Continuing :
Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi
Crown of Thunder by Tochi Onyebuchi
Fable by Adrienne Young*
The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi*
Floriography by Jessica Reoux*
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
*These are review copies provided by the Publisher through Netgalley
What books are you excited to read this month? Have you finished any yet you’ve really enjoyed?
I’m finally out of my reading slump! I actually read books last month!!! Can you tell I’m excited?
July TBR
Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi
Crown of Thunder by Tochi Onyebuchi
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (ebook)
Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang (e-ARC)
The Girl with the Whispering Shadow by D.E. Night (ebook)
continuing from last month
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (audio/ebook)
What are you reading this July? What books are you most excited about?
I can’t wait to read Beasts Made of Night. I’ve wanted to read it for a while.
I also may have already finished Opium and Absinthe and enjoyed it.
A big goal I’ve set for myself this year is buying fewer books and reading more of what I already own. It’s a bit daunting to look at my shelves and see so many books I still haven’t read (especially if there are multiple editions of those books). So I’m going to make another attempt at the Beat the Backlist Challenge.
If you’re unfamiliar with the challenge hosted by NovelKnight check out this post for more details and to sign up.
Basically you read books published in 2019 or earlier in any format.
Books I hope to read:
The Folk of Air Series by Holly Black
The Cruel Prince (reread)
The Lost Sisters (reread)
The Wicked King
The Queen of Nothing
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
Eye of the World*
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman
Scythe (reread)
Thunderhead (reread)
The Toll
The Traveler’s Gate Trilogy/Chronicles by Will Wight
House of Blades
The Crimson Vault
City of Light
Elder Empire: Sea by Will Wight
Of Sean and Shadow
Of Dawn and Darkness
Elder Empire: Shadow by Will Wight
Of Shadow and Sea
Of Darkness and Dawn
The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
The Necromancer
The Warlock
The Enchantress
Stalking Jack the Ripper Series by Kerri Maniscalco
Becoming the Dark Prince
Capturing the Devil
From Subscription Boxes:
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
Magic is For Liars by Sarah Gailey
Fire & Heist by Sarah Beth Durst
Nocturna by Maya Motayne
Stronger than a Bronze Dragon by Mary Fan
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames
Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte
Once a King by Erin Summerill
I’m sure I won’t get through all of these, but at least making a dent in the list will help me knock out a chunk of my owned and unread books.
*If you follow me on Instagram you know I already started Eye of the World last year but didn’t make it very far. It’s been a few months since I’ve picked it up, so I‘m going to be starting it again from the beginning.
*awkwardly waves*
So, it’s been a while. I never actually put the blog on hiatus…we’ll call that wishful thinking. Despite how long this year has felt I’m not sure where the time has gone.
This year has been crazy, it’s been stressful, and there has been a lot of change as well as a lot of things that have come up personally. That being said I’m not offering excuses, but an apology for the lack of content.
Now…
Onto happier and bookish things!
I’ve actually been able to read some. Not just eBooks, but a physical book. I’m amazed. Pretty much all my reading this year was done via audiobook. (Yes that’s reading!) So actually being able to read a physical book is a big deal for me. Have I been reading it (Sorcery of Thorns) for months? Yes, but the point is I’m reading again. So yay!
ParaNorman by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson (finish)
Are you reading anything spooky this October? Do you already have any favorite reads of the month?
There are so many great books coming out in 2019 that I want to read. However, there are so many books already out I want to read that have been sitting on my TBR or were sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.
So many books, so little time, and so many shiny new books to distract from the massive backlist I’ve accumulated.
So this year I decided to make those series and books I’ve put off or abandoned a priority and will be taking part in the Beat the Backlist Challenge hosted by NovelKnight. If you’d like to learn more check out this post.
So here is my Beat the Backlist Challenge TBR:
The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Series by Michael Scott
The Alchemyst (reread)
The Magician (reread)
The Sorceress (reread)
The Necromancer (partial reread)
The Warlock
The Enchantress
The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
City of Glass (reread)
City of Fallen Angels
City of Lost Souls
City of Heavenly Fire
The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Princess
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages
Cradle by Will Wight
Unsouled (reread)
Soulsmith (reread)
Blackflame
Skysworn
Ghostwater
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Wizard and Glass
Wolves of Calla
Song of Susannah
The Dark Tower
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
The Monsters of Verity series by Victoria Schwab
This Savage Song
Our Dark Duet
Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Beautiful Creatures
Beautiful Darkness
Beautiful Chaos
Beautiful Redemption
This is in no way an exhaustive list of the backlist books I plan to read for 2019, but they are the books I want to make sure I do read.
Are you participating in the Beat the Backlist Challenge? What books on your backlist do you need to stop putting off?
I hope everyone had an amazing holiday season!
I can’t believe December is over! I mean where did 2018 go?
I met my reading goal for the year of 50 books a few months ago so I knew I didn’t have to stress over it, but there were so many books I still wanted to read and finish.
December is my catch-all month so I tried finishing as many books as I could that I started and abandoned earlier in the year. I also tried to sneak in a few holiday/festive reads.
Books to Read:
The Afterlife of Holly Chase* by Cynthia Hand
My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories* edited by Stephanie Perkins
Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
Books to Finish Before Year’s End:
A Court of Wings and Ruin (audiobook) by Sarah J Maas
The Hobbit (audiobook reread)* by J.R.R. Tolkien
City of Bones (audiobook reread) by Cassandra Clare
Mistborn (audiobook) by Brandon Sanderson
Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco
Kingdom of Ruins (kindle)* by D.C. Marino
Ready Player One (audiobook)* by Ernest Cline
*These books were priority reads
December definitely didn’t go as I planned, but not a lot of things have the last few months. I didn’t get all of those books finished, not even the priority reads, but I did at least get some reading done.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (audiobook reread): 2.5 stars
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (audiobook reread): 3 stars
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (audiobook): 3 stars
Gravity Falls: Lost Legends by Alex Hirsch: 4 stars
The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand: 4 stars
The Hobbit (audiobook reread): 2 stars
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare: Oh boy…I didn’t like this one this time around. I really enjoyed the series when I first read it, but this time…I mean just yeah…I didn’t enjoy the writing style and disliked most of the main characters.
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare: I didn’t struggle as much with this one, maybe it was the narrator, maybe it was the Clave drama, I’m not sure, but I still wasn’t a big fan of the characters, and I mean it’s kind of hard to enjoy this series when you don’t like Clary or Jace, and I really don’t like Jace. I could tolerate him my first read through, but this time I found his character to be quite problematic.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: I finally finished!!! First of all, Will Wheaton deserves 5 stars (okay all the stars) for his performance. He did an amazing job and really brought the story to life. I had a really hard time rating this one since his narration had a lot of impact on my motivation to keep listening. I got bored with the plot a little before the halfway point, but then couldn’t pick it back up because I saw the movie with my family—which was quite different in places. So I needed some time to separate the two. I did like the story, but I wouldn’t have had a problem with putting this one on my DNF list. I think overall the read was worth it, but at some point the 80’s references became too much and the plot just got boring for me.
Gravity Falls: Lost Legends by Alex Hirsch: I absolutely love Gravity Falls. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a cartoon show that was aired on Disney and Disney XD. At times it would be too silly and immature for me, but overall I enjoy it immensely (and just don’t rewatch those episodes). So, after it ended I had to get this book. If you’ve seen the show this book is basically the episodes “Bottomless Pit!” and “Little Gift Shop of Horrors” in comic form. It was such a fun return to Gravity Falls and truly captured the heart and soul of the show.
The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand: I really enjoyed this one. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go because Holly’s not exactly likable at first, but it was such a great read. Were some things predictable? Yes, but there was a great cast of characters and once the plot got moving I didn’t want to put it down. If you’re thinking about a holiday read for next year I definitely recommend it.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: I have a confession. I’ve tried to read this book about seven times in the last five years never finishing it. I read it once back in middle school (“for fun”) and even then didn’t really enjoy it…though now, having just finished it, I’m not 100% sure I actually did finish it back then. I didn’t enjoy it. I just didn’t connect with the characters, and it didn’t hold my attention. Honestly, I’m really bummed. I mean it’s a book that’s so loved and it just wasn’t for me. I’m glad I did finish it though and can knock it off my bucket list. I am still going to give The Lord of the Rings trilogy a try.
So December was pretty much a month of unpopular opinions for me. I didn’t exactly end the year on high note in terms of ratings either, but that’s okay. There are so many awesome reads to look forward to in 2019!
What was your favorite read of December?
I may not have finished NaNoWriMo, but I actually successfully completed my November TBR!!!
I set my sights low in November because of all the post hurricane things we were dealing with and my lack of focus when it came to reading.
I also pretty much abandoned any book I was reading from the previous months except for the Throne of Glass series.
Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd
Obsido by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas
Now Kingdom of Ash was going to be tricky because I still hadn’t finished Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn, but I did it! Audiobooks are life savers when you can’t sit down and bring yourself to read a physical book.
Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread): 4 stars
Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread): 5 stars
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas (audiobook): 3.5 stars
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (finished audiobook reread) 4.5 stars
Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (audiobook reread): 4.5 stars
Obsido by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (audiobook and book): 4.5 stars
Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd: 3 stars
Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread)*
Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread)*
*I actually read/listened to Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas together switching between the two and it was such a cool experience. I think it actually made it better and I didn’t have to remember as much while reading Tower of Dawn. Though I wouldn’t recommend doing this your first time through.
I enjoyed these two more this time around. They set up Kingdom of Ash well.
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas (audiobook): Oh I have thoughts on this book. First of all I have to say that this was a solid conclusion to a series. I liked it, but I do however have issues with it .
Obsido by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (audiobook and book): I already have said how much I enjoyed Illuminae and Gemina so I didn’t see the need to give them their own little reviews again. Obsidio was such a great conclusion to the series and it was so good! If you haven’t read it yet you need to. (I highly suggest reading the books and listening to the audiobooks simultaneously.)
Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd: I’m not really sure how I feel about this one. I really liked the magic system and the world building, but overall it was just okay for me. I wasn’t a big fan of Anouk and didn’t find some of the resolutions or reactions to be realistic, but that might have just been me. I am curious as to what happens next so I will be reading Midnight Beauties.
This month I’m doing something a bit different. I grabbed a bunch of spooky/autumn/Halloween books that I’d like to read. There’s no way I’m going to get through them all, but they are all books I really want to read. We’ll see what happens.
Endsinger by Jay Kristoff
Kingdom of Ruins by D.C. Marino (kindle)
Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco
Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread)*
Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread)*
*I’m listening to these simultaneously
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab (buddy read)
This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero
Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
The Leaf Reader by Emily Arsenault
Nightbooks by J.A. White
Vampire Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager (buddy read #frightnightathon)
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas (releases October 23rd)
The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Lies She Told by Cate Holahan
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Coraline by Neil Gaiman (reread)
Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab
Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
So whatever I don’t get to this month will either be saved for next October or just be pushed over to November.
How many do you think I’ll actually be able to read?
Are you reading anything spooky this month? What are you most excited to read this month?
I can’t wait to read The Near Witch and Meddling Kids. I’ve been wanting to read both for a while so I’m excited to dive in.
September is my birthday month so I wanted to fill it with books I’ve been wanting to read and authors I love.
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab
Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff
Endsinger by Jay Kristoff
Not Pictured:
Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread)
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread)
Kingdom of Ruins by D.C. Marino (kindle)
Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco (9/18 release)
Vengeful by Victoria Schwab (9/25 release)
I am so excited to get to all of these.
What book are you most excited to read in September? What releases are you most looking forward to?
I can’t believe it’s already August. I want to try to get through a few summery books before the end of the month.
Continued Reading from July:
The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) by Rick Riordan
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo (kindle)
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread)
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (I may have started this early…)
Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff (buddy read)
Circe by Madeline Miller (buddy read)
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread)
If it’s a good month I’m also be hoping to read:
Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas (audiobook reread)
Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff
What book are you most excited to read this month?
I can’t wait to read Godsgrave! And I’m really enjoying Uprooted.