Goodreads All Sorts discussion

(Image Source: http://fav.me/d4avali)

Good morning/evening/afternoon. Welcome to Sophia's corner of the net. Or something.

Actually, I have no idea what I'm going to use this space for. Maybe a blog thingy of all the books I'm reading/trying to read and challenges I'm completing/trying to complete. I don't know...we'll see what happens.

I'm a relatively new user of Goodreads. At the moment, I am a member of three groups, and I'm starting to have a hard time keeping track of what books I'm reading for what group and which challenge. I'm using this space to sort of lay out all my thoughts and tasks in order to attempt to keep myself organized.

Books I've completed recently

by J.K. Rowling
Completed April 2nd, 2013 - ★★★★✩

by M.L. Stedman
Completed March 27th, 2013 - ★★★★★ - My Review

by Erin Hunter
Completed March 26th, 2013 - ★★★★★ - My Review

by Elissa Anne
Completed March 25th, 2013 - ★★★★✩ - My Review

Books I'm currently reading


Books I plan to read sooner rather than later


Short-term tasks

Pick-A-Shelf Shelf of the Month April 2013:
Dark

Read by: April 31st

Pick a Shelf: Scripts Tower
Name in Title - L


ARTS1030 - Introduction to English: Literary Genres
- Read by: APRIL 9th
- Read by: APRIL 22nd
- Read by: MAY 14th

Long-term Goals for 2013
Read at least 40 books in 2013
Read The Lord of the Rings in 2013

Challenges I'm working on

April Monthly Challenge - Nothing But Reading Challenges
Deadline: April 30th, 2013

Every Year Challenge - Goodreads All Sorts
Deadline: December 31st, 2013

Goodreads Choice Awards Reading Challenge - Nothing But Reading Challenges
Deadline: December 31st, 2013

Harry Potter Sorting Hat Reading Challenge - Nothing But Reading Challenges
Deadline: March 1st, 2014

Pyramid Series Challenge - Nothing But Reading Challenges
Deadline: March 1st, 2014

That sounds like a great way to keep your corner Sophia.

The Goodreads Allsorts Every Year Challenge thread got deleted before I even came close to completing the challenge, so I'm now using this space to keep track of the books I have read for it.

The goal is to read one book for every one of the past ten years. My goal is to read 10 books.

here is a link to the shelf I am using to keep track of books read for this challenge.

2013

2012


2011


2010


2009

2008


2007


2006

2005


2004

Great that you want to take part in our monthly read for march.

Well, O-Week was hectic; actually the past week has been, and I unfortunately haven't gotten nearly as much reading done as I would have liked. I did just finish Blood Red Road, which was actually quite incredible. The simplistic narration creates such an eerie effect; you know that the characters, the events and the emotions are so deep, and yet the simplistic nature of the narration obscures that depth from plain sight. It was actually quite remarkable. 5 stars from me!


This book contributed to the completion of the following tasks:

NBRC Book of the Month: Blood Red Road (Feb 22nd-27th)

Pick-A-Shelf: Book-a-Fort 2013
Recovery Task 10: Read a book with a title where at least two words start with the same letter.

Every Year Challenge - Goodreads All Sorts
Deadline: December 31st, 2013
A Book Published in 2011

Pyramid Series Challenge - Nothing But Reading Challenges
Deadline: March 1st, 2014
One of six first books in a series

It's 4 in the morning. I got home from work an hour ago, sat myself down in front of the computer and haven't bothered to get up and clear off the bed. I hate working late shifs, but whatever pays the bills I guess.

Tomorrow is Sydney's Mardi Gras Parade, which is our take on Gay Pride. Dad and I will be marching with our Church, which is an awesome, progressive and inclusive Church that I love to pieces.

And then, on Monday, Uni officially begins. Except I only have one class on Monday and it's a tutorial that doesn't run the first week, so it doesn't start until Tuesday for me.

Something actually book-related: I'm doing an English Lit course this semester. I'm planning on minoring in Creative Writing, and one English credit is required for it. I'm actually excited about it; I've had a brief look at the books I have to read for it. I'm not so excited about the Essay questions. I thoroughly enjoyed English (Advanced and Extention) for the HSC, but I also wasn't very good at it, as the majority of your mark was based on your essays. I don't mind Social Work/Sociology essays, but English essays always haunt me.

To anyone wondering, the books I'm reading for the course are The Boat,Beloved,King Lear and a bajillion poems that the prof has packed together in a neat little 50 page bundle. There's some William Wordsworth, James McAuley, Judith Wright, William Blake and Elizabeth Barret Browning, just to name a few.

hello...I wanted to say hi...I am spending part of my day visiting corners in our group and I am very impressed. I like the way you are keeping track of everything... Nice idea.

Hi Sophia. Very well organized corner. I'm impressed. This will be very easy to keep up with things. I'll visit again.

Wow, nice corner Sophia. I like how you've organised your books, challenges and goals for 2013. Think I need to do something similar. Your English lit course sounds good, what are you majoring in?

Stopping by again today...Love the image on your page...

I like how you organised everything. I wish I had the time to do that, great idea.

Thought I would pop back in today and say hello.... hope life is well and even a small part simply wonderful!!!

Hello, Sophia. Just wanted to pop in, say hi and show appreciation for how organized this space is... :D

Sophia hope all is well and you are just busy... have a great weekend..

Hello everyone. :) First of all, thanks so much for all the messages of support. I appreciate it. :)

I'm trying to keep things organized - I must say, having this space available to me is incredibly useful.

Pink: I'm doing a double degree, Bachelor of Social Work and then a Bachelor of Arts. My major is Linguistics, but I'm minoring in Creative Writing, for which a first-year English Lit course is required.

As predicted, the recommencement of the University session cut into my reading time significantly. I did finish one book tonight, but I'm probably going to remain on the down-low for at least a little while longer.

March 24th, 2013:
Completed Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Meets criteria for:
Good Reads Allsorts Every Year Challenge (Thread has apparently been deleted) (2012 Book)
Pick-a-shelf book of the month March 2013:Books about books

Sophia wrote: "The Goodreads Allsorts Every Year Challenge thread got deleted before I even came close to completing the challenge, so I'm now using this space to keep track of the books I have read for it.

The ..."

Oh yes, I'm sorry about that. It was accidental so I deleted the thread too. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Haha, that's alright. I did vanish of the face of the site for about three weeks and actually wasn't too surprised. At least I had the list backed up somewhere so I'm just going to keep working on it. :)

Finally finished

Gotta say, writing a review for that book was not easy. :-/

Sophia wrote: "Finally finished

Gotta say, writing a review for that book was not easy. :-/"

Sophia did you not enjoy this book?

Denisa wrote: "Sophia wrote: "Finally finished

Gotta say, writing a review for that book was not easy. :-/"

Sophia did you not enjoy this book?" to say I didn't enjoy it wouldn't be quite true. To say that I liked it isn't true either.

The thing is, my cousin wrote it. So I felt pressured to read it and then, since she knows I'm on Goodreads I felt pressured to review it, too, and so I didn't want to be as harsh as I would have been if I didn't have to see the author at weekly family dinners. Make sense?

You can write about the positives.

Some of the top reviewers on goodreads specialize in this type of review - and they can be just as informative as the more critical reviews.

Yeah, I need to work on that. I generally don't like writing reviews, unless something grabs me while reading it that makes me want to actually put my thoughts about the book to paper (or, in this case, to screen).

Sophia wrote: "Denisa wrote: "Sophia wrote: "Finally finished

Gotta say, writing a review for that book was not easy. :-/"

Sophia did you not enjoy this book?" to say I didn't ..."
ah it makes perfect sense... My brother in law wrote a book and well.. I bought it and he asked how it was and all I could really come up with was "It certainly was your own unique voice." I didn't have the heart to tell him it seemed to be wrote matter of fact with little or no emotion (which is how he is in real life) and a book telling about going through cancer with your wife and losing her... should have emotion... But I do understand...hun

At least I can say I've read it now. :P

Finished Forest of Secrets tonight. I guess this series is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. It's about house cats, but who don't live in houses and actually live in the forest in a society of their own. It's written for and is really popular among late-primary and middle school kids but I am genuinely enjoying the adventures of Fireheart the Warrior cat. Don't judge me, Mmkay?


Counts towards: NBRC Pyramid Series challenge (3rd book in a series)
NBRC Harry Potter sorting hat challenge (Hufflepuffish character)

Sophia wrote: "At least I can say I've read it now. :P

Finished Forest of Secrets tonight. I guess this series is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. It's about house cats, but who don't live in houses and actual..."

Hi Sophia! The book sounds good, I'd like to consider reading it, even if its just for my fondness of cats :)

Just really curious with Forest of Secrets. I saw there are other books too. Is it a series? Have you read them all? Do I need to read the others first before this one? I was considering reading only the Forest of Secrets.
thanks sophia :)

It's a massive series, I think there are roughly forty titles in all. It's written under the pseudonym "Erin Hunter", but it's actually written by a team of six different writers or so, so they can churn out new books quite quickly.

Forest of Secrets is the third in the whole shebang - the first one is Into the Wild which I didn't enjoy quite as much as I've enjoyed 2 and 3. I haven't read the whole series - just picked it up for the first time 'cause the first cycle is at the library so why not?

I should be reading books for challenges and whatnot, but I grabbed both 3 and 4 last time I was at the library so how I can I not dive straight into four right away?

Sophia wrote: "It's a massive series, I think there are roughly forty titles in all. It's written under the pseudonym "Erin Hunter", but it's actually written by a team of six different writers or so, so they can..."

I checked it out here in goodreads and saw 6 books in the series. So I decided to ask, I was wondering I might not understand the story it must have been connected in some way or so. Anyways, I'd like to read Forest of Secrets. Thanks sophia! :)

I guess the right term for a 'series' like this is actually "Universe". There are forty books written for the Warriors "Universe", most of which belong to cycles of six books. This is first cycle. And yes, though each book has its own plotline and rising and falling action, the events that took place in books one and two were both important in book three, though the writer did explain everything that was important so you probably won't have too much trouble following.

Sophia wrote: "At least I can say I've read it now. :P

Finished Forest of Secrets tonight. I guess this series is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. It's about house cats, but who don't live in houses and actual..."

that sounds like a great book for one of my grandaughters who believes cat are awesome and the rule the world. I'll have to jot that one down

You have a lovely corner here, Sophia! Its super-organised-ness inspired mine :)

I see you will be reading 'King Lear'! Well, that just happens to be my favourite of the few Shakespeare plays I have read/watched adaptations of. I hope you enjoy it!

Also, your long-term goal to read The Lord of the Rings in 2013 is a great one. I still haven't read that series but I really want to at some point!

Good luck with all your goals!

Denisa wrote: "Sophia wrote: "At least I can say I've read it now. :P

Finished Forest of Secrets tonight. I guess this series is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. It's about house cats, but who don't live in ho..."

I enjoyed it. There was point where I was on the verge of tears and I was all like "For goodness sake, Sophia, they're cats!"

While not necessary, I do strongly recommend reading the series in order, starting with Into the Wild

Cherrelle wrote: "You have a lovely corner here, Sophia! Its super-organised-ness inspired mine :)

I see you will be reading 'King Lear'! Well, that just happens to be my favourite of the few Shakespeare plays I ha..."

Thanks! I always tend to take things like this over the top, organization-wise, (which is odd, because for everything else I'm a total scatterbrain) but it seems to be working. :-P

Haven't read King Lear yet, though I started to. I haven't actually been exposed to much Shakespeare. I ended up doing Macbeth twice due to moving schools and completely missed Romeo & Juliet (so far).

And Tolkien has sort of taken a back seat right now as I try to catch up on other things, but I am looking forward to delving into that one again when I have the time. :)

Thanks! :)

On the Shakespeare front: me neither. Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear are the only ones I can truly say I remember. We touched on a bit of Tempest and the one with the twins in primary school but that was YEEEAAAARS ago! I also studied Measure for Measure at my first university but I have handily erased that from my brain. You know, I have nothing against old Shakey and I'll probably end up reading his works when I'm old and withered but it's just a bit of a pain sometimes, you know? I mean it's English but it's like reading a foreign language at times...

Everyone needs to go read The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman now.

Sophia wrote: "



Everyone needs to go read The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman now."

I simply adore this!!!!!

Denisa wrote:I simply adore this!!!!!"

Thanks! :) Found it on Facebook a while back, just had to save it for instances like this. ;-)

Sophia wrote: "Denisa wrote:I simply adore this!!!!!"

Thanks! :) Found it on Facebook a while back, just had to save it for instances like this. ;-)"

I am glad you did.... I enjoyed it and thought .."ya that's me!!!!!

LOL Nice!...that's a very real feeling...

Sophia wrote: "

I was just a lurker in this blog but the pic made me fall of my bed laughing haha!

As redundant as it may be to say, I too love the picture :)

Haha, glad everyone likes it. Wish I could link you all to the person who came up with it, but you know how the Internet works...

Saw this on Pink's thread and stealing the idea from her. These are the books I plan to read in April, as well as roughly what dates I want to finish each book by. I'm working on The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling, hoping to finish it before April 1st.

April 2 - 5: Beloved by Toni Morrison
April 5 - 10 : Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
April 12-13: Rising Storm by Erin Hunter
April 14-16: Crossed by Ally Condie
April 17-21: King Lear by William Shakespeare
April 22-30: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
April 22-24: Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
April 25-27: Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

WOW so organised! I hope your plans work out there, Sophia! No way I would be able to keep up a pace like that!

great list. i have yet to read the 4th book in the Inheritance series. book 3 seemed to go in a different direction and left me confused. i think i want to reread the series and maybe get a better understanding of where Paolini was going... :O

I liked what I read of the Inheritance series too. I loved the first book and finished it quickly. I read about half of the second, put it down one day then returned a while later realising that I had no idea what was going on so I gave up. One day I will return!

hi Sophia... just thought I would drop in.... how was your Easter? what are youreading right now? I am reading The View From Penthouse B by Elinor Lipman. I like it so far... have a great day

Thanks Denisa! My Easter was good - kinda uneventful, though the Sunday evening service at my church was pretty incredible.

I'm slowly tackling the Inheritance series. I do enjoy it, but the books are so long and I prefer short books that I can read in a day or two. I'm hoping to finish it in April, but we'll see how it goes. It's probably one of those series that make more sense if you don't have to wait too long between books.

Also, I finished The Casual Vacancy last night (again, a long book, but it was very good). I probably won't bother writing a review for this one, though. I've read the first five pages of Beloved, and I can't work out the narration style and it's confusing me. I'll have to start over and preferably not while on a bus.

Sophia wrote: "Thanks Denisa! My Easter was good - kinda uneventful, though the Sunday evening service at my church was pretty incredible.

I'm slowly tackling the Inheritance series. I do enjoy it, but the book..."

I can imagine trying to read while bus riding... since i wear bifocals I can already imagine the words jumping up and down...

Sophia wrote: "Thanks Denisa! My Easter was good - kinda uneventful, though the Sunday evening service at my church was pretty incredible.

I'm slowly tackling the Inheritance series. I do enjoy it, but the book..."

I think I agree with you. I was thinking of re-reading the series all together and seeing if things made more sense that way. The 3rd book just kind of threw me off and I felt lost... I really loved Eragon...mmmmm

Ahhhh Eragon is amazing!!! I love dragons? Wish I was one ;)

Hi!!! xxxx