An Updated Bookshelf Tour: Bookshelf #3

Like I mentioned a month or so ago, I realized I hadn't shared any up-to-date photos of my bookshelves in a long time, so I figured I'd let you all see what I've got. And again, the shelf I'm sharing pics of today is also a mess. I really, really need a library. *sigh* If you haven't seen the first bookshelf tour, you should totally check it out and gawk at my extreme disorganization. Haha.

This is Bookshelf #3. It contains a mix of genres, from adult romance to middle grade chapter books. It's a variety of stuff that I don't know where to put. And it, like Bookshelf #1 and #2, is temporarily at my parents' house until I get a bigger place. Also, these are primarily books I've already read. Most of my TBR books are at my apartment, so I can actually read them.

Alrighty then, let’s move on to the good stuff.

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Here's an overview of Bookshelf #2 and #3. I have them situated in the corner, so it was just easier to take a photo of them both together versus separately. As you can see, both are a total mess. Stacks upon stacks of books. It makes my book-loving heart hurt.

The top shelf holds my HP copies. I talked about this shelf with Bookshelf #2's post, so I'll just leave it at that. I will say that this shelf space used to look a lot better before I packed some of my HP swag away. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, either. I still love HP, but you know...

The shelf below that is where my YA contemporary used to live and still does for the most part. But I just threw my Iron Fey FairyLoot copies here since I had some room after doing a YA contemporary unhaul earlier this year.

The next shelf is mostly paranormal romance with a mix of YA fantasy and paranormal. And look! L.J. Smith's Night World series that will never be finished. Gah!

On the middle shelf, there's some YA and a YA/middle grade series called Pendragon by D.J. MacHale. The series is so underrated! Fans of Percy Jackson should definitely check this one out. I'd like to go back and do a re-read of the series one day, but I haven't had time lately.

More paranormal romance here. There's some J.R. Ward and Gena Showalter. There's also some Meg Cabot books, and in the corner you can see my Bailey School Kids set. What a mix of titles. Lol.

Ah, here's a better view of that corner. You can see all the Meg Cabot now. Haha. You can also see the Intertwined series by Gena Showalter. Another unfinished series. Urgh. I hate unfinished series so much.

 On the bottom of this shelf, I have some larger hardcovers and paperbacks, like Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments books. There are a few other YA fantasy/paranormal hardcovers hiding out here as well..

And, not to be forgotten, we have the Angelfire series in the corner. I remember spending hours online writing comments to try to win a signed edition of all three books. I actually ended up only getting the first two (in separate giveaways), but man, was it cool to have free time like that on my hands.

  Oh, and this is a stack of random books that I think I threw on this shelf after I realized I didn't have a place for them anywhere else. I guess I ended up moving the Cassandra Clare boxset that was sitting here in earlier photos. I don't have these shelves at my apartment, so I can't easily check to see.

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Well, that's the third shelf. I'll eventually get around to sharing pics of my apartment shelves, but I'm experiencing a bit of an issue trying to have a new bookcase delivered right now. You'll eventually get photos, though, I promise!

Do you have any pics of your bookshelves up? If so, link them below so I can check them out. I love looking at pretty book collections.

Stacking the Shelves: A Song of Swag and Fire Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Things are finally getting back on track this week. My COVID test was negative, and my major work deadline has passed. I’m totally going to relax this weekend and just read and watch movies free of stress. It’s going to be great.

I haven’t purchased any physical books this week, but I did get my A Song of Wraiths and Ruin preorder swag in the mail. The cards are so cute. I really want to read this book, I hear nothing but fantastic things about Malik, but it’s a duology. If I wait until next summer, I can binge the whole series in one go. Oh, the dilemma.

I also used my Kindle Unlimited free trial to get a free copy of Iron & Fire. I finished book one earlier this month, and the series is pretty good. It’s dark, but some parts are good. It's a M/M fantasy series with elves and dragons. It reminds me a lot of The Captive Prince trilogy.

What books have you bought/received lately?

July Wrap-Up & August TBR

Like June, July 2020 was a good reading month. In addition to reading, I also went kayaking for the first time in my life! It was fun. Not something I’ll do again in the near future, but it was still fun. Also, August is my birthday month, so while I’m not excited to turn 27, I am excited to buy a few presents for myself.

But back to the wrap-up…

In the wrap-up, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in July

Heartsong: 3.5/5 stars (ebook)

Aurora Rising: 4/5 stars (my review)

House of Earth and Blood: 3/5 stars

Soul of Stars: 3.5/5 stars

Aurora Burning: 4/5 stars (ebook)

Endless: 4/5 stars

Empower: 3/5 stars

Children of Blood and Bone: 4/5 stars

The Extraordinaries: 4/5 stars

The Bromance Book Club: 3/5 stars (ebook)
From Twinkle, With Love: 3/5 stars (not pictured)

I read eleven books again this month. I can’t believe I’ve read in the double digits for the past two months. It’s kind of crazy how chill my life is right now that I can read so much. Yay to working from home!

  Three of the books I read were ebooks: Heartsong, Aurora Burning, and The Bromance Book Club. Aurora Burning and The Bromance Book Club were impulse buys after I was feeling a reading slump coming on. I ended up reading both within the 24 hours of purchasing them. This gives me the feeling that I need to trim down by physical TBR, since I think I’d enjoy just purchasing books as I want to versus picking up books I may not be excited for anymore…. Eh. We’ll see. 

As for print books, I finished the Violet Eden series! That was a major reading goal of 2020, so I'm happy that's complete. Other than those two, I only read two other books that I owned pre-2020: Children of Blood and Bone and From Twinkle, With Love. Children of Blood and Bone was my high school reunion book club book pick. We all enjoyed it, and we may pick the sequel for our next book club pick. We shall see... Also, the reason From, Twinkle isn't pictured is because I read it super last-minute on July 31st. I truly didn't think I was going to read anything for the rest of the month, but I randomly decided to pick it up. I guess I'll stop taking my wrap-up photos so early. Lol. 

Reviews are coming for all of these books.

Books Bought/Received in July

I bought four physical books and two ebooks this month. The Extraordinaries and The Princess Will Save You were part of my B&N order last month. However, both books were preorders, so I was charged in July. The third physical book I purchased was July’s FairyLoot book, but the box hasn’t been delivered yet. And finally, I preordered the Owlcrate edition of A Deadly Education, which won’t be here until fall. As for the ebooks, I already mentioned how I impulse-bought Aurora Burning and The Bromance Book Club. Oh, and I bought another ebook, Deviation by Christine Manzari, but it was free on Kindle.

The physical books I received this month include Soul of Stars, Empire of Sands and Realm of Ash, which were all part of my B&N order in June. The Forest of Souls was June’s FairyLoot book, and in that same box we got a copy of The Gilded Ones. I also received Adrienne Young’s Fable for review via NetGalley.

I was going to order FairyLoot’s Blood & Honey box, but that was a $hitshow of epic proportions. Between their awful website and their security issues, I just decided to move on. I haven’t read Serpent & Dove yet, so I’m just going to settle for purchasing the regular editions. Maybe I’ll regret this decision once I read the series, but FairyLoot is truly a mess right now.

Currently Obsessed With

Eh. I feel like this month hasn’t been super obsessive.

I binge-watched two television shows in July: Netflix’s Cursed and Kim’s Convenience. Cursed was a fun start to a fantasy series, but it’s frustrating in its butchering of the mythology. Kim’s Convenience on the other hand is utter hilarity and family feel-good moments. I loved it! Other than those two shows, I’m still rewatching Buffy with my mother, and we just started season four. Thus, we are also starting Angel season one. My mom isn’t super excited she has to watch two shows now. Lol.

Currently Reading/August TBR

None of the pictured books are must-reads. If I get to them this month, I get to them. No pressure. However, I do need to read Fable by Adrienne Young. I received an eARC for review via NetGalley, so I have to finish it before September.

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Okay, well, that’s the month of July, plus some August sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for this month? If so, share in the comments!

June Wrap-Up & July TBR

June 2020 was a good reading month. I was pleasantly surprised, both quantity- and quality-wise. I only read one disappointing book. But I also read another favorite; therefore, it evens out.

In the wrap-up portion, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in June

House of Dragons: 3.5 stars (my review)

Rise of Fire: 3.5 stars (my review)

Sorcery of Thorns: 4.5 stars (my review)

Let’s Talk About Love: 3 stars (review to come)

Rage & Ruin: 4 stars (review to come)

The Star-Touched Queen: 2 stars (review to come)

The Forbidden Wish: 4 stars (review to come)

Shadow’s Seduction: 4 stars (ebook; re-read)

The Shadows Between Us: 3 stars (review to come)

Wolfsong: 4 stars (ebook; review to come)

Ravensong: 4 stars (ebook; review to come)

I read eleven books in June! Holy cow! I did not expect this at all. Three were ebooks, and one of those ebooks was a re-read (Shadow’s Seduction by Kresley Cole), but still… Eleven books! I was worried I was going into a reading slump towards the end of the month, but the last two books I read—Wolfsong and Ravensong by TJ Klune—seriously shut that down. I devoured the entire series in three days! Oh, and three of the physical books are ones I owned prior to 2020: Rise of Fire, The Star-Touched Queen, and Let's Talk About Love.

Books Bought/Received in June

I bought 13 books total this month, including my June FairyLoot which won’t be here until July. Five of the books I bought were ebooks and eight were physical books. The ebooks were White Fragility by Robin Diangelo; Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie; and Wolfsong, Ravensong, and Heartsong by TJ Klune. I also received two as gifts from my mother: Aurora Rising and The Shadows Between Us.

I purchased A Song of Wraiths and Ruin and The Rage of Dragons from Semicolon, a bookstore in Chicago. Rage & Ruin was an Amazon pre-order, and The Forbidden Wish was an Amazon impulse purchase. I also made a Barnes & Noble order for four more books that won’t arrive until next month, but one is a pre-order so I technically won’t purchase it until July.

My May Beacon Book Box (House of Dragons) and FairyLoot (Girl, Serpent, Thorn) also arrived in June, but I technically purchased them last month. Same for The Blood Spell, which was a May Book Outlet purchase.

Currently Obsessed With

Oh, man. I went a little crazy with this obsession. Finishing my re-watch almost put my in a reading slump, just because I knew no book on my TBR could give me the same feels a certain angsty prince does.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is pure gold. If you haven’t watched this show yet, what the heck are you doing with your life?! Yes, the first few episodes are a little kiddish, but the world expands so well, and the history behind that world is fascinating. I just love it so much. I’ve also been reading a lot of fanfiction for this show—mostly Zuko-related fics—as well as for The 100, Game of Thrones, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, since I’m re-watching the show with my mother who’s watching it for the first time.

Currently Reading/July TBR

I’m not super into TBRs right now. While April was a good month and I knocked off every title on my list, I’ve only read one or two that were on May and June’s TBR list. Thus, this is a pretty loose July TBR. I have to read Children of Blood and Bone for my book club, and I want to finish the Violet Eden series. I only have Endless and Empower left, so it shouldn’t be too hard. And Girl, Serpent, Thorn is one that intrigues me, but I’m still unsure if it’s a standalone or not.

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Okay, well, that’s the month of June, plus some July sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for this month? If so, share in the comments!

Stacking the Shelves: The May Beacon Book Box Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Like I mentioned in my May wrap-up post, I purchased A LOT of books, including bookish subscription boxes. One of those was the May Fight for the Throne Beacon Book Box. I didn’t subscribe, but I did purchase a single order, simply because I knew what the book would be and I thought it would be fun to get a box full of book-related goodies related to the throne theme.

So, if you subscribe to the Beacon Book Box and haven’t received yours yet and you don’t want to be spoiled, I’d stop reading now. Though, my box took forever to get to me, so I doubt anyone else is waiting for theirs. At least, I hope no one else is waiting. I’ve learned how torturous it is to wait for subscription boxes to be delivered, and I hate it. I’m also currently waiting on my first Fairyloot box, and I am oh-so-impatient.

House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess

Okay, so you’re going to get my honest thoughts on some of these items. And, while I knew I wouldn’t love everything in the subscription box, I was hoping to love something. Unfortunately, I didn’t. Obviously, I love the book choice, otherwise I wouldn’t have bought the box, but the items were just alright.

So first off, we have the Marie Rutkoski quote mousepad. It’s a great idea, and I would’ve really enjoyed it, had the design been different. It’s simply not my thing, too floral for my tastes. I did take it to work, though, so I can use it when I end up getting a mouse there. Next, the Six of Crows character art. Now, I’m not the biggest Six of Crows fan, so maybe these just aren’t my type, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the art style. I also gave the Terrasen seeds to my mom, since I’m not a flower-type person. The other big item was the “Winter is coming” sleepmask. A good idea, but since the book was about dragons, I kind of hoped there’d be something Targaryen related in the box. My favorite items from the box were the Throne of Glass print and the Three Dark Crowns ornament, even though I haven’t read Three Dark Crowns.  

All in all, this simply wasn’t a box fit for my tastes this month. I think in the future, I’ll buy Beacon’s special collector boxes versus subscribing regularly. Nothing against Beacon, they’re a great box, but just not for me.

What books have you bought/received lately? Do you subscribe to any book-subscription boxes? Let me know in the comments!

Another Book Unhaul for 2020

It’s still spring cleaning time, so I’m getting rid of some more books. Most of these are ones I that I used to be interested in, but now, I just don’t think I’ll ever get to. Just fyi, I plan on selling these books locally, minus the ARCs and proofs, of course.

So, let’s get this unhaul underway, and please don’t feel offended if I get rid of a book you like. I simply have too many books to keep them all, especially since I’ve recently subscribed to Fairyloot and started ordering from Book Outlet again. Yikes.

Crown of Vengeance, Spymaster, Kingmaker, and Soleri: I’d like to read these, but I know I won’t get to them in the next five years. There’s just too much out there to keep books that’ll take so long to actually read.

Child of a Mad God: I have two copies of this book. One is the mass market and the other is hardcover. I don’t need two copes, so bye-bye mass market!

The Lyre Thief: This seems to be an installment in a larger series, or at least a spin-off in a longer series. I don’t plan on reading the first books, so there’s no point in keeping this one, even though it sounds really good.

Outlander: I used to really love the show, so I thought I’d try to read the books. Now, I think I’ll just watch the show. The books are simply too long to invest my time in right now. However, if I do want to read it in the future, I’ll buy it in a different format, either ebook or a taller physical copy.

Riders, Call Me By Your Name, and The Tesla Legacy: I just don’t think these will be for me.

Black Hole Sun, Berserker, and Salvage: These sound okay, but they’ve been on my shelves for a while, and I have no interest in picking them up in the next year or so.

The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virture: I’ve tried to read this book multiple times. I just think the main character’s narration style isn’t for me. Plus, I’m not big on historical fiction. I’m kind of disappointed this one couldn’t grip me though.

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There you have it. Another unhaul for the year. Have you gotten rid of any books lately? If so, which ones?

Stacking the Shelves: The Curse of the Stickers Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

I’ve been bad. Very bad. There have been so many orders placed in the past few weeks. So very many.

The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

Lady Smoke by Laura Sebastian

The Queen’s Resistance by Rebecca Ross

The Defiant by Lesley Livingston

As She Ascends by Jodi Meadows

Witch’s Pyre by Josephine Angelini

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

The Caged Queen by Kristen Ciccarelli

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

I placed a Book Outlet order a couple of weeks ago that finally arrived. Ten books for $61 is a major bargain. Most are sequels to books I already own or first books in series I’m going to start collecting until I can binge read all of the books at once. I’m too impatient to wait a year between books.

Unfortunately, though, this box came with some major issues. Three of the books had Wal-Mart stickers on the front, which meant using a hair dryer to try to peel them off. It didn’t work very well. There’s still sticky residue on Wicked Saints and Sorcery of Thorns. Plus, Wicked Saints is super dirty and dusty, and Lady Smoke and The Caged Queen came with small rips. Oh, and Witch’s Pyre’s dustjacket was all askew. I think it looks okay now, but it took a lot of finagling to get that thing straight.

I’ve never had such a rough looking order from Book Outlet. If this keeps happening, I may not order from there anymore. Of course, this could be a one-time thing, so I’ll keep checking to see if they have any books I need for cheap prices. I may re-buy Wicked Saints or Sorcery of Thorns from another store if they end up being books I love, just so I can have prettier copies.

Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie

I almost forgot! I also got Bonds of Brass for super cheap on Kindle. I think it was $2.99! I don’t like the cover for this one, so being able to pick it up as an ebook to see if I like the book enough to purchase physical copies of the rest of the series is financially savvy, in my opinion.

What books have you bought/received lately?

April Wrap-Up & May TBR

My second wrap-up post of 2020! I can’t believe I’m actually keeping up with my blog posts after a year and a half of neglect. It’s exciting!

In the wrap-up portion of this post, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in April

Crush the King: 3/5 stars (my review)

The Burning Shadow: 3/5 stars (my review)

Entice: 3/5 stars (my review)

Broken Throne: 4/5 stars (my review)

Heart of Iron: 4/5 stars (review to come)

The City of Brass: 4.5/5 stars (review to come)

This Shattered World: 3/5 stars (review to come)

I read seven books this month! I have a feeling most of these reads are a result of being on lockdown for the entire month of April, but still, I read them! And, better yet, I read six books that were on my TBR prior to 2020. Considering my goal is to 15 books I already owned prior to 2020, these six plus my one from March leaves me at seven books read that I already owned.  I’m almost halfway there! Woot! Woot!

I hope next month can produce the same or better reading results, but I’m not sure. Lockdown is over for Missouri starting May 4^th, so I won’t be working from home anymore. But on the pro side, my mom and I finally caught up on my re-watch (and her first watch) of Supernatural, which means I now have free time on my hands after work. So I’m curious to see how the month of May works out reading-wise.

Books Bought/Received in April

I bought four books this month. Kind of. I actually bought Storm & Fury in March. However, I wasn’t able to include it in my March wrap-up post, since it arrived via mail this month. Also, I recently purchased a copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but it won’t get here until May. So technically, I only really “bought and received” three books this month: House of Blood and Earth and the collector’s editions of Red Queen and Glass Sword, all of which were ordered online from Barnes & Noble. Oh, and because I’ve already read three of these, I’ve only added one book to my TBR this month! Yay!

I also ordered a pair of bookends for my bookshelves as well as copies of the Supernatural Entertainment Weekly magazines. I’ll be sure to take some pics on my Instagram account of what the bookends are holding up. I’m actually pretty excited for it.

Currently Obsessed With

Normally, I use this section to share what I’ve been obsessing over lately. Unfortunately, I haven’t really had anything to be obsessed over in April, though. My mom and I finished Supernatural, I haven’t found a new show to binge watch, and no movie theaters are open right now. So instead of “obsessed with,” I’m just going to share some things I’ve been doing this month.

My biggest entertainment has come from re-watching episodes of Parks & Recreation. I put on episodes for background noise whenever I’m working or waiting for a Zoom meeting to start. I think I only have one season left though. I’ve been going through them pretty fast. I guess I’ll need to find another background-noise show, since I’ve already used The Office. I'm thinking it may be That 70s Show. Oh, and I also finished season one of Wynonna Earp. I’m a little iffy on that finale—and episode one of season two—but I plan on continuing with the show by watching an episode every week or so. It’s not something I want to binge.

On Youtube, I’ve been watching a lot of Booktube lately. This is bad. Why? Because Booktube typically encourages me to buy books, especially the pretty ones. Why do you think I decided to buy collector’s editions of Aveyard’s books?

Currently Reading/May TBR

In May, I’m going to try to finish Kaufman and Spooner’s Starbound trilogy, so I’m currently reading Their Fractured Light (not pictured). Other than that, I have five other books I’d like to get to, but only two are ones that I really want to read this month: A Queen in Hiding and Emblaze. Like I’ve previously mentioned, I’m trying to read all of the books in Shirvington’s Violet Eden series, so the third book is on my list. As for A Queen in Hiding, I just want to marathon the entire series, and since I have the first three books, I thought I’d go ahead. (I’ll order book four online if I end up liking the series.)

As for The Lost Prince, Allied, and Starfall, these are just books I’d like to get to in order to finish some series I’ve been putting off. However, I’m only going to make myself read one of them. If I read more than one, that’s okay too, but I’d like to have a bit of a looser TBR this month.

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Okay, well, that’s the month of April, plus some May sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for this month? If so, share in the comments!