Books I’d Like to Read in 2019

As I briefly mentioned in my last post, I made a post of what books I’d like to read for the past two years and thought I’d do one for this year as well. Unfortunately, last year wasn’t a great one for me reading-wise. I read yes, but I was in a reading slump for a good chunk of the year and got a little too busy.

That being said, I didn’t get around to reading any of the books I had shared in my Books I’d Like to Read in 2018 post. I am indeed a mood reader, so this is more of what I feel like I’ll want to read, but I was still hoping I would at least read something from my list last year. Let’s hope I can this year! Wish me luck!

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost – the first book in the Night Huntress series. This series has been on my TBR list for a long time and I’ve been in the mood for a good adult fantasy series recently. I’m hoping to start this one in the near future!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas – the first book in the Throne of Glass series. Most of the people in my book club rave about this series and I have yet to touch it. But now that the final book has been released, I think it’s about time I see what all the fuss is about.

 Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo – the second and final book in the Six of Crows duology. I read Six of Crows last year and was planning on reading this one right after, but  it was right before things got rather hectic for me and I didn’t get back to it. For some reason I actually thought I read it, but it turns out I never got back to it! I can’t wait to see how she wraps up with these amazing characters!

Hounded by Kevin Hearne – the first book in The Iron Druid Chronicles. This series was on my list last year and I’d really like to do my best to actually get to it this year! It sounds like a series I could easily fall for.

 

And I’m going to leave it at that. There are definitely more books I’d like to get to, of course, but for now these ones have captured my attention recently.  Have you read any of the books above? If so, what did you think? And what are YOU planning on reading this year?

Happy reading! :)

Advertisement

What I Didn’t Do In 2018 & What I’d Like To Do In 2019

Happy New Year, everyone!

As some of you may have noticed, last year was not a good year for me blog-wise. It was also one of the first times I was in a major reading slump. I would at least like to really try to be more active this year, even if it’s just a little. But first, let’s quickly go over what I did/didn’t accomplish last year.

Last year was the first time I joined a reading challenge (other than the Goodreads one). I was a part of the Book Bards team for the Beat the Backlist 2018 challenge. My personal goals for that challenge included:

• Participate in at least 2 of the 4 Instagram prompts each month
• Write one review of a book dedicated to this challenge at least every 3 months (since I’ve been seriously slacking in the review department)
• Have 4 out of every 5 books I read be dedicated to this challenge

I only managed to do a total of 12 Instagram posts for my book account this year. I started off strong then slowly stopped. I did not write any book reviews last year. Zip. Zero. And, although most of the books I read last year were published earlier than 2018, I actually ended up reading more published in 2018 than I thought I would. So 4 out of every 5 books I read was not dedicated to the challenge. I also ended up not keeping up with submitting the books I read to the Beat the Backlist website.

As for my 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge, which was to read 60 books, I read 62. However, it was very close and a good chunk were graphic novels. But hey, they still count.

Also, last year I posted Books I’d Like to Read in 2018, and I didn’t read a single book I had on that list. It’s not that I didn’t want to read them at all, I just got easily distracted by other things. I will be making a similar post in the near future.

So that wraps up what I didn’t/did do in 2018.

Now, on to what I’d like to do in 2019!

As usual, I would like to become more active. However, knowing how I tend to drop on and off, I’ll make my active goals a little more reasonable, especially because I will be starting my last semester of school in  about a week!

First off, I’ll be dropping the Teaser Tuesdays reading meme I participated in. It’s just not a meme I feel like participating in any longer. I will still be posting WWW Wednesdays posts, however, I’ll most likely only post one once a month instead of every Wednesday. If I end up reading more, then I may bump it up to twice a month.

I’ll also try to be better about keeping up with tags. And I would like to try to be more active on my Instagram book account as well. I may end up looking at some Instagram challenges, because I feel like I need some sort of prompt to post things. We’ll see. For now, I’ve kind of given up on actually writing reviews. If I end up writing even one this year I’ll be happy. I’ll still rate them on Goodreads, but my motivation for actually writing a whole thing is just…no. Just not feeling it right now.

Speaking of Goodreads, for the 2019 Reading Challenge, I pledged 50 books. I will definitely strive to read more than that, of course, but I thought dropping it down a little from last year would be best.

And finally, I want to try a different reading challenge. This year I’ll be trying out r/Fantasy Book Bingo Challenge. Emily participates in this challenge and it looks like fun, so I’m gonna give it a try!

And that’s about it. So we’ll see how I do! Wish me luck! :’D

Happy reading! :)

Bleh

I honestly couldn’t even think up a good title for this post.

Anyway, I haven’t posted since March and I feel awful about it but, unfortunately, that’s just how I am sometimes. This post will be a kind of update/ramble-y post about stuff that’s been going on.

Work and school. That was the main reason my posts slowed down back in March. About a week after my last post I got a second job once again and they were giving me a lot more hours than I thought they would originally. So, between both jobs I was working 55 hours a week plus going to school. I had very little free time during that period.

I got into a car accident. It wasn’t a huge one or anything, both myself and the other lady were fine for the most part, but it was bad enough that both vehicles had to be towed and I didn’t get mine back for two weeks. I was also mildly injured and had to start visiting a chiropractor twice a week. It was the first accident I’ve ever been in and I hope to never be in one again – it was scary. I will also put out there that it was not my fault – just saying xD

I moved out. I believe I had mentioned in previous posts that I was moving out, but yes, it happened. I moved out of my parents house and am now living in an apartment with two of my good friends. We’ve all been doing well together over these past months (no fights yet!) so I hope we keep at it.

My dog passed away. My older dog’s health had been steadily declining for awhile and then he got so bad we had to make that tough  decision. So, sadly, about two months before he would have turned 14 years old, we made the call. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life. He was our first dog – we got him back when I was in 7th grade. I am in my mid-twenties now, so I basically grew up with him. However, he was at the point of being in extreme pain and he was lacking quality of life that it was for the best. I am not a person to fall into depression easily, but the week following his passing was one of my toughest, emotionally. Let’s just say I’m glad my other dog is no where near that point yet because I was a complete mess.

A few weeks after that I actually went on vacation with my grandmother to attend my twin cousins high school graduation as well as visit some other family. It was exactly what I needed. With everything that had happened I needed a break and felt so much better once I came home. When I came back I was down to one job, my other one was for a school and so it was done for the summer, so I had some more free time than before. I also took a summer class but it was fairly easy.

However, I also hit a reading slump. It started around the time I went on vacation, so about the end of May, and continued until just recently. I only read one book in June and two in July, although those two were graphic novels. I don’t know what happened. I just suddenly wasn’t in the mood to read. I was really into catching up on TV shows at the time and that’s mainly what kept my busy during free time. I slowly started breaking out of my slump by catching up on my comics then finally read a book that I finished last week. So, I’m hoping I’ll stay out of my slump and will start to try posting somewhat regularly again. Let’s see if that actually happens.

And yeah, life. It sucks sometimes. But you just gotta power through!

Thanks for reading my ramblings and I also hope to catch up on your posts as well!

Happy reading! :)

Goodreads Reading Challenge 2017 & 2018

Happy New Year everybody! I hope everyone had a fun (but safe!) time last night! I sure did. I seriously cannot believe it’s 2018 already. Times flies, especially the older you get… D; Either way, another year means more books to read, yay! I already started a new book today to celebrate. Whoo!

This post is going to touch on my 2017 Goodreads Reading Challenge and then on my 2018 as well.

 At the beginning of 2017 I set my reading goal to 60 books. It is what I had done the previous year and I had managed to exceed that so I figured that was a reasonable number, especially with me working two jobs and returning to school. This year I also exceeded my goal by reading 64 books! So challenge completed! :D

This year I will once again be challenging myself to read at least 60 books. I feel like it’s still a doable number for me since I’ll still be in school and am currently looking for a second job once more. With my new job I haven’t been reading quite as much so I’m hoping to make time to read more on  a regular basis during the week. Wish me luck!

And that’s that!

Did you meet your 2017 reading goal? How many books are you hoping to read this year? Let me know in the comments!

Happy reading! :)

Books I’d Like to Read in 2018

Happy New Year’s Eve everyone! :D

I mentioned in my last two posts that I wanted to do what I did last year and make a post about some of the books I would like to read in 2018, so here it is! I did fairly  well on the list I had made last year (I read 6 of the 10 books on my list, although some of those books were the beginning of a series and I read more in that series) so I’m hoping I can do well this year too! But again, I am a mood reader so it just depends.

On to the list!

The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey – the second book in The Monstrumologist series. This book was on my list last year and I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I did mention in my reading progress post that Emily had suggested we buddy read this one so I’m hoping we’re able to do that sometime this year!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – the first book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy. Now that the three books are out I would like to read this one. I’ve heard so many good things about this series so now I’m ready to experience it myself! Plus it sounds like it’s a favorite of the people in the book club I recently joined, so I’d like to be able to talk about it with them (and not hear spoilers… xD).

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher – the first in the Incarceron duology. This book has been on my written TBR list for a long time. Since the series is only two books long I thought it’d be a good pick. I’ve also been trying to go through my list and get rid of series that no longer interest me. This one still does so that’s as good of a reason as any to put it on my list! Besides, I would really like to read some of the books that have been on my list awhile since I keep adding so many to my TBR on Goodreads…^^;

The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima – the first book in The Heir Chronicles. I actually read the first three books in this series…I don’t even remember how long ago. But I think back then it wasn’t certain that there would be more books so I had thought the series complete at the time. Now there are five books in total so I’d like to go back and reread/complete this series. I remember enjoying it so hopefully that’s still true!

Ratha’s Creature by Clare Bell – the first book in The Named series. This is another one that’s been on my written TBR list for a long time. The overall idea of this book reminds me a lot of the Warriors series by Erin Hunter, except this one is about larger wild cats in a different time period. And it seems to be aimed at an older audience than the Warriors books. I am one of those people that will always enjoy series with…well, basically talking animals, haha. But it’s true! I love them. So I’m hoping this series will be a good one!

Hounded by Kevin Hearne – the first book in The Iron Druid Chronicles. I found this book a few years ago but have been waiting to crack it open until the series finished. The ninth and final book is expected to be published in April so, if that date is correct, I’d be interested in reading this series this upcoming year. The synopsis reminds me of The Dresden Files series so it definitely seems like something I’d enjoy!

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski – the first book in The Winner’s Trilogy. Another series that I was interested in when the first book came out but waited until it was completed to start thinking about reading it. This is also another I’ve heard many good things about so I’m hoping it’ll live up to all the hype.

---

And that’s that! Mind you, these aren’t the only books I hope to read in 2018, but this past year it was nice having a few already picked out for me to zero in on when thinking of what to read next. I was going to put Six of Crows on this list as well but, being that it’s already on hold for me at the library, I felt no reason so actually put it on the list since I know it’s going to get read.

Have you read any of the books listed above? If so, what are your thoughts? What books do YOU hope to read in 2018? Let me know in the comments!

Happy reading! :)

My Year in Books 2017

Hey everyone! I’ve seen quite a few people make a post about their year in books so, with the help of Goodreads, I thought I’d make a post like that as well! I’m not great at formatting so I’m trying my best to have it resemble the one Goodreads showed me.

---

TOTALS

I read 18,453 pages across 64 books.

---

Shortest book                         longest book

27 pages                                                                   556 pages

Fence                                                                The King’s Men

by C.S. Pacat                                             by Nora Sakavic

 

---

most popular                  least popular

191,268                                                                       142
people also read                          people also read

The Raven Boys                      Lead from the Heart

by Maggie Stiefvater        by Mark C. Crowley

 

---

my average rating for 2017

4.4 stars

---

Highest rated on goodreads

Broken
by Jex Lane

4.66 average

 

---

I wish I was cool enough to get that giant collage of all the books I’ve read this year that Goodreads supplies, but I can’t. Copy and pasting doesn’t work and I’m much too lazy to do it myself. Oh well! It was a good reading year for me and I can’t wait to keep reading throughout the next year as well! I am planning on making a post about some of the books I’d like to read in 2018, so keep an eye out!

Happy reading! :)

 

Reading Progress 2017 (Part 2)

Last December I had posted ‘Books I’d Like to Read in 2017‘ and then in July I had posted ‘Reading Progress 2017‘. So I thought I would make one last post about the list of books I was going to try to read this past year. That list consisted of the following books:

• Peace Talks by Jim Butcher
• The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson [X]
• A Destiny of Dragons by T.J. Klune [X]
• Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
• The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey
• Against the Grain by Charlie Cochet [X]
• Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath [X]
• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo [X]
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater [X]
• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I have marked the ones I have read with a red ‘X’ next to them.

Since my post in July, I have read the first four books in the Jack Daniels series by J.A. Konrath (the first book listed above) and I have recently finished up the Grisha trilogy.  Unfortunately, Peace Talks STILL doesn’t have a release date yet. I believe the author just completed another book of short stories for that series and is now focusing on Peace Talks. I’m hoping it’ll come out sometime next year. I didn’t get around to re-trying Stromdancer either – maybe next year.  Emily said she’d like to buddy read The Curse of the Wendigo so I think we might try after we finish up The Beauty of Darkness. I also didn’t get around to Hush, Hush.

Overall, however, I think I did a pretty good job of getting what I wanted to read read. So yay me! I think I’ll make a post of what I’d like to read in 2018 as well. Keep an eye out!

Have you read anything listed above? If so, what did you think? Or maybe you plan on reading it! Let me know in the comments!

Happy reading! :)

Reading Progress 2017

I wanted to make a quick post that ties with another post I had made late last year. I had posted ‘Books I’d Like to Read in 2017‘. That list consisted of the following books:

• Peace Talks by Jim Butcher
• The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson [X]
• A Destiny of Dragons by T.J. Klune [X]
• Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
• The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey
• Against the Grain by Charlie Cochet [X]
• Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath
• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo [X]
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater [X]
• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I have marked the ones I have read with a red ‘X’ next to them. I’m quite proud of myself for getting a good chunk of these books finished already. Plus, for just about all the ones I have read, I’ve gone on to read more in the series. I’ve actually already finished The Raven Cycle series and am currently reading the second book in The Grisha trilogy. Unfortunately, Peace Talks still doesn’t have a release date yet, so I’m not sure if I’ll manage to get that one read this year if it doesn’t come out. But, that’s all I really wanted to say in this post.

Happy reading! :)

Books I’d Like To Read in 2017

I stumbled upon Emily’s 17 in 2017 post and liked the idea of picking out certain books/series that I would like to read this coming year. I am a mood reader, so there’s no guarantee that I’ll actually read these specific books, but I think it’ll help me narrow it down when I’m looking for what to read next.

• Peace Talks by Jim Butcher – This is the sixteenth book in the Dresden Files series. One of my favorite series, mind you. I believe it was originally supposed to come out this year but it didn’t. And there’s still no release date for it, which makes me sad. But I’m really hoping it’ll come out sometime next year! I’m gonna cry if it doesn’t…
• The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson – I asked Emily if she would be interested in doing a buddy read with this book and she agreed! So we’re going to do that. I’m not sure when yet…we should figure that out.
• A Destiny of Dragons by T.J. Klune – the second book in the Tales From Verania series. I fell madly in love with the first book and I cannot wait for the second! I believe it’s supposed to come out sometime in June. I NEED IT NOW, DAMMIT!
• Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff – I tried this book a couple of weeks ago but just wasn’t in the mood. I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway and I would really like to read it and post a review! But if I’m not in the mood to read it I don’t want that keeping me from enjoying the book. So I’ll try again sometime next year!
• The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey – the second book in The Monstrumologist series. I read the first book earlier this year and liked it so I would like to continue this series. The library didn’t have the second book for some reason so I’m hoping they will get it. Otherwise I’ll probably buy it.
• Against the Grain by Charlie Cochet – the fifth book in the THIRDS series. I also started this series earlier this year and fell in love with both the plot and the characters! Unfortunately my library doesn’t have the fifth book, although they have the sixth and seventh, so I’ll probably have to buy this one too.
• Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath – the first in the Jack Daniels mystery series. This seems like a fun read and the synopsis reminds me of the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich, which I really enjoyed and need to finish as well.
• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo – the first in The Grisha trilogy. I’ve heard many good things about this series and the ‘sequel’ series, Six of Crows, sounds really good as well.
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater – the first in The Raven Cycle series. I feel like there has been quite a bit of hype over this series, especially because the last book came out earlier this year. It sounds like a good read so I may give this one a try after I finish up Half Lost. Unless something else captures my interest before then.
• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick – the first in the Hush, Hush series. This series has been on my book list for a long time so I would like to finally get around to reading it. It’s only four books long so it shouldn’t be that hard to get through.

Of course there are hundreds of more books I would like to read but these are just a few that I may or may not get around to reading sometime in 2017. Have you read any of these? If so, what did you think? Are there any specific books you plan on reading next year? Let me know!

Happy reading! :)

100 Followers!

Yes, that’s right! 100 followers. I seriously can’t believe it’s happened. I’m mean, I was excited when I got 5, and now multiple that by 20! It honestly boggles my mind, imagining that over 100 people want to listen to me ramble on about things, but I’m truly honored and wanted to make a quick post saying thanks! So to everyone that follows my blog, THANK YOU! <3 I thank each and every one of you for supporting me and my blog! I know I’ve slowed down on posts this year, due to life mostly, but I’m going to try my best to keep at it! Wish me luck!