Fresh Releases: January 29, 2018

Fresh Fresh Releases (I like to sing it to the tune of Ice Ice Baby, I think that makes it more fun)

 

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo. The book that everyone is salivating over. I still need to read pretty much all of Leigh Bardugo's books before I can get to this one. A Curse So Dark and Lovely by Brigid Kemmerer and I'm really, really interested in this one. It's a Beauty and the Beast retelling and I love my fairytale retellings. I think I might buy this one, or at least feverishly scan the library shelves for it. Out of the Dark (#4) by Gregg Hurwitz, I still need to read the first book in this series, but I'm looking forward to this one. 

And that's all I got for this post. I know that I'm definitely missing some. Are there any books coming out that I should be really, really excited for? Let me know in the comments.

Review: Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Title: Watching You

Author: Lisa Jewell

Published by: Atria Books

Released: December 26, 2018

Source: ARC/Review Copy from Atria Books and won through Bookish First

Synopsis: Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you.

As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom’s teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.

One of Tom’s students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she’s not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna’s mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam… (Synopsis from Goodreads)

My Thoughts: Thank you so much to Atria Books and Bookish First for giving me the chance to read an early copy of Watching You. I was so excited when I won it.

I enjoyed Watching You. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting it to be. I'm a big fan of thrillers, along with millions of other people in the reading world. They are full of twists and turns, shocks and surprises. Most thrillers that I read really, really try to shock me with something crazy. Watching You is a much quieter, more reserved thriller than I've read in a while. It's not shocking me with flashes and bangs, but it's giving me a story where I can't really trust anyone.

Watching You is set on a street of Painted Houses. It looks to be an idyllic place, but all of the residents aren't what you think them to be. There is this undercurrent of uneasiness throughout the whole story that I really enjoyed. I couldn't really trust any of the characters. So many of them were questionable. They were Characters making bad life choices or characters with shady pasts. It really did leave me guessing as to what exactly was going to happen and where it was going to go.

I'd describe Watching You as a quiet thriller, it's not rushing the reader toward anything. It's taking its own time to set the scene, cast suspicion, and give us the clues to what really happened. I really enjoyed that.

It was told through multiple characters' points of view, which I also enjoyed. I liked reading and getting to meet them all. Every character that I did meet, well, let's just say they weren't perfect. There's a creepy teacher, a teenage watcher, a newlywed who is already lusting after other men. It just showed that though they might live in beautiful houses, there are other things going on behind the facade.

I also really enjoyed the chapters that were the police transcripts. I wanted to know so badly what had happened, who did it, and the way the transcripts popped up just kept me so curious.

I did not suspect the ending at all. Watching You did a really good job on leading me to suspecting all these other people, that when it finally came to the big reveal, I realized I was wrong, wrong, wrong. It was a good twist and I wasn't expecting it.

I really enjoyed Watching You. It's not an in-your-face-thriller, but it gives you a great slow burn. If you're a thriller fan, I'd definitely recommend it.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

Nothing is Private

COVER REVEAL: Smoke and Key by Kelsey Sutton

COVER REVEAL: Handle With Care by Helena Hunting

I'm really excited to be a part of the Cover Reveal for Handle With Care  by Helena Hunting. Are you ready for it, because here it is!!!

Goodreads  Purchase Links

Helena Hunting

Website  Facebook  Twitter

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She's writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.

Look for it August 27th, 2019 or pre-order if you want to!! Thanks so much to St. Martin's Press and Helena Hunting for letting me be a part of this fun cover reveal! I can't wait to give it a read.

Exclusive Excerpt

I’m startled out of my thoughts when my brother jumps up and shouts a bunch of profane nonsense, hands flailing like he’s trying to swim on land, or approximate the chicken dance while on an LSD trip.

“You can’t do this! It’s absolute bullshit!” Armstrong yells.

I look around the table, trying to piece together what I missed.

“I’m sorry, Armstrong. I know this is a shock, but we feel it’s in the company’s best interest to put Lincoln at the helm during this transitional stage,” G-mom says firmly.

At the helm? I look to G-mom who’s busy not looking at me.

Armstrong jabs at finger at himself. “But I’m the one who’s put in all the time here! I deserve to run the company! Lincoln doesn’t know the first thing about Moorehead. All he knows how to do is dig wells and forage for food in the wilderness. How are those valuable assets here?” He turns his attention to our mother. “Did you know about this? How can you let this happen? Look at him. How can that be the face of our company? He looks like he crawled out of a gutter and mugged a twenty-year-old college kid on a bender. How is this better for our bottom line?”

My mother clasps her hands in front of her. “I’m sorry, Armstrong, but this decision wasn’t mine to make. I know this is hard for you, but your grandmother and fath—”

Armstrong stomps his foot, exactly as a toddler would. “The company is mine! Lincoln can’t have it!”

I raise a hand, half to quiet my brother and also to find out what the freaking deal is. “Whoa, let’s back this bus up. Can someone explain what’s going on?”

“You’ve been appointed as the CEO of Moorehead Media, according to the will,” Christophe—no R, because that would make it far too pedestrian a name—my father’s lawyer says.

I’m working on trying to remain calm as I address my grandmother. “You didn’t say anything about me being CEO. You said you needed my help.”

“Running the company, yes,” she says through a practiced, stiff smile.

It’s her warning face, but seriously, when she said she needed my help for a few months I figured it meant I’d be keeping Armstrong in line while she sorted out who was going to take over the company, which I realize now was a stupid assumption.

“I didn’t think that meant CEO. How am I going to run a company with this dickhead on staff?” I motion to my brother.

“The name calling is unnecessary,” G-mom replies.

“Lincoln’s not even part of this family! He hasn’t attended one event in the past five years except for Dad’s funeral. He didn’t bother coming to my wedding and now he’s going to run the company? How is that fair?”

I snort. “Your wedding was an expensive joke.”

He crosses his arms over his chest. “I was set up. Amalie had cold feet and made me out to look like the bad guy.”

The woman beside him shoots him disgusted look.

Armstrong clears his throat and tugs at his collar. “My wedding is not the real issue. The point is that you’ve never involved yourself in any part of this family and now you think you can come in and take over. I will not stand by and let this happen!” He keeps jabbing his finger at me, as if he’s engaged in a finger sword fight.

I lean back in my chair and lace my fingers behind my neck. Armstrong has always been reactive. And self-absorbed. For a while it seemed like he finally had it together—back when he was engaged. But ever since that fiasco of a wedding he seems to have come completely unglued. Again. But worse this time. “Someone needs a timeout.”

Review: Honor Among Thieves (#1) by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre

Title: Honor Among Thieves (#1)

Authors: Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre

Published by: Katherine Tegen Books

Released: 2018

Source: Library

Synopsis: Petty criminal Zara Cole has a painful past that’s made her stronger than most, which is why she chose life in New Detroit instead of moving with her family to Mars. In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell.

Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she’s headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan—a race of sentient alien ships—to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers.

Zara seizes the chance to flee Earth’s dangers, but when she meets Nadim, the alien ship she’s assigned, Zara starts to feel at home for the first time. But nothing could have prepared her for the dark, ominous truths that lurk behind the alluring glitter of starlight. (Synopsis From Goodreads)

My Thoughts: I'm having mixed feelings about Honor Among Thieves. For the most part, I enjoyed it, but there was one part of it that I just couldn't get down with.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the book. I liked the setting, the space-adventure feel, boldly going where not many humans have gone before. I thought Zara was an okay character, I wasn't absolutely in love with her, but I didn't hate her. She was one of those tough girl types. Her backstory was a little strange to me. She would talk about how she lived in this rough, rough place, but she chose to be there. She could have been with her mother and sister, but decided her freedom was more important. I didn't really understand her thought processes sometimes. I also don't really get why she was chosen for the Honors Program. Sure she had some skills at putting mechanical things together, but she really didn't have any other talents. I don't know why they picked her, maybe that will be further explained in the series.

The thing that really killed this for me was the weird romantic feelings Zara had for the Alien Whale Ship Zamir. I did not get it. I did not ship it. I did not root for it. Having a sentient space ship that you live in is fine. I could see becoming friends with Zamir no problem. I think it would have worked better for me if maybe Zamir had been some type of hologram that Zara could have interacted with. The whole bonding thing just got very weird and sexual, and I wasn't here for it. It was strange to read. And this romance happened very quickly. They gave each other a ship name. Blech. It made me uncomfortable and want to roll my eyes all at the same time. A lot of attention was placed on this romance too, which just caused my enjoyment of the story to go downhill.

This whole book just felt like an overlong introduction to this series. I'm definitely interested in continuing because the ending has me curious, but it didn't have to be as long as it was. So Honor Among Thieves was a mixed bag for me. Cool concept, interesting setting, I'm always up for space books, but the romance or whatever it was, was really, really dumb.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.7/5

Good Except for the Weird Alien Ship Romance. I'm Not a Fan of That.

BLOG TOUR: Analiese Rising by Brenda Drake

I'm really excited to be on the Blog Tour for Analiese Rising by Brenda Drake. As soon as I read the synopsis, I was excited to read it. Thanks so much to Entangled Teen, Brenda Drake, and YA Bound Book Tours for letting me be a part of this fun tour. I received an e-arc for honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Title: Analiese Rising

Author: Brenda Drake

Published by: Entangled Teen

Released: January 8, 2019

Goodreads  Purchase Links  Amazon

Synopsis: When a stranger gives Analiese Jordan a list of names before he dies, the last thing she expects to see is her own on it. Not. Cool. Her search for answers leads to the man’s grandson, Marek, who has dangerous secrets of his own. Both are determined to unlock the mystery of the list. 

But the truth is deadly. Analiese is a descendant of the God of Death, known as a Riser, with the power to raise the dead and control them. Finding out she has hidden powers? Cool. Finding out she turns corpses into killers? No, thank you.

Now the trail plants her and Marek in the middle of a war between gods who apparently want to raise an army of the Risen, and Analiese must figure out how to save the world—from herself.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this story! I loved the subject matter, the action, the romance, pretty much all of it. It was a lot of fun to read and that's all I really want from a book. If it entertains me, it's a winner, and Analiese Rising is a winner!

I loved learning with Analiese all about the Risers, what they do and where they come from. I love having reads with powers and obscure mythologies, so this was a lot of fun.

I liked the romance. I thought they were cute together and they made a great team dealing with the situations they were put in.

This was just an entertaining, fun read and I enjoyed it. The ending left me a little wanting, so I hope that maybe this story will continue on in some way.

I really enjoyed Analiese Rising and I'd definitely recommend it. It has an awesome cover, an interesting premise, and a fun adventure. Give this one a read.

 Meet the Author

Website  Goodreads  Twitter  Facebook

Brenda Drake grew up the youngest of three children, an Air Force brat, and the continual new kid at school. Her fondest memories growing up is of her eccentric, Irish grandmother's animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. With kids of all ages populating Brenda's world, it was only fitting that she would choose to write stories with a bend toward the fantastical for both younger readers and the young at heart. And because she married her prince charming, there's always a romance warming the pages. Her favorite books are The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Kings Row by Henry Bellamann, and Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. When she's not writing, she hosts workshops and contests for writers such as Pitch Wars and Pitch Madness on her blog, and holds Twitter pitch parties on the hashtag, #PitMad. In her free time, Brenda enjoys hanging out with her family, haunting libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops, or just reading someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).

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I Have Bookish Problems: Spoiling Myself

Hello, I'm Ashley and I have a Bookish Problem. I keep SPOILING myself while I'm reading. This is a very specific instance of SPOILING that I do. I won't deny that I do get SPOILED on the internet all the time, but sometimes I can't help that.
The kind of SPOILING I do to myself is when I take a book I'm currently reading, I flip to the back pages and read like the last paragraph or the last page. I don't really understand why I do this to myself, but I continue to do it. And I don't do it because I'm not liking or enjoying a book, sometimes I'm so curious as to how the story will end that I don't even want to wait to see, if that makes sense. I know I shouldn't do it, I know I should get to the end by reading ALL the pages, but my hand involuntarily starts flipping and suddenly I'm reading the last paragraph.
I really started thinking about this Bookish Problem of mine while I was reading my current read. Watching You by Lisa Jewell.

This is a thriller and thrillers are notorious for throwing you a curveball at the end that you weren't expecting. So Why Oh Why would I turn to the end pages? In my head, I guess it was because I wanted to see if a main character had a good ending with her life. So I accidentally on purpose, because of stupidity SPOILED myself. So I found out who the villain was waaaay before I was supposed to or wanted to. I genuinely did want to be surprised my the twists and reveals, and then I go and SPOIL myself for no reason. I don't understand me.

I thought it would make an interesting post to explain and share my Bookish Problems. To see if anyone else has similar Bookish Problems. Can you relate to me?

I don't think I'll ever be able to fully stop myself from flipping to the end before I'm finished with the book. I mean, I guess it would be harder to do with ebooks, but print books are my faves. Does anyone else do this? Am I alone?

So thank you for listening to my sad, sad tale. If I think of more Bookish Problems I have, I'll be sure to share with another post.

Reading Right Now! (191)

What I'm Reading Right Now! is...

Watching You by Lisa Jewell: I was lucky enough to win this from BookishFirst which is a website where you can write reviews giving your first impressions of upcoming releases and be entered for giveaways. If you win, they'll send you an arc to read and review. I love this website. Getting arcs is one of the most fun things (to me) of being a book blogger/book reviewer. I mean, of course I love reading all the books too, but there's just something about holding an early copy of an anticipated release in your hands and knowing you'll be one of the first to read it. I would love to one day just be on a publishers list where they'd send me all the books. So anyway, I highly recommend you join the website.

So, as a DISCLAIMER: I received a free copy of Watching You for honest review.

I'm not very far in yet, so I really don't know what to think. It's a thriller, I think there might be a murder, and it centers around this neighborhood of painted houses. The chapters so far have been very quick and interesting. I'm curious to know just what all is going to happen. I have no guesses as to what the twist will be. I'm enjoying it so far.

Oh and if you want to pick up a copy of Watching You by Lisa Jewell, you can. It's already out and available for purchase or library checkout (if your library has a copy).

So that's what I'm Reading Right Now! What are you Reading?

Review: Promises I Made (#2) by Michelle Zink

Title: Promises I Made (#2)

Author: Michelle Zink

Published by: HarperTeen

Released: 2015

Source: Library

Synopsis: Grace Fontaine was trained to carry out perfect crimes. But when a mistake was made the night her family tried to execute their biggest heist yet, her world fell apart. Now her brother is in jail, her mother has disappeared with the entire stolen fortune, and her father is determined to find a new mark, no matter the cost. 

Haunted by the way she betrayed her friends—and Logan, the only boy she’s ever loved—as well as the role she played in her brother’s arrest, Grace decides she must return to the place every thief knows you should avoid: the scene of the crime. 

Returning to Playa Hermosa as a wanted criminal is dangerous. But Grace has only one chance to make things right. To do it, she has to use everything she’s been taught about the art of the con to hunt down the very people who trained her: the only family she’s ever known. (Synopsis From Goodreads)

My Thoughts: Yayy for First Book Read of 2019! And Double Yayy because this also finishes a series, technically a duology, but still I finished something I started.

I enjoyed this. I enjoyed the first book when I read it. I won't say it was anything spectacular, but it was interesting. It centers on a family of grifters, con-artists who move to different places and target a rich person or family to steal from. Grace and Parker were adopted by Cormac and Renee for help with the cons. Teens are able to get into places where the two adults would have trouble. In the first book, Grace helped her family con a boy named Logan, and during the con, she fell for him. The heist went all wrong, with someone getting caught and someone taking off with all the money. The remaining members of Grace's "family" are now in crisis mode.

In this sequel, Grace returns to the scene of the crime to rescue her family member that got caught, but getting someone out of prison is hard. I feel like that's all I can say without spoiling anything.

I thought this was all right, I liked it. Grace is on the run through pretty much the whole book, she's laying low. It's a very interesting subject matter, but in reality, it doesn't make for a lot of action in the book. She's hiding, she's trying to find leads, she's always on alert looking over her shoulder, and she's trying to free the one person she cares about the most. Luckily she gets some help.

I'm glad I got to see how Grace's story played out. I really enjoyed the subject matter of the book, the conflict that Grace goes through because of her lifestyle. Her "parents" are selfish people and I felt bad for Grace. She wants so bad for a real family and these people are just using her to steal. The book also brings up the part Grace plays in the cons, and just what all she's guilty for. I did enjoy how it all ended too. It was a good ending.

I'd definitely recommend this series for people interested in Con Artists and Grifters. It presents an interesting type of life.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5

A Nice Ending

December 2018 Wrap-Up!

A belated December 2018 Wrap-Up. I'm thinking about doing my favorite books of 2018 too, but it would be sometime a little later. 
My reading in December was slower than I wanted. I think the Holidays and stress of that impacted my reading. I did pull through at the end of the month and had a decent number of books read. I read seven books in December, which brought my grand total to 77 books read in 2018. Not the best I've done on the Yearly Reading Challenge, but it wasn't awful. One year, I would love to say I've read 100 books, but 2018 was not that year.

  

  

-- Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao: I found this to be kind of boring. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. I also read this slower and I think that was just because there wasn't a lot of action within the pages. It's an Asian re-imagining of the Evil Queen from Snow White and how she came to be that way. It was a villain origin story and I had no trouble seeing how she became a villain. The main character wasn't my fave. She wasn't very nice and it was alllll about how pretty she was. It's like that beauty was all she had going for her and she was going to protect it at all costs. I'm probably going to read the sequel, not because I loved the first book, but just so I can see what happens.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.3/5

-- The Dark Intercept (#1) by Julia Keller: This was an okay read. It reminded me a lot of the show Person of Interest but instead of the all-seeing machine spying on everyone, this technology used emotions and memories as deterrents for crimes. If you commit a crime, your brain would be bombarded with your worst memory and incapacitate you. It was interesting. I do feel that everything wrapped up a little too smoothly in the end. I got the sequel as an arc free for review from the publisher, so I'm interested to read that to see where everything goes.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5

-- The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw: Enjoyable, but nothing that will really stick with me. It did have a bit of a Hocus Pocus vibe which was cool. It had a nice twist. I did think the main character could be very selfish and not fair to other people.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

-- Bird Box by Josh Malerman: I wanted to read this before I watched the Netflix adaptation. I liked it. It didn't scare the socks off of me, but I did find it a kind of scary concept for a post apocalyptic world. Sight is important.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

-- Black Hammer, Volume 1: Secret Origins by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, Dave Steward, Todd Klein: I liked this one more than I thought I would. It's an interesting start to the series and I'm curious to know more.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

-- Unaccompanied Minor (#1) by Hollis Gillespie: This was a little hidden gem of a book. I wasn't expecting that much from this one, but I really did enjoy it. The main character is something else. She is one of the most annoying, long-winded teenagers I've met, but I kind of like her. She's funny. This book was funny. I really enjoyed it.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

-- Serenity, Firefly Class 03-K64: No Power in the 'Verse by Chris Roberson, Georges Jeanty, Stephen Byrne, Dan Dos Santos: I've already posted my review for this one, so you know my thoughts on it. I was disappointed. I wanted to love it so much more than I did. I love Firefly. The art just didn't please me and I didn't like what was happening in the story. The only thing that saved it was the story included at the end, which was beautiful.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH:

That was my Reading Month for December 2018. It wasn't bad. Did you read anything good? Let me know!

Fresh Releases: January 8, 2019

Fresh Fresh Releases!!! Look at them beautiful, new books!

 

In An Absent Dream (Wayward Children #4) by Seanan McGuire

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Evidence of Desire by Lexi Blake

Get them while they're FRESH!!

Review: Serenity Firefly Class 03-K64: No Power In the 'Verse by Chris Roberson, Georges Jeanty, and Stephen Byrne

Title: Serenity Firefly Class 03-K64: No Power In the 'Verse

Created by: Chris Roberson, Georges Jeanty, Stephen Byrne

Executive Producer: Joss Whedon

Front Cover and Chapter Break Art: Dan Dos Santos

Published by: Dark Horse Books

Released: 2016

Source: Library

Synopsis: Tough times haven't ended for Mal Reynolds and his crew aboard the Serenity. When a call for help to find a missing friend takes them to an Alliance post on the Outer Rim, they encounter a new force building strength to fight the battle of the Browncoats--soon leading the crewmembers to question their individual values . . . Discovering that their friend is in Alliance custody and that an Alliance Operative is on the way, Mal concentrates his energy on the problem at hand and strikes an uneasy partnership for a daring rescue. But this is only the beginning of the story. Success will be when the Serenity's crew makes it off this planet alive and all accounted for . . .

Georges Jeanty (Buffy Season 8, Season 9, Serenity) returns to the 'verse!

iZombie creator Chris Roberson writes the continuing adventures of Mal and the crew.

Follows the film Serenity, and the comics series Serenity: Leaves on the Wind.

Executive Producer Joss Whedon!

Collects: Serenity No Power in the 'Verse #1-6, and Free Comic Book Day 2016 "Serenity: The Warrior and the Wind" (Synopsis from Goodreads)

My Thoughts: I love Firefly, but I was a little disappointed by this comic. It just wasn't everything I wanted it to be. No offense to the main artist, but the art really didn't capture the characters very well. I really noticed it with all the girls, they didn't look like them. The worst capture was probably River, followed by Kaylee, and Inara. Even Zoe didn't look exactly right. Mal 10% of the time looked like himself, the other 90% was just weak, it just wasn't even close for most of the characters. I'm not saying the artist was bad, but he did not capture these iconic characters for me. Other comics in this series have done a much better job of making the Firefly crew look like the Firefly crew.

The overall story was just kind of meh too. It seemed like everybody was mad at one another. All the relationships were going through turmoil. It just wasn't a happy time on the ship, they didn't feel like the family they are.

I've also heard that there will be no more comics in this series after this. I think it'd been bought out by someone else. So there will be no continuation to this story arc, and this Volume ends on a cliffhanger/call to action note.

The only thing that saved this for me was the addition of The Warrior and the Wind, which was a little bonus story at the end. It was beautiful. It gave me all the feels. I liked the art style of it. It was River telling a fairytale to Zoe's baby about how Zoe and Wash met, and just Wash's legacy. It was the best thing out of the whole Volume.

I love Firefly, but I just felt very meh about this Volume in the series. It didn't give me that feeling that I wanted and the visuals weren't up to par for me.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5

Not as Shiny as I wanted it to be.

Reading Right Now! (190)

What I'm Reading Right Now! is...

 

I'm trying that whole reading two books at once thing again. I just don't know how people do it successfully. I'm almost done with Promises I Made (#2) by Michelle Zink. I think I might even finish it in the next couple hours. It's the sequel and conclusion to Lies I Told, which is about a family of grifters who have a big job planned, and then the aftermath of that job. And I'm also reading Honor Among Thieves (#1) by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre. I'm about 100 pages into it, just getting ready to start Part 2. I've heard from people that it's a little weird, so we'll see what I think of it. Usually I'm okay with weird. I'm really enjoying the writing so far.

So that's what I'm Reading Right Now! What are you Reading?

Happy New Year!!!

It's 2019!! How is that possible?
So since it's a new year, I should set some goals. No promises of sticking to them.

GOODREADS 2019 READING CHALLENGE SET AT 55 BOOKS

I shouldn't have a problem with this one because I read 77 books in 2018. I would love to one year read 100, but that might never happen. I did read less in 2018 than I did in some previous years, so I guess I would like to make more time for reading, which would mean less time distracted by social media.

READ MORE BOOKS FROM MY SHELF

I have a book hoarding problem. I have a lot of books that I own that I haven't read, it takes me forever to get to them. I check out a lot of library books. I would like to read more books from my physical shelf.

GET BETTER AT READING ARCS-- BE IT NETGALLEY OR PHYSICAL

One of the coolest things, I think, is to get arcs/early copies of books in the mail from authors and publishers. Also I love getting arcs on Netgalley. I'm awful at reading them. Maybe I can try to read at least one ARC a month. We'll see. Even as I'm typing this, I have no faith in myself. But I need to read my arcs so I'll have good stats on social media and publishers will know that I'm legit for reviewing and sharing the stuff that I get.

FINISH SOME SERIES

I finished a couple series in 2018 and it felt good. It's such a feeling of accomplishment, so I'd like to finish some in 2019 too.

KEEP UP WITH POSTING ON MY BLOG, GOODREADS, AND INSTAGRAM

I feel like I stepped it up in 2018 with posting to my blog and instagram. I want to continue the trend of being active on those platforms. I want to make sure I don't leave books on my Goodreads Currently Reading Shelf forever, because that's my laziness. And I've been tossing it around in my head if I want to get back to making booktube videos. If I did, I'd like to do those vlog style reading videos, because those are fun to watch. I really enjoy booktube and I should get back to making my channel more active. I also want to continue the growth I had with my blog and instagram in 2018. I know it shouldn't be all about numbers, but it does feel good when you see those numbers go up. I'd also like to try out (and maybe get accepted) for some rep opportunities.

Those are some of my loose goals for 2019. In truth, I'm awful at sticking to goals, so we'll see how I do. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!