Series: Code Name Verity

Item: Code Name Verity
Rating: 5
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

{TTT} Books of 2015

Posted December 15, 2015 in Reading / 16 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s list is the Top Ten Books I Read in 2015. I ask you, is it possible to pick only ten? The answer is no, but I will try. I will try to keep this list within the requisite ten by listing only books I read for the first time (no rereads).

Tagged as Catholic Book, Top Ten Tuesday

September 2015 in Review

Posted September 29, 2015 in Faith, Reading / 6 Comments

Things that Happened in September

It is so strange that September is already over! This month has been so overwhelming!!
The first weeks of the school year have dragged and yet they have also gone by so quickly.
I was dragged to the city to try on dresses for my sister’s wedding next summer. I think we found one that everyone liked. That itself is an accomplishment. 🙂
This month has seemed to go by so fast when I wasn’t at the school. Just crazy fast.

I have decided to start reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer in Polish in hopes that it will help my Polish vocabulary. So far, it is very slow going.

I watched the Pope in Philadelphia on EWTN. I love Pope Francis so much. He is so inspiring and so full of joy. What a great representative of God’s love for all people, especially families, at the World Meeting of Families.

Books I Read in September

The Selection Stories: The Prince & The Guard

Tagged as Catholic, Fairytale Retelling Challenge, Monthly Wrap-Up, Polish, Pope Francis, Read 2015, Religious Education, Rereading Challenge, School, Sister, Swap, You Read How Many Books Challenge

{Review} Code Name Verity – Historical Fiction on WWII

Posted September 24, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Series: Code Name Verity #1
Publisher: Disney Hyperion (2012)
Hardcover (332 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Read 2015

Synopsis

Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun.
When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.
As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?
A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called “a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel” in The New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other.

Find the book: Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository

Tagged as 5 star, All Time Favorites, Library, Read 2015, You Read How Many Books Challenge

August 2015 in Review

Posted August 30, 2015 in Life, Reading / 10 Comments

Things that Happened in August

I returned home from summer camp! It was a fun time but I am glad to be home.
I survived the days of smoke so thick I could not see more than a block ahead of me. When I went to drive into town, my vehicle put the auto-lights on because it thought it was night. It has never been this bad that I recall. Yay for the forest fires of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Canada.
I started school again. Back in the classroom with fifth and sixth grade students.
Speaking of being back in the classroom, I’m going to leave you with one very short sentence: I hate lice! (Thankfully I do not have any.)

Books I Read in August

Tagged as Fairy Tales, Family, Monthly Wrap-Up, Pope Francis, Saints, School, Sister, Summer, Summer Camp