October Challenge Wrap Up Post

2018 Books I Already Own Challenge

Hey, does anyone know what happened to October? I'd like it back! Seriously, this month FLEW by and I feel like Fall's already on it's way out and before we know it, it's going to be winter and I'm going to cry. 

So, realizing I now only have TWO months left in the year and that there is no humanly way possible for me to finish this challenge within the year, I still found myself staring angrily at my bookshelves as if by somehow wishing hard enough more of those books would be simultaneously read... so, instead of just stewing, I went through my collection again and took about fifteen books off my TBR pile and donated them to the Library.  I can't honestly say I was dying to read them anymore, so out they go.

That still leaves me with almost 75 books I haven't read yet, but it looks a little less intimidating and I may be able to get through them before, say April 2019, which isn't too, too bad. With the holidays coming up, which somehow usually gives me both more and less time to read, we'll see what kind of dent I make in what's left...

So, what did I manage to read in this super fast passing October?

Audiobooks
Something in the Way by Jessica Hawkins

Escapades by Lilly Atlas

Soul of the Witch by Deanna Chase

Born of Darkness by Lara Adrian

Physical books I own
Somebody Else's Sky by Jessica Hawkins

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

eBook I own
Trial of Three by Alex Lidell

The Hookup by Kristen Ashley

Hour of the Lion by Cherise Sinclair

Nonfiction Title of the Month: None (I sadly did not pick one up this month. Boo)

Official cheat book(s): 

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina vol. 1 (graphic novel) by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa/Robert Hack

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Required Reading
(work) Death Overdue by Allison Brook
(professional review) Johnny by DJ Molles

I started reviewing audiobooks for the awards this month so that took away some from my regular reading.  I can't specify at all what I'm judging, so just trust me when I say it takes a lot of time and it means the rest of 2018 will be split between that and this challenge.  I'm still planning to pick away as much as I can at what I own though!!

How're you all doing with your reading?

September Challenge Wrap Up Post

2018 Books I Already Own Challenge

So, September started out as a pretty great reading month, then sort of petered out... I'm in a bit of a reading slump now. *cries gently*

I think it's sinking in that there's only three months left of 2018 and I have too many unread books to reasonably finish this year.  *sigh* Somehow I'd convinced myself I could do it all in 2018!!

I think, though, that if I could get down to less than say, thirty or thirty-five books sitting there waiting to be read, I wouldn't feel too badly ending the year-long challenge...

So, what did I read in September?

Audiobooks I own
The Crown's Fate by Evelyn Skye
Strength by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington
Flame in the Dark by Faith Hunter

Physical books I own
To Bear an Iron Key by Jackie Morse Kessler
Lies Jane Austen Told Me by Julie Wright
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas
Illegal by Eoin Colfer *graphic novel*

eBook I own
Witch's Reign by Shannon Mayer

Nonfiction Title of the Month: The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide for the World's Most Adventurous Kid by Dylan Thuras and Rosemary Mosco

Official cheat book: Lethal Licorice by Amanda Flower

Required Reading
(work) Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay
(professional review) The Oddling Prince by Nancy Springer
(professional review) The Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams

So, I also got a third of the way through Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas, but it's so big, and we're so close to the end of the series that my brain is just like, "Noooooooo..." and it doesn't want me to read any more of it.  I'm working on my current book club book for work trying to take a mini-break, but then my next group discussion for EOS is on the 17th so I have to get it done before then.  Do you ever have that happen where a book is almost too good and you just don't want to finish it because then it'll be DONE?

I'm also starting my annual audiobook judging this month, so that's going to affect my reading.  I can't really tell you more than that, but it'll mean books I can't record here and time away from my own collection. *Sigh*

How're you all doing with your reading?

August Challenge Wrap Up Post

2018 Books I Already Own Challenge

Well, August was both a good and bad month for reading. It was busy and HOT so I didn't sit and read quite as many print books as I wanted to, but I snuck in a few extra audiobooks so that wasn't too bad!

All links below take you to the title's entry on goodreads.com. So, here's what I read in August:

Audiobooks I Own
Trickery by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington
Persuasion by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington
Seduction by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington
Unqualified by Anna Farris

Physical Books I Own
The Exact Location of Home by Kate Messner
Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller
Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding by Rhys Bowen
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Untamed by A.G. Howard

eBooks I Own
Slaying It by Chloe Neill
Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Official Cheat Book: Wild Hunger by Chloe Neill
Incidental Cheat Book: My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris

Required Reading
(Work) The Secret, Book and Scone Society by Ellery Adams
(Professional Review) Side Life by Steve Toutonghi
(Professional Review) Blood of the Four by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon

CHOSE NOT TO FINISH: Subscribed by Tien Tzuo

I find in the summer I love to dive into "easy" books.  Paranormal romances, series books, etc.  My audiobooks were perfect for the weather and speed of my life in August.  I was able to squeeze them in wherever and they were highly entertaining if not highly intellectual.  Just pure escapism. 

I was also able to finish up a couple of series this month.  I read the bridge novella between the Chicagoland Vampires series and Neill's new spin-off Heirs of Chicagoland series, which starts with Wild Hunger which was my official cheat book for August. I also read Untamed which is the compiled novellas for the Splintered series and Ruin and Rising which is the final book in the Grisha trilogy.  Though I didn't love all of Untamed it was enjoyable.  I was disappointed in Ruin and Rising, but I'm looking forward to reading Six of Crows which kicks off a duology set in the same world.

My Library received its copy of My Lady's Choosing and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to choose my own romance path (SUCH A COOL CONCEPT) so that became an incidental second cheat book for me.   Whoops!

Lastly, my best and worst books of the month. 
I LOVED LOVED LOVED Maas's Heir of Fire. I cannot wait to start Queen of Shadows tomorrow.
I tried desperately to read Subscribed, which was going to be my nonfiction book of the month, but I couldn't get myself to focus and so I skimmed bits then DNF'd it.  I ended up listening to Unqualified which counts as a nonfiction and LOVED hearing Anna Farris tell tales.  Such a funny book.

I'm excited to head into September.  How's your reading going?

July Challenge Wrap Up Post

2018 Books I Already Own Challenge

So, after May and June both turned out to be cheat months, I got back in the saddle for July, so to speak! It was a pretty good reading month, though work was at its peak time and so I probably read a little less than I could have if I'd really tried.

HOWEVER, I did finally finish weeding my bookshelves in July, so now all that's on them are books I either intend to truly keep or books I really intend to read!! That was a huge step for me, as over the last few years, I just kept picking up books and shoving them in there, even knowing I most likely wouldn't make the time to get to them.  I had to let go, you know? Now, I'm just trying to decide if I can let go even more and do my bookshelves in rainbow order instead of the OCD library version they are now... *Giggles*

All links below take you to the title's entry on goodreads.com. So, here's what I read in July:

Audiobooks I Own
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Physical Books I Own
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas *group read
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas *group read
Midnight Marked by Chloe Neill
Blade Bound by Chloe Neill
No Ego by Cy Wakeman (nonfic read)

eBooks I Own
Winter Princess by Skye MacKinnon
Winter Heiress by Skye MacKinnon
Scottish Werebear: Books 1-3 by Lorelei Moone

Official Cheat Book: The Wicked King by Holly Black *2018 Book Expo

Required Reading
(Work) Death on Tap by Ellie Alexander
(Professional Review) Ocean Light by Nalini Singh

All in all I felt pretty great about my reading in July! I got to read a book I was dying to get to since I picked it up at the Book Expo, I finished out a series I'd been meaning to for years, I restarted a series I've been collecting but never read AND I finished the nonfiction book I meant to read in June.  Not too shabby.  I've been loving all the audiobooks I've been listening to this summer, so I hope that continues and I feel pretty good going into August.  I'm refueled for my personal challenge!! How was your reading in July?

Mini Reviews: The Novella Edition

Winter's Passage
by Julie Kagawa
Iron Fey series, book 1.5

Meghan Chase used to be an ordinary girl...until she discovered that she is really a faery princess. After escaping from the clutches of the deadly Iron fey, Meghan must follow through on her promise to return to the equally dangerous Winter Court with her forbidden love, Prince Ash. But first, Meghan has one request: that they visit Puck--Meghan's best friend and servant of her father, King Oberon--who was gravely injured defending Meghan from the Iron Fey. Yet Meghan and Ash's detour does not go unnoticed. They have caught the attention of an ancient, powerful hunter--a foe that even Ash may not be able to defeat....

This is such a great series. I loved getting this extra little glimpse into the Fey world.



The Assassin and the Desert/The Assassin and the Empire
by Sarah J. Maas
Throne of Glass novellas, 2 and 4

The Silent Assassins of the Red Desert aren’t much for conversation, and Celaena Sardothien wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s not there to chatter, she’s there to hone her craft as the world’s most feared killer for hire. When the quiet is shattered by forces who want to destroy the Silent Assassins, Celaena must find a way to stop them, or she’ll be lucky to leave the desert alive.

Celaena Sardothien is the assassin with everything: a place to call her own, the love of handsome Sam, and, best of all, freedom. But Celaena won’t be truly free until she is far away from her old master, Arobynn Hamel – so she and Sam decide to take one last daring assignment that will liberate them forever. And that’s how Celaena learns that having everything… means everything can be taken away.

Kicking myself that I didn't read these in the proper order, but I have all four novellas so I'll be going back to fill in the blanks, LOL.  Since I've already read the novel it didn't really matter what order I read them in, since I already know where the storyline is basically going, but man, Maas does a GREAT job with the backstory and worldbuilding in these. Definitely worth reading!!

 

The Initiate

by Megg Jensen

The Song of Eloh Saga, book 1

 

Over a thousand years ago, the gods left Eloh's people and took their magic with them. To win back their favor, her people sacrifice ten female initiates every ten years. No has ever survived. There has never been a Chosen One. Forced into becoming an initiate, Eloh will try to find a way to beat the odds, stay with her boyfriend, and survive the fires that threaten to consume her. But will her lack of faith in the gods and her disbelief in their magic doom her to a painful death?

 

So intriguing! This is my first foray into the highly recommended works by Megg Jensen and it will not be my last. I have the Cloud Prophet Trilogy to read soon! 

 

Freaks: A Rizzoli and Isles short story

by Tess Gerritsen

 

Homicide cop Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles have seen their fair share of mortal crimes, but the death of Kimberly Rayner may qualify as inhuman in more ways than one. When corpse of the emaciated seventeen-year-old girl is discovered next to an empty coffin in an abandoned church, mysterious bruises around the throat suggest foul play. Caught fleeing the scene is the victim’s closest friend, Lucas Henry, an equally skeletal, pale teenager who claims he’s guilty only of having a taste for blood—a craving he shared with Kimberly. But the victim’s distraught father doesn’t believe in vampires, only vengeance. And now, another life may be at risk unless Rizzoli and Isles can uncover the astonishing truth.

 



I have to admit that though this was an interesting story, I actually like the dynamics of Rizzoli and Isles on the TV version better.  Sad!

Full disclosure: All novellas purchased for my Nook