Book Nerd Problem: I Need to Finish Reading "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" Book Series

Happy Saturday!

I was watching the trailer for the new third season of XO, Kitty and it made me realize that not only I have not watched any season of XO, Kitty but I also haven't finished watching the To All the Boys I've Loved Before movie trilogy (I watched the first movie). My book nerd problem is that I want to finish reading the To All the Boys I've Loved Before book series by Jenny Han (I read the first book) before I finish watching the rest of the movies and the XO, Kitty TV series. It's been a while since I've finished a book series, which is why I'm so motivated to finish reading the last two books in the series. I'm not sure if I'll read the second book P.S. I Still Love You after I finish reading the Catwoman novelization by Elizabeth Hand. But I will be reading it soon.

Book Nerd Problems: Putting up a new Bookcase

I can't believe how fast this month is going by, I still haven't put up any holiday decorations. And that's mainly because I had several very large piles of books I needed to put away. But I couldn't do that until I put together the new bookcase I bought. Yesterday morning, I started around 4 in the morning to get this bookcase up. But first I had to move all the stuff out of the way where I was going to put the new bookcase at (which was a corner in my bedroom). I didn't realize I had so much stuff, I guess you don't realize until you're rearranging your stuff. So after moving all that stuff out of the way, then I started building the bookcase. It was a tedious and long process (which I took a few breaks in between) but thankfully I had only one issue with one of the steps which took a while to finally complete.

So, after that, it took several more minutes to finish putting the bookcase together completely. I was so tired but I still had tons of books to finally put up. And to add to that some of the books I forgot to add to my spreadsheet, yes, I have so many books I have to keep track of them with a spreadsheet. Anyway, so after adding the books that weren't on my spreadsheet, I then took so many back and forth trips from the living room to my bedroom taking the books over to the area where the bookcase was. Then once all the books were in my bedroom, I finally started shelving them. I love books but even I had to admit I had a lot and it was going to take a while to shelve. As I was shelving my books, I was using two rows (or shelves) for my non-fiction books but I ended up taking all of them down because I realized I had too many fiction books.

However, I did put some of my big non-fiction (art and photography) books on top of the bookcase. So, now nearly all of my fiction books are on this new bookcase (I still have a lot of books in three different containers that I forgot about that I still need to shelve but I have no room for them on the new bookcase). And now I also have several boxes of non-fiction books just sitting in a corner until I can buy yet another bookcase. And that bookcase will be in the living room because I have no more space in my bedroom for another bookcase because I already have another tall one and three small ones and one medium size one so in total I have six bookcases in my room. I also have four tall ones in the living room but two out of the four have DVDs. I also have two small side tables with one having books and other DVDs. But I do have room in my living room for one more bookcase.

Anyway, it took all day for something I thought would only take a few hours at best. Boy did I under estimate this task. And not to mention all my muscles hurt. Oh, and to add to everything else, I still have a bunch of stuff that I now have no where to store. So, until I can sort all that stuff, it's now just a huge pile of stuff on my chair and ottoman. But on the plus side, the bookcase looks good (I'll post pictures once I get everything in my room cleaned up) and I got all those books out of the living room.

As for today, I'm taking it easy because I'm very much still very tired. But I am going to try to get some reading in. I want to finished reading Congo by Michael Crichton and have a review up before the month ends. And then maybe start a new book.

Do you like to read one book or multiple books at a time?

Happy Thursday!

Why does it feel like August totally slipped away. I can’t believe summer is almost over! And not to mention Fall and Halloween are already starting to be pushed and promoted when it's still summer. At the moment, I'm not mentally ready for fall, I’m still enjoying summer. Anyway, I have a question for my fellow book nerds, do you like to read one book or multiple books at a time?

I used to read multiple books at a time which is probably why I was reading and review hundreds a books per year. But I'm not sure exactly when that changed because for some time now I've only been reading one book at a time. I do miss reading multiple books at a time. But after dealing with quite a few reading blocks, I want to make sure I can get back to reading at the speed and pace that I used to before trying to read more than one book at a time.

What are you reading this weekend?

I'll be honest, I have hit a reading block for my Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon trying to read Nancy Drew: The Haunted Showboat by Carolyn Keene. And that's because it's a hard read. Not story wise (although the mystery is rather weak in this) but writing wise. Let's just say this old book is truly a product of it's time. So, I'm not sure if I want to force myself to finish reading it to write up a review. Or simply pass on it and read the next book on my list. I'll figure it out.

Book: Nancy Drew: The Haunted Showboat (Nancy Drew book #35) by Carolyn Keene

Description:

Bess and George invite Nancy on a trip to New Orleans, to help their relatives solve a mystery. Their uncle wants to restore an old showboat, the River Princess, but no one will go near it! Mysterious occurrences are making everything believe the boat is haunted. Can Nancy uncover the truth?

How many books do you read a month?

In the past, I used to read about 20-30+ books a month but I've been having a problem getting back to that. So now I'd say I read about 1-3 books a month which is why I'm currently doing a 10 book Tackle Your TBR Read-a-Thon. I already read two books from my list and I'm nearly finished with the third, Nancy Drew: The Haunted Showboat by Carolyn Keene and should have a review up soon.

So far 2023 began as another slow reading year. But since I really miss reading a lot of books and I'm trying to get back to reading more. Which is why I'm hoping my read-a-thon will help with that.

Illustration of the Day: Unfinished Books

Illustration: Unfinished Books by Ellis Rosen

For me the sign on the last bookcase would state "Books You Still Haven't Read Yet". Since I have a lot of those. However, I don't have a problem not finishing a book if I'm not enjoying it or a reader's block makes it impossible to finish reading.

If anyone is interested, this is available to buy from the artist at Society6. To support artists, I try to post links to their stores or accounts if they have one.

What's your preferred format of reading?

I love that there are different ways of reading: physical, digital and audio. But my preferred format is physical. I love holding a book and turning the pages. Although, I do have an E-Reader, I enjoy reading digital books occasionally. It's a great way to save on shelf space as well as the convenience of having a lot of books on one device so you don't have to carry around a lot of them. With that said I still really enjoy reading physical books.

Are you behind or caught up on reading your comic books?

I am so completely behind on reading my comic books. I'm at the point where I feel like I'm collecting them instead of reading them. I don't know how I got so behind but I need to figure out some kind of way or system to help me get caught up. There are so many stories that I'm missing out on because the books are in bags and boxes. I really want to get caught up and I don't know if I should start with this week's new comics or some of the older ones, either way I'll figure it out.

What books have been on your TBR List for a long time?

Well, I couldn't be happier that it's the weekend, this week has been busy. I just want to curl up on the sofa and read or watch a few shows and movies. And speaking of reading, I was looking over my ever growing TBR (To Be Read) List and I was wondering what are some books that have been on your list for a long time?

Since, I have my books listed on a spreadsheet (now, don't laugh, it makes it easy to keep track of all of my books) I just looked at the beginning of my list and saw these four books: Night of the Living Dandelion by Kate Collins, Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders, Huntress: Year One and Sentenced to Death by Lorna Barrett that have been on my list for a long time and I still haven't read them.

I do have an excuse for not reading Night of the Living Dandelion and Sentenced to Death and that because they are the 11th and 5th books in each of the series which I didn't realize when I had originally bought those books. And since I want to read the two series from the beginning, although I still haven't gotten around to buying the first books, so I just sort of forgot about these books. As for the other two books Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders and Huntress: Year One, I don't have any excuse I just haven't gotten around to reading them.

Book: Night of the Living Dandelion (A Flower Shop Mystery #11) by Kate Collins

Description:

Flower shop owner Abby Knight does not believe rumors that Vlad Serban, friend and employee of Abby's fiancé Marco, is a vampire. But how to explain that Vlad is from Romania, has prominent canines, likes bizarre plants such as bloodwort and Dracula orchid, and dresses entirely in black?

When a local woman is found dead, her body drained of blood, the stakes become life and death. With Vlad the #1 suspect, Abby and Marco race to find the real killer, before Vlad's life really starts to suck.

Do you take notes when you're reading?

When I'm reading, I don't take any notes. The only time I took notes was when I was in school and was reading text books. But for non-text book reading, I don't take any notes. However, I do think taking notes are a really good way to keep track of what you're reading especially if it's something complex, overly technical or you simply just want to remember key points, themes, characters, etc. It is a good way to remember thing, maybe I'll start taking notes.

Where do you prefer to read?

I can read pretty much anywhere. Which is why similar to Gilmore Girls' character Rory Gilmore, who is one of my favorite fictional bookworms, I take book with me nearly everywhere I go. It makes it easier to get in a little extra reading time. However, I prefer to read at home where I can be comfy either sitting in chair or on the couch. That way I can really relax and totally become immersed in whatever I'm reading.

Do you keep track of how many books you read?

I was thinking about this quote from Rory Gilmore where she said "Thirteen million volumes? I've read 300 books in my entire life, and I'm already 16? You know how long I would need to read 13 million books?" from the Gilmore Girls episode The Road Trip to Harvard.

It had me thinking that at 16, I had no idea how many books I had read at that point. I don't remember when I started to keep track of the books I read. But once I did, I started with a Reading List that I made and copied so that I had plenty of sheets to write down all the books I was reading. Then I moved on to using GoodReads to keep track but I haven't updated that in a long time. Now, I don't keep track at all that is unless I count posting my reviews on my blog, Book Girl. But that's still not really keeping track of my reading.

Anyway, I was thinking of going back to keeping track because I think it will help motivate me with my reading. I'm going to start with the next book I'll read after I finish reading and reviewing Tarnished and Torn (A Witchcraft Mystery book #5) by Juliet Blackwell. Which will be soon, I'm nearly finished with this book.

(Gilmore Girls season 2 episode 4: The Road Trip to Harvard)

How do you organize your books?

I see so many amazing pictures online of organized bookcases and bookshelves of books organize by series, genre, author, etc. (like the picture below). It makes me wish I could organize my books but I have too many to do anything.

I usually just organize my books based on whatever space I can find on a shelf. And for quite some time, I've been completely out of shelf space so that I've been storing my books in boxes or containers. At some point, I'm going to have to find some space for another bookcase but until then I'm going to keep my books as organized as I can in various boxes and containers.

What's something you would like to learn or try this year?

I was thinking about when I used to be able to read a book in one sitting which made it easy to read 300-400+ books a year. Aside from reading a comic book or a children's book, I can't remember the last time I read a book in one sitting or read over a hundred books a year.

Somewhere along the way, I lost that skill to read a book in one sitting but I'm sure I can get it back. It doesn't seem like a difficult skill to relearn. I wouldn't want to read every book in one sitting, I really just want the skill to be able to do that again. So, maybe if I'm reading a book that's 200 or 300 pages, it would be nice to be able to read it in one go again.

How many books are you hoping to read this year?

This year, I hope to read 100 books which is the same goal I had last year. However, last year, I had the worst case of reader's block that I've ever had. It was nearly ongoing and I ended up only reading six books. There were other books that I started but I didn't finish them. However, I don't consider them as a Did Not Finish (DNF) because my reader's block was the cause of me not finishing. I do hope at some point to go back to reading them. So for now, I'm going to focus on this year's reading goal of 100 books and leave last year's in the past.

Do you schedule time to read or read at random?

I was wondering when it comes to reading, do you schedule time to read or do you just read at random? I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a lot of time to read which for a book blog is not the best thing. I have been thinking of setting aside or scheduling a specific time to read. I think it'll be nice to have that uninterrupted time just for reading. Because lately my usual method of reading at random hasn't been working out for me. I need my reading time and I'm going to make sure I have time for it.

Do you read until the end of a chapter, or stop at a random page?

When I'm reading, I usually stop at whatever page I'm on. So, I guess my answer to the question is I stop reading at a random page. I don't have to stop reading at some specific point. I feel like, I've read a good amount of the story, why push my self to continue especially if I'm tired. I can always read more later.

What are you planning to read for Labor Day weekend?

Throughout the Labor Day weekend, I plan to continue reading The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman by Ben H. Winters. It's a middle grade book that centers around music and mystery. What book are you reading this weekend?

Book: The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman by Ben H. Winters

Description:

Ms. Finkleman is just our boring old music teacher. Or is she?

It all started with a Special Project: Solve a mystery in your own life.

For seventh grader Bethesda Fielding, one mystery is too tempting to ignore. She’s convinced that her mousy Music Fundamentals teacher is hiding a secret life. But no one is prepared for what she discovers. Ms. Finkleman used to be . . . a rock star? Soon the whole school goes rock crazy, and a giant concert is in the works, led by none other than timid Ms. Finkleman!

But is the case really closed or could there be even more to the story of Ms. Finkleman? With the help of her rock-obsessed classmate, Tenny Boyer, Bethesda won’t stop until she solves this mystery once and for all!

When you go to the bookstore, what's the first section you go to?

The first section I like to go to whenever I go to the bookstore is the mystery section. I'm a big mystery fan and my local bookstore has shelves full of them. I love walking through the aisle to see what new books are on display or on the shelves or looking through the shelves to find something that's new to me. Either way it's fun looking at all the books.

I have a tendency to buy mystery series out of order, so I've been trying to make sure I find the first book in a series first. It doesn't always work out since most books are strangely not numbered which would be great if they were. On trips to the bookstore, I might not make it to every section in the store but I always make sure I go to the mystery section.

What are you reading this weekend?

I love reading no matter when but it's something relaxing about reading on the weekend. You have more time sit back and read and really get into the story and hopefully with fewer interruptions.

Okay, bookworms, what book(s) are you going to curl with this weekend? I'm still reading Star Wars: The Old Republic - Revan by Drew Karpyshyn and it's still really good. I can't wait to read more over the weekend.

Book: Star Wars: The Old Republic - Revan by Drew Karpyshyn

Description:

There’s something out there: a juggernaut of evil bearing down to crush the Republic—unless one lone Jedi, shunned and reviled, can stop it.

Hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior—the man called Revan has been all of these. He left Coruscant a Jedi, on a mission to defeat the Mandalorians. He returned a Sith disciple, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was the loss of his memories. All that’s left are nightmares—and deep, abiding fear. What happened beyond the Outer Rim that Revan can’t quite remember or entirely forget? One thing he’s certain of: Something dark is plotting to destroy the very existence of the Republic. With no idea how to identify the threat, let alone stop it, Revan may be doomed to fail. For he’s never faced a more powerful and diabolic enemy. But only death can stop him from trying.