Month: May 2023

June TBR

Posted May 31, 2023 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 1 Comment

My monthly TBR feature here shows my progress based on last month’s TBR, my plans for this month, and anything else I might be thinking about from a reading perspective. Sometimes I feature a little poll at the bottom so you guys can help me figure out a certain title I should read from a group of books. June TBR I managed to sneak in quite a few books before I embarked on my tandem read of EMPIRE OF STORMS and TOWER OF DAWN in May! I knew I wanted to start those in the second half of the month with the goal of finishing before June, and I pulled it off! I was even able to finish and get started on a couple of other books over Memorial Day weekend to kick off summer. My June TBR is (as always) aggressive but I want to have a lot of great summery options. Fantasy Era SOMETHING CLOSE TO MAGIC is a lighter fantasy read (I think) that I have a review copy for – it expires on the pub date because it’s on the Netgalley app so this will be the first fantasy I read in June. Otherwise, I knew I wouldn’t end up getting to KOA in May so here we are, ready to finish the series off in June! I can’t decide if I’m going to read SILVER IN THE BONE before or after KOA… If my Libby hold for SITB becomes available before the middle of the […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #411: NOT Auto-Reads

Posted May 30, 2023 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 5 Comments

Things That Make Me Automatically NOT Want to Read a Book (Opposite of Read-Bait!) Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. Yes, I’ve also written this post before but I’ll recycle some ideas and toss a few more in 😉 Police or military Yeah, sorry. I am not going to read any book where the main character is a cop or dates one. I won’t get into it all here but generally yes it’s for the reasons you’re probably thinking. The same kind of goes for the military but not for all of the same reasons, and I’m less strict on that. I will read a book that sounds good with an ex-military love interest but there’s a chance I lose interest. It’s usually because they have tough feelings to work through and sometimes even PTSD, which personally is not something I like to read about in books. As you’ll see later in this list, I like happier books overall haha. Sometimes there’s a subplot where the cop or ex-military dude lost his partner in the line of duty or during a deployment, and it just makes me sad. Religion I’m not religious and I don’t have interest in reading books centered […]

Summer TBR and Bucket List – 2023

Posted May 25, 2023 / Book Lists, Features, Goals & Planning, Personal / Information / Etc., TBR Lists / 8 Comments

I used to write these all the time and got back into it last year, so here we are again with a somewhat similar post! I really am hoping to read some good seasonal stories this year because I failed with last summer’s TBR. Bring on the beach reads! Summer TBR Summery Review Copies & Upcoming Releases Backlist Summer Stories Summer Plans & Bucket List 1. Go to the beach more than once I’m not huge on the beach usually but I had a great time last summer going with some of my aunts, cousins, and sister. I hope Chris and I manage to go a few times (especially in Maine – we’re hoping to get back up there during the Fourth of July holiday weekend). I love reading under an umbrella and now I have some decent bathing suits too! 2. Read on the porch/outside every nice day I know this is a big-sounding goal (“every day”) but it’s pretty reasonable as long as I’m home! I can take my lunch outside with the pup and read or sit on the porch after work to read a chapter or two. If it’s not raining and not a million degrees, I need to enjoy my porch while I can! 3. Use my roller skates I bought skates a year ago and have been generally too afraid to use them after I fell in the house lol. I need a helmet and then I’ll be good to go! 4. Eat 2 […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #410: Auto-Reads

Posted May 23, 2023 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 12 Comments

Things That Make Me Automatically Want to Read a Book (Read-Bait!) Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I’ve written a ton of posts like this that you can find in my Read-Bait series and in various TTTs over the years. I’ve also talked about my auto-buy authors. I won’t reinvent the wheel here too much but these are some worth highlighting now. (I’m super tempted to just paste in my TTT from 2019 about this because it’s a great summary, but instead feel free to check out the link.) Timey things: parallel worlds/lives/choices, multiverse, Groundhog day I always include this as the first one on these lists because it’s arguably what I’m most excited to read about. It’s an all-encompassing category (on Goodreads my shelf is “parallel timey type“) to just discuss messing with time. (Time travel is included here although it’s not top-tier like the other ones listed here.) Books that involve parallel universes or the multiverse are some of my favorites. I love when a character makes a decision between two things and the book splits into two different plots to see how the world works for them depending on their choice. Groundhog Day books where the person […]

Fantasy Era

Posted May 22, 2023 / Book Lists, Discussions, Features, TBR Lists / 2 Comments

I wrote a post earlier this year with all of the books on my somewhat-soon-TBR that I wanted to read that were NOT mystery/thrillers or contemporary romance/fiction. Since my reading has been choppy during the pandemic years and is finally back to normal, I’m reading a lot more fantasy books (and thinking about reading more science fiction again too). I finally got back into the Throne of Glass series to reread them and then finish it off, and then I plan to read a lot more fantasy (and “romantasy” – the new trendy name for romantic fantasy). Ya girl is back in her fantasy (faerie, dragon, paranormal, etc.) era. Here are some of the fantasy books I’ve read so far this year and the other books/series I hope to read by the end of 2023! 2023 Fantasy Reads THRONE OF GLASS / CROWN OF MIDNIGHT / HEIR OF FIRE / QUEEN OF SHADOWS These were all a part of the reread portion of the series. My immediate plan is to read the next two books in the series as a tandem read at the end of this month (probably into early June). FOURTH WING / LEGENDS & LATTES / EMILY WILDE These three books definitely could be considered in the “I read these because of the insane hype” category. All three are super different from each other but still equally interesting to read. NINTH HOUSE / LOST IN THE MOMENT / THE STOLEN HEIR And these three are either starting or continuing […]

Rereading & Finishing the Throne of Glass Series

Posted May 19, 2023 / Book Reviews / 5 Comments

I read and really enjoyed the first five books (this includes the prequel bind-up) in the Throne of Glass series back in the day and never got around to finishing it. Obviously it’s having a resurgence thanks to booktok and all the girlies reading SJM books, so I’ve been really tempted to get back into it. I asked my Instagram followers if I should just read a recap of the books through Queen of Shadows and then dive into the final three books OR reread the series to bang it out, and most people voted for the reread. I have to say, I’m REALLY glad I went that route! My bookish memory has always been absolute garbage and rereading it has been like reading it for the first time. I barely remember ANYTHING that happened. Like…nothing haha. I haven’t read many fantasy books over the last few years simply because they’re usually a time commitment for me – I read them very slowly. A lot of them are loooong too, especially books by SJM. I just haven’t had the ability to do it when my reading has been so bad since 2020. I’m really in a good reading rhythm now and am feeling like my old self, so it’s time to enter my fantasy era again. This has been a great way to do it! Rather than reviewing them all again after rereading, I’m including my Goodreads review screenshots with some updates and links to my original reviews here for the first few […]

ARC Review: Meet Me at the Lake

Posted May 17, 2023 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

I absolutely devoured EVERY SUMMER AFTER last year. I was on the fence about reading it and was cautious about the hype, but I literally sat there and finished the book in one sitting on my deck on a sunny afternoon. That was such a wonderful and specific reading experience that I was super nervous to read her sophomore novel. Such high expectations! ESA was not perfect – it was messy in a way that really worked for me. I was curious to see if this novel would have much of the same (not really!) or if the author would branch out a bit. I was happy to still see dual timelines following the lead couple, a second chance romance, and another glorious summer setting. MEET ME AT THE LAKE is centered around the main character’s family resort on a lake in Canada. Fern determined as a college student that she didn’t want to take over the business someday and broke her mom’s heart in the process. Years later, with some success managing coffee shops in Toronto in the meantime, her mom passes away in an accident… leaving the resort to her. Beyond the grief and family feels of it all, the story alternates between past and present with Fern and Will – a boy she had a whirlwind day/night with as a college student. It feels a bit like instalove (especially because the chemistry 10 years ago just wasn’t there for me as much as it was in present […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #409: Other Hobbies

Posted May 16, 2023 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 0 Comments

Things Getting in the Way of Reading (aka My Other Hobbies!) Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. This is a fun one! I don’t spend a lot of time writing personal posts on here anymore because my blogging mojo has been pretty strictly around books, but here are some of the major things that take up my time! 1. Sports-watching (especially Panthers football) I’ve been a Panthers fan forever and I don’t have to tell you about that any more than I already have 😉 I love watching football during the season. I watch any and all games available to me on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday, but pay very close attention to the screen when it’s a Panthers game! We’ve also recently gotten into watching some playoff games for hockey and basketball. We watch March Madness when that’s happening too. Overall, just a big fan of watching sports on TV and sometimes in person. 2. Podcasts If there’s one thing that’s gotten in the way of audiobooks lately, it’s podcasts. I listen pretty regularly even though my commute doesn’t exist anymore! I prefer true crime but will sometimes listen to a wrestling or book-related podcast. I’ve written a lot of favorites […]

Blog Tour: The Boyfriend Candidate

Posted May 15, 2023 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Review I had only read IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE before starting this book and really loved it, so naturally I’ve added all of Ashley Winstead’s books to my TBR regardless of genre. I love when authors are able to write both excellent romances and excellent thrillers… not much more I could ask for! 😉 Needless to say, I was excited for the opportunity to read THE BOYFRIEND CANDIDATE! The story centers around school librarian Alexis and her quest to ditch her boring girl persona for one night… and how she ends up in scandalous paparazzi photos with a young hot-shot Texas gubernatorial candidate Logan. His campaign quickly pivots to let everyone know that that the two are actually together and my beloved fake dating trope begins – just long enough to get Logan through the election. It was really interesting to get a peek behind the curtain of how politicians have to work on their image, determine their platform, and deal with other politicians, union leaders, and the public. It didn’t go into a ton of detail but just enough to make the book feel realistic. Alexis quickly impacted his campaign to integrate not just stopping the education budget cuts, but increasing the budget throughout the state. Logan and Alexis had a lot of chemistry and the typical “oh no, they couldn’t possibly be actually into me” vibes were strong. I loved watching them integrate into each other’s lives in a natural way where you could actually see […]

Review Roundup | The Escape Room and Legends & Lattes

Posted May 11, 2023 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 2 Comments

I’ve been working my way through Goldin’s books and she’s quickly become one of my favorite mystery/thriller authors. An absolute auto-read for me. (I’ve got one more backlist title to go now!) THE ESCAPE ROOM was on my radar but I never got around to it because I’ve always thought I don’t like locked room mysteries. I’m definitely curious to keep testing that theory because I think it’s wrong haha – I enjoy ones like this! It’s so intriguing to have two timelines or POVs and see what’s happening separate from the “locked room” (in this case, an elevator). This story centers around a few shitty financial/banking people who get trapped in an “escape room” elevator together. The other POV is Sara, a girl who busted her ass in the company’s graduate program and how she started rising up the ranks. Once the story gets going, there are some good twists and turns – I always found myself eager to check out what was happening in the other POV, which kept me turning the pages. I did finish this book in one day (great audiobook, btw!) but I don’t think I would classify it to other people as unputdownable. I just had the right kind of day to sit down and read or listen to the audiobook while multi-tasking all day. I do think it’s quite predictable overall – I wasn’t shocked by the ending and there was a lot of explanation and backstory when it got toward the end. […]