Shaina Reads

The cartoon returns! Source: Wikimedia Today ends Week 1 of the (great) Ivanhoe read-along, hosted by Rachelle of The Reading Wench! You can learn more about the RAL, including its schedule, from her post or mine. Rachelle wrote up a good, spoiler-y synopsis of this week's chapters, so check that out if you want the rundown of what we've read so far. Since...

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In a completely unexpected way, I managed to get into the holiday spirit a bit early this year. It wasn't the turkey, cranberry sauce and wine from our "pre-Giving" with my boyfriend's dad yesterday. Nope - as you might guess, it was books! As we were getting off our train to meet my boyfriend's brother, I heard my boyfriend exclaim, "Hey, Shaina, check...

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Greetings from Starbucks, the only spot I've managed to find (somewhat) reliable Wi-Fi so far this trip! My boyfriend and I spent the first two days of our Thanksgiving vacation visiting a good friend from college who currently works in San Francisco. We thought we’d stop through to see her on the way up north to his family in Oregon. My friend is...

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So, the BYB read-a-thon. How'd we do? Technically, the read-a-thon still runs through today, but I wanted to offer an update now because I'm going to be spending the bulk of my day on planes and trains (no automobiles), and the bulk of the next six days eating, drinking and being merry with friends and my boyfriend's family. I'll definitely be reading when...

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In honor of having just yesterday(!!) joined The Classics Club, I'm kicking off my five years of classics with a read-along with fellow book blogger Rachelle of The Reading Wench. She received lucky (or perhaps unlucky, depending on how this goes) number 13 for her most recent Classics Club Spin, which corresponded to Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. She's set up a remarkably...

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I've decided to take the plunge and join The Classics Club. Fifty classic novels (at least) to be read over five years. Just looking at that sentence fills me with adrenaline—equal parts fear and excitement about committing myself to such a daunting (but, hopefully, rewarding) task. Brainstorming my book list and writing this post, I couldn't help but think, "Oh, great, Shaina. As...

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So we're about halfway through the Beat Your Best Read-a-thon, hosted by Karsyn of KaKiJoKoJa. As you might recall, I had two goals this challenge: 1) close out the LotR trilogy by finally reading The Return of the King, and 2) read a record-breaking three books per week. As it turns out, I've actually made much more progress with my lower-priority goal than...

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Source: io9 "And then you begin to give up the very idea of belonging. Suddenly this thing, this belonging, it seems like some long, dirty lie ... and I begin to believe that birthplaces are accidents, that everything is an accident. But if you believe that, where do you go? What do you do? What does anything matter?" - Samad Iqbal After practically inhaling...

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I've decided (at the very last minute!) to take part in Karsyn's Beat Your Best Read-a-thon! Some general info about the challenge: Beat Your Best is a brand new read-a-thon, running Nov 15-22. ByB is a completely laid back challenge in which you choose how you will beat your own personal best when it comes to reading. This can be done in small...

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Source: Simona Rich Before picking up The God of Small Things this past week, the only thing I knew about it was how many of my high school peers absolutely hated reading it for English class. As an avid lover of Toni Morrison (Beloved, in particular), I'm no stranger to being the minority opinion when it comes to assigned reading. Still, I must have...

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Hi! My name is Shaina, and I really like to read. For as long as I can remember, I've always had my nose buried in a book. (Perhaps minus a few years in college in which I just wanted to stop. reading. things., but I blame academic journals for that one.) Somewhere along the way, I realized that I often couldn't remember the...

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