When a week turns into 7 months

So, it's been a while. Moving into the new house definitely took a lot more time and energy than I thought it would. Once we were settled in, I realized just how little time I have now to read between work, commuting to/from work, and basic necessities. :/ It wasn't until November that I really started reading again by re-reading The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. I got through the first two and Edgedancer, then started tackling Oathbringer. When I started tackling Oathbringer, I started into another reading slump. I've been slowly working my way out of it, but it has me in the middle of about 5 books right now. 

So, to get back on track I'm participating in some readathons and hoping I can finish up the books that I've started. I'll be posting my progress on those readathons and also provide some information so you all can participate yourselves! 

Overall, I'm sorry for such a long hiatus, but a huge life change like moving always knocks me off my game. Here's to hoping I can get back on course!

Moving is a pain, this much is true

Hey everyone,

It's been a little too long since I've posted my last review and I know some people have been wondering why.

My husband and I started house hunting a few  months ago and at the end of June, we had our offer accepted for a house in Long Beach! Ever since then, our lives have been crazy busy. Tim was gone for a week to Seattle to spend time with his folks, we celebrated my birthday, then I was gone for a week to visit my family, spent 4th of July at Six Flags, then were busy packing for Yosemite the following weekend, which led to going to Yosemite, then we did a mad dash of packing right before our move LAST weekend. *phew* So, I didn't have much time to do a bunch of reading. I did manage to get a couple Goosebumps books under my belt at Yosemite, but that was about it.

This weekend, Tim and I have really been trying to set the house to starights because it's been mad chaos during the week with boxes everywhere and no idea where stuff is. This weekend, we're starting to finally enjoy the home a little bit. There is definitely still a lot of work to be done before we're even settled in, but I think we'll be there around the beginning of next month.

So what does that mean for my reading?

It means that I plan to start reading again either this week or next week (most likely next week). I want to try and set some more healthy habits for myself (and the home) this week and see where I could make time for reading. I wish I could just read to my heart's content, but I need to start taking care of my body and making sure that we stay on top of keeping the house in tip top shape.

Hopefully, I'll be blogging again mid-August, if I keep my fingers and toes crossed.

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon!

I've participated in this read-a-thon a couple of times in the past, but this will be my first time as a blogger. I'm not quite sure how much reading I'm going to be getting in today because Tim and I are going house hunting today, but I will do my best! Here's a list of books that are catching my eye that I  might pick up today:

Clockwork Prince by
Cassandra Clare
(planning to finish today)

A Court of Thorns and
Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Death Note Vol. 7: Zero
by Tsugumi Ohba

Lirael by Garth Nix

The Walking Dead
Compendium 3
by Robert Kirkman

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø

I know I'm not going to get to all of these books, but we'll just go with the flow and see what happens :) I'll post updates here every time I read and if I participate in any quick-time events, I'll post that here as well. Happy reading!

Update #1

Pages read: 62

Time spent reading: 1 hour 2 minutes

What book have you been reading?: Clockwork Prince

Books finished: 0 

Total pages read: 62

Total time reading: 1 hour 2 minutes

Update #2

Pages read: 84

Time spent reading: 1 hour 10 minutes

What book have you been reading?: Clockwork Prince

Books finished: 1

Total pages read: 146

Total time reading: 2 hours 12 minutes

Update #3

Pages read: 206

Time spent reading: 2 hours 52 minutes

What book have you been reading?: The Marriage Bargain

Books finished: 2

Total pages read: 352

Total time reading: 5 hours 4 minutes

Overall Thoughts

So, I didn't read as much as I probably would've wanted to, but I did quite a bit done AND I did finish Clockwork Prince, which was my main focus. After finishing the book, I needed to read a romance to get that silly love triangle out of my head. It was nice to have an easy read in there :) I'm definitely looking to do another read-a-thon soon, if not on my own XD

The Infamous Reading Slump

Hello again!

It has been a couple of months and I have yet to post that review of The Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. Why have I been so quiet after reading so much at the beginning of this year? Well, I'll tell you. I fell into a book coma, which unfortunately put me into a reading slump.

The Words of Radiance blew my mind and I was so fully engrossed in the world and its characters that when I finished the book, I was mentally jarred back into the real world. I couldn't think about anything else for at least two weeks. I'll talk more about the book in a review, which I WILL get around to, but it may not be as detailed as I would like.

Anyway...

I went from thinking about the Stormlight Archives exclusively to not wanting to pick up anything else. Nothing seemed to catch my eye and the books that I did pick up and started to read just weren't as engaging as The Words of Radiance. It didn't help that school started up for me as well as working 36 hours a week, compared to the 25 hours I was doing during the beginning of the year.

But here I am, at the beginning of April and I have finally finished a book. I'm planning on reading quite a few more and even re-reading a couple to help me stay on the right track. So now we go onwards and upwards towards bigger (well, maybe not bigger) and better books!

Travel while reading

I find myself flying back from Iowa to California today. I'm currently at the Atlanta airport, surrounded by chaos and a ton of people waiting for their plane or running to catch their connecting flight. So, this post probably won't be too long XD

When I travel, I ALWAYS have at least 2 (usually 3) books in my backpack, along with my Kindle. I usually have long flights, like this next one I'm going to be on that goes from Atlanta to LAX. It's about a 5 hour flight. So, every time, I tell myself "Sam, that's a lot of time where you can't do anything else. You should use that time to read!" I get all excited, picking what books I want to carry with me. I always make sure to have a variety, in case I'm not feeling a certain genre.

After having everything ready to go, I get situated on the plane, put on my earbuds to tune out other people, and what happens? I get sleepy. I figure "I'll just sleep for a little bit and I'll read afterwards." That almost never happens. Once I'm groggy, there is no chance of me to get any reading done.

Anyone feeling me on this? Do you have a hard time reading on a plane or is it your best reading sprint time on the planet? What is your reading routine: hard copy vs. e-book, multiple options vs. one option, any kind of routine? Let me know in the comments below!


Image source: airplanes-work-1.jpg, http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/airplanes.htm

To read or not to read?

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you just can't seem to pick up a certain book after starting it? You're not hating the book, but can't find anything you really love about it either.

I seem to find myself in lulls every once in a while where I start reading a book, but it takes a little too long to finish it and I find myself not picking it up for longer and longer.

What is odd about it is that it may not be a reading slump. I'll find interest in other books and keep reading, but whenever I look at that one book (whatever it may be), I find myself struggling more and more to pick up that book.

So, then you come to the point where you have to make a decision: do you push through it to the point that you either finish it or hate it, or do you give it up to possibly try at a later time (if at all)? I usually find myself deciding on the latter option, but it comes with consequences as well. There have been times I put a book aside that I had started on, then heard from multitudes of other people that it was worth pushing through it. But there have also been times where I pushed myself through a book and those are usually the times where I hated the book with pretty strong emotions.

What do you do when you're in a lull? Would you have any advice on how to push through?

Image source: 365 × 272 - dyslexia.com, https://www.dyslexia.com/about-dyslexia/signs-of-dyslexia/common-characteristics-of-adult-dyslexia/

At the heart of every reader, there is a book sale

While visiting my folks at home in Iowa, my mom took me along to the library for her weekly stop at the book sale. After scanning through the books, I landed on this gold mine of the first eight Terry Goodkind books for $1.00 a piece! The wonderful thing about it is if I love them, I've got the set. If I find I don't love them, I'll just take them back for someone else to enjoy and I won't be out $200 (which is the original price of these 8 books combined).

The other books I found in this treasure trove were:

- Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
- The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
- The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens


What treasures have you found at a book sale?

Every new beginning deserves an introduction

It's the year 2017 and I'm finding that I am making changes in my life in order to focus on the bright side of life. Part of the bright side for me involves reading and talking about books. So, here I am, dipping my toe into the large ocean of bloggers to see what happens. It's quite possible I won't have that many followers, if any, but I'd like to think that there will be some sense of joy or understanding in connection to the content I post here.

Who are you?

My name is Samantha, meaning "listener of God", but I have been called a variety of names: Sam, Sammie (Sammy), Sammerz, Skittles, Amanda, Stephanie, Jennifer, etc. But my favorite name has always been Missy May. It holds a special place in my heart - a place that I intend to share here. 

I was born in 1989 in the lovely Midwest. In 2008, I moved to Southern California to be with my boyfriend, now husband. We were married September 2016 in the most beautiful wedding in the world (I may be a LITTLE bit biased)! I worked at Boys Town with teenage boys for 3 1/2 years before becoming an assistant teacher for infants and toddlers at Childtime Learning Center. My ultimate career goal is to get my Masters in guidance counseling and work with kids in the school setting.

What do you like to read?

My favorite reads are almost always fantasy-based, but I'll delve into just about anything. I struggle with non-fiction and contemporaries, but I have an open mind. There's just something about being transported to another world that gets my heart going. 

My current favorite authors seem to be Brandon Sanderson, Stephen King, Brent Weeks, Patrick Rothfuss, and Marissa Meyer. I'm dabbling in Sarah J. Maas and Neil Gaiman as well. 

I'm definitely open to the comics/graphic novel/manga world and have a few favorites in those categories as well. Currently, my favorites are The Walking Dead, Skip Beat!, Death Note, Rurouni Kenshin, The Sandman, and The New 52 Wonder Woman. 

What's your blog going to be about?

Overall, I just want to share and talk about the books I read. I also dabble in bullet journaling to keep my life in order. I'm always trying to find new or improved ways to track what I'm reading, as well as crossing off the books on my TBR. 

Hopefully, that gives you some insight into what to expect from this blog. I'm currently reading five books and am pretty darn close to finishing four of them, so be expecting reviews soon! If you would like to follow me on other social media, you can find me at: 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8152773-samantha-harvey

Instagram: @sammie.young.333
Twitter: @missymaynook

Are you trying something new for the year 2017? What's your favorite genre to read from?