Tag: reading review

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!

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!