August 2018 Wrap Up

Jen

I tried doing the OWL’s readathon in August and as much fun as it sounded, I was reminded of exactly why I stopped participating in readathons. I have been relishing having the freedom of reading what I want, when I want. Having a set TBR and forcing myself to read books I didn’t want to just so I could meet a readathon challenge wasn’t working and I ended up abandoning the readathon halfway through. Overall a decent reading month but not my best. I mostly blame it on falling back into the evil trap that is Netflix!

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight → 4/5

Chain Reaction (#3) by Simone Elkeles → 3/5

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

Throne of Glass (#1) by Sarah J. Maas (audiobook) → 5/5

Crown of Midnight (#2) by Sarah J. Maas (audiobook) → 5/5

Heir of Fire (#3) by Sarah J. Maas (audiobook) → 5/5

Sweet Peril (#2) by Wendy Higgins → 3/5

Sweet Reckoning (#3) by Wendy Higgins → 3.5/5

Eve (#1) by Anna Carey → 3/5

Once (#2) by Anna Carey → 3.5/5

Rise (#3) by Anna Carey → 2.5/5

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak → 4.5/5

Mel
I also didn't end up participating in the OWL Readathon. Everytime I picked up one of the books I'd chosen, I'd read a chapter and then move onto the next book. Thus, a slump. I read one chapter of around 5 books total, meaning I got zero books finished in August. After such a good streak in July! *sigh* I guess I'll just have to try to unslump in September.

August 2018 TBR

Jen

I don’t know how much time I’ll have for reading this month so I’m going to try and keep my TBR to a minimum. However I’ve been seeing a lot of TBRs for the OWLs and NEWTs readathons lately and they look like so much fun. We’re a little late to the party, but Mel and I both want to attempt the OWLs in August. So for right now, other than the OWLs, my main priority is to finish my currently reading books and continue with my ongoing series.Which should be made a little easier as a lot of those books overlap.

Currently reading

Throne of Glass (#1) by Sarah J. Maas

The re-read is finally happening and I’m loving experiencing the books again so far. The plan is to be caught up and ready for Kingdom of Ash!

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

I started this one in July but barely made a dent in it so I really need to get back to this one!

Chain Reaction (Perfect Chemistry #3) by Simone Elkeles

I flew through the first two books in no time at all, but unfortunately with this one work got in the way. I really like what I’ve read so far and I’m determined to finish this one very soon.

Series to continue

Sweet Peril (Sweet Evil #2) by Wendy Higgins

Breaking the Rules (Pushing the Limits #1.5) by Katie McGarry

Crown of Midnight (#2) by Sarah J. Maas

Heir of Fire (#3) by Sarah J. Maas 

OWL's Readathon TBR Picks

Ancient Runes - A book with a symbol on the cover

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Arithmancy - Read a book with a number on the cover or in the title      

Mr Penumbra’s 24 hour book store by Robin Sloan

Astronomy - Read a science fiction novel

Eve (#1) by Anna Carey

Care of Magical Creatures - Read a book that includes magical creatures Or features a magical creature on the cover          

Throne of Glass (#1) by Sarah J. Maas

Charms - Read a fantasy book

Crown of Midnight (#2) by Sarah J. Maas

Defence Against the Dark Arts - Book about/featuring secret societies/clubs.

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Divination - Read a book featuring prophecies

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

Herbology - Read a book with a nature related word in the title

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

History of Magic - Read a historical fiction

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Muggle Studies - Read a muggle non-fiction book

The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight OR

Quiet Power: Growing Up as an Introvert in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Potions - Read a book about/with alchemy

The Potion Diaries (#1) by Amy Alward

Transfiguration - Read a book that deals with transfiguration/ shapeshifting or similar theme Or A book with a cat on the cover    

Heir of Fire (#3) by Sarah J. Maas

Mel
I probably won't be reading anything outside of the OWLs Readathon, so I'm just going to list my choices for the readathon. I won't be doing all of the subjects, but I am aiming for at least six. A thought just occured to me though, that some of these subjects I wouldn't do if I ever went to Hogwarts, like Herbology, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.

Ancient Runes - A book with a symbol on the cover
Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

Astronomy - Read a science fiction novel
Hover by Melissa West

Arithmancy - Read a book with a number on the cover or in the title
Whisper by Lynette Noni

Charms - Read a fantasy book
Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Herbology - Read a book with a nature related word in the title
The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green

Potions - Read a book about/with alchemy
Everless by Sara Holland

January 2018 TBR

Jen

2018 is finally here and the beginning of a new reading year is when I am most excited and just want to dive in and read everything! As such I’m already starting the year off with a slightly ridiculous TBR because I just can’t seem to narrow it down!

Books that I wanted to read in 2017 and didn’t get to:

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Artemis by Andy Weir

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Without Merit by Colleen Hoover

If There’s No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Books that I’d love to read in 2018:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith

On The Fence by Kasie West

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz

Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Series that I want to start in 2018:

Scott Pilgrim series by Bryan Lee O’Malley

The Giver quartet by Lois Lowry

The Selection series by Kiera Cass

The Young Elites trilogy by Marie Lu

Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Sweet series by Wendy Higgins

Graceling Realm trilogy by Kristin Cashore

Luxe series by Anna Godbersen

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (Because what better way is there to start off the year than with another re-read?)

Mel

I'm taking a more relaxed approach to 2018 to focus more on my studies and writing, which were seriously neglected last year. I've set my Goodreads Challenge to 52 books. I see this as a book a week (or 4-5 in a month), which should be much more manageable than the 80 book goal I set last year. If I can get a good start on this, I should be able to stay ahead of the game for a majority of the year.

Everless by Sara Holland
Fruits Basket Collector's Edition Volume 2 by Natsuki Takaya
Head Over Heels by Holly Smale
Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner 

Most Intimidating Books on Jen's TBR

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This is probably one of the most talked about and raved about books there is. The fact that absolutely everyone seems to love it so much is very intimidating to me. I really want to read it but I still avoid picking it up because I don’t want to be disappointed if it doesn’t live up to the hype or my expectations. But I have been wanting to watch the movie for years so I really need to read this book!

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

I have actually tried reading this series previously, definitely over 10 years ago now. Unfortunately, I just could not get into the first book at all. But I have purchased the series in the Seven Book Edition box set, with the hope that the smaller volumes would make this series seem a little less daunting.

However I did read The Hobbit for the first time in 2016 and I hated the writing style so much. The story itself wasn’t bad but the writing made that book absolute torture to get through. But I am determined that I will get around to reading this series one day! It will just take a lot of willpower and perseverance.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Classics are already intimidating to me because of the different language that is used and it takes a lot for me to get my head around it. This one is particularly intimidating to me because it is constantly talked about and it’s a lot of peoples favourite book ever. I have actually purchased multiple copies of this book, each one a different pretty edition with the intention of encouraging me to read it. So far, no luck. Although I've been getting the urge to read it again lately, so fingers crossed it will happen!

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

This one is intimidating to me because it isn’t the type of genre that I usually read. I can honestly say that the only reason I purchased this book was because it was written by J.K. Rowling. I knew that it couldn’t be any more different than my beloved Harry Potter series and that it doesn’t have the greatest ratings and reviews. But I bought it anyway because of who the author was. And I do intend on reading it at some point in the future.

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (or just all Brandon Sanderson books in general)

These books are intimidating to me because they are quite chunky books, but more importantly because he has written so many books that I just don’t know where to even start. He is also a much loved author and the plots of his books sound amazing and just like the kind of fantasy that I would love, but the sheer number of books he has written just scares me. I have researched on multiple occasions about the reading order of Brandon Sanderson books and which one is best to start with, but I just end up being completely overwhelmed each time.

July 2017 Wrap Up

Jen

I had such a fantastic reading month in July! I finished up so many books and cleared out my currently reading shelf as well as managing to complete two series!! There were also a few books that I hadn’t planned on reading at all, but for a while, all I was in the mood for was to read books and then watch their adaptations!

I did fall off the rails in the last week of July and neglected my reading in favour of catching up on months of unwatched TV. But I’m still so happy with what I read. However I think that the bigger accomplishment was the fact that I added only one new book to my physical TBR pile while reading 10 of my unread books! That means I decreased my TBR pile by 9 books, and that hasn’t happened once in the past three years! Feeling so proud of myself!

Dark Heart Forever by Lee Monroe → 3.5/5

Across the Universe by Beth Revis → 4.75/5

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever by Marie Kondo → 5/5

Spark Joy: An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo → 5/5

The Messenger by Markus Zusak → 3.5/5

Through the Dark by Alexandra Bracken → 3/5

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins → 3.5/5

Bakuman Volume 11 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 5/5

Bakuman Volume 12 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4/5

The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi → 4/5

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes → 3.5/5

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky → 4/5

An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downworld by Cassandra Clare & Illustrated by Cassandra Jean → 4/5

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson & Robin Wasserman → 4.5/5 (Re-read)

Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods by Rick Riordan → 5/5

The Martian by Andy Weir → 5/5 (Re-read)

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty → 4.75/5

Winter by Marissa Meyer → 5/5

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer → 4.75/5 

Mel
I kept picking up books, reading a little bit, then moving onto something else. I just couldn't stick to the one book! I did manage to finish one at least.

Wreck by Fleur Ferris 5/5