Say My Name: Semi-Charmed Kind of Life

I found this awesome link-up on Elle's blog yesterday, and it sounded like fun! So, you get two posts from me today. And I already have one scheduled for tomorrow. What is happening to me?!


Today I wanted to share the story behind my blog name. It started as Work In Progress in summer 2011 because I honestly couldn't think of a title, and somehow Work In Progress sounded cooler than Untitled. I changed it to Semi-Charmed Kind of Life when I went back to school that fall. I picked this title because:

Happy Birthday, Book Chat!

Can you believe it has been a year since Jessica posted the first-ever Book Chat prompt on Sweet Green Tangerine?? I always thought I had been part of the link-up since the beginning, but when I went back to look at my old posts, I was sad to discover my first participation was actually for the second prompt. So today, I'm going to go back and participate in that very first link-up:

Favorite tragic couple: Chris & Emily | The Pact by Jodi Picoult (I feel really weird saying that considering how messed up the relationship—and entire storyline—is, but I think I am biased because this is one of my favorite books of all time.)

Winter Book Challenge: Final Scoreboard

Source: megancstroup.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Well, at least I am getting the final scoreboard up before March (barely)! Thanks again to everyone who participated. It looks like winter is a little busier for reading than summer is, so I'm looking forward to the next summer book challenge when hopefully a few more people (including myself!) can finish. We did have one more person finish the challenge in January, bringing the grand total to three finishers. Congrats to the final winner, Beth! See where you ended up in the full scoreboard after the jump:

The Book Chat: Books on the Big Screen

Today's Book Chat topic is a lot of fun: books I would like to see made into movies! Plus, one of my all-time favorite bloggers, Melissa, is co-hosting with Jessica this week, so you should definitely check out her blog! If you like books, travel and/or music, both of these gals are great ones to add to your Google Reader. :)


I saw that Jessica cast the characters of the books she would want to see on the big screen, and I really wanted to borrow that idea, but I'm having such a hard time picking actors and actresses that would do my favorite characters justice. Kudos to you, Jessica, for picking such awesome people in your post! And, I realized there were several movies based on books that I wanted to mention in this post, so I jumped between a few different related topics. I hope you don't mind!

The Book Chat: Reading Resolutions Update

This week's Book Chat topic is rereading books. I don't typically reread books, as I mentioned during this post for the 30-Day Book Challenge last year, but there is one series I will make an exception for. I also think I want to start rereading some books from my childhood that I might understand better now (e.g. The Phantom Tollbooth, His Dark Materials series, etc.).


Because I already wrote about rereading on this blog (which you can read by clicking the link above), I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on my progress with my 2013 reading resolutions, which are also a product of the Book Chat.

The Book Chat: Short Stories

Photo via Contains Moderate Peril

When I first saw the Book Chat topic from Sweet Green Tangerine last week, I didn't know if I would have enough to post about. I don't typically read short stories, but there were actually a few stories that jumped out in my memory right away. I was also able to find the full text for all the stories online, so you can enjoy them yourself (just click the title links)! First: "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. I read it in high school, and it has stuck with me ever since. When I was searching for an image for this post, I saw the story has also been turned into a film, so I might check that out. Another high school assignment that really stands out to me was "The Necklace." Finally, my mom read us "The Gift of the Magi" when I was young, and it's definitely a classic. Have you read any of these?

Note: This Book Chat topic (combined with a great $1.99 Best American Kindle sale last week) inspired me to buy The Best American Short Stories 2012. Maybe I'll find a few more short stories to add to my favorites! I'll also definitely be checking out the other link-ups to get some new ideas:

Photo a Day: December

Before we get too far into February, I figured I should probably post my December photo a day challenge recap so I can also share my January photos before the end of this month.

Winter Book Challenge: Month 3

Source: megancstroup.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Welcome to the third and final check-in for the Semi-Charmed Winter 2012 Book Challenge! I'd also like to congratulate the second winner of this challenge, J. Imari! Did anyone else manage to finish in January? Remember, all books must have been finished by 11:59 p.m. on January 31 to count toward your total! See the full scoreboard below:

The Book Chat: Currently Reading

I'm so excited to be co-hosting The Book Chat with Jessica from Sweet Green Tangerine today! This week's topic is: What are you reading?

I recently joined the Literary Junkies Book Club, hosted by Pink Heels Pink Truck and By the Porchlight. The January book was The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling, she of esteemed Harry Potter fame, so I was excited to finally have an excuse to start it. I had been waiting to buy it until I caught up on all my reports for work, and then the Kindle version was briefly available for only $8! I was stoked. Unfortunately, I'm only about 11 percent of the way through, so I wasn't able to participate in the monthly Twitter chat on Tuesday, but I am still planning to finish the book. If you want to join in on the fun next month, the February book is The American Heiress.

I was also planning to update you on the state of my 2013 reading resolutions today, but with all these technical difficulties I've been having, I don't want this post to be any later than it already is. So, check back tomorrow (or this weekend) for that update. Thanks again for asking me to co-host, Jessica! I'm so honored. :)

<a href="http://sweet-green-tangerine.blogspot.com/2013/01/thebookchat-currently-reading.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k551/sweetgreentangerine/currentlyreading_zps84389a6a.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>
Is this your first time at the Book Chat? Just follow these simple rules:
1. Please follow the host (Sweet Green Tangerine) and co-host (me!)
2. Visit a few other book chat links and show some support.
3. Link back here in your post. Or use the button provided.
4. Old posts are always welcome if you have blogged on the topic before.

Next week's topic: Short stories and novellas.

The Book Chat: Pet Peeves

I know I'm late to the party, but I really didn't want to miss The Book Chat this (last) week. I think it's a great topic, and although there are many different things that have annoyed me in specific books in the past, I wanted to focus on one peeve today: when authors write in dialect.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was so hard for me to get through. I hate having to read the same line three times to figure out what all the misspellings are trying to say. I understand that dialect does add something to the story, but it makes reading tedious when every single line is written that way. When I first started reading The Help, I was really worried I wouldn't like it because certain chapters are written in dialect, but it ended up not being an issue. How do you feel about dialect in books? Can you think of any books that use it well or badly?

See the other posts from this week's link-up by clicking the button below:

Next week's topic: What are you currently reading? Be sure to join in because I'm co-hosting! :)