Page 197.
(Fun fact: my cat is named after Isabelle Lightwood, a character in this book.)
-Julieann
Saturday, April 09, 2011
Read-A-Thon: Progress
Read-a-thon
PHILIPPA GREGORY. I HAVE CONQUERED YOU.
Okay, I only had 33 pages left to read of The White Queen, but still. It's done!
Finished:
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory: 33 pages
In Progress:
Emma by Jane Austen: I don't know but I will figure out how to track this
Allison Hewitt is Trapped: Madeleine Roux (starting at page 87): 0 today
Total pages read: 33
Status: DISTRACTED by this whole Emma page tracking thing. Blah.
-Lanie
Okay, I only had 33 pages left to read of The White Queen, but still. It's done!
Finished:
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory: 33 pages
In Progress:
Emma by Jane Austen: I don't know but I will figure out how to track this
Allison Hewitt is Trapped: Madeleine Roux (starting at page 87): 0 today
Total pages read: 33
Status: DISTRACTED by this whole Emma page tracking thing. Blah.
-Lanie
Read-a-Thon: I'M AWAKE
Silly me, I didn't go to bed until 2 last night and am just now rolling out of bed. Oh well!
Now that I'm awake and have eaten a bite and am relatively lucid (maybe I should look into some Mountain Dew before I say I'm actually awake), here are my goals for today:
1. to read Cassandra Clare's City of Fallen Angels
2. after which I will read Holly Black's Red Glove
3. followed by finishing Naomi Novik's The Jade Throne, which I am currently in the middle of.
If I manage all of that,
4. I will start Naomi Novik's Black Powder War.
If I still need more once those are done,
5. I have Johann Wyss's The Swiss Family Robinson on my Kindle app on my phone, which I am halfway through and
6. I am re-reading Holly Black's Valiant, which I am also halfway through.
7. Or I can start Carrie Ryan's The Dead Tossed Waves.
A series of plans! I has them!
Now, for the little survey thingie from hour 1!
1)Where are you reading from today?
The hipster colony! I will find somewhere to read where I won't fall asleep. AKA not my bed! Maybe I will have a bath!
2)Three random facts about me…
1. I will be splitting my time read-a-thon-ing with a roleplay scene I am currently involved in. I can't leave four and potentially five other people hanging while I read a book! That's just uncouth!
2. My cat stared at me until I got out of bed this morning. It was super creepy and I hope this is not something she makes a habit of. Izzy! What do you want from me? You have kibbles!
3. I don't love Incubus. I love Taking Back Sunday. Lanie and I are going to have a fight! :D
3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
There are approximately 5 million books in my general to be read pile, because I mostly only read on the train now, but currently four complete books off the top of my head, and half of one I've been reading on my way to work.
4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?
Two and a half, with an extension for a third complete book.
5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?
When we did this a while back, I learned DO NOT READ IN BED, YOU WILL END UP TAKING A NAP INSTEAD.
- Julieann
Now that I'm awake and have eaten a bite and am relatively lucid (maybe I should look into some Mountain Dew before I say I'm actually awake), here are my goals for today:
1. to read Cassandra Clare's City of Fallen Angels
2. after which I will read Holly Black's Red Glove
3. followed by finishing Naomi Novik's The Jade Throne, which I am currently in the middle of.
If I manage all of that,
4. I will start Naomi Novik's Black Powder War.
If I still need more once those are done,
5. I have Johann Wyss's The Swiss Family Robinson on my Kindle app on my phone, which I am halfway through and
6. I am re-reading Holly Black's Valiant, which I am also halfway through.
7. Or I can start Carrie Ryan's The Dead Tossed Waves.
A series of plans! I has them!
Now, for the little survey thingie from hour 1!
1)Where are you reading from today?
The hipster colony! I will find somewhere to read where I won't fall asleep. AKA not my bed! Maybe I will have a bath!
2)Three random facts about me…
1. I will be splitting my time read-a-thon-ing with a roleplay scene I am currently involved in. I can't leave four and potentially five other people hanging while I read a book! That's just uncouth!
2. My cat stared at me until I got out of bed this morning. It was super creepy and I hope this is not something she makes a habit of. Izzy! What do you want from me? You have kibbles!
3. I don't love Incubus. I love Taking Back Sunday. Lanie and I are going to have a fight! :D
3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
There are approximately 5 million books in my general to be read pile, because I mostly only read on the train now, but currently four complete books off the top of my head, and half of one I've been reading on my way to work.
4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?
Two and a half, with an extension for a third complete book.
5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?
When we did this a while back, I learned DO NOT READ IN BED, YOU WILL END UP TAKING A NAP INSTEAD.
- Julieann
Dewey's Read-a-thon
Read-a-thon is on, bitches.
So I'm kind of three hours late in getting a start but that's fine because Julieann is not even awake yet!
Goals: Finish The White Queen by Phillippa Gregory (only 33 pages left) and Emma by Jane Austen (reading on my kindle on my phone so I have no earthly idea how much I have left, other than "less than half"). I don't know which other books on the book pile I'll knock off today but let's say the goal is...at least two, bringing it to a total of four finished books today.
Shall I go back and do the mini challenge of hour one? Sure!
1)Where are you reading from today? The suburban DC hipster colony where I reside. More specifically, probably on the worn-out couch
2)Three random facts about me… My dog is going to interrupt my reading at least 47 times today. I am currently trying to figure out how to shower but not waste valuable reading time. I love Incubus. Love, love, love.
3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? My to-be-read pile in general is out of control, not counting library books. I would like to read 8 just to catch up to the 50 books per year goal, but that seems a little ridiculous.
4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? At least four books.
5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? I am not a veteran by any means. I could use advice, especially about that shower thing.
-Lanie
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Crystal Renn - Hungry
I loved Hungry, until I didn't. Co-written by Marjorie Ingall, a magazine contributor (at Self and the the late Sassy), the fact that some parts dragged on like the longest article ever...made sense. But let's start up with the good stuff.
As no stranger to the eating disorder memoir, I dove right in, excited for fresh details cataloging the experiences and situations that ultimately led Renn down the rabbit hole to disorder. She uses clear logic to explain how she ended up unhealthy and makes every effort to reiterate that her disordered actions were just that. The early part of the book, about her childhood and how nature and nurture both added up to ultimate destruction of her self-esteem and body as a result was told really well. You really get a sense that Renn was a girl you could have known growing up, by the way she tells her story. It's relatable and really interesting.
Where the book falters is the recovery portion. It seems as if one day, after enough frustration, she simply decided not to be sick anymore. Her weight fluctuated and she was unhappy for a while, she eventually found her "normal" weight and everything was fine. As she tells her story, after choosing plus size rather than "straight" modeling, she'll interject that she was still screwed up about weight and food, but I would've liked to hear more about that, what work she put into herself mentally and physically to get better. I want to know what battles she had to fight to get taken seriously in an industry prone to tokenism and flightiness, instead of switching between statistics about eating disorders and the awesome people she's been able to work with.
I get that Renn doesn't want to burn any bridges, should she continue to bust down the barriers to work in high fashion and work for those who had previously shunned her. I was disappointed that she wasn't able to get any more specific about her struggles, and the second half of her book was the poorer for it, but it wasn't a bad book by any means.
Renn and Ingall use a casual style, but sometimes the magazine style takes over a little too much. I could have done without the clothes-porn descriptions of Renn's wardrobe and the awesome things she's worn in photo-shoots. Ditto for the overt praise toward designers and photographers. If you're more into fashion than I am, maybe it'll be a plus, but I hardly expected to hear what any photographer is really like from a still-working model.
It's not as serious a memoir as others I've read, it's not the most dramatic book about a disorder that I've ever read either. It is, however, an interesting look at the messages that women are sent, explicitly and implicitly by the world of fashion and the attitudes of those around them, for better and for worse.
As no stranger to the eating disorder memoir, I dove right in, excited for fresh details cataloging the experiences and situations that ultimately led Renn down the rabbit hole to disorder. She uses clear logic to explain how she ended up unhealthy and makes every effort to reiterate that her disordered actions were just that. The early part of the book, about her childhood and how nature and nurture both added up to ultimate destruction of her self-esteem and body as a result was told really well. You really get a sense that Renn was a girl you could have known growing up, by the way she tells her story. It's relatable and really interesting.
Where the book falters is the recovery portion. It seems as if one day, after enough frustration, she simply decided not to be sick anymore. Her weight fluctuated and she was unhappy for a while, she eventually found her "normal" weight and everything was fine. As she tells her story, after choosing plus size rather than "straight" modeling, she'll interject that she was still screwed up about weight and food, but I would've liked to hear more about that, what work she put into herself mentally and physically to get better. I want to know what battles she had to fight to get taken seriously in an industry prone to tokenism and flightiness, instead of switching between statistics about eating disorders and the awesome people she's been able to work with.
I get that Renn doesn't want to burn any bridges, should she continue to bust down the barriers to work in high fashion and work for those who had previously shunned her. I was disappointed that she wasn't able to get any more specific about her struggles, and the second half of her book was the poorer for it, but it wasn't a bad book by any means.
Renn and Ingall use a casual style, but sometimes the magazine style takes over a little too much. I could have done without the clothes-porn descriptions of Renn's wardrobe and the awesome things she's worn in photo-shoots. Ditto for the overt praise toward designers and photographers. If you're more into fashion than I am, maybe it'll be a plus, but I hardly expected to hear what any photographer is really like from a still-working model.
It's not as serious a memoir as others I've read, it's not the most dramatic book about a disorder that I've ever read either. It is, however, an interesting look at the messages that women are sent, explicitly and implicitly by the world of fashion and the attitudes of those around them, for better and for worse.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Sara Shepard - Pretty Little Liars
Now I can see why this series got picked up for a television show after Gossip Girl was so successful.
Pretty Little Liars was the perfect vacation read; scandalous, mysterious and funny. It's basically Gossip Girl with slightly less abhorrent male characters.
Much of this book alludes to past events when five girls, Alison, Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna were best friends, in between 7th and 8th grade. After the bossy ringleader Alison disappears, the group fractures and their secrets stay kept. When Aria returns to town and the girls are entering their junior year of high school, strange texts and emails, all signed by "A," start to plague the girls.
I really enjoy that Pretty Little Liars has a bit of mystery to it and things take a darker turn than the Gossip Girl series did. If you liked those books, there's no reason why Pretty Little Liars won't go down just as easily. If you weren't into the Gossip Girl series, but you enjoy frothy scandals, give this series a try. It's definitely a quick and fun read.
Pretty Little Liars was the perfect vacation read; scandalous, mysterious and funny. It's basically Gossip Girl with slightly less abhorrent male characters.
Much of this book alludes to past events when five girls, Alison, Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna were best friends, in between 7th and 8th grade. After the bossy ringleader Alison disappears, the group fractures and their secrets stay kept. When Aria returns to town and the girls are entering their junior year of high school, strange texts and emails, all signed by "A," start to plague the girls.
I really enjoy that Pretty Little Liars has a bit of mystery to it and things take a darker turn than the Gossip Girl series did. If you liked those books, there's no reason why Pretty Little Liars won't go down just as easily. If you weren't into the Gossip Girl series, but you enjoy frothy scandals, give this series a try. It's definitely a quick and fun read.
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