March Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge

March Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge

Hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer

~ Challenge runs from March 1st to March 31st

~ All books must be published before March 1st 2016

~ Post a review on goodreads/blog to enter the giveaway. 

~ Use the #TakeControlTBR

Events

Twitter Party March 15th at 7pm EST

Readathon March 12th

My Goals 

I'm aiming for 20 books this round. 

The list: 

Not sure yet. 

Sign up (Here)

Spooky Challenge Day 3

Spooky Challenge 

Created by Parajunkee 

I'm such a Halloween fan so this looks like a fun way to lead up to it I just have to join in. 

I like the idea of scary books but when it comes down to them I tend to pass them by. However I hope to change it this year. More scary books. 

Day 3 is 

Well I've heard a lot of Urban Legends over the years. We told them as girl scouts as well as hanging out when I got older. I think the most memorable maybe not the scariest would be this one.

The Dead Boyfriend. It has many variations over the years this is the one I remember the most.

I googled it and found it (here)

During the late evening hours, a young couple parks at an out-of-town or otherwise very secluded lovers' lane, to do what teen couples like to do in private. A location in a wooded area is selected so that the trees can afford the best assurance of privacy. They manage to park near a nice, big tree with grand leaves branching out overhead, making their park location seem all the more secluded and cozy.

After making out for a time, the couple realize that it is time to head home but the car won't start. The boy checks the gas gauge and notes that the indicator needle is quite decidedly toward the low end of the scale, so he determines that he will have to go for a walk and get some gas. Since his girlfriend is either too feminine and frail or too scared to accompany him, she is told to stay in the locked car until he returns with fuel.

The girlfriend waits quite some time, all the while, calculating how long it should take for her boyfriend to retrieve some gasoline at a nearby gas station they passed on their way to their make-out spot. At around the time she begins to worry, thinking that too much time has passed and that her boyfriend surely shouldn't be taking so long to return, she hears a light but strange tap-scratch-tapping sound on the roof of the car. She peers out the windows but still doesn't see her boyfriend returning, and assumes that the annoying tapping sound must be some tree branches blown to tap and scrape against the roof of the car. A lot of time has passed since her boyfriend departed and she's starting to get quite frightened that something bad has happened to him.

As her worry heightens, she spends a very fretful, fitful time in the locked car, wondering what troubles her boyfriend might have encountered to keep him from returning with gasoline within an hour or two. Finally, her exhausted nerves wear her down, along with the annoying noise of the branches playing across the rooftop, and she falls asleep for a little while. As daybreak is dawning, she starts awake, hearing footsteps approach the car, and expects it is her boyfriend, finally back with the gas! She looks up, shocked to see the local sheriff, instead. He is walking toward the car, is motioning for her to step out of the car. He also warns, very distinctly, "Get out, come with me and do not look back at the car - I repeat - do not look back at the car."

She opens the car door and allows the sheriff to lead her away from the car and toward his own, however, once she is seated in the sheriff's car, she immediately turns her head to look back...

and sees

...her boyfriend, dead, hanging upside down directly over the roof of the car, suspended from the branch of a tree. His throat is slit, blood dripping, and his fingertips just barely touch the roof of the car.
What's your favorite scary story?

Spooky Challenge Day 2

Spooky Challenge 

Created by Parajunkee 

I'm such a Halloween fan so this looks like a fun way to lead up to it I just have to join in. 

I like the idea of scary books but when it comes down to them I tend to pass them by. 

Day 2 is 

I wasn't going to do this one because I couldn't think of a really awesome scary author that is one of my favorites only because I don't read a lot of horror. However I had a moment while looking at my collection of books and decided this author would be perfect. 

Christopher Pike

As a young teen he was one of my favorite authors I loved the scary spooky stories that he creates. I think I have them all. I have such fond memories of reading his books and I'm debating re-reading them for October. 

I don't know which book was my first of his. So I'll just pick a few of my favorites to share. 

The Last Vampire Series was one of my favorites. I remember my parents running me to Barnes and Noble the day the new one came out to pick it up. 

I was kind of excited that he started to write them again and I've read the first new of the new Thirst books but even though I own them I haven't continued. I'm kind of on the fence because I love the first 6. I'm feeling like I need to read them now that I've been thinking about them. I might have to start the first one today. 

The Weekend was another one of my faves and I've read it a few times over the years not recently though. It's on my list for October. Thankfully I never had a scary weekend with my friends when I was in high school. 

Last Act is one I still have in paperback form sitting on my bookshelf. It's worn from being read so many times over the years. This very well could be my first Pike book. I really liked the concept for this one the whole idea was intriguing. 

 I read Witch World when it came out. It's different not classic Pike but I did enjoy it. I haven't read the rest of the series yet but I do have them on my to do list. 

Do you have a favorite spooky author?

Spooky September Challenge day 1

Spooky Challenge 

Created by Parajunkee 

I'm such a Halloween fan so this looks like a fun way to lead up to it I just have to join in. 

Day 1 is 

While I like my books semi scary I don't do full on horror very often because I have this over active imagination when I sleep or the husband is gone. So today's books may not be super spooky but I  enjoyed them. 

1. Maplecroft by Cherie Priest - I admit the story starts a little slow but I found it creepy and unique. 

2 & 3. Hallowed Ones series by Laura Bickle - I read the first one while we drove from Cali to Idaho along a long empty highway it was so spooky with the already story. 

4. Pitch Green by The Brother Washburn - I read this one in one afternoon it's a quick fast paced scary story. 

5. Ella, The Slayer by A.W. Exley - Who doesn't love Cinderella and zombies. 

6. Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter - What about a little Alice and zombies?

7 & 8. The Hollows duo by Amanda Hocking - Another scary zombie duo. 

9. PODs by Michelle K. Pickett - I really enjoyed this spooky zombie book. 

10. Alison Kemper's zombie books - They have romance within the horror just love it. 

I admit my selections may not be super scary but they are spooky and I enjoyed them all. 

Write on: August Blogging day 13

Write on: August Blogging Prompts 

The creator is Hello Neverland she has a writing prompt for each month. 

Today's Prompt 

Share a pasta salad recipe.

Well I have a kitchen sink pasta salad that I love to make it's my go to for a salad for parties or bbq's. It's a little different but I've never had a single complaint. I typically don't add the chicken to the recipe because I think it's amazing without it. I've also changed the veggies around depending what I have it's still amazing. Hands down the best one I've found. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Might have to make it this weekend. 

I found it online from Chin Deep 
Find it (here) I've taken the image and recipe from the Chin Deep website to share. 

This is sort of a combination of Knott’s Berry Farm’s Pea Salad and Minnesota Macaroni Picnic Salad. I decided to mix it up…and ended up with the best macaroni salad I’ve ever had. If I do say so myself. And I do 

~ macaroni picnic salad ~

1-16 oz. package elbow macaroni

 3/4 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese, cubed small

1 cup bread and butter pickles, chopped

1- 12 oz. package frozen peas, thawed

1 red bell pepper, chopped

6 green onions + green tops, chopped

2 stalk celery, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped fine

1 lb bacon, fried, cooled, blotted and chopped

5 eggs, hard boiled and chopped

Dressing:

1 package dry Ranch salad dressing mix

1 cup real mayonnaise (I use Hellmann’s)

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup sweet pickle juice

2 Tablespoons mustard

2 teaspoons Tony Cachare’s Creole seasoning

generous amount of freshly ground black pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions. Allow to cool. Boil , chop and cool eggs at the same time. Combine all salad ingredients. Combine all dressing ingredients. Mix together. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Do you have a favorite pasta salad?

Write on: August Blogging Day 12

Write on: August Blogging Prompts 

The creator is Hello Neverland she has a writing prompt for each month. 

Today's Prompt 

A craft tutorial using citrus fruit....that's a tough one....how about a picture of a book with citrus fruit with a teaser because I love sharing teasers.
My favorite is grapefruit and since I just happen to have one it looks like a perfect snack while I read. 

If he were to kiss me, I’d have to tilt my face up to meet his, but it would be nice, because he would probably wrap his arms around my lower back and pull me to him so that our mouths would come together like two pieces of a puzzle. Only they wouldn’t fit very well, because they are most definitely not two pieces from the same puzzle.
What's your favorite citrus fruit?

Write on: August Blogging Day 11

Write on: August Blogging Prompts 

The creator is Hello Neverland she has a writing prompt for each month. 

Today's Prompt 

Must see fall TV show.

That's really hard because the hubs and I watch all the new shows. So many new ones I just picked out a few to share that I know I'll be watching. 

Decided to pick out a few of the new shows I know we will be watching this fall. 

I know my husband will be super excited for Legends of Tomorrow since we watch Arrow and Flash. 

Another one on my list is Limitless the concept sounds interesting and I can't wait to check it out. 

Fox has a show called Lucifer that could be interesting. However Fox likes to give a season and we never get a second one. 

Quantico is on my to watch list. The previews have teased me enough. 

Another one of those Fox shows I hope will make it to a second season. Scream Queens sounds so good and I love the cast. I can't wait. 

Wicked City sounds like another must see. 

As you can see I have a bunch of new shows we will be checking out this fall how about you?

Write on: August Blogging Day 10

Write on: August Blogging Prompts 

The creator is Hello Neverland she has a writing prompt for each month. 

Today's Prompt 

Do a photo series for the end of summer. 

We are in a drought so this is my yard with one of my favorite books. 

The Kids and I walked the dogs on the days it's not super hot. Which wasn't very often. 

My to read list catching some sun  

 We played at the park a bunch

Aren't they cute.

I wish I could crop these two together. oh well 

After a long day Coffee was my best friend. 

This was fun. I wish I had thought about it more. Might do this one again. 

Write on: August Blogging Prompts Day 9

Write on: August Blogging Prompts 

The creator is Hello Neverland she has a writing prompt for each month. 

Today's Prompt 

What's your back to school wishlist....Book wishlist works better for me. 

These are 8 books that are on my wish list and hope to read this fall. 
I admit my wishlist is huge but I'm drawn to these covers. They are all unique and look pretty exciting. 
Do you have a never ending wishlist for books?

Write On: August Blogging Prompts Day 8

Write On: August Blogging Prompts Challenge

The creator is Hello Neverland she has a writing prompt for each month. 

Today's Prompt 

Share things you've pinned you want to try before the end of the year

I've been slacking at pinning recently. I really should get back into it because I've found so much stuff I want to try. 

A few of my before the end of the year goals.

First some craft projects because that's just the way I am

A crochet Purse (Here) I think it looks so neat. I'm getting back into crocheting and this is one I want to try before the end of the year. 

I think it would be fun for the kids to make mugs. (Here) for grandparents for Christmas so this project is on my todo list. 

I'm getting better all the time with my sewing skills and would love to try to make a few purses this fall. Like this one (here)

These are the big three projects I'm hoping to do this fall before the end of the year. Do you have any projects you want to do before the end of the year?

Write On: August Blogging Prompts Day 7

Write On: August Blogging Prompts Challenge

The creator is Hello Neverland she has a writing prompt for each month. 

Today's Prompt 

What about fall are you looking forward to most?

Picture taken from (here)

Fall is one of my favorites with the changing color's of the leaves it's just so beautiful.
Cooler temperatures mean it's nice to do outdoor activities. 
Hopefully Rain!!! We need rain so badly.
One step closer to Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. 
Kids are in school so a few brief hours of quiet time for reading. 

Do you have any suggestions?