Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Most Recent Additions to my Book Collection

Happy Tuesday peeps!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Ten Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection or TBR List. I’m doing a mixture of these two prompts, but I want to note that there’s quite a bit of correlation with the new books and the stuff I’ve recently added to my To Be Read stuff.

It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in this post. I don’t have a particular reason why I stopped; I guess I just wasn’t feeling it for a while. Anyway, on with the post!

The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde: Recent acquisition, but not so recently added to my TBR.
A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand: A recent addition to my book collection, as well as recently officially added to my To Be Read pile.
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallero: Recently collected, but it’s been on my TBR for a bit.
Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne: A book I recently obtained, and it was on my immediate TBR for a bit, but now I’m not as sure. So it’s technically on the back burner.
Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky: I saw this and got it ’cause it looked interesting. Not quite in my immediate To Be Read stuff, though.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: Recently acquired, but also already read. I just loved the book so much I wanted to own it.
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone: A book I finally obtained, but has been on my TBR for some time.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab: Once again, a book I’ve already read, but one that I loved and wanted to own.
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie: Recent acquisition, and somewhat more recently added to my TBR as well.
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas: A book I finally recently collected. It’s in a weird position on my TBR, because I still need to read the first book in this series before this one.

What books have you recently added to your collection? Have they been on your TBR for a while, or are they new to that, too? What books are you looking to add to both in the future?

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

See ya ~Mar

Birthstone Book Covers: September 2024

Whew – I’m really late in the month this time! But it’s still September, so I’m gonna enjoy doing another Birthstone Book Covers post.

Leslie @ Books Are the New Black created a fun monthly post called Birthstone Book Covers. Each month, she features book covers that are either the same color of that month’s birthstone or include the color in the title.

September has one birthstone – Sapphire. And it’s another blue birthstone month – yay!

Rules:

📚 Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black) and link back to her so she can check out your post.
📚 Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone.
📚 HAVE FUN!
📚 Nominate people if you want!

The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde — ***The Wren in the Holly Library*** **by K.A. Linde**

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl — ***Beautiful Darkness*** **by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl**

All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter — ***All the Murmuring Bones*** **by A.G. Slatter**

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness — ***A Discovery of Witches*** **by Deborah Harkness**

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke — ***Piranesi*** **by Susanna Clarke**

The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor — ***The Ghostkeeper*** **by Johanna Taylor**

Monthly Wrap-Up: August Reading 2024

So I dropped the ball a little bit last month, regarding my reading in August 2024. I read a little bit less than I did in July.

But I’m hoping to at least match my reading (of books, specifically) from last month, this month. Especially since September has a couple books coming out that I’m looking forward to in particular.

Well anyway, without further ado, let’s get into my StoryGraph statistics from last month.

August Reading 2024

I read 4 books and 1,430 pages

😐 MOODS: The Moods for August definitely varied more than the last couple of months. Adventurous was of course the biggest slice of pie on this particular pie chart, because it always is. But the secondary most Mood was Mysterious, which isn’t always the case. The other Moods included were Reflective, Lighthearted, Funny, Emotional and Challenging.

👢 PACE: My books from last month were split between fast and medium paced.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 160 and 477 pages.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction in August. As is my usual.

🎭 GENRES: There were about as many Genres in August as there were in July. The Genre king for last month was once again Fantasy as is basically always the case – I don’t think I’ve ever had a month where it wasn’t. The other five genres were Young Adult, Shirt Stories, Science Fiction, Manga and Literary. (Once again – and I’ll probably keep saying this – it really bothers me that StoryGraph lumps in reading demographics with genres though – they’re not the same thing!!)

📄 FORMAT: This particular pie graph is once again wrong. (As usual.) Nearly all the books I read were digital – only one was a hard copy.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 3.94. The ratings I gave were between 2.0 stars and 5.0 stars, so yeah.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read a lot during the end of the first week and then first half of the second week of August. It was my biggest reading spike of the month, as well. Then I dropped off for a bit. I then read between the 20th and the 24th, paused again, and then read from the 26th all the way to the end of the month on the 31st.

The Books I Read in August

The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow

★★☆☆☆ • my review

★★★★★ • my review

☆ • did not finish • ☆

★★★★★

Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction by Ann Leckie

★★★✫☆ • my review

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So yeah, once again – even though I read several books in August – it wasn’t as many as I might’ve liked. I mostly enjoyed the novels I did read and did end up finishing, however, so I count that as a huge win for me.

I think I have a better chance of reading more books in September than I did this past month. For one thing, my husband and I are gonna start up with another arc of One Piece again (which means at least two super volumes). But also, there’s a couple of books coming out this month that I’ve been anticipating all year. Not to mention what I’m currently reading and all that.

Another thing in my favor, is that I tend to really get into novels in the fall, for whatever reason. It might be kinda weird, and I don’t know why it happens, but I pretty consistently seem to do the majority of my novel reading in autumn. Maybe it’s the atmosphere? The vibes? I just don’t know.

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

See ya ~Mar

WWW Wednesday: 8/28

Happy Wednesday everyone! What’s everybody been reading lately?

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!

The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Thing I’m Currently Reading

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

CURRENT STATUS: 20%

CURRENT FEELS: 🥱😒 (bored and annoyed – there’s something about the way this story is told (and how slow it’s being told) that’s getting to me; I’m probably going to DNF it)

The Thing I Most Recently Finished Reading

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

☆★ my review ★☆

The Thing(s) I’ll Probably Read Next

Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie: This has been on my radar since it came out this April. It’s kind of been floating in the back of my mind, but it’s also been a bit forgotten about. It’s also gotten a little lost in the shuffle of new releases that have been on my TBR lately. Nonetheless, I’m still interested in reading it!

Darker by Four by June C.L. Tan: This has also been on my radar since April – no, since March (it was actually on my second list of anticipated new books of 2024 that I posted this year). Actually, basically the same reasons for not reading it yet as Lake of Souls apply. I’m thinking I’ll read this after that one though.

Noragami: Stray Stories by Adachitoka: I’m gonna read this this week definitely, though I’m not sure if it’ll be before or after the other two books. Depends when I get ahold of it, I guess. I’ve followed and loved this series for like seven years, and I’m looking forward to the final volume at the end of the year, though I’ll be sad to see it finally end. (Yes, I know the ending has already been out for months. But I’ve managed to stay unspoiled and I want to keep it that way until I have the physical copy in my hands in December!)

What books has everyone been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What are you thinking of reading next?

Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke | Book Review

The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

LENGTH: 245 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Literary, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing

RELEASE DATE: 15 September 2020

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house–a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

For readers of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane and fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe, Piranesi introduces an astonishing new world, an infinite labyrinth, full of startling images and surreal beauty, haunted by the tides and the clouds.

My Review

‘I said that this is a perfect world. But it’s not. There are crimes here, just like everywhere else.’

Oh. My. Stars. What an amazing little read this book was. Piranesi has been on my radar for years, but I’ve always put it off for various reasons. But I finally got around to reading it, and I’m very glad I did. Because this was a very good book.

I’m not gonna talk a lot about the stuff I usually talk about in my book reviews – and as a result this might be a shorter review – because I don’t want to ruin the experience of reading this novel for anyone who might read this post. Because the thing I absolutely loved the most about this book was how you could slowly piece together the plot and the backstory and the way all the characters (alive and dead) related to each other. It was a bit of a slow burn in a way, but a fantastic one.

I enjoyed following Piranesi’s journal entries and observing how he viewed his world. I think I said it in my first Emily Wilde review and I’ll say it here: We need more epistolary novels! The other characters were interesting as well – I especially found Piranesi’s evolving perception of The Other and 16 to be fascinating.

Perhaps that is what it is like being with other people. Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not. Perhaps that is what Raphael means.

The way Clarke describes here world is beautiful and otherworldly. The Labyrinth is serene and whimsical and mysterious and terrifying all at once. I especially enjoyed the Coral Halls – they sounded absolutely breathtaking. Her writing is also very, very good.

This novel was an even bigger breath of fresh air for me because it was a much better reading experience than the last book that I read and reviewed. I’m always nervous about starting a new book after reading a book that I didn’t care for or outright hated. So it was wonderful to read a book that I really, really loved.

I’m also looking forward to the Laika adaptation (probably) coming out a few years from now. I think they’re perfect for adapting this particular book, and hope that they do it justice.

So yeah, I know this is a shorter book review – especially compared to my last one – but like I said, I don’t want to taint any one’s experience reading Piranesi for the first time. Because it truly is an actual reading experience. So just read it – I think most people will really enjoy it.

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

See ya ~Mar

The sight of the One- Hundred- and- Ninety- Second Western Hall in the Moonlight made me see how ridiculous that is. The House is valuable because it is the House. It is enough in and of Itself. It is not the means to an end.

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

Instagram

WWW Wednesday: 8/21

I’m so happy to be reading more books again. Sort of. Summer is weird for me – for some reason, I have trouble getting into and reading books. I dunno why. But it feels like it’s picking up again for me?

The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Thing I’m Currently Reading

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

CURRENT STATUS: 25%

CURRENT FEELS: 🤔 (unsure…)

The Thing I Most Recently Finished Reading

The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow

☆★ my review ★☆

The Thing I Might Read Next

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

This has been on my TBR since last year. It was even on my Christmas list, so I received a copy then. I just haven’t gotten around to reading it, unfortunately. But with the sequel, Bringer of Dust releasing next month, I’ve decided that I gotta get on this.

What books are you guys currently reading? Have you read any of the ones on my list this week? What did you think of them, if you had? How do you feel about the book(s) you’re reading now?

Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar

WWW Wednesday: 8/7

It’s been… forever since I’ve participated in this post. Like, it’s been over half a year. Geez. I dunno why I dropped it for so long, though part of it was ’cause I was still doing Weekly Wrap-Ups at the time, so doing WWW Wednesday felt redundant when I was already recapping which books I read recently and planning on reading next for my wrap-ups.

But then I got burned out on that too, so I wasn’t doing either. Basically, what I’m trying to say, is that I’m gonna be doing this post pretty regularly again.

So yeah.

Anyway.

The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Thing I’m Currently Reading

The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow

CURRENT STATUS: 2%

CURRENT FEELS: 😁 (excited – this is one of my anticipated books from my July, Aug, Sept list)

The Thing I Most Recently Finished Reading

The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor

☆★ my review ★☆

The Thing(s) I Might Read Next

A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers

A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers: This has been on my TBR for a few months, ever since I read its predecessor, but has been pushed around for a while. I think I might be in the mood for a smaller read next, though, so it’s here as a potential.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: This is another that’s been on my radar for awhile – years in fact. But with the announcement of a movie produced by Laika, I’ve been reminded that it’s been buried in my TBR. It’s also shorter, so it’s also here for similar reasons as to A Prayer for the Crown Shy.

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro: This has been on my TBR since last year. It was even on my Christmas list, so I received a copy then. I just haven’t gotten around to reading it, unfortunately. But with the sequel, Bringer of Dust releasing next month, I’ve decided that I gotta get on this.

What books are you guys currently reading? Have you read any of the ones on my list this week? What did you think of them, if you had? How do you feel about the book(s) you’re reading now?

Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar