The Book Banner: 2019

Monday, August 12, 2019

August 2019 TBR

It's the beginning of August which means it's time to choose books and movies!

I think this is the first time the movie prompts fit perfectly with books I already wanted to read this month. So I'm extremely excited to be reading everything these!

The Picks:
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - Read your favorite book growing up
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling - I'll be reading the illustrated edition, which I haven't actually read before. I love this story so so much, and it definitely has it's place near the top of my favorite books growing up. There's a lot of emotion associated with this series for me, so I'm excited to take the time this year to reread this gem again.

A Goofy Movie - Read a book featuring a parent/child relationship
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zuzak - This book I believe is all about a family and their estranged relationship with their father. I don't know too much about it, but I think I can pretty safely guess that a parent/child relationship will be featured at least a little bit. I'm really hoping this book is excellent.

Book Club:
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - This was almost unanimously picked for our book this month. I've been hearing lots of good things about this book and so I can't wait to read it. I'll probably end up listening to it and I'm hoping it'll have a good narrator.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

The Reading Rush Wrap Up!

So it's been a couple weeks since The Reading Rush ended and so I thought I'd share with you how I did! I did pretty well, especially since I had a lot of things going on in my life that week. Let's get right to it:

I managed to read 4 books, just over 800 pages:

Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Runaways Vol 2: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop Vol. 2: Masks by Kelly Thompson

With these books, I was able to complete all the challenges!

Read a book with purple on the cover:
Runaways Vol. 2: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop Vol. 2: Masks by Kelly Thompson
Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Three of the four of my books have purple on the cover, and I didn't even try to plan that!

Read a book in the same spot the entire time:
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop Vol. 2: Masks by Kelly Thompson
Runaways Vol. 2: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell

I read both of these in the same spot, but I read Runaways first so I counted that one for this challenge.

Read a book you meant to read last year:
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop Vol. 2: Masks by Kelly Thompson
Runaways Vol. 2: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell

I'm forever buying trades and then not reading them in a timely manner, so these worked perfectly for this challenge.

Read an author's first book:
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

I started but didn't finish Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, but luck for me Good Omens is technically Neil Gaiman's first book!

Read a book with a non-human main character:
Runaways: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell

There's a whole slew of non-human main characters in this series: a robot head, a dinosaur, and an alien just to name a few!

Pick a book that has five or more words in the title:
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop Vol. 2: Masks by Kelly Thompson
Runaways Vol. 2: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell

The trades are coming in really handy this year, what with all the words in their titles and all.

Read and watch a book to movie adaptation:

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Technically I didn't complete this challenge because I didn't manage to watch the adaptation but I read the book and that was fun.

That's it! I collected 10 badges on The Reading Rush website and enjoyed putting more time and effort into my everyday reading! I think I should participate in more regularly in read-a-thons. So which one will it be next?!

Friday, August 9, 2019

June/July Wrap Up

Time for the Recap!

The Picks:
As a review, here are my pick for June and July
Home on the Range - Read a book that takes place on a ranch or features a cowboy
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure - Read a book featuring a nature word in the title
Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet - Read a book that features the Internet/technology
Finding Nemo - Read a book nominated for an award

I was able to complete three of the four prompts these last two months. I'll put Finding Nemo back in the pool for another time. Here are my short reviews for the books I read and their corresponding movies.

The Books:
When the Sky Fell on Splendor by Emily Henry - I really enjoyed this book. It definitely has a Stranger Things vibe to the story, and I really liked that aspect. This group of friends thrown together after an accident that affected most of the families in the small town. I loved the dynamic between characters, especially between Franny and her brother, Arthur.

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy - I wanted to like this book so much. It had all the makings of something that I'd love and unfortunately I just couldn't get into the book. I counted this book as my Home on the Range because they ride horses at some point during this story (I know it's a stretch but it's my challenge, so.) I ended up putting this book down, but maybe I'll come back to it later.

Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman - This book was so much fun! I really enjoyed the book scavenger game aspect of this story. It was a story of friendship and puzzles, family and adventure. There's a little bit of mystery and suspense which glued me to the book. I wanted to know what would come next, which clues our main characters would solve and where it would take them. Middle School is rough, but it's always nice to have a friend to share the experience with and these two main characters do just that.

The Movies:
Tinker Bell - Even though I pulled Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, I watched Tinker Bell so I could watch them in release order. This was a very cute movie about embracing who you are and what you're made to do. I really enjoyed watching Tink's origin story and I can't wait to pull other Tinker Bell movies.

Home on the Range - This is one of the few movies on the list that I haven't seen before. It's not your typical Disney musical; there were no singing animals, which did disappoint me a little. Three cows go on an adventure to help save their Little Patch of Heaven, fighting against all odds. It's not my favorite movie, and I'm not surprised this isn't one of the more popular Disney movies, but it was fun.

Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet - This movie is a gem. I love the musical number that Vanellope sings while she's in Slaughter Race. My favorite part of this whole movie is the princesses. I would absolutely watch a feature length film with all of them interacting like they do in this movie!

August's picks are coming shortly. So until next time, happy reading!

Sunday, July 21, 2019

The Reading Rush 2019

I'm a sucker for a good read-a-thon and I've always participated in The Booktube-A-Thon to some varying degree. This year is no different, except they've changed the name. It's now called The Reading Rush (and the title is growing on me.) This year there's a website and badges that you can unlock. I'm loving these updates!

It's a week long, running July 22nd - 28th. There are seven challenges which I have below and a bonus challenge to read seven books. I know I'm not going to get through seven books, but I will enjoy trying! Because I can never make a decision on books, I've got several options for each challenge.

This is my Reading Rush for 2019!

Read a book with purple on the cover:
The Disasters by M.K. England
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop: Masks by Kelly Thompson
Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Read a book in the same spot the entire time:
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop: Family Reunion by Kelly Thompson
Runaways: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell

Read a book you meant to read last year:
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Read an author's first book:
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
The Disasters by M.K. England

Read a book with a non-human main character:
Soul and Stars by Ashley Poston - This comes out this week!
Runaways: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling

Pick a book that has five or more words in the title:
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop: Family Reunion by Kelly Thompson

Read and watch a book to movie adaptation:
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Atonement by Ian McEwan

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells

There are so many possibilities and it's likely that I'll only get through one book of these, but I'm hoping to get through at least the graphic novels. Who knows if any of these books will actually stick. We shall find out what I actually read. Happy reading all!

Saturday, July 6, 2019

July TBR

July is upon us, well we're actually quite into July now and so it is time for my July book and movie picks!

The Picks:
Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet - Read a book that features the Internet/technology
Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman - This book features an Internet book scavenger hunt of sorts and I'm all for it! My friend, Maggie, recommended it to me and I trust her recommendations completely. I'm pretty sure I will love this book.

Finding Nemo - Read a book nominated for an award
The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton - This book was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award the year it was written. It didn't win, but that's okay, I've heard many good things about the author. It's set in present time and the past, and I'm a sucker for stories that are told that way.

Book Club:
The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton - Surprise! This is my book club pick too. I'm reading one book for two prompts this month and I love it!

I'm also participating in The Reading Rush read-a-thon, so I'll be posting that TBR later this month. Let me know what books you plan on reading this month. Happy reading!

Saturday, June 1, 2019

June 2019 TBR

Restart! Welcome to the restart of my own reading challenge, Disney-a-thon. I tried kicking this off in April, but then I got a new job and have been working way more, and reading way less. I've decided to start again, since I didn't read any of the challenges in April. In fact, I only read one book all month and May isn't looking to great either. So I'm going to go with two books, one from each collection.

The Picks:
Home on the Range - Read a book that takes place on a ranch or features a cowboy
Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman - A young woman goes west to seek vengeance for her father's death. I've been interested in this one for a while, but I'm kind of hesitant. I DNF'd the last book I tried to read by Erin Bowman. I am willing to give this one a shot though because it sounds so good!

Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely -A young woman with perfect aim and a knack at getting into trouble searches for her place in the wild wild west. I've had my eye on this book for a while and now seems like the perfect western book to fill this prompt.

I'm not sure which one of these books I'm going to read yet, but either way I'm ready to read about a ass-kicking female cowgirl!

Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure - Read a book featuring a nature word in the title
When the Sky Fell on Splendor by Emily Henry - This book caught my eye immediately; it's got a Stranger Things vibe going on and I am totally here for it. I can't wait to check it out! (Also, the word is Sky, definitely a part of nature, in the broad sense of the word.)

Book Club:
This month I got to choose books! Apparently, I was really feeling a sci-fi three of four options were that genre. So as you can imagine a sci-fi book was chosen.

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy - This is a gender-bent retelling of King Arthur in space! I mean, who wouldn't want to read this book! Needless to say, I'm so so excited to read this book.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get through these three books this month! I'll keep you updated.
Happy reading!

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books Released in the Last 10 Years

The Top Ten Tuesday has a new home. It's hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Okay, I'm going to try and keep it to one or two for each year because you all know I can't just choose one for each year! There are quite a few repeat authors and some repeat series, but I will not apologize for that because I like what I like. Also, I'm using years 2009-2018 since we're not even half way through 2019 yet.

2009
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
The Help by Kathryn Stockett