Hello Readers! Does January feel like it has actually been 2 months long to anyone else?
Goals for the week: Finish The Survivors by Jane Harper and The Project by Courtney Summers and get reviews up for both. Make progress on Medievalathon TBR.
Mon 1/25: Today I got from the 11% mark on The Survivors to the 31% mark. It is really excellent so far and the only thing that stopped me from getting further was pure exhaustion. There’s something about Jane Harper’s writing that sucks me in every time. The mysteries are slow and intricate and she writes small town life really well.
I also started listening to Robin Hobbs’ Assassin’s Apprentice today on my commute. I needed a short break from the cozy mysteries and this book has been on my radar for a while. It’s a good start and the narrator is reminding me a little bit of the narrator from The Name of the Wind.
Tue 1/26: Not a ton of progress to report today, but I did get to the 60% mark on The Survivors. I also remembered that in addition to the e-galley of this book, I have the physical copy. This is the first time in my life that this has happened to me, where I had an e-copy of a book and forgot that I had the physical copy. In fairness, I requested the e-galley a long time before I knew that the book was going to be featured as an early release from Book of the Month.
I think I know where the story might be going at this point, but I find that I really don’t mind. I appreciate the red herrings that have been thrown our way so far, but this is Jane Harper we’re talking about, and I wouldn’t put it past her to double back on a previous suspect.
Wed 1/27: Lol, I was so wrong about the ending to The Survivors. I had it completely wrong, but the book was so good. I’m giving it 4.5 stars. It’s not my favorite of her works, but I still loved it (The Lost Man is my favorite, for the record). A solid mystery all around and I’ll be passing along my copy ASAP.
Since I finished that e-galley today, I went ahead and started The Project by Courtney Summers. I’ve only ever read Sadie by her before, but it was a dark and unexpected mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed. It has one of the only ambiguous endings that I have ever found satisfying. All that I know about The Project going into it is that it potentially has something to do with a cult. I made it to the 10% mark today and it is reading really fast even though it doesn’t seem like much is happening right now. It does that thing where you start out with a scene from the past that doesn’t make a ton of sense right away but you just know is going to be important later on.
Thu 1/28: I read very little today. Pure exhaustion. It’s just the nature of my work sometimes. Everyone thinks that librarians just sit around all day reading books, but my job is way more complicated than that, and it comes with all of the joys and challenges that any job working with the public can have. In any case, I literally only read 1% more of The Project today and I have made it to the 22% mark listening to Assassin’s Apprentice.
Fri 1/29: Today was a pretty good reading day. I made it to the 18% mark in The Project, and I feel confident that I’ll get it finished over the weekend. They’re predicting a good bit of rain for us over the next two days and I am fully prepared to hunker down with my sweatpants and a variety of tea for some literary therapy.
I’m now 38% of the way through Assassin’s Apprentice and I am seriously considering breaking my book buying ban already because I can just tell that I am going to love this series. The complaints that I had heard from people about the slow pacing haven’t bothered me yet. To me, it’s all interesting even if it isn’t necessarily thrilling. Plus, the U.K. editions of this book are nice looking. I wish the new hardback special releases weren’t so expensive. If I’m going to break my ban this soon, I’m definitely not going to be spending $40 per book. I’m doing that thing where I put the books in my cart and then sit back and think about it for a day or two. I don’t see this ending well.
Sat 1/30: I finished Assassin’s Apprentice today and I’m happy to report that it was a 5 star read for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the deep dive that we get with the character of Fitz and the ending had me riveted. There is so much political intrigue in this book, much of it that Fitz himself doesn’t understand, and it makes for a really expansive reading experience. Also, I really enjoyed the little vignettes at the beginning of each chapter that provided information about the world and its lore. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series and hope to get my hands on it soon. I didn’t end up purchasing the book series…yet, but I still really want to.
I also managed to squeeze in a graphic novel late this evening. I read Kieron Gillen’s Once & Future Vol. 2, which is a bind-up of issues #7-12. Once & Future is a graphic novel that is an Arthurian legend retelling. It imagines King Arthur as a more sinister figure who has been re-animated (think zombie) in modern times with the goal of collecting his lost knights and attaining the power for world domination. My favorite thing about this series is the character of Gran. She’s a demon-fighting Granny who lives in a retirement home but seems to have caches of weapons pretty much everywhere. She is instructing her grandson in how to fight mystical beings but their relationship has been strained by all of the secrecy her life has required. It’s a gory, but really great series.
Sun 1/31: The only reading that I did today was to start Anna James’ The Lost Fairy Tales. It’s one of the books on my Medievalathon TBR and I wanted to get started on it since the readathon ends on February 10th. I’m going to have to revamp the TBR for that one a little bit because I started listening to my “underrated book” The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness on audiobook and I really disliked it, so I’ll need to find a new book to replace that one.
Progress Report: I’ve finished 1 of the 2 books that I hoped to have read this week, but have made progress on the 2nd. I have also read 2 out of the 5 books for my Medievalathon TBR and started a 3rd. I’ve done a lot of reading this week overall and am closing out the first month strong, having made some progress on almost all of my 2021 reading goals.
Books Dani Likes 