September Wrap-Up

Um yeah this is super late and I read a total of one (1) book...

I have a lot of fanfics to rec tho at the end? :D

Sorry I have nothing to say here except I had finals this month which took up a lot of my energy... and then I spent the rest of the month doing absolutely nothing in preparation for more school. 

But yeah I did read some fics during my downtimes! Fics are absolute serotonin boosts and they're fun and easy to get through so I default to them when I'm tired :")

Books Mentioned

• Vicious by VE Schwab

August Wrap-Up

T'was a wild month...

I'm gonna be honest and admit I didn't read many books and I read a lot of one-shot fanfics. In my defense they're not that long and easy to get through and I've been really overwhelmed with summer school. And if you saw me posting art this month, no you didn't 💖 LOL just kidding I art when I'm especially stressed so that's why I was putting out a lot more content than usual. They're all stress draws; I just wanted to draw people (read: tsukikage) falling in love to make up for the void in me :")

Anyways, I'm including fanfic recs at the end because I want to write about something, I just have nothing else to write about :(

Books Mentioned

• Crush by Richard Siken
• This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
• The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

nostalgiathon, but it's all fanfiction

What else screams ✨nostalgia✨ better than the copious amount of fanfiction I read throughout my high school days :")

I rarely feel very nostalgic over things... like Harry Potter & Percy Jackson? Good memories but I have never felt much nostalgic fondness. Haikyuu!! fanfics that I read during the most boring summer breaks, however, make me feel all the feels. Also, it's just in time for HQ!! DAY (8/19) in August!

When the school system failed me and made me hate reading books, fanfiction was always there to keep me from giving up reading entirely. And after getting back into published books and reading fanfiction alongside published books, I'm still really amazed at how fanfic authors do this for free. They write this stuff and put it out for the public to enjoy for free. So, love and respect fanfic authors!! 

I chose a good mix of stories I remember quite fondly, and stories I don't remember much at all (except for the fact that I remember I loved them). I'm really excited to spend my August reading old fanfiction I adored back in grade school. I start school this month though, so sadly I wasn't able to get through as many as I wanted to. I mostly only had time for reading short fics & one-shots, especially since Come Morning Light was a good 3x longer than most books and long fics.

For the longer fics, I'm updating as I read, then editing after I finish. So if some of the sections sound vaguely like twitter reading threads, well now you know.

Also, for all of these, please heed warnings! They're all different AO3 ratings (most are T, some are M, there's the occasional E)

Out of 5💖's to measure how much I loved them post-reread.

💗 → 1/2 💖

July Wrap-Up

How is 2020 going by so fast...

What's up with July and cults? I read a couple books with cults in them this month and no one warned me there would be cults in these books?

I completely failed my TBR. I posted it thinking I'd read at the same speed and consistency as the very beginning of the month, but July was not a fun time for me and I ended up having very little energy to read and I just watched anime and re-read old comfort reads the entire month.

And then there was the additional distraction of Haikyuu!! ending, and threw myself into fanfiction in the midst of mourning... Also, I was feeling nostalgic so I picked up "Come Morning Light" by SharkbaitSekki and that fanfic is 300k+ words, which is even longer than A Little Life's 800 pages, so yeah I've been busy. I've been reading through it really slowly though because I've been reading 3 books at the same time + this fanfic. Lots of words to read. 

Also I've fallen into this barren pit called oikage and I've been scrambling for crumbs...it's been a terrible time it's pretty much 99% angst here

This month, I've been using the app libby a lot for audiobooks! I wanted to try audiobooks for once since many people seem to enjoy reading with audiobooks, and they also allow me to do other things while reading. However, since it's my first experience with audiobooks (aside from Sadie but that was an extraordinary full-cast audiobook), I'm not sure how I feel about them...I think I'm just not used to them. But I highly recommend libby since it's an easy way to get audiobooks and ebooks from your library in these trying times.

I've also made an attempt to make my reviews shorter, so if anyone's wondering why they look half-sized it's because I realized I've been writing so much in these mini-reviews, I end up having nothing to say in my actual reviews :")

👪 buddy read

🎧 audiobook

Books Mentioned

• The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
• What Happened To Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
• Beartown by Fredrik Backman
• The Wicked King by Holly Black
• The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
• Haikyuu!! (Vol. 38-end) by Haruichi Furudate
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
• Beach Read by Emily Henry

**summaries taken from the book but might be slightly altered

⸺ ⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕ ⸺

August TBR

It's my birthday month!

and I also start summer school this month...😓 So I probably won't be able to read as much as I did in July. But I'm hoping to read around 4-5 new books this month? Since I think 6 is my average per month during the school months, and I'm planning on doing some re-reads.

But since it's my birthday month, I'm going to try extra hard to read books that I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy/rate highly, and I also wanted to treat myself to some re-reads of my favorites. 

I've also heard that there's a readathon called the nostalgiathon being hosted this month, and I had some ideas of what I wanted to do for that. It doesn't follow the prompts at all but...nostalgia.

I Recommend Books Based on My Top 10 Haikyuu!! Favs

This was something I came up with on a whim because Haikyuu!! ends this week and I thought it'd be nice to post something Haikyuu!! related. I've even started my 2nd re-read of "Come Morning Light" by SharkbaitSekki, and I'm planning on doing something for that too. Aaahh the fact that Haikyuu!! is ending makes me so sad because I've loved this series for all my heart for so many years. We all know Loving Haikyuu!! is an integral part of my personality at this point.

I will never have enough words to explain how much Haikyuu!! means to me. I think it's the very first manga that I've almost religiously (sorry 2019) followed until its end, and I think it's been 6 (?) years of following these characters every week and watching them develop one match at a time. I honestly have so much love for each and every one of these characters, choosing 10 was excruciatingly hard. I still remember reading the chapter when Hoshiumi was first introduced and when Sakusa was first introduced and he was all mysterious :") I still remember when Inarizaki was super mysterious and even when SHIRATORIZAWA seemed untouchable. Can you believe I thought Ushiwaka was scary & intimidating and now I'm screenshotting & printing memes of him?

I can actually imagine him saying this with a straight face :"")

So here are my top 10 most beloved Haikyuu!! characters, and...books........

AKA in which I reminisce over Haikyuu!! in honor of its end

I definitely just wanted Haikyuu!! and books.

The Infernal Devices Trilogy by Cassandra Clare [SERIES REVIEW]

Synopsis

-from Clockwork Angel

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London's dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them.

Ratings:

• Clockwork Angel ★★+(.5) (2.5/5)
• Clockwork Prince ★★★ (3/5)
• Clockwork Princess ★★+(.5) (2.5/5)

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆ (2.67/5)

The FULL July TBR

So I realized that it's barely a week into July and I've already finished my tentative TBR? I obviously don't have much to do this month other than stressing over enrollment, so I've been reading a lot more. I thought I'd make a post for my full TBR to keep my accountable for my reading, since it would be really shameful if I posted this and got through none of it 😅 I usually have trouble following TBR's, since I'm a mood reader and often pick things up on a whim, but I'm actually going to try to keep up with my TBR this month.

Some goals for the month: 

• Read more books than I did last month (11+ books)
• Read some graphic novels or manga! (I'm going to catch up to Haikyuu!! I'm speaking this to existence)
• Finish a series
• Read a non-fiction? (this is extremely tentative because I'm not a fan of non-fiction)
• Read a romance? (other than What Happened To Goodbye because I've already finished that)
• Read a hard-hitting contemporary or literary fiction (my newfound favorite genre?)

So, in no particular order, here's a list of books I'm planning to read this month (+ my expectations)

June Wrap-Up + July TBR

I can't believe it's already the end of June and we're halfway through 2020!

I read 2 new favorites this month! I kind of branched out of my comfort zone for a bit during the beginning of the month and picked up some historical fiction. I even picked up a classic! Last month I realized that I haven't read any historical fiction since the time I started reading again earlier this year. I was kind of shocked since I actually really enjoy historical fiction, so I thought I'd start the month off by picking up some historical fiction. Also, adhering to what is currently my brand, I tried to catch up with another series that everyone else in the bookish community really loves by picking up The Infernal Devices. 

And, after months and months of putting it off, I FINALLY PICKED UP A LITTLE LIFE!!

Here are the books I read in the month of June!

Books Mentioned

• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
• Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
• Heartstopper (Vol. 1-3) by Alice Oseman
• Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
• Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

**summaries taken from the book but might be slightly altered

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston [BOOK REVIEW]

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

When his mother became President of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millenial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with an actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex/Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family and state and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: Stage a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the presidential campaign and upend two nations. It raises the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through?

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Mid-Year Book Freak Out [BOOK TAG]

I can't believe it's already halfway through the year 😱

I just started reading books more in March? But I've read so many more books than I usually do and I feel quite accomplished 😌

I spent most of this half-year reading books that are much beloved by the bookish community since there are so many books and series that I haven't read yet. Some of these books that I've finally read are: Six of Crows Duology, Call Me By Your Name, The Raven Cycle, & Carry On. I really enjoyed most of these very hyped books!

I'm glad I ended up mostly reading books that I loved and I've learned a lot about what I like as a reader. I found out that I actually really enjoy what many consider "pretentious writing". I've also found out that fantasy books are, to me, the ultimate comfort books. I love reading a good, adventurous fantasy book after reading a heart-wrenching contemporary book. I've also found out that contemporaries are usually the books with the most potential to hurt me the most. And I've also found that with contemporaries, I either really love them or I feel quite indifferent towards them.

Since it's the middle of the year, I'd like to share a couple of my stats for this year so I can look back and compare in the future!

By Genre:

(some books fall under several genres)

• Historical Fiction: 3
• Contemporary: 11
• Fantasy: 15
• Romance: 7
• Mystery/Thriller: 2
• Classics: 1

Star Ratings ★:

(This is atypical but 4.75's are rounded down to 4.5, 3.75 to 3.5)

• 5★: 13
• 4.5★: 7
• 4★: 5
• 3.5★: 4
• 3★: 2
• 2.5★: 2

I probably shouldn't have so many 5-star books, but I admit I read a lot of really good books this half-year :")

I took a lot of time doing this tag, since I initially started with a lot of answers for each question but I went back and tried really hard to limit my answers to one book per question. It was...quite difficult...

I've always wanted to do a book tag so yea here we go!

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller [BOOK REVIEW]

Genre: Romance, Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. By all rights their paths should never cross, but Achilles takes the shamed prince as his friend, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine their bond blossoms into something deeper—despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But then word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus journeys with Achilles to Troy, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear. Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

May Wrap-Up

AKA: I (mostly) take a break from reading series

I kinda failed at following my very short TBR of books 😅  I realized that TBR's aren't really my thing and if I try to plan out what I'm going to read next I lose interest pretty quickly... however I do plan on getting to those books one day I promise!
I've also decided to add the book genre and any trigger/content warnings I can think of to each book I mention.

It was really difficult to read this month since I was unexpectedly bombarded by loads of schoolwork since May is my school's midterm season. I also fell into a reading slump this month (and I blame it wholly on the Green Creek series because I haven't enjoyed anything as much as I enjoyed those books), and halfway through the month I told myself it would be a miracle if I even had 4 books to talk about this month :") Thankfully I still managed to read a bit (a certain book might have helped push me through the slump).

So without further ado, in chronological order, here are all the books I read this month: 

May Wrap-Up

Books Mentioned:

• The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
• Normal People by Sally Rooney
• Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

**summaries taken from the book & might be tweaked to avoid spoilers & such

April Wrap-Up (ft. TRC, GC, & more) + May TBR

Welcome to my April wrap-up! School started this month so the stress levels are high & reading has been my method of escapism... So, 8 books is quite a lot of books read in one month for me, so I'm pretty happy with myself :D
Things to expect: the end of a series, and the start of a new one (which has quickly become a favorite)

As per usual, each book I mention will be followed with a fairly short, spoiler-free mini-review!

Without further ado, in chronological order, here's how my April reading went!

April Wrap-Up

Books Mentioned

• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
• Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
• Wolfsong by T.J. Klune
• Ravensong by T.J. Klune
• Heartsong by T.J. Klune
• Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

--Summaries taken from the book & might be tweaked a little to avoid spoilers & such

March Book Wrap-Up (ft. IWWV, TRC, etc.)

It's been a really long time since I've posted anything and I'm completely deviating from what I used to write. This is my second book review I'm writing on this blog (the first one being After Dark by Haruki Murakami 5(?) years ago) and I am by no means good at writing book reviews at all. I mostly rate books based on my own personal enjoyment, so we're not going AP Lit analysis on these books. I just felt like writing this for fun since I wanted a place to just vent all my feelings about the books.

Alternatively: I've been watching a lot of booktube and as much as I would love to just record myself talking about these books I'm shy and don't like my face on youtube so here's me blogging about books.

I surprisingly read a lot this month! This is the most I've read in one month since elementary school maybe, and it was a very good reading month! I genuinely loved every book I read this month. Honestly, compared to booktube, 5 books (+1 novella) is not much, but a year ago I was averaging around 0 books per month so I'm pretty happy with myself this month. 

So I finally wrapped up The Captive Prince series by reading the last 2 short stories and I also finally started The Raven Cycle series after months of putting it off. I also discovered my new ABSOLUTE FAVORITE book this month and I am so excited to tell you guys all about the wonderful books I've read recently.

Without further ado, here are the books I've read this month:

MARCH BOOK WRAP-UP

Books Mentioned:

• Sadie by Courtney Summers
• If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
• Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
• The Summer Palace and Other Stories: A Captive Prince Short Story Collection by C.S. Pacat
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

--All summaries taken from the book itself