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Wrap-Ups/TBRs

Books I Want to Finally Read

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I work in a school and I always try to read a lot during school holidays. School holidays and a quarantine mean that I’m going to try to read as much as possible. Here are some of the books that I would like to finally read.

  1. The Raven Boys Quartet (#3 & #4) – Maggie Stiefvater
  2. Throne of Glass – Sarah J. Maas
  3. Of Fire and Stars – Audrey Coulthurst
  4. Crooked Kingdom – Leigh Bardugo
  5. Black Wings Beating – Alex London
  6. The Lord of the Rings (#2 & #3) – J.R.R. Tolkien
  7. Noughts & Crosses – Malorie Blackman
  8. Scythe – Neal Shusterman
  9. The Hazel Wood – Melissa Albert
  10. Uprooted – Naomi Novik
  11. Heartless – Marissa Meyer
  12. The Infernal Devices – Cassandra Clare
  13. Caraval – Stephanie Garber
  14. I’ll Give You the Sun – Jandy Nelson
  15. Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi
  16. A Court of Thorns and Roses – Sarah J. Maas
  17. Heroes of Olympus – Rick Riordan
  18. The Circle – Dave Eggers
  19. More Than This – Patrick Ness
  20. Huntress – Malinda Lo
  21. The Miseducation of Cameron Post – Emily M. Danforth

 

I tried to keep this list short, but it just kept going. I see now why I have so much trouble picking which book to read 😂

Readathons

OWLs Magical Readathon TBR

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I wanted to participate in the OWLs readathon last year but I didn’t have a lot of time and was a little overwhelmed with all the choices. I looked into more this year and am really excited to participate!

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Career – Spell Maker

Key Traits:
Logic
Enthusiasm
Passion
Inventiveness

 

 

TBR

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Ancient Runes: Heartless – Marissa Meyer
Arithmancy: A Place Called Winter – Patrick Gale
Astronomy: The Elite – Kiera Cass
Charms: Uprooted – Naomi Novik
Divination: The Sin-Eater’s Daughter – Melinda Salisbury
History of Magic: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J.K. Rowling 
Transfiguration: Clockwork Angel – Cassandra Clare

 

Are you taking part and if so, which career are you going to go for?

 

Wrap-Ups/TBRs

March Reading Wrap Up

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wrap up

I think we can all agree that March has been a pretty weird and difficult month. I couldn’t read for most of the month, but I still managed to read 5 books in total and I’m really proud of myself for that. My book buying ban went totally out of the window. I’m not going to be buying physical books during quarantine now though because I don’t want to contribute to people going to work when they could be safer at home.

I hope you all had a nice reading month and don’t worry if you didn’t read very much, or even at all, people are all dealing with things differently and are affected in different ways. Some people have time of work, some people are working more than ever, some people (like me) are trying to find the balance and ways of working from home which can be incredibly different. You’re all doing great!

booksread

  1. To Kill a Kingdom – Alexandra Christo
  2. Only Mostly Devastated – Sophie Gonzales
  3. Destined (House of Night #9) – P.C. & Kristin Cast
  4. Night Star (The Immortals #5) – Alyson Noel
  5. Hold Back the Stars – Katie Khan

My favourite book this month was by far Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales. It was exactly the kind of book I needed, a sweet queer contemporary that was easy to read and fun. It is a retelling of Grease too which automatically gives it bonus points. I definitely recommend it!

My least favourite book was Night Star by Alyson Noel. I was really drawn to reading old books that I’ve had for so long that I don’t even consider them to be on my TBR anymore. It was fun getting to revisit old stories and worlds that I used to love like 10 years ago when I was 14 and I definitely plan to read the other ones I have.

currently reading

  1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J.K. Rowling (paperback)
  2. The Elite – Kiera Cass (paperback)
  3. Hunted – Meagan Spooner (paperback)
  4. A Place Called Winter – Patrick Gale (ebook)

bookhaul

  1. Frostblood – Elly Blake (audiobook)
  2. The Tales of Beedle the Bard – J.K. Rowling (audiobook)
  3. Strange the Dreamer – Laini Taylor (audiobook)
  4. Noughts and Crosses – Malorie Blackman (audiobook)
  5. Hunted – Meagan Spooner (audiobook)
  6. The Martian – Andy Weir (audiobook)
  7. Delirium – Lauren Oliver (audiobook)
  8. Hunted – Meagan Spooner (paperback)
  9. Clockwork Angel – Cassandra Clare (ebook)
  10. Clockwork Prince – Cassandra Clare (ebook)
  11. Clockwork Princess – Cassandra Clare (ebook)
  12. Ghosts of the Shadow Market – Cassandra Clare (ebook)
  13. Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy – Cassandra Clare (ebook)
  14. The Bane Chronicles – Cassandra Clare (ebook)
  15. Only Mostly Devastated – Sophie Gonzales (paperback)
  16. Machines Like Me – Ian McEwan (paperback)
  17. Havenfall – Sara Holland (paperback)

monthlystats

Books Read: 5
Pages Read: 1677
Book Haul: 17

yearlystats

Books: 25
Pages: 9766
Format: Audiobook (9), Hardback (2), Paperback (6), eBook (8)
Source: Bought (18), Library (6), ARC (1)
Age Range: Young Adult (21), Adult (4)
Release: Backlist (13), New (4), Re-read (1), Borrowed (6), ARC (1)
Genre: Mystery (2), Sci-Fi (5), Romance (3), Fantasy (8), Contemporary (2), Poetry (5)
TBR status: Unread books – 233 (35.8%), Read books – 417 (64.2%)

 

How was your reading in March? Do you have any reading plans for April?

 

Wrap-Ups/TBRs

March Marathon – Reading My TBR & Book Buying Ban

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I’ve been in a really good place with my reading recently – I’m already 9 books ahead of schedule on my Goodreads goal of 75 books and I’ve finally managed to cut down my currently reading books to just 1 or 2 at a time. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use my reading drive to now try to cut down my ever growing TBR.

My plan is to spend March exclusively reading books that I already own without buying anything new or reading from the library.

As it is not particularly about the spending, I will allow myself to buy books I already own in other formats (i.e. the audiobook when I already own the ebook). I’m also allowing myself to buy from time-limited deals IF it’s a book I already want to read because I’ve added it Goodreads (can’t miss those deals 😂). I’ll keep this to a minimum, I just know I’ll be more tempted if I don’t make it an option.

As of writing this post I have 235 unread books with 174 of them being on my ‘TBR’. The rest are books I’ve had for a long time that I have no particular drive to read anymore, though I do occasionally read books of this kind. With big numbers like this, a single month tackling it is hardly going to make a difference, but I’m hoping that it’s going to form better habits for me and allow me to drastically cut it down throughout the year.

I have about a week left of February to hopefully read a couple more so I’d ideally like to have no more than 220 unread books by the end of March, but we’ll see how this goes.

TBR

I wasn’t sure whether to set myself a TBR as it’s just about tackling my TBR, but I thought I’d list a few books that I’m currently drawn to reading. I know it’s a lot more than I could get to.

  1. The Magicians Trilogy – Lev Grossman (currently reading)
  2. The Selection series – Kiera Cass
  3. Noughts & Crosses – Malorie Blackman
  4. Of Fire and Stars – Audrey Coulthurst
  5. Tunnel of Bones – Victoria Schwab
  6. Lord of the Rings series – J.R.R. Tolkien
  7. Heroes of Olympus series – Rick Riordan
  8. A Heart So Fierce and Broken – Brigid Kemmerer
  9. Throne of Glass series – Sarah J. Maas
  10. The Sin Eaters Daughter – Melinda Salisbury
  11. The Hazel Wood – Melissa Albert

 

What are your reading plans for March?📚

Reviews

Review: Moonrise – Sarah Crossan

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Title: Moonrise
Author: Sarah Crossan
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genres: Contemporary, Poetry

Moonrise

Moonrise is told from the point of view of Joe, a seventeen year old dealing with the fact that his brother is currently on death row for a crime that he didn’t commit. Ed, Joe’s brother, was arrested 10 years ago and Joe hasn’t seen him since. In the weeks leading up to his execution, people rally around Ed to do everything they can to stop the execution and are faced with their own struggles and regrets.

This was my first Sarah Crossan book, but I can already tell that I love her writing style and the topics that she writes about and I can’t wait to read even more. I’m already reading One, another of her books about conjoined twins.

It was an incredibly intense book that was beautifully written and I didn’t want to put it down as I was reading. It’s really emotional and makes you think about many uncomfortable topics that people generally avoid, making you confront and question the world constantly.

It’s beautifully written and is really accessible with it’s easy to read free verse poetry style. I think it’s a really important read and forces you to face the injustices of the justice system, regulations, and societal attitudes.

ARC Review: The Life Siphon – Kathryn Sommerlot
Reviews

ARC Review: The Life Siphon – Kathryn Sommerlot

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Thank you NetGalley and Nine Star Press for providing me with a copy for review. I apologise for such a late review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: 20 May 2019
Genres:  YA, Fantasy

The Life Siphon is the first part of a duology about a magical kingdom in which a magical force is draining life from the land and leaving everything a wasteland. The main character, Tatsu, is arrested and tasked with discovering the source of this drain on a dangerous quest.

This is a very typical fantasy story with all the usual magical elements and mystery. It is very plot-driven and it does a great job of building up the unique magical world and introducing its characters to the reader.

I would have liked to have continued the story as the prologue set it out, rather than switching to a different main character for the rest of the story, but it was still well written and interesting. I especially appreciated the LGBT+ elements of the story and how they were easily slotted in right from the beginning.

 

Triwizard Tournament Reading Challenges!
Readathons · Triwizard Tournament

Triwizard Tournament Reading Challenges!

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The Triwizard Tournament is happening later this year!

It will be split into three week-long rounds, each themed around and representing one of the tasks from the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Details about each round of the readathon (such as dates, reading challenges, schools, scoring, and more) have been released and you can learn more about it by clicking the links below!

Printables that you can fill in with your exact challenges will be coming soon.


✨READATHON INFO✨

✨OPENING CEREMONY✨

✨FIRST TASK – DRAGONS✨

✨SECOND TASK – THE LAKE✨

✨THIRD TASK – THE MAZE✨

✨YULE BALL✨

Put your name in the Goblet of Fire!

Follow the official page on twitter – @triwizardathon!

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Tips

Tips For Reading More

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This post has been made thousands of times by thousands of different people and it was one that I never thought I would do because of this. Those posts are all great, but I generally find that many of the tips don’t really apply to me so here are my top 5 tips for how I read more.

1. Read in different formats.

By far the biggest thing that has helped me read more is switching up my reading with physical books, ebooks and audiobooks. A lot of people suggest reading different books in each format, but I also find that reading the same book across the formats can be helpful too, especially if you don’t want to give up. I don’t like to dnf books but trying them in a different format usually helps me finish them or read them quicker.

2. Download an ebook app on your phone.

I did this a few months ago and it’s great. I always have my phone with me and with an ebook app this means that I’ll always have a book with me. I think it will make it much easier to replace endless social media scrolling and games with reading too because it is all on the same device. Another perk I’ve found too is that people will think you’re being anti-social if you pull a book out, but it’s totally normal to start scrolling through your phone 😉

3. Mood read.

A lot of people will say that they read more by setting aside time to read and by giving themselves schedules and a tbr. I think this is great and I’m always a sucker for a good schedule, but when it comes to reading I have to be more of a mood reader. If you’re not enjoying a book, don’t be afraid to set it aside and read something else. You can always come back to a book you’ve put down when you’re more in the mood to read it.

4. Audiobooks.

Audiobooks are an absolute blessing and I definitely would not read as much as I do if I didn’t use them. You can listen to an audiobook whilst driving, doing chores, getting ready, mindlessly playing games, and so much more. I find that audiobooks are a great way for me to listen to books that I wouldn’t necessarily pick up otherwise too, I read outside my typical genres so much more with audiobooks.

5. Let your reading suit you.

You can read a 1000 tips from other people on how they read more, but at the end of the day the only thing that will work is reading to suit you. Don’t force yourself to read books you don’t want to read, don’t make yourself read if you’re not feeling it, don’t feel guilty if you have a few weeks where you don’t even pick up a book because you need a break. You will read more and enjoy reading more when you’re listening to what you want.

~

So those are my tips on how to read more and I suppose also on how to enjoy reading more. Just remember that reading should be fun and it is also totally up to you how you choose to read.

Happy reading 📚✨

Wrap-Ups/TBRs

August Reading Challenge & TBR

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Hi everyone!

I’ve been quite absent the last few months and fell into one of the worst reading slumps I’ve ever had, but the last few weeks have been great reading weeks for me and I’m really looking forward to getting back into reading more and blogging again too.

I work as a teaching assistant so I still have a whole month left before I go back to work so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to set myself a reading challenge for the month!

Challenges:

  • Read at least 15 books (one every other day)
  • Make at least 10 blog posts (one for every three days)

 

~ tbr ~

(a.k.a.: books that are catching my eye and I might pick up)

  • Infinity Son – Adam Silvera
  • The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern
  • Always and Forever, Lara Jean – Jenny Han
  • A Conjuring of Light – V.E. Schwab
  • Ruin and Rising – Leigh Bardugo
  • Black Wings Beating – Alex London
  • The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
  • Noughts & Crosses – Malorie Blackman
  • The Tattooist of Auschwitz – Heather Morris

 

What are you planning to read this month?

Reviews

ARC Review: Pan’s Labyrinth – Cornelia Funke & Guillermo del Toro

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Release Date: 2nd July 2019
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a creepy and atmospheric little tale that is based on the movie of the same name. I have never seen the movie, but enjoyed reading this and getting lost in this labyrinth world nonetheless. It follows Ofelia and the adventures that she takes, who she meets along the way, and the sinister things that are tempting her and tricking her throughout.

I was initially drawn to this because Cornelia Funke wrote one of my all-time favourite series, The Inkheart Trilogy, and, though they are very different, I was not disappointed. They are both strong stories with magic at their heart, but the atmosphere and themes of this novel are a lot darker. It really made it feel like the next logical step up from that world that I fell in love with as a child.

Overall, it was a great read and I would definitely recommend it. I liked the way it was written with little short stories woven in, it really gave it the feel and look of a tale and each one added to the vibe that the story was weaving together. It was well-written and the two authors worked together really well to create this novel adaption of a beloved movie.