February 2021 Wrap Up

Hey everyone! I’m a little late on this one but better late than never, right? I read some great books this month and I made some great progress on my Goodreads goal for the year. For the first few months this year I wanted to get ahead of my goal by quite a bit because one of my goals this year is to finally read War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. With that book sitting around 1400 pages, I need some wiggle room so I don’t get behind in my goal. I’m currently 25 books ahead of schedule so my plan is to start War and Peace on April 1st. Anyways… more on that another time.

I also did a lot of re-reads in February to refresh for a couple of new releases. I re-read The Bone Season books plus the new novella to prepare for my current read of The Mask Falling which was published in January. I also re-read the A Court of Thorns and Roses series to refresh for Nesta and Cassian’s book, A Court of Silver Flames which I ended up finishing at the end of the month. I also got some library holds in for books that I have been wanting to read forever – The Silent Patient and Where the Crawdads Sing.

• February 2021 Books Read: 17
• 2021 Year To Date Books Read: 35
• February 2021 Pages Read: 7,762
• 2021 Year To Date Pages Read: 15,482

February 2021 Books Read:

• A Promised Land by Barack Obama
• Angel Falls by Kristin Hannah
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon – reread
• The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon – reread
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – reread
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
• The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon – reread
• A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas – reread
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
• A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas – reread
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas – reread
• The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
• Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
• A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
• The Dawn Chorus by Samantha Shannon

Favorite Book Read

Least Favorite Book Read

February Book Haul: I ended up getting a lot of books throughout the month as well. I was finally able to get copies of the rest of the Bridgerton series as well as the prequel series. I’m really looking forward to continuing with those and seeing what’s in store for the rest of the Bridgerton family. Both Target and Amazon had a buy 2 get 1 free sale so of course I had to jump on that. From Target I got Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson, The Guest List by Lucy Foley, and The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse. I was super excited that Kristin Hannah’s newest novel, The Four Winds, was a choice for February Book of the Month. From Amazon I got What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon and a couple of the Bridgerton books.

For March I’m going to be focusing on The Mask Falling and also catching up on some advanced copies that I’m pretty far behind on. I want to start April off with a clean slate so I can focus on War and Peace.

What books did you read in February?

Month in Review: January 2021

Is it just me or did January feel like it was simultaneously really short and really long? There were times I felt like the month was just dragging on and on, and times where I couldn’t believe it was going so fast. Either way, first month of 2021 is officially under the belt. I had a pretty good reading month filled with lots of great books and a couple not so great, and one book I even hated. I listened to a lot of audiobooks throughout the month and re-read a few books as well.

• January 2021 Books Read: 18
• 2021 Year To Date Books Read: 18
• January 2021 Pages Read: 7,720
• 2021 Year To Date Pages Read: 7,720

January 2021 Books Read:

• A Life On Our Planet by David Attenborough – audiobook
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – reread
• Temptation Ridge by Robyn Carr – audiobook
• Sula by Toni Morrison – audiobook
• Dominicana by Angie Cruz – audiobook
• From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes – audiobook
• Beach Read by Emily Henry
• Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon
• The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White – eARC
• The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
• Dakota Born by Debbie Macomber – audiobook
• Purple Hibiscus by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie – audiobook
• A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson – reread via audio
• Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover
• The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson – reread via audio
• The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

Favorite Book Read

Least Favorite Book Read

So that was my month of reading! I’m really looking forward to some of the books I have lined up for Febrary as long as my mood holds on those.

What books did you read in January?

Big Update: January-May 2020

Hey everyone! It’s been quite awhile since my last post. I’ve been taking a break away from blogging while all of this coronavirus stuff has been going on. My anxiety has been pretty high the last few months so I haven’t been able to concentrate on reading books outside of listening to audiobooks while I work. I started working from home towards the end of March and I am so grateful that I am able to do so. But even though that somewhat lessened the anxiety I was feeling about the whole situation, I still didn’t feel like reading books until the last week or so. First world problems, I know. Huge thanks go out to all of the people who have been working on the frontlines while this has been happening worldwide. You guys are heroes.

Something else that has had my attention since April is Animal Crossing: New Horizon. Ashley @ Socially Awkward Bookworm got my hooked on it and I’ve played every day since then. I have a cool outdoor library, created my own Craigh Na Dun and dressed my character up as Claire Fraser, and reached 5 star island status!

It’s also been super fun to visit her island and have her visit mine.

One good thing to come out of this year is that I’ve been really good about limiting book purchases. So far this year I have only purchased 9 books and I’ve already read 5 of those books since buying them. My goal was to limit purchases and read the books I do buy as soon as possible.

2020 Book Purchases So Far:

• House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
• The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White (read)
• Postscript by Cecelia Ahern
• A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer (read)
• The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski
• The Rural Diaries by Hilarie Burton Morgan (read)
• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker (read)
• Wild At Heart by K.A. Tucker (read)

As far as books read this year, the majority have been audiobooks that I’ve borrowed from the library. Some have been really awesome like Daisy Jones & the Six and some a little disappointing like The Pioneers by David McCullough. Here is everything I’ve read the last few months broken down by month.

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JANUARY

• January 2020 Books Read: 27
• 2020 Total Books Read: 27
• January 2020 Pages Read: 9,951
• 2020 Total Pages Read: 9,951

1. The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
2. Everless by Sara Holland (audiobook)
3. The White Darkness by David Grann (audiobook)
4. The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey (eARC)
5. Wonder Woman: Warbringer graphic novel (eARC)
6. Hunted by Meagan Spooner
7. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
8. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier (audiobook)
9. A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
10. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
11. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (audiobook)
12. A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
13. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff (audiobook)
14. The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
15. House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig (audiobook)
16. The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas (audiobook)
17. Well Met by Jen DeLuca
18. Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore
19. The Outsider by Stephen King
20. The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (audiobook)
21. 1776 by David McCullough (audiobook)
22. The Reckless Oath We Made by Bryn Greenwood (audiobook)
23. Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (audio re-read)
24. Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris (audiobook)
25. Fallen by Lauren Kate (audiobook)
26. The Violets of March by Sarah Jio (audiobook)
27. American War by Omar El Akkad (audiobook)

January Favorite

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FEBRUARY

• February 2020 Books Read: 4
• 2020 Total Books Read: 31
• February 2020 Pages Read: 2,268
• 2020 Total Pages Read: 12,219

1. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld (audiobook)
2. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (audiobook)
3. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (re-read)
4. Wild At Heart by K.A. Tucker

February Favorite

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MARCH

• March 2020 Books Read: 12
• 2020 Total Books Read: 43
• March 2020 Pages Read: 4,327
• 2020 Total Pages Read: 16,546

1. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns (audiobook)
2. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (audiobook)
3. Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
4. The Curse of Tenth Grave by Darynda Jones (audiobook)
5. Eleventh Grave in Moonlight by Darynda Jones (audiobook)
6. The Grace Year by Kim Liggett (audiobook)
7. Serenity Harbor by RaeAnne Thayne (audiobook)
8. The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (audiobook)
9. Wyoming Legend by Diana Palmer (audiobook)
10. Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski (audiobook)
11. The Trouble With Twelfth Grave by Darynda Jones (audiobook)
12. Summoned to Thirteenth Grave by Darynda Jones (audiobook)

March Favorite

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APRIL

• April 2020 Books Read: 5
• 2020 Total Books Read: 48
• April 2020 Pages Read: 1,919
• 2020 Total Pages Read: 18,465

1. Under Currents by Nora Roberts (audiobook)
2. The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox (audiobook)
3. The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams (audiobook)
4. Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski (audiobook)
5. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James (audiobook)

April Favorite

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MAY

• May 2020 Books Read: 11
• 2020 Total Books Read: 59
• May 2020 Pages Read: 4.387
• 2020 Total Pages Read: 22,852

1. Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger (audiobook)
2. P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern (re-read)
3. Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audiobook)
4. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (audiobook)
5. Rose Madder by Stephen King (audiobook)
6. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare (audiobook)
7. The Pioneers by David McCullough (audiobook)
8. Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani (audiobook)
9. The Rural Diaries by Hilarie Burton Morgan
10. Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater
11. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (re-read)

May Favorite

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And that’s about it. Those are all of the books I’ve read this year so far. According to Goodreads I am 2 books behind schedule to meet my goal of reading 150 books this year which hasn’t happened in a very long time. I’m hoping that now I am back in the mood to read that I can get caught up. My plan for June is to focus on all of the ARCs that I am behind on. I am also going to attempt the 20 Books of Summer challenge again so stay tuned for my TBR post tomorrow.

How has everything been with you? Any good book recommendations?

 

 

 

Month in Review: September 2019

Oops! It’s been a full month since my last post. This past month has been pretty crazy though so I didn’t have a whole lot of extra time. I had a lot going on in my personal life between family, friends, work, and things going on at our house. I read a lot of books on audio this month because I didn’t have a lot of time to read physical books. I have been participating in a fall book bingo hosted by Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile on her Instagram so everything I’ve read in the past month has been to complete squares for the bingo. I am SO close to getting my first bingo. I am also now only 2 books away from completing my Goodreads goal of reading 100 books this year! YAY!

• September 2019 Books Read: 17
• 2019 Books Read: 98
• September 2019 Pages Read: 8,512
• 2019 Pages Read: 41,113

Books Read:

• Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness (audio re-read)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling (audio re-read)
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz (re-read)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling (audio re-read)
• First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones (audiobook)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling (audio re-read)
• The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
• Sanctum by Madeleine Roux (audiobook)
• Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling (audio re-read)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling (audio re-read)
• Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff
• The Walking Dead vol. 1 (graphic novel)
• Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake (audio re-read)
• One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake (audio re-read)
• Joyland by Stephen King
• The Stand by Stephen King (audiobook)

Favorite Book Read:

Least Favorite Book Read:

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I had a pretty big book haul this month… OOPS! There were some great sales and Darkdawn came out so of course I ended up with quite a few editions of that ordered. Here is everything that I got.

**Of course after I took the photo and was putting the books away I realized that I had actually gotten Pumpkinheads at the end of August, not in September. Oh well!**

• Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake
• Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake
• The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
• Final Girls by Riley Sager
• Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab
• Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco
• Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco
• Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff
  • US signed hardcover
  • UK Goldsboro limited signed edition – starlight sprayed edges
  • UK Illumicrate signed edition – yellow sprayed edges
  • UK trade paperback
• Scythe by Neal Shusterman
• Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore
• Well Met by Jen DeLuca
• The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup
• Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag
• The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan
• Folly by Laurie R. King

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What books did you read this month?

Month In Review: August 2019

Another month come and gone in the blink of an eye. But September is bringing my favorite season along with it so I’m okay with that! I am so ready for fall. I had another great month of reading in August. I would say the only real dud is that I started to listen to a book I’ve been waiting for so long to read because of it’s length and I ended up not liking it at all so I just stopped listening to it and pulled the three books in that series off my shelf to offload. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is something I really thought I would enjoy because I love high fantasy and really enjoyed his Mistborn trilogy… but I just could not get into this one. I was bored to tears. But like I said, that was the only dud of the month and I decided not to even count it as a DNF because I probably didn’t get that far into the book since it is 1000+ pages even though I listened to it for over 2 hours. So without further ado… my stats for the month.

• August 2019 Books Read: 16
• 2019 Books Read: 81
• August 2019 Pages Read: 6,629
• 2019 Pages Read: 32,601

Books Read:

• Say You Still Love Me by K.A. Tucker (eARC)
• The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher (audio)
• The Witness Wore Red by Rebecca Musser (audio)
• The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer
• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (audio)
• Tidelands by Philippa Gregory
• Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
• Monstress vol 1: Awakening
• Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (re-read)
• Marvel 1602
• Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff (re-read)
• The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin (audio)
• Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
• Warcross by Marie Lu

Favorite Book Read: The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

Least Favorite Book Read: Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

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What books did you read in August?