Reading Plans and Planning Plans (Ha!), week of 06-24-18

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry. I haven't updated here in a long time, and I haven't read much recently. This is because this month, I took a prelicensing course for the Florida Life Insurance exam. At the end of last month, I joined Primerica, which is a company that sells life insurance and investments. Now, if I study, I'm on track to have my life insurance license by the end of this week, as long as I can pass the state exam! That would be so exciting. My mom is taking it, too. So, since I have lots of studying to do this week, finding reading time may not be easy, but it is possible.

I have reading to do for my main job, things to do for Primerica, and I'm definitely planning to do some writing. I'm also judging a contest called Query Kombat. The last two rounds of it are this week. Here's more info: http://www.michelle4laughs.com/2018/06/query-kombat-2018-round-4.html

Then, there's church on Wednesday night, and I'm planning to make a custom planner for July, which will be fun. Finally, there's something called #FaithPitch on Twitter on Thursday. It's a pitch event for Christian fiction, and I feel like I should do it, because I edit Christian fiction, but I might just skip it to avoid additional stress. Things are not likely to slow down going into July, so it's good to be on the offensive this week. So I'm going to plan in a way that's more detailed than I did before.

With that said, I want to devote 1-2 hours to reading each day. These might be right before bed, but recently, I've tried that twice and fallen asleep after less than ten pages, hahaha. Maybe some in the afternoon and some at night. I'll have to try to block my calendar and see what seems to work best.

Today, I've read for about 1 hour and 21 minutes so far. That was split between two audiobooks: Defending Jacob by William Landay and If Not for You by Debbie Macomber, an author my mom likes. It was't split evenly; more than an hour of it went to If Not for You. I've only read bits of Debbie Macomber books before, but this one is nice. I started it today because I wanted something light to balance out the darker tones of Defending Jacob and my other current read, Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton. My main reading goal is to finish Social Creature by Wednesday night.

So, that's it for this week, at least up to Thursday. Depending on how things go, I might plan to participate in the Tome Topple readathon, which starts this Friday or Readehthon (the Canadian readathon), which starts next Sunday. Readehthon is a good opportunity to finish Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, which I started months and months ago and returned to the library unfinished. But I'm trying not to overthink those readathons, so I can use my energy on things that are current.

What about you, readers? Any exciting reading plans, planning plans, or other plans this week? :) Let me know in the comments.

Exciting News! My Story is In An Anthology

Hi everyone!

I just made a post about my reading goals for this week. The funny thing is, I forgot about one thing I'm definitely planning to read this week. It's an anthology called Flicker, and I HAVE A STORY PUBLISHED IN IT! WOOHOO!

Flicker is from Filles Vertes Publishing. Digital copies are currently available, and physical copies will be available starting June 8, 2018. You can order it here: https://www.fillesvertespublishing.com/product/flicker-stories-of-inner-flame-short-story-anthology/

Let me know if you have any questions, and I will come back with more detail about this later this week.

Reading Wrap-Up (sort of) for the Week of 05-20 and Goals for the Week of 05-27

Hi everyone!

It's Cimone Watson. Last week, I did not do any updates here about my reading time. I wasn't doing much leisure reading last week at all. I focused a lot on writing and on reading for CPs. I did sort of track my reading time, but in a disorganized way. I think it was less than two hours total; I listened to a small amount of IQ by Joe Ide, and I read about 26 pages of The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk.

I have two reading goals this week. The first is to finish The Beauty That Remains, of which I am currently on page 42 of 324. The second is to finish Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton. I've barely started that one, and am on page 5 of 282, but I'm a fan already. It's written in third person present tense, which gives it a bit of a creepy-but-not-too-creepy feel, which I like. Plus, it's in Adobe Digital Editions, and I'm able to read it in a mode where it's a black background with white writing. That also adds to the atmospheric feeling.

So, these are my goals. I won't be upset if I don't reach them, since it's shaping up to be another busy week of reading for CPs, reading for work, and writing. But what are your goals? I'd love to know in the comments.

Happy reading!
Cimone

Scallywagathon TBR! Week of May 20, 2018

Ahoy!

It's been a while since I've updated here, and my reading has been a bit sporadic. This week, there is a readathon called Scallywagathon. Here's a link to the website with more info: https://sites.google.com/view/scallywagathon/challenges

This is a pirate themed readathon.

This month, I have challenged myself to only read books by authors who are either black or Asian American, or both. This is because my original plan at the beginning of this year was to make May one of four months in which I would do #Blackout2018, a mission to read only black authors. Here is my video about my 2018 reading goals, in which I explain this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAizZE563og&t=203s

However, I found out earlier this month that it is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so I thought it would be cool to challenge myself to read both black authors and Asian American authors.

I haven't finished a book yet, and it's May 20, but I'm hopeful. Also, I'm making exceptions for digital ARCs that I already have, because I got really anxious in January when I tried to finish all my non-black-authored digital ARCs before February started. I didn't succeed at that, and I was sad. So, I'm trying to relax a little. I'm also not extending this rule to ARC requests this month. I can request any ARCs.

So, without further ado, here is my TBR. Note: Scallywagathon has many challenges, but they are on a treasure map, so you only have to choose a path with 4.

First, challenge #5: The first book in a series

IQ by Joe Ide OR Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan


Then, challenge #6: A book with a map in it

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir


Followed by challenge A: A standalone

The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk

And finally, challenge #9, a book by a woman author, or #10, a book with a character who is different from you (me). Any one of these options can count for either challenge.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

OR

The Final Six by Alexandra Monir

OR

Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton


I'm hoping I'm not required to read these in order. Probably not, since it wasn't stated anywhere. I've already started IQ, The Beauty That Remains, When Dimple Met Rishi, and Social Creature (the last of which I've read only about 2-3 pages), but I've made a new rule for myself, at least this time, that I don't have to only start new books for a readathon. I can read books I've already started, if I've read less than 10% of them.

And you'll notice that I've mentioned Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton. I meant to tell you earlier, but I was able to obtain this digital ARC toward the end of April, and I'm super excited, because this is my most anticipated book of the year!

So, I'm planning to do an update here soon. If you are participating in this readathon, please feel free to let me know what you are reading in the comments. Thanks for reading, and have a good week!

Reading Plans for Today!

Hi everyone,

So I found out yesterday that today is another #ReadYourFaceOff readathon. It's currently 8:52 am, and that will start at 9:00 am. I've been really stressing about coming to this blog to make a monthly TBR post. Since it's been stressful, I'm officially giving myself permission not to do it. :) But I do plan to tell you what I'm reading soon--maybe just current reads. I know that TBRs are not the only kind of bookish content possible.

I've been undecided about the readathon today. For my physical wellbeing, I need to rest. I'm just not sure what that looks like. Is hardcore reading restful? Is writing restful, if what I'm writing feels cathartic? I'm uncertain right now, so I might spend a lot of today writing.

If I do decide to read a bunch, it would be nice to beat my page count from last month's readathon, which was 286 pages. I'm just in a dilemma, because I'm trying to think of a way to set a goal and not stress about it. I don't know.

Anyway, see you soon. I have 4 more minutes to figure something out, haha.

Reading Plans and Progress for the Week of April 22

Hi everyone!

It's 1:41 am on Monday, April 23, and I am just now getting to the post about my plans for this week. As you may know from last week's post, I have finished reading The Art of French Kissing. On Sunday, I read for 3 hours and 51 minutes and reached 67% on Camino Island. (Based on an error in the clarity of my logging, it's possible that I actually read for 4 hours and 24 minutes instead, but I doubt it.) I also started reading You Me Everything by Catherine Isaac, for which I am at 1%.

I'm listening to Camino Island while typing this, and I'm at 68%. I plan to finish Camino Island and reach at least 50% in You Me Everything. Once I'm done with Camino Island, I might do more activities that allow for audiobooks. If that's the case, I'll probably continue with Three Dark Crowns.

This week, I really want to finish as many books as possible, because I'll be doing Blackout 2018 in May. That means that I'll only be reading books by black authors. This is a good thing, of course. However, none of the ARCs I currently have are by black authors, so I'll have to either finish them this month or wait until June.

I'm not sure which ARC I plan to pick up after You Me Everything. There's a good chance I'll go with Good Luck With That by Kristan Higgans. On Saturday, there's a 24-hour readathon, which is a good chance to get as much reading done as possible.

I'm excited for this week!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12:46 am, April 24

Monday the 23rd was a great reading day. I mostly listened to Camino Island, and I read a bit of You Me Everything. My total reading time was 6 hours and 3 minutes. Unlike my last digital ARC, You Me Everything has a page count in Adobe Digital Editions that is close to the page count listed on Goodreads. So I'm going to use real page numbers to track it instead of percentages. I still haven't finished Camino Island, but I'm very close! Current positions:

Camino Island -- 96%; this is an increase of 28%

You Me Everything -- page 16; this is an increase of 12 pages, or approximately 3%

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2:58 pm, April 26

Hi! It's been a little while since my last update. I'm looking back at my notes from Tuesday the 24th, and it looks like I didn't read at all that day. I ended up going to sleep around 9 pm and waking up at 9 am the next morning, because I'd been sleeping little bits for a while, so I was tired. That night's sleep was great for me. Yesterday was Wednesday the 25th, and I read for about 36 minutes and 58 seconds. Camino Island expired, and I started a new audiobook. Today, my reading tracking hasn't been quite as tight as usual, but I think I've read for about 1 hour and 42 minutes. Now, I need to do some writing and writerly things. :)

The way I see it, Monday was a leisure reading day, Tuesday was a day for work and CPing, yesterday was a day of pitching in #DVPit, and today is mainly a writing day, with a substantial amount of reading, too. I'll try to update again later today. Right now, I'm not putting page counts in this part of the post, because I want finish blogging for the moment and put my writer hat back on. :) See you soon!

Reading Progress: Week of April 15, 2018

Hi, everyone!

I mentioned in my previous post that I'd like to get a good amount of reading this week. It's currently 6:12 pm on April 15. I'll tell you my starting point and then come back with updates throughout the week.


I am actively reading 4 books. For this post, I'm defining "actively reading" as follows: any book I'm currently reading, andhave read some of within the past 10 days (modified 04-17, because this originallly said "7 days"), is a book I'm actively reading. I'm clarifying that because I have other books you might call "current reads"-- books I started at some point, but have stopped for some reason, and I know I'd like to pick them up in the future.

Here are the four books, and my position in them, by percentage:

The Art of French Kissing by Brianna Shrum -- 62% done

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake -- 41% done

Camino Island by John Grisham -- 28% done

War Cross by Marie Lu -- 18% done


Both Three Dark Crowns and Camino Island are audiobooks, while the other two books are ebooks. As soon as I finish The Art of French Kissing, I plan to pick up The Art of Escaping by Erin Callahan. I'll try to add an update before I go to bed.

Thanks for reading this!

Cimone

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1:13 am, April 16

Even though I'm typing this at 1:13, this is an update for the end of April 15--i.e. everything up to and including 11:59 pm.

Before 9 am, during #ReadYourFaceOff, I read for 1 hour and 9 minutes. After 9 am, I read for 2 hours, 17 minutes, and 23 seconds. So, my total reading time for the day was 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 23 seconds.

Since my last update, I have made progress on 2 of my books. Here are the current positions:

Camino Island -- 37%; this is an increase of 9%, or approximately 26.1 pages

The Art of French Kissing -- 71%; this is an increase of  9%, or approximately 23 pages

So, I've read about 49 pages since my last update.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

11:21 am, April 17, 2018

This is my update for yesterday, even though I'm typing it the next morning, haha. Yesterday, I read for 11 minutes and 13 seconds, all of which took place before going to bed Sunday night. I was listening to Camino Island. The main reason I stopped is because I was sleepy and had trouble concentrating. After waking up yesterday morning, I didn't read any published books at all.

Camino Island -- 39%; this is an increase of 2%, or approximately 5.8 pages. Admittedly, I'll probably listen to these pages again today, since I was so sleepy.

So 5.8 pages is my total for April 16.

Today, I really want to finish The Art of French Kissing and start The Art of Escaping.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6:03 pm, April 18, 2018

This is my update for yesterday, April 17. Yesterday, I read for a total of 1 hour, 2 minutes and 4 seconds. Progress:

The Art of French Kissing -- 76%; this is an increase of 5%, or approximately 12.8 pages

Camino Island -- 39%; no increase, but I listed this here because I did listen to it a tiny bit. I probably went backward a tiny bit, having to rewind because of the part I didn't understand the previous night.

So, 12.8 pages is my approximate total, plus a reread of 1-4 pages. or so from the previous night.

I have not read any yet today. My goals are the same as yesterdays: to finish The Art of French Kissing and start The Art of Escaping, even if I only get a chapter or so into The Art of Escaping. I also might read a chapter of War Cross, because it's been quite a few days since I read any of it. I don't want to forget what's happening. But, I really want to do some writing tonight, so if I don't even finish the first book, I won't be upset. Getting the urge to write is a good thing. :)

ALSO, I found out something great last night about Netgalley. I'll have to put that in a separate post soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7:26 pm, April 19

I JUST FINISHED A BOOK! Woohoo. I'm excited because it's only the second book I've finished this year. The first was earlier in April. My long reading slump has ended.

So, I just finished The Art of French Kissing by Brianna Shrum. Unfortunately, I didn't like it, but that doesn't spoil my good feeling. I'll review it soon.

The Art of French Kissing -- 100%!!! This is an increase of 24%, or approximately 62 pages.

I've read for 2 hours, 8 minutes, and 10 seconds so far today, and I plan to read a bit more later tonight. I'd like to make more progress in Camino Island, and maybe War Cross, and then read about 1/10 of The Art of Escaping. (2 "The Art" books in a row, lol.) I have a new digital ARC and haven't told you all what it is. I'm tempted to start it, but I think I'll wait until after The Art of Escaping.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10:35 pm, April 20

This is a wrap up for yesterday. After my update, I read for another 3 minutes and 37 seconds, which brought the day's total to 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 47 seconds.

I think what I read was Camino Island. It was so late at night that I'm not fully certain I remember, haha. In those 3 minutes and 37 seconds, I didn't make much progress.

Camino Island -- 39%

As for today, I haven't read any yet. I think I will, after this update, but I'm not sure. I'm already getting sleepy, and I've been writing a scene throughout the day. We'll see. :) In case I don't update again, good night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1:16 am, April 23

Hi, everyone! This is my wrap-up for the whole week. I did not read at all on Friday the 20th or Saturday the 21st. In total last week, I read for 6 hours, 59 minutes, and 27 seconds. I finished 1 book. In the coming week, I hope to finish at least 3 books. :)