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Top 5 Wednesday: January 10, 2018

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Books You Didn’t Get to In 2017

These are books you didn’t end up getting to in 2017, but really want to prioritize in 2018.
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, head over to their Goodreads Group!

Throne of Glass series // Sarah J. Maas

When the new book came out (ha…not even the most recent new book) I decided I needed to reread the whole series if I was going to have any idea what was going on. Of course, that was the end of 2016, and then with yet another new one coming out in 2017 I figured I would get to it at some point… Wrong!

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

I’ve literally had this for almost an entire year, completely intending to read it, and then just…not…doing…that…. I have no excuse at all honestly. Especially considering all the good things I’ve heard about it.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

God I’ve been “meaning to read this one” literally since it came out in like 2015 or something. I keep getting it from the library, sitting it on the shelf, and then turning it back in without reading it. At least with this one I have a reason though. Sarah Dessen was a favorite back in high school and I was excited to see another book by her, but I suddenly got it into my head that if it somehow disappointed me (something no Dessen novel has ever done) I might not be able to love her other books quite the same as I have. So basically I psyched myself out…

The Forgotten Sisters (Princess Academy, book 3) by Shannon Hale

This is another one that I’ve been intending to get to for ages. I even reread the first two books to prepare for reading this one. And yet… I’m going to blame the second book, because it was completely unmemorable (it wasn’t bad though) so how am I supposed to go on to the third?

The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch, book 1) by Rin Chupeco

I was so excited when this book came out and I heard so many great things, so I got it from the library as soon as it was available. And then I read it right away! Not… I put it on the library shelf and looked at it sometimes with the best of intentions, but never quite in the exact right mood for it apparently. (That’s just an excuse, I’m just bad at follow-through!)

What are some books you meant to read last year, but didn’t get around to?

WWW Wednesday: January 10, 2018

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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:  Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham

I grabbed this one because I was getting a little stuck on the other book I’m reading. Lauren has a quarter-serious, mostly comical way of looking at her life and it’s pretty fun to read.

I almost feel as if she’s sitting there just chatting to me rather than me just being curled up reading a book.

I’m looking forward to finding out about behind-the-scenes Gilmore Girls things, but I don’t see how she can top the Top-Secret Hollywood Secrets on dieting.

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

I am both enjoying, and not enjoying this book…

Basically, it’s fascinating and strange, exactly like I was hoping it would be. But I don’t like it as much as I hoped.

I was warned that it might seem less magical than TRC, which when I first started I thought was erroneous, but the more I read of it the more I start to see what they meant. That’s not to say there isn’t any magic, in fact there’s quite a lot. But that’s my problem. There’s so much magic, it feels… somehow less magical…. And I can’t really explain that very well, but there it is.

Recently Finished:  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The decision to read this was pretty spur of the moment. Some other readers had made me want to try out Gillian Flynn’s novels, but I wasn’t going to for little while yet. And then I just sort of…. did? I have no idea what made me do it, but I’m sooo glad!

It was amazing. Except for the parts where I wanted to climb into the book and push Nick off something tall for being a pretentious douche… But otherwise, completely amazing!

I’ve already ordered it online because I know I’m going to want to reread it.

Reading Next:  Jackaroo (Tales of the Kingdom, book 1) by Cynthia Voigt

I’ve found myself in a major YA Fantasy mood and I haven’t even managed to finish the two books I’m currently reading!

I thought about looking for a book I hadn’t read before, but I know how much I love the Tales of the Kingdom books so I’m going to reread them yet again. After all, it’s been just slightly over a year since I reread them last!

The hard part will be making myself wait to start until I finish the two books I’m already on.

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: January 3, 2018

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What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater
  2. Judith used to be the most beautiful woman in Bicho Raro, but then she’d moved, and now she was the most beautiful woman in Colorado Springs.
  3. I mean, I’d like to, as long as I don’t have to be a pilgrim. Because I know I have darkness inside me and I really do not want to know what it would manifest as! Yikes…

 

Top 5 Wednesday: January 3, 2018

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2018 Reading Resolutions

Self explanatory. Let us know 5 of your reading goals for the year. 
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, head over to their Goodreads Group!

It’s that time again, y’all! I pretty much never make regular new year’s resolutions, but making reading resolutions really helped last year, so here we go!

  1. Read 75 books in 2018! (Goodreads Goal)
    I considered raising this number since this was my goal for 2017 as well, but I decided to keep it since it is still a challenge for me at this point. With my mental state the way it is, I have massive slumps where I can barely even get out of bed, much less read regularly. So if I can do 75 two years in a row, I’ll raise the goal for 2019, but for now I think this is still challenging myself.
  2. Give General Fiction novels another chance.
    I always had trouble getting into General Fiction because most of the books I found seemed to be full of gratuitous sex scenes that did nothing to enhance the plot, which got boring fast. This year I’d like to at least try a few more General Fic books to see if I can find ones I like.
  3. Read at least 15 books that I own, but haven’t read yet.
    Haha I’m garbage and I buy books and never fucking read them! This year I want to knock 15 of them off my TBR so if I don’t like them I can trade them to the used bookstore for better ones!
  4. Keep up with writing reviews.
    I said for 2017 that I wanted to start writing book reviews and I did, but as the year went on I did less and less. I would like to get better at reviewing and do it more because I do kind of enjoy it.
  5. Keep reading more #OwnVoices novels.
    I never bothered specifically trying to find novels by non-white authors before last year, despite being annoyed by the lack of diversity in a lot of the novels I read (before Own Voices novels I never read a single book with a character like me in it…), but I’m glad I started to that and I want to read even more this year.

Do you have any bookish goals for 2018?

Musing Monday: January 1, 2018

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Musing Mondays is a weekly meme, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ____, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Do you take part in any book challenges? If you do you find yourself keeping up and making the posts on the other blogs?

I’m currently reading…
All The Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

I had been waiting to start this one and finally got it from the library last week. I’m only about 1/4 of the way in so far, but I’m liking it. The narrator is pretty funny and the descriptive language is fantastic as always with Maggie.

Do you take part in any book challenges? If you do you find yourself keeping up and making the posts on the other blogs?
I do the Goodreads challenge, but I’ve yet to try any other challenges. I would like to, and almost did last year, but I just kept forgetting like a dodo….