February's Book Haul

Books I Read and Loved in 2014, Part 1

Hello wonderful readers, I'm on the cusp of the second half of the year, and I realise I haven't posted in months (I am pretty active on Instagram if anyone wants to follow me in my day to day life. Lots of pictures of my fur babies). So, I thought I'd talk about the books that I've read and loved in the first half of 2014. Currently, I'm sitting at 77 books read, but quite a few of them didn't really move me all that much.

Books Read in March

Well, this month has been a surprise.
I'd been expecting my reading rates to drop significantly, due to uni, but if anything, they've risen! Despite being so super busy, March has been the best reading month this year, having read 25 books. (Though, to be fair, some of them were graphic novels, and a small handful were super short, like, around 100 pages long, for classes.)
~ indicates a graphic novel

1. Wanderlust (Sirantha Jax, #2) - Anne Aguirre 4 stars
2. Lost Voices (Lost Voices, #1) - Sarah Porter 2 stars
3. Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, #1) - Morgan Rhodes 3 stars
4. Daisy Miller - Henry James 3 stars
5. Fade Out (Morganville Vampires, #7) - Rachel Caine 3 stars
6. Lovely, Dark and Deep - Amy McNamara 4 stars
7. The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom 4 stars
8. To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf 4 stars
9. Trouble in Mind (Birds of Prey III, #1) - Duane Swierczynski & Jesus Saiz 5 stars + fave ~
10. Wonder Woman: Odyssey, vol 1 - J. Michael Strczynski 4 stars ~
11. Crank (Crank, #1) - Ellen Hopkins 3½ stars
12. Just One Day (Just One Day, #1) - Gayle Forman 3½ stars
13. Riveted (Iron Seas, #3) - Meljean Brooke 3 stars
14. Orlando - Virginia Woolf 4 stars
15. Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy Graphic Novel, #1) - Richelle Mead & Leigh Dragoon 3 stars ~
16. When We Wake - Karen Healey 4 stars
17. The Great Feminist Denial - Monica Dux & Zora Simic 3 stars
18. In the Penal Colony - Franz Kafka --
19. Paper Valentine - Brenna Yovanoff 3½ stars
20. Nevermore (Nevermore, #1) - Kelly Creagh 5 stars
21. Princess of the Midnight Ball (Princess, #1) - Jessica Day George 3 stars
22. The Dark Unwinding (The Dark Unwinding, #1) - Sharon Cameron 3½ stars
23. The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily M. Danforth 4 stars
24. The Time Keeper - Mitch Albom 2 stars
25. The Death of Oracle (Birds of Prey II, #2) - Gail Simone 4 stars ~

This month:
Pages: 7,054
Avg. Pages: 282 pages per book

Total:
Books read: 61
Pages: 19,214
Average Pages: 315 pages per book

As many books as I've read this month, when I was supposed to be studying, I don't think I'll be able to read even half as many during April. I have a lot of things due this month (including some flash fiction due tomorrow, an essay on Virginia Woolf, and a couple of workshopping sessions). Busy busy busy.

Books Read in January

It's hard to believe that January is almost over. Where did all the days go?

I've spent the majority of the month reading, editing, and worrying about adult responsibilities. Very tiring. Even though I'm on holidays, I feel like I've never been busier. 

So, here are the first books of the year. 

1. Heart of Steel (The Iron Seas, #2) - Meljean Brooke

2. Mr Fox - Helen Oyeyemi

3. Rebel Heart (Dust Lands, #2) - Moira Young

4. Fire Spell - Laura Amy Schlitz

5. Please Ignore Vera Dietz - A.S. King

6. The Brides of Rollrock Island - Margo Lanagan *

7. The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera

8. Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking, #3) - Patrick Ness

9. Between the Lines - Jodie Picoult & Samantha van Leer

10. My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece - Annabel Pitcher

11. Falling to Ash (Moth, #1) - Karen Mahoney

12. Shadows (Ashes, #2) - Isla J. Bick

13. Feast of Fools (The Morganville Vampires, #4) - Rachel Caine

14. The Farm (The Farm, #1) - Emily McKay

15. Jane Eyre Laid Bare - Charlotte Brontë & Eve Sinclair

Lazing out in the sun with the puppy

And because I'm in love with random statistics and such:

Pages: 5,328

Avg. pages: 355pgs per book

Ratings:

5 stars - 3

4 stars - 2

3 stars - 5

2 stars - 4

1 star -1

Of the above books, only one made it to my all-time favourites list: Margo Lanagan's Brides of Rollrock Island (published as Sea Hearts here in Aus). This was my first novel of hers that I'd read, and holy crap, I regret not picking up her stuff sooner. When I find the time, I plan on picking up Tender Morsels. 

Fire Spell by Laura Amy Schlitz was another book that I really loved--unfortunately it didn't make it onto the fave list, through no fault of its own, it just didn't click in that way. 

Pretty pictures make this book readable.

Another unforgettable book--for all the wrong reasons--was Jane Eyre Laid Bare. Curiosity forced me to pick it up. I love Jane Eyre. It's one of my favourite novels ever. But this... this was a monstrosity. It provided for some lol-sy entertainment, though, so I guess it served its purpose.

Other things that happened in January:

- meeting Neil Gaiman (for the second time in my life)

- getting my first tattoo

but both those two deserve their own posts, so keep an eye out in the next few days. ;)

I hope the first month of 2013 passed without any complications for everyone. And I hope February will be just as awesome as January. <3

Books Read in August

Howdy, folks. I know, I know, it's been a month since I last wrote. I promise, I was going to write a cool post about writing, but then I got horribly sick, right at the time that most of my assessment tasks were due. So yeah, I've been a bit busy. And as a result, I haven't read that much this month.
* indicates a favourite
~ indicates a graphic novel or manga

1. Past the Shallows - Favel Parrett
2. The Doomsday Vault - Steven Harper
3. Ship Breaker - Paolo Bacigalupi
4. The Selection - Kiera Cass
5. Princesses and Pornstars - Emily Maguire
6. Wildwood - Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis
7. Ascendant (Kiiler Unicorns, #2) - Diana Peterfreund
8. Murder on the Ballarat Train (Phryne Fisher, #3) - Kerry Greenwood
9. Rapture (Fallen, #4) - Lauren Kate
10. Irresponsible (Ultimate Spiderman, #7) - Brian Michael Bendis ~
11. End Run (New Birds of Prey, #1) - Gail Simone ~
12. Blood - Tony Birch
13. The Theban Plays - Sophocles
14. Magic Slays (Kate Daniels, #5) - Ilona Andrews *

Photo taken on my Instagram

Wahh, only 14 books read this month. That's almost nothing. And what makes this even worse is that most of the books were pretty meh. The only book that really stood out was the most recent book in the Kate Daniels series, and you can see me rant about how much I love that series here.

So, what books am I planning to read in September? Well, Jane Eyre and Notes From Underground for my Intro to Lit class (*swoon*!). I've already started Jane Eyre, and I'm loving it. It is taking a long tim to read, though, because of the dense writing, but oh man, it's so worth it.

Other books I'm planning on reading:

• Hoping to finish Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I'm so close to finishing it, but it's just so boring and dry, that I haven't wanted to pick it back up again.
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I really want to read this before the movie comes out. It looks like it could be a fantastic film (yellowface issues aside. Let's not go there.)
• Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. I've never read any of Woolf's works. Perhaps I should start now. 
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Can't believe I haven't yet read this. 
• Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I love the movie. So so so much. Let's see how the book compares.
• Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami. Can you believe it, I've never read any Murakami, either. Hopefully this first foray into his work will not be my last.
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick. This is for research purposes. My current novel is a sci-fi/cyberpunk that deals with the idea of humanity in a world with cyborgs and androids. 
• Finally, Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. I'm so excited to read this. I love love love  books set in a non-white/European fantasy world. And it has a gorgeous cover. Just look at it.

Those are just the books I have from the library. I'm not even going to go into the books I own/ARCs from publishers. Maybe I'll save that for another post.

In the meantime, stay classy, internet.