Tag: reading wrap up

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!

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!

October Wrap Up!

baltimorebibliophile

Good evening, friends! I’m back to discuss all the lovely books I was able to read in the month of October, and it was A LOT! I’m so surprised I read this many because it didn’t even feel like a good reading month for me! But I read a total of 19 books – eARC and physical books combined! I did not get to all the eARC’s or physical books I initially had on my October TBR, but I enjoy the fact that I get to mood read. I re-assessed my strategy for conquering all my Netgalley eARC’s and I’m very pleased with it.

PHYSICAL BOOKS

  1. The Girl the Sea Gave Back – Adrienne Young – 4/5 stars
  2. The Wren Hunt – Mary Watson – 3/5 stars
  3. Stealing Home – Becky Wallace – 4/5 stars
  4. Alex, Approximately – Jenn Bennett – 4/5 stars
  5. The Unhoneymooners – Christina Lauren – 5/5 stars
  6. Passengers – Alexandra Bracken – 4.5/5 stars

EBOOKS

  1. The Throne of the Five Winds – S. C. Emmett – 3/5 stars
  2. A Midnight Clear – Sam Hooker, et al. – 3/5 stars
  3. Coral – Sara Ella – 3.75/5 stars
  4. A Violet Fire – Kelsey Quick – 4/5 stars
  5. Safe Harbour – Christina Kilbourne – 3/5 stars
  6. All That’s Bright and Gone – Eliza Nellums – 4.25/5 stars
  7. Good Girls Lie – J. T. Ellison – 4.25/5 stars
  8. Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things – Jacqueline Firkins – 4/5 stars
  9. Don’t Read the Comments – Eric Smith – 4/5 stars
  10. The Perfect Catch – Maggie Dallen – 4/5 stars
  11. The Perfect Match – Maggie Dallen – 4/5 stars
  12. The Perfect Score – Maggie Dallen – 4/5 stars
  13. The Weaver – Heather Kindt – 4/5 stars

I was able to balance more physical books with the ebooks this month, which was really my goal. I was getting sad not being able to work through some books on my TBR cart, so I have a much better plan of attack now. I look forward to a more balanced reading goal next month!

How many books were you able to read this month?

Happy reading, bookish friends! 🙂