January 2017 Wrap Up

Jen

I read so much more than I thought I would be able to this month so it was a great way to start the year off! Looking through my list, I read from a wide variety of genres so that makes me happy. I also discovered some seriously amazing books which quickly ended up on my favourites list!

Bakuman Volume 1 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4/5

Bakuman Volume 2 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4/5

Where Am I Now? By Mara Wilson → 4.5/5

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett → 4/5

Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World by Ann Shen → 4.5/5

The Darkest Minds (#1) by Alexandra Bracken → 4/5

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham → 5/5

The Fly-Away Cottage: The Magical Collection by Enid Blyton → 5/5

Half-Blood (Covenant series #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout → 4.5/5

Daemon (#0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout → 4/5

Pure (#2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout → 1/5

Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda → 5/5

Deltora Quest 2: Shadowlands by Emily Rodda → 5/5

Girl Online: Going Solo (#3) by Zoe Sugg → 3.75/5

Shift by Em Bailey → 3.5/5

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (#6) by J.K. Rowling → 5/5

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn → 4/5

Burying Water (#1) by K.A. Tucker → 4.75/5

Becoming Rain (#2) by K.A. Tucker → 5/5

Chasing River (#3) by K.A. Tucker → 4.75/5 

Mel
I quite enjoyed my sci-fi month! It took me longer than I care to admit to get through The Martian, but I enjoyed every bit of it!

The Martian by Andy Weir - 5/5
Gravity by Melissa West - 4/5
The Loneliness of Distant Beings by Kate Ling - 4/5
Sword Art Online Progressive Volume 1 by Reki Kawahara - 4/5

I actually meant to fit in one more book for the month, but I went to sleep a lot earlier than I meant to!

 

October 2016 TBR

Jen

Mel had the idea of having a themed month for October. It’s not strict, but I liked the idea of reading some spooky/creepy/paranormal/thriller books during this month, so I have decided to split up my TBR into two parts. The first part being the themed books.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Finale (Hush, Hush #4) by Becca Fitzpatrick

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (#1) by Ransom Riggs

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

In Too Deep by Samantha Hayes
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

If I manage to finish those, or I just feel like something different, the second part of my TBR consists of the many series that I am STILL trying to complete.

The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus #4) by Rick Riordan

Prince Caspian (Narnia #4) by C.S. Lewis

The Tin Woodman of Oz (Oz #12) by L. Frank Baum

Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Green Gables #4) by L.M. Montgomery

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (#5) by J.K. Rowling 

Mel
This month I'll be participating in Richard Denney's (Books & Bullshit on YouTube) Goosebumpsalong! The way it works is Richard had chosen 3 Goosebumps books to read throughout October, which equates to a book per week between the dates he's chosen (Oct 3 - Oct 21), then watching the corresponding Goosebumps episodes. So the three books he chose were:

The Headless Ghost
The Haunted Mask
The Ghost Next Door

In addition to these 3 books, I'll be reading as many of the original Goosebumps books as possible! I'll hopefully be reading one book per day, but more if I can manage it/I'm in the mood for more.

Of course, I might wish to take a break from these, so I might throw in the possibility of other books, I just don't have any set for the month. I will try to keep within the theme for the month though!

January 2016 Wrap Up

Jen

I’m pretty happy with how my reading went in January. Despite all the distractions that I had going on, I still managed to read all the books on my TBR and fit in a few other quick reads as well. There were some fantastic reads that are new favourites of mine (as well as some old favourites!) but also some that didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum → 5/5

The Marvellous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum → 3/5

Soundless by Richelle Mead → 5/5

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling → 5/5

Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling → 5/5

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn → 3.5/5

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon → 5/5

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery → 4.5/5

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr → 3.5/5

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (audiobook) → 4/5

Mind Games by Kiersten White → 4/5

Perfect Lies by Kiersten White → 4/5

The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly → 4.5/5

Room by Emma Donoghue → 5/5 

Mel
I started out the month quite well, but petered out a bit because I was trying to read The Raven Boys and it wasn't going well. Sadly, I am marking it as DNF. The first DNF for me for years. I am disappointed too, since I've seen so many people rave about the series. I don't know if it's the slow pace or the writing style, but it is a hideously slow book to start and I was more than 150 pages in before I gave it up. I hate marking books as DNF and I try to give it a fair chance if I can, but being a third into a book and still not enjoying it... well, that speaks for itself. Instead, I turned to a favourite comic/graphic novel series that I haven't read for years and I have picked myself right out of my slump. I've already finished two books for February!!

Trick by Natalia Jaster → 5/5
Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman → 5/5
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys by Gerard Way:
#1 Whatever Gets You Through The Night → 5/5
#2 Ghost Stations → 5/5
#3 Blind → 5/5
#4 Run! → 5/5
#5 Waking The Destroya → 5/5
#6 BOOM! → 5/5

 

January 2016 TBR

Jen

I am so excited to begin a new year of reading in 2016! The problem with that is there are so many books I want to read and series I want to start that it is so hard to decide what to read first! At the time of making my TBR I had completely forgotten that January is when all the tennis events are happening in Australia so I anticipate that I will have very little time to read. The following list is definitely ambitious but is a selection of the books that I most want to read. It includes books from quite a variety of genres because I just want to read everything!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

I re-read this series in 2015 and wanted to re-read it again immediately after finishing it so I’m going to at least start with the first book this month. I’m so excited to read one of the beautiful hardcover editions that I bought in 2015.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

I read Gone Girl about a year ago and loved it and wanted to continue with reading her other books as well, but it just never happened. Since reading her short story The Grownup not too long ago, I have been in the mood for another one of her books. This book also fits in with one of my 2016 reading goals to read a book and then watch the movie adaptation.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

I read this for the first time almost a year ago and I am going to be re-reading this in anticipation for the Shadowhunters TV show that will be airing in January.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I have been hearing nothing but how amazing this series is for months now and I desperately need to read the first book at least so that I can start watching the TV show! I’ve decided that Outlander will be the huge epic series that I take on in 2016 and I can’t wait to get started.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

I have decided that I want to try and read all 15 books in the Oz collection in 2016 so I want to start the year off by reading the first book in the series.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

This is a series that I have been dying to start for several months now, but I kept putting it off because I wanted to finish a few other series that I was reading first. Those are done now and I can’t wait to read this series!

Soundless by Richelle Mead

This was part of my December TBR but I just couldn’t get to it. I still really want to read this book so I’m carrying it over to my January TBR.

The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly

This is a book that I have really been wanting to read for a while now. The hardcover edition I have is stunning and when Mel picked this as one of my TBR books to read in 2016 I decided that I had to immediately include it in my January TBR list.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I generally don’t read historical fiction but there was a lot of hype surrounding this book and the premise really intrigued me. I have also made it a goal in 2016 to read more historical fiction. I’m rarely in the mood for this genre so I want to take advantage of it while I am. 

Mel 

Thankfully, I shouldn't have too many distractions later in the month, since uni is out and our Christmas and New Years visitors should be gone. The only distraction I hope to have from reading is writing! Two of my close friends (one of which is Jen!) are so encouraging when it comes to my writing, I'm feeling more and more excited to really get going on the project. I hope to have 10,000+ words written by the end of the month.

The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa - This is my whole Jan TBR, but that's 7 books, not including the first book, which I finished on the 31st of December.

Jen's November 2015 Book Haul

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn - This is a short story that I've already read and loved.
Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass - The novella collection to The Selection series which I've been really wanting to start but am still waiting for the last book in the series to be released.
Mind Games by Kiersten White - The first book in a fantasy/sci-fi dystopian duology that I've been really wanting to read.
Sweet Temptation by Wendy Higgins - The companion novel to the Sweet Evil trilogy that I own and am hoping to get around to reading soon.
Burying Water by K.A. Tucker - The first book in her new series. I read and really liked her Ten Tiny Breaths series so I automatically started buying this series.
The Big Bang Theory: The Official Trivia Quiz Book by Adam Faberman - This book is great and makes me want to rewatch the TV show again because apparently I don't know the episodes as well as I thought I did!
This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith - I have been wanting this book for months ever since I read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and loved it.
Through the Dark by Alexandra Bracken - The Darkest Minds trilogy has been on my TBR for so long and now that I finally have the collection of novellas I can start reading the series.
Grave Mercy & Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers - Books 1 and 2 in the His Fair Assassin trilogy. I've owned the third book in the series for months but haven't been able to find the first two at a decent price until now.
Soundless by Richelle Mead - This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2015 and I can't wait to start reading it!
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff - This was another of my 2015 most anticipated releases. It is the first book in a series and I normally hate to start a series when I don't have the rest of the books to read immediately after. But this book has been so hyped up for months that I couldn't wait and just had to read it as soon as I got it. And it didn't disappoint. I loved it and it definitely lived up to all the hype. 

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas 

This was the most prized book I received this month! Mel was amazing and got me this for my birthday when she went to Sarah's signing event in Melbourne. 

I already own all the books in the series so far but in paperback and the UK covers. This is the stunning US hardcover edition, and it's signed! 

November 2015 Wrap Up

Jen

November was a really good reading month for me. I got through a lot of books, but more importantly I read books that I had really been wanting to get to and finally read some of the books that had been sitting unread on my shelves for the longest time. 
 

Never Too Far by Abbi Glines → 5/5

Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines → 5/5

Rush Too Far by Abbi Glines → 5/5

The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin → 4.5/5

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (audiobook narrated by Carolyn McCormick) → all 5/5

What Happens Next by Colleen Clayton → 3/5

Five Ways To Fall by K.A. Tucker → 3/5

Devoted by Hilary Duff → 4/5

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn → 4/5

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff → 5/5

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer → 4.5/5

Off the Page by Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer → 4.75/5

November 9 by Colleen Hoover → 3/5

Twisted Perfection by Abbi Glines → 5/5

Simple Perfection by Abbi Glines → 3/5

Fallen by Lauren Kate → 4/5

Torment by Lauren Kate → 2/5

Passion by Lauren Kate → 4/5

Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate → 3/5

Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey by Bob McCabe → 5/5

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder → 2/5

On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder → 4/5

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder → 4/5

Mel
Whilst I did do a lot of reading this month, I've had so many books on the go that I didn't actually finish many. Oh well, I've had loads on this month like travelling down to Melbourne for some book shopping with Jen and to meet Sarah J Maas! Definitely the highlight of the month! I also picked up crochet as a hobby, which may not actually last, but hey, it's fun for the time being! I've also been reading through my friends' manuscript, which is pretty good for a middle grade book. I've also been planning my own book out a bit more, and I'm excited to really dig in and get it going! I've already changed a few things about it, like the perspective and how I want one character to act, but I'm loving the direction it's going! I hope to get a lot written over summer, because bugger going out in that heat!

The Next Together by Lauren James → 5/5
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas → 5/5