I had a pretty great reading month, in October. Not only did I finish one of my favorite series, I started a new series, and participated in my first readathon.
Category: Wrap Ups/TBR
Spookathon WRAP UP
So I participated in my first ever readathon!
For those who don’t know a readathon is when a group of people come together for a certain amount of time to read as much as possible.
This readathon was called Spookathon and lasted from 10 / 16 – 10 / 22 and was themed around reading spooky books. It was created by Lala @ BooksandLala , Shannon @ Bookerly , and Paige @ Paige’sPages!
The challenges for this readathon were :
- Read a Thriller 🗹
- Read a book with spooky word in the title 🗹
- Read a book based on a childhood fear 🗹
- Read a book with orange on the cover 🗹
- Read a book that has a spooky setting 🗹
Altogether I read 5 books (kind of) during the week and I’m so proud of that!
The ratings on these books were :
0 – ★
0 – ★★
2 – ★★★
2 – ★★★★
1 – ★★★★★
- Altogether I read 858 pages!
Continue reading “Spookathon WRAP UP”
August + September WRAP UP!
So I had I pretty terrible reading and blogging month in August and the beginning of September so instead of doing two short wrap ups, I decided to combine them. So let’s just get started.
Disappointing July WRAP UP
This is going to be an unfortunately short wrap up, for you guys… I ONLY READ THREE BOOKS!!! Seriously, I’m so embarrassed.
QUARTERLY WRAP UP (April – June 2017) !
April through June were GREAT reading months for me and I can’t wait to share my favorites and least favorites of these past 3 months!
June Wrap Up!
Stats –
In June, I read 7 books! Out of those books there were –
0 – ★
0 – ★ ★
5 – ★ ★ ★
1 – ★ ★ ★ ★
1 – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
- Monthly Avg. Rating – 3.42 stars
- 6 books I read in physical copies / 1 was an E-Book
- 2 physical books were library copies / 4 I owned
- I read 0 books for review.
- I read 1 book for the Gore and More book club.
- Altogether I read 2,126 pages!
- 3 books were Horror Novels
- 1 book was a Thriller
- 1 book was a YA Contemporary Romance
- 1 book was a Cozy Mystery
Dark Matter – Blake Crouch // REVIEW
Are you happy with your life?”
Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.
Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.
Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”
In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible….. – Goodreads
Finished Reading – 6 / 3 / 17
Rating – 3.25 Alternate Dimensions out of 5!
- Favorite Part – The premise was cool.
- Least Favorite Part – SO MANY PLOT HOLES!
Cat Got Your Diamonds – Julie Chase (No Review)
Grandeur and opulence are everything in the famed New Orleans Garden District where pets are family and no bling is too big. Opening Furry Godmother, pet boutique and organic treat bakery, is Lacy Marie Crocker’s dream come true–until the glitter gun used to make her Shih Tzu tutus becomes a murder weapon. And Lacy becomes public enemy #1.
Now Detective Jack Oliver is hounding Lacy, and her Furry Godmother investor wants out before his name is tarnished by association. To make matters worse, a string of jewel heists with suspicious ties to the murder case has New Orleans residents on edge. To save her dream, Lacy must take a stand, put her keen eyes to work, and unravel what really happened at her shop that night. But can Lacy sniff out the killer cat burglar in time to get her tail-raising designs on the catwalk?… – Goodreads
Finished Reading – 6 / 12 / 17
Rating – 3.5 Designer Pet Clothes out of 5!
- Favorite Part – I am a SUCKER for Cozy Mysteries and will follow the genre wherever it goes.
- Least Favorite Part – The writing was pretty awkward.
The Unexpected Everything – Morgan Matson // REVIEW
Andie had it all planned out. When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future. Important internship? Check. Amazing friends? Check. Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks).
But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life. Because here’s the thing—if everything’s planned out, you can never find the unexpected. And where’s the fun in that? — Goodreads
Finished Reading – 6 / 17 / 17
Rating – 4 Long Overdue Sequels out of 5!
- Favorite Part – The story was small and the characters were real.
- Least Favorite Part – The liar revealed plot line.
Luckiest Girl Alive – Jessica Knoll // REVIEW
HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE.
As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve.
But Ani has a secret.
There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything…. — Goodreads
Finished Reading – 6 / 20 / 17
Rating – 3.5 Seashell Frames out of 5!
- Favorite Part – I enjoyed the satire of the upperclass lifestyle.
- Least Favorite Part – I thought it should not be marketed as a thriller, because it was never really “thrilling”.
We Are Always Watching – Hunter Shea // REVIEW
They’ve watched over the house for generations…
The move from New York to the decrepit Pennsylvania farmhouse is as bad as West Ridley thought it would be. His father’s crippling vertigo only seems to get worse, and even with his mother working herself to the bone, they’re out of money and options.
Grandpa Abraham is a drunk bastard and the living embodiment of the long neglected farmhouse. He claims the place is haunted. Ghosts roam the hall at night and their muffled cries fill the silence of warm, summer nights.
On the ceiling above West’s bed are the words WE SEE YOU. In a house plagued by death and mysterious visitations, West realizes something beyond the fiction of his favorite horror books has to be faced.
Dark secrets are buried deep, and there are Guardians who want to keep it that way. No matter where they go or what they do, West and his family know one thing… they are always watching. — Goodreads
Finished Reading – 6 / 22 / 17
Rating – 3.8 Guardians out of 5!
- Favorite Part – The homages to horror and the climax.
- Least Favorite Part – It was SO SLOW! (Seriously nothing happened until 75% into the book).
Gwendy’s Button Box – Stephen King & Richard Chizmar // REVIEW
The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told… until now.
There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.
At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game.
One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: “Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me.”
On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat… — Goodreads
Finished Reading – 6 / 23 / 17
Rating – 5 Button Boxes out of 5!
- Favorite Part – The story was just genius.
- Least Favorite Part – None! 5 out of 5!
A House at the Bottom of a Lake – Josh Malerman // REVIEW
Both seventeen. Both afraid. But both saying yes.
It sounded like the perfect first date: canoeing across a chain of lakes, sandwiches and beer in the cooler. But teenagers Amelia and James discover something below the water’s surface that changes their lives forever.
It’s got two stories.
It’s got a garden.
And the front door is open.
It’s a house at the bottom of a lake.
For the teens, there is only one rule: no questions. And yet, how could a place so spectacular come with no price tag? While the duo plays house beneath the waves, one reality remains:
Just because a house is empty, doesn’t mean nobody’s home. — Goodreads
Finished Reading – 6 / 25 / 17
Rating – 3.2 Teenage Relationships out of 5!
- Favorite Part – The idea was really good.
- Least Favorite Part – The characters were awful and the ending made NO sense.
And that was it for the month of June! I think I did really well! What was your favorite book of the month? I’d love to know!
Thanks for reading!
SOCIAL MEDIA —
Check out my last post on my review on A House on the Bottom of a Lake – Josh Malerman HERE!
MAY WRAP UP!
May was the best reading month that I have had since I was in MIDDLE SCHOOL! Seriously I’m so proud of myself.
Stats –
- I read 7 (!!) books this month! Out of those books there were –
0 – ★
0 – ★★
2 – ★★★
3 – ★★★★
2 – ★★★★★
- Monthly Avg. Rating – 4 stars
- 5 books I read in physical copies / 2 were E-Books
- 2 physical books were library copies / 3 I owned.
- I read 1 book for review.
- I read 1 book for the Gore and More Book Club.
- Altogether I read 2,726 (+ Devil’s Call because it doesn’t have a page count).
- 3 books were adult Horror novels.
- 1 book was an adult Mystery.
- 2 books were Lit Fic.
- 1 book was a Historical Fantasy.
Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone – Stefan Kiesbye // REVIEW
The village of Hemmersmoor is a place untouched by time and shrouded in superstition: There is the grand manor house whose occupants despise the villagers, the small pub whose regulars talk of revenants, the old mill no one dares to mention. This is where four young friends come of age—in an atmosphere thick with fear and suspicion. Their innocent games soon bring them face-to-face with the village’s darkest secrets in this eerily dispassionate, astonishingly assured novel, evocative of Stephen King’s classic short story “Children of the Corn” and infused with the spirit of the Brothers Grimm.
Finished Reading – 5 / 2 / 17
Rating – 3.4 Creepy Kids out of 5!
- Favorite Part – The creepy tone and the writing!
- Least Favorite Part – The lack of an overarching narrative.
The Vegetarian – Han Kang // REVIEW
Before the nightmares began, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary, controlled life. But the dreams invasive images of blood and brutality torture her, driving Yeong-hye to purge her mind and renounce eating meat altogether. It s a small act of independence, but it interrupts her marriage and sets into motion an increasingly grotesque chain of events at home. As her husband, her brother-in-law and sister each fight to reassert their control, Yeong-hye obsessively defends the choice that s become sacred to her. Soon their attempts turn desperate, subjecting first her mind, and then her body, to ever more intrusive and perverse violations, sending Yeong-hye spiraling into a dangerous, bizarre estrangement, not only from those closest to her, but also from herself.
Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.
Finished Reading – 5 / 9 / 17
Rating – 4.1 Painted Bodies out of 5!
- Favorite Part – A great ode to mental illness and it was deeply unsettling!
- Least Favorite Part – I didn’t care about characters.
Devil’s Call – J. Danielle Dorn // REVIEW
On a dark night in the winter of 1859, three men entered the home of Dr. Matthew Callahan and shot him dead in front of his pregnant wife. Unfortunately for them, his wife, Li Lian, hails from a long line of women gifted in the dark arts–the witches of the McPherson clan.
This diary, written to the child she carries, records her quest from the Nebraska Territory to Louisiana to the frozen shore of Lake Superior, to bring justice to the monsters responsible for shooting her husband in the back. Our long-rifled witch will stop at nothing–and risk everything–in her showdown with evil.
Finished Reading – 5 / 17 / 17
Rating – 3.4 Witches out of 5!
- Favorite Part – Loved the witches and their lore.
- Least Favorite Part – I had a hard time following the story.
Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
With more than five million copies sold, Flowers for Algernon is the beloved classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie’s intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?
Finished Reading – 5 / 17 / 17
Rating – 5 Genius Rats out of 5!
- Favorite Part – The story and characters were so genuine and heartbreaking.
- Least Favorite Part – NOTHING 5/5 STARS
Night Film – Marisha Pessl
Everybody has a Cordova story. Cult horror director Stanislas Cordova hasn’t been seen in public since 1977. To his fans he is an enigma. To journalist Scott McGrath he is the enemy. To Ashley he was a father.
On a damp October night the body of young, beautiful Ashley Cordova is found in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Her suicide appears to be the latest tragedy to hit a severely cursed dynasty.
For McGrath, another death connected to the legendary director seems more than a coincidence. Driven by revenge, curiosity and a need for the truth, he finds himself pulled into a hypnotic, disorientating world, where almost everyone seems afraid.
The last time McGrath got close to exposing Cordova, he lost his marriage and his career. This time he could lose his grip on reality.
ONCE WE FACE OUR DEEPEST FEARS, WHAT LIES ON THE OTHER SIDE?
Finished – 5 / 25 / 17
Rating – 4.8 Cordova Films out of 5!
- Favorite Part – How easily the real world intertwined with the fiction of this book.
- Least Favorite Part – The tone was not as dark as I hoped.
We Came Back – Patrick Lacey // REVIEW
Growing up dead.
Melvin Brown sees things that aren’t there. Monsters with tentacles and razor-sharp teeth. Ever the social outcast, he is bullied to the point of suicide. And his hatred of those who did him wrong does not die with him.
One decade after Melvin’s death, something strange is happening to Lynnwood High School’s smartest and most popular students. They begin to act out and spend time at the former high school, now abandoned and said to be haunted. And their numbers grow at an alarming rate.
Is this just a passing fad or are the rumors true? Does Lynnwood really have a teenage cult on their hands?
Finished – 5 / 28 / 17
Rating – 4.1 Cameras out of 5!
- Favorite Part – The realistic characters and story line!
- Least Favorite Part – The writing was very average.
IT – Stephen King
Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real.
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers.
Finished – 5 / 31 / 17
Rating – 5 Pennywise the Clowns out of 5!
- Favorite Part – EVERYTHING THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK EVER!
- Least Favorite Part – NOTHING THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK EVER!
And that was it for the month of May! I think I did really well! What was your favorite book of the month? I’d love to know!
Thanks for reading!
SOCIAL MEDIA —
Check out my last post on my review of We Came Back – Patrick Lacey HERE!
April Wrap Up
April Wrap Up!
So April was THE month of horror for me! I literally ONLY read horror and LOVED every minute of it!
Stats –
- I read 4 books in this month. Out of those 4 there were –
0 – ★
2 – ★★
1 – ★★★
1 – ★★★★
0 – ★★★★★
- Altogether I read 1,352 pages.
- All four books were in the horror genre, and adult.
Exorcist Falls – Johnathan Janz // REVIEW
Chicago is gripped by terror. The Sweet Sixteen Killer is brutally murdering young women, and the authorities are baffled.
When the police are called to an affluent home in the middle of the night, they learn that a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old boy has attacked his family. The boy exhibits signs of demonic possession, and even more troublingly, he knows too much about the Sweet Sixteen killings. Father Jason Crowder, a young priest assigned to the case, must marshal his courage in order to save the boy and the entire city from the forces of evil.
But this is a darkness mankind has never encountered before. It craves more than blood. And it won’t rest until it possesses Father Crowder’s soul. – Goodreads
Finished Reading – April 5, 2017
Rating – 2.8 PLOT TWISTS OUT OF 5
- Favorite part – The premise! It was a really good idea!
- Least favorite part – SO MANY PLOT TWISTS!!
Song Of Susannah – Stephen King // REVIEW
The next-to-last novel in Stephen King’s seven-volume magnum opus, Song of Susannah is at once a book of revelation, a fascinating key to the unfolding mystery of the Dark Tower, and a fast-paced story of double-barreled suspense. – Goodreads
Finished Reading – April 10, 2017
Rating – 4 SKöLDPADDA OUT OF 5!
- Favorite part – The tie ins to the other books! Everything is tying together!!
- Least favorite part – It didn’t really stand alone as it’s own novel.
Heart-Shaped Box – Joe Hill // REVIEW
Aging, self-absorbed rock star Judas Coyne has a thing for the macabre — his collection includes sketches from infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy, a trepanned skull from the 16th century, a used hangman’s noose, Aleister Crowley’s childhood chessboard, etc. — so when his assistant tells him about a ghost for sale on an online auction site, he immediately puts in a bid and purchases it.
The black, heart-shaped box that Coyne receives in the mail not only contains the suit of a dead man but also his vengeance-obsessed spirit. The ghost, it turns out, is the stepfather of a young groupie who committed suicide after the 54-year-old Coyne callously used her up and threw her away. Now, determined to kill Coyne and anyone who aids him, the merciless ghost of Craddock McDermott begins his assault on the rocker’s sanity. – Goodreads
Finished Reading – April 17, 2017
Rating – 3.25 ODD COLLECTIONS OUT OF 5!!
- Favorite part – The design of the ghost! So creepy!!
- Least favorite part – The ending was pretty underwhelming.
Becoming – Glenn Rolfe // REVIEW
Something ancient has wormed its way up from the earth….
A change has come today.After Michele Cote’s best friend disappears, no one believes her story about the thing responsible for his abduction. Forced to figure out the mystery for herself, Michele encounters terror she has never known, and witnesses the impossible.When other members of the community begin to change or vanish, Sheriff Shane Davis must look beyond reason in order to stop the evil seeping into this small town. With help from an unlikely source, Sheriff Davis will come face-to-face with the truth.
You can’t destroy what you don’t understand. For the small town of Avalon, Maine, the future is about change…for better or worse.
Becoming is the next horrifying novel from author, Glenn Rolfe. – Goodreads
Finished Reading – April 26, 2017
Rating – 2 TENTACLE MONSTERS OUT OF 5!
- Favorite part – The monster design was pretty creepy.
- Least favorite part – THE ENDING WAS SO BAD!!
And that’s it for this month! What was your favorite read? I think mine was Song of Susannah!
Thanks for reading!
SOCIAL MEDIA —
Check out my last post on Music This Month April HERE!
My Top 5 Favorite Books of 2016 and the 1 Worst!
Before this post please go take my short and easy survey over your experience with my blog in 2016!!! It will help me make this a better blog for me and for you!
So I have officially finished my Goodreads reading challenge of 25 books (YAY) and now I feel it is time to say what my favorites and least favorite were. I am only doing my 5 favorites because I don’t feel I read enough to talk about 10 favorites and I definitely don’t feel like I have read enough to pick 5 books I didn’t like, but there is one (one and a half?) book(s) that I hated enough to just shove it into this post! Also, my rating don’t really matter to this list because it is just which books I had the most fun reading this year. So without further ado, my 5 favorites (in no particular order) and 1 least favorite book of 2016! ((Links to blog posts in the titles)
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Rating – 3.5/5
I rated this rather low, but it made me laugh so hard throughout the entire thing, and now that I look at my review, I think I should have rated it a little higher. Regardless I had the best time reading this and I think anyone would enjoy reading it!
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Rating – 4.25/5
It’s no secret that I love works about mental illness and this was no exception. The Bell Jar really touched me on a deeper level. I couldn’t put it down, and read it in a day. If you like books like The Catcher in the Rye, this is definitely for you!
Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie
Rating – 5/5
I picked up Christie for the first time EVER this year and have loved all three of her books I read this year. I gave Murder on the Orient the SLIGHT edge over Endless Night (see the review HERE) because I was more entertained throughout the entire book. No offense Endless Night. You were so close.
Watership Down – Richard Adams
Rating – 9.5/10 ( I had a different rating system then)
This was the surprise of the year for sure. I had the book on my Amazon wishlist forever, when my sister picked up for me. She said she loved it and I was like a book about rabbits? Please. Then I read it and LOVED it! Don’t judge a book by it’s cover y’all!
A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness
Rating – 10/10 (again, different system)
Are you even surprised this is on my list? I cried in this book harder than I have ever have from reading before, and thinking about it still makes me sad. I was so impacted by this, and I say ANYONE should read it!
Also see my trailer reaction for the A Monster Calls movie HERE
My least favorite book of the year was:
Funhouse – Dean Koontz
This was my first EVER review on my blog, and I specifically made this blog so I could rant about it. I hated it so much because it had SO MUCH potential. I also tried to pick up another Koontz novel this year, Twilight Eyes, and couldn’t even get through it. In fact, it was my only DNF of the year. So maybe Koontz just isn’t for me.
That is all! What is your favorite and least read of your year? I would love to know! Thanks for an amazing year! And lets hope for an even better year for 2017!
SOCIAL MEDIA —
Check out my last post on my review of Endless Night – Agatha Christie HERE!
Winter Break TBR
With school on hiatus, I can finally catch up on my reading again. I literally only read one book for class this whole semester, so I am still working toward my goal of reading 25 books before the end of the year (5 to go!!!). I hope to finish my goal, and start my 2017 goal during this break, although I don’t know what it is yet. So without further ado, my projected TBR for my winter holidays.
Currently Reading – The Dark Tower: Wolves of Calla – Stephen King 
Could you even be surprised I broke my reading slump with Stephen King? I’m about 38% through this book according to my beloved Kindle, and I’m loving it! Another great step for the series!
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling
Oh yes, I am going to do a long over due reread of the Harry Potter series. You may be surprised to know that I have only read the whole series ONCE! Blasphemy am I right?
The Cat Who Turned On and Off – Lilian Jackson Braun
The third book in the mystery series about a journalist and his very intelligent cat .
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan – Sophie Kinsella
My favorite guilty pleasure of 2016! Can’t wait to explore this series some more!
Endless Night -Agatha Christie 
The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
Making an attempt at picking up the most famous fantasy epic of all time. Wish me luck!
And that’s all I’ve got so far. I’m trying not to overwhelm myself with an ambitious TBR this season. I have a problem where I am reading TOO MANY SERIES right now! If you have any suggestions for stand alone books that I may like, I would love to hear them!
What is your TBR this season? I’d love to know!
ADD ME ON Goodreads !
Check out my last post on my thoughts on the Dark Tower movie HERE!
Spookyism 