Knitting, Sci-fi and other stuff...

April was a record month for me.  I read 8 books total and 5 of those books were ARCs. I read over 1000 more pages this month than I did last month.  My average book length was about 100 more pages.   I doubt I'll have another month like this.  I find these statistics interesting but I'm not making this a competition.  I did find that 5 ARCs was too many.  I'm trying to be more careful about how many I apply to and when those books are being released.  I think two or three a month is doable for me.  I want to be able to put enough energy in the promotion part.  I am greatful to these authors for allowing me to read these books so its the least I can do to help launch them at release. All the books I read in April were enjoyable save one.  I didn't care for Hunted by the Demon's Vow.  I have a detailed post about so I'm not going to dwell.  Time has not really softened my opinion either....

       I read four books total in December.  I have two that I'm currently reading that carry over to January.  I enjoyed Scythe & Sparrow and Shot in the Dark, but reading in December sort of dragged for me with the exception of Until I Die.  I've waxed poetic on Until I Die and I don't plan on stopping any time soon.  It gave me a book hangover which is probably why the rest of December felt like a slog.       Once I finish Stutter, which is starting to slog majorly, I plan to read the Ever Seas Trilogy.  I got myself the hardcover copies for Christmas.  I generally prefer paperback, but the books were just traditionally (re)published so the hardcovers were quite a bit more reasonable than the paperbacks.          I just signed up for the January Book of the Month.  I got a promotional offer which made the book $5.  I just have to buy one month at full price which is $17.99 fo...

     I'm going to do a big year end post with all the summaries from the reading apps I use.  But first I want to do a best and worst by month.  So here goes.   September: Best:                                                                                            The Viridian Priestess.  This is the book that got me reading again two years ago.  It was a re-read once I found out there was a sequel and a third was coming out.  It was a 5 star read both times and a series that lives in my head rent free.    Worst:   Where the Tide Meets the Sand.  It's not a bad book by any means.  It just wasn't for me.  The more I thought about the story later the more it bothered me.  Thi...

  5★  Shot in the Dark by Mary Dublin and Anne Kendsley.  I enjoyed this book immensely.  It was based on the world of Supernatural.  The main character Sylvia is a fairy and the two MMCs were the hunters Jon and Cliff.  The characterization of Jon and Cliff were absolutely spot on for Sam and Dean.  Sylvia lives in a fairy settlement that's hidden by both physical location and glamour.  Sylvia is a free spirit and disobeys the rules by leaving the boundaries of the settlement to explore a nearby abandoned human mansion.  There she interacts with a ghost and eventually humans.  Jon and Cliff capture her and then once she reveals she has magic she accompanies them on their current hunt for a werewolf.  Jon is injured in an encounter and Sylvia uses her magic to heal him but it takes more power than she can conjure which results in a tenuous blood bond between her and Jon.  The blood bond complicates everything, I don't want to r...

  5★ 1.5🌶 In the Veins of the Drowning by Kalie Cassidy.  I think this book broke me.  In all the good ways that a book can break you.  This was phenomenal and I'm legitimately in a book slump now.  This story was very interesting; very different from other fantasy stories out there now.  The Sirens in this were very unique.  I also really liked the magic system in this.  The characters who had power by in large had it from lineage because they were blood descendants of the gods.  The gods being flesh and blood and living very lengthy lives.  There was spell magic as well, but it was not common and took a great price from the user.  There are blood bonds and undead creatures beneath the sea.  I was intrigued with the narrative right from the beginning in this one.  This was a seriously slow slow-burn.  The tension in this was thick and nearly palpable.  There was spice but it was sparse and hard won at the 73% p...

  5★ 3🌶 I finished Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver a couple of days ago.  It. Was. Amazing.  Going in I honestly wasn't expecting to be blown away by this book.  I'd seen enough about it on Bookstagram to know what some of the book was about and I wasn't sure if I was going to be down for murder and gore.  The death and destruction is really secondary to the plot and I do work in the medical fields so it wasn't that big a deal for me.  The banter in this book between the two main characters is next level.  The FMC is smart, independent and a bad-ass.  She does however have some anxiety and sociability issues; she's a loner.  Apart from the murder aspects I could see bits of myself in both of the characters.  I also appreciated that this entire story took place over the better part of 4 years, so it wasn't insta-love and truly a slow burn.  I really enjoyed Brynne Weaver's writing style.  This was also a duel POV first...

    I use StoryGraph to track my reading progress.  I started using StoryGraph in addition to Goodreads a few years ago.  I chose StoryGraph for the statistics feature and ease of use compared to Goodreads.  I recently started looking more closely at the various features.  Now that I've read consistently for two months I looked at monthly comparisons and some other features.  I find this sort of data interesting so I thought to share my wrap-ups from September and October. My average time to finish in September was thrown off by Dance of Kings and Thieves which I had started back in January of 2024 and then finished in September.  The print media vs digital is also incorrect because I selected the wrong version of Broken by Daylight.  I'd have to delete that one entirely and put in the dates for the digital version I did read, and frankly, I can't be bothered with that much fiddling.  Now, I'm much more careful about picking the correct ...