Wrap Up August 2020

I cannot remember the last time I had a reading month this good. It seems like my choice to finally finish reading some of the books I had started months ago was a very good thing indeed. I have also finally gotten back into the groove of reading and reviewing ARCs – I do hope I can keep the momentum going. Especially because Rachel and I are planning on doing our two-person-ARC-readathon again at the end of September, this time without me being pregnant and not reading. (You are all invited to participate! But it’s super low-key and I am famously bad at reading plans.)

Books I read in August:

1. Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh: 3.5 out of 5 stars (review)
2. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell: 4 out of 5 stars
3. Alpha Night by Nalini Singh: 4 out of 5 stars
4. The Unspoken Name (The Serpent Gates #1) by A. K. Larkwood: 4.5 out of 5 stars (review)
5. Sisters by Daisy Johnson: 4 out of 5 stars (review)
6. Luster by Raven Leilani: 3.5 out of 5 stars (review)
7. Diamond Fire (Hidden Legacy #3.5) by Ilona Andrews: 4 out of 5 stars
8. The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel: 5 out of 5 stars (review)
9. Saphire Flames (Hidden Legacy #4, Catalina Baylor Trilogy #1) by Ilona Andrews: 5 out of 5 stars
10. Emerald Blaze (Hidden Legacy #5, Catalina Baylor Trilogy #2) by Ilona Andrews: 4 out of 5 stars

I also started and DNFed The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix. E. Harrow.

Favourite of the Month:

Quality-wise, The Glass Hotel, hands down. I knew I would love it but also was scared of not being able to properly appreciate it during the pandemic and kept putting it off – I am so glad to have finally read it, it’s as good as I hoped it would be. But my proper favourite is probably Saphire Flames which I kept putting off because I know how addictive Ilona Andrews’ writing is. It’s so good! I had such a blast!

Stats(ish):

I read ten books, seven of which were written by women and the other three by a husband and wife team. Five books can broadly be categorized as literary fiction, one is a fantasy-scifi hybrid and four are some form of romantic fantasy.

Currently Reading:

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Wrap Up July 2020

Books I read in July:

1. The Harpy by Megan Hunter: 3 out of 5 stars (review)
2. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson: 3 out of 5 stars
3. I Hold A Wolf By The Ears by Laura van den Berg: 4 out of 5 stars (review)
4. Constellations by Sinéad Gleeson: 5 out of 5 stars
5. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I also DNFed Beach Read by Emily Henry. I might come back at another time but for now the book was just not what I expected and was in the mood for.

Favourite of the Month:

Constellations by Sinéad Gleeson is as incredible as everybody said. I cannot recommend it highly enough – I listened to the audiobook and just love the way Gleeson narrates her essays.

Stats(ish):

I read five books this month. Of these books four were written by women. I read two non-fiction books, one thriller, one short story collection, and one literary fiction novel.

Currently Reading:

Still too many books. Whenever I am reading more than four books it really messes with my reading mojo, so I am currently trying to finish as many books as possible before starting new ones. Ideally I would get it down to zero because I love being able to choose all new books but we’ll have to wait and see if that will happen.

Wrap Up June 2020 or Reading Whatever Works

I have stopped pretending that I will be back to my pre-pregnancy reading pace any time soon and am now just taking the months as they come. Having said that, this was still a surprisingly good month quantitiy wise, especially given that my daughter apparently decided that sleeping anywhere that isn’t her father’s or my body is unacceptable, at least during the day. Which is lovely! But also kind of exhausting. Also, I have not managed to drink my one tea a day while it was still hot for what feels like ages.

I have also stopped pretending that I can adhere to any sort of TBR or reading challenge and will now just read whatever I can manage. I have been saying that for ages and still held out hope.

Books I read in June:

1. The Chiffon Trenches by André Leon Talley: 3 out of 5 stars
2. Black Light by Kimberly King Parsons: 3 out of 5 stars (mini-review)
3. Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall: 4 out of 5 stars
4. Archangel’s Heart (Guild Hunter #9) by Nalini Singh: 4 out of 5 stars
5. Daddy by Emma Cline: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Favourite of the Month:

Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall is all kinds of brilliant. I listened to the audiobook read by the author herself and really appreciated it.

Stats(ish):

I read 5 books, 4 of which were written by women and one by a man. I read two short story collections (none of which blew me away), one paranormal romance, one memoir, and one essay collection. Three of those books were ARCs. I am not doing well with reviews but I am trying my best.

Currently Reading:

 

Wrap Up May 2020 or the world is burning

May was even weirder than the months before. The world isburning and everything is kind of awful (to be clear: racism sucks, Black lives matter, property destruction is a great way to protest. I have no idea how to properly address what is going on but I wanted to be clear where I stand ideologically.) but at the same time I gave birth and so everything is also kind of wonderful. I have no idea how my blogging will look like from now on, but I am determined to at least post sometimes. Currently my daughter is happiest sleeping on top of me – so writing anything even slightly long is difficult.

Books I read in May:

1. Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island by Nibedita Sen: 4 out of 5 stars
2. Home Remedies by Juliana Xuan Wang: 4 out of 5 stars
3. Archangel’s Legion (Guild Hunter #6) by Nalini Singh: 3 out of 5 stars
4. Archangel’s Shadows (Guild Hunter #7) by Nalini Singh: 3 out of 5 stars
5. Archangel’s Enigma (Guild Hunter #8) by Nalini Singh: 4 out of 5 stars

Favourite of the Month:

I had a pretty mediocre reading month – but Archangel’s Enigma was my favourite of the Guild Hunter series so far. I am still vastly prefering Singh’s Psy-Changeling series but I as always appreciate her world building.

Stats(ish):

I read four books and one short story (I was planning on reading the Nebula and Hugo nominated short stories but as I said, I usually have a child on top of me which means all my reading will be done on my kindle from now on apparently). Three of those books were paranormal romance and one short story collection. Everything I read this month was written by authors of colour.

Currently Reading:

 

I am reading way too many books – and have the attention span for literally half of them maybe. I am trying to give myself the room to just pick up whatever I feel like because I do not want reading to feel like a chore.

 

Wrap Up April 2020 or the world is weird.

April was still weird but maybe a bit more bearable? I don’t even know. The world is weird. Being pregnant is weird. Everything is weird.

Books I read in April:

1. The Dom Who Loved Me (Masters and Mercenaries #1) by Lexi Blake: 2 out of 5 stars
2. How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa: 4 out of 5 stars
3. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson: 3 out of 5 stars (review)
4. Girl by Edna O’Brien: 1 out of 5 stars (review)
5. Mr Salary by Sally Rooney: 5 out of 5 stars
6. White Hot (Hidden Legacy #2) by Ilona Andrews: 5 out of 5 stars (reread)
7. Wildfire (Hidden Legacy #3) by Ilona Andrews: 5 out of 5 stars (reread)
8. By a Thread by Lucy Score: 3 out of 5 stars

Favourite of the Month:

My favourites were my rereads: the second and third book in Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series are as brilliant as I remembered them. I am really looking forward to finally continuing with the series in preparation for the next book coming out.

Stats(ish):

I read 8(ish) books, all of which were written by women. I read two romance novels, two urban fantasy books, one short story collection and one short story, and two literary fiction novels nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Currently Reading:

Books I should get to soon:

I have for now given up on the Women’s Prize longlist and will instead be focussing on whatever strikes my fancy and hopefully a lot of fantasy reads. Given that I am currently always tired and napping all the time, I am unsure how much reading I will be doing at all, if I am being honest.

Women’s Prize coverage by other bloggers:

Rachel, Callum, Naty, Marija, Emily, Gilana, Laura

Wrap Up March 2020 or it’s Women’s Prize Season!

March was weird, I am sure everybody will agree. And I am not sure April will be any less weird but maybe I will be more used to the weirdness by then? In positive news, the longlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction was announced and I have started making my way through it – and for the most part I have enjoyed the books so far, although I am weary if that’ll stay that way.

Books I read in March:

1. Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey: 2 out of 5 stars
2. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes: 4 out of 5 stars (review)
3. Weather by Jenny Offil: 4 out of 5 stars (review)
4. Actress by Anne Enright: 4.5 out of 5 stars (review)
5. Verge by Lidia Yuknavitch: 3 out of 5 stars
6. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett: 1.5 out of 5 stars (review)
7. Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby: 4 out of 5 stars
8. Nightingale Point by Luan Goldie: 2 out of  5 stars

Favourite of the Month:

Actress. I did not think I would like this book and was then very happy when I did. It is so far my favourite of the longlisted books.

Stats(ish):

I finished eight books in March, all of them written by women. Of these books five were on the Women’s Prize longlist and thus fiction. I also read one romance novel, one short story collection, and one memoir. I also spent a lot of my time re-reading parts of the Psy-Changeling series because those books always make me happy. I did not completely read any of those books though.

Currently Reading:

Books I should get to soon:

I am still kind of planning to finish the Women’s Prize longlist (except for the Mantel) before the shortlist is announced on the 22nd. I am unsure whether that is at all doable but I am still going to try my best.

Women’s Prize coverage by other bloggers:

Rachel, Callum, Naty, Marija, Emily, Gilana, Laura

Wrap Up February 2020 or where did the month go?

I had an incredibly bad reading month, quantity wise. For some reason or other, I was not able to just sit down and read. Parts were due to the incredible high workload I have (I need to get SO much done before I go on leave in April), parts were just general none-interest. I did love or really enjoy every book I finished though, so there is that.

Books I read in February:

1. Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford: 4 out of 5 stars
2. Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe: 5 out of 5 stars
3. A Heart of Blood and Ashes (A Gathering of Dragons #1) by Milla Vane: 4 out of 5 stars (mini-review)
4. How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones: 4 out of 5 stars
5. The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy: 5 out of 5 stars

Favourite of the Month:

Say Nothing. I cannot recommend this book highly enough – I thought I would like it, I did not realize how very much I would love it. The Man Who Saw Everything was a close second though – I really appreciated this clever, clever, clever book.

Stats(ish):

I read three books written by women and two written by a male authors. Three of the books I read on audio and two as ebooks. I read one literary fiction novel, one short speculative literary fiction novel, one fantasy book with a strong focus on romance, one memoir and one non-fiction title.

Currently Reading:

If I don’t finish The Illness Lesson this weekend, I will call it quits. I think it is partly responsible for my slump – because it is an arc and somewhat lific adjacent, I feel too guilty to start another book before finishing it but I am also really, really not enjoying it. Love her or Lose Her is surprisingly boring for a Tessa Bailey novel but I am determined to stick with it – I do want to know how they resolve their issues. I got sidetracked by Verge’s arrival (and should be finished with it soon), so I have not picked up Orange World in weeks. The two fantasy books are just really long.

Books I should get to soon:

It’s Women’s Prize longlist time! I am so excited and cannot wait to dive into whatever this will bring. Here are some longlist predictions to give an indication what might be to come: Emily’s, Naty’s, Jess’, and my own.

Wrap Up January 2020 or Let’s see if I manage to actually write wrap-up posts consistently this year

My january was both the longest month ever and the shortest. I am apparently back at reading a mix of genres, which is nice – but I also did not read a lot.

Books I read in January:

1. Headliners (London Celebrities #5) by Lucy Parker: 4 out of 5 stars (review) ARC
2. Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion #1) by Jessie Mihalik: 3 out of 5 stars
3. The Two Kinds of Decay by Sarah Manguso: 4 out of 5 stars (review)
4. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo: 4.5 out of 5 stars (review)
5. Dragon Bound (The Elder Races #1) by Thea Harrison: 3.5 out of 5 stars
6. The Last Smile of Sunder City (Fetch Philipps #1) by Luke Arnold: 3 out of 5 stars (review)

Favourite of the Month:

Girl, Woman, Other for sure. I just loved that book for everything it did.

Stats(ish):

I finished six books with 1700 pages altogether. Of these six books, five were written by women and one by a man (which was my least favourite of the month, make of that what you want). Five books were fiction, one was non-fiction. Three books were romance novels of some kind (one contemporary, one paranormal, one science ficiton).

Currently Reading:

I am in the middle of six books – and two books behind on my reading challenge. This bodes well for the year.

Books I should get to soon:

I already chose my next audiobook (The Man Who Saw Everything) but except for that I am letting my reading go wherever it wants.

Have I read my most anticipated releases of 2019?

Twice a year I post lists of books I am super excited about reading – and I wanted to see whether I have actually read those books and whether I liked them or not. My reading was fairly odd last year, so I am assuming I won’t have done as well as I did in 2018.

For the first half of the year I featured ten books I could not wait to get to.

1. The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang. I LOVED this.
2. The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders. Sadly I could not get into this book. I am fairly sure that had more to do with my wonky reading mood during 2019 and I will try to read this again at some other point because I do love Anders’ writing.
3. Mother Winter by Sophia Shalmiyev. This seemed custom-made for me but somehow did not quite work for me.
4. Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. I hyped this up so much in my head and ended up bouncing off it, hard. I hated the casual violence too much to keep reading it.
5. Long Live The Tribe Of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden. This is SUCH a good memoir that I cannot recommend highly enough.
6. Storm of Locusts (The Sixth World #2) by Rebecca Roanhorse. I loved this even more than I loved the first book in the series and will from now on read every adult book Roanhorse publishes. She is just brilliant.
7. What My Mother And I Don’t Talk About ed. by Michele Filgate. I realized after adding this book to my list that the contributors include men – so I did not get to it yet but I am planning on buying it soon.
8. The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West. The publication date kept being pushed back but I now own this and will hopefully get to it soon.
9. No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder. I would like to listen to the audiobook of this but haven’t yet found it.
10. The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang. I tried reading this for months but I was just not in the mental headspace to deal with its relentless bleakness and the brutality of the storyline. I am unsure whether I will ever be back in the reading mood for this.

I only read four of these books and DNFed an additional two. This is depressing.

For the second half of the year I named ten books I was super excited about.

1. Three Women by Lisa Taddeo. I have not gotten around to this book yet but I am still super excited about it.
2. The Need by Helen Phillips. Again, I did not get to this. I am currently trying not to buy too many books and also maybe a horror novel about pregnancy/ children is not the best idea at the moment. I still want to get to it at some point!
3. I’m Telling the Truth But I’m Lying by Bassey Ikpi. I sadly did not love this. I found te reading experience difficult even if I can appreciate what Ikpi does on an intellectual level.
4. Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino. I thought this was absolutely brilliant. I listened to the audiobook which is my favourite way of consuming non-fiction.
5. Shelf Life by Livia Franchini. I read but didn’t love this.
6. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi. I haven’t even bought this one yet. Middle Grade is just never the age range I get excited about.
7. In the Dream House my Carmen Maria Machado. I am still waiting for the audiobook to make it to Audible Germany. I prefer listening to memoirs on audio.
8. How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones. I can now read this! Once I buy it, that is.
9. Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Diaz. Another one that I am beyond excited about that I did not even purchase yet.
10. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I cannot believe I haven’t gotten around to buying this yet.

I only read three of these books and loved only one. This is even more depressing than the first part of this post. I really did not do too brilliantly on this – which was kind of to be expected, given how weird my reading year went. I hope this year will go better, most anticipated releases wise. (you can find my first post for 2019 here)

Wrap Up: September & October 2019 or I think I’m back now

I’m back. I think. I quietly stayed away from my blog and Goodreads for weeks now. The reason is a brilliant one though: I am pregnant. While I love it and I am so glad – I also felt like I was run over by a truck for the better part of three months. So, I just didn’t read much. And then when I started reading again, I only read really, really trashy romance novels (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) and didn’t feel quite like talking about them. I also stopped blogging and reading other people’s blogs, but I think I am back now. And excited for it! (I wrote this paragraph a while ago – and then my body decided to not yet be done with feeling awful – so this wrap up is late and mostly without pictures.)

Books I read in September & October:

1. The Bone Season (The Bone Season #1) by Samantha Shannon: 4 out of 5 stars (review)
2. Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3. Trick Mirror: Reflections of Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino: 4 out of 5 stars (review)
4. Crossing the Line (Sinner and Saint #1) by Lucy Score: 3 out of 5 stars
5. Breaking the Rules (Sinner and Saint #2) by Lucy Score: 3 out of 5 stars
6. Up in Smoke (Crossing the Line #2) by Tessa Bailey: 2 out of 5 stars
7. Mr. Fixer-Upper by Lucy Score: 4 out of 5 stars
8. Duke in Darkness (Wickedly Wed #1) by Nicola Davidson: 3 out of 5 stars
9. Runaway Girl (Girl #2) by Tessa Bailey: 4 out of 5 stars
10. Driven by Fate (Serve #5) by Tessa Bailey: 3 out of 5 stars
11. The Price of Scandal by Lucy Score: 3 out of 5 stars
12. Protecting What’s Theirs (Line of Duty #1.5) by Tessa Bailey: 3 out of 5 stars
13. His Risk to Take (Line of Duty #2) by Tessa Bailey: 3 out of 5 stars
14. Asking for Trouble (Line of Duty #4) by Tessa Bailey: 3 out of 5 stars
15. Baiting the Maid of Honor (Wedding Dare #2) by Tessa Bailey: 4 out of 5 stars
16. The Mopster’s Masseuse by Jessa Kane: 1.5 out of 5 stars
17. Bared by Alta Hensley: 1.5 out of 5 stars
18. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo: 3 out of 5 strs
19. Shelf Life by Livia Franchini: 3 out of 5 stars (review)
20. The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang: 5 out of 5 stars

Favourite of the Month:

The Collected Schizophrenias was absolutely stunning. I adored everything about this impeccably written essay collection/ memoir and I want more people to read it. I