Category: TBR Lists

Priority 2023 Reads & Exciting Releases for the Rest of the Year

Posted August 14, 2023 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments
Priority 2023 Reads & Exciting Releases for the Rest of the Year

I know I’m going to get to the end of the year and have a ton of books left on my list to read but hopefully this guides me a little bit! I always make anticipated release lists or TBRs each month/season, but I’ve been fresh out of blog post ideas lately and this seemed like a good option to share! I also made the decision to not include any holiday books or cookbooks on here just for the sake of not adding one million books lol. Already Out & Priority 2023 Releases All That’s Left to Say by Lord // I’ve been a huge fan of hers for years and am always anxiously awaiting her next book. This one sounds like a contemporary/mystery and I’m excited for it. Business or Pleasure by Solomon // Another author I adore and can’t wait to read! I’m shocked I didn’t read this earlier in the year actually. None of This is True by Jewell // This has gotten super high ratings so far and I made sure to include it in my BOTM box! I read and liked one of her other books but hopefully this segues into more of her backlist as well. Wrong Place, Wrong Time by McAllister // McAllister’s debut is one of my favorite thrillers so I have super high expectations for this one! Also snagged it for my BOTM selection. One of Us is Back by McManus // My favorite YA mystery/thriller author! Really excited to get back into the Bayview world. […]

August TBR

Posted July 27, 2023 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments
August TBR

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. August TBR July was an interesting month because I did read the major books I had outlined on my TBR (especially the smaller version posted on Instagram stories) but kind of let myself go with the flow the minute Summerween was over haha. I wanted to read a lighter book but ended up picking up a giant fantasy as well?? ARC August I wrote a post the other day announcing that I’m aiming to to ARC August this year, something popularized in the book blogging community years ago. You basically focus on reading a ton of review copies in August! I came up with my own challenge/prompts to read books of all types and here’s the “final” list (subject to change depending on mood, but I feel pretty confident in these!). My goal is to read all 8 of these, or read 80% review copies in August regardless. Here are my picks and why: 2023 release – IN NIGHTFALL Mystery/thriller – THE HIKE Contemporary romance – BUSINESS OR PLEASURE Picked by random number generator – I’M THE GIRL From my “jazzed up for this” shelf – ALL THAT’S LEFT TO SAY Publishing […]

ARC August Challenge

Posted July 24, 2023 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments
ARC August Challenge

Back in the day, ARC August was a big deal and a way of life. I did it all the time. I always think of doing it unofficially (because I don’t know that it’s a real thing anymore? lol) but in a more casual way. My goal for August 2023 is to read 80% ARCs. I know there’s a good chance that a library hold comes in or something and I get sidetracked, so my overall hope for the month is to read 10 books, 8 of them being ARCs. I have a lot to choose from (ugh…) but thought it would be fun to give myself some prompts and challenges to pick out the TBR. I’m only going to read past-due or current month egalleys – no ARCs that are coming out in September or later. This is a way for me to catch up and get closer to 80% on Netgalley – usually I’m around 70% or a little more but lately I’ve been at 69%. At the time of writing this, I have 98 books that were published prior to August 2023 that I could read. I’ve definitely lost interest in a few so there’s a good chance that I try to read and DNF a book or two throughout this process, but I’m going to give it the ol’ college try. Here are the 8 challenges I’m using to try to pick out my TBR and the books that I’ve selected to match. I’m going to go with […]

July TBR

Posted June 29, 2023 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments
July TBR

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. July TBR I did a pretty good job of reading books from my TBR from June! I definitely have some that are rolling over but I have good plans for them this month. I think the biggest miss was not getting to KOS in June. Regardless, a good jumping off point for July! Summerween My TBR for Summerween is a little aggressive maybe but five books in one week (where one is a graphic novel) is definitely doable! Here are the prompts and generally what I plan to read for them: black on the cover (KITTY KARR), set in autumn (THE LEGACIES), a thriller (DARK CORNERS), read in the dark (LIVE AND LET CHAI), and a graphic novel (ENOLA HOLMES). Summerween starts on July 7th and I’m really pumped to participate! Leftover from June & New Releases    I’m lumping these together because they all mostly fall into the “new release” category from the last few months, with the exception of KINGDOM OF ASH – I’m hoping to finally finish the TOG series this month and read KOS in the second half of the month once Summerween ends. I had THE HALF […]

Long-Term TBR Plotting

Posted June 7, 2023 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 2 Comments
Long-Term TBR Plotting

I remember a few years ago I got totally wild with planning out my TBR in order to finish a bunch of books off. I had a few readathons and readalongs and book clubs with specific books I had to read and made a crazy schedule to help myself plan out my reading. (I don’t think this really helped me, if I’m being honest, but boy do I LOVE a TBR plan.) You’ve seen so many lists lately of books I hope to read within certain genres or books that I’m scared to read and should read anyways… just lots and lots of potential TBRs up in here lately. The Reasons for Monthly TBRs I’ve started using Libby again and am at the mercy of my hold list all the time. Books keep coming available and I keep letting people jump me in line because I’m knee deep in this stupid (and enjoyable) Throne of Glass series binge. I don’t like to read books within the same genre at the same time so the minute a fantasy book comes available, I find myself freaking out and trying to figure out when the heck I’m going to read it around TOG and all of the other reading plans. I also have a lot of readathons or ~reasons~ for reading certain books at certain times. I thought it would benefit me (let’s be real, I’m the audience for this post, not you guys) to sit here and plan out my TBR for the […]

June TBR

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

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 […]

Summer TBR and Bucket List – 2023

Summer TBR and Bucket List – 2023

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 […]

Fantasy Era

Fantasy Era

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 […]

Bout of Books 37 | Last Minute TBR & Reading Plans

Bout of Books 37 | Last Minute TBR & Reading Plans

It’s been a long time since I’ve participated in Bout of Books! When I was reminded it was kicking off this week (technically Monday), I decided to hop on board. I had read about 20% of Queen of Shadows that day so I made enough reading progress to feel good about joining late 😉 Here is more information about the readathon: The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 8th and runs through Sunday, May 14th in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, daily Discord questions, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional. For all Bout of Books 37 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team Reading & TBR Plans This is a good week to get a lot of reading done for a few reasons. It’s playoff season for various sports we’ve been enjoying lately (basketball and hockey) – I don’t pay full attention to these because I’m not super invested, so I like to read during the games instead of scroll on my phone. I also plan to drive around a lot this week (primarily between heading to the office and errands one day and driving 2 hours roundtrip for an author event on Friday). That’ll be some good audiobook time! Chris will be out of town on Friday and Saturday for work so I will have time […]

May TBR

Posted May 1, 2023 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments
May TBR

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. May TBR April was an interesting month haha. I ended up getting sucked into the ToG reread and throwing away my TBR a little bit. I had planned to participate in two readathons and basically didn’t finish any books or focus on them at all because of my vacation haha. I did read a few books from those TBRs at least… just not during the actual readathons lol. Throne of Glass I thought I would get to QOS in April but it just didn’t happen. After finishing it up (the reread portion of my series binge!) – I’ll be tandem reading EOS and TOD. I’m not sure I’ll actually get to KOS to finish the series without feeling like I’ve overdone it! haha. There’s also a very good chance I end up being desperate to finish the series right away. I have this series as Kindle books and audiobooks but don’t think I’ll actually read another physical book while tandem reading – it’ll be too hard to keep track of even if it’s a contemporary romance. Recently Published Review Copies I have some holdover review copies from April or earlier that I […]