Michelle's Musings PopSugar Reading Challenge

Every year I do a Reading Challenge and in the last few years, it has been the PopSugar one.  They have fun lists that tend to challenge me to get out of my reading box.  I encourage you to Google "reading challenges" and see all the variety of lists out there.  There are some that are based on certain tastes, some to get out of your rut and even some off the wall lists.  PopSugar (to me) seems to be the perfect list.  They have a variety of book genres on their list....and more that suit what I can handle. I am never going to read that horror book but I will read a book based on the illustration on the cover!

 Here is my challenge list as of today.  I will update this by adding more books until December 31, 2018, when the list is closed.  Please share any books you know of that fit a category that I am missing as I am always looking for my next read.

https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Reading-Challenge-2018-44138581


A book made into a movie you've already seen

True Crime-Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly (if you haven't given this a chance, this reads like a Grisham book, but it really happened)

The next book in a series you started-Prisoner in the Castle by Susan Ella MacNeal

A book involving a heist-The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson

Nordic Noir

A novel based on a real person-Shadow Queen by Rebecca Dean

A book set in a country that fascinates you-Between Here and Gone by Barbara Ferrer (Cuba)

A book with time of day in the title-Alaskan Dawn by Edie Claire (I am reaching a bit, but dawn is a time, kind of)

A book about a villain or anti-hero-

A book about death or grief-The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

A book with female author who uses a males pseudonym-Women and Children First by Gil Paul

A book with an LGBTQ protagonist-City of Myths by Martin Turnbull (this series is soooo good)

A book that is also a stage play or musical-The day the world came to town by Jim DeFede (play is based on the book)

A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you-Falling Up by Leslie Odom, Jr

A book about feminism-Room on the Rue Amelie by Kristen Harmel (she can do the same thing her husband did, just watch)

A book about mental health--This is Me by Chrissy Metz

A book your borrowed or what was given to you as a gift-Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines (this was soooo good)

A book by two authors- You can't spell America without me by Alec Baldwin and Kurt Anderson

A book about or involving a sport

A book by a local author

A book with your favorite color in the title

A book with alliteration in the title-Espressos, Egg Nogs and Evil Ex's by Harper Lin

A book about time travel

A book with a weather element in the title- The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan

A book set at sea-Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams

A book with an animal in the title-The Rooster Bar by John Grisham

A book set on a different planet- William Shakespeare's The Force Doth Awakens by Ian Doescher

A book with song lyrics in the title

A book about or set on Halloween

A book with characters who are twins Sister's First (nonfiction) by  Jenna and Barbara Bush

A book mentioned in another book

A book from a celebrity book club  Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

A childhood classic you never read

A book that was published in 2018-As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner

A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner-Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin Manual Miranda (2016)

A book set in  the decade you were born-The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis (some of it is set in 75)

A book you meant to read in 2017 but did not get to-Margot by Julian Cantor

A book with an ugly cover-The Lost Letter by Jullian Cantor (I have since seen a different cover that is much nicer)

A book that involves a bookstore or library-Alaska Skies by Debbie Macomber)

Your favorite prompt from 2015, 2016, 2017 PopSugar Challenges-A novel set during war time...The War Bride's Scrapbook by Caroline Preston (beautiful book)

Not all who wander are lost

My Kindle goes on every travel and always has its picture made with the scenery.  

Our ever-evolving travel wall in our living room.
 It features snapshots from all of our travels

The fluke shot from our first Alaska trip

The White House taken from the lawn in 1994

I have had a severe case of wanderlust since I got my driver's license. I would just get in the car and drive. I never traveled too far, I mean, these were the days before GPS and cell phones...I detested using a road map, so I just mainly traveled to places I had been with my parents.  Then I found a way to not only pay for my new car and car insurance, but I also found a way to travel and get paid for it!  I worked for Cracker Barrel and they were looking for people that worked in the restaurant that would travel to new store openings and train new staff.  The hours were long, but the reward was that I got to see the good ole USA.


All the while, I was dating this guy, who was the son of retired Air Force veterans...now he came along when they were older in life and had already traveled the world and were very content to stay in little Mayfield, KY.  He didn't know it yet, but he had wanderlust too.  We started taking day trips.  Then we married and the travel bug really bit us.....we would wake  up early on a day off and say, "let's go to Tennessee." We got a few days off and we would wake up and say, "Let's go to Florida".

PNC Park in Pittsburgh

Once my in-laws had no kids at home they discovered cruising and finally convinced us to go with them.  We had our little Hannah then, but they said they would babysit while we toured the island so in September 1998 the love of cruising was born. Our first cruise took us to The Bahamas...and it was just the beginning.  We have discovered that cruising can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it.  Since we found out how to do it cheap we have managed to take at least one cruise a year for about 20 years now.  It was perfect for us because you see many places but unpack once.

Places we have seen thanks to a cruise:
The Bahamas (Half Moon Cay, Nassau, and Freeport)
Aruba
Curacao
Turks & Caicos
Martinique (Port a Prince)
Puerto Rico (San Juan, El Yunque)
Barbados (Bathsheba)
Mexico (Progresso, Merida, and Cozumel)
Honduras (Mahogany Bay and Roatan)
Key West
Grand Cayman (Georgetown)
US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas and St. John)
Sint Maarten/St. Maarten/St. Martin
Belize (Mahogany Bay)
Jamaica (Ocho Rios)
Cuba (Havana)
Canada (British Columbia, Yukon)

From the WP&YR in Canada between Skagway and Whitehorse

Washington (Seattle)
and my all time favorite.......Alaska (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm and interior tour to Denali, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla, North Pole, and Tok).  We love this one so much, we have been there 3 times.  For me, it was 28 days, my husband is only about 19 days.


Other places we have visited by land or plane:
New Mexico (Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Raton, and Santa Fe)
Colorado (Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Denver---I have also been to Estes Park, Cripple Creek, and Central City)
Kansas (Topeka, Wichita and Kansas City)
Missouri (St Louis, Mansfield, Branson, Springfield and Cape Girardeau)
Illinois-mainly southern part (I also worked in Chicago with Cracker Barrel)
Indiana (Evansville to Indy---We packed to move to Terre Haute and didn't go at the last second)
Kentucky-all over

Michigan
Ohio (Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Mason---I also worked in Lima)
New York
Pennsylvania
Virginia (Virginia Beach, Richmond, Newport News, Williamsburg and Hampton Roads---I lived in Newport News with Cracker Barrel in 1994 and we went back for John's work in 2016)
North Carolina (mainly driving through)
South Carolina (Charleston and Hilton Head)
Georgia (up the "beautiful" I-75, stopped at some Chick fil a's and a few bookstores)
Florida (all over except the panhandle---I lived in Jacksonville with Cracker Barrel)
Alabama (Huntsville to Mobile)
Mississippi (Tupelo to Starkville)

The John Hopkins Glacier
GBNP&R

Louisiana (Baton Rouge---made this trip in 24 hours)
Texas (from Amarillo to Houston to Texarkana---I lived in Denton and Austin with Cracker Barrel)
Oklahoma I-40 all the way (maybe I-44 too because I remember a McDonald's over the interstate)
Canada (Ontario)

Pike's Peak 1998

Many visits to theme parts (many of these multiple times):
Walt Disney World
Universal Studios Florida
Six Flags (a few different ones)
Busch Gardens
Sea World Orlando (in addition I have been to San Antonio and the one that used to be in Ohio in Cuyahoga Falls)
Silver Dollar City
Magic Springs
Holiday World

Washington Monument

Garden of the Gods in Colorado

I am not sure where the next adventure will  take us, but I hope we have inspired you to see the world, from the monuments in your hometown to the mountains and glaciers of Alaska.

Hanging with Presidents

Michelle's faves
1. Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve
2. Denali National Park
3.  Havana, Cuba
4.  Maid of the Mist, Niagara Falls, NY
5.  Universal Studios Florida/Walt Disney World
6.   Forbidden Beach, Bathsheba, Barbados
7.  Pike's Peak, Manitou Springs, Colorado
8.  Washington, DC
9.  Phillipsburg, St. Maartin
10.  Maegan's Bay, St. Thomas

In Havana

War Memorial on the road to Denali

Hall of Presidents at WDW

My favorite spot on the planet, the Marjorie Glacier
Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve

Reading Journal/Book log

One day I purchased a very expensive writing journal at the West Little Rock post office and felt guilty for buying it, we didn't have the money and I didn't keep a journal.  Why would have have given in to such an impulse buy? I was reading a lot and never could remember, what book did I read that time and loved?  Have I read that author?  Didn't I read that book already?  So I turned this impulse buy into one of the greatest ideas I have ever had....a book journal.  My journal is in a box in the garage, so I can't feature it because it is 4am as I type this and I can't go out there :) Here is a photo from the internet.  The book was padded (squishy) and was easy to wipe off and featured lined pages.

I used that high priced kitty journal until every page was full.  I then tried new, dedicated book journals and was not happy.  I did many an internet search trying to find something that would be exactly what I wanted:

1. Title
2. Author
3.  Dates read
4.  Ranking
5.  A few notes on the book

I bought a few on Amazon and they had some components but not all, or were small or would not hold at least 100 books (I wanted each one to last one year).



Finally I found the Modern Mrs. Darcy page and it changed everything.    She will give you her book journal pages for free if you join her website.  I have loved the website.  She gives you book recommendations, time management, book challenges, a wonderful little store and is even an author herself.

I did have to tweak her book journal a bit, to suit the things that I had been tracking since 1996 and the things I wanted to add.  I am just going to include a picture since I did not create the original template,  I just perfected it for me.  I have 3 books per page and I copy on back and front.




In 2011, I started keeping a digital record too because I LOVE the reading stats!  I am trying to see how many books I read before turning 50 so there is a column for running total, for my self imposed challenges, the number of days it takes to read a book, did I like it and what material the book was (ebook, paper, or audio).  At the end of the year I total up the number read, challenges, rank the favorite books, average out the number of days it takes to read a book and total of ebooks/audio and paper.




The last thing that I use is a To Be Read shelf graphic that I made for fun.  I list all the books I want to read and color in the books as I finish.  There are other elements on the page you can color too.  Here is a link to my drawing and a little snapshot of what it looks like.  I like Presidents so there are a few Presidents hanging out on my shelf, along with a Carnival Cruise line whale fluke.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5dRrA2icRjQQk9xMWJha1FFbGM/view?usp=sharing

Happy day to you and read fast!

2018 Books of the year (so far)

I am almost at the 50 books read mark for 2018.  I wanted to take a few moments of your time today to recommend my favorites reads of 2018 (so far).

1. Next Year in Havana-Chanel Cleeton
   I saw in October in searching for Cuba books that it was to be released in 2018 and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I wish I had it in October because that is when we went to Havana, I would have looked for more stuff that was featured in the book.

2.  As  Bright as Heaven-Susan Meissner
   I love every book of Susan's that I have picked up....her words and story are so creative.  This one is about the flu pandemic in the early 20th century.  It was hard to put down because the story sucked you into the life and death choices made by people and how one little cough could and would change a whole family.

3.  The Great Alone- Kristin Hannah
   There isn't a day of my life I don't long to live in Alaska.  I search for Alaska books all the time, and usually, they are sapping romance stories, so I didn't have high hopes.  Boy was I wrong!!!  I was taken right back to the place I love and there was a thrilling story to go along with it.  The dad is this book is a horrible human being and you will long to kill him, the state takes on a role of a character all on it's own (as Alaska tends to do).  I love the twists in the plot too!!

4.  The Room on Rue Amelie-Kristin Harmel
    I read a lot of WWII historical fictional and I had been told this one would be perfect for me. I waited for months for my turn for the digital book and when I got my turn, I finished it in a night.  This tells of an American woman in war-torn France trying to save the Allies and her Jewish friend.

5.  Margot-Jullian Cantor
   Another WWII historical fiction book, this time about the life of the sister of Anne Frank.  A nice creative read. I like books about people in history that we know little about and this one was written like that.

6.  My Dear Hamilton- Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
  I will never turn down a book about a President or a President's aide.  I also happen to be finishing my full second year of being obsessed with the play Hamilton.  I like that this story told how Eliza felt (well could have felt) about the events that happened solely on her account, not Jefferson, Adams, Washington, Angelica, just Eliza.

7.  The War Brides Scrapbook-Caroline Preston
  A book with tons of ephemera inside...it's a story that has tons of WWII memorabilia to go with it.  A graphic novel scrapbook with a great story!!! I loved this.  Visually it was thrilling, the pages were crammed full of information and lovely illustrations.  The story could have very well been written by a young bride who sends her man off to war while she worked the factories and her life when the war was over.

8.  The Rooster Bar-John Grisham
  I shall always be a Grisham fan, but this one was my favorite one in years.  Law students realize they will never pay off their debts and take matters into their own hands and try to stay out of the reach of the law.  Thrilling!!!

9.  The President is Missing-James Patterson and Bill Clinton
   I could not wait for this to be released!  I wasn't disappointed.  Too much ISIS or I would rank higher, but I thought it was great.  I loved the President and loved how smart he was and how he was willing to do whatever he needed to do to save America.

10.  The Wedding Date-Jasmine Guillory
   Not at all like a book that I would read, but I saw the cover and I was intrigued.  It was light and fluffy, but not all that mushy romance that keeps me away from those type of books.  This was about two professionals of different races, making it work, or are they?

There is the top 10 for the first half (ok, a little over) the year 2018.

The Digital Library

I have a wonderful local library, the McCracken County Public Library.  If you live anywhere around Paducah, KY and you don't have a library card at Mclib..... well you are missing out and, if eligible, you should remedy that IMMEDIATELY.  Here is a link on who is eligible for a McCracken County Public Library card (note that a non-resident card is available.  I will talk about these cards in the following paragraphs)


Today I am going to cover digital reads.  Digital services may cover ebooks/audiobooks/magazines/comics/music titles and others, but I read a lot of digital books so I am mainly referencing ebooks. The McCracken County Public Library uses Overdrive and Hoopla for ebooks and those will be the services I am primarily referencing, but please notice that those aren't the only digital services offered by my local library.

OVERDRIVE is a wonderful service that allows you to use your library card to check out digital reads and audiobooks.  I am most familiar with Overdrive that if you need some help, inbox me and I will try to help you.  I have been using this service since my library introduced it and will continue.  This is my favorite service that my library offers.  Basically, you search for titles you like and check them out, quite like your physical library.   If the books are not available you can put the book on hold and adjust your settings so that when the book is available, it will be automatically checked out to your card.  With Overdrive you can check out (if available) either an epub or Kindle book. I am primarily a Kindle reader so I adjusted my settings to only show me the Kindle books, but I can still check out for either.  There are two apps you can use Libby and Overdrive. I believe (strictly my thinking) that the Overdrive app will be phased out, so I have tried to use Libby more, but I do prefer the Overdrive app. With the apps you can read/listen to your books or you can download to use on the Kindle or bookshelf that Overdrive gives you.  The best part about Overdrive is there are NO LATE FEES.  Once the book expires it disappears from your bookshelf/device so you have no need to worry about it.  Here is the link to our main Overdrive/kyunbound page.  Look it over and then refer to my first paragraph about getting a McLib library card.


HOOPLA is new to my local library.... I had used it with my non-resident card (more on this below), but once my library got it I ditched the non-resident Hoopla and started using my local library's.   Hoopla is so cool!  You can check out books/music/movies/audiobooks/movies/comics and there is NO waiting!!!  I mainly use the ebooks/audiobooks features so again, I will be referencing those.  You cannot read the books on a Kindle device, but if you have a tablet or a smartphone, you can read the books there in the Hoopla app (you can also read them on a computer). You get 6 checkouts a month at McLib, and the shortest check out time I have had is 7 days.  The selection is outstanding and the ease to download an item is incredible. As with Overdrive, you will have no late fees, when your turn expires the title will disappear from your Hoopla box. Here is a link to my local library Hoopla home page so you can see what it is about.

Non-Resident cards------ A non-resident card is one that you obtain when you don't live in the area that the library serves.  If you don't have a local library, this service may be EXACTLY what you need. If you have a grand library or don't read a ton of books in addition to your library limits, this may not be a service may not interest you so skip ahead.  ***Don't forget that my local library offers a non-resident card***

 My McLib library card can have 10 holds and 12 checkouts.  The checkouts are not a problem for me because I read my book and go (to Amazon>content/devices) to return it, but the holds are an issue for me.  Often a new book comes out and I can't put it on hold because I am capped at my holds.  I had to do something about it so I searched for non-resident library cards.  The internet was a wealth of knowledge on libraries that offered this service for a fee and didn't require me to go to the library.

I searched for some titles that I wanted to read and found a library that had some of my "to be read" books in their catalog.  I chose The Free Library of Philadelphia because we seemed to be a perfect match.  There is a yearly fee involved but I have saved more than double what I would have spent to purchase the books I have checked out from the catalog.  I use one or both of my library cards every day.   As I said earlier, if you have a good local library and don't read much, this service may not be for you, but if you have no local library or need more limits...check this out.  My tip is to look for a digital services card where you do NOT have to show up at a local branch to activate the card.  I have found one library in my home state that offers a card for free to Kentucky residents, so you may be eligible for a free one and not know it; do a little research on the libraries in your state.

My reading habits, for those that are curious......I read 3 or so books a week, sometimes more.  I play an audiobook every day at work.  I only check out 1 or 2 titles at a time on each card, but I am almost capped at holds on both cards (I save a spot on each card for new releases or newly purchased titles at that library). On my shelves you will find mostly historical fiction, biographies and American history books.  I will read just about anything by Susan Meissner, Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, John McCain, Ron Chernow, Bill O'Reilly, Gill Paul, Jamie Ford, Harper Lin and John Grisham.


For friends that have the McCracken County Public Library card:  Here is a helpful guide on all the digital services (Overdrive/Hoopla/Freegal/Flipster that McLib offers to us.  You can learn how to get each app and get some help if needed.  

Michelle's Book Choices

I am an avid reader of many a great books and folks are always asking, "What do you recommend that I read?"  Well, I decided to try and get back into this little blog thingy by posting the books that I am currently passionate about.

I try to read brand new books along with classic books and I have some rules that I hold myself to when reading.

1.  If it doesn't grab my attention in the first hour or so, ditch it.  There are too many good books out there to waste on something that is mediocre or difficult to read.
2.  Reading Challenges are fun and I try to participate, but if a category is something I hate or don't care to read, I will ditch the challenge and make my own.  I find Goodreads Reading Challenge is a better way to go for me because I can say, "I want to read ___ books" and be done with it instead of trying to find a book to fit into a category so obscure that it makes me nuts.
3.  Put up my phone!  I don't sit it anywhere where I am reading. I have wasted entirely too much time answering an email, checking facebook or looking up a city on Google that I had lost too MUCH reading time, so I put that stupid thing away.
4.  I always have a book on me.  I read in lines at the store, waiting in traffic, while waiting on a friend....etc.  My Kindle goes where ever I go.  My rule is the purse MUST be big enough for the Kindle or I don't carry it.
5.  I always know when my favorite authors have a book coming out and pre-purchase those books.  It gives me something to look forward to and makes sure the authors have at least one book sold.
6.  I utilize my library every single day!!!  I have 3 library cards, my local library, another KY library and I pay for a non resident card to a library out of state (I will try to do a post on this later).  I have close to the maximum amount of books on hold on each card.  I primarily read via Overdrive so I loaded all my cards on there and click back and forth looking for books at each one.  It is very easy on Overdrive to go back and forth between the libraries and I can read just about everything that I want to read. If you don't know Overdrive I would LOVE to talk about it.
7.  I am not afraid to listen to an audiobook in the car or at work, that counts.
8.  I never forget the classics.  I go back to them whenever I can. I can't count how many times I have read "The Great Gatsby", but I can tell you I have read "Gone with the Wind" 41 times.  As a teen it was one of the only books I owned so I read over and over and over.
9.  I keep a journal.  I started in 1996 on paper and still keep it that way, but I also keep an excel spread sheet that calculates how many books I have read, were they paper, audio or ebook and other stats.  My reading journal just logs the author, dates read, whether I liked it and a few lines for notes (I may share this at some point too).
10.  Read around 100 pages every day. It is easier than I thought it would be when I started.

Now as I type this July has started....the year is half over. I have read 40 books of varying types....here are my favorites of the first 6 months of 2018.

1.  The Great Alone-Kristin Hannah.....WOW!!!
2.  As Bright As Heaven-Susan Meissner ......She is one of my faves!!
3.  My Dear Hamilton-Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie....just as good as America's First Daughter
4.  Margot-Jullian Cantor
5.  The President is Missing-Bill Clinton and James Patterson
6.  Magnolia Table-Joanna Gaines
7.  The Day the World Came to Town 9/11 Gander-James DeFede
8.  City of Myths -Martin Turnbull...this is a series that I highly recommend for old movie buffs
9.  Failing Up-Leslie Odom Jr and This Is Me-Chrissy Metz
10.  Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers-Sara Ackerman

Been gone for so long.

I have not been here for a long time.  I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do with this blog. I started it to be an outlet for my mind, sort of like a journal.  There are many things that go through my head and not all of them are good, ha ha.  I used this forum to express some of those things.  Now in my life, I am at a stage where I choose to be happy and not worry about the perception of others. I like to create, no, I NEED to create.  I think I will refocus my energies on this...being happy and creative.

I believe that is the direction my blog will go.  Will I publish anything anyone cares about?  That again is not a concern...what is my concern is that I leave a little mark.  If someone is meant to read it, they will.  If they don't, it wasn't meant to be, but at the time it served me well.

I will post about books, art, music, travel, kitties, home improvements and things that make ME happy.  I may or may not do it regularly....this could be a warning. :)