I love watching booktube but I wish I could participate in book tags more often. Well I was watching Simon of SavidgeReads on booktube and he said he was tagging everyone. So I decided to do the challenge.
The questions:
1. First read of 2018?
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
2. Which books you read in 2017 do you want to share with everyone this year?
My favorites of last year were Stay with Me by Adebayo Ayobami, Eleanor Oliphant is Complately Fine by Gail Honeyman, Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, and the whole Saga series by Brian K. Vaughn.
3. What is your reading goal for the year?
My reading goals for the year are: to re-read more, to read 90 books, to complete the Popsugar Challenge, and to DNF more when I don't like the book.
4. Which new author, book or genre would you like to try this year?
I'd really like to read Brandon Sanderson which will also help me branch out more into fantasy.
5. Which reading habits would you like to change?
I stick with books even when they're terrible or just not in the right mood. This leads to slumps. I will DNF so that happens less. Also, I would like to read more frequently, even if its just 15 minutes before bed.
6. Most anticipated release this year?
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
TBR Jar
One of my January resolutions was to read books off my shelf. I created a TBR jar and I will pick 2 books a month. This is inspired by the booktube channel booksandlala where she reads through books she's had for ages. I will give myself 1 save. (total, not per month). I must either read them or get rid of them. So by the end of the year, I will have read or donated a total of 23 books. (1 save remember?)
January picks:
Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy
The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi
The first one has a somewhat low rating on goodreads and it a YA "sick lit" so I probably will donate it. That is just not my type of book. I think I bought it at a library sale for 25 cents.
The second has a similar rating and looks to be a family drama. Those are typically my favorites so I will definitely try to read this.
January picks:
Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy
The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi
The first one has a somewhat low rating on goodreads and it a YA "sick lit" so I probably will donate it. That is just not my type of book. I think I bought it at a library sale for 25 cents.
The second has a similar rating and looks to be a family drama. Those are typically my favorites so I will definitely try to read this.
Second Week Wrap Up
I'm trying to post more often that way my feelings on the books is "fresher." I think this is going to be the year of graphic novels. I read more graphic novels these last 2 weeks than I've ever read in my life.
So the first book I picked up this week was A Brief History of Time Lords by Steve Tribe. I'm a huge Doctor Who fan although I've almost exclusively watched the "new Who" episodes, the ones from 2005-2017. I felt a lot of the information was based on the old episodes which made it slightly less fun to read. I gave it 3 stars.
Then I picked up the graphic novel Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Again, it was okay. It had an interesting time-traveling plot but overall was a little predictable. 3 stars.
Then I continued my graphic novel streak with Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash. This was a graphic memoir of her coming to terms with her sexuality at a summer camp. I really enjoyed this but felt the ending was a bit anti-climatic. 4 Stars
Then I picked up the 5th Harry Potter book. Oh, so good. I breezed through it in 2 days. . My absolute favorite one. 5 Stars
Then I picked up another graphic novel, this time called My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf. This was a true story of a friend of Jeffery Dahmer who knew him in middle/high school. This was absolutely fascinating and I didn't think it possible to feel sorry for a serial killer. But oh man did he have a rough childhood. 4 Stars
I also read The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth which is about a lesbian who gets sent to a religious "get straight" camp. I was really enjoying it for the first half, but the last half languished. It was too long but also didn't have a very satisfying ending point. I gave it 3 stars.
My kindle ebook of Dark Matter by Blake Crouch was about to expire (from the library) so I picked that one up next. This was so good. I read this in one day. I couldn't put it down. Some of it was a bit too overwhelming and mind-bending but overall such an enjoyable read. 4 Stars.
Lastly, I picked up Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction. I read on a list that this was a good graphic novel. It was also for the popsugar challenge of "reading a local author." OH MY GOD! So terrible. Not funny, not sexy, not interesting. Very confusing in terms of time jumps. One page she's a little girl, the next she's a teenager/adult, then back to childhood. 1 star
Yes, I read 8 books this week. I am on a roll. And I don't know if you noticed but a lot of them were on my original January TBR list.
So the first book I picked up this week was A Brief History of Time Lords by Steve Tribe. I'm a huge Doctor Who fan although I've almost exclusively watched the "new Who" episodes, the ones from 2005-2017. I felt a lot of the information was based on the old episodes which made it slightly less fun to read. I gave it 3 stars.
Then I picked up the graphic novel Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Again, it was okay. It had an interesting time-traveling plot but overall was a little predictable. 3 stars.
Then I continued my graphic novel streak with Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash. This was a graphic memoir of her coming to terms with her sexuality at a summer camp. I really enjoyed this but felt the ending was a bit anti-climatic. 4 Stars
Then I picked up the 5th Harry Potter book. Oh, so good. I breezed through it in 2 days. . My absolute favorite one. 5 Stars
Then I picked up another graphic novel, this time called My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf. This was a true story of a friend of Jeffery Dahmer who knew him in middle/high school. This was absolutely fascinating and I didn't think it possible to feel sorry for a serial killer. But oh man did he have a rough childhood. 4 Stars
I also read The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth which is about a lesbian who gets sent to a religious "get straight" camp. I was really enjoying it for the first half, but the last half languished. It was too long but also didn't have a very satisfying ending point. I gave it 3 stars.
My kindle ebook of Dark Matter by Blake Crouch was about to expire (from the library) so I picked that one up next. This was so good. I read this in one day. I couldn't put it down. Some of it was a bit too overwhelming and mind-bending but overall such an enjoyable read. 4 Stars.
Lastly, I picked up Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction. I read on a list that this was a good graphic novel. It was also for the popsugar challenge of "reading a local author." OH MY GOD! So terrible. Not funny, not sexy, not interesting. Very confusing in terms of time jumps. One page she's a little girl, the next she's a teenager/adult, then back to childhood. 1 star
Yes, I read 8 books this week. I am on a roll. And I don't know if you noticed but a lot of them were on my original January TBR list.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
First week Wrap Up
What is it about starting over the year that refreshes my interest in reading? Is it setting a new goal? I'm not sure but whatever it is, I've started and finished 4 books this week. I also DNF'd one.
The first I read was Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. It's a graphic novel about growing up in Iran during the war and revolution. It was funny, sad, and enlightening. I gave it 4 stars. I am excited to read the second installment whenever my library gets it in stock.
Next I read Saga Volume 8 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples. I preordered it and was ecstatic to receive it in the mail. Once I started it, I didn't put it down until I was finished. It was very good, but not quite as good as volume 7. I gave it 4 stars and am now eagerly waiting for volume 9.
I then picked up I am Malala: The Story of the Girl who Stood up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafszai. I read about 60 pages before deciding to quit. While the concept was interesting to me, the writing was disorganized, was often nonsensical, and overall left me not wanting to pick it back up.
Next I picked up The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I found out she will be coming to my town in the next few months and wanted to read her work before meeting her. I thoroughly enjoyed this book while at the same time feeling incredibly uncomfortable. It is such an important book and really well written. I gave the book 4 stars.
Lastly this week, I picked up The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I had heard a lot of buzz about this book and was worried it was overhyped. It was not. At first glance, it appears to just be women's literature, a cheeky beach read. But it goes much deeper than that. The characters are realistically and beautifully flawed. The love in the story is so authentic and the characters' losses are nearly palpable. It made me sob. It made me angry. I both hated and loved Evelyn Hugo. I gave it 5 stars.
This has been a very strong first week. I'm at a loss as to what to read next because I know I can't keep this streak up forever.
The first I read was Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. It's a graphic novel about growing up in Iran during the war and revolution. It was funny, sad, and enlightening. I gave it 4 stars. I am excited to read the second installment whenever my library gets it in stock.
Next I read Saga Volume 8 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples. I preordered it and was ecstatic to receive it in the mail. Once I started it, I didn't put it down until I was finished. It was very good, but not quite as good as volume 7. I gave it 4 stars and am now eagerly waiting for volume 9.
I then picked up I am Malala: The Story of the Girl who Stood up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafszai. I read about 60 pages before deciding to quit. While the concept was interesting to me, the writing was disorganized, was often nonsensical, and overall left me not wanting to pick it back up.
Next I picked up The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I found out she will be coming to my town in the next few months and wanted to read her work before meeting her. I thoroughly enjoyed this book while at the same time feeling incredibly uncomfortable. It is such an important book and really well written. I gave the book 4 stars.
Lastly this week, I picked up The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I had heard a lot of buzz about this book and was worried it was overhyped. It was not. At first glance, it appears to just be women's literature, a cheeky beach read. But it goes much deeper than that. The characters are realistically and beautifully flawed. The love in the story is so authentic and the characters' losses are nearly palpable. It made me sob. It made me angry. I both hated and loved Evelyn Hugo. I gave it 5 stars.
This has been a very strong first week. I'm at a loss as to what to read next because I know I can't keep this streak up forever.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
3 Month Wrap Up
So I've read a fair amount since I updated so I decided to break it up by star rating each month. I read a good number of enjoyable books and only abandoned 3.
October: 13 books
5 Stars:
The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Saga Volume 6-7 by Brian K. Vaughn
4 Stars:
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
Saga Volume 4-5 by Brian K. Vaughn
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Warcross by Marie Lu
Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beacon
3 Stars:
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan MacGuire
Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp
The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
November: 6 books
5 Stars:
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
4 Stars:
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
3 Stars:
Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Dear Farenheit 451 by Annie Spence
December: 14 books
5 Stars:
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
Harry Potter 1-4 (re-reads) by J.K. Rowling
4 Stars:
A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
Bonfire by Krysten Ritter
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
The Martian by Andy Weir
3 Stars:
Matilda by Roald Dahl
2 Stars:
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Talking as Fast as I can by Lauren Graham
DNF:
The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Steifvater
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
October: 13 books
5 Stars:
The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Saga Volume 6-7 by Brian K. Vaughn
4 Stars:
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
Saga Volume 4-5 by Brian K. Vaughn
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Warcross by Marie Lu
Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beacon
3 Stars:
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan MacGuire
Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp
The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
November: 6 books
5 Stars:
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
4 Stars:
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
3 Stars:
Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Dear Farenheit 451 by Annie Spence
December: 14 books
5 Stars:
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
Harry Potter 1-4 (re-reads) by J.K. Rowling
4 Stars:
A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
Bonfire by Krysten Ritter
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
The Martian by Andy Weir
3 Stars:
Matilda by Roald Dahl
2 Stars:
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Talking as Fast as I can by Lauren Graham
DNF:
The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Steifvater
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Christmas Haul
I don't typically buy too many books because I only have one bookcase and its already full but I requested plenty for Christmas. Here's what I received or bought:
Bought for myself:
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
Received as presents:
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lioner Shriver (also recently watched the movie. Meh and weird.)
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
I have read all of these except The Outsiders and Little Fires Everywhere. I plan to read these in the year 2018.
Funny aside: My mom bought me Between Shades of Gray and was convinced it was the popular erotica novel. Nope mom, this is about work camps. Not sexy at all.
Bought for myself:
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
Received as presents:
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lioner Shriver (also recently watched the movie. Meh and weird.)
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
I have read all of these except The Outsiders and Little Fires Everywhere. I plan to read these in the year 2018.
Funny aside: My mom bought me Between Shades of Gray and was convinced it was the popular erotica novel. Nope mom, this is about work camps. Not sexy at all.
2018 Goals and January TBR
I got a little busy and forgot about my blog. I have been reading so I'll update you on what I read in a future post. This will be my 2018 goals and my TBR.
1. I will read 40 books for the Popsugar Challenge. I think I'm going to do 38 off the "regular" list and 2 from the "challenge" list. The reasoning for this is that I want to challenge myself but I don't want to read a book I have literally no interest in. (i.e. the book about sports)
2. Total book goal is 90. This can include re-reads, graphic novels, children's, and everything in between. (I read 85 books this year and I felt like I was reading a lot but I had a three month slump where I read nothing.)
3. Re-read. The last 2 years I've not been re-reading and its been sad. I know I want to finish re-reading the Harry Potter series (started a couple weeks ago...just couldn't hold back) and a few of my favorite books.
4. I would like to read at least 2 books off my shelf per month. (I don't own a huge amount of unread owned books but it is close to 50 so I want to get through them.)
I'm terrible with TBR lists because I'm a mood reader and my moods can shift quite suddenly but these are the books I would like to get to in January.
January:
- Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash
-A Brief History of Time Lords by Steve Tribe
-Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
-The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
-In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park
-I am Malala by Malala Youfasazai
-Bird Box by Josh Malerman (Yes, I know this has been on my TBR before.)
- Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
-How Green was my Valley by Richard Llewellyn
-My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf
- Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
-The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
-The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
-The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
-Saga Volume 8 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples
Realistically, I won't get to all of these and I will find new ones I will read on a whim but its a good guideline for me. I'm pretty sure I'll get to In Order to Live because I will be reading it for a book club and Saga Volume 8 because I pre-ordered it.
1. I will read 40 books for the Popsugar Challenge. I think I'm going to do 38 off the "regular" list and 2 from the "challenge" list. The reasoning for this is that I want to challenge myself but I don't want to read a book I have literally no interest in. (i.e. the book about sports)
2. Total book goal is 90. This can include re-reads, graphic novels, children's, and everything in between. (I read 85 books this year and I felt like I was reading a lot but I had a three month slump where I read nothing.)
3. Re-read. The last 2 years I've not been re-reading and its been sad. I know I want to finish re-reading the Harry Potter series (started a couple weeks ago...just couldn't hold back) and a few of my favorite books.
4. I would like to read at least 2 books off my shelf per month. (I don't own a huge amount of unread owned books but it is close to 50 so I want to get through them.)
I'm terrible with TBR lists because I'm a mood reader and my moods can shift quite suddenly but these are the books I would like to get to in January.
January:
- Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash
-A Brief History of Time Lords by Steve Tribe
-Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
-The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
-In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park
-I am Malala by Malala Youfasazai
-Bird Box by Josh Malerman (Yes, I know this has been on my TBR before.)
- Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
-How Green was my Valley by Richard Llewellyn
-My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf
- Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
-The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
-The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
-The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
-Saga Volume 8 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples
Realistically, I won't get to all of these and I will find new ones I will read on a whim but its a good guideline for me. I'm pretty sure I'll get to In Order to Live because I will be reading it for a book club and Saga Volume 8 because I pre-ordered it.
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