I’ve been going a bit slower with blog posts this month, trying to focus mostly on just not falling behind with reviews (I am a little behind, but 3 mini-reviews should solve that) so I haven’t done a Sunday Post all month, so here comes a big one.
I’m linking up with:
- The Sunday Post, hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer.
- The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.
- Stacking The Shelves which is hosted by Team Tynga’s Reviews
- The Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up, hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight.
Goings-On
First week of January was pretty chill as I was still on holiday. But after going back to work it’s been hectic. Just everyone needing various things from me so I couldn’t concentrate on my own stuff. Also had a big meeting/deadline thing that stressed me the hell out.
We’re having a Small Press AMA series on r/fantasy, on Fridays, had two presses so far and it’s been lots of fun:
I want to participate in Blackathon in February, so I spent far too much time trying to organize my TBR for that (mostly trying to figure out if my ARCs fit any prompts or I could get started on them before Feb.) So, uncharacteriscally, I have a February TBR.
February TBR
Blackathon:
Team SFF
- Rita Woods: A character traverses Spiritual realm or heavily embodies Black spirituality/spiritualism Root Magic by Eden Royce – audiobook
- Tade Thompson: A Black protagonist encounters an alien civilization or alien technology I’d want to read The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow, but then I’d not have one book not set in the US/UK, which is a requirement, so maybe I will swap this for Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor or Dawn by Octavia E Butler
- Octavia Butler: Time travel is a major component to the story A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott
- Group Book: The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull
Team Thriller/Horror
- Megan Giddings: A Black character moves to a new town with an old secret Lakewood by Megan Giddings
- Victor LaValle: Supernatural or paranormal horror The Ballad of Black Tom
by Victor LaValle - Rachel Howzell: Taking place on vacation, sabbatical, or a decadent setting: They all Fall Down by Rachel Howell Hall
- Group book: Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey
ARCs:
- The Conductors by Nicole Glover (currently reading this one and loving it, might finish today)
- The Unbroken by CL Clark (might actually push it to early March)
Book-club reads
(these links go to our r/fantasy book clubs)
Currently reading
Plan to read
- Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
- City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer
- Also waiting for the results for our Classics? poll today, if Dawn or Imaro win I might read those
That’s a lot of books for a short month, but I haven’t really been doing much else except reading, so I expect to read about 8-9 of these, esp. since 3 I’m already in the middle of.
This Week Month on the Blog
The Top Ten Tuesday prompts this month were killer so I did all of them:
- Top Ten Tuesday: Anticipated Releases
- Top Ten Tuesday: 2021 goals
- Top Ten Twensday: Books I Meant to Read In 2020 but Didn’t Get To
- Top Ten Tuesday: New to me authors in 2020
I made a big 2020 end of year round-up – many stats – more (45) favorites
Stayed pretty on top of reviews:
- Sequels mini-reviews: The Heartforger, The Farthest Shore and A Closed and Common Orbit
- Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
- We Lie With Death by Devin Madson
And signed up for Blackathon: reading plans, looking for and giving recs
Read books
Did well with my plans to read sequels:
- A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers, #2) Chambers, Becky
- The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle, #3) Le Guin, Ursula K.
- We Lie With Death (The Reborn Empire, #2) Madson, Devin
- The Girl in The Tower (Winternight Trilogy, #2) Arden, Katherine
- The Heart Forger (The Bone Witch, #2) Chupeco, Rin
Read 1 Romanian book Andrei Straja – o poveste momârlănească – Lavinia, Miruna
And two book-club reads:
- Cemetery Boys – Thomas, Aiden
- The A.I. Who Loved Me – Cole, Alyssa
Stacking the Shelves
So the thing is, the Romanian websites I order books from have pretty expensive cut-offs for free shipping. And I’m the sort who would rather buy 4 extra books that pay 5$ for shipping … so things happened …
Physical books on order:
- The Winged Histories Sofia Samatar
- Love After The End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction Joshua Whitehead
- Exit West Mohsin Hamid
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men Caroline Criado Perez
- Voltaire in Love Nancy Mitford
- We Lie with Death Devin Madson (this doesn’t really count since I’ve read it)
- The House of Shattered Wings Aliette de Bodard
- Gods of Jade and Shadow Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- City of Saints and Madmen Jeff Vandermeer
- Neamul Corbilor Lavinia Calina (a sequel)
- Andrei Straja. O poveste momarlaneasca Miruna Lavinia (read!)
- Homeric Doina Rusti
Audiobooks:
- Root Magic Eden Royce
- Cemetery Boys Aiden Thomas
- The A.I. Who Loved Me Alyssa Cole
And lastly, there were a lot of ebook sales this month:
- When Tara Met Farah: An Opposites Attract Romance Tara Pammi
- Elemental: Shadows of Otherside Book 1 Whitney Hill
- Eldritch Sparks: Shadows of Otherside Book 2 Whitney Hill
- Dragon Mage: An Epic Fantasy Adventure ML Spencer
- The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps Kai Ashante Wilson
- Silk & Steel: A Queer Speculative Adventure Anthology Ellen Kushner
- A Wizard’s Guide To Defensive Baking T. Kingfisher
- The Element of Fire (Ile-Rien Book 1) Martha Wells
- The Death of the Necromancer (Ile-Rien Book 2) Martha Wells
So basically, gonna try to not buy many more books till April.
I bet it has been hectic at work. I’m retired, and I often try to imagine what it must be like for those of you who are working through this pandemic. I don’t know how you do it.
I’m one of your sort; I’m not doing much except reading when I have spare time. I’ve read lots of books, as a result.
I always would pick extra books over paying for postage. Good strategy!
I was taking a look at my February ARC and realized I have more than I can typically read in a month and given that February is a short month – well I’m feeling a little stressed. I’ve started on one and I hope to finish it today but I also need to read this month’s book club book my Thursday.
You have some good plans for February. I have The Lesson on my TBR but still haven’t had time to read it. I’m curious to see what you think😁
You got some reading done in January. It was a hectic and stressful month. Your plans for February look promising!
Thank you, really hope February improves
I hope things settle at work soon.
That’s a great list of books you have on order, enjoy!
Wishing you a great reading week
Thank you! I keep refreshing my order to see where they are, but they’re not here yet
It must be really stressful having to work through all this – I’m very lucky to be able to stay at home. All the best in the coming week:)).
Thank you! I actually ended up reading The Conductors all weekend and it was lovely. Still took me until today to get back to usual energy levels
I can imagine. And I’m delighted to hear you enjoyed The Conductors so much – as I’ve got that on my TBR, waiting to read:)). I hope you have an easier week!
Aw no, I’m sorry about all the work stuff Dia. Hopefully things can settle down soon. To universe: please let us read our books in peace. throws sacrificial offerings That is an EPIC book haul though! I have The Conductors to read too (probably not anytime soon lol) so I’m glad you’re enjoying it
It apparently takes me longer to reply to comments that read books, because I finished The Conductors already, and I loved it. Learned today that there will be a sequel and I’m very hyped.
No worries haha, I’m a seasoned comment procrastinator. 😛 And yay!!! I didn’t know it was going to be a series so that’s awesome.
Great reading!
Thank you!
I started it yesterday and so far it’s really interesting. So far it’s shown the story before the aliens arrived, and 5 years later, completely skipping the first contact, that’s very usual but interesting.
Having a busy TBR is definitely stressing me, even though I know I can read them at my normal pace, knowing I’ve got a deadline keeps me constantly worried a bit
We probably do it pretty poorly. I’m only 31 but I’m already thinking of being retired and able to spend most of my time reading. Maybe finally I’d catch up with the TBR
I hope Blackathon is going well! I thought about participating in that, but I couldn’t get myself organized in time. I hope you’re having a good February!
It’s going great, I’m already halfway through my Team SFF books, and it looks like I’ll manage to read some of the Thriller ones too since the bookseller canceled my order of City of Saints and Madmen my page count for the month is suddenly more manageable.
Your January was stuffed full, especially when you are so busy at work. I am still debating on whether I read Cemetery Boys or not–it’s not my usual genre, but maybe that’s a great thing as I’ll find a new one to enjoy. Plus, others I follow have raved about the writing. I had a February TBR all set, then got approved for books I never thought I would for review. This pandemic has taught me to be patient and flexible, so I’m handling change much better than ever. Hope you are having a great February!