We all have books in our physical or digital shelves that aren’t exactly a priority and for that same reason only remain forgotten and unread, year after year, in our shelves.
Since I don’t like unhauling unread books, my idea for this challenge is to try reading around forty pages of 12 or 24 of these books and then decide if I want to continue reading them, or if the book isn’t for me and needs to find a new home.
The rules for this challenge are as follows:
Choose Your Challenge
Normal or Hard Mode (12 or 24 Books)
Normal Mode – Try 40 pages of 12 books which aren’t priority in your TBR, and that you have in your physical or digital shelves. Decide if you want to finish or unhaul them.
Hard Mode – The same with 24 books.
Slow or Fast Mode
Completing the challenge in one year or two.
*****
My Challenge TBR
I’ll be planning twelve books during one year for now.
1. The Red Knight by Miles Cameron. 2. Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange. 3. Blood Engines by Tim Pratt. 4. Bronze Gods by A. A. Aguirre. 5. The Golden Age by John C. Wright. 6. Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan. 7. Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sarah Ash. 8. Prisoner of the Iron Tower by Sarah Ash. 9. Treason Keep by Jennifer Fallon. 10. The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli. 11. The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson. 12. Enchantée by Gita Trelease.
Any books I should read first, or give up and unhaul? Let me know in the comments!
March of the Mammoths is a very interesting readathon where you read a book of fiction or nonfiction that’s 800 or more pages in length. Originally created by Jason @OldBluesChapterandVerse and Alex@BigAlBooks, this is a readathon I often try to participate in March.
It takes a specially interesting book to make me invested in reading it beyond the 800 page limit. I don’t consider myself a literary reader and classics sometimes are 5 stars for me and sometimes I simply end up not finishing them.
Books I have read, liked a lot, and would therefore recommend for this readathon are:
Fantasy
The Stormlight Archive Series by Brandon Sanderson
Let’s start with the most popular and obvious mammoth fantasy books.
The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance were both big 5 star favorites for me. Oathbringer and Rhythm of War dropped into 4 star territory but were still very much worth reading.
Gemma Doyle Series by Libba Bray
Truth be said, only the third book in this series, The Sweet Far Thing, is a mammoth.
If you like LGBT historical fiction filled with magic and deep themes, then this series is for you. It’s worth binge reading the entire series. And I want to pick more books by this author for sure.
A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin
Many years ago, I read books #1 – 5 and had a great time with them. There was an incredible ammount of violence, and the fact that this series will probably never be finished detracts a bit from my enthusiasm for recommending it, but even though I don’t regret reading it.
Books I have in my TBR for this Readathon
The Roots of Chaos series by Samantha Shannon
I have read The Bone Season Series by this author and really liked it so far, therefore I have this other series, with the books A Day of Fallen Night and The Priory of the Orange Tree, on my TBR list.
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
I haven’t read this book myself, but my mother read it and really liked it. I have had it in my TBR since then, for the next historical fiction and mystery book I plan to read.
And you? Which Mammoths would you recommend? Let me know in the comments.
My 2024 Book Bingo blog post was one of the most successful blog posts in the history of this blog. It had 3K views so far, and yep, I am happily surprised by that number. I have had a TBR for the Hard Mode of this challenge since the beginning of the year, but I didn’t have the time to post it here so far. Without much further ado, here’s my TBR: I might change some of the choices like I did last year, but in its totality I hope to be as successful as last year in reading most of the planned books):
Bingo Challenge Hard Mode TBR:
First Row:
*Hard Mode: Novella by an author you didn’t read before – I’m between two choices here: The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht Or Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress. And I might even read both books since they have been long in my TBR anyway.
Rainbow: LGBT+ Another book that has been for years in my radar: Luck in the Shadows (Nightrunner #1) by Lynn Flewelling
*Hard Mode: 700+ Pages I already managed to read a book for this prompt in January, and that was Lord of All Things (Herr aller Dinge #1) by Andreas Eschbach, Samuel Willcocks (Translator).
*Hard Mode Jumping Cat: Book with a witch and her cat familiar on the cover or story. In the Company of Witches (Evenfall Witches B&B #1) by Auralee Wallace
Red or White: Book with Red or White on the cover or title. Red Mars (Mars Trilogy #1) by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Second Row:
*Hard Mode Robot: Non-Human character is the protagonist/main character of the story. Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard (Barsk #1) by Lawrence M. Schoen
Black or Grey: Book with Black or Grey on the cover or title. I will still decide which book I will read for this prompt. Perhaps The Haunting of Blackwood House (The Haunting of Blackwood House #1) by Darcy Coates. I am not sure yet.
Castle: Fantasy, Romance or Castle on the cover I like to read historical fiction/romance/mystery sometimes. Therefore I’m planning to read The Late Mrs. Willoughby (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #2) by Claudia Gray. Another idea for this prompt would be The House Witch (The House Witch #1) by Delemhach, I heard good things about it on Booktube.
Green or Purple: Book with Green or Purple on the cover or title. I might read The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes for this since it has a green cover. This book would also fit the romance prompt above. An idea for the purple cover would be The Disasters by M.K. England. This book would also fit the LGBT prompt.
*Hard Mode Rocket: Sci-fi without aliens. I plan to read Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre. This has been in my TBR for years now.
Third Row:
Number in the Title 20 Years Later by Emma Newman. I really like the writing style of this author, so I plan to read all her books.
Out Of Your Comfort Zone: A book in a genre you don’t usually read. I rarely read and enjoy Horror books, but I will try to read Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef (Gods and Monsters: Rupert Wong #1) by Cassandra Khaw.
Free Space
*Hard Mode Favorite Author: Three books by your favorite author. I will read three books by Adrian Tchaikovsky: Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture #3) Bear Head (Dogs of War #2) The Doors of Eden.
I already finished Lords of Uncreation and really liked it.
Poetry, Nonfiction or Graphic Novel I must still decide what I will read here. Perhaps the graphic novel, The Moth Keeper by Kay O’Neill.
Fourth Row:
Christmas or Halloween: A book set during Christmas or Halloween A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.
*Hard Mode Record Player: Three books written before you were born. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester The Plumed Serpent by D.H. Lawrence Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
By An author you never read before
Knot: Book with a twist. I read The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton now in January and I really liked it. It has more than a few twists! I surely want to read more books by this author.
A Book In Translation I read the dystopia I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, Ros Schwartz (Translator) for this prompt and really liked it. This book would also work for the feminist prompt below.
Fifth Row:
*Hard mode Detective: Book with a mystery written by a woman or nonbinary author. I will be continuing the Three Pines series with A Fatal Grace (Three Pines series #2) by Louise Penny.
I would gladly accept recommendations of mystery books by nonbinary authors, since at the moment I can’t think of any.
Bipoc Author Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
*Hard Mode ‘One’ Book: Three Standalones I haven’t decided yet, but I might read three mystery standalones for this prompt. My ideas here would be: The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton, The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
*Hard Mode Gothic AND Feminist: Why choose? Read one Gothic and one Feminist book. Feminist – The Wall by Marlen Haushofer, Shaun Whiteside (Translator) Gothic – All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter, Angela Slatter
Dragon: Book with a dragon on the cover or title.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld: 50th Anniversary Special Edition by Patricia A. McKillip. Other ideas for this prompt would be: Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance: Chronicles #1) by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman. Dragonsbane (Winterlands #1) by Barbara Hambly Dragon Mage (Rivenworld #1) by M.L. Spencer.
This year I’ll be doing a new Reading Challenge where I plan to prioritize 24 books I predict will be 5 stars for me.
This list will include books by already established favorite authors of mine, but also books by authors I’ve read one five or four star book the years before, and which have a high probability of another five stars in their backlist.
Without much further ado, let’s talk about books!
I) By Brandon Sanderson
1. Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive #5)
The expected publication for this awaited sequel is only December 2024. I will be trying to read this as soon as it’s published though.
2. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (The Cosmere #29) and The Sunlit Man (The Cosmere #30)
I read Secret Project #1 and #2 in 2023 and I liked both of them enough to plan to read the next two.
II) By Adrian Tchaikovsky
3. Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture #3)
I read the first two books in this series in 2022 and then I had too many books to read and somehow forgot about this last book. I am currently reading this third and final(?) book.
4. The Doors of Eden
I planned to read this one last year as well, but that wasn’t done for lack of time too.
5. Blood of the Mantis (Shadows of the Apt #3)
I read the first two books in this series last year and this year I plan to continue this series.
6. Precious Little Things (Made Things #0.5)
I listened to the audiobook of Made Things last year and it was so nicely narrated by the author himself. Made Things is surely cozy reread material and therefore this short story in the same series is in my radar too.
7. Service Model
The expected publication is June 2024. This is another release that I will try to get to as soon as it’s published.
III) By Valerie Valdes
8. Where Peace Is Lost
This space opera was published in August 2023, but somehow this went under my radar. I plan to read it soon.
9. Fault Tolerance (Chilling Effect #3)
I planned to read this third book last year but I didn’t due to lack of time. I plan to read it this year soon too.
IV) By T. Kingfisher
This was one of the favorite authors I planned to read more in 2023. I had a high number of fantasy books to read by other authors though, and these somehow fell to the background.
10. Minor Mage
11. Bryony and Roses
12. The Raven and the Reindeer
13. Swordheart (The World of the White Rat)
14. Thornhedge
This is a horror Novella, but I’ll try it, even if Horror isn’t one of my favorite genres.
V) By Other Authors
15. Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This is a Horror/Mystery-Thriller book published last year that has been in my radar because I really enjoy all books by this author.
16. Or What You Will by Jo Walton
Last year I read The Just City (Thessaly #1) and really liked it, so this year I plan on continuing the series and reading more books by this author.
17. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, Ros Schwartz (Translator)
I heard about this translated book for the first time on the BookswithEmilyFox Youtube Channel. It seems interesting enough for a five star prediction, even if it’s dystopia.
18. The Ring of Solomon (Bartimaeus #0.5) by Jonathan Stroud
I read the following trilogy last year and I really liked the writing style, therefore I plan to read this prequel book too.
19. The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec
The Witch’s Heart by the same author was one of my favorite books of last year, therefore this is in my TBR too.
20. Before, After, Alone: A Planetfall Universe short story collection by Emma Newman
I read three books in the Planetfall series last year and they were all outstanding. Therefore this short story collection is in my radar too.
21. An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson
This book, which will be published in February, is in my radar due to me enjoying A Dowry of Blood very much last year.
22. Creatures of Want and Ruin (Diabolist’s Library #2) by Molly Tanzer
I really liked the first book in the series, Creatures of Will and Temper, last year. I plan on continuing this series soon.
23. The Late Mrs. Willoughby (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #2) by Claudia Gray
The genre-blend of Mystery and Historical Fiction is something I am always enjoying more to read. I listened to the audiobook of The Murder of Mr. Wickham (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #1) last year, and decided this is a series I definitely want to continue.
24. The Clergyman’s Wife: A Pride & Prejudice Novel by Molly Greeley
I like everything inspired by Jane Austen’s world, and I also read The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh by the same author last year and really enjoyed it.
And you, which are the books you plan to prioritize this year?
I) Greek and Norse Mythology Retellings / Mythology Inspired Fantasy
Ithaca (The Songs of Penelope #1) by Claire North
The characters are deep, multi-layered and something to remember. It was a pleasure listening to the narration on the POV of Hera. Outstanding writing, I surely plan on reading more by this author.
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
Beautifully written, poetic and deeply touching, with all ‘the feels’.
Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold (Stephen Fry’s Great Mythology #1) by Stephen Fry
A bit more traditional than the previous two books, this is a very entertaining audiobook to listen to. Certainly delightful, this is a serious candidate to be listened to again. The wonderful narration by Stephen Fry makes it so.
Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
I loved the characters and the writing style. This author is one of my favorites for Greek Mythology Retellings! This story shows with success the cultural values of antiquity. We might be shocked about how those values clash with modern values, but this does not make this book less worthy.
The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
This outstanding standalone was inspired by Norse Mythology, of which I certainly want to read more in 2024. Outstanding and deeply touching characters and story. I want to read more by this author!
II) Other Fantasy:
The Legends of the First Empire series by Michael J. Sullivan
This year I read from book #2 to #6. I will make a detailed post about this series, but for now all I will say is that I really liked the story world and the characters and I could not put this series down.
Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky
I read book #1 and #2 this year and I surely plan on continuing the series next year.
And Put Away Childish Things (Terrible Worlds: Destinations) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The beginning of this book was a bit slow for me, but the middle and end were smart, funny and brilliant as all Adrian Tchaikovsky’s books are. (I consider this author the best contemporary SFF author presently publishing and I want to read all his books with no exception whatsoever!) Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Catwings Series (#1 to #4) by Ursula K. Le Guin, S.D. Schindler (Illustrator)
This series was so poetic and well written. I could not put it down and read it in one sitting. Serious reread and cozy, comforting material.
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (The Singing Hills Cycle #2) by Nghi Vo
I really like this author’s writing style. This started slowly, but it was quite original, surprising and interesting.
Creatures of Will and Temper (Diabolist’s Library #1) by Molly Tanzer
This is so original. I really like when characters are multi-layered and in shades instead of good or bad. Dorina reminds me of Sandra singing Maria Magdalena (“Promise me delight!”), and Evadne reminds me of Nanashi in the webcomic Earthsong. They are both such great characters! This is an author I want to read more from, and I surely want to continue this series!
A Sleight of Shadows (The Unseen World #2) by Kat Howard
I like the writing and profound themes of this author and this series quite a lot, and I could not give this book fewer stars than five.
The Blade Itself (The First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie
I really liked the writing and the multi-layered characters here and I want to continue this series for sure. Such profound universal themes!
The Bartimaeus Series (#1 – #3) by Jonathan Stroud
If you follow this blog, you have heard enough about this series from my previous posts. I surely plan on reading more by this author next year.
Stay tuned for my next posts on Science Fiction and Mystery, Horror and Historical Fiction Favorites.
Note: You can substitute 2 squares if you consider them too difficult to find a book for.
First Row: Novella Rainbow: LGBT+ 500+ Pages Jumping Cat: Book with a cat on the cover or title. Red or White: Book with Red or White on the cover or title.
Second Row: Robot: Non-Human character Black or Grey: Book with Black or Grey on the cover or title. Castle: Fantasy, Romance or Castle on the cover Green or Purple: Book with Green or Purple on the cover or title. Rocket: Spaceship on the cover or with Aliens.
Third Row: Number in the Title Out Of Your Comfort Zone: A book in a genre you don’t usually read. Free Space Favorite Author Poetry, Nonfiction or Graphic Novel
Fourth Row: Christmas or Halloween: A book set during Christmas or Halloween Record Player: A book written before you were born. By An author you never read before Knot: Book with a twist. A Book In Translation
Fifth Row: Detective: Book with a mystery. Bipoc Author One Book: A Standalone Gothic or Feminist Dragon: Book with a dragon on the cover or title.
Bingo Challenge Hard Mode:
Note: Like on normal mode you can substitute 2 squares if you consider them too difficult to find a book for.
First Row: *Hard Mode: Novella by an author you didn’t read before Rainbow: LGBT+ *Hard Mode: 700+ Pages *Hard Mode Jumping Cat: Book with a witch and her cat familiar on the cover or story. Red or White: Book with Red or White on the cover or title.
Second Row: *Hard Mode Robot: Non-Human character is the protagonist/main character of the story Black or Grey: Book with Black or Grey on the cover or title. Castle: Fantasy, Romance or Castle on the cover Green or Purple: Book with Green or Purple on the cover or title. *Hard Mode Rocket: Sci-fi without aliens.
Third Row: Number in the Title Out Of Your Comfort Zone: A book in a genre you don’t usually read. Free Space *Hard Mode Favorite Author: Three books by your favorite author. Poetry, Nonfiction or Graphic Novel
Fourth Row: Christmas or Halloween: A book set during Christmas or Halloween *Hard Mode Record Player: Three books written before you were born. By An author you never read before Knot: Book with a twist. A Book In Translation
Fifth Row: *Hard mode Detective: Book with a mystery written by a woman or nonbinary author. Bipoc Author *Hard Mode ‘One’ Book: Three Standalones *Hard Mode Gothic AND Feminist: Why choose? Read one Gothic and one Feminist book. Dragon: Book with a dragon on the cover or title.
I never mentioned here in my own blog that I have a Discord group where I discuss one book I am reading per month.
The invite link to the Discord group. This link will expire in 7 days, therefore if you read this post later comment below so I can send you a new link. Otherwise my profile on Discord is leticiatoraci, so you can add me there too.
Our October book will be Jhereg (Vlad Taltos #1) by Steven Brust.
In November we could discuss one of the three books below, let me know which would you choose: (1) System Collapse ( The Murderbot Diaries #7) by Martha Wells (2) Defiant (Skyward #4) by Brandon Sanderson (3) The Cloud Roads (The Books of the Raksura #1) by Martha Wells.
Now we are near the middle of the year so I wanted to update on how my 2023 Bingo Reading Challenge Hard Mode is going.
I have so far read around 25 books for this challenge and also managed to complete the 5th Row on the Bingo Board (yay!). I changed a couple of previous choices for the prompts to accommodate the books I read where they would fit better.
As stated in my Challenge post one of the rules was that I don’t have to complete the entire board to be successful at the challenge. One row or one vertical is victory too. Therefore, I count this challenge as already successful!
Even though I still want to try to complete more rows or columns in the bingo board just because I am having a lot of fun with all the prompts.
Without much further ado, let me talk about the prompts I completed for this challenge and the books I read for them:
1st Row
H) 1,2 in a series. – First AND second in a series-
First in a series – Blood Heir (Aurelia Ryder #1) by Ilona Andrews – 5 stars! This was a light and extremely entertaining book that I could not put down.
Second in a series – Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire #2) by Michael J. Sullivan – I heard the GraphicAudio dramatized audiobook for this, which was very well done and as entertaining as the GraphicAudio audiobooks of Age of Myth. I like all the characters here and I want to continue this series.
H) 700+ pages:
Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive #4) by Brandon Sanderson.
4 stars. The ups and downs of interesting and not so interesting scenes made this book difficult to review.
To summarize my feelings about this book: Did I consider this book a let down sequel? Yes. Will I continue this series? Yes, because I liked the first and second book and hope the fifth book will be more like them and that the main characters get more space.
Rainbow heart: LGBT+ or BIPOC- LGBT- Creatures of Will and Temper (Diabolist’s Library #1) by Molly Tanzer – 5 stars!
This is so original. I really like when characters are multi-layered and in shades instead of good or bad.
Dorina reminds me of Sandra singing Maria Magdalena (“Promise me delight!”), and Evadne reminds me of Nanashi in the webcomic Earthsong. They are both such interesting characters! This is an author I want to read more from, and I surely want to continue this series!
2nd row
H) 3,4 – Third AND Fourth book in a series –
Third in a series – Age of War (The Legends of the First Empire #3) by Michael J. Sullivan. 5 stars! The GraphicAudio audiobooks for this series are very well done and I can’t stop listening to this!
Fourth in a series – Age of Legend (The Legends of the First Empire #4) by Michael J. Sullivan. 4 stars, I can’t put these books down, this a brilliant series to binge read or binge listen!
Red: Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) #16 by Lois McMaster Bujold. I did a detailed blog post for this entire series here, therefore I won’t be repeating my review for this book in this post.
H) Not one, but 3 books on your physical bookshelf:
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham – 3 stars. This is a good example of classic sci-fi but it was too slow for me.
The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope – 4 stars. An entertaining book with many layered characters and an interesting plot.
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud (Bartimaeus #1) – 5 stars!
This was so entertaining! A light fantasy read with lots of magicians and djinns! I want to continue reading this series for sure.
H) Science Fiction without spaceships or aliens: Dogs of War (Dogs of War #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Well written Sci-fi with profound themes. This author accomplishes a new breakthrough with every book.
3rd Row
Audiotape: Audiobook or, if you don’t like audiobooks, a book in a genre you don’t usually read. I listened to Doors of Sleep (Journals of Zaxony Delatree #1) by Tim Pratt. 3 stars.
I agree with the review of Niki Hawkes here. This had good ideas, but the way the story was told made it as boring as a contemporary book where you spend all the time in the head of the very boring good guy, who reminded me of Mickey Mouse; while the villain reminded me of Donald the Duck.
The story could have been better paced and the interesting worlds better shown than that. I will read the sequel eventually, mostly because I have an ARC, but I sincerely hope it’s better than this first book.
4th Row
Rabbit: Bunny by Mona Awad. 5 stars! Hypnotic, beautiful prose that reads like poetry and I couldn’t put down. If cozy horror exists then this chilling book is a perfect example of it.
3 ARCs – Thanks to NetGalley for the 3 books reviewed here, and the publishers for giving me ARCs of these books in exchange for honest reviews.
The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia – 4 stars. I liked the story world and the cultural background of the characters. This Novella packs a lot in few words and it could have been easily a novel.
However, the one negative thing that didn’t make this book a five stars for me was the pacing of the plot development, which was either way too slow and way too rushed. Overall, an interesting book and I will keep an eye on the future books by this author for sure.
And Put Away Childish Things (Terrible Worlds: Destinations #3) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The beginning of this book was slow for me, but the middle and end were smart, funny and brilliant as all Adrian Tchaikovsky’s books are. I consider this author the best contemporary SFF author presently publishing and I want to read all his books with no exception!
Witch King by Martha Wells – 2 stars. The premise and the story world are very promising, but the story isn’t written in a way where the narrative kept me interested. The characters here all sound very much the same. Too much description and too many details I don’t care at all about, too little tension or even a more substantial plot to keep me interested. I don’t know if this was meant to be cozy fantasy, but it didn’t work for me. I unfortunately didn’t like this nearly as much as Murderbot.
Poetry, Nonfiction or Graphic Novel – Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer by Maya Angelou. 5 stars! Beautiful poems that touch deeply! No need of false complexity here, only honest simple words.
5th Row
I completed this Row! Therefore I get 💥 🐉💥!
H) A book by an author you never read before released in 2022 or 2023.
Ithaca (The Songs of Penelope #1) by Claire North. 5 stars!
The characters are deep, multi-layered and something to remember. It was a pleasure listening to the narration on the POV of Hera. Outstanding writing, I surely plan on reading more by this author.
Twist: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. 5 stars! A beautifully written story with amazing plot twists, I recommend this even if you aren’t a mystery fan. I surely want to read more by this author.
3 favorite author: 3 books by Adrian Tchaikovsky:
Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2) – 5 stars. Trust this brilliant author to reinvent his narrative colours with every book, he is a surprising writing chameleon (or octopus)! 🙂
Children of Memory (Children of Time #3) – 4 stars. I won’t say much not to spoil anything, but this whole trilogy (?) is a modern classic with deep and important themes and not an easy, but a rewarding read exactly for this reason. I wonder if there will be more books in this series?
Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt #1) – 5 stars! Awesome epic fantasy! I will continue this series for sure!
Castle: A fantasy/romance or a sci-fi/mystery genre-bender.
Sci-fi/mystery genre-bender – Death of a Clone by Alex Thomson – 5 stars! A fast read and a perfect mix of sci-fi and mystery.
This book deserves more reviews and attention for sure!
3 standalones:
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes – 5 stars! Beautifully written, poetic and deeply touching, with all ‘the feels’.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna – 3 stars. This was not for me but I probably wasn’t the audience for it since I am not a great romance reader.
The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec – 5 stars! Outstanding and deeply touching characters and story. I want to read more by this author!
And these were the books I read for this challenge so far.
And you, are you doing any year long reading challenges in 2023? Let me know in the comments.
This is the third and last part of this very freeing spring cleaning unhaul of books.
Without delay, let’s talk about the books. If you wish to read the obligatory Trigger Warning please refer to the first and second part of this Unhaul. Otherwise let’s get the party started. 😉
The Winner’s Kiss (The Winner’s Trilogy #3)
Rating: 3 stars.
The 3 stars are here because this is very well written, but it was too long, character driven and slow paced for me. I liked this trilogy and I plan to read more books by this author, but I don’t plan on reading it again.
***
Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1) by Rachel Caine
Rating: 3 stars.
Not sure how to review this book, it has a harsh and interesting dystopic/alternate history world but the plot moved quite slowly. Spoiler Alert: To be honest, the story is mainly about a school class in a cruel school with a cruel teacher, and I have read so many books with this kind of story I can’t really stand it anymore.
***
Written in Red (The Others #1) by Anne Bishop
Rating: 3 stars.
As a long-time fan of Anne Bishop’s books, I decided to start reading this new series. I liked it, but I still prefer ‘The Black Jewels’. In my opinion, the ‘Black Jewels’ books had a definite direction towards the adult genre while the first book of ‘The Others’ suffers from ‘First Book Syndrome’.
It’s too secretive, you read almost nothing important about ‘the Controller’, and has too little plot development.
I didn’t see any real chemistry between the main character Meg and the love interest Simon. Meg, who is a very interesting and original character, is the main reason for the third star in my review. I especially liked to read about her limitations; but Simon is very much like the werewolf characters I’ve read in other books. Protective and grumpy, he despises and knows almost nothing about humans like most of the Others.
When it comes to world building, I find difficult to believe that the Others have lived for centuries near humans and know next to nothing about them besides that they have tasty bits.
Talking again about the key relationship in the book, it seems one-sided. Not much happens besides Simon ordering Meg around. I kept waiting for another love interest to appear since nothing really was going on between Meg and Simon most of the time besides the snarling and ‘I’m going to eat you’ threats, while Meg was mainly being his passive employee. She even gets beaten at a certain point by another character and doesn’t really feel any anger towards how she was treated, only in panic. Simon also didn’t have the expected reaction towards this. Where was his over protectiveness then?
And about her job, I got tired of so many paragraphs about deliveries where almost nothing happened besides her having eerie feelings and premonitions. It felt atmospheric, but sometimes like an unnecessary filler.
Still, I usually like the second book in a series better than the first, so maybe I’ll go on reading this series.
***
Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changeling #1) by Nalini Singh
Rating: 2 stars.
This series isn’t for me, especially since I like paranormal romance much less lately. I might have enjoyed this twenty years ago, but not now.
***
Mercy Thompson Series, (books #1 -10) by Patricia Briggs
Yet another paranormal series that was entertaining when I first read it many years ago, but that I am not continuing and therefore unhauling the first ten books I have read before, due to being tired of the repetitive plots.
Nothing very original, same old… The whole abuse with Anna wasn’t really portrayed realistically. It isn’t the first time I see female characters being portrayed superficially in Briggs books. I will not continue with this series, so away it goes to someone who might enjoy it more.
***
And now I am finished (for the moment) with talking about the books I sent away.
I very much like the idea of objects being around you only while they bring you joy, and therefore I have decluttering as an ongoing process in my daily routine.
I surely plan on reading the current physical books I have on my shelf and sending them away if they aren’t a favorite that I plan to read again.
Being mindful of everything in my life is my path to happiness.
Continuing the series about the 40+ books I unhauled last month. The first part of this series is here.
Trigger Warning (because we are on the internet and all kinds of people might read this post): Here are my reviews of the books I unhauled. They are mostly not very positive; so if you get triggered by negative reviews of books you own and like, don’t read this blog post.
Another observation, my primary concern when unhauling books is whether the book I’m unhauling is a book that represents my current subjective taste, and if it would be a book I would like to read again in the next five years. I can’t think of a time longer than that, since my taste in books changes so often.
I am also listening much more to audiobooks than sitting down and reading a physical book lately. I would gladly bring myself to do eye reads more frequently, since that is so relaxing, but the time for that is scarce. Audiobooks can be listened to much more often.
And finally, I have as a goal to organize my physical bookshelves to represent my taste in books more clearly than they do now. Therefore, with that in mind, only my favorites are to remain there. The exception to that are graphic novels, which I collect to see the different kinds of art and the nonfiction books in themes I consider interesting, like art, writing, cooking, gardening, prepping and crafts.
More books I sent away (and the reason they left my physical shelves):
To Say Nothing of the Dog (Oxford Time Travel #2) by Connie Willis
Rating: 2 stars.
A lot of my friends with good reading taste enjoy the witty dialogues and I enjoy humor and banter too, but here it dominates the narrative so much that I just completely lost track of the plot. I confess I’m not the most patient of readers, therefore this wasn’t for me.
***
The Thief (The Queen’s Thief #1) by Megan Whalen Turner
Rating: 3 stars.
This had slow-paced, character-driven, and an almost cozy narrative style. It was even though not a book I plan to reread because it had too slow plot development for my taste.
***
You (You #1) by Caroline Kepnes
Rating: 4 stars.
The writer’s voice makes this an engaging and page-turning read, while quite original due to the unreliable narrator. And it is indeed a warning on the excessive use of social media. While I considered this surprising, it is a book away from my comfort zone and, as most thrillers, when you know the ending already you won’t plan to reread.
***
The Goblin Emperor (The Goblin Emperor #1) by Katherine Addison
Rating: No rating due to DNF.
To be completely honest, I don’t understand the hype around this book at all. A lot of people I know really like it, but it wasn’t for me.
The story reminds me of “The Queen of the Tearling” by Erika Johansen. However, the stakes, the tension and the action of the mentioned book aren’t present here.
The main character has a lot of time to think, meditate and complain (all the time) about life… I’ve already read 110 pages and not much happened. I don’t care enough to read everything because 500 pages of this seems like a waste of my time. I will set this aside.
***
The Alton Gift (Children of Kings #1) by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Deborah J. Ross
Rating: No rating due to being unread.
After the awful things I heard about Marion Zimmer Bradley, I decided not to continue and read more books by the author; so away it goes.
***
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Rating: No rating due to DNF.
I wanted to like this, but the narrative style wasn’t for me. Perhaps one day in the future I might pick this again, not for now though.
***
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
Rating: 3 stars.
This is a good example of classic science fiction, but it was too slow for me.
***
The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
Rating: 4 stars.
An entertaining book with many layered characters and an interesting plot. I don’t plan on reading it again though so away it goes to someone who will cherish it more.
***
Eifelheim by Michael Flynn
I still plan on reading this book, but I received a copy of this in French after not being careful enough while buying it. So away it goes to someone who is able to read it.
***
Spin (Spin #1) by Robert Charles Wilson
Rating: No rating due to DNF.
This is so over hyped, but for me it was extremely slow and boring. It read like a story that could be told in 200 pages or fewer stretched to 450 pages, where all boring thoughts of the main character were told and repeated multiple times.
I already wanted to DNF this on page 30, but went on pushing until page 81 where nothing but the main character reminiscing his boring life had happened so far. I know a lot of people like this book, but it wasn’t for me.
***
Stay tuned for the third and last part of this unhaul where I will talk of two series I unhauled because I don’t plan on reading them again, or continuing them. Note: If you are a follower of this blog this might be an easy guess indeed. 😉
My Reader's Journey 