The Last Olympian

September 2021 Reading Wrap-Up

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Neon Gods by Katee Robert
(Dark Olympus, book 1)
Rating:  N/A – DNF
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates: Aug 19 – Sept 7
Read Count:  0.5
Favorite Thing:  Interesting premise
Least Favorite Thing:  This book made me feel oogy?

I tried to read this for Katesbookdate‘s patreon book club and… I swear this was almost porn-without-plot, it was barely not that. I felt so uncomfortable the whole time, not about the sex, but about how every single thing – good or bad – brought on a new sex scene. Also…the way he talked to her was shudder inducing.

My Posts About Neon Gods

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 5)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  Sept 7
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  The oracle!
Least Favorite Thing:  Why can’t people just tell other people things?

I probably won’t ever read these books again, but because I feel like I’ve really aged out of them. But it was a nice little throw-back.

My Posts About The Last Olympian

All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
(The Southern Vampire Mysteries, book 7 )
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 1 – 7
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Telepath Teamup!
Least Favorite Thing: I can’t even think of anything, I take these books as they are lol

So I’ve read this before, physically, but I listen to music or audiobooks while I work now and I needed something fluffy so of course I went for the Sookie Stackhouse books. I’ve been trying to slowly work my way through, but once I start one I just can’t turn it off!

My Posts About All Together Dead

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 8 – 9
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: I love the way everyone talks. No the accents, but like the word choice and the…cadence maybe?
Least Favorite Thing: She’s so painfully selfish, the movie definitely took some of that out.

I love this movie so much, and I have listened to a different audiobook version in the past, but I think this one was better.

My Posts About Brooklyn

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
(The Southern Vampire Mysteries, book 8)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 10 – 11
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: I like that a major real life event was included, makes a fantastical story feel more real.
Least Favorite Thing: Stop, I’m never going to have a least favorite am I?

These books are so relaxing for me. And occasionally quite funny.

My Posts About From Dead to Worse

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
(The Southern Vampire Mysteries, book 9)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 12 – 13
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Shifters out!!!!
Least Favorite Thing: How many times is Jason going to be accused of some kind of horrific murder? Examine your life, bro.

Ok, fine, I picked a least favorite thing. Except it’s not even really a least favorite thing, because it’s kind of hilarious?

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Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 1)
Rating: ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 15 – 17
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: TEETH!
Least Favorite Thing: Special girl is so special.

I had been wanting to reread these, specifically via audiobook, for so dang long! I finally broke down and joined audible just for the time it would take to listen to these books.

My Posts About Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 2)
Rating: ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 17 – 20
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: Ziriiiiiii
Least Favorite Thing: Mr. White Wolf himself obviously.

You know I’m just now realizing how little the covers have to do with the story…

My Posts About Days of Blood & Starlight

The Singer of All Songs by Kate Constable
(The Chanters of Tremaris, book 1)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 22 – 23
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: I just love the magic style!
Least Favorite Thing: Does she have to love the first man she’s ever met?

Don’t ask me why, but I suddenly became convinced that this was the book I needed to listen to ASAP… Anyway I bought it and I listened and the background sounds were strange…

My Posts About The Singer of All Songs

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review: No
Format: Print
Reading Dates: July 23 – Sept 28
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Uh….I….can’t think of one…
Least Favorite Thing: SHE’S SO INCREDIBLY STUPID I CAN’T HANDLE IT

Could it have taken me any longer to finish this book? Gawd! I honestly did not enjoy it at all. I wanted to, I tried really hard…. Blah.

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Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 3)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 20 – 28
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: Things finally happen!
Least Favorite Thing: I wish I could care at all about the main characters’ romance, but the only romances I give a shit about are side characters lol

WHAT DOES THIS COVER HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING??

My Posts About Dreams of Gods & Monsters

In Progress

November 2017 Reading Wrap-Up

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Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
(Underland Chronicles, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 3 – 4
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  Ripred being a little shit.
Least Favorite Thing:  Henry. Blah. Dickhead.

I woke up in the middle of the night with an urge to reread this series, and seeing as I have poor impulse control, I immediately arranged for my husband to go get them all for me from the library.

I know these books are Middle Grade so a few things are a bit silly, like a guy called Sandwich, but the story itself is quality and I recommend it to anyone who likes a fun fantasy adventure.

My Posts About Gregor the Overlander

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
(Underland Chronicles, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 5
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  Twitchtip. I miss her already.
Least Favorite Thing:  Please read this in your most disgusted tone, while screwing up your face as if you smell something foul:  Shiners.

Gregor has a lot more self-restraint that I do when it comes to not yelling at people…

I have to admit though, reading this book is a bit more difficult once one knows what’s going to happen in the next books!

My Posts About Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane

Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins
(Underland Chronicles, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 6
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  Gregor grooming Lapblood.
Least Favorite Thing:  The descriptions of some of the grosser things like plague victims and Gregor’s acid toes…

I read this whole book in like 2 hours! I surprised myself lol I didn’t intend to read it that quickly, but since it’s middle grade and the story is pretty engaging, I zipped right through it.

My Posts About Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods

Gregor and the Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins
(Underland Chronicles, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 6
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  Boots’ fucking princess scepter lol
Least Favorite Thing:  The Bane. He skeeves me out.

Oh man I had forgotten that this book is way sadder than the others! 😦

My Posts About Gregor and the Marks of Secret

Gregor and the Code of Claw by Suzanne Collins
(Underland Chronicles, book 5)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 6 – 7
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  Ripred and Lizzie. It’s too sweet!
Least Favorite Thing:  I hate one very specific thing about the ending, but only read about it if you don’t care about spoilers.
[start] I just hate that they go back to the Overland permanently as if they don’t obviously and completely belong in the Underland! That has literally always bugged me.  Sometimes I just pretend that and the thing with Ares never happened. [end]

I really love this series, I’m so glad it was recommended to me back in high school.

My Posts About Gregor and the Code of Claw

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 8 – 14
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  The end when Jane wraps everything up. I like the way she does it.
Least Favorite Thing:  The way literally no one ever listened to Fanny about her own feelings?????

I’m glad I reread it, I think I even liked it more than Sense & Sensibility now.

My Posts About Mansfield Park

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 13 – 15
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Puppyyyyy!
Least Favorite Thing:  Come on, as if I was going to say anything other than Gabe? Please.

It’s been a long time since I first read this book and I admit to not enjoying it as much this time around, but I think that’s only because it’s geared more for younger readers and sometimes I have trouble with the rhythm of Middle Grade books. I’m glad I’m going to finally get down to going through all of Rick’s books though.

My Posts About The Lightning Thief

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 15
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  lol Tyson
Least Favorite Thing:  Clarisse not knowing when to shut her damn mouth…

Oddly enough I remembered almost nothing from this one except for Tyson… So rereading it felt more like reading it for the first time. I have a feeling the rest of them will be like this too.

My Posts About The Sea of Monsters

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 15
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Bessiiiiiiie!
Least Favorite Thing:  I actually find Nico incredibly annoying…

Would it kill anyone to stop being cryptic? Like wow. Just answer a question somebody!

My Posts About The Titan’s Curse

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 15 – 16
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Poseidon showing up for Percy’s birthday just to be a drama queen. “Blowfish?” lol
Least Favorite Thing:  STILL NOBODY CAN JUST ANSWER A FUCKING QUESTION OR SHARE INFORMATION!

So far this is my favorite of the series. I’m wondering if they will just keep getting better or what.

My Posts About The Battle of the Labyrinth

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 5)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 16 – 17
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Percy being like “acknowledge your fucking children assholes” at all the gods.
Least Favorite Thing:  Guess what. It’s still the fact that no one will answer a damn question. I’m so annoyed.

Honestly, if someone doesn’t directly answer a question I’m going to scream.

My Posts About The Last Olympian

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
(Heroes of Olympus, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 17 – 18
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Leooo! Precious little fireball.
Least Favorite Thing:  It took them way too long to figure certain things out… Like everyone who spoke to them alluded to 2 or 3 specific things and they didn’t get it until the very end? Oookay.

My Posts About The Lost Hero

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
(Heroes of Olympus, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 18 – 19
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Ella/Tyson lololololol
Least Favorite Thing:  When Octavian talks I roll my eyes so hard I get a headache…

I’m not sure if this one was better than the first one (Lost Hero), but I was really glad to be back to Percy so I enjoyed it more.

My Posts About The Son of Neptune

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
(Heroes of Olympus, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 19 – 20
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  “If they’d let women warriors into their cult, the might have learned some common sense.”
Least Favorite Thing:  Literally only Leo talks about things, everyone else is like “I’ll explain later” and “we can talk about it later” and “I hope it’s not what I think it is” but they never talk about it!!

My Posts About The Mark of Athena

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
(Heroes of Olympus, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 20 – 21
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Bob + Small Bob (I’m not crying, you’re crying.)
Least Favorite Thing:  Gaea is so fucking annoying…

IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR LITTLE NICO TO GET A DAMN HUG????? My poor little spooky baby…

My Posts About The House of Hades

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
(Heroes of Olympus, book 5)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 21 – 23
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Nico gets to be happy!!!!!
Least Favorite Thing:  Zeus the douche…

I’ve got all the warm fuzzies from the ending of this book. Thanks, Rick.

My Posts About The Blood of Olympus

In Progress

WWW Wednesday: November 22, 2017

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Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:  The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus, book 5) by Rick Riordan

I’ve only just now started this one, like I’m still on the first page, but I’m very excited! Only I have to admit, I can’t see how they’re going to solve all their problems and I’m very worried about that.

Also, I’m kind of hoping they’ll all get a vacation after this… The poor demigods deserve some R&R big time! Honestly I don’t know how they keep going, I would have been done with the gods and their errands of doom like 9 books ago for sure. I get tired just witnessing Percy & Co. constantly go-go-going and fighting and struggling.

Recently Finished:  Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Heroes of Olympus // Rick Riordan

I’ve been going with these books non-stop for a week, finishing at least one a day. Honestly, I’m starting to have dreams set in the same world when I take breaks to sleep! I admit to being a little worried about the book hangover I may wind up with when I finally finish all the books, but obviously I’m not worried enough to stop.

Reading Next:  The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, book 1) by Rick Riordan

So according to the internet, The Trials of Apollo is a sequel series ot Heroes of Olympus, so even though Rick has 2 other series out as well, I’m going to jump to this one next.

I haven’t decided yet if I will read the Kane Chronicles or Magnus Chase books… I’m worried I won’t enjoy them as much after spending so much time with the Greek/Roman gods and the demigod characters in this group of stories. I may decide to keep them in the TBR and just take a break from Rick Riordan’s books so that I’m a little fresher when I do read them. Who knows.