Did I Reach My Goals?

I only had two goals for this year.

I am happy to say that I killed my Goodreads goal!

I wanted to read 125 books, and I read 150!

These are all the books I owned but hadn't read at the beginning of the year. I wanted to read all of these.

Here is my stack now. All the books are different from the picture above. They are new ones I've collected this year.

Did I meet my goal? I think so.
Hopefully the stack above will all be read soon.

Elmer and the Dragon

From Goodreads:    A stand-alone sequel to My Father's Dragon, in which Elmer Elevator and the flying baby dragon help the king of the canaries find treasure.
















My Thoughts:

-    Gnome and I both enjoyed this one. We didn't love it as much as My Father's Dragon, but it was still good.

-    It was fun to get to know the dragon. He was a very endearing character.

-    The canaries were fun. 

-    These are great stories! I'm glad we discovered them. 

Previous Book:

Bout of Books 21

It's that time again!
Bout of Book is one of my favorite events. It is a great opportunity and excuse to get some major reading done!

What is Bout of Books?

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 8th and runs through Sunday, January 14th 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 21 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I hope you will join us!

Halt's Peril

Gooreads Synopsis:    The renegade outlaw group known as the Outsiders has journeyed from kingdom to kingdom, conning the innocent out of their few valuables. Will and Halt, his mentor, are ambushed by the cult's deadly assassins when Halt is pierced by a poisoned arrow. Now Will must travel day and night in search of the one person with the power to cure Halt: Malkallam the Sorcerer.












My Thoughts:

-    My first review for the book:

A suspenseful book that kept me reading for hours.

Plot:  True the book title, Halt is in peril, but Will won't let his mentor down. I loved the whole story in this book. I was constantly wondering and worrying, and I just couldn't stop reading.  The whole Halt thing was very gripping, and I loved how they chase and take down Tennyson. This book also portrays a lot of Ranger technique that hadn't been used before.  It was really cool.

Characters: I love the relationships between all the characters, especially Halt, Horace, and Will. The bantering between the 3 is hilarious. Flanagan does a wonderful job with the dialogue between characters. It really shows their personality and friendship.  


The book is filled with humor, worry, and a lot more emotions.  It was a great read, and I look forward to the final book!!

-    I pretty much feel the same. Love this series!

Previous Ranger's Apprentice Books

  
  
 

Merry Christmas!

The day has finally arrived! The day filled with traditions, magic, and love!

I wish I could be like Scrooge and carry Christmas with me all year round.

Ever the Hunted

Goodreads Synopsis:    Seventeen year-old Britta Flannery is at ease only in the woods with her dagger and bow. She spends her days tracking criminals alongside her father, the legendary bounty hunter for the King of Malam—that is, until her father is murdered. Now outcast and alone and having no rights to her father’s land or inheritance, she seeks refuge where she feels most safe: the Ever Woods. When Britta is caught poaching by the royal guard, instead of facing the noose she is offered a deal: her freedom in exchange for her father’s killer.

However, it’s not so simple.

The alleged killer is none other than Cohen McKay, her father’s former apprentice. The only friend she’s ever known. The boy she once loved who broke her heart. She must go on a dangerous quest in a world of warring kingdoms, mad kings, and dark magic to find the real killer. But Britta wields more power than she knows. And soon she will learn what has always made her different will make her a daunting and dangerous force. 

My Thoughts:

-    This was good, but it wasn't anything special. It is enjoyable enough while reading, but I don't think I'll remember much about the book in a few weeks. 

-    The story was simple, and there wasn't much to the characters. I didn't feel connected to anyone or anything. I liked everyone, but I just didn't feel any emotions for them.

-    There are a lot of fantasy books out there, and this one felt like a lot of them. There wasn't anything that made it stand out from all the others.

-    Like I said, this is good, but not memorable. 

Ivy and Bean

From Goodreads:    The moment they saw each other, Bean and Ivy knew they wouldn't be friends. But when Bean plays a joke on her sister, Nancy, and has to hide quickIvy comes to the rescue, proving that sometimes the best of friends are people never meant to like each other. Vibrant characters and lots of humor make this a charmingand addictiveintroduction to Ivy and Bean.











My Thoughts:

-    This was a cute book about two unlikely friends. 

-    There wasn't a lot to the plot. The story is mostly about these two girls meeting and getting to know each other. 

-    Gnome really liked this book. She liked the characters. 

-    The illustrations were cute, and there are a lot of them.

-    I probably wouldn't continue the series, but Gnome wants to read more.

The Polar Express

My Thoughts:

-    I've been hesitating to see this because I don't like how they stretch children's books into full length movies. Several people have told me this was good though, so I thought I'd give it a try. 

-    I have mixed feelings about this one.

-    There were several scenes that just dragged on and on, and I thought they'd never end. 

-    I loved Tom Hanks as the conductor, Santa, and half the cast.

-    The music is really good! I especially love Josh Groban's song during the credits.

-    I think this movie captured the feel and essence of the book. It was charming and full of Christmas spirit, but I think it dragged. The movie could have been shortened. I wish this was a Christmas short, and not a full length movie. 

-    Can someone explain the hobo on the train? Who is he? Why is he there?

Christmas Belle

My Thoughts:

-    You'd think a Christmas Beauty and the Beast retelling would be fun right? WRONG!! This is the most terrible movie of ALL terrible movies. It makes other terrible movies look better.

-    The acting is awful! Oy! The piano music is SO annoying. It is loud and over the top. I couldn't hear some of the dialogue because it was too loud. 

-    I was SO bored! The plot was. . .

-    The "official trailer" is just a clip of the movie!? They couldn't come up with anything else?

-    Save yourself! Don't watch this!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Hope Santa Brings

Hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings

There are so many! I'll try to stop at ten.

 
  
 
 
 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

My Thoughts:

-    Overall, I liked it. It was good. 

-    They added more humor in this one, and I liked most of it. I laughed quite a bit.

-    The last 30-45 minutes of the movie was awesome! 

-    I loved seeing Carrie Fisher on screen. This movie is definitely a tribute to her. I freakin' cried because of one of the things they did. 

-    All the actors did amazing jobs! Mark Hamill was amazing! I really like all the characters. I liked Rose a lot. She was fun. 

-    I was expecting more answers to questions though. I know they couldn't reveal everything, but I wanted a little more. 

-    It really bugs me that Darth Vader's redemption is completely ignored. Even Luke doesn't acknowledge it, and he saw his father with Obi-Wan and Yoda at the end of Return of the Jedi. Vader could come back all sparkly glowy and talk to Luke and Kylo Ren if he wanted!

-    I want to talk more about the movie, but I want my review to remain spoiler free, so this is all I will say for now. 

A Christmas Story

Goodreads Synopsis:    A beloved, bestselling classic of humorous and nostalgic Americana—the book that inspired the equally classic Yuletide film.

The holiday film A Christmas Story, first released in 1983, has become a bona fide Christmas perennial, gaining in stature and fame with each succeeding year. Its affectionate, wacky, and wryly realistic portrayal of an American family’s typical Christmas joys and travails in small-town Depression-era Indiana has entered our imagination and our hearts with a force equal to It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.

This edition of A Christmas Story gathers together in one hilarious volume the gems of autobiographical humor that Jean Shepherd drew upon to create this enduring film. Here is young Ralphie Parker’s shocking discovery that his decoder ring is really a device to promote Ovaltine; his mother and father’s pitched battle over the fate of a lascivious leg lamp; the unleashed and unnerving savagery of Ralphie’s duel in the show with the odious bullies Scut Farkas and Grover Dill; and, most crucially, Ralphie’s unstoppable campaign to get Santa—or anyone else—to give him a Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle. Who cares that the whole adult world is telling him, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid”?

The pieces that comprise A Christmas Story, previously published in the larger collections In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, coalesce in a magical fashion to become an irresistible piece of Americana, quite the equal of the film in its ability to warm the heart and tickle the funny bone.

My Thoughts:

-    A Christmas Story has always been one of my favorite Christmas movies. I have a lot of fond memories of watching it with my brothers every year. My family loves to quote the movie a lot.

-    The book was hilarious! The feel and the characters were spot on, and I love that the movie and book compliment each other. 

-    There is something so fun about seeing the world from Ralphie's perspective. I love his innocence, but I also love everything he observes.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite 2017 Books

Hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

Top Ten Favorite Books of 2017

I'm not going to count re-read books, so all these were ones I read for the first time this year.