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What are you reading 2021
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Brittany
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Sep 15, 2021 06:04PM


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August was a terrible reading month for me, but here are the books I've read so far this month:
I love this series! I love books with ghosts and ghost hunting, and I just really love the characters in this series! This case in particular was super messed up, but I really enjoyed the book!
Stine books are very hit and miss... this one was a miss. Lol. The main character was just... ugh. I do love the 90s vibe of these books though.
This one was a sci-fi/horror set in space with a very interesting mystery. I was hoping for something different from it, but I did end up enjoying it. It wasn't terribly scary for me, but I liked being on this abandoned space ship that may or may not have been haunted.
was another sci-fi/horror, but this one deals with an outbreak and space zombies? Idk. Lol. I felt very disconnected from the characters, but the book gave me what I wanted: space with a splash of horror. Plus the action was pretty good. However, I'm not interested enough in this to continue the series... lord knows I have about a million and a half other series I need to finish. Lol.
And today I started
! The audiobook came out last year, but I'm not too big into audiobooks so I've been waiting very impatiently for this book to come out in the other formats. Lol. I just got an ARC of it yesterday and I started it immediately! I'm about 1/3 of the way in, and I am of course enjoying it, it being a Jennifer Estep book and all. Lol. It's a very interesting world and the characters have cool superpowers.




And today I started



This is a great example of a book that has an interesting concept that, in my opinion, is ruined by horrible execution. It's the classic trope of finding something that is ancient and yet light years more technologically advanced than anything we currently have. It's an idea trope that has a lot of interesting potential. The biggest problem I had with this book right out the gate was that the entire book was told through interview transcripts, diary entries, and newspaper clippings. Instead of feeling like I was in the front seat of the story it felt more like I was doing research for a paper months or years after the events of the story. It just creates this huge disconnect for me and it's hard for a book to recover from that. It also leads me down this path where I feel disconnected, I get bored, I start nitpicking things, I find more issues, I get more annoyed, I start nitpicking more things. For instance I didn't like how the passage of time wasn't a clear thing. One chapter would end and the next one would take place 9 months later but you wouldn't find that out until halfway through the chapter. Then there were story elements that felt forced. A good story, in my opinion, should flow smoothly and feel like it's something that would naturally happen. There were elements in this story that felt like they happened simply because the author needed to find a solution to a problem they created. I have no plans to continue the series at all and it would take some pretty serious convincing to get me to pick up the second book.

This book was alright...
I'm really not sure what else to say about this book honestly. I have no strong feelings one way or another. This was a book and I read it.

I like this series and the characters but I'm starting to run into the usual issue I have with gag manga. I'm reaching the point where I'm looking for something more from the series. The jokes are good and all but I want something a bit more. I plan to keep on reading but probably in smaller amounts.


I really enjoy this series and it's one of those hard things to explain. It's a slice of life about nerdy things, there is some real world realness to it, there are interesting characters, little hints of romance, and it's just this chill feel good read.

Hands down the best thing I read this week. I'm determined to finish this series this year and I gave myself that kick to pick up the next book. It felt like seeing some old friends again and that is what I needed this week. I was a bit worried that I would be lost story wise as it's been a few months since I read the last book but that worry was not warranted. I slid right back into the story pretty easily, with the exception of one character I just didn't remember, and had a great time reading it. I now have one book left in the series and this is the big one. I'm excited to see how this will all end.
As for what I'm reading next I really don't know. I feel like I'm sliding into a bit of a book funk and I just don't feel like reading at the moment. I will read something today though, I'm just not sure what.
That's sad to hear about sleepy princess! I've been enjoying them but I'm not that far yet.
I still haven't finished Kate. Its on my need to finish this year list too Gord. Which character didn't you remember?
Lili too bad it wasnt a good reading month for you. But yay for an Estep book
I still haven't finished Kate. Its on my need to finish this year list too Gord. Which character didn't you remember?
Lili too bad it wasnt a good reading month for you. But yay for an Estep book



Anyway, my next audiobook, which I started today as I only had 20 minutes of Witchshadow left is






I don't have much to say about this book. It was another Nancy Drew book. I enjoy them for what they are but they generally don't blow my socks off.

I really did not like this book at all. The basic premise of things is that a man reads about giant bones that were found out in Kentucky. He gets it into his head that these bones belong to giant beasts that still roam the land out west. He leaves his farm and daughter with his sister and sets out west to find the giant beasts. My initial gut reaction to the main character was that the man was an idiot but maybe I was judging him with modern eyes. I mean it's obvious the bones were those of dinosaurs. I was willing to put aside my judgement until other characters started calling the MC an idiot. At that point it was pretty much a sealed deal. Now we get to the story itself. Right out the gate it did this thing that put me off almost immediately. The first chapter was basically McDummy saying his goodbyes to his daughter and heading off into the sunset. The next chapter takes place before he left. This time skip happens a few times and when combined with the chapter style, one chapter is the father, one chapter is the daughter, one chapter is someone random, it felt like someone just mixed up the chapter order when they published the book. Almost like someone dropped the manuscript and just threw it back together as best they could. The other big issue I had with the book is the seemly random pedophilia that just seemed to be there because. Anyone who knows me knows that I can read some pretty dark and heavy stuff. The important thing with dark and heavy subject matter is to give it context. Give it a reason for this subject matter to exist in the book. For instance it's part of a case that a detective is solving. In this book the daughter was getting assaulted by two different men and there never felt like there was a reason for it. It didn't even feel like it was there for cheap shock value. It was there for some reason. It feels like the rest of the book, it exists for reasons that I don't understand. This book was one giant nothing burger. The man never accomplished his idiotic goals, the daughter did nothing of importance except getting assaulted, no one did anything. This book was only 160 pages and I swear it felt like I was reading a 1,000 book. I do not recommend this to anyone even for finishing a challenge. Not worth it all.





This was the high point of the week for me. It's a romantic comedy series and it was the perfect popcorn book for me. The basic premise is that Jun and Tomo have been friends since childhood. Tomo was always a tomboy and was raised in her fathers dojo making her an absolute beast when it comes to anything athletic. Jun assumed that she was a boy until they reunited after middle school when he is faced with fact that she is a girl and that he has feelings for her. He buries both of these nuggets of information as he just can't accept either. Tomo of course has feelings for him as well and the story is about them coming to terms with this info. These two idiots are lovable and the ending, which I won't spoil, was perfect in my opinion.
I'm currently reading


After that I think I'll dive into some schlock with












And I'm currently reading:




Elena awesome reading! I so need to read Dark Triumph still. I'm also so interested in that LITRPG. Glad it stays so good
Gord I'm very interested to see your thoughts on Secret Santa! It's been on my tbr list for a while! It seems like a fun read!
Elena I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed Shadowhunter Academy! I was not the biggest fan of Simon in the first two books of TMI, but by book 6 I loved him! I was very excited that he had his own book! My favorite story was the one where Magnus Alec go to the Academy (view spoiler)
Elena I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed Shadowhunter Academy! I was not the biggest fan of Simon in the first two books of TMI, but by book 6 I loved him! I was very excited that he had his own book! My favorite story was the one where Magnus Alec go to the Academy (view spoiler)
I don't know what's going on with me lately, but all I've been reading is sci-fi. I haven't read this much sci-fi in YEARS! I've basically read as much as I have mystery/thrillers, which is saying something. Lol.
I really enjoyed the start of this series! I loved the concept and the world was very interesting!
I was very excited to read this one, but boy did it disappoint. I mean, look at that cover! I was expecting scares! But there were none. What there was plenty of was flowery writing. In fact, I learned what the term "purple prose" means because of this book ? There was so much of it that the ¡°scary¡± parts with the ghosts got lost amid all the similes and metaphors and adjectives. It was... annoying.
Back to sci-fi! This one was a murder mystery set in space! The murder mystery part got a little lost in the middle while the MC went and did other things, but it was still really fun! I really enjoyed it and the fun banter between the characters.
I started
last week and I'm about 50 pages in. I really love the premise and I am curious to see what will happen when Amy is woken up, but the Elder POV... I just don't care. The Elder/Eldest ruling system thing... I don't care for it. But I'm gonna stick with it for now because I am genuinely intrigued.
And then today I started
which I am excited for! Can't wait for more technological mayhem! ?
And I just bought
so I will be starting that tomorrow as well.
If you guys have any sci-fi recommendations (especially if they're set in space... and especially if they have a bit of horror) let me know!




I started

And then today I started

And I just bought

If you guys have any sci-fi recommendations (especially if they're set in space... and especially if they have a bit of horror) let me know!

Oh.... oh no... this does not sound good at all. I'm waiting for my copy of the library and I reserved my copy on cover alone.

@Brittany give it a try (actually true for both, the LitRPG series - pretty unique one and as a gamer in the past I loved it, also the Dark Triumph was maybe even better than the 1st book).
@Lili totally agree!!! This moment was one of the best and so cute! :) and yay for sci-fi! The Vacuum sounds very interesting.
? If you do end up reading it Gord, I hope you enjoy it more than I did. Lol.
Elena The Vacuum of Space was fun!
Elena The Vacuum of Space was fun!

Signed up for a challenge game in a facebook group I am in for October so hoping that helps motivate me to get back to reading.. Started a new physical



Signed up for a challenge game in a facebook group I am in fo..."
Let me know how you enjoy Once Upon A Broken Heart Lili, my copy is meant to be arriving today.


I started this one at the peak of my book funk and I really wasn't in the mood to read this. I basically started this because I wanted to finish this in September. It started as a solid 3 star, typical Redwall novel with all the Redwall tropes that you would expect. Adventure, different species of creatures, tons of talk about food, and the dreaded Mole speak. Out of all the quirky speech differences the author has created for various creatures it's Mole speak that I'm still just not the biggest fan of. I've kind of come to accept it as this annoying thing that is just there that I have to deal with but I do wish it was toned down a bit. I was reading through this and it was helping me shake my book funk but it was still holding the course in a solid 3 star book when we hit the third act. There was something about the third act that just felt different from any other Redwall novel I've read so far and I'll do my best to articulate that. This book is the first book in the chronological time line of this world. This is the catalyst for the character of Martin the Warrior, Redwall, the philosophy of Redwall, and by extension the characters that follow. The third act did the classic good beats evil like the other books in this series but it just felt different. In this book that victory had a price and that tragic price was what shaped everything to come. There was this real sense of tragedy and heaviness to the third act that seemed to be missing from the other books I've read in this series so far. That feeling also changed the framework for everything else we had read in the book. There was also the villain that felt different. So far the villains in this series have been cartoonishly evil to the point where you have to wonder how these characters even were able to function with their level of insanity. In this book the villain was, of course, evil for evils sake but there was certain level of intelligence behind him and what he did. This book was an interesting change of pace for this series and I'm interested to see what is next.

Oh man was I stoked for this book and that may have been its ultimate downfall. Maybe I had my expectations set to high for it. This book was supposed to be this dark Christmas horror comedy and I ultimately feel that it didn't really deliver on the horror or the comedy aspect of things. It started out super strong with Nazi gold and a nice 80's feel to things. Then the story kind of slowed down as the setting is established and characters are set up. It just never felt like it picked up again. When I think dark horror comedy I envision something like John Dies at the End, Evil Dead, Krampus, and stuff like that. I wanted horrible, violent deaths that make me go "eeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww" when it happens. I want comedy that makes me laugh even if I shouldn't be laughing at it. There are only three deaths in this book. One of them happens off page, one is someone choking, and then one is just underwhelming but at least there is a bit of blood. I know I'm dunking on the book hard right now and I should say that it's not a bad book. It is entertaining and I could see it being made into a movie. It just played it safe and didn't reach the levels I wanted it to.
Now for the comics and the manga

This was a short, single volume girls love manga with only five chapters. Basically the two girls meet by accident at the hospital one day where they discover that they have the same name, spelt the same way, and are born only one day apart. I fell that there is an interesting and sweet story here but the length of it was it's biggest shortcoming. The first chapter is the girls meeting, the second is their friendship growing, the third is girl A's problem and backstory, the fourth was girl B's problem and back story, the fifth was the resolution and epilogue. This was never going to be something the length of One Piece but I feel like the story could have been expanded a bit. Still an enjoyable read though.

I'm so glad that I started reading this series. I'm loving the stories that it tells and I really love the character designs. Especially the designs of Lady Mechanika herself. For this volume Lady Mechanika investigates the disappearance of several poor orphan kids. It's that nice blend of magic and steampunk.


This was an interesting little series that had an ending that left it open for more in the future. The story is basically about three friends who are witches. The first book involves someone breaking into their house and stealing some of their stuff. They then set off on a road trip of the East coast to get their stuff back and catch the guy who did it. The second book picks up shortly after the first one ends with another road trip across the south to find a witch that one of the MC's has established a connection with. The first one shows the three girls as tight friends and just had an interesting story. The second one just didn't land as well for me. The relationship between the girls felt different and I guess it is explained but it still didn't feel like it matched what was established in the first book.



Book five was a flashback to Aoba and Nene's final year in high school, book six was the ending of season 2 of the anime, and volume 7 was new material I haven't seen before. I'm still enjoying the chill vibe of the series and I can't wait to read more.
Currently I'm reading a Chinese web comic called Tamen de Gushi and I've also started




I'll have to read Once Upon a Broken Heart at some point. But I am waiting for now. Loved Caraval but was disappointed with the rest of the trilogy so wanting to see what level I should put my expectations.
Yay for all the sci-fi reading Lili. Its never been a fave genre of mine so I dont have much for recs but Ill think on it.
Nice on all that manga reading Gord. Now that I'm home I need to read all I have out from the library.... One of these days.
Yay for all the sci-fi reading Lili. Its never been a fave genre of mine so I dont have much for recs but Ill think on it.
Nice on all that manga reading Gord. Now that I'm home I need to read all I have out from the library.... One of these days.
I havent finished a book in days but I am close for two of them now. Should finish in the next day or so.

Thank you! Super early in the year for me to hit the 100 book mark.
Finished
was good, not as good as the rest of the world but still fun
Starting
next on audio
Finished

Starting


Finished:






Currently reading:





This book was not what I expected at all and yet I still ended up loving it. I've had this book on my TBR for a good long while now but never got around to reading it. With the synopsis of the book, the references to other material, etc I was fully expecting a rip roaring action filled adventure across the galaxy with a band of motley misfits and what I got was a slice of life story with those motley misfits. The story for this book was basically our crew traveling from point A to point B to complete a contract. Plot wise that was it for the story. No intergalactic intrigue, no dog fights in space, no shadowy conspiracies by fringe groups to overthrow the supreme leader, none of that. What we got was this seriously interesting dive into the various alien species and cultures in this world. This was some prime world building material here and I loved it. It wasn't just alien species that looked humanoid or had humanoid cultures either. There were efforts to create whole new species with their own language, genders, sexuality, appearances, etc. My only criticism towards the book came towards the end. For the most part this book just flew by for me but there were a couple of moments towards the end where instead of things picking up things felt like they dragged. Now this is the point where I would tell you how excited to read more in the series but I'm not. I took a look and the other three books in the series all appear to be stand alone books. I'm not sure I want three more books of this format. This felt like a book that laid out some amazing ground work for future adventures and that is what I want, adventures, not more groundwork.

I've decided to try going out for morning walks as of late to help with some back pain I've developed. I'm committed to going out three days a week and I decided to give audiobooks another crack. I've tried listening to them in the past while at home and just found that I couldn't pay attention to the books long enough. I started with a kids mystery series as I figured it would be an easy starting point and it was a good start. It definitely makes the walks interesting, it gives me something to focus on, and the time flies by. As for the book itself it was alright. It's a kids mystery/adventure story starring the Boxcar children. As for the narration of the book it was also alright. It was a single narrator doing a few different characters and some of the voices were alright. Some of the voices though were... how shall I put this... grating at best.
Now for the manga I read this week

I know I just used this word a lot in the book review above but this was alright. Like Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep from last week this was a single volume yuri manga. The story had the ground work for something interesting but due to the length of the story it just never felt like it was fully explored. The story itself was pretty typical, two girls become friends at school, start to develop feelings for each other, they explore the idea of dating another girl. This one here was pretty light on the romance in my opinion but it wasn't bad.



Now this was a sweet story that was pretty much the right length for me. The story itself was super sweet, we got to explore the characters and some of the side characters, but it never felt like it overstayed it's welcome. You have a young woman move out to the country after a bad breakup to get away from everything. She moves into a place called Seagull Villa and over time starts to develop feelings for the owner. For me this story was just sweet except for one character. Now this wasn't Dolores Umbridge levels of hate but oh boy did I really not like this character. This character is kind of important to the story so I'm slapping this behind a spoiler wall. Do not read as I'm really getting into the meat of the third book.
(view spoiler)



While waiting for some more yuri manga from the library and taking a small break from romance I decided to check this series out. I've had it recommended to me in the past and it kind of fell into my lap so I decided to give it a whirl. This is a unique feeling series. It's, of course, about a bartender, the customers he deals with, and facts about alcohol and cocktails. Unlike the other bartender series I read earlier this year this one has a much more somber and almost darker tone to it. It's feels more mature and older which makes sense as it is a seinen series (manga for adult males). I'm working on the fourth volume currently and I still feel very compelled to keep reading.
Currently I'm listening to


Currently reading
and it¡¯s tough going for me. It¡¯s held in such high regard but it¡¯s took me 12 days to get half way ?

Nice book reading Elena! Youll have to let us know if Beasts of the Frozen Sun stays that good throughout!
Gord yay for walks and all the manga reading. I keep forgetting to put any in my bag for work :( I have so many out that I need to read.
Kay that sucks that you are having such a hard time with it. Any reason in particular?
Gord yay for walks and all the manga reading. I keep forgetting to put any in my bag for work :( I have so many out that I need to read.
Kay that sucks that you are having such a hard time with it. Any reason in particular?
It¡¯s very character driven. I¡¯m very much a plot driven reader and it¡¯s just been hard for me to get into. I¡¯ve switched to the audiobook and I¡¯m enjoying it more now.

I finished
and now I am all caught up on Incryptid and I have to impatiently wait for the next book in 2022. Such an excellent series though!







Currently reading:


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