Book Photo Challenge: Part 3

During the month of August, I've been (poorly) trying to keep up with this photo challenge through Tumblr and Instagram.  I'm cheating a little bit with this round of photos because not all the information is being presented in photos--I don't have a picture of the book I wanted to include for my Book Recommendation, and I felt my Favorite Blogs would be most easily presented just as text.  Anyway, I hope my numbering system isn't too confusing and I'm looking forward to collecting another week of pictures!

17 // A Book Set in Your State or Town - I'm proud to call the setting of Diablo Cody's memoir Candy Girl, Minneapolis, Minnesota, my hometown.
18 // Favorite Ending - Life of Pi author Yann Martel's novel Beatrice and Virgil is crazy.  Most of the book moves pretty slowly, and while I was reading I almost put it down a dozen times because the lack of action just seemed so pointless.  But that's because it's just all building up toward the most insane, shocking, and powerful ending I've ever read.
19 // Funniest Character - Georgia Nicholson from The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series!  This series by Louise Rennison is told through diary entries by a teenage girl living in England, and begins with the book Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging.
20 // Book Recommendation - Okay, one of my favorite books to recommend is Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.  This is a true story of what happened to a Muslim-American family living in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and it really introduced me to the terrifying results prejudice can lead to in the United States.
21 // Longest Book - I've read some pretty long children's and young adult books, such as the Deathly Hallows, but because those books are such easy reads they hardly seem to count.  The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates was 582 pages long and took over a month to read, but I love Oates' writing style which made it all worth it.
22 // Bookstack - A few days ago, a secondhand store down the street from me was having a 50% off sale with paperbacks for only 25 cents, and I was excited to actually find some books I've been meaning to read for a while.  I love digging through used books and trying to find the best deals--in fact, I hardly ever buy books full price anymore.
23 // Fictional BF/GF - I've always had a tiny crush on the husband from The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  He works at a library, has great taste in music and art, and has the perfect amount of tutored soul.  Need I say more?
24 // Favorite Blogs - I read blogs in every category, but a few of my favorite writing/book blogs include Dead White Guys, Hazel & Wren, and Wise, Ink.

Parts 1 and 2 of my Book Photo Challenge can be found here and here.

Happy end-of-summer!
Elizabeth

Book Photo Challenge: Part 2

I'm back with round 2 of the photos I've collected for Books & Cupcakes' August Book Photo Challenge.  I'm uploading my pictures to Instagram and Tumblr as I go, but since I've been so bad at keeping up with it they're coming out at weird times and slightly out of order.  Sorry.  Anyway, that's part of why it's nice to keep track of them here; where I can see the photos laid out all orderly and organized.

9 // New Book Discovery - Short story collections!  It's so interesting to see a writer's signature style from so many perspectives.
10 // Favorite Author - Neil Gaiman, of course.
11 // Reading Outside - This is one of the best things about summer.
12 // Sunny Book Cover - I wasn't sure what this meant until I scanned the other books posted under this tag, but finally dug out the two sunniest cover designs I could find.  Though they look a bit more like sunsets than bright, daytime sun.
13 // Bookish Item - My two favorite bookish items are my Books. Cats. tote and Gatsby flask.
14 // Back To School Reads - I don't buy textbooks for another few weeks, but here are some books from past classes that I've especially liked.
15 // Book Store - One of my favorite Chicago bookstores is Myopic Books in Wicker Park.
16 // Favorite Fandom - I couldn't find a good picture of the Harry Potter books so I had to settle for this, even though I can't stand J. K. Rowling's adult fiction. Quit while you're ahead girl!

This has been fun!  Be sure to check out Part 1 of the challenge here.

Read on,
Elizabeth

Book Photo Challenge: Part 1

Toward the beginning of the month, I stumbled upon this August Book Photo Challenge by the Tumblr blog Books & Cupcakes.  It's hard to stay motivated to do anything more than sleep in, lay out in the sun and eat cheap food during the last month of the summer, so I love that this challenge has kept me motivated to keep thinking about books over the next few weeks.  A daily update of this challenge can be found on my Tumblr, but below is a recap of the first eight days.

1 // Whatcha reading? - The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
2 // TBR Pile - Mine is made up mostly of books I bought discounted or borrowed from friends.
3 // Your Bookshelf - Mine is currently the underside of my desk, as most of my books are at my parents' house in Minnesota.
4 // Bookmarker - Favorite bookmarks include ticket stubs, bookmarks from my writing center, and free bookmarks from Unabridged Bookstore.
5 // Where You Read - I can't fall asleep without reading before bed.
6 // Favorite Book Cover - I love the design of Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog and the back cover of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
7 // Words On A Page - This super short story by a third grader, which reads, "If I had a sidekick he would watch TV.  He would watch TV and eat chips and Nutella." resonated with me for obvious reasons.  Who doesn't want to be this sidekick?
8 // Most Reread Book - Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I've had a lot of fun coming up with what to snap a picture of for these first eight days.  Hopefully I can keep up with this challenge for all of August!

Read on,
Elizabeth