2018 Reading Stats!

**2018 READING STATS**

Number Of Books You Read: 143
Number of Re-Reads: 1
Genre You Read The Most From: Mystery/Psychological Thriller & Suspense/True Crime

1. Best Book You Read In 2018?

(If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2018 release vs. backlist)

 

And an amazing book written by my cousin:

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

 

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  

 

 

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

 5. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018?

Series:

 

Sequel: 

 

I don't seem to have read any series enders this year.

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018?

A.J. Finn and C.J. Tudor

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

 9. Book You Read In 2018 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?

 

11. Most memorable character of 2018?

Aza (Turtles All the Way Down)

Stevie (Truly Devious)

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?

 

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

 

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read? 

 

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018?

“You're both the fire and the water that extinguishes it. You're the narrator, the protagonist, and the sidekick. You're the storyteller and the story told. You are somebody's something, but you are also your you.” -Turtles All the Way Down, John Green

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?

Shortest: Binti, 96 pages
Longest: The Name of the Rose, 536 pages

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

Simon/Blue, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

The Naturals, The Naturals series

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

21. Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018?

Dean and Michael, The Naturals 

23. Best 2018 debut you read?

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018?

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018?

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2018?

There have been so many beautiful Bookstagram accounts I've started following this year, I've been so impressed by people who manage to frame these gorgeous photos with these accessories and color choices that all blend together so well. It's very inspiring.

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2018?

Why Turtles All The Way Down Means So Much to Me: http://thebookkeepersapprentice.blogspot.com/2018/03/review-turtles-all-way-down.html

3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2018:

4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events,  etc.)? 

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathons

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018? 

All the amazing books I got to read

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

Health problems meant for a while I wasn't able to focus on reading or blogging like I usually do

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

Why Turtles All The Way Down Means So Much to Me: http://thebookkeepersapprentice.blogspot.com/2018/03/review-turtles-all-way-down.html

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

I always wish my posts would get more comments, I love interacting with people about books.

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? 

How easy it is to get library books on my Kindle

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I completed the Popsugar Reading Challenge.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019?

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut)?

3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019?

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019?

Be able to read and blog more!

The Unread Shelf Project 2019

As of December 31st, 2018, I'm starting with 351 books on my TBR bookcases. I'm going to try to read predominantly from those shelves this year and get that number down!

1) The Running Man by Stephen King
2) Pop Goes the Weasel by James Patterson
3) The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Angel of the Opera by Sam Siciliano
4) Date with Malice by Julia Chapman
5) The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley
6) Zodiac Station by Tom Harper
7) The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham
8) I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen
9) The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
10) The Abominable by Dan Simmons
11) A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
12) Evil Eye by Joyce Carol Oates
13) Killer Keepsakes by Jane K. Cleland
14) Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason
15) Murder on the Thirty-First Floor by Per Wahloo
16) Blackkklansman by Ron Stallworth
17) Horowitz Horror by Anthony Horowitz
18) Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica
19) Last Seen Alive by Claire Douglas
20) The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
21) Here We Lie by Paula Treick Deboard
22) The Hanging Girl by Eileen Cook
23) Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss
24) The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm
25) The Devil and Winnie Flynn by Micol Ostov
26) Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina
27) The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson

Cruising Through the Cozies Challenge; Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge

Cruising Through the Cozies:
1) Date with Malice by Julia Chapman
2) The Pint of No Return by Ellie Alexander
3) Killer Keepsakes by Jane K. Kleland
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Netgalley and Edelweiss:
1) An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
2) She Lies in Wait by Gytha Lodge
3) The Pint of No Return by Ellie Alexander
4) The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley
5) Last Woman Standing by Amy Gentry
6) The Winter Sister by Megan Collins
7) The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets
8) Between the Lies by Michelle Adams
9) A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn
10) All the Wrong Places by Joy Fielding
11) The Invited by Jennifer McMahon
12) Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina
13) The Night Before by Wendy Walker
14) The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth
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2019 Popsugar Challenge!

1. A book becoming a movie in 2019: The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
2. A book that makes you nostalgic: The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah
3. A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction): Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
4. A book you think should be turned into a movie: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
5. A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
6. A book with a plant in the title or on the cover: The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
7. A reread of a favorite book: Popular Crime by Bill James
8. A book about a hobby: Needled to Death by Maggie Sefton
9. A book you meant to read in 2018: The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley
10. A book with POP, SUGAR, or CHALLENGE in the title: Pop Goes the Weasel by James Patterson
11. A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover: Raiders of the Lost Corset by Elle Byerrum
12. A book inspired by myth/legend/folklore: The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman
13. A book published posthumously: Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
14. A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
15. A retelling of a classic: Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
16. A book with a question in the title: Did She Kill Him? by Kate Coloquhoun
17. A book set on college or university campus: If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
18. A book about someone with a superpower: The Dire King by William Ritter
19. A book told from multiple POVs: Wonder by R.J. Palacio
20. A book set in space: Red Shirts by John Scalzi
21. A book by two female authors: An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
22. A book with SALTY, SWEET, BITTER, or SPICY in the title: Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear
23. A book set in Scandinavia: Room No. 10 by Ake Edwardson
24. A book that takes place in a single day: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
25. A debut novel: The Girl Before by Rena Olsen
26. A book that's published in 2019: The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson
27. A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature: The Devil and Winnie Jones by Micol Ostow
28. A book recommended by a celebrity you admire: Wild by Cheryl Strayed
29. A book with LOVE in the title: Love and Death in the Sunshine State by Cutter Wood
30. A book featuring an amateur detective: Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
31. A book about a family: We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
32. A book author from Asia, Africa, or South America: The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
33. A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in title: Zodiac Station by Tom Harper
34. A book that includes a wedding: The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot
35. A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter: The Rottweiler by Ruth Rendell
36. A ghost story: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
37. A book with a two-word title: Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman
38. A novel based on a true story: The Abominable by Dan Simmons
39. A book revolving around a puzzle or game: The Running Man by Stephen King
40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading challenge: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers

Review: A Simple Favor

My apologies for being gone from here for over a month-I’ve been dealing with a lot of medical issues, and my wireless in my apartment suddenly decided it no longer liked my computer.

So here goes my first official review in a while, for A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell.

When Stephanie’s best friend Emily disappears, leaving her son and husband behind, Emily is left reeling. As she finds herself immersed more in Emily’s life, Stephanie begins to question everything she thought she knew about her friend and her life.

I was really excited to read this book-to be honest, this was one of those rare instances where I saw the movie trailer and then found out it was a book. The trailer and the book synopsis made this sound like exactly the kind of book I love-secrets, lies, psychological twists and turns, complex and complicated main female characters and friendships...

And I think if I had read this earlier, before I read so many really good psychological thrillers with similar themes, I might have really liked this book. I think it just came too late in the genre for me. While it definitely kept me hooked in the beginning-I really liked the juxtaposition between Stephanie ‘s “mommy blogger” posts and her inner thoughts-the book began to fall into far too familiar territory for me. It didn’t feel original or like it had something different to say in a genre that I absolutely love.

This wasn’t a bad book at all. It was a fine book. It was okay. It just didn’t feel like it added anything new to the genre.

Review: Naughty on Ice

Title: Naughty on Ice
Author: Maia Chance
Publication Date: November 13, 2018
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Recommended If You Like: cozy mysteries, strong female heroines, settings around Christmastime, romance

The Book:

Lola and Berta, the detectives of The Discreet Retrieval Agency, find themselves suddenly suspects in a murder when they are caught by police holding the ring they have been hired to find, right after someone in the house is poisoned. Forbidden to leave the town until the case is solved, Lola and Berta work to solve the case themselves, and get themselves out alive before Christmas.

What I Liked:

I really enjoyed the first entry in this series, and my enjoyment continued with this book. Lola and Berta are such great, unique, fun characters, and Lola is a narrator who you just want to be friends with. This book really has everything you could want in a cozy mystery-great characters, romance, a unique setting, a mystery full of twists and turns-and so much more-ski jumping! family drama! secret rendezvous! the legend of a bear who walks on two legs!

Anything I Didn't Like?

The solution to the mystery got a little convoluted for me. I loved the surprise element of it, but I had to do a bit of re reading of the ending to make sure I got it all.

So...?

I definitely recommend this series. The characters are great, the romance is one to root for, and the mysteries always keep you on your toes.

Review: Crippen

The focus of this book is a fictionalized account of the Dr. Crippen murder case. What is known as facts are that Dr. Crippen's wife was murdered, and that Dr. Crippen and his lover Ethel Le Neve tried to get to Canada on a boat posing as a man and his son.

What I love most about this book is that even knowing about the Crippen case, even having read books on it before, Boyne still manages to absolutely surprise and shock me as the plot progresses. I would get so caught up in the story that I would forget what I knew. And because of how little is truly known about the case, Boyne is able to hypothesize and theorize in a brilliantly written way that actually made my mouth drop open at one point and just stand there in public, flipping back pages.

I highly recommend this book, it's so well-written, and does such an impressive job of taking a famous historical crime and still making it feel new.

Review: After the Fire

Title: After the Fire
Author: Will Hill
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
Genre: Young Adult/Psychological
Recommended If You Like: cult stories, strong female heroines, flashbacks used to build suspense

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

The Book:

There was a fire, a terrible fire with gunshots and people dying all around her. But Moonbeam made it out. Now she has to figure out a life outside of the compound, outside of Father John's control, all while holding two secrets inside her that refuse to let her go.

What I Liked:

The opening is so powerful, it had me sucked in right away. Hill then brilliantly uses the trope of Before and After to build up the suspense. Before takes readers back to the events leading up to the fire of the title, while After details the life of Moonbeam after everything she has known is gone.

Moonbeam is a great strong female narrator fighting to get her life back and help her fellow survivors while trying to deal with the two secrets inside her. She is telling her story to two other great characters, a psychologist and an agent, and readers get inside her head and her feelings through the first person narration.

Anything I Didn't Like?

The very end felt a little pat, but I loved it anyway.

So...?

This is a well-written, suspenseful look at a cult and how someone tries to rebuild their life when they suddenly find themselves on the outside.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon Roundup

I had so much fun participating in the Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon! I read four books for a total of 897 pages:

This was a very creepy and well-done graphic novel adaptation of a Lovecraft story surrounding an escaped asylum patient and his family secrets.

While this was not my favorite Patterson-it's a strange futuristic tale surrounding a new society-there are still Patterson's trademark twists and turns which had me hooked enough to keep reading.

Lord Peter Wimsey is such a fun character, and this is a great classic mystery surrounding a body in a bathtub and a mysterious pair of glasses.

This is an amazing graphic novel that manages to be memoir, powerful statement about physical and emotional violence against women, and true crime tale about the Yorkshire Ripper.