A detailed look at last week’s reading habits: 5 books read (none from my Up Next Shelf) and no DNFs, three new books I want to read featuring two nonfiction books, one about the joy books bring and the other an analysis of the white, heterosexual patriarchy, and a feminist book on poetry, plus an in-depth discussion of a few books I’m anticipating this week.
Updates
| Last Week’s Blog Updates | Last Week’s Goodreads Reviews |
|---|---|
| 📖 The Weekly Wrap: November 23rd to November 29th 📖 The Monthly Wrap: November 📖 Entertaining Yet Unsatisfactory: Seven Ways to Kill A King by Melissa Wright | 📚 A Merry Vested Christmas by Melanie Moreland 📚 Pretty Painful by K.A. Knight 📚 Hate by K.A. Knight 📚 Unwritten by Jenna Hartley 📚 Unpredictable by Jenna Hartley |
Contents
*These buttons (🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇸) and the Kindle Embeds contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you buy the item using the links at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.
Weekly Review
What I’ve Read This Week
Key: 🔁 re-read| ❌ DNF | 📜 from my Up Next shelf | 📲 eARC
- A Merry Vested Wedding by Melanie Moreland ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Pretty Painful (The Fallen Gods, #1) by K.A. Knight ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Hate (Her Monsters, #2) by K.A. Knight ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Unwritten (Salvation Society) by Jenna Hartley ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Unpredictable (Love in LA, #3) by Jenna Hartley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Reading Progress
Given how busy last week was, I read a surprising number of books and actually managed to review all of them, on top of posting my blog’s book review and monthly wrap. I started off the week reading some sweet romance, then got hit with a need for some darker romance, and then wrapped up the reader with some contemporary romance. One of my favourite contemporary romance tropes, when done well, is the age gap romance, which Unpredictable by Jenna Hartley was.
Last week I posted my November Wrap (see my wrap here) which saw my highest number of books read since April, which also means November was my largest reading month since COVID-19 hit. I also found a plugin that allows me to embed some interactive graphs (which I’m also using below); I think they make the data more accessible and fun.
Last week’s book review, Seven Ways to Kill A King by Melissa Wright marks the first of three book reviews that are connected by the theme: standalone fantasy novels. While the theme isn’t a trope or genre, it’s a unique type of book given that writing a standalone fantasy novel is quite an ambitious undertaking. The author has to introduce the reader to a new world, set up that word’s rules *and* construct convincing character backstories, set up endearing relationships between the characters and foster a connection between the main character(s) and reader… all while having an engaging plot that can be wrapped up in the condensed page number.
Seven Ways to Kill A King incorporates so many beloved fantasy tropes. It’s an entertaining read that pushes the reader to keep reading because of its action-driven plot, detail-oriented assassinations, and excellent pacing. However, I was disappointed by the lack of connection I felt to the characterizations–they were either uninteresting or frustrating. Therefore, while the book was entertaining it was overall unsatisfactory. You can read my full review here.
– Total Books is the total number of books still waiting to be read on my Up Next Shelf. It’s important to recognize that when I finish a book, that book is immediately deducted from the total, meaning the total value decreases. It’s important because while the weeks of Nov 2-8 and Nov 9-15 look like my total books value hasn’t changed, it actually shows that I added a new book to my Up Next Shelf during the Week of Nov 9-15.
– Books Read is the number of books I’ve read from my Up Next Shelf in that week. The values are negative because finishing a book from the Shelf decreases the total value. Therefore, when looking at the Overall graph (the yellow line), you can see when the line is 0, the books I read and added cancel each other out. This week (Nov 16-22), the Overall value is below the 0-line, demonstrating that I didn’t add any new books to my Up Next Shelf, but I did finish a book from the Shelf.
Up Next Shelf Progress
A reminder: my Up Next Shelf is comprised of all the unread books I want to read and have purchased.
I’m changing up my progress from a simple percentage complete to a line graph (see left) because a percentage doesn’t acknowledge how both the number of books read and the total books on the shelf fluctuate.
The total number of books on my Up Next Shelf has decreased to 81 books and yet my books read has stayed the same as last week at 42 books. However, this is because I am currently reading 2 books from my Up Next shelf which puts them in an odd limbo category of not on my Up Next shelf (since that only holds unread books) but also not officially “read.”
Want to Read Updates
You will like Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books by Cathy Rentzenbrink if you appreciate:
✨ Biography memoir
✨ Books about books
✨ Book with book recommendations
You will like the princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace if you appreciate:
✨ Poetry
✨ Feminism
✨ Mental health
✨ Empowering stories
The Upcoming Week
To Be Read
Get the book: 🇨🇦
I am currently reading Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall. It’s a book that is making me think and reflect on what mainstream feminism prioritizes. It’s a book that I can see being a longstanding go-to feminist read.
Also, I kept saying last week that I would finally start Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. However, I haven’t yet opened the book 😅. My attention keeps getting pulled into other books–what it means to be a mood reader, I guess. I’m hoping that this week I’ll finally get to read it; I know that I won’t be able to put the book down once I start.
I’m really excited to start reading Heartless by Crystal Ash, which was released last week! The book is the sixth book in the Steel Demons MC and is a paranormal reverse harem romance. I can’t wait to get some answers about a certain prophecy, although I’m hoping I’m not too heartbroken by the ending (the reviews aren’t promising).
Also, A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova has been on my Kindle for quite a few weeks. I feel like I’m finally in the mood for epic fantasy–Seven Ways to Kill A King has sparked that need, I think. It helps that A Deal with the Elf King is based on Hades and Persephone’s mythology, whose retellings I typically love.
To Look Forward To This Week
Another book that I can’t wait to read: Floored by Karla Sorensen. I already talked about it in last week’s Weekly Wrap (see here), but there’s something about witty sports romances that will always be a hit with me.
I’ve also decided to start a new section of Looking Forward To. Typically I only discuss books that are going to be released this upcoming week. However, I’ve decided to talk about books I’ve added to my Upcoming Release list. The books added to this list are books I want to read, to the extent that I have a page dedicated to them, so I remember when they get published (see the page here).
I added two books to my Upcoming Releases list. The first is Lore by Alexandra Bracken. It’s an urban fantasy novel that combines greek mythology with a revenge-plot. Think the Hunger Games meets Percy Jackson. See the details here.
The second book is Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World Retold by Bolu Babalola. Love in Colour has already been released in some parts of the world but won’t be coming to Canada until April. It’s a collection of love stories and mythologies retold in a way that decolonizes tropes of love and centers diversity. See the details here.
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