#reading wrap up 2024

[literarydesire]

I'm planning on doing a reading wrap-up at the end of every month of 2024 with reviews of each book. Please comment/reblog/send an ask with book recommendations for the new year!

[mostlyghostie]

This year I read 53 novels in all.

(My personal rules are not to count re-reads within the same year and not to count comics or picture books- as I have a young child this would massively skew my numbers)

I failed hugely on clearing my tbr shelf, only reading 9 of them and ending up buying 44 other books rather than just focusing on the ones I already had, but this is a consequence of living somewhere with a wealth of amazing secondhand bookshops, so I’m not too upset about it. In resolving to definitely clear the shelf this year, I’ve made the unfortunate discovery that there are exactly 53 books on the unread shelf now, so if I was to clear it this year I would probably not be able to buy anything new.

Anyway, I’ll have a go, and will take suggestions as to what to read first, any thoughts? (Not pictured- a handful on new hardbacks)

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

JOMP BPC - January 31st - Read in January

I had sort of an underwhelming reading month, despite reading a lot of books that were quite good. I just didn't really feel strongly about any of them - but hopefully February will be better 💕

[godzilla-reads]

Happy Last 🐸 Day of February 🥳

This month I read 17 books, bringing my yearly total to 31 books so far! My Top 3 Books were hard to choose because I had so many 5-star reads this month, but I did indeed choose three which are starred below in the official list:

⭐️ Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American Land by N. Scott Momaday

🎨 The Art of Faery by David Riché

🧧 Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham

🧡 Blood Orange by Yaffa As

🔭 Saga Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

🍄 The Mushroom Garden by Adam Oehlers

⭐️ Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

🍃 Leaf Litter by Jarod K. Anderson

🏔️ Think Like a Mountain by Aldo Leopold

⭐️ What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

🌏 All Art is Ecological by Timothy Morton

🎲 The Last Session Vol. 1: Roll for Initiative by Jasmine Walls, Dozerdraws, and Micha Myers

🧚 The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley

🐸 Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

💤 The Gargoyle by Garry Kilworth and Dan Williams

☀️ Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest by Phoebe Wahl

💟 The Death of Sitting Bear: New and Selected Poems by N. Scott Momaday

[theinquisitxor]

January 2024 Reading Wrap

First wrap up of the new year! I read 8 books this month, and I'd say it was a strong reading month overall. I read some new releases, caught up or finished series, and read some good stuff! I read 6 fantasy books, 1 nonfiction, and 1 regular fiction. 6 books I read physical copies, and 2 audiobooks.

1.A Winter's Promise (Mirror Visitor Quartet 1) by Christelle Dabos. 3/5 stars. This is a book I've been wanting to read since before it was translated into English. This book didn't quite live up to the expectations I had of it, but I still overall enjoyed it. I plan to continue the series, possibly quarterly. Young adult fantasy.

2. A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft. 4.5/5 stars. Another great Allison Saft book, and this one is possibly my favorite so far. This is exactly my type of fantasy romance and I was very invested in reading this. It's about a young magical seamstress who is commissioned to make the royal wedding clothes for the kingdom's prince. Young adult fantasy.

3.Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard. 3/5 stars. This was a fun read, but not the most exciting or great as it had the potential to be. The story has a fun cast of characters, and enjoyable world, but not a whole lot happened in this book. I can def see Aveyard's LOTR inspirations in this. I plan on continuing this series soon.

4.The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake. 2/5 stars. This was a disappointing end to a series and was very lackluster and fell apart at the end. Disappointing because of how much I loved book 2. There were some redeeming moments, but much of this book felt unnecessary or frustrating. Adult fantasy.

5.Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. 5/5 stars. This is a collection of essays by the author about the world around us, life, nature, and the way we interact with the world. Absolutely my new favorite thing and much of Kimmerer's teachings in the book resonate with me very deeply. Read on audio- which I highly recommend. Nature/essays.

6.Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde 2) by Heather Fawcett. 5/5 stars. This was just as good as book 1, and I loved the new adventure and learning more about fairies. Emily and Wendall are my favorite, and I can't wait to see how this series concludes.

7.Beartown (Beartown 1) by Fredrik Backman 4.5/5 stars. I read this book in less than 24 hours and it emotionally abused me throughout. I'm late to the game in regards to this book (no pun intended) but I'm glad I finally read it. Backman never disappoints, and I plan to continue the series soon. Fiction.

8. Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Wayward Children 9) by Seanan McGuire. 4/5 stars. This felt like the continuation of Antsy's story from book 8, but with some of our main cast of characters on a new quest. Very enjoyable and another solid installment in the series. Is the last time we see the "main cast?". Read on audio. Fantasy.

That's it for January! I am currently reading my TBR Pick of the Month, The Throne of the Five Winds, but I am only still in the first half of the book, so I will have to finish it up for Feb. I also started a new nonfiction audiobook, but am still in the first half of that as well.

February TBR:

finish The Throne of the Five Winds by SC Emmett

Crescent City 3

Nonfiction Audiobook (finish)

Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

What Feasts at Night by T Kingfisher

TBR Pick of the month

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman (?)

[slaughter-books]

Day 31: JOMPBPC: Read In January

My wonderful January, 2024 reading wrap-up!

💛💚💙

[ninja-muse]

March was a productive month, and not just because I read a good number of books. I also started writing again after a bit of a slump, and I managed to unhaul 37 books from my home library, though some of them have not actually left the house yet. The used bookstore I went to didn't take everything so I have to decide which one I'm hitting next. Or if I'm dumping the bulk on a thrift store because let's be honest, most used bookstores aren't going to want what's left either.

Can you tell I got rid of that many? Only if you saw the state of things before. My shelves are neat and tidy with no books wedged on top of other books to make things fit.

And I was so, so close to ending the month without buying more books! I really thought I was going to manage it! And then, well, I mentioned the used bookstore, right? I've been meaning to read Delaney but few bookstores stock him, and Lincoln's Dreams is one of the only Connie Willis novels I don't own. (That shop also had stickers, and a cute bookmark I can't show you because whiting out the identifying features would ruin the effect.) Under the Smokestrewn Sky was a rescue, of sorts. Why return it to the publisher when you could just buy it, right?

Anyway, in terms of books read, there were some really good ones! And only one that was not so great. I think I'm done reading and collecting Rat Queens and might need to include those in the next unhaul. And don't get me wrong about the Evie Dunmore. It is a Good Historical Romance Novel. There's just something about it that didn't work for me.

Click through to see everything I read this month, in the rough order of how glad I was to have read them.

I Love Russia - Elena Kostyuchenko, translated by Bela Shayevich and Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse

Portraits and memories of the unsung Russia—the poor, the broken, the marginalized.

10/10

🏳️‍🌈 author

warnings: so many, including but not limited to misogyny, homophobia, genocide, violence, sexual violence, drugs and alcohol, abuse, child death, suicide

reading copy

True North - Andrew J. Graff

The Brechts move to Michigan to restart a rafting business. They hope it’ll save their family, but it might do the opposite.

7.5/10

Menominee secondary character

library book

Sociopath - Patric Gagne

As a child, Patric knew something about her was off and kept countering a lack of feeling with dark acts. As a young woman, she learns the definition of “sociopath” and it changes everything. Out in April.

8/10

neurodivergent author

To a Darker Shore - Leanne Schwartz

When the invention that should have guaranteed Alesta's future fails, her best friend takes the fall and is sacrificed to the demon besieging their kingdom. To rescue him, Alesta must descend into hell, where she learns truths about her society—and her gods. Out in April.

8/10

fat protagonist, autistic main character, major autistic secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters, autistic author

warning: classism, strict religion, autism-related ableism

reading copy

The Temple of Fortuna - Elodie Harper

Amara’s living as a courtesan in Rome but misses her lover and daughter in Pompeii. When she returns to the city, her needs and desires are sent into turmoil—and Vesuvius has started to rumble.

8/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic), Ethiopian secondary characters

warning: misogynist society, sexual violence, slave society

Funny Story - Emily Henry

What do you do when your partners dump you for each other? Move in together, of course! Out in April.

7.5/10

Iranian-American secondary character, Black secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic)

warning: toxic relationships, mainly in backstory

reading copy

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop - Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan

Tired of fulling expectations, Yeongju opens a bookshop. She’s not the only one to find happiness there.

7.5/10

Korean cast, Korean author

library ebook

Aftermarket Afterlife - Seanan McGuire

The Covenant has started actively pursuing the Prices and their allies, and all Mary wants to do is protect her family.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (lesbian, gay, bi man), Korean-American secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: canon-typical violence, bigots

library ebook

Knife Skills for Beginners - Orlando Murrin

Paul Delamare is filling in for a friend at a cooking school when a body is found on the premises.

6.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (gay), Black British secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (sapphic)

reading copy

Let Them Tremble - Wolf Epley

The revolution is brewing and both the workers and the government refuse bend. Throw in a destroyed print shop, ghosts, and malfunctioning Shroud devices, and you know things won’t end well.

7/10

major disabled character (partial blindness, limp, hand disfigurement), cast largely of non-racialized colour

won/digital reading copy

The Gentleman’s Gambit - Evie Dunmore

Catriona needs to avoid distractions to write her book but is pressed to help her father’s new colleague around Oxford. Elias needs her help if he ever hopes to smuggle antiquities out of the Ashmolean.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (bi woman), Lebanese love interest, Lebanese secondary character

warning: colonial/orientalist characters

library book

Rat Queens, Vol. 5 - Kurtis J. Wiebe with Owen Gieni (illustrator)

Palisade’s problems continue, including hallucinations, a hipster bar, and a sinister wizard.

6/10

major Black character, major 🏳️‍🌈 character (lesbian), 🇨🇦

off my TBR shelves

Children’s Books

Penelope Rex and the Problem with Pets - Ryan Higgins

Mittens hogs the bed, eats from the trash, and causes all kinds of trouble—and Penelope didn’t even want them!

Currently reading

I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons - Peter S. Beagle

Robert doesn’t want to be the country’s dragon exterminator on the best of days, but then Princess Cerise meets Prince Reginald. Out in May.

reading copy

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin

A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts.

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

Victorian detective stories

disabled POV character (limb injury), occasional Indian secondary characters

warning: racism, colonialism

Monthly total: 12 Yearly total: 32 Queer books: 4 Authors of colour: 1 Books by women: 8 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 1 Classics: 0 Off the TBR shelves: 1 Books hauled: 3 ARCs acquired: 5 ARCs unhauled: 7 DNFs: 0

January February

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

February Wrap-Up

House of Flame and Shadow (Sarah J. Maas) ★★★★

The Heiress (Rachel Hawkins) (audio) ★★★★

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands (Heather Fawcett) ★★★★

The Invocations (Krystal Sutherland) ★★★★★

One of Us is Dead (Jeneva Rose) (audio) ★★★1/2

Faebound (Saara El-Arifi) ★★

Flawless (Elsie Silver) ★★★★

The Fortune Seller (Rachel Kapelke-Dale) (audio) ★★★★1/2

Her Little Flowers (Shannon Morgan) ★★★★1/2

Let's be friends over on Goodreads (link)! I'd love to see what you're all reading.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Perception Check

NA portal fantasy about a young woman whose friend was abducted by demons in front of her when they were kids - and now as an adult she’s convinced her friend is in the Mages tabletop RPG lorebook, as if she was transported into that world

when demons and the Mages world appear in front of her, she and her friends track down the creator of the game and start a quest in the fantasy world to get her friend back

mental health & trauma, queer cast, start of a series

[jasper-book-stash]

March 2024 Reading Wrap Up

I got bronchitis and my period at the same time in March, and then spilled tea on my computer, so March was a very stressful time for me. Regardless, I managed to read 10 books! And honestly, overall, this is one of the better months - the lowest I've ranked a book is 6/10, which is damn good considering the absolute bullshit I usually read.

Religious Text

None applicable.

1/10 - Why Did They Publish This?

None applicable.

2/10 - Trash

None applicable.

3/10 - Meh

None applicable.

4 to 6/10 - Mid-Tier

Tomb Sweeping | Alexandra Chang

I read this book while sick. And boy howdy, did that make it a weird experience. I get what it was going for, but it really wasn't my vibe. It just felt like everything was...unfinished. Which was the point, I suppose, but it was still annoying.

7 to 8/10 - Good With Caveats

What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality | Daniel A Helminiak

This is a very short book compared to my usual reads, topping at 152 pages. And I appreciate a book that gets straight to the point and analyzes the historical context around various works, particularly religious works. Good job. My only complaint is some editing issues.

Born to Love, Cursed to Feel | Samantha King

This was a poetry collection and was the only other book I read while sick, and boy howdy did I have a time of it. I spent most of the reading just...putting post-it notes in and nodding along to the lines. It was a surprisingly good book, considering I found it in the back alley version of a book store.

Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South | Aaron Oberon

Look. This is not a 101 book. It's not a 102 book. It's not even a 201 book. It simply is. And as much as I enjoyed it and enjoyed reading it, the fact that I spent most of my reading time fixing the editing means that I cannot, in good faith, put this any higher than an 8 out of 10. Dear Aaron Oberon, if you ever read this, PLEASE give me access to the original file so I can fix your punctuation and spelling mistakes. Sincerely, a fellow Southerner.

9/10 - Very Very Good

Snow White with the Red Hair, volumes 21-23 | Sorata Akiduki

I am still so fucking feral over this series. I love them so fucking much. I want them all to be happy but I also like seeing their shenanigans. Unfortunately, though we're at 26 published volumes, we've reached the end of the ones in Missouri Evergreen that I may access. I'll either have to wait and hope that someone gets them, or I'll have to bite the bullet and buy them myself.

Not Pounded By Anything: Six Platonic Tales Of Non-Sexual Encounters | Chuck Tingle

This is my first expedition into the erotic Tingleverse after reading some pieces of the horror Tingleverse in Straight and Camp Damascus. And I really, really like this book. It's 77 pages and is such an easy read. Godspeed, you glorious bastard.

10/10 - Unironically Recommend To Everyone

Well, everyone who's into the genre these fall under, at least.

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, tenth edition | Janet Burroway

I found this in the free section of a bookstore in the middle of nowhere, and let me tell you, it is now marked up one side and down the other with highlighter, because I needed it. There are so many good parts of this book that it's genuinely one I would recommend to people who are trying to figure out why their writing feels flat.

Sacred Gender: Create Trans and Nonbinary Spiritual Connections | Ariana Serpentine

First, I want to congratulate the author on what is possibly the coolest name ever.

Second, if you're an occultist, polytheist, witch, magic practitioner, or in any other way affiliated with things beyond or within mortal ken...get this book. It's making me rethink a lot of my own experiences with my craft and my religion, but in a good way.

[mildoctober]

FEBRUARY 2024

Watched:

The world is a rose | on rose symbolism

Riding Japan’s Fastest Moving Train

The First Minutes The Dinosaurs Went Extinct

Pas de Quatre Brooklyn Ballet

Read:

Standing on the shoulders of complex female characters

How to rewild yourself

For Jung, architecture was a tool to represent the psyche

Where the Little Helicopter on Mars Fits in the History of Aviation

Letters to a young poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

Fairytale scene’s nestle between the covers of Isobelle Ouzman’s Altered Books

Listened to:

Nick Cave - Loss, Yearning, Transcendence

Loving and Leaving

How to reclaim your artistic brain

[literarydesire]

Book suggestions :

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I'll give you the sun by Jandy Nelson

Book lovers by Emily Henry

Eleanor and Park (that one might make U cry but it's beautiful) also by Rainbow Rowell

A good girls guide to murder series!! By Holly Jackson

The secret history by Donna Tartt

The starless sea by Erin Morgenstern

(no pressure I just included more than 1 option so u can have a bit of choice)

Thank you so much! I’ve read a couple of those already and really enjoyed them, but The Starless Sea and I’ll give you the sun are definitely going on my tbr❤️

[the---hermit]

January 2024 wrap up

I would like to be a bit more consisten with posting monthly lists of the books I read. This month I only finished four books, which is a low number for my usual reading habits, but I am also juggling a lot of books at the same time right now, plus studying for exams so it feels natural to have read this much. Two books on this list are also reads I had to do for my exams so there's a theme. My other main read of the month has been A Day Of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon which I am still currently reading since I am taking my slow slow time with it.

Nature Human Nature And Human Difference by Justin Smith

A book on the history of racism in early modern Europe philosophy. I found the subject so interesting, but I hated the writing.

Resurgir curated by Lorenzo Incarbone

A collection of short stories about vampires in South American Litterature. It got me to read stuff from authors I didn't know, and it was actually really fun. The edition is also very well curated with so many beautiful illustrations.

Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman

Second to last book in the series for me, the placement in the series is ambigus and it rocks. It was mindblowing and the art is absolutely stunning.

The Pornographer by Restif De La Bretonne

I didn't really post a review for this, but it's an epistolary romance from the late 1700s that also includes a project to regulate sex work in France with the ultimate goal of avoiding the spreading of deseases. It's astonishing how the same person could have brilliant progressive ideas and terribily stupid opinions at the same time. If you hear about the project there are indeed a few points that are ahead of their time, and then whenever this man expresses opinions about women you'd want to throw the book out of a window.

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

Read in February 2024

February started rough with me in the middle of a reading slump but I managed to get through 9 books in the end ^.^ most of them were fun, easy romances but I squeezed a few horror novels in there too. looking forward to having more downtime in March to try to tackle some meatier stories though

Series read: Marry Me Juliet trilogy by Jodi McAlister

Not Here to Make Friends - 3/5 (audio)

Backlog books:

The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott - 4/5 (audio)

The Love Song of Ivy K Harlowe by Hannah Moskowitz - 5/5

Hani & Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar - 3/5

Hani & Ishu’s Guide to Real Roadtrips by Adiba Jaigirdar - 2/5

Other reads:

All This Time by Mikki Daughtry & Rachael Lippincott - 4/5 (audio)

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison - 5/5 (audio)

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen - 4/5 (audio)

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters - 3/5 (audio)

[godzilla-reads]

❄️ January Reading Wrap Up ❄️

The first month of the year has me at 14 books, which felt like a lot to me. My Top 3 Reads are starred below:

🖤 My Gothic Heart edited by Charlie Castelletti

🦎 Dorohedoro Vol. 1 by Q Hayashida

☀️ East of the Sun & West of the Moon by Mercer Mayer

⭐️ Dragon Lore: A Treasury of 10 Dragon Tales by Emma Roberts and Tomislav Tomić

👒 My Aunt is a Monster by Reimena Yee

⚔️ The Bronze Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham

🎶 The Book of Ballads and Sagas by Charles Vess

❄️ The Ice Dragon by E. Nesbit and Carole Grey

🐣 Domnall and the Borrowed Child by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley

⭐️ Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Dragons

⭐️ Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis

❄️ The Little Winter Book of Gnomes by Kirsten Sevig

🧚‍♀️ The Fairy Universe by Olivier Ledroit

🧚‍♂️ Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book by Terry Jones and Brian Froud

[princessofbookaholics]

January was a short reading month. I already have my first 2 star read of the year and no 5 stars which isn't shocking since I was in a reading slump. Hopefully the romance readathon of february is going to fix that for me! Here's the wrap up:

The Villa ⭐⭐⭐

What Lies in the Woods ⭐⭐

Divine Rivals ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ruthless Vows ⭐⭐⭐

Next of Kin ⭐⭐⭐

The Tourist Attraction ⭐⭐⭐