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

Continuation

As usual, I had a summer break from blogging, but I'm back.

I'll continue with the pattern I had: a post every other saturday, the first of the month being a review and the other a tag of sorts, and with months with three posts the third will be something else.

And as always you can always see what I'm reading on my Goodreads page: link.

Read on lovelies,

S

Summer break

Summer Break Post

As usual, I'm having a summer break from blogging. I'm not sure when I'll be back yet, like I mentioned in my previous blog update (link) things are a bit up in the air. 

But I'll be back, and you can always see what I'm reading on my Goodreads page: link.

Read on lovelies,

S

Update: Things Are Happening

 Blog Update:

Things are happening

I had mentioned when I took my Winter break that I'll be starting back up in February, which I will do starting Saturday the 20th on a biweekly schedule as before - for now.

But just as a heads up, the content might not be as regular and similar as to what it was before. We will all be figuring out what this will look like as the year progresses!

For now I want to continue with the pattern of one review a month, one tag a month, and something slightly different for a post in months with three posts.

I'm sure things will change even though that's the plan for now, I mean just look back at 2013 when I started! But I'll still be here, and you can always see what I'm reading on my Goodreads page: link.

Read on lovelies,

S

Winter break

 Winter is here, and there will be some scheduling changes, I won't be totally gone though!

Next weekend (31.12.-3.1.2021) I will posting daily all of my year 2020 wrap-ups and posts looking into next year.

After that I'll have my winter holiday and not post until in February I'll be starting my biweekly Saturday schedule.

Read on lovelies and have a fantastic winter,

S

Mid Year Book Freak Out TAG

I wasn't planning on doing this tag this year since I've only read 12 books - of which none were 5 stars for me! But I thought that this, looking back and forwards, might work as a push to maybe read a bit more.

Also funnily enough, it turns out I've been doing this every other year. 2016 link & 2018 link and here it is again since we're a bit over the halfway mark again.

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2018.
I've given two books 4.5 stars so far; Turn of the Key and The Guest List.

Which is surprising, since I wouldn't think that crime would be my favorite genre this year.
2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2018.
I haven't read any! My Calamity Jane and Come Tumbling Down are high on my list though!
3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.
From ARCs I have and haven't gotten to yet; Faith and Burn
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year. Bookish and the Beast, One by One, Instant Karma, A Sky Beyond the Storm are all on my list

5. Biggest disappointment. Maybe Lady Susan? It wasn't bad (I gave it 3 stars), but especially comparing to Pride and Prejudice and Emma I was disappointed.

6. Biggest surprise. I think this goes back to my answer for the first question.

7. Favorite new author.(Debut or new to you) I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from Ruth Ware! With adult crime though, at the same time I know it could either go really well or, well, not.

8. Newest fictional crush. I don't really get fictional crushes, more like I really love a good relationship dynamic. And oddly enough, the only "romance" books I've read this year have been Persuasion and Lady Susan. Maybe I should pick up a contemporary book next.

Also something to mention, I enjoyed the relationships in the book Hawk.

9. Newest favorite character. I really don't think I have one!

10. Book that made you cry. None, I don't think

11. Book that made you happy. Book Love was definitely a cute one

12. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received) I haven't bough a single book! Well I guess I did, but it's a cookbook so does it count?

I've had this bucket list dream of cooking every single thing in a cookbook and I finally found one I wanted to go with; Magnolia Table. And it is gorgeous!

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
I went back to my post in January of anticipated reads, and I haven't read any! 4 out of the 6 2020 releases have already been released, yet I haven't read them.

400th Post

This right here is my 400th post(!), and I still can't believe that that is how many I've done!

I started in October 2013 with five reviews back to back (Graceling, Hunger Games, Gallagher Girls, Throne of Glass, Infernal Devices - all the ones everyone were reading). Actually, maybe I should go back and re-read Graceling and see how a review now would compare to my very first one? I'll put it into my thinking cap.

Then in 2014 I had a whopping 97 posts, with 12 alone in July! I started out with posts twice a week, T5W's (Top 5 Wednesdays) were here for a while.

Now it's just every other Saturday, a comfortable amount to me, with everything else going on. I haven't wanted to stop - and don't plan on for a while - even though my reasons to continue aren't all the reasons why I started.

I wrote about why I started in my very first post, and made another post four years later "Revamping an old Post" (link here). If you've read that post, then you know what I mean when I say thank you. Thank you for reading, even though it's not what I initially even really wanted. Yet here we are 400 posts later.

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

New Schedule?

I've been writing here since winter 2013 with up to 11 posts one month (!) with T5W ones on wednesdays, regular posts on saturdays and wrap-ups at the end of the month for a long time.

Each summer I'd have a break or post every other week, like I have been doing now, and I've been really enjoying it. It forces me think carefully about what I really want to write about since I only have three posts per month with one being a wrap-up.

So I've decided that's what I'll continue to do, at least until Christmas. At the end of each month there'll be a wrap-up. Then every other post will probably be one review (or I've been thinking about doing a couple small reviews in one post) and every other either a tag or something else I'll come up with. But we shall see!

Read on lovelies,

S

Summer Schedule

Summer is here, and there will be some scheduling changes, I won't be gone though!

I’m doing it the way I did last year;

through June, July, and partly August, I will be posting every second Saturday.

So biweekly from June 1st to August 17th

Read on lovelies and have a fantastic summer,

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

Kept Books, Maybe Pile and Organization

Last weeks post was about unhauling books with a goal of only owning the books I really like and want to reread.
This followup post will delve into my kept books, my maybe pile and how I've organized everything on my shelves.

When it comes to organizing my books I mainly kept them in color order since it's a fast way for me to find a book.

The top row has white to grey to black.

The second row has "colorful" books in rainbow-ish order.
Since they perfectly fit I left it like that, but when there'll be additions I'll start shifting the darker blue books to the top row.

The third row has three sections.
On the left there are my Harry Potters (and three illustrated ones in Finnish)
In the middle there are my classics (collections on the left and others on the right)
Then on the farmost right there's one book that I'm currently reading (technically this is my TBR pile, but I only have that one)


MAYBE pile:
These are located on the top shelf middle-ish, so still on my shelves with the others but slightly indented further.
    If I Stay 1

    Clockwork Angel 1-3

    Heist Society 1-3
    Snow Like Ashes 1-3
    Impostor 1-2
I'll be reading the first few chapters of each to see if I'm interested anymore after which I'll decided if I'll keep any of them.


Maybe: 12
Keeping: 81 + 7 classics (+1 duplicate), 7 HP (+3 duplicates) = 95 (+4)
^ The duplicates I have are copies in Finnish

Read on lovelies,

S

2018: Statistics and Achievements

Yearly Statistics & Achievements

2017 version: link
2016 version: link


First of all I almost finished the 2018 TBR challenge (link),
            > With 1 challenge left (someone else chose)
& I also finished my Anticipated reads of 2018 (link)
            > All 7 that are mentioned at the bottom and additional 2 from the list of last year (Lucky in Love and Renegades)
& my TBR (link) is down to 3 books.
            > But I did get it down to ~0 in October!
& when it comes to classics, well I didn't read too many
><><><

Total books read: 42 (Compared to last years 34)

            10+7+1+2+2+12+0+2+0+0+2+4

Month read most: June: 12

     least: July, September & October: 0

Pages ~ 15 211 (Last year: 10542)
    Average length 362 pages (Last year: 310)

Format: ebook: ~6 (formally), audio: 13

Arc/sent: 13

Reviewed: 13

In Finnish: 2

Most popular (according to Goodreads): Jane Eyre

     Least popular Moran Cartoons

Length: longest  1 248 (Bible)
               shortest 106 (Elias)

Publication oldest: 1847 Jane Eyre
        books I read published this year: 20

Stars: in order of least: 1,5,2,4,3 ("1" means any rating starting with a 1. Meaning 1 and 1.5 are both included in "1")
       average being ~3.652 this year & over all in all the years ~3.225
       This year I gave 1 five-star &
                                 4 four-point-five-stars &
                                 0 one-stars

><><><

Series Finished:
Snow Like Ashes (3)
Spindle Fire (2)
Flame in the Mist (2)
Remnant Chronicles (3)

2018 goals, TBR etc. all coming in the next few weeks.

Read on lovelies,

S

Star Rating Statistics

In the previous two years around 80 books have been added to the books I have listed read on my excel (~600 books at this point). So to see how things have changed I'm looking into those 80 books and comparing to the stats of all the books.

Still with me?

All the books (excding the last 2 years):

487 books,

ave. 3.15

Now to the books from October 2016 to midway of October 2018:

83 books,

ave. 3.65

Now all the books:

570 books,
ave. 3.22

Breakdown:

Most growth: 

4.5 ★ from 4.53% to 18.66%

2.5 ★ from 4.35% to 8%

3.5 ★ from 13.22% to 20%

4 ★ from 21.74% to 28%

Most dropped:

2 ★ from 15.2% to 1.33%

3 ★ from 27.7% to 17.33%

1 ★ from 4.89% to 2.66%

5 ★ from 7.6% to 4%

So what do these tell me? It tells me that I've been rating books better, hopefully meaning that I've liked the books better, which tells me that I've come to know what types of books I like and I've focused on them. Yes I do realize that my 5 star rated books have also dropped, but so have 1-3.

Which is actually kind of surprising me since I feel like I've been expanding what I read and picking up things that I used to not. Which apparently is a very good thing!

Read on lovelies,

S

Book Haul 2018 II

I made a post, link, in the beginning of May titled "Book Haul 2018 Quarter I" which first of all I posted in May and secondly should've been called Tertile (or something or another?). Also there's the fact that I've been really limiting the books I buy and getting my TBR down (link here) so I was never even planning on doing multiple haul posts this year... Anyway on to the haul:

BOOK HAUL:

All the books I've bought and received - 2018 quarter II:

ARCs received / publisher

- - -

1. The Kiss Quotient(e-arc), e

2. When Dimple Met Rishi

3-5. Emma, P&P, Jane Eyre (new editions)
6. My Plain Jane (physical copy)
7-8. Harry Potter 2-3 (illustrated editions)

- - -

Also as a follow-up haul to last weeks one all about the Helsinki Book Fair.
What I got from there:

1. Vuosisadan rakkaustarina

2. Työmiehen vaimo
3. Elias
4. Tarinoita suomalaisista tytöistä, jotka muuttivat maailmaa
5. Pyrstötähti

- - -

Read on lovelies,
S

update

Today's post will be up tomorrow evening.

To anyone around Helsinki this weekend, I'd recommend the Helsinki Book Fair!

TBR update!

Along the years, I've done lots of TBR posts/challenges/updates and now I'm proud to announce:

I'm officially at zero!
Also perfect timing because the yearly Helsinki Book Fair is next week, and I know I won't be able to not buy any books...

My yearly TBR, 2018 - (which I update): link

May of 2014 - TBR jar (I kept it up for a year): link

February of 2015 - #0by16 inspired challenge: reading all the books you bought before that year

December of 2015 - reading only books from my shelf (not from the library or my brothers shelf)

January 2016 - Around the World in 52 Books Challenge link

                           & again reading all the books I'd bought the previous year, which I continue

June of 2016 - TBR is at 0 : link (and that summer was spent reading books from my brothers shelf I was putting off)

January 2017 - Modified, around the world in 52 books, Challenge link (this time aimed for expanding what I read)

January 2018 - Modified Challenge link (aimed for expanding what I read)

An interesting thing I also I noticed was that the last four books were all different genres, and the ones I read the most (non-fiction science book, standalone fairytale retelling, fantasy series conclusion, standalone contemporary). I wanted to see if they were all a genre that I maybe don't tend to gravitate towards, but nope.

Read on lovelies,

S

My Goodreads Shelves, Update 2018

I made a post in September 2015 (link) which I updated in February 2017 explaining my Goodreads shelves I've created to catalog all my books (I also have a more in depth Excel on it link to that post).

Since it's been almost two years again I'm making an updated post explaining them.

My Goodreads

Bookshelves

All (635)

Read ‎(578)

Currently Reading ‎(1)

Want to Read ‎(38)

collections-tbr ‎(3)             Classic collections that I have not completed

dnf_yet-never ‎(20)           Books I did not finish, some with the thought of maybe finishing

*have ‎(167)                      Books I own physical copies of

*reviewed ‎(58)                  Books I've reviewed (on Goodreads)

arc-sent4review ‎(43)          Advanced Readers Copies or other books sent to me from publishers/authors

classics-awards-read ‎(90)   Classic books and award winning book I've read

classics-to ‎(12)                   Classics I have yet to but want to read

continuation ‎(11)              Series I'm in the middle of (book shelved here is a series I've started but book I haven't read)

ebook ‎(31)                        Books I own electronic copies of

ebook-classics ‎(27)          Classics I own electronic copies of (book shelved here isn't in the "ebook" shelf)

get ‎(13)                             Books I want to buy

get-read ‎(4)                       Books I want to buy that I have already read

graphic-novels ‎(64)           Graphic novels that I've read

library ‎(10)                        Books I want to read from the library

series-i-dnf ‎(74)                Series I won't continue (book shelved here is the last one in the series I read)

series-i-finished ‎(55)         Series I finished (book shelved here is the last one in the series)

tbr ‎(1)                               My To Be Read books (books I own but haven't read (all formats))

tbr-sent ‎(0)                       My To Be Read books I was sent

x-18 ‎(0)                             Those books from my TBR shelf that I bought in 2018

y-17 ‎(1)                             Those book from my TBR shelf that I bought in 2017

Read on lovelies,

S

Genre Statistics

In October 2016 I made a post link about Genres. What I read, reasons and statistics. So now two years later I want to see how much it has changed.

Keep in mind though that at the end of the year I always do a post about statistics of that year (amounts, genres, pages, months etc.).

After the previous post around 80 books have been added to the books I have listed read on my excel (~600 books at this point).  So to see how things have changed I'm also looking into those 80 books and comparing to last times stats.

Still with me?

This shows all the books I've read by genre

All the books:
(a ">" means it has changed more than .5% since the 2016 post)

Magic 13.16% (and yes magic is part of fantasy, but here the section above is only non-magic fantasy...)
Fantasy 15.96%

Realistic Fiction 10.70%

> Graphic Novel 11.40% (from classics to magic) +1 positions

> Classic-y 10.53%
> Romance (only) 6.66%

> Agents 5.44% (um, yep these are weirdly sorted)
> Retelling 5.96% +1
Dystopia 3.68%
> Sci-fi 3.68%
> Non-fiction 3.68%
> Crime 3.50%
Short-story 1.58%
Childrens 1.23%
Novella 0.53%
Plays 0.53%
Poems 0.88% +2
Survival 0.53%
Horror 0.35%
Historical 0.18%

(tot. 571 books)

Now to the books from October 2016 to midway of August 2018:

8     Retelling 15.66% +7

6     Romance 12.05% +4

12    Crime 12.05% +10

1     Fantasy 10.84% -3

5     Realistic Fiction 10.84% +1

2     Magic 8.43% -4

11    Non-fiction 7.23% +4

10    Sci-fi 6.02% +2

7     Agents 4.82% -2

3     Graphic Novel 3.61% -7

4     Classic-y 2.41% -7

17    Poems 2.41% +6

20    Historical 1.20% +8

18    Survival 1.20% +5

19    Horror 1.20% +6

9     Dystopia

13    Short-story -1

14    Childrens 

15    Novella +1

16    Plays +2

(tot. 83 books)

Breakdown:

Most grown: Crime, Historical and Retellings.

Though from previously not having read any and now one historical that can be taken off that list.

Most dropped: Graphic Novels, Classic-y and Magic.

I stopped doing my classic-a-month challenge so there's that explained...

Read on lovelies,

S