booksdanilikes

Reading Tracker 11/28-12/9

I am still trying to get my reading groove back from a few years ago when I read 137 books in one year. I always want to focus on enjoying what I’m reading more so than how many books I am getting through, but there are so many books that I want to read that I really need to step up the pace a little bit next year. At the very least, I’d like to start reading every single day, even if it’s only a few pages.

I keep my physical reading tracker in a little dot grid notebook as I am reading. I track my progress and jot first impressions in there, so these initial comments may not reflect how I feel about a reading experience by the time I review the title.

11/28/23: Started reading a physical copy of Smash It! by Francina Simone. Read to page 60. The writing style is good so far, although the content has a lot of swearing and discussions of sex that aren’t the most comfortable for me to read. I feel like we’ve gotten some insight into the main character Liv, but not enough.

11/29/23: Did not read.

11/30/23: Did not read.

12/1/23: Did not read.

12/2/23: Finished Smash It! by Francina Simone. This book made me cry, but it also made me a little uncomfortable. I’ll need to sit with this one for a few days before I review it to gather my thoughts.

Started Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel. Read to page 17. Have not read enough to give initial thoughts yet.

12/3/23: Finished Darling Rose Gold at 11:15pm. What the heck did I just read? This was seriously dark and twisted, but I couldn’t put it down. After about the 75 page mark, it was just one moment after another. I liked the cat and mouse nature of this, where you had trouble telling who had the upper hand at any given moment. It was an absolutely bonkers ride of a read.

12/4/23: Began reading The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton on my break. Read to page 6.

12/5/23: Did not read.

12/6/23: Did not read.

12/7/23: Read to page 23 in The Marvellers. A little info-dumpy to begin with.

12/8/23: Began listening to All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby on audiobook while I was running errands. Listened to 56%. This is a brutal small-town crime novel that has me hooked!

12/9/23: Continued listening to All the Sinners Bleed. Got to 64%. Still totally hooked. Wish there had been more time to listen today. I am definitely procrastinating on The Marvellers to listen to this.

Review: Smash It! by Francina Simone

Title: Smash It!

Author: Francina Simone

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Published: 2020

Genre: YA Contemporary

Pages: 368

Format: Hardback

Summary: At a Halloween party where multiple people give her well-intentioned but un-asked-for advice, Olivia “Liv” James comes to the conclusion that her life isn’t living up to her expectations. She decides to create a list of to-dos to change herself and her future. She’s inspired by Shonda Rhimes’ book, The Year of Yes, and vows to be bold, learn to take a compliment, stand out instead of back, go on a date, and stop crushing and move on. As she goes about these tasks the tagline says it all, “Mistakes were made”.

Featuring: angsty teens, body positivity, and a love rectangle.

Liv has to find out the hard way who her real friends are and that love doesn’t come easy.

My thoughts: This book unexpectedly made me cry. I wasn’t ready for the depth of emotion we get out of Liv. Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than a decade out of my teenage years and I found myself frustrated by her lack of maturity and her inability to communicate as a crux of the book. That being said, I like the character growth that we see throughout the book from nearly every character, not just Liv. Don’t let the bright colors on the cover fool you though, this book packs a punch. The teen characters are going through very difficult times in their lives. There’s racism, sexism, bullying, fatphobia, you name it and it’s pretty much in here.

I will offer some of the same criticisms that other reviewers have though, in that there are some lines of dialogue in here that go too far for my personal taste. I understand that teens will unintentionally say things that are incredibly insensitive and often will not get called out for it by their peers, but there were comments in here that were downright painful to read. The teens in this book call each other out on a lot, so it’s hard to see comments that are insulting to many groups go by like they’re acceptable jokes. This book tried to tackle a lot of hard topics, and it didn’t hit them all with the same level of sensitivity.

My rating: 3 stars

This marks book 1/25 from my Netgalley Shelf of Shame. See post here.

November Reads

I’m not sure how we’re already several days into the last month of the year, but here we are again. I had a decent reading month in November and I’m feeling more confident that I can hit my 2023 Goodreads reading goal before the end of the year (currently sitting at 47/52 books complete).

I read 6 books in November and I enjoyed all of them.

*All links will take you to the book’s Goodreads page*

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

322 pages, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #4, published in 2008 originally.

Rating: 4 stars

My thoughts: *contains light spoilers*. The first book in this series that is not set predominantly in Three Pines. We don’t get any progression of the corruption subplot from previous books. We do get more of Armand and Reine-Marie’s background, which I really enjoyed.

Genre: Mystery

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

352 pages, published in 2023, first in a series

Rating: 5 stars

My thoughts: A lot of people talk about the romance in this story, but I thought it was more of a comedy. Sassy in the best way. I will definitely continue with this series.

Genre: Fantasy

City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong

412 pages, published in 2016, first in a series

Rating: 4 stars

My thoughts: A mythical/real city in the rugged Canadian wilderness where people who need to disappear can apply to do so. This is a really intriguing premise and I flew through this first book. I’ve already got the second one from the library.

Genre: Mystery

Death on the Shelf by Allison Brook

313 pages, published in 2021, Haunted Library Mysteries #5

Rating: 3 stars

My thoughts: Really bizarre plotlines in this one made it harder to follow. The ending didn’t feel as satisfying to me. Parts have already faded from my memory. I’m still loyal to this series, but I hope the next entry has a little more substance. I’ve already got it from the library, and I’ll be almost caught up with this series at that point.

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Murder in the Books Lover’s Loft by Ellery Adams

304 pages, published in 2023, Book Retreat Mystery #9

Rating: 3 stars

My thoughts: *Minor spoilers* It’s time for this series to conclude. The blending of Adams’ former series was nice for long-time fans, but the plots of these are really flimsy now that the library is gone. It’s like she tied up the ending really well several books back but for some reason we are still going. There were some character developments that could point to an impending wrap-up, but I’m hoping it comes in the next book. At a certain point, I think we just all want the characters that we love to get their happy endings. I still love Ellery Adams’ writing and will read anything she writes.

Genre: Cozy Mystery

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

312 pages, published in 2019

Rating: 5 stars

My thoughts: This was a book club pick and I went into it not knowing anything, which I think is best. This was one of my favorite books of the year. I’m not sure, even days later, if the main theme of this book leans more towards love or more towards grief, but it is beautiful. It will also make you crave Persian food. The author has a new book that is projected to come out in July of 2024, and I will be on the lookout for it. Also, the cover is stunningly gorgeous. The picture here does not do it justice.

Genre: Historical/Literary Fiction

Total Books Read: 6

Total Pages Read: 2,015

Average Number of Pages per Book: 336

5 Star Ratings: 2

4 Star Ratings: 2

3 Star Ratings: 2

Average Rating for November: 4 Stars

Books Acquired November 2023

I have never imposed a book buying ban on myself before, but after this month…I’m considering it. It always feels like a betrayal to the library to purchase books. This was an abnormally large amount of new books for me to purchase in one month, but all but 2 of these were purchased at a book warehouse that isn’t too far from me that does a monthly sale where they offer books 70% off. I had never been before, but I went on Black Friday and they had a ton of Fantasy series that I’ve had my eye on for a while, and I went a little crazy. Without further ado, here’s everything I purchased or acquired in November.

*All links will take you to the book’s Goodreads page for more information*

Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Malice by John Gwynne

Ruin by John Gwynne

Wrath by John Gwynne

A Time of Courage by John Gwynne

The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington

The Light of All That Falls by James Islington

Still Life by Louise Penny

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft

The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft

The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick

The Liar’s Knot by M.A. Carrick

Labyrinth’s Heart by M.A. Carrick

Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 1. Vol. 1 by Miya Kazuki

Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans

Roll for Initiative by Jaime Formato

That’s a total of 26 books. I had already read 6 of them prior to purchasing them (the first four books in the Louise Penny series, Malice, and The Shadow of What Was Lost). If you’re familiar with some of those series, you’ll know that I only got one complete set, the James Islington series is just a trilogy. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to fill in some of the other missing titles on future book trips.

Stay tuned for my 2024 reading goals later this month, because my growing TBR is definitely going to be a factor in at least one of my goals. I’m also planning to take on the task of counting my physical TBR. Keep me in your thoughts, because I have 5 bookshelves in 3 different rooms, so this is no small task.

Review: Being Henry

Title: Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond

Author: Henry Winkler, written with James Kaplan

Publisher: Celadon Books

Published Date: October 31, 2023

Page Count: 256

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Bookshop.org

My quick take:

I know there are a lot of buzzy celebrity memoirs coming out right now, but people should not be sleeping on this one! “Being Henry” by Henry Winkler is a warm hug of a memoir, introducing you properly to the man behind the characters. Winkler is a figure that many people think they know and understand, but this is a memoir with a lot of depth. It is a true retrospective on fame and the struggles of being an actor after landing the big role.

The writing itself was the most familiar part of the reading experience for me. I hope Winkler narrated the audiobook himself, because hearing his distinctive voice in my head as I read this greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the experience.

A lot of people will assume that Winkler’s life was smooth sailing, but they will discover a number of challenges that he had to overcome from a young age and into adulthood, even past his time as the Fonz. His descriptions of how hard he worked on developing his craft and how willing he was to change to get work and grow as an actor will surprise some.

Without spoiling too much, I will also say that this is not a vanilla accounting of his life. Some light drug use is mentioned, as well as descriptions of his various romantic relationships over the years. The story of meeting his wife was a personal favorite of this reader.

In summary, he is not a perfect man, but this memoir isn’t going to change the mind of anyone who already finds him charming. It will be a great nostalgia read for those who watched him growing up and an interesting introduction for those who are only getting to know his body of work now.

My rating: 5 stars, for both the writing and the overall experience.

Note: I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this title from the publisher through BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review.