{June} Month in Review

I did a little better this month than last month re: getting into a reading rhythm. It is not perfect, but I am hoping to tweak it a little better each month, so I can have time for reading, going to the movies, working, sleeping, and real life.

Stats

I read 14 books this month, including a book I had been putting off for quite a while -  Fair Game (Alpha and Omega #3), and a graphic novel - the Sandman Vol 1, by Neil Gaiman. I have a un-reviewish review of Fair Game and it will be up on the blog sometime this coming month, as well as a quickie review of the Sandman, which will also be up sometime in the month.

The favorites

So many good books this month. Where to start, where to start?

• I reread Dragon Actually in its entirety. I should probably scrounge up a review for it. It's the first book in G.A. Aiken's Dragon Kin series, and I love it to bits. I have been powering through the entire series and just  had this urge to reread Annwyl and Fearghus's story (the first book is actually two novellas in one: Annwyl and Fearghus's story and then the story of Fearghus's parents, Bercelak and Rhiannon). I really love Annwyl and follow the series mainly for her. 
• My favorite read this month is the novella Dragon on Top, book 4.5 in the Dragon Kin series. I loved everything about it. Review coming later in the month too.
• I read book 3 in the I-Team series by Pamela Clare, Unlawful Contact. Don't know what took me so long. LOVED IT! My favorite so far. Quickie review also coming. 
• Preludes and Nocturnes. Graphic novel. Neil Gaiman. Awesome Sauce.

At this rate I should stop now, or I'd mention all the 14 books I read. It was a very good month book-wise.

The least favorites

• I didn't enjoy The Darkening Dream by Andy Gavin as much as I could have. Too many elements ruined the story for me.
• I hated The Costarella Conquest. Quickie review coming.

Honorable Mentions

• I started Before I Wake the day it came out. My feelings haven't changed for most of the supporting cast, but I am very, very, impressed with the person Kaylee has become. Tod I always knew was fantastic, but I didn't know just how awesome he could be. I knew I pegged him right from the beginning! The rest of them can go to heck for all I care :D
• I finally got around to reading Fair Game, as I said upthread.
• I am powering through the Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill, which is very unusual for me (I don't like vampires, as a rule). I am on book 6. Should be done reading that by the time book 7 comes out next month.

Reflections

Definitely a quality month. But I find that I am becoming more a more critical reader, especially when I love the author's body of work. And I am noticing and acknowledging criticism that I wouldn't always have accepted in the past. I think it's me growing as a reader instead of me being grumpy, but that remains to be seen.

Looking Forward

Here's to a new and even better month than June has been. An Ilona Andrews books is releasing in only 30 days!!!!

{May} Month in Review

I am shocked by how little I read.

Stats

O_O! I read less than 10 books this month - 8 to be exact- one of which was a reread!

I am going to blame it one still slowly coming up out of my reading slump, and still getting adjusted to the new job. I have only worked for about 6 weeks so far, and since it's shift work instead of a nine-to-five, I find myself working at odd hours all week, and trying to fit my sleep in :D. 

The favorites

• I think I enjoyed rereading G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy the most. He's one of the first that got me thinking about MY faith and MY philosophy of life, instead of approaching them in the general sense.
• Touch of Frost was a surprise for me - not the story, but the sensible character-in-YA bit. It was a major factor in my enjoyment of the book.

The least favorites

• I didn't like Kitty Norville and the Midnight Hour, which I read earlier this month. The review will be up here sometime.

Underwhelming/disappointing reads

• Shadow Bound by Rachel Vincent was a big disappointment for me, which is really sad to say because I have been rabidly looking forward to it since I finished Blood Bound last year. I did not enjoy it at all.
• Tangle of Need I enjoyed very much, but I ended up feeling like I didn't know the main couple. It's like watching the wedding of a complete stranger: beautiful to see, but you're not invested in the event. I wish we'd seen more of them before it came to this.

Reflections

Quality, not quantity. Even for reading so few books, I really enjoyed my reading experiences. Just about every book was a winner (except for 2 or so outliers). 

Looking Forward

Although I have much less time to read, I am used to reading more books than this and this I do under more pressures than I currently face. I am hoping I'll get to spend more time reading in June. I also fully expect to enjoy myself more, as my slumps lifts even further. I finally started writing down some of my bookish thoughts that don't fit into review space, and I am psyched to be putting them up (finally they'll be in some place other than my head!). And I get  new laptop in June! No more stealing my sister's laptops at ungodly hours! Yay me! Here's to a wonderful new month!

{April} Month in Review

April was even more uneven (haha) than March was for me.

Stats:

I read 22 books,  a whopping 9 of which were re-reads! I kinda fell back into my reading slump :(. I also started a new job, which leaves me with much less time for reading. My laptop broke - long story, and it won't be fixed for another month or so, which means I am less mobile online.

The favorites:

I went on an Ilona Andrews kindle marathon. In one weekend, I re-read though book 2-5 of the Kate Daniels series, as well as all the Curran POV's and fell in love with the characters all over again for the thousandth time.

1. Magic Burns
2. Magic Bleeds
3. Magic Slays
4. Magic Gifts
*Curran
*Fathers and Sons (Curran II)
*Curran III
*Currran Hot Tub POV

The least favorites

1. Oracle's Moon by Thea Harrison.

This whole series has been one big bust apart from Dragon Bound.

Underwhelming/Disappointing Reads.

1. Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1) by Rachel Hawkins
2. Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne

These two books come highly recommended by a lot of my Goodreads friends. Fail. I didn't much like Hex Hall. A lot of the book wouldn't have happened if the characters had the slightest shred of sense :/. Kevin Hearne's book I didn't enjoy as much as I could have because of the caricatured women and the untrue and unnecessary snark about Christianity. I am not inclined to go searching for the rest of the books in the series.

Reflections:

I think my love affair with UF and PNR is coming to an end. It seems like I have read all the great books by all the best authors in the genre. And I don't have patience for TSTL characters masquerading as being kick-ass. So now I just live for new releases by my favorite authors in the genre and ignore the rest. :/ I am also reading less (due in part to my reading slump, and in part to being tired of all the UF/PNR.)

Looking Forward: 

Sometime in the next week, my blog is gonig to have a new design! I am so excited about that. I showed the design progress to my sister and she was awed. It's really cute! And I can't wait to have it done!

Here's also hoping May brings less reading slump, more fab books, and my laptop back - or else I might haver to buy a new laptop :(

{March} Month In Review

Hi! It's that time of the month again, heh.

Looking back, March has been a sort of uneven month for me.

Stats

I read 30 books, most of which were fantasy and romance (as usual). [NB: Clicking on the links will take you to the Goodreads page for the book. I either haven't reviewed them on here yet or am too lazy to attach links. Next month will be better, I promise].

The favorites

• The ever fabulous Archangel by Sharon Shinn.
• It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas
• An Indecent Proposition by Carol Marinelli. 
• Untouched by Anna Campbell
• Sacrificial Magic by Stacia Kane

The least favorites

• Dead Witch Walking (Hollows #1) by Kim Harrison 
• Magic to the Bone  (Allie Beckstrom #1) by Devon Monk 
• Faefever (Fever #3) by Karen Marie Moning.

The first two were new-to-me authors whose books didn't work for me at all. I am not a fan of the Fever series in any way, shape, or form, so it was a given KMM's book would drive me bonkers, and it did (I read it for a challenge, leave me alone).  

Underwhelming/disappointing reads

• The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley. All my friends on Goodreads rave about this book all the time. I was very underwhelmed :(  
• A Lady's Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran - I'd heard so much about this author and I read the book and was disappointed with the characterization.
•  River Marked by Patricia Briggs. Major, major bummer!

I read more historical romance than I've read in a while, and I liked the change. Lisa Kleypas is one of my favorite historical romance writers, and I loved the one historical I read by Anna Campbell, so it was a good bet I'd like their books, and I did.

Reflections: 

Since February I have been in a reading slump. I am slowly getting over it, but I have been getting rather cranky as a reader, and a lot of stuff I was willing to let go in PNR and UF, I am not so willing to do so now. Like idiot heroes and heroines. Or maybe I just read all the really good authors already and am starting to get to the meh ones and the duds, because no new UF or PNR I tried this month worked for me (they were all two or three-star reads). I am enjoying historical romance a lot more. I stopped reading historical romance in March 2011 and have focused almost completely on PNR and UF since then.

Looking Forward: 

 April is going to be an exciting month because Sharon Shinn's new book comes out on the 3rd! I am so jazzed up for it, which makes the whole month look up already!

I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with the blog. It will still be a blog, but I think I'm going to keep more as a sort of online diary of my experiences/thoughts about books than a review blog.  So I'll do more reflective posts, more thoughts about some characters and authors and series I like as opposed to reviews. I'll still do reviews, but you can find those on Goodreads anyway. So more for the stuff I can't do on Goodreads, like talk about why I hate the Fever series, or why Gabriel is so awesome :D

I'm also looking to post less, I think. So probably 2 or 3 posts a week.

Finally and most importantly, I am also thinking about moving to wordpress and I am trying to decide if I should just do it now, or wait until later in the year.

Oh, and in the mean time, since I suck at blog design, I'm paying someone to design the blog for me! Looking forward to the new layout and a unique online space I can call my own!!