Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Classes

So, it turned out that all Intro Engineering Design lab classes were canceled yesterday. That meant that I had to walk all the way across campus and up a set of stairs at 9:30 in the morning to find out that my first class of the day was canceled. ._.

On the bright side, I made a new friend because of that. John and I ended up spending that extra time just talking and getting to know each other on a couch in the engineering building as we waited for our next class. So that's cool. 

Actually, I managed to know at least a few people in all of my classes except for Imaging Design, so I'm really glad about that. I've talked to two of the guys in there before, but I wouldn't even say that we're acquaintances  Hopefully, I'll be able to make some friends in there with time. :)

And dude! Astronomy's turning out to be more work than Shelle and I thought. Our labs are from 6:30-10 at night. On nights when the sky's clear, we'll have to drive out to this park that's half an hour away and watch the sky there with telescopes, which didn't sound that bad until he told us that we were going to freeze, we could hit a deer on the way, if we don't park in the correct area, we would need a towing truck to get our cars out of the ruts, the bugs will eat us alive in the summer, and so on. :O

Since classes just started, we haven't done anything but gone over the syllabus for every class, but even so, I've been super tired and drained afterwards. I don't know if it's because I haven't become adjusted to doing anything but eat, read, and sleep since the break started or if it's because most of my classes are back-to-back, and I basically have to skip lunch until they're all over. Either way, I hope that I become acclimated soon.

Now, I'm going to do something not productive because I don't feel like doing homework yet. :P

Ta!


pointy.star

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and Bookish.

Lol, I turned this into more bookish/blogging goals of 2013.

Top Six Bookish Goals For 2013

1. Read more books.
I started college again today, and I know that I won't have nearly as much time to read until the semester starts winding down in May, but I really want to read more than I did last semester. I barely read more than two books a month back then, and that was counting manga.

2. Write more reviews.
I was really in a reading/reviewing funk a while ago when I started college, so I didn't write as many reviews as I usually did, but I think I'm getting better at expressing my opinions and writing about how I felt about books, so I want to write more reviews! And not just book reviews. Since I've been getting into watching a lot of movies and tv shows now, I want to try to write reviews for those too.

3. Update more.
What can I say? Even though I always feel like I've got nothing to do half of the time, I'm still always busy doing something, and blogging usually isn't a first priority. It's near the top, but blogging about my latest experiences always takes too much time, which always puts me off on writing them since I feel like I could be using that time doing something else...like reading fanfiction, lol.

4. Complete all of my reading challenges.
I think I only completed three out of seven challenges last year, which was not what I was expecting. Yeah, I knew a few of them would be challenging to do (I never have time to listen/pay attention to audiobooks!), but I expected to complete most of them. This year, I'm only challenging myself to four, so I better complete them all, lol.

5. Participate in memes more regularly.
Since I'm usually busy or don't have any inspiration for a lot of memes, I only do them sporadically when I finally have something to blog about. So, this year, I'm going to try to do memes like this more regularly, hopefully doing them all weekly instead of biweekly/monthly, lol.

6. Read more standalone books.
It's ironic that I read so many series/trilogies when I hate having to wait for the next book to be published because of the cliffhangers and the fact that I always end up forgetting many things that transpired in the first book by the time the second comes out. That's why I love reading standalone books where I know that it'll have a final, concluding ending, so I want to read more of those types of books this year, which will be difficult since I have way more series books than I do standalone, lol.

Monday, January 7, 2013

School starts tomorrow!

School finally starts tomorrow, and I'm half dreading it and half excited about it. :\

I'm dreading it because I know that I won't have half as much free time as I do right now because of classes and homework and studying and such. That means that I won't be able to read as much anymore or watch as many things anymore.

On the other hand, I'm excited to start classes and see what we'll do and what I'll learn because I took some random classes, lol. I took Beginner Ballroom Dancing to have one class with my friends, a Shakespeare class with one of my roommates, Astronomy with my sis since we both needed a four-hour lab science class, Multimedia and Intro Engineering Design because it's required in my major, and Beginning Imaging Design because it's a prerequisite for a later class that I want to take next year for my major. So yeah, it's definitely going to be an interesting, busy year. Still can't believe that I signed up for that Shakespeare class since I didn't need it; I just wanted to see if I could handle 17 hours since I only had 14 last semester. 

Also, I'm excited to see my friends again. I've barely kept contact with them over the break, but I hardly keep contact with anyone over the break, lol. However, what sucks is the fact that last semester, half of my classes were engineering classes so I mainly know engineers, and this semester, I only have one engineering class, so that means that I'll have to try to make new friends again. Assuming I'll have time to actually talk in class, lol. 

Anyway, my sis woke me up around six this morning to finish getting ready to go back to the apartment after dropping my bro off at school this morning, so I'm was super tired by the time we finished putting everything away at the apartment around eight o'clock this morning. That's why I went back to bed to catch a few more hours of sleep since I had stayed up until around four this morning reading Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. I didn't finish it, because I figured I'd have to stay up all night to do so and knew that I needed some sleep, but yeah, I was still surprised to find out that I managed to sleep until almost noon today. 

It's just so odd because there's so much I need to do or should/could be doing, but I wasted four hours on just sleeping this morning. So unproductive, but I knew that I would have burned out eventually on only running on two hours of sleep--that's more of a nap than anything!

But anyway, school starts tomorrow, which means that it'll be harder for me to update--unless I'm procrastinating, lol. Luckily, I don't have Gendered Lives anymore, which means no more papers to write, but I'm dreading that my Shakespeare class will require many papers too. But we shall see! And I can always drop the class if I don't like it/can't handle the hours within the first week, so yeah. I can't wait to start the year.

Later~


pointy.star

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Resolve To Read in 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and Bookish.

Once again, I have been late for this meme, lol. Oh well. Better late than never. :P

All of these books I've had for a while that I've been meaning to read for ages. I mean, I would pre-order them and be super excited to start reading them once I got them, but things came up or there was never any time, and before I knew it, they were stacked up in a TBR pile already halfway forgotten. :\

Top Ten Books I Resolve To Read In 2013:





Saturday, January 5, 2013

2013 Reading Challenges

Sooo...last year didn't work out so well...but hopefully this year will be better! :) I'm not as many challenges this year, because really, it really made it difficult for me to choose what to read to try to reach my goals when I just wanted read whatever I wanted.


Welcome to 2012 TBR PILE Reading Challenge!!!

6 BLOGGERS, 12 MINI-CHALLENGES, 24 BOOKS TO WIN!!!

We all have those books. We buy them, win them, they're gifted to us.. Then we put them up on a bookshelf and there they stay, collecting dust, waiting for the time when we'll finally decide to pick them up..

Join us on a quest to dust off your TBR Pile and read all the books you've been telling yourself you'll read next time you'll get a chance.. This is your chance! And we've got PRIZES!!! :D

Challenge Guidelines:
  1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2013 - Dec 31, 2013. 
  2. Anyone can enter! You don't have to be a blogger, as long as you review the book you've read! (On your blog, Amazon or Goodreads/Shelfari!) 
  3. Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2012 and earlier! NO 2013 ARCs and 2013 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed! 
  4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you. 
  5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2013 TBR PILE Reading Challenge. (If you don't have a blog, post about it on Facebook or Tweet!) 
  6. You can move up levels, but no moving down. 
  7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2013, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year. 
  8. On the 20th of each month one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it's unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. The giveaway will be open until the next wrap up post goes up! (i.e. the entire month) 
  9. If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking ;) 
  10. December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - a box of books. 
  11. You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways! 
Levels:
(how many books you're planning to read for this challenge in 2013)
1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children

You can sign up here!

I figured I'd do this challenge again since I completed it last year and plan on not buying many books this year, so there's not many books to choose from except from my old TBR piles, lol. Again, I will be doing the Married With Children level.
  1. Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting
  2. Dark Mirror by M.J. Putney
  3. Shut Out by Kody Keplinger
  4. Grace by Elizabeth Scott
  5. Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter
  6. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
  7. Fallen From Grace by M.J. Putney
  8. Legend by Marie Lu
  9. Soul Thief by Jana Oliver
  10. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
  11. Darkness Falls by Jessica Sorensen
  12. Untraceable by S.R. Johannes
  13. On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane
  14. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
  15. Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer
  16. The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart
  17. Flying Blind by Deborah Cooke
  18. Misfit by Jon Skovron
  19. Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore
  20. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
  21. Dawn of the Arcana vol. 1 by Rei Toma
  22. From What I Remember... by Stacy Kramer & Valerie Thomas
  23. Storm by Brigid Kemmerer
  24. Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer
  25. Spark by Brigid Kemmerer




The Details:
- Runs from January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013
- Goal is to catch up on as many series as possible
- Two ways to meet your goal: number of books you've read to catch up series/number of series you've caught up on.
- On the first of each month there will be a post here and at Lost at Midnight Reviews so you can link up your reviews. For every review you link, you get one entry into a monthly giveaway.
- There will be a big giveaway at the end of the year.

You can sign up here!

I have so many series to catch up on that I'm going to do the books one since I have so many sequels to series that I have yet to read.

Goals - Books Read to Catch Up on Series
1 - 5: Book Novice
6 - 10: Book Aficionado
11 - 15: Book Connoisseur
15+: Book Maniac

I'm going to do the Book Connoisseur. I have so many books of series I need to catch up on. I'll cross out the books that I've managed to read as the year goes on, but here is my list of potential reads:
  • Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin
  • Rebel Heart by Moira Young
  • Nevermore by James Patterson
  • Soul Thief by Jana Oliver
  • Endlessly by Kiersten White
  • Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
  • Original Sin by Lisa Desrochers
  • Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
  • Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter
  • Huntress by Malinda Lo
  • Unwholly by Neal Shusterman
  • Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
  • Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
  • Spells by Aprilynne Pike
  • City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
  • City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
  • Frostbite by Richelle Mead
  • Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
  • Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
  • Vampire Knight vol. 12 by Matsuri Hino
  • Vampire Knight vol. 13 by Matsuri Hino
  • Vampire Knight vol. 14 by Matsuri Hino
  • Vampire Knight vol. 15 by Matsuri Hino
  • Dengeki Daisy vol. 10 by Kyousuke Motomi
  • Dengeki Daisy vol. 11 by Kyousuke Motomi
  • Dengeki Daisy vol. 12 by Kyousuke Motomi
  • Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting
  • The Dealer by Robert Muchamore
  • Double Crossed by Ally Carter
  • Game by Barry Lyga
  • Monkey High vol. 8 by Shouko Akira
  • La Corda d'Oro vol. 15 by Yuki Kure
  • La Corda d'Oro vol. 16 by Yuki Kure
  • La Corda d'Oro vol. 17 by Yuki Kure
  • Tegami Bachi vol. 3 by Hiroyuki Asada
  • Tegami Bachi vol. 4 by Hiroyuki Asada
  • Tegami Bachi vol. 5 by Hiroyuki Asada
  • Tegami Bachi vol. 6 by Hiroyuki Asada
  • Prodigy by Marie Lu



Manga/Graphic Novel/Video Game Novel Challenge 2013 (M/G/V)

You can sign up here!

2013 Challenge Details:
  • This challenge will run from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013. You can sign up at any time.
  • You do NOT need a blog to participate as long as you have a Goodreads page or somewhere that you can review the books that you have read. Nor do you have to live in the United States.
  • You do NOT have to read an ARC, or books published in 2013. And all book formats are acceptable, print, digital/ebooks, etc.
  • Any book counts as long as it fits into one of the 3 chosen categories: Manga (all types of comic books are acceptable), Graphic Novels, Video Game Based Novels (Such as books based off of Warhammer, World of Warcraft, HALO, Mass Effect, Dungeons and Dragons, etc).
  • If you are participating in more than one challenge, books are allowed to cross over into this challenge.
  • On the 15th of every month in 2013, I will make a post for the Manga/Graphic Novel/Video Game Novels Reading Challenge 2013 (M/G/V for short) so you can link your reviews.  Based on participation, monthly link ups may be combined.

2013 Challenge Guidelines:
  • If you have a blog, create a post announcing your participation in the challenge. Please include a link back to this post (from your actual post announcing your participation in the challenge, not a link to your blog) and grab a challenge button.
  • Non bloggers: participate by linking up your profile URL from the site you plan to post your reviews on such as Facebook, Goodreads, Shelfari, LibraryThing, Amazon, etc.
  • You can list your books in advance or list them as you read them, the choice is yours.
  • Crossovers to other reading challenges are acceptable.
  • You can choose to read  books from each of the categories (as explained below) or you can read books from a combination of 1 or 2 of the categories (ex: if you are not interested in reading Video Game Tie-in’s but read a lot of Manga or GN’s). For instance you can read 11 graphic novels and 1 video game based novel. Or, all the books can come from one category. The choice is yours as long as you are reading!
5 Challenge Levels (Based on Video Game Settings):
  • Level 1 Arcade Gamer – Casual Player
    • Read a total of 12 books (1 for each month).
  • Level 2 Tomb Raider- Normal Player
    • Read a total of 15 – 25 books.
  • Level 3 Warcraft – Hardcore Player
    • Read a total of 25 – 35 books.
  • Level 4 Call of Duty – Veteran Player
    • Read a total of 35 – 45 books.
  • Level 5 HALO Style – Legendary Player
    • Read a total of 45 – 55 books.

I'm doing the HALO Style again this year. :)
  1. Strobe Edge vol. 1 by Io Sakisaka
  2. Strobe Edge vol. 2 by Io Sakisaka
  3. Strobe Edge vol. 3 by Io Sakisaka
  4. Strobe Edge vol. 4 by Io Sakisaka
  5. Strobe Edge vol. 5 by Io Sakisaka
  6. Strobe Edge vol. 6 by Io Sakisaka
  7. Strobe Edge vol. 7 by Io Sakisaka
  8. Strobe Edge vol. 8 by Io Sakisaka
  9. Strobe Edge vol. 9 by Io Sakisaka
  10. Strobe Edge vol. 10 by Io Sakisaka
  11. Watashi ni xx Shinasai! vol. 1 by Tooyama Ema
  12. Watashi ni xx Shinasai! vol. 2 by Tooyama Ema
  13. Watashi ni xx Shinasai! vol. 3 by Tooyama Ema
  14. Seiho Boys' High School! vol. 1 by Kaneyoshi Izumi
  15. Jiu Jiu vol.1 by Touya Tobina
  16. Last Game vol. 1 by Amano Shinobu
  17. Last Game vol. 2 by Amano Shinobu
  18. Last Game vol. 3 by Amano Shinobu
  19. Jiu Jiu vol. 2 by Touya Tobina
  20. Jiu Jiu vol. 3 by Touya Tobina
  21. M.A.X. vol. 1 by Huh Gook Hwa & Bak Kyung Lan
  22. M.A.X. vol. 1 by Huh Gook Hwa & Bak Kyung Lan
  23. M.A.X. vol. 1 by Huh Gook Hwa & Bak Kyung Lan
  24. M.A.X. vol. 1 by Huh Gook Hwa & Bak Kyung Lan
  25. Jiu Jiu vol. 4 by Touya Tobina
  26. Monkey High vol. 7 by Shouko Akira
  27. Monkey High vol. 8 by Shouko Akira
  28. La Corda d'Oro vol. 15 by Yuki Kure
  29. La Corda d'Oro vol. 16 by Yuki Kure
  30. La Corda d'Oro vol. 17 by Yuki Kure
  31. Tegami Bachi vol. 3 by Hiroyuki Asada
  32. Tegami Bachi vol. 4 by Hiroyuki Asada
  33. Tegami Bachi vol. 5 by Hiroyuki Asada
  34. Tegami Bachi vol. 6 by Hiroyuki Asada
  35. Aria of Linden Hall vol. 1 by Yuki Kure
  36. Jiu Jiu vol. 5 by Touya Tobina
  37. Annarasumanara vol. 1 by Ha Il Kwon
  38. Blue Exorcist vol. 1 by Kazue Kato
  39. Blue Exorcist vol. 2 by Kazue Kato
  40. Blue Exorcist vol. 3 by Kazue Kato
  41. Blue Exorcist vol. 4 by Kazue Kato
  42. Blue Exorcist vol. 5 by Kazue Kato
  43. Blue Exorcist vol. 6 by Kazue Kato
  44. Blue Exorcist vol. 7 by Kazue Kato
  45. Blue Exorcist vol. 8 by Kazue Kato
  46. Blue Exorcist vol. 9 by Kazue Kato
  47. Blue Exorcist vol. 10 by Kazue Kato
  48. Dawn of the Arcana vol. 1 by Rei Toma
  49. Dawn of the Arcana vol. 2 by Rei Toma
  50. Dawn of the Arcana vol. 3 by Rei Toma
  51. Dawn of the Arcana vol. 4 by Rei Toma
  52. Dawn of the Arcana vol. 5 by Rei Toma

Friday, January 4, 2013

Books I Want to Read This Month

With the start of a new year, let's see if I can keep up with my resolutions. :P
  • Rebel Heart by Moira Young
  • Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer
  • This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
  • The Dealer by Robert Muchamore
  • It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
  • Unwholly by Neal Shusterman
  • From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer & Valerie Thomas
  • The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
  • Grave Mercy by Robin LaFever
  • Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers
  • Dearly Departed by Lia Habel
  • Soul Thief by Jana Oliver
  • Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
  • Shut Out by Kody Keplinger
  • Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

Thursday, January 3, 2013

December in Retrospect

I read:
  • Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
  • Nineteen, Twenty-One by Han Yu
  • White Space is Not Your Enemy by Kim Golombisky & Rebecca Hagen
  • The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko vol. 1 by Ririko Tsujita
  • The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko vol. 2 by Ririko Tsujita
  • The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko vol. 3 by Ririko Tsujita
  • Koi Dano Ai Dano vol. 1 by Ririko Tsujita
  • Koi Dano Ai Dano vol. 2 by Ririko Tsujita
  • Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt
  • Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
  • Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren
  • Koi Dano Ai Dano vol. 3 by Ririko Tsujita
  • Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren
  • Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren
  • The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
  • The Recruit by Robert Muchamore

I reviewed:

I watched:
  • Raising Hope Season 2
  • Skyfall (2012)
  • The Five-Year Engagement (2012)
  • Once Upon a Time
  • To the Beautiful You
  • Pitch Perfect (2012)
  • Les Miserables (2012)
  • Step Up Revolution (2012)
  • Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
  • Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
  • Kimi ni Todoke Season Two


I did a whole lot of reading and tv/movie watching this month. Probably because of Winter Break and the needed distraction during finals week, lol. Either way, I'm glad that I had the time to read again, because it made me remember how much I love reading, and hopefully, this will motivate me to find the time to read some more once the new semester starts.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Start your year with an empty jar. :)

I really want to do this! I need to remember to write down all of the good times!