April 2020 Wrap Up

It's so strange. March felt like the longest month ever, but I have no idea where April went. I think the monotony of never leaving home has turned the month into one long day. Thankfully I was able to read this month. Spending lots of time outdoors really helps, and I've been enjoying picking up comics when my attention can't hold on to anything. Below are all of the things I finished reading this month.

One good thing about easily putting books aside right now is all of the books I finished are pretty highly rated!

The Books

Reviews:
Girls Save the World in This One by Ash Parsons ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
The Book of Koli (Rampart Trilogy #1) by M.R. Carey ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Upcoming Reviews:
Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Apocalyptic Mannequin by Stephanie M. Wytovich ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Anika Orrock ⭐⭐⭐★★

Unreviewed:
Poetry Magazine February 2020 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Comics

Lumberjanes #2 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen ⭐⭐⭐★★
Lumberjanes #3 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
Lumberjanes #4 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
Lumberjanes #5 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
Lumberjanes #6 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
Lumberjanes #7 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lumberjanes #8 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen ⭐⭐⭐★★.
The Sandman: Master of Dreams #1 by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Sandman: Master of Dreams #2 by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
Swamp Thing (1982-1996) #20 by Alan Moore ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My favorite book I read in April (even though it's not the highest rated) is The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey. Its the one that was pulling me back into reading the hardest this month.

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February Wrap Up and Currently Reading

Hi everyone! I hope you had a great February and an amazing weekend this weekend. This month was pretty busy so I'm doing a monthly wrap up instead of my normal weekly update today to catch up!

I thought I wanted to read less this year, but I think what I really wanted was to just find a better balance. I feel like I'm taking a lot more time to do non-reading things this year so I'm happy about that. I'm also trying to give in to mood reading more than I have in the last year or two.

Posted Since My Last Update

• February 2020 Book Releases in Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, and Thrillers
• Book Review | The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
• Book Review | The Chill by Scott Carson
• Book Review | The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters
• Book Review | Finna by Nino Cipri
• Book Review | Where the Woods End by Charlotte Salter

Books Read in February

Reviews:
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang ⭐⭐⭐★★
The Chill by Scott Carson ⭐⭐★★★
Finna by Nino Cipri ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
Where the Woods End by Charlotte Salter ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Upcoming Reviews:
The Festering Ones by S.H. Cooper ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
Inside a Marathon by Scott Fauble and Ben Rosario ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Boatman's Daughter by Andy Davidson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Run to the Finish by Amanda Brooks ⭐⭐⭐★★

Currently Reading

Follow Me by Kathleen Barber - The main character of this thriller is a popular Instagrammer. I'm enjoying it so far!

Poetry Magazine February 2020 - I meant to finish this one before the month was up so hopefully in the next day or two!

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu - This is my first Ken Liu, and I'm loving it!

Recent Acquisitions

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen - This was my Book of the Month selection for February.

Stealing Thunder (Stealing Thunder #1) by Alina Boyden - Thank you so much to Ace for the eArc of Stealing Thunder. "Protecting her identity means life or death in this immersive epic fantasy inspired by the Mughal Empire."

Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Anika Orrock - Many thanks to Chronicle Books for this illustrated book about the women in baseball as told by the players.

Splash! by Howard Means - Thank you to Hachette Books for the human history of swimming!

Total Olympics by Jeremy Fuchs - Many thanks to Workman Publishing Company for "Every Obscure, Hilarious, Dramatic, and Inspiring Tale Worth Knowing". I'm super excited about reading this leading up the Olympics.

Brave Enough by Jessie Diggins with Todd Smith - "Travel with Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins on her compelling journey from America’s heartland to international sports history, navigating challenges and triumphs with rugged grit and a splash of glitter." Thank you to Univ Of Minnesota Press!

I am clearly in a MOOD. ❤️

So what about you? Let me know what you're reading this week or leave me some links!

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This post is being shared as part of Book Date's It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

January 2020 Wrap Up

I haven't had a chance to post much over the last two weeks. I wanted to make sure I posted a wrap up for the month. I completed 6 books in January. It feels like I've been starting a lot more books than I've been finishing lately.

I hoping to read a little less this year so my total of 6 feels really right to me right now.

These are the books I finished reading in January:

Reviews:
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire ⭐⭐⭐★★
Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire ⭐⭐⭐★★
Bitter Falls by Rachel Caine ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
The Tenant by Katrine Engberg ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Upcoming Reviews:
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Unreviewed:
Poetry Magazine January 2020 ⭐★★★★

My favorite book I read in January was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I have a review drafted up so I'll be sure to post it tomorrow!

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What was your favorite January read?

October Wrap Up and Currently Reading

I hope everyone had a spooky Halloween season!! October flew by for me. I have major blogger guilt, but I'm blaming it on the Astros making it into the post-season. It's too soon to talk about that, though.

Is anyone doing NaNoWriMo this year? I'm going to attempt a life/blogging balance while participating in NaNoWriMo this year. If you need a buddy, add me! I definitely need support.

Posted Since My Last Update

• Book Review | To Be Devoured by Sara Tantlinger ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
• On My Wishlist {21}
• Book Review | The Vegetarian by Han Kang ⭐⭐⭐⭐★
• New Favorites | Hollow Kingdom and Of Foster Homes and Flies ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Book Review | Dear Laura by Gemma Amor ⭐⭐⭐★★

October Wrap Up

Since I was a horrible blogger in October, I'm going to roll my wrap up into my update post so you can see what all I have been reading. These are the books I read in October (stay tuned for reviews):

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier {reread} ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Dust (Silo #3) by Hugh Howey ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven #5) by Brandon Mull ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide to Plotting and Writing Your Novel (Writing As A Second Career Book 1)
by Lisa M. Lilly ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Little Paranoias: Stories by Sonora Taylor ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand ⭐⭐★★★

Writing a Killer Thriller: An Editor's Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction by Jodie Renner ⭐⭐★★★

The Institute by Stephen King ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Currently Reading

I'm currently reading The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead with my local bookclub.

I'm also making my way through Larry Brooks' Story Engineering: Character Development, Story Concept, Scene Construction.

Recent Acquisitions

Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) by Leigh Bardugo

A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror by John Hornor Jacobs

Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma

So what about you? Let me know what you're reading this week or leave me some links!

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This post is being shared as part of Book Date's It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.