TBR Lows & Highs #105

Weekend here we come!!  But more like — look out TBR pile it is Friday and I’m coming for you! 

Rules:

• Link back to the original post at Howling Libraries
• Sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, ascending
• Find 5-10 (or more, if you feel ambitious!) titles to purge from your TBR (the “lows”)
  • ALTERNATIVE OPTION: Find 5+ titles that are at the BOTTOM of your TBR—books you want to read someday, just not right now!
• Post those 5 books in the list, with a brief explanation
• Next, sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, descending
• List the last 5 (or more!) books you added to your TBR, with a synopsis or your brief summary of why you added it (the “highs”)

✘✘✘ The Lows ✘✘✘

✅ Kulti by Mariana Zapata
I think the most surprising thing is that there is a Zapata books I haven’t read! especially one so popular…. but I will! One day! This one isn’t at my libraries except as audio so erg, I can’t do that. I know I’ll have to buy this one.

❌Spider’s Revenge by Jennifer Estep
This was a difficult choice. I’ve lost interest in this series as I had to stop reading it as the repetition was starting to annoy me. It has been 2 years since I read it and I’m not inclined to return. Although, this isn’t to say I wouldn’t recommend the series to others– it is interesting. 

✅ Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
Okay, I’ve heard AMAZING things about this one and it has been recommended to me as well. I do plan on reading it. For some reason I feel like waiting for a languid day in the autumn or winter…. honestly I almost feel like reading it today haha, but think I’m putting it off until December/January.

❌Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton
Now, I’ve heard good things about this one, but I also wasn’t a fan of The Queen’s of Innis Lear. So, I’m not sure… ah okay, I’m going to pass because a lot of people are saying it is a slower pace which isn’t usually my style.

❌Archenemies by Marissa Meyer
This is another difficult one for me. I enjoyed Renegades but did think it was a wee bit… wandering, if you will. It felt overly long, which seems to be the theme with this one, but I do love stories where the main characters are anti-heroes/villains. Uggghhhhh this is a hard choice, but I suppose I’ll remove this one as I don’t think I’ll get back to it. Such a shame…

TBR Lows & Highs #104

Weekend here we come!!  But more like — look out TBR pile it is Friday and I’m coming for you! 

Rules:

• Link back to the original post at Howling Libraries
• Sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, ascending
• Find 5-10 (or more, if you feel ambitious!) titles to purge from your TBR (the “lows”)
  • ALTERNATIVE OPTION: Find 5+ titles that are at the BOTTOM of your TBR—books you want to read someday, just not right now!
• Post those 5 books in the list, with a brief explanation
• Next, sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, descending
• List the last 5 (or more!) books you added to your TBR, with a synopsis or your brief summary of why you added it (the “highs”)

✘✘✘ The Lows ✘✘✘

❌ Super by Jennifer Chen
Sounds like fun, but also doesn’t sound like my thing. I’ll pass.

❌ Black Beach by Glynis Guevara
None of my libraries carry this one, so I’ll be removing it for now.

❌ The Extinction Trials by S.M. Wilson
Jurassic Park meets The Hunger Games — sounds great, but again none of my libraries have it 🙁

✅ Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy
I don’t read cozy mysteries often anymore, but I do want to keep a few on my TBR and the first book in this series was a lot of fun to read.

✅ The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky
I’ve heard great things about this one! I do plan on reading it sooner or later.

TBR Lows & Highs #103

Weekend here we come!!  But more like — look out TBR pile it is Friday and I’m coming for you! 

Rules:

• Link back to the original post at Howling Libraries
• Sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, ascending
• Find 5-10 (or more, if you feel ambitious!) titles to purge from your TBR (the “lows”)
  • ALTERNATIVE OPTION: Find 5+ titles that are at the BOTTOM of your TBR—books you want to read someday, just not right now!
• Post those 5 books in the list, with a brief explanation
• Next, sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, descending
• List the last 5 (or more!) books you added to your TBR, with a synopsis or your brief summary of why you added it (the “highs”)

✘✘✘ The Lows ✘✘✘

❌Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
This book does sound lovely and fantasy-like, but I think it will be too slow-paced for me.

❌Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia
So, another one that sounds great, but I just don’t read MG anymore

❌Rebelwing by Andrea Tang
I’m just not feeling this one anymore…

❌The Throne’s Trials by Nadhira Satria
The synopsis is a wee bit confusing to me and I am cutting back on the royal books on my TBR since I seem to stray away from them now.

❌ Almost Invisible by Maureen Garvie
While this sounds powerful and important, I tend not to read contemporary fiction like this.

Yikes… guess I’m feeling cutthroat today.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a post to share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It is hosted by Kathryn at Bookdate.

Currently Reading

I’m really hoping to make progress with Girls Save the World in This One and finish Raise Hell. Hopes and dreams! ^_^

This Week’s TBR List

Alrighty, let’s see if I can stick to a TBR this week.

• Berkley Street
  This is a buddy read — 1 spooky novella a week!
• The October Faction, Vol. 1
  Another weekly spooky buddy read, but this one is a comic.
• Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits
  A week before this one gets returned! Yikes, I gotta read this one quick. It is a reread I just hope I like it as much as I did the first time. 
• The Queen’s Line
  This is a buddy read I’m really late getting to 😕

• Queen’s Quality, Vol. 3
  I’m so excited this one came in!
• Better Than People
  This is another library book that I’ve been waiting for! I’m super excited to read it.
• Who We Truly Are
  I’m kinda feeling like continuing this series.
• Barbarian’s Hope
  I usually don’t put Ruby Dixon on my TBR, she’s just an author I randomly pick up as needed, but I think I’m going to need a feel-good read. This may be because I’m watching one of the creepier episodes of Supernatural, buuuuut yeah I need books that balance out my creepy reads.

What are you reading this week? 

Sunday Post 10/11/20

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blogs.

I totally forgot I even set a Weekly TBR!! 0.0′ How even…

Emoji Key
From Monthly/Weekly TBR —       Challenge Reading — 
Kindle Unlimited –                                   Graphic Novel — 
Novella (under 200 pages) —                          LGBTQIA — 
Review Copy —                                Group/Buddy Read — 
Owned/Purchased —                    Recommended to me —

Okay, let’s start with the graphic novels I read…

• Heaven’s Design Team, Vol. 1 by Hebi-Zou & Tsuta Suzuki 💥🐲
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – This is a cute graphic novel about the creation of animals on Earth. The concept is that God delegated the job to other beings and just gave them requests and approval. So, it is pretty funny at times, but also informative! I am learning so much.
• Sayonara, Football, Vol. 1 by Naoshi Arakawa 💥🐲
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – I picked this one up since I like soccer and a girl trying to play on a guy’s team was appealing. It wasn’t always great, but I did enjoy reading it and plan on buying it for my library. I look forward to the next volume.
• Blue Period, Vol. 1 by Tsubasa Yamaguchi 💥🐲
  ⭐⭐.5  – So much about art and art school in Japan which was boring to me and then the potential dead naming… yeah I’m not a fan of this title.

• Bones by Howard Odentz 🐾🌱✌💰
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – This novella is one that reminded me of a legend of a campfire story. Very timely and entertaining horror novella!
• Halloween Boo by Sarah Spade 🌱🍰✌
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I’m sorry, did you expect me not to read a romance involving a ghost during Spooky season??? HAHAHAHA joke it on you! This novella is sweet, short, and steamy. I’m totally going to continue the Holiday Hunks series… on each corresponding holiday 😉
• The Crawling Darkness by J.L. Bryan ✌🎧 & Terminal🍰
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I listened to half of book three on audio (4 hours), so I’m counting this as an audiobook. Still keeping the creepy ghost stories going!

• The Friend Scheme by Cale Dietrich 👑🌈🐲
  ⭐⭐⭐- Not a bad book, but the writing felt stilted at times. It was pretty cute at times. I’d recommend this one to people! Also, can we also just acknowledge that I actually read an ARC in a timely manner that wasn’t a graphic novel???
• In the Hall With the Knife by Diana Peterfreund ✌👑
  ⭐⭐⭐.5 – This book is so campy, so wonderful, and as a lover of Clue it made me so happy. All the secrets had me gripped and I’ll admit to not knowing who the murderer is. I will continue the series because I want to know what will happen with Green!
• The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco 🐾🎧
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Spooky and lovely! I listened to maybe a quarter of it on audio, so I won’t count it as audio. The narrator was okay but not the greatest. I’m still not sure if I’ll read the sequel…
• Trade Deadline by Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn 🌈✌
  ⭐⭐.5 – UGH this rating hurts because I loved the first book and even really enjoyed book 2, but this one… it was missing romance! I needed more from the characters and there was no conflict with the story… perhaps because I could see where it was coming a mile away, but I’m still sad… I have book 4 on my TBR, but I’m not sure if I’ll actually read it.

»Did Not Finish

I tried reading The Zoya Factor 🍰 because it looks so cute!I forced myself to 12% and had to stop. It isn’t a bad book it was just obviously not written for me, so I won’t be rating it. And there are so, so many cute moments and I liked the main character, but I can’t force myself through a 500+ page book.

»Currently Reading

*sigh* Yes, Raise Hell  🍰 is still here, but I don’t want to DNF it… I know I want to read it, I just haven’t been in the mood for historic fantasy — errr well, angels in love before humankind even existed? I need to get in the mood for it… but I’m thinking I will be soon.
I have the physical copy of Girls Save the World in this One 👑 downstairs… I read the first chapter and… meh? I want to read a physical book and more YA, so I’ll try giving this a few more chapters.

TBR Lows & Highs #102

Weekend here we come!!  But more like — look out TBR pile it is Friday and I’m coming for you! 

Rules:

• Link back to the original post at Howling Libraries
• Sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, ascending
• Find 5-10 (or more, if you feel ambitious!) titles to purge from your TBR (the “lows”)
  • ALTERNATIVE OPTION: Find 5+ titles that are at the BOTTOM of your TBR—books you want to read someday, just not right now!
• Post those 5 books in the list, with a brief explanation
• Next, sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, descending
• List the last 5 (or more!) books you added to your TBR, with a synopsis or your brief summary of why you added it (the “highs”)

✘✘✘ The Lows ✘✘✘

✅ Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorapor
I swear eventually I’ll get to this one…

❌ The Hollow Girl by Hillary Monahan
Ehhhh I don’t think this is one for me, unfortunately. I’m not super interested which isn’t a good sign when I’m super into creepy, gothic reads. So, I’m removing this one.

❌ The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
Okay, okay, I know this is a strange one for me to remove, but I have two other books by this author on my TBR. I’ll read this eventually, but I do know I want to read Vicious and This Savage Song more.

❌ The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson
As much as I love the cover and know that I’ve seen this one on a few book lists, the synopsis just… bores me Just not for me, I think.

✅ Kick by John L. Monk
This one sounds hilarious and morbid. Honestly… I’m having a hard time not borrowing this one from KU right now– whoops! looks like I borrowed it. 😉

October ’20 Anticipated Releases

I want to share books being published in the upcoming month that I’m super excited to read. These are DEFINITELY on my TBR list although I may not be able to read them this month.

Emoji Legend
 – I own a Review Copy
 – Top 5 Most Anticipated
 — Planning to read this month

Week of the 5th

• Famine by Laura Thalassa
  Technically, this came out on the first, but I’m too excited not to share ^_^
• The Ippos King by Grace Draven
  Please, please, please don’t let this be a lie!
• Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade 🐲
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab 🐲

Week of the 12th

• Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick by David Wong 🐲
  I didn’t realize we were getting a sequel, so this was a nice surprise!
• Brothersong by TJ Klune
  OMG I don’t know if I’m ready to cry and finish this series.
• Winter, White and Wicked by Shannon Dittemore
• Delivering Evil for Experts by Annette Marie
  But like I’m so excited this series and Spellbound are ending and yet the world will continue on in other books. This world is amazing.

Week of the 19th

• Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston 🐲
  Yes! But also, I’m shocked I haven’t read it yet.

Week of the 26th

• White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton

Honorable Mentions:
Okay, these aren’t actually on my TBR, but I keep thinking about them and once they come in at my library I might pick them up on a whim… we will see.

• A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey
• Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz
• I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

What are book are you excited about
being published in October? 

September ’20 Wrap Up

September kicked my butt… I read more books, but mostly because I got my hands on more graphic novels. My reviews down again and I didn’t keep much to my TBR. 😕

Last month I read 80 books*!
*counting novellas and many graphic novels

Here are the top 10 books I read this month:

• Queen’s Quality, Vol. 1 by Kyousuke Motomi
• Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
  Adorable!! These characters are lovely.
• The Heights Crew series by E.M. Moore
  Perhaps not the best written series, but wow it was addictive.
• The Family 1 & 2 by Katrina Jackson
  I need more!! Can’t wait for the next books 🙂
• A Sign of Affection, Vol. 1 & 2 by Suu Morishita
  Super cute and a deaf main character in manga is hard to forget about.
• Nora Jacobs series by Jackie May 
• The Water Dragon’s Bride, vol. 1 by Rei Toma
• Failed Princessess, vol. 1 by Ajiichi
• 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer
  I am craving sweets and feeling the need to bake, so this book is still on my mind.
• Just Like That by Cole McCade
  This author just hits my heart just right.

Weekly Recap & TBR

Okay, I ended up not giving a wrap up of my reading week, last week, so I will start with that and then give a preview of what I think I’ll read this week. Please excuse my diversion from my routine, life is just getting in the way….

Anyhow — the wrap up from Sept. 27th to Oct. 5th

Emoji Key
From Monthly/Weekly TBR —       Challenge Reading — 
Kindle Unlimited –                                   Graphic Novel — 
Novella (under 200 pages) —                          LGBTQIA — 
Review Copy —                                Group/Buddy Read — 
Owned/Purchased —                    Recommended to me —

• The Alien’s Mail Order Bride by Ruby Dixon 🌱🍰
  ⭐⭐⭐
• Pretty Human by Ruby Dixon 🍰🌱
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• When She’s Married by Ruby Dixon 🍰🌱
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• When She’s Ready by Ruby Dixon 🍰🌱
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – A tiny binge of Ruby Dixon last Sunday — reading her books is like a direct injection of serotonin to the brain.
• Puppy Love by Katelyn Beckett 🍰🌱
  ⭐⭐ – I had such high hopes for this cute looking book, but alas 😢

• Our Dreams and Dusk, Vol. 2 by Yuki Kamatani 💥🌈
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – This series is so good. I didn’t realize there were such inclusive manga.
• Just Like That by Cole McCade 🍰🌈
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Cole McCade does it again. This book is great and I’m looking forward to reading the next.
• Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen 🐾🎧
  ⭐⭐⭐.5 – Years ago I read that this book has a great audiobook and I kept meaning to read it. Finally I suggested it as a buddy read and I finally got myself around to reading it. It is… a pretty good book and I could listen to the next, but I’m not dying to get to it yet.
• Ghosted in L.A., Vol. 2 by Sina Grace 💥🌈
  ⭐⭐⭐
• Failed Princesses, Vol. 2 by Ajiichi 💥🌈
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – This series is so cute.

• Don’t Hex and Drive by Juliette Cross 🍰✌
  ⭐⭐⭐.5
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch by Kelly Thompson 💥
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – This one is super cute and I love the artwork.
• Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall 🐲🌈
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I absolutely adored this book!!
• Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert 💰
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – When I saw she finished this one I immediately bought it!
• The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 2 by Rei Toma 💥
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – This series is fantastic and the wait between reading is killing me.
• Five Minutes Longer by Victoria Sue 🍰🌈
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – Wonderfully entertaining, but a few problems. I do plan on reading more of the series 😊

»Did Not Finish

I finally got around to my ARC of The Babysitters Coven 🐲, but after just 13% I decided it wasn’t for me. Such a bummer….

Final Thoughts on the week

Lots of graphic novels! This seems to be a trend. I’m also in the mood for books with witches and mysteries, which you aren’t seeing too much yet… but yeah.

Currently Reading

No progress on Raise Hell, but I do hope to read some more of it this week. I seem to totally be in the mood for mysteries and I have a love for that old movie, Clue, so I allowed an indulgence and started In the Hall With the Knife. I’m 60% in and while I’m enjoying it, I wouldn’t say it is an amazing book. This morning I started listening to The Crawling Darkness because, again, I’m interested in reading mysteries– ghost stories even more. It helps it is an audio which I was craving too.

This Week’s TBR List

I’m still not totally in the right mindset to be following a weekly TBR, but thought I should try to get myself back on track somehow. Maybe this will help. So, here are 6 additional books I’m going to try reading this week.

• Bones by Howard Odentz
  This is a buddy read novella for this week. It is only like 30 pages or so, so I think I can get it read.
• Angel Unseen by J. Bree
  A victim of my mental overhyping… I want to read it so badly, but I’m afraid I won’t like it, so I keep pushing it off.
• Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
  Another buddy read! Plus, I have a review copy for it. I really really want to read it…

• Trade Deadline by Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn
  My copy finally came in from the library! Only a week left to read it, so I do need to pick it up this week.
• Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong
  So, this will be a re-read, but I have a review copy of the sequel and want a refresher before continuing on.
• Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard
  I’m throwing this one on my TBR because I do want to read a mystery and this one is a review copy I have. I’m feeling more paranormal mystery story, but this might fit the bill.

What are you reading this week?

October ’20 Monthly TBR

I like sharing what books I’m planning on reading each month and it also helps me remember which books I want to read. I actually look back at this post periodically throughout the month– I’ve lost counts of the amount of times I’ve double-checked it and realized I had forgotten about a buddy read!!

So, what exactly is on my TBR this month….

»Group/Buddy Reads

• White Trash Witch by Beatrix Hollow
• The Rise of Monsters by Brianna Jean
• Inheritance of Hunger duet by Kathryn Moon
• Gryphon’s Pride by Kaye Draper
• Famine by Laura Thalassa

Spooky Novellas – one a week

• Bones by Howard Odentz
• Berkley Street by Ron Ripley
• The Last Stop by Matt Shaw
• The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

• Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
• The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco
• Don’t Call the Wolf by Aleksandra Ross

So, a ton of these, but 5 are novellas, soooo not too bad, right?

»Challenge: Read more YA

Again, I want to read 4 YA books that aren’t graphic novels — I’ve got Don’t Call the Wolf and The Girl From the Well, so I’ll just be putting down 3 other possibilities…

• In the Hall With the Knife by Diana Peterfreund
• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
• Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

»Challenge: Branch Out

This challenge is here because I want to get back into reading other types of books, especially Thrillers and Mysteries. The Spooky Novellas are helping this, but I do want to add 4 more.

I like sharing what books I’m planning on reading each month and it also helps me remember which books I want to read. I actually look back at this post periodically throughout the month– I’ve lost counts of the amount of times I’ve double-checked it and realized I had forgotten about a buddy read!!

So, what exactly is on my TBR this month….

»Group/Buddy Reads

• White Trash Witch by Beatrix Hollow
• The Rise of Monsters by Brianna Jean
• Inheritance of Hunger duet by Kathryn Moon
• Gryphon’s Pride by Kaye Draper
• Famine by Laura Thalassa

Spooky Novellas – one a week

• Bones by Howard Odentz
• Berkley Street by Ron Ripley
• The Last Stop by Matt Shaw
• The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

• Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
• The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco
• Don’t Call the Wolf by Aleksandra Ross

So, a ton of these, but 5 are novellas, soooo not too bad, right?

»Challenge: Read more YA

Again, I want to read 4 YA books that aren’t graphic novels — I’ve got Don’t Call the Wolf and The Girl From the Well, so I’ll just be putting down 3 other possibilities…

• In the Hall With the Knife by Diana Peterfreund
• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
• Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

»Challenge: Branch Out

This challenge is here because I want to get back into reading other types of books, especially Thrillers and Mysteries. The Spooky Novellas are helping this, but I do want to add 4 more.

• The Crawling Darkness by J.L. Bryan
  I’m enjoying this spooky ghost series! It is fitting my mood and the atmosphere I want this month. If I can, I’ll read even more of this series.
• He Started It by Samantha Downing
• The Midnight Lullaby by Cheryl Low
• Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone

»Misc.

And some miscellaneous books I want to read this month. 

• Halloween Boo by Sarah Spade
• Angel Unseen by J. Bree
• Haunted by Heather Graham
• Raise Hell by Briana Michaels
• Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard

Monthly Goals

ARCs: There are 6 review copies on my TBR this month. So, I’ll be happy if I can read them all, but I’ll be happy with 5!

Reviews: So, I dropped the ball last month, this month I hope I can pick it up again… at least finish the earliest month and all the ARCs that I actually have read and are awaiting my review.

Genres: I’m trying to branch out from romance and I’m thinking thrillers and ghosts and mysteries with some gritty dark atmosphere to them.

What will you be reading this month?