August 2018 TBR

I'm trying not to be too ambitious with my August TBR, even though I read a ton of books in July. I'm limiting myself to a few library books, a few TBR shelf books, a couple of re-reads, and a couple of ARCs.

I don't have any plans to participate in any readathons this month, but if there are any you're participating in let me know! I'm always game to attempt a readathon, even though I usually fail, haha.

Since I'm usually a mood reader I don't really take my monthly TBRs too seriously. However, last month I was pretty good at sticking to it. There is only one book on my August TBR that's a carry over that I didn't even start in July. I'm hoping that my motivation from July will carry over this new month.

July 2018 Wrap-Up

This month was a personal best for reading -- eighteen books in one month! I finally got on target for my Goodreads Reading Challenge and as of today, I am actually 12 books ahead of schedule. I am still actually in shock that I was able to read that many books in one month.

It definitely helped that I participated in a couple of readathons this month: Tome Topple and the 24 in 48 readathon. It also helped that a large chunk of those books were rereads of one of my favorite childhood series, the Sammy Keyes series. Those books are pretty fast reads and I listened to a majority of them on audiobook during my walk to and from work. Either way, I'm feeling really good a bout my reading this month!

Unfortunately, blogging fell a little by the wayside this month. I had a particularly stressful month at work and reading became my escape from that, but blogging not so much. I have a couple of reviews queued up for early August and I'm hoping to get a series review in for Sammy Keyes once I finish the last four books in the series.

Without further ado, these are the books I read in July:

June 2018 Wrap Up

I started and ended the month on strong notes and I'm now *so close* to catching up to my Goodreads reading challenge goal. I really have a couple of read-a-thons for kicking my butt into gear toward the end of the month. I read seven awesome books, all of them coming in at 4 or 5 stars. I even kind of stuck to my planned June TBR!

This was also the month I came back to book blogging and it's been great coming back to a community that's grown so much in the past few years. I've been hanging around the bookstagram community and I've met and interacted with so many awesome people! In addition to my book review, I've also written about my TBR shelf, my latest obsession with books by and about women in STEM, and wrote up a spotlight on one of my favorite authors! I've also participated in Top 5 Wednesday a couple weeks out of the month, so check out my posts about my favorite fathers/father figures and the books I really want to get to before the year is over.

Read on to see the books I read in June, my ratings, and my reviews, if applicable.

October 2014 Wrap-up

October wasn't the best month reading-wise but I still read some pretty fantastic books. I did most of my reading at the end of the month but I still managed to read eight books (only six are pictured above). Another huge milestone of the month was the fact that I have now read more books so far in 2014 than I did in all of 2013!

• The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan [4/5]
• Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raash (ebook, not pictured) [4/5]
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (audiobook, not pictured) [4/5]
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien [4/5]
• Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas [4/5]
• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame [2/5]
• This Night So Dark by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner [4/5]
• Loop by Karen Akins [4/5]

Total read this month: 8

Total read this year: 122/100 

What were some of your favorite books you've read this month? Let me know down below in the comments!

October 2014 Book Haul

This month I almost managed to acquire a book for every day of the month, but alas, I was about six books short. That's probably better in the long run for my wallet. A combination of my birthday, a used book sale on my college campus, and the Boston Book Festival all added up to what I think is the biggest book haul for any one month so far this year. Without further ado here are the books I got this month:

• The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
• This Night So Dark by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (ebook, not pictured)
• Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
• Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
• The Young Elites by Marie Lu
• The Body Electric by Beth Revis
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
• Dying to Forget by Trish Marie Dawson (ebook, not pictured)
• The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini
• The Technologists by Matthew Pearl
• Life after Life by Kate Attkinson
• Maus I by Art Spiegelman
• A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
• The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
• Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
• Catalyst by S.J. Kincaid
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
• A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
• A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
• Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
• Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
• Loop by Karen Akins
• The Iron Trials by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

I've read some of the books already but there are still plenty more that have been added to my TBR pile that I'm super excited to read. What books did you get this month that you're excited to read? Let me know in the comments!

August 2014 Most Anticipated Releases

August seems to be a light month for YA new releases but the ones that are coming out are some of my most anticipated books of the year. One of the highlights of the month would have to be Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, which I've been waiting for since spring of 2013 when I finished the first two books and wanted more!

• Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee [August 5th]
• The Islands at the End of the World by Austin Aslan [August 5th]
• Forget Me by K.A. Harrington [August 7th]
• Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins [August 14th]
• The Revenge of Seven by Pitticus Lore [August 26th]

July 2014 Wrap-Up

I was so hoping to reach 100 books this month but sadly it didn't happen. I got very close though and I'm thinking I'll reach my Goodreads Challenge Goal of 100 within the first few days of August. Sarah over on her blog, Trees of Reverie hosted another read-a-thon that ended at midnight on the 1st so that definitely helped me a lot of books. Overall, I liked the books I read this month but a couple standouts for me were Landline by Rainbow Rowell, The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, Sekret by Lindsay Smith, and The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith. Only one month left of summer so let's see if I can finally reach one of my summer goals of reading 20 book in one month!

• Landline by Rainbow Rowell [5/5] (Full review)
• Requiem by Lauren Oliver [4/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier [3/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin [4/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• Reality Boy by A.S. King [3/5]
• Divided by Elsie Chapman [3/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith [4/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige [4/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater [5/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson [4/5]
• Ruins by Dan Wells [4/5] 
• Sekret by Lindsay Smith [4/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• Starters by Lissa Price [3/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• The Treatment by Suzanne Young [4/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King [4/5]
• The Guard by Kiera Cass [3/5]
• Hexed by Michelle Krys [3/5] (Goodreads mini review)
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling [5/5]

Total read this month: 18

Total read this year: 98/100 

July 2014 Book Haul

I got some pretty great books this month! A big thank you to Macmillan for sending the middle stack of books that I received as a thank you for being part of their Spring 2014 Fierce Reads Street Team (Go Team Alice!). As you can see I have duplicates of both Sekret by Lindsay Smith and The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu. That's because I was lucky to meet both of them at author events in my area this past month. Both author's were positively lovely and the amazing part was that they recognized me from Twitter and Tumblr. I also received Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. I'll be reading it soon and posting my thoughts on it as soon as I do. I purchased both Extraction by Stephanie Diaz and Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens, the former being one of my most anticipated books of the month and the latter being one of the best books I've read this year. Both were books that I knew I wanted to add to my permanent collection.

Book List with Goodreads links:

• Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican
• Extraction by Stephanie Diaz
• Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
• The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutokoski
• Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
• Of Neptune by Anna Banks
• Sekret by Lindsay Smith
• Monument 14: Savage Drift by Emmy Laybourne
• Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn
• Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

June 2014 Wrap-Up

This month has been my best reading month so far, mostly thanks to the read-a-thon hosted by Sarah over on her blog, Trees of Reverie. I managed to almost read a book a day during those two weeks. Although the I definitely felt the marathon aspect of the read-a-thon in the last few days, overall it definitely helped motivate me to read a lot. I'm very self-competitive so I always try to read more than I did the day before. In terms of books, I read some pretty good ones this month, which you can see below. I also decided to increase the number of book in my 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge from 75 to 100 books since I passed the original goal this month.

• No Place Life Oz by Danielle Paige [4/5] (review)
• Split Second by Kasie West [4/5]
• Frozen by Erin Bowman [3/5]
• The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings [4/5] (review)
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater [5/5]
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews [4/5]
• Dualed by Elsie Chapman [3/5]
• The Diviners by Libba Bray [5/5]
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart [4/5]
• These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner [4/5]
• Champion by Marie Lu [5/5]
• Life Before Legend by Marie Lu [4/5]
• After the End by Amy Plum [4/5]
• Panic by Lauren Oliver [4/5]
• Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor[4/5]
• Fragments by Dan Wells [5/5]
• The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler [5/5]
• Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken [3/5]

Total read this month: 18

Total read this year: 80/100 

Most Anticipated New Releases: July 2014

July seems to be a good month for books! There are so many good books releasing this month but these are eight of the ones I'm most looking forward to. Look for my weekly new releases posts to keep up-to-date on the weekly new YA releases.

• Four: A Divergent Story Collection by Veronica Roth [July 1st]
• Conversion by Katherine Howe [July 1st]
• Landline by Rainbow Rowell [July 8th]
• The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson [July 8th]
• The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno [July 8th]
• Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones [July 15th]
• Extraction by Stephanie Diaz [July 22nd]
• The Young World by Chris Weitz [July 29th]

June 2014 Book Haul

Compared to last month, I barely got any books this month -- only six. I bought The Murder Complex, The Silkworm, and The Diviners from Barnes & Noble (conveniently using coupons that they sent me) and I got Cracked Up to Be and The Wright 3 from the used book sale at my local library. The book I'm most excited about, Landline by Rainbow Rowell, was a last minute and unexpected addition!

• The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
• The Diviners by Libba Bray
• Landline by Rainbow Rowell
• The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings
• Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers
• The Wright 3 by Blue Balleitt

Most Anticipated New Releases: June 2014

There are a lot of great books come out this month, but here are the five that I am most looking forward to:

• The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu [June 3rd]
• Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern [June 3rd]
• Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon [June 3rd]
• The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings [June 10th]
• Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo [June 17th]
• The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith [June 24th]

May 2014 Book Haul

I didn't realize how many books I'd acquired this past month until I put them all together. I picked up nine of the books for free when someone at my college was giving them away, I bought five of them, I won two of them from a giveaway, and I got one of them for review.

• A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
• Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman
• Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon
• Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
• Just One Day by Gayle Forman
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
• The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
• Wildwood by Colin Meloy
• How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent by Julia Alvarez
• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• Best Friends by Martha Moody
• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
• Mind Games by Kiersten White
• Arclight by Josin L. McQuein
• Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
• Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

May 2014 Wrap-Up

I didn't think this was going be a good reading month because up until the 25th of May I'd only read seven books and yet somehow in the last 6 days of the month I managed to read seven more. Granted some of them were quite short (I read three e-novellas) but they were all pretty good books just the same. I think I kicked off the first few days of summer well, and I think it's going to be a good summer for books!

Here are all the books I read this month:

• Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor [5/5]
• To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han [3/5]
• Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins [5/5]
• Allies by S.J. Kincaid [4/5]
• What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick [3/5]
• Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead [5/5]
• Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman [5/5]
• The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson [4/5]
• The One by Kiera Cass [3/5]
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart [5/5]
• Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis [4/5] (review)
• The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu [5/5] (review)
• Stolen by Erin Bowman [4/5]
• Just One Night by Gayle Forman [4/5]

Total read this month: 14

Total read this year: 62/75 

April 2014 Book Haul

Only ended up buying one book, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, and I received the other ones from various giveaways hosted by YA Interrobang, Epic Reads, and Sarah from Trees of Reverie. Of the six books I received, I've already read two and I can't wait to read the other four!

• Vicious by V.E. Schwab
• The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
• Mind Games by Kiersten White
• Perfect Lies by Kiersten White
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

April 2014 Wrap-Up

I managed to read twelve books in April, and that's along with college, work, and everything in between! I'm pretty proud of myself, this is the most I've ever read during a school month. Overall, I really enjoyed the books I read, a few more than others. There were even four five star books this month! Without further ado, here are the books I read,

• The Here and Now by Ann Brashares [4/5] (review)
• Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens [5/5] (review)
• The Blue-Haired Boy by Courtney C. Stevens [5/5] 
• Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge [4/5]
• No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale [4/5] 
• Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd [5/5]
• Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier [3/5]
• Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphey [4/5]
• Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier [3/5]
• Grave Mercy by Robin LaFeveres [4/5]
• Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt [4/5]
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline [5/5]

Total read this month: 12
Total read this year: 48/75 

Most Anticipated New Releases: April 2014

There are so many good books being released this month that it was hard to pick just a few to feature. However, without further ado, here are the nine books that I can't wait to be released this month:

• Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira [April 1]
• Sekret by Lindsay Smith [April 1]
• Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige [April 1]
• Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor [April 8]
• The Here and Now by Ann Brashares [April 8]
• Sunrise by Mike Mullin [April 15]
• The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith [April 15]
• What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick [April 15]
• The Treatment by Suzanne Young [April 29]

March 2014 Wrap-up

Another month, another 10 books. There seems to be a trend going on these past couple of months. If I can keep this up, I'll be pretty proud of myself. I think I read a nice variety of books this month, ranging from paranormal to fantasy to science fiction. There was a strong showing of contemporary books thought! Without further ado, here are the books I've read along with the ratings I gave them on Goodreads

• The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey [5/5] (review)
• The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin [4/5]
• Vicious by V.E. Schwab [5/5] (review)
• Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski[3/5] (review)
• Bakuman Volume 3: Debut and Impatience byTsugumi Ohba [n/a]
• The Vow by Jessica Martinez [4/5]
• OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu [4/5]
• Golden by Jessi Kirby [5/5]
• Splintered by A.G. Howard [4/5]
• Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith [4/5]

Total read this month: 10
Total read this year: 36/75 

March 2014 Book Haul

I gave up buying books for Lent so this is going to be a small book haul. Regardless, I wanted to keep you updated on what I've added to my bookshelf so far this month!

• The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas
• Panic by Lauren Oliver
• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
• Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
• The Fall of Atlantis by Marion Simmer Bradley

I actually received both of Stephanie Perkins' books as a prize from a giveaway hosted by Rebecca from Good, Bad, and Ugly Books, so thank you!

Most Anticipated New Releases: March 2014

New month, new books! Here are some of the books that I'm looking forward to the most.

• Panic by Lauren Oliver [March 4]
• The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass #0.1-0.5) by Sarah J. Maas [March 4]
• Ruins (Partials #3) by Dan Wells [March 11]
• Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy [March 18]
• Half Bad (Half Life Trilogy #1) by Sally Green [March 4]
• The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski [March  4]