Tag: Reading

Week in Reading 12/31-1/6

This was a remarkably good week of reading for me, helped by a few days off of work and a desperate need to procrastinate from my stresses.

12/31: I finished Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel. Why did I wait so long? That was awesome. You better believe I’m going straight to Only Human next. —Later that same day…Okay, I finished Only Human right before midnight. A great way to end the year and my 10th book this month. Great trilogy. Will definitely be keeping the physical copies to read again in the future, but I highly recommend the audiobooks as well.

1/1: I started and finished the manga for Ascendance of a Bookworm by Miya Kazuki. I wanted a quick win to start off this year after the end of last year was so productive. I want to read the novel versions too, but getting my hands on them may be tough. Read to page 143 in The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. Why does she write Three Pines in such a way that I wouldn’t mind living in a town with so much murder?

1/2: Read to page 241 in The Brutal Telling. Lots going on today and tomorrow. I need reading to be a refuge.

1/3: Listened to 14% of Christmas Caramel Murder by Joanna Fluke. I didn’t realize how short this one was going to be. 14% is chapter 2. I also finished The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. It was an excellent story, but sad.

1/4: Finished Christmas Caramel Murder by Joanne Fluke. My least favorite entry in that series so far. Really short. Plot felt flimsy. Ending came out of nowhere. I also started and finished Giant Days, Vol. 7. This continues to be a great storyline with great art. I can slip right back into the story without worrying that I’ve forgotten something.

1/5: Started and finished Giant Days, Vol. 8. Busy day, super tired. Hard to motivate myself to read. Began The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. Read to page 29.

1/6: Continued reading The Frozen River. Read to page 108. Enjoyed a quote from page 39, “Memory is a wicked thing that warps and twists. But paper and ink receive the truth without emotion, and they read it back without partiality. That, I believe, is why so few women are taught to read and write. God only knows what they would do with the power of pen and ink at their disposal.” I’m really enjoying the writing so far, even though I don’t normally reach for historical fiction as a preferred genre. This is the first book that wasn’t already on my January TBR, but I’m on a time crunch to get this one back to the library because there’s a holds list for it. I read a book by this author many years ago called I Was Anastasia, which I remember enjoying. Nothing groundbreaking, but the subject matter interested me because Anastasia was one of my favorite animated films as a child.

December 2023 Books Acquired

December was a more moderate month for me in terms of book shopping. I did make another trip out to the really great book warehouse with their 70% off sale, but since this was my second trip and I had better expectations, I was able to control myself.

*Links open to the book’s Goodreads page*

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell- I’m not generally a big Lisa Jewell reader, but this one got so much buzz that I wanted to grab a copy when it came up as an option from Book of the Month. I was going to try to get it from the library, but the holds list was pretty long.

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver- I’m regretting this one a little bit now, but I also chose this title from Book of the Month. I wanted a fun winter romance, but I’ve seen some reviews of this one come in and they haven’t been great. Ultimately, I’ll decide for myself, but I’ll admit that I am less excited about this one than I was at the beginning.

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen- This was my last Book of the Month selection last month and is supposed to be a Nutcracker retelling. I may actually wait until next year to pick this one up because it feels like something you should read leading up to Christmas, not several weeks after it has already passed.

Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft- This completed a series that I had purchased the first few books in last month at the warehouse. The Babel series was really popular back in 2020-2021 and I missed the first wave on it, but I’m hoping that I’ll find some time to fit this series in this year. Unfortunately, this series is not included in my formal series plan at the moment.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers- This series has been recommended to me so many times over the years and I’m anxious to give it a try.

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne- I have no idea why I am purchasing all of John Gwynne’s backlist (and frontlist for that matter). I’ve only read one book by him. I really liked it, but mostly, collecting these titles has been a matter of luck because of how many of them have been at the warehouse sale these last two months. I love the style of these books, that wonderfully floppy large paperback with pages that are not-too-thin.

The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne- see above.

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie- This was another series that I was able to complete fortuitously thanks to the book warehouse. Joe Abercrombie has been highly recommended to me. I will also be a good test for me to figure out if I really like grimdark fantasy.

Anticipated 2024 Releases- January

Here are the releases that I am currently most excited for in January of 2024. Keep in mind, these publication dates are subject to change, but since they’re fairly close, I’m hoping they’ll stay put. *links go to Goodreads*

Anna O. by Matthew Blake- 01/02/2024. This is a thriller that caught my eye because it uses a trope that I’ve enjoyed reading before: the patient being interrogated by an “expert” who becomes an amateur investigator. I haven’t seen anyone do the “sleeping” angle before, but the description certainly reminded me of Alex Michaelides’ The Silent Patient.

Ghost Roast by Shawnee & Shawnelle Gibbs- 01/02/2024. A YA graphic novel that gives Ghostbusters vibes. I’m sold.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan- 01/09/2024. Ever since reading A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The City of Brass, I have been intrigued by Djinn. Goodreads has this one listed as Fantasy, Horror, and Historical Fiction, but the description puts me in mind of Literary Fiction. I can’t wait to see where it lands.

The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson- 01/16/2024. This one is Fantasy/Sci-Fi. I really love time travel books and this one seems like it is going to have time travel and multiple character timelines that may intersect. The intricacies of time travel are always interesting to me and I think the romance aspect of this one may keep me hooked if the science part of the science fiction isn’t there. I’ve never heard of this author before, but it looks like this book will be the start of a series. It has a really great cover too.

No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall- 01/23/2024. I read one of Marshall’s previous releases, Rules for Vanishing, and found it equal parts chilling and fascinating. I’ve been meaning to dive back into her work and this one caught my eye. It’s got a murder and lots of small town secrets, which is right up my alley.

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers- 01/30/2024. This is another really beautiful cover. This is a Fantasy Romance debut with Gothic themes. It features a cursed family and a girl searching for her mother. The description put me in mind of the movie Practical Magic (I’ve never read the book it was based on).

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin- 01/30/2024. This is newly added to my list in the last few days. I heard a Booktuber discussing another book by this author and I was intrigued. This one features a Queer main character who is obsessed with space and true crime podcasts. I have to admit that it is that last aspect that intrigues me the most, but it’s also described as having “quirky humor”, which appeals to me as well. I wondered if it might bring me what my recent Ashley Poston read didn’t.

House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City #3) by Sarah J. Maas- 01/30/2024. This is the only one of these books that I will be going to physically purchase the day that it comes out. I’ve already coordinated with some friends so that we can purchase the different editions and get as many of the bonus chapters as we can (I really hate this new practice by the way). I can’t wait to see what we’ve got in store here. The description is brief, which is to be expected, but I really want to hear things from Bryce’s perspective, given where we left her at the end of the last book. I will probably start this as soon as I get it in my hands.

Week in Reading 12/24-12/30

This was a remarkably good week in reading considering the crazy scheduling of the holidays. I finished 3 books this week (thanks in large part to audiobooks and a lot of traveling) and I really enjoyed each of them. *book links go to Goodreads*

12/24: I finished The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton. This was on my NetGalley Shelf of Shame for a while and is a middle grade fantasy featuring POC main characters. I really enjoyed this one and will be posting a full review soon. I also started The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. Poston wrote one of my favorite reads from earlier this year, The Dead Romantics. I made it to the 27% mark in The Seven Year Slip.

12/25: Yes, I read on Christmas. I made it 75% of the way through The Seven Year Slip. This book was an incredibly fast read, because I was REALLY distracted while I was making my way through it. The way it talks about grief is going to stay with me for a long time.

12/26: I finished The Seven Year Slip today. I didn’t end up loving it as much as I did The Dead Romantics, but I will still pick up future titles from this author. I love the way she throws a little magic/sci-fi into her storytelling. She writes emotion really well and if you’re not hungry when you start reading this one, you will be by the time you finish.

12/27: I listened to 49% of Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. I thought I was remembering the majority of the story because this is a re-read for me, but I definitely forgot some of the plot points later in the story and I really can’t remember how it ends anymore.

12/28: I made it to the 72% mark in Sleeping Giants. It’s even better than I remember. It’s also really fast, and not just because I’m listening on 2x speed.

12/29: I finished Sleeping Giants. When I read it for the first time in 2020 I rated it 5 stars, and I would not change that rating now.

12/30: I couldn’t wait until my official January TBR started, I had to start Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel today. I was able to get it on audiobook from my library immediately, so I dove in. I made it to the 50% mark on the first day. It has the same full-cast audio as Sleeping Giants and I really would recommend that as the superior way to consume these books.

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.