Books 'n' Blogger Recap (+ Mug O'Comfort Recap)

Hello friends!  I'm in Canada now, but I wanted to share my latest Chaotic Goddess Swap participation.  We just hosted our wildly successful Books 'n' Bloggers Swap-and I was matched up with the amazing Jessica from Writing Pearls.  Guess what?  She's a real life writer!  I'm so excited to know her-and she's already inspiring me to go on and start writing more-which I've wanted to do since I was a child.

Jessica was also extremely patient as the Universe seemed stacked against me sending her a package. I went to package it up and send it and found that one of the books I'd bought used had whole pages whited out (UGH-That makes me livid that someone would do that to a book) and that I'd forgotten to actually place the order on the third book I was sending.  So I got on Amazon and had an order shipped directly to her, but it was lost/damaged in transit so they refunded me and made me start all over!  Then somehow she ended up with duplicates.  See what I sent her HERE.

She sent me All the Light We Cannot See and This Whole Golden World which were both on my wish list, Just Pru, and also a book of her own poetry-how cool is that?  The extras she added were so sweet too.  A soft blanket, some dark chocolate, sesame sticks for healthy snacking, some Mary Kay, and a little plant pod for when I get a house.  She's such a great bloggy friend!

As for Mug O'Comfort... I'm going to start by saying I got totally caught up in school, work, house hunting, etc. and completely forgot to post this recap.  I feel bad, because I was paired with Stephanie of In Her Wonderland and she is AMAZING-so here's what she sent me!  See what I sent her HERE.

I love this mug.  When you poor hot coffee in it the face changes to awake!  She also sent some Tea, a cute necklace, some toys for Emma (who loved those fishes), and the book The Diviners which was on my wish list!  Thanks so much Stephanie!  Sorry this took me forever...

Semi-Charmed 2015 Summer Book Challenge

So the amazing book blogger Megan from Semi-Charmed Life, who was the winner of The Bookish Babe award in my 2015 Best of Blog Awards, is hosting a summer reading challenge!  I figure since I'm taking time off from school I should totally jump in on this and try to get some good reading done.  I have so many books to finish!  

General Rules:

• The challenge will run from May 1st, 2015 to August 31st, 2015.  No books that are started before 12AM on May 1st or after finished August 31st will be counted.
• Each book must be at least 200 pages long.  Audiobooks and large print books are fine, as long as the regular print version meets the page requirement.
• A book can only be used for one category, and each category can only be completed once.  If you want to switch a category for a book later on, that is fine, just make sure to account for it in your points.
• Rereads can be used for a maximum of 3 books in the challenge.  This rule is meant to encourage you to try new books while still allowing you to revisit books from your childhood or young adulthood that you might get more out of now.  Please reread the entire book within the time frame of the challenge in order to count it; no simply finishing old books or partial rereads.
• The highest possible total for the challenge is 200 points, and the first five people to finish the challenge will be invited to contribute a category for the next challenge.

Challenge Categories:

• 5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules.
• 10 points: Read a book you have never heard of before. (Just go to a shelf and pick a book based on the cover, the title, whatever you want!)
• 10 points: Read a book that has been on your TBR list for at least two years. (If you've had a Goodreads account for 2+ years, this will be easy to figure out. If you don’t, do your best to pick a book you’re pretty sure you’ve been wanting to read for years.)
• 10 points: Read a book that won a Goodreads "Best Book" Award in 2014.
• 15 points: Read a book by an author who is completely new to you.
• 15 points: Read a book by an author you have read before. (No re-reads for this one.)
• 15 points: Read a book with "light" or "dark" in the title. (Or "lightness" or "darkness.")
• 20 points: Read a book with the name of a city, state or country in the title.
• 20 points: Read a book with an animal on the cover.
• 25 points: Read a book that is part of a series with at least four books.
• 25 points: Read a book that is longer than 500 pages long. — Submitted by winter finisher Kristen from See You in a Porridge.
• 30 points: Read a book with an alliterative title. (All words in the title must begin with the same letter; no exceptions for articles or prepositions. Examples: Gone Girl or Nicholas Nickleby. Yes, this is tough, which is why it's worth the most points!)

What I Plan on Reading: 

• Freebie: Close to Home by Lisa Jackson
• A book I've never heard of before: We'll see!
• A book that's been on my TBR list for 2 years: Stardust by Neil Gaiman
• A book that won a "Best Book" Award: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
• A book by an Author that is completely new to me: The Good House by Tananarive Due
• A book by an author I have read before: Egg and Spoon by Gregory MaGuire
• A book with "light" or "dark" in the title: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer
• A book with the name of a city, state, or country in the title: Hamlet: Prince of Denmark by A.J. Hartley
• A book with an animal on the cover: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
• A book that is part of a series with at least four books: Odd Hours by Dean Koontz
• A book that is longer than 500 pages: The Diviners by Libba Bray
• A book with an alliterative title: Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

How to check in:

Megan will post a check in post on the first day of each month, starting with June 1st, on which you can comment with your current pitons/reading.  She will also keep a scoreboard of the previous months points on the posts.

How to join:

Create a preliminary post (like this one) and post it on your blog, then head on over and link it up with Megan's original post to sign up.  The preliminary post is mandatory.  You can always change your list of things you plan to read, but it's fun to see what people are thinking for the categories.   See the rest of the rules over in the original post.

What are you going to read?

Don't forget to link up any April reading/book posts with our April Reading Challenge!

April 12x30 Challenge: Reading Challenge

<a href="http://www.mysocalledchaos.com/2015/03/april-12x30-challenge-reading-challenge.html" target="blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEev2oHItaCGs0CyFBaMDCaP7kIW40YuSWS6tjds501ObZ3D9dYNUU_PP_a0KuTv9iLoAuXktG1Ayq-C7vjkWo_uruoTITGMRs57nodaPj0XG0TIFifPZvGRBBG4PveB6o-iavfE_2m0/s1600/Reading+Challenge.jpg" alt="The Weekly Round-Up"></a>

Holy cow it's April-and my birthday is coming up.  How exciting is that? Well, I love reading, so I'm happy that the April challenge (which overlaps my birthday) is a reading one.  Are you ready to dig in?  This challenge is a year-long challenge with a new theme each month hosted by myself and Chasing My Extraordinary.  Read about the entire challenge HERE.

• Set a reading goal.
• Read, read, read! (or listen, listen, listen! if you're into audio books)
• Talk about books.
• Review books you have read.
• Talk about other things you read-blogs, magazines, newspapers, etc.

• Share book reviews of books you've read this month.
• Share lists of your favorite books.
• Write about things book lovers and readers love.
• Talk about why you read or why it's important.
• Share a fun reading experience.
• Share your reading wish list.
• Join us for the Books 'n' Bloggers swap over at Chaotic Goddess Swaps! 

I'm challenging myself to focus more on reading and less on the TV I watch and other distractions.  I want to listen to at least three audio books and read at least one physical book off my TBR shelf (yes, I have a literal TBR bookshelf with probably about 50 books I've purchased but not read on it!)  I also want to finish my eBook, the second Outlander book I've been dragging out way too long.

Link up any related posts with us this month hear.  Don't forget that Kenzie and I will be featuring our favorite posts at the end of the month.  Check out my features from last month HERE.  Don't forget to include the button with the code above.

Check out the previous month's here:

• January's Love Yourself Challenge.
• February's Get Organized Challenge.
• March's No Spending Challenge.

January Books 'n' Bloggers Swap Reveal

Hey loves! I wanted to share with you an amazing swap package I just received as part of the Books 'n' Bloggers swap we host over at Chaotic Goddess Swaps.  I was partnered with Lisa of Books in the Burbs, and this girl is awesome.  Not only does she regularly write about books and book-related goodness, she sends a mean swap package, just look at this!

Not only did she send me four books and some book related goodness, but she also sent me an eBook before my package arrived to make sure I had something to hold me over until the box showed up on the doorstep.  She sent me the eBook Eleanor and Park from my wishlist.  So much fun.

Book #1: A book from my wish list.  Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.

Book #2: A book she loved. The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry.

Book #3: A book she hasn't read, but wants to.  The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson.

And another extra, Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd.

Here are the cute goodies she sent:

Thanks Lisa, you are AMAZING!  I loved this package so very much.  If you want to see what I sent her, go HERE.

Book Title Tag

Ah, this looked like a fun little book survey that I found over at Beth's blog.  I thought I'd go ahead and play along.  Basically you pick book titles that go along with the question-sounds fun right?  If it sounds fun to you, tag yourself. :)

1. Title that's the story of your life:

2014 End of Year Book Survey

Ah books... You love them right?  I love them.  I wanted to snag this survey from The Perpetual Page-Turner and participate in it after I saw it over on Beth's blog. I didn't read nearly as many books as either of them (damn you school! *shakes fist*) but I'll do my best to see what I can put in here.

Number of books I read: 20
Number of re-reads: 0
Genre I read the most from: Fiction?

2014 Reading Recap & 2015 TBR

I did a post like this last year and it was fun, so I figured I'd better do one like it now.  Books are awesome, and as we roll over a year I'm excited to do more reading and even more listening to audio books!  Last year I set a goal of 20 books for the year and just barely made it at exactly 20 books. This year I'm upping it, and my goal is 25 books.  I can't up it too much, since I'll be in school all year long (taking classes all three semesters this year) and most of my reading will be school related.

Books I read/listened to in 2014: 

Click on any images in this post to find the book listing (affiliate links).

    

    

    

    

Review's I did in 2014:

Some of the other books I read have reviews coming soon.

• The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice
• The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood
• Never Have I Ever-My Life (So Far) Without a Date by Katie Heaney
• Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire
• Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
• Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
• Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank
• The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley
• Austenland by Shannon Hale (book AND movie review)
• Town Haunts by Cathy Spencer
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (book AND TV review)
• Thirty Scary Tales by Rayne Hall
• These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

My 2015 TBR Pile:

These books are tentative, as what I want to read may change at any given time. 

    

    
    
    
    

Plus, these audio books:
Here are the audio books I have that I'm hoping to finish listening to this year. 

    
    
    
    

What are your reading plans for 2015?