June Wrap Up

June was a crazy month. Most of the month was spent in a weird comfort reading/reading slump thing because of all that first trimester fun. You know what I mean, anxiety attacks, morning sickness, extreme fatigue. It's been a fun ride...
But as I'm nearing the second trimester and starting to feel better I'm getting back into good routines, and forming new ones in the new house, including having some scheduled reading time each day. Usually it's early morning after The Husband leaves for work and before The Toddler wakes up, afternoons during outside play time because I can sit in the lounger on the porch and read while The Toddler plays. and right before bed. I'm still reading pretty slowly but it's something.
I also made a crazy decision. I talked to my doctor about my anxiety. I've been down the road of uncontrolled anxiety and depression with a new baby and I don't want to go there again. On top of that, as my hormones and body get more and more out of whack, so does my anxiety. My intrusive thoughts are back with a vengeance and I can't deal with this on my own any more. However, the doctor I saw at my last appointment was one I've never met before and I feel like she kind of gave me the brush off. She wants me to talk to a social worker before we talk about medication and she promised to email the social worker, but we'll see if that actually happens. I know all to well that doctors say a lot of things they don't mean or intend to follow through on.

But back to the books! The last wrap up I posted was April so I'll cover May and June, try and set some new goals for going forward, and at the end I'll update on some fun stuff that might be coming up.

Books I Read in May

1. Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

2. Balanced and Barefoot by Angela J. Hanscom (Review coming soon!)

3. The Falconer by Elizabeth May (Review here)

4. 10 Things I Can See From Here by Carrie Mac (Review here)

5. The Shoemakers Wife by Adriana Trigiani 

6. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

Six books doesn't seem bad. But, exactly ZERO of those books counted for the RMSC. So as of May I was still at 10 out of 25. 

Books I Read in June

1. The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lillian Jackson Braun

2. The Cat Who Played Post Office by Lillian Jackson Braun

3. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare by Lillian Jackson Braun

4. The Color of Water by James McBride

That's it. Just the four, And again zero of them counted for the RMSC. On the plus side I met my Goodreads goal for the year of 35 books and have officially upped it to 50.  

As for goals for July, I think 5 books is a good goal. Two RSMC books at a minimum. I think that's a do-able goal for the next month. I have six months left to meet my RMSC goal of 25 books, so I'm going to need to pick up the pace but I think it's still possible. I just need to get back to reading regularly.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Image from Goodreads

1. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas - I want to get into to this one so badly, but I'm just not feeling it right now. I went though this when I was pregnant with The Toddler too, this inability to read fantasy books. I'm going to keep trying with this one though because I really love Feyre and Rhysand.

2. Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne - I've been making an effort (once again) to simplify things in our home to A) help with my anxiety and B) make things easier to clean/maintain and C) make more time for family and less time for cleaning. I've done pretty well so far and this book was recommended on several minimalist and simple living blogs that I follow so I decided to give it a try. 

Image from Goodreads

3. Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, The Duchess of Lancaster by Alison Weir - I know I've written about how much I love Alison Weirs writing before. During this reading slump I had an urge to read some history so I turned to her. And (BONUS!) this one counts for the RMSC. Katherine Swynford was first the mistress and then the wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and her life, although we know little about her, was very interesting. She was the mother of the Tudor dynasty, she and John of Gaunt had several illegitimate children who were then legitimized by the Pope after their marriage, founding the Beaufort line, And Henry VII's mother was Margaret Beaufort! Of course Henry VII was born 100(ish) years after Katherine died but still, without her no Tudors. I could go on about family trees and the Wars of the Roses forever because I really love this stuff but I'll just say this; Read the books!

Upcoming (Maybe) Stuff

I've kind of taken a break from reading ARC's for the last couple of months but now I have a lot of really good books waiting for me on Netgalley and I'm going to try and get back too them. For one of those books I've been invited to participate in a Blog Tour, which I've obviously never done before. It would include a giveaway for my readers but I honestly don't know if I have enough readers to bother participating. So if you read my blog and want to enter a giveaway for a book let me know so I can let the publisher know I'd like to participate in the Blog Tour. 

Next, I got an email today that I'm being sent a box from a marketing company in California. It says it should be here by July 11th but I'm kind of nervous about this because I have no idea what it could be for, the email gives no details whatsoever. I'm assuming it's for the blog but I really don't know. So as soon as I get that I will be opening it and post on here about whats in it, regardless of what it is. Unless it something embarrassing like diarrhea medicine or underwear or something, in that case I'll spare you.  

Book shelf organization post! I unpacked all my books without taking pictures, however they are in no way organized yet, as my motivation to do anything but watch Gilmore Girls and eat watermelon has been nonexistent. So I'll be taking some pictures and doing some organizing in the next couple of weeks. 

Book Club for June! It was my pick for June and I think I picked a good one. I'll be writing the Book Club post in the next couple of days.  

March Wrap-Up and Spring Reads

It's hard to think that March is over already! It seems like it went by so quickly. So much happened with our house selling, and inspections, and paperwork, it seemed like I had almost no time to read! However I got in a lot more reading than I did in February and made quite a bit of progress with the RMSC.

I read a total of nine books in March, compared to only three in February. Six of the nine books count for the RMSC!
1. The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley (Review)
2. Bookish by Olivia Long
3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
4. Bury the Hatchet (Tulsa Thunderbirds #1) by Catherine Gayle
5. Last Play by Taylor Hart
6. Naughty Professor by S.J. Bishop and Jeni Brown
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
8. Mary Boleyn; Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir
9. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Those six books put me at 9 out of 25 for the RMSC. Which means I've caught up (since I was behind one book at the end of February) and if I read 2 books a month for the RMSC I will meet the goal of 25!

Reading Habits

Last month I was out of my favorite tea and I'm still out. Finding time to go to the tea shop has been harder than I thought it would be and I just found out my favorite tea shop is closing. The owner is retiring to spend time with her granddaughter, which is nice for her but now I'm scrambling for tea! I've been drinking a different tea and its working out well, except for I'm almost out of that tea too. However, I did find a coffee that I *love* and its from Starbucks! But its pre-ground and sold in bags at my grocery store so I can get it at a decent price. I've still been going to Biggby to read at least once a week, I usually get in some good reading time there. I have a new found love for shortbread cookies in the last month. I think it's because the tea I've been drinking is a Scottish tea and it goes so perfectly with the shortbread.

Goals for March

-Read 2 and a half books for the RMSC (exceeded!)

-Buy some coffee and tea (I bought coffee but tea is still lacking)

-Buy a toddler-proof bookmark ( I bought one and The Toddler stole it from the kitchen table and I haven't seen it since)

Goals for April

-Find the bookmark I bought last month

-Find my reading glasses (stolen by The Toddler also)

-Eat more baby carrots and less shortbread cookies

-Read 2 books for the RMSC

Spring Reading

It's hard for me to make a list of books I'm going to read, generally because I choose what to read by how I'm feeling. However, I can kind of give a general idea of the kinds of things I'm feeling like reading right now. 

I'm thinking a lot of Kindle books are going to happen this spring, for several reasons. First, we're moving. The books are getting packed first, and will probably not be the first thing that gets unpacked. The Kindle will be accessible when my physical books are not. Secondly, time. Most of the books on my Kindle are romance, and most of those are on the short side. They'll be easy quick reads when I'm stressed out from packing/unpacking. Third, content. I know that moving will probably not be easy with my anxiety and reading something heavy, or dark, or that I will have to work to get into won't really work or me. Most of the romance novels I have waiting for me are pretty light and that is exactly what I'm going to need. 

However, one exception to the fluff books will be, without a doubt, A Court of Wings and Ruin! I'm so beyond excited for this book. I haven't been waiting this anxiously for a book since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. For Deathly Hallows I went to a midnight release party at Borders, and spent the next 24 hours doing nothing but reading, drinking coffee, and eating lunchables. For A Court of Wings and Ruin there are no release party's, at least none that I know of, and with The Toddler needing to actually sleep at night I probably couldn't go to one anyways. But I have preordered and it should get delivered on release day! So unless our actual moving day happens to be May 2nd, I will be spending that day and night and probably the next day, absolutely devouring A Court of Wings and Ruin. I'm still suffering the book hangover from A Court of Mist and Fury, I can't get into anything right now, even the books I'm currently reading I just want to put them down and go pick up Mist and Fury again. I need A Court of Wings and Ruin, like yesterday. 

I'm trying to decide on a few books to keep out of the boxes just so I have some options. I'll probably keep 3 or 4 out. I'm going to keep going with Deadhouse Gates and Outlander. I've got to read Big Little Lies for the book club meeting on the 28th. I'm thinking I'll also keep out The Perfect Girl and Throne of Glass, so that's a total of five. I guess five isn't bad. 

I'm really looking forward to April. There's going to be a lot of changes in the next two months but I can't wait to do a post (or four) on the book organization process in the new house! It's going to be a fun month! Happy reading!

What I'm Reading Right Now #10; Reviews, ARCs, and Fun with Formatting

The last week has been full of books! I did a readathon over the weekend, I did ARC's, I tore through A Court of Mist and Fury, and had book club meeting. Some of the books I finished were better than others, all of them had things I wasn't expecting. I finished three books, two of them counted for the RMSC, the 'Whole Deal' post for that can be found here.

Books I finished this week

Image from Goodreads.com

Naughty Professor by S.J. Bishop and Jeni Brown - This was an ARC I received from the authors for an honest review. S.J. Bishop is one of my favorite sports romance authors, I've loved all her books so far and I was really excited to read this one, even though it's not a sports romance. Adam is released from prison, he was convicted of financial crimes and took the fall for his friend Aiden, who he happens to look just like. Adam runs into Aiden and over drinks they decide to switch places. Aiden gets the freedom to travel and do charity work, and Adam gets to run Aiden's million dollar sports drink company, live in his Chicago penthouse and spend his money. When Adam (as Aiden) takes a lecturing position at a local college he meets Syrena and is instantly drawn to her. He doesn't find out till it's too late that she is his stepmothers estranged daughter. He keeps all his secrets from her, trying to shield her from the truth. But when Aiden's past come back to haunt him Adam's secrets come out.
This book had good parts and bad parts, so I'll start with the good.
The Good; I am a sucker for the whole 'oops, you're my stepbrother' storyline. I don't have a stepbrother, but I just love that particular trope. I also love the 'secret baby' trope. They're so much fun to read. The characters were well written. I particularly liked Adam, he was very well rounded, funny, sweet, and seemed like he was genuinely trying to do the right thing. I liked that it took place in Chicago, and not some fictional, unnamed city. Knowing where the location was made it that much easier for me to visualize the story. I was really into this story until about the 90% mark. Up until then it was a great, fun, easy read. Which brings me too the bad parts.
The Bad; This part has SPOILERS. If you don't want to know what happens don't read this part! Also if you are sensitive about miscarriage and/or infant loss this could contain triggers. I know some people hate trigger warnings but I think everyone deserves the right to decide weather they read about triggering subjects or not. So, the bad parts. Syrena has a miscarriage. A pretty violent one. I had an anxiety attack when I read it. I couldn't breathe, couldn't stop shaking, it was pretty bad for me, personally. If I'd known this book contained something along those lines I would not have read it. I would have stuck to S.J. Bishops normal sports romances and totally skipped this one. I actively avoid reading about miscarriages, even in fiction, because I know they have a bad effect on me.. Also, the woman Syrena's ex left her for dies in childbirth or shortly after along with her baby. I was able to over look that one since it's not described in any detail.
Also, the timeline of the story was not well defined at all. I had no idea how much time had passed between Syrena getting back together with Jamie and running into Adam at an awards show. Things really jumped around when Adam had his car accident. It seemed like the accident happened immediately when he left the awards show but then Syrena had to travel to get to where he was and could only skype with Jamie, which doesn't make sense if they were still in New York. I hate to admit this next bit but I hate Syrena's name. I don't like made up names, or 'unique' spellings of established names, and it really bothered me till about half way through the book. Every time I read it my eye would twitch a little until I got used too it.
It seems like a lot of bad, but really 90% of the book was excellent. It was just that last 10% that really got to me. I had a hard time coming up with a rating for this book. I settled on 3 stars, after much thought, because most of the story is excellent. Without the miscarriage part, which I really don't think it needed, there was enough drama going on without that, this would have easily been a 4.5-5 star romance.

Image from Goodreads.com

Last Play by Taylor Hart - This was such a sweet romance! When Roman Young, star QB for the Dallas Destroyers, has to go home to Utah to sell his uncle's Inn he meets Katie Winters. She's strong, and funny, and married. Roman fights his growing feelings for her but when he finds out her husband was killed a year ago he has to decide if he really wants to sell the Inn and be done with Wolfe Creek Utah or if he could have a future with Katie and her son Josh. This was definitely a slow burn romance. There were so many times I was reading, going 'kiss her, kiss HER, KISS HER ALREADY!' I liked Katie's character. She's so strong, and so broken, but her willingness to dedicate herself to the people she loves is amazing. The town of Wolfe Creek was full of interesting characters, and the snowed in town was the perfect setting. I did feel like the whole story was a little bit rushed though. I would have enjoyed more details about the town and the people, just as context for the story. The whole 'small town' thing makes me think of Moose County from the 'Cat Who...' books by Lillian Jackson Braun, and the details about the setting are one of the best things about those books. I was surprised that this was a clean romance book. There was no sex. It wasn't a bad thing, it didn't take away from the story at all, it just wasn't what I was expecting. I gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Image from Goodreads.com

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas - OMG. This book. Let me start by saying I loved the first book. I thought it was so amazing. But this book, this ending, totally blew the first book away. This does contain SPOILERS for the first book, so if you're planning on reading it skip it! Feyre, a mere human, has saved the Fey people of Prythian from the clutches of Amarantha. She spilled Fey blood and shredded her own soul in order to do it, but Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court, and all the Faeries are safe. Feyre struggles with her own guilt and depression over what she had to do, while Tamlin struggles with his need to keep Feyre safe. When Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court cashes in on the bargain he and Feyre forged Under the Mountain, she begins to see that there may be other options for her besides being a caged pet of the Spring Court. With war coming from Hybern, Feyre has to decide what's best for herself and the people of her land, human and Fey alike.
I cried so hard during this book. Feyre's journey to heal herself is beautiful, and painful, and so amazingly written. And the romance! Talk about a slow burn romance! This takes it to another level! I feel like I can't write too much with out giving away too many details, but this book is amazing! I know I'm using a ton of exclamation points but really, this book needs all the exclamation points!

Books I'm currently reading;

Images from Goodreads.com

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson - I starting to question if I should keep reading this series. It's really taking me forever to get into this one. Granted, I haven't given it much time in the last week, but the other books I'm reading aren't taking this long to get involved in. The first book took a long time to get into also but I felt like it really paid off at the end. I'm going to try and keep going with this one for one more week and then we'll see how I feel about it.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - I didn't give much time to this one in the last week either. I don't know how much I'll get to read it this coming week but I'm going to keep going.

Some Practical Magic by Laurie Carroll-Kuna - I was given a free copy of this one for review. I'm about a quarter of the way through it and it's really good so far! I love books about witches, especially in a modern setting, and that exactly what this one is. I also have the sequel, That Old Black Magic, so I'm excited to read that one too.

What's up next;

That Old Black Magic by Laurie Carroll-Kuna (Free copy for review)
Practicing Normal by Cara Sue Achterberg (ARC)
Anaconda by Lauren Landish
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Coming Soon on the Blog;

Reading Habits Post #2; Coffee Shops - I had meant for this post to go up last week but with the Book Club post needing to go up I had to push it back.
Still working on the 'Books I Want to Re-read' post, there are a lot more of them than I originally thought.
March Wrap-Up post is coming early next week! I going to be a long one!

Wow! This post turned out a lot longer than I thought it would. I'm playing with some formatting things on this post, since I'm still learning what all the buttons do so if something doesn't look right let me know!

Holy Cow It's A Readathon Weekend!

Two posts in one day? I know I'm going a bit over board but this has special circumstances! I just got my first books for review from Netgalley.com! They are not new books, but if I want to get new books to review in the future it's probably a good idea for me take this seriously.

I have one issue with this whole review thing right now. I'm currently reading six books. SIX. So this weekend, I'm going to read as much as possible. I might even ask my mom to come babysit on Sunday so I can read all afternoon. My goal is to finish at least three books by Monday morning. I might have to temporarily DNF list one or two books so I can get to the review books in a timely manner. Which I'm okay with since it is only temporary and I'm not very far in to any of the books I'm reading right now.

I'll update this post (hopefully) multiple times this weekend and share my progress. This is where I'm at as of 2 pm on friday 3/24;

Outlander - pg 7
Deadhouse Gates - pg 58
A Court of Mist and Fury - pg 8
Naughty Professor - 14%
The Wall of Winnepeg and Me - 3%
Last Play - 21%

Update #1- 10 PM 3/24

Outlander - pg 7
Deadhouse Gates - pg 58
A Court of Mist and Fury - pg 26
Naughty Professor - 55%
The Wall of Winnepeg and Me - 3%
Last Play - 21%

I spent the afternoon playing in the backyard with The Toddler, I didn't get as much reading done as I could have. Really, though, she's more important than anything and it was the first warm day this spring. So I'm staying up a bit to read.

Update #2 - 3:30 PM 3/25

Outlander - pg 7
Deadhouse Gates - pg 58
A Court of Mist and Fury - pg 39
Naughty Professor - FINISHED
The Wall of Winnepeg and Me - 3%
Last Play - 21%

I finished Naughty Professor around midnight last night. It was...not what I thought it was going to be. Full review coming next week sometime. So far most of today has been spent at Home Depot, but I'm home now and The Toddler is about to take a nap, which equals reading time!

Update #3 - 12 AM 3/26

Outlander - pg 7
Deadhouse Gates - pg 58
A Court of Mist and Fury - pg 53
Naughty Professor - FINISHED
The Wall of Winnepeg and Me - 3%
Last Play - FINISHED

I didn't get as much reading in on Saturday as I would have liked. I have finished two books so far this weekend and the goal was three so I'm doing good there, however with the rest of the books I'm really at the beginning of all of them. I think Outlander is going to land on the DNF list for now. I'm debating between ACoMaF and Wall of Winnepeg to tackle next.

Update #4 - 11 PM 3/26

Outlander - pg 7
Deadhouse Gates - pg 58
A Court of Mist and Fury - pg 160
Naughty Professor - FINISHED
The Wall of Winnepeg and Me - 3%
Last Play - FINISHED

So I didn't get as much reading done this weekend as I thought I would. I only finished two books, but I made a lot of progress with A Court of Mist and Fury. I'm hoping to hit page 200 before I go to bed tonight.

What I'm Reading Right Now

I feel pretty awesome about the last week. I finished three books and they all counted for the RMSC! Which puts me up too six books read out of the goal of 25! The updated 'Whole Deal' post about the RMSC can be found here.
However my TBR pile is ever growing. In addition too the books I picked up in my last 'What I'm Reading' post I got a few more at the used bookstore. And then I ordered a few (seven) books from thriftbooks, And then I went to the other used bookstore. So, altogether I've added eleven books in the last week. None of them count for the RMSC (this year) but I'm probably going to read, at least a few of them, this year.
Look at me, thinking ahead! Already planning for the RMSC next year! Although, in all honesty, I probably have enough books to keep me doing RMSC's for the next four years, without buying anything. But not buying books isn't really an option.

Here are the books I FINISHED in the last week;
The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley- I really liked this one. It got 4 out of 5 stars. Read my full review here.

Bookish by Olivia Long- This book was...not great. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't as good as it could have been either. 2.5 stars out of 5. You can read my review on Goodreads here.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - 5 stars. I can't believe I didn't read this till now. I saw the movie when it first came out on DVD, so I knew, more or less, what happened, but as always, the book was better. I do think that I would have enjoyed it a hundred times more if I'd read it in high school, but I did love it, even as an adult.

Here are the books I'm currently reading;
Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson - Still working on this one. I'm going slow and taking my time, because there are a hundred new characters in this one. It picks up right where Gardens of the Moon left off time-wise, but geographically it starts on a whole other continent with a whole bunch of new info and characters and once again you are plunged into this world with little to no info about whats actually happening. Which I'm fine with. I actually like it that way, its like learning a new language by immersion. Like, just drop me off in Brazil and let me figure it out. Not really. But kind of.

Bury the Hatchet by Catherine Gayle - Sports romance! Usually I read football romances. I'm not much into hockey, but this story sounded really good so I'm giving it a try. I really like it so far. The main characters are great, Tallie has so much to figure out, like she's just floating and shes really got to get it together. And Hunter. OMG Hunter. Talk about a book boyfriend. He's got it together and everything is getting turned upside down. This is the first in a series so I might have to try the rest of the series. Maybe. I have not had good experiences with romance series.

What's up next*;
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Love in Lingerie by Alessandra Torre
Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory
Craving Her Curves by Nora Stone
*These are books I may or may not read, or at least start, in the next week. Having a list helps me not have to stare at my shelves/Kindle for an hour trying to decide what to read.

What's up next on the blog;
I've got so many posts backed up that I might keep doing three posts a week instead of two. I don't think two is enough. Next week I'm starting a series on my reading habits. The good ones, the bad ones, and everything in between.
I'm also doing a post about kids books! The Toddler loves to read and we've gotten some really great books from the library recently and I wanted to share.
A couple of reviews might get thrown in there too, we'll see how many books I finish!

February Wrap-up

 

It's March! I wanted to start doing a wrap-up post at the end of every month, just to recap what books I read in the last month, progress on the RMSC, and reading habits/issues that I'm noticing. 

So February. It wasn't my most prolific reading month. I read three books, only one of those counted for the RMSC. 

1. The Yellow Wallpaper (Gilman)

2. Detroit; An American Autopsy (LeDuff)

3. Gardens of the Moon (Erikson) -This one counted for the RMSC

As far as the RMSC goes...

I've read 3 books out of the goal of 25, which puts me one book behind. As of now I need to read 2.2 books a month in order to finish on time. Realistically, if I can finish two books a month and get aout half way through a third book I should be okay. 

Habits-

I ran out of my favorite black tea about a week ago and then I ran out of my morning coffee three days ago. Lack of hot beverage has thrown me off and a shopping trip may be in order. I've been going to Biggby Coffee a couple of nights a week to get in some dedicated reading time and I've really enjoyed that, I call it my Mom-cation (mom+vacation). Also, I need a better bookmark. The Toddler loves to steal my bookmarks, so I'm always losing my place and can never find one when I need one.

Goals for March-

-Read 2 and a half books for the RMSC

-Buy some coffee and tea

-Buy a toddler-proof bookmark

That's it for February! Hopefully March brings a ton of good books and lots of reading time and coffee!