Tag: monthly wrap up

August Wrap Up!

baltimorebibliophile

August slipped away into a moment in time, cause it was never mine…

Yep, still listening to folklore like it’s my job. Kudos to you if you got that reference. Anyway, we’re officially at the end of August and frankly 2020 is exhausting me. So much is happening in the world that is making up more divisive then ever, even within our own little booksta community. Black Panther is now resting in power. My dad has been hospitalized 3 times this year, just getting out for the third time on Friday. I don’t know how much more I can take from 2020.

On a more bookish note, I did super well on my TBR goals for the first about 20 days of the month. And then I’ve only read one book the last 11 days of the month – which is just insane for me. Nothing has felt interesting, nothing has caught my attention. I’m hoping I will get more into September, because I am participating in another reading challenge – more on that tomorrow for my TBR post. I think it will help me clean up some books I’ve been looking forward to.

See below for the books I managed to read this month!

PHYSICAL BOOKS

  1. A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games #0.5), Suzanne Collins – 3.5/5 stars
  2. Defy Me (Shatter Me #5), Tahereh Mafi – 5/5 stars
  3. Imagine Me (Shatter Me #6), Tahereh Mafi – 3/5 stars
  4. Twilight (Twilight #1), Stephenie Meyer – 5/5 stars
  5. Midnight Sun (Twilight #5), Stephenie Meyer – 5/5 stars
  6. Impersonation, Heidi Pitlor – 3.5/5 stars (ARC)
  7. Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women #1), Evie Dunmore – 5/5 stars
  8. Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards #1), Janella Angeles – 4/5 stars (NG ARC)
  9. The Boyfriend Project, Farrah Rochon – 4/5 stars
  10. The Ruin of Kings (A Chorus of Dragons #1), Jenn Lyons – 4/5 stars
  11. The Worst Best Man, Mia Sosa – 3.5/5 stars
  12. The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson – 3/5 stars

EBOOKS

  1. The Morning Flower (The Omte Origins #2), Amanda Hocking – 4/5 stars (ARC)
  2. A Golden Fury, Samantha Cohoe – 3.5/5 stars (ARC)
  3. Body Talk, Kelly Jensen – 5/5 stars (ARC)
  4. A House Is a Body, Shruti Swamy – 4/5 stars (ARC)
  5. Strictly Come Dating, Kathryn Freeman – 4/5 stars (ARC)
  6. I Hope You’re Listening, Tom Ryan – 5/5 stars (ARC)
  7. Legendborn (Legendborn #1), Tracy Deonn – 5/5 stars (ARC)
  8. Stuck on You, Portia MacIntosh – 4/5 stars (ARC)
  9. The Love Study, Kris Ripper – 4/5 stars (ARC)
  10. The Baby Group, Caroline Corcoran – 3/5 stars (ARC)
  11. The Tourist Attraction (Moose Springs, Alaska #1) – 4/5 stars

AUDIOBOOKS

  1. The Lost City (The Omte Origins #1), Amanda Hocking – 4.5/5 stars

How many books did you read this month?

Happy reading, folks!

July Wrap Up!

baltimorebibliophile

Happy end of July friends!! I somehow failed this month’s TBR while also exceeding all expectations. Let me explain how that happens. I did NOT follow through on the Four Nations Readathon. I got about halfway, and it served it’s purpose of getting me out of my slight reading funk. So I quit halfway because I got into reading books I didn’t really want to be reading, and that just isn’t fun right? Reading should be fun. So my reading continued to blossom AND I went on vacation for the last almost week of the month. Long car ride + COVID closing everything around us = plenty of reading time.

All this to say that whereas I did not follow my TBR, I read a whopping 31 books this month (I pushed the last book today because I liked the symmetry of 31 books for 31 days of the month. This is seriously WAY more than I would ever read in a month, I’m honestly shocked it somehow happened. It didn’t feel like I was reading this much throughout the month, but I keep a draft of this post all month so I can remember my ratings. So when I looked at it a few days ago and really counted, I was amazed. (Also, several are short story/novellas).

I don’t want anyone to see this and think they don’t read enough. As my partner likes to say, I am very extra. The amount you read or don’t read is valid. I will likely never come even close to this number again, and I blame it entirely on COVID and it stealing my social life and needing to destress by way of books. I can’t be anxious about my own life if I’m anxious about character’s lives!

PHYSICAL BOOKS

  1. The Unhoneymooners, Christina Lauren – 5/5 stars (reread)
  2. In the Neighborhood of True, Susan Kaplan Carlton – 4/5 stars
  3. Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1), Tahereh Mafi – 4.5/5 stars
  4. Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3), 4/5 stars
  5. All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth #1), Adalyn Grace
  6. The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1), Suzanne Collins – 5/5 stars
  7. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2), Suzanne Collins – 4/5 stars
  8. Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2), Tahereh Mafi – 4/5 stars
  9. Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3), Tahereh Mafi – 4/5 stars
  10. Restore Me (Shatter Me #4), Tahereh Mafi – 3.5/5 stars
  11. Hieroglyphics, Jill McCorkle – 4/5 stars (also Netgalley but received physical book from publisher)
  12. With or Without You, Caroline Leavitt – 4/5 stars (also Netgalley but received physical book from publisher)
  13. Head Over Heels, Hannah Orenstein – 4/5 stars
  14. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3), Suzanne Collins – 4/5 stars

EBOOKS

  1. Not That Kind of Guy, Andie J Christopher – 3/5 stars
  2. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  3. The Bride Test (The Kiss Quotient #2), Helen Hoang – 4.5/5 stars (reread) (FourNationsReadathon)
  4. The Choice, Nicholas Sparks – 3/5 stars (reread) (FourNationsReadathon)
  5. Take a Hint, Dani Brown (The Brown Sisters #2), Talia Hibbert – 4.5/5 stars
  6. Destroy Me (Shatter Me #1.5), Tahereh Mafi – 4/5 stars
  7. Fracture Me (Shatter Me #2.5), Tahereh Mafi – 3/5 stars

NETGALLEY/EDELWEISS/AUTHOR EARCS

  1. One Hundred Dogs and Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and A Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues, Cara Sue Achterberg
  2. In A Holidaze, Christina Lauren – 4/5 stars
  3. The First to Lie, Hank Phillippi Ryan – 4/5 stars
  4. Float Plan, Trish Doller – 5/5 stars
  5. The Code for Love and Heartbreak, Jillian Cantor – 3.5/5 stars
  6. In Case You Missed It, Lindsay Kelk – 3.5/5 stars
  7. Sorry Not Sorry, Sophie Ranald – 3.5/5 stars
  8. Recommended For You, Laura Silverman – 4/5 stars
  9. Set Fire to the Gods (Set Fire to the Gods #1), Sara Raash & Kristen Simmons
  10. A Tortured Soul, L.A. Detwiler – 4/5 stars

Look out tomorrow for my August TBR! I am betting high on myself next month, because even if you don’t reach the moon, you’ll fall amongst the stars!

Happy reading, folks!

June Wrap Up!

baltimorebibliophile

I was very unmotivated to read this month. This month really was hard emotionally as I’m trying to work on my mental health (unsuccessfully). I didn’t at all read near the amount of books I planned, but honestly it’s okay. I’m up to date on my publisher and ARC reviews – and that’s really what matters. Next month I’m hoping to pick my reading up again because I do miss it, but I want to make sure I have the time and mental capacity for it – so we’ll see!

PHYSICAL BOOKS

  1. Escaping from Houdini (Stalking Jack the Ripper #3), Kerri Maniscalco – 4/5 stars
  2. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2), Sarah J Maas – 4/5 stars
  3. The Guest List, Lucy Foley – 3/5 stars
  4. The Bone Houses, Emily Lloyd-Jones – 4.5/5 stars
  5. The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient #1), Helen Hoang – 5/5 stars

LIBRARY EBOOKS

  1. Mirage (Mirage #1), Somaiya Daud – 4/5 stars
  2. If I Never Met You, Mhairi MacFarlane – 4/5 stars
  3. Redwall (Redwall #1), Brian Jacques – 5/5 stars

NETGALLEY EARCS

  1. Ever Cursed, Corey Ann Haydu – 4.5/5 stars
  2. These Vengeful Hearts, Katherine Laurin – 4.5/5 stars
  3. Court of Lions (Mirage #2), Somaiya Daud – 4/5 stars
  4. Faking It, Rebecca Smith – 3/5 stars
  5. Chosen Ones (The Chosen One’s #1), Veronica Roth – 3.5/5 stars
  6. Just Saying, Sophie Ranald – 4/5 stars

What did you read this month?

Happy reading, folks!

May Wrap Up!

baltimorebibliophile

Okay, we’re in for a loooong post today because I somehow managed to read TWENTY-SIX books this month! Thank you quarantine! I have never read this money book in one month before so I’m very proud of myself. There were some great reads in here, and I raised my Netgalley ratio pretty high! Helps to read 13 eARCs in one month! I can’t imagine ever having a month like this again, but one can dream!

Below is an itemization of the books I read! There were only a few books from my May TBR post that I didn’t get to, and it was more due to me switching up my Netgalley reads a bit. I pushed Igniting Darkness and Where Dreams Descend back so I could get to titles that release sooner. My library also doesn’t have Mortal Heart or Courting Darkness, so I have to figure out an alternative. Lastly, something went wrong with my loan of The Night Circus, and now I won’t have it until June/July – so it is just pushed back for now.

LIBRARY EBOOKS

  1. Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1), Talia Hibbert – 4/5 stars
  2. The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club #1), Lyssy Kay Adams – 4.5/5 stars
  3. American Royals (American Royals #1), Katharine McGee – 4/5 stars
  4. Undercover Bromance (Bromance Book Club #2), Lyssy Kay Adams – 3.5/5 stars
  5. Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1), Robin LaFevers – 3/5 stars
  6. Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2), Robin LaFevers – 4.5/5 stars

NETGALLEY EARCS

  1. Dark Skies (Dark Shores #1), Danielle L. Jensen – 5/5 stars
  2. The Trouble with Hating You, Sajni Patel – 4/5 stars
  3. Queen of the Unwanted (The Women’s War), Jenna Glass – 3.5/5 stars
  4. The Bride, Wendy Clarke – 4/5 stars
  5. The Plus One Pact, Portia MacIntosh – 4.5/5 stars
  6. Love Sold Separately, Ellen Meister – 4/5 stars
  7. The House Guest, Mark Edwards – 3.5/5 stars
  8. Dear Emmie Blue, Lia Louis – 4/5 stars
  9. Up Close and Personal, Kathryn Freeman – 3.5/5 stars
  10. The Never Have I Ever Club, Mary Jayne Baker – 3.5/5 stars
  11. Crushing It, Lorelai Parker – 3.5/5 stars
  12. Keep My Heart in San Francisco, Amelia Diane Coombs – 3/5 stars
  13. More Than Maybe, Erin Hahn – 4.5/5 stars

EDELWEISS EARC

  1. Sisters of Sword & Song, Rebecca Ross – 4.5/5 stars

PHYSICAL BOOKS

  1. Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1), Kerri Maniscalco – 4/5 stars
  2. Beach Read, Emily Henry – 4.5/5 stars
  3. The Assassin’s Blade (Throne of Glass #0.5), Sarah J. Maas – 4/5 stars
  4. Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1), Sarah J. Maas – 5/5 stars (reread)
  5. Hunting Prince Dracula (Stalking Jack the Ripper #2), Kerri Maniscalco – 4.5/5 stars

EBOOKS FROM AUTHORS

  1. Quarantined by Love, Hilari T. Cohen – 4/5 stars

How many books did you read this month? Any of the same that I read?

Happy reading, folks!

April Wrap Up!

baltimorebibliophile

Hello again, friends!! It is already the last day of April and I lament the end of this month that was almost completely spent indoors, whether at work or at home. I have never been a huge outdoors person, but my body is desperately missing the ability to go places and just hang out. I also seem to be going through a bout of insomnia, which the internet says could be due to a lack of natural light… but the weather’s been so bad here that I haven’t been able to spend time outside! I am yearning to take a chair outside and read but nooooope not fun in almost daily rain.

Anyway, that’s how my month has been going. I’ve been reading, but it’s been a struggle and I haven’t wanted to read anything I planned to read. (Spoiler alert I did not read everything on my April TBR!) I did however manage to read 18 books this month, but 6 of them were very short, fluffy, Kindle Unlimited books – because it’s what I needed in my life at that time.

PHYSICAL BOOKS

  1. The Wife Between Us, Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen – 4/5 stars
  2. Magic For Liars, Sarah Gailey – 3.5/5 stars
  3. Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer #1), Laini Taylor – 5/5 stars
  4. House of Salt and Sorrows, Erin A. Craig – 4/5 stars
  5. Well Met, Jen DeLuca – 5/5 stars

NETGALLEY EARC’S

TBH I really only wanted to read books on my phone/iPad this month for some reason… I wasn’t interested in physical books at all! So strange for me, because it’s normally always the opposite! Oh well, it was good for my Netgalley ratio!

  1. The Girl with the Whispering Shadow (The Crowns of Croswald #2), D. E. Night – 4/5 stars
  2. Chasing Lucky, Jenn Bennett – 5/5 stars
  3. What Lies Between Us, John Marrs – 4/5 stars
  4. By the Book, Amanda Sellet – 3.5/5 stars
  5. A Taste of Sage, Yaffa S. Santos – 4/5 stars
  6. The Circus Rose, Betsey Cornwell – 4/5 stars

EARC FROM AUTHORS

  1. Last Memoria (Memoria Duology #1), Rachel Emma Shaw – 5/5 stars

KINDLE UNLIMITED

  1. Love at First Fight (Geeks Gone Wild #1), Maggie Dallen – 4/5 stars
  2. My Virtual Prince Charming (Geeks Gone Wild #2), Maggie Dallen – 4/5 stars
  3. Once Upon a Comic-Con (Geeks Gone Wild #3), Maggie Dallen – 3.5/5 stars
  4. Playing the Enemy (The Trouble with Tomboys #1), Maggie Dallen – 4/5 stars
  5. Play to Win (The Trouble with Tomboys #2), Stephanie Street – 4/5 stars
  6. Playing the Field (The Trouble with Tomboys #3), Christina Benjamin – 3.5/5 stars

So that’s that! All 18 books I read this month! I have also revamped my plans for my TBR moving forward, but I’ll leave that for tomorrow’s post!

Happy reading folks!

March Wrap Up!

baltimorebibliophile

Welcome back to my monthly post about all the books I read (and all the one’s I didn’t read) as planned! I initially planned to be super ambitious and read 20 books in March. Spoiler alert: this did NOT happen! But really, who is surprised by this?

I want to say I did well with my reading… but I really didn’t. In total I read 15 books, which is great don’t get me wrong, but it was HARD to read in March. Especially by the end. And still is as I’m writing this frankly. The nonsense with COVID-19 has got me in more of a depressed state, so reading doesn’t hold quite the same stress relief as it normally does. I’m working through it though!

Without further ado, below are the books I read in March, and even further below are the books I meant to read in March but didn’t.

PHYSICAL BOOKS

  1. The Shadows Between Us, Tricia Levenseller – 5/5 stars
  2. Girls with Sharp Sticks (Girls with Sharp Sticks #1), Suzanne Young – 3/5 stars
  3. Wicked Fox (Gumiho #1), Kat Cho – 3.5/5 stars
  4. Ember Queen (Ash Princess #3), Laura K. Sebastian – 5/5 stars
  5. Tigers, Not Daughters, Samantha Mabry – 4/5 stars (ARC)
  6. Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1), Cassandra Clare – 3.5/5 stars
  7. Sky Without Stars (System Divine #1), Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell – 4/5 stars

EARCS

  1. What I Like About Me, Jenna Guillame – 4.5/5 stars
  2. Girls with Razor Hearts (Girls with Sharp Sticks #2), Suzanne Young – 4/5 stars
  3. Girl Gone Viral (Modern Love #2), Alisha Rai – 3/5 stars
  4. What I Like About You, Marisa Kanter – 5/5 stars
  5. You Deserve Each Other, Sarah Hogle – 5/5 stars
  6. Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2), Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell – 4.5/5 stars
  7. Night of the Dragon (Shadow of the Fox #3), Julie Kagawa – 4.5/5 stars

AUDIOBOOKS

  1. Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1), Renee Ahdieh – 3.5/5 stars

BOOKS I DID NOT GET TO AS PLANNED

Continuing the theme from February by having 8 books that I did not read from the TBR.

  1. The Beckoning Shadow (The Beckoning Shadow #1), Katharyn Blair
  2. Diamond & Dawn (Amber & Dusk #2), Lyra Selene
  3. Magic For Liars, Sarah Gailey
  4. Defy Me (Shatter Me #5), Tahereh Mafi
  5. Imagine Me (Shatter Me #6), Tahereh Mafi
  6. Well Met (Well Met #1), Jen DeLuca
  7. The Beautiful (The Beautiful #1), Renee Ahdieh
  8. Infinity Son (Infinity Cycle #1), Adam Silvera

I plan to read all of these, minus The Beautiful and Infinity Son in April. I planned to read those two via audiobook, but with the statewide shut downs and working from home mostly – I’ve given up on audiobooks for the time being. I hope to get back to them once the world is in a better place.

Tune in tomorrow for my April TBR post! Quick, sneak peak… I plan to read a ridiculous amount of books again!

Happy reading, folks!

February Wrap Up!

baltimorebibliophile

Hi friends! Welcome to another monthly wrap up of all the amazing books I read! I was mostly really happy with all my choices this month and there was a lot of diversity in the genres and mediums of the books I read! I started listening to audiobooks this month and I’ve found that I like it more than I thought I would!

I completely threw my TBR that I had planned out the window this month. I had planned to read 16 books and I actually ended up reading 18 books. However… there are 8 books from my TBR that I didn’t touch. I got really distracted by library books (new is always better, right) and restructured my Netgalley reads because I hit 80+% for my ratio so I don’t have to read those as frequently. Basically I mood read all month and IT’S FINE!

PHYSICAL BOOKS

  1. Serious Moonlight, Jenn Bennett – 4.5/5 stars
  2. A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2), Sarah J. Maas – 5/5 stars (reread)
  3. The Bride Test (The Kiss Quotient #2), Helen Hoang – 5/5 stars
  4. The Flatshare, Beth O’Leary – 4.25/5 stars
  5. The Women’s War (Women’s War #1), Jenna Glass – 4/5 stars
  6. The Search, Nora Roberts – 5/5 stars
  7. Meet Cute, Helena Hunting – 5/5 stars
  8. Idiot, Laura Clery – 5/5 stars
  9. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Abbi Waxman – 4/5 stars

NETGALLEY EARC’S

  1. The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo – 4.25/5 stars
  2. Bad Bachelor (Bad Bachelors #1), Stephanie London – 5/5 stars
  3. The New Guy, Kathryn Freeman – 4/5 stars
  4. Havenfall (Havenfall #1), Sara Holland – 3.25/5 stars
  5. The Honey-Don’t List, Christina Lauren – 5/5 stars
  6. We Are Blood and Thunder (We Are Blood and Thunder #1), Kesia Lupo – 3.75/5 stars
  7. The Electric Heir (Feverwake #2), Victoria Lee – 4/5 stars

AUDIOBOOKS

  1. When Dimple Met Rishi (Dimple and Rishi #1), Sandhya Menon – 3/5 stars
  2. The Queen (The Selection #0.4), Kiera Cass – 2.5/5 stars

BOOKS I DID NOT GET TO AS PLANNED

Below are the 8 books I did not read as planned this month. The first two will move to my March TBR because I really want to get a move on my subscription box books, and I’ve already started Wicked Fox.

  1. Wicked Fox (Gumiho #1), Kat Cho
  2. The Beckoning Shadow (The Beckoning Shadow #1), Katharyn Blair
  3. The Assassin’s Blade (Throne of Glass #0.5), Sarah J. Maas
  4. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2), Sarah J. Maas
  5. Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3), Sarah J. Maas
  6. Girls with Sharp Sticks (Girls with Sharp Sticks #1), Suzanne Young
  7. Girls with Razor Hearts (Girls with Sharp Sticks #2), Suzanne Young
  8. Queen of the Unwanted (Women’s War #2), Jenna Glass

Well that’s my wrap up! I continue to be trash at following a TBR, but will I stop making one? Nope!

How many books did you read this month? Any of the same books? Let’s chat about them! Check back tomorrow for my March TBR post!

Happy reading, folks!