Cooler weather at last! | October Wrap-Up & TBR Update

The heat has finally dialed it back and we’re having some nice cooler weather where I don’t feel like I’m dying every time I step outside. I’ve had a tough blogging month…but we’ll see how next month goes.

• Deadly Little Scandals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes [ARC 11/5] – Read and reviewed
• Across a Broken Shore by Amy Trueblood [ARC 11/5] – DNF 12%
• Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks [ARC 11/19]
• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin [Book Club] – Read
• Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley – Finished #9
• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling – Finished!!! (#4, 5, 6, and 7)

Also read/reading:

• Scythe by Neal Shusterman – Read, review coming
• Operatic by Kyo Maclear – Read
• Secrets & Suitors by Joanna Barker [ARC 10/1] – Read and reviewed
• White Cat by Holly Black – Read and reviewed
• The Umbrella Academy vol 3: The Hotel Oblivion by Gerard Way – Read
• Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman – Read, review coming
• A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo [ARC 11/5] – Read, Blog Tour
• Tithe by Holly Black – Read and reviewed
• Valiant by Holly Black – Read and reviewed
• Ironside by Holly Black – Read and reviewed
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde – DNF 33%
• Sisters of Shadow and Light by Sara B. Larson [ARC 11/5] – Currently Reading

Books finished this month: 17, 2 DNF
Books currently reading: 1

I didn’t really realize that I’d read so much this month. A couple of them were graphic novels and then I had to binge the Harry Potter books because the audios all got checked out to me at once basically. So those things helped.

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of October = 342
Books added to TBR = 8
Books read/deleted from TBR = 45
Total on TBR now = 305

How did your reading go this month?

It’s reading season | October TBR

I had a really great summer reading-wise (and otherwise) and I’m excited to carry that into fall as well! This time of year is really great for spooky and atmospheric reads (for obvious reasons) so we’ll see what I actually end up reading.

• Deadly Little Scandals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes [ARC 11/5]
• Across a Broken Shore by Amy Trueblood [ARC 11/5]
• Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks [ARC 11/19]
• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin [Book Club]
• Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley (Continue listening)
• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (Continue listening)

There we go! I’m getting close to finishing the Flavia series and have been thinking about starting Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series to replace it. Any thoughts on that?

What are you guys reading this month? Let me know in the comments!

September was Holly Black month | September Wrap-Up & TBR Update

My reading mood continues (thankfully) I feel like I’ve just been reading really good books lately and I’ve been excited to read. Audio books have also been super helpful in increasing my reading productivity though my podcasts have been suffering a little bit.

• In the Hall with the Knife by Diana Peterfreund [ARC 10/8] – Read and reviewed
• Fireborne by Rosaria Munda [ARC 10/15] – Currently Reading
• The Big Year by Mark Obmascik – Read and reviewed
• Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty [Book Club] – Read and reviewed
• Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley – Finished #8, currently listening to #9
• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling – Finished #3

Also read/reading:

• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black – Read and reviewed
• The Wicked King by Holly Black – Read and reviewed
• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty – Read and reviewed
• The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black – Read and reviewed
• The Lost Sisters by Holly Black – Read
• The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo – DNF, 88 pgs
• Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty – Read and reviewed
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson – Read

Books finished this month: 11 plus 1 novella and 1 DNF
Books currently reading: 2

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of September = 412
Books added to TBR = 2
Books read/deleted from TBR = 72
Total on TBR now = 342

How did your reading go this month?

No more back-to-school! (At least, for a little while) | September TBR

We still have a good four years before we’re launched into the back-to-school grind, so I’m going to enjoy this non-frantic time of the year while I still can!

• In the Hall with the Knife by Diana Peterfreund [ARC 10/8]
• Fireborne by Rosaria Munda [ARC 10/15]
• The Big Year by Mark Obmascik
• Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty [Book Club]
• Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley (Continue listening)
• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (Continue listening)

I did really great with my TBR last month so we’ll see how this one goes!

What are you guys reading this month? Let me know in the comments!

What a crazy summer | August Wrap-Up & TBR Update

I can’t believe August is over already! It seems like we just moved to California last week, but we’ve actually been here for almost three months. As I’ve been seeing everyone’s back-to-school/end of summer vacation social media posts, I’ve realized that we’re in a super interesting time of life where our summer vacation doesn’t really end? We don’t have any kids in school yet and we’re not in school anymore either. The weather will get cooler but like…we’re in California so it’s not going to get that cold. My husband has been working full-time all summer and he’s going to continue to do that…things just aren’t really changing for us like they are for everyone else. We can still go do summery, outside things basically as long as we want. Anyway, unrelated to book things but it was an interesting realization that I had.

• King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (buddy read with Audrey Writes Abroad) – Read and reviewed
• Descendant of the Crane by Joan He – Read and reviewed
• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach – Read and reviewed
• Color Me In by Natasha Diaz [ARC] – DNF 43%
• Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford [ARC] – Read and reviewed
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – Read and reviewed
• Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley – Finished listening to #6 and #7, currently listening to #8

Also read/reading:

• Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz – Finished listening
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling – Finished listening
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling – Finished listening
• Runaways vol 2: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell – Finished
• Runaways vol 3: That Was Yesterday by Rainbow Rowell – Finished
• Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills – Read and reviewed
• Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob – Finished

Books finished this month: 14 with 1 DNF
Books currently reading: 1

Well, would you look at that! I actually managed to complete my TBR and then some this month! Way to go me!

A couple other things real quick, I finished my Goodreads Reading Goal this month! I had no idea how this year was going to go (especially with last year being a bit of a dud reading year) so I set my goal to 70. Luckily, I’ve exceeded my expectations! My new goal for the year is 100. Second, I’m working on a TBR weeding project. I’m going alphabetically and I’m trying to just take one letter at a time, figuring out what I want to keep on my TBR and what can go. So you’ll see my TBR count going down significantly and that’s why.

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of August = 469
Books added to TBR = 8
Books read/deleted from TBR = 65
Total on TBR now = 412

How did your reading go this month?

Update on My 2019 Reading Goals

At the beginning of the year I had this post listing my reading/book goals for 2019. Now that we’re about halfway through the year, I thought I’d give a little update as to where I’m at! For those of you too lazy to click my link (sheepishly raises hand), here are my 2019 goals:

• Reread the Harry Potter series
• Stardust by Neil Gaiman
• Neil Gaiman books in general
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Jane Eyre
• VE Schwab books

Reread the Harry Potter series

Hello goal that is apparently never going to happen. I checked out the audiobook for The Sorcerer’s Stone at one point, but never got around to listening to it. I thought audio could be the way to go, but I’m so

bad at listening to audiobooks when I’m subscribed to too many podcasts. The holds lists are always so long for these books too…I honestly don’t know if this will get completed.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Yeah…haven’t even gotten close on this one.

Neil Gaiman books in general

I did purchase an eBook copy of Good Omens when it was on sale a few months ago. That combined with the TV show…I think I’ll get to it this year. Beyond Good Omens, I have a physical copy of The Anansi Boys on my shelf. I’m pretty sure I read that one way, WAY back (when I was probably too young to be reading it) but I want to read it again when I’ll actually remember stuff. I’ve also heard good things about Norse Mythology so that’s on my list. Oh! And I read Coraline.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Confession: I had a physical copy of this book, but I’d bought it secondhand from a library book sale and it wasn’t in great condition. So in this last move, I got rid of it *puts face in hands*. However, I did this fully intending to check it out from the library. It was one that I figured I would definitely be able to check out. Long story short, I’m still planning on reading this!

Jane Eyre

A couple of years ago, I posted about this wonderful app that allows you to read classic books in digestible little chunks. I stopped using it after finishing Northanger Abbey but writing this post has given me a burst of (perhaps misguided) inspiration! I’ve just redownloaded the app and added Jane Eyre to my list. So we can mark this goal as “IN PROGRESS”.

VE Schwab books

Finally, the only goal I actually feel good about. Yes, I finished the Shades of Magic trilogy and LOVED IT. I’m so glad I finally read these books! I’m currently on hold for Vicious and I intend to love it just as much as Shades of Magic.

So by my count, I’ve finished like… 1.5/6 goals. We’ll see how the rest of the year goes!

What were your 2019 reading goals and how are you doing with them?

10 books I can’t wait to share with my son

My baby turns 1 today! How is that even possible??? It seems like not that long ago that we were finally bringing him home from the NICU. But then it also feels like he’s been part of our family forever. It’s weird. In honor of D’s 1st birthday, though, I’m dedicating this post to him.

I’ve always thought about what books I would want to have in my library from my childhood for my kids to read. I love watching my son as he develops his love for reading. Here’s a picture I took just the other morning (yes the book is upside down haha).

I look forward to when he is able to move past the board books. Here are some of the books that I can’t wait to share with my baby!

Dr. Seuss

These books are just classic. The illustrations are fun and so is the rhyming.

Nate the Great

I loved these books when I was a kid! They always left me craving pancakes though…

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

I wasn’t always the best-behaved kid myself, but I enjoyed reading about Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s clever ways to help parents with their kids.

Magic Tree House

I was OBSESSED with these books in elementary school. I could not get enough! And I feel like there have to be at least…50 by now? Maybe more?

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

My husband and I both loved this book when we were growing up. Who wouldn’t want to spend the night in a museum?

Harriet the Spy

Harriet is so spunky and I’m pretty sure I even started my own spy notebook after reading this book (despite how it ended up for her…)

The Lightning Thief series

I have always loved Greek mythology and so I hope these books can be a good introduction for my son.

Harry Potter

DUH.

The Hunger Games

I know there’s a lot of controversy about the level of violence included in these books, but I feel like they were really influential on a lot of readers. When I read these books, I fell in love with the series, and I want that for my son as well.

Sherlock Holmes

I have also always been obsessed with Sherlock Holmes. I had an abridged version of his stories when I was growing up and I look forward to sharing the books and the shows with my baby when he gets a little older.

What books do you guys want to share with your kids one day? If you already have kids, what’s been the most fun thing to read with them?

TTT | People I’d like to Freaky Friday with

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Characters I’d Like To Switch Places With

I feel like this list is pretty similar to last week’s list, because if I switch places with these people, then I can go where they go!

Alina from the Grishaverse – I just want to trade places with her so I can make all the better decisions that she should have made.

Hermione Granger – MY DREAM. If I was Hermione, I would have been sorted into Ravenclaw and I would still get a time turner and be able to apparate and all those coo things.

Rachel Chu from Crazy Rich Asians – She gets to eat all that yummy food and she’s marrying into an exorbitant amount of money? Yes, please.

Macy from The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen – As I’ve said before, Wes was my first true bookish crush. I feel like Macy and I are already somewhat similar so it would be a natural switch. And I think it’d be a blast to work at Wish Catering.

Any of the ladies in Blue’s house from The Raven Cycle – What a family! What a house! They just seem really close and like it would be a fun place to live.

Anyone on the Invictus crew – Time travel! Heists!

Sophronia from The Finishing School series – I love her group of girlfriends and they learn so many cool things!

Abigail Rook from the Jackaby series – This one would probably be scariest, but also very exciting. Just trying to get around Jackaby’s house sounds like an adventure.

Richard Mayhew from Neverwhere – London Below is definitely somewhere I’d like to visit. Hanging with Door and the Marquis is just a bonus.

Bailey from the Night Circus – I WOULD RUN AWAY TO THIS CIRCUS TOO, BAILEY.

Link your TTT list in the comments!

BOOK TAG: Books I WANT to read, but don’t want to READ

Jami over at Jamishelves created and posted this tag a couple weeks ago. I’m not usually a book tag kind of blogger, but this one seemed really fun! So even though I wasn’t tagged, I’m doing it anyway!

Rules:

• Link back to the original tag (@Jamishelves)
• Complete the questions with books you want to have read but don’t want to read
• Tag some people at the end to do the tag next

1: A book that you feel you need to read because everyone talks about it

• The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

This is a book that has just never appealed to me for whatever reason. I keep hearing great things about it and about the sequel, but I’m just not into the premise!

2: A book that’s really long

• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

This baby is over 1,000 pages. I repeat, OVER 1,000 PAGES. That’s literally like three normal sized books combined.

3: A book you’ve owned / had on your TBR for too long

• The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E Pearson

I asked for this book for Christmas the year it came out (which I guess wasn’t that long ago, but it feels really long ago). I’d read the first two and couldn’t remember much. So I told myself I would wait to read this one until I’d reread the first two and now…it’s just been sitting on my shelf.

4: A book that is ‘required’ reading
(eg, school text, really popular classic – something you feel obligated to read!)

• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The old answer for this was Wuthering Heights, but I finally read that last year (the year before?). Spoiler: not worth it, imo. But this one I’m a little more excited for because I really liked My Plain Jane.

5: A book that intimidates you

• The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (reread)

This is a bit of a cheat, but I have been meaning to reread the Harry Potter books forever. I read them as they were coming out and I’ve attempted rereads since (most notably when I got my wisdom teeth out) but I can never seem to get past the fourth book! It’s just such a commitment and the books just get longer.

6: A book that you think might be slow

• The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

Apparently, I really liked the first two books, but at this point I can’t remember why? I remember the books are slow reads (for me at least) even though they contain some action. I’m just worried this book will be slow and I don’t have the motivation to pick it up.

7: A book you need to be in the right mood for

• Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

While I liked the first book (The Diviners), it was long and had a lot of loose ends. It was obviously setting things up for the rest of the series, so I feel like I’m really going to need to be in the right mood to finish.

8: A book you’re unsure if you will like

• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Another book that I’ve only heard good things about, but I have a thing about zombies. I. DO. NOT. LIKE. ZOMBIES. Especially on TV/in movies, but also in books. But like the rest of the premise sounds really good, and like I said, everyone’s been RAVING about it (it has a freaking 4.17 rating on Goodreads).

I tag:
Deanna @A Novel Glimpse
Book Beach Bunny
Margaret @ Weird Zeal
Ashley @ Socially Awkward Bookworm
Kristin @ Kristin Kraves Books
Kaeley @ Spoilers May Apply

Here’s the list of prompts without my answers for your copying and pasting pleasure:

1: A book that you feel you need to read because everyone talks about it
2: A book that’s really long
3: A book you’ve owned / had on your TBR for too long
4: A book that is ‘required’ reading
(eg, school text, really popular classic – something you feel obligated to read!)
5: A book that intimidates you
6: A book that you think might be slow
7: A book you need to be in the right mood for
8: A book you’re unsure if you will like

TTT | Fictional Wanderlust

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Places Mentioned In Books That I’d Like to Visit

For me, this topic comes with the condition that I would fit in wherever it is that I am. Wouldn’t it suck to go to Hogwarts and be a Muggle?

Hogwarts – Literally everyone is going to have this on their list, but how cool would it be???

The Capitol from The Hunger Games – It sounds so opulent.

The Night Circus – I saw this on someone else’s list, but YES.

London Below from Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere – This place sounds so fascinating! I especially like the sound of the market.

Caraval – This is kind of similar to The Night Circus, but it also seems like it would be cool.

The Library from Victoria Schwab’s The Archived – This sounds like such a cool place.

The Pie Laundromat in Colby from Sarah Dessen’s books – 24/7 LAUNDROMAT THAT SERVES DELICIOUS PIES.

Lunar after everything in the Lunar Chronicles – Who wouldn’t want to visit the moon?

Lazlo’s Dream Weep – I know it’s a dream, but what an amazing sounding place.

The Grandma’s house from Crazy Rich Asians – TBH, I just want some time in their dining room.

What are the 10 places you’d want to visit?