Weekly Wrap-Up: 11/20 – 12/4

So it’s been some time since my last weekly wrap-up. It wasn’t very weekly, was it?

But hear me out! I only skipped last week’s because I was only able to post once the week before. And I didn’t think that that really warranted a weekly wrap-up post just for that. It seemed… overkill.

So I’m doing the past two weeks in this one post. That’s it, that’s what I really wanted to say. On with the wrap-up.

Thursday 11/23: Thanksgiving Day

I didn’t do a post this day, or on the day after, so here’s a very, very late Happy Thanksgiving!! 🦃🥧 I hope that everyone who celebrated enjoyed good food and good company!

Sunday 11/26: Books I’m Thankful For

Two Sundays ago was the only post I managed to do the week of Thanksgiving, unfortunately. But seeing as it was said week and I hadn’t done my Books I’m Thankful For post of the year yet, I decided to do that one.

Books I’m Thankful For: Leven Thumps

Thursday 11/30: System Collapse Review

This past Thursday, I finally got my book review posted for System Collapse by Martha Wells. It was a perfectly fine addition to the Murderbot Diaries. I gave it ★★★★✯.

My review of System Collapse

Friday 12/1: First Lines Friday

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

First Line Friday: 12/1

Sunday 12/3: November 2023 Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

Yesterday, I posted my monthly reading wrap-up for November 2023. For those who don’t know, monthly wrap-ups are when I go over the books I read over the past month, as well as my stats over on The StoryGraph.

Monthly Wrap-Up: November Reading 2023

Books I Read in the Last Two Weeks

One Piece: Volumes 19 - 20 - 21 by Eiichiro Oda

One Piece: Volumes 22 - 23 - 24 by Eiichiro Oda

💖🎁 Wrapping It All Up 💖🎁

So yeah, that’s it. This time I wrapped up not one, but two, weeks. And since both these past weeks are finally done and acknowledged on the blog, my conscious is now clear.

This coming week I’d like to do a Tasteful Tuesday, seeing as it’s been a few weeks since I last did it. I promise, I really do want this to be a weekly thing! It just… hasn’t worked out that way lately.

I’m also definitely going to be posting my book review for Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett later this week. It’s been a long time coming, and I’ve been dying to talk about this book since I read it. I had originally hoped to post the review for it last week but… yeah. Oh! And I’ll probably participate in Spell the Month in Books this coming weekend, too. I’m not sure what else I’ll do this week, however.

close up of christmas decoration hanging on tree — *Photo by Gary Spears on Pexels.com*

Also, speaking of stuff I did last week that didn’t have anything to do with reading books or the blog, I changed the home decor. Yup, I put the Christmas decorations up! And decorated the tree! And changed the scents around the house. So now everything’s all festive and perfect for the season at Mar’s!

But yeah, as always, thank you all so much for reading and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Wrap-Up: November Reading 2023

Here I am. With another monthly wrap-up. As I do every month. This time it’s for my November Reading of 2023, featuring my reading statistics from The StoryGraph from that month. (Say month again, why don’t you?)

I read less, comparatively, than I did in October, but I still read a ton. I feel like ten books is nothing to sneeze at, even though four of them were manga super-volumes and one was a 20 page short story. But November was kind of busy for me at some parts, so cut me some slack? (I think December might have a few of the same problems for a few of the same reasons, ei: holidays.)

Bur yeah, I’ll shut up now. Let’s get into the wrap-up.

November 2023 Reading

I read 10 books and 4195 pages

😐 MOODS: Adventurous was the biggest slice of pie, as it always is. Lighthearted was surprising in being the second biggest piece though – it’s only the second time this has happened, so far. The other ones were: Reflective, Emotional, Dark, and Mysterious.

👢 PACE: I read all three different kinds of paced books: slow, medium and fast. They were mostly fast and medium paced novels, though.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 240 and 600 pages. But the majority of books I read were between 300 and 499 pages.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction this month.

🎭 GENRES: Fantasy, as usual, was the biggest bar of the graph. Manga, Graphic Novel, YA, Science Fiction and Romance were the second longest bars after Fantasy. The other genres on the graph were Comics, LGBTQIA+, Historical and Short Stories. I think this might be the most genres I’ve read in the same month yet.

📄 FORMAT: This little StoryGraph pie chart is not correct (again). Most of the books I read last month were digital.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.13. My ratings for November weren’t as varied as in October, but they were about as high. Most of them were 4.0 and above.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read a ton throughout November. The time I read the least was between the 21st and the 28th, and my peak of reading was on the 18th.

The Books I Read in November

★★☆☆☆ • my review

★✬☆☆☆ • my review

★★★★★ • my review

★★★★☆ • my review

★★★★★ • review to be posted

★★★★✯ • my review

★★★★★

★★★★★

★★★★✯

★★★★★

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So yeah, November reading in 2023 was pretty strong. I’m really happy with what I was able to read though I do wish I was able to do a bit more. Ah well, we’ll see how what happens in December.

December doesn’t have any books coming out (that I’m aware of, at least) that I’m super excited about reading. Yeah, I had one on my anticipated reads releasing October through December list, but I’m not all that stoked about it. Just moderately – it looks interesting, but I won’t be upset if I don’t end up reading it. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, though. (Well, most of it anyway. I find Shallan’s chapters to be kind of boring at the moment.)

I’m also hoping to read some winter themed fantasy books, if I can find some. Tell me your recs in the comments, please! I love reading festively!

And well, I guess we’ll all find out what else I want to read this month together, because I’m honestly not sure now. Oh wait, maybe The Princess Bride by William Goldman. I got a really nice edition last month as a gift, and I’ve wanted to read this book for ages. But we’ll see.

So yeah, thank you so much for reading and I hope you have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 10/30 – 11/5

And we’ve finally hit November. Well, almost a week ago, technically – but the last weekly wrap-up was in October completely, so yeah.

I think I’ve been decently consistent with my posting over the past week, though I haven’t been reading as much as I might’ve liked. I dunno why really, last week was a little bit busy with Halloween, and then I had hardly any free time this weekend. So that’s probably why.

Anyway, let’s get into it.

Tuesday 10/31: The Graveyard Book Review / Halloween

Last Tuesday, I finally uploaded my review for The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. A perfect little ghost story for Halloween. I gave it ★★★✯☆.

Tuesday also happened to be Halloween. So here’s a belated Happy Halloween🎃👻🐈‍⬛🕸️💀🦇 to everybody who missed the post!

My review of The Graveyard Book

Wednesday 11/1: October 2023 Reading Wrap-Up

On Wednesday, I posted my reading wrap-up for October 2023. To anyone who doesn’t know, it’s when I go over my StoryGraph stats. For the first time ever, I’m pretty sure I actually posted it on the first of the month!

Monthly Wrap-Up: October 2023

Friday 11/3: Lightlark Review

Last Friday, I posted my review for Lightlark by Alex Aster. A somewhat controversial YA fantasy novel that was released last year, that I finally decided to read, just in time for the sequel. I gave it ★★✬☆☆.

My review of Lightlark

Sunday 11/5: Spell November in Books

Yesterday, I posted my contribution to Spell the Month in Books. (I know, it was a day late. Shut up.) Spell the Month in Books is a monthly post created and hosted by Jana @ Reviews from the Stacks.

Spell the Month in Books: November 2023

Books I Read Last Week

🎁💖 Wrapping It All Up 🎁💖

So, even though last week wasn’t nearly as productive as I had wanted it to be, I’m still happy with what I got done, for once. This coming week, however, I’m definitely aiming to do way better.

Concerning books on my TBR, I’m gonna start reading Nightbane by Alex Aster as soon as it goes live on Kindle eReaders. Then I’m probably gonna read Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – one of the books I got from my book haul this past weekend. I’m also planning on starting the second arc of One Piece sometime this week.

I don’t really know what else I’m gonna do this week. The only thing that I’m sure about is getting some of the ingredients for stuff I’m planning to make for Thanksgiving. I like to shop early for this holiday – we’re also gonna get almost all of our groceries for the next two weeks this weekend – because the grocery stores (and Walmart) are freaking insane the week of Thanksgiving. And I don’t want to get caught up in that.

So yeah, I hope to both read and post better this coming week. 🤞🍀 Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Wrap-Up: September Reading 2023

Wow, it’s been exactly a month since my monthly reading wrap-up for August. Wasn’t intending to post this this late into the month again, but life happens.

Comparing last month to the one before it, I definitely didn’t read as much as I’d wanted to. I read more books in August than I did in September. I’m hoping to change that up in October, especially since we’re getting into my favorite reading season.

But yeah, without further prattling, let’s get into my states for The StoryGraph for my September Reading 2023!

September 2023 Reading

I read 4 books and 1157 pages

😐 MOODS: Adventurous was the biggest slice of pie, as it always is. There are so many Moods here, but less than in August. The other ones were: Mysterious, Lighthearted, Dark, Funny, and Dark.

👢 PACE: I read two different kinds of paced books: slow and medium.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was either between 300 and 499 pages, or it sad under 300 pages. The pie graph was split during the middle.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction this month.

🎭 GENRES: Fantasy, as usual, was the biggest bar of the graph. Graphic Novel and YA were of the length this time, though. The other genres on the graph were Horror and Comics.

📄 FORMAT: This little StoryGraph pie chart is incorrect. Only one of the books I read was a physical print copy.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 2.5. It was cuz I rated four different books four different star increments.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read some during the first week, but dipped down during the second week, until near the last week of September.

The Books I Read in September

★★✫☆☆ • my review

★★✫☆☆ • my review

★★✯☆☆ • my review

★★☆☆☆ • my review

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

As I mentioned above, I didn’t read nearly as much as I had wanted to during September. Between things popping up and getting sick, I didn’t end up having the time or energy that I needed. Hopefully October will be better. 🤞🍀

And so, the September 2023 Reading Wrap-Up comes to a close. As per usual, thank you all so much for reading and have a wonderful day/night!

What books did you guys read in September? What did you think of them? What genres did you read?

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Wrap-Up: August Reading 2023

Wow, this is kind of late. I’m pretty sure I’ve never posted a monthly wrap-up five days into a new month. Yet. Well, until now, lol.

August was so much better than July, in terms of reading books. Not as productive on the blog post front, but that’s mostly because I took a much needed break. Regardless, I’m pretty satisfied with everything I got done last month.

But yeah, without further ado, let’s get into my states for The StoryGraph for my August Reading 2023!

August 2023 Reading

I read 5 books and 1431 pages

😐 MOODS: Adventurous was the biggest slice of pie, as it always is. There are so many more Moods than in July, so it’s a very colorful pie graph this time around. The second biggest slice here is Emotional, which isn’t a surprise, as it usually tends to be. There are several other Moods though: Mysterious, Hopeful, Funny, and Dark.

👢 PACE: Unlike last month, I read two different kinds of paced books: fast and medium.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was either between 300 and 499 pages (the majority), or it sad under 300 pages.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction this month.

🎭 GENRES: Fantasy, as usual, was the biggest part of the graph this time. There were several more Genres on the bar graph compared to July, though. Historical was surprisingly second place, followed by LGBTQIA+ and Romance.

📄 FORMAT: This little StoryGraph pie chart is incorrect. For the first time in like three months! Only one of the books I read was a physical print copy.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 3.9. It was cuz I rated five different books five different star increments.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read a lot during the first couple of weeks, but dipped down in the middle until near the end of August. I read a bunch the last couple of days, however.

The Books I Read in August

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

★★★★★ • my review

★★★★☆

★★★✫☆ • my review

My Happy Marriage: Volume #1 by Akumi Agitogi

★★★✬☆ • my review

★★★☆☆ • my review

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

★★★★✯ • my review

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So, August was a huge improvement from July, concerning books and reviews. I think I’m finally out of my reading slump – this time for sure. And I don’t know why, but for whatever reason it feels like some sort of weight (stress?) has been lifted off my shoulders because of it.

I’m hoping to post better/more often than I did in August, just cuz I’m not planning on taking any impromptu vacations again in the near future. I’m also hoping I’ll keep up this reading and reviewing streak. But we’ll just have to see what happens together.

And so, the August 2023 Reading Wrap-Up comes to a close. As per usual, thank you all so much for reading and have a wonderful day/night! What books did you guys read in August? What did you think of them? What genres did you read?

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 7/31 – 8/6

It’s Monday again, which means that it’s once again the beginning of another week. So it’s time to wrap up the last one!

I didn’t do everything that I’d wanted to, but I’m somehow okay with that. I think it’s because I did a lot of varied posts, and even started participating in a new one. I also finally finished another book, and a review for it will be making its way onto this blog very soon.

Enough of my talking. Let’s just dive right in!

Tuesday 8/1: July 2023 Reading Wrap-Up

Last Tuesday, I posted my monthly reading wrap-up for July 2023. The earliest I posted it in a month yet! (You don’t get any earlier than August 1st after all.) Yay!

I didn’t read or review – or even post – as much as I’d hoped to, but that’s in the past now and there’s nothing I can do about it. All I can hope is that I have a better August!

July 2023 Reading Wrap-Up

Wednesday 8/2: Can’t Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday for the first time in forever. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings.

Can’t Wait Wednesday: “Masters of Death”

Friday 8/4: First Line Friday

Last Friday, I once again participated in First Line Fridays. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words.

First Line Friday 8/4

Saturday 8/5: August 2023 Spell the Month in Books

On Saturday, not only did I do a rare Saturday post, but I participated in Spell the Month in Books for the first time. Spell the Month in Books is a monthly post created and hosted by Jana @ Reviews from the Stacks.

Spell the Month in Books – August 2023

Books That I Read Last Week

Goals for 8/7 – 8/13

So yeah, I didn’t get any reviews out last week like I’d wanted. But, like I mentioned earlier, I still finished another book, and I did a bunch of different posts this past week. So I’m gonna count that as a win this time!

This week, I’m going to definitely post a book review (in the very near future), and hopefully I’ll get around to reading another book and posting another review. I’m also going to do the usual posts I participate in (of course), and maybe another Popular Books post. We’ll see.

And of course, as always, thank you to everyone so much for taking the time to read my little bookish blog. It means the world. And I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Wrap-Up: July Reading 2023

It’s August now, which means it’s a new month! So it’s time to wrap up July!

The first thing I want to say, before I get into it, is wow, I don’t think I’ve even been able to post one of these on the first of the month! I could be completely wrong though.

The other thing I wanted to say was, ew July was a little pathetic, reading and review wise. Actually, very pathetic review wise. Sure, I technically read eight books and just a thousand pages, but they were all for a children’s series, and I didn’t read and review anything else. So I’m disappointed in myself for that.

But yeah, without further ado, let’s get into my states for The StoryGraph for my July reading 2023.

July 2023 Reading

I read 8 books and 1205 pages

😐 MOODS: Adventurous was the biggest slice of pie once again. There are like no Moods on this graph though for July though. The only other one is Mysterious, which is almost as big as Adventurous.

👢 PACE: Unlike last month every single book I read was fast-paced. This is the first month where fast-paced was the entire graph, though.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was super short this month, because all I read were the books in the Deltora Quest series, and they’re all less than 150 pages. So all of them were less than 300 pages.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: All fiction once again this month.

🎭 GENRES: Fantasy was the biggest part of the graph this time, as per usual. The only other genre on the bar graph, though, is Children’s, which is actually equal. So hasn’t been as colorful as it usually is.

📄 FORMAT: This little StoryGraph pie chart is actually correct again! All the books I read were physical print copies.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.0. I rated two books 3.5 stars, four books 4.0 stars, and two books 4.5 stars.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read some during the second week, but dipped down a bit in the middle. During the last third of the month of July though, I read a lot, comparatively.

The Books I Read in July

★★★✯☆

★★★★☆

★★★★✯

★★★★✯

★★★✯☆

★★★★☆

★★★★☆

★★★★☆

My Review of the Whole of Deltora Quest

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So July still kind of definitely sucked reading and review wise. But for whatever reason, over the last couple of years, I’ve had some trouble not falling into reading slumps and the like during the summer. I don’t know what it is about summertime or whatever, but I’ve had trouble getting into books lately.

I’m hoping that’s going to change with August though, since it’s kind of the bridge between summer and fall, and fall is my reading jam. Plus, I’ve never really had as much trouble finding a book to read in August. So yeah, the July 2023 Reading Wrap-Up comes to a close.

As per usual, thank you all so much for reading and have a wonderful day/night! What books did you guys read in July? What did you think of them? What genres did you read?

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 7/10 – 7/16

Sooo… Last week was super bad with the blogging. Like really, really bad. I had at least two more posts planned, but then a bunch of drama in my personal life happened on Friday, and I just didn’t have the time or energy to blog.

But yeah, I’m sorry about last week. It is what it is, though, and the past can’t be changed.

Anyway, I don’t really have anything else to say. Here’s last week’s weekly wrap-up.

Wednesday 7/12: WWW Wednesday

Last Wednesday, I participated in WWW Wednesday, as I usually do. WWW Wednesday is a weekly feature currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

WWW Wednesday 7/12

Thursday 7/13: July 2023 Birthstone Book Covers

On Thursday, I decided it was time for me to participate in the monthly post Birthstone Book Covers. Birthstone Book Covers is a monthly post created and hosted by Leslie @ Books Are the New Black.

Birthstone Book Covers: July 2023

Books I Read Last Week

Goals for 7/17 – 7/23

I just want to get back into gear with my posting again. I really, really want to do book cover analysis and admiration again though, so a Majestic Monday might just make its first appearance in forever. Then I want to do my usual posts, and a couple book reviews.

Those are my goals for this week. Fingers crossed! 🤞😁

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 7/3 – 7/9

Wow, okay, so like I’m super late (again) with this one. But it’s still Monday where I’m at, so this post is still very much valid!

Last week I was waaayy better than I’ve been sign posting lately. No book reviews, unfortunately, but my posting was still better.

Anyway, I won’t ramble. Here’s last week’s weekly wrap-up.

Tuesday 7/4: 4th of July – Independence Day

Last Tuesday was the 4th of July, otherwise known as Independence Day. 🇺🇲🎆🇺🇲🎆

I was feeling under the weather, or else I would’ve posted something. It was nice to relax and listen to the fireworks going off all around my town, though.

Wednesday 7/5: WWW Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in yet another WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

WWW Wednesday 4/5

Thursday 7/6: Summer Reads with Mermaids

Thursday, I decided to do something a bit different. Every season or so, I do a post about books with that particular season’s vibe. For this summer, I decided to do a post about YA and middle grade mermaid books that I’ve read.

Some Summer Reads with Mermaids

Friday 4/7: First Line Friday

Last Friday, I once again participated in First Line Fridays. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words.

First Line Friday #20

Sunday 4/9: Book Hauls from the First Half of 2023 / Most Anticipated Reads of Quarter Three

Yesterday, I double posted. For my first post, I did one for all of my book hauls for the first half of this year. This is cuz I don’t collect books at the same rate as a lot of other book bloggers, lol, but I still wanted to show off my haul so far.

For my second post, I finally got around to posting about my most anticipated SSF books releasing in July, August, and September this year. These are the ones I’ve been the most interested in yet!

The Books I Hauled from the First Half of 2023

My Most Anticipated SFF Reads of 2023 for Quarter Three

Books I Read Last Week

Deltora Quest: The Complete Series - 21st Anniversary Edition by Emily Rodda

Goals for 4/10 – 4/16

The main goal for this week is to read more than one book, lol. For real though, I’d like to post at least as many times as I did last week. So five different posts hopefully, at least one of which is gonna be a book review.

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

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 6/26 – 7/2

Wow, okay, so like I’m super late with this one. But it’s still Monday where I’m at, so this post is still very much valid!

Last week I was slightly less productive than I’d hoped, but I still did like four posts, so I’ll take it as a win. Especially compared to some of the weeks preceding it. Ugh.

Anyway, I’ll stop yakking. Here’s last week’s weekly wrap-up.

Wednesday 6/28: WWW Wednesday

On Wednesday, I, as per usual, participated in another WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

WWW Wednesday 6/28

Friday 6/30: First Line Friday

On Friday, I once again participated in First Line Fridays. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words.

First Line Friday #19

Sunday 7/2: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night Review / June 2023 Reading Wrap-Up

Yesterday, I posted my review for Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao. It’s a YA fantasy novel inspired by Chinese folklore. I gave it ★★★★☆.

I also posted my monthly reading wrap-up for June 2023. I was actually pretty early with posting it for once, haha.

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night Review

June 2023 Reading Wrap-Up

Books I Read Last Week

Goals for 7/3 – 7/9

The main goal for this week is to read more than one book, lol. For real though, I’d like to post at least as many times as I did this past week. Normally, I’d try for a fifth post, but I’m hosting a gathering this weekend and I’ve got to do some extra cleaning and prep, so I’m not sure if I’d be able to.

So, goals: read more than one book, four posts, my usual posts, and… we’ll see what else I do.

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

See ya ~Mar