June was kind of a meh month for me. We officially reopened fully at work on June 15th, so that was nice to have that routine back. I do not do well with change, and I much enjoy having my consistent schedule back at work. I still find it weird that we are in a Pandemic, and I’m not sure that will ever not be strange to me. BUT OMG, do I miss staying at home. Like I long for that hermit time again. Ah well I did read some pretty awesome books in June but honestly… that’s about everything I did.

I spend an exorbitant amount of time on Bookstagram now so if you want to see me at my most active – follow me there. I update much more frequently than here and plus I just share stuff in a more timely and up to date manner.

Now, onto the books I read! If you DO follow me on Instagram you might have seen me mention a few times that I had a mystery TBR for the month of June, now you can know what it was

Ever since I’ve seen Books and Lala’s video, “Husband Decides What I Read” I’ve been dying to have someone pick my TBR for a month. While we were self isolating I posed the idea to my sister and she ran with it! And let me just tell you she hit it out of the park – I really liked all of the books – with NONE of them being below four stars! I might have her do this again for September

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Relentless by Karen Lynch
Darkness of Light by Stacey Marie Brown
A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Now essentially my TBR for July is going to be trying to continuing with the FIVE new series I started in June! I have a HUGE summer of reading ahead of me… oh dear! I expected to read a lot more books in June, but between spending most of my time on Bookstagram and basically adding books to my TBR… it left little time for reading, haha.

Have you read any of these books? Did you love them? How was your June?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl

These seasonal TBR’s have always been really fun for me to fill out, but I have ALWAYS had problems actually completing them… I always get distracted but a few dozen other books and completely blow my TBR out. Now I plan to take part in a rather big readathon in August (The N.E.W.Ts – if it still goes ahead) so I’ve kept this rather modest and haven’t listed ten books, but rather a few standalone/start of series and then some series that I KNOW I am going to finish this summer. 

1. A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown – I want to read this SO BAD. I’ve been super bad with updating my Goodreads the past couple of months *ahem, years* so I never seem to add books, instead I add them into this notebook that I barely ever reference in a timely matter so I nearly missed the release of this but I also did not pre-order it or add myself to a wait list to the library. My sister is currently reading it (she bought the ebook because she couldn’t wait for a bookstore restock haha) and really loving it.  As soon as this is back in stock I will be picking it up and hopefully it’s soon before I am spoiled.

2. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager – Ah, not much to say here. I read every Riley Sager. I don’t even know what this is about (my most recent book thing is barely reading synopsis’… or when I do I promptly forget haha) but I am reading it regardless.

3. You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson – I am not really interested in contemporary reads as much as I used to be so I didn’t have this on my radar. With there being a lot more recommendations and promotion of black-authored books the past few weeks this kept catching my eye and now all I want to do is pick it up!

4. Beach Read by Emily Henry – I solely want to read this for the hype, I’ll be honest. As mentioned above, I don’t really read many contemporaries anymore but I have seen this so mentioned so many times in the booksphere that I can’t help but want to read it.

5. The Relentless Series by Karen Lynch – After YEARS, actual years of my sister urging me to read this I finally read the first book last week and yes, I did love it. So I will most certainly be finishing this series this summer. For sure.

6. The Iron Fae series by Julie Kagawa – I read the first book in the series earlier this month and loved it. I’m trying to be better with keeping up with series once I start them this year so I want to finish reading this series this summer as well!

Phew! And that’s it. I have to say, it is probably my most realistic TBR I have ever posted… I full intend and WANT to read these books as soon as possible… I’m hoping to do a check in later this year and we will see how many I got to

What’s on your summer TBR? Any of these.. or better yet, have you read any  of these?

I started May fresh off the heels of the O.W.L’s Magical Readathon, with my last book read being House of Earth & Blood so I didn’t quite feel like diving into another book right away. I also started working again the second week into March, which felt weird. I’m still not back in the groove of going to work, and plus it’s very different now with new protocols and so on in place. It’s odd. I have to admit I really was living perhaps my best kind of life just staying at home, reading and interacting with no humans besides Nick and my sister! I kind of miss it.

So that being said, I did get a decent amount of reading done in May. I felt for the past few years I really could not get my reading groove back but for some reason, during this bizarre pandemic, I seem to have found it again. I’m finding I have easily slid back into old reading habits, of reading with every spare minute available including my commute. I ended up completing 9 books!

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
The Betrothed by Kiera Cass
In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Someone We Know by Shari LaPena
After the Storm by Linda Castillo
Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

Things have slowly started opening back up here in Calgary, and we hadn’t really ventured out except for work, groceries or animal food but we decided to pay a visit to our favourite local used bookstore, Fair’s Fair and pick up some new reads! My sister and I both left with quite the stack and it was nice to be able to browse a used bookstore again after months inside!

Overall May was a fairly good month, if for nothing else but reading. I expect June to be a fantastic month as it’s my birthday month AND there is a mini magical readathon

How was your May? Did you have a good reading month?

A would-be queen. A handsome young king. A perfect match…or is it?

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series comes The Betrothed, a glittering royal romance sure to captivate her legion of loyal readers and lovers of courtly intrigue alike.

When King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, Hollis is shocked—and thrilled. After all, she’s grown up at Keresken Castle, vying for the king’s attention alongside other daughters of the nobility. Capturing his heart is a dream come true.

But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she thought it would be. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she really wants is one that she never thought to imagine.

My Thoughts & Review

I adored The Selection series so when I seen that Kiera Cass had an upcoming book that seemed to be along the same vein (minus the competition of course), I knew I had to pick it up.

Ugh, how disappointed I am. I honestly have no other way to describe my reading experience except to say I slogged through it. It’s a really easy read but honestly, I had no inclination to pick it back up every time I put it down. The last 30% (ish) was intriguing to me because there was a bit more action, and honestly the book took a bit of a dark turn that I didn’t see coming.

The characters were lacklustre to me. I didn’t feel like I really knew (or cared) about any of them. I think that the fact we were just thrust right into the story from page one, with no character building may have played a part in this. The only character that I felt strongly towards was Delia Grace. She was apparently Holis’ best friend but I honestly just felt she was more concerned with herself and didn’t really like Holis at all.

The plot for the first part of the book is for lack of a better word, boring. Holis is going to marry King Jameson, then a boy from another kingdom comes, her eyes wander… you get the idea. The last 30% picked up considerably, and there was a twist thrown in that I didn’t see coming.

Despite all of all, I am going to most likely pick up the second book. I’m just so intrigued by where the story is going to go after the events of the end of The Betrothed. I am interested in learning more of the world, and I hope we do get some broader world building.

Breezing into the tony seaside paradise of Westport, Connecticut, gorgeous thirtysomething Piper Reynard sets down roots, opening a rehab and wellness space and joining a local yacht club. When she meets Leo Drakos, a handsome, successful lawyer, the wedding ring on his finger is the only thing she doesn’t like about him. Yet as Piper well knows, no marriage is permanent.

Meanwhile, Joanna has been waiting patiently for Leo, the charismatic man she fell in love with all those years ago, to re-emerge from the severe depression that has engulfed him. Though she’s thankful when Leo returns to his charming, energetic self, paying attention again to Evie and Stelli, the children they both love beyond measure, Joanna is shocked to discover that it’s not her loving support that’s sparked his renewed happiness—it’s something else.

Piper. Leo has fallen head over heels for the flaky, New Age-y newcomer, and unrepentant and resolute, he’s more than willing to leave Joanna behind, along with everything they’ve built. Of course, he assures her, she can still see the children.

Joanna is devastated—and determined to find something, anything, to use against this woman who has stolen her life and her true love. As she digs deeper into Piper’s past, Joanna begins to unearth disturbing secrets . . . but when she confides to her therapist that she fears for the lives of her ex-husband and children, her concerns are dismissed as paranoia. Can she find the proof she needs in time to save them?

My Thoughts & Review

Liv Constantine has been on my radar since I read, and enjoyed, The Last Mrs. Parrish so when I received The Wife Stalker I could hardly wait to dive into it back in April!

Honestly, there is little I feel like I can really say without unintentionally spoiling something so I’ve essentially just going to give some minor thoughts and urge you to pick this up if you are at all intrigued!

I found the pacing a bit strange and scattered when I first started reading. I thought Leo & Piper’s relationship happened at warp speed which made me a bit uncomfortable and I felt sorry for Joanna with the sudden and abrupt ending of her relationship. I had a hard time getting into it the first couple of times I picked it up over the course of a few days and I think it was due to this, I just found it unbelievable and bizarre. I obviously forged ahead and ultimately became very interested in the story but it’s worth it to note. Once I became invested in the story, I couldn’t put it down and practically read it in a sitting (obviously being self-isolated helped this as well!)

And wow, the ending. I was really surprised, which I’m finding happens less and less the more thrillers I read. I thought something was off throughout the story but didn’t, or couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Well. Done.

I would definitely recommend The Wife Stalker if your looking for a quick, domestic thriller. Now I have to get going on Liv Constantine’s second release!

I’m nervous about the N.E.W.T’s in April but hopefully, I can build myself a schedule and it will work out a little less stressful come the end of the month!

Here are the final results of my O.W.L’s (stay tuned for full reviews upcoming this month):

Ancient Runes: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith ★★★
Arithmancy: Open Book by Jessica Simpson ★★★★★
Astronomy: Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey ★★★
Care of Magical Creatures: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas ★★★★★
Charms: The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton ★★★
Defense Against the Dark Arts: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware ★★★
Divination: The Wife Stalker by Liv Constantine ★★★★
Herbology: Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher ★★★★
History of Magic: The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare ★★★★
Muggle Studies: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne ★★★★
Potions: Opal by Maggie Stiefvater ★★★★
Transfiguration: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare ★★★★★

I read some fantastic books and with only one major disappointment so it was a great reading month overall!

Did you participate in the O.W.L’s? If so, what career did you complete?

If you want to participate head on over to G’s channel, Book Riot or the website. G puts a tremendous amount of time into creating this and I’m so excited to finally join in Now without further adieu, here’s my TBR!

My TBR

I’ve chosen to proceed to the Alchemist career after much urging from Sister. I originally was going to do Librarian but with her urging that I can indeed read all of the books, I decided to go ahead and follow the Alchemist career path. It seems fun now when I’m temporarily off work, but well… we will see how it goes come N.E.W.T’s time this summer

Here are the O.W.L’s I’ll be sitting/books I’ll be reading:

Ancient Runes: The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
Arithmancy: Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
Astronomy: Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey
Care of Magical Creatures: Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
Charms: The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton
Defense Against the Dark Arts: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Divination: The Wife Stalker by Liv Constantine
Herbology: Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher
History of Magic: The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare
Muggle Studies: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Potions: Opal by Maggie Stiefvater
Transfiguration: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

And there we have it! It’s fairly… ambitious but here’s to hoping I pass them all and don’t have to choose a different career!

Are you participating? What career did you pick? Share your TBR in the comments below! I’m so excited to start

2019 READING STATS

Number Of Books You Read: 29
Number of Re-Reads: 0
Genre You Read The Most From: Mystery/Thriller (21!)

BEST IN BOOKS

1. Best Book You Read In 2019?

Well, this was surprisingly easy, I legit only read one 5 star book this year: The Wicked King by Holly Black!

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough – That book was a complete mind blow at the end!

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

I would say probably The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware? I didn’t really book push much this year, but I did lend this to someone and they read it! I mostly suggested backlist titles that I had read previously but I can’t even remember which ones!!!!

 5. Best series you started in 2019? Best Sequel of 2019? Best Series Ender of 2019?

Best series I started is definitely the Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castillo! Best sequel was definitely The Wicked King (I’m going to TRY to make that not the answer to every question haha).

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2019?

This one has to go to Linda Castillo also! I love her Kate Burkholder series and I will definitely be continuing with it.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I didn’t read anything out of my comfort zone, haha. Next year will be better!

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Hmm, that’s kind of hard because I can’t really remember (except for The Wicked King :P), but I did read The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas in one day so I’d say that one!

 9. Book You Read In 2019 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

The only one that I can ever see myself rereading EVER is The Wicked King and/or The Lost Sisters by Holly Black. I read mostly thrillers and they aren’t exactly re-readable to me.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2019?

The Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd

11. Most memorable character of 2019?

This is probably such a weird answer, but Kate Burkholder… only because I read a ton of books from that series so it’s unlikely I will ever forget her as a character.

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2019?

Hmm, pass. I wouldn’t call anything I read beautifully written exactly.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2019?

Another pass. I didn’t exactly read broadly this year or outside of my comfort zone. I didn’t even really read any non fiction. I’ll be doing better in 2020

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2019 to finally read? 

That’s definitely Sworn to Silence by Kate Burkholder. I love Amish fiction, and this series was recommended to me by Cassie years and years ago and I only JUST read the first one.

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2019?

Another pass. Since the majority of my books are packed in boxes and I’ve been reading from the library I don’t even have these books to reference… it would probably be from The Wicked King though if I was to try

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2019?

Shortest was The Lost Sisters by Holly Black at 50 pages and longest was Copycat by Alex Lake at 416 pages.

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Hands down was Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. That book was MESSED up… the ending was just, wow.

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

Gosh, Jude & Carden. I love them. I’m so nervous about The Queen of Nothing.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Eek, pass. I don’t even remember any and clearly, if I can’t remember they aren’t even a favorite.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2019 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

The Wicked King because I only read ONE FAVORITE.

21. Best Book You Read In 2019 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:

Oh, that’s definitely Sworn to Silence… the same as my response above.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2019?

Ugh, so sad. This used to be one of my favorite questions but I didn’t read enough last year to even answer thing.

23. Best 2019 debut you read?

I didn’t read any debuts!

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Haha, The Wicked King. I just love that world.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Gosh, probably the only thing that would have made me SMILE that I read was Whiskey in a Teacup by Reese Witherspoon!

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2019?

Nothing, I had no reactions this year I guess. Well, the end of The Wicked King I was sad and stunned, but no tears.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

This is kind of annoying to keep answering like this but… none.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Haha, well that would be The Wicked King. It was definitely the only soul-crushing book I read and I AM SO SCARED.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2019?

I think that would again be Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough, just because… lord, that was a weird ending.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Oh, definitely Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding. It mirrored the true-life crimes of Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka so much it enraged me.

YOUR BLOGGING/BOOKISH LIFE

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2019?

This sucks that I can’t answer it but I really have no idea. I started following a lot of bookstagrams and book tube channels at the end of 2018/beginning of 2019 so I have no idea.

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2019?

Haha, well I guess we will have to go for the ONE post that I did write

3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2019:?

I normally take more photos of Simon and books together but it appears I only have one!

4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events,  etc.)?

Gosh, I didn’t participate in anything!

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2019?

Hands down meeting Melissa FINALLY!

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

I just couldn’t get in the groove. I was having a hard time reading, but I did do ok and I wanted to blog but couldn’t find the motivation. Hopefully, this year will be better, I’m PLANNING on it being better

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

Well, that’s a big not applicable

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Fair’s Fair Books. This bookstore is AMAZING. One of the things I deeply missed about moving out of Ontario (and believe me there is only a handful) is the secondhand book sales. In the area that we lived there was a MASSIVE used book sale every year and I would get tons of great finds there. I was so sad to leave it because it definitely helped me curate my own bookshelves quite a bit, so I was THRILLED to find out that this amazing gem is in the city

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

Hah, not really. Just read again and blog again… and I guess I technically did the second one

LOOKING AHEAD

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2019 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2020?

Well this is easy… The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black! I also really want to read Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater. Those will definitely be the two that are next up in the queue.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2020 (non-debut)?

The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. Oh, my WORD am I excited about this one!

3. 2020 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

This kind of sucks because I don’t really know I’m trying to get caught up on 2020 releases coming out and research some but I’m not there yet on the debuts.

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2020?

Gosh, I don’t bloody know. My go-to answer is the sequel in A Court of Thorns and Roses but is that even coming out in 2020?

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2020?

Meet my Goodreads goal. Like come on girl, it’s 50 books, you used to breeze past that. I also really, really want to keep up with blogging this year. And if I’m really far-reaching I’d love to start a booktube channel!

6. A 2020 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):

Haven’t read any so far so I’m just excited

Have you filled out the survey? Leave a link below in the comments of your survey, I love reading these and this year more than ever I need to discover all the books I’ve missed <3

First of all, it’s been a year. Well more than a year, actually. This time last year Nick and I were frantically packing up our apartment to move even farther across Canada to Calgary, Alberta. That’s right, I’VED MOVED!

We are now (happily) living in Calgary, and I couldn’t be more elated with our decision. There are tons of boring life things I could talk about in this post but why waste time. I love Calgary, I have an amazing job that I LOVE so what more is there to say?

My book life, however, has been not so great. I’ve been slowing getting back into reading and today decided to embark on the much needed massive overhaul of the blog. It was hard to want to blog when I didn’t like the way it looked but the daunting task of redesigning always loomed over me. I did it today though and I feel so fresh and ready to dive back into blogging!

I haven’t been reading much this year but I will start to post some reviews and dip my feet back into this lovely little world that I missed so much. I have loads to catch up on but I just can’t wait

Oh book world, how I’ve missed you.

Phew, I’m sliding into this readathon a bit late but I’m here! I had anticipated having this post ready to go for the start of the month, but seriously… Where did July go? I’m doing really well with all of my reading goals with the exception of my Netgalley & Edelweiss challenge so I’m really excited to participate in ARC August and hopefully get ahead of that challenge! Onto my TBR…

I have three large goals for this readathon:

1. Read my August ARCS
     
2. Read the 2018 ARCs I Am Behind On
       
   
3. Read Two 2017 or Earlier ARCs
   I’m super behind on my ARCs from previous years because of my blogging/reading slump prior to this year so I have a TON of choices. I’m probably just going to grab whatever catches my eye at the time but I do have a Kasie West ARC and a few Katie Cotugno that I’m eager to read!

So those are my goals! Officially I’d like to read 7 ARCs from the above list so hopefully, I complete everything!

What are your goals?