Category: discussion

2020 Writing Goals

DeAnne2 Comments

I’ve already posted about my reading goals for the year, as loose as they are, but I haven’t really addressed my writing goals. As we know I failed at Nano this past year, but that happens. My muse has been a little absent as of late.

So what do I plan to do about that in 2020? Well, I’m not entirely sure, but maybe the first place to start is to set aside a certain amount of time per day or week that I am writing.

I have a number of different projects, none of them fully finished, so I think I’ll need to pick only a couple of them to concentrate on because maybe there’s just too much vying for my attention.

I have a number of notebooks with notes and scenes in them but they are scattered, so again I think I need to get them all in one place and get them all organized. This might help my focus once I have everything together.

I’m hoping that getting more organized and focused will help my writing so that I can get back in the groove. Depending on how it goes I may do regular updates, but we will have to wait and see.

Happy writing!

2019 Year End Wrap Up

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I was very interested in doing the math and figuring out some of my stats for 2019. Thankfully the reading journal I kept really helped me in figuring out these stats, so let’s get into it.

In 2019 I read a total of 301 books. Now, this was amazing, but I need to add a caveat that a large reason I was able to read this many books is because I’m able to listen to audiobooks at work. If I was not able to do this I would not be able to get any where close to this number.

I do have a break down of how many per month, you can definitely see where I had reading slumps:

January: 50
February: 37
March: 20
April: 25
May: 14
June: 28
July: 42
August: 29
September: 13
October: 14
November: 11
December: 18

This year I also kept track how many books I was bringing in, how many were review books/backlist/etc. and how many I unhauled. This was because I had a goal for myself to read more than I brought in as well as tackle some of my backlist titles.

I added 151 physical books to my library this year. This is a large number, but I’m happy that it is about half when compared to how much I read. Of the books I read, 61 of them were physical books that I was able to move off my TBR and four of those I unhauled (not a ton, but it means I really enjoyed most of them).

I read a total of 49 review books this year, mostly from NetGalley and authors that reached out to me. I’m hoping to up my game even more in 2020.

I did the math and overall I read an average of approximately 166 pages per day. I think this is a great number and would like to keep this level or increase it.

All in all I was really happy with the way 2019 worked out and my fingers are crossed that 2020 is just as good or better.

Happy reading!

January 2020 Reading Plans

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It’s 2020 already and I’m hoping to hit the ground running. For the most part I’m planning to tackle more review books that I have since I’m trying to get caught up after my slump, but I’ve also pulled some of my physical books that I would like to get off my TBR this month as well.

The Cheerleaders and Night Music are books I currently have audio books for so those should be easy to knock out. I’m already half way done with Robots Vs. Fairies and the other two books are pretty short. So I’m fairly confident I can knock these ones out – my hope is that this happens and that I’m also able to pull additional books from my shelves. We shall see what happens in that regard.

There’s also always random books that I may pick up on my kindle or via audio books as the mood strikes me. Also, there are monthly challenges I want to participate in that I haven’t been able to check out yet, so this may have additions or changes based on that.

Happy reading!

December 2019: Wrap Up

DeAnne2 Comments

I cannot believe December (and 2019) is already over, it went by so fast! I know a huge part of that was because of all the planning and prep I had to do for my vacation, and then the vacation itself. While I didn’t get back up to my usual reading pace, I do feel like I broke the slump and that I am getting back on track.

In total I read 18 books this month, including one on my kindle, 3 print books that were on my shelves (though one of them was a book I received for review) and 14 other review books which were either in eArc or audiobook format. While I was stoked to tackle so many review books, I was a little bummed that more print books weren’t taken care of.

For books that I acquired in December, there were a total of 11 – which is awesome for December. December and April tend to be my highest months so having less this December was a win. I got two from Book of the Month, three as Christmas gifts and the rest I purchased for myself mostly with gift cards that I received for Christmas. I also picked up the second Crowns of Croswald book from the author’s website as after reading the first one that I received directly from the author for review, I definitely wanted to pick up the next book in the series.

So that’s about it for December! I’ll be doing a full year wrap up in the next couple days to cover how many books total I read (301!) and how many books I added to my library as well as some other stats, but that’s going to take a little time since I have to organize my data.

Here’s hoping that January and beyond will see me getting even more on track with my reading (begone slump!) and get me back to my happy place. Fingers crossed for 2020 being a good year.

Happy reading!

Top 5 Books I Read This Year

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Since we’re at the end of the year I figured it was time to pick some favorites. Though I don’t give out a ton of five star ratings, this year I had a fair amount so it was harder to pick only five. Still, I was able to narrow it down to some that I know I would read again and probably love just as much.

Great Goddesses – I read most of Nikita Gill’s works this year and I believe gave five stars to each one, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be this one. I just fell in love with her poetry and honestly it reignited a love of poetry that had fallen away for a number of years.

If I’m Being Honest – I absolutely loved this duo’s debut book Always Never Yours when I read it so I had to pick up this one when it came out. I love their unique spin on “retelling” Shakespeare, where it’s not strictly a retelling, but modern characters relating to Shakespeare and using it as a mirror to their lives. The first one uses Romeo and Juliet for this while this one uses Taming of the Shrew. If you’re looking for a contemporary story that will make you both laugh and cry, you have to check out these books.

The Kiss Quotient – I know everyone went crazy over this book last year, but I was a little late to the party and read it this year. Helen Hoang has easily become one of my autobuy authors with this book and then The Bride Test. I love how fully dimensional so many of her characters are and how thoughtfully she writes a number of subjects. At this point I will read pretty much anything she writes.

Truly Devious – Maureen Johnson has been a little hit and miss for me, but I absolutely loved this story. A cold case murder mystery and an exclusive private school with very quirky characters? Yes please. This is one I would definitely recommend the audiobook for as I was fully immersed in it and felt it was extremely well done. I’m definitely looking forward to continuing on with the story; however, I’m scared to continue before more books are out because I don’t want a cliffhanger to kill me.

Moonlocket – Moonlocket is the sequel to Cogheart which was such a great story in and of itself, but with the second book the characters have so much growth and really gain even more dimension. (Spoiler – I’ve been graciously given an eARC of the third book, so watch my blog for a review of that one as well!) If you enjoy middle grade adventures I definitely recommend picking this series up!

So that’s it – my top five books of 2019! What were some of your favorites?

Happy reading!

2020 Reading Challenges I Want to Participate In

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There are so many different reading challenges that it can be hard to decide which ones you want to participate in. Typically I have trouble sticking to them, or I find a ton I want to do and then am too unorganized or too much of a mood reader. This coming year I want to pick a few that I definitely participate in, then fill in where I can or where I feel like it.

Clearing the Hoard – My backlist is pretty enormous and it is something I would like to improve. I’m a little hesitant to make an actual list of all the books I have which are unread because, well, there are a lot, but I think it’s a great idea to tackle all those books which may not be at the top of the TBR.

TBR and Beyond – I’m a member of the TBR and Beyond facebook group, which has monthly and a yearly reading challenge, so I definitely plan on tackling those challenges as well.

20 For 2020 Reading Challenge – This one is based on prompts and it looks like a really good list, so I’m definitely going to try and tackle it. We’ll see how we do!

What reading challenges are you going to participate in next year?

Happy reading!

2020 Book Resolutions

DeAnne2 Comments

We all have those things that we think about when heading into the new year, things or habits that we want to change. I have these for my general life, but also for my reading life. Here are a few of the things I want to improve upon.

My “Currently Reading” pile – I think I may have already brought this up this year, but I have a few books currently sitting on my currently reading pile. I would like to clear this pile and finally finish these books.

My Neverending TBR – Ok, may of us have this problem and it is not unique – but it’s still something I need to work on. I did a great job this year to not bring in more books than I read, but I really need to take care of my backlist and dramatically decrease it.

Stay More On Top of Review Books – I do pretty well with this, but with the epic slump I fell into in the last few months of the year this one kind of slipped. I’m confident I can get it back on track and power through these books.

Continue To Grow This Blog – I’ve done really well in the last few months of posting every day and I would like to keep that up. It’s led to some great growth and really kept me accountable, I’d like to keep that trend going!

So those are the big ones, things that I hope to really ramp up on or continue doing. What are some of your reading resolutions for 2020?

Happy reading!

Tips for Traveling with Books

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We’ve all been there, we’re going on vacation and have limited space in our bags, but we want to take all the books we need to read with us. It can be hard to decide how much luggage space to devote to books and which ones get those coveted spots. I’m currently on vacation right now and shocker, only brought my kindle fire and iPad with me for reading (gasp). I did not bring a single print book. This may not work for everyone and I almost always have a couple print books with me, but this trip wasn’t conducive to it. Here are some alternatives you can use if you find you don’t have room for a ton of books in your bags.

One thing you could do is just what I did, make sure you have ample reading choices on your electronic readers, then only take them. This was more easy for me as I have a pile of review books I need to get to so they are all on my e-readers but may not work for everyone.

Load your phone with audiobooks! If you have long drives or flights then they are prime for audiobooks. You can sit back, relax and ignore everyone else as you let the story unfold.

Ok, this one’s hard, but here me out – choose one or two print books that you think are going to be amazing reads, then only bring them while bringing your e-reader as a back up. Let’s face it, if you are on vacation then you may not have as much prime reading time, so bringing books could be a moot point as you might not get to them.

So those are just a few tips for traveling with books. Above all don’t stress yourself out too much about it – you’re going on vacation. If you don’t bring enough books then you can probably find a bookstore pretty easily and buy one or two to tide you over. Don’t worry yourself over it and cause yourself more stress.

Happy reading!

5 Star Predictions for 2020

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We all have those books we are looking forward to and that we believe will be five stars and some of our favorite books. I have a number of 2020 releases I’m wanting to get my hands on but let’s get into some of the ones I believe will be favorites.

The Silence of Bones – We all know that anything Asian inspired or set in Asia gets my interest, but especially those set in Korea. I’ve interacted with this author on Twitter and she’s amazing to talk to so I cannot wait to get this one in my hands.

Night of the Dragon – Ok, we all know that I LOVED the first two books in this trilogy and I am desperately wanting to know how the trilogy ends. I know it’s probably going to be a difficult read because things are probably going to happen to some characters that I don’t like, but I NEED TO KNOW.

Scavenge the Stars – I haven’t read anything by Tara Sim as of yet, but I’ve heard great things. I just think the blurb for this one sounds amazing and like it will be something I really enjoy.

Where Dreams Descend – Ok, you had me at Phantom of the Opera, it’s one of those stories I enjoy to see redone and I’ve heard some good early opinions so I definitely think this one is going to be up there for me.

Time of Our Lives – I have adored and 5 starred both of the previous books by these authors and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t read a ton of contemporary books. I love how they infuse Shakespeare into their works and how fully faceted their characters are, so they are an autobuy for me.

What books do you think will rank up there for you?

Happy reading!

5 Books I Would Love to Get for Christmas

DeAnne2 Comments

Anyone into reading likely has a long list of books they want to get to or are eager to have in their hands as soon as they come out. We all have those books on the lists that we want to have sooner rather than later. These are some of the books I’d love to see added to my library soon.

The Illustrated Harry Potter Books – Ok, technically these are four books at this point, but they are something that I haven’t been able to justify buying for myself just yet and would love to re-read the series through these editions.

Serpent and Dove – At first I didn’t have a ton of interest in this one, but after seeing the spectacular feedback for it, it’s definitely something I want to check out.

The Silence of Bones – Ok, this one isn’t out yet, but I have been pining for it ever since I heard about it. I cannot wait until it comes out so I can get my hands on it.

Night of the Dragon – Same thing with this one. I’ve had the privilege to read both of the previous books early and have loved both of them so much. I have a feeling Night of the Dragon will break my heart, but I love the trilogy too much to get mad about it.

Capturing the Devil – Though I haven’t read the rest of this series, I really want to get this one so I have the complete series and can then hopefully just binge them!

Happy reading!