Tag: books read

Monthly Wrap Up | April 2024

Posted April 30, 2024 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 4 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

April 2024 Wrap Up

I finished 16 books this month and there were a lot of really good ones! A couple of them were books I started months ago and just happened to finish this month (The Count of Monte Cristo and Blitz). There were a couple of poetry, graphic novels, and short books.

I managed to finished four of my intended TBR, and there was one DNF, but overall I’m happy because I finished the ones with deadlines (book clubs/buddy reads/readalongs) and I can read the others later.

My April 2024 TBR Intentions

  1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  2. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
  3. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal (DNF)
  4. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
  5. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross
  6. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
  7. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
  8. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
  9. The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

Books Read in February 2024

  1. Funny Feelings by Tarah Dewitt
  2. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
  3. The Way Forward by Yung Pueblo
  4. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
  5. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
  6. Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent
  7. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
  8. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  9. Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham
  10. The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
  11. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  12. Slewfoot by Brom
  13. Blitz by Daniel O’Malley
  14. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara
  15. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
  16. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

Favorite Book(s) This Month

Oh I don’t like this game anymore! I cannot choose one, there were so many amazing books this month! I’m gonna cheat and go with multiple books; The Way Forward, Bookshops & Bonedust, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Kite Runner!

On The Blog

Top Ten Tuesdays

Time Travel Thursdays

Sunday Posts

Reading Challenges

May 2024 TBR Intentions

I’ve already started on The Blade Itself, and Sea of Tranquility is for my in-person book club for May. Hopefully I’m able to finish as many of the other books as possible.

  1. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
  2. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
  3. What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTeirnan
  4. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
  5. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
  6. The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
  7. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

I’ve been anticipating some of them since the beginning of the year and I’m excited to get to them as soon as I can!

How was your month in April? What were your most memorable moments? I hope you have a wonderful May with lots of great books!

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Sunday Post | So Much Walking

Posted April 27, 2024 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 14 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. 

So Much Walking

Last week I found the perfect route to walk around my neighborhood, and as of this writing, I’ve walked it six times already! It also helps that the weather has been lovely. It looks like there’s going to be some rain this week, but I will do my best to go for walks when the weather is nice.

I also did a lot of cooking last week but forgot to take pictures except for a couple of them; steamed black bean pork ribs, and romaine lettuce cooked with fermented bean paste. They were both really yummy!

There was also miso soup, mapo tofu, gailan in oyster sauce, napa cabbage stir-fry, onion omelette, and I don’t remember what else. I’m so glad I’ve been walking a lot because I think I’d start putting on a lot of weight if I keep eating all these yummy food!

As for TV shows; we finally caved and resubscribed to Netflix again and we’ve been catching up on the shows we loved. I’m watching Formula 1: Drive to Survive Season 6 with my husband, and Blown Away Season 4 on my own. I love both these series so much and I guess I couldn’t resist when there were new seasons!

This weekend I’ve got two book discussions! I just had my in-person book club meeting Saturday morning for The Kite Runner, and the final check-in for The Count of Monte Cristo is happening Sunday morning! The discussion for The Kite Runner gave me a lot to think about, the book is just really good, and one of the other book club members got me interested in reading Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns as well.

I’m also looking forward to the discussion of The Count of Monte Cristo – there’s already been some discussion in the chats that incited some passion, and I’m excited for more of the same for the live discussion!

Overall, I’ve been in a weird mood. I told my husband there were times last week when I felt proud and productive for all I’ve managed to get done – the walks for my health, the reading and book reviews, the cooking, etc. But then I look at the things I didn’t get done – the laundry, organizing my library, half-done projects, and so many things I initially planned for that I’m not even close to starting, and I feel… antsy. I want to get them all done, and I know I have to sort of pace myself, work on my time management and energy. I don’t know if I’ll have to give up on some stuff, but I prefer not to. I’m just taking things one at a time and focusing on the good stuff.

All the happy things:

  1. I managed to catch up with all my book reviews!!
  2. I’m truly estatic for my new walking route – it’s so conducive to audiobook listening and I’ve just loved my walks!
  3. I finally finished books that have been on my TBR for ages!
  4. Two book club discussions in a single weekend! (And another one to look forward to next weekend!)
  5. The food!

The Books

Books I read last week:

  1. The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff – A 3-hour audiobook that went quickly, but what a joy to read! I feel like this is one I’d like to come back to over and over again.
  2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – So good, so heartwrenching, so many feels! It’s just so well-written!
  3. Slewfoot by Brom – It’s better than The Child Thief, and I love the illustrations, but at the end of the day, I don’t think this author is for me. I’m glad I got it read though!
  4. Blitz by Daniel O’Malley – I read this halfway and had to return it, and finally got it back again and finished it! I expected to see more of the characters we met in the first two books, but this story is about brand new characters and we don’t see much of the past characters. It’s still good as a story in itself though!
  5. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara – This has been on my TBR for years! I kept putting it off because of the dark subject matter and not being in the right frame of mind to go there. I finally decided to get it over with, and I’m so glad I did because it’s really worth reading!

Books I’m reading:

  1. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande – A physician friend recommended this book to me more than 10 years ago, and I’m finally reading it now. I’m about 80% in.
  2. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton – This is a graphic novel, and I’m really interested in it because I live in the Oil Sands province. I’m about 100 pages in.
  3. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie – I’m only 2% in on this one, but I’m supposed to finish it in a week! 😭

Last Week on The Blog

This Week

I meant to read The Blade Itself last week, but I got distracted by other books, and now I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish it in time for the discussion this upcoming weekend. It’s a longer book with a bigger cast of characters, I’ve been told, but I’ll try to finish it in time!

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Monthly Wrap Up | March 2024

Posted April 3, 2024 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 4 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

March 2024 Wrap Up

I only read eight books this month, which isn’t bad at all, but last month I read a whole bunch so I had expected better for this month. I also had a couple of reading slumps, and I was reading a few really dense and thick books. I felt like I was slogging through molasses. Hopefully April will be better!

My March 2024 TBR Intentions

  1. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
  2. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
  3. A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
  4. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross
  5. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
  6. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
  7. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherworlds by Heather Fawcett

Books Read in February 2024

  1. A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
  2. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
  3. The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
  4. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
  5. Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
  6. Signal Moon by Kate Quinn
  7. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
  8. Bear by Marian Engel

Favorite Book This Month

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo. The Sparrow was really amazing too and I’d say technically, it’s a better book than The Fox Wife, but it was a much more difficult read emotionally and so for that reason I enjoyed The Fox Wife more.

On The Blog

Top Ten Tuesdays

Time Travel Thursdays

Sunday Posts

Notes & Discussion Posts

Reading Challenges

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge – 3/12
2024 Series Ender Reading Challenge – 1/5
2024 Finishing the Series Challenge – 2/4
2024 Diversity Reading Challenge – 4/12
2024 Bookish Books Challenge – 3/10
2024 Audiobook Challenge – 16/30
2024 Library Love Reading Challenge – 27/36

April 2024 TBR Intentions

I still want to read the books I didn’t get to in March, so I’m bringing them forward. I don’t think I’ll be able to finish all of these in April, but who knows. I should also probably add some nonfiction and classics in there for my reading challenges, but I figure since there are more diverse authors on this list, I could potentially knock out a few for my Diversity reading challenge, and then catch up to the other challenges later.

  1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  2. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
  3. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
  4. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
  5. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross
  6. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
  7. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
  8. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
  9. The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

I’m looking forward to all of these!

How was your month in March? What were your most memorable moments? I hope you have a wonderful April with lots of great books!

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Monthly Wrap Up | February 2024

Posted February 29, 2024 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 6 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

February 2024 Wrap Up

I had a pretty good reading month. I read 19 books, which is a lot more than my usual, but 11 of them were novellas/middle-grade/graphic novels so I got through them fast. I’m also very happy that I managed to read/cross-out several of my February TBR intentions, although I’m a bit disappointed because the two books I dnf’d were meant to count towards my Diversity Reading Challenge goal, and obviously they can’t count anymore. I also had a couple of books on the list meant to count towards my Nonfiction Reading Challenge, but I didn’t get to those either.

Fortunately, I did manage to read other books that counted towards those goals, so I’m not too disappointed! Here’s my February TBR list to recap, and then below are the books I actually read for February.

My February 2024 TBR Intentions

  1. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
  2. Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
  3. Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley
  4. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherworlds by Heather Fawcett
  5. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
  6. The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner
  7. The Way Forward by Yung Pueblo
  8. Children of Virtue and Vengence by Tomi Adeyemi (DNF)
  9. Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien (DNF)

Books Read in February 2024

  1. All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen and Jory John
  2. Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley
  3. The Improbable Meet-Cute Series by various authors
    • The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren
    • Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez
    • Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne
    • Drop, Cover, and Hold On by Jasmine Guillory
    • With Any Luck by Ashley Poston
    • Royal Valentine by Sariah Wilson
  4. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
  5. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
  6. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
  7. Happily Ever After by Debbie Tung
  8. Everything is OK by Debbie Tung
  9. The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister
  10. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
  11. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
  12. The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
  13. The Bad Weather Friend by Dean Koontz
  14. All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Favorite Book This Month

I cannot decide on one because I loved them both so much, so I’ll have to make it a tie and award the title to both Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, and The Storyteller by Dave Grohl.

On The Blog

I didn’t write a lot of posts this month on the blog, other than book reviews (linked above) and Top Ten Tuesday posts.

Top Ten Tuesdays

Reading Challenges

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge – 2/12
2024 Series Ender Reading Challenge – 1/5
2024 Finishing the Series Challenge – 2/4
2024 Diversity Reading Challenge – 3/12
2024 Bookish Books Challenge – 3/10
2024 Audiobook Challenge – 15/30
2024 Library Love Reading Challenge – 21/36

March 2024 TBR Intentions

I’ll do this every month as a sort of sticky-note to help remind me of the books I want to get to sooner rather than later. I don’t expect to stick to the list exactly, but it’s a great reminder for when I get distracted by new and shiny books!

  1. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (it’s my bookclub’s BOTM)
  2. Fairy Tale by Stephen King (I’ve read it, but there’s a readalong happening in March!)
  3. A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross (I’ve already started it)
  4. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross (because it’s the sequel)
  5. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo (I’ve been anticipating it the most and I just got the book from the library!)
  6. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (because I loved Legends & Lattes)
  7. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherworlds by Heather Fawcett (because I loved Encyclopedia of Faeries)

Hmm… It looks like this list is more reactionary based on urgency, timing, and excitement, but that’s okay for now. I’ll do better after I finish the ones I’m excited about!

How was your month in February? What were your most memorable moments? I hope you have a wonderful March with lots of great books!

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Monthly Wrap Up | January 2024

Posted February 1, 2024 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 4 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

January 2024 Wrap Up

I read 11 books in January, which I’m both happy and worried about. Happy because I can’t seem to separate my sense of accomplishment from reading quantity vs quality, and I love that I read more than I normally do in a month. Worried because my goal this year was to read more slowly, savor the books, and remember more details, and I’ve found myself rushing a bit towards the later part of the month. I need to remind myself to read slow!

And be more mindful in book choices as well. I have a lot of books I mean to read this year, but I keep adding more and more new books to the TBR and some I’m just too excited about to wait! Which is fine, but I’d like to try to read some of the books that have been on my shelves forever.

Books Read in January 2024

  1. Holly by Stephen King
  2. Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson
  3. The September House by Carissa Orlando
  4. The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin
  5. Light Bringer by Pierce Brown
  6. The Switch by Beth O’Leary
  7. Don’t Call It A Cult by Sarah Berman
  8. The Rook by Daniel O’Malley
  9. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
  10. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
  11. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Favorite Book This Month

Oooh, tough choice. Reeaalllyy tough choice. I’m going with The September House by Carissa Orlando, but only by a hair. Holly by Stephen King is a close second.

On The Blog

In addition to the reviews I’ve written for books read in January. Here are some of my other notable posts in January.

Top Ten Tuesdays

Notes & Discussion Posts

Reading Challenges

2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge – 1/12
2024 Series Ender Reading Challenge – 1/5
2024 Finishing the Series Challenge – 2/4
2024 Diversity Reading Challenge – 0/12
2024 Bookish Books Challenge – 2/10
2024 Audiobook Challenge – 8/30
2024 Library Love Reading Challenge – 9/36

February 2024 TBR Intentions

This is a sort of TBR list for February 2024. I’m sure I won’t be able to stick to it exactly, but these are the books I anticipate I’ll be reading in February because of release dates, where I am on the library waitlists, being next in a series I’m reading, and other random reasons. It will also help remind me to stick to reading the books I initially wanted to read!

  1. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
  2. Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
  3. Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley
  4. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherworlds by Heather Fawcett
  5. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
  6. The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner
  7. The Way Forward by Yung Pueblo
  8. Children of Virtue and Vengence by Tomi Adeyemi
  9. Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien

How was your month in January? What were your most memorable moments? I hope you have a wonderful February with lots of great books!

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