Top 10 Recommendations - Bout of Book 12.0

Trees of Reverie is hosting today's challenge. 

The Challenge: You’ve just started to work at a bookstore (or library) - what are your top ten go-to book recommendations?

I'm pretending that I work in a bookstore, perhaps one called The Shop Around the Corner.  I've been asked to put together a collection of 10 books for my customer to take to a literary baby shower.  Here are ten books I'd recommend to start off any child's library.

1. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown simple, repetitive text, gorgeous illustrations that invite children to "read" the pictures.

2. Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale by Martin Waddell sweet story set around the birth of Jesus

3. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson encourages imagination

4. The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds encourages art and believing in oneself youTube video reading

5. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems silly and fun

6. It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw encourages spatial thinking

7. Press Here by Herve Tullet interactive, works for readers of ALL ages

8. Mix It Up! by Herve Tullet interactive, science

9. How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers darling illustrations, sweet story

 10. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. Classic book, great for alphabet awareness

This was a super fun challenge Sarah!  Thanks for hosting!!  Be sure to swing over to her blog, Trees of Reverie and see other readers takes on her challenge.

Bout of Books 12.0 Updates

Progress

Monday, January 5, 2015:
Completed: 1 book
Books Read: 2 - Summer of My German Soldier and The Red Scarf
Pages Read: 140
Challenges: Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt
Total Books Completed: 1
Total Pages Read: 140

  

Tuesday, January 6, 2015:

Completed: 1 book

Books Read: 2 - The Red Scarf and The Magician's Nephew

Pages Read: 142

Challenges: Top Ten Recommendations

Total Books Completed: 2

Total Pages Read: 282

Wednesday, January 7, 2015:
Completed: 0
Books Read:  The Red Scarf
Pages Read: 80
Challenges:
Total Books Completed: 2
Total Pages Read: 362

Thursday, January 8, 2015:
Completed: 0
Books Read: The Red Scarf
Pages Read: 167
Challenges:
Total Books Completed: 1
Total Pages Read: 529

Friday, January 9, 2015:
Completed:
Books Read: The Red Scarf
Pages Read: 66
Challenges:
Total Books Completed: 1
Total Pages Read: 595

Saturday, January 10, 2015:
Completed: 1 book
Books Read: The Red Scarf and Number the Stars
Pages Read: 149
Challenges:
Total Books Completed: 3
Total Pages Read: 744

Sunday, January 11, 2015:
Completed: 1 book
Books Read:  Number the Stars
Pages Read: 62
Challenges:
Total Books Completed: 4
Total Pages Read: 806

Final Thoughts:
As I thought when the week started, I was very busy and so didn't have as much time to read as I would've liked.  While I may not have read as many pages or finished as any books as other participants, I am happy with what my outcomes.  This was another fun round of Bout of Books and I look forward to BoB 13.0!  Thanks for stopping by!

Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt - Bout of Books 12.0

Caught Read Handed is hosting a 

Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt today! 

I'm playing along with my Goodreads bookshelves.

1. Find an author with the same initials as you
The Year of Living Famously by Laura Caldwell.  My initials, just reversed
2. Find a book with the color yellow on it
The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan
3. Find an author’s name with the letter “S” in it
100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson 
4. Find a book with a female protagonist
Driving Lessons by Zoe Fishman
5. Find the longest book you own
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
6. Find a book with a map in it or on it
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
7. Find a book with a face on it (photograph or illustrated)
Parallel by Lauren Miller

Bonus: Find something on your shelf that isn’t a book.

Bout of Books 12.0

It is time for the January Bout of Books 12.0 read-a-thon.  This week corresponds to school being back in session and my son's birthday at the end of the week so I don't have as much time to dedicate to reading as I normally would.  Last year I know I didn't get close to my goals at all so the new "no goals" version debuting this week is pretty awesome.  Of course, you can set goals if you want but I'm just going to read and attempt to play along in some of the challenges this week.  Be sure to sign up so that you have a chance to win the grand prize!

I have a few books from the library that I need to finish up so those are the books that I am listing here. Again, I don't think I'll be able to get through all of these, but these are the books I'll be picking from.  Even though there are no goals and I've not set goals - rigorous or easy - I'm still going to track my progress at the end of this post.

  Summer of My German Soldier by Better Greene

(Finished. See my review here

Bout of Books 11 Day 1 Update

I ended up working much later than I had anticipated yesterday and while I accomplished a lot (at work), I also had quite a few distractions that slowed me down.  I even missed American Ninja Warrior which bummed me out when I realized it! 

I read a little Sunday night, which was technically Monday, before turning out my light. I began A March Bride by Rachel Hauck.  I did not realize that this book was a novella in her Royal Wedding Series so that was a sweet little surprise! 

Then after work and before bed on Monday, I finished the book. I enjoyed it and will rate it with 4 stars. I find it's hard for any novella to rate 5 stars because I always want more! 

I also started Accidents of Marriage Monday evening.  It was really hard to read - in that "emotions are being torn" way....I am looking forward to reading a bit more tonight. I am estimating that I am about 30% - my Kindle is back in the bedroom and I'm too tired to get up and walk back there to check. And my house isn't larger than normal so it's a pretty lame excuse. 

How has your progress been?  I checked out the Monday challenges today and they both sounded super cool! I had no chance to even remember to look, let alone participate; it is nice to see all the creative ideas out there.

Bout of Books 11

It's hard to believe that it is time for another Bout of Books readathon!  School is starting soon so I have been working more and more each day in preparation.  Despite my busy schedule, I can't imagine not reading along with everyone; I am keeping my goals pretty simple for this week.  

You can sign up to join in at the link above.  See the schedule here.

It is fun to see some of my favorite bloggers & youTubers hosting challenges this week.  I'd love to participate in every challenge if I'm being honest but I just don't see it happening this week.  

I am going to focus on getting some books read that are in my review pile.  Here's what I've got lined up for the week.

I picked up The Headmistress of Rosemere on audiobook at my local library for a car trip that I took last week. I am about half-way through and hope to finish listening to it this week during another car trip.  I tried to listen earlier this week while working around the house but I couldn't concentrate on the story.  I found that I kept missing key elements and so will keep audiobooks for those times when I can more attention to listening than to other tasks. 

Image Source: http://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/question-mark-vector-899320

It's a Mystery Read!  I will stop by the library to pick up another audiobook to take on my car trip in case I finish the audiobook above.  But I'm not sure what it will be.  Any suggestions? 

Rachel Hauck is an author that I have discovered this year and she quickly became a favorite.  I have read a few other books in this series and when I saw A March Bride I quickly requested it for review! 

Earlier this year I read The Good Wife which at the time was a step away from my typical books.  I love romance stories but hadn't read really read any contemporary fiction that looked at a marriage years down the road.  I really enjoyed it and I think Accidents of Marriage will be very similar in looking at a marriage after the first blush of love.  

As my son gets older, he is more observant of the world around him and asking more complicated and in-depth answers.  I admit that I am often stumped at what to say. Not really what the answer is but what is the appropriate level of information for his age.  Any other moms struggle with this as well?  It will be interesting to see what Answering Your Kids' Toughest Questions has to say.  I will start this book but I don't believe that I will finish it as I take much longer to read non-fiction - I like to ponder and really absorb the information.

I'll be posting short updates this week; I hope you'll come back and check out my progress.

Are you reading along?  Leave a comment if you are ~ I'd love to stop by and see your progress! 

Bout of Books 10.0 Challenge: Spell It Out Challenge

Today's challenge is a really fun one! I am starting it now but will probably have to come back and finish it much later this evening after some thought. The Spell It Out Challenge is over at Kimberly Faye Reads as part of Bout of Books 10.0. Here are the rules I copied from the original site. Be sure to visit so you can see the other participants contributions!

The Rules

1. Use the first letter in any book you’ve read or want to read to spell out a word. You can choose first name, initials, your birthday month, or your zodiac sign.
2. Share your word on your blog, Facebook, Twitter or Goodreads.
3. Submit a link to your post in the linky below! You’ll get an extra FIVE entries in the Rafflecopter international giveaway for an eBook of your choice (Amazon or B&N, up to $10 USD) for participating in this challenge. You MUST be participating in Bout of Books 10.0 to be eligible to win the giveaway, but you can always post your answer in the comments just for fun if you aren’t a participant.
4. If you tweet about this challenge, don’t forget to mention me, @kimberlyreads, and use the #boutofbooks hashtag.

 What word to spell? Should I pick a word and then find books or find books and then make a word from them...I know that I want my list to be composed of Children's Literature.

I chose the word Friendship.

F - Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor

R - Room For A Little One by Martin Waddell

I - Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

E - Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

N - Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DaCosta

D - The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

S - Silly Tilly by Eileen Spinelli

H - Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

I - I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rosetti-Shustak

P - Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I have read every single one of these books and highly recommend each and every one of them. 

Bout of Books 10.0 - Goals and Progress Updates

Time Devoted to Reading

Since I read every day normally, my plan is to increase my reading time each day. In order to accomplish this, I plan to cut out extra media time such as youTube and television. I already have a date night planned at the movies on Thursday so I am anticipating that being the day I read the least.

My Goals

• Complete 12 books (3 are children's books) and 2 short stories
• Read a chapter each day with my son in our current read-aloud book.
• Check in on progress of 3 current bookworms I follow and find 3 new ones.

Books to Read

• The Ninja Librarians by Jennifer Swann Downey.  This is a re-read for me. I reviewed it recently and am now reading it aloud to my son. 

Books I have started and intend to finish:

• Finish The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn.  I have been reading this book for months now. It is a good book.....I just find it easy to pick up other books that I can get lost in. This book takes a lot of time to read and digest.  p. 114
• Raising Boys: Why Boys Are Different and How to Help Them Become Happy and Well-Balanced Men by Steve Biddulph and Paul Stanish.  I am 14% through this book on my Kindle.
• Raising A Lady in Waiting: Parent's Guide to Helping Your Daughter Avoid A Bozo by Jackie Kendall.  Hmmm...I'm 14% through this book on my Kindle as well.
• There's A Green Plastic Monkey in My Purse: And Other Ways Motherhood Changes Us by Jessie Clemence.  I am 15% through this book on my Kindle as well.
• Fun Loving You: Enjoying Your Marriage in the Midst of the Grind by Ted Cunningham.  I just started this over the weekend and am 6% through on my Kindle.

Books I intend to start and finish:

• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer.  I picked this up at the library today. I wanted to know if the series finished with Cress (*sigh* no...will have to wait) but did see that there are two short stories Meyer wrote to introduce Cinder and Scarlet. I plan on reading them as well.
• Glitches by Marissa Meyer and The Queen's Army by Marissa Meyer. see notation above
• Hometown Love: A Bliss Bundle by Rachel Harris, Ophelia London, Kelley Vitollo. This is a set of three books in one...so does that count for one or three? I'm going with three.

Children's Books I intend to start and finish:

• If You Happen to Have A Dinosaur by Linda Bailey.
• Is A Worry Worrying You? by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz.
•  Eye to Eye: A Book of Body Part Idioms and Silly Pictures by Vanita Oelschlager.

Updates

Monday
Number of books I've read today: 2 
Total number of books I've completed: 
Books: There's A Green Plastic Monkey in My Purse - now at 26%
               The Maverick & the Manhattanite - this was not on my list but in scrolling through my Kindle, I noticed it was almost finished so I decided to complete it before starting a new fiction title.

Tuesday
Number of books I've read today: 4
Total number of books I've completed: 1 completed
Books:   The Maverick & the Manhattanite - completed
                 There's a Green Plastic Monkey in My Purse - I am not sure exactly how much I read yesterday; I am noting my current location already on Wednesday as I read quite a bit from the book earlier this afternoon.
                 Hometown Love: A Bliss Bundle - first chapter = 2%
                 The Harbinger - p.177, 2 chapters/63 pages


Wednesday
Today was my birthday so I spent the afternoon with my sister and grandmother who were in from out of town and then dinner out in the evening with my boys (DH, DS). I didn't get as much reading done today but I am okay with that - I had precious time with family instead!
Number of books I've read today: 4
Total number of books I've completed: 2
Books:
There's a Green Plastic Monkey in My Purse - now at 45%
The Harbinger - Completed
The Ninja Librarians - 11% = 3 chapters
Taste the Heat - Completed (first book in Hometown Love bundle)

Thursday
Number of books I've read today: 2
Total number of books I've completed: 1 (technically...a short story)
Books:
The Queen's Army (The Lunar Chronicles #1.5 - completed
Playing at Love (second book in Hometown Love bundle)

Friday
Number of books I've read today: 6 
Total number of books I've completed: 6
Books:
Playing at Love - completed (second book in Hometown Love bundle)
Lucky Break - completed (third book in Hometown Love bundle)
The Ninja Librarians - one chapter read = 15% = 4 chapters total
There's A Green Plastic Monkey in My Purse - 64%
Scarlet - read 319 pages
How Come... Easy Answers to Hard Questions by Joyce Richards. My son brought this to me and we read 36 pages. It is a very old book and I adore the vintage illustrations!

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

Saturday

Number of books I've read today: 5 
Total number of books I've completed: 8
Books: 
There's A Green Plastic Monkey in My Purse - completed
Scarlet - completed
The Ninja Librarians - 19% 5 chapters read
Raising Boys - 56% 
What It Takes - 17%

Sunday
I did not spend much time reading today at all. I was pretty burned out by this point. What It Takes was in my review pile and so I started it and it was difficult to get through which I think slowed me down today and contributed to the burn out.
Number of books I've read today: 3
Total number of books I've completed: 11
Books:
Raising Boys - 59%
What It Takes - completed
If You Happen To Have A Dinosaur - completed
Eye To Eye - completed

Overall Wrap-up
I wanted to complete 12 books and 2 short stories. I managed to complete 11 books and 1 short story.  Three of the books on my list to read were non-fiction books and I tend to read those slower so that I can read a bit and then process before reading more. 
This is the second round of Bout of Books that I have participated in. I read much more this round and am pleased with what I accomplished. Bout of Books will be returning in August and I plan to participate then as well. 
Thanks for stopping by!!

Bout of Books 10.0

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

For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I am looking forward to participating in Bout of Books 10.0 this week. I participated last time as well and while I didn't meet all my goals then, I was happy overall. You can sign up until Wednesday evening at the Bout of Books blog. Comment below if you are participating as well - I'd love to check in on your goals and progress!