January Wrap Up

This is so late, ugh. I intended to have it up on the first, but life happened. I’ve been super busy so far this month, and I had some technical issues (I’m still holding out hope that this laptop will survive another year, because I can’t afford to replace it this year), but I finally managed to sit down for a while and work on this wrap up.

I’d intended to also have my OwlCrate unboxing in this post, but life. And the weather. My place doesn’t get good sunlight anyway (which I don’t mind, except when I want to take pictures), but it’s also been quite dark lately. The one day I had decent light, I didn’t have time until after sunset, so… I’ll be posting on my instagram this week, at least.

January was an okay reading month for me, but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. I started my Harry Potter re-read, for the first time in like 4 or 5 years, back in December. I’d planned to finish in January, but I only made it to the beginning of the last book before the end of the month (and I’m still not finished).

I read…

• re-reads of the Harry Potter series, from Chamber of Secrets through Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (reviewed here)
• three fairy tales (Old Rinkrank and Simeli Mountain by the brothers Grimm, as well as The Drop of Water by Hans Christian Andersen)
• The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (reviewed here)
• I finally re-read Daughter of Smoke & Bone (review) and Days of Blood & Starlight (review) by Laini Taylor, and then moved on to Dreams of Gods & Monsters to finish the trilogy at last

Not bad, but I wish I’d finished a couple more things.

But, the really exciting thing (even though this is mostly because of re-reads) is that my total page count was a nice 5,382, which is more than double what I need my monthly page count to be to hit my yearly goal of 30k pages.

All of the books I read also count for Beat the Backlist, and I managed to cross off a few prompts for some reading challenges. I haven’t actually marked all of those yet, and I’m leaving full updates of reading challenges out of my month wrap up posts because it can get a bit long at times. I’ll probably do either quarterly updates (because I’m also participating in Bookish Bingo, which is a seasonal thing), or a mid-year update just for how my reading challenges and other bookish goals are going.

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I started planning some posts towards the end of January, so hopefully I’ll get those up soon. I feel like I did pretty well, staying on top of things and posting regularly, but I’ve fallen behind over the last week. Hopefully now that I’ve gotten some life things out of the way, I’ll be able to get back on track.

Happy reading 🙂

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How was your January?

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End of Year Survey

I meant to do this last year. I think I even actually finished it, but didn’t post it because I didn’t have my featured image things ready -_- This year, I’m prepared! Well, slightly more so than last year, at least 😛

This survey was created by Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner, and honestly, I look forward to seeing people do these posts, starting the last few weeks of the year.

Grab a drink and/or a snack and get comfy, because this is going to be a long one. (I am trying to keep each answer brief, though.)

I started this on the 29th with the intention of scheduling it for January 3rd, but it’s the 31st now and I don’t think I’m going to finish more books than my current read. If I do, I’ll come back and update it tomorrow 😛

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2018 READING STATS

Number Of Books You Read: 82

Ok, sorry, but I’m not going through my list and counting the short stories and fairy tales, and besides that, I count everything I read anyway, no matter the length. So, I’ve read 82 things that exist on goodreads, most of which were novel-length.

Number of Re-Reads: 15

Just counting novels. If I counted short stories and fairy tales, it would actually be 20 or 21, I think.

Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy

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Best in Books

1. Best Book You Read In 2018?

I had several favorites this year, but I think I’m going with The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. (I can’t even break this one down by genre because there would be ties for at least a couple )

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee I had such high hopes for it, but it was just ok for me. I think I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  

The Diviners by Libba Bray 😦 I expected it to be a 4-5 star book for me, but it ended up being barely 3.

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Probably Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I don’t think anyone read it because of me, but I’m trying really hard to get husband to read it.

 5. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018?

Started:

Vicious (from the Villains duology) by V.E. Schwab (This was a conteder for favorite of the year)

Sequel I Read:

The Suffering by Rin Chupeco (This is also a contender for favorite of the year, and a series ender, but I can’t think of anything else, besides my choice for the next bit, that I enjoyed more.)

Series Finale:

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff(This one was another possibility for favorite of the year.)

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018?

Rin Chupeco! I read both of the Girl from the Well books and fell head over heels, and I’m very much looking forward to reading more. (Rin Chupeco isn’t a new author, but her books were new to me.)

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. I don’t really read contemporary often, but this book ❤ (This one was definitely my favorite from a genre I don’t read often.)

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

There were actually a couple, but I’m going to say Night Film by Marisha Pessl. (My review, if you want to know more.)

 9. Book You Read In 2018 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

I am a re-reader, but I really don’t know. There are a few I could potentially re-read next year, but none really jump out.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, maybe. There were like three stand-out covers for me this year, but I’m trying to limit the number of times I reuse a book for these questions.

11. Most memorable character of 2018?

Almost certainly Monty from The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee.

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?

My brain totally froze on this one, because I couldn’t remember any particularly beautifully written books, but… I’m going to say The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw. Loved the writing in this one.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

Even though I didn’t love it, I’m going to say The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee. It was probably my most quoted book of the year. Lee knows what it’s like to be a woman, and that inequality has always been an issue.

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read? 

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien!! I waited way too long. (This one was also a favorite of the year.)

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018?

You’re trying to play a game designed by men. You’ll never win, because the deck is stacked and marked, and also you’ve been blindfolded and set on fire. You can work hard and believe in yourself and be the smartest person in the room and you’ll still get beat by the boys who haven’t two cents to rub together.

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?

Shortest:

I’m excluding fairy tales and short stories from anthologies/complete works, so the shortest individual thing I read was The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs at 32 pages.

Longest:

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.Tolkien at 1,220 pages.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

The entirety of Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, omfg. If I had to describe this book with a single statement, it would be “WTF?!” (Reviewed here)

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

I’m not much of a shipper, even with canon ships Probably Percy and Monty from The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Maybe Sydney and Dol (or Mitch or Victor) from Vicious by V.E. Schwab.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

I’m going to say Heartless by Gail Carriger, but I actually think the first Parasol Protectorate book–Soulless–is my favorite (but, that was a re-read, and I wanted to use something that wasn’t a re-read.) I also used this one to keep from re-using the same few books for many prompts 😛

21. Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:

None. I don’t pick up books without knowing something about them, no matter how highly recommended they come

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018?

Is Victor Vale a weird answer? I don’t care. He’s the only character I can think of.

23. Best 2018 debut you read?

DROPKICKromance by Cyrus Parker (Reviewed here)

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

I’m really not sure. Probably either the Illuminae Files books or The Lord of the Rings?

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. I don’t care much for Cinderella, but this book was really cute and fun.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018?

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo oh my gosh.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy by Hallie Lieberman! I had an eARC of this one last year, but didn’t finish it until earlier this year, and it was really great. (Reviewed here)

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Hocus Pocus & the All-New Sequel by A.W. Jantha ugh. It crushed my soul because it was just…really not great. I didn’t expect amazing, but yikes. (Review here)

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018?

To avoid an obvious answer (which has already been used), I’m going to go with Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Ugh, maybe Kill Creek by Scott Thomas. I wanted to like this book so much, but the more I think back on it, the more I hate it and want to lower my rating from 2 stars to maybe 1-1.5. (Review here)

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Blogging/Bookish Life

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2018?

This one was so hard, but I think Book Roast on YouTube. She’s not a new booktuber, but somehow I’ve gone all this time being aware of the Magical Read a Thons she hosts, but never knowing who started them until a few weeks ago:/

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2018?

Maybe my review of The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo?

3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2018:?

I didn’t take many this year, but I think it’s this one of the reading planner from the December OwlCrate (my unboxing post is here):

4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events,  etc.)?

Maybe the last round of Tome Topple? It was the first successful round for me, and I more than exceeded my expectations. It was a great time 😀

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018?

I’m going to say Monday, December 17th. That was the day of the tumblr log-off protest, and I haven’t been back since. It was also when I officially started dedicating more time to this blog, instagram, and twitter, which is why I’m using it for this question. I needed something to change, and it did.

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

Lack of motivation to do any of it It was not a great reading or blogging year.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

The post with the most views was my 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge Book Recs.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

All and none of them haha. (This is a small blog, and I haven’t devoted as much time to it as I meant to, but I’m also super critical of anything I create.)

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

I don’t actually think I have one Maybe the Gobstone Alley Flying Parcel boxes? I feel like those are my most likely book-ish boxes to buy, after OwlCrate.

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

Haha, no. Unless you count the goodreads challenge, but I started setting my goal at 12 books a couple of years ago because I found the pressure to read more and more was killing my enjoyment.

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Looking Ahead

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019?

I’ve been thinking about this one for days, and I honestly don’t know. There were so many. So. Many! Possibly Vengeful by V.E. Schwab, or Becoming by Michelle Obama. I don’t own either of those, and it’s looking like I won’t get them this year

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut)?

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern!!
I have waited so long for another book, and I literally screamed when I heard one was set to come out next autumn.

3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Weirdly, I can’t think of any I’m really anxiously anticipating Maybe The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees?

Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen also sounds really good.

Oh and Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan has been getting some buzz.

But, I’m not super desperate for any of them. I’ll probably read them, but I’m not dying to get my hands on them or anything.

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019?

I don’t think I’m anticipating any,… Ooh wait! In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire!

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019?

Regular posting to this blog! I’ve done well, I think, this month, and I would like to continue the trend through next year. As for reading, I’ve been setting myself the goal of reading 30k pages in a year, and I would love to finally reach that next year.

6. A 2019 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):

I haven’t read any yet, so this one is not applicable.

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And we’re done, whew.

November Wrap Up/Winter Plans

I’ve been procrastinating this post all month because I kept wanting to wait until I could get a picture of the whopping three books I read last month, but it hasn’t worked out, so we’re just doing this.

Last month was NaNoWriMo, and the most recent round of Tome Topple happened. I did post about my Tome Toppple plans, but I didn’t expect to actually finish a book (I don’t think I ever have before during Tome Topple). How did I do? Well, I read all three of the books That’s right, I made it through Night Film, The Witches: Salem, 1692, AND The Diviners last month while also participating in NaNoWriMo. What?! I can’t believe it.

In my last update about all of this in November, I hadn’t finished my last book or NaNoWriMo. There was still time to fail. But…I didn’t. I don’t know what happened last month, but I was on fire.

I completed an actual entire first draft of a novel for the first time ever. It’s horrible, it needs so much editing and rewriting, but I actually did it! My final word count was 54,724 words! (The “goal” word count is 50k.)

Not only did I finish an actual first draft of a novel, but I also plan to go back and make it better probably during the spring. I can’t believe I really did it omg. I’m not going to lie, there’s a tiny bit of pride happening because of this.

I was also going to post my Bookish Bingo wrap up, but I totally lost track of what I read for the prompts and I didn’t do great with it anyway because I didn’t get much reading done this autumn.

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That brings me to my winter reading plans and such!

First of all, Winter Bookish Bingo, yesss! I’m totally participating. Head over to Pretty Deadly Reviews to see the prompts for this round.

King of Scars comes out in January(!!!) so I’m considering pre-ordering that because I NEED IT! Aaah! Now I can finally read Wonder Woman: Warbringer because I’ll have another Leigh Bardugo book to read soon! You guys, I can not even begin to put into words how freaking excited I am for this book! It’s probably my most-anticipated 2019 release, honestly.

I’ll probably talk more about a few other 2019 releases I’m excited about in a later post (there’s a T5W with that prompt this month, but I’ll probably narrow it down to books released in the first half of the year).

Otherwise, I think I’m just going to try to read as much as I can before the end of the year. I’m definitely not hitting 30k pages read, but right now it doesn’t seem like I’m going to hit 25k, which was my goal once I started climbing out of The Great Reading Slump of 2018 *sigh* 

And, hopefully, I’ll actually follow through with making some changes to this blog soon. I need to write a couple of reviews, and I have some ARCs I need to read and review soon. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping I actually get all of that done this month.

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I really meant for this to be kind of short, but I rambled a lot more than I expected, oops. I just sat down and really felt like writing a blog post, so…here we are 😛

I hope your winter is off to a lovely start, and (if you celebrate any holidays this time of year) I hope your holidays are filled with joy ❤

September Wrap Up (Blogtober Begins!)

September was a rocky reading month for me, but I (finally) came out of a month pretty satisfied with my reading. The cursed slump was driven away, thanks to Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate.

I’m really glad I saved finishing that series for so long, because without it, I’m not sure I ever would have clawed my way out of the slump. (That’s probably overly dramatic, but it’s how I felt 😛 )

In September, I finished eleven books, four fairy tales, and one short story.

The Fairy Tales

• “Strong Hans“
• “Clever Grethel“
• “The Flail from Heaven“
• “The Singing Bone“

(Clicking the titles takes you to my Fairy Tales Fridays post for each of them.)

The Books

• The entire Parasol Protectorate series (Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, Timeless) by Gail Carriger
• The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
• Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts edited by Rayne Hall
• The Suffering by Rin Chupeco
• Kill Creek by Scott Thomas (reviewed)
• The Marble and Other Ghost Tales of Tennessee and Virginia by Joe Tennis
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Short Stories

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

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I totally won at R.I.P. 13, which I talked about in my first and second update posts. Since I’ve already succeeded with Peril the First (reading 4 books), my bigger focus for R.I.P. in October is going to be Peril of the Short Story and Peril on the Screen.

Over the weekend, there was a pre-FrightFall readathon, during which I read two books (the last two on my list above).

Lastly, I think I’ve been able to mark a couple of squares for Fall Bookish Bingo, yay!

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I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited for October, and I really hope I get at least as much reading done this month as I did in September.

 

How was your September?

Did you read anything great?

Are you participating in any autumn or Halloween themed book events?

May + Spring Wrap Up

Goodreads is finally functioning a little more, so I can do this the easier way, yay!

May was An Experience, oh boy. I mentioned in my April Wrap Up that I was about 3,600 pages behind for my page goal. That…that was a lot of pages to be behind by. By the end of May, to get back on track, I needed my total page count for the year so far to be at least 12,500.

So how did I do? Well, my total pages for this year was 13,282 at the end of May 31st! Ho-ly craaaap that was a lot of pages read in May!

In May, I read 17 titles and finally (finally!) finished The Lord of the Rings! It took me about 2.5-3 months to read Fellowship and maybe the first chapter or so of Two Towers, but once I sat down and really started the rest of the book, I blew through it within the week, I think. I loved it, and I am so happy to finally be able to say I’ve read it haha.

Now, on to the rest of what I read:

From last book of the month to first book of the month…

• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck– 3-3.5/5 stars
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge– 3/5 stars
• The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur– 4.5/5 stars
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins– 1.5/5 stars
• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien– 4.5/5 stars (-0.5 star because I didn’t really start loving it until after Fellowship )
• The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs– 3.5-4/5 stars
• The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo– 5/5 stars
• The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion– 3-3.5/5 stars
• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine– 4/5 stars
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel– 1.5/5 stars
• Everything Leads to You by Nina Lacour– 4-ish/5 stars
• The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw– 3.75/5 stars?
• The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee– 5/5 stars
• The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan– 4-4.5/5 stars
• The House of Hades by Rick Riordan– 3.75-4/5 stars
• The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan– 5/5 stars
• The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan– 5/5 stars
• The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan– 5/5 stars

I pretty much did nothing but read every possible moment last month because I was determined to catch up while I was really feeling the urge to read. (That’s also why my blogging didn’t really happen last month, oops.)

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I won’t get into my year-long reading challenges this time, but I’ll be doing a mid-year review/wrap-up at the end of June and include what I’ve read for the Pop Sugar and Book Riot’s Read Harder challenges.

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Spring Bookish Bingo Results

I was so close to getting every square this time around, ugh.

Here’s what I read:

• Ocean Theme: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Mythology: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
• Part of a Series: Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (review)
• Pink Cover: Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy by Hallie Lieberman (review)
• Made Into a Movie: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
• White Cover: The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One by Amanda Lovelace (review)
• Spring Release: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (review)
• New-to-You Author: It’s All Fun and Games by Dave Barrett (review)
• Retelling: Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday by Justin Richards
• Unlikeable Main Character: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
• Thriller: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
• Free Space: The Night of the Living Dummy by R.L. Stine
• Intersectional Diversity: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (Disabled/POC/LGBTQ+ character)
• Animal On Cover: She Who Destroys the Light: Fairy Tales Gone Wrong by Shahida Arabi (review) (A wolf)
• Aussie Author: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
• 2018 Debut: DROPKICKromance by Cyrus Parker (review)
• Epistolary: Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
• Family: Funhome: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
• Witches: The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
• Flowers On Cover: The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
• Set in Another Country: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (Australia…I think)
• LGBT+: Everthing Leads to You by Dahlia Adler (F/F relationship)
• Multi POV: Obsidio by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
• Second Chance: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (I counted this because I gave it a second chance after trying to read it as a kid and not liking it. I still didn’t really like it )

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And that’s a wrap, whew.

May, and spring in general, was kind of eventful. A lot has gone on in my personal life, and not much of it was good But at least I’m back on track with my reading goals, I guess. (Well, at least my page count goal, if nothing else.) And I’ve managed to actually do pretty well so far with my reading resolutions for this year. But I think I’ve done enough updating and wrapping up for one post, so I’ll talk more about that in the mid-year update around the end of June/beginning of July.