Hello,

I hope y’all are doing well so far this week. July has been another busy month and I can’t believe how fast it has gone by already. I’ve started thinking about school already, which starts a week earlier than when we normally go back. It’s going to be a completely different atmosphere this semester, but even though things are different I am really excited about it since it will be my last semester in school.

I also had a major dental surgery this past week and have been recovering but today starts my first day back to work and getting back into a normal schedule again, though I will miss just being able to hang out on the couch all day. I had originally thought I would get in a lot of reading, video games, and blogging, but I’ve only read two books and am in the middle of four at the moment. I also didn’t make much lead way in video games either. I did watch Ford vs. Ferrari this weekend though, and it was really good. I’m usually not a race car fan nor do I particular like Mark Wahlberg, but I really enjoyed this one and would highly recommend it.

Because this semester is going to be very busy especially with my thesis paper, I’ve decided that I most probably won’t have a TBR for the rest of the year at least until December after I graduate. I’ve seen a couple of people on YouTube talk about not having TBRs for the time being and I started thinking that it would be a good idea since I didn’t know how much I would be able to read during the next few months.

There are still about 6 books from my July TBR that I am reading which I am hoping to the wrap-up out in the next couple of days or so but I wanted to quickly mention them as I might use some for my NEWTs since I had just added them on the first of the month.

  1. Replica (#1) by Lauren Oliver – Lauren Oliver is one of my favorite authors and I picked this one up to finish some challenges I was working on at Goodreads. This is one story with two characters but they are two different books in one. I read Gemma which is one side (you can actually read it three different ways from what I’ve heard but I found Gemma’s POV easier to start with) and it was alright. I think I was kind of hoping for a better ending than I got but then I realized that it is also a duology with Ringer being the second one so I am interested to pick that one up soon. I’ve started Lyra but I haven’t gotten very far with her story so far though it is a fast read.
  2. Cross bones (#8) by Kathy Reichs – This one has been on my shelf for ages and I finally got to it after I read the first 7 books last year. They are all right though because I grew up with the TV show I enjoy it a lot more at least until up until the newer seasons came out. I haven’t gotten very far into this one yet either.
  3. Light (#6) by Michael Grant – I have very mixed feelings about this one as I’ve felt that the series has gone a bit downhill since book three so I will be happy to have this series finished since I’ve been reading it over the last few years.
  4. Muse of nightmares (#2) by Laini Taylor – I loved Strange the dreamer when it came out and immediately put this on my TBR when I heard it was going to be released, but it has been a while since I’ve read the first one so I am a little wary of going into it since I feel like I’ve gone out of my fantasy phase that I had been in for years.
  5. Starsight (#2) by Brandon Sanderson – I have very mixed feelings about Sanderson’s novels. I’ve only read the first couple of the Mistborn series, the entire Reckoner trilogy, and this trilogy, but I actually liked Skyward better than I thought I would. It helps that It gives me Star Wars vibes and I read it around the time that I started a Star Wars watching phase. I even had a couple of fanfiction ideas situated around Star Wars right around the same time that I read the first one. I’ve only read a couple of chapters so far but I am enjoying what I am reading so it might be the first Sanderson novel that I really enjoy.
  6. Wilder Girls by Rory Power – I’ve heard a lot about this one so I wanted to see if it would be something I would be interested in. It’s also the only standalone novel that I have for this month which is different. July has been a really good month of series continuations so far at least. I hope to get to this one over the next couple of days.
  7. The hero of ages (#3) by Brandon Sanderson – I am currently listening to this one and am already at chapter 14. I have a couple of days left on this so I am hoping to finish it, but I will probably have to renew it. I’m actually enjoying listening to it more than I was when I was reading the physical copies of the first two.
  8. One of us is next (#2) by Karen McManus – This is another audio book and one of my most anticipated books of the year that came out in January. I’m not very far into it and it is alright so far.

 

OWLs- Career and books I read in April: 

I discovered the Magical Readathon in the middle of April when I was in a small reading slump after the end of spring break. I was also getting ready for finals and the end of the Spring semester along with doing my classes from home since I moved out of my dorm right at the end of my Spring break.

For this readathon, I chose the Librarian career and needed to finish five books. Most of them were pretty easy to get to though there a couple where I had to change books around once I got to those prompts. The five classes that I needed to take for the OWLs were Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Defence against the dark arts, History of Magic, and Transfiguration.

  • Ancient Runes – Heart on the cover/ or in the title – Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott (3 stars) – I really didn’t like the main character in this one and felt that even though she was mad and grieving throughout most of the book I felt that some of her actions were a bit much. I might have enjoyed it more if I’d read it when I was in high school.
  • Arithmancy – From outside your favorite Genre – Historical Fiction – The duchess deal (#1) by Tessa Dare (5 stars) – This is probably going to be my most surprising book of the year because never in a million years would I have imagined picking up a historical romance genre and thoroughly enjoying it. Would highly recommend this one.
  • Defence against the dark arts – Set at sea or by the coast – Plague (#4) by Michael Grant originally chose Murder at Edisto (#1) by C. Hope Clark – I originally picked up Murder on Edisto but wasn’t really connecting with the character so I put it down but then realized that I’d read Plague which is set in Perdido beach a small coastal town. Perdido beach is apparently located between Orange beach, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida.
  • History of Magic – Features witches or Wizards – Blood of Elves (#1) by Andrzej Sapkowski (4 stars) – I actually really enjoyed the adaptation of this series, but I didn’t quite enjoy this one as much as I thought I would. I still liked it though and hope to continue the series.
  • Transfiguration – Features Shapeshifting – Shadow of the fox (#1) by Julie Kagawa (5 stars). – This was also another surprising read for me, but then I realized that I have loved most of Kagawa’s books so I shouldn’t have been surprised by how much I enjoyed this. An even rarer occasion that I actually finished this trilogy in about two months.
  • Extra class – Charms – (Aug TBR) – Lumos Maxima – White cover – Nemesis (#1) by Brandon Sanderson – I had originally planned this one for July but never got around to it, so when I needed a white cover I went ahead and added it. I’ll probably read it in August but I still need to finish my other library books before I start this one.

 

 

August – Last NEWTS TBR: 

This readathon is hosted by G at Book Roast over on YouTube. This is my first year doing this though I think I heard about it last year but never thought about doing it. I actually decided to do the OWLS right in the middle of April and managed to finish my last book in the first couple of weeks of May. I have an account on Twitter and get occasional emails but I don’t go on there actively nor am I a fan of it, but I have heard that this is the last NEWTS in light of what J.K. Rowling has said over the last few months. In my younger days during high school, I did get on twitter and I still have it automatically connected to my blog and Goodreads.

NEWTS 2020 Prompts2020 NEWTS extra classes

I have added a couple of classes to my career since Flourish and Blotts require an OWL in Charms so I went ahead and chose NEWTS for both Transfiguration and Charms even though I don’t particularly need them. I have 14  books for this TBR, though I also made a list of other books for the prompts just in case I need to change them around as I read them over the next few months. I have them in order for each prompt as well.

 

NEWTS TBR Part 1

  1. Nemesis (#1) by Brandon Reichs – I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while now so I am hoping to get to it over the next few months since I have a copy of the first books in this trilogy. This works for the white cover for the Charms class in OWLS.
  2. Edge of dark (#1) by Brenda Cooper – Apparently this book is s spin-off of another trilogy by this author but I’ve seen a lot of low reviews for it and I’d have to read the whole trilogy before I get to this one so I just decided to go ahead and keep it. I may pick up the other books later on, but since I needed a bunch of titles that started with E this one popped up first. This works for the Author that starts with the letter B for the first prompt in Ancient Runes.
  3. The haunting of hill house by Shirley Jackson – I’ve had this one on my shelf for ages and since I needed to read a classic I figured this one would be good since my other two are around 1,000 pages long and I might not have the time to get to them.
  4. Always Emily by Michaela MacColl – This was one of those that I started but put down when I couldn’t get to it. This works for the books that need to be between 260-299 prompt and the third prompt for Ancient Runes. This is also one I want to have checked off my list before the end of the year.
  5. The twisted ones by T. Kingfisher – This got added to books that I predicted would be five stars and works perfectly for the horror prompt for Defence against the dark Arts.
  6. Shadows in the silence (#3) by Courtney Allison Moulton – This is another trilogy that has been on my TBR for a long time and I will be very glad to finish it if I can get to it before the end of the year. This is one of three different series that only have one book left to complete before I finish them. If I can get to it by the end of the year, I will be pretty happy about it. This works for the demons/water theme prompt for Defence against the dark Arts. I only needed two prompts for this class but if I am able to read more I may be able to get to the last prompt as well.
  7. The wallflower wager (#3) by Tessa Dare – This was my most surprising read so far this year and I am continuing on with this series. The first two books focused on Emma and Alexandra so this one focuses on Penny. The duchess deal which was the first one is my favorite out of the ones that I read so far, but I am interested in seeing where this one goes. This works for the historical fiction prompt for History of Magic which I only need two books to complete this class.

 

NEWTS TBR 2020 Part 2

  1. You will know me by Megan Abbott – I started this one at the beginning of June I believe, and never really got to it since it was an audio book and the only way I could get it through Overdrive. This works for the mainly black cover for History of Magic and will complete my NEWTs for that class.
  2. Get a life, Chloe Brown (#1) by Talia Hibbert – It seems that everyone is reading this book right now so I decided to add it to my TBR to see if it was something I would be interested in. I also realized that I don’t really have as many humorous contemporary books so this one will be read in between the other darker books that I have on my TBR. This works for the humorous book for Charms.
  3. The bear and the nightingale (#1) by Katherine Arden – This is the only reread that I have on my TBR since I needed a book set in winter for my second prompt in Charms so I chose this one sine I never got to the rest of the trilogy. I loved it when I first read it since I love most books that focus around Russian history and folklore.
  4. Crepuscule Vol. by Mirchi – I haven’t read a manga this year yet so I was a little surprised when I saw that I needed to read one for Charms. I chose this one which I think focuses on Vampires and works to complete a couple of other challenges I am working on at Goodreads.
  5. Muse of Nightmares (#2) by Laini Taylor – I picked this one up in July, but I’ve just started to pick it up this month and found that it was perfect for the animal prompt for Transfiguration since it has a bird on the cover. I loved strange the dreamer, but it has been a long time since I have read it, so I am a little wary of this one, but I am excited to finish it. Since it is due back at the library soon this will be my first book to complete.
  6. Tess of the road (#1) by Rachel Hartman – This book has been on every TBR for the last year or so I believe and I still haven’t gotten to it yet. I even got it approved from Netgalley before 2018 and for some reason I started it but put it back down. When I needed a book for the dragons/fire prompt in Transfiguration, I knew I would want to read this one so I can knock it off my TBR before the end of the year.
  7. Hero at the fall (#3) by Alwyn Hamilton – My last prompt requires me to read a hardcover or one that I thought would be hard to read for Transfiguration, which was actually perfect because I got this one cheap on bookoutlet way back in May and its a hardback. It also completes a trilogy that I have been reading for a while now.

 

So this is what I have planned for the next few months. This will cover most of my Fall TBR since I am not doing monthly TBRs because of school. What are you guys reading this month? Are you participating in the last NEWTs?

Hope you guys have a great rest of the week!

Marybeth