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Image Courtesy of VABo2040 on Pixabay 

Four weeks ago, the Cramathon for summer 2018 announcement videos starting making their appearances. Aly from Hardback Hoarder and Dylan from Dylan the Reader 5 posted a video with all the challenges listed. Even though I did not expect to participate, here I am with my Cramathon Summer of 2018 participation announcement.

Cramathon Goals

The goal of Cramathon, as its name suggests, is to cram in as many books as you can within the week. Cramathon summer 2018 begins tomorrow, June 10, and ends on June 17 (midnight).

Here are the challenges and some of my TBR options.

Cramathon Challenge 1: A Predicted 5-Star Read

Even though I am currently reading Midnight Jewel by Richelle Mead, which is easily close to a five-star read. Nevertheless, I want to move into another series while awaiting the finale of The Glittering Court. 

Evelyn Skye’s Crown’s Game involves two magicians dueling and competing to become powerful figures in their society. It is kind of in the vein of A Shadow Bright and Burning in terms of including magic as a central way of being influential.

Cramathon Challenge 2: A Book Out of Your Comfort Zone

Oh, Cramathon, why are you so tough. I haven’t made it far into Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman, a historical fiction novel (kind of?).  It’s definitely out of my comfort zone because it has a lot of characters that I have not been able to distinguish between them.

This book also tackles a topic that I have not faced successfully yet: the story of Alexander the Great. I have a vague sense of what that story included, however, I have not read a fictionalized (or a true story) of Alexander the Great.

Cramathon Challenge 3: A Book That Has Been On Your TBR Longest

Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds has been on my TBR for a long time, so I can take advantage of Cramathon and take on this book. It’ll be a good way to integrate more series for me to experience over the next week.

Ruby and the gang, I am excited to meet you all.

Cramathon Challenge 4: LGBT+ Own Voices Novel

I have a couple of Adam Silvera books that are unread. It’s a toss-up between his History is All You Left Me or They Both Die at the End. I may go rogue and read a Patrick Ness book. I have his More Than This novel.

Cramathon Challenge 5: A Book with Your Favorite Color on the Cover

My favorite colors tend to be around the purple-pink-red range. There are two options for this challenge. First, And I Darken by Kiersten White. It has the same historical feel that Legacy of Kings has. I am not sure if that will work or if I will be turned off by too much history.

Because of this, I am torn between White’s story and Roshan Chokshi’s Star Touched Queen. We’ll have to wait and see which story resonates with my mood. Both books have gorgeous covers, I admit. I’ll be happy either way. I have so many unread series to catch up on.

 

Cramathon Challenge 6-7: Read 7 Books

I am thinking of taking on another two series this Cramathon. Morgan Rhodes’ Falling Kingdoms is high on my priorities list. Perhaps I can use this Cramathon to give the first book a try. I am mostly concerned with the flow of other series in my TBR. What if they all require time to get into their stories? Only one way to find out.

The other series is one I am sure will be easy for me to read: A Court of Mist and Fury is the only unread Sarah J. Maas book I have on my bookshelves. I haven’t purchased the rest of her series as I am slowly collecting the books.

 

 

 

 

 

I figured a change of pace would be a good idea for the blog. Today, I am sharing more about myself through the Movie Tag. This tag is one I have seen on one of my favorite BookTuber people Ginger Reads Lainey. Let me tell you about movies that I adore.

Here are the questions.

Favorite movie of all time?

I like all the movies I own, I suppose. That’s quite a number of films. I guess it depends on my mood. When I am sad, I go for The Perks of Being a Wallflower. When I am trying to pick myself back up from a dark spot, I usually go for It’s Kind of a Funny Story. 

Other favorites: The Fault in Our Stars, My Big Fat Greek Wedding (1 and 2), and Coming Through the Rye.  What If and Swiss Army Man. 

 Favorite scene from that movie?

The friendship montage in Swiss Army Man is such a classic in my world. I love it.

Another favorite is the dance sequence from Little Miss Sunshine. 

– Favorite actors /actresses?

I find myself gravitating toward characters and less toward actors. Then, the actors I actually do like I tend to like them for their activism and commentary on social situations.

– Most annoying actor/actress?

I literally tried to do research on actors/actresses I may dislike. It’s very rare when I end up disliking an actor. They have a tough job.

– Best director?

Edgar Wright has my favorite style of directing. I only have two of his films, but I enjoy them quite a bit. I like the very meta tone that his films tend to have.

– Favorite guilty pleasure film?

Movies based on books make me smile. So here are some of those films: Vampire Academy, The Mortal Instruments, Everything Everything,  The Duff, Beautiful Creatures. 

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films are also dear to me. Harry Potter films are special to me.

Live-Action films:  Mirror Mirror, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella 

– Favorite tear jerker?

Love, Rosie.  Me Before You.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The Book Thief. 

– Character from a movie that scared you the most?

I do not watch scary films. But, I think Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange will always be frightening for me. The other terrifying characters I had encountered in films is Gollum. It is the tangible way he is relatable to me; it is scary.

– Movie you love everyone hates?

The Percy Jackson movies, I think. And Spiderwick Chronicles, too, are special. Plus, you can see all the movies based on books are among my favorites. I did notice that not that many people were fond of Paper Towns as a film, which is just wrong.

– Movie you hate everyone loves?

I don’t know if people actually love the Pitch Perfect movies. There are too many of them. I actually did not mind the first one. But, then the jokes got worse in the second one. Eugh.

– Favorite animated movie?

I know I’m being stereotypical but I have always loved Aladdin the most. It was my first film I remember watching in theaters and it was so special.

– Actor/actress crush?

None, I guess.

– Favorite movie villain?

Kylo Ren will always be my favorite. Hands down. Like Gollum, he is so relatable through his conflict within himself.

– What movie surprised you the most?

The Man from U.N.C.L.E was such a pleasant surprise. We ended up spending a whole summer just watching it every day.

– If you could go back in time and marry actor/actress from back when (now old) who would it be?

I think Marilyn Monroe and I could have a good series of discussions on mental illness and body positivity. It could be an open marriage if she wants. I am totally cool with her being with other people.

– What’s the first movie you remember watching in theaters

Aladdin is one of those iconic films that changed everything for me. For a long time, I would play the soundtrack in my head when things were happening in life. It’s hard to explain. But, I lived by that soundtrack.

I spend a lot of time online. Perhaps I’m not alone in this, but it certainly feels that way. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been trying out podcasts. To encourage regular listening, I’m hoping to share my favorites every once in a while. Let’s begin.

On Feminism and Intersectionality

My favorite podcast in that regard, thus far, has to be Stuff Mom Never Told You. I can’t get over their episode on Miley Cyrus and racism, because oh my goodness this was mind-blowing and eye opening. Another really cool episode I had listened to was about African Americans and mental illness’ stigma. SO GOOD!

Anxiety and Depression Management and Community

You have to check out “Talking in Circles” with Laura Miller. This lady is honest and raw, real about her mental illness and how it affected her pregnancy. She used to make YouTube video series with the same title. I’ll link it right here for you. My favorite episode of the podcast has to be the one with Jen Gotch who is also extremely open and frank about her own life as a woman with mental illness. Also: I am learning from her by rating my own wellness every day. Just to be self aware and honest with myself.

 

So, I don’t know if you heard of Yoga Girl. She had a book come out a few years back, and she is popular on Instagram within the yoga community. I like her a lot, as a person and as a yogi. Luckily for me, she has a podcast called “From the Heart.” My favorite episode thus far is one about grief. The guest on that episode lost her child. Pshaw. That episode was so powerful and moving. It still haunts me and drives me to do better as a human.

Your Turn:

Do you have any favorite self improvement podcasts on iTunes? Please, share them with me in the comments! I want to learn more!

 

As you may have read in previous blog entries, I will be participating in Emojiathon this month. But, I like to break down my June TBR by weeks to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Read a book about a marginalized group

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

 

Cover Buy 

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead(e?)

 

Read a Book that Makes You Happy

The Selection by Keira Cass

 

I obviously may rebel, but I think I just need to read some light stuff with Crooked Kingdom. This is important, especially after Lord of Shadows broke me.

T5W, or Top 5 Wednesday, is a meme that is run by Sam from Thoughts on Tomes. The Goodreads Group is right here, for you to check out topics and participate with us. This week, my T5W is about authors I want to read more from. Some of these authors, I have not read anything from at all. Others are ones I have read a work or two by them, and I want to read more. But, over all, they are authors I would like to read more from regardless of how much I have read from them already.

Let the list of my top 5 authors I would like to read more from begin!

5. Rae Carson

I have read the first book of her Girl of Fire and Thorns. While her pacing is a little off in that book, I remain interested in her work because I am hoping to finish up that trilogy and read her new trilogy. She writes complex worlds and nuanced character development.

4. Cinda Williams Chima

Slowly, I have been gathering up her books. Now that I have read the first book of Mistborn, I want to explore high fantasy some more. While I am interested in reading more Sanderson, I want to also read fantasy from women’s own perspective.

3. Brandon Sanderson

Having said that, I really enjoyed most of the Final Empire and so I want to read more Sanderson. Over the past year, I have been collecting some of his work (a lot of his work, actually). Part of this interest stems from selfish reasons. Sanderson talks about how he is a slow and steady writer, and I am pretty slow when it comes to writing as well. And, I think he writes poignant relationships, vast worlds; how can I not be interested?

2. Neil Gaiman

Stardust is one of my most treasured movies, and I want to write fantastical and dreamlike narratives just like Gaiman. He seems to have a humble, yet strong sense of style and poise in his fiction. All I can think of is how great it would be to pick up some stylistic lessons from reading his work.

  1. Roshani Chokshi

Lush beautiful writing, based on what little I have read from her, and culturally rich stories. As a wanna-be author of color, I am inspired by other women of color who write stories where they are meshing their cultural influences with traditional mainstream stories. So, Hades/Persephone story infused with Indian mythology is what I have heard about her first book, which sounds brilliant to me.

 

The lovely Mollie from MollieReads created the #Do-A-Thon. It will be taking place during the first week of May. The event involves finding ways to live more mindfully, and to tackle the challenging things we never quite get to do often. So, here’s my Do-A-Thon “TBR.”

Do one thing that scares you or do something that challenges the story you tell yourself.

I have a very bad relationship with my body. Over the years, I have developed some disordered thinking and eating. So, I want to: be more mindful of what I eat, how much I eat. Facing my own body image issues by being more understanding of my eating habits will scare me, I know it. But, I think it’ll help me a lot by challenging my self narrative.

Rather than being a product of medications’ side effects, I get to be in control of my food intake and wellness.

• Complete a project (creative or otherwise) that you’ve been putting off.

I need to sort through my closet and organize it better. In addition, I would like to revisit my poetry and wrap up some of the poems I did not finish. I have a lot of them jotted on my iPods.

• Do something that involves someone else or do something for someone else.

This one makes me panic. I can try to comment on blogs more often during the week? And, I want to talk more on Goodreads and Twitter as well.

• Learn something new.

I am going to try to do yoga every day of that week as well, to help foster a gentler approach to my relationship with my body. I would like to introduce physical flexibility again, because it used to bring me so much joy. While I used to practice yoga before getting too sick, I have gained so much weight, that it will be a whole new experience now.

Probably, I will aim for practicing through Yoga with Adrienne.

• Do something to foster a calm or welcoming environment.

Read for an hour or two every day! I feel much better when I read. And, I want to live tweet or GR update my way through my reading experience.

 

So She Thought

She lived in a shoe-box thinking it a mansion. In her head, she dreamed of being someone else, of being blue-eyed blonde, stick thin and muscly.

Never mind her thick legs. Ignore this frizz like pineapple hair. She promised to erase her wilderness, her half-masked ambition, her enthusiasm. Instead, she would trade it in for a calm, cool, collected caricature to a charismatic clever creature. Shrewd and nonchalant, she would circle those goals, day after day.

Wrong.

Her mind was wrong, but it was made up.

But, she spent her time wishing to be different. Only to realize that she is wasting her glory days gorging and gawking at other brains, other dreams, other beings.

Perhaps, it is less about minding the gaps between her and the rest. More, it is more about feeling the cloth she is working with. Touching the seams and zippers, soothing velvet texture. Throwing it back and jumping off roof tops, cape bellowing behind.

“These are the glory days,” she would whisper to the stars.