October 2020 Wrap-Up/TBR Update

I had high hopes for this month, but I ended up feeling so slumpy. Nothing sounded good and I had no motivation to actually read. On the other hand, I did catch up on some graphic novel series and ended up doing some rereads so I read more than it felt like I did.

• The Umbrella Academy vols 1-3 by Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba (reread) – Finished volume 1
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (preorder) – Read and reviewed
• Boop and Eve’s Road Trip by Mary Helen Sheriff [ARC 10/6]
• Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch [ARC 11/10] – Currently Reading
• The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – Read and reviewed
• Emma by Jane Austen (book club)

Also read/reading:

• Queen of Volts by Amanda Foody – Currently Reading
• The How and the Why by Cynthia Hand – Read, review coming
• Lumberjanes vol 12: Jackalope Springs Eternal by Shannon Watters et al – Read
• Lumberjanes vol 14: X Marks the Spot by Shannon Watters et al – Read
• The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen – Reread, dream cast
• The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – Read and reviewed
• Runaways vol 4: But You Can’t Hide by Rainbow Rowell – Read
• Runaways vol 5: Canon Fodder by Rainbow Rowell – Read
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black – Reread
• The Wicked King by Holly Black – Reread
• The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black – Currently Reading

Books finished this month: 12
Books currently reading: 3

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 296
TBR at the beginning of October = 319
Books added to TBR = 14
Books read/deleted from TBR = 8
Total on TBR now = 325

How did your reading go this month?

June 2020 Wrap-Up/TBR Update

I actually had a really good month! I’m surprised at how well I was able to stick to my TBR.

• Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control by Stephen Kinzer – Read
• Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner – Read, review coming
• Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby – Currently Reading
• So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson – Read
• Holes by Louis Sachar (book club) – Read
• Again Again by E. Lockhart [ARC 6/2] Read and reviewed
• When the Sky Fell on Splendor by Emily Henry – DNF pg 52
• Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin – Read, review coming
• American Royals by Katharine McGee – Read, review coming

Also read/reading:

• Saga vol 1-9 by Brian K. Vaughn & Fiona Staples – Read
• Lumberjanes, vol 13: Indoor Recess by Shannon Watters – Read
• Stars Above by Marissa Meyer – Finally finished after 3 years
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (book club) – Read
• Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore – Read, review coming
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – Currently Reading

Books finished this month: 20 (1 DNF) Books currently reading: 2

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 296 TBR at the beginning of June = 318 Books added to TBR = 7 Books read/deleted from TBR = 8 Total on TBR now = 317

How did your reading go this month?

April 2020 Wrap-Up/TBR Update

This has just been a weird month all around and I’m pretty proud of how much reading I managed to get done.

• Continue Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot – All finished! (#5-11)
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (book club) – Read, review coming
• Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – Read and reviewed
• Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden
• The Lost Lieutenant by Erica Vetsch [ARC, Blog Tour on 5/7] – Read, review coming
• Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (book club) – …I’m giving up on this one…
• The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant [ARC 6/2]
• Something by Kristin Hannah: The Great Alone – Currently Reading

Also read/reading:

• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman – Reread
• More than Maybe by Erin Hahn [ARC 7/21] – Read, review coming
• Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid – Read, review coming
• Behind Every Great Man by Marlene Wagman-Geller – Currently Reading

Books finished this month: 13
Books currently reading: 2

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 296
TBR at the beginning of April = 307
Books added to TBR = 4
Books read/deleted from TBR = 3
Total on TBR now = 308

How did your reading go this month?

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?

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?

I’m back baby! | July Wrap-Up & TBR Update

The reading! It’s happening! I’m finding glorious pockets throughout my day to read and it’s making my life so full right now!

• Vengeful by V.E. Schwab – Read and reviewed
• Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (Book Club) – Read and reviewed
• Wilder Girls by Rory Power [ARC] – Read and reviewed
• This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills – Read and reviewed
• House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A Craig [ARC] – Read and reviewed
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – Currently reading
• Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley – Finished #3, 4, and 5; Currently listening to #6

Also read/reading:

• With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo – Read and reviewed
• Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey – Read and reviewed
• Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz – Currently listening
• Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills – Read and reviewed
• Descendant of the Crane by Joan He – Currently reading

Books finished this month: 11
Books currently reading: 4

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of July = 472
Books added to TBR = 8
Books read/deleted from TBR = 11
Total on TBR now = 469

How did your reading go this month?

Welcome to a California Summer | June Wrap-Up & TBR Update

You guys. Where we’re at in California is SO HOT. We’ve been told that if you can survive July and August then you’ll make it, but I’m all like JUNE HAS BEEN UPPER 90s/LOW 100s EVERY DAY SO HOW COULD JULY AND AUGUST BE WORSE. Guess we’ll see.

• The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen – Read and reviewed
• The Chosen by Taran Matharu [ARC] – DNF 38%
• Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal [ARC] – DNF 13%
• Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer [ARC] – Currently Reading
• Wilder Girls by Rory Power [ARC]
• The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley – Read (Audio)
• First & Then by Emma Mills – Read and reviewed

Also read/reading:

• A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley – Currently Reading
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – Currently Reading
• Vicious by V.E. Schwab – Read and reviewed

Books finished this month: 4 (with 2 DNFs)
Books currently reading: 3

Man, I really need to get back on track with my ARCs.

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of June = 460
Books added to TBR = 18
Books read/deleted from TBR = 6
Total on TBR now = 472

How did your reading go this month?

April: the month that almost killed me [Monthly Wrap-Up & TBR Update]

Okay, so my title is a little dramatic, but this month was seriously ROUGH. I’m not quite done with everything (I’ve got one more wedding this Saturday), but I’m hoping after that I’ll have even just a millisecond to relax. My reading went completely off the rails this month. I discovered a free game on my phone so…there went that free time (it’s called Two Dots if you’re wondering). I just read a bunch of random stuff and almost nothing that I’d planned on. Oh well.

• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater – Currently Reading
• When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon by Joshua D Mezrich – DNF at 31 pages
• A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab – Read, review coming
• The Raven’s Tale by Cat Winters – DNF at 24%
• King of Fools by Amanda Foody – Currently Reading
• Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno
• King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
• Murder by the Book: The Crime That Shocked Dickens’s London by Claire Harman – DNF at 71 pages (had to turn it back into the library)
• The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction by Meghan Cox Gurdon – Currently Reading

Also read/reading:

• Lumberjanes vol 10: Parent’s Day by Shannon Watters – Read
• The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine by Thomas Morris – Read, review coming
• The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara – Read, review coming
• The Steel Prince #1 by V.E. Schwab – Read
• The Umbrella Academy vol 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way – Read, review coming
• The Umbrella Academy vol 2: Dallas by Gerard Way – Read, review coming

Books finished this month: 7 (3 DNF)
Books currently reading: 3

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of April = 449
Books added to TBR = 22
Books read/deleted from TBR = 5
Total on TBR now = 466

How did your reading go this month?

February Wrap-Up & TBR Update

This month went better than I expected it to even if I didn’t stick to my TBR so religiously. My book club ended up going to a library event instead of discussing a book, so The Girl Who Drank the Moon will go back on my TBR for another time. I found that I read more non-fiction and graphic novels this month than usual and I hope that trend continues. Lastly, another observation is that I really need to get better at reading digital ARCs…my bad.

• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill – Book club canceled
• The Deceivers by Kristen Simmons
• Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend by Karen Blumenthal – Finished, review coming
• An American Marriage by Tayari Jones – Finished, review
• You Owe Me a Murder by Eileen Cook – Finished, review coming
• Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc by David Elliott
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab – currently reading

Also read/reading:

• On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden – review coming
• Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard – review coming
• Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau – review coming
• Lumberjanes vol 1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson – finished
• Lumberjanes vol 2: Friendship to the Max by Noelle Stevenson – finished
• The Library Book by Susan Orlean – currently reading

Books finished this month: 8
Books currently reading: 2

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of February = 411
Books added to TBR = 39
Books completed/deleted from TBR = 6
Total on TBR now = 444

How did your reading go this month?