Tag: what I’ve been reading lately

What I Read in March (2024)

Books Read in March: 20
Books Read for the Year: 47/215

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
A Life Intercepted, by Charles Martin (audio). This book. Like all of Martin’s works, it just blew me away. I don’t even like football, and he made it fascinating.
Brown Boy Nowhere, by Sheeryl Lim (TBR). This was a decent read.
Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic, by Meghan Ciana Doidge (TBR). Another fun entry in this series.
Rogue, by Rachel Vincent (re-read). I’m enjoying re-reading this series…which I basically remember nothing about.
Crossed, by Allie Condie (re-read). Enjoyed this re-read.
The Iron Traitor, by Julie Kagawa. I can’t remember if this is a re-read or not, but I loved it.
The Bad Weather Friend, by Dean Koontz (TBR). Koontz’s gift for words sometimes makes me just sit there and stare at the page for a few seconds in wonder.
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s sorry, by Fredrik Backman (re-read). This book. On my second read, it still ranks in my top ten list of books. Just such gloriously well-done characters.

For Review:

Heartless Hunter, by Kristen Ciccarelli. I enjoyed this very much! Loved the world, the characters, and the story itself.

In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation, by Alexandra Vasti. This was a fun audio read. Margo is a bit much at times, but I liked her—and Henry.

Kilt Trip, by Alexandra Kiley. This was a fun read! By halfway through, I was ready to pack and run away to Scotland!

Heir Apparently, by Kara McDowell (review forthcoming…in July). Okay, so here’s what happened: I tried—and failed—to read seven books in a row and ended up DNFing Every. Single. One. That’s definitely a record for me. So, I decided to console myself by reading this one (Read the first one a couple of months ago and was immediately distraught I had to wait months until this one came out). This was the perfect pick-me-up read! It was funny, it was cute, it was romantic…it was perfect!

The Summer She Went Missing, by Chelsea Ichaso. I love a good YA and a good mystery, and this was both! Add that to the in-love-with-her-best-friend’s-brother trope, and I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

An Unlikely Proposition, by Rosalyn Eves. This was just a meh read. I felt like I was watching a mediocre telenovela.

A Feather So Black, by Lyra Selene. Oh, I really loved this! The world with it’s different cultures was fascinating, and Fia was a character I really related to: never belonging anywhere and always looking for the place she belongs—or the person she belongs with. Can’t wait to read more of this!

Bad Like Us, by Gabriella Lepore. This was a quick, pseudo-locked room murder mystery read. The victim wasn’t a likable person, so I honestly didn’t care much who killed her.

The Berlin Letters, by Katherine Reay. I’d never read anything set in this time/place, so I found it fascinating.

The Underground Library, by Jennifer Ryan (review forthcoming). I loved the strong female characters, the setting was fascinating, and of course I loved all the books.

Expiration Dates, by Rebecca Serle (review forthcoming). This was a fun read!
Just Because:

Welcome to the Basement, by Tim Ross (audio). I’ve been a fan of Tim Ross’s since he was a pastor at my church, and I love The Basement podcast, too. He makes everything so relatable, and I love that he narrated this.

Left Unfinished:
Promchanted, by Morgan Matson. Stella was so annoyingly self-centered I couldn’t get through very much of this.

The Trouble with You, by Ellen Feldman. This felt like it was dragging to me, and Fanny felt so passive at life. She might have changed later in the book, but my attention kept wandering and it just didn’t hold my interest.

Death in Hilo, by Eric Redman. I didn’t make it very far in this. I just wasn’t a fan of the narrative style.

Ill-fated Fortune, by Jennifer J. Chow. This really just seemed like all fluff and no substance. I needed a bit more to keep my attention.

I Only Read Murder, by Will and Ian Ferguson. I don’t like unlikable characters…and Miranda wasn’t interesting enough to carry off being a horrible person.

A Tempest of Tea, by Hafsah Faizal. Arthie was a bit of a dud, and I refuse to waste my time reading about a boring main character. The setting was also confusing, and that’s a death knell for a book.

Kindling, by Traci Chee. Second-person-POV books are hard to pull off, and this…failed, coming across as chaotic and confusing. Also not a fan of the unmentioned LGBTQA rep. Not everyone wants to read it, so why not tag it as such?

I am Rome, by Santiago Postguillo. This was probably an excellent book, but the pacing and style just didn’t work for me and made my attention wander. The irony is not lost on me that I stopped reading this on the Ides of March.

Good Half Gone, by Tarryn Fisher. I made it about 20% of the way through this, but…it was a struggle. The writing was solid, no problems there. But the characters just didn’t work for me. I didn’t like either sister in the past, and I didn’t care for Irish in the present, either. Ergo, this was a no-go for me. I didn’t like the characters, so it didn’t keep my attention.

Maya’s Laws of Love by Alina Khawaja. This just wasn’t for me. The MC wasn’t for me. I don’t know very much about this faith and culture, but the first 10% just didn’t feel like it lined up with what I do know.

The Happiness Blueprint, by Ally Zetterberg. DNFed at about 10% because, if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s anyone who sits around feeling sorry for themselves and making excuses. I don’t like people like that in real life, and I don’t like them in fiction—it’s just much easier to walk away with fictional characters than real people. These characters just weren’t a good fit for me.

Strong Like You, by T.L. Simpson. Solid writing here, but the voice just didn’t work for me.

Those Beyond the Wall, by Micaiah Johnson. Yeah, my first clue this wasn’t for me should have been the author’s note that basically said rage was a good thing. No. No, it’s not. But I kept reading, and found the style to be a bit more chaotic and confusing than I like.

The Princess of Las Vegas, by Chris Bohjalian. The MC just didn’t work for me. I don’t like superficial people, and I just couldn’t get past that.

The Best Books I Read in February (2024)

In February, I only read 12 books, which is…not very many for me. And there was an extra day! I need to catch up.

Of those twelve, two were fantastic and a few others were pretty good.

Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, by Rebecca Yarros. I saw mention of Fourth Wing being excellent on audio, so I gave it a shot…and got sucked in from the first three minutes. I could not stop listening. I was so caught up in these characters and this world that I bought the second one—also on audio—before I even finished the first. And now I’m languishing, wondering when the release date for the third book is. Those cliffhanger endings….

The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck, by Kylie Scott. This book was just good, plain fun! I laughed from the very beginning, and I was completely invested in finding out if Lilah’s prophecy came through—I also love how the prince was handled. This would be a fun weekend read!

What I Read in February (2024)

Books Read in February: 12
Books Read for the Year: 27/215
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books: Yeah, so the first part of this month got away from me and I ended up not finishing any of my monthly reads and pushing them off until March. Except for Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros. I listened to this on audio, and it was phenomenal! I can’t wait to listen to the next one.

Iron Wing, by Rebecca Yarros (audio). Sigh…Why is the next book in this not out yet?

For Review:

The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West, by Sara Ackerman. I enjoyed both timelines in this historical fiction and found all of it fascinating.

The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck, by Kylie Scott. This made me laugh hysterically in several places! Such a fun read.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine, by Charlotte Stein. This made me laugh several times, but there was a lot of cussing that seemed jarring/unnecessary, and Alfie’s reactions seemed…nonsensical at times.

The Framed Women of Ardemore House, by Brandy Schillace. I really enjoyed this read, and read it straight through in one sitting.

One Night In A Thousand Years, by Craig Cunningham. I enjoyed this short audio book a lot! It’s a very uplifting and poignant coming-of-age story.

Why We Read, by Shannon Reed. Nonfiction can be hit or miss for me, but this was engrossing, funny, and absolutely fascinating. It’s all about books, so that’s definitely something it has going for it, but the author’s voice is highly readable, to.

The Lost Dresses of Italy, by M. A. Mclaughlin. I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction read! I loved how Marianne’s work with the dresses was twined together with the tale of Christina Rossetti’s life in Verona. This was a very bittersweet read, but I enjoyed it.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts, by Katherine Arden. This was an odd historical fiction read, but compelling. Laura’s POV was my favorite, as Freddie’s felt hazy.

A Flame in the North, by Lilith Saintcrow. The mythology in this was fascinating, but it felt very, very slow.

The Book of Doors, by Gareth Brown. I enjoyed this. It felt almost leisurely, but I enjoyed it so much that I was eager to continue reading. The Book of Doors would be really cool!

Left Unfinished:

A Step Past Darkness, by Vera Kurian. I did not realize this was meant to be like IT until after I DNFed it…I love IT, although it absolutely terrified me (I’m scared of spiders. And clowns. Enough said.). I read about 20% of this, and all I got was…bored. I didn’t care about any of the characters or what happened to them. They were walking into the party in the mine where everything supposedly gets creepy when I stopped reading (and I knew that was about to happen), and I still couldn’t work up enough interest to keep reading.

The Best Books I Read in January (2024)

In January, I read 14 books towards my goal of 225 books for the year. Most of them were decent reads, but several of them really stood out.

I enjoyed my re-read of Matched, by Ally Condie quite a bit, although the idea of such a tightly controlled society isn’t quite so far-fetched these days.

All Rhodes Lead Here, by Mariana Zapata. I enjoyed this so, so much! The voice is phenomenal and it was so much fun to read. Aurora’s mental stream-of-consciousness was hysterical to me, and I laughed out loud several times. Such a great contrast to the taciturn Rhodes.

South of the Buttonwood Tree, by Heather Webber (audio). This was a fantastic Southern fiction read! Both the main characters were engrossing and I was totally enmeshed in their stories—even the secondary characters in this book were fascinating, and so well done.

What I Read in January (2024)

Books Read in January: 14
Books Read for the Year:  14/215

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:

The Omnivore’ s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan (re-read): Interesting re-read, but a bit dry.
Down to Earth, by Tom Hughes (TBR): Solid read.
South of the Buttonwood Tree, by Heather Webber (TBR, audio): I loved this so much! Such a great Southern fiction read with vibrant characters.
The Iron Prince, by Julie Kagawa (re-read): Still loving this series.
Stray, by Rachel Vincent (re-read): Thankfully, I enjoyed this re-read.
Matched, by Ally Condie (re-read): How did I manage to forget that this book gave me a love for Dylan Thomas’s poetry, especially Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, which is tattooed on my wrist?
Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic, by Meghan Ciana Doidge (re-read): Still enj oying re-reading this series.

For Review:

Somewhere in the Deep, by Tanvi Berwah. I really enjoyed the first book set in this world, but this one felt very jumbled and chaotic. I loved the two main characters and their chemistry, but the rest of the chaos was a huge distraction.

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherland, by Heather Fawcett. I enjoyed this just as much as the first one! I enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the world in general. Even the background characters are quirky enough to feel like real people, and just the set-up itself is a lot of fun.

A Body at the Séance, by Marty Wingate. I actually enjoyed this more than the first book in this series. I had not idea who the killer was, but the secondary characters were all interesting possibilities.

The Missing Witness, by Allison Brennan. I’ve enjoyed this entire series, but this one was especially good because of Quinn’s character growth.

It Takes a Rake, by Anna Bennett. I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the other books in this series, because some of the MC’s decisions seemed a bit arbitrary and nonsensical.

All Rhodes Lead Here, by Mariana Zapata. I loved this so much! I laughed throughout the entire novel at Aurora’s escapades, and I loved how her relationship with Rhodes grew and changed.

The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett (review forthcoming). This was a very odd read. I enjoyed the characters a lot—especially their Holmes and Watson vibe—but the worldbuilding itself felt like a club upside my head.

Left Unfinished:
Holmes, Marple & Poe, by James Patterson and Brian Sitts. I stopped reading Patterson close to two decades ago for multiple reasons, but this one sounded intriguing enough that I thought I’d give it another shot. My mistake. It felt like a jumbled, jagged, chaotic mess.

City of Stardust, by Georgia Summers. I wanted so much to like this, and I did like it. The writing was so lyrical and lovely, and I enjoyed the bits about the city…but the story felt a bit superficial, like I was just getting a few high-level details, but nothing to fully flesh out the story or the characters. I stopped reading because I felt like the details of the story itself were hidden behind a cloud.

The Best Books I Read in December (2023)

In December, I read 19 books, bringing my total for the year to 207 books. Of those, three were really good reads.

Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. It’s my favorite book and I’ve read it 20+ times, but it still makes me angry every time I read it, and the ending makes me cry. Scarlett is a terrible person, but she’s such a vibrant character. her self-destructiveness fascinates me…and makes me want to smack her.

The Iron Knight, by Julie Kagawa. Goodreads told me I’d read this before, but I have zero memory of it. I’m still loving this world and these characters.

The Prince & the Apocalypse, by Kara McCowell. This was just a cute, fun read that I could not put down. I enjoyed it so much, and I was so unhappy when I found out the next book doesn’t come out for months!

What I Read in 2023

January: 17 books.

February: 16 books.

March: 20 books.

April: 16 books.

May: 14 books.

June: 14 books.

July: 19 books.

August: 17 books.

September: 19 books.

October: 17 books.

November: 17 books.

December: 19 books.

What I Read in December (2023)

Books Read in December: 19
Books Read for the Year:  207/200

Yearly Books: 

NIV Grace and Trruth Study Bible.
Unshakeable, by Christine Caine.

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
The Iron Knight, by Julie Kagawa (Maybe a TBR, maybe a re-read.). I have no memory of actually having read this before, but I really enjoyed it!

Flora’s Traveling Christmas Shop, by Rebecca Raisin (TBR). This has been on my TBR list for a while. It made me laugh, but the the characters were a bit too liberal for me. And Flora…apparently learned nothing from all of her lies and manipulations. Only Colin seemed to change.

The Josiah Manifesto, by Jonathan Cahn (TBR, audio). I generally enjoy Cahn’s books a lot, but this one felt very repetitive to me, making my mind wander quite a bit. I understand the author was trying to illustrate his points, but it felt a little bit like being hit over the head repeatedly.

My Jane Austen Summer, by Cindy Jones. A selfish, ineffectual MC who believes she sees her own personal Jane Austen everywhere made this a chore to read. Do not recommend.

Maggie, by Charles Martin (TBR, audio). Like all of Martin’s other books, I loved this.

For Review:

The Paris Housekeeper, by Renee Ryan. I do love WWII fiction, and I enjoyed this one, although Vivian’s situation horrified me.

An Inconvenient Earl, by Julia London. I’ve enjoyed the books in this series, but I didn’t really care for this one. The MC is a liar, and that just doesn’t work for me.

Public Anchovy #1, by Mindy Quigley. This was a cute read. I hadn’t read any of the others in this series, but I enjoyed this one—especially the cats.

Northwoods, by Amy Pease (review forthcoming). At first, I wasn’t too sure about the MC, a self-destructive alcoholic. But he grew on me, although I still found the setting kind of depressing.

Principles of Emotion, by Sara Read (review forthcoming). I enjoyed this quite a bit! Definitely an opposites-attract romance, and I enjoyed how accepting they were of their differences.

A Body on the Doorstep, by Marty Wingate (review forthcoming). This was a cute, fun cozy mystery that was actually set in London (not very cozy-mystery-ish), but it woorked quite well.

The Heiress, by Rachel Hawkins (review forthcoming). This was a twisty thriller about a family of terrible people.

Sun Seekers, by Rachel McRady (review forthcoming). I enjoyed this a lot! It’s hard to do a child’s point-of-view well, but this was very well-done!

Just Because:

Iron’s Prophecy, by Julie Kagawa. I enjoyed this novella in one of my favorite series.

The Prince & The Apocalypse, by Kara McDowell. This was a cute read! I enjoyed the characters, and I’m looking forward to reading more.

Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. A re-read of my favorite book. Yeah, Scarlett still sucks.

Seven Girls Gone, by Allison Brennan. I somehow missed reading this book in the Quinn & Costa series, and I couldn’t have that before reading and reviewing the fifth book.

Left Unfinished:

The Lace Widow, by Mollie Ann Cox. The POV was just too stiff/formal/distant for me in this. I felt like I couldn’t connect with Eliza, so it didn’t hold my interest.

The Book of Fire, by Christy Lefteri. This is the second book from this author I’ve DNFed, so I should accept that her writing style just isn’t for me.

A Fragile Enchantment, by Allison Saft. If I feel like the author is trying too hard to be diverse (or going out of her way to be diverse, when it doesn’t make sense for the character), this makes me ask, “Do I really want to spend the time to read this book?” In this case, I feel like the author was trying to shove square characters into round holes—just so she could say she’d written a diverse book. Not because she was being true to the characters. And dishonesty like that makes a book a DNF for me—and probably everything else this author writes, too.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years, by Shubnum Khan. This just started off way too slowly for me.

Sundays Are for Writing #254

This was a decent writing week, although I didn’t get any fiction writing done. (I did a bit of work on the new project, though.) I wrote two book reviews, The Curse of Penryth Hall, by Jess Armstrong, and This Cursed Light, by Emily Thiede. I enjoyed both reads, but This Cursed Light was really good! I also wrote my November reading post, and my Best Books I Read in November post.

Happy writing!

The Best Books I Read in November (2023)

In November, I read 17 books, bringing my total for the year to 188 books read. Of those, some were just meh read, some were solid, and some were fantastic.

This Cursed Light, by Emily Thiede, was a fantastic end to this duology. I love the society and culture, the main characters, the dialogue…everything. And the ending totally made me cry, which isn’t a common thing.

Shards of Glass, by Michelle Sagara. I love this world and the main series, but I’m really enjoying these spin-offs and the new characters, too. A really well done fantasy setting.

And a re-read of one of my favorites, gods in Alabama, by Joshilyn Jackson. I discovered Southern fiction the first time I read this novel—and fell in love with the genre. The author completely captures the flavor of life in a small Southern town, and you should absolutely read this. Plus, she captivated me from the very first line…”There are gods in Alabama…”