Tag: Reading Wrap Up

January Reading Wrap-Up

Lauren2 Comments

Let’s just all admit that my posting schedule is going to be sporadic and insane, because reasons. But hey, more time for reading, right?

Speaking of reading, how about going over what I read in January?

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam was a book club read and I did not enjoy it. It has such an interesting premise: A family goes on vacation to the middle of nowhere long island when a few days into it a couple claiming to be the owners of the house they rented show up in the middle of the night claiming something terrible has happened on the east coast. It was one of those things where I didn’t enjoy the writing, the ending, or the characters. This book was not for me. But it clearly has an audience because it is being made into a Netflix movie set to air later this year.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick on the other hand was amazing. I have been spouting this story’s virtues to anyone who would listen, including my mother and she doesn’t even read! Everyone in the world over the age of 22, and then once they hit 22, gets a mysterious box that has a string in it. This string represents the measure of your life. It begs the question, how would society act with this newfound information? It was amazing. Didn’t I say that already? I highly recommend it.

Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood was a fun compilation of novellas set in the Steminist series. Each one has a different plot, however, I have noticed that Ali Hazelwood tends to write different versions of the same romance trope: enemies to lovers. I know it’s a common trope and that lots of romance authors use it, but seems that is all she does. It’s a little disheartening. Not gonna stop me from buying the next book though.

Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne is the cozy, sapphic, fantasy read I needed while I was on a plane ride. It was a great story about a queen’s guard who runs away to be with her mage lover and opens a tea/book shop in a small town. It is available on KU if you are curious and I do recommend it.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nigh Vo is the second story in the Singing Hills Cycle. They are short series of novellas about a non-binary traveling monk who roams around collecting stories. I really enjoy this series and have already bought the third one!

Once Upon A December by Amy E. Reichert was an adorable holiday rom-com about a mystical traveling Christmas market. It was okay? I started reading it when I was on my holiday trip with family and didn’t finish it until the end of January…because I forgot I was reading it. Sigh. Not a rousing endorsement, I know.

Pilu of the Woods by Mui K. Nguyen is a cute, middle-grade graphic novel that has to do with facing those not-so-nice feelings we all get. Oh, and magical tree spirits. It was adorable and fluffy and made me smile.

Taproot by Keezy Young is a heartwarming middle-grade graphic novel about a gardener who sees ghosts. This also made me smile.

Princess Princess Ever After by K O’Neill is yet another middle-grade graphic novel. I have got to spend less time on cozy fantasy TikTok. That’s where I found all three of these. I really enjoy K O’Neill’s work and think it’s quite sweet. A good time had by all…er me!

The Sandman Vol One: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman and various artists was something I had been meaning to get to for a while but had never managed to quite make it to. I’m glad I finally hunkered down and read it, it’s so good! The art is stunning and the story is fantastic. And no, I haven’t watched the Netflix series, I do have the audiobooks though.

The best book I read this month was The Measure, hands down. It was spectacular and I think everyone should read it.

Ya’ll, I meant to post this on Saturday! I forgot to schedule the post! I am so, so very special. I’m gonna go have a cup of tea now.

October Reading Wrap Up

Lauren1 Comment

Welp, Halloween is over and all I’m left with is this pumpkin cheesecake. I take comfort in that. Well, also in the 12 books I read. Almost all of them anyway.

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling picks up where the Ex Hex left off, this time the focus is on Gwyn Jones and Wells Penhallow. It was a wonderful follow-up and I couldn’t have been happier to have been in the world of Graves Glen again. What a great sequel. If you like the Ex Hex, you will love this!

Not the Witch You Wed by April Asher is the first book at the start of a brand new supernatural romance series about werewolves and witches. This one had to do with supernatural politics in a way I wasn’t expecting. Don’t worry, it’s still a rom-com. It was a fun read and I really enjoyed it.

Well Played by Jen DeLuca is the second entry in a series of rom-coms centering around a renaissance festival. I am enamored with the world the author has created and may have already finished the third book. I am also thankful there is a fourth book in the series coming out in December.

From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper is another sequel (I usually have a hard time reading sequels, what is going on?) that takes place in a town called Thistle Grove where the magic is held by four families. This time a fellow witch is attacked and members of two rival families must team up to solve the caper! I loved it! Thistle Grove sounds like a fantastic tourist spot!

If you want to read a cozy fantasy graphic novel, The Tea Dragon Society series by K. O’Neill is the way to go. This middle-grade story is adorable and I read all three in one go! It’s also available on Kindle Unlimited so you can enjoy it there. And how cute are those dragons?

Now meet the books I wasn’t too crazy about.

I know people are loving it, but I just didn’t like Fairy Tale by Stephen King. His writing style and I just don’t get along. I may try this one again later, as so many of the ladies in my book club enjoyed this one.

How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villany by AJ Sherwood was a choice. The wizard is very eccentric and the knight is very quick to just go along with everything the wizard says. It’s also absurdist comedy, which may be why they do that, but it wasn’t for me. I say that, but I read the whole thing.

Three Swedish Mountain Men by Lily Gold was a book I read. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I like my romance stories to have a plot, but this one was barely there. If why choose stories are up your alley, give it a shot. But nope. Not again!

The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Maris was a book I was really into until the third plot twist happened in the first half of the book. It was just a few too many plot twists for me.

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean was just a wrong book wrong time kind of thing. I didn’t get very far into it, but I am determined to try again because the plot is about a family that eats books, and then here comes the kid who eats brains? Yes, I want to like that.

And that’s how my reading month went. How did yours go?

May Reading Wrap-Up

Lauren5 Comments

Well hello, beautiful people! I hope you had a good weekend! Mine was very, very busy, and yet I feel like I accomplished nothing at home. It was one of those weekends. But we are starting the week off right with a Reading Wrap-Up! In May I read 17 books for a total of 6,010 pages. I will not be repeating that this month, I can tell you that!

Books 22 thru 34 of the In Death Series by J.D. Robb

I read 14 In Death books last month, which is nuts. But that put me up to book 34 in the series! Only 22 (some haven’t been released yet!) to go! Naturally, I loved them all, some more than others. New York to Dallas was an exceptional entry in the series. As always, check trigger warnings. 4-5 stars to all of them!

Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen

This adorable middle-grade graphic novel is about Garlic, who is tasked by the other vegetables in the Witch’s garden to go and slay the vampire that is moved into the castle. It was such a cute read and I really enjoyed seeing how it played out! I dislike Carrot, obvs. 4 stars.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Okay, full disclosure. I gave this book two stars, which sucks because it’s fantastic. But why give it two stars if it’s so good? Well, the main character does something that reminded me of someone I knew, and I just couldn’t get that image out of my head, so I had to stop reading it. The writing was fantastic and the plot was great, I just couldn’t get past that one thing. So yeah, two stars.

Electric Idol by Katee Robert

I really enjoyed the second entry into the Dark Olympus series. This one is all about Psyche and Eros and I loved their character dynamics and Eros’ mom! Woosh. Not a person you’d like to meet in a dark alley. 4 stars.

Stats

I like that mystery and crime are two separate genres. That’s hilarious. At least in context to the In Death books. You’d want to keep your true crime novels separate from your basic mystery novels, naturally.

But that is my reading wrap-up for May! What did your May reading wrap-up look like?

April Reading Wrap Up

LaurenLeave a comment

Well hello, beautiful people! It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? Sorry about that. But I am here now, and that’s all that matters! Today I bring you my reading wrap up and stats for April 2022!

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

This last book in the Brown Sisters trilogy was great! I had a lot of fun seeing how Eve and Jacob interacted. I really loved their dynamic and the bit with the ducks! I laughed out loud! Four stars.

So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens

I loved this story. It’s wholesome and fantastical and made me smile. It also made me laugh out loud quite a few times. Now listen, I know it is the miscommunication trope done again, but it was so good! Five stars.

The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz

Um…I have complicated feels about this one. On one had, its really well written. On the other had, the synopsis spoiled something for me and I could get past it. I DNF’d it but I guess if I had to give it a rating I would give it two stars? Cause again, good writing.

All The Feels by Olivia Dade

This book is the follow up to Spoiler Alert, which was one of my favorite books this year, so it had some pretty big shoes to fill. And it did! It was great. I could totally relate to Alex and his struggles with ADHD and bonus, the female protagonist is named Lauren! Five stars.

Divided In Death, Survivor In Death, Visions In Death by J.D. Robb

Trigger warnings for…everything. My re-read of this series is still going, though it has slowed down a little bit. Survivor In Death is one of my favorite books in the whole series. DID got four stars, VID also got four stars, and SID got and enthusiastic five stars.

Stats!

It’s weird to see that every book I read this month could be considered a romance book, but I can see that. Oh how we grow. Also you can see the weeks where I wasn’t really finishing any books. It happens. Life goes on. We reset our Animal Crossing island and hope no one notices. Because that’s what I did. I reset my Animal Crossing island.

How was your week?

March 2022 Reading Wrap-Up

Lauren4 Comments

Well hello, beautiful people! Happy Monday! How was your weekend? I spent mine doing the glamorous work of errands and chores. Always fun.

Today is Monthly Reading Wrap-Up time!

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

I listened to the audiobook of this story and fell in love with Chloe and Red. Chloe has an invisible disability and Red is actively dealing with his mental health. I loved watching these two explore these aspects of their lives with each other. Four Stars.

Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

A humorous story about a man who goes from food delivery driver to working for a mysterious organization that protects kaijus. If you want to see my full thought you can check out my review here. Four stars.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

I also fell in love with Dani and Zaf in this second story about the Brown sisters. I seem to really love the fake dating trope, and this one has that. This one also deals with mental health, specifically anxiety and depression. Another fours star read. ‘

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

This story about a group of men who improve their relationships with the help of romance novels was so much fun to read. Four stars.

In Death Books 15 thru 17 by J.D. Robb

I managed to read three books in my In Death re-read. Purity in Death got four stars. Portrait in Death got five stars. and Imitation in Death got five stars.

I managed to read seven books this month! Not bad considering I was afraid I was going to be stuck in a reading slump after the beginning of the month.

On to the stats!

I know I say this every month, but I love looking at my stats. They bring me so much joy. You can get your stats, for free, on The Storygraph.

How did your reading go this month?

Reading Wrap Up: February 2022

Lauren1 Comment

Well hello, beauthiful people! It’s reading wrap up time! I love looking back at what I’ve read and seeing if I actually accomplished my TBR for the month. Let’s see how I did, shall we?

Books 4 thru 14 of the In Death series by J.D. Robb

So, yeah. I’ve read a few of the books in this series. I still have a long way to go. But I am on my way! All these books ranked 4 or 5 stars. If you want to see specifics, check out my Goodreads page for more! And I haven’t mentioned it in a while, but this is a mystery series, and the main character lived through something horrific, so check the Trigger Warnings! Seriously. As much as I love it, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone.

Deceived By Gargoyles by Lillian Clark

So this was one of the first Romance reads I picked up this month. It’s the story of a witch who goes to a magical matchmaker and ends up dating this really great guy, who also happens to be a gargoyle. Oh and he’s already in a committed relationship with other gargoyles. I…what? I’m not sure why I kept reading it, as there wasn’t much of a plot, but I did end up laughing quite a bit. That could be why it got two stars.

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

So if you were on TikTok last year, you may have seen this short spicy book mentioned. So I bowed to the peer pressure that no one was giving me and read it. It’s…interesting. Also, check the trigger warnings if you want to read this, because there is some need for them at the beginning of the book. I did end up enjoying it a little bit, so three stars.

Neon Gods by Katee Robert

This dark retelling of Hades and of Persephone was quite good. I wrote a review for it here, so check that out for my full thoughts. I did enjoy it quite a bit, so I did give it four stars.

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

The story about a woman who decides to sign up for a DNA-based dating service, only to find herself matched with one of the founders. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book. I listened to it as an audiobook and enjoyed that experience. The narrator was quite good. Four stars.

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

This one is all about epic fantasy shows, fanfic, and being your true self. There is also positive plus-size rep! I wrote a full review of one of my favorite books of the year here. Five stars!

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazewood

I loved this quirky story about a fake dating relationship and one of them happens to be a woman in STEM. It’s great! I wrote a review on this one too, you can find it here. Four stars!

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

The story of a man who is an “Expendable”. He gets cloned every time he dies, and there is only supposed to be one of him at a time. So what happens when Mickey7 survives something that should have killed him and arrives home to find Mickey8 has already taken his place? I reviewed this one here. I wasn’t thrilled with this book. One star.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

The story of two friends who have gone on vacations together for the last 11 years, except for the last two when they had a falling out. I didn’t like one of the protagonists. I gave her 150 pages to change my mind and she couldn’t. One star. I will say I did check out other one star reviews and they all say the same thing, Beach Read was better, so I may give that a try.

Now it’s time for my favorite part, the stats! I read 19 books (I had no life!) last month and a total of 6,283 pages. Don’t be like me. Leave your house and do things. I just learned there was a mimosa crawl last month and I missed it!

I love this last stat, you can see how much I read over the course of the month. It’s crazy. I probably won’t have a month like that this month, as I am making myself slow down a little bit to make time to do other things and prevent burn out.

Also, I’m pretty proud of myself for the fact that of all the books I read, I only DNF’d two of them. That seems amazing to me.

On of the thing I am hoping to do is to listen to more audiobooks this month. I want to get back into my embroidery hobby because I miss it and it relaxes me. This way I can multitask.

What audiobooks would you recommend?

All The Books I Read-October 2021

Lauren3 Comments

Last month went by fast. I read 11 books! 11! And if I had kept up my momentum I would have read 14. Alas, I got distracted by the fanfiction corner of the internet. Meaning AO3. I spent 4 days on AO3.

And then my cat got sick and had to have surgery. I spent so much time being worried about her that I couldn’t focus to read. She is currently wearing the cone of shame.

Yeah, KoKo doesn’t like it either. I had to buy her a new feeding dish and switch her to wet food to get her to eat, because cone of shame!

My poor baby.

But before I got distracted by the world, I read these 11 books!

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

“Never mix vodka and magic.” When Vivienne gets dumped, she gets drunk with her cousin and curses her ex, but it shouldn’t take if you use a Bath and Body Work candle, right? 9 years later, handsome and successful, Rhys returns to town only to find out that he has been cursed. Together he and Vivienne have to work together to break the curse before he, and the town, end up dead.

I really liked this book. I reviewed it last month so you can see my full thoughts about it here, but I thought it adorable. I gave it 4 stars.

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E Harrow

Zinnia, having the last birthday she will ever have due to an illness, is thrust into the world of sleeping beauty. But all is not as it seems. Can Zinnia save the day? This short novella was great. I really enjoyed the plot, characters, and writing in this little story. Also, some positive LBGTQ+ rep for you. I gave it 4 stars and have already pre-ordered the sequel.

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

Thomas delivers a book, and that opens his life to the occult. This novella was interesting, but it was only a three-star read for me. Even the ending, which was really great, couldn’t make up for the rest of the book.

Noor by Nnedi Okorafo

After tragedy strikes each of them, the augmented AO and herdsman DNA must make their way across the unforgiving Nigerian desert, which has undergone its own cataclysm. This African Futurist novella was great. I really enjoyed the world-building here and the character writing was top-notch. I have a full review here. This was a 4 star read!

A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill

Noah’s dad sees monsters. Noah and his family run the horror park his dad built. The difference between Noah and his dad? Noah lets the monsters in. I’ll be honest, I didn’t like this one. I couldn’t connect with the story and the writing was just kinda meh. I DNF’d it.

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Imanuelle is the outsider of outsiders in her puritanical society where the Prophet’s word is law. When an accident causes her to go into the woods she has been forbidden to go in, she finds her mother’s diary and finds out she had taken refuge there herself. The secrets the diary unlocks may be the only thing that can save Imanuelle, and Bethel. I DNF’d this one too. The way the author described even mundane things made me cringe. No one in my book club liked it. So I don’t feel too bad.

Child of Light by Terry Brooks

Auris escape the prison she has lived in since she was 15, which is as far back as her memory goes. Her desperate escape takes her deep into the wastelands and straight into Elven hands. Oh, and she might be an Elf? I wrote a review for this one. You can find it here. I had to look up my own review to find out the synopsis because I had blocked it out. This book was so bad that, even though I had been sent the book to review through Net Galley, I had to DNF it.

Breach of Peace by Daniel B Greene

Officers of God are called to investigate the horrific bothering of an imperial family. What they uncover is a conspiracy that runs far deeper than murder. This novella is the first offering from YouTuber Daniel Green and I think it turned out pretty well. Well enough that I gave it 4 stars.

Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite by Various

A YA short story collection that is all about vampires. It covers everything, from becoming a vampire to reflections to vampires in the modern era. It had some good stories, some great ones, and a bad one. That being said, I gave this intriguing collection 4 out of 5 stars.

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper

Emmy Harlow hasn’t been back home in years, but she’s been called back to do her duty as the arbiter of the town witch’s tournament. Of course, that’s when she finds out that her high school ex was dating her best friend, Linden, and was cheating on her with Talia, both of whom are children of powerful with families. Naturally, the scorned women hatch a revenge plot. I really liked this book. I think I’m getting into contemporary romance. Go figure. 4 stars.

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

Silver Borne is the 5th book in the Mercy Thompson series. This one involves an ancient fae relic and an angry fae. I won’t go into more detail because it would spoil the last book. But it should come as no surprise that I love this series. 5 stars.

As far as my TBR for the month is concerned, I only missed it by two books. That’s not bad considering there were 7 books on there. I seem to have read every book but those two though. Oh well. It happens.

On to the stats!

It would appear that, as always, my mood was adventurous. By 8 books.

I’m never exactly surprised by this particular stat. It always seems to match what I think the pace of the book actually is.

If you are surprised I read 10 fantasy books, then it’s like you don’t even know me and I’m gonna take that personally! Just kidding, it’s fine if you are surprised, it just means you’re new here. Welcome!

I find it weird that I very rarely ever give a book a 2 star rating. Oh well. But this was the month of 4 star books. I’m not mad about that.

I must admit, I thought I read more books over 300 pages than I did. 6 seems small.

You can tell where I slowed down my reading last month. I started the month off so strong, and the just stopped. Oh well. There is always this month!

I love sharing my stats with you. It’s one of my favorite parts of the month. If you want to see your stats, you can start using The Storygraph. It’s based out of the UK, so if you are an American user, the page counts are usually off by about five to ten pages, but other than that, it’s great! You can also upload your Goodreads library to it, so it’ll have your stats for months or years past, as long as you updated Goodreads regularly. I did not before I started blogging, so that was my issue. This is not a sponsored post, I just really love this site.

Anywhoo. Have a good reading month!