Top Ten Tuesday: End of Year TBR | Blogmas Day 14

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl!

Happy Tuesday! Today’s post is about all the books I’d like to get to before the end of 2021. I have seven books to go on my Goodreads goal, so I’m hoping to finish at least that, but any additional ones would be great too.

So here’s my list of potentials:

My three current buddy reads, which have all picked back up, albeit slowly on my end, now that I’ve birthed and gotten my life somewhat organized again. I don’t know if any of these will be finished by the end of the year, but I’m definitely going to be reading them at least.

Nightbitch is my current solo read, though I admit it’s taken a back seat to my buddy reads. I don’t read my solo books unless I’m caught up on my buddy books and I’m fearfully behind at the moment so… I’m hoping to get to this one in between of the above ones.

And these are all the manga I want to hop into in between the books. I could read multiple volumes of them so that would put me up past the seven I need, hopefully.

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And that is it. Buddy reads and manga for me from now til the end of the year! See ya tomorrow!

February Currently Reading!

Happy February! Right now I’m reading some neato books! This is what they are:

Hood by Stephen R Lawhead – This is my current audio book! It’s a retelling of Robin Hood (obviously). So far it’s pretty decent! I’m luke-warm to Robin Hood to begin with, so I wasn’t sure how I was going to take to this one. But so far, I like it!

The Book of the Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick – I’ve been reading this one since the day after Christmas. The ‘Dead Days’ in the book are the days between Christmas and New Year’s, so I was hoping to finish it during those days. But hey, it didn’t happen, and that’s ok. This is about a magician that makes a deal that comes back to bite him, and he has only until the end of the dead days to set it right. So far it’s pretty good! It’s a bit slow paced, but it’s very interesting and atmospheric.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett – This is one of two buddy reads I have going right now, and man I love this book. I’m only a tad over half way through so far but I am absolutely smitten. If I’m being honest, I was a bit unsure of this one, mostly because of the hype, but augh it totally deserves it. This story follows a thief and a written magic and a heist and ancient beings and… and and it’s so good! It’s awesome! And it’s funny to boot.

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin – This is my other buddy read and I’m pretty smitten with this one, too. I’m very late to the bandwagon with this book and I wish I would have read it sooner. It’s so interesting – the world, the characters, the magic, the society, the history, all of it. I don’t even know how to describe this. Uh… This book is set in a world that ends over and over, and it’s about the people who live in it. I don’t really wanna saw more than that. It’s. Fantastic. I’m about three-fourths through it, and hope to finish this week!

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And that’s it! Four books that I’m currently reading, and I have many more planned for this month. Let me know if you’ve read any of these!

January Currently Reading! ’21

Well hi! Today is my first post after Blogmas, and it’s what I’m currently reading!

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett – I’m only a couple chapters into this one, and I’m reading it with my buddy Meredith @allboutthembooksandstuff!

So far it’s definitely interesting, and I’m already picking up on some humor laced throughout the narrative that I really like. I’m hoping this becomes a new favorite!

The Book of the Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick – Technically I was aiming to finish this during the dead days – between Christmas and New Year’s – but I didn’t finish in time. It’s pretty good though. It has a nice rich tone to it that I really like.

Hood by Stephen R Lawhead – This is one of the oldest books I own. I’ve had it since I was about fifteen years old and never read it. Soooo I picked it up on audio book and am listening to it. So far it’s pretty decent. The writing at the beginning was a bit difficult to get into but now that I’m into it, I’m enjoying it.

And that’s it! I do plan on picking up another buddy read here in a couple days but as I’m not ‘currently’ reading it, it doesn’t make the list. 😛 So it’ll either show up on the wrap up if I finish it this month or on next month’s currently reading. We’ll see!

Happy reading friends.

End of Year TBR potentials – My book buying ban is complete!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl!

Happy Tuesday! Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books on my Winter TBR, so I’m kinda warping it and combining it here with my book buying ban info, so bear with me.

Yay! I’ve completed my book buying ban! I put myself on one back in September or so, during my last book haul.

So during the past few months, I’ve purchased 0 books in an effort to get my physical fictional TBR down. And today is the last day, it’s over! I’m also happy to say that because of it, I’m definitely gonna reach my goal. I’m 1 book away, and with this TBR listed below, I’ll 100% achieve it, yay.

Though I gotta say, I probably won’t buy any books until after Christmas. I requested a few from friends and fam, and they’re the top ones I’d like, so I don’t wanna go buy them now.

After Christmas though, it’s on, man.

Speaking of Christmas

Starting this Saturday the 19th, I’m on vacation until January 4th. I have an entire 16 days off work in a row and because of the plague, I won’t really be going anywhere. Sure, I’ll play porch santa with friends and family – dropping their gifts off and running away – but I won’t be socializing or sharing meals with anyone aside from my husband. We might do some video calls to family but otherwise, nothing much.

That means I’m going to have a lot of open time, particularly the 21st through the 23rd, as I’m off work and my husband isn’t. So I’m gonna do a lot of reading. At least, I’m going to try to.

This is what (tentatively) I plan on picking up:

 

The Rose & The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh – I picked this one up last night and am only a few pages in so far. I was luke warm to the first one, so I’m hoping I will enjoy this one more.

Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead – This is my current audio book and again I’m only a tad into it. I think I bought this book when I was 14 or so. It was one of my first purchases when I really got into reading fiction, but for some reason I never actually picked it up. So here’s hoping I love it.

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin – This is a buddy read I’m doing with a friend irl and honestly I feel like I’m reading a different book than everyone else. It gets super good reviews but honestly so far I’m not super impressed. Granted, I’m only about half way through so that could change but honestly it kinda reads like a fanfiction to me. If you’ve read this and loved it, please tell me what I’m missing (without spoiling if you can, please). This book we have on schedule to finish by the new year.

Renegade’s Magic by Robin Hobb – This is another buddy read! I’m reading this with Zezee @Zezeewithbooks and it’s a bit slow-going. I don’t know what it is about this book, but it’s lagging for me. I’m enjoying it for what it is, mind you, but it’s not the kind of book I can binge read. We’re doing four chapters a week at the moment, so this probably won’t be finished until 2021 unless something happens in the plot where it makes us go ‘LET’S JUST READ THE LAST 300 PAGES IN ONE SHOT NOW, OK’. But yeah, will be reading this, but probably won’t finish it with the pace (and I don’t know if my brain would let me even if we wanted to).

The Book of the Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick – This is another book I’ve owned for a long time, but haven’t read yet. I figured, it’s the perfect time of year. The Dead Days referred to in the book are the days between Christmas and New Year’s, so I’m gonna read it then! This is a favorite book of a buddy of mine so I’m hoping I love it too.

Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori – I used to love this series as a teen and figured it was time for a reread. I have the box set so I’m hoping to get through the whole thing. I feel like it’s been ages since I picked up a manga due to me trying to make that physical TBR goal so I’m particularly pumped about this.

Hands Off! by Kasane Katsumoto – This is another one I read back when I was a teen, and am rereading. I’m about half way through the series – on volume 5 out of 8, so I’m hoping to finish this one as well.

Hotel Africa by Hee Jung Park – I read vol 1 of this last year and loved it. I’m about half way through this one and am liking it as well! I only have volume 2 to read. There is a mysterious volume 3 listed on Goodreads but I don’t know if it ever actually came out or not. Ho hum.

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And that’s it! I’m hoping to get to more manga as well honestly, but I don’t wanna lock myself into what exactly I’m going to read. Let me know what you’re planning on doing for the rest of the year because really, I’m just gonna be a lump and I’m so excited.

October Currently Reading! ’20

Happy Halloween Eve*26! Today’s post will be about the books I am currently reading!

Hotel Africa vol 2 by Hee Jung Park – this is the second volume in this really great manhwa I picked up last year. I reread vol 1 last month in preparation for this and loved it. So far I’m liking this one just as much.

Armada by Ernest Cline – So I did a thing recently: in addition to giving myself a book buying ban, I’ve also done a purge. I have the purge books divided into two sections: books I’m definitely getting rid of and books that might still go if they don’t hook me fairly quickly. This book is in section two. So if it doesn’t strike me as something great soon here I’m gonna dnf it (and the same for all the books in section two of my purge, which is about 30 books). So far it’s ok. The plot is interesting enough but the main character is driving me nuts. I’m gonna give it another 50 pages.

Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko – This is a buddy read I’ve started with Katy @bookbinderway and another buddy! Honestly I haven’t actually started this yet, but it’s during the current ‘read this far’ window soooo.

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux – This is my latest audio book and I’m really, really liking it. It’s so haunting and lilting and unexpectedly funny. It’s surprised me with how much I’m liking it!

And that’s it! Four books currently – I have twenty eight books to go before reaching my 2020 TBR goal, so wish me luck! Happy reading!

September Currently Reading! ’20

Happy September! This is what I’m currently reading!

Forest Mage by Robin Hobb – This is my current buddy read with Zezee @Zezeewithbooks, and honestly it’s putting me through a number. It’s such emotional turmoil! But weirdly I’m still liking it. But man, my heart.

A Dance With Fate by Juliet Marillier – This book came out on Sept 1st, and I picked it up right away. Me and a buddy read the first one together and we made a special trip to the store together to get the second one! And now we’re reading that too! So far it’s pretty good. I love Marillier’s stuff.

1776 by David McCullough – This is my current audiobook and a nonfiction to boot. I like nonfiction but I definitely have to be in the mood for it. Right now, this is fitting the bill! I’m a bit over half way through it, and am rather enjoying it.

The Wolf by Leo Carew – To be honest, I haven’t picked this up in a bit. I’m very hesitant to put it back on my back-burner list though – I want to finish it. Other books just keep getting in the way, particularly buddy reads where I have an obligation to put them first, y’know? But I am enjoying this, I just need to make the time for it. I’m hoping to get it done this month.

And that’s it! I’m also in the middle of a few manga series, but I’m not mid-volume in any, so I’m not including them above 😛 They’ll be in my wrap up at the end of the month.

Happy reading!

Bout of Books 29 | Goals and TBR!

Happy Saturday! It’s been a bit since I’ve participated in the Bout of Books readathon but honestly it’s one of my favorites. The reason for this is because it’s so open. It’s just ‘read’. There are no book prompts, there isn’t a set number of books to read, it’s just… read what you want. Set some goals if you want to. It helps me finish books I’m in the middle of and I really dig it.

Here’s the official blurb:

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. All reading-in-place times, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges are completely optional. For Bout of Books 29 information and updates, visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

And here’s my bit:

Goals

• Read every day
• Keep up with buddy reads
• Finish audio book

TBR

The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier – This is the first of my two buddy reads. I’m reading this with one of my irl friends that I’ve had since I was a teenager. This is our second Marillier buddy read and we’re both just smitten. By the end of this readathon I should have this finished.

Goodreads synopsis: Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan’s burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies.

Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone mysteriously missing. If the instrument is not played at the upcoming coronation, the candidate will not be accepted and the people could revolt. Faced with plotting courtiers and tight-lipped druids, an insightful storyteller, and a boorish Crown Prince, Liobhan soon realizes an Otherworld power may be meddling in the affairs of the kingdom. When ambition clashes with conscience, Liobhan must make a bold decision and is faced with a heartbreaking choice.

Forest Mage by Robin Hobb – This is the second of my buddy reads, and this one I’m reading with Zezee @Zezeewithbooks! We’ve been buzzing through Robin Hobb’s books now for probably three years or more. By the end of this readathon, I should be up through chapter 8. I finished the first one earlier last month and just put up a glowing review for it. I’m really excited about this one.

Goodreads synopsis of book 1: Nevare Burvelle was destined from birth to be a soldier. The second son of a newly anointed nobleman, he must endure the rigors of military training at the elite King’s Cavalla Academy–and survive the hatred, cruelty, and derision of his aristocratic classmates–before joining the King of Gernia’s brutal campaign of territorial expansion. The life chosen for him will be fraught with hardship, for he must ultimately face a forest-dwelling folk who will not submit easily to a king’s tyranny. And they possess an ancient magic their would-be conquerors have long discounted–a powerful sorcery that threatens to claim Nevare Burvelle’s soul and devastate his world once the Dark Evening brings the carnival to Old Thares.

Reamde by Neal Stephenson – This is my audio book. It’s chunker, coming in at 38 hours. The book itself is over 1000 pages long. I’m mostly through this now – I have about nine hours left, and I listen at 1.5 speed, so what, six hours? That should be doable. I have such mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand I love it, on the other hand some of the vocabulary used is a little.. eh… I do plan on writing a review for this one so I’ll get into it then. But overall? It’s pretty decent.

Goodreads synopsis: Four decades ago, Richard Forthrast, the black sheep of an Iowa family, fled to a wild and lonely mountainous corner of British Columbia to avoid the draft. Smuggling backpack loads of high-grade marijuana across the border into Northern Idaho, he quickly amassed an enormous and illegal fortune. With plenty of time and money to burn, he became addicted to an online fantasy game in which opposing factions battle for power and treasure in a vast cyber realm. Like many serious gamers, he began routinely purchasing virtual gold pieces and other desirables from Chinese gold farmers—young professional players in Asia who accumulated virtual weapons and armor to sell to busy American and European buyers.

For Richard, the game was the perfect opportunity to launder his aging hundred dollar bills and begin his own high-tech start up—a venture that has morphed into a Fortune 500 computer gaming group, Corporation 9592, with its own super successful online role-playing game, T’Rain. But the line between fantasy and reality becomes dangerously blurred when a young gold farmer accidentally triggers a virtual war for dominance—and Richard is caught at the center.

If I manage to finish and catch up with all of the above and still have some time left, I plan on either binging some manga, which I haven’t touched in weeks (which is weird) or pick up The Wolf by Leo Carew. This one I had picked up for Finishathon and then, shocker, didn’t finish it. I do like this book though so why it’s taking me so long is beyond me.

This coming week, the only thing I’ve going on is work, so in theory I should be able to read a decent bit, but we’ll see. If you’re participating in this, do let me know!

Also I know I said there aren’t any book prompts, and there aren’t, but there are instagram photo prompts, which I do plan on doing. So if you’re interested in that, you’ll be able to find my attempts here.

Happy reading!

August Currently Reading! ’20

Happy Sunday! Today I’m gonna talk about the books I’m currently reading!

The Wolf by Leo Carew – I’m reading this for Finishathon, and today is actually the last day for it. Finishathon was kind of a bust – I literally just read this or not at all, haha. Welp, I’m rusty when it comes to readathons, so hopefully the next one will go better. I do intend on finishing this though – I’m rather liking it.

The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier – This book is not part of the readathon, which was my demise. I got farther in this than I did my readathon book! So far it’s pretty decent, and I’m hoping Juliet Marillier puts her characters through some nice development arcs. We’ll see!

Reamde by Neal Stephenson – This one I’m developing a love-hate relationship with. The story is awesome. Hell even the four page long tangents I really enjoy. I’m not a huge fan of the writing though, particularly the vocabulary the author uses. I’ll get more into that later though because I already know I want to write a full thing for this. Overall though, it’s decent.

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And that’s it! Short and sweet this month. Happy reading!

Finishathon TBR!

Hi! I’m gonna participate in a readathon at the end of the month! The point of it – as hinted by the title – is to finish the books you started but never finished for some reason. So I’m gonna pick up the books on my back burner and finish out a series lent to me by a friend literally years ago.

The readathon dates are from July 27th – August 2nd, and if you’d like to participate, all the details can be found here.

This is what I’m gonna read!

The Wolf by Leo Carew – This is going to be my first priority. I received it as a Christmas gift from a friend, and then started it and promptly got distracted. It’s a fantasy and from what I’ve gotten into so far, I dig it.

Caliban’s War by James S. A. Corey – This is actually going to be my third priority, just because at this point I’ve watched the tv show and I’m past this point plot-wise, so it’s a be repetitive. So if I don’t totally finish this one I won’t be heartbroken. I hope to, though.

Y: The Last Man vols 8-10 by Brian K Vaughan – I borrowed this series forever ago from my friend and it’s about time I finish it. This’ll be my second priority/first priority when I don’t feel like actually reading a novel.

If things go well, I should be able to finish all of the above. I have the most left to go in The Wolf, but the graphic novels should be quick, as should Caliban’s War, as I only have about 200 pages left in that. If you’re participating, let me know!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my summer tbr!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl!

Happy Tuesday! I haven’t done one of these in a few weeks, so I’m pumped about it.

I don’t really do TBRs, first off. I never stick to them. I’m definitely one to just pick up a book I feel like reading and read it, unless it’s for a readathon or a buddy read. So the books I’ll be listing today are ones I have lined up for buddy reads or that my mind is currently telling me I feel like reading! Whether I read them or not remains to be seen. But as of today, this is what I wanna read.

The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson – This will be a reread for me. The third book in the series, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, comes out in August and I want a refresher. This series has quickly become an all-time favorite and I’m so, so very excited for the new one!

The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier – I fell in love with Marillier’s writing when I read Daughter of the Forest last year, so when I saw this in stores I snatched it up. Honestly I couldn’t even tell you what this is about, only that I wanna read it because of who it’s by.

The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan – This is the sequel to A Natural History of Dragons, which I read in April and really liked. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this world, and I’m itching to get into this one.

Goblin Slayer by Kousuke Kurose – This one I’ll be starting by rereading vols 1 and 2, since it’s been a while, and then picking up on volume 3 as a new read, which is what I have shown above. Goblin Slayer surprised me with how much I liked the anime of it last year, and I’ve been slowly collecting the manga as I see it. Now I just gotta read it all.

What’s Michael? by Makoto Kobayashi – This is a bindup of the first half of the What’s Michael issues, which I read as a teen. What’s Michael is a humorous, episodic manga about a cat named Michael and just… him being himself. It’s super cute and I really look forward to finishing this.

Demon Slayer by Koyoharu Gotouge – So, I watched the anime of this last season and fell in love with it. The aesthetic, the plot, the music, the animation, the colors, all of it. The music I still think about daily, honestly. So I picked up the manga to hopefully fill the void. Seriously, the opening theme song is really great (and this clip shows off the animation and vibrancy of the colors really well, too):

 

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter – This one’s on my 10 in 2020 list and considering we’re nearly half way through the year and I still haven’t read it, I should really get a move on.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins – I reread The Hunger Games recently, in prep for reading the prequel that came out, so obviously I gotta finish the trilogy first!

The Burning White by Brent Weeks – I can finally say I’m actually looking forward to picking this one up. I finished the fourth one recently, after reading it for two years. I’ve been ‘looking forward’ to this one for a while, but now I’m really looking forward to it, man.

Shaman’s Crossing by Robin Hobb – I’m gonna buddy-read this with Zezee @Zezeewithbooks! We recently finished Hobb’s Realm of the Elderling series and now we’re on to this one. I’m really excited, I hope I love this book as much as I love all her other ones!

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And that’s it! I’m tempted to do a wrap up at the end of the summer to see if I’ve actually read any of these. I mean as of now it’s my intent but… books coming out all the time, you know. It’s easy to get distracted.

If you’ve read any of the above, lemme know! Happy reading!