Tag: reader

End of Year Reading Tag

A little update on my reading as we head into the end of the year/ beginning of a new year.

The original tag and questions are from Ariel Bissett, and can be found here: https://youtu.be/UddPv6ROQXk?si=F2bVWB2F8FdskBmG
1. Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

Answer: Only one comes to mind, and I actually just restarted it because I couldn’t remember where I left off. The book is: The Light of All That Falls by James Islington. This is the last book in the Licanius trilogy and I want to complete it by the end of the year so that I can move on to Islington’s newer works (I just bought The Will of the Many).


2. Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

Answer: I don’t have one specifically, but I definitely find myself reading more magic/witchy books starting in September and continuing until December. I transition to snowy thrillers around that time.


3. Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?

Answer: I am still waiting for my Library hold for Dan Brown’s new Robert Langdon novel: The Secret of Secrets. It’s been 8 years since we got the last one, and while I have read all of the others, I don’t own any of them, so I’m playing the library waiting game. At last check, I’m currently 36th in line, so I’ll see it soon.


4. What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

Answer: Before the end of the year I would like to read: The Night Ends With Fire by K. X. Song, The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem, and A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir. The first two titles I learned about recently from Booktubers whose taste I share, and the last one is the continuation of a series that I was really enjoying earlier in the year.


5. What trends have you noticed in your reading this year?

Answer: I am finishing more series this year, which has been a goal for a long time. I also have been successfully participating in some online readathons (I completed Magical Readathon from G at Book Roast in September). I always say that I want to do those, but I struggle to follow through. I’m also continuing to make progress with HRCYED 2.0. I’ve completed a few sections and make steady progress each month. I think the variety of prompts has kept me from stalling out.


6. How do you feel about your reading goals? Anything you want to change, adjust, or abandon?

Answer: For once, no. I’m going to achieve a lot of what I hoped to this year.


7. Have you already started making reading plans for next year?

Answer: Not yet. I tend to wait until right around Christmas for that kind of planning. I enjoy the planning sometimes as much as the execution.

January Reading Plan

Each month I’m going to be prioritizing the series that I have already started. I will also be evaluating some potential new series to get started on.

The series that I am planning to  continue in January are:

Valor by John Gwynne (Faithful & Fallen #2)

Ruin by John Gwynne (Faithful & Fallen #3)

Booked on Murder by Allison Brook (Haunted Library #8)

The Stranger in the Library by Eva Gates (Lighthouse Library #11)

Christmas Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swensen #23)

Chocolate Cream Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swensen #24)

Coconut Layer Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swensen #25)

The Girl and the Mountain by Mark Lawrence (Book of the Ice #2)

In January, I will be embarking on a new project to try new series.

Each month I will be trying the first 40 pages of the first book in series that I have not yet started. Essentially, I want to see if I am interested in the writing before I add yet another series to my TBR. I have made little index cards which each of these on them and I am drawing 3-4 randomly each month. For January I drew:

The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin

A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden

The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams

If I finish all of these, I will have some stretch books each month. These are titles that I intend to read this year but which are not assigned to a particular monthly reading plan yet.

January Stretch Books:

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall

Weyward by Emilia Hart

January Books Acquired

Hello all! Can you believe we’re already through with January? I didn’t buy a lot of books this month, surprisingly. I think part of the reason is because I finally sat down at the end of December and counted how many books that I own that I have not read and really looked at how full my bookshelves are (I literally have one that is being held up by books because the shelves were sagging so I strategically rearranged the books on it to support the shelves). In any case, here are the books that I purchased this month:

  1. The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer (Book of the Month selection)
  2. Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin (Book of the Month selection)
  3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Amazon)
  4. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (Amazon)
  5. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (Amazon)
  6. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas (Amazon)
  7. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (Amazon)
  8. House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas (Target)
  9. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Amazon)
  10. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (Amazon)
  11. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (Amazon)

It was definitely a Sarah J. Maas-fest, but I finally accepted the fact that I am going to be re-reading this series many times before they are all complete. I really enjoy these books and I want to be able to mark up my copies and have them at a moment’s notice instead of waiting to get copies from my library.

2024 Reading Goals Update #1: January

Hello everyone! I wanted to check in with my yearly reading goals progress as we close the first month of the year. I’m off to a promising start, but as with many resolutions, the first month tends to be the easiest.

  1. Read a little every day: 31/31 days
  2. Finish 2 series per month: Themis Files completed (technically completed end of December because I got too excited and started early). Empyrean series completed (at least caught up to current publications). I went above and beyond on this goal this month and also finished the Illuminae Files series by Jay Kristoff and Aimee Kaufman. I also closed the month by reading the newest Crescent City book from Sarah J. Maas, which gets me completely caught up with that series.(4 series completed)
  3. Get NetGalley percentage to 80%: Beginning of month: 56%. End of month: still 56%, but I have 3 reviews to write from NetGalley books I read, so we’ll get some movement on this next month.
  4. Determine an ideal physical TBR and stick to it. TBR beginning of month: 260. TBR end of month: 271 Ideal TBR: 150. This number is somewhat arbitrary, but I think it would leave my bookshelves in a more comfortable place. Books read from physical TBR: 10 (including the Themis files, technically read in December). I am going to be un-hauling Under the Whispering Door, which will take my physical TBR to 270. Significant un-hauling will need to be done to get me down to 150 by the end of the year.
  5. Read at least 100 books. Currently: 18/100. Well on track with this goal.
  6. Read more graphic novels: Read 4 this month.
  7. Read more short stories: Not a focus this month, switching to focus on this in February.
  8. Join a book club that I don’t run: I failed with this one this month. I had intended to catch the CoverswithCassidy live show for The Girl and the Mountain but missed it. I’m going to watch the replay when I have time.
  9. Make a book club kit for 1 book per month: I started work on my first book club kit for the book The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan. It should be published in the next week or so and I can’t wait for people to see it.
  10. Read 15% of physical TBR: 10/271= 3%. Caveat** I added 11 books to my physical TBR this month and am un-hauling 1, which changes the number to: 10/270 but is still 3%.

February TBR

This will be another ambitious month for me…which will probably be folly since it’s the shortest month of the year and I return to my normal work schedule, but whatever, let’s dream big!

**links open to Goodreads**

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas, book 3 in the Throne of Glass series. I’m re-reading these because I stopped halfway through the 4th book and never finished, but it’s the only one of her series that I haven’t completed and I cannot let that stand for another year.

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas, book 4 in the Throne of Glass series. Getting to the end of this book will be a big mental hurdle for me because this is where I stopped the first time through. I think the issue that I have is that although I enjoy the story in this series, I like ACOTAR and Crescent City so much that this first series has not yet lived up to the hype, but I also know that I haven’t given it a fair chance yet.

The Girl and the Mountain by Mark Lawrence, book 2 in the Book of the Ice series. I’m reading these so I can join along with CoverswithCassidy’s readalong on YouTube.

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny, book 6 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. This is the last book in this series that I currently own. I love this character and this world and I can’t wait to read this one.

Banana Cream Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke, book 21 in the Hannah Swensen mysteries. This will be my car book when I go back to work (1.5 hr commute each day means lots of listening time). The last entry in the series was a little underwhelming, so I hope this one gets it back on track.

Hide and Seek by M.J. Arlidge, book 6 in the Helen Grace series. The last entry left our titular character in a precarious situation, so I can’t wait to dive back in and see where we go from there.

A Letter to Three Witches by Elizabeth Bass. This is a rom-com that is supposed to be Bewitched meets Practical Magic. {NetGalley}

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy. This is a Cinderella re-telling from a series called Meant to Be, which are all being written by different authors. This is the first entry in the series. {NetGalley}

The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey. This one is the book club pick for work. It’s not really my kind of genre, but motivation isn’t critical here because I have to read it no matter what.

Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, book 4 in the Naturals series. I moved this one up from my original planning because I was able to get to book 3 in January. {completes a series}

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallet. This author has become one of my favorites for the way she plays with media formats and the mystery genre. This is a library book that I probably won’t get to renew, so I’ll be reading it pretty early in the month.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber, book 1 in the Caraval series. This would be me starting another series that I had not previously counted…but hear me out. I want to read this series because I am really interested in reading her newer series and evidently there are spoilers for this series in there.

By the Book by Julia Sonneborn. I have owned this book for at least 4 years now and the cover always intrigues me. It’s time to read it finally or un-haul it. {physical TBR}

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. I feel like one of the few people on Earth who has not read an Ali Hazelwood book and I’ve owned this one for a few years now. {physical TBR}

Eventide by Sarah Goodman. I got this one in a subscription book box in 2020 and have never attempted to read it. It’s time to fish or cut bait with this one. {physical TBR}

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James. I have loved every Simone St. James book that I have every read. I love how she blends mystery with the paranormal, but for some reason, once I got this one I read maybe 20 pages and then stopped and haven’t picked it up since. {NetGalley and physical TBR}

The Thoroughly Modern Collection. This is a collection of 23 short stories from authors such as Ruth Rendell, Fay Weldon, and Haruki Murakami. {short stories}

Classic Crime Short Stories. This is another collection of stories focused exclusively on the crime genre. {short stories}

Old Babes in the Wood by Margaret Atwood. This is a collection of short stories from a popular author that I have not read much from before. {short stories}

The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century edited by Harry Turtledove. This collection focuses on alternate histories, which are stories that I’ve always thought I might enjoy but I’ve never spent a lot of time reading.

That’s at least 20 books. What am I thinking? This isn’t January and I have to work, but I’m going to do my best. Wish me luck!