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!

 

January 2017 TBR

Jen

I’m always so excited when a new year of reading begins! As usual I have way too many books I want to read and I just can’t get to them all. There are also multiple series that I want to start but I don’t want to be reading too many at once! I’m such a mood reader that I often deviate from my TBR so for that reason I’m not going to set strict TBR lists in 2017. Instead I’ll just list the books that I most feel like reading at the time so that it can be more of a guide that I can refer back to if I can’t decide which book to read next.

The entire month of January is the tennis season here in Australia, so quite a lot of my time will be taken up by that, leaving little time for reading. I know that I more than likely won’t be getting to all the books that I’m putting on my list, and I'll probably change my mind about them, but that doesn’t matter. I’m going to take a much more relaxed approach to reading this year and just read what I can, when I can.

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

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (#7) by J.K. Rowling

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling

Anne of Ingleside (#6) by L.M. Montgomery

Girl Online: Going Solo (#3) by Zoe Sugg

Code Name Verity (#1) by Elizabeth Wein

Rose Under Fire (#2) by Elizabeth Wein

Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda

Half-Blood (Covenant series #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer 
The Darkest Minds (#1) by Alexandra Bracken 
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 

Bakuman manga series by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata  

Mel 
I'm in much the same mindset as Jen. I just want to read what I happen to be in the mood for, since set TBR's really don't work for me much. That being said, I do want to complete a few series that I've left unfinished for years (that's not an exaggeration!). I have some books that I've only kept to see how the series finished, but are not part of a series that I particularly enjoyed anyway, so I want to unhaul them and free up some space on my shelves.

I also decided that I want to restrict rereads. The only exceptions to this will be Harry Potter (since I already started a reread last year), manga and graphic novels (because it takes no time at all to read them), The Kiss of Deception by Mary E Pearson (because it's been almost two years since I read it and I want to refresh my memory before I continue the series) and maybe Trick by Natalia Jaster (because I've been wanting to reread it, even though I only read it in January 2016!). So the reread of Throne of Glass that I was going to do this year isn't going to happen (I'm crying on the inside), but I really need to focus on reading books that I've been buying. The amount of unread books on my shelves is really getting out of hand!

Anyway, here's a few books that I have an interest in reading this month. Very sci fi driven - probably because I've been watching a lot of Star Trek Voyager lately!

The Loneliness of Distant Beings by Kate Ling
The Martian by Andy Weir
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Gravity by Melissa West
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Something Doctor Who related. Either 12 Doctors of Christmas, 12 Doctors or Timelord Fairy Tales.

Jen's Long Overdue June Book Haul

Wow. I can't believe how late this one is going up, but life happens. Better late than never.

Falling Kingdoms & Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes
I already have these two in paperback but I own the rest of this series in hardcover so I bought the first two books in hardcover to match. I loved these books so much when I read them that I don't mind having two copies at all.

Morning Star by Pierce Brown
I hauled the first two books in the Red Rising trilogy recently so I needed the third book to complete the series.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
This book has been on my radar for such a long time but I never bought it because it was too pricey. So when I saw it cheap one day I couldn't pass it up!

The Leaving by Tata Altebrando
This is a YA mystery that I first heard about from Mel. It sounded so intriguing to me that I immediately wanted to grab a copy for myself. I have already read and reviewed this on Goodreads.

The Special Ones by Em Bailey
This is another YA mystery that I picked up on a whim one day because the synopsis intrigued me. I have also already read this one and reviewed it on Goodreads.

Black by Fleur Ferris
After reading Risk by this author last year, Black was one of my highly anticipated releases for 2016. I have already read this and it definitely did not disappoint!

The Loneliness of Distant Beings by Kate Ling
I was initially drawn in by the beautiful cover of this book but the synopsis sounded interesting as well so I decided to pick this one up.

Broken Sky by L.A. Weatherly
This was another random find and is the first book in a trilogy and the premise was enough to convince me to buy it.

Akarnae by Lynette Noni
This is the first book in the Medoran Chronicles series which I've heard some good things about lately. I love fantasy and magic so when I saw this at a cheap price I snatched it up.

Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff
This is another first book in a new series where the premise sounded great and I've heard some good things about it so I decided to pick it up.

Dream A Little Dream & Dream On by Kerstin Gier
I absolutely loved the Ruby Red trilogy by this author and I've been waiting for her new Silver trilogy to be completed. The third book won't be out in English for some time but when I saw the first two at a cheap price I had to get them.

Graceling, Fire & Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
I have heard a lot of great things about the Graceling Realm trilogy and I've wanted it for a while but I could never decide on which covers I wanted until now!

Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull
I have been wanting to get more into middle grade fantasy lately and everything I've heard about Brandon Mull has been fantastic so I decided to start by picking up his Fablehaven series.

The Luxe, Rumours, Envy & Splendour by Anna Godbersen
This an older historical fiction series that I have heard a lot of people talk about and I have been wanting to try out some more historical fiction so I went ahead and bought these.

Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I absolutely love the contemporary and mystery novels that I've read by this author but I've never read any of her paranormal books. There are just so many of those books and series that I thought a good place to start would be with this one. It is an adult spin off from her Lux series, but it is a stand alone and I'm told that I don't need to have read the Lux series to read this one.

Can You Keep a Secret, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

I was in a contemporary mood one day and decided that I really wanted to read a Sophie Kinsella book. I do own most of her Confessions series, but I really wanted to read a standalone so I went ahead and grabbed these four as the descriptions sounded appealing to me.

Jessica Darling's It List & Jessica Darling's It List 2 by Megan McCafferty
The Jessica Darling series is one that I've heard quite a lot about recently and it's on my 'Want to Read' list. However I found out that there was a middle grade prequel series that takes place before the YA series. I decided that rather than reading in publication order, I wanted to read in chronological order instead, so I went ahead and picked up the first two books in the prequel series.

Mel's MASSIVE May & June Book Haul

I finally got around to photographing all of my books for the past two months. There's been a lot of poor weather lately and getting a day with decent lighting is difficult, but basically, I got tired of waiting for a clear day and just made do with what I had.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas - Sarah is an auto-buy for me. I love everything about her writing!

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes - I saw this and liked the sound of it. I have never read a book from the perspective of the Queen of Hearts, so it should be interesting!

Ruined by Amy Tintera - This book sounds really interesting and It's my favourite genre, so I'm looking forward to reading this.

Soldier by Julie Kagawa - I already have the first two books in this series, so I picked this up to complete the set.

Desolation by Derek Landy - I have Demon Road and I've already started it, but I'm loving it so much I had to get the sequel!

 

The Crown and Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass - I recently read the first 3 books in The Selection series, so these were an auto-buy so that I can complete the series.

The Lost Sapphire by Belinda Murrell - This is a teen mystery based in Melbourne, Aus. I bought it because I liked the sound of it. And that cover is gorgeous!

 

Cress and Stars Above by Marissa Meyer - I've almost completed buying the whole of the Lunar Chronicles! I only need Fairest now.

 

Doon and Destined For Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon - I bought these after wanting them for about a year now because I was approved to read the Forever Doon ARC.



 

 

The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas - because I wanted them in hardcover! Sooo pretty!

Black by Fleur Ferris - Having loved Fleur's first book Risk, I was very excited for this book to be released! I have read this already, but the review will be coming later, after Jen has a chance to read it.

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith - I waited to get this because the larger format released earlier didn't match the other Cormoran Strike novels I own.

Conjuror by John and Carole Barrowman - Okay, so I might have bought this because I recognised John Barrowman from Doctor Who and Torchwood, but the description of this book does sound interesting!

The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L Armentrout - I don't often buy YA contemporary, but I've heard a lot about this one. I've not yet read a book by Jennifer, so I think I'll wait to read this until after I've read her Dark Elements trilogy.

The Loneliness of Distant Beings by Kate Ling - I saw this cover and had to see what this is about! Luckily, it sounds just like something I'd read!

Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff - I debated buying this, but after seeing a few people haul this and talk a little about it, I caved.

 

Bleach by Tite Kubo - I've been enjoying Bleach in the manga format, so when I saw my local store had restocked, I grabbed them while I could! Here are volumes 7-15.

The Leaving by Tara Altebrando - I was so intrigued by this book that I bought it on the spot. I have already read and reviewed this one, so check out my review on Goodreads.