Author: Shanna Swendson

Item: Rebel Mechanics
Rating: 4
Author: Amanda Marie

2015 in Review (& End of Year and Statistics Surveys)

Posted December 31, 2015 in Life, Reading / 10 Comments

Big Things That Happened in 2015

I mentioned the school talent show in which the teachers sang Yellow Submarine.
I worked at a Catholic summer camp for the summer and had a blast. I wrote about it and shared some pictures.
I survived over a week of blinding smoke due to forest fires. It was insane. I talked about that here.
I had my very first ever Blogversary which was exciting.

Analysis of Books I Read in 2015

This was the very first year that I ever kept track of the books that I read. My stats have amazed me.

I read 141 books.
Almost all of the books I read this year were 4 or 5 stars. I must be pretty good at choosing books I know I’ll enjoy.
Over two-thirds of the books I read this year were from the library or books I own.
Over half of the books I read this year were hard copied (Paperback or Hardcover) while over a quarter were ebooks. Audiobooks made up the rest.
About a quarter of the books I read this year were debuts.

I made some pretty nifty looking pie charts in Excel (you can just pretend they are totally awesome).

Tagged as Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge, Birthday Month Reading Challenge, Catholic Book, Color Coded Challenge, Fairytale Retelling Challenge, Finishing the Series Challenge, Mythology Reading Challenge, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, Read 2015, Rereading Challenge, What's In a Name Reading Challenge, You Read How Many Books Challenge

June and July 2015 in Review

Posted August 10, 2015 in Faith, Reading / 4 Comments

It has been a crazy month and a half! I will share some of my summer camp experience here but most will wait until it’s own post with pictures!

Things that Happened in June & July

As you may recall from a previous post, I spent the summer working at a great Catholic summer camp. I really want to talk a lot about that but I promise I will post more with pictures later.
I survived 6 weeks without much cell phone service or internet. It was really great for me.
I also read things that I wanted to read rather than what I needed to read based on review copies and such.

Books I Read in June

Tagged as Consecrated Virginity, Fairy Tales, Monthly Wrap-Up, Pope Francis, Saints, School, Summer, Vocation

Review: Rebel Mechanics – British Magic and Colonial Inventions

Posted July 8, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson
Series: Rebel Mechanics #1
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (2015)
eARC (320 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Read 2015

Synopsis

A sixteen-year-old governess becomes a spy in this alternative U.S. history where the British control with magic and the colonists rebel by inventing.
It’s 1888, and sixteen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family—but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an underground society of mechanics and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule. The family Verity works for is magister—but it seems like the children’s young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause. As Verity falls for a charming rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family’s life. She soon realizes she’s uniquely positioned to advance the cause—but to do so, she’ll have to reveal her own dangerous secret.

Find the book: Goodreads

Tagged as 4 star, Catholic, Catholic Connections, NetGalley, Read 2015, You Read How Many Books Challenge

April 2015 in Review

Posted April 30, 2015 in Faith, Reading / 2 Comments

This year is flying by. I can hardly believe that April is over already!

Things that Happened in April

My birthday!! I even got books for my birthday which greatly surprised me. Thanks so much, little sister!
Easter! I was able to attend one of my most favorite Masses of the entire Church year, the Easter Vigil! (Who doesn’t like candles and a three hour Mass?)
Field trips with the school kids! The bus rides are a bit longer than the ones where I grew up but we are in the-middle-of-nowhere, Montana.
Yesterday evening one of the sixth grade teachers passed away. It will be a terribly rough day today with the students. Any prayers would be greatly appreciated.