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 2 re-reads. 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.

January in Review

I read 13 books last month, a pretty average month for me, though a bit lower than average in page count. Still, there were a lot of great books in there, so it was a good start to the year!

Here are the books I read in January:

God Loves Me and I Love Myself! by Mark DeJesus (1.5 / 5)
Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie (4.5 / 5)
The Emperor’s Code by Gordon Korman (4.5 / 5)
Anchor in the Storm by Sarah Sundin (4.5 / 5)
Shatterproof by Roland Smith (4 / 5)
Unleashed by David Rosenfelt (4.5 / 5)
How to Thrive as a Pastor’s Wife by Christine Hoover (5 / 5)
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)
Under Lock & Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian (3 / 5)
Made to Be She by Kristen Clark & Bethany Beal (5 / 5)
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (3 / 5)
United as One by Pittacus Lore (3 / 5)
Free by E.B. Roshan (5 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from January (excluding re-reads and non-fiction, which are difficult to compare) was Anchor in the Storm. I started 1 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.

December in Review

I read 13 books last month, which is right at what my monthly average ended up being for 2024. The number would have been much smaller, though, if I hadn’t had so much time to listen to audiobooks throughout December. Between Christmas (and Christmas prep) and a couple of longer/harder-to-read books, I got really slowed down in my normal reading time. Still, I hit my Goodreads goal of 150 books (which I raised from 140 in November when I realized how close I was) on the 24th.

Here are the books I read in December:

In Too Deep by Jude Watson (4 / 5)
Trust + Follow by Maddie Joy Fischer (4 / 5)
The Seaside Homecoming by Julie Klassen (4.5 / 5)
The Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore (4 / 5)
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (4 / 5)
Nancy’s Mysterious Letter by Carolyn Keene (2.5 / 5)
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (5 / 5)
Leader of the Pack by David Rosenfelt (5 / 5)
Rediscovering Christmas by AJ Sherrill (3 / 5)
The Viper’s Nest by Peter Lerangis (4 / 5)
Christmas in Bethel by Richard Paul Evans (2 / 5)
The Sign of the Twisted Candles by Carolyn Keene (2 / 5)
Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (5 / 5)

This list includes 4 ARCs and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from December was Book Scavenger. I started 1 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.

*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.

November in Review

I read 13 books last month, and I’m 10 books away from my Goodreads goal for the year of 150 books. I should definitely reach that during December.

Here are the books I read in November:

The Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore (5 / 5)
Dog Tags by David Rosenfelt (4 / 5)
The Black Circle by Patrick Carman (4.5 / 5)
What’s So Funny? by Tim Conway with Jane Scovell (5 / 5)
Mr. Lemoncello’s Fantabulous Finale by Chris Grabenstein (5 / 5)
Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery (4 / 5)
An Honorable Deception by Roseanna M. White (5 / 5)
World of Warcraft, v. 3 by Walter Simonson & Louise Simonson (4 / 5)
The Clue in the Diary by Carolyn Keene (4 / 5)
Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson (3 / 5)
Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie (4.5 / 5)
The Dead of Night by Peter Lerangis (4.5 / 5)
One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt (review pending)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from November was really hard to pick, so I’m going with a tie between Mr. Lemoncello’s Fantabulous Finale and An Honorable Deception, with an honorable mention for What’s So Funny? (which, being non-fiction, is difficult to compare to fiction). I started 1 series, continued 7 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.

October in Review

I read 15 books last month, my 2nd-highest count for the year, and almost exactly matching the page count in February, during which I also read 15 books. I didn’t really feel like I read more last month than the several months before it, but apparently I had a lot of time to listen to audiobooks, since they account for 7 of the 15.

Here are the books I read in October:

Nightfall by Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski (3.5 / 5)
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie (3 / 5)
The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore (5 / 5)
Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson (5 / 5)
The Seat Beside Me by Nancy Moser (5 / 5)
New Tricks by David Rosenfelt (4 / 5)
A King’s Ransom by Jude Watson (5 / 5)
Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery (5 / 5)
Clergy Couples in Crisis by Dean Merrill (5 / 5)
The Secret of Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene (4 / 5)
Unfixed by Amy L. Sauder (2.5 / 5)
The Blunder Years by Bill Myers & Robert West (5 / 5)
I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble (4 / 5)
Hold Back the Night by Axel Blackwell (4 / 5)
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie (5 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from October was The Fall of Five. I started 0 series, continued 7 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.