Reading Nooks

No matter what type of reader you are, you generally have a spot (or a few) that you love reading in more than most. Sometimes, like me, you can pretty much read anywhere your heart desires. Standing, upside down, working out (okay, I tried that and got motion sickness…blech 🤢), on your back, on your stomach and so on and so forth.

Even if you can do that, there may be a spot you retreat to to enjoy your books. Mine happens to be a corner of my room. Since my entire book collection is in my bedroom, I don’t have much space for anything else. I love my little book nook, it gives me comfort to look at it…if only I used it.

I think Circe gets more use out of it than I do. She certainly likes to claw on the chair. I’d set this up so I could sit in my room and read and not kill my back in my bed (hahahaha) but somehow my chair always ends up occupied with several things:

  1. My clothes. Clean and dirty both seem to get dumped into that chair.
  2. Books…I drop books on it!
  3. Bookstagram props tend to go here as well…

I’ve yet to find a perfect solution to the fact I never get to use my chair because I’m so busy filling it with other things. Sometimes my depression makes it hard to focus and keep things picked up, but I try because it really is comfortable to read in. Last winter I sipped tea or hot chocolate in that chair. It was so pleasant! I’d like to go back to that.

I also have my little TBR cart next to the side. It makes a good place to stash all my extraneous things. I also have a fuzzy rug which I and Circe both love.

Things I hope to add to it in the future include:

  1. a little chandelier so I can read at night. Right now I don’t really have a good lamp to read with…so then I end up in my bed again!
  2. an ottoman to prop my feet up on. have yet to find one I love.

For those of you who have book nooks, how do you utilize them? Do you find you have trouble keeping them clean? What do you like or not like about them? What accents are must haves?

A Year In… // sequels this year

A Year In…Sequels

Welcome, welcome. This particular “A Year In” is dedicated to sequels. There were quite a few sequels out this year, which is always exciting. And it is only May, which means there are more yet to come. This post discusses the sequels I have read so far this year in hopes of finding out if I have any desire to read the remaining series, or give them a second chance.

The term sequels is for second books and beyond. So third and fourth books apply in this category of sequels as well. Now, down to business!

Not yet released…sequels

I’m going to start off with an easy section. Books that aren’t out yet and that I intend to read.

  • Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow#3) – Rainbow Rowell
  • A Psalm of Storms and Silence (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #2) – Roseanne A Brown
  • The Bronzed Beasts (The Gilded Wolves #3) – Roshani Chokshi
  • Flash Fire (The Extraordinaries #2) – TJ Klune
  • Girls of Fate and Fury (Girls of Paper and Fire #3) – Natasha Ngan
  • Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (Outlander #8) – Diana Gabaldon
  • Gods & Monsters (Serpent & Dove #3) – Shelby Mahurin
  • The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games #2) – Jennifer Lynn Barnes
  • Kingdom of the Cursed (Kingdom of the Wicked #2) – Kerri Maniscalco
  • Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights #2) – Chloe Gong
  • Redemptor (Raybearer #2) – Jordan Ifueko
  • Rising Like a Storm (The Wrath of Ambar #2) – Tanaz Bhathena
  • The Seventh Queen (Warrior Witch #2) – Greta Kelly
  • Untethered (Shielded #2) – Kaylynn Flanders
  • Witchshadow (The Witchlands #4) – Susan Dennard

A long list…and I’m sure I forgot some as well. These all come out in the year 2021!

The Ones That are out…that I haven’t read

I have a bunch that are out…that I haven’t read yet.

  • Bone Crier’s Dawn (Bone Grace #2) – Kathryn Purdie
  • The Burning God (The Poppy War #3) – R.F. Kuang
  • The Crown of Gilded Bones (From Blood and Ash #3) – Jennifer L Armentrout
  • The Forgotten Kingdom (The Lost Queen Trilogy #2) – Signe Pike
  • Grace & Glory (The Harbinger #3) – Jennifer L Armentrout
  • Illusionary (Hollow Crown #2) – Zoraida Cordova
  • The Memory of Souls (A Chorus of Dragons #3) – Jenn Lyons
  • Mister Impossible (Dreamer Trilogy #2) – Maggie Stiefvater
  • Soul of Cinder (Heart of Thorns #3) – Bree Barton
  • Stormbreak (Seafire #3) – Natalie Parker

Yeah…I’m a little behind.

And now…onto the main event!

The ones I’ve read so far…

Let me preface by saying I always seem to have issues with sequels…generally speaking. But this year really took a toll on me in terms of sequels. The majority of them I did not enjoy.

Ones I didn’t Like as Much as the Original

  • All The Tides of Fate – just this one…was lackluster. It was mostly boring for me and I struggled with the ending. I didn’t feel like the ending made sense in the grand scheme of things. Especially since it was so focused on queenship. It just felt off and odd to me. Overall just not that good.
  • Bitterblue – I like Graceling so much more. I honestly don’t have much to say on this one.
  • A Queen of Gilded Horns – while I tend to mostly fall on the side of I like this, I did have a few problems. I felt it wasn’t overall as strong as book 1, but I did like the addition of Isa’s POV.
  • The Queen Will Betray You – yeah, it was cute. A firm cuteness level, although I don’t think I liked it as much as book 1!
  • Red Tigress – the first was GOOD. This one just left a meh kind of taste in my mouth. I felt it was too long and mostly with nothing happening.
  • Rule of Wolves – oh, Bardugo! Why??? Like your rep in this book was GOOD. But I ABHOR Nina’s storyline and relationship in this. I felt it was too sudden and intense after Matthias. I am team Nina/Matthias and anything else is unacceptable to me. Also it was just…again I felt too much going on in this book. I did love Zoya and Nikolai though.
  • Steeltide – I feel like this was very much a midseries book, that went on too long and I just didn’t love.
  • To Love and To Loathe – eh. Again, just not as strong as the original.
  • A Vow So Bold and Deadly – Lia Mara and Gray remain the best along with Harper and Jake and Nate and Tycho. I like everyone but Rhen. Not overly compelling as a final novel, I was satisfied with the end.

Ones I Really Enjoyed

  • A Court of Silver Flames – what hasn’t already been said about this book? I love Nesta and Cassian and the new women in this!
  • A Sky Beyond the Storm – SUCH a satisfying conclusion to this series overall…although I did cry a bit.
  • As The Shadow Rises – honestly, while this has three stars I did enjoy it! I am excited for book 3
  • Chain of Iron – usually I don’t like Clare’s sequels. But this was just as good as the first book. Except the ending.
  • Covet – any surprise here? Covet was SO DAMN good.
  • Fire – a GREAT sequel. Fire was more a prequel, but I LOVED it so much.
  • Namesake – UGH SO GOOD. This book was delightful.
  • The Queen’s Weapons – another Black Jewel’s novel? HECK YES. This was almost as good as the originals.

in the end…

Okay, so it’s about half and half with sequels this year so far. Suffice to say I’m nervous about the remaining year. About November or December I’ll do a second one of these addressing the sequels that have been published since!

Links to My Goodreads:

Unpublished Books List

To-Read

What about you?

End Of Year Book Survey 2020

It is January 2021. Which is so freaking WEIRD to type. Honestly, I can’t even wrap my head around this. I’m hoping 2021 brings me new and better things than this year does!

I saw that Dini had done this, and so I decided that I wanted to give it a try as well. This was created by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner.

This page looks long…but it has a lot of images!

Anyways, I suppose you want to get to the meat of this post!!

2020 Reading Stats

Number of Books You Read: 407
Number of Re-reads: 16
Genre You Read the Most From: YA/Fantasy/Historical Fiction

1. Best Book You Read In 2020?

This one is really tough — I had two top books of the year, so I’ll divide it into Adult/Young Adult.

The adult book is…..From Blood and Ash. I just fell in love with Poppy & this world.

And the young adult book is…Crush!

I just absolutely loved this book. It destroyed me in the best way!

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

I’ve got two for this…the first was an ARC I thought would be 100% totally for me. And the writing just ended up falling so FLAT and juvenile that I didn’t like it. You can read my review here.

The second book that fell flat to me was Scavenge the Stars. I picked up the OC version in my used bookstore, and just…it didn’t do it for me. I don’t think I even posted a review of it on my site. You can read my GR review here.

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  

I seriously got into Regency Romance this past summer and did not expect to love it as much as I did. This one really surprised me and made me absolutely devour more books. I was so delighted to see it come to screen last month!

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Probably Kingdom of the Wicked or Mexican Gothic! Read my reviews of them here (KOTW) and here (MG).

 5. Best series you started in 2020? Best Sequel? Best Series Ender of 2020?

Best series:

Any of the JLA book series I started this year! As well as Raybearer and A Song of Wraiths and Ruin.

Best sequel:
This should come as no surprise…but Crush was definitely the best sequel.

Best series ender:

One of two Ember Queen (review) or The Faithless Hawk (review). Both were excellent book conclusions!

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2020?

Anything by Jennifer L Armentrout. Holy!!! I am now obsessed with her stuff!

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I generally don’t like Sci-Fi or dystopian, but Samantha Shannon does such a great job with The Bone Season and I absolutely love it.

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

This book had SO MUCH going on, but I was obsessed with it and I read it in one sitting! Super excited for book 2! It was thrilling and action packed!

 9. Book You Read In 2020 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

The House in the Cerulean Sea.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2020?

That is difficult, so here is a compilation of covers I adored.

11. Most memorable character of 2020?

Poppy or Addie for me!

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2020?

That’s going to be Addie LaRue or The House in the Cerulean Sea.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2020?

This and Stamped (YA Version) were excellent reads this year.

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2020 to finally read? 

It’s out there, but I couldn’t believe I didn’t read The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black before now. I guess I worried it wouldn’t be as good as TFOTA series.

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2020?

From Blood & Ash: “Nothing is ever simple. And when it is, it’s rarely every worth it.”

House in the Cerulean Sea: “We should always make time for the things we like. If we don’t, we might forget how to be happy.”

Addie LaRue: “Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives–or to find strength in a very long one.”

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2020?

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Yeah, these two were both shocking!

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

The family-ness of this. It’s SO SWEET.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2020 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

21. Best Book You Read In 2020 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:

Big surprise, haha.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2020?

I don’t really do crushes…but maybe Hawke?

23. Best 2020 debut you read?

I’m not picking one. I’m picking a few.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

I’m picking The Dark Elements series, because I felt it was REALLY vivid for me!

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

No contest. This one.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2020?

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

This was super adorable, and I am not normally a contemporary fan! Read my review.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

One part in this book absolutely destroyed me.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2020?

Gideon the Ninth was so weird…but good…and unique. IDK even know now.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

FFFFF. Probably this one because I liked it up till the last like 10 pages and then it made me MAD.

Your Blogging/Bookish Life

New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2020?

Hmmm….I feel like I discovered a few. But uh, yeah. I don’t remember if it was in 2020 or not. Let’s just say I discovered booktube this year.

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2020?

I quite love my Evolution of Bookshelves post. It makes me remember how much I love collecting!

3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2020?

I really like this one.

But I also really like this one:

4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events,  etc.)?

I went to a few YALLWEST and YALLFEST panels.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2020?

I hit 3k on IG this year! So that was really exciting!

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

Consistency. Between Covid, work and grad school I got thrown off my rhythm.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

My evolution of bookshelves.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

None, because I did not update much this year.

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Booktube. It was booktube.

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I hit 400 books this year!!!!

Looking Ahead

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2020 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2021?

None!!! 🙂

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2021 (non-debut)?

A Court of Silver Flames? A Crown of Gilded Bones.

3. 2021 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Sweet & Bitter Magic, There Hollow Vows atm.

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2021?

I don’t know if any of the series I’m reading end next year!

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2021?

Get organized, get to 5k on bookstagram and post regularly on my blog and booktube.

6. A 2021 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):

Down Comes the Night! It was excellent!

Thank you for sticking with me until the end! How did your year stack up? What do you want to read next year?

Favorite 2021 Covers [So Far]

There is just something about book covers…you are drawn to them (or not) and so I have compiled a list of some of my favorite 2021 book covers. This list is not extensive, and I’ll probably do a second round later!

These are in no order.

I love how creepy this cover is. I also love the inverted city on the bottom. Feels very LOTR like.
I love the colors and art work in here. It’s just so beautiful. I also love the clasped hands.
The colors and text are just divine on this. I love the geometric pattern in the background with the two faces centered on top.
Honestly this cover is just fierce and I love it.
This may be better than the first cover. I love the colors and her expression is perfect.
This book just has GORGEOUS colors and I love the expressions and the notepaper everywhere.
I love the movement and colors in this one.
So eerie and beautiful. This is just…so lovely and enchanting too.
I’m a simple person. I love this cover. It pleases me.
I love Kova’s covers. I just love the whole aesthetic appeal of this.
I loved the original cover, but this one is lovely as well! I love how…IDK how to describe it. I just love it.
I just love how the tree and wolves are almost like etchings on here.

What are your favorite covers? Are there some I should look at? Let me know in the comments!