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Showing posts from December, 2020

December 2020 Wrap up

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  End of another month and with this we see 2020 come to a closure. Such an interesting year indeed, we can't complain about it. As usual, I will include the statistics I love to see so much, not sure if anyone else enjoys them. For most of the books I read in the month, there is a review a few are missing as it's usual in my blog but I will be trying to catch up and publish them throughout the first two weeks of January.  Let's dive right in: I assume this happened to everyone but I didn't read as much as I expected. December ended up being the month I read the least. I had big plans for this month but in the end, I was distracted, other things came up or something.  I have been using Scribd a lot lately. I try to find the books for my personal challenges there if not then I buy them. This book buying habit needs to be put in reign somehow and it's a good start.  I had a very decent time reading this month. I haven't found 5 stars bok lately but I still enjoyed

Last book Haul 2020

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  Again I am very surprised and yet not on how many books I have read but mostly how much I have spent on books this year alone. I have always tried to ignore my expenses in topics related to books. -I have tried to tell myself to stop buying so many books. -I have banned myself from buying physical books. - Set the rule only ebooks or audiobooks allowed. -Planned to only look for bargains online and get the 1 cent books in Kindle (Amazon) daily deals. -I have forbidden myself from buying online books (ebooks, audiobooks or physical books). -I have made it my monthly goal to only buy a certain amount of books (1 or 2) per month. Did I accomplish that? Not really.  I even went overboard this month. I bought a new bookshelf. Actually, I bought two. One was delivered and I just set it up (December 26) so it was my Christmas gift for myself in a way. The other one was because I had never come up with that before, I ordered a metallic shelf. You know the type of shelves used in small conven

2020 End of the year Survey

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  Officially the reading is done for the year. I have been a bit busy and not necessarily with reading.  I am trying to reorganize my books and I just decided to complete the list of all the books I own. I should have done this before but I didn't so now I have too many to gather at once.  I have been building an Excel spreadsheet where I will place all the books I own. The downside? I did not plan on what to include so I kept going back to add a few more details to the list. Anyhow, I am still not done but that is what I have been doing the last few days.  Going back to the actual topic of my post today. This survey was created and Shared by  you can find the original post for the 2020 version here  https://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2019-end-of-year-book-survey/ Go check it out. I will start with the questions there are a lot of them so I will probably not do all of them so this post is not so huge. Also, the end of the year stats is not done yet. But I will bring those a bit la

Christine

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  Author: Stephen King Genre: Horror Original publication date: April 29, 1983 Book description: It’s love at first sight for high school student Arnie Cunningham when he and his best friend Dennis Guilder spot the dilapidated 1958 red-and-white Plymouth Fury for sale—dubbed “Christine” by its original cantankerous owner—rusting away on a front lawn of their suburban Pennsylvania neighborhood. Dennis knows that Arnie’s never had much luck in the looks or popularity department, or really taken an interest in owning a car . . . but Christine quickly changes all that. Arnie suddenly has the newfound confidence to stick up for himself, going as far as dating the most beautiful girl at Libertyville High—transfer student Leigh Cabot—even as a mysteriously restored Christine systematically and terrifyingly consumes every aspect of Arnie’s life. Dennis and Leigh soon realize that they must uncover the awful truth behind a car with a horrifying and murderous history. Hell hath no fury like a

The vile village

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  Series: A series of unfortunate events #7  Author: Lemony Snicket Genre: Children, Fantasy Original publication date: April 24, 2001 Book description:   Dear Reader, You have undoubtedly picked up this book by mistake, so please put it down. Nobody in their right mind would read this particular book about the lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire on purpose, because each dismal moment of their stay in the village of V.F.D. has been faithfully and dreadfully recorded in these pages. I can think of no single reason why anyone would want to open a book containing such unpleasant matters as migrating crows, an angry mob, a newspaper headline, the arrest of innocent people, the Deluxe Cell, and some very strange hats. It is my solemn and sacred occupation to research each detail of the Baudelaire children's lives and write them all down, but you may prefer to do some other solemn and sacred thing, such as reading another book instead. With all due respect, Lemony Snicket Tho

Dear Reader

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  Full title: Dear reader: The comfort and joy of books Author: Cathy Rentzenbrink Genre: Nonfiction Original publication date: September 17, 2020 Book description:  'Reading has saved my life, again and again, and has held my hand through every difficult time' For as long as she can remember, Cathy Rentzenbrink has lost and found herself in stories. Growing up she was rarely seen without her nose in a book and read in secret long after lights out. When tragedy struck, books kept her afloat. Eventually they lit the way to a new path, first as a bookseller and then as a writer. No matter what the future holds, reading will always help. Dear Reader is a moving, funny and joyous exploration of how books can change the course of your life, packed with recommendations from one reader to another. Thoughts: This is a  book about books. I found his by chance mentioned in a video about reading books about books and as it's nonfiction I wished to pick it up.  This is nothing ground

Clarinet update

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  I am getting the start on the goals for the upcoming year. I was not able to go look for the instrument in a real music store because of the limitations in place due to lockdown. It is getting better but it is still easier to order online. After a few days of looking (maybe 2), I did not do a thorough search. I found one and ordered one. It finally arrived on December 21, the downside: The reed was damaged so after trying to do assemble it and play, I get a squeaky noise 50% of the time.  I am not good at it, I need to relearn the notes and be able to hold a steady breath in order to play but still, the main issue is the broken reed. After that, the second thing I need to buy is the cleaner kit, and the cork grease in order to make the assembling easier. The clarinet came with a tiny, tiny amount that only lasted for the first try. I will try to order another one. I am making a few online purchases. My first one was reeds. I ordered a pack of 10, to begin with. There were a few diffe

Different Seasons

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  Author: Stephen King  Genre: Fiction, mystery Original publication date: August 27, 1982 Book description: This gripping collection begins with “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” in which an unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge—the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award-nominee The Shawshank Redemption. Next is “Apt Pupil,” the inspiration for the film of the same name about top high school student Todd Bowden and his obsession with the dark and deadly past of an older man in town. In “The Body,” four rambunctious young boys plunge through the façade of a small town and come face-to-face with life, death, and intimations of their own mortality. This novella became the movie Stand By Me. Finally, a disgraced woman is determined to triumph over death in “The Breathing Method.” Thoughts: It took a while for me to pick this book up for no real reason. I was afraid I was not going to like it. But then I found the audiobook in Scribd and decide