Book Haul: March 2020

It’s time for another Book Haul post. One of my blogging goals for 2020 is to be to be more intentional about Book Haul posts. I’m aware that it’s possible nobody cares about the books I’ve bought or received, but I kinda like when bloggers post these because it not only puts new books in front of my eyeballs that I might not be aware of, but they also give me an idea of the blogger’s tastes. For my purposes a Book Haul post can include any book I’ve come to possess, not just those I buy, so arcs requested or just sent from publishers will be listed as well.

Off The TBR’s Best Reads of 2019

It’s the last day of the year which means it’s time for my Best Reads of 2019 post! I’d hoped to write one more review before the end of the year but that isn’t gonna happen. That’s fine though because I have what I need for this list already. And while I didn’t read as many books as I’d hoped this year I did read some really good ones!

2019 was another great year for speculative fiction. I’ve heard it said by many readers that we are in a new golden age of spec fic. I think that’s true. Much of that has to do with some great new authors being published by traditional publishing houses, but a lot of that has to do with the rise of really great books coming out of the self-published/indie publishing realm.

What follows below are those books I read this year (regardless of publication date) that I rated a 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars. There were a total of eight books to make the list. Of this group there was one self-published title, and two formerly self-published titles that were picked up by a major publisher, one of which hasn’t actually been published yet but I read the ARC. I’ll start with the 4.5 group, move to the 5.0 group, and finish with my favorite book of the year. Apart from the final book there is no particular order to this list other than the two main groupings.

Monthly Reading Goals: April 2019

Nicole over at Thoughts Stained With Ink talked me into trying out this post topic back in January and after running with it a couple of months I’ve decided to keep it going. For now at least.

This isn’t something I usually do because I hate locking myself into a specific reading list. It just never works out for me. As my previous Month In Review posts reveal, I rarely stick to what I set out to read. I might read more, less, or switch books out for others. Rarely to I finish the month as I intended.

So my ongoing rule for this topic will be…

Month In Review: March 2019

March has come and gone here at Off The TBR! Spring has come (sort of) and with it the year is kicking into gear. This is the point where I start to get a sense for how busy things are gonna get from now through summer now that baseball season and spring ballet season has arrived (my kids extra-curricular activities). All in all March was a good month here on the blog. I did pretty good with my reading and I can’t complain about the number of reviews I posted. I did have one off weekend but that couldn’t be helped. I also managed to read some really good books. So without further ado here’s what happened…

Grey Sister Review

Author: Mark Lawrence
Series: Second Book Of The Ancestor
Publisher: Ace
Publication Date:  April 3, 2018
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 432
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

I love this series! That’s probably an understatement but it’s easily become one of my new favorite series in fantasy fiction. There’s just something about it whether it’s the story, the compelling baddass nun characters, or Mark Lawrence’s writing. I stayed up late to finish Grey Sister and I’m still not sure I’ve digested it all but I’m giving it a go.

Beware, as this is the second book in a series there are bound to be minor inevitable spoilers in this review if you haven’t read book one. If you haven’t read my review of Red Sister you can find it here. For this review I’m going generally follow the same format I did for Red Sister with some technical stuff first then overall comments at the end.

Monthly Reading Goals: March 2019

Nicole over at Thoughts Stained With Ink talked me into trying out this post topic back in January and after running with it a couple of months I’ve decided to keep it going. For now at least.

This isn’t something I usually do because I hate locking myself into a specific reading list. It just never works out for me. As my previous Month In Review posts reveal, I rarely stick to what I set out to read. I might read more, less, or switch books out for others. Rarely to I finish the month as I intended.

So my ongoing rule for this topic will be…

Monthly Reading Goals: February 2019

Nicole over at Thoughts Stained With Ink talked me into trying out this post topic last month and I’m giving it another go. This isn’t something I usually do because I hate locking myself into a specific reading list. It just never works out for me. And as my Month In Review for January revealed, though I read more books than I’d set out to read, only half of them were from my original list.

So my ongoing rule for this topic will be…

So yeah…I’m gonna look at them as more what you’d call guidelines and post my monthly reading goals. These are goals, or guidelines for what I would like to read during the month. I reserve the right at any time to chase the next shiny object that comes by and read something else. I also add the disclaimer that life can get in the way at any time. With those things being said, here’s my list of reads for February 2019…

Month In Review: January 2019

January has drawn to a close and with it another month on ye olde blog. This month went a lot better than I’d hoped, mainly because I had a lot less going on with work than in the past oh six months or so. I was able to read and post more which was a nice change of pace.

I started the month off with some 2019 Reading And Blogging Goals as well as some Monthly Reading Goals.

And sure enough I changed things up. I’d planned to read the following books:

• Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
• Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
• A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
• Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

And I read exactly half of those. Here’s what I actually read in order:

• Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
• Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
• Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen (currently reading)

So yeah…that reading plan was blown out of the water kinda like I thought it would be knowing me. I came across our old copy of Treasure Island before we took our trip to Jamaica and decided it would be great to read to get me in the mood for the Caribbean.

Red Sister Review

Author: Mark Lawrence
Series: The Ancestor
Publisher: ACE
Publication Date:  April 2017
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 469

“I WANT MORE!!!”

Those were the words that came out of my mouth the moment I finished Red Sister. I stayed up late to finish it and felt cheated I didn’t have book two in hand and another day to devote to reading.

I was late coming to this read and was aware of all the hype surrounding it the past couple of years yet I was still surprised by it; just how much was unexpected. I know there isn’t a lot I can say about this book that ten other reviewers haven’t already said but I’m gonna give it a go.

Monthly Reading Goals: January 2019

I was chatting with Nicole over at Thoughts Stained With Ink yesterday on her Reading Outlook 2019 post. She was listing all the books she’s planning on reading this year and I commented that I was scared to put together a list like that. She pressed me on it and I admitted if I planned a list like that it would be a failure by February. I tried to create a list of my planned reads last year including books coming out by month and reading events I wanted to participate it, and yeah I didn’t stick to it for long. Nicole admitted her list is really “a guiding post” and I thought, “you know…I just need to look at it in a new way.”

So yeah…I’m gonna look at them as more what you’d call guidelines and post my monthly reading goals. These are goals, or guidelines for what I would like to read during the month. I reserve the right at any time to chase the next shiny object that comes by and read something else. I also add the disclaimer that life can get in the way at any time. With those things being said, here’s my list of reads for January 2019: