January

The January Book Tag // 2024

- Bunny 1 Comment

Hi Friends,
Today, I am doing ‘The January’ book tag, which I have done previously. This book tag helps you reflect on your last year’s reading and your reading plans for the year ahead. I am happy to continue my tradition of doing this tag every January.


Funny enough, I remember many, if not all, of my January reading in 2023. The book that I started the year reading was ‘Five Survive’ by Holly Jackson, who is the author of the ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder‘ trilogy. For some reason, I could not remember the last book I read. Let me say that it was a crazy end of the year. After looking at my GoodReads I saw that my final read of 2023 was ‘Secret Santa’ by Andrew Shaffer, which is a short Christmas horror.
Related Post: Five Survive // Book Review
Related Post: Secret Santa // Book Review


In 2024, the first book I ended up finishing was actually one I started in 2023, which was ‘Lovelight Farms’ by B.K. Borison. I had initially DNFed the book but decided to go ahead and finish it on January 1st. I probably will not be posting my review until November or December of this year, but spoiler alert I was not a fan of it.


I have a whole post on my 2024 reading goals, but my top three are to read my owned TBR, read outside my comfort zone, and one that I did not mention in that post is to finish a few book series. I think that these goals are typical and that I can accomplish them.
Related Post: 2024 Anticipated Releases // January To June


Well, I just so happen to also have a post on my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2024. But, my three most anticipated releases for the entire year would have to be ‘Happily Never After’ by Lynn Painter (March 2024), ‘Wisteria’ by Adalyn Grace (August 2024) and ‘Spectacular’ by Stephanie Garber (October 2024). These are all favorite authors of mine, so naturally, I cannot wait to read their new releases.
Related Post: Belladonna // Book Review
Related Post: Caraval // Book Review


I reached my reading goal last year, which I believe is always an accomplishment. Unfortunately, I did not read much of my physical TBR. However, graphic novels were a pretty big part of my reading last year, and I do not normally read them, so I would call reading out of my comfort zone a success.


Honestly, the first book that came to mind was ‘House of Flame and Shadow’ by Sarah J. Maas (January 2024), which is the third book in her ‘Crescent City’ series. I have no desire to read the book, or anything else written by the author. Her books seem so long, and there are #7 or #8 books in some of her series. This is just too much for me. Needless to say, I will not pick this book up when it is released, and I am okay with that.


I am not sure if I have any reading habits or red flags so to speak that I would like to change this year. I know that is such a lame answer, and I think it’s one I have given in the past to this question. I try not to take reading too seriously because it is some I love to do and makes me happy.


I am not ashamed to admit that I do not keep up with book adaptations. So, I have no idea what is being adapted in 2024. Except for ‘It Ends With Us,’ which will star Blake Lively. However, I am not necessarily excited about that since I probably will not be watching it, because I have never read the book and do not plan to.


Probably joining Bookthreads! I have become so active there and Bookstagram. It has been so fun, and I am glad I discovered it last year. I hope to connect with more bookish people this year and do more buddy reading.


If you are talking about books, I started last year and still need to finish that would be ‘Furyborn’ by Claire Legrand and ‘Book Lovers’ by Emily Henry. But, if you mean 2023 releases I still need to read than the list is probably too long to mention.

Hope that you enjoyed this tag! If you have done it on your blog, let me know in the comments below, so that I can read your post. Feel free to leave a comment with your answers as well. Do not forget to share this post and follow the blog.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

January 2024 // To Be Read

- Bunny 3 Comments

Hi Friends,
I am going to be doing my first Bookopoly TBR ever! If you know me, then you know that I have had a lot of ups and downs when it comes to TBRs and sticking with them. I have gone back and forth on actually setting books I want to read for the month, since I am a mood reader. However, in 2024 I would like to try and stick to a TBR this year. So, I created my own digital Bookopoly board. Bookopoly is a TBR game created by Becca on YouTube, where you use a Monopoly board, but make the spaces bookish. I will post a picture of my board below, if you would like to use it for yourself. I decided to do 8 rolls but there is an add an extra roll spot and if I roll doubles I will have to add an extra roll as well.

My first roll was a 4 and 6 giving me a 10. I landed on the TBR steal space, which means is that I have to take a book from another creator ‘s January TBR. This was easy, because about half the bookish creators I watch have put ‘Powerless’ by Lauren Roberts on their TBR for the month. Although, it isn’t on my physical TBR, it is a 2023 fantasy release that I’ve been wanting to read.

Next I rolled a 4 and 4, giving me a 8, which is a scroll space. Not only does this mean I have to add a book, because I rolled doubles, but I don’t get control of what I read. The scroll spaces means that I have to scroll on Instagram (Bookstagram) until I see a photo containing a book that is on my physical TBR. I first came across a photo with the first book in ‘The School For Good and Evil’ series by Soman Chainani and ‘One Dark Window’ by Rachel Gillig, both I own and haven’t read. I decided to go with ‘One Dark Window,’ which is a popular gothic fantasy.

For my third roll, I got 4 and 5, giving me a 9! This was highest rated on GoodReads, which is ‘The Nightingale‘ by Kristin Hannah. I am super nervous because I am not the biggest historical fiction fan, but I guess we will see if Kristin Hannah lives up to the hype.

Then I rolled a 2 and a 3, so a 5, and I was excited because it was the favorite author space. One of my favorite authors that I discovered last year was Katee Robert. I decided to go with ‘Court of the Vampire Queen‘ because I am actually 30% into it already and loving it,

My next roll was a 6 and 3, giving me a 9, which was lowest rated. I decided to choose from my owned books only and the lowest rated book on my shelf according to Goodreads is ‘Even If We Break‘ By Marieke Nijkamp. This is a young adult thriller, and I am curious to see if I agree with the low rating.

For roll number 6, we got a 2 and 3, making a 5. This took us to the 1/2/3 Title spot. This means I put the numbers 1 to 3 in a random number generator and whichever I get, I need to find book which title is that many numbers long. I got the number 3, which is a 3 word title. I am choosing ‘First Lie Wins’ by Ashley Elston, because I was lucky enough to get the audiobook on Libby. I haven’t read anything from this author, but I’m excited to give them a shot.

Roll number 7 gave me doubles meaning we are doing 10 rolls. I got two 4’s, which make an 8. Luckily, the prompt is YA so it should be a relatively short read. I decided to pick ‘Eclipse’ by Stephenie Meyer because it is the next book in the ‘Twilight’ saga that I am on. I would love to get this series completed soon.

For roll number 8, I got a 2 and 6, giving me an 8. This is a Chance space, which essentially means I pull a random prompt from my prompt cup. I got a book by an LGTBQ+ author. I have gone with ‘Mistakes Were Made’ by Meryl Wilsner, which is a book I have been dying to read.

Next was roll number 9, I got a 2 and 3, giving me a 5. This brought me back to highest rated. The book that I got was ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I am not going to lie. I am so nervous about this book, and I hope it is worth the hype.

The final roll was not the last roll because I got doubles. So, roll number 10 gave me a one and a one making 2. The space I landed was dual POV, which is easy since a lot of books are dual POV’s. I didn’t think that I had enough romance on this list so I decided to pick ‘Icebreaker’ by Hannah Grace. I knew that this was a book I wanted to get to in winter, so I am excited to read it.

Finally, the last roll was a 3 and 1, giving me a 4. But, of course it was another Chance space. I got most recent purchase as my prompt, and that would have to be ‘The Stranger Upstairs’ by Lisa M. Matlin. This is a thriller, and totally giving me ‘The September House’ vibes.

Needless to say my first month playing Bookopoly was rough, but I am still very excited for the month ahead. Let me know in the comments what you plan on reading this month. Don’t forget to hit the follow button before you go.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

The January Book Tag // 2023

- Bunny Leave a comment

Hi Friends,
Last year, I did the January Book Tag and I thought I’d make it a yearly tradition. I don’t want to ramble too much, so let’s just jump right into the questions.

In 2022, the last book I read was ‘Whiteout’ by Various Authors. This was a fun holiday contemporary, but it was just meh. The first book I read was ‘Late To The Party’ by Kelly Quindlen. I surprisingly still remember a lot about this book. It was just your run of the mill YA Contemporary, but it did have good LGBT representation.
Related Post: Late To The Party // Book Review

Sadly, it was ‘Five Survive’ by Holly Jackson. I don’t want to say too much about this book, but it wasn’t a good start to my reading year.

As always I did a whole post on my reading goals for the new year. But, I wanted to share three goals that I didn’t mention in that post. The first is that I want to complete the 12 book challenge. This is where your friends give you book recommendations and you need to read 12 of those books by the end of the year.

Next, I’d like to read some Stephen King books this year. Unlikely, one is on my 12 book challenge, yet the main one I want to read is ‘IT’. Lastly, I want to read books out of my comfort zone. Who knows I might find a hidden gem in a genre I’d never consider reading before.

‘She Is a Haunting’ by Trang Thanh Tran (February 2023): Maybe it’s just me but this book is giving off major ‘House Of Hollow’ vibes. It’s a thriller, horror book that takes place in a French colonial house in Vietnam. Haunted house story’s are always creepy.
Related Post: House Of Hollow // Book Review

‘One of Us Is Back’ by Karen M. McManus (August 2023): This is the final book in the ‘One Of Us Is Lying’ universe. Not only are the Bayview four back, but so are the characters from the second book ‘One Of Us Is Next’. I’m just hoping we get some more Phoebe and Knox moments.

‘The Bewitching Hour (A Tara Maclay Prequel)’ by Ashley Poston (August 2023): I cannot wait for this release. Although, I was never the biggest Buffy fan. For some reason I was more of an ‘Angel’ series person. I loved Tara! She was my favorite Buffy character. I’m so excited to read a book about her before she met the Scooby gang.

I surpassed my GoodReads reading goal for the year, which was pretty amazing! But, other than that I don’t thank I read my shelves as much as I would have liked. And, I barely read any backlist titles.

‘Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute‘ by Talia Hibbert: Don’t get me wrong this sounds like a cute YA contemporary romance, which I tend to love. However, it’s a second chance, ex-best friends to lovers romance. I’m just not a fan of that trope. Still, I’m not completely riding this one off.

‘Happy Place’ by Emily Henry: Not going to lie Emily Henry is a good writer and I did read 50% of her novel ‘Book Lovers’ before putting down. That being said, I don’t really think her books are for me. Also, this is a second chance romance, which I don’t jive with in books or movies.

Probably, just really thinking about the books I pick up and if I’ll like them. I want to get better at knowing my reading taste.

I’m pretty excited for ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ even though I haven’t finished ‘The Hunger Games’ series. But, I’ve seen the movies and can’t wait to see this adaption. Also, I did see a rumor that the adaption of Kristin Hannah’s novel ‘The Nightingale‘ might come out this year, which I’d been interested in seeing.

It would probably be reading 103 books. That is the most books I have ever read in a year, so it made me really proud of myself.

I started ‘All the Bright Places’ by Jennifer Niven close to the end of the year, which I would like to finish. And, I’d eventually like to go back to ‘Lovely War’ by Julie Berry. I’m about 50% of the way through with it, so it shouldn’t take me too long to finish.

Let me know in the comments, if you have done this tag and I will go give it a read. Also, tell me what was your first read of 2023. Don’t forget to share and like this post, and click the follow button.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

To Be Read // January 2022

- Bunny 3 Comments

Hi Friends,
It is a new month, which means a new TBR! I decided to have my husband pick my TBR for January. To make it easy, I just had him chose five books off my GoodReads ‘Want To Read’ shelve. So what books did he end up picking?

“From author Kelly Quindlen comes a poignant and deeply relatable story about friendship, self-acceptance, and what it means to be a Real Teenager. Late to the Party is an ode to late bloomers and wallflowers everywhere.”

I didn’t remember the plot for this book, or why I added it to my TBR, but it seems like a contemporary about self-confidence and breaking out of your shell. Not sure I am still interested in it, but as you can see I am going to be reading it.

“Boarding school has never been more dangerous. What if your roommate is a murderer? Or what if he’s being framed and only you can save him?”

I have been into YA thrillers lately, so I am happy that he ended picking this book. It is also a book I own, and I have been wanting to read from my shelf more this year.

“Two sisters. One brutal murder. A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself… And an intoxicating romance.”

Apparently, he wants me to start a new series this year. I have only read ‘Stalking Jack The Ripper’ by Kerri Maniscalco, but I found her writing to be very atmospheric, which added to the reading experience. I am excited to see where this series takes me.

“Frances Janvier spends most of her time studying. Everyone knows Aled Last as that quiet boy who gets straight A’ s. You probably think that they are going to fall in love or something. Since he is a boy and she is a girl. They don’t. They make a podcast.”

The synopsis baffles me completely. I am very curious to see why so many people love this book.

“In this “raw and well-crafted romance” (Kirkus Reviews), Bea learns that some things just can’t be controlled.”

This is another book that I just so happen to own. He picked this one because of my love for contemporaries and my OCD. But, I am not mad about it.

Those are the books that I have on my TBR for the month. However, if I somehow manage to get to all of them before the end of the month, I might end up doing some mood reading. Let me know the books on your January TBR in the comments.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny