Hello friends! Today I am going to be talking about the books that I have read "recently". I haven't done one of these since like September, so like... oops? If you happen to be curious about what I've been reading in the last like 6 months, then read on!

2019

          

1. The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman

Review

2 & 3. Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Easily made my top 3 favorite books.

Review

4. Magical Places by Nikki Van De Car

          

5. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

6. Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Review

7. In Real Life by Jessica Love

          

8. Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller

9. The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

10. The Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen

      

11. The Christmas Pact by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward

12. Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte

2020

This year I have decided to try to tackle that PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge and I pretty much have managed to pick out a book for every prompt and so far this year, I have been pretty good at sticking to the TBR, or at least, to the prompts if I change it up. Besides the mangas, I have only physically read one of the following books.

I feel like I have just been in the mother of all reading slumps for the LONGEST time and the things currently going on in the world are definitely not helping things, but I guess sometimes it really do be like that.

 

13. Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

So, I really enjoyed this book while I was listening to it, but I feel like I should not have listened to it because I don't think that I retained enough information about this to just be comfortable continuing with the series yet. I suppose it might all come back to me if I was immersed back into the world, but listening to fantasy books like this, for the first time, via audiobook, is probably not a thing I will do again.

14. The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

This was a super quick, fun romance. I enjoyed listening to this audiobook so much. I barely remember what happened in it except I have no idea how no one figured out the AI guy was anything but human the first time he opened his mouth. But I gotta say, I would probably listen to this again if I was in a bind and needed something to listen to.

15. Pont Neuf by Max Byrd

I know that this was a story about a WWII photographer/columnist and it was interesting to listen to, but this one was not memorable and I think the ending confused me.

          

16. Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

I absolutely LOVED Tweet Cute so much. I loved Pepper and Jack and their mostly fake Twitter feud. I loved seeing them go from not particularly caring for each other's company to good friends/being in love. I don't think I've ever retained an audiobook as well as I retained this one. It was such an easy listen, even while working on other things that require a little bit of attention. The only thing that I didn't love about this was Pepper's mom. I didn't like how she made her busy daughter do her social media manager's job 90% of the time even though Pepper was trying to keep her grades up and get into a good college. Like, by the end of the story, I understood why the stupid twitter feud was so important to her mom, but I still didn't agree with her tactics. Overall, I want to read this book again after writing this little paragraph.

17. Hungry Hearts edited by Caroline Tung Richmond and Elsie Chapman

I think I need to accept the fact that I just don't really like anthologies. I was excited to get this one because one of my favorite author's had a story in it, but quite honestly, I think hers might have been my least favorite story in the book. There were some that I really liked (Rebecca Roanhorse's story was one of my favorites!), but for the most part, I felt really meh about this book.

18. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

I think that so far, this is my favorite book of 2020. I wasn't sure what I was going to read for a medical thriller until I saw this one listed in the Goodreads list for suggestions. I was absolutely THRILLED by this book. I want to buy this so I can read it again in a physical format. I am still completely shocked by the ending because I didn't see it coming at all.

     

19. Magi vol 4 by Shinobu Ohtaka

I don't have too much to say about this one. I liked the refresher from when I watched the show however long ago, but I haven't gotten far enough into the manga series to get to anything new or exceptionally exciting yet. But my favorite character from the show finally made an appearance in this one!

20. The Legend of Zelda: Legendary Edition, vol 5: Four Swords by Akira Himekawa

This manga was so cute. I love this manga series because it gives Link a personality, but I love that each of the four Links is so very distinctly one part of Link's personality. I need to start buying this Twilight Princess manga series now and I am crossing my fingers so hard for a Breath of the Wild series because that's easily my favorite game in the franchise!

So, those are the 20 books I have read "recently". I am hoping that I will find myself being motivated enough to start writing actual reviews again, but I want to change my review style to be more short, sweet, and to the point. So we shall see how that goes.

What have you been reading recently?

What I've Read Recently // #3

Hello everyone! I am back with another update of what I have been reading since I last updated you on what I have been reading!

I am so proud of myself, not gonna lie. I have never hit one of my Goodreads goals before, but I think this might be the year! Honestly, there are two books on this list that I counted as three because they contain three different volumes that could all be counted individually on Goodreads, but whatever gets me from point A to point B, right?

Also, I am currently 11 books ahead of schedule! I am at 46/52 at the moment and I definitely think that I can read 6 books in four months. Readathons and not requesting books from Netgalley have been the most productive things for my reading lately.

Anyway, let's get on with what I have been reading recently.

          

1. Hollow Fields by Madeleine Rosca

This is one of those books that is actually a bind up of all three volumes that I counted individually on Goodreads. It's about a girl who is on her way to start school and accidentally ends up at the wrong one and is stuck going to a school for evil geniuses and mad scientists where each week the student with the lowest scores is sent to detention and never seen again. It was pretty interesting.

My boyfriend picked this one up from a rummage sale for me. He has come such a very long way from buying huge boxes full of books indiscriminately for me just because, "They're books! You like books!"

2. What Was I Scared Of? by Dr. Seuss

This used to be my mom's favorite Dr. Seuss book to read to my sister and I. And I stumbled across a glow-in-the-dark version? Yes, please! I picked this one up one day and read it out loud to my boyfriend so that he could say he consumed one whole book this year.

3. Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

This was the first book I read for the NEWTs this year. I listened to this one as an audiobook and I kind of wish that I would have read it physically, I don't think I dedicated enough concentration to this book and didn't really like it, but also didn't really DISlike it. I don't really know what to think of it, but I think I might reread it physically if the general consensus for the rest of the series is good.

          

4. The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

I was sent an ARC of The Bone Houses and I was SO excited! Welsh mythology + undead goat sidekick + reanimated corpses = 5 stars from me! If you think that sounds like fun, I would highly recommend you check this one out!

5. Wilder Girls by Rory Power

This one, unfortunately, was a miss for me. I literally couldn't bring myself to care about anyone or anything happening in this book. I think my main problem with this book could have been the writing style, but overall, I just didn't enjoy it. It wasn't my idea of a good time.

6. Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

I listened to Ash Princess for the NEWTs as well. I got the audiobook shortly after the book came out because I actually got an eARC that I never got around to reading and I felt bad. But relatively recently the author has said some things on Twitter that I didn't really like and I don't know that I really want to support that so I probably won't go out of my way to review this one. I liked it. I really like the trope of a queen reclaiming her rightful throne. But this book isn't anything particularly revolutionary or unique. If I can manage to acquire the rest of the series without buying it, I might read it, but I'm probably not going to go out of my way to do so.

          

7. Saga vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

I was kinda scared when I picked this one up that I wouldn't really like it because Monstress didn't really work for me and I irrationally decided that it was because it was a graphic novel. Because clearly one graphic novel (my first!) not working for me, meant none ever would. I just couldn't really follow Monstress and nothing stuck in my head. But I didn't have that problem with Saga. It was a lot easier to follow for me. I think it was because the artwork wasn't as busy.

8. Saga vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

9. Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda

I have had this manga for so long and finally got around to reading it as my last necessary book for the NEWTs. I enjoyed it, but I feel like it wasn't super exciting. I liked the characters and things didn't go the way I was expecting them to in like.. any part of it. But overall, not the most exciting story I've read recently.

     

10. Kiss of the Rose Princess by Aya Shouoto

I could NOT follow what was happening in this manga at all, the artwork was FAR too busy for me and it definitely affected my enjoyment of it. I kinda knew what was going on from the dialogue, but there was just too much going on for me otherwise. It's probably not that bad and I'm probably just being a baby, but probably my least favorite manga I've read.

11. House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

I really enjoyed this one. It is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses tale. I've never heard that tale before, but it might mean something to you. I have seen this book described as a horror fantasy, but paranormal mystery/thriller feels more accurate. But it was a solid start to my spooky season reading.

I would say that The Bone Houses, House of Salt and Sorrows, and then Saga were probably my favorite recent reads, with Kiss of the Rose Princess and Wilder Girls being my least favorite.

Have you read any of these lately? What has been your favorite read lately?

What I've Read Recently // #2

Hello and welcome to another edition of what I have been reading recently along with a few thoughts on each one. Hopefully after this point I will be kind of caught up on sharing what I have been reading and then maybe I will start writing real reviews again. We shall see how I feel! This is a combination of books I read for the remainder of the OWLs, books I read for round one and now part of round two of Game of Booksathon, as well as a few other random books.

          

1. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

This was a reread for me to prepare myself to finally read Crooked Kingdom. I read this book for the OWLs in April and if you continue on with this post, you will see that I have NOT yet gotten around to reading Crooked Kingdom because I'm kind of a failure. If you want to see my thoughts on Six of Crows, here is my original review.

2. You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn

This is another book I read for the OWLs in April. I didn't really like this one as much as I was hoping to. After reading this one and Daisy Jones & The Six, and not liking either of them that much, I just don't think that books with a big focus on music/touring are for me. There wasn't anything in particular that I recall finding wrong with this book, it just didn't really tickle my fancy.

3. The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes

I listened to this one as an audiobook. I didn't really like it that much. I like the whole feminist vigilante justice thing, but there was just something about this one that I just wasn't a huge fan of. I enjoyed the group of friends in this book and I liked the romance. In particular, I didn't really like the training they went through and how it was this group of adults who are beating the snot out of teenagers to prepare them to go out and beat the snot out of random people, even if they are people who may deserve it. I also didn't like the group's reaction to finding out who Thea's boyfriend is. I like Colleen Oakes writing, but this book just wasn't for me.

          

4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

This is the first book that I read for the Game of Booksathon that I did in June. I am sad that the show ended (and that it was SO rushed!) so I was ready to jump back into Westeros with the book. I don't read a lot of adult books, especially not like... epic/high fantasy or whatever ones like this. So it felt like I was reading this book for forever (I really wasn't), but I really enjoyed it. I'm excited to read the rest of the series and hopefully George will bust out those last two books soon!

5. New Game! vol. 1 by Shotaro Tokuno

This manga series is about a girl just out of high school who gets a job working at the company that made her favorite video game as a character designer. I thought it was really cute and fun and I started watching the anime on Crunchyroll too. I am excited to get the rest of the series to read!

6. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

I enjoyed Red, White & Royal Blue. I don't think I liked it as much as everyone else did, but I did like it. Henry and Alex were cute together, but the third person present tense was... not my favorite thing. It felt so weird to read! But overall, it was a cute summer read and I'm glad I read it.

          

7. The Legend of Zelda Legendary Edition: The Minish Cap and Phantom Hourglass by Akira Himekawa

I love reading these Legend of Zelda mangas! I have never played Minish Cap, but I played Phantom Hourglass. I feel like reading the Phantom Hourglass manga made me realize I don't remember a THING about the game. Also, I love how these mangas give Link a personality that you don't get to see in the game! If you're a fan of the game franchise, you should try out the mangas if you haven't!

8. Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto

This book wasn't really anything like what I was expecting. It took awhile to get into, even via audiobook, because there was a LOT of info dumping in the beginning. I feel like that's easier for me to get past in an audiobook because I listen to them at work and it doesn't feel so unbearable while you're doing something else, but this info dump was... bad. I did like this book and I'm excited to see where the series goes, but I think I need to physically reread this book before moving on because it was hard to follow the flashbacks and whatever else there was between chapters. Even though it had a gnarly info dump, I think I would recommend it.

9. Monstress vol. 3 by Marjorie M. Liu

I really don't know what I think of this graphic novel series. I don't... actively dislike it, but I don't know if I actually like it either. I feel like I like the story and the art is BEAUTIFUL and there are CATS! But I feel like I struggle to follow along with the story. I struggle with reading it too fast and not paying enough attention to the art so I feel like I rush through it. I haven't felt like I struggled with any mangas I've read. I just feel like maybe this series isn't for me and it makes me sad.

          

10. Orange the Complete Collection vol. 1 by Ichigo Takano

I ADORED this collection. It follows a girl named Naho who receives a letter from herself ten years in the future that tells her the steps she needs to take to try to stop a new classmate of hers from committing suicide. I loved following Naho and her group of friends and I loved seeing her overcome her shyness to get close to Kakeru to try to change how things are supposed to turn out.

11. Magi vol. 2 by Shinobu Ohtaka

I am mostly reading this series from the beginning because I watched the anime series (SO GOOD) and there are only two seasons and some googling tells me there wasn't enough interest in the show to continue on. So I am reading from the beginning to see how it ends. It follows the show so far pretty well, I am excited to see what comes after the end of the anime. I'm so sad that there's no more of it though! Life is unfair.

12. The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco

This book was so interesting! The character that this book follows is dead, she goes after people who kill children. From the description in the beginning when she is tormenting and killing a child murderer, I was picturing her as like... the creepy thing from The Grudge. I have never read a book with such a unique point of view, it was so much fun. Rin Chupeco is A M A Z I N G!

     

13. Orange the Complete Collection vol. 2 by Ichigo Takano

I flew through the rest of this series so fast. If you are into manga and you haven't read this series yet, I would highly, highly recommend it, it is so cute.

12. Haruiro Astronaut by Ichigo Takano

This one was a bonus story at the end of the second volume of Orange. It followed two identical twins, Mami and Chiki. Mami always has boys confessing their undying love for her, but Chiki never gets that. This book is basically kind of about her trying to get a boyfriend. It was cute and a little bit unexpected and just generally fun!

So, that is what I have been reading for the last few months! I am currently three books ahead on my Goodreads goal (thank you manga collections I can count as individual books on GR, but also WHO am I?!). Next up for me is the first volume of Children of the Whales by Abi Umeda.

I discovered this one while my sister was at my house once. We had just watched the Emoji Movie and we didn't want to go to bed after having just watched something so stupid so I picked this anime because I thought the artwork in the thumbnail on Netflix was SO beautiful and it actually turned out to be so much more wildly violent and bloody than either of us were expecting. I think we just started watching it with our jaws dropped. What a ride. So far (haven't checked in awhile) there was only one season on there, but I thought I read that there was going to be more.

What have you been reading lately? Anything amazing?