardless of skin color. F Is For Freedom essentially is about a young girl whose parents host a stop on the Underground Railroad, and she meets a slave girl who is about her age and doesn't know how to read. It's the story of their friendship and the slave's escape into the northern states. While I don't remember a lot of specifics, I do remember that I read and reread that book more times than I can even recall. I think it's safe to say that that was the first book I fell in love with.

3) Hardcover or paperback?

• I'm so glad I finally get to talk about this! I prefer paperback books. Most of my shelf is made up of paperback books. They're easier to handle, they're lightweight so your hands don't get as tired when you're holding it up for a prolonged period, you don't have to fuss with a book jacket...etc. Plus they just feel nice, you know?

4) How has reading shaped your identity?

• I feel like I would be an entirely different person today if I had never been a reader. I probably wouldn't want to be a writer, for one thing. But besides that, growing up I always had a book in my hand. I was always reading something. Friends and relatives knew me as the bookworm. All throughout high school, especially, I was known as a major book nerd. Nowadays it's just accepted that if you're planning on getting me something for a birthday or holiday, a gift card to a bookstore is always a safe bet. (And I very much enjoy those gifts.) Plus, reading has really helped me escape when I needed to the most. In the darkest times of my life when I didn't have anyone to talk to or turn to with my problems, there was always a book to be read. A different place to go and get away for a while. I think that really helped me.

5) What book do you read when you need to be comforted?

• Obvious Answer: Skulduggery Pleasant. He's always there to remind me of better times and to make me laugh when I need him the most.

6) Who taught you to be a reader? Or did you do it all on your own?

• I actually just had a conversation with my mom about this recently. I always knew that I had taught myself to be a reader, though I didn't know quite to what extent until just recently. My mom told me a story a while ago about how when I was about two years old there was this particular book that I really, really loved. I wanted her to read it to me all the time, over and over, as kids do. Mom said that if she ever tried to rush through it or didn't add the correct enthusiasm to her presentation of the story I would let her know that that was not how it went, and then I'd make her do it again the right way. Just the image of that makes me laugh. So short answer to this - I taught myself to be a reader. Neither of my parents were ever really into reading as far as I can remember. I've never seen my dad read a book in my life. I've seen mom read a few - especially now that she's getting older - but overall I'd say I'm the only reader in my family. My younger brother certainly doesn't read.

7) Describe your dream reading lounge.

• This is something I've wanted to do an entire post on before but I have never really been able to come up with a solid answer. Nine times out of ten when I picture a "reading nook," or a place to get away from the world for a while, it's a small little corner that's out of the way but cozy, with a bookshelf nearby and a table with snacks and stuff. And if it's snowing outside? Bonus. I like the cozy feeling that brings me.

8) What book changed the way you act or see the world?

• I think The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini really changed my entire perspective on the war that's going on over in the Middle East right now. I knew it was bad over there and I knew there were some messed-up groups taking power and bad things happening to innocent people, but I don't think I realized the full extent of how awful it is until I read The Kite Runner. My entire way of thinking has changed now when it comes to that part of the world. I feel like I have a better understanding of how this all started and what's been going on thanks to this book. (Although I do have to note that it messed me up big time. I couldn't read anything else for a solid week after finishing The Kite Runner. And I really want to read A Thousand Splendid Suns, too...but I'm afraid that will mess me up as well, if not more so.)

And that's all I've got for this month! Be sure to come back for my July wrap-up as I move out of familiar Skulduggery Pleasant territory and venture into the unknown. I'll finally find out what happens to him after the end of book three! Clearly he survives the battle...but how?! See you next time, guys! :D

My Battle With Misophonia

It's been a while since I've gotten more personal and deep with you guys, so to change things up this month I decided that it's about time I told you something pretty big. Something that has impacted my life in a not-so-great way and how I'm learning to deal with it on a daily basis. I suffer from a rare medical condition called misophonia. Many of you out there probably have no idea what that is OR don't believe that it's a legitimate condition when it is very much so for myself and many others. But what exactly is misophonia, and how does it affect my everyday life? If you read on, I will do my best to explain it to you.

What is misophonia?
Misophonia is the shorter and more common name for a condition known medically as Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome, or S4. Basically this means that those who suffer from it will be "triggered" by very common, everyday noises in an extremely negative way. The easiest way to explain it to someone who isn't very sciency (like myself) is that something is wonky with the wiring in the brain of a misophonic, and it causes them to interpret certain sounds in a bad way, even if there is absolutely no reason for it (which is mostly often the case). Anger, fear, anxiety, and panic are just some examples of the negative feelings the misophonic's brain will produce upon hearing a trigger sound. Common trigger sounds include chewing, tapping, clicking, mouth sounds, repetitive noises, breathing, etc. Very common noises that can be heard on a day-to-day basis, which only makes being an individual who suffers from this condition worse, as there is no escape from it unless you completely stay away from people.

How does it affect people generally?
The severity of the reaction depends upon the individual, but it can range from very minimal discomfort to using physical violence against the source of the trigger sound, be it person or inanimate object. Some people are simply bothered by the noise and seek to get away, while others go into a panic attack and their fight or flight response kicks in, thus the physical violence mentioned earlier. Here is a chart of the different levels (10) of misophonia:

How does it affect me, personally?
When I was growing up I would be triggered by certain noises and react violently to them, which often got me in trouble with my parents and sometimes even with my brother. I didn't actually have a name to put to this condition until about two years ago. You cannot imagine the relief I felt when I found out that I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE who suffers from this. All those years of feeling like I was just being picky, or overreacting to certain situations - all of it was because of a legitimate problem. I just didn't know it at the time.

In the past couple of years I've learned a lot more about what it means to have this condition in this day and age, and various coping mechanisms that others use to get through their lives relatively peacefully. It's impossible to have a perfect day when you live with misophonia, but thanks to online support groups and forums, I've learned a lot about how it affects me personally and how I personally can deal with my specific triggers.

If you'll refer to the chart above, you may be surprised to learn that I am a Level 9 misophonic. My primary trigger is gum chewing (just writing it down makes my heart beat faster), but I have a handful of others that include but are not limited to chewing, mouth noises, clicking, and repetitive sounds. It is impossible for me to get through even one day without being severely triggered. Every day I will talk to someone who is chewing gum as they're speaking (why the heck people feel the need to chew gum - or anything - with their mouth open, I DO NOT know). And even if I get away with not dealing with that specific trigger, I will have to deal with my family members who eat loudly and sometimes chew their food with their mouths open. (Which, again, I do not know why.) I will go to the kitchen to grab something and I'll hear my brother using the computer mouse in the living room, which triggers me as well. 9/10 times I will be physically shaking by the time I get back to the sanctuary that is my room, even if I'm only out there for a few seconds.

When I'm triggered my heart rate spikes, I get extremely tense, and when dealing with people I try to get the encounter over with as quickly as possible so I can get the heck out of there. This may seem like I'm being rude or anti-social, but it's the only way to avoid a breakdown. When exposed to a trigger noise for a prolonged period I will start to become antsy, I'll feel sick, anxiety will kick in, and then I will be in the midst of a full-blown panic attack and crying like a child because someone is chewing gum as they're talking to me. I simply cannot be exposed to those kinds of sounds for very long. It will literally cause me to have a mental breakdown on the spot because my brain is interpreting these sounds as a bad thing and I feel like I cannot get away.

Is there a cure?
Currently there is no cure for misophonia, but there are ways those who suffer from it can cope. Coping mechanisms vary from person to person, but thanks to the online support groups and forums I've been part of, I've learned a few tricks that have helped me get through situations I would have had to opt out of otherwise.

What coping mechanisms do you use?
My go-to coping mechanism is earplugs. Simple devices, but to the misophonic, they work wonders. I carry two sets of earplugs around with me everywhere I go and have one on standby just in case. One set is in my purse and the other is for use around the house. I've used earplugs in theaters (not because the movie is too loud but to block out the eating noises of the people around me), planetariums, and even in my own home. I sometimes sleep with them. They have been my saving grace when it comes to my everyday life. I remember the first time I used them to go see a movie with my college roommate and I left the theater almost crying with joy because I was able to sit through the whole thing without hearing a single chewing noise to trigger and distract me.

Besides earplugs, though, the only other coping mechanism I have is to stay away from people. I know it sounds horrible and anti-social, but it's honestly the best thing I can do for myself when it comes to having this condition. People don't understand that this is an actual medical condition; most just see it as giving people an excuse to be rude. I cannot tell you how much I hate seeing and hearing people say that this condition does not exist. Swap places with me for a day - me, a Level 9 misophonic - and then tell me it doesn't exist. I dare you.


I hope that I've enlightened you somewhat, and that perhaps you've learned a bit more about me after reading this post. I know not many people I see on a daily basis read this blog, but if you are one of those people, I'm going to take this opportunity to BEG you to PLEASE try to remember what you've learned here and take it seriously. If you happen across me one day and you're chewing gum, either take it out while you talk to me or try not to be offended if it seems like I'm trying to get away from you. I never mean it personally; I'm only try to save the both of us from the very real possibility of a mental breakdown.

And to those who are reading this generally: please, be considerate of others around you. Even if you don't know any misophonics in your lives there are many people who are annoyed by common mouth sounds, such as chewing gum or lip smacking. Be observant, be considerate. Take people's requests seriously. You never know if you're interacting with a misophonic person who is too afraid to speak up for themselves and ask you to stop whatever trigger noise you're causing. I've been that person. It sucks a lot.

I suffer from a rare medical condition called misophonia. It is very real. It is NOT an excuse for me to be rude, it is NOT an excuse for me to be by myself most of the time. It has impacted my life in a very negative way, and I am done being quiet about it. This is a part of me. Please respect that.

Thank you.

My First Audiobook (May Book Wrap-Up)

Yes, you read the title right! Anyone who knows me and my reading habits well knows that I've always preferred physical books to ebooks or audiobooks. I prefer to feel the weight of the book in my hand, read the story myself - not have someone else read it to me. So what changed my mind? Read on to find out!

Writing
I did very little work on Follow the Raven this month. I am kind of upset with myself, but at the same time, I don't feel too ashamed because I did write 10k of it last month during Camp NaNo. I'll pick up the slack in June and then write another 10k in July's Camp. It will happen!

"Everything Changes" has been going really well over on Wattpad! The story is booming, and the plot is really starting to pick up now. People are just as excited about my writing Sonic fanfiction again as I am. It's been a fun journey this month, especially. My current stats are 1,653 reads; 169 votes; and 37 comments.

Reading
I'm proud to announce that I completed my goal of reading at least three TBR books this month, in addition to the one library book I began reading at the end of April. I feel like I've mostly come out of my mid-takedown crisis and am back on the straight and narrow way, so to speak. I'm also on schedule to begin my Skulduggery Pleasant readthrough next month, but we'll talk about that in a minute. First, for the books I read in May:

• The One by Kiera Cass
• Made For You by Melissa Marr
• Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
• The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Last month I read the first two books of The Selection series by Kiera Cass, which were both fantastic and unputdownable (except for that one time...). You can read about my thoughts on those here first if you so desire. Suffice it to say that The One was at once a heartbreaking, unforseeable, and completely perfect wrap-up. Holy flip, that ending, though...but I won't spoil anything here. I loved, loved, loved all three books so much, and would totally read them again. I intend to read the twenty-something-years-later duology soon - maybe later this year.

Made For You. I don't know if I can accurately put into words exactly how I feel about this book. I finished it a week ago and I'm still thinking about how crazy and messed-up it was. It is definitely worthy of its genre - mystery thriller - but man, this book was really disturbing and terrifying in its own way. This is one of the best YA thrillers I've read in a long time. Definitely recommended.

This month I listened to the audiobook version of Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. I can't even really tell you what it was that suddenly inspired me to want to listen to an audiobook at all - let alone this one. All I know is that I was nearing the end of my then-current read and wondering what I felt like reading next from my TBR pile. The title that kept popping into my head was Rebel of the Sands. But at the same time I was like, "Do I really want to read that one?" So I started my usual process of re-reading the summary and whatnot to get reacquainted with the book. Except this time instead of picking it up to read the first few lines and see if I was feeling it, I suddenly found myself searching for the audiobook and listening to a sample of it. Whatever it was that spurred me to find the audiobook, I ended up really liking the narrator for the story, so I went ahead and made the decision to listen to the whole book that way. And guys...I have not made such a fantastic decision in a long time.

The narrator for this book - Soneela Nankani - was such a perfect choice. Rebel of the Sands is told from the first person POV of a character named Amani, who is a girl, poor, and orphaned in a land where all three are disregarded as useless. Nankani does such a spectacular job of portraying the character that Hamilton created - everything from the pitch of her voice to its lilt. No one else could have portrayed Amani as well as Sonella Nankani does. The narrator also does a good job of distinguishing other characters' voices without trying too hard to really sound like something she's not, such as a male or a child. It's kind of hard to explain, but she does it very well. I can always tell which character is speaking when it's not Amani herself. Major props for that.

Beyond the narration, though, the story itself is spectacular. Alwyn Hamilton won Best Debut Goodreads Author in 2016 with her book Rebel of the Sands, and rightfully so! It is a story that is unique, captivating, and unpredictable. I never know where the story is going to take me next, and I love that because it's so hard to find books in the YA genre nowadays where I can't predict at least one thing about how it might go. I love Amani's character, her strangled relationship with Jin, and the story of how the two get swept up into a revolution without meaning to. I fully intend to listen to its sequel, Traitor to the Throne, as soon as I can. (Soneela Nankani narrates that one as well. Yes!)

Now for the most exciting part of all (for me, at least) - my Skulduggery Pleasant readthrough begins as of June 1! Finally! I cannot express how excited I am to finally read the entire series from beginning to end. I've read each of the first three books at least once before when I was in high school, but the high school, college, and public libraries would never get books four and beyond (for reasons I know now that I've been working in a library for nine months). Now, after having slowly bought the rest of the series for myself book by book, I can finally find out what happens to Mr. Pleasant after the end of book three. *fangirl squeal* I'm so, so hyped for this!

And with that said, I'm off to the awesome world of Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain! Expect to see mostly books from this series in my next few wrap-ups! :D

The Elusive Naermyth

As you may or may not know, I have been an active member of Goodreads since January 2015. If you're unfamiliar with Goodreads, it's essentially a way to keep up with the latest novels of your preferred genre, connect with friends to see what they're reading, discuss books with others, etc. It's awesome, and I update it almost daily. (If you click on any of the links in my book wrap-ups they take you to the respective book's Goodreads page, just fyi.) Goodreads will also recommend books to you based on what you've recently read, what you're currently reading, what you've liked in the past, and so on. (I have a bad habit of reading about those books and then adding them to my WTR, which is way out of control at this point.)

Well, back in July 2016 Goodreads recommended to me a book called Naermyth by Karen Francisco. It didn't have many ratings or reviews, but the synopsis was really intriguing and unique, so I went ahead and added it. After that I kind of left it for a while, as I do with most books I add to my WTR.

Fast-forward to about a half a year later. I don't remember exactly what it was that made me remember I'd added this book to my list; I think maybe when I was doing my end-of-year Goodreads cleanup I came across it in my WTR and was like "oh, yeah" and clicked on it again. This time I took a closer look at it as part of my cleanup process, and that's when I began to learn interesting things about it. Its setting was the Philippines. That's really different for a dystopian book nowadays - most of them take place in America or Europe. The story is essentially about all the creatures and monsters of legend turning out to actually exist and coming back to destroy the world and endanger the human population. Really different for a dystopian.

Then I noticed again that there weren't a lot of reviews on it. I began scrolling through the ones that were available and learned that many of them were written by Philippine people. I also saw in the questions section that someone had asked where you could buy the book online, because they couldn't find it anywhere.

Now that really intrigued me.

I began to do some digging of my own, clicking on all the links that Goodreads provides in terms of where to buy it, which libraries nearest you have it, etc. In a quest that ended up taking me about two months, I discovered that this book was not available for purchase online anywhere except for one site that was basically a Philippine Amazon. The thing about that? They did not ship internationally. It was Philippines only. This book was impossible to purchase unless you lived in its home country.

By now, obviously, I was becoming obsessed with being able to read it. The thrill of the chase was really hyping it up for me. So in one last ditch effort to see if I could get my hands on it, I clicked on the Libraries tab on the book's page. As it turns out, there are only three libraries across the entire United States that have a copy of Naermyth. Two of them are universities, and the third is the Library of Congress.

At this point it was early February of this year. If you don't know, I work at my local library at the circulation desk. One night when I went to work I sent an email to our Inter-Library Loans specialist asking if it was possible to request items that were out of state. (I'd already gotten a couple of in-state books through ILL in the time I'd worked there.) I told her there was a book I was trying to get my hands on that was being extremely elusive, but from what I'd researched it looked like there was a copy in the Library of Congress. When I went back to work the following evening, I'd gotten a reply. It was possible.

I went ahead and sent her the details, giving her the name of the book, the author, and how I'd learned which libraries in the country had it. She said she'd see what she could do. About a month went by and I hadn't heard anything more about it, so I sent her a follow-up email, to which she replied saying she'd already sent a request for the book to the Library of Congress but hadn't gotten a response. She told me she'd try again. About a week later she informed me that they'd given her the go-ahead to get the book from them, and on April 12, Naermyth was in my hands.

When you request a book from out of state like I did, many times the libraries have extra fees you need to pay or certain lending policies you have to follow. The awesome thing about getting Naermyth was that the library still only fined me the standard ILL fee of $2, but the catch was that it was an in-library use only item. Meaning I could not take it out of the library; I had to read it there. Good thing that's where I work!

Slowly, over the course of the past month, I read Naermyth while on shift whenever I had the opportunity. Sometimes we'd get slammed and I wouldn't get any reading done; other times it would be utterly dead and I'd get 30 pages read in one shift. The sprints varied and it took a while, but the point is, I was finally able to read the elusive Naermyth.

So now that you know the story of how I got it and how long it took to read it, let me tell you what I thought of it.

The first thing I noticed once I began was the writing itself. It read very much like many self-published books, meaning it was pretty poorly written and held no evidence of ever having been edited - by the author or anyone else. This kept up throughout the entire book. Some passages were worse than others; I noticed consistent tense changes (sometimes even in the same sentence) and misspellings. Weird word choices were also present, along with a lot of Philippine terminology that I didn't understand. The author relied very heavily on her readers being familiar with specifically Philippine monsters (which is fair, considering it is a self-published novel in that country). There were many passages that could have used more description and a lot of names I needed to keep up with, half of which weren't even important or only appeared once in the book. The author also used some cliches and overused plot devices while trying to portray them as being unexpected. Overall, there were just a lot of things wrong with the presentation of the story. An editor would have been extremely helpful in this area.

Despite all of these shortcomings, the story itself was actually really unique and well-paced; I ended up giving the book three stars. (It would have been four if the writing wasn't so bad.) Essentially, the plot follows a young woman named Athena who comes across a man during one of her missions who has no memories of the past five years, which is when the Naermyth (never myth) began crawling out of their hiding places and destroying the human way of life. It doesn't take long for her to learn that he is actually a Naermyth himself, and the two of them have a strange, inexpiable connection to one another. They go on a quest to uncover the mystery of who he is and why everything she's ever known is suddenly thrown into turmoil because of his arrival, and...that's basically all one should know going in.

I've read a handful of dystopian novels - enough to know that I don't really prefer the genre - but this is by far the most unique one I've read. The idea of creatures that we all thought were only myths coming back to disrupt everything is very different, and this author made it work in a fascinating way. The protagonist, Athena, is a main character that is unexpected in every sense of the word, but by the end of the novel I grew to really like her. Her journey with Dorian was a unique kind of quest, and all of the twists and turns involved throughout kept me guessing right up until the very last page. And speaking of endings, the author nailed the ending of Naermyth. It fit right along with the whole mood of the rest of the novel while still finishing on a hopeful note. All in all, despite the bad writing, the story itself was very unique and very good. It was well worth the hassle it took to get it in my hands.

I feel like if this author had gotten a good editor, Naermyth would be much bigger than it is now. Even if she'd hired a freelancer so it could still be self-published, a little fine tuning on the presentation would have made this novel stand out big time. I almost want to own a copy, because I would probably read this again. (Chances of that are slim, of course, but still. Plus it would be cool to have bragging rights.)

Now that it's all said and done, I think that the crazy chase Goodreads sent me on to read this book was well worth it in the end. Despite its being an in-library use only item, I still found the time to read and enjoy it. You can be sure I took plenty of notes, though; after all, it's not something I can just pick up and reference whenever I want to! I'll be kind of sad to send it back to the Library of Congress, but alas, its due date approaches. Naermyth, it's been fun. Thanks for introducing me to a dystopian world I'll never forget.