Tag: Wrap up

Categories
General Posts, Non Reviews

Wyrd & Wonder (May) Wrap Up & June TBR

Boat artwork by Tithi Luadthong 

May flew by and I’m having a hard time believing that we are looking at June already.  May is one of my favorite reading months due to Wyrd & Wonder.  I set out to read a few fantasy books, explore some new recs, write a few articles, and do a buddy read, and I’d say I met that goal.

I didn’t read as much as (only 7 books) but I don’t feel too underwhelmed.

May Wrap up:
  • Only 7 books
  • 4 fantasy, 2 sci-fi, one thriller
  • 3.5 on audio, 2.5 ebooks, no physicals finished 

The problem was that I got bogged down in a 700+ page SPSFC2 read. I’m also slogging through my physical read ALL this month and need to just DNF it. There was also an indie book that became a chore to read.  That said, I’ll highlight my favorite read of the month & top 5 year so far:

The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold. I set out to find new authors this month and definitely succeeded there.  I also re read Tailchaser’s Song which hit me differently as an adult.

Articles:

I wrote a few articles and lists for Wyrd & Wonder:

– Thoughts & favorite alchemy books 

– What will make me grab a fantasy book

– Fantasy books I always recomm

– and a home library FAQ that got good feedback!

There are a few other fantasy reviews. I didn’t love The Bone Witch, the Read-A-Long book.

I did love A King’s Bargain by JDL Rosell.

Sunday Brunch:

Brunch was back in force with two lovely SPSFC2 interviews. Once again, the series is open to anyone with a book in the SPSFC this year!

Dito Abbott in all his airship glory and OR Lea were nice enough to stop by.

May Blog stats:

Since I’ve gotten in the habit of sharing monthly blog stats. Thanks to Top Ten Tuesday & Wyrd and Wonder I had my best month of commenting in blog history.  Likes and views are on average with slightly more unique visitors than last month.

Themes for teens is forever my top evergreen review and I’m firmly getting more views from search engines now. It’s small but something. 

Looking towards June:

This post is getting long so let’s do this quick:

I’ve got two ARCs to read:

  • Mothtown by Caroline Hardaker – and she agreed to a Brunch session which is exciting
  • Champion of Fate by Kendare Blake! Publicity reached out which is extremely exciting. I’m going to chalk up my social anxiety and ask if KB will interview too!

Buzzard’s Bowl by John Palladino is a 6/1 release and that’s on my TBR since I preordered it.  I’ve also committed to my Nick Adams read – tough but worth it I hope.

I’ve also got to read the final SPSFC2 books:

  • Hammer and Crucible by Cameron Cooper
  • Melody by David Hoffer
  • Night Music by Tobias Cabral

Sigh.. maybe not as much mood reading this month.

I’ve got one more interview booked with Drew Melbourne!

Other than that: I’m done for now. I just want to throw out there that the book community toxicity this past month has been exhausting for all the good people out there and I’ve been sad to see some very good folks backing away because of it.  Take a step back, smell the flowers, go for a walk, don’t let the angry keyboard warriors win.

Categories
General Posts, Non Reviews

January Wrap Up & Feb Reading Plans

January Wrap Up

January didn’t feel like a great reading month,  quality wise.  Lots of self published works and exhaustion don’t mix well. 

With that in mind: I finished 11 books.   Five were e-books from the SPSFC competition, one was an unrelated self published sci-fi book for which I had an e-arc, then I listened to 1984, Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie, and Cursed by Marissa Meyer.  My only physical read this month was Medusa’s Child by John J. Nance, in my effort to read my own shelves.  Everyone loves a 90s thriller, right?

My page count was about normal but quality wise, I can only read so much self published work and so much sci-fi, and am burning out hard on the genre.

My favorite book of the month was easily Before They Are Hanged.  For favorite new author, I am glad to have discovered AK DuBoff in the SPSFC and hope to explore her space opera universe a little more when I have time.

Last up, brunch came back in style with author JCM Berne, and if you didn’t check that out you can do so here

Spending &  book (un)haul

Subscription included I spent less than $20 on books, most of it so I could read SPSFC on Kindle.

I unhauled over 20 books and only three came in, one from a publisher, one arc, and one giveaway win!

February goals:

I still don’t have a real TBR except for the two arcs on my list

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I’ll also try to read those giveaway wins and publisher copies

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Minimally I would also like to read two SPSFC semifinalists, of which will come from this list. Likely I’ll try to knock out the longest one but I’m going to feel out my burnout before getting too excited

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Categories
General Posts, Non Reviews

November Wrap Up & December’s Hopefuls

Oyy I am struggling to put my thoughts on November into words.

November Wrapup

I thought my reading fell off the board but I was pretty on par with 11 books finished, the majority of them sci-fi this time.

The breakdown looked like six sci-fi books, one fantasy, three thrillers, and one non fiction. I rated 5 of those three stars or lower too so I am blaming my slump both on life events and some rough picks.

My favorite (and one of only two five star reads) was Wistful Ascending, an indie space opera action packed sci-fi by JCM Berne

Here on the website:

On the blog, I had 17 posts (a near record) but overall views are on the low side of average. I wrote a few articles that I really liked and didn’t get much traction, so, /shrug. I’ve got a few weeks until the yearly subscription renewal to decide if I’m going to keep the blog up next year and it’s a hard choice this time around.

New books:

i bought way too many e-books due to various indie author sales. As far as physical books I went slightly overboard with Angry Robot’s black Friday sale (half off? Ok come on…) And ended up with 6 books. I have no regrets 😅

December TBR:

My December TBR is practically non existent. I just don’t care about reading lists anymore. I’ve got an early finished copy of The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford that I have to review (out 12/6) and two from Celadon Books that I did not request, but I usually do read and review anything they send me because they’re good people.

I’m about 40% of the way through my last current review copy, Rubicon by JS Dewes. It feels very long as I’m reading it but I hope to finish before I head out on some travels next week.

I don’t know how much other reading I’ll get done. It won’t gain me any views but my mood wants to re start my re reading of all the John Sandford books. Prey was something we were all able to connect over and talk about, so the series feels like it could be a comfort read if I have time.

Misc:

Travel wise, my plans for Christmas kind of got ruined but I’ll be back from the UK mid month and then have a few days to regroup and probably head to my mom’s, so again I’ll see what the month entails before committing to any crazy reading. I believe there is going to be some bookshop crawling while I’m in Birmingham so definitely look for one of my bookish travelogue posts mid month 😉

What do you guys have in store for December?? Let me know in the comments!

Categories
General Posts, Non Reviews

March & April Reading Trends + What’s Next!

I am going to stick with this every other month reading trend format! It’s quick and fun and tells me a lot!

Jan + Feb https://onereadingnurse.com/2022/03/02/jan-feb-reading-trends-whats-next/

March: 

  • 12 books ( about my average)
  • 11 adult, 1 Y.A. (Lol I broke up with YA)
  • 6 arcs/gifts, 6 Libby/KU
  • 6 fantasy, 4 thrillers, 1 sci-fi, one classic
  • Half were audio

– I am happy with this.  I knocked most of my arcs out and did a ton of mood reading. It gave me the freedom and concentration in April to knock out a bunch of books on my shelves!

April:

  • 15 books!!!!
  • 12 adult, 3 YA
  • 3 ARCs, 🌟🌟6 off my shelves🌟🌟, 6 Libby/KU
  • 6 fantasy, 5 sci-fi, and one each of a classic, a histfic, a memoir, and a thriller

Most of my April numbers came from my vacation at the end of the month. I had part of my back done and couldn’t move like all week so I got a ton of reading in!

Plus I am caught up on ARCs, reading what I want, and enjoying it so much more.  Books go faster when you’re enjoying them! I did a few book tours and brought back Sunday Brunch! Starting slowly but my interviews so far have been a huge success.

What’s next?

May is Wyrd & Wonder.  I am planning on slowing my reading intake down and enjoying some longer epic fantasy at my own pace. I have plenty of blog content written and ready to bridge the gaps. I’ll be doing a readalong of The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay, plan to knock out another Wheel of Time book, and finish binging the Jeff Wheeler series Harbinger.

I hope everyone else is enjoying their reading! Be ready for an epic month of May!