Rejuvenate & Renew Challenge Update: 6/1 to 6/14

Okay. Sorry for not getting the update up sooner! Between moving out of my home so quickly and arriving here in Hawaii, I simply let it slip my mind. I know our numbers are few, but we would LOVE to have more people join in on this challenge. I like to think of it as a "learn something new" or "self-help" challenge. It's my way of pushing myself to read those nonfiction books that I've been wanting to read about things like finance, diet, etc. Please join! You can click on the button above to link back to the challenge & leave a comment. I even think there will be a giveaway in this genre at the end, so pass the word along and join with us.

For those who are involved in the challenge, you can leave a comment here to let us know if you've read anything yet. I'll even try to give people a link on my next "update" post (which will be once a week from now on). If you haven't yet finished a book, you can even just tell us what you're looking forward to reading or are in the middle of!

As for me, I did manage to finish one book for the challenge. I read Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan, which was my way of trying to get my finances in order as I prepare to buy a new townhome this fall. It was some great information, but also caused me a lot of strange stress. You can see some of Suze Orman's suggestions and my review at: "Review: Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan."

A Few Book Awards

I've been a bit slow about getting these posted, but I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to each of you for rewarding me these lovely awards. I really struggle to know who to pass them along to, so I'll post the rules, but think I'll only pass them on to one person each. I hope that doesn't offend anyone, but I feel like there are SO many well-deserving blogs out there.

The first:


The award was given to me by Gaby317, over at Starting Fresh. The award originated at J.Kaye's Book Blog and is described as:

Highlighting new book blogs has always been important to me. It’s the reason I pass along blog awards to new bloggers or at the very least, new to me book blogs. Without an audience, especially at the beginning, the life of a blogger can be sort of dreary. It feels good when another book blogger promotes your blog. Besides, I like blabbing about other book blogs. If you’d like to join in, please feel free. This event will take place every Friday and I’ll be listing the new book blogs or websites I’ve discovered during the week. Some might even be a rediscovery.

I would like to pass this nice little award on to:

• Rose, at Another Great Read. Her blog is new to me, and the thing that I liked about her reviews is that she includes lots of options for how to pick up the book, along with a list of other books in the series. I don't know why I hadn't ever thought about including the others in the series, but that really is quite helpful. Thanks Rose! Go check her blog out!

The Second:


This award was given to me by Desert Rose over at DeSeRt RoSe BoOkLoGuE, and is the "One Lovely Blog" Award. Thank you so much for this recognition!

I would like to pass this award on to:

• Drea, at Book Blather. I think her blog is well put together, and just as the award states...lovely! I'm pretty bad at blog design, and am too scared to touch it to change the look, so when I see pretty new designs, they stand out. Drop on by this great bloggers book blog to see her reviews!

The Final Award:


This final award is "The Literary Blogger" award. I was given this great award by Missy over at Missy's Book Nook, and is described as:

...an award which acknowledges bloggers who energize and inspire reading by going the extra mile! These amazing bloggers make reading fun, and enhance the delight of reading!

The Rules:
1) Put the logo on your blog/post.
2) Nominate up to 9 blogs.
3) Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4) Let them know that they have been nominated by commenting on their blog.
5) Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

As I stated earlier, I'm actually only passing this along to one blogger, and I chose:

• JoAnn, at Lakeside Musing. She has won a lot of awards, and I can see why. The books she chooses, and her reviews, are all really smartly joined together in great reviews and posts. If you haven't dropped by, please go now!

Double Review: Princess in Pink by Meg Cabot and The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Consider it two reviews for one low reading price! :) Both books are fairly short, and I'm a bit behind on my book reviews, so why not combine these two little jewels? Let's begin!

Synopsis: Princess in Pink is the fifth installment in the Princess Diaries collection by Meg Cabot. In this selection, we find that Princess Mia is dying to go to that most famous of all high school/teen events...prom. The question is, what is taking her boyfriend so long to ask her, and what if he doesn't?

Review: I love Meg Cabot dearly. She is probably my favorite author because I love her writing style and voice, and also because of her blog (that I fell in love with last summer). I think that this fifth book is a bit of a transition for Mia, and for all of us as readers. Mia's trauma over whether she's going to the prom or not was painful at times, as you really do want her to get to go, but you're just not sure. Teens would love the angst of this novel, while I had moments of wanting to shake Mia (and her best friend, who flipped out a bit in this book). Overall, this is another cute installment, although much more geared toward teens than some of the others.

For more information, see: The Princess Diaries, Volume V: Princess in Pink (Princess Diaries)


Now, on to my second review! During the 48 Hour Marathon, I read The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling. I feel like the only person on the planet who has not read these tales, but I did have a joyous hour throwing back these cute tales during my marathon.

Synopsis: The tales are supposedly collected from the papers of Albus Dumbledore, the famous headmaster of Hogwarts, and translated by Hermoine Granger. The collection of tales are what appear to be types of fairytales, folklores, and children's stories for the wizard/magical community. There are themes of love, selfishness, service, gratitude, etc. that run through these tales, which also hint at muggle/magical relations.

Review: While not magically some "lost" pages from the original story of Harry Potter, I still found these stories whimsical and magical to me! As a lover of all things Harry Potter, I couldn't help but love having another piece to the magical world Harry and his fellow wizarding friends live in. I don't want to give away the individual stories, but will say that I loved the story, "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" for its reminders of gratitude and ability, and "The Warlock's Hairy Heart" for its scary display of what happens when one withholds love in their life. Each of the stories had a great message and following analysis, and I would highly recommend this installment if you enjoyed the Harry Potter series even a little!

For more information, see: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition

Review: Impusle and Initiative by Abigail Reynolds

No, this was not one of my 48 Hour Reading Challenge reads, but I did finish this last week in the midst of the big move. I've been mulling it around in my head, so I wanted to get this review down ASAP!

Synopsis: What if? Abigail Reynolds is famous for taking the story of Pride and Prejudice and twisting it just a little. As I mentioned last month, I noticed this book (mainly because of the cover) standing on a display case at the library. I flipped it over and it asked the question, what if Darcy hadn't backed down when Elizabeth turned him down that first time? What if he had pursued her, not taking no for an answer, and followed her to prove that he wasn't what she thought he was? Since many readers know the basic premise of Jane Austen's iconic novel, I'll leave it at that!

Review: Here is my instant response to this version of the Darcy and Elizabeth story. Without the tension, rejection, and humble appeal for Elizabeth's heart, the story just wasn't the same. In this version, Darcy and Bingley return to Netherfield to court the two sisters, and for Darcy to find out Elizabeth's response to his letter following his first offer of marriage. The tension and sparring are no longer there at this point. Instead, we see the classic hero wooing fair maid story, which then loses the appeal we gain of watching Darcy's dejection and selfless service to Elizabeth. The beauty of Darcy serving Elizabeth and her family in the original version is that he does so with nothing more in mind than to see Elizabeth happy, while continuing to think she does not love him. In this newer version, there are no selfless acts, nor reason to believe that Darcy is this romantic ball of mush for this woman (which we all love...that he can be weak at the knees over a woman, but ONLY for her).

While the story itself is an interesting take, and I didn't mind seeing what happened to the relationship (which I didn't think ended up as deep or enduring), it was a little disturbing to see how the physical relationship played out. Now it was not the fact that there is a physical relationship, as much as how it came about in the story. Spoiler Alert*** Darcy and Elizabeth step outside the formal, proper bounds of a courtship and escalate their affections to the point that they have to rush to get married. Why did this bother me? Well, because they spend the rest of the book answering for their indiscretions, and feeling guilty about them. It just wasn't pleasant or romantic to watch Elizabeth and Darcy calming one another after pushing these boundaries...not romantic at all. End of Spoiler.***

In essence, this novel pushed our modern sensibilities onto two, much beloved characters, from an era that would have frowned most heavily on their behaviors. As entertaining as I sometimes find it to read stories that share a take on a story I love, AND although I thought this was a good enough story on some levels, I did think that it limited the romantic relationship of our characters. Darcy ended up being not quite the gallant hero he was in the original, and the couple were moved too far into our modern day in their actions for a story that takes place in the Regency Era.

For more information: Impulse & Initiative: What if Mr. Darcy had set out to win Elizabeth's heart? (Pride & Prejudice Variation)

Honolulu's 62nd Annual Book Sale -- PLEASE SAVE ME

After 12 boxes of books shoved into a storage unit (which surprised me...I thought I had more), you would think I'd shy away from this sale. Besides, I mailed three boxes over here for the summer. What's wrong with me?!? Please save me!!! Should I go? Can I pass this up? Will I get away from the sale with empty hands? What will I do with all the excess I collect? Sigh...

Well, if you're on Oahu June 20th through June 28th, you might check it out. After all, it is supposed to help the state economy, as they are running a huge deficit. You can count it as a good deed, right?

See Friends of the Library of Hawaii for additional information.

48 Hour Marathon FINAL WRAP UP

Wow. This was a lot more difficult to focus on than I thought it would be. I really have been so worn out from the end of school and moving, that I got here to my mother's place and collapsed. Not only was I tired, but I also hadn't seen my mother since Thanksgiving, so it's hard to just rush off to ignore her! Having said that, thanks to MotherReader for hosting this fun challenge! Here are my stats:

Hours: 48
Reading Time: 15
Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 659 (from those I've finished--over 1,000 total)
Blog Post/Reviews: 6 posts (including this one) & 1 review (with two to come)
Blogging/Twittering: 7
Working Online Job: 6
Other Challenges Met: 2 (1 for 1% Well Read, and 1 for ebook Reader Challenge)

I'm proud of myself for finishing a really hard book, The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai. It took me back to those grad school days, especially the week my seminar-level course was asked to finish Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. I still remember reading around the clock, days on end, and only getting through about 30 pages an hour because the material was so dense. The novel was SO thick, that most of us put in marathon hours to get it read by that next week, some students reporting drinking binges and falling asleep under tables to get it finished! (No, I didn't go that far, but I did spend some major sleepless nights.) Desai's novel was very similar; the material was so postmodern and dense, that it took about an hour for 40 to 50 pages. I finished it though, and am so proud of myself!!!

Here's what I read during the marathon:

Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by J.K. Rowling

The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai

I also read about 6 chapters of Club Dead, by Charlaine Harris, and 9 chapters into Bones of Faerie, by Janni Lee Simner. Overall, not too bad. Next time, I'll choose smaller books maybe? In this case, I don't think that number of pages, nor number of books that I've read really show much, but considering what I got through, I'm okay with it.

48 Hour Marathon #4 -- Hour 31

Okay, it's that time again.

Hours into Marathon: 31
Reading Time: 10 (total) & 4 (today...so far)
Books Read: 2 & 3/4 -- Suze Orman's Action Plan for 2009 and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. On page 202 of 324 in The Inheritance of Loss, and Chapter 6 of Club Dead.
Working Online Job: 3 (TOTALLY frustrating to be online, but working...not reading or working on blog.)
Bottles of Water: 5!!! (I have this bottle I keep refilling, and I find that while I read, I'm constantly sucking down water.)
Walks on the Beach: 1 (People must have thought I was a nut job walking with a book in my hands! I also had a couple of waves hit me that splashed me up to my waist...fun.)

I have to say that this challenge has taught me some interesting things about myself; that I am easily distracted, that little things in your day can take you away from what you're reading, that choosing a brain-challenger like The Inheritance of Loss was pretty tricky, and that those in your life hanging out while you read get bored and want to go play! :) Since I'm still a bit jet lagged, and getting over being sick and the big move, I find that I drowse off after about two hours of continual reading.

Well, time to get off of here and keep on! I'll review books later. I'm really enjoying the challenge so far. Let's see if I can finish strong.