Reading Wrap-Up

March 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

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Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  March 3 – 7
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  GHOST LEOPARD!!!!
Least Favorite Thing:  Chaol’s shit-ass attitude for the first 2/3rds of the book drove me crazy. I mean I think it’s good writing for a character to have flaws and not always be likable, but his change in attitude just seemed so damn sudden and jarring…

This was the last one that was a reread, the rest of the books will be entirely new to me!

My Posts About Queen of Shadows

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
(The Darkest Minds, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  March 20 – 21
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  IT’S OBVIOUSLY ZU. ANYONE WHO CLAIMS OTHERWISE IS A BIG FAT LIAR!
Least Favorite Thing:  You-Know-Who with his creepy mind twisty creeps!

I randomly decided to reread this after seeing something about the film version coming out this August and being unable to get the story out of my head. I’m glad I did, I actually enjoyed it more this time around and raised my rating from 3 to 4 stars.

My Posts About The Darkest Minds

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken
(The Darkest Minds, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  March 21 – 23
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Rrrredssss! (I’m a fan of anything that just sets shit on fire lol)
Least Favorite Thing:  I CAN’T SAY IT BECAUSE IT’S A BIG SPOILER, BUT I’M STILL TEARY-EYED ABOUT IT!!!

I’m so happy because I didn’t really get Second Book Syndrome from this one like I did the first time I read the series.

My Posts About Never Fade

In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken
(The Darkest Minds, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  March 24
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  SU-ZU-MEEEEEEEE
Least Favorite Thing:  The fact that no one just put Clancy out of everyone’s misery…

Oh wow! So I just looked back at my old rating of this book and it was apparently 2 stars??? What??? This series is clearly one that improved with time. I’m really glad I reread it. Hope the films do them justice!

My Posts About In the Afterlight

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  March 28
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  She is so funny and surprisingly verbose. (I’d never seen her in anything where she was being herself and not acting, so I had no idea her vocabulary was so enjoyably vast. I even learned a new word or two.)
Least Favorite Thing:  Um, it ended too soon.

I actually listened to the audiobook version of this book (though I had the physical copy with me to mark quotes and cool words). I am not usually a fan of audiobooks just because they don’t hold my attention all that well, but Anna reading her book was very engaging and I never once lost my concentration even though I was doing other things the whole time. I definitely recommend everyone try the audiobook whether or not they intend to read the physical copy. This is officially one of my top 3 favorite autobiographies so far.

My Posts About Scrappy Little Nobody

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
(Twilight Saga, book 1)
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  March 30 – 31
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  It ended.
Least Favorite Thing:  Gosh it’s so hard to pick just one… Possibly that fact that she’s like “I should be freaked out that he literally stalks me and breaks into my home on the reg, but I think it’s adoooorable”?

Well considering I set out to reread this specifically as a way of torturing myself into wanting to read better books again… It was exactly as painful as expected and pretty damn effective.

My Posts About Twilight

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
(Twilight Saga, book 1.5)
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  March 31
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Emmett overacting when he and Edward scheme to get Ben and Angela together. I swear I thought I was reading fanfiction for a minute there, but it was hilarious.
Least Favorite Thing:  Eddie-boy is a self-obsessed, uppity lil bitch. Every thought he has is like “oh this human did a thing, but not as well as I do it” and “oh that human had a feeling, but of course it is nowhere as strong as MY emotions”

Welp… What can I say… I kept having to stop and scream into a pillow or rant at my husband so that probably tells you what you need to know right?

My Posts About Midnight Sun

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
(Twilight Saga, book 2)
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  March 31 – April 1 (Putting it here, because it was barely after midnight on April 1 that I finished.)
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Edward wasn’t in a good chunk of it. That was nice.
Least Favorite Thing:  She still monologued about him the whole time. That was less nice.

I spent a solid 30 minutes just trying to figure out what she could have said to a therapist that would have allowed her to talk openly about the vampire crap without an involuntary psych hold…

My Posts About New Moon

In Progress

February 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

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Elske by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  January 30 – Feb 5
Read Count:  4
Favorite Thing:  Elske just defying everyone’s expectations over and over.
Least Favorite Thing:  Beriel’s friendship skills need work.

So now that I’ve finished rereading the Tales of the Kingdom is it too early to start rereading them all over again?

Note:  Also published as The Tale of Elske, which is the version I read since I don’t have access to my own copy right now.

My Posts About Elske

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  February 6 – 11
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  When Celaena won the sparring match without even drawing a weapon!
Least Favorite Thing:  Only one named black character (and the only unnamed ones were that character’s body guards that get mentioned in passing a few times…).

I decided to reread Throne of Glass so I can read the parts of the series I hadn’t gotten to yet.

My Posts About Throne of Glass

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  February 14 – 21
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Celaena rescuing Chaol and fucking up a whole room full of dudes.
Least Favorite Thing:  Just talk to each other!!! Everyone in these books gets all offended when their friends keep secrets from them, but then they keep secrets from those same people! Just communicate!

It’s a good thing I reread this one because I didn’t remember many of the finer details.

My Posts About Crown of Midnight

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  February 27 – 28
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Abraxos!
Least Favorite Thing:  Maeve a lil bish…

Hahahaha I remembered almost nothing of Aelin’s story or anyone from Adarlan. I only remembered Manon and her witches! Good thing I reread it!

My Posts About Heir of Fire

January 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

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Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  January 6
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Sneaky sneaky sneaky!
Least Favorite Thing:  Ooooh Nick is such a douche!

I’m so grateful to Kelsie @ BilboBookins for putting Gillian Flynn back on my radar and making me really consider reading her books and Marina @ The Review Marina for her review which put to rest my worries about whether having liked the movie, I could enjoy the book too. If it hadn’t been for these two I probably wouldn’t have picked up this amazing book at all and I’d have really missed out!

My Posts About Gone Girl

Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  January 7 – 10
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The diet secrets “monologue”.
Least Favorite Thing:  Boredom.

For something with “Gilmore Girls” all over the cover, it had surprisingly little Gilmore Girls in it. (This is neither a good nor bad thing, just an observation.)

My Posts About Talking as Fast as I Can

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  December 27 – January 11
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The way Beatriz thinks.
Least Favorite Thing:  Waiting for something to Happen in the beginning of the novel.

As I mentioned in my rating post, my complaint about this book was just that it was hard to get into, but I really think it’s worth it.

My Posts About All the Crooked Saints

Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  January 11 – 12
Read Count: 4-ish?
Favorite Thing:  Burrrrl!
Least Favorite Thing:  Cam is so much more annoying than he was when I first read this in middle school lol

This is my favorite series, and this is one of my favorite stories from the series. It makes me so sad that no one seems to know about these books anymore (admittedly they are a bit old, but they are so good)!

My Posts About Jackaroo

On Fortune’s Wheel by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  January 12 -15
Read Count:  4-ish?
Favorite Thing:  Birle at the end, with Nan.
Least Favorite Thing:  The part at the slave market where that nasty fucker shoves his fingers in Birle’s mouth while he’s deciding if he wants to buy her. I literally had to stop reading and go brush my teeth, the passage evoked that visceral a response from me. (Actually I may need to again now just remembering…)

This one always gives me a little trouble during Part 1, because it moves slowly, but once I get past that, Parts 2 & 3 speed by so fast because this book is amazing.

Note:  Also published as The Tale of Birle, which is the copy I actually read this time, since I don’t have access to my own copy right now.

My Posts About On Fortune’s Wheel

Live Through This by Mindi Scott
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  January 17
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  That life goes on as normal even with the bad things that are happening.
Least Favorite Thing:  I wish we got to know what came next. I mean I get it, but I still wish.

Trigger Warning:  Sexual Assault

Despite the harsh subject matter, I really liked this book.

My Posts About Live Through This

Counterfeit Son by Elaine Marie Alphin
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  January 20
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  The sailing.
Least Favorite Thing:  The mom at the end. Spoiler: [start] I just hate that the book ended without her even acknowledging that he was really her son or anything other than standing there… [end]

I’m not sure what made me think of this book all of a sudden, but once I did I suddenly also wanted to reread it.

My Posts About Counterfeit Son

Gallows Hill by Lois Duncan
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  January 25 – 26
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Piecing together all the little tidbits that didn’t get direct explanations.
Least Favorite Thing:  The usage of the g*psy slur & negative stereotyping of Romani people. (It was a part of the characterization of the antagonists, but it was still left a bad taste in my brain.)

I decided to go on a Lois Duncan reading kick, and Gallows Hill was the first one I grabbed.

My Posts About Gallows Hill

The Wings of a Falcon by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  January 21 – 29
Read Count:  4-ish?
Favorite Thing:  Oriel & Griff’s friendship.
Least Favorite Thing:  Merlis…

Don’t talk to me. Don’t look at me. The Thing literally gets harder every time I reread this even knowing it’s coming!

Note:  Also published as The Tale of Oriel, which is the copy I actually read this time, since I don’t have access to my own copy right now.

My Posts About The Wings of a Falcon

The Third Eye by Lois Duncan
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  January 30
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I liked the mechanics of Karen’s gift. Especially the heightened sense of smell. That was interesting.
Least Favorite Thing:  Did we really need such a detailed description of a dead dog?

This was the second book on my Lois Duncan kick. I liked it better than the first one I think.

My Posts About The Third Eye

December 2017 Wrap-Up

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Non-Reading Stuff

Health-wise I’ve been doing about the same, but my mental health is like sort of good and bad? Like I’ve noticed I’m having more and more trouble enjoying anything lately, which is part of the depression being really bad (yay Major Depressive Disorder), but at the same time I’ve been making some progress. I spent time with my mom and left the house and have been working on doing more around the house, which is all progress…

I actually left the house 3 times this month, and they were all my own idea and everything! Basically I went with my husband to a procedure he had, and then hung out with him and my mom for most of the rest of that day walking around the square and stuff. Then that weekend the hubby and I went out for coffee and to the library. That was my favorite thing honestly even though it was such a small thing because it’s been years since I was able to go to the public library. When I was younger I practically lived there, but not for years. So I walked in and immediately froze because I had forgotten how the public library smells and I know it sounds ridiculous but I spent like several minutes just standing in the entryway taking deep breaths! Ha! And I did another thing this month that I hadn’t done in years: I went to the movies! My mom and I brought back our old Christmas tradition from my childhood and we went to the movies on xmas day.

So I’m not sure what’s up with my brain lately, but I’m trying to find a way to get back on meds because I definitely need it!

Reading Stuff

I read 9 books in November, and of those I finished 8.
You can view the list of books and my fave/least fave things about them here.

I MET MY GOAL I MET MY GOAL I MET MY MOTHER FUCKING GOAL!!!!

Finishing 8 books put me at 78 for the year, officially 3 over my Goodreads goal of 75 for 2017! I’m so proud of myself honestly because there was a good half of the year where I didn’t see how I was going to meet that goal.

Blogging Stuff

I wasn’t a whole lot more active on the blog this month, but I did manage to do some things I had been wanting to do more of so I’m cool with it.

As always there are some of the weekly book memes, along with quotes and rating posts (links for all these in sidebar for WordPress users), but I also managed to do more bookstagrams. (This was made easier by my actually leaving the house this month!) I got to post pictures of yummy food with yummy books, and a little used bookstore haul. I even managed to get out a full review this month, for Forest of a Thousand Lanterns.

One of my other goals was to make more original posts, not just the same things I always do. So when I felt like screaming, either in frustration or celebration? I tossed it up on the blog. When I got to the last quarter of FOTL and realized there was too much book left for the protag to be feeling as confident as she was? I posted that too.

I have several cross-posted things from talking to booklr folks on tumblr. I gave some incredibly wise, insightful writing advice, some book recs, did a couple tag games, and did my best to answer someone who was worried about running into one of their phobias reading FOTL.

I hope I can keep this good momentum up because I’ve noticed the more I blog the more I keep up with my reading, even when the depression is bad.

Is there something you would like to see (or see more of) on the blog? Let me know! And if you have your own monthly wrap-ups I’d love some links! 🙂 Hope all y’all had good Decembers & Happy Holidays!

December 2017 Reading Wrap-Up

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The Waterless Sea by Kate Constable
(The Chanters of Tremaris, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  December 11 – 12
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Chanters vs. Pirates from the beginning.
Least Favorite Thing:  Ooomg so many sexist desert-dwellers!

I started to reread this series earlier in the year and then just totally got side-tracked, but I’m back now! (Also I think I completely blocked out the end….)

My Posts About The Waterless Sea

The Tenth Power by Kate Constable
(The Chanters of Tremaris, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  December 12
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  The reveal about Cal’s family 🙂
Least Favorite Thing:  Um… Keela’s entire original personality?

Man I zipped through this one! I was so anxious because I couldn’t remember in detail how this book went so I just devoured it!

I definitely recommend the Chanters of Tremaris series to anyone who likes YA Magical Fantasy and those who, like me, love stories about nature magic.

My Posts About The Tenth Power

The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  Kinda?
Reading Dates:  December 12
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Lavena had me cackling!
Least Favorite Thing:  Seriously why does her entire family have to be Like That?? I just wanted to climb into the novel and systematically throttle them all…

I was actually surprised by how little of this story I remembered from when I first read it years ago.

My Posts About The Swan Maiden

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
(Trials of Apollo, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  November 23 – December 13
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Actually dealt pretty well with the portrayal of a relationship between a child and their abusive parent.
Least Favorite Thing:  Apollo is so fucking annoying. I miss Percy.

Seriously the only parts of the book I truly loved were the parts with Percy. I didn’t even realize he was my favorite, but he’s obviously my favorite. Lovably sarcastic dork….

My Posts About The Hidden Oracle

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
(Brian’s Saga, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  December 13
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  I love the way Brian thinks about things, like referring to the fire as his “new hungry friend”.
Least Favorite Thing:  That moose was a dick. (Honestly, I can’t think of anything I didn’t like about the story/writing.)

I’m really glad I decided to try rereading this again. I wanted to see if I still liked it after all these years and I think I actually like it more now.

My Posts About Hatchet

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
(Rise of the Empress, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  December 15 – 18
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Had me totally rooting for someone I knew was technically a villain!
Least Favorite Thing:  I really didn’t need the mental images of killing small animals… (To be clear, it’s not often and it’s not like gratuitous slaughter, it’s just the descriptive language Julie C. Dao is good at made things a little too vivid for me for that particular couple scenes.)

I was so excited to get my hands on this book and it didn’t disappoint! I feel like wandering around town yelling about this book like a street preacher. Seriously, I recommend it to everyone, especially if you like fairy tale retellings.

(I almost put that my favorite thing was that there was literally zero white people in this entire novel, but I thought that might be a little tactless…oops!)

My Posts About Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

Mind Games by Kiersten White
(Mind Games, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 22 – December 23
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Fia being all small and kick-ass.
Least Favorite Thing:  It just didn’t hold my attention very well…

I think it’s a pretty decent book, there was just something that made it hard to stay in the story. Still it ended on a minor cliffhanger so I guess I’ll be reading the sequel at some point!

My Posts About Mind Games

Hold Still by Nina LaCour
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  December 23 – 26
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The photography.
Least Favorite Thing:  I’m surprised to find there isn’t really anything I didn’t like from this book. Everything felt very honest.

I was afraid this book would be really hard to read because of the subject matter, but it moved really well and was a very honest portrayal of grief and recovery.

My Posts About Hold Still

In Progress

November 2017 Wrap-Up

Lee2 Comments

Oh, man! This was such a good month for me reading-wise! I could have done better at actually blogging, but I’m not even bothered because I’m doing so well right now.

Non-Reading Stuff

As far as my health and such goes, the month started off pretty badly, but it’s really improving now. I finally got new meds after my old ones were recalled (blah blah, kidneys matter, apparently) so I’m no longer in constant pain and I can eat normal foods and I’m even getting my appetite back. Hurray! (Also they shoved a camera down my throat, fun fun fun.)

Mental health has been doing better lately, too! I have left the house on 3 separate occasions this month, which anyone who has paid any attention to my tumblr blog knows is a record for any month in the past couple years. I even went into a public place during 2 of those trips outside (not counting the doctor’s office). And, I’ve even been letting people into the house. Only 2 so far, but that’s still a huge deal for me. I couldn’t even let my own mother visit for a long time there, and she’s been over 3 different times this month! Ha!

Oh, also, for those who remember me shaving my head several months back and then proceeding to complain as it grew out because it kept trying to become a mullet:  I got a real haircut and the mullet is dead!

So you can see why I’m not going to beat myself up about not remembering to blog regularly. Now if only my allergies would fuck off… I’m developing a vicious hatred of tissues.

Reading Stuff

I read 18 books in November, and of those I finished 16.
You can view this list of books and my fave/least fave things about them here.

The last week or so of the month I hit a bit of a reading slump, but to be honest I expected it, and the good news is:  I’m already coming out of it! In fact, I’m having to force myself to be typing up my wrap-up instead of reading…

Aaaaand…. My 16 completed books from November officially puts me 5 books from my goal of 75 for the year!

Those of you who were reading my blog around summertime might remember that even though I originally set my Goodreads goal at 75, in summer I lowered it to 50 because I was having so much trouble with my mental health and reading, and I didn’t want to further discourage myself by massively missing my goal. Well after I did so well in October, I decided to go ahead and return to my original goal, which I am 100% confident I can meet (and surpass!) before the end of the year.

Blogging Stuff

I haven’t been doing great at blogging, as I mentioned. Mostly I get so caught up with other things I just forget, but I’m going to be trying harder for December.

I did at least manage to occasionally post for the book memes I follow (which you can find in their respective tags in the sidebar if you are on WordPress) and a Dedication Spotlight, as well as some quote posts and rating posts for all the books I read (links to those categories in the sidebar).

The thing that’s really been bothering me is I haven’t been reviewing at all lately. Partially that’s because I’ve been rereading some books from years ago, and I don’t like to review rereads or classics for various (probably dumb) reasons. I also have trouble when I’m reading really quickly, like with the Rick Riordan books. I don’t take notes when I’m reading that fast, and even if I did I wouldn’t want to stop and review anything because I want to jump right to the next book.

But honestly, I was having trouble reviewing already anyway. I’m not sure why… I finish a book with the full intent to review it, and then find myself with absolutely nothing to say… I’m hoping it was just a case of block, or even just because I wasn’t in the right headspace. If not, I haven’t the foggiest idea how to solve this one. I don’t want to give up on reviewing entirely because I actually like it when I can do it, but I guess we shall see how it goes in December.

Is there something you would like to see (or see more of) on the blog? Let me know! And if you have your own monthly wrap-ups I’d love some links! 🙂 Hope all y’all had good Novembers!

November 2017 Reading Wrap-Up

LeeLeave a comment

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