Week in Review (3 to 6)

Life

My computer died before Christmas and I was using Lorrie's laptop. It just got annoying, so I am back again! I have my computer back, so hopefully this blogging thing can happen. I think I am just a bit out of the habit, so I was putting off sitting down with his computer to blog. It's just easier when you have your own computer and can sit here on a Sunday morning and drink your coffee and talk about books. I would like to blog more than once a week, but first I need to work up to actually blogging once a week consistently. 

I don't even know what happened since my last post. January continued and ended. We are in February now. It's that blah time of year. We had an ice storm on Thursday to Friday this week. That just made me want spring. We still have like a month and a half left of likely winter. You know, the same things Canadians complain about every year. Nothing new! The sky looks like the picture up above, but we had crazy wind on Friday and it blew all the snow off the trees. 

Bookopoly

I probably should have kept track of this better...

Next Book in a Series: Binti: Home (audio)

Classic: The Great Gatsby

Graphic Novel: Skyward Volume 2 & 3

Second-Hand Store: A Lesson in Secrets

Young Adult Fantasy (turned this into middle grade, too): The Girl Who Speaks Bear

Currently Reading

Audiobook

Recent Reading

Giant Days Extra Credit & Giant Days: Volume 11

One of my goals for 2020 is to catch-up on graphic novel series. In January, Giant Days, was one of the series I concentrated on. I had a bit of rereading to do before I got to the unread volumes, but I did it and bought the few I was missing. These were the last two to read and I am caught up until February 11th when Volume 12 is released. It feels nice to finally be caught up because I love this series. It's fun and I recommend it!

White Hot Kiss

I read this for the 'Read Outside your Comfort Zone' roll on Bookopoly. At first I thought maybe I was going to like it, but soon I was just wanting to be done it already. It took me most of January to get through it. I am glad I tried it because you never know, it could have been a series I enjoyed. But, at the end of the day it was my least favourite read of January and I put it in my unhaul pile. Just not my thing.

Bitter Greens

This was my first audio of 2020. The first one I started anyway! I think that starting off the year with such a long audio was not one of my better ideas, but I was reading it for Bookopoly. I have owned this book forever. I already knew that even if I hated it, I was keeping it on my shelf because it basically has a permanent spot on there. Thankfully, I really enjoyed it! I love fairy tale retellings and this was a very original retelling of 'Rapunzel' with a more historic background than a typical retelling. It's sad that I am pretty sure this is my first time reading Kate Forsyth despite having books by her on my TBR for years. I enjoyed the audio, too, but there is a lot of perspectives and sometimes I would get confused on where I was. But, overall I enjoyed it!

Skyward Volumes 1, 2, & 3

Last year I was searching for Brandon Sanderson and came across this series. I added it to my wish list and decided to get Volume 1 with Christmas gift cards. Or, maybe as a Christmas present. It was around Christmastime anyway. The story of a young girl whose version of earth has no gravity, it was a really interesting concept. I read Volume 1 in January and decided to get Volume 2 and 3 with gift cards. I read them in February when I rolled Graphic Novel in Bookopoly. I didn't know it was only a trilogy until I was reading the third volume. It is refreshing to read and finish in 2 months! I enjoyed it, though, and am happy to have it for my collection.

20th Century Boys - Volume 1

Amazon led me astray. I got this thinking there were only 3 collected volumes so far. There are actually like 8! Needless to say, this series will not be a priority this year until I get to some other books. That being said, I don't read a lot of manga because of the ridiculous length of series. I should have known better! I did like it, though! So, there is that. There is a lot going on, but it got really good near the end and then it was over. There just was a lot of outline in the first bit. It is a book about a group of childhood friends who are now adults. It involves a cult. I think I am going to enjoy this series when I can spend some time with it!

The Magician's Nephew

For Christmas I got a really pretty boxed set of this series. So, I was like I should read it this year. And, instead I am listening to the audios on Scribd. I have read the series before, but never by audio. I am looking forward to seeing what it adds to overall read! I really enjoyed the narrator for this one. I frankly just do not like this series as much as I did when I was younger, but I can't let go of my love for it overall because it was such a favourite when I was younger. We will see how this goes!

Lazarus Volume 4, 5, & 6; X+66

The other graphic novel series for January was Lazarus. It had been 2 years since Volume 5 came out and suddenly, there was a Volume 6 coming out in January. I needed to refresh my memory. I also had never read X+66 before. I love Forever. She is one of my favourite graphic novel characters and it was fun to revisit with her. I hope it is not 2 years before the next volume! Although, I did enjoy my reread.

The Last Wish

One of the series I am hoping to either read in its entirety, or at least make a dent in, is the Witcher series. I read this first book throughout January and plan to do the same with Volume 2 in February. I need to get on that! Anyway, I have head that this series is very character driven, at least in the first two short story collections, and I really have to say I enjoyed the characters. The book is set up basically that there is an adventure and then a brief interlude before the next adventure. Geralt is a compelling character. I still need to check out the show! Hopefully I end up enjoying this series overall! Recommended!

Come Tumbling Down

The 5th, and latest, book in the Wayward Children series. These are novellas, so relatively short. The series is based around children that found their doors and their worlds, but then they end up back in the 'real' world and need help adjusting. I had recently read the first 4 books, so that was good. This book actually needs the backstory because it follows characters from the earlier books and what they are up to now. This book was also narrated by Seanan McGuire herself. I think she does a great job. I have listened to all 5 of the books on audio and recommend that overall!

Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locuses

After finishing Bitter Greens, I started Trail of Lightning. I had bought the audiobook recently in an Audible sale and was curious about it. I haven't read a lot of fantasy books that are based on Native mythology. (Is that the politically correct way to put that?) Anyway, I enjoyed the first book, so I decided to move right on to the second book that had recently came out. The series follows Maggie, a monster killer, who came across Clan Powers after a traumatic event in her childhood. It is a good series so far with good side characters. I am looking forward to where the series goes next!

The Final Empire

Finally. I have owned this book for a ridiculous amount of time and never read it. I am trying to make 2020 a Brandon Sanderson year. I would at least like to read this main trilogy anyway. This was by far my favourite read in January. I am so glad that I finally read it! I think I was turned off before because I had the mass-market paperbacks and they had this itty bitty print and were hard to hold on to. I got some gift cards from work to Amazon in December and I splurged on this trilogy in trade paperback. I gifted my mass-market paperbacks to a girl at work. It all worked out for the best. I have read Sanderson sporadically over the years. I know he is probably a favourite author. I am not determined to spend enough time with him to say that for sure! So excited for book 2!

Binti: Home

I rolled 'Next Book in a Series' in Bookopoly, so decided to continue my audio listen of this trilogy. I had planned to read this one and the 3rd book, but that didn't happen. At least I read the 2nd one! It's good. Another series of novellas. It is hard to explain a 2nd book in a trilogy without spoiling the first one. I enjoyed it and look forward to finishing the trilogy this year.

Angelic - Volume 1: Heirs and Graces

I have owned this for ages. I enjoyed the art, but frankly... Nothing great about it. I had heard good things when I bought it, but apparently there were no sequels. It's an interesting story, but it just didn't draw me in. 

The Great Gatsby

I rolled classic in Bookopoly and was between audios. I have a few classics from sales, so decided to give this a try. It is one of those scenarios where I can finally say that I have read it, but it didn't knock my socks off. 

Mort

Another author on my TBR that I really want to tackle is Terry Pratchett. This was actually a reread for me so that I could finally read the rest of the Death story-line. Terry Pratchett is always so fun and I own most of his books. It is time to finally make a dent in reading them! In a dream world I would like to read 12 or more books by him this year, but I will just be happy to work on his books!

The Girl Who Speaks Bear

The last one! Remind me not to fall so far behind again... I rolled Young Adult Fiction and decided that should be Middle Grade, too. I don't have a lot of middle grade books. This book is based on Russian fairy tales. Also, the cover! And, the illustrations! It was a really cute book with a good story. It covers a lot of important themes for actual middle graders, too. It is definitely worth checking out!

New Additions

Amazon:

The Girl Who Speaks Bear (gift card)
Skyward Volume 2 (gift card)
Skyward Volume 3 (gift card)
Lazarus Volume 6 (gift card)
Stars Uncharted (gift card)

Bookoutlet:

More Than we Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer
Windwitch by Susan Dennard
A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne
The Reluctant Queen by Sarah Durst Beth
The Queen of Sorrow by Sarah Durst Beth
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
The Novice by Taran Matharu
The Story Girl  by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Mistress Pat by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Stormcaster by Cinda Williams Chima
Heidi by Johanna Spyri (Puffin in Bloom)

Weekly Posts:

Week in Review (2)