November in Review

I read 10 books last month, which is more than it felt like. Between Thanksgiving and participating in a writing challenge all month, I didn’t spend as much time reading or listening to audiobooks. So 10 is a pretty good number!

Here are the books I read in November:

How to Speak Dragonese by Cressida Cowell (4 / 5)
Finding Phoebe by Ellie Katz (3 / 5)
The Minor Rescue by Meredith Davis (3.5 / 5)
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz (4 / 5)
Resistance by Jaye L. Knight (3.5 / 5)
House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones (3.5 / 5)
The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin (4 / 5)
Muzzled by David Rosenfelt (4.5 / 5)
Power by Kristi Drillien (5 / 5)
The Godhead Complex by James Dashner (2 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from November was Muzzled. I started 3 series, continued 4 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

October in Review

I read 15 books last month, another higher-than-average month, with a page count only barely lower than last month. It’s been a good stretch of reading for the last 3 months, but that will come to end in here in November, as I spend more time writing and less time reading. With my current rate of listening to audiobooks, though, the number for November might not dip as low as it has when I did NaNoWriMo in the past.

Here are the books I read in October:

Edgeland by Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski (2.5 / 5)
Dachshund Through the Snow by David Rosenfelt (4 / 5)
How to Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell (3 / 5)
The Maze Cutter by James Dashner (2 / 5)
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie (3.5 / 5)
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (4 / 5)
Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein (5 / 5)
Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (2 / 5)
The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek by Rhett McLaughlin & Link Neal (4.5 / 5)
Seven Things I Wish Christians Knew About the Bible by Michael F. Bird (3 / 5)
And to All a Good Bite by David Rosenfelt (5 / 5)
Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter (1.5 / 5)
Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics: The Graphic Novel by Chris Grabenstein (4.5 / 5)
The Lost Lieutenant by Erica Vetsch (5 / 5)
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (5 / 5)

This list includes 3 ARCs and 3 re-reads. My favorite book from October was Sunrise on the Reaping. I started 2 series, continued 4 series, and finished 2 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

September in Review

I read 15 books last month, only one book less than last month, making it the 2nd-highest for the year, both in books and in page count. I can only chalk it up to spending more time listening to audiobooks lately.

Here are the books I read in September:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (4 / 5)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (MinaLima version) by J.K. Rowling (4 / 5)
Very Dangerous Things by Lauren Muñoz (2 / 5)
Bark of Night by David Rosenfelt (4.5 / 5)
The Wedding Bond by Lee Tobin McClain (2 / 5)
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (4 / 5)
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham (4 / 5)
True Life in Uncanny Valley by Deb Caletti (1.5 / 5)
Mandie and the Secret Tunnel by Lois Gladys Leppard (4 / 5)
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (4 / 5)
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (3 / 5)
Forward As Always by Olan Rogers & Jake Sidwell (3 / 5)
Legacy by Clifford Riley (4 / 5)
Beyond the Far Horizon by Carolyn Leiloglou (5 / 5)
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (2.5 / 5)

This list includes 3 ARCs and 3 re-reads. My favorite book from September was Beyond the Far Horizon. I started 5 series, continued 3 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

*This includes 1 series I didn’t reach the end of, but decided not to continue reading, after being at least 2 books into the series.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

August in Review

I read 16 books last month, which is the most I’ve read in a month this year. And it’s definitely not just due to reading a lot of shorter books, because it was also the highest page count for the year—3rd highest since I started blogging reviews in 2019, in fact (yes, I do love tracking my reading stats). It is at least partially related to listening to a lot of audiobooks, but I don’t really feel like I read/listened that much more last month than almost any other month. Crazy!

Here are the books I read in August:

Disney in Shadow by Ridley Pearson (1.5 / 5)
Rescued by David Rosenfelt (4 / 5)
The Yellow House Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner (3 / 5)
Dawn of Grace by Jill Eileen Smith (2.5 / 5)
Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie (4 / 5)
The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (3 / 5)
A Spell to Wake the Dead by Nicole Lesperance (3 / 5)
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (4 / 5)
The Guard by Pittacus Lore (3 / 5)
Deck the Hounds by David Rosenfelt (3.5 / 5)
Mystery Ranch by Gertrude Chandler Warner (2 / 5)
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan (3 / 5)
Al Capone Throws Me a Curve by Gennifer Choldenko (4.5 / 5)
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (4.5 / 5)
The Daughter of Rome by Angela Elwell Hunt (4 / 5)
Lava by E.B. Roshan (4 / 5)

This list includes 3 ARCs and 1 re-read. My favorite book from August was Al Capone Throws Me a Curve. I started 0 series, continued 3 series, and finished 4 series*. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

*This includes 2 series I didn’t reach the end of, but decided not to continue reading, after being at least 2 books into the series.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

July in Review

I read 12 books last month, a great book and page count for the first time in months. Considering that I barely read during the whole first week, due to being on vacation, this is pretty amazing. I think it’s mostly due to having a lot of time to listen to audiobooks last month.

Here are the books I read in July:

Mary Anne Saves the Day by Ann M. Martin (5 / 5)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (5 / 5)
Beauty in the Least by Bill Myers & Robert West (3 / 5)
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson (3.5 / 5)
Cloaked in Beauty by Karen Witemeyer (2 / 5)
Collared by David Rosenfelt (4.5 / 5)
Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie (4 / 5)
The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna M. White (3 / 5)
Surprise Island by Gertrude Chandler Warner (2 / 5)
Moonleapers by Margaret Peterson Haddix (4 / 5)
The Secret Blend by Stan Toler (4 / 5)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (5 / 5)

This list includes 3 ARCs and 3 re-reads. My favorite book from July was Collared. I started 2 series, continued 5 series, and finished (or caught up on) 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

June in Review

I read 7 books last month, which is about half of my average. It’s not at all a surprise, though, considering that June contained 2 large events—Vacation Bible School, for which I’m a director, early in the month and my husband and my 25th wedding anniversary, which involved a vow renewal and party at the end of the month. I was busy a lot of the month between the planning for both of these and the week of VBS itself being very tiring in its own right. My husband and I were gone for a week at the beginning of July as well, which is why this post is so much later than normal and contributes to the reason that I have written only 1 review for the books I read in June. I’ve got some catching up to do (and not just on book reviews).

Here are the books I read in June:

Shell Shocked by Kathleen Welton (1 / 5)
Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt
The Alcatraz Escape by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Truth About Stacey by Ann M. Martin
Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
Stellar English by Frank L. Cioffi

This list includes 3 ARCs and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from June was The Alcatraz Escape. I started 1 series, continued 3 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

May in Review

I read 9 books last month, which was definitely a low month for me. There were a few longer books in there, but since my overall page count was lower than average too, I just read less in general.

Here are the books I read in May:

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (3.5 / 5)
The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)
Face of Death by Blake Pierce (3 / 5)
The Navigator by Pittacus Lore (4 / 5)
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (4.5 / 5)
Night Swimming by Aaron Starmer (3.5 / 5)
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (4 / 5)
The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by David Rosenfelt (4 / 5)
Misplaced Threats by Alan Zimm (4 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from May was The ABC Murders. I started 1 series, continued 2 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

April in Review

I read 11 books last month, a book less than the last 2 months, but still close or higher than the page count from those months, so apparently it was still an average amount of reading, even though I felt like I read a lot less last month.

Here are the books I read in April:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows (5 / 5)
The Martian by Andy Weir (4.5 / 5)
World of Warcraft, Vol. 4 by Walter & Louise Simonson (3 / 5)
The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)
Framed by John Grisham & Jim McCloskey (4 / 5)
Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (3 / 5)
Day of Doom by David Baldacci (3 / 5)
Vespers Rising by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman, Jude Watson (4 / 5)
Murder Between Friends by Liz Lawson (3 / 5)
Outfoxed by David Rosenfelt (4.5 / 5)
When Tides Turn by Sarah Sundin (review pending)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 4 re-reads. My favorite book from April (that wasn’t a re-read) was Outfoxed. I started 0 series, continued 3 series, and finished 3 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

March in Review

I read 12 books last month, the same as the previous month, though it was my highest page count for the year so far. Overall, it was a fairly average month of reading. I’m starting to feel pressure from my list of ARCs I haven’t gotten to, since it’s the most I’ve ever had at a time…yet I can’t stop requesting more when I see new ones that interest me. I need to start prioritizing them more.

Here are the books I read in March:

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi (3 / 5)
Disney at Dawn by Ridley Pearson (3 / 5)
The Shingle Weaver’s Picnic by P.C. Smith (2.5 / 5)
North! or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)
No Compromise by Melody Green & David Hazard (4.5 / 5)
Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie (3 / 5)
The Unbreakable Code by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (4.5 / 5)
Into the Gauntlet by Margaret Peterson Haddix (4 / 5)
The Sisters of Corinth by Angela Elwell Hunt (5 / 5)
The Fugitive by Pittacus Lore (3.5 / 5)
Who Let the Dog Out by David Rosenfelt (4 / 5)
I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney (2.5 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARC and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from March was The Sisters of Corinth. I started 0 series, continued 5 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

February in Review

I read 12 books last month, pretty close to my recent monthly average. The page count was lower than average, though, due to a lot of shorter books last months. That doesn’t surprise me, because I definitely felt like I wasn’t reading as much throughout last month, for no particular reason I can pinpoint.

Here are the books I read in February:

Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park (4 / 5)
Midnight on the Scottish Shore by Sarah Sundin (5 / 5)
Do the Bright Thing by Bill Myers (4 / 5)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (3 / 5)
Storm Warning by Elizabeth Goddard (2.5 / 5)
Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko (5 / 5)
Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls by Ann M. Martin (4 / 5)
Christy by Catherine Marshall (5 / 5)
Bittersweet Rendezvous in New England by Diane Green (2 / 5)
Hounded by David Rosenfelt (5 / 5)
Trust No One by Linda Sue Park (4 / 5)
Reclaiming Quiet by Sarah Clarkson (2 / 5)

This list includes 4 ARCs and 1 re-read. My favorite book from February was Midnight on the Scottish Shore. I started 0 series, continued 6 series, and finished 0 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.