This post and my February wrap-up are both going up late this month because I went on an unexpected road trip last week and forgot to post these before I left.
I considered re-doing them and combining them into one, but the February wrap-up is taking me a while to finish up, and all I needed to do to finish this one was complete the book list below.
So, an update in two parts. First up, I give you my already in-progress March TBR:
One tome, one FairyLoot hardcover, and a fantasy romance
One of these is already nearly finished, and there is a fourth that I just added to the list today, but that one isn’t in the graphic I already made, so I’m going to save that for my March wrap-up post (assuming I finish reading it before the end of the month).
Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott — This book is doing triple duty this month. It’s one of the tomes I wanted to read this year. It’s also our Camp Book Club book pick for the month, and I’m using it to fulfill the March Adventure in Aeldia prompt: “Remove a complex lock enchantment cast on the exit door” (start/continue a series that intimidates you).
Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong — I picked this as the FairyLoot hardcover I wanted to read this month because I also snagged it on audiobook from the library. Then the loan expired before I could get to it, and now I think I’m back in the hold queue again. Oh well. Guess I’ll have to actually read the hardcover.
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming — Everything about this looks delightful. The title! The cover! The blurb! I’m very excited to start reading this book (and probably, let’s be honest, binge the entire series).
That’s my plan for this month!
But I’m already putting together my TBR for next month because April is the Spring Equinox session of the Orilium Magical Readathon! YAY!!! Once I get my February wrap-up posted, I’ll share my readathon plans with you.
It is the last full week of this month, and I’m finally getting around to posting my TBR. In case you were wondering, that pretty much sums up how this month has been going for me.
I feel like I’m behind on everything that isn’t either race prep for the half marathon I’m running this weekend or reading. That is at least partly as planned. I wanted to have a bit of a break this month, but my to-do list keeps growing as I continue to ignore it.
I’ll deal with all that next week. Right now, I’d rather talk about books. Specifically, how I’m doing on my February TBR.
The plan for February was pretty simple. First up, I wanted to finish my two in-progress books from January (Nettle & Bone and Faebound). Then, I wanted to read three more books (see below), which would put me at a total of five for the shortest month of the year!
See? I made a graphic weeks ago! I just never got around to posting it.
The three books on my February TBR are:
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi — I’m listening to this one on audiobook even though I have the FairyLoot hardcover edition. I’m finding the audiobook format is a good match for Roshani’s lyrical prose.
Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett — This was my Adventure in Aeldia pick for February (read a mystery/thriller). So excited to finally be reading this! It’s been on my TBR forever.
Five books is on the high end of what I usually read in a regular length month. But, I’ve already finished two books (just not the two I’d thought I’d have done by now). And I’m about halfway through two others. So I may just pull this off.
See you back here at the end of next week to let you know how I did.
I may also be back before that, if I can finish the other post I wanted to get done this month. No promises, though.
Last year, I decided to give myself only one goal: read through my Fairyloot hardcover backlog. Specifically, I picked nine books I wanted to either finish or DNF and donate by the end of 2023. I didn’t accomplish that goal, but I did get pretty close. Seven out of nine isn’t bad.
More importantly, upon MUCH reflection, I don’t regret giving myself that goal. It was something that I really wanted to make sure happened. And it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t made it a priority. Because of that, I am inclined to set myself a similar goal for 2024. The problem is, I also find myself tempted to expand the assignment just a bit.
I am resisting the urge to make multiple goals and trying to stick to just one, since that worked so well last year. To account for the fact that there are more than just hardcovers that I’ve been meaning to read for what feels like forever, I have decided to take a “24 for 24” approach this year.
There are there categories of books that tend to linger unread on my TBR:
General non-fiction
Tomes (books over 500 pages)
Hardcovers
I REALLY want to get to them, but I keep picking up short, mostly fiction, ebooks instead. So, to accomplish my (very flexible) “24 for 24” challenge, I need to read:
at least 6 general non-fiction books (Note: memoir, self-help, business, or writing craft books don’t count)
at least 6 tomes (books over 500 pages long)
at least 12 books from my physical TBR pile (ex: Fairyloot hardcovers)
The only rule is: no double dipping. In other words, a non-fiction book over 500 pages can only be counted in one category, not both.
What I read in each of those categories can be whatever I’m feeling like. I don’t have to read anything in any specific month. Though, I do plant to get started on this challenge early in the year and not leave it all to the last minute.
I have some ideas about what I’d like to read, and I made myself a little Goodreads shelf to keep track of what’s sounding good to me. I’ll probably shift things on an off that shelf as I go through the year.
I set up some pages in my 2024 Hobonichi Cousin to track my reading. I’m repurposing several pages and pasting over content on several others to create a sort of reading journal for myself in the back of this planner.
A little creative use of washi tape and stickers allowed me to turn two pages that already had twelve boxes on them (for journaling prompts or something? I can’t remember…) into pages where I can track the books I’m reading for my “24 for 24” challenge. One is going to be dedicated to Fairyloot hardcovers. The other is going to be for the tomes and non-fiction books.
I labeled both with the months of the year before I decided that I wasn’t going to try force myself to do one a month. I’ll probably end up covering over those labels with the printout of the book cover for the book I read. You might also have noticed the printout of this year’s Adventure in Aeldia prompts next to the Fairyloot hardcover tracker page. I’m planning on participating again this year, but I’m NOT planning on giving myself the additional requirement of having to read a Fairyloot hardcover in order to fulfill the prompt.
Since we’re on the topic of Aeldia, the journey this year starts in a dungeon. My character is in the dungeon because she over-promised and under-delivered. Don’t ask how or why. She doesn’t want to talk about it. 🙂
It’s going to be all right, though. She has already attempted escape by relying on her wits (reading an audiobook). But, because she is extra, and she’d rather not have to remove a complex lock enchantment to complete her escape (start/continue a series that intimidates you), she is going to also see if she can escape by relying on her strength (reading a physical book). What can I say? She likes options. If strength doesn’t work (I don’t finish a physical book before the end of the month), then she’ll be able to fall back on wits. No harm, no foul.
So, that’s my plan for reading in 2024. I’ll try to remember to do a mid-year check-in with some photos of my planner pages so you can see how things are progressing.
In keeping with my recent reading trend, I’ve started 2024 by selecting one ebook, one hardcover, and one audiobook to read first.
To kick things off, I’m diving right into a tome as one of my first reads. In fact, it is the most intimidating of the tomes on my TBR, and the one I’ve been wanting to read for the longest time. That book is: Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey. I’m almost embarrassed that I haven’t read this, yet. So many people have recommended it to me. I even recently recommended it to a friend, even though I hadn’t read it. The time is now. I started this on ebook last night. At least in that format, it’s harder to notice this book is 929 pages long!
My buddy read for this month is Yellowface by R. F. Kuang. This is another book I’ve been holding off on, but for entirely different reasons. It feels more like non-fiction than fiction to me, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The problem is that I have a strong feeling my jaw is going to end up aching from the amount of cringing that is going to happen while reading this book. I don’t like reading about other people behaving badly. It’s not my favorite. However, I’m going to deal with the discomfort because so many people have been telling me that this book is really good. I’m going to be listening to it on audiobook so I can take my frustration with the main character out on dirty dishes or veggies that need to be chopped.
And last, but definitely not least, is my hardcover selection. The December Fairyloot box brought a really exciting present for me. Faebound by Saara El-Arifi. This is not a book that had been on my book-radar, but it’s one that sounds like something I will enjoy (fae AND elves! Court politics!). Plus, the Fairyloot edition is just gorgeous.
Since I have this before the official release date of 23 January, I am bumping it to the top of my physical TBR. Maybe I can actually have it read before the release date? No promises.
What book did you choose as your first read of the New Year? Thoughts on any of the ones I’ve picked?
We did it! We made it to the shortest day of the year! Hooray! More daylight, starting tomorrow!
I suppose it’s kind of fitting that I just got Joanna Penn’s new book, Writing the Shadow : Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words, on my Kindle today! I guess it technically releases tomorrow, but it’s tomorrow in New York, so I got my pre-order.
This is one of those books that I kind of bought on a whim. I listen to Joanna Penn’s podcast sometimes. Maybe about half of them. And I’ve heard her talking about this book a few times, but I still don’t really know what to expect. And, yeah, it’s a writing craft book, but it’s going to be the last craft book I buy for a while.
In other, somewhat sad news, I don’t think the seed culture and barm I was trying to make for the panettone is doing what it’s supposed to be doing. It bubbled like mad on the first day, but hasn’t really been as active since then, which is sort of the opposite of what was supposed to happen. So, I think I may have to bail on the panettone plan.
I am kind of bummed about that. I was really excited to try this recipe, but I think I’m just using the wrong kind of flour. I tried using regular flour because I was too busy to go to the store and buy bread floor. I didn’t think it was going to matter much, but apparently it might.
We’ll see how it’s looking in the morning. Who knows. I may try it anyway, just to see what happens. It will be like the year I made the really terrible buche de Noel. Except, in this case, I’ll be expecting it to fail, so it won’t be a surprise when it turns out bad.
But hey! No worries! The shortest day of the year is behind us (until next year)! (If you live in the Northern Hemisphere.) If there’s no panettone, we’ll at least have spaghetti and meatballs. 🙂
I may not have a post tomorrow, but I have several more planned for next week, including all my fave books of 2023, my 2023 reading stats, and my reading goals for next year. In the meantime, I hope you are all having a festive holiday season! Wishing you all the best books and snacks!
We’re almost there! It’s the day before the Solstice! Let’s do a top five to celebrate…
I was scrolling through my blog reader and saw that Zezee did a top five post recently, and I followed her credit in that post to a Top 5 Tuesday series that is being organized by Meeghan.
Yesterday’s prompt was “Top 5 covers of 2023.” Love it! Let’s go.
Here are my top 5 favorite book covers released this year:
It’s probably no surprise that the majority of my favorites are from my Fairyloot hardcover special editions. I especially love their covers for The Hurricane Wars,Shanghai Immortal, and The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. Unfortunately, the picture above does not do these beautiful covers justice.
Here are a few photos to give you a better idea how beautiful these books are in person.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries also made my top five favorites from this year. However, I actually prefer the original hardcover edition (which is not the one pictured here). When I saw the regular hardcover at my local bookstore, I really loved the fact that it has no dust jacket. I also like the darker background.
The only non-Fairyloot hardcover to make this list is Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha. I saw this cover online and it immediately caught my eye. Then I read the blurb and had to add it to my Kindle right away (even though, as I’ve discussed already, my end of year TBR is already too full). Just for making me one-click, I’d say that is an effective (and really nice) cover.
Today was a surprisingly productive day. I didn’t get everything done on my to-do list, but I never do. I also haven’t done any reading, yet. Well, except for the recipe for that baking project I want to try, and it’s a good thing I finally read that!
I wanted to make panettone from scratch this year based on the recipe in my favorite bread baking cookbook: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Before I get into that, though, I have to put in a plug for how awesome this book is. If you really want to geek out on bread making, but you also want to understand what you’re doing and why, I highly recommend this book. Every recipe I’ve tried (so far) has been great.
(Side note: I just looked it up, and fun fact, I purchased this book in January 2003! Wow! I have been bread-obsessed for over twenty years!)
Okay, the thing about the recipes in this book is that a lot of them are multi-day projects. But that’s kind of what you need to do if you want to make really good bread. And, as it turns out, panettone is no exception. In fact, since I don’t have a barm ready to go, I need to make that FIRST before I can even get to the panettone making steps. So, yeah. Add four days (at least) to what was already a two day recipe, and now I think I’m going to be having these just in time for Christmas breakfast!
In other fun and festive news, someone in my extended family has requested that we revive my pre-pandemic attempt at doing a used book white elephant version of the Icelandic “Christmas book flood.” Since I am always on board for bookish holiday traditions, I agreed to organize it! Christmas Eve was already shaping up to be pretty fantastic with our plans for a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with buche de noel for dessert. Now we might get to do a book exchange, too! Yeah baby! I think my holiday cheer may have just returned!
Apologies for the short (and slightly subdued) post tonight. I didn’t get as much writing done today as I’d hoped, and I also didn’t do any reading. We’re less than a week out from the shortest day of the year, and I am feeling it today. I am both extremely ready for the solstice (in terms of craving more daylight hours), and absolutely not ready at all (in terms of what I need to get done before then).
As much as I want to just say “F*** it,” and spend the rest of the weekend reading, I am probably not going to visit any other stores (aka finish another book) before the readathon ends tomorrow night. So, I think I’m going to spend the rest of my time hanging out at the Rich Pigeon Pub.
In other words, I’m not going to start any more books on my Lightfall TBR. Instead, it’s time to go back to reading This Golden Flame, which I temporarily abandoned so I could participate in this readathon. But not tonight, because it’s bedtime. Since I need a book to read on my Kindle before bed, I think I’m going to start reading Paladin’s Hope tonight. It’s not a good fit for any of the remaining Lightfall reading prompts, but it is the next book I need to read.
I keep tweaking my end of the year TBR as we get closer and closer to the end of the month. We’re halfway at this point, and I’m having to cut it back to bare bones. There are four books that I really want to finish reading. Two to complete my 2023 reading goal, and two for a buddy read that weren’t even on my original list.
That’s four books totaling just over 1500 pages. The math on that works out to about 100 pages per day on average. Plus I need to edit the rest of my novel.
Don’t mind me while I quietly freak out… Next year, could someone please remind me to just chill? I think that’s going to have to be my only goal for 2024. Just chill.
I decided to do a little doodling on my Old Favour Passport. I’m creating a different doodle for each shop with the intention of making them look sort of like stamps. The first one I did was a little cat reading a book for Old Tails Bookstore. Then I realized that, with all the visiting I did last weekend, I think I can officially check off the only non-reading prompt (reach out to someone during this festive season). That is for the Rich Pigeon Pub, so I added a pigeon with a top hat doodle in the next circle. (The Pub counts for the loyalty card, right?)
Anyway, if you look closely, you can see that I’ve started sketching out my doodle for Wallice’s Wonderful Winter Wanimals. I’m trying to make the four Ws into something that looks a little like a snowflake. But I’m not going to finish it until after I finish reading A Holly Jolly Ever After.
That probably will be very soon, considering that I devoured nearly this entire book in less than 24 hours. And it’s not exactly short (428 pages!). I’m really enjoying it so far. I love the two main characters, and it’s a scorching read, as expected. The entire concept of this Christmas town in Vermont where they film holiday movies for the “Hope Channel,” combined with the film crew and their adult filmmaking background, is just perfect. I love it so much. And the ex-boy-band heroes in these novels are just chef’s kiss cinnamon rolls.
I predict I’ll be done with this book by breakfast tomorrow, if not sooner. Which is a good thing, because wanting to just keep reading has been a major distraction to me getting much work done today. I really needed this reading break to recover after the usual stress plus side-helping of unexpected drama that accompanied this year’s NaNoWriMo. But I also need to finish this book and get it to my trusted alpha readers before Christmas. So, tomorrow, after I’m done reading A Holly Jolly Ever After, it’s time to get back to it.
We’ll see if I can squeeze in one more book this weekend before the readathon ends, but I’m not even sure where I want to go from here… I don’t really have enough time to finish a tome like Bloodmarked or Sword Catcher. I may have to go with my pick for Occult Premonitions. I’ll make that decision tomorrow. For tonight, it’s time to get back to Christmas Notch.
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