I think I started off the year on the right foot – I really want to get my TBR down, purge books I may not be interested any more, and clear my shelves as well. Though this is a start, it is a small one since so many of these were from the library or added more recently.
The Family Plot by Megan Collins – Well, I finished it. The premise of this book was very intriguing but every single character in this book was weird and I mean really weird. It might have helped if there would have been more background on any of them. Also the side characters felt off too. Like there was so much potential for them as well but it was glossed over. 3/5
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan – Book five in the Heroes of Olympus series. I loved this book! The POV switched so many times but there were so many stories going on at once that I appreciated it. What a great end of the series, I’m sad to leave the Greek/Roman branch but next up I’m starting the Kane Chronicles over!!. 5/5
When a Scot Ties the Knot Bonus Epilogue by Tess Dare – Book 3.5 of the Castles Ever After series, this additional story checks in with most characters from the book as well as a wedding. A cute bonus but it only makes me want another book in the series. 3/5
As the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell (audio/physical book) – The last book of the Simon Snow trilogy. I’ve finished another series!! Is this technically from my shelf? Yes, but I won’t be getting rid of it, in fact I have two copies, LOL. I dragged my feet in reading this one, as always I have issues with letting go of series but with a favorite author more so than usual. With that being said? The ending fell flat for me. I felt like there wasn’t a full resolution to everything and then one character had a tidbit dropped about them that was never clarified and I think if I understood it correctly deserved more. I think if we cut a bit out of the back and forth of Simon and Baz the actual plots could have had more time to develop and conclude fully. 3/5
Troy by Stephen Fry (audio) – Book three in Stephen Fry’s Greek retellings. I really do love mythology – though it is so problematic – but as always I don’t think I will retain much of this. . .there are just so many names. This is probably my least favorite story. A woman so beautiful that men fought decades long and not a single woman resented her and everyone was behind the war? That’s utter nonsense. 3/5
The Lord Sorcier by Olivia Atwater – Book .5 in the Regency Faerie Tales series. A quick prequel novella to start out the series and I absolutely loved it. I loved the regency meets fantasy and I’m very excited to read the first full book soon!. 4/5
Scattered Showers by Rainbow Rowell – A collection of stories (some published in other collections or as single titles). A quick read as I’ve read several of these stories already, but I think Winter Songs for Summer was my favorite. I would love a full book with these characters. 4/5
In Mercy, Rain by Seanan McGuire – Book 7.5 in the Wayward Children series. This is a look back at when Jack and Jill landed in the Moors and how Jack adapted. This was ok, it was just too short. 3/5
Skeleton Song by Seanan McGuire – Book 7.7 in the Wayward Children series. This one was extremely short. The Skeleton world is shrouded in mystery and I would have loved a full book about it. I’m hoping that is still possible later down the line. 3/5
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan – Book one in the Kane Chronicles, the only book in this series that will be a reread for me. I remembered absolutely nothing of the story, I didn’t even remember character names, so it truly was like reading it for the first time.I really enjoyed it this go but not as much as the Greek stories. I’m thinking that is mainly because I’m more familiar with Greek/Roman over Egyptian Gods. The story did feel off though. I’m used to having one MC for quests and whatnot but it jumped back and forth on who was in charge. Also, Sadie is twelve – she’s flirting with 16 year olds? Now I get he really is a thousands of years old God but is that any better? We are in Twilight territory here. 3/5
The Son of Sobek by Rick Riordan – This is the first of three Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover stories. This story was included in the copy of The Red Pyramid that I read but I definitely feel like I shouldn’t have read iti yet. I really liked Carter and Percy meeting, though I wish they would have shared more info with each other. 3/5
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan & Orpheus Collar (graphic novel) – This is a graphic novel version of book one in the Kane Chronicles and I didn’t care for it. They pulled so much more of the story than the Greek graphic novels did and there was one bit that was added that felt too adult for a YA novel to me. I’m hoping the others are better. 3/5
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka (audio) – I’m not sure where I found this one, I think it was on my library’s libby account. This was such an interesting book, see death and the death penalty seen from all sides and the consequences of your actions whether you are the one behind bars or the person who tried to put them there. The death penalty is a dividing topic among so many, This would make an excellent book club choice for the discussions alone. 4/5
The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan – Book two in the Kane Chronicles. I feel like we are missing chunks of the story. These new initiates are established characters yet we know nothing about them. I do have an idea of how this series should in and overall this has been an entertaining series but to circle back from the first book – we still don’t have a true “MC”. I don’t care for how one minute Sadie can read a spell that could literally burn her eyes out but the next she throws a temper tantrum because she wants a day off with four days till the potential end of all existence? Again these are kids but she is still 12! I think they should have aged both siblings by a couple years and some of these storylines I might feel better about. 3/5
The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan & Orpheus Collar (graphic novel) – This is a graphic novel version of book two in the Kane Chronicles. Well, just like the first one I didn’t care for the changes. Something that was a plot point that took up multiple chapters is gone while discoveries made by one person were given to another. I don’t get why all three books have a graphic novel when the Heroes of Olympus wasn’t finished. Those were much better IMO. 3/5
Find Your People by Jennie Allen (audio) – This is basically religious Brene Brown. I adore Brene but am not a religious person so this isn’t the book for me. DNF
Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander – Whew. Trigger warning for assault victims. I think Meredith is the most relatable character I’ve read in quite awhile. So much of her issues with not leaving her home, etc are things I’ve seen in myself. I think most millennial and xennial age people should give this a read. 4/5
The Emperor of Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (audio) – I’ve had a copy of this book since it was published in 2010 so it is something that has been on the TBR quite a while and when my library got the audio version I knew it was time. I find things on cancer interesting, I’m always wanting to learn, as I’ve lost several relatives to the disease, my mother included. I definitely learned new things but I can guarantee I will forget a minimum of 95% of this book long term. It is a very informative book but not an exciting book if that makes sense? 4/5
The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan – Book three in the Kane Chronicles. Look at me finishing another series! I’m trying to get all of Riordan’s series caught up, I’d originally read the book one years ago so I wanted to reread and continue on. I’m torn. Did I like the mythology even though I’m not as familiar with it? Yes. Did I like the characters *cough* Sadie * cough*? No. I’ve never seen a teen character in a hero series this delusional about everyday teen things and the end of the world. You literally have days to fix everything and you think it is ok to run off to a dance but you can’t hear out a fellow trainee? I’m glad these are over. 3/5
The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan & Orpheus Collar (graphic novel) – This is a graphic novel version of book three in the Kane Chronicles. I mean, same as above but again these adaptations to graphic novels on this series were not good IMO. They combined and left out the weirdest things to me. 3/5
Well Traveled by Jen DuLuca (audio) – Book four in the Well Met series. Absolutely my least favorite of the series so far. It was over 50 % into the book before they talked about anything romantic and there wasn’t much at that. This wasn’t instalove but it wasn’t slow burn either so I just couldn’t invest in it. 3/5
The Staff of Serapis by Rick Riordan – This is the second of three Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover stories, this one following Sadie and Annabeth. Yay. (insert eye roll) Overall I didn’t hate this as much as I thought I would. Sadie was definitely more tolerable here – though her spells seemed a bit more advanced than when we last saw her and both she and Annabeth were too free with information in my opinion. 3/5
How to Do the Work by Dr. Nicole LePera (audio) – This is a hard one. I started following Dr LePera on twitter after seeing so much of myself in the information she was providing so I wanted to read both her new book and her first book. Her first book has a lot of good information BUT most of it is nothing new . The entire section about “self care” and being “selfish” really threw me. The example she gave was to have a healthy relationship with her sister, she couldn’t talk about their mom and her care? She talks about basically cutting her entire family out to prioritize herself and frankly that sounds crazy. I completely get needing to set boundaries and everyone has a different breaking point but I just cannot believe this point of view. I know that if I was told by my sibling that the only way they could have any relationship with me is if they stopped helping care for our parents and leaving everything to me I wouldn’t want that relationship. Yes, you should take time for yourself but there should be compromises in everything. 2/5
The Crown of Ptolemy by Rick Riordan – This is the last of three Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover stories, this one featuring all four MCs. This story I actually liked. I didn’t hate Sadie in this one and I think if there could be more like this one they should continue to meet up in the future. 3/5
What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall – This is my first book by this author, her adult debut, but I do have one of her YA books down as TBR. It definitely reads quickly, there are short “chapters” for the most part but also there aren’t chapters. I’m a big person on setting small reading goals so I usually count out chapters for stopping points and not have chapter numbers threw me off. I saw a lot of positive reviews for this book and how they didn’t see the twists coming but for me I figured it out fairly early on in the book what had happened. It was still a good story, just know going in there isn’t a single redeemable character in this book. 3/5
The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex by Tamsyn Muir – Book.5 of the Locked Tomb series. I don’t know what I just read. I feel like I was dropped into a world and given no backstory. I definitely want to continue with the series and try the first full book but I don’t think this story should be read before it if you haven’t started yet. I’m hoping book one will have a bit more backstory to work with. 3/5
The Beast by J. R. Ward (audio) – Book 14 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood. This is the second book that centers around Rhage, probably another one of my least favorite of the brothers. I’m sorry – but (SPOILER ALERT) him sleeping with someone else while being with Mary in their original book is not forgivable for me. I can say though this book was better than their first, I’m hopeful that things are looking up in the series. It would be nice to have a bit more info on the secondary story but I’m sure more will come out in the next book. 4/5
Heroes by Stephen Fry (audio) – Book two in the author’s Great mythology series. I think the stories are somewhat sticking now but are still disturbing. I do like Stephen’s voices and side notes. 3/5
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater – Book one in the Regency Faerie Tales series. I love this book! It was so much fun and I loved having a regency with fantasy that worked. The only thing I think I would have liked added was more POVs. 5/5
The Latch Key by Olivia Atwater – Book 1.5 in the Regency Faerie Tales series. A quick story about one of the children saved and Elias as a child. Interesting and I can’t wait to read more in this world. 4/5
Blood Vow by J. R. Ward (audio) – Book two in the Black Dagger Legacy series. Eh. There was a whole lot more Rhage and Mary in this one and I would have liked a break from them after the last book because it felt even more repetitive. The “main” story was also just ok. There was almost no talk before things got intense and the instalove from there just was a lot. 3/5
What about you guys? What did you start the year reading?
Gone Pecan 