Tag: february wrap up

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Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2022

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  • Servant Mage by Kate Elliott (★★★☆☆)
  • Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes (★★★☆☆)

MONTHLY TOTAL: 2
YEARLY SO FAR: 7

Two!! I read only two books this month, and one of them was a novella! In my defense, for most of February I was in Egypt, hanging out with family and generally vacationing, and I’ve never been very good at reading whilst on vacation. I also spent a while trying to get through OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA but ended up DNF’ing it nearly halfway through because I was bored.

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Wrap-Up: February 2021

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  • When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole (★★★★☆)
  • Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (★★★★★)
  • The Unbroken by C.L. Clark (★★★★☆)
  • A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown (★★★★★)
  • Passing by Nella Larsen (★★★★☆)
  • The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (★★★★★)
  • Lakewood by Megan Giddings (★★☆☆☆)
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (★★★★★)
  • Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt’s Roaring 20s by Raphael Cormack (★★★★★)

MONTHLY TOTAL: 9
YEARLY SO FAR: 15

I managed to do very well with my Black History Month TBR; I read 6/10 of the books I wanted to, and then I swapped out Honey Girl for Lakewood, because I’m gonna buddy read Honey Girl with a friend later in March. I really enjoyed the majority of what I read, and I think I even found some favorites with The Vanishing Half, Pride and Prejudice, and Midnight in Cairo!

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Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2020

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  • Resenting the Hero by Moira J Moore (★★★★★)
  • Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter (★★★★☆)
  • You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce (★★★★★)
  • A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum (★★☆☆☆)
  • Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody (★★★★☆)
  • Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams (★★★★☆)
  • The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins (★★★★☆)
  • The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood (★★★★☆)
  • Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender (★★★★☆)
  • Real Life by Brandon Taylor (★★☆☆☆)
  • The Deep by Rivers Solomon (★★★☆☆)

MONTHLY TOTAL: 11
YEARLY SO FAR: 23

I’m still on a roll in terms of quantity of books read! Standouts for this month include You Let Me In (a very creepy supernatural/psychological thriller that might end up being on my favorites of the year list), Resenting the Hero (an obscure but very funny and very short little fantasy book), and The Confessions of Frannie Langton (a harrowing historical fiction about a former slave woman accused of murder). Very disappointed by A Woman Is No Man, which is just badly-written and lacking nuance when it comes to Arab representation. Also Real Life, which is just not for me, but not necessarily a bad book; I just thought it was boring and overly pretentious. Continue reading “Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2020” →

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Wrap-Up: February 2019

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  • The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden (★★★★★)
  • The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden (★★★★★)
  • Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso by Kali Nicole Gross
  • Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor (★★★★☆)
  • White Fragility by Robin Di Angelo (★★★☆☆)
  • Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge (★★★★☆)
  • A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne (★★★★☆)
  • How Long ’til Black Future Month by N.K. Jemisin (★★★★☆)

MONTHLY TOTAL: 8
YEARLY SO FAR: 16

I accomplished two things this month that I’m pleased about:

I finished TWO series that I’ve been meaning to finish for a very long time: the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy and the Winternight trilogy. Enjoyed both very, very much, and am very glad to have finished them both.

I actually read 4/5 books out of my Black History Month TBR! I didn’t get to Ijeoma Uluo’s book, but perhaps next year…

I also finally read the latest John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky, which I’ve been meaning to read since the day it came out and it was absolutely delightful, a wild ride from start to finish.

I’ve also totally dropped the ball with posting reviews to this blog, for some reason. I have no idea why. I’m still writing reviews and posting them on Goodreads, but I’ve just been too lazy to cross-post here. Eh.

I am currently reading The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso, getting started on #FemmeFanTale a bit early! So far I’m enjoying it very much. Looking forward to March being fantasy month.

Writing Update:

After spending a couple of months bouncing around between seven different ideas, I’ve finally settled into one, which is such a freaking relief. I’m referring to it as my Throne of Glass pastiche, since it’s inspired by Throne of Glass (I know, I know), mainly in the sense that it’s about an assassin. But that’s all the similarities the books share, I swear! It’s also adult fantasy, not YA, so there’s that. I’m about 10K words into it, but I have little to no outline, which is unusual for me. Even my worldbuilding is basic at best. But I’m just writing and hoping I’ll stumble my way onto something.

TV Update: 

I binged that Netflix show, Dating Around, and it was…fine? I couldn’t look away, but I also really didn’t like it and it made me so glad that I don’t date. Still working on season 3 of Salem, but it’s stressing me out, so I’m going slow. Then I watched all of Derry Girls (which isn’t saying much, as it’s only six episodes), which is a freaking hilarious sitcom set in 90s Northern Ireland. I’m also catching up on season 3 of One Day at a Time, another sitcom.

I also watched some random episodes of Escape to the Country after a coworker recommended it to me – apparently it’s about Brits who are moving to the British countryside and go look at houses there??? I’m not kidding – some episodes had me on the verge of tears because the views are so fucking gorgeous. I just. Why do I continue to suffer in gross NYC when places like this exist?

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Wrap-Up: February

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stalking jack the ripper
ace of shades
girls burn brighter
freshwater
nevernight
13088266

  • Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco (★★☆☆☆)
  • Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody (★★★★☆)
  • Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (★★★★★)
  • Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (★★★★★)
  • Policing Egyptian Women by Liat Kozma (★★★★★)
  • Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao (★★★☆☆)

MONTHLY TOTAL: 6
YEARLY SO FAR: 14

I kind of challenged myself to read six books this month and ended up finishing off two books in the last two days of February, so huzzah! I think this is pretty cool considering I was quite sick for most of February and didn’t really up to doing anything except sitting in bed and staring at the ceiling, haha.

I finally finished Policing Egyptian Women which was incredible but it took me a long time to read because I was taking pretty detailed notes as I read through it.  I started Nevernight at the end of January but it took me like a month to get through the first 100 pages, but then after that I read the whole thing in like four days. Overall a decently solid reading month, with a few duds, but nothing so terrible it made me want to tear my hair out.

I am currently reading Things a Bright Girl Can Do because Chelsea gave it a fantastic review, and because I am currently writing a book that revolves around suffrage, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to get a sense of how another writer might structure a book like that! I started Hunger by Roxane Gay yesterday and am nearly finished with it! It’s a punch in the gut, but very readable and compelling. I don’t think I’ve ever read a memoir or a series of personal essays before, but it goes by really quickly and as a genre I think it’s a good palate cleanser between speculative books.

Next I am planning on starting a buddy read of Madeline Miller’s Circe with Rachel, and Chelsea and I have been planning to buddy read Jane Eyre literally since the start of the year, so maybe we can get to it this month? I don’t know. No pressure, Chelsea.  Also, I’ve had Red Sister out from the library for a while, so I need to get to that before it has to go back. Oh, and I just requested The Haunting of Maddy Clare, so I have to go pick that up from the library and start on it too!

Finally, a bit of shameless self-promotion here: my short story, Your Damnation Will Be Infinite, was published on The Dark Magazine today! Check it out if you’re interested in stories about murder and Lovecraftian horror in Cairo!