Reading Rush 2020 TBR

It is that time of year again for The Reading Rush.  You can check out The Reading Rush's website or channel for all of the details.  This year's challenge run's from July 20-26th.  There are always 7 challenge prompts, and you can do the challenge however you like.  All types of media count, so ebooks, audiobooks, comics, graphic novels, or whatever you consider reading fits.  You can read 7 things or you can double up on things so you fill all 7 prompts.  You can also deviate from your TBR and no

Check out their website for forums, merchandise, badges, and all the information you need for the challenge.  It is a fun challenge and a mid-year push to read some things already on my TBR.  While this is mainly a vlog based challenge I like to participate in the TBR and wrap up portions as well as the instagram challenges.  There is no pressure to participate, and the forums are a fun way to participate with other book lovers.

This year's group read is Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid.  I've already read it, and highly recommend the audiobook.  If you want to know what I thought you can see my review here.

Like last year I am planning read 7 things in 7 days.  I purchased Amazon's Forward Collection, which consists of 6 individual sci-fi books by authors I already really enjoy.  Several of them fit prompts this year and since they are all under 100 pages they are perfect for a read-a-thon.  I could probably read the whole collection if I wanted.  I've been rediscovering my love of sci-fi over the last few months and this is the perfect time to read these.

The challenges and what I plan to read:  

1. Read a book with a cover that matches the colour of your birth stone.
1. Randomize by Andy Weir
2. My birthstone is amethyst, and the cover of this one looks purple on my kindle.
2. Read a book that starts with the word “The”.
1. The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang
2. I read the first book last year and really loved it.  It has a diverse cast of characters and a really interesting fantasy storyline.  I'll likely be going with the audiobook of this one because it is only a few hours and I can listen to it while I'm at work and doing other stuff.
3. Read a book that inspired by a movie you’ve already seen.
1. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang which inspired Arrival
2. I've been meaning to read the short story after watching the movie.  I plan on reading the entire collection of short stories.
4. Read the first book you touch.
1. I'm not sure how I'm going to do this yet.  I have another prompt on my Popsugar list that is basically the same challenge.  I've got a ton of books on my physical bookshelves that I can use, but they are all pretty long.  Since most of my other books are short this gives me a little more room for a longer book.  I'll probably post the something on instagram closer to the challenge on what I picked.
5. Read a book completely outside of your house. 
1. Emergency Skin by NK Jemison
2. This is around 30 pages so it shouldn't be a problem for me to read it outside of my house.  I have a really nice front porch and backyard  that will work nicely if I can't get away from home because of coronavirus.
6. Read a book in a genre that you’ve always wanted to read more of. 
1. I have a read harder challenge to read a play so this kills 2 prompts with one "book".  Plays are something I never read and this one has won a ton of awards.
2. How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel
7. Read a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live.
1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.  
2. I've had the audiobook of this for quite a while now, and this is a great time to read this classic.

Stay Home Readathon and Tag

The Reading Rush does a big readathon in July, but since we are all stuck at home the ladies that run it decided to host a mini readathon to encourage people to read and stay home.  Like the regular week long event there will be instagram challenges and badges.  I'm reading anyway, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.   The #stayhomereadingrush is running from April 16th-19th.

The Reading Rush Stay At Home Announcement Video or you can check out their website: https://thereadingrush.com/

Stay Home Reading Tag Questions:

How is your reading going while staying home?  I'm still reading, but I'm less focused.  I am reading less than I was with our hectic schedule when school and activities were going on.  Seems like it would be the other way around, but I'm working from home full time and my house is crazy loud all the time.  It's hard to find a quiet place to read and focus right now.

Where have you been reading at home? Usually on the couch, but because someone is always on the xbox, my focus isn't the best.  I can't focus when I read in bed, I usually fall asleep.  I have been listening to alot of audiobooks, thankfully can usually listen and work at the same time.

Best book you’ve read during isolation?

The Treble with Men by Piper Sheldon - This is kind of a Phantom of the Opera retelling.  It features an angry Maestro and a cello player who hasn't realized her full potential.  I really loved it.

What’s your favourite feel good book?  I'm not a big re-reader, so I'd say I typically turn to romantic comedies when I need a feel good book.  Penny Reid is a go to for me when I need a pick me up or I'm in a slump.

Book you wish you could buy or borrow from the library?  I don't really feel like this is an issue for me.  I shop online for books often and I've been borrowing ebooks and audiobooks from the library for ages so I don't feel like this is an issue for me.  I may or may not have made 2 large Book Outlet purchases during their recent sale.

Author you want to shout out during this time?  Colleen Hoover put up a bunch of her books for free at the beginning of the isolation period and she's been posting a lot of funny stuff on instagram.  Also all of the authors/staff over at Smartypants Romance.  I've been lucky enough to review for the spring launch and the books are awesome.  The authors and the PR staff are amazing.  They have all been posting great stuff, checking in, and if they can putting their books on sale/free for their readers.

What is your Reading Rush TBR? 

Since the readathon is only 4 days I'm planning to double up on the prompts.  

Reading Challenges Read a book with a house on the cover.  

Read a book in the same room the whole time. 

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - I've wanted to read this forever.  It just happened to be on sale today, so I was finally able to grab it for my kindle.  I love scary stories and this has both a house on the cover and it is supposedly less than 200 pages.  Should be easy to finish in a few hours and in one place.  It is also touted to be one of the best scary stories ever written.  I'm looking forward to it.  I also have Hell House, but it's a lot longer.  I'll probably save that for Halloween time.

Read a book set somewhere you wish you could go. 

Read a book that will make you smile.

Batter of Wits by Karla Sorensen - This comes out on the 21st, but I have an ARC so I was going to be reading this week anyway.  If I could go to Green Valley and the Donner Bakery or Daisy's Nut House, I would.  I also know that all of these books are smile inducing.  Almost all of them are rom-coms and end with a happily ever after.  I really liked Karla's previous book in the series so I know this one will be great too.

Magical Readathon OWLs/April 2020 TBR

It is that time of year again for the OWLs and the Magical Readathon.

Check out Book Roast's O.W.L.'s Magical Readathon 2020 Announcement, she is the creator of this awesome read-a-thon and all of the prompts, rules, and the amazing career guide she made are all posted in the description box of her video.   There have been some updates to the career guide this year and G has added some extras courses you can take.

All of the prompts are new, and whatever career you pick in April, will help guide you on what you should read in August for NEWTs.

There are 12 prompts and I'm going to try to fill in as many as I can in April, but based on the ARCs I'm committed to already and what I plan on reading for my reading challenges I chose the career of Culinary Sorcerer and taking the Locomotive Operator Course.

My TBR

Culinary Sorcerer

• Arithmancy - Magical Qualities of #2: Read something outside your favorite genre
• Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
• This is about a group of female students in Iran who gathered illegally to hold a book club to read forbidden Western classics.
• Charms - Lumos Maxima: White Cover
• Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan
• This is the sequel to Wicked Saints and I was lucky enough to get an ARC.  I'm anxious to get back to this dark fantasy world.
• Herbology - Mimbulus Mimbletonia: A title that starts with M
• Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
• I've been on a Sarah Gailey binge lately.  I've really liked her other works.  This has magic and mystery.  It sounds perfect.
• Potions - Shrinking Solution: A book under 150 pages
• The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark
• This is supposed to have some historical elements as well as some sci-fi/fantasy elements.  I've only heard good things.

Locomotive Operator

• Defense Against the Dark Arts - Grindylows: A Book Set at the Sea/Coast
• A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
• This comes out in June and is about sirens.  
• Muggle Studies - A Book from the perspective of a Muggle (Contemporary)
• The Treble with Men by Piper Sheldon
• This comes out on April 7th and is one of the Smartypants Romance books from the spring release.  This is the second book in the Scorned Women Society series.  This promises a romance centered around music composition.

I have some other books on my TBR that will fit other prompts, so we'll see if I can actually finish

February TBR

I had a very successful reading month in January.  I have a fairly ambitious TBR for February.  I have a bunch of ARCs for February and March that I hope to get through.  

I also hope to participate in Tome Topple this month, which runs from 2/7-2/20.  If you don't know what Tome Topple is, that is a reading challenge hosted by Thoughts on Tomes, where you read books over 500 pages.  I tend to listen to really long books these days, but the two books  I hope to get through are Priory of the Orange Tree and Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

Most of these are ARCs

• An Act of Faith by C.A. Oliver
• I started reading this at the end of December.  I'm about 10% of the way in and it is really hard to follow.  It has a Lord of the Rings feel, but nothing has happened.  There are only 7 chapters I think and so far all they've done is face a hurricane and sail around the sea.  There is a made up Elven language so that's cool, but I'm bored so far.  I'm not a fan of really long chapters where nothing happens.  Hopefully it picks up or I'll be DNFing this in February.
• The Borgia Confessions by Alyssa Palombo
• This comes out on February 11th.  I've already started this but it is a very long historical fiction.  From what I can tell and the brief research I've done, it is fairly accurate regarding the Borgia family and the historic events that actually took place.  If you are interested in Vatican history and politics, give this one a look when it comes out later this month.  I'm also using this for the Read Harder prompt for a historical fiction not set in WWII.
• Ten Days Gone by Beverly Long
• This is a mystery that features two female police detectives.  I don't want to get too far into the plot because I don't want to spoil things.  This comes out February 18th.
• Unforgiven by Jay Crownover
• This is a romantic suspense due out February 25th.  I don't think I've read anything by Jay Crownover before, though she's been recommended several times.  Since this is a bit of a mystery, I don't know much about the plot so I don't spoil anything going into it.  This comes out February 25th.
• Havenfall by Sara Holland
• This is Sara Holland's latest fantasy offering.  I enjoyed her previous books, and this is supposed to have magic an an in that connects ancient magical worlds.  It appears that something bad happens and the main character has to figure out what's going on and save the world.  This comes out March 3rd.
• Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco
• If you follow me on social media at all you've seen me tweeting and posting some of the marketing materials for this book.  It comes out March 3rd, and is Chupeco's latest YA Fantasy.  It appears to have a Filipina character, making it #ownvoices, who has no use for magic despite her magical heritage.
• Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
• This is one of my picks for Tome Topple.  I purchased this when it was on sale a while ago and the kindle version comes in at 848 pages.  This also for a Popsugar prompt for a book published in the month of my birthday.  This was published in February of 2019, and my birthday is during Tome Topple, so it kind of works out perfect.

Audiobooks

• Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
• As I mentioned above I'm hoping to listen to list for Tome Topple.  Goodreads has this coming in at 640 pages, and I was planning on picking this up for the Popsugar prompt for a book that won and award in 2019.  This was named best book by several outlets last year, and I'm always looking for a good fantasy.  
• The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin
• My sci-fi book club picked this for our February read.  I don't know much about it other than it is supposed to be heavy on the science and there are aliens.  It also won the Hugo award and those are usually pretty good.
• The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nichole Davis
• This is a debut YA Fantasy that is also supposed to have some historical and western elements.  The blurb says its Westworld meets The Handmaid's Tale, that's all I need to know.  
• Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
• I keep hearing about this, and received an ARC after publication.  I'm hoping it lives up to the hype.  It sounds like a harder hitting contemporary that covers some very real social issues.
• The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste
• I don't remember where I heard about this, but it sounds amazing.  I picked this up for a horror book published by an indie press for the Read Harder challenge.  The girls of Cleveland are changing into what looks like rusted metal.  It sounds terrifying and I can't wait!
• The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle
• Popsugar has a prompt this year to read a book you know nothing about.  This was a tough one, since I wasn't sure what that was.  I feel like I vaguely know a little bit about everything, but investing and the stock market is something I really am not educated on.  My son is participating in a stock market club at school, so I thought this made sense to look into.  It isn't terribly long either, so hopefully I learn something.

 

January TBR

I haven't posted a TBR since October.  I haven't really posted much in the last month to be honest.   I've read a ton, but I kind of took a break from my scheduled posts and reviewing.  I got a little overwhelmed with all of the releases and reviews I had to write in the fall so I kind of just didn't post if I didn't have an obligation to post. 

I'm starting of 2020 with plans to continue the 2020 Popsugar and Read Harder  Read Harder challenges.  I completed both last year and this year's lists are really going to push me to read new things.  I really like Popsugar because I can use most things I wanted to read anyway, and Book Riot really lives up to the name to make me read harder.  It has a lot of diversity prompts this year that make you stretch your boundaries as a reader.  I'm looking forward to it!

If you are interested in what I'm reading or what I read for the past challenges, my google docs are below.

• Popsugar Reading Challenge Spreadsheet
• Book Riot Read Harder Spreadsheet

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

These are the books I have already started or plan to read and review by the end of January.  I expect I'll read more than 4 books this month, but I don't want to over plan this year.

• Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon
• I just started this for a sci-fi book club I recently joined with some people I work with.  It is set far in the future on another planet.  I haven't gotten very far into the book so not much has happened, but I like it so far.
• An Act of Faith by C.A. Oliver
• I've had the ARC of this for a while now.  This is apparently the first of 12 books in a fantasy series.  In reading the author's notes, it is based on a group of friends and their love of video games and lore and myths.  It gives me Lord of the Rings vibes.
• Ashlords by Scott Reintgen
• I have an ARC of this and it comes out on the 21st.  I'm a huge fan of Reintgen's work and this is his latest young adult offering.  It is supposed to have some magical battle horses and was compared to Scorpio Races which I loved.  
• Don't Read the Comments by Eric Smith
• I received an ARC of this a while ago, but I was holding this for January to count it toward the Popsugar reading prompt for a book involving social media.  This is supposed to be about two gamers who have to deal with the hassle of virtual trolls.  Look for more closer to the release date on the 28th.

Audiobooks

I'm only going to list the audiobooks I have checked out at the moment.  I have several on hold at the moment and a ton on Hoopla that are always options.

• The Cursed Sea by Lauren Destefano
• I started this a few days ago and I'm about halfway done as of the writing of this post.  I really enjoyed the first book.  It has been quite a while since I read the first book, so I've forgotten most of the story, but this follow's Wil, a girl who can crystalize anything or anyone she touches as she tries to save her kingdom.  There is quite a bit of political intrigue but it still isn't clear as to why the kingdoms are at war.
• Dry by  Neal and Jarrod Shusterman
• I keep seeing this book recommended for various reasons, but it showed up on Read Harder's recommendations for a book about a natural disaster.  I don't really know much about this book other than people say it is a good read.
• Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
• I picked this up for the Read Harder challenge for a retelling by an author of color.  This is also the featured audiobook of the month at my library and the author will be coming to lecture at one of the local branches later this month.  I've heard mixed reviews about this book, so we'll give it a try.

Spookathon TBR

So I was checking Youtube as I do when I'm procrastinating and I came across Booksandlala's Spookathon announcement video.  Go check it out here.

The readathon runs from October 14-20th.  

I love the fall and Halloween.  It is my favorite time of year.  I'm excited that there is a readathon dedicated to the spookier time of year.  I love mysteries and thrillers!  There was a long stretch when I didn't read anything mystery or thriller, but I've been reading more of them the last year or so and I'm so happy to have them back in the mix of things I'm reading.

Challenges and Books I'm going to try and read

Let's be real, I almost never read what is on my TBR, so I'll say these are what I plan to read but we'll be flexible.  I plan on doubling up on these challenges.

• Read a thriller
• Verity by Colleen Hoover
• 
• I’ve put this on several other readathon’s and keep pushing it off. It’s a thriller I keep meaning to get to. It's on my end of year must read list and perfect for this prompt.
• Read a book with a spooky word in the title
• Spell on Wheels by Kate Leth, Megan Levens, Marissa Louise, Jen Bartel, and Nate Piekos
• 
• I’ve been meaning to get to this. It’s a graphic novel so it is perfect for a readathon, and it has witches on a road trip for revenge. Sounds perfect!
• Read a book with a spooky setting
• Shadows by Kristen Proby
• 
• This one is tentative. It comes out at the end of October and I’ve requested an ARC. If I get a copy it would be perfect for this prompt. It is a paranormal romance set in New Orleans, has a characters that sees the undead, and promises unspeakable evil. If I don’t get an advanced copy I’m still planning on reading it after it releases.
• Read something you wouldn't normally read
• Read a book with red on the cover
• The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Manhke
• 
• This is an audiobook I got for free on Volumes, which is Penguin Random House Audio’s app. They periodically do free audiobooks. This is a compilation of stories either from a podcast or inspired by the Lore podcast and TV series. I'm not big on short stories or podcasts, so this is a perfect fit. I also love learning about the history of spooky stuff. It also has a red cover.

September TBR

While I read a ton of stuff in August, I didn't read everything on my TBR so alot of these are repeats.  

I have a ton of ARCs to catch up on for September and October so that's what most of this list is going to be.  Some of these are pretty large books so we'll see if I can get through all of them on time.  I think this is a pretty ambitious TBR for the month and some prioritizing will have to happen.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup
• This comes out September 3rd.  It is a pretty large book and I haven't made a ton of progress.  Its good so far.  It is a Scandanavian thriller about a man who leaves little chestnut dolls at the scene of his crimes.  
• Beard with Me by Penny Reid
• This is one of  my most anticipated books of the year, this and the next one Beard Necessities.  This comes out September 16th and I can't wait to read it.  This is book 5.5 of the Winston Brothers series and it tells Claire aka Scarlet's story.  The next book Billy's story and I can't wait.  If you haven't read the series, they are some of my favorites and this couple has been waiting for their book for a very long time!
• The Grace Year by Kim Liggett 
• This is due out September 17th.  This is labeled as YA, dystopian, and sci-fi.  When girls turn 16, their Grace Year, they are banished to survive that year on their own.  Apparently they have some magical power for that year and the results can be horrifying.  It has gotten high praise and I'm looking forward to it.
• Saving Fable by Scott Reintgen 
•  This is due out September 17th.  This is a new middle grade fantasy series by Reintgen.  I loved his sci-fi trilogy Nyxia and this looks really fun.  This follows a fairy tale character who wants to become a hero and her journey to achieve hero status in the land of Fable.  
• A Hero Born by Jin Yong
• This book was published in 1957, but it is being being translated and published in the US on September 17 for the first time.  This is a Chinese fantasy, historical fiction novel about Genghis Khan.  It sounds really awesome.
• Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris 
• This due out October 3rd and is the follow up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz.  I recently finished that and I'm looking forward to reading Cilka's story as she was a major part of that story.
• The Furies by Katie Lowe due 
• This one comes out October 3rd and is a YA Thriller.  The cover reminds me of the movie The Craft.  The synopsis kind of gives me those vibes too.  I loved that movie, and this sounds really interesting, it promises occult, mentions witch trials, and has a dark tone.  Looks like a perfect read for fall.
• War of Hearts by S. Young
• I'm so excited for this one.  Samantha Young hasn't put out a Paranormal Fantasy in quite a while.  She's mainly stuck to contemporary romance for the last several years.  This is a standalone werewolf novel due out October 1st.  I'll probably read this before some of the other stuff on this list.
• The Burning Shadow by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• This is another of my most anticipated reads of the year.  I've had the arc forever but I kept pushing it off until closer to the release date.  Well October 8th is quickly approaching so it's time to read Luc and Evie's sequel.  I really love this spin-off to the Luxen series and I pretty much will read anything Jen writes.

Audiobooks

I'm focusing my audiobook attention on my reading challenge prompts.  If I get through these I have quite a few more on my wishlist to get through.  

• The Library Book by Susan Orlean
• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
• Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
• The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

August TBR

So I pretty much failed to read anything on my July TBR, so most of these are repeats.  I actually doubt I'll get to any of these this month as well because I'm participating in the Netgalley Reviewathon to clear out my review shelf and I'm participating in the NEWTs readathon.

My focus is the NEWTs readathon and to clean up my Edelweiss and Netgalley shelves.  I also have some ARCs I'm expecting in August that aren't on this list so I think I have my work cut out for me.  I'm not going to give descriptions of these like I normally do because there are so many this month.  Look for my wrap up to see what I thought and what they were about.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

NEWTs TBR

• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
• The Hanged Man and the Fortune Teller by Lucy Banks
• Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
• Verity by Colleen Hoover
• Star Mage Vol 2 by J.C De La Torre and Facundo Percio
• The Furies by Katie Low

Netgalley Reviewathon TBR

• A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart
• The Broken Destiny by Carlyle Labushagne
• Last Night by Karen Ellis
• Extinction of All Children by L.J. Epps
• Journey To Territory M by L.J. Epps
• Journey To Territory U by L.J. Epps
• An Act of Faith by C.A. Oliver
• The Grace Year by Kim Liggett 

Audiobooks

As is typical I have a laundry list of audiobooks on hold at the library.  I also have a growing collection of books that I've gotten for free from various sources.  Here is what I know I can get to this month from Hoopla and my collection.  Most of these are for challenge prompts, so I'll list those if they apply.  Hopefully I can get through all of these in a month, if not they will roll over to August.

NEWTs TBR

• Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

Books I've already got checked out

• My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing
• Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart
• The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

Books I hope to read in general if I have time

• The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
• Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
• Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

N.E.W.T.s Magical Read-a-Thon TBR

I participated in the O.W.L.s in April, and now it is time for the N.E.W.T.s.  Any Harry Potter fan will know what I'm talking about.  If you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, NEWTs are the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests that 7th year students take at Hogwarts to determine their magical career paths upon graduation.

If you want more information about the Magical Read-a-Thon go check out Book Roast's announcement video.  She does such an amazing job with all of the prompts the documents she creates.

So when I took my O.W.L.s back in April, I picked Magizoologist as my career path based on what I thought my initial TBR would be.  I did end up finishing all the reading prompts (see what I read), so I think I can pick any career in the guide depending on how many N.E.W.T.s I finish in August.  I'm going to stick with the original plan and try to use the ARCs I've got coming up for fall and some of the books I was planning on reading for the Popsugar and Read Harder Challenges.  As I read other things I'll pencil in where they fit on my sheet to see what else I can finish.

There is also a group read book that you can use to fill in any prompt, Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell.  Not sure if I'll get to this one, but it sounds interesting.

Keeping with the Magizoologist plan, that means I need receive the following marks on my NEWTs

• O in Care of Magical Creatures
• E in Charms
• E in Herbology

Below are the prompts and the books I plan to read to achieve the required marks to become a Magizoologist:

Magical Creatures Prompts

• Book title that starts with  letter A
• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
• Book under 300 pages
• The Hanged Man and the Fortune Teller by Lucy Banks
• Goodreads says this is 256 pages
• Read a book with a bird on the cover
• Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Charms Prompts

• Read a book that you think has a gorgeous cover
• Verity by Colleen Hoover
• Read a comic/graphic novel/manga (book under 150 pages)
• Star Mage Vol 2 by J.C De La Torre and Facundo Percio
• I read volume 1 for the OWLs but I think I'm going to read the version that has issues 1-6 because they are really short.

Herbology Prompts

• Listen to an audiobook
• Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
• Read a book between 350-390 pages
• The Furies by Katie Lowe
• Goodreads lists this at 368 pages

Netgalley Reviewathon TBR

Photo Credit: Netgalley

I've been reviewing books from Netgalley for about 2 years.  This year they are holding a reviewathon from July 22nd through August 30th to encourage reviewers to clean up their TBR and increase their reviewer stats.  The higher your feedback ratio and the  more reviews you leave, the more likely you are to be approved for future requests.  Who doesn't want to read books early and promote their favorite authors?

My feedback ratio is pretty good, it hovers between 75 and 80%, but that doesn't mean I get approved for everything I request.  I have plenty of books on my backlog that I need to clear out.  Several of these were already published when I downloaded them for review, and I kept putting them off.  I still plan on reading and reviewing them.  This reviewathon is the perfect opportunity to clean up my TBR shelf and post all of my outstanding reviews.

Check out the Netgalley IG for the weekly challenges.

Here are the books on my shelf currently in no particular order.  I plan on reading quite a few of these for current and upcoming reading challenges.  I've already started Small Spaces for The Reading Rush and hope to get to Black Dawn by the end of week 1 of the reviewathon.

1. Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
2. Black Dawn by Mallory McCartney
3. A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart
4. The Broken Destiny by Carlyle Labushagne
5. Last Night by Karen Ellis
6. Extinction of All Children by L.J. Epps
7. Journey To Territory M by L.J. Epps
8. Journey To Territory U by L.J. Epps
9. An Act of Faith by C.A. Oliver
10. The Furies by Katie Lowe
11. The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

All the lovely covers of the books I need to read

July 2019 TBR

Well it is finally summer, but you couldn't prove that by me.  It has been unseasonably cold and rainy here in Pennsylvania.  Hopefully July will shape up to be warmer than June.  As for books, I only have 1 ARC that I didn't get to for July so I'm hoping to get caught up on my reading challenge prompts and maybe get caught up on some other books I've been meaning to read and review.  We will see how that goes.  I'm hoping I didn't set myself up for failure by picking such a large TBR, but I'm determined knock these ones out and hopefully a few more.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger
• This one is due out July 2nd.  This is another thriller/mystery.  This one follows a father/daughter FBI team but things get interesting when the father becomes a suspect in a murder.  That's not a spoiler it's in the description of the book.  I'm looking forward to this one too.
• Burying the Honeysuckle Girls by Emily Carpenter
• A friend recommended this and I saw it used at the library for $1 so I grabbed it.  This is another dark family mystery and I've been reading a lot of those lately so I'm looking forward to this one.  This covers the popsugar reading prompt for a book with a plant in the title or on the cover as it has both.
• Verity by Colleen Hoover
• I've heard great things about this book.  I'm excited to get to it.  I've been on a huge thriller kick lately and that's pretty much all I know about this book.  That's all I'm going in with so I don't spoil anything.  This covers the reading prompt for the read harder challenge for a self-published book.
• The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
• No explanation needed here, we all know the story of Alice and her adventure in Wonderland after falling down the rabbit hole.  This will fulfil the popsugar prompt for a book that has inspired a common phrase or idiom as "Mad as a hatter" and "Down the rabbit hole" are both inspired by this book.  I believe I purchased the UK edition and it contains both stories and some really lovely pencil type illustrations.  I've been reading a ton of retellings over the last few years, but I also really enjoy reading the original tales.
• Dragonsworn by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• This is the 26th book in a long running series I've been reading for well over 10 years.  I've been putting this one off for a long time because the last book was so disappointing.  I bought it hoping that this one will get things back on track and I really want to read the next book.  Having read and excerpt of book 27 I am hopeful that things are back to normal.  This will also fulfil the popsugar challenge prompt for a book with and extinct or an imaginary creature as this is a shifter series with characters that can turn into dragons and side characters that turn into other animals.

Audiobooks

As is typical I have a laundry list of audiobooks on hold at the library.  I also have a growing collection of books that I've gotten for free from various sources.  Here is what I know I can get to this month from Hoopla and my collection.  Most of these are for challenge prompts, so I'll list those if they apply.  Hopefully I can get through all of these in a month, if not they will roll over to August.

• Shadowglass by Rin Chupeco
• I'm reading this now and I don't think I'll finish it before the end of June.  It is the conclusion of The Bone Witch trilogy and while I'm still not clear on Tea's motivations just yet, things are slowly being unraveled.
• Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins
• This series has been recommended so many times by fans of other authors I love.  It also frequently pops up as a recommendation on my library's overdrive site based on my reading habits.  I'm finally getting around to it as it is going to fill the popsugar prompt for a book with a title that contains "salty", "sweet", "bitter", or "spicy".  
• The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
• I've been loving this series. I love the mythology, the characters, and the writing style.  I'm really looking forward to the conclusion of this series.  
• The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
• This will cover the popsugar challenge to read a book featuring a wedding.  This is not normally a book I would pick, but I've heard good things from the contemporary reviewers I follow.  It was free on Volumes in June, so it was a perfect fit.
• Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
• This has been on my TBR before but I'm making a commitment to get to this one this month.  This will fulfil the popsugar prompt for book written by a author from Asia, Africa, or South America.
• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
• I have a hardback copy of this but I've heard that the author's narration of this is excellent.  I have this penciled in for the read harder prompt for a book of mythology or folklore.
• Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
• I bought the paperback of this a while back because I have a pretty decent Crichton collection.  I went through a phase where I read as many of his books as I could get my hands on.  It helped that my dad had a small collection of his books at home for me to to start with.  I don't know much about this one other than it deals with pirates in Jamaica in the 1600s.  I'm going to use this for the popsugar prompt for a book published posthumously.

June TBR

June is shaping up to be a month of mystery and thrillers.  I used to read a ton of them, but I got away from them for a long time and recently rediscovered my love of them.  I have a ton of ARCs I'm hoping to knock out this month.  I just went through my to be reviewed pile it keeps getting longer.  I also just picked up a ton of books at the library sale.  I need to stop buying new books, but who am I kidding that is never going to happen.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland
• My son is never going to forgive me if I don't read this book.  He just started book 5 of the 2nd Percy Jackson series.  So he's read 10 books and I haven't read the one book he asked me to read in exchange for trying this series.  
• The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe
• This comes out June 25th.  This is a paranormal historical fiction from what I can tell.  The synopsis reminds me a bit of The Discovery of Witches and it has some ties to the Salem Witch trials which I find fascinating.  I'm looking forward to reading about this magical family.  
• Teardrop Shot by Tijan
• This is out June 24th and is a sports romance featuring basketball.  If you don't know much of my time is spent on the sidelines of a basketball court.  This is a new adult romance from Tijan and I'm looking forward to it.
• Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
• I've really enjoyed Sager's previous books, so when the opportunity to review this new release due out July 2nd.  I'm a fan of his thrillers and I can't wait to find out what twists and turns he has in store for us in this new book.
• Kingsbane by Claire Legrand
• I was so excited to get approved for an ARC of this.  This is already out, but I'm going to read it anyway because let's be real I want to know what happens next.  This one is pretty long so it will probably be the first book I tackle in June.
• Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger
• This one is due out July 2nd as well.  This is another thriller/mystery.  This one follows a father/daughter FBI team but things get interesting when the father becomes a suspect in a murder.  That's not a spoiler it's in the description of the book.  I'm looking forward to this one too.

Audiobooks

I have a bunch of books I hope to get to this month on audio, but I'm only going to list these 2.

• Nexus by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings
• I have the ARC of this, but I was able to get the audio from Hoopla.  I've already started it and so far so good.  It is much more focused than Zenith.
• A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis
• I received an ARC of this one too, but I'm next up for the audio so hopefully I can knock this one out.  This is the first book in a mystery/thriller series and I've been really loving those lately.  The synopsis reads like an episode of Criminal Minds which I love.  I'm excited to get to this one.

May TBR

I had a great reading month in April, May is shaping up to be a busy month with outdoor sports.  That means it is the perfect time to read my physical books since my kindle is not ideal for reading in sunny weather.  One of my goals was to read more of the books on my shelves and spring/summer is the perfect time to do that.  I'm excited to get to some of the books I picked up at my local library sale.  I also picked up some great kindle books on World Book Day and through the many daily deal emails I get for kindle books.  I'm really looking forward to reading those as well. 

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• The Librarian: A Pirates Revenge (The Librarian #3) by Eric Hobbs
• I read book 2 in April and I'm anxious to finish out the trilogy.  This is a fun middle grade/YA retelling based in classic fairy tales.  The first two books had solid foundations in Peter Pan and Oz.  I'm looking forward to getting to seeing where this one takes us.
• Storm and Fury by Jennifer Armentrout
• I was hoping to get to this in April but I ran out of time.  This comes out in June and is one of my most anticipated reads of 2019.  
• The Boyfriend Bargain by Ilsa Madden-Mills
• This is a standalone hockey romance due out May 5th.  It sounded good, so jumped on the chance to read and review it.  Madden-Mills is a new author to me, but I don't think I'll be disappointed.
• Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
• This a relatively new release, but it has gotten a ton of hype.  It is a YA Fantasy, with some mythology/religion elements from what I can tell, political intrigue, and supposed to have an awesome female warrior lead.  I've only read the first chapter so far, and it is interesting.  I may listen to the audio of this instead as some reviews have said the pacing is slow.
• The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland
• This is my 11 year old son's favorite series.  I promised him I'd the first book if he'd give Percy Jackson a try.   I knew he would fall in love with Percy and the gang if he would just give the books a chance.  He wouldn't read them for some reason, probably because I told him they were good and he'd like them, same thing with Harry Potter (though he has read the first 3 of those).  He started Percy last weekend and has devoured them. He is almost done with the first series, lucky for him I have all 10 books and The Kane Chronicles.  I have to keep my promise, so I'm going to read this in May.
• Courting Darkness by Robin LeFevers
• I'm so excited there are more books in this series.  I really loved the original trilogy, and this follows Sybella, one of the assassins trained at the convent of the daughters of death.  It was a really interesting concept and I'm looking forward to meeting the new characters as well as revising old friends.

Audiobooks

As usual I've got a bunch of books on hold at the library.  I've been requesting new and popular books, so things have been coming in slowly.  Hoopla and the available now option have been great in the interim.  Libro.fm also had a bunch of free books on Independent Bookstore Day so I've got several new books I can listen to whenever I want now.  Audiofile's Summer Reading AudioSYNC Program kicked off last week and I picked up their 2 books for week 1, the are doing 2 books a week from April 27th through August 1st.  They always have amazing titles and narrators.  My son and I are looking forward to listening to the titles on our long drives to and from basketball practice.  

• Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
• I still haven't gotten to this one.  It is high on my priority list for May.  
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• This has gotten so many good reviews, and it is narrated by Cassandra Campbell who is one of my favorite narrators.  This is listed as a coming of age, historical fiction, and mystery on Goodreads so we'll see how I like it.  It sounds interesting, and I think I can use it for a reading challenge prompt.
• Nyxia Uprising by Scott Reintgen
• This is the final installment of the Nyxia Triad.  The Genesis crew is still trying to win the prize and escape with their lives from the planet they've flown so far in space to get to.  I'm anxious to get to this one as I've really enjoyed the series so far.  

O.W.L. Read-a-thon and TBR

So I keep seeing these O.W.L. TBR video's on Book-tube and I haven't watched any of them, until today.  I watched Pages and Pens TBR earlier today and realized I am missing out on an amazing and magical readathon.  So naturally I went down the TBR video rabbit hole, and I realized this is totally something I can do in the month of April.  Several of the O.W.L prompts fit right in with what I'm already planning on reading. 

Check out Book Roast's O.W.L.'s Magical Readathon 2019 Announcement, she is the creator of this awesome read-a-thon and all of the prompts, rules, and the amazing career guide she made are all posted in the description box of her video.   I really admire all of her creativity and the work she has put into creating the materials. 

Based on the books I plan on reading in April I think that makes my career path a Magizoologist.

My TBR

• Care of Magical Creatures - Land Animal on the Cover
• The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden 
• Charms - Age-line: Read an adult work
• The Guest Book by Sarah Blake
• History of Magic - Published at least 10 years ago
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
• Muggle Studies - Contemporary
• Things We Never Said by Samantha Young 
• Potions - Next Ingredient: Sequel
• Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

April TBR

It is rare that I'm actually all caught up on everything I need to read.  I have some ARCs that are due out in May and some others that I've had waiting to be reviewed so hopefully I can get to those.  I've got a bunch of stuff on hold at the library as usual, and I'm slowly making progress on my reading challenges.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Unhappily Ever After (The Librarian #2) by Eric Hobbs
• I'm currently reading this now.  I've had a copy of this to review for quite a while, and I'm just getting around to it.  I have the 3rd one as well, and hopefully I'll get to that as well.  It is a little bit of a retelling and a little bit of a mashup of favorite fairy tales and classics.  The two main characters altered reality when they changed the classic Wizard of Oz tale.  They find that the people they know and even their own personalities have changed.  So far it is good, I need a good adventure story.
• The Guest Book by Sarah Blake
• The is due out on May 7th.  This is a historical fiction book set in the 1930's.  It sounded really interesting to me and appears to tackle a lot of tough issues that have plagued the US for a very long time.  
• Storm and Fury by Jennifer Armentrout
• This is the first book in a new YA Fantasy/Paranormal series.  If you have read The Dark Elements you will be familiar with some of the characters, as this is Zayne's story post Layla.  The Dark Elements is one of my favorite series, and I'm looking forward to seeing some old favorite characters and Zayne getting his own story.  If this is anything like the original you will have whitty banter, romance, gargoyles, demons, and who know what other manner of creature to take us on a crazy adventure.  This is set to release June 11, 2019.
• Things We Never Said by Samantha Young
• This is the third book in Sam's On Hart's Boardwalk Series.  Fans of the series have been patiently awaiting Dahlia's story for quite some time now.  We don't have to wait much longer as this is due out on May 7, 2019.  Dahlia is a local artist and she owns a local gift shop on the boardwalk.  We don't know much about her yet, but at the end of the last book Michael waltzed in and upended Dahlia's quiet demeanor.  I'm so excited to get to know them.

Audiobooks

I'm hoping to get Bloodwitch on audio (or in print) so I can finish it, but I've got a ton of other things on hold as usual.  The two I've got checked out currently are both to fulfil challenge prompts.

• City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
• I really love Victoria Schwab/V.E. Schwab's writing.  I've been looking forward to this book for a while.  I started this yesterday and so far so good.  It is a middle grade/YA paranormal story about a girl who can see ghosts.  I love a good paranormal fantasy.
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• I don't even know what this is about except it has won lots of awards, everyone speaks highly of this book, and it won the Great American Read vote.  It also has over 3 million ratings on Goodreads which is why I'm reading it.  I'm using it for my reading challenge prompt for a book with over 1 million ratings.
• Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
• I won a copy of this in a giveaway that Highbridge Audio was having.  It is narrated by Robin Miles, who is a fantastic narrator, and is about and African soldier who deserts his post, political scandal, and many other things.  This fits a couple of the challenge prompts, and from the few chapters I've listened to its interesting.

February TBR

I thought February was going to be an easy month, I'm ahead on my ARC reviewing, and I don't have that many books to review this month or next.  Then I wrote down all the stuff plan on reading and it is a little daunting.  I have a ton of stuff I want to read this month and I didn't even list out all the audiobooks I hope to get to.

I talk alot about the challenge prompts I'm working on and which books fit what prompt in my TBR and wrap-ups.  If you are interested in the prompts or want to participate along with me, the links to the challenges are below.  I'm working actively on the Popsugar and Read Harder challenges.

• 2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge
• Book Riot’s 2019 Read Harder Challenge

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• The Last Life of Prince Alastor by Alexandra Bracken
• I've been reading this for 2 weeks already but I've been very distracted.  Not the books fault, I've just been kind of in a slump.  I'm hoping to finish it this weekend before it releases. This comes out February 5th.
• The Dysasters by Kristin Cast and P.C Cast
• I was really excited to get an ARC of this.  It looks really awesome.  This comes out February 26th.  This sounds like Twister meets X-Men meets Smallville.  Sign me up.  I love all of those things.
• Erased, Volume 4 & 5 by Kei Sanbe
• I read volume 1 for the Read Harder challenge and proceeded to read volumes 2 and 3 in January.  Now that I understand how to read the manga style of the book, I'm really interested in the plot.  I have these 2 volumes and hope to binge read them once I finish Prince Alastor.  I really enjoy this series and plan to review it as a series when I'm done.
• In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
• This just came in at the library and I'm next in line on the hold list.  I'm anxious to get back to this world and see where the next door takes us.  They are so creative and usually fast paced.
• Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
• I thought the movie trailer for this looked really cool, and the movie is 99% of the time better.  I thought I'd read this before I saw the movie.  I have no idea what this is about.
• The Queen's Resistance by Rebecca Ross
• This is the sequel to The Queen's Rising.  This comes out March 5th.  This is filled with political unrest, feuding families, star crossed lovers, and long lost magic.  The main character must work with the rightful queen and her resistance (hence the title) to help restore things to the way they should be.  I really loved the first book and I'm looking forward to getting to this one.
• Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
• This comes out March 5th.  This is a psychological thriller.  The main character is bipolar and begins to suspect that her neighbor may be a murderer, but she isn't sure of herself or if she is an unreliable narrator in her own life.  I've been really into thrillers lately and I'm looking forward to this one.  

Audiobooks

I have about 10 audiobooks on hold but I have the first two listed checked out already.  After that it is all up in the air on what comes in when.  I also recommend a bunch of new releases for purchase and I never know if and when those will show up.

• Firestarter by Stephen King
• This fulfills my read a book with the same title prompt.  I already started this and I'm well over halfway done with it.  I am really enjoying it.  I hope to finish it this weekend.
• Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare
• This is another challenge book, Read a book by and author whose first and last name start with the same letter.    I enjoy Clare's books.  This one is fairly long, and will likely take me 2 full weeks to complete.  This is the conclusion of The Dark Artifices series I believe don't quote me on that. 
• Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard
• This comes out February 12th, and I've already read an early excerpt of this and I like what I've read so far. I can't wait to get the full copy, it picks up where book 3 left off and all of our favorite characters are present and on their own journeys.  I've listened to the entire series on audio so I'm going to continue on that way.  The narration is excellent and I'm excited to see where the various storylines go.  I hope to get this right away in February, but you never know with library holds.