This is a meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where you answer three questions: What are you reading now? What did you just read? What will you be reading next?
What I just read
Picture from Goodreads
The Space Between Time by Charlie Laidlaw was amazing. It was a five star read for me. You can read my full review here.
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What I’m reading now
I’m currently in one of those reading phases where I am reading multiple books at once. I am finally reading Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, and I am almost done. It is great, and dare I say it better than Six of Crows? It definitely has a lot more action from the beginning. I’m guessing because in Six of Crows she had to do a lot more world building.
I’m also listening to the Catwoman: Soulstealer audio book narrated by Julia Whelan, and written by my favorite Sarah J. Maas. I’ve been listening to it while on my commute to and from work, and I confess it’s so good that I’ve also been finding other random times to listen to it…like in the shower and while doing housework. 🙂
Reviews on both of these coming soon!
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What I will be reading next
My next priority is Wonderwoman: Warbringer by Leigh Bargudo. I have the e-book and it has been waiting for me for a while. I also have hard copies of One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake and Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller that I need to get to as well. I think after these are done I will stop requesting library books and read the ones I already have, which will make reading less stressful. I feel like I’ve been down an overwhelming slippery slope lately, and I don’t like to feel that way when it comes to reading.
I don’t know why, but in the past few months I have either read spectacular five star books, or really bad ones I cannot bring myself to finish. I hope the five star trend continues, but the bad books need to stop. Hopefully now that I have more like-minded reader friends on Goodreads I won’t stray into bad books as often.
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Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza
I found this book so boring. The story had a lot of potential but it really just fell flat. What a shame, because look at that gorgeous cover.
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Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
This one that I’ve put on my “Second chance” shelf on Goodreads, I might try to read it one day. What really bothered me about it was the language they were using for the time period, and honestly it was a bit predictable for a mystery. But I have heard the other books in the series are good.
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Envy by J.R. Ward
I enjoyed the first two books in this series. But the slang got a bit annoying in this one and I had to stop reading it. Frankly I was no longer as invested in the series as I was before and did not see a point in continuing.
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The Darkest Star (Origin, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I could not stand the main female character Evie. She was annoying, while also trying to give off this tough attitude but then not standing up for herself when she needed to. She let this guy Luke walk all over her. It could have also been the narrator’s voice in the audio book. Either way, I have learned my lesson and I will sample audio books before I check them out of the Library app, and obviously before I buy them.
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Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor
I loved Taylor’s other books, but I could not get into this one. I am not sure if I have trouble with goblins being the villains, but this book was too weird for me. I am now staying away from goblin books, since I also DNF Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones. Maybe it’s Harry Potter syndrome, but I just can’t look at goblins as villains, to me they’re just creepy.
What are some books you absolutely could not finish?
After doing a major TBR organization and clean-up on Saturday, my list on Goodreads is now looking a lot better and more manageable. Either way it’s always good to keep an eye on it and make sure I don’t go TBR happy again. Plus, all those pretty pictures on my Bookstagram lately have made me add so many books on there. Since my list is down to 76 books, this time I am only looking at the first five books I added in reverse chronological order.
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Two Dark Reigns (Three Dark Crowns, #3) by Kendare Blake
I loved the first book in this series. It started out really slow, but once it picked up I couldn’t put it down. The same thing happened with the second book, except I got bored and actually put it down. Now, it’s just sitting there in my TBR basket waiting for me to pick it back up. Once I read that one, then I will read this one which is the third in the series.
Keep 🙂
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Shades of Wicked (Night Rebel, #1) by Jeaniene Frost
I read a sample of this one and really liked it. Also, the reviews on Goodreads are great, it’s currently a 4.35/5 stars. I fear this author’s books might become my new guilty pleasure.
This one I picked up while on vacation at Fort Myers beach and I still haven’t gotten to it. It has good reviews and people really love the second one in the series called Daughter of the Siren Queen.
Keep 🙂
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Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy, #1) by Emily A. Duncan
I feel like this book was just really hyped up online, but the reviews on my Goodreads seem like it hasn’t lived up to the hype. Maybe I will add it later on if someone can convince me otherwise.
Delete 😦
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The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black
This is not even a question. I have been highly anticipating this book. I loved the first two books in this series and I can’t wait for the last one.
Keep 🙂
I’m so happy my new organization system seems to be working. I only had to delete one out of five this time. How do you guys decide what to read?
It all started the night before Mother’s Day. I had the perfect day planned, it included going to Barnes and Noble and then dinner with my husband and my kids. But as I was looking at my endless TBR list I decided it needed some type of system or it was going to drive me insane. What exactly did I need to look for at Barnes and Noble? With my two year old and my four year old tagging along I couldn’t exactly take a leisurely stroll around the store and browse to my heart’s content. That’s when I came up with a system.
To Buy
I made a Goodreads shelf named “To Buy.” I needed a list for the books I had yet to read but wanted to buy. The night before, I read samples of all the books on there and deleted the ones I didn’t really like. This made it so I didn’t even have to read the book at all in the store, I could just buy it with confidence. I then deleted the ones I still wanted to read but I didn’t want a hard copy of and I would be fine with an e-book.
I also put books in here that I already read but I want to buy for my bookshelves. For example, books that are part of a series I love and stand alone books that have made an impression on me and I would like to own hard copies of.
Own
This one is pretty self explanatory. Is a list of the books I own hard copies of, I don’t count e-books.
Classics
I have been at a loss of what to do with my classics. There are some that I have read and love, and there are some that I own and have been dreading reading. So I put them all in this list.
To be Released
I made this list to keep track of any upcoming releases from my favorite authors and favorite series. It’s a way to keep track of release dates and cover reveals as well. This way I have a quick reference if I need to brush up on a series before release date, or if I need to request an ARC.
Priority One
I really needed a shelf like this. This is where I put the books I really need to read next, whether it’s for a review or an ARC an author gave me, these are the books I must read soon before I even browse anything else. I don’t always do that, sometimes I stray into other books I really want to read just for fun, but I try not to. This list definitely helps!
Re-read (Second Chance)
This is the shelf where I put the books I did not finish but would like to try again. Maybe it was the mood I was in? I will give these books one last chance before I delete them completely.
How do you all organize your TBR? Any suggestions?
On Fridays I add items to my bookish bucket list. Last week I added: visit Venice, Italy, own and read the Game of Thrones series, and go snorkeling in Hawaii.
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Read Wuthering Heights
I actually own a very old version of this book, not sure if it’s first edition or not. I might have started it back in High School (more than ten years ago if you must know), but I never finished it. It is referenced in so many other books that I feel like I already know what it’s about, but I feel like I do need to read it someday.
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Visit Paris, France
In Jojo Moyes’ book Me Before You, Louisa Clark yearns to visit this little café in Paris which Will described for her in great detail. Ever since I read this book I’ve wanted to visit this city and sit in one such place sipping on coffee and reading a good book, maybe this same one.
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Own the Blood of Eden series
I feel like the Blood of Eden series by Julie Kagawa is so underrated, but I really loved it and would like to own it. It’s a dystopian saga, with a strong female main character, and vampires. What more can you ask for? I currently own the e-books, but I will be adding the real books to my collection soon.
He was our star, we circled in uneasy orbit. Mum was a moon; I sometimes felt like a small piece of space junk.”
Emma
This story is about Emma, a girl who on the surface seems to have the perfect life, but in reality struggles to deal with the consequences of her parents’ life choices. She spends her whole childhood wondering why her famous actor father would ever marry her neurotic mother, and why he would choose to isolate them to a small town in Scotland while he travels the world without them. We follow Emma from childhood into adulthood, through tragedy and heartbreak, while she attempts to find herself in a world set on sticking a label on everyone.
I then decide that I must still have all sorts of panoramas ahead of me, uncharted possibilities to be explored, and maybe that’s what life is all about: to journey, rather than find landfall, because the sea is empty of bad intentions and the land is full of bad people. That’s why I like to look at the sea…”
emma
I found Emma’s inner dialogue and narration hilarious and entertaining, and it only gets better as she gets older. There was a scene where she attended a Christmas school play which honestly was one of the funniest scenes I’ve ever read. There’s also this other narrative where Emma is having an argument with a guy during a parade which is absolutely brilliant as well.
Leith is now a place of reinvention where dockyard pubs, within which taciturn men silently drink beer and whisky, sit side by side with wine bars serving chardonnay on tap.”
emma
Laidlaw’s descriptions of people and places were original and easy to picture. I loved Emma’s grandpa Alberto with his temperamental mustache. I enjoyed reading about her friend Patsy, who was so full of life that I sometimes envied her, and I’m sure at times Emma was jealous of her as well. I especially liked Knox, the prickly anti-social toilet trained cat.
I want to be my own little planet, bustling quietly around the universe; I don’t want to be in someone else’s orbit…”
emma
This book was something else. I accepted an ARC from the author, Charlie Laidlaw, after reading a short description of the book and thinking it was interesting enough, and I needed some light reading. However, this was not in any way light, and I was not expecting to be totally blown away by it. This story was deep and profoundly real. It delves into hard topics such as suicide, depression, and anxiety, while also inserting humor in all the right places. I would recommend it to anyone wishing to learn more about what it means to be alive.
I have come to really enjoy writing these Monday posts. They create the illusion that I have some sort of control over my TBR list. On these posts I got to my Goodreads TBR list, I order it in reverse order, and from “date added.” I then pick the first ten books and I choose whether to keep them or delete them from my list. I obviously skip the books I decided to keep in past weeks.
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The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
The first thing I noticed when I looked at this book is that the cover is gorgeous. As you probably know, I am a sucker for pretty covers. My friends on Goodreads have rated this book 3 to 5 stars, which is promising. But, what really sold me on this was the fact that one of my favorite authors Sabaa Tahir (author of An Ember in the Ashes) rated it 5 stars. If she loves it, then I will love it.
Keep 🙂
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In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
Lets face it, the cover is terrible. But, my friends on Goodreads who have read it all have given it above a four star rating. It seems like a feel good book. I just have to be in a certain mood to read those. But I will try it!
Keep 🙂
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The Star Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes (#1 and #2) by Roshani Chokshi
Both of these look really good, and they have great reviews from all my friends on Goodreads. Also, another one of my favorite authors Sarah J. Maas, rated it five stars so now I definitely have to read it!
Keep 🙂
Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1) by Susan Dennard
There are a lot of mixed reviews on this one. But many of my friends on Goodreads did not finish it, and many more did not like it. So I will have to pass.
Delete 😦
Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
I can’t believe I still haven’t read these. I loved Six of Crows, and I am currently loving Crooked Kingdom. I am sure I will like these as well.
I love everything Wonder Woman, and I love Leigh Bardugo, so essentially this book was made for me to read it.
Keep 🙂
King of Scars (Nikolai Duology, #1) by Leigh Bardugo
I guess I went on a Leigh Bardugo TBR spree for a while there didn’t I? I’ve heard great things about this one, and it has great ratings on Goodreads. But I will wait until I finish the Shadow and Bone trilogy and then decide if I want to read this one.
Delete (for now)
Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1) by Leigh Bardugo
Okay, I am noticing a trend here. It seems like Bardugo has started a lot of trilogies and duologies and has yet to finish them. That makes me nervous. Once again, I will finish the Shadow and Bone trilogy and then decide if I want to read this one.
Delete (for now)
Dangerous Beauty (Dangerous Beauty, #1) by J.T. Geissinger
This is one of my guilty pleasures. It has great reviews. I am keeping it there for whenever I am in the mood.
Keep 🙂
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Verity by Colleen Hoover
I haven’t read one of her books in a while. It has almost all five star reviews, and barely any bad reviews. It looks like an interesting story. Also, look at that cover!
Keep 🙂
So I ended up looking at thirteen books, because they were part of a series. I deleted only three this time, but I still feel better about it.
P.S. You guys know how I said on my first Monday Cleaning Day post I had 70 ish books on my TBR list? Well…theres 109 there now, and I have no idea how that happened.
How are you guys doing on your TBR list? How do you manage it?
I totally blame this one on The Red Scrolls of Magic. I’ve always had a bit of curiosity when it comes to Venice, but this book solidified that for me. I must go there even if it does smell like sewer water. I want to go on a gondola ride, and have breakfast, lunch and dinner next to the water like Alec and Magnus. Now I just need the money.
Picture from Goodreads
Own and read the Game of Thrones series
The show is about to come to an end, and I know I will miss these characters. That is mainly why I haven’t read the whole series yet. This series is also a giant monstrosity in length and it will take me a while to read it in between all my other books. But I will!
Picture from Goodreads
Go Snorkeling in Hawaii
In the book Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon, all Madeline wants to do is visit Hawaii and see the Humuhumunukunukuapuaa fish. Try to say that three times fast. This is the Hawaii state fish, and her desire to experience the outside world is infectious. I’ve been yearning to go there ever since I read the book, and why not?
What are some bookish things you want to do in the future?
I had been looking forward to The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses, #1) by Cassandra Clare for almost a year now. One of my favorite characters from her other Shadowhunter books is Magnus Bane, and when I saw the book was mostly about him I was super excited. On the other hand, one of my least favorite characters is Alexander Lightwood, but this book was exactly what I needed in order to understand his personality more.
I trust you with my life. But can I trust you with more than my life?”
alec
Alec and Magnus have decided to take a vacation around Europe after the Mortal War. Then, bad news arrives to ruin their trip. There are rumors of a demon worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand circling around. A cult supposedly founded by Magnus as a joke, but now it has become very real and out of control. In order to continue on with their vacation, Magnus and Alec must put a stop to the Crimson Hand before they cause any more damage.
He’d have no vacation at all without Magnus, no shine of magic and no shocks of joy, no lights and no music.”
alec
There was so much humor in this story, and with a main character like Magnus what else did I expect? Even in the worst of moments he was still making jokes. I found myself laughing out loud throughout the story.
Do I know you?” said Magnus. “No, but you definitely could,” the dryad said, blowing Magnus a kiss. Alec coughed loudly from behind Magnus. “I’m flattered, but as you can hear, I’m spoken for. Well, coughed for.”
magnus
During the book, we are able to see a lot of character development when it comes to Alec. He really has a chance to come out of his shell and shine, now that Jace and Isabel are not there to overshadow him. He is really sweet and protective of those he loves, and this book definitely changed my mind about him.
Ever drive stick before?”
Alec hesitated. “Can’t be harder than shooting a bow and arrow while riding a horse at a full gallop.”
magnus and alec
The world building is amazing as always. Not only do we travel Europe alongside Magnus and Alec, but we get to travel in style. There are hot air balloon rides, gondolas, trains, and luxurious sports cars. We get to attend an awesome party full of downworlders, and as we all know no one knows how to throw a party like a warlock. This book was amazing and I cannot wait for the second one.
This is a meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where you answer three questions: What are you reading now? What did you just read? What will you be reading next?
I can’t believe it’s Wednesday again. But here is what I just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next. Although not everything ends up going to plan, I still try my best.
What I just read
The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare
This book was amazing. I knew I would love it because I love all her books and this was no exception. I missed these characters so much. My full review is coming up soon!
What I’m reading/listening to now
Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
This is the first audio book I try, and it’s a good one. It is voiced by three different people which is great when a male actually voices the male character. I’ve been listening to the audio on my way to and from work and when I do housework. Then, I switch to the real book on my down time. I’m loving the story. I liked the Immortal Rules series by her, and I knew I would love this one.
What I plan to read next
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
I’ve started this book and then left it a few times and I don’t know why. The beginning drops you right in the middle of the action and it seems like it will be a great read. I think I just stopped it because Red Scrolls got released and I just had to read that one, but I will definitely finish this one soon!
Dee’s Reading Tree 