Another Year of Books: Reading 2024

Another year, another several dozen books read. For me at least. Though I didn’t read quite as much as I did in 2023, it was still a pretty significant amount of books.

But I’m not gonna waste time explaining everything to you guys. The StoryGraph has all these awesome features that track different aspects of your reading. It’s really cool. So, without further ado, here’s all of my stats from the year from The StoryGraph.

Though, special note, this is gonna be a two-part post, ’cause there’s just so much information on The StoryGraph regarding my stats for last year. Almost too much, honestly. So expect Part #2 tomorrow.

Note: Part #2 is now posted. You can check it out here if you’re interested.

So yeah. These are all my statistics and stuff from The StoryGraph. Well, almost all of them at least. The rest of them are coming in the next post, since there’s so much.

Anyway, as always, thank you to everyone so much for reading and stuff, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Liar’s Kingdom

Hey everyone and happy Wednesday! It’s been a couple weeks since I last did a Can’t-Wait Wednesday.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.

This week’s book is:

Liar’s Kingdom by Christine Calella!! 👠🏰

It seems to be a take on Cinderella, and we know that I’m always here for retellings! And this one looks interesting.

Liar’s Kingdom by Christine Calella

LENGTH: 320 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Page Street YA

RELEASE DATE: 14 January 2025

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Ell has spent years slaving away for her cruel stepfamily. So when Prince Bayard—who seems to have difficulty recognizing faces—shows up at her door with a glass slipper, Ell allows him to believe she danced with him at the ball. There’s just one problem: Ell didn’t attend the ball and she’s never met the prince before in her life. But if it’s a choice between moving to the royal palace or staying home, Ell is willing to say anything to escape.

However, Ell finds that being royalty comes with its own problems. Bayard’s sister, the princess, has gone missing. The king is preparing for war against the fae. And Maxim, Bayard’s treacherous (and handsome) best friend, appears to know Ell is lying.

If Ell wants to keep this life she’s stolen, she’s going to have to roll up her sleeves and rescue herself.

Are you looking forward to the release of Liar’s Kingdom? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?

As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

To 2025 | Happy New Year 🥂📖

Wow. It’s been yet another year. I can’t believe it; 2024 really flew by quite quickly. Here’s to 2025 being an even better year than the last! 🥂🍻

Once again, I’ve got some goals and a bookish New Year’s resolution for this year. I’m very excited about all of it. Hopefully some of it’ll go better than the last couple of years. Here it comes.

For 2025

For 2025, I want to continue posting on this blog. I really enjoy it, and it helps encourage me to read a bunch of books. Last year I read over 50 books and over 21,000 pages. Not quite the numbers of 2023 – that year I read 65 books and over 23,000 pages – but it’s still pretty good. Especially if you consider that there are 52 weeks in a year – that means I read at least a book a week!

This year (2025), I want to read at least a book a week for a whole year’s worth again, so at least 52 books. And I want to post more consistently. I know that sometimes I tend to fall off the wayside at several different parts during the year, but I want to try to stop that. I’d like to try to post about 4 times a week on average at least.

List of Goals for 2025

📚 Read a book a week and review them on the blog

📚 Post more consistently on the blog

📚 Try to read more books outside of fantasy and science fiction

📚 WRITE AND PUBLISH MY DAMN NOVEL (like come on Me just work on it already!!) (UGH – I’m so frustrated with myself sometimes)

…Annnd that’s kind of it for my main list of Goals for this year. I have a couple of others, of course, but they’re a bit more personal and basically unrelated to blogging and reading and writing, so I’m keeping them to myself.

I definitely want to start to be a more productive and proactive person though. I think I’m okay about it now, but I know I could be better, do that’s what I want to do. Happy New Year everybody!! Cheers to a fantastic 2025!! 🥂🎇🕛🎉

End of the Year Book Tag 2024

Hello all and Happy New Year’s Eve!! 🍾🎉 Since it’s the last day of the year, I thought I’d do the End of the Year Book Tag. ‘Cause it sounded interesting and fun and perfect for today, and Leslie @ Books Are the New Black tagged everybody, sooo… yeah.

The End of the Year Book Tag was created by Ariel Bissett over at YouTube. There are six questions, and the tag focuses on reflecting on the past year’s reading, as well as looking forward to future reading. I’m ludicrously late to this (I only found out about it late last night, lol), but it’s still 2024 right?

Anyway, here it is!

📖 Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish? 📖

I don’t really have hope for finishing this at this point in time, but I’m still only about 25% of the way through I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle. Oh well, haha.

🎇 Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year? 🎇

No, not really. I’ve never given any thought to autumnal types of reads, though I do definitely read seasonally sometimes. (And at this point it’s a little too late to try to look into something. I only have a few free hours today, as well.)

🕛 Is there a new release you’re still waiting for? 🕛

Since it’s the last day of the year, everything has already been released. But The Losting Fountain by Lora Senf came out literally today, and I haven’t even gotten close to reading it, so I’m counting it.

📚 What are three books you want(ed) to read by the end of the year? 📚

Two things I really wanted to read before 2024 ended were the Winterspell novella, Summerfall, and short story, Homecoming. (I actually ended up reading and finishing these last night and this morning.)

And as for the last book, well… Since one of these was a short story, I’ll say another two books I was interested in reading and finishing before this year ended: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle.

💖 Is there a book you think that could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year? 💖

Nah, at this point I’m almost positive that’s not gonna happen. ‘Cause it’s December 31st, lol.

🗒️ Have you already started making reading plans for 2025? 🗒️

Yeah, a little bit. I got several books for Christmas, so I’d like to start reading them soon. Also, Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Last Tales is coming out in January 2025 and I’m really looking forward to that, so I’ll definitely read when it comes out.

So, I guess I’ll tag everyone who wants to do this tag again, even though it’s basically too late to do this tag at this point. Unless you’ve got some time and you’re quick, lol. This was a fun little tag, though, and I’m glad I managed to squeak this out.

As always, thanks to everybody so much for reading, and I hope that you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 12/16 – 12/22

Hey look it’s the elusive Weekly Wrap-Up – on a Tuesday this time. Yeah, Christmas time is the time of inconsistent posts for me. I might actually skip the weekly wrap-up for next week just because of all the stuff going on during the holidays.

Anyway, last week was once again a bit of a disappointment. I would’ve liked to do at least one more post, and I’m definitely mad at myself for not really reading any books. Or finishing one, at the very least.

But yeah, let’s wrap up last week…

Wednesday 12/18: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

Last Wednesday, I did another Can’t-Wait Wednesday. It had been a couple of weeks since I last participated, but another upcoming release I’m a little interested in.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: The Losting Fountain

Friday 12/20: First Line Friday

On Friday, I participated in First Line Fridays for the first time in several weeks. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words.

First Line Friday: 12/20

Sunday 12/22: Winterspell Review

Yesterday, I did another Retrospective Book Review, for the first time in like over a year. It was over a book I’ve really liked ever since I read it years ago – Winterspell by Claire Legrand. It’s a retelling of The Nutcracker, one of my favorite Christmas stories.

When I originally read it, I gave it ★★★★✯. Now, after going through this book again a few days ago, I still give it the same rating – ★★★★✯. I still like it now just as much as when I first read it.

Winterspell Review

Books I Read Last Week

💖🎁 Wrapping It All Up 💖🎁

So yeah, last week I didn’t read books or post on the blog as often as I’d have liked, and this week is not gonna be any better. ‘Cause of the holiday and all. Not to mention, my spouse is off the next week or so as well, so I both want to spend time with them, as well as a break from everything myself. Which is why I might skip this post altogether next week.

This week I’m gonna be doing Christmas stuff – baking cookies, listening to Christmas music and spending time with family. I’m still hoping to get some reading of some sort done, though. Maybe a couple of blog posts as well. We’ll see.

The books I’m thinking about reading coming up are: the Winterspell companion novellas and The Lies of Locke Lamora. I’m also currently reading I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons, so hopefully I’ll finish that soon.

Anyway, Merry Christmas Eve 🎅🦌🌟🕯️🥛🍪 everybody, and here’s also an early Merry Christmas 🎄🎁🔔❄️🎶🛷 to everyone as well!

As always, thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 12/20

Week three babyyyy! (It’s a turkey! 🦃✨) Happy Friday all!

Anyway, First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page
📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
📙 Finally… reveal the book!

Here’s the first line:

The warning came in the form of a great wind, sudden and cold, sweeping out of the western mountains on a perfectly bland and cloudless summer day.

Any ideas on the book? If you don’t, here’s another hint or two for ya…

Still don’t know it? Here’s a few photos of some lovely books, while you consider…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle!!

(Didja guess it?)

I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle

LENGTH: 278 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Sword & Saga Press

RELEASE DATE: 14 May 2024

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Unicorn comes a new novel with equal amounts of power and whimsy in which a loveable cast of characters trapped within their roles of dragon hunter, princess, and more must come together to take their fates into their own hands.

Dragons are common in the backwater kingdom of Bellemontagne, coming in sizes from mouse-like vermin all the way up to castle-smashing monsters. Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (who would much rather people call him Robert) has recently inherited his deceased dad’s job as a dragon catcher/exterminator, a career he detests with all his heart in part because he likes dragons, feeling a kinship with them, but mainly because his dream has always been the impossible one of transcending his humble origin to someday become a princess valet. Needless to say, fate has something rather different in mind…

What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 12/13

It’s Friday the 13th! So late in the year too – I can’t remember the last time it was in December!

Also, second week in a row with this one!

Anyway, First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

Here are the first lines:

Many moons ago in a principality far, far away, a hirsute lady slept in a tower that was covered in thorns. In general, such an occurrence would not be considered worthy of note, for people slept in towers all the time regardless of their current level of hair growth.

Know it? If not, here’s a couple more hints…

Still no idea what book it is? Here’s some awesome pictures of books to stare at while you think on it a little more…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne!!

(Didja guess it?)

Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne

SERIES: The Tales of Pell #1

LENGTH: 384 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Del Rey

RELEASE DATE: 17 July 2018

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

In an irreverent series in the tradition of Monty Python, the bestselling authors of the Iron Druid Chronicles and Star Wars: Phasma reinvent fantasy, fairy tales, and floridly written feast scenes.

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a hero, the Chosen One, was born… and so begins every fairy tale ever told.

This is not that fairy tale.

There is a Chosen One, but he is unlike any One who has ever been Chosened.

And there is a faraway kingdom, but you have never been to a magical world quite like the land of Pell.

There, a plucky farm boy will find more than he’s bargained for on his quest to awaken the sleeping princess in her cursed tower. First there’s the Dark Lord, who wishes for the boy’s untimely death . . . and also very fine cheese. Then there’s a bard without a song in her heart but with a very adorable and fuzzy tail, an assassin who fears not the night but is terrified of chickens, and a mighty fighter more frightened of her sword than of her chain-mail bikini. This journey will lead to sinister umlauts, a trash-talking goat, the Dread Necromancer Steve, and a strange and wondrous journey to the most peculiar “happily ever after” that ever once-upon-a-timed.

What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Wrap-Up: November Reading 2024

I know this is super freaking late, but here I am with my November 2024 reading wrap-up. Finally.

I don’t know if I’ve ever been this late in the month with this post, but I hope it never happens again. Ugh, I don’t know what it is about December, but every year my novel reading and (sometimes) blog posting just completely tanks. I hate it.

Last month, I think I did pretty decently with it reading. I technically only read three novels, but it felt like (and is counted as) seven, so I’ll take it. Though I haven’t had the best start with this month (or any start at all really 😆😅), I’m hoping I’ll at least read a few books in December.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into my StoryGraph statistics from last month!

November Reading 2024

I read 7 books and 2,732 pages

😐 MOODS: I had less Moods in November than I did during October, but I still had six of them. As usual, the biggest Mood of the pie was Adventurous, but it was very closely followed by Emotional. They were then followed by Mysterious and Funny, and those Moods were then closely followed by Tense and Dark.

👢 PACE: My books from last month were all medium paced and nothing else. I don’t think that’s ever happened before.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 304 and 489 pages.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction in November. Per usual.

🎭 GENRES: There were four Genres in the books I read in November, which was less this past month than the month before, but still decent. Somehow Romance is at the top of the bar graph this time, even though I read just as many Fantasy books. I dunno, I guess I thought they’d organize them in alphabetical order if they had the same amount? Anyway, the two other Genres here were LGBT+ and Young Adult (which aren’t genres they’re demographic, but I’ll shut up about that from now on).

📄 FORMAT: This particular pie graph is once again wrong. (As it always is.) The majority of books I read were physical copies, but two of them were digital.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 3.96. The ratings I gave were between 1.75 stars and 4.5 stars, so yeah.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I did most of my reading during the middle of November. I read between the 8th and the 15th, as well as during the 21st and 22nd. My highest reading spike was on the 13th.

The Books I Read in November

★★★★✯ • my review

★★★★✯

★★★★✯

★★★★✯

★★★★✯

★✫☆☆☆ • my review

★★★✯☆ • my review

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So yeah, I wish I had read more books than I ended up doing, but it is what it is. And yeah, this wrap-up is rather late, but for some reason I wanted to get my MDZS review out first. I dunno why. I did want to post this yesterday, but, well life got to me.

I’m really hoping that my reading for December will pick up this week, but I’m honestly not sure. Like I mentioned earlier, for some reason I find it harder to read books and blog about them in December. (If I’m being honest, I think it’s probably a winter thing, because it happens in January and February too. Hopefully they’ll be better, as well.)

Anyway, thanks for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my November reading in 2024. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt

It’s been a bit since I’ve participated in a Can’t-Wait Wednesday, but there honestly aren’t a ton of books coming out these last few weeks that I’m interested in. Part of it’s ’cause December is kinda weird about book release schedules because of the holidays, but also… There’s just not a lot I’m interested in. Anyway, back on topic…

This week’s book is:

The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt by Chelsea Iverson!! 💐🪴

(So, like, this actually came out yesterday, but I was busy this week and most of the new book releases of December are coming out sometime this week, so please let me have this.)

The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt by Chelsea Iverson

LENGTH: 320 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Historical, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks

RELEASE DATE: 3 December 2024

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

True magic is found among the bluebells and brambles.

Harriet Hunt is completely alone. Her father disappeared months ago, leaving her to wander the halls of Sunnyside house, dwelling on a past she’d rather keep buried. She doesn’t often venture beyond her front gate, instead relishing the feel of dirt under her fingernails and of soft moss beneath her feet. Consequently, she’s been deemed a little too peculiar for popular Victorian society. This solitary life suits her fine, though – because, outside, magic awaits.

Harriet’s garden is special. It’s a wild place full of twisting ivy, vibrant plums, and a quiet power that buzzes like bees. Caring for this place, and keeping it from running rampant through the streets of her London suburb, is Harriet’s purpose.

But a woman alone in the world is vulnerable. Soon, a sinister plot involving her father’s disappearance begins to take shape, with Harriet herself at its center. Everything she holds dear – from the thorny roses she tends to her very freedom itself – is at stake. To save herself, Harriet will have to unearth her past, discover the secrets of her garden, and finally embrace the wild magic inside of her.

Are you looking forward to the release of The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?

As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 11/29

Wow. This week has been an absolute doozy. If I wasn’t busy doing something for the holiday, I was stressed about the holiday. Either way I was busy Ruth something. So the blog was unfortunately a bit neglected.

But I managed to make time to participate in First Line Fridays this week. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

Here’s the first line:

It was an ordinary day when Evie met The Villain.

Know what it is? If you don’t, here’s another couple of hints for you.

Still not know the book? Here are some lovely photos of books to admire while you consider it a bit more…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer!!

(Did you guess it?)

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

SERIES: Assistant to the Villain #1

LENGTH: 340 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Entangled: Red Tower Books

RELEASE DATE: 29 August 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Once Upon a Time meets The Office in Hannah Maehrer’s laugh-out-loud viral TikTok series turned novel, about the sunshine assistant to an Evil Villain… and their unexpected romance.

ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem, terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage’s employment status isn’t just important, it’s vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer―naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain―and his entire nefarious empire―out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work…and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.

What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar