Reading Review: September 2021

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Total Loaned Books Read This Month: 0
Total Own Books Read This Month: 1
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 1

Total Loaned Books Read 2021: 6
Total Own Books Read 2021: 12
Overall Total Books Read 2021: 18

MY READ OF THE MONTH

The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I did only finish one book this month, but I can imagine this would have been my choice anyway. I really enjoyed this tale of Richard and his time at Hampden college. It was intriguing and mysterious and kept me turning the pages even though I didn’t want the end to come. Afterwards I couldn’t decide what to read next because I wasn’t quite ready to leave this book behind.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 12 books.   So far I’ve read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box
The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Beat the Backlist Bingo is making another appearance this year. I have no idea how many categories I’ll manage to complete but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

      

Standalone – The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

A book with illustrations – NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – There is an illustration of the Christmasland advert that first attracts Bing Partridge’s attention, and it also has Vic’s various bikes and Manx’s Wraith between paragraphs. I could also have used this for the ‘map’ prompt as there’s the United Inscapes of America map as well.

Kept you up late reading (definitely not a book you can easily put down) – The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

Genre you never/rarely read (there has to be at least one genre you don’t usually pick up) – Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box

Black and white – The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King

More than one author (a book written by at least 2 authors; not an anthology) – This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Caused a major book hangover (the book was so good that you just don’t think you can start a new one just yet) – The Secret History by Donna Tartt

From the 52 Prompts List…

You can find the complete prompts list here.

       

 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Standalone

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – A book with illustrations

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King – Kept you up late reading

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box – Genre you never/rarely read

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King – Author has a book releasing in 2021

The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King – Black and white

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Based on non-Greek/Roman mythology

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – It’s on a ship!

The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne – Book where the woods/forest are important

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone – More than one author

Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King – Purple cover

The Secret History by Donna Tartt – Caused a major book hangover

GOODREADS

I’ve read 18 books so far this year.

GOALS

• I read another of the books I already own, The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
• It also counted towards my Beat the Backlist challenge, and I’ve now read 12 books and completed another bingo category.
• I’m taking part in Readers Imbibing Peril (RIPXVI), which takes place throughout September and October.
• I’m continuing my monthly update posts to record my reading and any challenge progress I’ve made.

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So concludes September’s Reading Review. See you again next month.

Reading Review: August 2021

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

All My Darkest Impulses (House of Crows #1) by Lisa Unger

Fog Descending (House of Crows #2) by Lisa Unger

Circling the Drain (House of Crows #3) by Lisa Unger

Love The Way You Lie (House of Crows #4) by Lisa Unger

Total Loaned Books Read This Month: 4
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 4

Total Loaned Books Read 2021: 6
Total Own Books Read 2021: 11
Overall Total Books Read 2021: 17

MY READ OF THE MONTH

The whole House of Crows series was enjoyable. I love the way the mystery was set up in the very story, and it carried on throughout until the final revelations in the final volume.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 11 books.   So far I’ve read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box
The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King

Beat the Backlist Bingo is making another appearance this year. I have no idea how many categories I’ll manage to complete but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

      

Standalone – The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

A book with illustrations – NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – There is an illustration of the Christmasland advert that first attracts Bing Partridge’s attention, and it also has Vic’s various bikes and Manx’s Wraith between paragraphs. I could also have used this for the ‘map’ prompt as there’s the United Inscapes of America map as well.

Kept you up late reading (definitely not a book you can easily put down) – The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

Genre you never/rarely read (there has to be at least one genre you don’t usually pick up) – Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box

Black and white – The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King

More than one author (a book written by at least 2 authors; not an anthology) – This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

From the 52 Prompts List…

You can find the complete prompts list here.

       

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Standalone

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – A book with illustrations

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King – Kept you up late reading

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box – Genre you never/rarely read

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King – Author has a book releasing in 2021

The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King – Black and white

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Based on non-Greek/Roman mythology

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – It’s on a ship!

The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne – Book where the woods/forest are important

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone – More than one author

Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King – Purple cover

GOODREADS

I’ve read 17 books so far this year.

GOALS

• I caught up on reviews for some of my recent reads.
• I’m continuing my monthly update posts to record my reading and any challenge progress I’ve made.

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So concludes August’s Reading Review. See you again next month.

Reading Review: July 2021

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King

Total Library Books Read This Month: 0
Total Own Books Read This Month: 1
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 1

Total Library Books Read 2021: 2
Total Own Books Read 2021: 11
Overall Total Books Read 2021: 13

MY READ OF THE MONTH

Wizard and Glass is the only book I’ve managed to finish this month so it’s an easy choice. It was a great read anyway, taking us back into Roland’s past – his journey to Mejis with his friends Cuthbert and Alain, and his meeting with Susan Delgado. It was a massive read but one that I was sad to reach the end of.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 11 books.   So far I’ve read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box
The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King

Beat the Backlist Bingo is making another appearance this year. I have no idea how many categories I’ll manage to complete but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

      

Standalone – The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

A book with illustrations – NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – There is an illustration of the Christmasland advert that first attracts Bing Partridge’s attention, and it also has Vic’s various bikes and Manx’s Wraith between paragraphs. I could also have used this for the ‘map’ prompt as there’s the United Inscapes of America map as well.

Kept you up late reading (definitely not a book you can easily put down) – The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

Genre you never/rarely read (there has to be at least one genre you don’t usually pick up) – Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box

Black and white – The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King

More than one author (a book written by at least 2 authors; not an anthology) – This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

From the 52 Prompts List…

You can find the complete prompts list here.

       

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Standalone

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – A book with illustrations

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King – Kept you up late reading

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box – Genre you never/rarely read

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King – Author has a book releasing in 2021

The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King – Black and white

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Based on non-Greek/Roman mythology

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – It’s on a ship!

The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne – Book where the woods/forest are important

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone – More than one author

Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King – Purple cover

GOODREADS

I’ve read 13 books so far this year.

GOALS

• My Beat the Backlist challenge is ongoing. I’ve currently read 11 books.
• The one book I managed to finish this month was one I already owned.
• I caught up on a couple of reviews for books I’ve read recently.
• I’m continuing my monthly update posts to record my reading and any challenge progress I’ve made.

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So concludes July’s Reading Review. See you again next month.

Reading Review: June 2021

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Total Library Books Read This Month: 1
Total Own Books Read This Month: 3
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 4

Total Library Books Read 2021: 2
Total Own Books Read 2021: 10
Overall Total Books Read 2021: 12

MY READ OF THE MONTH

This is a very tough choice this month. Everything I’ve read has been really good and I would recommend any of the books mentioned above, but I think I must give a mention to The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton. I’d looked forward to reading it for a while having enjoyed his previous novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, and it was as good as I’d hoped it would be.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 10 books.   So far I’ve read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box
The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Beat the Backlist Bingo is making another appearance this year. I have no idea how many categories I’ll manage to complete but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

      

Standalone – The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

A book with illustrations – NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – There is an illustration of the Christmasland advert that first attracts Bing Partridge’s attention, and it also has Vic’s various bikes and Manx’s Wraith between paragraphs. I could also have used this for the ‘map’ prompt as there’s the United Inscapes of America map as well.

Kept you up late reading (definitely not a book you can easily put down) – The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

Genre you never/rarely read (there has to be at least one genre you don’t usually pick up) – Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box

Black and white – The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King

More than one author (a book written by at least 2 authors; not an anthology) – This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

From the 52 Prompts List…

You can find the complete prompts list here.

       

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Standalone

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – A book with illustrations

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King – Kept you up late reading

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box – Genre you never/rarely read

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King – Author has a book releasing in 2021

The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King – Black and white

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Based on non-Greek/Roman mythology

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – It’s on a ship!

The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne – Book where the woods/forest are important

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone – More than one author

GOODREADS

I’ve read 12 books so far this year.

GOALS

• My Beat the Backlist challenge is ongoing and I’ve had quite a good run this with it this month, adding 4 new books to my total, and at least three of my choices counted for categories in the 52 prompt version of the Bingo card.
• I’m still making an effort to read books I already own, and the majority of my reads so far this year have been owned books.
• I tried out a new-to-me genre with This Is How You Lose the Time War. I don’t tend to read much at all in the way of time travel or sci-fi, but I had a great time reading this and I’m on the look out for more like it.
• I read Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I enjoyed Mexican Gothic so much last year that I really wanted to check out at least one more of her books. And now I want to check out at least one more!
• I caught up on a couple of reviews for books I’ve read recently.
• I’m continuing my monthly update posts to record my reading and any challenge progress I’ve made.

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So concludes June’s Reading Review. See you again next month.

Reading Review: May 2021

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

Later by Stephen King

Total Library Books Read This Month: 1
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 1

Total Library Books Read 2021: 1
Total Own Books Read 2021: 7
Overall Total Books Read 2021: 8

MY READ OF THE MONTH

Later by Stephen King is the tale of a boy who can see the dead, and the troubles this skill leads him into through little fault of his own as he’s growing up.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 6 books.   So far I’ve read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box
The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King

Beat the Backlist Bingo is making another appearance this year. I have no idea how many categories I’ll manage to complete but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

      

Standalone – The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

A book with illustrations – NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – There is an illustration of the Christmasland advert that first attracts Bing Partridge’s attention, and it also has Vic’s various bikes and Manx’s Wraith between paragraphs. I could also have used this for the ‘map’ prompt as there’s the United Inscapes of America map as well.

Kept you up late reading (definitely not a book you can easily put down) – The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

Genre you never/rarely read (there has to be at least one genre you don’t usually pick up) – Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box

Black and white – The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King

From the 52 Prompts List…

You can find the complete prompts list here.

       

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Standalone

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – A book with illustrations

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King – Kept you up late reading

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box – Genre you never/rarely read

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King – Author has a book releasing in 2021

The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King – Black and white

GOODREADS

I’ve read 8 books so far this year.

GOALS

• My Beat the Backlist challenge is ongoing but I haven’t added anything this month as I had a change and read a recent release.
• I’m continuing my monthly update posts to record my reading and any challenge progress.

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So concludes May’s Reading Review. See you again next month.

Reading Review: April 2021

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King

Total Library Books Read This Month: 0
Total Own Books Read This Month: 1
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 1

Total Library Books Read 2021: 0
Total Own Books Read 2021: 7
Overall Total Books Read 2021: 7

MY READ OF THE MONTH

The Waste Lands by Stephen King. Not only was it the only book that I actually finished this month, it was a really exciting read, even second time around, and that ending means I doubt it will be very long before I’m starting the next book in the Tower series.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 6 books.   So far I’ve read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box
The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King

Beat the Backlist Bingo is making another appearance this year. I have no idea how many categories I’ll manage to complete but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

      

Standalone – The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

A book with illustrations – NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – There is an illustration of the Christmasland advert that first attracts Bing Partridge’s attention, and it also has Vic’s various bikes and Manx’s Wraith between paragraphs. I could also have used this for the ‘map’ prompt as there’s the United Inscapes of America map as well.

Kept you up late reading (definitely not a book you can easily put down) – The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

Genre you never/rarely read (there has to be at least one genre you don’t usually pick up) – Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box

Black and white – The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King

From the 52 Prompts List…

You can find the complete prompts list here.

       

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Standalone

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – A book with illustrations

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King – Kept you up late reading

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box – Genre you never/rarely read

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King – Author has a book releasing in 2021

The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King – Black and white

GOODREADS

I’ve read 7 books so far this year.

GOALS

• My Dark Tower reread is ongoing. Next up is Wizard and Glass.
• My Beat the Backlist challenge continues and this month’s read counts towards the challenge.
• I’m continuing my monthly update posts to record my reading and any challenge progress.

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So concludes April’s Reading Review. See you again next month.

Reading Review: March 2021

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King

Total Library Books Read This Month: 0
Total Own Books Read This Month: 2
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 2

Total Library Books Read 2021: 0
Total Own Books Read 2021: 6
Overall Total Books Read 2021: 6

MY READ OF THE MONTH

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. I couldn’t wait to get back to the world and the characters and continue with my series reread and I enjoyed reading this just as much the second time around. I don’t think it will be long before I start The Waste Lands.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 5 books.   So far I’ve read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box
The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King

Beat the Backlist Bingo is making another appearance this year. I have no idea how many categories I’ll manage to complete but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

Standalone – The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

A book with illustrations – NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – There is an illustration of the Christmasland advert that first attracts Bing Partridge’s attention, and it also has Vic’s various bikes and Manx’s Wraith between paragraphs. I could also have used this for the ‘map’ prompt as there’s the United Inscapes of America map as well.

Kept you up late reading (definitely not a book you can easily put down) – The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

Genre you never/rarely read (there has to be at least one genre you don’t usually pick up) – Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box

From the 52 Prompts List…

You can find the complete prompts list here.

       

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Standalone

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – A book with illustrations

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King – Kept you up late reading

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box – Genre you never/rarely read

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King – Author has a book releasing in 2021

GOODREADS

I’ve read 6 books so far this year.

GOALS

• My Dark Tower reread continues. I don’t think it will be long before I start The Waste Lands.
• Discovered a new-to-me author when I read the first book in the Joe Pickett series.
• My Beat the Backlist challenge continues and both of my reads this month have counted towards the challenge.
• I’m continuing my monthly update posts to record my reading and any challenge progress.

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So concludes March’s Reading Review. See you again next month.

Reading Review: February 2021

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

An Eye for an Eye (DI Kate Young #1) by Carol Wyer

Total Library Books Read This Month: 0
Total Own Books Read This Month: 3
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 3

Total Library Books Read 2021: 0
Total Own Books Read 2021: 4
Overall Total Books Read 2021: 4

MY READ OF THE MONTH

It’s very close, having to choose between NOS4A2 and The Gunslinger, but I’m going for NOS4A2. The conflict between Vic McQueen and Charlie Manx, the creepy Christmasland, the whole idea of the inscapes, all of this made NOS4A2 a great read.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 3 books.   So far I’ve read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

Beat the Backlist Bingo is making another appearance this year. I have no idea how many categories I’ll manage to complete but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

Standalone – The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

A book with illustrations – NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – There is an illustration of the Christmasland advert that first attracts Bing Partridge’s attention, and it also has Vic’s various bikes and Manx’s Wraith between paragraphs. I could also have used this for the ‘map’ prompt as there’s the United Inscapes of America map as well.

Kept you up late reading (definitely not a book you can easily put down) – The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

From the 52 Prompts List…

You can find the complete prompts list here.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Standalone

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – A book with illustrations

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King – Kept you up late reading

GOODREADS

I’ve read 4 books so far this year.

GOALS

• I’ve read a book that I’ve owned for absolutely ages in NOS4A2 by Joe Hill and can’t believe that I waited so long to finally pick it up.
• I went for a bit of mood reading in picking up the first of the Dark Tower books, The Gunslinger by Stephen King. I’ve talked for a while about wanting to reread this series and I was in the mood for something a little Weird West-ish so thought I’d begin.
• My Beat the Backlist challenge continues and both of the books mentioned above count towards this challenge and I‘ve managed to find bingo categories for them too.
• I’m continuing my monthly update posts to record my reading and any challenge progress.

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So concludes February’s Reading Review. See you again next month.

Reading Review: January 2021

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Total Library Books Read This Month: 0
Total Own Books Read This Month: 1
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 1

Total Library Books Read 2021: 0
Total Own Books Read 2021: 1
Overall Total Books Read 2021: 1

MY READ OF THE MONTH

I’ve only managed to finish one book this month so it’s probably no surprise that The Ten Thousand Doors of January is my Read of the Month. In truth it’s a book I enjoyed so much that there’s a fair chance it would have appeared here anyway. I can’t believe I waited so long to read it, and am very much looking forward to reading The Once and Future Witches by the same author.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 1 book.   So far I’ve read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Beat the Backlist Bingo is making another appearance this year. I have no idea how many categories I’ll manage to complete but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

Standalone – The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

From the 52 Prompts List…

You can find the complete prompts list here.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Standalone

GOODREADS

My target for 2020 is initially 20 books, which has become a regular starting point for this challenge. I always set a low target as my love for long books means it takes a while for me to complete a book, and I like to take my time with a good book.
This month I read 1 book, so a target of 20 feels about right.

GOALS

• My first read of the year was one of my own books, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and after that I picked up another book I already own, NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.
• Discovered another new-to-me author in Alix E. Harrow.
• I’ve (mostly) kept up with writing reviews.
• My Beat the Backlist challenge has begun. I’ve read 1 book so far and found a category in the Beat the Backlist Bingo for it too.
• I’m continuing my monthly update posts to record my reading and any challenge progress.

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So concludes January’s Reading Review. See you again next month.

Beat The Backlist 2021

Overview

A new year, a new TBR pile, and a new set of readers tackling their backlist!

Welcome to Beat the Backlist (the 2021 edition)!
The Beat the Backlist reading challenge is designed to help you tackle all the books you keep meaning to read and still haven’t. Head over to Novelknight for full details.

Guidelines

The guidelines are simple:

The book must be published in the previous year or earlier (for the 2021 challenge, anything published in 2020 or earlier counts).

You have to start and finish the book in 2021.

And that’s it!

Any format, any genre.

Re-reads count, and you don’t have to own the book.

It’s open for the entire year so whenever you feel like jumping in, you can!

BEAT THE BACKLIST BINGO

It’s back! I enjoyed Beat the Backlist Reading Bingo last year, and for 2021 Bingo is back, with a card packed full of reading prompts. This year, there are two bingo cards available and you can find both over at Novelknight.

It’s an additional element to the challenge and finding books to meet each category is fun. I’ll mainly be using the 24-prompt card, but some of the prompts on the 52-prompt list are just irresistible, so this year I’ll be adding that list to my challenge post as well. There’s no way I’ll reach the target, I didn’t read that many books in total last year, but I want to add it for reference, just to see how many prompts I can complete. My main focus will still be the 24-prompt card.

Potential Reads

2021 marks my fifth time participating in Beat the Backlist. As I did last year, I’ll set an initial target of 10 books to read, but hopefully will be able to manage more. My TBR pile is HUGE so there’s no shortage of books to choose from! Here is just a short selection of potential reads for this challenge…

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
Stoker’s Wilde West by Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
The Book of Koli by M. R. Carey
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

There are so many more books I could have mentioned above, so I look forward to seeing how many books I manage to read for Beat the Backlist.

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Monthly Progress

January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

February

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King

March

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King

April

The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King

May

No progress

June

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

July

Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King

August

No progress

September

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Beat The Backlist Bingo Progress

This year Bingo is back with a great collection of prompts.  While my main focus is the 24-prompt card I may choose a few from the 52-prompt list as well.  Here is a collection of covers that fulfill a prompt on either of the lists featured above:

     

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – Standalone

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – A book with illustrations

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King – Kept you up late reading

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C. J. Box – Genre you never/rarely read

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King – Author has a book releasing in 2021

The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower #3) by Stephen King – Black and white

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Based on non-Greek/Roman mythology

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – It’s on a ship!

The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne – Book where the woods/forest are important

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone – More than one author

Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King – Purple cover

The Secret History by Donna Tartt – Caused a major book hangover