Since I worked yesterday, today is the first day of my three day weekend. The plan is to stay in as much as possible because it is ridiculously cold outside. The current 'feel like' temp here is -27°. And tomorrow is supposed to be even colder?.
I'm also starting another non-fiction. This time it's Brooke Shields' new book.
I'm a Saturday Librarian today. This morning I'm working on adding these books to the library's collection.
We do not have any copies of Onyx Storm yet, but I see one shipped out to us from Ingram last night. We probably won't get it by Tuesday's pub date, but a day late isn't too bad.
Wednesday's are my evening shift at the library. I'm home now, supper is eaten and Peri is walked. Now I can relax and start The Favorites. ⛸️
Got my #aardvarkbookclub box. The hardcover The Reformatory book is gorgeous. It came with the original cover, but I'm going to shelve it without it. Too pretty not to.
After reading Fourth Wing, I didn't read Iron Flame right away, and it finally got to the point where I decided to wait until closer to Onyx Storm coming out. Well that's now this month! So I'm starting Iron Flame today.
My January #botm are here already! I'm really excited for all four books. In fact, I'm probably going to have a hard time picking which one to read first. And I got my hammer for finishing the 2024 reading challenge. It's heavy!
My mini calendar at work for 2025 is The Reading Woman. Each month features art with a woman and a book. January's painting is Thinking by Kajita Hanko.
It's past Christmas, but I really don't want to wait until next December to read this book, so I'm doing it now.🎄😉
so-soThis was a very OK book for me. I like the author's writing style, but the story just wasn't fully grabbing my attention after a 1/4 in. It even featured a really unique magic system. I honestly had high hopes for this first read of 2025, so a little disappointed.
My reading challenges are all set in goodreads and StoryGraph. I took @ChaoticMissAdventures suggestion and added a pages goal since I'm hoping to read fewer, but longer books. Also looks like goodreads has added some fun monthly and community favorites challenges.
Phew! January Aardvark Book Club books are live. I was able to snag a signed copy of Reformatory. I'm excited to read it. And I also picked the new Megan Collins.
#aardvarkbookclub
I finished 8 books in December. My two favorites were The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door and an ARC of Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales. Both books with faeries!🧚♂️
I think BOTM did a fabulous job with their picks for January. I ended up picking four.
Starting this book tonight. I don't think I'll finish it by tomorrow, so it will be my first finished book of 2025.
Aardvark Book Club's 2024 Member Choice Winner was just announced. This special edition is so pretty! I'm definitely adding this to my January box. Hopefully I can snag one of the signed ones.🤞🏻
#aardvarkbookclub
I decided my reading goal for 2025 is to focus on reading my physical collection. I have so many books in my little apartment. This shelf alone is two deep.
Also, even though I read 100 books this year, I'm going to set my reading goal on goodreads and StoryGraph to 80 books. I'm hoping that will encourage me to read some of my thicker books that take more time.
Put up a new display at work. This one features some the best books of 2024 according to different publications, like Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, The New Yorker, NPR, etc.
For my 100th book of 2024, I'm starting Out on a Limb.
pickThis was pretty good. Interesting worldbuilding and fun characters. I like banter, but this book was bordering on too much for me. I also felt like the middle part dragged. Maybe because I was waiting for the heist part of the book, which doesn't come until the very end. So soft pick and I do plan on picking up the next book when it comes out.
pickBrilliant. Loved it. Set in the 1920s after the first World War. Clover discovers there is magic in the world when her older brother returns from the war hurt from a faerie curse. Her need to fix that curse and her own love of scholarship brings her to Camford, a magic academy. There she meets a group of young scholars that give her both friendship and danger. Parry did a great job of mixing historical fiction and fantasy.
so-soI did it! Read my 30th BOTM in 2024. This suspense was alright. The main character was hard to like as he was willfully blindful towards a certain person and mean to others. But I liked the setting and atmosphere. 3 stars.
It's a great #bookmail day. I received my #aardvarkbookclub books, The Serpent and the Wolf and Private Rites. And then from Barnes and Noble, two chunky books, Quicksilver and Wind and Truth.
Now turning to a thriller. #currentlyreading
pickThis was mostly enjoyable. Loved the characters, gods, and fantasy world. But the romance was a let down. And I wanted more interaction between Hazel and her godfather, the god Merrick.
The candles glow on the BOTM edition. So cool. I'm starting this one today.
Current read. I'm three books away from reading 30 Book of the Month books to finish their Challenge Crusher badge and get the prize of the tiny golden hammer.😁
I had planned on just getting The Serpent and the Wolf in my December #aardvarkbookclub box, but then re-read the description of Private Rites and decided I want to read that one too.
Also again expressing my love for their creativity for the Aardvark logo on the cover. I noticed while looking at this picture that the circle of the logo on The Serpent and the Wolf matches the O in Wolf. It's the little things.
I read 8 books in November. My favorites were:
Dinner For Vampires - memoir
PS: I Hate You - romance
Servant of Earth - fantasy
The City in Glass - fantasy
Starting on this very cold Saturday - Ready or Not by Cara Bastone.
#botm
My November FairyLoot Adult and Romantasy books arrived. Both are very pretty with great colors and design. The fantasy is The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong and the romantasy is Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan.
I picked two for my December #botm box.
November's adult fantasy Owlcrate is here and it's absolutely gorgeous. I love the colors and design.
My friend enjoyed this one and I'm in a fae mood, so starting Servant of Earth.
Little bit of a background change for me. I'm at a conference through Saturday. Today's pre-conference program focused on strategic planning. It was actually quite a great program. And the book I brought to read is this year's Booker Prize winner, Orbital by Samantha Harvey.
pickI was off today for working Saturday and the majority of the day was spent reading this book. Only put it down to eat and walk Periwinkle. It's a fascinating memoir that focuses on Lenz's decade in a cult. She grew up very religious and when she moved out to L.A. to try out for acting gigs, she joined what seemed like a simple, small group Bible study. I sympathized with her. She really showed how cults tear you down and consume you.
I couldn't decide what genre of fiction I was in the mood for, so decided to read a non-fiction instead. I don't know this actress at all and didn't watch One Tree Hill, but I'm very interested in the being in a cult aspect of her life.
Aardvark Book Club's November challenge was a challenge! I only had the vowels e and a to work with. The challenge was to come up with a word stacking Aardvark books and using the first letter of the first word of the title. Each letter was worth a certain number of points. I came up the word watercress for 15 points.
#aardvarkbookclub
I keep seeing mentions of how charming this book is and I need something like that in my life right now. Starting this one tonight.
pickI stayed up late last night, but made myself stop doomscrolling and instead read. So I finished this book. It was a fever dream of a book and a perfect escape for the moment. It takes place in a city over centuries as a demon and angel rebuild the city the angel helped destroy. Very beautifully written. Harsh at times, but beautiful.
#aardvarkbookclub
"No one loves a city like one born to it, and no one loves a city like an immigrant. No one loves a city like they do when they are young, and no one loves a city like they do when they are old."
"Vitrine loved her city like demons and cats may love things, with an eye towards ownership and the threat of small mayhem."
Page 69
Next up is this slim fantasy from #aardvarkbookclub. It's my first book by this author.
My November #aardvarkbookclub picks. Both authors were introduced to me by Aardvark and I've been excited to read their next books. Glad I could get them through Aardvark again.
