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3rd Quarter Independent Reading Reflection

Hi, everyone, and welcome back to another quarter! I am almost done with my freshman year of high school and I don't know how I feel about that, but everything's going to be okay as long as I can have a nice discussion about the 39 books that I read over the past three or so months. Without further ado, here are the books, listed from most difficult to least difficult.

Cell - Stephen King
Dreamland - Sarah Dessen
Lady Midnight - Cassandra Clare
All the Bright Places - Jennifer Niven
My Heart and Other Black Holes - Jasmine Warga
The Anatomical Shape of a Heart - Jenn Bennett
The Love That Split the World - Emily Henry
I'll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson
Clockwork Princess - Cassandra Clare
The Fault in Our Stars - John Green
What Happened to Goodbye - Sarah Dessen
Lock and Key - Sarah Dessen
Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen
Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins
Lola and the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins
Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
The Geography of You and Me - Jennifer E. Smith
City of Heavenly Fire - Cassandra Clare
City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare
City of Glass - Cassandra Clare
City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare
City of Lost Souls - Cassandra Clare
The List - Siobhan Vivian
Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey
The Infinite Sea - Rick Yancey
The Apothecary - Maile Meloy
The Apprentices - Maile Meloy
First & Then - Emma Mills
We Were Liars - E. Lockhart
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Gathering Blue - Lois Lowry
Messenger - Lois Lowry
Son - Lois Lowry
The Next Together - Lauren James
Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon
If You Come Softly - Jacqueline Woodson
*Please note that the link connected to the title of the book will bring you to Goodreads, which offer the book's summary, and the link connected to authors' names will bring you to their website

That's quite an impressive list, am I right? Okay, so onto goals. Did I actually meet them? Here they are, from my 2nd Quarter Independent Reading Reflection Post:

"By next quarter, I want to read at least 35 books . . . Another goal is to read four books that have come out recently . . . Some of those books include Lauren James's The Next Together and Emily Henry's The Love That Split the World." 

Read at least 35 books: CHECK 
Read 4 books that have come out recently: CHECK
I read 39 books, 4 more than my goal. I read 5 books that I would categorize as "Recently Published" (although there might have been more). Those books were:

The Love That Split the World - Emily Henry (published January 26th, 2016 - I read this on January 26th, finished it 2 days after)
The Next Together - Lauren James (published September 3rd, 2015 in the UK - this book isn't published in America; I had to order it off Amazon to get a copy - I read and finished this last week)
The Anatomical Shape of a Heart - Jenn Bennett (published November 3rd, 2015 - I read this in December, 2015, and finished it 2 days after starting it)
Lady Midnight - Cassandra Clare (published March 8th, 2016 - I read this on March 8th, finished it just before fourth quarter ended)
First & Then - Emma Mills (published October 13th, 2015 - I read this in December, 2015 and finished it January 2016)
**In case you haven't noticed, their covers are all lined up down the left side of the screen above

So, I exceeded my goals. I did so because, and I'm being completely honest, I seriously didn't do anything over the course of third quarter, so I had plenty of reading time. If I was lucky, I went out to dinner one night, but other than that, I sat in my room, on the couch, sprawled on the floor, reading. And the books I read were all good books, so I didn't have any problem with that, just to be clear.

Goals for next quarter . . . That is a very good question. I haven't thought about next quarter goals. Well, I know for certain that I'm not going to be reading 35+ books. I'm starting to focus on my writing now, and then EOCs and finals (because I'm a school nerd!!) so I'm not going to put all my energy into reading as much as I have last quarter.

I think I'm going to do this. I want to read all of the published Sarah Dessen novels (not including the ones I have read, unless I decide I want to reread them), because I enjoy her novels, and (most of the time) they're easy reads for me (see above). Also, my younger sister enjoys Sarah Dessen, so I think I'll be able to get her to read more if I have more books lying around the house that she'd been interested in picking up. But I mostly want to read them because they're just fun, happy books with great characters and gorgeous covers.

Secondly, I'm going to make a list of 10 novels that I've wanted to read for a long time, either because the stories looked interesting when I stumbled upon them, or they're books by authors I've read before, and I love their work. So, here's the list, compiled on the spot:
1) The Sky Is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson
2) Gone Too Far - Natalie D. Richards
3) Love Letters to the Dead - Ava Dellaira
4) Black Ice - Becca Fitzpatrick
5) Everything Leads to You - Nina LaCour
6) I Was Here - Gayle Forman
7) The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
8) The Start of Me and You - Emery Lord
9) The Summer After You and Me - Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
10) The Weight of Feathers - Anna-Marie McLemore

So, overall, by the end of the school year/fourth quarter, I should probably have read, at least:
The Sky Is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson
I Was Here - Gayle Forman
Saint Anything - Sarah Dessen
Gone Too Far - Natalie D. Richards
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
The Moon and More - Sarah Dessen
Love Letters to the Dead - Ava Dellaira
The Start of Me and You - Emery Lord
The Truth About Forever - Sarah Dessen
Black Ice - Becca Fitzpatrick
The Summer After You and Me - Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
This Lullaby - Sarah Dessen
Everything Leads to You - Nina LaCour
The Weight of Feathers - Anna-Marie McLemore
Someone Like You - Sarah Dessen

So, fifteen books overall. Bring it on, fourth quarter!
Good luck to me, good luck to you, and happy reading!!

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