Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Books I was SOOO Excited to Get and I Still Haven’t Read

The literary community in Utah is amazing. A. Maz. Ing. Before the pandemic, my bookish friends and I used to go to a signing at least once every other month sometimes more often. I’ve had the opportunity to meet some fabulous authors like Stephenie Meyer, Lois Lowry, Markus Zusak, Cassandra Clare, and Sarah J. Maas, not to mention all the Utah authors like Shannon Hale, Brandon Sanderson, Ally Condie, Jennifer A. Nielsen, Jessica Day George, etc. (I’m not saying this to brag. I’m saying it to help paint a picture.) I bought books at most of the signings I attended, and I’ve read some of them. And, I haven’t readatleasthalfthebooks in my library.

As you can imagine, this week’s prompt’s really hard for me to narrow down my list to just ten books. (I know. Someone call the wambulance. #firstworldproblems ) Anyway, here are my top ten 12 books I was sooo excited to get and I still haven’t read:

What about you? Which books made your list this week? Do we have any in common?

That’s it! Another Bout of Books has come and gone. It was a big, fat bust of a reading week for me. I tried to find time to read, but my time was spent focusing on my summer class and packing and cleaning. (For those of you who haven’t been following my blog, my husband and I are in the process of selling our place.)

I hope this week was more successful for other participants than it was for me. Thank you, Amanda and Kelly, for all the hard work you put into making Bout of Books as much fun as it is!

Don’t forget that the next Bout of Books is August 15 to 21, 2022.

Totals

Here are my totals! I only read for a little bit yesterday. It’s better than nothing, right?

Pages Read: 29 pages
Hours Read: 44 minutes
Books Finished:

How was your week? Did you meet your goals?

Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and other things.
Feeling

I’ve felt a bit overwhelmed this week. Corey and I’ve been packing up a storm to get our place ready for pictures so we can put it on the market. We barely made it yesterday. We’re both so worn out and tired from all the packing and cleaning.

I’m also feeling proud. I got my grades for last semester and I got A’s in both my Japanese and trigonometry classes. I knew I was going to fail my computer programming class because I got behind when I got sick. Instead of giving me an F, my teacher gave me a UW (unofficial withdrawal) and I’m okay with that.

I started a new iteration of the computer programming class this week and I feel so much better about it already. Since it’s the only class I’m taking during the summer, I’ll be able to devote plenty of time to learning the concepts.

I’m also feeling proud because I graduated from DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) on Thursday. I actually shared my experience on Twitter in a thread about having Borderline Personality Disorder and graduating from therapy. Here’s the first tweet if you want to read the thread. (There’s a trigger warning for suicide.)

Blogging

This week on the blog:

Reading

I didn’t read anything this week either. It’s just been so crazy around here. Hopefully, today I can get some reading in. I want to focus on starting the read-alongs I’m supposed to be participating in for Wyrd & Wonder and my IRL book club’s May book, which are:

  • THE SUMMER TREE by Guy Gavriel Kay
  • THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST by Holly Black
  • CARVE THE MARK by Veronica Roth (book club book)

I need to make CARVE THE MARK my priority, though, because our book club meeting is this coming Wednesday. Wish me luck.

Listening

This week, I’ve been listening to “Something in the Way” by Nirvana thanks to watching The Batman. I actually forgot about this song. I love Nirvana, but I normally listen to “Smells Like Team Spirit” and “Come as You Are” in my Faves playlist.

Watching

Corey and I finally watched The Batman. It’s on HBO Max and I’ve been wanting to see it ever since the reviews said it was the best Batman movie yet. Corey’s not a DC fan. At. All. I don’t mind some of DC’s stuff. I like Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy and I Shazam! Superman’s one of my favorite superheroes and I liked the first movie with Henry Cavill, but once Ben Affleck shows up as Batman I start to lose interest. I liked both Wonder Woman movies all right, except I always say this: the first Wonder Woman movie is just Captain America: the First Avenger set in WWI with Wonder Woman as the superhero instead of Steve Rogers.

Anyway, back to The Batman. I thought it was fantastic. Robert Pattinson did a phenomenal job as Bruce Wayne/Batman. I had my doubts and he crushed it. The rest of the cast was amazing too. The movie and story are very dark, but what else is new; it’s DC. I loved that the story focuses on Batman’s detective nature. Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” was perfect for the movie. It gave me chills. If you haven’t seen it and you like superhero movies, you should give it a go. If you’re a ginormous Batman fan, I’m not sure what you’ll think.

Loving

I love how clean and empty my house feels right now. We decluttered it for the pictures and while we show it to potential buyers. I think Corey and I are going to throw out a lot stuff. Everything feels so open and roomy. I miss my library, though. That will be the first thing I unpack after we move.

Wanting

I want to get my nails done. They’re way too long right now. I might have time at some point in the near future to get a manicure. #firstworldproblems

Needing

I need to find my mom and dad’s death certificates. My siblings and I were each given one after both of my parents passed away. I put them in a safe place. However, as I was packing this week, I realized they’re not there anymore. I’m sure they’ve just been misplaced from the last time I used them. I just want to make sure I know where they are.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Bookish Characters

This week’s prompt is “Bookish Characters.” This seems easy, except I think we’re supposed to choose a category of character, like favorite readers, librarians, professors, etc. At least that’s what I’m understanding from the instructions. Here are my top ten favorite bookworms:

Hermione Granger

Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling

Bella Swan

Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

Will Herondale

Infernal Devices Trilogy by Cassandra Clare

Tessa Gray

Infernal Devices Trilogy by Cassandra Clare

Lady Jane Grey

MY LADY JANE by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

Marianne Daventry

EDENBROOKE by Julianne Donaldson

Liesel Meminger

THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak

Cath Avery

FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell

Anne Shirley

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by LM Montgomery

Elizabeth Bennett

PRIDE & PREJUDICE by Jane Austen

What about you? Which bookish characters are on your list this week?

I’ve been learning in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) that life is full of dialectics, or two opposing truths. In this case, the two opposing truths are: 1) I don’t agree with JKR’s stance regarding trans people, and 2) I still love Harry Potter.

Bout of Books 34 is finally here! Even though I have a lot going on this week, I hope I can still spend quite a bit of time reading.

During the week as I participate in Bout of Books, I’ll keep track of my progress on this post. At the end of the week, I’ll post a wrap-up post with my totals.

Sadly, I’m in the process of selling my home and moving, and I packed my library on Friday. For this reason, I won’t be participating in the Instagram challenge this time around. I’ll still be posting some pictures throughout the week, so click here if you’d like to follow me on Instagram .

Bout of Books TBR

I want to read CARVE THE MARK by Veronica Roth. It’s my IRL book club’s pick for May. If I finish CARVE THE MARK, then I want to read the next installment in the Narniad for the Narniathon21, which is THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW by CS Lewis. I also want to get caught up on the Wyrd & Wonder read-alongs I’m participating in. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog, we’re reading THE SUMMER TREE by Guy Gavriel Kay and THE DARKEST PARK OF THE FOREST by Holly Black.

Progress

Monday

Pages Read:
Time Read:
Book Finished:
Currently Reading:
Comments: I got my eyes dilated while I was at the eye doctor so I couldn’t read for about six hours. Then, I was in a minor accident later in the day. As you can imagine, I just didn’t feel like reading after that.

Tuesday

Pages Read:
Time Read:
Book Finished:
Currently Reading:
Comments: This week isn’t turning out the way I wanted it to. I didn’t get the chance to do any reading today either. It was a very emotional day. I opted to spend time with Corey and watch a couple of movies during my downtime. Hopefully, I can get some reading in tomorrow.

Wednesday

Pages Read:
Time Read:
Book Finished:
Currently Reading:
Comments: LOL. Another day without any reading. My brain feels like it’s stuck in a little bit of a fog. I opted to binge watch CANDY on Hulu instead of read because my brain didn’t have to work as much. It’s amazing how much packing takes it out of you.

Thursday

Pages Read:
Time Read:
Book Finished:
Currently Reading:
Comments: I’m beginning to think I’m not going to get any reading in this week.

Friday

Pages Read:
Time Read:
Book Finished:
Currently Reading:
Comments: Nope. Still no reading done. I spent the day packing, cleaning, and working on homework due tonight.

Saturday

Pages Read:
Time Read:
Book Finished:
Currently Reading:
Comments: Today was so crazy busy. I barely had time to breathe.

Sunday

Pages Read: 29 pages
Time Read: 44 minutes
Book Finished:
Currently Reading: CARVE THE MARK by Veronica Roth
Comments: Yay! I finally read something!

Are you participating in Bout of Books 34? What do you plan to read this week? Let’s make this a great week!