Semi-Charmed Kind of Life

Follow me around the world at TristaoTravels.com!

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Tue, 14 May 2019 21:14:00 +0000

Oh hi there! Remember me? Is anyone still out there?...

On the off-chance anyone is still following this blog, I wanted to let you know my husband and I left on a (hopefully) one-year trip around the world last month. You can follow along on our adventures at tristaotravels.com (and on Instagram by following @megtristao). See you there!

Departing from LAX for our RTW trip!

Winter 2016 Book Challenge: Final Post

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 18:04:00 +0000

photo via Instagram

Happy February, everyone! Thank you all again for a fun and challenging winter reading experience. The #SCWBC16 wrapped up two days ago, and we had 13 readers finish the entire challenge, so kudos to each of you! Also kudos to everyone else who attempted the challenge, whether you finished one book or 12. I would love to hear everyone's favorite book they read this winter in the comments.

If you were curious, I did not get close to finishing, but I still read a lot of great books this winter! (I highly recommend Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran and All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood, neither of which I read for this challenge!)

Finally, I wanted to apologize for not being a very engaged host this past season. This was my 10th Semi-Charmed Book Challenge (I can't believe it!), and though I still love this community, I don't plan on hosting another challenge anytime soon. I feel like I'm missing out on so much by not being as engaged as I used to be, and I know there are a lot of other great reading challenges out there for you to join.

Speaking of ... may I suggest the Book Challenge by Erin? Erin is an awesome reader/blogger/'grammer living in Australia, and she has very graciously offered the first five finishers of my winter challenge to suggest a category for HER next challenge, scheduled for July - October 2017. (Thanks, Erin!! You rock!)

That being said: Jamie G., Becca, Bev, Jennifer E. & Kirsten T. - please contact Erin if you want to contribute to her challenge! For all readers, check out Erin's blog to learn more, and join the fun on her Facebook group and/or Goodreads. Also follow her on Instagram! She's fun. :)

Thanks again to all of you for coming back to Semi-Charmed Kind of Life again and again, whether you've been around since the first challenge in 2012 (or even before that), or whether you just visited for the first time last month. I hope to be back someday. (And in the meantime, keep up on my book writing at my public library and The Everygirl!)

Cheers!

Winter 2016 Book Challenge: The Preliminary List

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 04:00:00 +0000

photo via Instagram

Happy November! Today marks the start of the Semi-Charmed Winter 2016 Book Challenge. After checking out all your comments and preliminary posts (and stealing some great ideas, thanks!), here is what I plan to read for the challenge over the next three months:

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that is at least 150 pages long.

TBD

10 points: Read a 2016 finalist (longlist or shortlist) for one of the following literary prizes: National Book Award, Man Booker or Man Booker International.

The Association of Small Bombs, Karan Mahajan (National Book Award finalist for fiction)

10 points: Read a brand-new release (something published between November 1, 2016, and January 31, 2017).

Faithful, Alice Hoffman (release date: Nov. 1)

15 points: Read a book by an author of a different race or religion than you.

The Sun is Also a Star, Nicola Yoon (Yoon is a black woman from Jamaica)

15 points: Read a book featuring a main character who is of a different race or religion than you.

All American Boys, Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely (one main character is a black American)

20 points: Read a modern retelling of a classic.

Vinegar Girl, Anne Tyler (retelling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew)

25 points: Read a book with an alcoholic beverage (neat or cocktail) in the title.

Campari for Breakfast, Sara Crowe (based on the category creator's recommendation!)

30 points: Read a book with a character that shares your first or last name.

Who wants to help me with this one?? There are a ton of spellings for Megan, and I've already read The Girl on the Train. Has anyone else read a book with a Megan/Meghan/Meagan/etc. you would recommend? Otherwise, I might use this as an excuse to finally reread A Wrinkle in Time (featuring Meg Murry), which I've been wanting to do for years.

30 points: Read two books: a nonfiction book and a fiction book with which it connects.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and The Train to Crystal City by Jan Jarboe Russell (both about the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II)

40 points: Read two books: one by an author whose first name is the same as the last name of the author of the other book.

Dubliners, James Joyce and Black Girl/White Girl by Joyce Carol Oates

~~~

Have you read any of these? What did you think? And for those of you playing along, good luck!

Semi-Charmed Winter 2016 Book Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sat, 15 Oct 2016 04:00:00 +0000

photo via Instagram

It's almost time for the next installment of the Semi-Charmed Book Challenge series! Whether you are a newcomer to the challenge or a repeat reader, I am excited to have you here today. Continue reading after the jump to see the guidelines and categories for the winter challenge.

General Guidelines:

The challenge will run from November 1, 2016, to January 31, 2017. No books started before 12 a.m. on November 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on January 31 will count.
Each book must be at least 150 pages long. Audiobooks and large-print books are fine, as long as the regular print version meets the length requirement.
A book can only be used for one category, and each category can only be completed once.
The highest possible total is 200 points, and the first five people who finish the challenge will be invited to contribute a category for the summer 2017 challenge.
Have fun! Read some books you might not have read otherwise. Discover new authors and make new bookworm friends. (Yes, these are the most important rules!)

Challenge Categories:

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that is at least 150 pages long.
10 points: Read a 2016 finalist (longlist or shortlist) for one of the following literary prizes: National Book Award, Man Booker or Man Booker International.
10 points: Read a brand-new release (something published between November 1, 2016, and January 31, 2017).
15 points: Read a book by an author of a different race or religion than you.
15 points: Read a book featuring a main character who is of a different race or religion than you.
20 points: Read a modern retelling of a classic (e.g. an Austen Project novel, Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler, etc.) — Submitted by SCSBC16 winner Kaity.
25 points: Read a book with an alcoholic beverage (neat or cocktail) in the title. — Submitted by SCSBC16 winner Kerry. (And she was nice enough to come up with a long list of suggestions for you!)
30 points: Read a book with a character that shares your first or last name. (Alternate spellings are okay, e.g. Megan and Meghan or Smith and Smyth.) — Submitted by SCSBC16 winner Ericka.
30 points: Read two books: a nonfiction book and a fiction book with which it connects. For example: A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie and one of Christie's mystery novels that features poison, or The Monuments Men and All the Light We Cannot See. The possibilities are endless, so have fun with this one! — Submitted by SCSBC16 winner Bev. (And remember you must finish both books to get the 30 points! No partial points will be awarded.)
40 points: Read two books: one by an author whose first name is the same as the last name of the author of the other book. For example: You may read a book by Martin Cruz Smith and a book by George R.R. Martin, or a book by James Joyce and a book by Joyce Carol Oates. The shared name must be spelled exactly the same, no variations. — Submitted by SCSBC16 winner Jamie. (And remember you must finish both books to get the 40 points! No partial points will be awarded.)

How to join the challenge: You do not need to have a blog to join the challenge! Feel free to track your books any way that works for you. If you want to do it on your blog or Goodreads, great! If you want to keep track privately in a notebook or on your phone, that's fine too.

How to win: When you finish the entire challenge, come back and comment on this post with your list of books and point totals! The first five people to post here with their complete lists will be invited to submit a category for the next challenge, but anyone who finishes at least one book during this challenge is a winner in my heart! :)

How to get started: If you would like to create a preliminary reading list for the challenge, feel free to link up your list at the bottom of this post. (See an example list here.) A preliminary post is not mandatory to join the challenge, and you can always change which books you want to read, but it is a good way to see what other people are planning to read and get some ideas for categories you might be stuck on.

How to share: Please feel free to share the below button and/or the hashtag #SCWBC16 on your blog, Twitter, Instagram, etc., to get the word out! Also feel free to mention me so I can see how you're doing (@megtristao on Twitter and Instagram).

Thanks for joining in, good luck, and have fun!

Summer 2016 Book Challenge: Month 3

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 20:39:00 +0000

Wow, is it really September already? (I was in Starbucks this morning and heard someone call out a pumpkin spice latte, so I guess it really is!) This means the Semi-Charmed Summer 2016 Book Challenge ended at 11:59 p.m. last night. Feel free to stop by the original post to share what you read for this challenge, and let us know if there are any titles we should add to our TBRs! :)

I did not get close to finishing the challenge this summer, but I did read a lot of books. I'm in the middle of my short story/essay collection right now (The Fire This Time), and I chose One Good Earl Deserves a Lover as my "punny" book, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I actually am not a romance fan, but I heard this was a good book for non-romance fans on a bookish podcast, plus it had a punny title, so hopefully I'll get around to reading it sometime this year. :)

Thanks again for reading! If you were one of the first five finishers, please remember to send me your category suggestion for the winter challenge by October 1. I'll plan to post the winter list on October 15, and the next challenge will run from November 1 to January 31!

Happy end of summer, y'all.

Summer 2016 Book Challenge: Month 2

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 19:46:00 +0000

It's August 1, which means we're entering the final month of the Semi-Charmed Summer 2016 Book Challenge! Remember, you no longer have to "check in" with your progress each month; this post is just a friendly reminder that the challenge has one month left.

If (when?) you complete the challenge, head back to the original post and leave a comment with your book titles and ratings.

Fun fact about my reading this summer: I've read three books with the word "girls" in the title: The Girls by Emma Cline, Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman, and The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell. I finally realized I need to read a book with just "girl" in the title for the 40-point challenge, so I picked up Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse, and it ended up being my favorite of the four!

But as for my favorite book read in July? Definitely Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Read it.

Good luck and happy August!

Summer 2016 Book Challenge: Month 1

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:40:00 +0000

Hello, and happy July! Today marks one whole month since the #SCSBC16 started. (Did that seem fast to you? Or just me?) This post is just a friendly check-in to give you an opportunity to link up to your own blogs or Goodreads accounts if you wish (not required!).

Remember, you no longer have to "check in" with your progress each month (hence why I've disabled the comments on this post, hopefully to help avoid confusion). Just head back to the original post and leave a comment with your book titles and ratings when you complete the entire challenge! I hope this will make the challenge less work and more fun for everyone. :)

In the past month, my favorite book was actually my "unattractive cover" pick (We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler), so it was definitely a reminder to not judge a book by its cover. (Although I do it all the time—how else are you supposed to winnow down the large collection of books available to us??)

I hope all my American readers have a fantastic holiday weekend, and I hope everyone else has a great weekend as well!

Let the Reading Begin! #SCSBC16

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Hello! This is just a friendly reminder that the Semi-Charmed Summer 2016 Book Challenge starts today (June 1). You don't need to do anything to get started (except read!), but I did want to share the following graphic with all the categories for this season's challenge. (Please feel free to share on social media and/or your own blogs if you desire.)

If you have any questions, please refer back to this post for the complete guidelines and category descriptions, but most of all: Just have fun! If you think a book fits a category, it probably does. :)

Good luck to all!!

Semi-Charmed Summer 2016 Book Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 15 May 2016 04:00:00 +0000

photo via @megtristao

It's time for the next installment of the Semi-Charmed Book Challenge series! Whether you are a newcomer to the challenge or a repeat reader, I am excited to have you here today. If you are a veteran, I've changed around some things with this challenge to make is less work and more fun for everyone (I hope!), so be sure to continue reading after the jump for the summer challenge rules and categories:

General rules:

The challenge will run from June 1, 2016, to August 31, 2016. No books that are started before 12 a.m. on June 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on August 31 will count.
Each book must be at least 150 pages long. Audiobooks and large-print books are fine, as long as the regular print version meets the length requirement.
A book can only be used for one category, and each category can only be completed once.
The highest possible total is 200 points, and the first five people who finish the challenge will be invited to contribute a category for the winter 2016 challenge.

And now for the exciting part: the challenge categories!

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that is at least 150 pages long.
10 points: Read a collection of short stories or essays. They may all be written by the same author, or the book may be an anthology from different writers; your choice!
10 points: Read an adult fiction book written by an author who normally writes books for children. Examples: J. K. Rowling, Judy Blume, Suzanne Collins, Rick Riordan, etc. - Submitted by SCWBC15 finisher Kelly E.
15 points: Read a book set in Appalachia. - Submitted by SCWBC15 finisher Ericka B. (Try this list or this one for inspiration. And here’s a map if you have a book in mind and want to know if it fits the setting.)
15 points: Don’t judge a book by its cover! Read a book with a cover you personally find unappealing.
20 points: Read a book that you have previously only seen the film (movie) of. - Submitted by SCWBC15 finisher Bevchen.
25 points: Read a book with a punny title. The title can be a play on another book title, movie title or a common expression. Examples of such titles include Southern Discomfort, We'll Always Have Parrots or Bonefire of the Vanities. - Submitted by SCWBC15 finisher Jamie G.
30 points: Read a microhistory. (Try this list or this one for ideas.)
30 points: Read one book with a good word in the title, and one with a bad word. Note: This category is reeeeeeeally open-ended! Maybe you like turtles, so The Pearl that Broke Its Shell is a title with a "good" word. Similarly, the "bad" word could be a swear word or a literally negative word like “not” or “none,” or it could just be something you don’t like. Have fun with it! (Remember, you must read both books to get 30 points; this category is not worth 15 points per book.)
40 points: Read two books that contain the same word in the title, but once in the singular and once in the plural. For example: Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter and The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer, or Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. (Remember, you must read both books to get 40 points; this category is not worth 20 points per book.)

How to keep track: I will no longer be posting monthly check-in posts. Instead, please track your books any way you like throughout the three months. When you finish the entire challenge, please comment on this post with your list of books and point totals, so I know which five readers get to submit a category for the next challenge. :)

Although you no longer need to "check in" with your points every month, I will still be posting on the first of each month with a link-up option for those of you who like to post updates on your own blog or Goodreads. (This is not required; it is just for fun! You do not have to have a blog or a Goodreads account to participate in this challenge.)

If you would like to create a preliminary reading list for the challenge, feel free to link up your list at the bottom of this post. (See an example list here.) A preliminary post is not mandatory to join the challenge, and you can always change which books you want to read, but it is a good way to see what other people are planning to read and get some ideas for categories you might be stuck on.

Please feel free to share the below button and/or the hashtag #SCSBC16 on your blog, Twitter, Instagram, etc., to get the word out! Also feel free to mention me so I can see how you're doing (@megtristao on Twitter and Instagram).

Thanks for joining in, and good luck!

So if you care to find me ...

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 20:27:00 +0000

... look to ~~the western sky~~ The Everygirl and the San Jose Public Library blog! :)

photo via Instagram

Hello, readers! I just wanted to pop in and update you on my long absence from Semi-Charmed Kind of Life. I don't have plans to return to regular blogging in this space anytime soon, but I am keeping the blog open to continue my seasonal reading challenges (the summer list will be posted on May 15, with the challenge running June 1 - August 31!) and to make a transition back to blogging easier if and when and I decide to pick it up again.

In the meantime, you can find my posts about travel (and possibly other subjects quite soon) over at The Everygirl, and you can read my bookish posts on the San Jose Public Library blog. As always, feel free to keep up and interact with me on Instagram and Twitter!

P.S. — If you understood my title/intro of this post, I hope we're best friends. ;)

Winter 2015 Book Challenge: Final Scoreboard

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 17:04:00 +0000

photo via @megtristao

Thank you to everyone who participated in the winter challenge! Quite a few of you (13!) finished the challenge, and many others got very close. Several of you who didn't finish still said you had a lot of fun, and that's what I love to hear! This is all about having fun and trying new books. :) That being said, I was a little stricter than usual when counting your final tallies because of the disclaimer I included in the first scoreboard. I just want to make sure I'm treating everyone fairly, so if any of your books were under 200 pages long or if your titles didn't exactly match up (e.g. there were a few "X" and "The X" pairings I couldn't count), those points will not be included in the final scoreboard below. As always, feel free to email me if you disagree with your total! I don't mean to discourage anyone (really, you still "won" because you read a new book or two!), and I hope you will all come back for the summer challenge regardless of how you did in this one. :)

Ericka @ A Quiet Girl's Musings of a World that Talks Too Much — 200 (Finished!)
Jamie G. @ Whatever I Think Of! — 200 (Finished!)
Kathie — 200 (Finished!)
bevchen @ Confuzzledom — 200 (Finished!)
Kelly — 200 (Finished!)
Ashley @ Wandering Weekenders — 200 (Finished!)
Meredith @ Ponder the Irrelevant — 200 (Finished!)
Brandy @ Reading Beyond — 200 (Finished!)
TexErin @ TexErin in SydneyLand — 200 (Finished!)
Missy — 200 (Finished!)
Christa — 200 (Finished!)
Chrissy @ Sunset Runnings — 200 (Finished!)
Caitlin — 200 (Finished!)
Megan @ Semi-Charmed Kind of Life (host) — 200 (Finished!)
Kristen @ Divulge and Indulge — 190
Jenn @ Lost in the Right Direction — 185
Noelle-Susanne — 170
Kirsten — 170
Karen @ Run Wright — 170
Maria Helena @ marelden — 165
Ashley H. — 165
Donna V. @ The Turning of Pages — 155
Heather @ Heather's Hurrah — 155
Ech @ Ech & Will — 150
Christy M. — 150
Regina @ A Journaled Life — 150
Katie H. — 130
Sarah @ Sarah Reads Too Much — 130
Moony — 130
Julia — 125
Kayla — 115
Vanessa — 115
Sarah @ Midwest Darling — 105
Emma @ Ever Emma — 95
Megan M. — 95
Lindsay — 90
Kaity @ (Bee)autiful Blessings — 85
Andi @ Just Another Smith — 80
Erin — 80
Kasi — 80
Harlow @ What Low Reads — 80
MegRose @ The Inky Scroll — 80
Daire @ Open Way Designs — 75
Kristen @ See You in a Porridge — 75
Kerry — 65
Jenna @ The Everything Life — 60
Carly @ Carly Blogs Here — 55
Cat @ Wining & Whining — 55
Jenn @ Optimization Actually — 50
Sanna — 50
Emilie @ Burke Does — 40
Hannah @ Hannah Geiger — 35
Kimberly @ Love YA Books — 35
Tara — 30
Jackie @ My Sort of Adult Life — 30
Erika @ A Quiet Girl in a Noisy City — 15
Kaitlin — 15
Hannah @ Hannah Lee Banana Bee — 15
Nicole @ Treasure Tromp — 15
Lauren — 15
Audrey @ Life as Louise — 10
Rachel — 5

Thanks again for playing along! And if you are one of the first five finishers listed above (Ericka, Jamie, Kathie, bevchen and Kelly), please send me your category suggestion for the summer challenge by April 15 if you would like to contribute.

Winter 2015 Book Challenge: Month 3

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 05:00:00 +0000

photo via @megtristao

Well, that's all she ~~wrote~~ read, folks! The winter book challenge just ended (at 11:59 p.m. on January 31), so it's time to tally up those final books! Continue reading after the jump to see the current scoreboard and find instructions to check in with your final score.

Ericka @ A Quiet Girl's Musings of a World that Talks Too Much — 200 (Finished!)
Jamie G. @ Whatever I Think Of! — 200 (Finished!)
Kathie — 200 (Finished!)
Jenn @ Lost in the Right Direction — 175
Chrissy @ Sunset Runnings — 165
bevchen @ Confuzzledom — 160
Maria Helena @ marelden — 150
TexErin @ TexErin in SydneyLand — 135
Noelle-Susanne — 135
Meredith @ Ponder the Irrelevant — 130
Ech @ Ech & Will — 130
Kelly — 125
Megan @ Semi-Charmed Kind of Life (host) — 125
Kayla — 115
Kristen @ Divulge and Indulge — 115
Brandy @ Reading Beyond — 115
Katie H. — 105
Sarah @ Midwest Darling — 105
Caitlin — 105
Kirsten — 100
Ashley @ Wandering Weekenders — 95
Ashley H. — 95
Lindsay — 90
Kaity @ (Bee)autiful Blessings — 85
Emma @ Ever Emma — 85
Sarah @ Sarah Reads Too Much — 85
Christy M. — 85
Donna V. @ The Turning of Pages — 85
Andi @ Just Another Smith — 80
Erin — 80
Kasi — 80
Harlow @ What Low Reads — 80
MegRose @ The Inky Scroll — 80
Daire @ Open Way Designs — 75
Missy — 75
Moony — 75
Kristen @ See You in a Porridge — 75
Heather @ Heather's Hurrah — 70
Vanessa — 70
Kerry — 65
Regina @ A Journaled Life — 65
Jenna @ The Everything Life — 60
Megan M. — 55
Carly @ Carly Blogs Here — 55
Cat @ Wining & Whining — 55
Karen @ Run Wright — 55
Jenn @ Optimization Actually — 50
Sanna — 50
Christa — 45
Emilie @ Burke Does — 40
Hannah @ Hannah Geiger — 35
Kimberly @ Love YA Books — 35
Tara — 30
Jackie @ My Sort of Adult Life — 30
Julia — 20
Erika @ A Quiet Girl in a Noisy City — 15
Kaitlin — 15
Hannah @ Hannah Lee Banana Bee — 15
Nicole @ Treasure Tromp — 15
Lauren — 15
Audrey @ Life as Louise — 10
Rachel — 5

Please comment on this post in the following format to check in. Please do not forget page numbers! Remember all books must be at least 200 pages long unless otherwise specified. You may also link to your reviews or own check-in post if you wish, but that is not required. We operate on the honor code here, but I would love to read your posts and/or reviews if you have them! I also ask that you put a simple rating next to each book in your check-in post (on a scale of 1 to 5). Past participants have requested this feature to help them decide what to read next. :)

15 points: Read a book published under a pseudonym: The Cuckoo's Calling, Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling, 550 pages, 3.5 stars)
15 points: Read a book with “boy,” “girl,” “man” or “woman” in the title: A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman (337 pages, 5 stars)
15 points: Read a book with a one-word title: Mosquitoland, David Arnold (352 pages, 3.5 stars)
30 points: Read a nonfiction book and a fiction book about the same subject: Missoula by Jon Krakauer (367 pages, 5 stars) and Asking For It by Louise O'Neill (346 pages, 4 stars, both about sexual assault)

PREVIOUS POINTS: 125 points
TOTAL POINTS: 200 points (finished!)

Please record your progress thus far by February 7 in order to be included in the final scoreboard, which will be posted on February 10. Thanks for playing along! :)

Winter 2015 Book Challenge: Month 2

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 05:00:00 +0000

photo via @megtristao

Happy New Year, readers! I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating the last day of 2015 and get to spend today doing something that reflects what you intend to do more of in 2016 (like reading, perhaps!). Today marks the end of the second month of the winter challenge, which means there is only one month left to finish! If you are new to the challenge, feel free to review the general rules and categories here, and record any books you've read back to November 1 in your check-in.

Below is the scoreboard as of the first check-in (which was available from December 1-7). I tend to be pretty lax with these challenges, as my main goal is for everyone to just have fun, but because I had so many questions about some of the categories this year and posted clarified categories with the month 1 check-in, I had to be a little stricter this time. Therefore, if you didn't receive points for a category you think you completed, it's probably because the books didn't quite match the category (in my humble opinion), or because you counted half points for the two-book categories (you must complete the entire category to earn points). If you disagree or are confused about your total below, please feel free to email me and we can clear it up before the final check-in on February 1! I definitely don't want anyone to feel cheated of points, but I also want to be fair to those who followed the rules. :)

Also, if you would like me to add/remove/change the blog link I have associated with your name, please let me know in the comments with your check-in, and I will be sure to update the next scoreboard!

Jamie G. @ Whatever I Think Of! — 180
Kathie — 160
Ericka @ A Quiet Girl's Musings of a World that Talks Too Much — 145
bevchen @ Confuzzledom — 115
Kelly — 95
Andi @ Just Another Smith — 80
Chrissy @ Sunset Runnings — 80
Erin — 80
Kasi — 80
Daire @ Open Way Designs — 75
Heather @ Heather's Hurrah — 70
Katie H. — 65
Kayla — 65
Kerry — 65
TexErin @ TexErin in SydneyLand — 65
Jenn @ Lost in the Right Direction — 65
Jenna @ The Everything Life — 60
Harlow — 60
Kaity @ (Bee)autiful Blessings — 55
Megan M. — 55
Regina @ A Journaled Life — 55
Kirsten — 55
Emma @ Ever Emma — 50
Jenn @ Optimization Actually — 50
Sarah @ Midwest Darling — 50
Sarah @ Sarah Reads Too Much — 50
Christy M. — 50
Christa — 45
Ashley @ Wandering Weekenders — 45
Kristen @ Divulge and Indulge — 45
Hannah @ Hannah Geiger — 35
Kimberly @ Love YA Books — 35
Meredith @ Ponder the Irrelevant — 35
Brandy — 35
Tara — 30
Megan @ Semi-Charmed Kind of Life (host) — 25
Missy — 25
Moony — 25
Noelle-Susanne — 25
Caitlin — 25
Jackie @ My Sort of Adult Life — 25
Carly @ Carly Blogs Here — 20
Julia — 20
MegRose @ The Inky Scroll — 20
Donna V. @ The Turning of Pages — 15
Erika @ A Quiet Girl in a Noisy City — 15
Kaitlin — 15
Hannah @ Hannah Lee Banana Bee — 15
Sanna — 15
Nicole @ Treasure Tromp — 15
Lauren — 15
Rachel — 5
Audrey @ Life as Louise — 0
Karen @ A Peek at Karen's World — 0

10 points: Read a debut book by any author: The Bees, Laline Paull (338 pages, 4 stars)
10 points: Read a book that does not take place in your current country of residence: The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (Vietnam, 233 pages, 3 stars)
10 points: Read a book that someone else has already used for the challenge: The Martian, Andy Weir (read by Andi, 435 pages, 5 stars)
20 points: Read a book with a first and last name in the title: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot (370 pages, 4 stars)
20 points: Read a food-themed book: Kitchens of the Great Midwest, J. Ryan Stradal (310 pages, 3.5 stars)
30 points: Read two books with the same title: The Devil You Know, Trish Doller (256 pages, 3 stars) & The Devil You Know, Elisabeth de Mariaffi (320 pages, 1 star)

PREVIOUS POINTS: 25 points
TOTAL POINTS: 125 points

I also just finished Missoula and plan to pair it with Asking for It for my nonfiction/fiction pairing (two books about sexual assault).

Please record your progress thus far by January 7 in order to be included in the next scoreboard, which will be posted with the final check-in on February 1. Good luck!

P.S. — Don't forget to share your books on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #SCWBC15!

PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge 2015: Finished!

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 04:05:00 +0000

photo via @megtristao

I attempted the PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge this year, and I just finished today (December 18). Woohoo! The books I read for the challenge are listed below; feel free to check out my reviews/ratings for these titles, as well as other books I've read in 2015, on Goodreads.

1. A book with more than 500 pages: A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (1,019 pages)
2. A classic romance: The Awakening, Kate Chopin
3. A book that became a movie: Paper Towns, John Green
4. A book published this year: Vanishing Girls, Lauren Oliver
5. A book with a number in the title: Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
6. A book written by someone under 30: The Tiger's Wife, Tea Obreht (born 1985, book published in 2010)
7. A book with nonhuman characters: The Bees, Laline Paull
8. A funny book: Modern Romance, Aziz Ansari
9. A book by a female author: Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
10. A mystery or thriller: The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
11. A book with a one-word title: Attachments, Rainbow Rowell
12. A book of short stories: Stone Mattress, Margaret Atwood
13. A book set in a different country: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows (United Kingdom)
14. A nonfiction book: This Book is Overdue!, Marilyn Johnson
15. A popular author’s first book: Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver (published in 2010)
16. A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet: The Light in the Ruins, Chris Bohjalian
17. A book a friend recommended: Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell
18. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book: All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
19. A book based on a true story: The Bookseller of Kabul, Asne Seierstad
20. A book at the bottom of your to-read list: The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
21. A book your mom loves: The Mermaid Chair, Sue Monk Kidd
22. A book that scares you: Brain on Fire, Susannah Cahalan (I came down with a little flu while reading this book, and I just kept thinking ohmigodwhatifihaveencephalitas?!)
23. A book more than 100 years old: The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde (originally published 1895)
24. A book based entirely on its cover: We Need New Names, NoViolet Bulawayo
25. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t: Animal Farm, George Orwell (In complete honesty, my school probably didn't even assign this, but I know we watched the movie! And they should have assigned it, so I think it counts.)
26. A memoir: A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
27. A book you can finish in one day: Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng (read May 20)
28. A book with antonyms in the title: Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty
29. A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit: Euphoria, Lily King (Oceania)
30. A book that came out the year you were born: The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (published March 28, 1990)
31. A book with bad reviews: Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee (controversial release and scathing reviews)
32, 33, 34. A trilogy: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager, Diana Gabaldon
35. A book from your childhood: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
36. A book with a love triangle: The Husband’s Secret, Liane Moriarty
37. A book set in the future: The Girl with all the Gifts, M.R. Carey
38. A book set in high school: If I Lie, Corrine Jackson
39. A book with a color in the title: Paris Red, Maureen Gibbon
40. A book that made you cry: I'll Give You the Sun, Jandy Nelson (tears of happiness!)
41. A book with magic: The Book of Speculation, Erika Swyler
42. A graphic novel: Coraline, Neil Gaiman (adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell)
43. A book by an author you’ve never read before: We Were Liars, E. Lockhart
44. A book you own but have never read: Wicked, Gregory Maguire
45. A book that takes place in your hometown: I'll Meet You There, Heather Demetrios (No books are actually set in my hometown, but this book is set in a "blink town" off Highway 99 in the Central Valley, which definitely describes Hilmar!)
46. A book that was originally written in a different language: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo (translated from Japanese)
47. A book set during Christmas: The Book of Unknown Americans, Cristina Henriquez
48. A book written by an author with your same initials: Love Me Back, Merritt Teirce
49. A play: Doubt, John Patrick Shanley
50. A banned book: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot (challenged in 2015 by a parent from Knox County Schools in Tennessee)
51. A book based on or turned into a TV show: A Feast for Crows, George R.R. Martin (TV show: Game of Thrones)
52. A book you started but never finished: Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller (started reading in 2013)

Have you read any of these? What did you think? Time to start planning my books for the 2016 PopSugar challenge! I also just discovered Book Riot's Read Harder challenge, so I might attempt both next year. :)

Winter 2015 Book Challenge: Month 1

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 05:00:00 +0000

photo via @megtristao

Hello, readers! It's been one full month since the winter 2015 book challenge began, which means it's already time to check in with your progress! If you are new to the challenge, feel free to review the general rules here and the categories below. If you aren't new, feel free to check out the categories again anyway, as I've done my best to clarify when readers have questions:

5 points: Read a book that has between 100 and 200 pages.
10 points: Read a debut book by any author. (The book does not have to be a 2015 debut.)
10 points: Read a book that does not take place in your current country of residence.
10 points: Read a book that someone else has already used for the challenge. — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Kristen @ See You in a Porridge. [Edited to add: The book must be at least 200 pages long.]
15 points: Read a book published under a pseudonym (e.g. Robert Galbraith, Sara Poole, J.D. Robb, Franklin W. Dixon, Mark Twain, etc.). — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Megan M. [Edited to add: The edition you read must be attributed to the pseudonym.]
15 points: Read a book with “boy,” “girl,” “man” or “woman” in the title (or the plural of these words).
15 points: Read a book with a one-word title (e.g. Attachments, Americanah, Uglies, Wild, etc.).
20 points: Read a book with a person's first and last name in the title (e.g. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle).
20 points: Read a food-themed book. — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Jamie @ Whatever I Think Of!
20 points: Read a book with a verb in the title. (For any grammar nerds out there, I mean “verb” in the most general sense, so gerunds count. For non-grammar-inclined people, just use any book that appears to have a verb in the title!)
30 points: Read two books with the same title (by different authors). — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher bevchen @ Confuzzledom . [Edited to add: The titles must be the SAME save for alternate spellings. For example, The Alchemist and Alchemist would be two different titles and would not work for the challenge, but The Alchemist and The Alchemyst would work.]
30 points: Read a nonfiction book and a fiction book about the same subject (e.g. a biography and historical fiction novel about the same person; two books about a specific war or event; a nonfiction book about autism and a novel with a character who has autism, etc. The possibilities are endless!). [Edited to add: This one is very broad! Just have fun with it!]

Remember, all books you have read dating back to November 1 count, even if you just joined the challenge yesterday (or today)! Continue reading after the jump to learn how to check in with your progress.

Please comment on this post in the following format to check in. Please do not forget page numbers! Remember all books must be at least 200 pages long unless otherwise specified. You may also link to your reviews or own check-in post if you wish, but that is not required. We operate on the honor code here, but I would love to read your posts and/or reviews if you have them! I also ask that you put a simple rating next to each book in your check-in post (on a scale of 1 to 5). Past participants have requested this feature to help them decide what to read next. :)

5 points: Read a book that has between 100 and 200 pages: Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates (152 pages, 4 stars)
20 points: Read a book with a verb in the title: The Hours Count, Jillian Cantor (368 pages, 3 stars)

PREVIOUS POINTS: 0
TOTAL POINTS: 25 points

I'm currently reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which will count for the first and last name category and for my "banned book" for the PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge. I'm only six books away from finishing! Eep!

Please record your progress thus far by December 7 in order to be included in the first scoreboard, which will be posted with the next check-in on January 1. Good luck!

P.S. — Don't forget to share your books on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #SCWBC15!

Semi-Charmed Winter 2015 Book Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 04:00:00 +0000

photo via @megtristao

It's time for the next installment of the Semi-Charmed Book Challenge series! Whether you are a newcomer to the challenge or a repeat reader, I am excited to have you here today. Continue reading after the jump for the winter challenge rules and categories.

General rules:

The challenge will run from November 1, 2015, to January 31, 2016. No books that are started before 12 a.m. on November 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on January 31 will count.
Each book must be at least 200 pages long, unless otherwise noted. Audiobooks and large-print books are fine, as long as the regular print version meets the length requirement.
A book can only be used for one category, and each category can only be completed once. If you want to switch the category of a book during a later check-in, that's fine, just be sure to account for that in your point total.
Rereads can be used for a maximum of three books in the challenge. This rule is meant to encourage you to try new books while still allowing you to revisit books from your childhood or young adulthood that you might get more out of now. Please reread the entire book within the timeframe of the challenge in order to count it; no simply finishing old books or partial rereads.
The highest possible total is 200 points, and the first five people who finish the challenge will be invited to contribute a category for the summer 2016 challenge.
Edited to add: When considering a book with a subtitle, feel free to ignore the subtitle if it is not generally considered part of the title.

And now for the exciting part: the challenge categories!

5 points: Read a book that has between 100 and 200 pages.
10 points: Read a debut book by any author. (The book does not have to be a 2015 debut.)
10 points: Read a book that does not take place in your current country of residence.
10 points: Read a book that someone else has already used for the challenge. — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Kristen @ See You in a Porridge. [Edited to add: The book must be at least 200 pages long.]
15 points: Read a book published under a pseudonym (e.g. Robert Galbraith, Sara Poole, J.D. Robb, Franklin W. Dixon, Mark Twain, etc.). — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Megan M. [Edited to add: The edition you read must be attributed to the pseudonym.]
15 points: Read a book with “boy,” “girl,” “man” or “woman” in the title (or the plural of these words).
15 points: Read a book with a one-word title (e.g. Attachments, Americanah, Uglies, Wild, etc.).
20 points: Read a book with a person's first and last name in the title (e.g. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle).
20 points: Read a food-themed book. — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Jamie @ Whatever I Think Of!
20 points: Read a book with a verb in the title. (For any grammar nerds out there, I mean “verb” in the most general sense, so gerunds count. For non-grammar-inclined people, just use any book that appears to have a verb in the title!)
30 points: Read two books with the same title (by different authors). — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher bevchen @ Confuzzledom . [Edited to add: The titles must be the SAME save for alternate spellings. For example, The Alchemist and Alchemist would be two different titles and would not work for the challenge, but The Alchemist and The Alchemyst would work.]
30 points: Read a nonfiction book and a fiction book about the same subject (e.g. a biography and historical fiction novel about the same person; two books about a specific war or event; a nonfiction book about autism and a novel with a character who has autism, etc. The possibilities are endless!). [Edited to add: This one is very broad! Just have fun with it!]

How to keep track: I’ll publish a check-in post on the first day of each month, beginning December 1, on which you can comment with your progress. I will also include the scoreboard from the previous month on each check-in post.

If you would like to create a preliminary reading list for the challenge, feel free to link up your post below. (See an example list here.) A preliminary post is not mandatory to join the challenge, and you can always change which books you want to read, but it is a good way to see what other people are planning to read and get some ideas for categories you might be stuck on.

Please feel free to share the below button and/or the hashtag #SCWBC15 on your blog, Twitter, Instagram, etc., to get the word out! Be sure to mention me so I can see how you're doing (@megtristao on Twitter and Instagram).

Please let me know if you have any questions, and have fun picking out your challenge books! See you on December 1 for the first check-in. :)

Banned Books Week 2015: A Photo Challenge!

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Banned Books Week is coming up at the end of the month, and I'm celebrating with my third annual Banned Books Week photo challenge! :)

I'm changing the hashtag to #bbwphotoaday this year (#bookphotoaday seems to have been appropriated by other forces), and I hope to see many of you join in on Instagram and Twitter! As usual, I'll be featuring my favorite photos on my Instagram account and here on the blog. Please feel free to share the above image on your blog or Instagram if you plan to play along!

What is your favorite banned book?

P.S. — If you love Instagram and books, check out these fun bookish hashtags while you wait for this photo challenge to begin!

Summer 2015 Book Challenge: Final Scoreboard

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 18:10:00 +0000

Welcome to the final scoreboard for the Semi-Charmed Summer 2015 Book Challenge! Continue reading after the jump for final scores and information on the next challenge. :)

bevchen @ Confuzzledom — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Megan M. — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Kristen @ See You in a Porridge — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Jamie G. @ Whatever I Think Of! — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Kelly M. @ Polished Nails and Puppy Dog Tales — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Sarah @ Back to Carolina — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Kathie — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Kerry — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Ericka @ A Quiet Girl's Musings of a World that Talks Too Much — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Donna V. @ The Turning of Pages — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Rachel — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Andi @ Just Another Smith — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Breenah @ By Breenah — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Meredith @ Ponder the Irrelevant — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Chrissy @ Sunset Runnings — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Lynette O. — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Rachael A. — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Megan @ Semi-Charmed Kind of Life (host) — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
TexErin @ TexErin in SydneyLand — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Cat R. @ Wining & Whining — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Jenna @ The Everything Life — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Tara — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Missy — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Vanessa — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Noelle-Susanne — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
MegRose @ The Ink and the Scroll — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Boca Mary — 190
Moony — 185
Kaity @ (Bee)autiful Blessings — 175
Maria Helena @ marelden — 170
Lizum — 165
Julia L. — 165
Ech @ Ech & Will — 160
Nicole @ The Movie Cure-All for Boredom — 155
Karen @ Run Wright — 155
Daire @ Open Way Designs — 150
Carrie @ five.one.five.zero.zero — 145
Christy M. — 145
Kalyn @ Geez Louise — 145
Jayme C. @ Simply, Always, Forever — 140
Jen K. @ Daydreams & Shoestrings — 140
Erika @ A Quiet Girl in a Noisy City — 135
Jennifer Kelly — 130
Kimberly @ Love YA Books — 120
Emma @ Ever Emma — 120
Charlie @ Fur Earwig! — 115
Martha Kate @ Seasons with the Strattons — 110
Amber @ Mr. Thomas & Me — 110
Hannah G. — 105
Eileen @ Sass in the Bluegrass — 95
Carly @ Carly Blogs Here — 95
Seema @ The Subtle Hipster — 90
Krystyn — 90
Amy — 85
Christy @ Planes, Trains and Running Shoes — 80
Fran @ Free Borboleta — 75
Katie S. — 70
Chandelle @ The Whimsical Penguin — 65
Robin — 65
Nadia @ Trent & Nadia — 45
Kacey — 40
Ashley @ Living in Wonder — 30
Wendy @ Blush and Barbells — 20
Karen @ A Peek at Karen's World — 5

Thanks to everyone who participated, and congratulations on your progress, whether you finished or got one book checked off your list. One book is better than no books! :) As always, I hope this challenge encouraged you to read some different and exciting books, and I hope to see y'all back again soon for the winter challenge.

The winter challenge is scheduled for November 1 - January 31. I am going back to three months for this challenge because four months seems to stretch on a little too long. There are lots of holidays in these months (at least for us Americans), so hopefully you'll have a little extra reading time despite the shorter timeframe! I'll be posting the challenge list on October 15, so be sure to check back then for all the details. :)

Thanks again for playing along, and enjoy your last few weeks of summer! I'm curious: What was your favorite book you read for this challenge? And/or your least favorite?

5 Bookish Hashtags to Explore on Instagram

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +0000

It's no secret that I love Instagram. Lately, I've been spending a lot of time exploring the community, and my favorite posts are definitely travel photos and bookstagrams. Today I'm sharing five hashtags that I particularly enjoy exploring on any given day. :)

photo via @megtristao

1. #currentlyreading | This was the first "bookish" hashtag I discovered on Instagram. It gets a lot of use, so there are always new photos to scroll through.

2. #booksandcoffee | It's just how it sounds! #coffeeandbooks is another oft-used tag worth exploring.

3. #socksunday | This one is possibly my favorite: cozy tall socks, books and usually an accompanying cup of coffee. Who wouldn't want a Sunday like that? I did my first #socksunday post a few weeks ago, and I pretty much didn't want to move from that position all day. (Good thing there is this thing called football to get me out of bed ... and onto the couch. Hehe.)

4. #bookfacefriday | These are both hilarious and impressive. The @nypl and @burlingame_library accounts usually have good features of this hashtag on Fridays.

5. #bookishrainbow | This one is equally as fun to photograph as it is to peruse! It's always fun finding new books at the library purely based by their spine covers when I want to make a #bookishrainbow photo. That's how I found Until You're Mine—a thrilling mystery!

If you'd like to follow along with my bookstagrams and other photos (including travel, coffee and assorted paper products), follow me at @megtristao and/or check out my #meganreads hashtag. :)

What other bookish hashtags should I explore? What are your favorite things to see posted on Instagram?

P.S. — If you like Instagram and books, be sure to stay tuned for my third annual Banned Books Week Photo Challenge! I'll post the 2015 list on Sunday, September 13.

Linking up with April, Christina and Natasha for FIVE on Friday; Karli for Oh Hey, Friday!; Amanda for Friday Favorites.

Summer 2015 Book Challenge: Month 4

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 04:00:00 +0000

The summer 2015 book challenge is now over! Thanks to everyone who participated. Be sure to check in on this post by September 7 to be included in the final scoreboard, to be posted on September 10. Continue reading after the jump for the current scoreboard and check-in instructions. Also, either my math was really off the morning I prepared this post, or there were quite a few check-in posts that didn't match up with their points and their categories. So, if I made a mistake below with your total, I'm sorry! If you think your total below is incorrect, please post your complete reading list with your final check-in and I'll be sure the final scoreboard is correct. :)

bevchen @ Confuzzledom — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)*
Megan M. — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)*
Kristen @ See You in a Porridge — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)*
Jamie G. @ Whatever I Think Of! — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)*
Kelly M. @ Polished Nails and Puppy Dog Tales — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)*
Sarah @ Back to Carolina — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)*
Kathie — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Kerry — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Ericka @ A Quiet Girl's Musings of a World that Talks Too Much — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Donna V. @ The Turning of Pages — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Rachel — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Andi @ Just Another Smith — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Breenah @ By Breenah — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Meredith @ Ponder the Irrelevant — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Chrissy @ Sunset Runnings — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Lynette O. — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Rachael A. — 200 (Finished! Woohoo!)
Boca Mary — 190
Noelle-Susanne — 190
TexErin @ TexErin in SydneyLand — 175
Jenna @ The Everything Life — 175
Megan @ Semi-Charmed Kind of Life (host) — 170
Maria Helena @ marelden — 170
Tara — 165
Lizum — 165
Ech @ Ech & Will — 160
MegRose @ The Ink and the Scroll — 160
Nicole @ The Movie Cure-All for Boredom — 155
Daire @ Open Way Designs — 150
Cat R. @ Wining & Whining — 150
Carrie @ five.one.five.zero.zero — 145
Christy M. — 145
Vanessa — 145
Kaity @ (Bee)autiful Blessings — 145
Kalyn @ Geez Louise — 145
Jayme C. @ Simply, Always, Forever — 140
Jen K. @ Daydreams & Shoestrings — 140
Erika @ A Quiet Girl in a Noisy City — 135
Moony — 135
Missy — 125
Julia L. — 125
Kimberly @ Love YA Books — 120
Emma @ Ever Emma — 120
Martha Kate @ Seasons with the Strattons — 110
Amber @ Mr. Thomas & Me — 110
Hannah G. — 105
Eileen @ Sass in the Bluegrass — 95
Carly @ Carly Blogs Here — 95
Seema @ The Subtle Hipster — 90
Jennifer Kelly — 90
Krystyn — 90
Amy — 85
Christy @ Planes, Trains and Running Shoes — 80
Karen @ Run Wright — 75
Fran @ Free Borboleta — 75
Katie S. — 70
Chandelle @ The Whimsical Penguin — 65
Robin — 65
Charlie — 50
Nadia @ Trent & Nadia — 45
Kacey — 40
Ashley @ Living in Wonder — 30
Wendy @ Blush and Barbells — 20
Karen @ A Peek at Karen's World — 5
Audrey @ Life as Louise — 0

30 points: Read a book with an alliterative title. — Lost Lake, Sarah Addison Allen (296 pages, 1 star)

PREVIOUS POINTS: 170
TOTAL POINTS: 200 (Finished!)

*Technically, I only promise a future category to the first five finishers of each challenge, but because we had six during the same month this time, I invite each of you to submit a category for the winter challenge! Please leave your category suggestion in a comment on this post or email me before October 1, if you have not done so already.

The featured Instagram photo this month is from Cat of Wining & Whining. Who doesn't love a nice afternoon to read outdoors? Plus, Cat is a Peace Corps volunteer in Moldova, so her feed is always interesting! :)

Might have slept all day but I DID go outside to read on the balcony for a while so that's good, right? #scsbc15 #nowreading #fmsphotoaday #howIseePC #peacecorps

A photo posted by Cat (@cattackkk) on Aug 1, 2015 at 8:16am PDT

Discovering new blogs: A giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 16:04:00 +0000

Good morning all! I hope your Saturday is filled with watching football, sipping coffee, reading, hanging out with friends, soaking up the last rays of summer, and/or whatever else makes you happy. AND, I hope this chance to win $100 makes your Saturday a little better! ;)

Allie from Call Me Sassafras contacted me this past month to pitch an idea: A giveaway where participants not only needed to mindlessly click through social media links to join, but actually had to get to know us a little better in the process. Doesn't that sound fun? Plus, it's a great way to find new blogs! I've been reading Call Me Sassafras for as long as I can remember, and Allie is always funny and honest and writes about neat topics that I can't find anywhere else in my Bloglovin' feed (e.g. useful science!). In fact, you should definitely check out her giveaway post today, which includes four easy and effective ways to discover new blogs.

And now, for the main dish, here is the blog scavenger hunt to help you discover and love some new blogs!

To enter, follow the instructions for each entry. This may mean following a blogger on social media and it may mean visiting their blog and answering a short, easy question. Have fun!

BLOG / BLOGLOVIN / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / PINTEREST

BLOG / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM

BLOG / BLOGLOVIN' / INSTAGRAM

BLOG / BLOGLOVIN' / INSTAGRAM / TWITTER

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Allie, Celeste, Diane and I say thanks to everyone who entered and supported our blogs! We hope you've found some fun, new blogs to read and bloggers with whom to interact. Please share your favorite blogs in the comments so I can find some new blogs to read! Happy weekend and good luck!

Giveaway! A picture is worth a thousand words.

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 07:00:00 +0000

A few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised to learn I had been voted the "Bookish Babe Blogger" for Angie's annual Best of Blog awards! As part of my award, Angie graciously offered me free ad space on her blog and the chance to participate in her monthly sponsor giveaway. This month, the prize is an adorable Fujifilm Instax Mini 8. :) Continue reading after the jump for giveaway details.

To complement the photography theme of this month's giveaway, each sponsor shared a favorite photo with a brief description of why that photo is so special to them.

Stephanie from In Her Wonderland

"Alice in Wonderland is my absolute favorite movie (Tim Burton style). I found this necklace on Amazon and absolutely fell in love with it. I think I love the photograph more than I love the actual necklace. It really represents who I am a lot."

Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

Lindsay from Bourbon, Lipstick, & Stilettos

"This photo was taken of me, my sisters, and my niece on our recent vacation. I love it because we were having the best day! We are so close but don't live near each other- our time together is precious."

Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Megan from Semi-Charmed Kind of Life

"I took this photo on my honeymoon in Southeast Asia last year. We woke up at 4:30 a.m. to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, but the most beautiful part of the sunrise was behind us, over this temple library. The photo is extra special for me because I'm studying to be a librarian, so I love visiting libraries (old and new) in other countries. :)"

Blog | Bloglovin | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Bethany from Stella Kenton Body Shop

"This place is Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island, GA. Generations of my family's love is here; good energy spills out of the trees and sand. This picture was taken when I took my two very best friends there for the first time. They let me share a special place with them just like my grandparents had shared it with my parents and my parents with me and, a few years after this picture was taken, I shared it with my little family. There's something powerful about being at Driftwood, standing and loving the beauty in the same place and way my family has for years before me."

Shop | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Kimi from Kimi Who

"This picture is of my late husband Charlie and my daughter, Hailey when she was 2 years old. It's one of too few pictures that I have of them together. Although she wasn't biologically his child, he became more of a Daddy to her than I ever could have hoped for or expected. I smile every time I look at this picture, knowing how genuinely happy they were when it was taken."

Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Alanna from Alanna & Company

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Lizzy from Stumbling Upon Lizzy

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Casey from We Took The Road Less Traveled

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6 Ways to Make Your Mornings More Productive

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 10:00:00 +0000

Morning is an important time. It sets the tone for your entire day, and it's home to the best meal ever (see #5 below). Since I went back to school and changed jobs last year, I've been spending a lot of time at home, so a morning routine has become more important than ever to start my day off right. Today, I'm sharing ~~five~~ six easy tips to help make your mornings more productive as well!

1. Don't use the snooze button. Pretty self explanatory, right? Does anyone really feel better after getting 15 extra minutes of half-sleep in the morning? I know I don't.

2. Better yet, don't set an alarm. This definitely depends on what type of sleeper you are, but if you have a flexible daily schedule, I would recommend not setting an alarm. For example, I work all afternoon and evening shifts, so I know I'll be up in plenty of time to get ready. But, if I set an alarm for 7:30 a.m. and wake up naturally at 6:30 a.m., for example, I usually think, "Oh, I have another hour! I'm going back to sleep." But, if I don't set an alarm and wake up naturally at 6:30 a.m., I am more likely to just get up because I don't want to risk falling back asleep and not getting up until 8 or 9 a.m, therefore wasting hours of my day.

3. Do something you love first thing. Do you love reading? Give yourself enough time to read one chapter of a book while sipping your morning coffee. Do you love exercise? Hit the pavement or load that yoga video and start your morning off right.

4. Alternatively, do something you dread first thing. Do you hate exercise? Go to the gym right when you wake up! Spend an hour or half-hour doing something you don't enjoy, and you'll be able to spend the rest of the day focusing on things you enjoy instead of dreading an unpleasant task later. Plus, if you don't do it (whatever it is) right away, you're less likely to make time for it in the evening.

5. Eat breakfast. After all, it's the most important meal of the day, right? I love breakfast, so this is a no brainer for me. On a typical morning, I make myself eggs with toast and/or turkey bacon, and I always enjoy a hot cup of coffee (or two). Feel free to try my easy breakfast sandwich recipe for a quick meal on the go with minimal clean-up.

6. Get dressed. Here's a bonus tip because I couldn't leave it off the list: Put on real clothes. Seriously. I feel so much more productive when I get dressed (even if it's just running leggings and a tank top because I plan to ride my bike to the library later) instead of lounging around in my pajamas or robe for the entire morning. Then I just want to go back to bed. ;)

What is your ideal morning routine? Do you have any tips for me?

Note: I am not a psychologist, sleep scientist or dietician; these are simply tips I have found work for me! Please do not take any of these tips as clinical or medical advice.

Linking up with Darci, April, Christina and Natasha for FIVE on Friday; and Karli for Oh Hey, Friday!

I like my Instagram feed pretty and filtered.

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 10:00:00 +0000

Good morning, my name is Megan, and I'm addicted to Instagram.

But really.

I love Instagram. I love looking at the gorgeous book flatlays created by Instartists like Ursula and Andie. I love adding to my never-ending wanderlust list when I see where Christie and Jenna have traveled lately. I love learning fun facts from the National Archives and American History Museum, among others. I love keeping up with friends from college through filtered and perfectly cropped squares, and I love seeing the final results of 'grammers taking 23 pictures of their lattes to make sure they captured the foam just right.

I know there has been a lot of buzz—especially in the blogosphere—about Instagram putting pressure on people to have "perfect lives," but I don't feel that way at all. Yes, sometimes when I see the vibrant colors on Melyssa's account or the crisp white stills from Helene, I wish I had fun little office accessories to photograph. But to be completely honest, if someone were to share unfiltered photos of boring, everyday things, or used Instagram to complain about what was going wrong in his/her life, I probably wouldn't follow that user. I like my Instagram feed to be full of positive, beautiful things. Is that so bad? I agree those photos shouldn't be at the expense of honesty, but I don't see why those two ideas have to be mutually exclusive.

Are you an Instagram user? What are your thoughts?

Linking up with Kenzie and Angie for their August 12x30 Challenge: photo a day! All photos in this post are my Instagram photos for the challenge.

My Top 10 Most-Read Authors

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 03:21:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've done a Top 10 Tuesday post with The Broke and the Bookish, and Goodreads makes today's theme so easy! So here are the 10 authors I've read the most books from (since 2008, when I started using Goodreads, unless the book was one of my favorites so I added it anyway, e.g. Harry Potter or The Bridge to Terabithia):

Jodi Picoult | 22 books

I've read all her books! Except Off the Page, the sequel to Between the Lines, both of which were co-written with her daughter. Favorite Picoult novel: The Pact.

Clive Cussler | 18 books

I used to read my dad's copies when I was younger. I've probably read more than 18, but these were the only ones I remembered enough to add to my Goodreads. Favorite Cussler novel: Atlantis Found.

Nicholas Sparks | 9 books

That's funny, because I don't even particularly like Nicholas Sparks! (My average rating for his books is only a 2.2.) But I did really enjoy Message in a Bottle.

J.K. Rowling | 8 books

I've read the Harry Potter series and A Casual Vacancy, and I hope to read her Robert Galbraith novels soon. Favorite Rowling novel: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Lauren Oliver | 6 books

I've read all her adult and YA books except Before I Fall, which is her debut, so I really need to get on that! Favorite Oliver novel: Delirium.

Meg Cabot & George R.R. Martin | 5 books each

Favorite Cabot novel: The Princess Diaries. Favorite Martin novel: A Storm of Swords.

John Green, Chris Bohjalian & Rainbow Rowell | 4 books each

I've actually read four books each from 10 different authors, but these were the three authors who had not written a series, so they will round out my top 10. Favorite Green novel: The Fault in Our Stars. Favorite Bohjalian novel: Skeletons at the Feast. Favorite Rowell novel: Eleanor & Park.

Who are your favorite and/or most-read authors? Just to clarify, Jodi Picoult is also my favorite author.

Linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for Top 10 Tuesday.