Yall, this was NOT my month. I said I wanted to read 15 books a month. Well. I only got to 9. I was in a super huge slump for a majority of the month and I’m not sure why.
Anyway, I’ll tell you what books I read, my monthly stats, and how my Goodreads goal is looking!
EBOOKS READ
Grey by EL James – 3 stars. Not my favorite. Took me almost a week to read.
First off, my Goodreads goal. 9/165. I’m 4 books behind schedule. I already have a plan for next month and I’m hoping to hit it!
I read 1697 pages and did 14 hours, 32 minutes of listening! My average rating was 3.88 stars. I read three nonfic, two contemporary, two erotica, one horror, and one thriller. There were seven adult books and two YA. I only read one ARC this month. One of my books was #ownvoices!
What does your monthly wrap up look like? Did you read any of these books! Let me know in the comments below!
Happy Thursday guys! This year I started using a couple reading tracker spreadsheets to track my books read. I also started using a Book Blogging spreadsheet. It has a tab dedicated to book hauls. I made a point to log every book I bought, and whew. I did not realize what a habit I had!
So in January alone, I bought 27 books for a total of $134.74. I did not realize I spent that much! And those are just books for ME! We also bought our DM the Critical Role graphic novel and I bought my kid some books.
I mostly bought ebooks. I only bought two physical and 6 audios. So lets jump in to what I bought!
So for ebooks – three were preorders, and I got preorder incentives for Don’t Read the Comments and The Shadows Between Us! Thirteen were on sale for $2.99 or less. I bought 5 full price. I’ve also already read three of the ones I bought – Center of the Universe, Don’t Read the Comments, and The Wives.
Three of these I got with audible credits and the other three I got from the past daily deals sale! I’ve already finished Chase Darkness With Me and Evil has a name. I’m currently listening to Human Errors. I have found this month that I really love non-fic audios – especially true crime!
These two I bought last weekend at Books-A-Million. I don’t really read physicals, but I want to get back into them! I have already read Language of Thorns, but I’ve been wanting my own copy! The artwork on the sides of the stories is amazing. I got Grave Mercy because I’ve been into female assassins lately and I’m always looking for inspo for my dnd character!
Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts? What are your January hauls looking like? Let me know in the comments below!
Wow! Another week! Of me not reading…. What is my deal?! I’m already six books behind my GR goal. I need to get my ass in gear. And like…. read a book. Or six.
Anyway, when last we left our TBR, we were at 1954. We are currently sitting at 1957. I joined a great community of bloggers on twitter, and they’ve been giving me some great books to read! Oh yeah, I started a twitter last week too! Follow me @Mithah_Reads!
So lets jump right in! First look at the covers of these next 10 books, I’m not sure I’ll keep any? Maybe one. Maybe the synopses will change my mind though!
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Date Added: June 27, 2015
Thoughts: Girl has too many drinks and sleeps with bff’s fiance. Now a decision to risk it all for happiness. I think too chick lit
Keep or Delete: Delete
Hush by Kate White
Date Added: June 27, 2015
Thoughts: A thriller! MC is going through a divorce and the guy she sleeps with ends up dead. Yes, please!
Keep or Delete: Keep!
Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock
Date Added: June 27, 2015
Thoughts: Another thriller! This is about two young girls, an unstable mom and abusive step father. Sign me up!
Keep or Delete: Keep!
Faithful by Kim Cash Tate
Date Added: June 27, 2015
Thoughts: Chick lit Christian fiction. I think I’ll pass
Keep or Delete: Delete
The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King
Date Added: June 27, 2015
Thoughts: Chick lit about a group of friends getting together every two years to catch up on life.
Keep or Delete: Delete
The Deed by Keith Blanchard
Date Added: June 27, 2015
Thoughts: Honestly, it was hard for me to get through this synopsis. I think that means its not for me.
Keep or Delete: Delete
The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright
Date Added: June 27, 2015
Thoughts: This might be cute. A husband writes his wife every week and they both die. Kids find the letters and secrets. I’m just not sure It would keep my interest.
Keep or Delete: Delete
The Shattering by Karen Healey
Date Added: June 27, 2015
Thoughts: This was the one I thought I’d keep based on the cover, and I was right! It’s YA (yay!) and a thriller!
Keep or Delete: Keep!
Blood Orange by Drusilla Campbell
Date Added: June 27, 2015
Thoughts: Eek. About a daughter going missing. Since having a kid, I can’t read these books.
Keep or Delete: Delete
In This Way I Was Saved by Brian DeLeeuw
Date Added: June 27, 2015
Thoughts: This sounds like horror/thriller and I think I’m here for it.
Keep or Delete: Keep!
Wow! I kept way more than I thought I would, but there were a lot of thrillers! So that’s pretty exciting!
I am ending at 1951, so I kept four and deleted six. I am so close to being under 1950! Next week FOR SURE! Unless I keep adding to my tbr…
Have you read any of these novels? What did you think? Let me know below!
On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she’d become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways. She didn’t. And then she died. Now she’s stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge–as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past. Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly’s afterlife has been miserable. But this year, everything is about to change…
– Goodreads
This was the perfect holiday read. I was so glad it won the discussion poll over at Book Battle! I was a little hesitant at first. I’ve never read an A Christmas Carol retelling, and I wasn’t sure how it would work. Cynthia Hand did an amazing job of keeping the spirit and key elements in the original story and mixing them with a little fantasy! Honestly, this is something I will probably reread every holiday season.
So we start with Holly. She isn’t a good person. But what does that matter? The three ghosts visit her on Christmas Eve. She thinks it’s a crazy dream or a prank. The next day, she’s dead. Now 5 years have passed and she works for Project Scrooge. They are the ones who pick the hero each year. The ghosts come to them and try to get them to change for the better. This year the Hero is young – like Holly’s age. He’s cute. Is he really that bad?
Holly develops feelings for Ethan, which is totally against all the rules. She just can’t help it. She has to be near him. But falling for Ethan also opens up wounds of her own. Will she be able to keep changing for the better?
I read this book in just over a day. It was so enthralling and fun. I loved the forbidden romance. I also loved how Holly kept growing and changing. I don’t want to give away the ending – it was good! But I just wanted something… different. But I see why Cynthia ended it that way!
If you haven’t read The Afterlife of Holly Chase, you need to put it on your TBR for this holiday season! It’s already on mine again.
Ginny’s life suddenly comes to a screeching halt one fateful Monday when a shooter shows up at Southwestern High School during first period. In lockdown with both the homeroom sub and her secret crush Owen badly wounded, Ginny finds herself teamed up with Kayla, one of the “barbies.” Together, they must try to keep their classmates alive amid terror and pain. As the chaos continues, Ginny is plagued with questions. Has she judged Kayla too harshly? Will she ever have the chance to ask Own to prom? Will the fight she had with her mom before school been their last interaction ever? With the uncertainty of everyone making it out alive growing with every minute, there’s only one thing Ginny knows for sure: no one is making it out unchanged.
– Goodreads
I don’t know why I love such tragic books. I love true crime. I love disaster books. So when I saw this book on Netgalley, I wanted to read it. It goes through the harrowing hours while a high school in Canada is on lock down due to a school shooting.
It was interesting that this was set in Canada. They have much different laws than we do – which are shown in the book. I know their gun control is much stricter.
The novel is told through the eyes of Ginny. She’s a typical teen girl. She had a blow out fight with her mom before school. Honestly though, what teen girl doesn’t? It normally wouldn’t matter, the fight would be forgotten about by dinner. Only today, it does matter. What if Ginny never gets to see her mom again?
Throughout the story, you are told of teens texting their parents and loved ones. Last ditch efforts to say they love them. You are told of the killer at the door. Will he get in? Teachers are trying everything they can think to save the kids. It’s honestly a haunting novel. My son is 2.5 years old. I can’t imagine him going through this. It’s getting all too common in America. During the story, you are shown parts of Ginny’s past. It was a nice reprieve from the horror that was occurring.
#NotReadyToDie was a quick read. At 200 pages, I could have read it in an afternoon if someone wasn’t so distracting -cough-child-cough-. The novel moved at a nice pace, it never seemed rushed. You got to know all the kids in the class with Ginny – including her crush and a girl she thinks hates her. They both have surprising ends. However, I did have a problem with some of the dialogue. The actions of the teens totally fit, but I felt their conversations were somewhat juvenile.
I do wish the ending gave me a little more. You didn’t find out who the killer was or the motives. As a true crime buff I just HAD to know! I think that was my biggest gripe about the book.
If you are like me and are a fan of true crime/tragedy books, I think #NotReadyToDie is definitely worth picking up!
Have you read #NotReadyToDie? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
I am so honored to be a part of this blog tour! This was a pretty highly anticipated read for me, and I loved it! It definitely lived up to the hype!
Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming — mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.
Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.
All’s fair in love and cheese — that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life — on an anonymous chat app Jack built.
As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate — people on the internet are shipping them?? — their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.
Four stars to this adorable modern teen romance! I fell in love with this book so quickly. Both Pepper and Jack were instantly likable and fun. At the time, I wasn’t on twitter. I honestly just made one 4 days ago! (follow me @mithah_reads!) Even though this book focuses on their twitter war, I still understood what was going on! You don’t have to be a twitter genius AT ALL to appreciate all the back and forth and humor! There were also shout outs to other social media platforms that I really enjoyed. Another thing I noticed was that I don’t think Facebook was mentioned! I feel like younger kids aren’t really on Facebook – which makes me feel old. Welcome to 30, am I right?
One of my favorite tropes was featured in Tweet Cute – friends to lovers! I enjoyed seeing them grow from acquaintances to something more. They had so much in common – they just had to be willing to realize it! Both were heading down paths they didn’t necessarily want to be on. These paths were forced on them by their parents. But with each other’s help, they realized what they really wanted in life and made it happen!
Pepper and her sister had a baking blog that got a lot of page time. Pepper baked all the time. She had treats for being happy, being sad, even apology treats! I used to bake all the time. Reading Tweet Cute made me miss it and want to start again! I got major inspo! Maybe I’ll try to replicate one of the treats from the book! I’ll keep up updated.
Tweet Cute had dual POV, which I LOVE! It’s so interesting to me to see what both Jack and Pepper are thinking about the same situations. They were both so witty. I wish I was just a fraction as witty as they are.
Read Tweet Cute if you want a light-hearted, fluffy read. It was such a quick read, too!
Early praise for Tweet Cute:
“Tweet Cute delivers in every possible way: a perfect enemies-to-lovers romance, a whip-smart plotline, and endearingly real characters. I devoured it.” – Francesca Zappia, author of Eliza and Her Monsters
“Sweet and fun! An adorable debut that updates a classic romantic trope with a buzzy twist.” – Jenn Bennett, author of Alex, Approximately and Serious Moonlight
“A witty rom-com reinvention for the Twitter age, Tweet Cute pairs delicious online rivalry with deeply relatable insights on family pressure and growing up. This fresh, funny read had us hitting ‘favorite’ from page one.” – Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of Always Never Yours and If I’m Being Honest
Emma Lord is a digital media editor and writer living in New York City, where she spends whatever time she isn’t writing either running or belting show tunes in community theater. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in how to tilt your computer screen so nobody will notice you updating your fan fiction from the back row. She was raised on glitter, grilled cheese, and a whole lot of love. Her sun sign is Hufflepuff, but she is a Gryffindor rising. TWEET CUTE is her debut novel. You can find her geeking out online at @dilemmalord on Twitter.
Again, thank you so much to Wednesday Books for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour! Tweet Cute made me laugh out loud. It was the perfect cozy read to warm up to during this cold weater!
This is the book series that reignited by love of reading. It also got me into YA – which is now my favorite genre!
I am SO HYPE for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes releasing on May 19, 2020. So I’ll probably read this series in April/May to then be able to read Ballad!
I started this series years ago. I think I got through book 4? But today by friend Jordan made a post in Words & Whimsy about how she finished and loved it. So now it’s back on top of the TBR!
Plus, I loved ACOTAR (because who didn’t?!) so I feel like I’ll like her other words too! I loved the first few books of ToG I read.
I unexpectedly got an ARC of book 2, Kingsbane, last year. And I won’t lie, that book it thiccccc. Like, it’s intimidating! But these books sound like something I love, so they are a priority this year! I already have Furyborn on Kindle, so no need to wait!
Plus, book 3 – Lightbringer – is expected to release October 13, 2020!
I love Marie Lu. I loved the Warcross series. That spoke to me as a female gamer. I loved Legend. I remember after a bad 3 day stretch on the floor nursing, I stayed in bed day 4 and devoured Legend. I didn’t get up to eat or anything.
Why have I waited so long to read The Young Elites?! I love Marie and everything she’s done, so I know this is a no brainer.
Have you read these series? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below! I’d love to discuss!
This is a Sci-Fi Peter Pan retelling. My friend Sarah raved about it! I had a little trouble getting into it, but sci-fi isn’t really my thing. It’s picking up though!
Finished the audio yesterday. I have become obsessed with the Golden State Killer, so I loved getting to see how the FBI profiled him and how they used genetics and ancestry to find him!
Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.
Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.
Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.
At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…
And she isn’t going down without a fight.
– Goodreads
Omg yall. This book. It’s my first 5 star read of the year and so deserving of every single star it gets. Don’t Read the Comments is a great look at the sexist nature of the video gaming community. That just because you are a female, you automatically aren’t as good as a male. Like, honestly. What do genitals have to do with gaming skill? NOTHING.
I’ve been gaming since I was 15. I started with Halo online, then went to World of Warcraft. I’ve tried various other MMO’s, FPS’s, everything. And no matter how good I am, if I speak, I’m either just trying to find a boyfriend or I’m a boy who hasn’t hit puberty yet. It’s so annoying, so I felt what D1V did. I knew how it was – people saying nasty things about you because they think you don’t belong. It was so nice to have that rep. To have a strong, GOOD female gamer, who didn’t let them see her break. She was so brave and so strong. Even when she got doxxed. If you don’t know about doxxing, check this out. It happened to a lot of females in the gaming/geek world and it it SO.SCARY.
Okay, now you see why the books means so much to me. I imagine it will mean a lot to the female gaming community who are also readers. Let’s get into this book review, shall we?
I first featured this book on my First Impressions Friday post. I read the first chapter and was immediately hooked. I was so interested in Divya, or D1V as she is known online. I immediately felt a kinship with her and her best friend, Rebekah. They were part of the streaming community, which is something I so desperately wanted to do back in the day.
In the next chapter you meet Aaron, a casual gamer who also plays Reclaim the Sun. The descriptions of the game make it sound like No Man’s Sky. Which I immediately had to play. I’ve logged three hours since finishing the book. Anyway…
A doxxing group attacks D1V and her armada of followers. She has to start over in game. She happens to meet Aaron when grinding to level back up. They end up playing together a lot, growing a friendship, then something more.
The romance was definitely in the background of this book. The main focus was D1V and Rebekah and how they have been attacked over and over. Both physically, verbally, and mentally. I think a lot of people don’t understand what it’s like to be in their position until they’ve been there. No, I’ve never been physically attacked, but I have been verbally and mentally.
There were so many great references in this book. All kinds of games, gamer news sites, and pop culture. I think I highlighted about 10 of them! It was so fun to read! The dual POV was so fun, too. I loved getting both sides of the friendship and romance.
I feel like I just rambled at the beginning of this, but this book is so important to me. I was so fortunate to get an ARC. I would recommend this to anyone in the gaming community or who loves geeky things!
There’s also an amazing pre-order incentive going on! Check it out here!
Thank you to Netgalley and KCP Loft for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.
Grace Carter’s mother — the celebrity news anchor GG Carter — is everything Grace is not. GG is a star, with a flawless wardrobe and a following of thousands, while Grace — an aspiring astrophysicist — is into stars of another kind. She and her mother have always been in different orbits. Then one day GG is just … gone. Cameras descend on their house, news shows speculate about what might have happened and Grace’s family struggles to find a new rhythm as they wait for answers. While the authorities unravel the mystery behind GG’s disappearance, Grace grows closer to her high school’s golden boy, Mylo, who has faced a black hole of his own. She also uncovers some secrets from her mother’s long-lost past. The more Grace learns, the more she wonders. Did she ever really know her mother? Was GG abducted … or did she leave? And if she left, why?
– Goodreads
I don’t know what it is with me and 500+ page books this month. First Grey, now this! After this I will read some shorter books for sure.
I’ll admit, I stalk reviews for books before I read them. I like to know what I’m getting into. I used to be scared that they influenced me into liking or not liking something I normally would. I read so many 5 star reviews for this book, but it just fell flat for me.
Gracie, the main character, was somewhat flat to me. A lot of people said she was relateable because she was normal. Sure, she was normal, but there wasn’t anything special about her. And I’m not talking about powers, or being super pretty, or anything like that. Just, nothing sticks out to me about her. I thought her best friend, Iris, and her boyfriend, Mylo, were way more interesting. I think Mylo should have his own book, but I won’t tell you why because ~spoilers~.
The Center of the Universe takes place in Canada and is written by a Canadian author, which I think is awesome! This past year I have become really good friends with some Canadians in Words & Whimsy. It was nice to read a story set in their lands! I think this is the first book set in Canada I’ve ever read.
So a little about this book. It’s 506 pages. It has 100 chapters. It’s a little intimidating. I mean, the chapters are short, which is great since I like to stop reading at the end of a chapter. However, some chapters were only half a page or so long, and I couldn’t really find a reason for them being there. There were also 7 space analogies in chapter 1. Yes, I counted. Yes, I thought it was a little much. Like, I understand this is a space book. I promise. That did get better throughout the book. There were less, but I still didn’t really understand them since I don’t know much about space.
However, there were some great things about this book! It did not read like a normal 500-pager. It was a quick read. I loved the mystery of why her mom was abducted. Or did she go voluntarily? Some of the descriptions were so.beautiful. Like this one –
“Mylo talked into my ear, his voice rolling and pitching like a sea made of sound…”
It’s so beautiful and romantic! Also, this book features a real astrophysicist, Dr. Elizabeth Tasker. There is even a Q&A with her in the back of the book! I love that it brought in a real astrophysicist.
So, this book got 3.5 stars from me. I felt there were a few too many space references when other things could be used. However, it was a quick read with a great mystery! I’d recommend it to anyone who likes ya mysteries and especially anyone who loves space!
Mithah Reads 