Tag: The English Wife

April Wrap-Up: Reviews, Reading Challenges, etc.

Another month is gone… Y’all, summer is basically here and I’m not really sure I’m ready for it. I hate the heat unless I’m on a beach. But am I at the beach? No, I’m sitting at work and it blows.

But hey, at least there’s only 5 more months until the Halloween season! Am I right or am I right?!

Books Read

  • The Mirk and Midnight Hour by Jane Nickerson – physical book, 4/5 stars, REVIEW
  • Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry – audiobook, 5/5 stars
  • Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1) by Neal Shusterman – physical book, buddy read, 5/5 stars
  • Navigating the Stars (Sentinels of the Galaxy, #1) by Maria V. Snyder – audiobook, 4/5 stars
  • The English Wife by Lauren Willig – physical book, 4/5 stars
  • The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James – audiobook, 2/5 stars
  • The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston – audiobook, 4/5 stars
  • Tithe (A Modern Faerie Tale, #1) by Holly Black – 4/5 stars
  • And I Darken (The Conqueror’s Saga, #1) by Kiersten White – physical book, buddy read, 4/5 stars

Total Books Read: 9

Overall in 2019: 34

Reading Challenge Updates

POPSUGAR

  • A book inspired by myth/legend/folklore – The Mirk and Midnight Hour
  • A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature – Tithe
  • A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title – Navigating the Stars
  • A book with no chapters/unusual chapter headings/unconventionally numbered chapters –  The Loneliest Girl in the Universe

Goodreads Challenge

Total: 34/75

Previous Total: 25/75

Blog Posts

Book Reviews

WWW Wednesday

Discussions/Misc.

Did you get a lot of reading done in April? Were you able to read all of the books on your TBR? Did you read any new favorites? What book did you like the least? What do you plan on reading in May?

WWW Wednesday – April 10th, 2019

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) by Fonda Lee – physical book
  • Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1) by Neal Shusterman – physical book, buddy read
  • Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry – audiobook

I’ll admit that I haven’t read any of Jade City since last week. I mean to read this past weekend, but I just wasn’t in the mood. I really do plan to get some reading done in this one though in the next few days!

I started buddy reading Scythe last night and holy moly, I sped through almost 100 pages in an hour. Not a whole lost has really happened but something about the story itself and the writing just has me hooked. I even brought it to work to read during lunch (when I should have brought Jade City instead…Oops!). Something about this world that Shusterman has created is so intriguing. I cannot wait to see where this story will take me.

I only have two hours left in Heretics Anonymous and I’m enjoying this book so much. I love the story and the characters. I know I’ll be finishing this one up today and I’m really excited to see how this will end. I just want Max to have a happy ending. We must protect this sweet little cupcake at all costs!

What did you recently finish reading?

  • Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix (Rise of the Empress, #2) by Julie C. Dao – audiobook
  • The English Wife by Lauren Willig – physical book

I actually DNFed Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix. But since I made it through about 50% of the book, I think it should count. Let me just say, that even though I really didn’t enjoy the first book because I hated the main character so much, I still wanted to give this sequel a chance since it followed a different character… WRONG WRONG WRONG! I actually hated Jade even more. I’m pretty sure she was supposed to be 18 but she acted like she was 10. I seriously couldn’t figure out if I was reading a YA novel or a Middle Grade. Plus, the story was boring as hell. Honestly, I’m tossing Dao into the ring of authors I just can’t read.

I surprisingly enjoyed The English Wife more than I thought I would. I loved the murder mystery set in the Gilded Age. I thought it was a good idea for the author to go back and forth in time allowing us to follow the events leading up to the murder and get to know that side of the story, while also letting us follow the events afterwards as they try to solve the mystery. Also, I’m just a sucker for the “charismatic reporter” trope. I will never not love it.

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith – physical ARC
  • Navigating the Stars (Sentinels of the Galaxy, #1) by Maria V. Snyder – audiobook
  • Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales, #1) by Holly Black – physical book

What are you currently reading? What books did you finish this week? What are you planning on reading next? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday – April 3rd, 2019

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix (Rise of the Empress, #2) by Julie C. Dao – audibook
  • The English Wife by Lauren Willig – physical book
  • Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) by Fonda Lee – physical book

I finally decided to just go ahead and finish the Rise of the Empress duology, when I was making a few exchanges on my Audible account. I wasn’t a big fan of the first novel but with this sequel following Jade, I thought I’d give it a chance. It’s interesting so far but I find Jade to be kind of a dud. She’s too timid and lacks much of a personality, but maybe that’ll change as I get further into the story.

I’m not too far into The English Wife yet, but I’m already pulled into the intrigue of the story. I love how the murder mystery is being explored. I’m a sucker for historical fiction and the Gilded Age setting is wonderful. I can’t wait to see how the story plays out.

I haven’t gotten but a few pages into Jade City so I haven’t formed any sort of opinion on it yet. I’m just excited to finally be reading it!

What did you recently finish reading?

  • And I Darken (The Conqueror’s Saga, #1) by Kiersten White – physical book, RTC
  • Honor Bound (The Honors, #2) by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre – physical book, RTC
  • Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – audiobook, REVIEW
  • The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio – audiobook

I got through quite a few books this past week and that’s never a bad thing. I really enjoyed all of these for the most part. I was a little disappointed with The Beautiful Strangers and it only ended up being an average forgettable read for me. The rest were all great, especially Honor Bound and Daisy Jones & The Six.

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith – physical ARC
  • Navigating the Stars (Sentinels of the Galaxy, #1) by Maria V. Snyder – audiobook
  • Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales, #1) by Holly Black – physical book

What are you currently reading? What books did you finish this week? What are you planning on reading next? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

 

My April TBR

I didn’t get to all of the books I wanted to read in March, so there will be a bit of an overflow into this month’s TBR. But I think that’s alright, because I really want to get to these books soon rather than continue to push them aside until later. So yes, my TBR this month is once again a bit ambitious but I’m alright with it. Let’s kick some reading ass in April!

My TBR

  • Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith – physical ARC
  • Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) by Fonda Lee – physical book
  • Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix (Rise of the Empress, #2) by Julie C. Dao – audiobook, currently listening
  • The Mirk and Midnight Hour by Jane Nickerson – physical book
  • The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough – physical book
  • Navigating the Stars (Sentinels of the Galaxy, #1) by Maria V. Snyder – audiobook
  • And I Darken (The Conqueror’s Saga, #1) by Kiersten White – physical book, currently buddy reading
  • Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales, #1) by Holly Black – physical book
  • Lifel1k3 (Lifelike, #1) by Jay Kristoff
  • The English Wife by Lauren Willig – physical book, currently reading
  • Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1) by Neal Shusterman – physical book, buddy read
  • The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston – audiobook

This may look like a really extensive TBR, but with 3 of these being audiobooks which I can speed through pretty quickly, I’m not too worried about it. I think I have a really good mix of genres as well this month which will help me from getting too bored as well. I think I was actually starting to get burned out on fantasy last month, so this mix should help fix that problem somewhat.

What do you plan to read during April? Do you have a set TBR or are you a mood reader? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think about them?

WWW Wednesday – March 27th, 2019

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • And I Darken (The Conqueror’s Saga, #1) by Kiersten White – physical book, buddy read
  • Honor Bound (The Honors, #2) by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre – physical book
  • Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – audiobook

I’ve finally reached the halfway point in And I Darken and I’m really enjoying it so far. The first half was definitely just building up the story, setting the scene and introducing the character. However, it seems that we’ve reached the turning point in the story and things are about to start going down. I’m ready for Lada to kick some ass.

I just started Honor Bound last night and I can already tell that I’m going to enjoy this one even more than the first book. I mean, they’re basically about to dive into an outlaw run space station and you know shenanigans are about ensue.

I only started listening to Daisy Jones & The Six yesterday and I’m already 75% of the way into it.. I CANNOT STOP LISTENING TO IT. Its read by a full cast, including popular actors/actresses, and they do such a fabulous job bringing the emotion out of the story. It really feels like I’m just listening to a documentary and I love that. I will say that Daisy is probably one of my least favorite characters though. I actually find the side characters to be more interesting.

What did you recently finish reading?

  • Immortal Reign (Falling Kingdoms, #6) by Morgan Rhodes – physical book, RTC
  • Fawkes by Nadine Brandes – audiobook

I finished Immortal Reign last night and I have been enjoying this series so much. However, this one didn’t leave as much of an impact on me as I was expecting. I don’t know if I am going through a little fantasy burnout right now or I just wasn’t connecting with the story as much. I originally had this as 4 stars but I think it’s really only 3 stars.

Fawkes ended up surprising me. I thought I would enjoy it but that it would probably just be an average read. However, I actually really loved this story! I loved how Brandes retold the Gunpowder Plot and mixed it with magic to almost completely rewrite history. It was extremely clever and a really fun read. I also loved the voice actor who narrated the audiobook.

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio – audiobook
  • Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) by Fonda Lee – physical book
  • The English Wife by Lauren Willig – physical book

I originally planned on reading Rabbit & Robot next, I had to change it up some as I’m not so sure I want to dive right back into science fiction after Honor Bound. However, this also could put me on a science fiction binge, soooo… We shall see!

What are you currently reading? What books did you finish this week? What are you planning on reading next? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday – March 20th, 2019

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • Immortal Reign (Falling Kingdoms, #6) by Morgan Rhodes – physical book
  • Fawkes by Nadine Brandes – audiobook
  • And I Darken (The Conqueror’s Saga, #1) by Kiersten White – physical book, buddy read

I’m finally making progress with Immortal Reign after a busy weekend. I should have it finished before Friday if I can keep up this pace. Fingers crossed….

I just started listening to Fawkes yesterday and am loving it so far! I love how Brandes is retelling this historical event and combining it with magic and fantastical elements. I can’t wait to find out how this will all end. Will the gunpowder go off? I guess I’ll find out soon enough!

Currently buddy reading And I Darken with Geronimo Reads and am really enjoying it so far. Lada is such a little badass and I love seeing how her mind is constantly moving. I’m not sure what to expect with how White rewrites history. It’s going to be exciting!

What did you recently finish reading?

  • The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo – audiobook, 5/5 Stars
  • Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison – audiobook, 3/5 Stars

I really loved The Night Tiger. It was so different from anything else I’d ever read and I loved the mix of Chinese mythology and historical fiction. I wasn’t expecting it to turn into a murder mystery, which only added to the plot tension. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

Whiskey When We’re Dry was an interesting story, if a little slow to really get into the plot. This was my first western book in a way, and I probably shouldn’t have dived back into the genre with literary fiction. It was a little too dry (HA!) and lacked as much action as I was hoping for.

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) by Fonda Lee – physical book
  • Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith – physical ARC
  • The English Wife by Lauren Willig – physical book

What are you currently reading? What books did you finish this week? What are you planning on reading next? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday – March 13th, 2019

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison – audiobook
  • Immortal Reign (Falling Kingdoms, #6) by Morgan Rhodes – physical book
  • The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo – audiobook

I’ve finally put a dent in Whiskey When We’re Dry. The story has finally started picking up plot-wise and the tension has definitely amped up a bit. I should finish it within the next day or so.

I haven’t been reading much of Immortal Reign but I definitely plan to finish it by this weekend. It’s very exciting and engaging, I just got a little sidetracked by my other reads and also watching Black Sails on Amazon Prime, haha. I have a thing for pirates, what can I say?!

The Night Tiger has been such a surprising delight! I love the learning more about Chinese mythology and how it’s woven throughout the story, especially in regards to the mystery. And the mystery!! It keeps pulling me back in, as I can’t way to find out what’s going to happen next and find out how it will all end. I highly recommend this book, especially the audiobook that’s read by the author.

What did you recently finish reading?

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  • Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1) – physical book, buddy read

This book was interesting. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it overall. My favorite part of the book was Mr. Burns and he was honestly what kept pulling me back into the book. It did seem to drag a bit in the middle but I thought the ending was really fun. I do plan to continue with the series and find out what will happen next after that cliffhanger.

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) by Fonda Lee – physical book
  • Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith – physical ARC
  • The English Wife by Lauren Willig – physical book

What are you currently reading? What books did you finish this week? What are you planning on reading next? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

My March TBR

Here I go again by not posting my monthly TBR with already one week down in the month… Eh, who cares. I have no qualms about being completely unorganized and never planning ahead more than a day or two with my blog posts. Seriously, how do those of you who have blog posts scheduled like a month in advance?!! Tell me your ways, pretty please!

My TBR

  • Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison – audiobook, currently listening
  • Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1) by Sylain Neuvel – physical book, currently buddy reading with Britt @ Geronimo Reads
  • Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith – physical ARC
  • The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo – audiobook
  • And I Darken (The Conqueror’s Saga, #1) by Kiersten White – physical book, buddy read
  • Immortal Reign (Falling Kingdoms, #6) by Morgan Rhodes – physical book, currently reading
  • Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) by Fonda Lee – physical book
  • The English Wife by Lauren Willig – physical book
  • Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales, #1) by Holly Black – physical book
  • Honor Bound (The Honors, #2) by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre – physical book
  • Lifel1k3 (Lifelike, #1) by Jay Kristoff

I’m being very brave with my TBR this month but I really want to go for it! I feel like I can get through it, especially with some of these exciting books which I can just see myself speeding through. I plan on mixing more genres other than YA into my reading for the rest of the year and I think this month’s choices are a good way to ease myself into it.

What books do you plan on reading this month? Have you read any of the books on my list? Have you changed up your reading habits or plan to this year?

WWW Wednesday – March 6th, 2019

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison – audiobook
  • Immortal Reign (Falling Kingdoms, #6) by Morgan Rhodes – physical book
  • Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1) – physical book, buddy read

I haven’t really listened to any of Whiskey When We’re Dry lately. It’s such a slow moving story, that I don’t push myself to really listen to it during the day. It’s kind of been temporarily replaced by the What Should I Read Next? podcast… Oops!

I just started Immortal Reign last night but didn’t get very far into it as it was The Bachelor Women Tell All episode and yeahhhhh, you know how it. Haha! But I am really excited for this series finale!

Sleeping Giants is definitely not what I expected. So many strange and weird things have been going on that I definitely wasn’t prepared for. I think my favorite part of this story is the characters. They’re so different and every single one is entertaining in their own way, especially the mysterious interviewer.

What did you recently finish reading?

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  • The Fever King (Feverwake, #1) by Victoria Lee – eARC, review to come

I really enjoyed this book. It was very addictive and super engaging from start to finish. And while I really liked the characters, they were also all very morally ambiguous which made me both love them and also want to smack them at some point or another.

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) by Fonda Lee – physical book
  • Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith – physical ARC
  • The English Wife by Lauren Willig – physical book

What are you currently reading? What books did you finish this week? What are you planning on reading next? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday – November 7th, 2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7) by Sarah J. Mass – physical book
  • Give the Dark My Love (Give the Dark My Love, #1) by Beth Revis – audiobook

I still haven’t listened much to the audiobook lately. I plan to pick back up with that one today though, as it is a very interesting concept if a little slow this early on in the story. I’m also slowly making my way through the behemoth that is Kingdom of Ash. This book is massive and I’m going a little slower with it since I’d forgotten a lot of what happened previously. However, I am loving the story so far and am actually really invested in every POV (which hardly ever happens!). Then tension continues to build and I’m so scared to find out who won’t make it through the end.

What did you recently finish reading?

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  • Crystal Storm (Falling Kingdoms, #5) by Morgan Rhodes

This was a really great installment in this series. You can really feel all of the tension is building and coming down to the final climax. All of the characters have really developed and you can see the maturity in their thoughts and actions compared to the first book. It’ll be really bittersweet to finish this series. I’m just enjoying it so much!

What do you think you’ll read next?

I’ll finally be diving into some historical fiction next and then finally pick up The Last Magician, which seems to have a lot of fans and that synopsis really intrigues me. I can’t wait to dive in!

What are you currently reading? What books did you finish this week? What are you planning on reading next? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!