2015 Reading Challenge!

If you are an active user on Goodreads, you probably take part in or know about the yearly reading challenges you can set yourself. 2013 was to read fifteen books, 2014 was twenty five (which I ending up going over, v.g) so I decided to really push the limits this time and try to read fifty books. Well...it's the 1st May as I write this, so by halfway through the year (End of June, I believe), I should have reached half of my goal, twenty-five. How much have I got to, you may ask? Seven. I've almost finished the book I am on - "It's not me, it's you" by Mhairi McFarlane - so that would make it eight, therefore I am going to need to read about seventeen books by the end of June in two months time. 

Now, my typical reading speed really does depend on the size of the book so let's just say a typical 500 page novel will take me three days, so that's two books per week - I'm going to round it and say there's an average of four weeks per month, so if I really pushed myself I could finish eight books a month and therefore sixteen by the end of the two months - and that's if I really try hard. I'm probably going to end up reading a few more books made for kids/teenagers just to sneakily boost my numbers and be somewhat proud come December, and this time I will try not to get too ahead of myself and set a reasonable and achievable goal - taking in the fact that if I don't want to go to a library for books, I cannot afford to buy them. Which I really didn't take into account four months ago.

Anyway, the point of this ramble-y post being? I want to set myself some upcoming book reading goals (about one goal per week/month, depending on the type of challenge it is) so I get through my TBR books in my bedroom and read a lot more actively. I already have a few small ideas and I haven't even looked for any yet - October is obviously going to be the book of the horror/thriller genre, so I am going to save all my Stephen King books and any books I want to re-read for that month. I'm only going to pick about five books out for that month and I will try to get through them all. I also want to do a Harry Potter read-a-thon, because well I've already read them before so it's pretty boring not being able to write a review or anything on here for quite some time (as it is seven books).

Also, I made this blog to be a book blog and it's swerved more to beauty related topics and random tags then books recently. I really like those kinds of posts so I will still be doing them, but this is the sort of thing I want to do more. 

Thank you for reading this very long post, and I will see you soon!

What's your reading challenge of the year, and how many books can you handle?

The Reading Challenge Book Tag!

I have no idea what the actual challenge of this book tag was supposed to be - do I read a book a day for thirty days? I don't know, but I thought I would answer the questions anyway and if anyone reading this has any idea on what the thirty day book challenge is, please let me know.

I'll be joining in on this challenge too! Some of my answers may be games though, as I cannot think of many books, though I have read plenty. I just have a bad memory when it comes to books.

-Austin

1) Best book you read last year. 

Loz- "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs.
Austin- "Knights of the Old Republic" by Dark Horse? Honestly, this one has a bunch of writers, so crediting is kinda difficult for this book.

2) A book you've read more then 3 times. 

Loz- "Marked" by Kristen Cast.
Austin- "The Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle

3) Your favorite series. 

Loz- The Harry Potter series, of course.
Austin- Darth Bane series! Gotta love that evilness.

4) A guilty pleasure book. 

Loz - Any book by Jacqueline Wilson/Cathy Cassidy, my childhood favourites.
Austin-  Any historical novel, and reading history school text books...

5) A book that makes you happy. 

Loz - Most of them, really? To pick a random one, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Selznick.
Austin- An old WW2 diary I read of a guy who couldn't wait to get back home to his wife to hear her play on the piano.

6) A book that makes you sad. 

Loz - I feel like Harry Potter can answer pretty much every single one of these questions but probably "Running Wild" by Michael Murpurgo but if you haven't read the book, I suggest you do, it brings awareness over deforestation and the welfare of animals.
Austin- That exact same WW2 diary, because he died a week before he went home.

7) Most under-rated book. 

Loz - "Dodger" by Terry Pratchett...although I have a feeling that might change soon, R.I.P Terry, you will be missed!
Austin- The Han Solo Trilogy!

8) Most over-rated book. 

Loz- The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Claire, but if I could pick one I haven't read, FSOG.
Austin- "The Fault in Our Stars" S O R R Y

9) A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving. 

Loz - This one is a really hard one to answer. Hmm. "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner, I think, I really love that series.
Austin- Ah uh... Harry... Potter...

10) Favourite classic book.

Loz - "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Caroll.
Austin- Save the Kahn! I love that book to death.

11) A book you hated. 

Loz - "It's kind of a funny story" by Ned Vizzini. I apprechiate the ways in which depression can be helped, but I did not apprechiate the sexualization of every single female, including his own mother. Some may see this as something normal for a teenage boy, but I personally disagreed with it strongly so for that reason, I hated this book.
Austin- I HATED To Kill a Mocking Bird. I just did, eugh.

12) The first novel you remember reading. 

Loz - "The Butterfly Lion" by Michael Murpurgo (beautiful book, by the way)
 Austin- The Cassocks! That was a depressing story for a kid.

13) Your favourite writer. 

Loz - Ramsom Riggs, right now. Or J.K.Rowling because not only did she contibute a lot to my childhood, but "The Casual Vancany" was an amazing book too, proving to me her writing skills expand to more then what I was used to.
Austin- Drew Karpyshyn. He writes the BEST Star Wars novels.

14) Favourite book of your favourite writer. 

Loz - "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" by J.K.Rowling.
Austin- Darth Bane: Path of Darkness!

15)  Book that should be on HS/college reading list. 

Loz - well a lot, but the book I'm reading right now is called "The Hourglass Factory" by Lucy Ribchester, which really shows the brutality of the Women's Rights Movement back in the early 1900's, mostly towards women's rights to vote at this point, and how many people were agaisnt them and what they did for us. It should be on the reading list just so feminism in history is apprechiated, whether or not you agree if it's needed currently anymore in first world counties.
Austin- Anything by HP Lovecraft or Issac Asimov!

16) A book you would reccomend to an ignorant/close-minded/racist person. 

Loz - Hmm. "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" by John Boyne. Simply because it shows that racism doesn't exst in the mind of a child, hatred is taught.
Austin- The original I-Robot. Maybe they'd see why treating people horribly is actually BAD for once.

17) Favourite quote from your favourite book. 

Loz - "Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to switch on the light"
Austin- "Perhaps you were expecting some surprise, for me to reveal a secret that had eluded you, something that would change your perspective of events, shatter you to your core. There is no great revelation, no great secret. There is only you."

18) A book that dissapointed you. 

Loz - "Marina" by Carlos Ruiz Zafron. The review I wrote for that is on here somewhere!
Austin- Ender's Game. It was just... yeah man, for angsty teens.

19) Favourite book that turned into a movie. 

Loz - "Hugo" from "The Invention of Hugo Cabret", I preach about it quite a lot because I think it was done perfectly. Also, the TV series by the BBC from "The Diary of Anne Frank" was perfect, too.
Austin- Gonna use a game here... Max Payne. For the love of all that is holy, do not subject yourself to that mess.

20) Book turning into a movie and completely desecrated. 

Loz - Most book to movie, honestly.
Austin- SEE ABOVE.

21) Favourite book from your childhood. 

Loz - "Charlotte's Web" by E.B.White.
Austin- The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

22) The book that made you fall in love with reading. 

Loz - I can't really think of one from the top of my head but honestly, an awful lot of books, really.
Austin- Under a Killing Moon! Just, hot damn, MYSTERY DONE RIGHT.

23) A book that you have wanted to read for a long time but still haven't?

Loz - "The Bell Jar" by Sylthia Plath, I honestly don't know why it's taking me so long to get round to that book, probably from lack of money, honestly.
Austin- The rest of Harry Potter, and Discworld.

24) A book you wish more people have read. 

Loz - "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. It raises awareness on autism/Asperger's, gives more information on Star Wars and gives the pro's of gaming instead of all the negatives you hear in the media so often. They're making a movie, too, I hear. I hope it's as good as the book was.
Austin- Literally anything Star Wars.

25) A charecter you can relate to the most. 

Loz - any sort of misunderstood, chubby and anti-social person I could probably relate to.
Austin- Zayne from the KOTOR books. He's an idiot, gets everything blamed on him, and is clumsy as all hell. It's me.

26) A book that changed your opinion about something. 

Loz - Oh, ooh, wow. A lot of books changed my perspective on things. Harry Potter changed my perspective, though, on abused chilrdren. When I was younger, I thought kids who grew up with an abused childhood would be unable to be kind, caring and loving people. Harry proved me wrong.
Austin- The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy! Boy was that a journey alright

27) The most surprising plot twist or ending. 

Loz- The change of events halfway though the House of Night - the first three books.
Austin- Calling to the Night got me pretty good. Won't say why.

28) Favourite title. 

Loz - I searched through all my read list in my Goodreads profile and I'm a bit far away from my room to go rummaging in there, so for this one, I'm stumped. If I ever remember, I will edit and come back to this.
Austin- Foundation! The name just sounds so grandiose! 

29) A book that made you cry. 

Loz - Every single book by Michael Murpurgo.
Austin- Gonna have to use a game here for this one. Metal Gear Solid and Red Dead Redemption. CHARACTERS WHO JUST DIDN'T DESERVE IT!

30) Your favourite book of all time.  

Loz - "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"
Austin- It's a short story written by Issac Asimov, and it's about a robot who felt and didn't want to be shut down. I forgot the game, sadly...

Dating a Person with (High Functioning) Autism

For Autism Awareness day, I would like to take this time to talk about something a little more personal to me, the idea itself was given to me by Loz, and I agreed that it'd be a great idea and a chance to talk about something a little more serious than my personality usually allows me. Now, starting off with how we met, she always seemed a little different to me, but it was just perfectly part of her charm. It was several months I believe, before she told be she had Aspergers. My reaction? Something along the lines of "Oh, well I guess that'd make sense, alright then". And she told me that had been the best response that she'd gotten from having told someone.

Why, why is that the best response? It's because I didn't make such a big deal about it, because that's all people want. To not have their differences highlighted. Do you like it when someone points out a mark on your face? No? Then why would an autistic person like it when you point out things about them? Don't do it. Just do. Not. They aren't wild beasts, they're people. You don't need to make them feel like they'll never be relateable, or that they HAVE to do something great to be important to someone. Why is it when someone is autistic, people only care when they do something great? Why can't we just appreciate people as people?

Now, dating a person with autism has it's challenges, and do you know why? That's because DATING has it challenges. Dating a person with autism just has DIFFERENT challenges. And in retrospect, it is no different than dating a person you just random met in a mall. I love Loz every bit in the wide open space, and no, it isn't any harder just because she has differences. And honestly, it's most likely harder for her having to deal with my odd likes of things such as planes and tanks. Those are her challenges though. ;)

Sorry I have to cut this one short, I have work shortly though, but I may add an edit later on! Thank you for reading.