Top Ten Tuesday: 2014 Releases TBR

Hosted by the lovelies at The Broke and the Bookish!
All covers link to Goodreads.

Today's topic is Top Ten 2014 Releases I Meant to Read but Didn't Get To.
Let's do this!

1. The Girl With all the Gifts by M. R. Carey
 

2. The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg



 

3. Four by Veronica Roth
  

(I have Four from the library, but haven't read it yet. My sister's reading it now.)

4. A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall
 

5. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
 

6. Jackaby by William Ritter
  

(Jackaby's also in my Library Box. My sister's read it.)

7. Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth




8. Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson


 

9. Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini
  

(That one's ALSO in my Library Box, and my sister has ALSO read it. Gosh, I need to step up my game!)

10. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel




 

That's what I've got for today! Tell me:
Which 2014 releases are you dying to read?  

~Sophia

Plans, Excuses, and Reevaluations

I've been ghosting around the internets for about a week now - reading tweets and blogs, only occasionally commenting, never really sitting down to write a post of my own. I'm not sure why.

Actually, I have a couple guesses as to why:

For one thing, school started today. That's just a bit overwhelming. Just a bit.

Also, my sister was in a play of Comedy of Errors this weekend, and I went to most of her shows to help out.

I also was trying to write some more, because I really had an over all unproductive Winter Break. So I did start work on some of those plot bunnies.

Most importantly, though, I've been thinking - about my schedule, about my priorities, about how I parcel out my time. This past semester and break have been a sort of experiment - my first experience with an entirely traditional school system (a state university)- and I've determined some things about the way I work and how I'm going to have to change.

One of the big questions homeschoolers' get is, "Wait. You do school in the SUMMER?"
Well, yes. Homeschoolers believe that learning is an everlasting process, and so we 'do school' in the summer.

Also, "You're so lucky! You don't have to go to school every day. You can sleep in!"
Well, yes to that too (sometimes).

See, homeschoolers work and play in a homogenous continuum, throughout the calendar year - perhaps fluctuating a bit towards work at one point, and a bit towards play at another, but overall, keeping quite a constant balance.

How weird it is (for me) to now have a college schedule that demands total work for four months with the reward of total play for one month after. At first, this sounds beautiful - if I work super hard, I'll be able to relax for FOUR WHOLE WEEKS. I'll be able to do all those things I want - like write, read, blog... Oh, it's glorious.

But after these last five months, I've learned something - my brain has been trained in a homeschooler's way. I play better (read more, write more, blog more) when I'm busy. When the play stops being a reward and just daily life, it starts becoming the work, and lounging around on the couch becomes play.

Do you see where I'm going? Blogging and writing become work. READING BECOMES WORK. That's not cool.

My brain does not function well on utter free time. It actually works better when I have no free time, so then I feel the need to make some.

This summer, I'm taking two classes, so my life will be back to a homeschooling continuum. But Winter Break 2015, I'm going to try to be more productive in the things I love. I'm going to give my brain some (minor) work, so that reading and blogging and noveling can remain rewards and fun.

And this coming semester, I'm going to take what little freetime I have, and do exactly what I want with it. I'm not going to think, "Oh, I really should blog," when I just want to read, or "I've got to finish XYZ reading challenge," when I just want to write.

So. Some decisions:

• No reading challenges. They are such fun when I'm into whatever I'm reading. But I don't want to feel obligated to read a certain book. It makes me like that book less. That's the kind of reader I am - quite impulsive. I read what I want.

• This also means, no more Bible Project. Yes, yes, the Bible is a special kind of book, but that also means it deserves more attention then my skimming readings. I KNOW I just got to the good part (The New Testament), but oh well. I'm in a Bible Study at school, so that's going to have to suffice. (However, the Bible Project is not gone forever. It's only on hiatus for a bit. Perhaps it'll resurrect in the summer.)

• Sometimes, blogging won't happen because I want to novel more. Usually, when I have free time for writing, I blog instead of noveling. Usually = 99% of the time. So, I'm afraid I may disappear every so often, like I did this past week. BUT KNOW - I am producing a future masterpiece, so worry not! 

That's my new plan. We shall see if it makes things better in my head.

Wow. Glad I got that out. :-P

Now then:
Homeschoolers - do you do school the same way I do (or did, before college) - all homogenous-like? What's the most annoying question you've gotten? (Other than "Do you stay in your pajamas all day?" We all know that one's asked way too much...)

Students - when do you start school? I send you virtual cake and good vibes to get you through this semester/term/quarter/etc.

Everyone - what kind of reader are you? Can you manage a reading challenge? Or do you just read whatever you happen to see on your shelf next?

December // The Month of Catch-Up

Well. December was interesting. It made me feel sort of lazy.



This month finals happened, which were tough. And stressful. But overall successful, and that's what matters, right?

This month, Christmas happened. Christmas this year was different, because it was our first time celebrating a traditional Ukrainian Christmas with gluten-free, lactose-free, and sugar-free family members. Ukraine is the "Bread Basket of Europe" - and Ukrainians like their bread and cheese and sugar. But my sister did some culinary magic and Christmas was a success.

Over break, I also tried to catch up on my blog reading and commenting. It worked for a day and then I got all lazy - shame on me! I really feel like I didn't do much this break. I didn't read much, I didn't blog much, I didn't comment much, I didn't write much. Ugh.

Hey, I've still got a week or two of break! I WILL become motivated. I WILL.

Only library books this time. And I've only read one of them. In fact, I'm STILL reading it. In the time that I've read Once and Future King, my sister has rad Jackaby and Trial By Fire. And not only did she start later than I, she is also taking classes over winter break AND reads slower. Harumph.

Writing Wish List (and BUNNIES!) 
Because who doesn't love bunny gifs?

Top Ten Tuesday: Looking Forward to 2015
So many exciting books coming out next year!

Oh, and if you want a whole 2014 recap post (not just December), I WROTE ONE. It was fun.

How was your December and your holidays?

~Sophia

P.S. This post is linked up at Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews! Go check out that awesome meme!