Bout of Books 20 Read-a-thon Sign Up & Goals

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The Bout of Books read-a-thon is orgnaized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon thatbegins 12:01am Monday, August 21st and runs through Sunday, August 27th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 20 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

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Hurray! It's time for another Bout of Books Read-a-thon! I've been participating in these for the past few years now (since I started blogging) and it's the one read-a-thon I most look forward to (probably because I'm more comfortable with things I've done repeatedly.)
I haven't been the best with read-a-thons in the past couple of years (who has time to dedicate an entire day let alone a week to reading when you are a SAHM with a toddler?!) but I am so behind on my August TBR that this read-a-thon couldn't have come at a better time. I am pumped and motivated to participate and actually READ AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE! 

Ok, so my goals are to read at least 2 books. That IS low but I think that's a good average for one week considering that I'm such a slow reader lately. If I read more than that, GREAT! I really hope I do! 

Mostly, I'll be using this read-a-thon to get through my ARC August TBR!

Some ARCs I'm hoping I will get to:

I've also got a few library books checked out that I need to finish asap! 

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And just so I don't forget (because I probably won't have time to check the site daily) here is the challenge/giveaways/twitter chats schedule:

Monday: Introduce yourself #insixwords

Tuesday: Synopsis rewrite

Wednesday: Book spine rainbow

Thursday: If you like this, try that...

Friday: Leave a book review

Saturday: Love to hate

Sunday: Free day!

Twitter chats:

(last approximately one hour)

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

Monday: 8pm CST (9pm EST)

Saturday: 10am CST (11am EST)

Good luck to everyone participating! Happy reading! 

Can't Wait Wednesday #20 - The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings and spotlights the books we are excited about and have yet to read. This meme is based on Waiting on Wednesday which is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine.

I can't wait for...
The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris

Expected Publication: November 21, 2017
by Little, Brown Books
Goodreads

Synopsis:
From beloved award-winning actor, Neil Patrick Harris, comes the magical first book in a new series with plenty of tricks up its sleeve.

When street magician Carter runs away, he never expects to find friends and magic in a sleepy New England town. But like any good trick, things change instantly as greedy B.B. Bosso and his crew of crooked carnies arrive to steal anything and everything they can get their sticky fingers on.

After a fateful encounter with the local purveyor of illusion, Dante Vernon, Carter teams up with five other like-minded kids. Together, using both teamwork and magic, they'll set out to save the town of Mineral Wells from Bosso's villainous clutches. These six Magic Misfits will soon discover adventure, friendship, and their own self-worth in this delightful new series.

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This sounds exactly like the type of children's books I enjoy most but Neil Patrick Harris is a huge bonus. I love him as an actor, as a father, and as a human being in general and would love to see what crazy stories he has locked away in that adorable head of his. I'm a little curious about whether he wrote this before or after his role as Count Olaf in the Series of Unfortunate Events because Bosso kind of gives me Count Olaf vibes (yes, just from the synopsis.) Nevertheless, this sounds like a fun story and I can't wait to read about this band of magical misfits.  

National Geographic Kids - Back to School with Weird But True! Planner & U.S. Atlas

I received free copies of these books from Nat Geo Kids and Media Masters in exchange for an honest review. 

It's that time of the year again! All the kids will be starting their first day of a new school year (if they haven't already). 

Whether you're sending your kids off to public, private, charter school or homeschooling your little ones all on your own, National Geographic Kids is a great source for all of your educational needs. 

Weird But True! Daily Planner:

365 Days to Fill with School, Sports, Friends, and Fun! 

Published June 13, 2017

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

*National Geographic Store*

While you're purchasing all those much needed supplies, don't forget about a planner to keep your kids motivated and on track! National Geographic Kids has put together a fantastic daily planner filled with tons of Weird But True style facts on every page to keep children learning something new every day. 

 

The formatting of this spiral-bound planner has four days per spread. I'm personally used to planners with an entire week on one spread but I like that this planner gives you plenty of space to write down everything you need for each day. There's enough room to write down something for each school subject and more! 

Something I especially like is that this planner is not limited to one specific year. So if you forget to use it this year, you can simply wait and use it next year instead! 

As shown on the right, each day of the year allows you to circle which particular day of the week it is. This in particular is perfect for me because I plan on homeschooling my little one next year and will need to keep track of our activities, field trips, etc. If this had been a strictly 2017-2018 planner I wouldn't have been able to use it as much as I would have liked. 

This planner runs from August 1st to July 31st so it's perfect for schooling!

There are several useful spreads in the very back of this planner to help your child with their homework. There's a world map and useful tips on how to read latitude and longitude lines as well as scale and direction. There's information on how to do proper research and how to write a report but that's not all. There are useful charts as well! 

United States Atlas
Fifth Edition
Published on July 11, 2017

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
*National Geographic Store*

Anyone wanting to learn more about the geography of the United States should definitely turn to this amazing atlas!

This book is incredibly easy to use with sections covering states in the different regions of our country, including the island territories. 

Each state has a fact box that includes basic information as well as some Geo Whiz facts. There are also photos that cover some of the interesting places or things in that state. 

Each map is covered in symbols to represent physical, political, and economic features. Every state page has a symbol key so you don't have to constantly flip back to the beginning of the book to figure out what one particular symbol means. 

In addition to each state, there are plenty of maps covering the United States as a whole. Some show the physical aspects of our country's mountain ranges, environmental changes, natural hazards such as earthquakes and hurricanes, population growth, and more.

We will definitely get plenty of use out of this as we learn about our country and it's geography and plan our cross-country vacations in the future. 

Many, many thanks to Media Masters for the chance to use these in our future homeschooling endeavors! 

The Sunday Post #72 - August Blues

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things you received, share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead, and more.

It has been an uneventful week here, thank goodness. I haven't been on top of things this week despite that there wasn't much going on. I didn't get much blogging done or read very much. I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed again thanks to my library holds all coming in at once right when I'm in the middle of 2 challenges that sort of dictate what I can read. I'm breaking the rules anyway though since I'd been waiting on one book for 9 months (The Handmaid's Tale). Hopefully I can focus on reading and blogging more next week!

A few snapshots from my week.

NEW TO MY SHELVES

 Part of my secondhand books haul from last week, what I received in the mail, and my latest library haul. All in Insta-Story format because I apparently can't be bothered to take pictures of anything anymore unless it's for bookstagram... 

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
Picture Book Review: Tidy by Emily Gravett
Book Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Can't Wait Wednesday: All The Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

RECENTLY READ

CURRENTLY READING

CURRENTLY LISTENING

I finally got this back on Overdrive. I'm only about 14 hours into the 45 hour audio though so who knows if I'll find the time to get even half way through it. Unfortunately, my library doesn't have many audiobook choices so I guess I don't really mind that this one is going to take me forever. 

BOOKSTAGRAM

I'm also linking up to Book Photo Sundays via Rabbit Ears Book Blog!

I'm really loving my bright blue theme right now!
By the way, in case you are interested, I am doing a Follow Train right now! The plan is that my sister and I will be co-hosting a Sarah J. Maas themed giveaway (on instagram) when we reach 1K followers and we're over 900 right now so it won't be long! I painted a special bookmark for this giveaway and it's gorgeous!
Follow me on Instagram!


Have a wonderful week! Happy Reading! 

Book Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Title: The Hate U Give

Author: Angie Thomas

Publisher: Balzer + Bray / HarperTeen

Publication Date: February 28, 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Length: 444 pages

Format: Hardcover

Source: Borrowed

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Literary Awards: 

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction (2017)

Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood  best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. 

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. 

But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life. 

My Thoughts: 

"Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right."

This is the heartbreaking yet hopeful story of Starr, an intelligent young girl who witnesses the murder of her childhood best friend at the hands of a police officer. Starr ends up caught between doing right by her friend and protecting herself from the spotlight that this death brings about. It is more than that, though. It is about family, friends, and community. It is about speaking up for what is right.

Ok, yes, this book is sooo hyped up right now but I believe it deserves all of that hype and more. This is one of those books that everyone needs to read or at least know about. It is so incredibly relevant and gives us a glance into the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality against POC. 

I don't really read contemporaries but I knew from the get-go that I had to read this. It is books like this that remind us that our lives could be worse. That someone else out there in the world has it worse than us. More so--and I think this is a very important topic right now--it gives us a new perspective and shows us our privilege and, hopefully, how to learn from that.

The characters in this book are written so well. I could absolutely feel every bit of emotion from Starr as well as her parents, siblings, and friends. This story is so real and the emotions were so raw. I will admit that this made me tear up more than once and that hasn't happened to me in a while. 

Also, I loved how, despite how long this book is and the plethora of characters, they all seemed to have an important role in this story. Every character had their own little backstory. Starr was our star but every other character shone just as brightly. Even the ones that I really just wanted to give a good smack at times.

There's so much more to say about this book but I'm nearly at a loss for words how to better summarize this story and how to express how I felt about it. All I can say is that I think everyone with at least a smidge of empathy should read this. I don't think it's for everyone since it's such a controversial subject, but I hope that it opens a few eyes to the injustice in this world; especially in the U.S. 

I would not recommend this if you cannot handle excessive amounts of swearing. There's a lot of it. 

My Rating: 5 stars

Can't Wait Wednesday #19 - All The Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings and spotlights the books we are excited about and have yet to read. This meme is based on Waiting on Wednesday which is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine.

I can't wait for...
All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

Expected Publication: October 10, 2017
by Scholastic Press
Goodreads

Synopsis:
Here is a thing everyone wants: 
A miracle. 

Here is a thing everyone fears:
What it takes to get one. 

Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars. 

At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts: Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo. 

They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect. 
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If I didn't know who Maggie was, or that her books are always so unique, I probably wouldn't be too interested in this, to be honest. It does have a certain mystery surrounding it but if I was to put nearly any other author's name to this synopsis I'd just be 'meh' about it. But this is Maggie Stiefvater. And she's brilliant and I know that she does amazing things and has amazing ideas and that alone makes me super psyched for this. 

Picture Book Review: Tidy by Emily Gravett

Title: Tidy 

Author: Emily Gravett

Publisher: Two Hoots

Publication Date: April 7, 2016

Length: 40 pages
Format: Hardcover

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Synopsis:

Pete the badger likes everything to be neat and tidy at all times, but what starts as the collecting of one fallen leaf escalates quickly and ends with the complete destruction of the forest! Will Pete realize the error of his ways and set things right? 

My Thoughts: 

Pete the Badger loves to tidy things up. He helps the birds takes baths and combs the foxes fur until all the twigs, leaves, and burrs are gone. But things get out of hand when he starts to clean up all of the falling leaves in the forest. Pete tidies up so extensively that soon he's digging up the bare trees and getting rid of all the dirt. He only realizes how far he's gone when he can no longer find food to eat or get home to sleep. 

This is a cute little story that reminds us that we can sometimes take things a little too far. That there's no such thing as perfect and that we need to learn to accept things for how they are. 

I loved the illustrations so much! They are very calming, even when chaotic. I love the warmth in the colors and the details as well as the adorable forest animals.