June 2024 Unhaul

I wasn't anticipating having any unhaul books this month, yet here we are...

 

I unhauled 1 book in June:  

1: Loving the Sinner by Daisy Wren - I did try. Made it to 12%. The whole thing just progressed way too quickly. These people (barring Luke and Lizzy), barely knew each other and they were acting like they were in love. Like a proposal was right around the corner. I couldn't do it. Also, the formatting was atrocious. Chapter breaks right in the middle of a page...bleh. Deleted it from all my devices.

2: Really Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs - I was given this book. It's a Christian nonfiction about the women in the bible. As a self-proclaimed Hellenistic Pagan, I have no interest in the book. I've put it up on my Pango already. 

3: Live Writing by Ralph Fletcher - I bought this a long time ago at a yardsale, I think? I don't actually remember rightly...in any event, I have decided to get rid of it, as I have no plans to ever pick it up. This one can also be found on my PangoBooks account. 

2024 Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

That time has once again rolled around for us. It's my favorite tag, and really the one I do every year. The Mid-Year Book Freakout tag is back!

1. What is the best book you've read so far in 2024? - My answer to this would have to be Godkiller by Hannah Kaner. The first book where I immediately had to go get the sequel to it because I had to know what was happening with the characters and I am excited to know who they really are. 

2. Best sequel that you've read so far in 2024? - Hands down, This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero. Read it in April for Orilium Readathon, and while it's technically a standalone set in the same universe, I'm counting it. It was hilarious and I loved everything about it. 

3. What is a new release you haven't read yet, but really want to? - Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. I'm not usually a dark romance reader. Not that I have anything in particular against the genre of course. I've just never really picked it up. I was surprised by how much I loved it and how quickly I read it. It was beautiful.

4. What are your most anticipated releases for the rest of the year? - Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews which looked amazing when I read the synopsis and I had to preorder it immediately and probably In the Days Before by Renee Shantel, it looks great and I'm curious about the way she gets herself out of the problem she seems to have found herself in. 

5. What was the biggest disappointment of 2024 so far? - Return of the Shadows by Donald L. Marino. The idea was great. I just wished it were executed better. There was promise for a huge, sweeping epic fantasy series and we got some absolute garbage. I met the author and he wants to know what I think, but as a voracious fantasy consumer...I think I'll end up hurting his feelings if I tell him how I feel. It was the only book I've read to get less than 2 stars.

6. What was the biggest surprise of 2024 so far? - That might actually be Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer. I borrowed this book from my father, who is an avid crime/thriller reader himself. So this was definitely a surprise that one he read it and that I liked it enough to borrow the second book in the series. I remember texting him to ask if he was sure he'd read the book, because it was so far out of left field for him. 

7. Who is your new favorite author? - Hannah Kaner. I loved her first book she put out and I'm very excited to read the next one. And really anything she puts out. I was so engrossed in her first book that I'm not sure I will be able to resist buying anything else she puts out. 

8. Who is your newest fictional crush? - I don't have one. I'm not the kind of reader who crushes on fictional characters. I like them, but I don't get any kind of feelings for them.

9. Who is your newest favorite character? - Never really put any thought into it. Maybe Skedi from Godkiller? I don't know. I'll have to actually work on this for next time, though. Think of a favorite and make note of it!!!

10. What book made you cry so far in 2024? - Again, none of them really made me cry. I don't exactly get emotional while I'm reading? I suppose it's my analytical brain at work. It's also how I can read smut with a straight face in public. 

11. What book made you happy so far in 2024? - Define happy? I mean, This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us made me pretty happy, but so did Godkiller? Different reasons though. 

12. What is the most beautiful book you've gotten so far in 2024? - I've gotten so many that picking just one is hard. I love Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne, The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang....there's so many that are gorgeous that I don't know which one I'd even pick. 

13. What books do you need to read before the end of 2024? - I really need to get to Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews and In the Days Before by Renee Shantel before the end of the year. Both look really good and both are ARCs coming out within a week of each other in October. I am desperate to get to them before the end of the year. 

Currently Reading #14 [09 - 30 June 2024]

Currently Reading

- Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne [08%]

- Fall by Neal Stephenson [10%]

- Who the Hell is Pansy O'Hara? by Jenny Bond & Chris Sheedy [12%]

- Lord of Eternal Night by Ben Alderson [07%]

- Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta [61%]

***

Yearly Goal

36/100

***

I'm actually somewhat proud of my reading journey so far. June is shaping up to be the best month of the quarter. I'm hardly ten days in and I've already read four books. I think I can make it to the highest number yet. 

And I forgot to update you at all for the entire rest of June. I swear I'm getting better at it, then I do this nonsense. Someone needs to come corral me or something. I'm so terrible at remembering to actually post on the blog. I promise I'm still here. 

I did manage to finish at least two more books between when I started this blog post and when I am currently writing it, bringing the total for June up to 6. Which I think is quite a good achievement. I'm still behind my goal of 100 books by 14, so that will be difficult to fix. I'm really thinking I'm only gonna get to 85% of the goal for this year. Not that that's bad. I always set my goal for the same thing. 

What happened in June that I want to tell you about. My plan to read only LGBTQIA+ books kind of died in the water as I went to a fantasy and some other things that just looked amazing after I went to a local booksale and picked up one from a somewhat Indie author? (He claims indie status despite his novella being through a small publisher...) Hmmm...nothing else that I can think of? Maybe this time I'll actually remember to post for you.

Happy reading everyone!

Second Quarter Review

April to June 2024

Books Read: 19 (A: 7, M: 6, J:6)

Pages Read: 6,538

Average Star Rating: 3.71★

Most Favorite Book: The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

Least Favorite Book: Return of the Shadows by Donald L. Marino

I mean....half the year is gone and I'm barely a third of the way into my goal. I'm not foreseeing this year working out to 100 books. I still have the Orilium Readathon in August where I'm going to have a reading list with like 15 books on it? Maybe more than that. I don't remember. I'm still only counting each of his classes as a single one, since he's in the classroom either way. 

I don't think I'm doing super terrible as far as reading goes. So far, April has been the best month by all of one book. June is shaping up to out-strip it by a fair amount. 9 days in and I've already finished 4 books with decent process into 4 more. I'm finishing nearly a book every other day.  I've had one book that was almost a 0★ read. I gave it 1. It was garbage. It was worse than garbage. I didn't think it was feasibly possible to actually be trash, but I was proven wrong. I don't want it, but it's also signed, so like I'm keeping it for posterity? That's stupid. I should get rid of it. 

I did try to read more LGBTQIA+ books in June, but that washed out right after I went to a Friends of the Library sale in my neighborhood. Now I'm reading all kinds of things. I think I am going to have fun letting myself just go wild and mood read instead of setting a TBR. This will be an interesting experiment. 

I managed to actually stick to one of my goals this quarter: reviewing all of the books I read. I don't know what happened last quarter when it all just fell apart. April was in the quarter, though, which was a heavier reading month for me like August will shape out to be. I have to try to keep on top of it for the rest of the year. 

I also failed miserably at hiding away $5 for every book I've read. Right now I'd practically have to squirrel away half a paycheck in order to catch back up to where I ought to be. Which is something like....$180? I know! Maybe on the next really good Fifth Thursday I'll stash the money that should be there into the right account. Or I may forget. Who knows, really. 

For the next quarter, I'm planning on letting myself be a little free from the to-be-read lists that I used to make. August has the Orilium Readathon where I'll need to get through something like fifteen books in order to 'graduate' to the next level. So we will allow ourselves to just read whatever we want until then. I think I have one book that's 800+ pages now, but then I will just do whatever and hopefully find shorter books in the readathon. 

Hmmm...I don't think I've anything else to share right now? I hope you all have a productive third quarter~

June 2024 Wrap Up

June started out so much better than every other month this year. Not even a full week in, and I had read 3 books with more easily to be finished within the second. 

In June, I read 6 books: 

1: The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones - It was a long time in the reading. The congregation I am part of has been doing a lot more work to help end racism and we had a speaker come in by the name of Arthur Breese. He mentioned this book a few times and so I picked it up to read for myself and see the source material he was pulling from. I must say I did enjoy it and my biggest take away is that white people suck and we need to do better for our Black and POC friends. 

2: Make You Mine by E.M. Lindsey - As the child of an HOH adult (not quite the same, I know), I was drawn to this when I read about Adriano being Deaf. It was beautifully written and I flew right through it over two days. I loved how we see them in the past and the present and the slow realization Adriano has at why Noah is so familiar to him. What it is about Noah that calls to him. Their love story did seem to progress a little fast for me, but then they had an established history and I do feel a little better about that. I rated this one fairly high and I am planning on picking up the rest of this series. 

3: The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang - I had requested this one, once upon a time, from NetGalley, and they turned me down. When I saw it on the new releases shelf, I snatched it. I think I read this book over the course of one and a half days? It was stunning. I loved it and I am so happy that I had the chance to read it. We follow two people who keep meeting up and falling in love over and over. One of them will remember, but the other one won't and I guess they are trying to solve whatever "curse" is upon them so they can stay together. It was well written and I couldn't put it down. I flew right through it. Loved it and looking forward to more by Justinian Huang.

4: Zombabe by I.S. Belle - What in the actual fuck did I read? It didn't take me long to get through, but there was definitely something missing from this. We're reminded of things that never happened and shit just kind of went from 0 to 60 in less than a second. It wasn't a bad premise, just strangely executed. 

5. Return of the Shadows by Donald L. Marino - No. Didn't like it one bit. Extremely poor grammar. Extremely poor structure. Extremely poor everything really. Not rereading, not likely to read the other two installments. 

6. All Systems Red by Martha Wells - This one was hilarious. I loved reading the mission through Murdrebot's eyes and finding out all of their insecurities and the way they interacted with the team. I have no idea why they were always so anxious and awkward, the human/augmented human team did their best to make them feel included once they started participating more in the actual work. Looking forward to the next volume~

June 2024 Book Haul

I don't want to hear it. The Friends of the Library sale was in June...

1. A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson - This one is my choice for June's Book of the Month Club. I read Eight Perfect Murders a while ago, and I adored it so when I saw this book I had to pick it up. I liked his story-telling style and I'm into murder mysteries/crime novels lately so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get it. It looks amazing. I already have my theories based on what I read of the synopsis. Can't wait to see if I'm right. 

2. Predator's Gold by Philip Reeve - I've read the first book, Mortal Engines (and have temporarily misplaced it), and I have seen the movie. I liked them both and am quite curious to see where the next novel takes the series. Maybe I'll even complete it. It was worth it for $1...granted I read the first book 3.5 years ago...? Let's see how much I remember and what I think.

3. Fall by Neal Stephenson - I like his writing. What can I say? I've read The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O and my roommate has Anathem and The Cryptonomicon (which she recommends). I picked this up and read the first few pages of it. I then bought it and have added it straight to my currently reading. I have to agree, Dodge, it is hard to acquire coffee while lying in bed with one's eyes closed. 

4. The Tensorate Series by Neon Yang - I've been looking for the first book in this series of novellas for some time now and when I realized what it was I was seeing I couldn't pass it up. For only $1?! I was going to have it even if I had to beg money from someone. I've been looking forward to reading this for some time now and have been saving up to get it. I want to know what happens.

5. Empress by Shan Sa - This one just plays into my adoration of ancient Chinese history. It follows Empress Wu Zetian, also known as Heaven-Light, on her journey as the first (and only) female emperor in Chinese history.

6. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern - I read The Night Circus and have been intrigued by The Starless Sea, glad I found it at the sale. It will be pretty high up in my mood reading for the moment. Unless something newer and shinier takes its place. I actually have no idea what it's about, I only know that I like Erin Morgenstern and that was enough for me.

7. The Luminaries by Elizabeth Catton - I've heard about this. I remember hearing about this. I don't remember what it was I heard, good, bad, or otherwise. Here's hoping I like it. It is wonderfully huge and floppy so I'm thinking I'm going to definitely be into it. I don't feel bad about buying it if I don't like it. 

8. The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead - I have read exactly one Richelle Mead book in the past. I've not read her Vampire Academy series (never was one for YA vampire books), but when I saw this one, I thought it looked interesing and who doesn't like a good political court drama? It was also signed and only $3. Of course I'm going to jump on it. 

9. The Gifts by Liz Hyder - No idea what this one is about. Found it on the "newer" releases (2020-2024) sales shelf and it looked intriguing. Someone is spreading rumors that there fallen angels in the town and then someone else has wings randomly sprout from their back and I have no idea what is happening and I want to know so I'm going to (hopefully) read it soon. 

10. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini - Have I read a single one of the now SIX Christopher Paolini books I own? Nope. Do I keep buying them because I like the premise of the books and I think I will like them? Yes. This one is some sort of sci-fi space opera, I think? I don't know. It was cheap and pretty. 

11. Who The Hell is Pansy O'Hara? by Jenny Bond & Chris Sheedy - I like books about books. This one appears to be a dive into what makes popular books popular. The things that spark that interest in people and I have to know. There's no way I won't think about it all the time. It is pretty short, so I don't think it will take me long to get through.

12. All Systems Red by Martha Wells - This one has been on my list to look out for for quite some time. When I saw it at the book stall at the farmers market for only $1, I had to jump on it. There was no way that I wasn't going to buy it. It was even a hard cover which made me so happy. I couldn't wait and have already read it. 

13. Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko - I have heard of this one through BookTube. I do not remember what was said about it, but I remember the name and the cover. It was $3, so if I'm disappointed by the read...oh well? It's not like I paid a ton for it. The synopsis is promising. A young girl and a weird school. I'm down to read more. 

14. The World is Made of Stories by David R. Loy - I was given this one by my roommate to see if I liked it and would want to keep it. I'm assuming that if the answer is no, I can then do whatever I want with it. It does look interesting and the opening paragraph has already caught my attention. 

15. Uppity Women of the New World by Vicki Leon - The second of three books I was given to look through and decide if I wanted them or not. I've not yet dipped into this one, so there's no real telling if I'm going to like it or not. It looks easy enough as a morning read. The stories are all 1-2 pages. Something I can use to help myself wake up....? 

16. Really Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs - The final of the three. I knew already that I didn't want it, as I am not much of a bible girl. I accepted it with the idea of just putting it up on PangoBooks. If someone else out there wants it, that's great and I can use any income generated from it to purchase books that I actually want. 

17. In the Days Before by Renee Shantel - This one is an eARC that I applied for that looks beautiful. I cannot wait to read it and find out what it's all about. From what I know, we follow a girl who runs this blog about missing folks to help them be found, I assume called In the Days Before, and when her friend goes missing everyone thinks she is somehow involved. I have no idea and it looks wonderful. 

18. Reign of Spears by Martin Dukes - Another eARC, but this time I have zero recollection of applying for it. Odds are I did, and then proceeded to immediately forget. I guess I know what my next read is going to be...this book is due on 31 July. Let's get to reading. All I know is that it's fantasy. And medieval? Yep. That's what I know. Gods and books and spears. Looks like fun.

19. SMP. 

May 2024 Book Unhaul

I wonder if I'll actually unhaul anything in May?

The answer, apparently, is yes. 

1: Moon Rise by D.D. Line - I tried. I really did. This was an ebook I got during Stuff Your Kindle's witchy sale, I think. I have no idea what the actual plot was. I made it all of 9% into the book and just could not handle the MC's holier-than-thou attitude any more. The whole thing takes place way too quickly, in my humble opinion. There really should have been more than a handful of pages between her arriving in Duluth (Michigan?) from her home dimension and the reveal of the actual BBEG. It was very Mary Sue/Pick Me Girl American Harry Potter. There was no way I was getting through it. It was removed from all devices. 

2: Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki - I had had such high hopes for this one. Fortunately it likely had nothing to do with Mr. Sōseki himself why this one got removed. It was a formatting issue. There were no indentations for new paragraphs and it drove me batty after only one page. I couldn't fathom suffering through an entire book like that. I immediately deleted it from my Kindle. 

Currently Reading #13 [02 - 08 June 2024]

Currently Reading

- Orphia & Eurydicius by Elyse John [02%]

- Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne [03%]

- Fall by Neal Stephenson [00%]

- Zombabe by I.S. Belle [33%]

- Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta [12%]

***

Yearly Goal

33/100

***

I have put all LGBTQIA+ books on my final TBR. Just seemed right for June being pride month. Or mostly at least. I read the first page of Fall and was hooked. I needed to know how it was going to go after that. 

May 2024 Book Haul

As per the normal, here is my May Book Haul for 2024! I'm going to try to keep myself a bit more in line with my Book Buying Restriction of 1:3. I may even up it, depending. Of course my Book of the Month selection doesn't actually count toward that restriction as it is a monthly subscription service that I got myself as a gift....with that in mind, let us begin~

In May 2024, I acquired  books 14 through various means. 

1: Five Broken Blades by Mia Corland - I picked this one out from Book of the Month, because it looked utterly brilliant. Five people from various backgrounds get together to try to take out this terrible ruler. It's based on Korean history, culture, and mythology and I cannot wait. It's a Red Tower (Fourth Wing/Iron Flame) book, so I have a lot of high hopes for it. They haven't let me down yet and I'm hoping they don't let me down now. (I've also painted the edges a beautiful dark red).

2: Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta - With Pride Month only a few weeks away, I decided to one of my rapidly accumulating credits for Audible on a book from the LGBT+ section. This one follows a young girl as she flees the Nigerian civil war and I think ends up with another girl? Something like that. I thought it would make for an excellent addition to my TBR for June.

3: Blood at the Roots by LaDarrion Williams - I saw an ad for this on Threads, possibly even the author himself promoting it. I can't remember now. Anyway, it looked good so I pre-ordered it. Came in this month. I've already started reading it. It's so good (even though I don't understand some of the slang).

4: Make You Mine by E.M. Lindsey - I absolutely do not remember now why I wanted this book. Other than the fact it involves an m/m couple and Pride Month starts in June (a week from yesterday at the time of writing this). It was cheap and I wanted to have a few books on my list that fit in the land of the LGBTQIA+ realm for the month.

5: Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner - I read Godkiller not all that long ago and I have a very strong need to continue the series and figure out what is happening with Skedi/Inara and then the deal with Kissen and her god. It certainly didn't help that the cover of this book was a gorgous metallic green-blue. I'm definitely looking forward to getting to it.

6: Orphia & Eurydicius by Elyse John - I am familiar with the myth of Orpheus, but I cannot say that I've ever actually read it. This looked interesting. I'm curious to see how she rewrote the story to be gender swapped. The only issue I currently have is that Apollo was also the god of music and poetry and I find it difficult to believe that he'd be against his own daughter being a poetess. We will see what happens.

7: Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne - I follow Ms. Thorne on BookTok and I have seen her talking about her indie release and then about how it got picked up by a traditional publisher for Barnes & Noble. I saw it on my little extravaganza the other day and I had to have it. I snatched it off the table with such speed that I almost gave myself a papercut. I adored Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree and this follows in a very similar cozy fantasy kind of vein where we follow a pair of people who step back from their life of adventuring and start up passion projects. I am so excited for it. 

8: Powerless by Lauren Roberts - I have been hearing that this book was good, it was triple points day, and I have a Premium membership. I know nothing about it. I plan to keep it that way for an honest reaction. 

9: The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown - This book has a kind of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig meets Ink, Iron, & Glass by Gwendolyn Clare. There is this book that can act as a portal and it is one of the most sought after tomes in the whole world and a young bookstore owner ends up with it and we follow what happens with her. It looked brilliant and I cannot wait to see what it's about.

10: To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang - I am so excited to read this one. It's been on my wish list since I'd seen the first ad for it. There are these heavenly invaders that just appeared one day and this girl, Ruying, has the power of death. She ends up working for the enemy or something and I need to know what happens. I do. There's no way I'm not reading this in June. 

11: The Emperor & the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang - I had this book on a request list from NetGalley and it was declined, though I do not know why. I don't even remember an email for it. Ah well. I found a hard copy of it at the local bookstore and now I have it. It looked amazing and I couldn't pass it up. It follows a couple as they meet up again and again only to be pulled apart again. It looked amazing. The synopsis and the cover drew me in and I am looking forward to reading it soon. 

12: Home is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose - I saw this on Bookstagram and I had to look it up. It follows this somewhat estranged set of siblings as they meet back up after the passing of their mother and as they go through the belongings, they learn things they probably don't want to know. Now they have to decide what to do with the information. Do they go to the police or do they keep it to themselves? I am thinking of waiting and saving this until the fall. (And yes, I did get the one that looks like an old VHS tape).

13: Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur - I wish I had some grand explanation for why I snatched this one on Audible, but it's literally just because the MMC on the cover looks like Steve Harrington. I'm obsessed with Stranger Things. I have no idea what its about other than its a contemporary romance and I'm okay with that. It showed up under Audible's LGBTQIA+ category, so I am kind of curious how that will go....

14: Trial by Sorcery by Richard Fierce - I have no idea what this is about or why I snagged it. I must have done it while I was tired or distracted. Cover looks interesting. Maybe I'll pick it up soon? Who knows!!