Posted on by Karissa

Books of 2019 (So Far)

Hello everyone! My Goodreads goal for 2019 is 40 books. I am a little behind schedule- moving states and new jobs can do that I guess- but here are the books I have read so far. They are listed in the order that I read them- not by how much I like them.

  1. Red Queen by Victoria Avegard
  2. Empire of Storms by SarahJ Maas
  3. Legendary by Stephanie Garber
  4. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas
  5. Catwoman by Sarah J Maas
  6. A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir
  7. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
  8. The Fork, The Witch, and The Worm by Christopher Paolini
  9. Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas
  10. Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
  11. Phasma by Delilah S Dawson
  12. The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J Maas
  13. Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
  14. Rebel Born by Amy A Bartol
  15. Before the Broken Star by Emily R King
  16. Eldest by Christopher Paolini
  17. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
  18. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
  19. The Wrath of Darth Maul by Ryder Windham
  20. Into the Hourglass by Emily R King
  21. Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
  22. Fledgling by Nicole Conway
  23. Avian by Nicole Conway
  24. Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Song of Achilles is by far my favorite book of the ones listed. The story was amazing, and it was a great retelling of the Trojan War. Granted, I am obsessed with all things mythology and ancient Greek, but I believe that anyone not obsessed would still enjoy the story.

Christopher Paolini’s newest book made me wish he would release more about the aftermath of the Inheritance saga. I definitely want more of Angela’s antics, and a little more into her history would be much appreciated as well. I also want to see more of how Murtagh is dealing with his new freedoms and the consequences of his role in the war. I just want more. Mr. Paolini, please.

My other top recommendations would be Spin the Dawn and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. They are two completely different books- one being a “help” book- but they will probably make my top 5 come the end of the year.

Spin the Dawn is a young adult novel, but it does not follow all of the typical tropes you may think of. There is no dystopia, no “chosen one,” but a girl trying to help her family. The book was described online as a Mulan-esque tale, and that is completely true. Elizabeth Lim does a fantastic job at telling a story, and I cannot wait to read the sequel!

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is all about choosing what you actually care about. There are things that are worth using your energy on- you just have to take the time to reflect to decide what they are. Mark Manson utilizes the perfect amount of humor and metaphors to get the message across. It is definitely worth the read, especially for my fellow millennials.

I have about 5 books that I am currently reading/ have in my to be read pile and another few books on hold on Libby. I’m excited to see what stories I get to experience next!

Posted on by Karissa

2018 Reading Roundup

So back in August I posted about the books I’ve read from January till then as a celebration of hitting my reading goal of 30 books. I’ve read a total of 60 books this year (thank you Goodreads for keeping tack), and here are the rest of them, in order that they were read.

  1. The King’s Curse Phillippa Gregory
  2. The Hammer of Thor Rick Riordian
  3. The Kingmaker’s Daughter Phillippa Gregory
  4. The Warrior Queen Emily R. King
  5. Outlander Diana Gabaldon(Love the show, but it was a slow read for me)
  6. Mistborn Brandon Sanderson (Not as good as his work with Wheel of Time, but still great)
  7. The Red Pyramid Rick Riordian
  8. Caraval Stephanie Garber (I loved this one. I’m on my library waitlist for the sequel)
  9. Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty
  10. The Throne of Fire Rick Riordian
  11. The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern (This one was weird, but I enjoyed it)
  12. Ready Player One Ernest Cline (Liked both the book and the movie despite all the differences)
  13. Star Wars Trilogy George Lucas
  14. A Court of Mist and Fury Sarah J. Maas
  15. Crazy Rich Asians Kevin Kwan (Loved it! Still need to see the movie)
  16. Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel A.W. Jantha
  17. Children of Blood and Bone Tomi Adeyemi (Totally counting down to the sequel. This one was one of my faves of the year)
  18. Whiskey in a Teacup Reese Witherspoon (I just love her)
  19. Crown of Midnight Sarah J. Maas
  20. A Court of Wings and Ruin Sarah J. Maas
  21. Circe Madeline Miller
  22. Furyborn Claire Legrand
  23. Girls of Paper and Fire Natasha Ngan (This one was really good. I think James Patterson is helping her? Anyway, totally recommend)
  24. An Ember in the Ashes Sabaa Tahir
  25. The Outsider Stephen King (I read this in 24 hours cause holy crap)
  26. Heir of Fire Sarah J. Maas
  27. Skyward Brandon Sanderson
  28. Queen of Shadows Sarah J. Maas
  29. The Well of Ascension Brandon Sanderson (This one took me a good while to read, mostly because library books were priority)
  30. Crimes of Grindelwald J.K. Rowling

The Throne of Glass series was probably my favorite of the year. I know I still have a few more to go, but I believe it is better than A Court of Thorns and Roses. My other favorite new series was listed on the other post- the last book comes out next year.

I can’t wait to see what 2019 brings book wise! My reading goal is 40 books (there is a lot planned for 2019, including buying a house), but hopefully I can beat it again like this year.

Posted on by Karissa

I Did A Thing

I reached my Goodreads goal of reading 30 books in 2018 with months to spare! It is all because I got a Kindle Paperwhite on Prime Day this year, and I figured out how to borrow e-books from the library. It has made reading so much easier (and cheaper).  I did not specify that these needed to be new to me books, but I am not including repeats like Harry Potter in my ranking of favorites.

I will probably update my goal with another 10 books, but here’s the 30 I read this year, in order that I read them:

  1. Kenobi– John Miller
  2. Welcome to Nightvale– Jeffrey Cranor (Favorite podcast as well. WtNV is amazing)
  3. Mostly Void, Partially Stars– Jeffrey Cranor
  4. A Glimmer of Hope– Steve McHugh
  5. The Sword of Summer– Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson with Norse gods. Love it.)
  6. Wall of Storms– Ken Liu (Slow beginning, but it got good eventually)
  7. Thrawn– Timothy Zhan (This guys is my favorite Star Wars author hands down)
  8. Lords of the Sith– Paul S. Kemp
  9. Bloodlines– Karen Traviss
  10. Choices of One– Timothy Zhan
  11. A Shadow of What was Lost– James Islington (Favorite new author and series discovery. The final book of the trilogy comes out next year, and I am so ready)
  12. Chamber of Secrets– J.K. Rowling
  13. Prisoner of Azkaban– J.K. Rowling
  14. An Echo of Things to Come– James Islington
  15. Amulet of Samarkand– Jonathan Stroud (This one was also a repeat, but I do love this series)
  16. Traitor Born– Amy Bartol (Sequel to a book I got from the free monthly Kindle book through Amazon Prime. Kind of Hunger Games-ish. I like the series so far.)
  17. Goblet of Fire- J.K Rowling
  18. Order of the Pheonix– J.K. Rowling
  19. Cousin’s War– Phillipa Gregory (This was actually three books in one)
  20. Throne of Glass– Sarah J Maas (Totally intrigued. Can’t wait for the next one to come from the library.)
  21. Half Blood Prince– J.K. Rowling
  22. Deathly Hallows– J.K. Rowling
  23. The Fire Queen– Emily R. King (Another series I started thanks to Amazon Prime Kindle book of the month thing. Also good.)
  24. The Rogue Queen– Emily R. King
  25. Maul: Lockdown– Joe Schreiber (I expected more from a Darth Maul book, but I still liked it.)
  26. A Court of Thorns and Roses– Sarah J Maas (Okay. So, this one cheats because there are Beauty and the Beast elements and I am weak.)
  27. The Last Tudor– Phillipa Gregory
  28. The White Princess– Phillipa Gregory
  29. Three Sisters, Three Queens– Phillipa Gregory
  30. Sharp Objects– Gillian Flynn (Have not watched the HBO show yet, but holy crap this book’s twists)

Out of the new to me books on my list, the ones by James Islington and Timothy Zhan are my favorite. I love the Phillipa Gregory books as well, but Tudor England is my favorite time period. I am also becoming a fan of Gillian Flynn and Sarah J Maas, so we’ll see where that goes later on.

Have any book recommendations? Let me know!