February 2020 Book Haul- Part 1 (or: my book photography skills are improving)

Hello, lovelies! I’m trying to get caught up on sharing all the books I’ve acquired recently, through a wide variety of sources (mostly giveaways, but a couple that just came from the publisher!). Note that this is only part of my haul for last month–you can expect more pretty pictures soon 😊

Top Ten Tuesday 1/21 – new books new books new books

Boy howdy, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these! Between my heart surgery and the holidays and just generally not being overly fond of some prompts, it’s been about a month with no Top Ten Tuesday, but finally, here’s one I can actually do. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly themed post hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s theme is “The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf.” If we’re being honest, this is still kind of tricky for me–I don’t buy a ton of books, and it’s not like I regularly receive ARCs or gifts of books either–but between the various places I get books from, I have cobbled together this list, sorted by source. Enjoy!

New Year, New Goals – my 2020 reading plans

It’s hard to believe that 2019 has come and gone. We are officially in a new decade (does this count as the Roaring 20’s all over again?), and like so many others, I’ve got a couple goals for myself in the coming year. Currently, those goals are mostly book- and blog-related, but that’s largely because any fitness goals will be hard to figure out reasonable limits for until my heart surgery is done–and there are now under two weeks until that day, which is pretty exciting.

All that said, here are my plans and goals for the upcoming year:

Top Ten Tuesday 12/17 – Winter 2020 TBR

It’s been a while since I’ve written a TTT* post, for a variety of reasons (including vague prompts and my life being chaotic), but here we are with an easy one: my winter TBR this year. As you may recall from some posts a while ago, I won quite a few books recently, both from Goodreads giveaways and from other giveaways, so I have plenty of reading material for this winter. Plus, I have a KILLER range of genres. Seriously, I feel like I’ve outdone myself on this one 😉 This is a very tentative TBR, and a lot of these are ARCs, so I have split the list into ARCs and some books that are already out that I’m excited for. Let’s go.

November Book Haul – Part 1 (feat. pretty pictures, because I’m that extra)

Hello, lovelies! Because I have zero shelf-control (pun intended) when it comes to both buying books and entering giveaways, my collection has grown a fair bit this past month. For reasons I don’t quite understand, I have been winning a TON of giveaways, mostly from Goodreads, but one or two from other sources as well. A lot of these are ARCs, and a couple of them came with bookmarks, so that’s cool too. Not going to bother with fancy captions on most of these, so just sit back, relax, and enjoy the pictures.

Stay tuned for later reviews of these, and more! The 2020 ARCs just keep coming…

A Long Petal of the Sea (ARC)

Top Ten Tuesday 11/19 – All I know is these times are changing

You know the drill: TTT is a weekly themed post hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is “Changes In My Reading Life (Maybe you like different genres or topics, maybe you read faster than you used to, maybe you only like standalones now).” At first I thought this would be difficult, but once I started writing, I realized there have actually been a lot of changes for me, both recently and from childhood to now. I tried to link in a few more of my past reviews and posts for this, so…take a look at them, maybe? 😊

November 2019 TBR (or, an attempt to read what’s actually on my shelf)

It’s the first of November, and there is snow on the ground. There has been since yesterday, and I am both cold and unhappy about this. What I am happy about, though, is that cold weather is great for reading inside, curled up under a blanket…and that I have a great TBR this month.

I’m participating in a TBR Jar event this month with a group called We Be Book’n. The goal is to cut down on your existing TBR by having someone else pick the books from your list for you. I asked my partner to choose 8 books for me, from a much longer list, and these are the ones she selected:

WWW Wednesday- 10/16 (or, why am I so indecisive?)

WWW Wednesday is a weekly post hosted by Taking On a World of Words. Every Wednesday, the posters present their answers to the 3 W’s:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

What am I currently reading?

Top Ten Tuesday 9/24 – Fall TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly themed post hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is pretty self-explanatory, as you might have guessed from the title of this post: “Books on My Fall 2019 TBR.” I have WAY too many I’m looking forward to, both new releases and a few backlogged books, but here are some of them, at least.

1. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Okay, let’s be real: who DOESN’T have this on their list? In mid-October she’s coming to my city, and I am so excited to see her speak! Plus, I can meet her and get the book (and one other item) signed. The anticipation is killing me.

Thoughts on a Thursday 9/12 – TBR, Tours, and Things

Surprise, surprise, it’s once again a Thursday where I don’t have a designated post planned, so you’re going to get some more fun updates on me, my reading life, and my non-reading life as well.

First, my TBR for the remainder of this month:

Holy HECK I have so many books I want and/or need to read. I’ve got quite a few ARCs (which are entirely my fault—damn you, NetGalley), as well as some sequels I desperately want need to read. My copy of Darkdawn arrived earlier this week, and you better believe I will be devouring that one soon.

Part of my TBR this month was decided by the prompts we were given for Reading Rivalry this month. Here are the prompts I have not yet completed, along with the titles I plan to read for them:

• Book Containing a Father Figure: The Ten Thousand Doors of January (currently reading, expect a review Saturday-ish)
• Book in a 7+ Book Series: Sixth of the Dust (I consider the Cosmere books to be one giant series, and though it is a novella, this one is still above the 50-page minimum set by RR, so I say it counts)
• Book Featuring Good vs. Evil: Serpent & Dove (I’m not 100% this actually works for this one, but I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt and say it does)
• Urban Fantasy: The Water Dancer (yes, historical fantasy can still be urban)
• Book with a 4+ Word Title: The World That We Knew
• Author Highlight – Jay Kristoff: Darkdawn (obviously—have I talked about it enough yet?)
• Book Involving Flight: Wayward Son (assuming I can get it right after it comes out)

I’m not going to subject you to pictures of all the books I just listed, but ugh this cover is so pretty!!

The rest of my TBR contains some ARCs that are coming out either later this month or on the first of October. Those titles are:

• The Bone Ships
• The Memory Thief (I do have an eARC, but I just applied for the blog tour for this one, so if they accept me, I won’t need that review posted until mid-October even though the book releases sooner)
• Resurrection Girls
• Crier’s War (I am especially excited for this one—fantasy with a f/f romance and some sci-fi-like elements? Count me in!)

Oh, and I’m listening to the audiobooks for the Caraval series right now. I just started Legendary, and it’s pretty good. I don’t quite get the obsessive love some people have for it, but maybe it’ll get there. We’ll see.

I know it will be all but impossible for me to finish all these books in such little time, but hey—I can be ambitious, right? I’ve finished five this month so far, which is way faster than my usual pace, so who knows?

Next item of business: BOOK MAIL.

I got two books in the mail this week (one purchased, one won on Goodreads) and just found out yesterday that I won another giveaway, so that one should be arriving soon as well. Expect a book haul post, hopefully with prettier pictures than last time. I also got a really pretty book a week or two ago that I want to show off, so…maybe I’ll include that, too.

So what’s new with me?

I’m so glad you asked! The short answer is, not much. The long answer is, I’m just working, reading (mostly on my commute), writing this blog, and doing more LSAT studying (do my prep books count for my reading goal?). Community choir rehearsals have started up again, so I also have a weekly dose of singing to look forward to…though we’re working on things for a holiday concert, so it’s mostly Christmas carols. At least some of the arrangements are fun? But dang, the version of Jingle Bells we have —originally performed by Barbara Streisand—is going to get very annoying, very fast. Look it up!

Finally, some upcoming tours I’m getting excited for:

• Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House (already have my ticket, just deciding what 2nd book to bring for the signing line…)
• Fierce Reads Fall Tour (no tickets, just show up. It’s in early October, but it is on my calendar–one of the stops is just 20 minutes from my house, and there are FOUR major authors coming!)
• Felicia Day, Embrace Your Weird (I have access to presale tickets right now and am SUPER tempted, but not sure I can justify spending even more on books…even though I LOVE Felicia as an actress and general human being…)
• Not for books, but HELLA MEGA TOUR. If you haven’t seen yet, there is an epic tour coming up next year featuring three rock legends: Green Day (my favorite band), Fall Out Boy, and Weezer. One of the stops is near me, and you’d better believe I plan on going.

This image is not my local bookstore’s, but it was the only one I could find with all the authors and their books

That’s all for now, folks! Any of these books on your TBR (or ones you’ve already enjoyed)? Planning on going to any of these events? Should I get the tickets for Felicia Day? And how do you feel about Christmas carols in September? Leave a comment and let me know!