Books by the Quarter: 4/4

**ready unless I read another book in december
October

The Dog Stars was a somewhat slow moving book at the start, but a book I really enjoyed.  It's an adult novel, but hinges on the end of the world (or after the end of the world) setting that I so dearly love.  I even suggested this book to Kyle to read as I thought he'd identify with the main character.
****


I was excited to read The Heist Society, because I thought it'd be in the same realm as the Pretty Little Liars books that I adore.  It was just... meh.  It's an adventure with some mystery throughout, but it wasn't really a page turner.  I don't know that I'll read any more in the series, but will likely give the authors other series a try.
***


Thirteen Reasons Why is a dark, depressing book I've been wanting to read for awhile.  I read this on the flight home from San Francisco, and that wouldn't be my recommendation.  It is a raw story of teen suicide and a lot more.
****


I read Marriage Plot for book club, and didn't really enjoy it.  I went to the book club, even after not loving the book, to see if others could tell me why *they* loved the book, but no one did.  It was very beautifully written I just never felt connected to anything or anyone in the story.
***


Ready Player One was one of my favorite reads of 2012.  I was obsessed with this book from the get go, flew through the book, but never wanted it to end.  The book is set in the future where everyone "plugs in" to a gaming system, and the game system creator designs a quest for participants to complete after his death.  Any gamer or child of the 80s would eat up this book.
*****

November

In November, I read some children's books to kick off my Children's Book Review blog, and also to supplement my coursework.


****

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*****

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I also read Eat and Run after meeting Scott Jurek (and having my book signed by him).  It was a motivational book, as the guy is an insane ultra runner, and I loved having a glimpse at his childhood and personal life throughout the book.
****


It took me awhile to get through the Diviners, as a) it's a giant book and b) it was a bit of a slog.  It reminded me a bit of season 6 of Dexter, and that just threw me the entire book.
***

December

I finished the Matched series, Reached, and really enjoyed how it turned out.  I won't reveal too much, but it was definitely a series worth reading.
****


Starters is another dystopian series I have been planning to read for awhile.  It was entertaining but fairly predictable.
***


Meant to Be is one of the books I was most excited to read in 2012.  I had heard it stated as the best YA book of 2012.  My thoughts:  It was a good story, and one I would have devoured as a teen, talking about MTB=meant to be, in reference to people ending up together forever.  It's a good message for teens, but a little "duh" to me as an adult.  With that aside, the story lines were good!  I probably would've loved it had I not had such high expectations for it.
***

2013 Goals

I am taking some of the pressure off of myself in 2013, but I still think it's important to set some goals.  Even if I may have bombed most of them (running-wise, at least) for 2012, doesn't mean I can't accomplish some of them this year.  And maybe I'll actually look at them more than once in June as a check in (not likely, but we'll see).

Running

• PR a half marathon.  I've already stated I'm going to have a heavy half schedule this coming spring.  I have been chasing (literally) sub 1:50 for quite some time, but have been doing it amidst marathon training where my body is incapable of high mileage and speed work.  Focusing on JUST the half marathon should allow me to add in some necessary speed work and finally nab this goal.  
• PR a 10k.  With some half marathon speed, should come some quality speedy tempo runs.  I set my 10k PR during one of my best rounds of marathon training, and should be able to dip under 49 minutes if I can stay healthy.
• Run a sub 7 minute mile.  There aren't many mile races around here, and I don't know that I'd fork over the money to do one, but a friend is trying to run a super speedy mile, and I thought it sounded like fun.  So Ang, I'm joining your goal, hope that's ok!  Only official timed mile non-HS is a 7:11.  I don't think I'll get anywhere near my HS PR of 6:07.  #ouch
• Run 100 miles every month.  I failed this one in 2012, and would like to give it another go.  I'm hoping with less injuries, it'll be more feasible.  25 miles a week is not very daunting, or it shouldn't be, and I need to get back to being a more consistent runner, and this goal will help with that.
• Run a 5k a day.  Not literally.  If there's ever a day that I do NOT want to run, I want to try to encourage myself to get out there and at least do an easy 5k.  This'll help keep me on track with my 100 miles a month, and consistent training.  5k a day = 1131.5 miles for the year, which is pretty close to my 1200 from above.  That would also be close to my yearly mileages from 2010-2011 where most of my PRs were set.
• More buddy runs.  Try to run with friends a couple of times a month as time allows.

Fitness

• Continue to attend circuit weights.  Try for 3x a month, including ab work and pushups in addition to the class.
• Attend yoga at least 1x a week.  I've found a new love of bikram yoga, and would love to practice that more often.  Other forms of yoga will also help with my stress level from school and running health.
• Get my eating habits more in check.  If I want to nab a couple of PRs this year, I need to get closer to my weight while setting my previous PRs.  Nothing crazy, 5-10 pounds would have me at my peak running shape, and should be obtainable with slightly better eating habits, and slightly less beer.  Sad face.
• Jessica Alba abs for strong runner awesomeness vs looking good shirtless.  As a result, look good shirtless.  I did zero shirtless runs this summer, and it was the hottest summer of my life.  I also barely ran in June and July because it was too hot to run with clothes on.  Can turn down the heat on South Dakota summers be a goal for 2013? Do I have control over that?  Anyone? Bueller?
• Learn to change a flat on my bike.  Thanks for the suggestion Megan.  No more BCBBC half centuries spoiled by this lack of knowledge.

Life

• Read 100 books.  I read 113 in 2012, so it should be doable, especially because I'll have 5 months of GRAD SCHOOL FREE reading at the tail end of 2013.  :D

2013 Reading Challenge

Jeri has read 7 books toward her goal of 100 books.

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7 of 100 (7%)

view books

• Finish my grad program with a 4.0.  Still going strong.  Spring will be the most trying on this goal.  If I can make it through cataloging, I should be home free!
• Nab my dream job.  Or one that will lead to my dream job.  I love my job as a library assistant at an academic library, but my passion is within the public library, working with children.
• Obtain another pug bestie for Ollie.  We'll see how possible this is towards the end of 2013.  :)
• Make a decent attempt at my remaining items on my 101 in 1001 goals (to wrap up on my 30th birthday, eeps!)  Will do some sort of follow up post on this in the near future methinks.
• Spend some time and money (ugh) making our apartment (or future apartment/house, our lease is up in May) feel more homey.  We've lived in our new place since May.  We have most of our (my) artwork still propped up against the wall in which it needs to be hung.  The only room that is really decorated is the spare bedroom which is essentially my old bedroom put in this one.  Ha, oops.

Back on Track + Cold Weather Gear Review

The first 6 days of January have come and gone, and my first week of training has wrapped up.  And for the first time in a long while (how long? *licks finger, pages through online running log* since the week of August 13th) I completed all of my scheduled runs.  I'm using a training plan from Runner's World smart coach (freebie) and am essentially starting from scratch.  5 runs a week:  3 easy, 1 tempo or interval, 1 long run.  I do intend to do strides on one of my easy days, because I enjoyed that aspect of Pfitz, and once my fitness comes back a bit (dear God, please come back) I intend on doing some fast finish long runs, every 3rd or 4th week.

My plan currently goes to May 11th, the day of the Brookings half marathon, yet I'm not 100% sure I'm doing that race yet.  It's narrowed down to that race, or Fargo half as my spring goal race.  Goal B race of the season is the Get Lucky half marathon up in the cities (which also aligns itself with excellent BFF time with Sheana, and celebrating my fave holiday).  I also got the sweetest green running duds for Christmas, which I can't wait to wear for the big holiday.  Besides those two races, there's one in January (christ, it's january already huh?) and a couple in April that I'm mulling over.  No registration triggers have been pulled at all, which worries me only slightly.  I refuse to pay money to train/race poorly (see: fall 2012).

26.2 miles ran this week, not intentionally.  I got lost on a 5 miler on New Years Day.  Yes, I was running in town, no I have no idea how I got lost, but I was freezing my buns off, and I'm glad that I only tacked on an extra .2 miles because it could've been much, much worse if I had gone south instead of north when presented with those options (uh hello Harrisburg).  Interestingly enough the time spent running this week (4:36) is slower than four of my five marathons.  I told you I'm doing some slow pokey get-back-in-to-shape base mileage.  Uff da.

I did purchase a face mask this week, mainly after the freezing five miler listed above.  My body was completely fine and dandy, but my face was frozen.  I don't think I mentioned it on here, but according to the doc I've developed mild rosacea.  Funsies.  I've always been extremely prone to wind burn, and of course extreme heat and cold aggravate it, which I don't need.  Enter weirdo ninja mask.  (Ollie is such a good model, right???)



I wore it on my long run today, and while I'm sure I looked like the biggest dork ever, it helped.  My face is only slightly rosy 3 hours later.


Pros

• Breathable-ish.  The one I purchased has an opening under the nose, and ventilation in the mouth area.  
• Easy to pull up and down.  At times the wind was at my back or being blocked by trees, so I took it down.  It definitely constricts breathing some, so it was nice to tug down and then put back up as needed.
• $22 isn't bad as far as winter running gear goes.  I'm lucky that I have all the coats/tights/pants/super duper insulated pants/yaktrax/gloves/hat/ear warmers that I need (as I've acquired over the past few winters of running), $22 is nothing compared to what you can spend on winter running crap.  They did have some cheaper ones that were just the mask without the little neck cover, but I would've needed a scarf to go with it, which ended up being $25.  No thanks.
• You don't have to smile at other runners that you see, because they can't see it anyway!  Wave and go!  I found myself smiling and waving every.single.time and every time I thought to myself, they can't see you smile Jerbear, STOP IT.

Cons

• I look like a doof.  (But I'd rather look like a doof while running, than be bright red faced in day to day life.)
• I had to pull the thing down every time I had to blow some snot out of my nose.  Since my allergies suck, this was frequently.  Like 2-3 times a mile.  The material also got slightly irritating to my nose, presumably because I was blowing snot rockets, wiping my nose with my gloved hand, and then putting the mask back up.  I don't think it'd bother skin at all if you just kept it in place the whole time.  
• By exhaling into the mask, my face ended up slightly damp.  Not a problem until I ran directly in to the wind, and the ventilation shot cold air at my wet face.  Brrrrr x 10.

**I wasn't paid in anyway for this review, just my two cents on something I obvs should've bought two years ago when I started bitching about my face freezing off during runs.

One week of solid running done, here's to 51 more!  Hah.

Books by the Quarter: 3/4

***I started a "Books by the Quarter" segment in early 2012, but that, like much of my blog, fell by the wayside.  Since I'm on Christmas break, I've had time to update this.  Please enjoy 3 of 4.  :)

 
July


In July, I picked up book 2 of the Chemical Garden series, Fever.  It was not as good as the first, but still entertaining.
***


I read Racing Weight thinking that would help get me on track with running and eating healthy, but it was a bit preachy and unrealistic.  I want to be healthy and a strong runner, but I think the more extreme mentality that they talk about would be too much for my brain.
***


I read Fifty Shades of Grey to form an opinion on the book.  I think it's horribly written, but understand why so many people are obsessed with it.  It's definitely an entertaining read.  I'm on and off slogging through book 2.  We'll see if I finish.
**


To switch up from all vampires all the time, I picked up Hemlock, which features WEREWOLVES.  Oooh werewolves, you are such an underserved population in the YA world, and I love you.  I really enjoyed this book, can't wait for the rest.
****

 
I always read Emily Giffin's books and picked up Where We Belong from the library as soon as it came out.  Her last couple of books have been ho-hum IMO.  I really loved this book.  It was a quick and somewhat predictable read, but the relationship dynamics throughout the book really drew me in.
****

August


I got my fingers on the follow up to Divergent, as quickly as I could, and Insurgent did not disappoint.  As most readers have mentioned, it's somewhat confusing to follow for those who haven't read Divergent recently as Veronica Roth just dives right in to the follow up, but there is a great blog post out there that she wrote to help refresh your memory.  SO. GOOD.
****


When In Doubt, Add Butter is a Beth Harbison must read.  I read everything she writes, as it's so light hearted and enjoyable.  Never anything too terribly mind blowing, just a nice read.
****


Gone Girl was another of my "best of 2012" reads.  Within a chapter of the book, I was obsessed and recommending it to anyone that would listen.  The ending wasn't as I was predicting, which was good, but I didn't thoroughly love the ending either.  It was essentially a 6 star book minus the ending, so I ended up with 4 stars.
****


I heart zombies.  So I had to pick up This is Not a Test.  While it was a book that had zombies, it was not a zombie book.  Much deeper than a zombie book but not as thrilling and jam-packed as I had expected.  The emotions throughout were great.
****


Shadow and Bone
***


Over You
***

September

 
I expected great things out of Liar and Spy after being completely enamored with When You Reach Me, but it wasn't as over the moon amazing.  Still an interesting read.
***


I picked up Kara Goucher's Running for Women looking for running inspiration, but found myself skimming a lot of it.  It is targeted mostly at beginning runners, so I didn't get a whole lot of information out of it that I hadn't already read/learned.
***


I read Sense of an Ending for book club and just loved it.  It was a very short book, almost a novella, but a very beautiful story.
****


I would've loved Smart Girls Get What They Want when I was in high school, and still loved it as an adult.  A quick read with the nerdy girl as the underdog.
****


I was excited for The Selection as I had seen its praise on multiple book blogs.  It's a trilogy, so I expect it to pick up in future books, but not a lot happened in the first book.
****

I had to read some more children's books for my Youth Programming course this fall.  I'll list the ratings I would give them, but leave off a "blurb" unless I really feel moved to do so.  :)

Germs
***


I thought Ollie would enjoy Chick n' Pug, and I was right.  The illustrations were adorable and the demeanor of the pug was pretty spot on.
*****


Night Flight
****


E-Mergency!
I hated this book.  The 'e' gets hurt in the story so the words in the text are missing a bunch of letters and it drove me up a wall.  I'm sure a kid would love it, but I could barely scan it.
* 


I Want My Hat Back
****


I Broke My Trunk
****


I picked The Aviary to read for my book trailer assignment for class (I had to create a book trailer similar to a movie trailer to pique readers' interest).  I ended up having to pick a different book because I was so bored by this one.  :/
**