Hey y’all! This month’s TBR is very very short, because that’s just where I’m at. It’s totally possible that I’ll read more than these, but I’m not looking ahead too much. Anyway, here are the 4 books I’m planning on reading/finishing.
September’s Books
The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick – I splurged on a gorgeous physical copy and have been slowly making my way through
Take It From Me by Jamie Beck – an ARC I’m really excited about ^.^
City of Bones by Clarissa Clare – a re-read I’m looking forward to as I just picked up a new set of the series at a library book sale. I’m not sure I’ll ever get my old set back, so I’m delighted to have a new one of this series I really enjoyed.
So that’s it for this month, very gentle. I’m feeling like some slower paced books, and/or ones I’m familiar with and can sink into a bit.
Hey y’all! Somehow, as I’m looking at my planned reads for August, I’m not seeing much. I had 4 books on my list, and one of them I’ve already finished. So this month will probably end up being a bit of a mishmash of whatever I happen to pick off my shelves or get from the library. I’ve managed to up if to 6 (one complete) based on what I’m already starting this month. Let’s take a peek!
No rhymes
The Reasons
You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa: already finished! I got a BOTM copy secondhand but still before the publish date next week (8/9/22), and WOW was it way better than I expected. This one is already done!
Pictured: not how the book happens, but imagine if it did?
Hey y’all! Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish question idea that was originally created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, from way back in June 2010! Since January 2018, Top Ten Tuesday has been hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Thanks for taking it over! The idea is to make a list of ten books or bookish things on different topics each week. Check out her site for details on how to join and what the upcoming prompts are. 😊 You can also see all the posts from other bloggers linked on each weekly post on their main site.
This week’s prompt is the Summer 2022 TBR. I don’t usually do seasonal TBRs, and yet I actually kind of already have this with the 20 (well, 15) books of summer sign up! challenge. PLUS next week’s prompt is releases in the latter half of the year, so I guess I’ll exclude those from this list as well or else I’ll have 3 identical lists. Anyway. xD
Hey y’all! I’ve seen a few folks (Misty, Carla, Dini) posting about joining a reading goal for the summer of 20 books from June 1st (whoops) to September 1st. I’m a bit late, but I wanted to join in! The catch, if you don’t mind me calling it that, is to also review all of the books read in that time / chosen list. Which is where my strength tends to fail me. xD
So since I’m late and am not sure I’ll read 20 more books in the next two months, I’m going to try this year out at 15! Maybe next year I’ll start on time and give it a 20, but I’m already 5 books in to June right now so I’ve shot myself in the foot a bit with this. For my purposes, I’m also going to include books as counted if I DNF them (and review them for why!) since that means I gave it a shot and got it off my list.
Anyway! The original challenge is created and hosted at 746 Books, and you can check out the details and snag some pretty graphics if you want to join as well. You can comment on their sign up post to add your own too!
I’m going to add these as more of categories than specific book list. For example, I’ll add Sankofa to this list as a book to read, but any Book of the Month book that I haven’t read will fill that slot if not that book. Covers link to Goodreads or my review once it’s up! I’ll update the covers with the books I actually end up using, as well, but my original list includes my first-picked titles. 🙂
Hey y’all! It’s DAY ONE of June, and for the first time in a really long time (maybe ever?) I have my TBR already planned out AND posted! 🎉 The reason — and theme — for this is “oh wow, I actually have all these books to read, when did that happen?” It certainly wasn’t on purpose, but somehow I have a bunch of books lined up ready to be read. So here they are!
Thanks, local library!
Two out of these three are also Fast Forward Friday featured books, but the main tie for these is that they’re all new releases and they’re all ones I have a library hold coming up for in the next week or two! I got really lucky with some of these to have copies so soon! But that also means I ended up with three books with a time limit to read. xD
Hey y’all! It’s about a week into the month, so of course my TBR is now becoming my ABR (already been read? no?) as I finish books early. Still, here’s the plan I came in to the month with… even though some of these are already checked off. 😂 I do have a habit of this after all…
Those ARCs I said I wouldn’t request
Look. I usually have very good self control with ARCs and am always sure to only request ones I genuinely think I’ll enjoy and can commit to reading and reviewing before the publish date if it’s not out yet. This time… well, I’ll still do all those things, but I was trying to clear out my shelf books that haven’t been read yet. 😂
Started off a little hard to get into because it was so different from my expectation that it was a bit jarring and I had to readjust, but now I’m interested!
Why did I start reading it?
This was a recent Fast Forward Friday pick, and it released just a week or two ago. It promised necromancy, witches, and royalty. It technically delivered all of those things, but in NO WAY like I expected. That’s not bad, it has just not been what I thought it would be!
In a word: weird
This on the surface sounds like a story that has been done many times. I feel like it is not a story I have ever read before. It has some of the same elements, but arranged in a Frankenstein’s-monster kind of way that set me off-kilter, and still sometimes catches me off-guard. It’s a bit hard to explain, but the vibe of it is just different.
Lines that linger
The hurting reminds me to hate him every moment, instead of only when I think of him.
p127
Most animals want to live. They struggle toward life regardless of their surroundings. … Human beings are more difficult. At some point of trauma, most people just give up and die.
Well evidently I just gave up on doing a published TBR list for March, but I had planned 5. Of those 5, I read 3 and DNFd too, plus finished 3 others for a total of 6 finished.
The Plan:
1 – BOTM book
1 – book gifted to me
2 – Amazon First Read books
1 – ARC
The Result:
I had a couple of stinkers this month, and both were from Amazon First Reads, so I’m kind of turned off from them this month. The Paid Bridesmaid was shallow and dull, and Like Me was gross for the sake of being shocking, I guess? It didn’t feel like it had a point.
On the positive side, I read a new release I got from Book of the Month Club that I enjoyed in Peach Blossom Spring! Finally, a BOTM that didn’t disappoint. An Ember in the Ashes was a Christmas gift that I finally got around to, and it was enjoyable but not mind-blowing. Two Fast Forward Friday titles were checked off the list with Loveboat, Taipeiand You Truly Assumed and both were again decent but not mind-blowing. And finally, A Court of Mist and Fury… which led me to the actually mind-blowing realization that maybe I just don’t like Sarah J Maas anymore. 🤯
Finally, I’m not posting my TBR when the date is twenty-something of that month already! xD The reason for that is because I’m just generally excited about this month. I don’t have many ARC or other “obligation” reads, so I just lounged around my room and library pages to see what ones I want to settle into for the month. 🙂 My reads this month are primary books I already own and haven’t read yet. Here’s the plan!
I own it, but I haven’t read it
Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs by Jennifer Finney Boylan is a memoir of a woman told in segments based on the dog(s) she had in her life at each point. Now that I have a puppy for the first time ever, and live with a pet for the first time as an adult, I think I’ll be especially able to relate to this. It’s also a book I pegged in my Fast Forward Friday series a while ago, so it’s about time I started it! 🙂
Hey y’all! In contrast to Throwback Thursday, I like to use Fridays to look forward to an upcoming release that I’m excited about! Today’s is The Bone Orchard by Sara A Mueller! Expected Release: March 22, 2022
Why wait on this one?
Witches. And what witch doesn’t want revenge for something? I feel like it just comes with the territory. Maybe it’s the fact that where there are witches, there are usually witch-hunters and witch-haters. Although I guess it’s more like “witch” since Charm (WHAT A NAME FOR A WITCH) is the last witch. Quite a burden to carry, eh?
Magic. And not just any magic, but necromancy. Ooooooh boy am I fan of that dark magic that can lead to moral grays and broken people. I have no idea what a bone orchard is — maybe it will take necromancy to an unexpected life theme instead of it’s usualy heavy focus on death. But wowwww am I excited to find out. 😁
Court. I’m a sucker for royalty-themed stories. I guess it’s like the grown-up version of when kids really love princess stories and such. The fancy gowns, the politeness rules, the lavish events… it’s a really lush world to imagine and there’s so much to work with when royal court life is part of the story. Plus, magic + court stories are pretty dang common, but magic + court + WITCHES is not a combo I can think of another title for!
Summary
Charm is a witch, and she is alone. The last of a line of conquered necromantic workers, now confined within the yard of regrown bone trees at Orchard House, and the secrets of their marrow.
Charm is a prisoner, and a survivor. Charm tends the trees and their clattering fruit for the sake of her children, painstakingly grown and regrown with its fruit: Shame, Justice, Desire, Pride, and Pain.
Charm is a whore, and a madam. The wealthy and powerful of Borenguard come to her house to buy time with the girls who aren’t real.
Except on Tuesdays, which is when the Emperor himself lays claim to his mistress, Charm herself. Now—Charm is also the only person who can keep an empire together, as the Emperor summons her to his deathbed, and charges her with choosing which of his awful, faithless sons will carry on the empire—by discovering which one is responsible for his own murder. If she does this last thing, she will finally have what has been denied her since the fall of Inshil—her freedom. But she will also be betraying the ghosts past and present that live on within her heart. Charm must choose. Her dead Emperor’s will or the whispers of her own ghosts. Justice for the empire or her own revenge.
My Book Joy 