Hey everybody!! Today I’m going to be doing the Sunshine Blogger Award for the 3rd time! Thank you so much to Charlotte @ Bewitching Books, Ravenous Reads for tagging me!!
Charlotte tagged me in December of last year, and it’s April of this year, and I know that I’m a mess, and I’m working on that. Honestly, I kind of miss doing tags, because they are so easy, kind of generic, and they’re fun ways to engage with the blogging community. I don’t know why I stopped them before.
Anyways, this is my third Sunshine Award and I’m really touched that I’ve been tagged for it 3 times! Thank you guys so much!! You can see my previous one’s here and here.
Good morning friends! I hope you’ve had a great start to the year. Today, I’ll be sharing with you my Monthly Wrap-Up for December 2019.
A lot of great things happened this month. I had my Winter break which I spent with family, I read a good number of books, and something exciting happened…more on that below. My blogging took a dip since I barely wrote anything the last few weeks of the month, but I’m still pretty happy with everything else in my life right now, so I’m not too upset about that.
I am still happy to get back into blogging full time and doing all the wrap-up posts that I should have done before.
Anyways, without further chit chat, let’s get started!
Books:
Covers are from Goodreads
My goal for the year was 100 books, but I read 98 which isn’t bad. I’m still proud of myself, especially because I read 13 books this month. And some of them were great. Others, not so much. I also didn’t do any reviews, and that’s something I plan on working on this month and through-out the rest of the year.
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas – 3.5 | This was so so so much better than the first book, and we actually got to see Celaena in action. The disaster that happened in the second half was nerve-wracking and the final reveal was surprising. However, it all made sense and I can’t wait to see where the rest of the series goes. RTC
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Choksi – 3.5 | It was good. Not spectacular like I had been hoping but still good. I liked the puzzles and the characters. However, the plot was meh, and I didn’t feel like I connected to the characters that much. Unofficial Review
The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah – 2.5 | It was meh. There wasn’t much Muslim rep like I’d been hoping. Mina was aggravating, Michael was just meh, and I honestly liked the side characters more than the MCs. The politics was interesting, but overall this book was just meh. RTC
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson – 4 | This was really good. I loved the world, the Allomancy, and the explanation of how everything worked. The characters were all pretty interesting and I liked Vin, Kell, and Ham the most. The heist was unbelievable and that ending shocked me. I can see why many people love Sanderson’s books, but there were some things that annoyed me and weren’t done very well. Unofficial Review
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager – 3 | This had a lot of potential, but in some areas it fell flat. There wasn’t much of a mystery, but there was a lot of suspense and some thriller parts towards the end. I liked the atmosphere and how I could feel Jules’ terror, but I was disappointed that pretty much all my guesses and suspicions were correct. RTC
Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco – 2 | This book was a disaster. The ridiculous twists, and the reveal at the end made no sense at all, and I was so frustrated with Audrey Rose. Being in her head is painful, because she thinks the exact same thing a hundred different ways. I’m just so glad that this series is over. There were some good parts (Liza, Daci, and Illeana met and their friendship is amazing!!), but overall, this was still a disappointing finale to this series. Unofficial Review
The Late Show by Michael Connelly – 4 | Pretty good. I liked Renée and the mystery of who did it, as well as the rogue cop aspect. However, I wished that Renée had a partner who also played a major, present, role in the story. It was good, just not amazing. RTC (maybe..)
I Hate Weddings by P. J. Petersen – 2 | This was short, a little sweet, but also rather annoying. It was hilarious seeing all the things that went wrong, but I was also annoyed by the juvenile-ness of it as well as the decisions that Dan made.
Our House by Louise Candlish – 4 | This was great. I liked the alternating storylines, and the ending was super satisfactory. I didn’t like Fi much, but I understood her passion to protect her kids. Bram was the one I sympathized with the most, and I really hoped that he would be saved. It was really sad reading the story from his POV. RTC
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly – 4 | It’s been a while since I read a legal thriller and I loved this. Mickey was ok, and I liked his relationship with both of his ex-wives, and the way that he made things right by the end. Again, it was good, but just not a 5 star. RTC (maybe..)
Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin – 3 | There were some good parts. There were some bad parts. I liked Ayesha and Khalid somewhat, especially at the beginning, and the rep was also pretty good. The drama was hilarious. However, the ending completely went off the rails, and I hate how some things were resolved. RTC
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black – 2 | I have no idea what happened to this book. It’s so short. It’s so tame. It’s so ridiculously unlike The Wicked King that I can’t believe they are from the same series. There’s no backstabbing political poison awesomeness. There’s not much epic spying or fighting. Sure the snake part happened and everything, but that’s it??? That’s ALL that happened??? And the ending. Wow. RTC
Standstill by Jack Probyn – N/A | I got this for review from Reedsy. The idea of the story was great, and it was somewhat thrilling, but there were too many errors, grammatically and with the plot/setting. The MC was really unlikable, and overall, it just wasn’t for me.
Blingsighted by Karin Slaughter – DNF | I read the first few chapters, and I just wasn’t pulled in to the story. My hold was also up, so I decided to DNF and maybe try and read it some other time.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – DNF | I was bored. There is so much telling, and not so much interaction/dialogue, and I love dialogue. So I was bored. And then my hold was up and I let it go. Maybe I’ll try to read it some other time, but right now, I’m just disappointed.
Total Number of Books Read This Month: 13
Total Number of DNFs: 2
Tags:
I’m still behind on tags, like usual, but I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has tagged me!! I’m working on getting them all done.
So. For that awesome news that I was telling you about. I got into college. Aka, I am now a college student. Not fully, because it’s a program where I am in High School and in college at the same time, but still, I. am. taking. college. classes!!!!! Or well, I’ll be starting in a few weeks
I’m partly excited, and partly nervous, because hey, this is a lot. I’m a high school and college student now. It’s still weird saying that lol. Classes are going to start in a few weeks, and I’m still not sure how this is going to affect my blogging. It was a little hard to do everything before with just my high school classes, but now that I have extra, I might not have time to blog as regularly as I used to.
So yeah that was the awesome exciting news…
I’ve also been thinking about a new posting schedule:
Monday: Review
Wednesday: WWW
Friday: LTB
Sunday: Review
Tuesday: “Creative” post (such as wrap-ups/tbrs/”other” posts)
Thursday: Tag
Friday: LTB
And repeat. At the end of the month, I should have 4 reviews, 2 WWW Wednesday posts, 2 tags, 2 “creative posts”, and 4 LTB posts. I feel like those are still pretty good numbers. This is not definite, and it all depends on how much time I have. If I can still manage to post 4 or 5 times a week, I’ll try, but if not, that’s my tentative new posting schedule.
I said in my November Wrap-Up that I was going to do some more creative posts in December, and I did do some! I did my first Book Recommendation post, which you can check out here, and I also talked about my anticipated reads for 2019, and whether they lived up to my expectations or not (this may be more of a wrap-up post than a creative post, but still).
Once I’m done with all the wrap-up posts (2 or 3 more), I’m going to do another Book Recommendation post, and maybe try creating an original tag. I know, I’m very ambitious.
I’m also behind blogging-wise. Last week, I started my Winter break, and I spent it with my family so I didn’t blog as much, and I didn’t blog hop either. I managed to catch up on all my comments yesterday (I hope I got them all, and I’m sorry if I missed one!!), and through this weekend, I’ll be going back to catch up on all your awesome posts! I may or may not comment I’m behind on a lot guys…I don’t have a number, but it’s a lot, but I’ll definitely read them.
And yeah. I think that’s all the updates I have.
That’s A Wrap!
In the end, I read 13 books, did 0 reviews, 2 tags, 4 LTB posts, and 1 recommendation post. My goals for December were to read 14 books (at least 10), do 3 reviews, 4 or 5 tags, and 4 LTB posts. I only met my reading and LTB goals.
For this month, my goals are to read 12 books, do 2 more wrap-up posts, 1 book recommendation post, at least 4 LTB posts, 1 creative post, and maybe 1 or 2 book reviews.
That’s it for this wrap-up! How was December and 2019 in general for you? Did you meet any of of your goals for the year? What are your plans for 2020? Any tips for my new college self? Am I the only one who was disappointed by The Queen of Nothing? Chat with me in the comments below!!
Hey friends! I hope you are having a fantastic day! It is time for my weekly reading update, WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words.
The Three W’s are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Note: I’ve been rather MIA lately. I’m behind on blog posts, comments, and blog hopping. All my amazing plans to write so many posts and be productive over the Winter break have flown right out the window. And well, I’m disappointed about that, but I ended up having a great time with my family, and I hope you all did too!
I’m going to work on catching up on all the posts and comments that I’ve missed, hopefully starting today. And I can’t wait to tell you guys about something amazing that happened this past December, and my plans for January and 2020 as a whole (coming in my wrap-up post)!! I’m equally nervous and excited.
So, basically I apologize for disappearing, and I am work on catching up on everything 💚
Since I missed last week’s WWW (and the last of the year and decade!!!!), I’m going to be talking about all the books I’ve read since my last WWW post on the 18th of December.
Now, let’s get started!
All covers are from Goodreads
What I Just Finished:
I managed to finish 98 books last year. Didn’t get to 100, but that’s alright, because I read 98 and that’s still an awesome number.
Capturing the Devil: This book was a disaster. Not a complete disaster, but still a disaster. The ridiculous twists, and the reveal at the end made no sense at all, and I was so frustrated with Audrey Rose. Being in her head is painful, because she thinks the exact same thing a hundred different ways. I’m just so glad that this series is over, and I honestly can’t see why I liked it in the first place. There were some good parts too (Liza, Daci, and Illeana met and their friendship is YESSS!!!), but overall, this was still a disappointing finale to this series.
The Late Show: Pretty good. I liked Renée and the mystery of who did it, as well as the rogue cop aspect. However, it just wasn’t a five star, and I wished that Renée had a partner to help her with the investigation.
I Hate Weddings: This was short, a little sweet, but also rather annoying. I don’t think MG books are for me.
Our House: This was great. I liked the alternating storylines, and the ending was super satisfactory. I didn’t like Fi much, but I understood her passion to protect her kids. Bram was the one I sympathized with the most, and I really hoped that he would be saved. It was really sad reading the story from his POV.
The Lincoln Lawyer: It was great. Not really memorable, but I enjoyed the legal drama, and liked some of the characters.
Ayesha At Last: This had pretty good representation. I liked the drama, and Khalid’s awkwardness. However, some of the characters annoyed me to no end, mainly Hafsa, and I didn’t like how everything was handled at the end. It was cute at times, annoying at others, and that ending wasn’t really good.
The Queen of Nothing: In two words: I’m disappointed. What. Happened. To. This. Book? Where is the plot?? All the snake drama happened, yes, but where did the amazing back-stabby political landmine plot go?? This book was so short, and it was so tame compared to The Wicked King, and I’ve been so hyped for this disappointment. I’m just really disappointed.
Standstill: I got this book for review from Reedsy, and I didn’t like it much at all. The idea was great, but the execution just wasn’t good.
What I’m Currently Reading:
Just started Heir of Fire. Hopefully this will be great!
What I Plan To Read Next:
Next up is The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware and Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine.
That’s it for this Wednesday. What are you reading? Have you read Ink and Bone? What did you think? Have you read any of the books above? How many books did you read last year? What’s your reading goal for 2020? Let’s chat in the comments below! (Be sure to link to your WWW’s so that I can check them out!)
Eternity Books 