Wednesday, December 29, 2021

HELMET -reading challenge 2022

 Hello! 

Here is a new reading challenge for 2022 that was published a few minutes ago:

The Helmet Reading Challenge 2022 | Helmet

The Helmet Reading Challenge 2022

1. A book combining fact and fiction

2. A book where ice or snow plays a major role

3. A book with events in which you would like to be involved in

4. A book with events in which you would not like to be involved in

5. A book featuring someone falling seriously ill

6. A book by an author whose work you have never read before

7. A book about friendship

8. A book where something that is lost, or thought to be lost, is found

9. A book whose protagonist belongs to an ethnic minority

10. A book with a title you find boring

11. A book whose events are not recounted in chronological order

12. A poetry book published within the last five years

13. A children’s or young adult’s book published in the 2000s

14. A book about a historical event

15. A book about a topic you want to learn more about

16. A book with chapters with titles

17. A book that has stirred public debate or caused a scandal

18. A book written by a journalist

19. A book has at least three different narrators

20. A book with characters who have supernatural abilities

21. A book that relates to your childhood

22. A book containing text messages, emails or social media updates

23. A small book

24. A book written by an author from the Middle East

25. A book with a title that includes a cardinal direction

26. A book related to civic activism

27. A book recommended by another Reading Challenge participant

28. A book with a minor as its protagonist

29. A book that describes good and evil

30. A book featuring relocating to a new country

31. A book that includes something you find important

32. A book that breaks community standards

33. A book set in Africa

34. A book written by an author whose name includes a nature word

35. A book including a trial

36. A book that follows the lives of many generations

37. A book with a cover or title that makes you feel good

38. A book where a dream or goal is achieved

39. A collection of short stories

40. A book about a country that no longer exists

41. A comic book or book about a superhero

42. A book about living in a commune or shared flat

43. A book that meets at least three of the challenge items

44. A book with a title that includes a name of a city

45. An award-winning debut novel

46. A book with a cover that is mostly red or a title that includes the word red

47.–⁠48. Two books written by authors belonging to the same family or related to one another

49. A book published in 2022

50. A book recommended by library staff

It is organized by a library in Helsinki, Finland. The Helmet -libraries are the libraries in the Helsinki-area. I will take a look at the prompts and soon start to plan which books I will read for each prompt :) If you want to join, you are more than welcome to join!

Good luck!

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Monday, December 20, 2021

Cinders' reading challenge 2022

 Hello there! 

This year was so GREAT for me, reading-wise. I have read 80 books in 2021!!! WOW! A new all-time record! :) ...and the year is not over yet, I might still read a little more. My goal was 80 books on GoodReads, so I made it for once. It feels great. I have been thinking of making my own reading challenge for 2022. You may join me in the challenge if you want. I was thinking of writing prompts, a kind of list of the kind of books I want to read. Here it is:

1. a really big book (like huge in size, not thick)

2. a really small book (not just with a few pages but tiny in size)

3. Two books in a series

4. a fantasy stand-alone

5. a book written originally in another language than your mother tongue

6. a book written in verse

7.  a classic

8. a chick-lit book

9. a YA book

10. a book written in your mother tongue (if you have two mother tongues like me, you can choose which one or do both)¨

Let's start off with this list. :) 10 is a nice even number...

Good luck! I will soon take pictures of the books I will choose for each prompt.

Have fun! Hugs from Cindy

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Dewey's Readathon Update...

Hello there!

So, it's not going great but it's going okay. I have started two books:

"Den amerikanska flickan" by Monica Fagerholm (a Swedish speaking Finn)
"Kätilö" by Katja Kettu (a Finn)

I have been listening to music, drinking pepsi max and trying to focus on my books... I was supposed to read something else but so far I've only gotten to these two lol. I've been distracted a bit... Whatsapp messaging with friends, discord etc. I need to focus. Wish me luck! :)

It's the fourth hour of the readathon and it's soon 7 pm here in Finland. I will try to stay up later than usual reading. Pepsi helps. Music helps. If  I eat too much I will get sleepy so better stick to pepsi max. LOL. I also have a lot of audiobooks waiting...

TA! :)

Dewey's readathon -getting ready :)

 Hello hello hello! :)

Today is the day! Dewey's 24-hour readathon starts at 3 pm Finnish time. YaY! There is only a few hours left before it starts. I have planned a little bit, I will bring out my pepsi max and try to decide where I will read. The number one option at the moment is my Danish reading chair. It is really comfy. My mom bought it for me last Christmas. 


This is The Chair :) Here is my TBR:


If you are participating in the readathon I wish you good luck! In any case, I wish you a good time today! I will be updating my blog with my progress :)

See ya!




Friday, August 27, 2021

Try a chapter challenge part two...

 Hello there!

I decided to continue with all five books and try another chapter... I liked all five books. Very different, and that's a good thing. Now I just need to get over my mini reading slump... It is awful. Maybe these books will help me :)

I am also soon participating in two buddy reads:

Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre... by the Bronte sisters.

So I am in for some classics soon. LOL. It will be awesome. I love classics.

More later! :)

Friday, August 20, 2021

Try a chapter Challenge

 


Hello there dear reader! 

So, my Dewey's readathon was a success, read a lot and enjoyed myself. 

Today I got an idea... I have been watching booktube for ages. There has been the challenge to try one chapter, the first one lol, and then tell about your thoughts and decide whether to read on. This sounds so fun. I'm going to try it. Wish me luck! 

Cinders 

Saturday, August 7, 2021

Dewey's reverse readathon August 2021

 Hi there, 

This time the readathon has been better in some ways, although I didn't start reading/listening to audio books until the readathon had started long ago. I woke up early, travelled by train home from my parents and took a long nap, yet I have finished one audio book so far. I've started it earlier but I'm happy with my efforts. I finished The house in the cerulean sea by TJ Klune. Soon I will read and listen to something else...

See ya! 

Friday, August 6, 2021

Dearest fellow readathon people

 Hello there! 

This reverse readathon is happening today...

https://deweysreadathon.wordpress.com/

It's so awesome! 

I've been participating in the dewey's readathons for several years... maybe like five. It's the best. It gets me out of my reading slumps, it simply makes me feel happy. This time my TBR is a bit shorter. 

Anna Karenina  by Leo Tolstoy 

The green mile by Stephen King 

Good omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman 

Audio book 

The house in the cerulean sea by TJ Klune

I'm rereading The green mile. I've read it once before. I'm reading and listening simultaneously. It's a buddy read in a bookish server on discord. Anna Karenina is an old Russian classic, I've been trying to read it for a buddy read in another server on discord. Good omens is also a buddy read... the house in the cerulean sea is an audio book I'm listening to on scribd. 

Good luck with the readathon, if you decide to participate. 

Hugs from Finland. 

Sunday, April 25, 2021

The end is near...



Well, I slept 8 hours, took a break watching Church on youtube. Now I'm ready to continue. I might not have read a lot but at least I'm over my slump! 🥳 that's a very good thing! 

Saturday, April 24, 2021

Here we go again.. :D

 Hello!

Now I've slept a bit (five-ish hours lol) and woke up at  5 am and took a caffeine pill a little while ago, it feels a bit like cheating but it's for a good cause... :D I didn't read last night that much, only wrote messages with friends and my aunt. Now I'm back in business. 

I have my Finnish mead (non-alcoholic) and chocolate, in case I need it. I usually don't eat a lot in the morning, but I drink a lot of juice etc. usually. Last night I ate some garlic bread and now I'm feeling a bit ummm.... doughy :D lol. It was too much. 

Today my goal is to read a little more of my friend's book, maybe even finish it. It's called "Ei kaikki pinnat kireällä" by Taru Luojola. She is a really good author. I laugh out loud when I read her books :D I met her in 2019 on Discord. We have a little book group there that I joined then.

I'm happy. I have finished two books that had started earlier, listened a bit of The midnight library by Matt Haig and before read a bit in my friend's book. In case you missed it, it's in Finnish, my second mother tongue. It's a very fun and beautiful language.

See ya!

Reading & listening to audiobooks



Hi!

I decided to listen to this audiobook if/when I need a break from holding a book lol. It's really nice. Good narrator. 

I've read/listened for 4 hours straight almost... I did fall asleep for 15 minutes. 😂 I didn't do it on purpose lol. I will not do it again, I took a caffeine pill... yes, indeed... 

I'll try to stay up late 😅 wish me luck! (It's 7 pm here now...)

Ta!

Dewey's has started!!! 🥳

Hellooo!

My goodness! This readathon has started really well. I completed Freddie Mercury by Lesley-Ann Jones (I had 150ish pages left... now I'm almost done with A life on our planet by David Attenborough. I only had 1.5 ish hours left of it. That's 2 books finished within 4 hours! Wooow! 🥳

Here are pics of my books





I listen to audiobooks 1.5-2.7 times regular speed.

Soon I'll continue with another book!

Ta!

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Getting ready for Dewey's 24-hour readathon 24.4.2021

 Dear readathoners and non-readathoners...

Reading-life can sometimes be a bit sucky. Especially the lack of it. I'm still in a horrible slump. Dewey's 24-hour readathon is coming at just the right time. I really need to get back into reading. It's like, when I pick up a book: "Words words words, and bla bla bla" :D True story. I am having a hard time concentrating... It is truly awful. In case you haven't heard about Dewey's, here is a link to it :


https://deweysreadathon.wordpress.com/


I have been participating from maybe 2015/2016, right about the time I found booktube. Also, fun fact: I started bullet journaling in May/June 2016. YaY! It has been so fun. I could sometimes share some of my bookish bullet journal's spreads. (They are called spreads, don't ask me why). 

My TBR for Dewey's has changed a bit lol. BTW: Here is a link to my warm-up post on Dewey's site, in case someone is interested:


https://deweysreadathon.wordpress.com/2021/04/16/dear-readathon-people/


I am happy and very honored to have had the opportunity to write a warm-up post :D It was one of my goals in life as a book blogger. Thank you, Dewey's <3 It was fun. Blogging about books is my passion, I love books, I love writing - ta-dah! LOL. It's my favorite thing.. 

Sooo... My TBR... I know I need to read and maybe finish "The neverending story" by Michael Ende, because I am hosting a book club meeting on zoom in a few weeks about it lol. I have read it twice before but it was years ago, over a decade like... woah. lol. So I need to read it. I am reading it in Swedish. I tried to read it in German but man, that's just so slow...

More later!

Thursday, April 15, 2021

Hello there book lovers and worms! (bookworms lol)

 Hello there!


How is everyone's reading life? How is your TBR treating you? Have you been reading a lot or been laying low bookwise? Sorry for the perkiness of this post... I'm just very happy today. Dewey's 24-hour readathon is fast approaching, the sun is shining and I'm aaalmost over my reading slump! Life is good. Books are better than people. I love big books and I cannot lie. These are things I think about every day. HAHA. True story! 

My status on Discord is actually always: I love big books and I cannot lie. :)

Because I do often prefer bigger books, thicker, more pages or just like hardcovers that you can take care of and feel that THIS is a book! LOL. No, that's just some of my crazy thoughts. Books in any format are awesome. Big books just look good on my shelves.... I have a huge Alice in Wonderland that I got because I saw Hailey in Bookland had it lol. It is sooo pretty! It's huge, it's the Complete Alice. It's "my precious" :)

Today I am going to the sleep apnea nurse at our city's hospital. The trips there and back are really short, but I can read a book while I wait. They are sometimes late... Sometimes early though. But I am almost always ridiculously early everywhere, LOL.

Today will be a good day for reading. I might even go outside and read... The sun is shining and it's pretty warm. No snow anymore, no fear of slipping on ice lol. That's always good. I just have to choose what on earth to read... I'm hosting a book club discussion in May, and since my voice is still gone, my friend Luke from the UK will be my voice and read out loud my text that I have prepared then in advance. I chose "The neverending story" by Michael Ende and I am hosting because that book got most votes. Last time I read it was in the late 90's or early 00's so I am currently re-reading it. I switched to Swedish because my German is not so good lol.

Take care! :)

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Dewey's 24-hour readathon on the 24th of April 2021 ... getting ready ;)

 Dear reader...


What's up? How is the reading going? I've been in a horrible *physical book slump* that is, I have had a VERY hard time picking something up and read, I've mostly listened to audiobooks or read & listened at the same time. It has been horrible. I've questioned my ability to focus, to study, to learn, the works! I started a new PHYSICAL book the other day: "Washington Black" by a Canadian author: Esi Edugyan. It is sooo good! It feels like my reading slump is almost over... YAY!!!


So, let's talk about Dewey's readathon! Are you participating? Have you heard about it? Have you planned a TBR? Are you excited? :D I AM. Really excited. I love readathons, they help me get over my slumps. They are so cozy, nice, mostly pretty productive reading-wise and just a very fun time!


My TBR is a ever changing situation lol. I might mostly continue with books I have started earlier. For example:

The neverending story by Michael Ende ( reading it in German for the first time... )

Loiri by Jari Tervo ( in Finnish )

Washington Black ( DUH! )

and maybe... just maybe a little of:

Where the Crawdads sing by Delia Owens

and

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (re-read)

So. That's it. :) Wish me luck! I wish YOU luck! BYE!!! 

Saturday, February 20, 2021

Update on my reading challenges :)

 Hi There! ;)

How are you, dear reader? Reading a lot? In a slump? Somewhere in the middle? 

That's where I am right now: somewhere in the middle LOL :D 

More to the "reading a lot"-side to be honest... Today for example, I have listened to 100 pages of  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling plus about 60-70 pages of The Martian by Andy Weir. Potter is a re-read for the umpteenth time, The Martian is first contact lol. Harry Potter is one of my favorite series to re-read. The Martian is so interesting. It is kinda depressing and sometimes I get almost anxiety from reading & listening to it but I think it would be so much more depressing if Watney's character wouldn't be so very funny. He is such a fun person. I really recommend the book, I'm now on page 172 of 369 in my edition. I hope to finish it tomorrow or on Monday... I'm on page 423 of 620 in Harry Potter 7. I hope to finish it too, either tomorrow or on Monday. Then I'll *try* to read Harry Potter and the cursed child. Wish me luck :)

Soon I'll try to decide what book to concentrate mostly on after I have finished these two. I am sooo behind on my buddy reads of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo and War and peace by Leo Tolstoy... Maybe I need a few *days* or WEEKS to catch up with my friends lol. Hopefully I'll make it. I have read Les mis before but War and peace is a first for me.

I am also supposed to be reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I'm behind on that buddy read as well... Woe as me... :D I need to pick myself up and get going, in the literary sense of the term. LOL . I know, I am sooo funny ;)

More later!

Friday, February 12, 2021

Ideas for other reading challenges :)

 Hello there! :)

I have been watching Books and LaLa and finding a lot of inspiration in her videos. I have decided to try to do some of the challenges she also has done. After or maybe as a part of this current challenge, i.e. trying to read 100 pages/day for a month, I will try to read a few of the highest rated and a few of the lowest rated books on my TBR. It's an interesting list lol. Some are re-reads, because I am not so hard on myself, and have not set rules for this challenge. I can re-read books, I can skip some if I don't feel like reading them (when I go down the list), especially if it was a very appalling book... lol I will also read books I already own, or have on audiobook. :)

Some of the highest rated ones on my TBR, that I own are:

The best of Frasier (15 screenplays) re-read

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The green mile by Stephen King (re-read)

A promised land by Barack Obama, on audio

Game of thrones by George RR Martin (maybe...)

Wonder by AJ Palacio

a thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

The book thief by Markus Zusak (re-read)

The fellowship of the ring JRR Tolkien (re-read)

the hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams (re-read)

Salt to the sea by Ruta Sepetys

The hunger games by Suzanne Collins (re-read)

Ender's Game by Orson scott card (maybe)

To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee

The shadow of the wind Carlos Ruiz Zafón 

an ember in the ashes by Saaba Tahir

and now the lowest rated ones:

Possessed by Niki Valentine

Neitsytmatka by Eppu Nuotio

the bathing women by Tie Ning

The accursed by Joyce carol Oates

the casual vacancy by JK Rowling

Putkinotko by Joel Lehtonen (re-read)

the fourth hand by John Irving

your presence is requested at Suvanto by Maile Chapman

Wuthering Bites by Sarah Gray

the Sunday philosophy club by Alexander McCall Smith (re-read)

Poor Lila! by Francine Pascal (re-read)

the scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn

Oneiron by Laura Lindstedt

Kellokosken prinsessa (re-read)

Färjan by Mats Strandberg

Micro by Michael Crichton

The Ruby slippers by Keir Alexander (re-read)

This is a very interesting list lol. Some of the lowest rated books are some of my all-time favorites: Putkinotko, Kellokosken Prinsessa and The ruby slippers as well as The Sunday Philosophy Club... :) LOL. That is really something :P

I will try to sculpt my TBR a little more into existence, it will take a while :D

More later!


Day One of the Challenge: 100 pages/day for a month :)

 Hello! :)

I started the challenge last night, I read and listened to 100 pages of  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (book 5) by JK Rowling. I have read it maybe five times before, but  I still love it. I am on page 703, there is 800 pages in my edition. So, I will finish it later today. That will be fun. 

I am also reading a few other books. War and peace by Leo Tolstoy, I am reading it in Swedish and it is a buddy read, it lasts all year. Also, I am re-reading Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, it is also a buddy read. It also is for one year. 

Then I have two shorter books, also buddy reads (this month):

The Martian by Andy Weir 

and

Life of  Pi by Yann Martel

All of these buddy reads are happening on one of the servers I'm on on Discord. Also, another server is reading the Bible in 2021 from cover to cover, I am also participating in that buddy read. We're soon done with Numbers (4th book of Moses)...

I started the Martian yesterday, listening and reading it at the same time, I am only 18 pages in lol. Today I will finish Harry Potter 5 and possibly maybe probably start Harry Potter and the Half-Blood prince (book 6). 

More later! :)

Thursday, February 11, 2021

My very flexible TBR for my reading challenge (see previous post)

 Hello...

So, here is my very loose and flexible to be read- pile for this reading challenge, that is:

Try to read 100 pages (at least) per day, for one month.

I love big books, so many of these will be thick :D

Going to try to finish:

Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix by JK Rowling

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

The Martian by Andy Weir

Life of  Pi by Yann Martel

Anne på egen hand (Anne of green gables 4) by LM Montgomery

Going to try to continue:

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

also going to start:

Harry Potter and the half-blood prince by JK Rowling

and maybe some others :)

That's it :)

Reading Challenge: try to read ~100 pages/day for one month

 Hello there! :)

I was watching booktube... one of my favorites is books and lala:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmT3SYwGCZvzFLTo_18Cvnw

She is so fun! I love watching her videos... I  was watching a video about her trying to read 116 pages a day for 28 days. It was fun to watch. Here is a link to the video:

https://youtu.be/5aO_Q7AoUlc

It was so fun to watch! Made me want to do a similar challenge... :) So, I decided from today until the 11th of March, I would try to read at least 100 pages every day. It's not going to be easy, but I hope it will be worth it. I have done almost that same thing this year already (2021). Only I haven't kept track and haven't blogged or logged my readings lol. This is about to change! I'll try to post every day, what and how much I have read. Starting tomorrow, on the 12th of February, because I usually read late at night :)

Hope you'll want to follow along.

Ta! :)

Friday, February 5, 2021

What I read in January...

 Dear reader, 

I'm back! lol. So, I managed to read 13 books in January! I know, it's crazy! I wonder what has gotten over me haha. I am happy though. It's really amazing to read a lot. I used to be a really slumpy reader... It took me months to finish books, sometimes years! But it all changes this January like someone just flipped a switch at midnight when the new year 2021 arrived lol.... Amazing!

So, I have read 13 books:

by Stephenie Meyer:

Twilight

New Moon

Eclipse

The short second life of Bree Tanner

Breaking Dawn

(all of these were re-reads)

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Knutbyflickan (a chilling true story, an audiobook in Swedish) by Linnéa Kuling

Drömmens uppfyllelse (Anne of Green gables #3) by LM Montgomery

Not without my daughter by Betty Mahmoody

by JK Rowling: 

Harry Potter 1-4

Tales of Beedle the Bard

so... That's my bookish journey of 2021 so far :)

I'm currently reading

Harry Potter 5

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Anne på egen hand (Anne of Green gables #4)

and a few others :) Also, soon starting:

The Martian by Andy Weir and Life of Pi by Yann Martel

P.S. I'm also re-reading Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, reading War and peace by Leo Tolstoy and reading the Bible from cover to cover, these are so-called buddy-reads and are spread out over the whole year :)

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Most Bookish Year Ever...

 Dear Readers...

I am so happy, and reading a lot. Every evening I listen to audio books about 2 hours. Then I read a little during the day, too. This has boosted my reading above and beyond lol... :) I've read 11 (!) books so far in 2021!!! That is amazing! I have never ever read this fast this much. I enjoy it so much. I'll link my good reads challenge below:

GR challenge 2021

It's so fun! :) 

I'm also participating in a few buddy-reads on Discord, in a few book groups there... There are so many unread books on my shelves, I'm so happy I will finally have the energy and time to at least try to finish them all. Wish me luck!

I have some really huge books to read this year... But more about that later!

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

PERKEET (FINNISH POST)

 Hei! 

Tässä listani Perkeitä varten: 

1. kirkon lomake tms

2. LOIRI

3. Quo Vadis

4. Joko 10 kirjaa kirjoittanut Terry Pratchett, 10 Neiti Etsivä -kirjaa (ruotsin kielellä) tai 10 kpl Sweet valley twin kirjaa (myös ruotsin kielellä)

5. en tiedä vielä

6. yhden ystävän kirjoittama kirja, en kehtaa sanoa lol

7. Neitsytmatka

8. Twilight (luettu 5.1.2021)

9. en tiedä vielä

10. suomen kielen oppikirja 5. luokalta

11. en tiedä

12. en tiedä

13. en tiedä

tässä vielä linkki Tarun alkuperäiseen julkaisuun:

PERKEET 2021