2022 Anticipated Reads, New Releases and Goals

2022 Anticipated Reads, New Releases and Goals

2021 list: link

Anticipated reads (already out):

> Gilded

> Pride and Premeditation

> A Sky Beyond the Storm #3, Tahir

> Of Curses and Kisses, Menon

New releases:

> Where the Drowned Girls Go

> Master of Iron

> My Imaginary Mary

Goals: (same as last year)

> Read more classics (ideally maybe 5)

> Expand what I read

> Finish series and not push the last book back

Read on lovelies,

S

Winter Break & Series I'm Currently Reading

 Winter Break & Series I'm Currently Reading

As usual, this blog and I will be having a break for winter. At the very end of the year I will be posting all my usual yearly wrap-ups and statistics, but after that I will be having my usual break and continuing after we are into 2022.

One of the goals I usually set for myself, is to not push off reading the last book in a series, since that is something I tend to do. To prolong the experience? To not have to close the last chapters of the last book? Honestly, who knows - I sure don't.

I feel like I've been doing a better job of this, but wanted to visualize all the series I'm currently in the middle of to really see how I'm doing. And to remind me of books I really should pick up I suppose. Without further ado, onto the list.

Series with books published that I haven't read:

- Heart of Iron

- An Ember in the Ashes

- Myyttihovi

- Inhertiance Games

Series I'm caught up with, but that aren't finished:

- Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor

- The Fray Theory

- Wayward Children

- Bladesmith

- Graceling Realm

- Darkness Between Us

- Mary

Read on lovelies,

S

Ultimate YA books Tier List Maker

The "Ultimate YA books Tier List Maker" has been going around the internet for a while now, and as a list lover, I just want to jump on the bandwagon.

I changed the tiers around a bit for my liking, and wanted to do this in three steps:

1st round: rank them based on how you feel

2nd round: rank them based on your star ratings

3rd round: compare to the cumulative average rankings

Because the thing is, some of these books I've read ages ago - and even if I loved them then, maybe I don't think so highly of them anymore when compared to others? I guess we shall see

ROUND 1:
>> It looks more like a linear growth than the bell curve I was hoping for

 >> Starting from the bottom:
- In bad tier everything is 1-2 stars except Eleanor and Park, Every Day, All the Bright Places and Looking for Alaska are 3 stars
- In okay tier everything is from 3,5-4 stars with Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Shatter Me and The Book Thief being 3 stars and Three Dark Crowns being 2,5
- In good tier everything is again between 3,5-4
- In great tier everything is between 4-4,5
- In best tier everything is between 4,5-5

ROUND 2:
 >> Actually quite a bit of moving things around with everything staying put or shifting up or down by 1, except ACoTaR by 2

ROUND 3:

  >> Now this is different with Anna and the French Kiss, The Wrath and the Dawn, Percy Jackson moving the most
And then all the other books I haven't read, from which Cruel Prince, Darker Shade of Magic and Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda are the top rated ones

Link to the TierMaker list here: https://tiermaker.com/create/ultimate-ya-books-series-155444

Not sure who the creator is, but here's the first one I saw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfmCUZVRLMA

Read on lovelies,

S

2020 Anticipated Reads, New Releases and Goals

2020 Anticipated Reads, New Releases and Goals

Anticipated reads (already out):
> Soul of Stars, Poston
> The Beautiful, Ahdieh

New releases:
> Inheritance Games, Barnes

> Come Tumbling Down, McGuire

> Hearts, Heroes, and Heath Hall, West

> Winterborne Academy for Home for Vengeance and Valor, Carter

> My Calamity Jane, Lady Janies

> Once Upon a Con #3, Poston

Goals:

> Read more classics than I have been (ideally maybe 5 in 2020)

> Another goal is to expand what I read

> Finish series and not push the last book back

Read on lovelies,

S

2019: Statistics and Achievments

Yearly Statistics & Achievements

2018 version: link

2017 version: link
2016 version: link

First of all I finished the 2019 TBR challenge (link)

I also finished 6 out of 10 of my Anticipated reads of 2019 (link)

            > Out of the 4 left: 2 have yet to be released (Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor, An Ember in the Ashes #4), 1 I no longer am interested in reading (Her Royal Highness) and only 1 book I just didn't get to (Soul of Stars)

My TBR (link) is down to 1 book (Sorcery & Cecilia: or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot)

            > It has been zero for most of the year and I've been really happy with that!

& when it comes to classics, well I didn't read that many.

><><><

Total books read: 44 (Compared to 2018: 42 and 2017: 34)

            10+3+1+8+1+3+9+5+0+0+2+2

           > Interestingly enough September and October were 0 months also last year, but not the years before

Month read most: January: 10

    least: September & October: 0

Pages ~ 11 980 (2018: 15 211 & 2017: 10 542)

    Average length 272 pages (2018: 362 & 2017: 310)

Format: ebook: 12 (2018: 6), audio: 26 (2018: 13), physical 6 (2018: 23)

Arc/sent: 14 (2018: 13)

Reviewed: 18 (2018: 13)

In Finnish: 3 (2018: 2)

Most popular (according to Goodreads): To All The Boys I've Loved Before

     Least popular Magical Experiments

Length: longest  549 (Supernova)

               shortest 18 (Paw Prints)

Publication oldest: 1885 - Työmiehen vaimo

        books I read published this year: 22

Stars: in order of least: 2,3,4 ("1" means any rating starting with a 1. Meaning 1 and 1.5 are both included in "1")

       average being ~3.81 this year & over all in all the years ~3.26

       Highest rating being 4.5, given to 12 books

       Lowest rating 2.5, given to 1 book

><><><

Series Finished:

Daughter of the Pirate King (duology)

Cinder and Ella (duology)
Renegades (trilogy)

2019 goals, TBR etc. all coming in the next few weeks.

Read on lovelies,

S

First Sentences in Books part II

I made a part one a while ago, and wanted to do another one with more!
This time around with ones that aren't exactly my cup of tea, and some variations that are.

—
There are ones that feel like you've read it too many times,
or just tell something vague about the main character,
or just a punch of way too much information,
ones that you feel like didn't say anything at all, or just purely confuse you,
and ones that make you think again about reading the book at all.
—

When I was young, I would often spend the weekend at my grandmother's house.
- Eating Animals bu Foer

As Katie wound her way among the tables, a breeze from the Atlantic rippled through her hair.
-Safe Haven

Today was the day a thousand dreams would die and a single dream would be born.
- Kiss of Deception

She was born Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she did not open her eyes for three days.
- Goose Girl

New Year's Eve fell on a Sunday.
- All In

The sun was raining again.
- Furthermore

- - -

Another interesting thing I've been seeing are variations on the classical first sentence explaining who the main character is, and some are greatly done!

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
- The Cather in the Rye

I ain't never been one to trust beautiful people, and Tarrin of the Hariri was the most beautiful man I ever saw.
- The Assassin's Curse

In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three.
- Howl's Moving Castle

Eliza Mirk is the kind of name you give to the creepy girl who clings to her ex-boyfriend for weeks after he's dumped her because she refuses to accept that he hates her guts.
- Eliza and Her Monsters

There is nothing remotely remarkable about the background of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.
- A Brief Guide To JRR Tolkien by Cawthorne

Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.
- Harry Potter

Read on lovelies.

S

First Sentences in Books part I

The very first sentences we read in books tells us a lot; about the writing, the feeling, the setting or character. Not all first sentences are made equal though, they don’t always convey anything about the story. There are many memorable ones for me, both in the negative and positive aspect, and here are some great ones!

—
There are ones that are nostalgic,
ones that grab your attention immediately,
ones that throw you right in the middle of the action,
ones that tell you a lot about the book or the style,
ones that make you laugh,
and ones that just purely make you want to know more.
—

We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.
- Feed by Anderson

My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted.
- Jellicoe Road byMarchetta

The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say.
- The Knife of Never Letting Go by Ness

It seems like there should be some sort of introduction to this.
- Hyperbole and a Half

I can't remember many specific details of the accident, but the fear I felt that day is still crystal clear in my memory.
- Cinder and Ella

The end of the sword was pointing straight at my heart, and my murderer's eyes were like black holes threatening to swallow up everything that came too close to them.
- Emerald Green

The sound of my knife slitting across a throat feels much too loud in the darkness.
- Daughter of the Siren Queen

The blood underneath her nails bothered her.
- Batman

You may think you know the story.
- My Lady Jane

No one survives beyond the fence.
- The Revolution of Ivy

This time we were in the Great Room enduring another etiquette lesson when bricks came flying through the window.
- The One

In some part of my brain, probably the logical part that seemed to be missing at the moment, I knew I should let go and walk away, maintain some of my dignity.
- The Fill-in Boyfriend

How did they find us so fast?
- A Torch Against the Night

Locked in darkness that surrounded me like a coffin, I had nothing to distract me from my memories.
- Poison Study

This book begins the same way as nearly all my social interactions; with a series of detailed and thorough apologies.
- The Idiot Brain

Read on lovelies.

S

Book Challenge Challenge

I've been trying to push myself to read more and expand what I read. So far though, I've been swamped with school and I tend to just grab one I know I'll like. So for inspiration I started googling around for a book challenge to complete throughout the next half of the year, and found lots!
So here for inspiration is a list of challenges.


Classics:
https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2018/12/back-to-classics-2019_9.html

Books 'N' Tunes:
http://delightedreader.com/books-n-tunes-challenge-sign-up-for-2019/

Color coded:
https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2018/10/color-coded-read-it-again-sam-2019-sign.html

I Spy:
https://faithhopecherrytea.blogspot.com/2018/11/i-spy-reading-challenge-2019-begins-now.html

Monthly Key Word:
http://jannghi.blogspot.com/2018/10/monthly-key-word-challenge-2019.html

Retellings:
http://www.cornerfolds.com/2018/12/2019-retellings-reading-challenge.html

TBR challenge:
http://wendythesuperlibrarian.blogspot.com/2018/12/announcing-2019-tbrchallenge.html



If none of these sparked your interest, this is a compiled list of tons more:
http://www.girlxoxo.com/the-master-list-of-2019-reading-challenges/

Read on lovelies,

S

Update: Did I Read Them?

I decided to do an update looking back at my old posts about books I hadn't read yet - and see if I have years later!
So without further ado, onto the list:

I'll cross over the ones I have read

Books I Haven't Read Yet (2014 link)

1. The Lord of the Rings
2. Narnia by C.S. Lewis
3. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
4. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
6. Legend by Marie Lu
7. Enclave by Ann Aguirre
8. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
9. Half Bad by Sally Green
10. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Series I Haven't Finished (2014 link)

Are out but I don’t have them:

1. Defiance

2. Fables, graphic novel (I'm at number 9)
3. Manners and Mutiny4. Sealed with a Lie

Are out and I have them, but I haven't read them...:

1. Days of Blood and Starlight
2. False Memory 2-3

3. Poison Study 2-3
4. Goose Girl 3-4
5. Heir of Fire

6. Oz 2-37. Miss Mayhem

1st ones I own but have yet to read...:
1. Uglies
2. Geek Girl
3. Ember in the Ashes
4. The Knife of Never Letting Go
5. Sisters Red
6. Snow Like Ashes7. A Court of Thorns and Roses
8. Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

With this latter list, the ones in red are the ones I want to get to. And from the last list of series I hadn't even started, I ended up reading all of the first ones, finishing only one series and waiting for the completion of one series.

Read on lovelies,

S

How Many Have I Read?

There are plenty of lists and quizzes online to see if you've read a majority of books on a list, and I decided to take a longer one with you guys.

This list is from here: link, you're free to join me!
I'll check off the ones I have read and tally them up in the end to see how many I have read

1. 1984

George Orwell

	2. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Mark Twain
	3. The Alchemist	Paulo Coelho
	4. Alice in Wonderland	Lewis Carroll
	5. All the King's Men	Robert Penn Warren
	6. All the Pretty Horses	Cormac McCarthy
	7. The Ambassadors	Henry James
	8. And Then There Were None	Agatha Christie
	9. Anne of Green Gables	L.M. Montgomery
	10. Beloved	Toni Morrison
	11. Brave New World	Aldous Huxley
	12. Brideshead Revisited	Evelyn Waugh
	13. Bridget Jones’s Diary	Helen Fielding
	14. The Call of the Wild	Jack London
	15. The Canterbury Tales	Geoffrey Chaucer
	16. Catch-22	Joseph Heller
	17. The Catcher in the Rye	J.D. Salinger
	18. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	Roald Dahl
	19. Charlotte’s Web	E.B. White
	20. Cloud Atlas	David Mitchel
	21. The Color Purple	Alice Walker
	22. A Confederacy of Dunces	John Kennedy Toole
	23. Count of Monte Cristo	Alexandre Dumas
	24. Crime and Punishment	Fyodor Dostoyevsky
	25. Darkness at Noon	Arthur Koestler
	26. Don Quixote	Miguel De Cervantes
	27. Dracula	Bram Stoker
	28. Dune	Frank Herbert
	29. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test	Tom Wolfe
	30. Fahrenheit 451	Ray Bradbury
	31. A Fine Balance	Rohinton Mistry
	32. Go Tell It on the Mountain	James Baldwin
	33. The Golden Notebook	Doris Lessing
	34. Gone With The Wind	Margaret Mitchell
	35. The Good Soldier	Ford Madox Ford
	36. The Grapes of Wrath	John Steinbeck
	37. Gravity's Rainbow	Thomas Pynchon
	38. Great Expectations	Charles Dickens
	39. The Great Gatsby	F. Scott Fitzgerald
	40. Gulliver's Travels	Jonathan Swift
	41. Hamlet	William Shakespeare
	42. The Handmaid’s Tale	Margaret Atwood
	43. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	J.K. Rowling
	44. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter	Carson McCullers
	45. Heart of Darkness	Joseph Conrad
	46. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy	Douglas Adams
	47. Howard's End	E.M. Forster
	48. In Search of Lost Time	Marcel Proust
	49. Invisible Man	Ralph Ellison
	50. Jane Eyre	Charlotte Brontë
	51. The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini
	52. Les Miserables	Victor Hugo
	53. Life of Pi	Yann Martel
	54. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe	C.S. Lewis
	55. The Little Prince	Antoine De Saint-Exupery
	56. Little Women	Louisa M Alcott
	57. Lolita	Vladimir Nabokov
	58. Lord of the Flies	William Golding
	59. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring	J.R.R. Tolkien
	60. Madame Bovary	Gustave Flaubert
	61. Main Street	Sinclair Lewis
	62. The Maltese Falcon	Dashiell Hammett
	63. Memoirs of a Geisha	Arthur Golden
	64. Middlemarch	George Eliot
	65. Midnight’s Children	Salman Rushdie
	66. Moby Dick	Herman Melville
	67. Naked Lunch	William S. Burroughs
	68. Native Son	Richard Wright
	69. Northern Lights (The Golden Compass)	Philip Pullman
	70. The Old Man and the Sea	Ernest Hemingway
	71. On The Road	Jack Kerouac
	72. One Hundred Years of Solitude	Gabriel Garcia Marquez
	73. A Prayer for Owen Meaney	John Irving
	74. Pride and Prejudice	Jane Austen
	75. The Remains of the Day	Kazuo Ishiguro
	76. The Scarlet Letter	Nathaniel Hawthorne
	77. The Secret Garden	Frances Hodgson Burnett
	78. The Secret History	Donna Tartt
	79. A Separate Peace	John Knowles
	80. The Shadow of the Wind	Carlos Ruiz Zafon
	81. Sister Carrie	Theodore Dreiser
	82. Slaughterhouse-Five	Kurt Vonnegut
	83. Sons and Lovers	D.H. Lawrence
	84. The Sound and the Fury	William Faulkner
	85. Stranger in a Strange Land	Robert Heinlein
	86. Swallows and Amazons	Arthur Ransom
	87. The Time Traveler’s Wife	Audrey Niffenegger
	88. To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee
	89. To the Lighthouse	Virginia Woolf
	90. A Town Like Alice	Nevil Shute
	91. Tropic of Cancer	Henry Miller
	92. Ulysses	James Joyce
	93. Under the Volcano	Malcolm Lowry
	94. War and Peace	Leo Tolstoy
	95. Watership Down	Richard Adams
	96. The Way of All Flesh	Samuel Butler
	97. The Wind in the Willows	Kenneth Grahame
	98. Winnie the Pooh	A.A. Milne
	99. Wuthering Heights	Emily Bronte Robert M. Pirsig
	100. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance So a whopping 18%. I'm not exactly surprised, but I hoped it would've been higher Read on lovelies, S