Monthly Wrap-Ups

April 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

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Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
(Twilight Saga, book 3)
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  No
Format:  E-book
Reading Dates:  April 1 – 2
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  It could have been longer, but it wasn’t and I’m grateful.
Least Favorite Thing:  Bella’s doormat impersonations…

Lordy this book was obnoxious. There were a lot of parts I hated, but all of them in some way tie-in to the whole “Bella as a doormat” crap so… Like seriously I kept wanting to climb into the novel and shake her like “just stick to your guns about literally anything, just stand up for yourself, just stop letting these idiots run right over all your boundaries!” and then scream for an hour.

My Posts About Eclipse

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
(Twilight Saga, book 4)
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  No
Format:  E-book
Reading Dates:  April 2
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Bella is slightly more tolerable as a vampire.
Least Favorite Thing:  Nessie. Both the name and the concept.

I read all of the Twilight books and my head didn’t even explode it’s a miracle! Never again.

My Posts About Breaking Dawn

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 5)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  March 8 – April 4
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Lorcan being like “I hate Elide, but if anyone ever even thought about hurting her, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.”
Least Favorite Thing:  Up until the very end of the novel, it was like “everything that can go wrong, will go wrong” and that made me tired.

My least favorite thing is actually why I rated this book only 3 stars. It was good, interesting, and there were a lot of parts I enjoyed, but it felt like for every good thing there were two bad things and it just starts to wear on me after a while and make me tired so it limits my enjoyment of the novel.

Also can I just say, why are they like “oh obviously someone has to die to forge the lock” when they have two heirs of Brannon? It takes all the power of one heir of Brannon to forge the lock, they have two heirs of Brannon. Halfsies, bro. Everybody lives.

My Posts About Empire of Storms

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
(Books of Bayern, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it *
Review:  Yes **
Format:  Full-Cast Audiobook
Reading Dates:  April 5 – 7
Read Count:  5-ish
Favorite Thing:  Vicious Attack Geese!
Least Favorite Thing:  Um literally all of Selia’s guard friends. Too skeevy, blech.

* Please note that this rating is for the novel as a whole, not the Full Cast Audio version.
** This review is for the Full Cast Audio version, not the novel as a whole.

My Posts About The Goose Girl

Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer
(Twilight Saga, book 1.75)
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  Yes
Format:  E-book
Reading Dates:  April 10 – 13
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The alternate ending.
Least Favorite Thing:  So boring.

Please tell me she’s done beating the dead horse that is the Twilight Saga???

My Posts About Life and Death

White Oleander by Janet Fitch
Rating:  ★★★★★ – it was amazing
Review:  No
Format:  E-book
Reading Dates:  April 5 – 15
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The amazing prose.
Least Favorite Thing:  Literally every male past puberty that ever came in contact with Astrid….

This was recommended to me as part of the Buddy Reads activity in an online Book Club I am a part of. My “buddy” recommended this to me because I wanted to try more books outside of the YA genre this year. I am so incredibly glad I signed up for this activity because I got an excellent recommendation here. A recommendation which I happily pass along:  Read this book!

My Posts About White Oleander

Once and for All by Sarah Dessen
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it (real rating: 3.5)
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  April 15 -17
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Snarky wedding planner comments.
Least Favorite Thing:  Ambrose’s habit of writing everything off as being somebody else’s fault. Fucking obnoxious…

I read this book for my book club’s April Challenge (Read a book with a pastel cover.) and also because I’ve never yet met a Dessen novel I didn’t like. I wish I could give half-star ratings on Goodreads though.

My Posts About Once and for All

What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang
(Hybrid Chronicles, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  April 20 – 28
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Sisterly bond? Is that an accurate term for the bond between two souls sharing the same body?? Whatever. That’s what I’m calling it.
Least Favorite Thing:  Slow? Kind of slow… Not slow enough to DNF, but still slow.

April Challenge #2 complete with the finishing of this novel! Yay! (I don’t know how quickly I’ll move to the sequel though.)

My Posts About What’s Left of Me

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  April 29 – 30
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I took sick pleasure in angry, vengeful Cath.
Least Favorite Thing:  Peter Peter.  Actually that’s not even the thing I hated most, but the real thing is a big spoiler.

It took me a minute to get into it, but once I did I couldn’t put it down! And April Challenge #3 successful by the skin of my teeth!

My Posts About Heartless

In Progress

March 2018

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Shh, I’m not late posting this again. I definitely did not do that thing where despite something happening to draw attention to the fact that the months changed I still don’t register that a month has ended and a new one has started. This post is exactly on schedule.

Non-Reading Stuff

Um… Stuff definitely probably happened this month? I’ll be honest, I don’t think there’s much chance of me remembering any of it right now though, because I am super sleep deprived…

The only thing I can really think of is that we made steaks on the neighbors’ smoker and they were delicious. Oh! And I got to pet their dogs and hold their snakes.

Hey look at that I thought of some stuff after all. Cool.

Reading Stuff

I finished 8 books in March!
You can view the list of books and my fave/least fave things about them here.

I did better this month again! Hurray!! I mean admittedly I’ve been stuck in the middle of one book for the whole month… BUT OTHER THAN THAT I did pretty well. I’m almost 1/3rd of the way to my goal for the year!

Oh and I’ve started another classic, which I plan to read slowly alongside the other books I read. Not sure how that will go since I really enjoyed the first chapter, but I feel like I gain something by reading a classic a little slower than other novels.

Blogging Stuff

I didn’t really do better on my blogging this month like I said I would. It only picked up in the last week of the month, and the majority of that stuff I think was Twilight-related ranting. So… better than last month, but not good enough. I’ll keep working on that.

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

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God I don’t really have the energy to make this post so it’s going to be short…

Non-Reading Stuff

I did leave the house a couple times in February, hubby and I went on a date to see Black Panther on it’s opening day and I went to the chiropractor. I’m back to being in pain every day, and the doctor doesn’t seem to have any ideas about what to do there so… And I’m still having allergy symptoms every day for no apparent reason (this has been since November at least) which is really not enjoyable. All of this stuff is combining to make my mental state be…. not great.

Reading Stuff

I finished 4 books in February!
You can view the list of books and my fave/least fave things about them here.

I didn’t do nearly as well this month as I did in January, but I’m not too upset with myself. Considering my physical and mental state, I think I actually did quite well. Normally when I feel this bad I wouldn’t read at all, and instead I read 4 whole books. And I’m still ahead on my Goodreads goal by 2 books, so I don’t feel stressed on that front.

Blogging Stuff

Oh man I was so bad at blogging in February!

Partially I blame the Throne of Glass series, because despite being a decent story, it’s not super quotable, which is my main source of posts.

But mostly it’s just because I feel like crap. My energy levels are stupid low right now…

I’ll try to do more in March.

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

January 2018 Wrap-Up

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Oops, I’m a dodo who forgot to post my wrap up and actually forgot until today that it wasn’t even January anymore! That’s right folks, despite my birthday being the beginning of February, and my husband’s too, and despite actually acknowledging those two days, I still somehow didn’t register in my brain that it’s February. Ridiculous brain.

Non-Reading Stuff

Well I haven’t been doing as well at doing things around the house and I didn’t leave the house all month, but most of that is due to my pain getting worse again and recently to getting sick. I just feel too crappy to fight the fatigue caused by the depression.

Despite that though, I’m still hopeful that I will continue improving.

Reading Stuff

I finished 10 books in January!
You can view the list of books and my fave/least fave things about them here.

I’m so proud of myself honestly. I’m even ahead on my Goodreads goal of 75 for the year! I think if I manage to keep up this kind of momentum through the first half of the year I may raise my goal.

I also decided to try reading some different genres, or at least different sub-genres of YA, than I usually gravitate towards, and so far it’s going tolerably. I’ve also made an effort to get back into autobiographies.

Blogging Stuff

I’ve been trying to talk to more book bloggers, but it’s still hard for me. I’m always so worried I won’t come across the way I intend, or I’ll say something stupid, but I’m trying.

I decided recently to start doing Book Haul photos for Library Books even though they aren’t quite as pretty. I just can’t afford to buy every book I want to read. Heck, I can’t even afford to buy every book I like. And libraries are a decidedly underrated resource! So I’m done being embarrassed by posting pictures of library books and am even upping my game! Take that!

I did some here and there for the book memes I participate in and I’m still doing my Dedication Spotlight bookstagrams. I’ve changed how I do my quote posts and so far I like it better. Partially that’s just formatting, but also I’ve stopped doing quote collection posts after I read a book and am instead scheduling individual quote posts to come out daily so I have at least a little consistent content and hopefully people will notice the lovely words better if they come in bite-sized portions. All these things can be found by using the respective sidebar links.

The best part about January, though, is that I’ve done better at reviewing, just like I was hoping I would. I actually wound up reviewing full half of the books I read in January. Some of them are just mini-reviews, but I’m satisfied with that. You can access those through the Reading Wrap-Up link above or by using the sidebar links.

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 a start of the year!

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!