Week in Review (11)

Life

A lot has happened in a week. The coronavirus is in Canada now. As of this morning, we are at over 200 cases. It's not in my province yet, but it is just a matter of time. My work is still open. We only left the house this weekend to go to the grocery store. I still need to eat for work, so I had to get some perishables. The stores were pretty picked over. I have been finding it hard to disconnect from it all. I usually do not watch the news or anything, but it's all anyone is talking about everywhere. So, not a lot of reading going on at the moment!

Bookopoly

I rolled Young Adult Fantasy and listened to A Court of Thorns and Roses on audio.

I rolled Amazon, my train stations are where I bought the book from, and I read Empire of Sand.

Currently Reading

Audiobook

Weekly Reading

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas ~ I have tired to read Maas in the past, but just was not able to connect with her. Then, Audible had this series on sale and I decided to give the audios a try. It worked out well because I enjoyed this and look forward to reading the sequel. I had never tried to read this series by her before, just her other one, but it could be that she is one that I enjoy the audios, but would have disliked reading the book. We will see what I think of the sequels!

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri ~ I am sad. This book is why my reading was so slow this month. It was a slow book and I wasn't sure if I even liked it. The people that inspired me to read this were giving it 5 out of 5 stars, so I think I set myself too high of expectations for it. It mostly just meant it took me a while to get into it, but then when I did, I did end up enjoying it and binged the rest. And, I plan to read the companion novel. I am still not sure what I would rate it if I did rate it. I think it is one that I will have to let settle for a while.

New Additions

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White (gift card)

Week in Review (10)

Life

I don't know where time goes. I basically forgot to do this post today because how is it Sunday again already! I find that after the time change, which I think is stupid and needs to be stopped, the day just flies by! They came up for the time changes for trains. My province barely has trains anymore. We need to move beyond this and stay this time year round. It is 2020, not 1920. Times change and we should, too!

Really, I am just cranky because where did today go!

Bookopoly

I rolled classic and I listened to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

I rolled E-book.. I read Cold-Forged Flame by Marie Brennan.

I rolled Young Adult/Middle Grade fantasy and I read Nevermoor.

Currently Reading

Audiobook

Weekly Reading

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis ~ A reread of course! Everyone knows the story, but Michael Caine narrated this and I enjoyed it!

Lumberjanes Volume 4 - 8 ~ This is honestly a reread up to Volume 10 but it is so fun!

Cold-Forged Flame by Marie Brennan ~ I rolled e-book in Bookopoly and I am going to be honest.. I haven't really been doing e-books lately. So, I filtered by page length and found this forgotten book. I love Marie Brennan and this novella was so good! You have to be a good writer to captivate an audience in 104 pages!

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend ~ I have been very curious about this middle grade series, so when it fit Bookopoly, I jumped on it. It was so fun! Morrigan Crow is a cursed child destined to die. Then, Jupiter North swoops in and take her to Nevermoor to many adventures. I am looking forward to the sequel!

New Additions

The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalo

Week in Review (9)

Life

I ended up with another 3 day weekend. This one was not planned. I slipped Friday morning on the ice and hurt myself. I mostly slid, but not entirely. Thankfully I don't think I did any major damage and feel much better today than I did on Friday. We are having a freeze/thaw winter and I have been paranoid about slipping all winter. I will be even more paranoid now!

Otherwise, an uneventful week. I worked, I read, I cleaned... The usual stuff. For the 29th, we went to my mother's for supper and then went to the second hand bookstore. It was the perfect 'extra' day!

Bookopoly

I read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers for Bookopoly because I landed on Sci-fi.

I rolled doubles, so I had to roll again. I landed on Chance that time and my Chance cards are authors I have more than 1 unread book by. I drew Lucy Maud Montgomery and read The Blue Castle. 

Currently Reading

Audiobook

I am between audiobooks at the moment...

Weekly Reading

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson ~ I have wanted to read this book for ages and I finally did. I didn't really like it. There were definitely some interesting points raised, but I just end up feeling like all self-help type books are exactly the same, just worded differently. I think I just was not in the proper mood for this one.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers ~ I bought this book in 2016 and I think I started it right away. I didn't finish it. Then I tried again either last year or the year before. Didn't finish it. This is why I do not unhaul books during reading slumps anymore because you know what happened when I picked it up this time? I loved it! You definitely have to be in the right mood for it because it is a character driven novel and not a plot driven one. And, it is written essentially as a collection of interconnected short stories. But, I loved this cast and I am so happy I read this! I cannot wait to read the sequels!

Love Her Wild by Atticus ~ Poetry is not really my thing, but this authors covers always catch my eye. I decided to give this one a try on Scribd and I was not entirely disappointed, but I also will not be rushing out to buy more poetry books. The photos were probably my favourite part. I think I may read the other books just to see the photos included!

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate ~ Honestly, another cover pick from Scribd. I have read Katherine Applegate before and I find that I enjoy her books, but I do not need to own them. This is a middle grade about nature and conservation through the eyes of a tree. It is also the story about a young girl who is not accepted in her neighbourhood because of where her family came from. I think that Applegate did a wonderful job of making those two storylines mesh together. It was definitely worth a read!

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson ~ I have a loose goal for 2020 to read at least 1 Brandon Sanderson book a month. I ideally want to read the Mistborn trilogy before the end of the year. I did manage to read the first one in January, but February was not a month of long books, so I didn't get to the second book. I did pick this book up, though! I read the first book last year via audio, so I decided to listen to this one on audio as well. I will say that I liked the first book a little bit more than this one, but I still really enjoyed it and cannot wait for book 3!

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery ~ When I was 10 years old, I read the entire Anne of Green Gables series. I got them all at the second hand store with my own money and then that summer, I read them all. (I might not have been 10, but that is how I remember it.) This lead to me picking up Lucy Maud Montgomery books whenever I saw them second hand. I am not sure when I first got The Blue Castle, but I have tried to read it at least twice before now and never got into it. Montgomery's books are being rereleased with these pretty covers. I got Anne's series for Christmas. And then, I was lucky to find three others in this rereleased collection on Bookoutlet. That included The Blue Castle. And, like with the Becky Chambers, I am so glad I didn't give up on this book because I loved it this time. I am so happy I have finally read it and that I have this pretty copy on my shelves. 

New Additions

Amazon

I got this Twisted Tale Boxed Set:

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell

As Old as Time by Liz Braswell

After Atlas by Emma Newman

Then, with book credit, I got Lazarus: Sourcebook Collection - Volume 1

Week in Review (8)

Life

I had a 3 day weekend this weekend. I was going to catch up on stuff around the house. Unless I get really into cleaning today, that did not happen. But, it's the thought that counts, right? Instead, I finished my graphic novel series for the month because I was determined to at least get that done. I am not really in a reading slump. I just didn't really read the first couple weeks of the month, so I mostly just read graphic novels. I have so many novels that I want to get to, so hopefully this last week of February I can get to something. My priority is to finish A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear before the end of the month. Then everything else is just gravy.

Bookopoly

I read Company Town by Madeline Ashby for Bookopoly. In December I made a pile of 24 books I want to read in 2020 and made cards for them for when I land on Book Chest (Community Chest). I landed on Community Chest in January and the book I drew was Company Town, but then I didn't get to it and I wanted to start from fresh in February. I landed on Canadian Fiction for one of my rolls, though, so I decided to finally get to this one as it is set in Newfoundland and the author is Canadian. That only puts me at 1/24 books completed. Not a good start!

Then, I rolled Graphic Novel. I am almost tempted to cover those spots with something else because I am reading graphic novels anyway.

I am currently reading A Lesson in Secrets which counted for Next Book in a Series. It's a reread, though. It has been too long since I read the series and I wanted a refresher... I had planned to read the next book this month, but clearly that didn't happen.

I also rolled Classic and am technically supposed to be reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for that. I need to clean or something to actually do that, though, as I am doing the audios this reread.

Currently Reading

Audiobook

Weekly Reading

Giant Days - Volume 12

The latest installment in this series. I am glad that I caught up with it now because the series is ending soon. It's a fun series and I think it will end well. But, we will see! At least now that I am caught up I can read it as it ends instead of being a bunch of comics behind. This was another fun addition!

Paper Girls Volume 2 to 6

My graphic novel series for February was Paper Girls. I had officially, according to my Goodreads, only read 2 of the series, but I owned them all. I had read Volume 3, too. I just forgot to record it whatever year that was. But since I kept buying the series and then not reading it, I was determined to get it done. And, I did it and I think it ended really well! It was a solid series overall and I am so happy I own it. I can see future rereads and this is now officially one of my favourite graphic novel series.

Company Town by Madeline Ashby

This book was on my radar when it first came out, but then I never got around to getting a copy. A science-fiction and basically dystopian book set in Newfoundland on an oil rig. I was intrigued! (For those that do not know, I live in Canada. Nova Scotia to be exact!) And, I am glad that I finally read it! The author even mentioned Newfoundland winters and it was very fitting for the ridiculous snowstorm they had a few weeks ago in present Newfoundland. I enjoyed the main character and watching her grow through the book. I feel like Ashby managed to get a lot of growth into what is actually a bit of a short book. It was not a new favourite, but it was worth the read. And, I plan to read more by Ashby in the future.

Lumberjanes Volume 1 to 3

I have been concentrating on books I actually own mostly this year, but this series is on Scribd and every so often I need to use the service a bunch to feel like I am not wasting my money having it. So, when I saw Lumberjanes was on there again, I decided to catch up. I am pretty sure I read the first 10 Volumes already, but I decided to just start from the beginning and read what is on there. I regret that I didn't buy this series when it came out because I started it back then. Now, I want to own it and there are so many Volumes! Maybe one day. It's a fun series, though!

New Additions

I did a big unhaul of some graphic novels that I didn't feel compelled to reread. With the credit I got, I got more graphic novels:

Hawkeye: Private Eye by Kelly Thompson

Locke & Key - Volume 2: Head Games by Joe Hill (read this before, but want to own the series)

Jessica Jones - Volume 1 to 3 by Brian Michael Bendis

Monstress - Volume 4: The Chosen by Marjorie Liu

Top Ten Tuesday: The Last Ten Books That Gave Me a Book Hangover

I haven't done Top Ten Tuesday in a long time, but decided to join in this week. You can see the complete list at That Artsy Reader Girl.

1. Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson - I read this book in January after it being on my shelves for so long. I am thinking I am just going to have to move on to book 2 this weekend, because my reading has slowed right down since finishing.

2. Middlegame by Seanan McGuire - I am still thinking about this book. I did it by audio in 2019 and got a physical copy during a sale last year. I am planning a reread for 2020 in print. Seanan McGuire is quickly becoming a favourite author. I have so much of her backlist still to explore, though!

3. The Black Prism by Brent Weeks - I can't believe after reading this last year and being blown away, I still haven't read book 2. Hopefully sometime this year!

4. Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley - I think if I had to pick a favourite book for 2019 it would be this one. I love dogs and this book just got to me. 

5. Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff - I didn't know what to think when I finished this book. I loved this trilogy overall, one of my favourites ever, and it took me some time to get around the fact it was over! 

6. The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry - I recently finished this book and loved it. It is a book about books, which I love. I am not sure why this book is not better known. It deserves way more attention!

I could only think of 6. Hopefully 2020 will fix that!

Week in Review (7)

Life

We had a week of winter: snow, cold weather, gross driving conditions. All the fun stuff. I am at the part of the year where I want spring. It gets me in a bad mood and I am in a bit of a reading slump. If I didn't listen to audios, I wouldn't have read anything really this week. I have this problem in February every year. It is the shortest month of the year, but the weather gets me down. I am at 40 books read for the year, but most of those were in January. It is still better than some recent years.

I did get some pretty flowers for Valentine's Day, though! As you can see, Chloe approved. We don't really do plants because Finn eats them. I learned just how bad it is when I brought some plants in one spring because of a possible frost and the next morning they had barely any leaves left.

Bookopoly

Nothing was for Bookopoly this month!

Currently Reading

Audiobook

I am between audiobooks at the moment!

Weekly Reading

Paper Girls - Volume 1

This is supposed to be my next series I catch up in for my graphic novel project of 2020. I still have only read the 1 volume. It was a reread. I actually found that I barely remembered what happened. I knew the general story, but some of the details I had forgotten. I am still determined to get this read in February!

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep

I loved this book. I have been seeing it around to commemorate it coming out in paperback, but before that I had never heard of it before. I decided to use an audio credit on it and started it right away. It's a book about books and I thought it was done really well. It's the story of two brothers. One is a practical lawyer and the other is a scatter-brained teacher that can make things come out of books. It is inspired a lot by Charles Dickens, but other famous characters make an appearance, too. I am so glad I took a chance on it. It is definitely one of my favourite books of 2020.

Unf*ck Yourself: Get out of your head and into your life

So, work has this Book Club where we read self-help type books and you earn points. Then every quarter, the points are put towards gift cards. The most you can get is a 50 dollar one and I am working my way towards my March gift card. I find this is really not my genre, so I am leaving it to the last minute. This book had interesting points, but it was not amazing. I am glad I read it, though.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?

I recently heard of Caitlin Doughty and this book was on sale on Audible. It worked for what was left of my work commute, so I started it right away. The author narrates it herself and it was an interesting read. I definitely learned a bunch from it because she is right, we really do not know a lot about death. It was a bit Americanized, so I don't know if everything applies to Canadian laws, but it was worth checking out. She's on my list to read again for sure!

New Additons:

Amazon:

Stormsong  by C.L. Polk

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry (read)

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

Witchmark by C.L. Polk (read it last year, but didn't own it)

Giant Days - Volume 12 by John Allison

Bookoutlet:

Child of a Mad God by R.A. Salvatore

Reckoning of Fallen Gods by R.A. Salvatore

Storms of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse (read, just wanted to own a copy)

The Polar Bear Explorers' Club by Alex Bell

The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne Valente

Semiosis by Sue Burke

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Planetfall by Emma Newman

Before Mars by Emma Newman

Wundersmith by Jessica Townsend

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)