Happy first day of 2024 book friends! Did you all make your goals last year? And have you set any new goals for this year? I think I’m going to aim for 50 again. It’s a goal I can consistently make, and if I read more, that’s a bonus!
Last year (saying ‘last year’ feels like it was so long ago, but it’s only been two days??) I had a goal of 50 and I read… 50. My reading has taken quite a dive the last months, so I’m happy I was able to make it. Here are the books I read from October to December!
October
This month had its ups and downs. I started with What the Neighbors Saw, which I read for my work’s book club. This was not my jam at all. I thought it would be an exciting thriller, but instead the main character was incredibly passive and it ended up being more about how horrible her husband was and how much she envied her rich neighbor. I picked out the next read, The Whisper Man, which was immediately better (not because I picked it lol). This genuinely had a creepy factor to it, and I loved it! Two Twisted Crowns was also fantastic. I have a review here! I also read A Study in Drowning. I may have missed something here because I was definitely not as obsessed as many others on my feed. It was just okay. Entertaining enough, but didn’t change my life.
November
November was not a good book for quantity, but it was a good book for quality. I read A Curse for True Love, which I quite enjoyed. Not quite life changing, but I just really enjoy the whimsical feel to this series. Then I read Things we Never Got Over, which I got thanks to Bookstagram. This book did not disappoint and I immediately got the other two in the series. Small town romances may now be my jam. Of course, I also had to read Iron Flame. I’ve been ignoring all criticism of this book, as I highly enjoyed it. That ending was rude, though.
December
I only read three books in December. I did a lot of non-reading things and then flew to the Netherlands, so time for reading was non-existent. I started a new series that’s entirely new to me; literally never heard of it before. But the title jumped out to me when I was in Barnes & Noble. Kill the Queen was quite a fun read. I think the story could’ve been fleshed out a little more, but it’s just the start of a series. Based on the reviews it gets a lot better, and the spin-off has also been added to my TBR. My final read of the year was The Binding Season. This book marked the sixth time I got the privilege to read and review one of Claudia Cain’s books. This one did not disappoint at all, and I’ll have my review up soon! Lastly I read Last Violent Call, which consists of two novellas. I highly enjoyed these because it healed something in my heart after the end of Our Violent Ends.
Books Bought
- The Scarlet Veil – Shelby Mahurin
- House of Roots and Ruin – Erin A. Craig
- A Study in Drowning – Ava Reid
- The Fragile Threads of Power – V.E. Schwab
- A Darker Shade of Magic – V.E. Schwab
- A Gathering of Shadows – V.E. Schwab
- A Conjuring of Light – V.E. Schwab
- The Hurricane Wars – Thea Guanzon
- The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook to Surviving Medieval England – Brandon Sanderson
- Sword Catcher – Cassandra Clare
- Throne of the Fallen – Kerri Maniscalco
- Mistborn leather-bound edition – Brandon Sanderson (a gift from a lovely pair of friends)
- The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea – Axie Oh
- Seven Faceless Saints – M.K. Lobb
- Among Thieves – M.J. Kuhn
- Things We Hide from the Light – Lucy Score
- Things We Left Behind – Lucy Score
- A Promise of Fire – Amanda Bouchet
- A Breath of Fire – Amanda Bouchet
- A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe – Alex White
- Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros (holiday edition)
- Iron Flame – Rebecca Yarros
- Defiant – Brandon Sanderson
- Kill the Queen – Jennifer Estep
- Cheap Speech – Richard L. Hasen
- Wildfire – Hannah Grace
- Mountains Made of Glass – Scarlett St. Clair
- Bonesmith – Nicki Pau Preto
- To Kill a Shadow – Katherine Quinn
- Foxglove – Adalyn Grace
- Bookshops and Bonedust – Travis Baldree
- Ruthless Vows – Rebecca Ross
- A Curse for True Love – Stephanie Garber
- Our Dark Duet – V.E. Schwab (special edition)
- The Lost Metal – Brandon Sanderson
- Iron Flame – Rebecca Yarros (EU edition)
And that’s it for this last reading check-in of the 2023! As you can see, I bought a lot more books than I read, but that’s not new. This year I hope to read more from the books I own and buy just a little less. But I say that every year, so we’ll see how that ends up working out…
