August 2017 Wrap Up

Jen

I definitely did not have as much reading time as I wanted, but despite that, I think I did pretty well with my reading in August. I made progress on a few series, finished a couple, and thanks to TomeTopple (one of my favourite readathons!) got through some big chunky books that I’ve been needing to read for quite a while!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick → 4.5/5

Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare → 5/5

A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOTAR #3) by Sarah J. Maas → 3/5

I Work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan → 4/5

Dark Heart Rising (Dark Heart #2) by Lee Monroe → 3.5/5

A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2) by Beth Revis → 4.5/5

Prophecy (The Dragon King Chronicles #1) by Ellen Oh → 4.5/5

Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout → 4.25/5

Bakuman Volume 15 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4/5

Bakuman Volume 16 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 3.5/5

Bakuman Volume 17 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4/5

Bakuman Volume 18 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4/5

Bakuman Volume 19 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4.5/5

Bakuman Volume 20 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 5/5

The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney → 3/5

Mel

Just like last month, I started or continued more books than I actually got finished. But I dug up a bunch of books I had buried in a box from when I was a kid, so I decided I'd read through them and decide which ones to keep and which ones to unhaul.

The Ghost Fox by Lawrence Yep  4/5

13 Ghosts: Strange but True Ghost Stories by Will Osborne  3/5

June 2017 Wrap Up

Jen

I feel like I got a decent amount of reading done in June. I’m pleased that I’m now closer to finishing a few series and I discovered a new favourite book and author of mine!

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick → 4.5/5

In The Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken → 3.5/5

Raelia by Lynette Noni → 4/5

Cress by Marissa Meyer → 5/5

Fairest by Marissa Meyer → 2/5

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys → 5/5

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry → 5/5

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

Bakuman Volume 6 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 5/5

Bakuman Volume 7 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4.5/5

Bakuman Volume 8 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4/5

Bakuman Volume 9 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4.5/5

Bakuman Volume 10 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4/5

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow → Did Not Finish 

Mel
I read bits and pieces of several books in June, but only finished one, so this is an extremely short wrap up for me!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Halloween Rain by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder  3/5 

 

April 2017 Wrap Up

Jen

I feel like I actually read a decent amount in April for the amount of time that I had available for reading. Unfortunately, I ended up acquiring a bunch of new eBooks either through the library or purchasing them and I mostly read those instead, so I didn’t actually make a dent in my TBR at all.

Bone by Bone by Sanjida Kay → 3/5

Beautiful (#1) by Ella Bordeaux → 4.5/5

Beautiful Forever (#2) by Ella Bordeaux → 4/5

Bakuman Volume 3 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata → 4/5

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

Saga, Vol. 7 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples → 4/5

A Court of Thorns and Roses (#1) by Sarah J. Maas → 4.5/5

Geek Girl (#1) by Holly Smale → 4.5/5

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling → 4/5

Saving Sophie by Sam Carrington → 3/5

Mel
I feel like I could have read some more this month, but at least I read a few from my TBR.

Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse  4/5
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon  5/5
Fruits Basket Collector's Edition Volume 10 by Natsuki Takaya  5/5
Fruits Basket Collector's Edition Volume 11 by Natsuki Takaya  5/5 

 

April 2017 TBR

Jen

I am in Hong Kong! I am still settling in, getting organised and don’t have a routine sorted out yet. As such, I don’t know how much reading I will be able to get done in April. But I do have a few books in mind that I want to read, it’s just a matter of whether I can get to them all or not, especially since some of these books are super chunky.

A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) & A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2) by Sarah J. Maas

I love the Throne of Glass series so much and I have been wanting to read Sarah’s other series since the first book came out nearly two years ago!! It took some incredible self restraint but I managed to put off starting this series until closer to the release of the third book. Now I am so excited to marathon the first two books and then be able to dive right into A Court of Wings and Ruin when it comes out at the beginning of May.

Beautiful (#1) & Forever Beautiful (#2) by Ella Bordeaux

I happened to stumble across these books while browsing the iBooks store and I was really feeling the need for a contemporary romance so I decided to give these books a try. I have already started reading the first book and it is a super easy and fast read, which is exactly what I was looking for.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

This is a contemporary that has been so hyped up over the past few months and I have been really wanting to read it since I first heard about it. I will definitely be trying to make this book a priority this month.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

This is an older book that I have had on my radar for the longest time but for some reason I always seemed to prioritise other books over this one. But with the recent movie release, I figure that now would be the perfect time to finally read it.

In the Afterlight (The Darkest Minds #3) & Through the Dark (novella collection) by Alexandra Bracken

The books in this series have featured in so many of my TBRs now and I think that the problem is that I’m not really in the mood for dystopia. But at the same time I really want to read them so I can finally be finished with the series. 
 
Bakuman Volumes 3 & 4 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata  
This was another manga series that I started before I left Australia and I really wasn't expecting to be able to continue it while in Hong Kong. I visited Hong Kong Central Library (an amazing place that you must visit if you're ever in HK) and to my great astonishment I found the Bakuman series in the English editions! I just grabbed the next two volumes that I needed for now, but I will be slowly making my way through this series.  

Mel 
I started this month in for mood for contemporary! So that's what I chose! Because I have already read one this month, it's technically not on my TBR anymore so I won't list it here. You'll have to see what I read in the wrap-up!

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
This the first time reading this book, but I'm enjoying it so far!

Sword Art Online Aincrad by Reki Kawahara
I meant to read this last month because it's a library book, but never got around to it. It's actually overdue now, so I have to read it ASAP!

Fruits Basket Collector's Edition Volume 10 and 11 by Natsuki Takaya
The price dropped on these, so I grabbed them while I could and I can't wait to get stuck into them. I'm so close to finishing this series!

The rest of my TBR is fair game at this point, but I do want to read at least one more book by the end of the month, so here are some possibilities:

As Old As Time by Liz Braswell
This is a twisted version of Beauty and the Beast published by Disney. I did a quick flip through this book after I bought it and I picked out some things that really intrigued me, so I'm really excited for this! Plus, there's some French scattered through, which is one of my favourite languages! I think I'll really enjoy this one.

Defy The Stars by Claudia Gray
I had no idea this book existed until I found it in the store! But it sounds really interesting, so here's a quick synopsis from the back of the book:

Noemi is a seventeen-year-old soldier from the planet Genisis. She can fire weapons and fly a single pilot fighter. Abel is a young mech from Genesis's enemy planet Earth, and the most sophisticated robot warrior ever made. Stranded together on an abandoned ship in space, Abel and Noemi should be sworn enemies. But Noemi's home is in peril and only Abel can help her to save it. Together they embark on a heart-stopping voyage through the galaxy, one that will lead them to question everything they thought they knew about each other - and what it means to be human.

I think for the rest of the month, I'll pick something from my Backburner list. These are books I've started reading and put on hold because other books got in the way or I no longer felt like reading them. It'll be good to go back and finish some of these off, but it'll still depend on what I'm in the mood for and if I have time to get to it.

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.