Once again, I’m a tad later posting my TBR stack than I wanted to be. Unfortunately so far this month it’s due to health flare-ups and a lack of work-life balance.

I finished quite a few books in January—eleven to be exact! Three ebooks, two audio books, four comic issues, and two physical books.

I also DNF’d two books, both of them ebooks.

• Sabriel by Garth Nix (4 stars)
• Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (3 stars)
• Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (re-read, 5 stars)
• Mercy Thompson: Homecoming, Issue #1 (re-read, 3 stars)
• Mercy Thompson: Homecoming, Issue #2 (re-read, 3 stars)
• Mercy Thompson: Homecoming, Issue #3 (re-read, 3 stars)
• Mercy Thompson: Homecoming, Issue #4 (re-read, 4 stars)
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2 stars)
• Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab (2 stars)
• All the Feels by Olivia Dade (5 stars)
• Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (re-read, 5 stars)
• Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout (DNF, 2 stars)
• Murder on the Mind by L.L. Bartlett (DNF, 1 star)

Five of these were a part of my Mercy-verse re-read. Of the remaining eight books, six were on my TBR stack for January.

Sabriel and Binti were books I started in December and finished in January.

Library Run

As usual, let’s being with the books I plan to add to my TBR stack this month from the public library or Kindle Prime.

• Desperate Duchess by Eloisa James – I’m grabbing this one from the library. I’m reading it as a part of the 12 Challenge by Shadowbooker on Instagram.
• The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young – This one is the group read for the Creating & Co. Make Waves Readathon happening at the end of this month.
• Zodiac Academy: The Awakening by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti – This is another book I’m reading as a part of the 12 Challenge. While the challenge is for 12 books over 12 month (suggested by 12 mutuals), I (of course) went with 13 books instead. Because I prefer the number 13 to 12. I’m borrowing this one from Kindle Prime.

Shop My Shelves

As I mentioned last month, I’m really hoping that this is the biggest section of my TBR stack posts.

Let’s see if I met my goal to do that this month!

• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – A carry-over from January’s TBR stack post. At this rate I’ll probably finish it sometime in March unless I can get a good reading zerg in one day this month.
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – A re-read that has been carried over from January. I’m trying to finish up my Creating & Co. Winter Reading Challenge, so I’m focusing on these book choices as much as possible.
• Bacchanal by Veronica Henry – Another Winter Reading Challenge carry-over from January.
• The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood – Another carry-over from last month’s TBR stack. I’m really looking forward to this one, so I’m trying to get through some re-reads first so I can savor it. Trying to get it in as a part of the Winter Reading Challenge, but I’ll read it regardless.
• The Diviners by Libba Bray – Yet another re-read and carry-over from January. I really want to finish this series since I enjoyed the first one so much, and figured I’d rather re-read the first before getting into the others than starting from the second book. Using it for a prompt in the Winter Reading Challenge.
• Murder in Wizard’s Wood by Michael J. Allen – I’m sensing a theme here… because this is another book that was initially on January’s TBR stack and I’m using for a prompt in the Winter Reading Challenge.
• A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier – The last carry-over from January’s TBR stack, and the last read for prompts in the Winter Reading Challenge.
• Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison – Gods I love this book so much. This is a re-read that I know I’ll devour in one sitting. I’m using it for the “Beautiful” prompt in the Make Waves Readathon.
• Shadow Fall by Erin Kellison – While I’ve read the first book in this series multiple times, I’ve yet to actually read the second (and third) books. So I thought I’d remedy that during the Make Waves Readathon. Will be fulfilling the “Love” prompt.
• Magpie’s Fall by Allison Pang – I enjoyed the first book of this series enough to pick up the second one, and figured since it’s on the shorter side it’d be a great choice for the “Cursed” prompt in the Make Waves Readathon.

New Purchases to the TBR Stack

My goal every month was to try and read more books that I own compared to the number of new books I added to my TBR stack.

I missed it by one book this month. For what it’s worth, however, I do know that I am going to be reading at least one of these books during the month!

• Stalked by the Kraken by Lillian Lark – I might have a thing for Monster Fucker books. And I also might have a thing for tentacles. So I added this one to my “want to read” shelf when it came across my Twitter feed a while ago. But I haven’t yet made it a priority. I thought I would change that this month by using it for the “Water” prompt in the Make Waves Readathon. Therefore I finally picked it up. And I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to read it.
• The Astronaut and the Star by Jen Comfort – One of the two books I picked up this month as a part of the Amazon First reads program.
• The Quarter Storm by Veronica G. Henry – The second book I picked up this month from Amazon First reads.
• Rebel Witch by Kelly-Ann Maddox – I’ve seen a lot of good things about this book, and noticed it was on sale (and was eligible for some Kindle credits I needed to use up), so I figured why not grab it.
• The Nocere by Heather Carson – I found this one as a suggestion when I was picking up something else not reading related on Amazon, and I couldn’t resist the idea of Dystopian Fae.
• A Love Divided by Belle McInnes – I tell you, Amazon gets me good with the free read suggestions every single time.
• Violet Spark by Erin Kellison – I absolutely adore Shadow Fall by Kellison, and thought why not grab this one since it was a new release.
• Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa – I got a deal from Goodreads to pick this book up, and decided to do so since it was already on my “want to read” list.
• Monsters After Dark by Various Authors – I grabbed this book because I love PNR (Paranormal Romance), and this seemed to be a darker collection of novellas. I will never say no to giving more UF/PNR authors a try!
• Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs – While this doesn’t come out until June, I decided to use one of my Audible credits and snatch it up as a pre-order. Because I absolutely know that I will be devouring it the moment it releases.
• The Apples of Idunn by Matt Larkin – This was a free offer that showed up when I was window shopping on Amazon. I think it ended up as a suggestion since I gifted Manthing some Asatru books for the holidays. But I will never say no to free books to try out. It’s a bit of a weakness.

Well, I’m a tad late on this month’s reading recap and TBR Stack, but that’s because I’ve kind of been just caught up in reading.

I finished five books in December—two ebooks, two audio books, and one physical book.

I also DNF’d three books: one physical book and two ebooks.

• Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer (DNF, 2 stars)
• No Choice by Mel Todd (DNF, 2 stars)
• Rebel’s Blade by Frost Kay (DNF, 2 stars)
• One Witch Too Few by Judith Berens (2 stars)
• A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir (5 stars)
• On the Prowl by Various Authors (3 stars)
• Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab (3 stars)
• Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs (re-read, 4 stars)

Of these eight books, all of them were in my TBR stack for December.

Which is the first time ever this has happened in my remembrance. Gold star for me!

Mercy-verse Re-Read

While these probably won’t show up as a part of my TBR stack, I’m working my way through re-reading all of the Mercy-verse books by Patricia Briggs. Short stories, comics, Anna and Charles novels, Mercy novels… the whole backlog.

All in preparation for a new short story focused around Asil (Dating Terrors, found in the Heroic Hearts anthology), and her new book, Soul Taken.

There’s only a few things in the entire backlog I have not yet read (mainly some Asil short stories and the Hopcross Jilly comics), so I really have no driving desire to focus them as a part of my TBR stack.

That said, they’ll still show up in the monthly recaps!

If you’re interested in checking out the entire chronological order of the books, you can find it here on Patricia Briggs’ site!

Library Run

This section is all about the books I plan to grab from the library or Kindle Prime for my TBR Stack for the month.

• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke – I’ll be grabbing this one from the library. There’s a lot of hype around it, so hopefully it’ll live up to expectations. I’m reading this one for the Creating & Co. Winter Reading Challenge which started in December and lasts through February.
• Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab – Finishing out the series by picking it up from the library. This one is also for a prompt in the Creating & Co. Winter Challenge. It is also fulfilling a prompt for the 2022 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge.

Shop My Shelves

This year, I’m hoping that this section is the biggest of my TBR Stack every month.

I’m really trying to work my way through my massive backlog of books—both physical and digital—without purchasing too many more than I’m reading.

While my physical collection may look small compared to others, I still have over 100 physical books to work my way through, including manga and comics.

And we won’t begin to discuss the almost 200 ebooks I have that are untouched.

But without further ado, here’s what I have on my TBR Stack for January (that I own).

• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – I’m trying to read a chapter of this one every three days just to get it off my list. I should be done with it sometime in February unless the mood strikes me to read a bunch in one sitting.
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – I’ll be re-reading this one so I can jump right into Crooked Kingdom afterwards. This will fulfill a prompt for both the Creating & Co. Winter Challenge and the POPSUGAR challenge.
• Bacchanal by Veronica Henry – Another read for Creating & Co. Winter Challenge.
• Murder on the Mind by L.L. Bartlett – I picked this one up a while ago (like, 2008 while ago) as a part of the Amazon First reads program. I’m using it to fulfill a prompt for the Creating & Co. Winter Challenge. It’s not my usual fare, but I figured the worst that can happen is that I DNF it. And I’m still counting DNFs as a part of my reading challenges, though I’m sure I’ll blog more about that later at some point.
• Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade – I’m re-reading this one as a part of the Creating & Co. 2022 Level Up Reading Challenge. I loved it so much the first time, and I figured why not re-read it before picking up the second one in the series for the first time?
• All the Feels by Olivia Dade – So freaking excited to read this one!! It fulfills a prompt for the Creating & Co. Winter Reading Challenge. It is also a read for my 12 Challenge by Shadowbooker on Instagram.
• The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood – I wanted to read this one in December but didn’t get to it. It fulfills a prompt for the Creating & Co. Winter Reading Challenge.
• The Diviners by Libba Bray – This is a re-read for me, but I very much want to finish out the series this year. It’s also fulfilling a few prompts in various challenges including the Creating & Co. Winter Reading Challenge, the Creating & Co. 2022 Reading Challenge, and the POPSUGAR Challenge.
• Murder in Wizard’s Wood by Michael J. Allen – I’ve had this on my bookshelf for a while. I picked it up at a small convention that had indie authors, and I’m really hoping I enjoy it. It’s going to fulfill a prompt for the Creating & Co. Winter Reading Challenge.

New Purchases to the TBR Stack

I’m not going to lie… I’ve picked up quite a few books between this post and my December TBR Stack. The vast majority of them are ebooks, with a sprinkling of audiobooks and physical books.

• The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson – I realized I didn’t have anything by one of the classic gothic authors out there, so also had to remedy it. (Because I Could Not Stop for Death has been one of my favorite poems since I first discovered it in middle school.)
• The Complete Stories of Edgar Allan Poe – Another realization that I didn’t have anything by another one of the classic gothic horror authors, so had to remedy that.
• The Raven Spell by Luanne G. Smith – This was my Amazon First pick for January. It was really the only one that even caught my interest.
• Lirael by Garth Nix – I’m so excited to finally read this one! I’ve owned the physical book for a while, but there’s just something about having Tim Curry purr to me as Mogget that I’ve wanted to wait for. This is the only audiobook I picked up.
• A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout – This is the group read choice for the Creating & Co. Winter Reading Challenge. The library didn’t have it, so I picked it up for kindle. I don’t know if I’ll enjoy it or not. Group reads can be a hit or miss for me in the Creating & Co. Challenges.
• A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier – This one fulfills a prompt for the Creating & Co. Winter Challenge. I’ve wanted to grab it for a while and decided why not. I plan on trying to read it this month.
• H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction – I picked this one up because it was on sale. I figured why not have all his stories in one place instead of picking them up piecemeal. I mean, there’s better cosmic horror out there nowadays, but his racist ass did kickstart the genre.
• Temple of the Inner Flame by Amber Fisher – If you didn’t already know, Urban Fantasy, and by extension Paranormal Romance (UF/PNR) are my two favorite genres out there. I’m trying to broaden my UF reads, and I was excited to find more POC authors and characters, starting with this one!
• Storm Front by Jim Butcher – I picked up this one since I figured I’d cave to the “Dresden are some of the best UF books out there!” hype. Might as well give Mr. Butcher a try, but also attempt to get over some baggage related to my ex really enjoying the Dresden series. It also fulfills a prompt for the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge. I’m going to use it for the “Sister Cities” advanced challenge. Chicago is a sister city to Shanghai, and I already knew I wanted to read These Violent Delights again… so all that to say, I’m giving it a try.
• Scales Like Stars by D.J. Russo – I picked this up to support a Twitter friend, but it also just looks super cute and interesting!
• The Eclectic Witch’s Book of Shadows by Deborah Blake – This was a recommendation from a friend so I picked it up.
• Dessa: Spirit of Vengeance by Andreya Lombardi – This was a free book on Kindle, and looked at least intriguing so I picked it up. (The freebies are dangerous, y’all.)
• The Absinthe Earl by Sharon Lynn Fisher – I like Fae. And as I have already stated, I love UF/PNR. And this takes place in Ireland, which is one of my favorite places I’ve visited. So why the heck not pick it up?
• The Visit by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Part of the Black Stars Collection. I had wanted to pick this collection up as a part of the Kindle Prime offerings, but then figured I’d rather actually support more black authors and purchased the entire series up instead.
• The Black Pages by Nnedi Okrafor – Part of the Black Stars Collection.
• 2043… A Merman I Should Turn to Be by Nisi Shawl – Part of the Black Stars Collection.
• These Alien Skies by C.T. Rwizi – Part of the Black Stars Collection.
• Clap Back by Nalo Hopkinson – Part of the Black Stars Collection.
• We Travel the Spaceways by Victor LaValle – Part of the Black Stars Collection.
• The Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock – One of the few physical books I picked up. I was ordering another book, and this was on sale so figured why not. I’ve heard good things about it.
• The Big Little Book of Magick by D.J. Conway – While I don’t classify myself as Wiccan, candle and pendulum magic are things that really resonate with me. I originally picked this up at the library, but I liked what I read and skimmed so I decided to just purchase the physical book instead since I had some gift cards from the holidays.
• Necromancer Academy by Lindsey R. Loucks – Another one of those Kindle freebies that popped up in that, “Readers also purchased…” area. Like I said—they’re dangerous.

A new month means a new TBR stack! I’m really enjoying these posts. Planning out what to read is, for some reason, an extremely enjoyable endeavor for me. And being able to share that planning is also enjoyable. So let’s get into it.

I only finished four books during November, though I am in the process of reading multiple books.

• What the Hex by Alexis Daria (3 stars)
• River Marked by Patricia Briggs (re-read, 4 stars)
• A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir (5 stars)
• Namesake by Adrienne Young (3 stars)

Of the four I finished, three were on my TBR for the month. What can I say? Mercy-verse books are a guilty pleasure and a great listen when I’m in the car.

Library Run

The books in this section are ones I already have from the library, or plan to grab from the library for the month. This also includes books I have borrowed via Kindle Prime.

I had a bunch of other books I wanted to borrow from both the library and Kindle, but I decided to tame my list down a bit as we’re coming to a close on the year. This way I can try to focus on finishing out some books that have been on my TBR for a while.

• Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer – This is from November’s TBR Stack. So far I’m ambivalent about it. It may end up as a DNF just for lack of enjoyment. But I’m going to give it a few more chapters before I decide.
• Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab – Another book from November’s list.
• Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab – And yet another book from November’s stack.
• Rebel’s Blade by Kay Frost – First showed up in October’s list. Now I’m trying to finish it out as a part of the December readathon. (Prompt 10) And just so I can return it and clean up some space in my Prime borrows.

Shop My Shelves

I’m trying to make an effort to go through the 180-ish ebooks and 100-ish physical books (comic volumes and manga included) that I already own. So you’ll see this list start to become more prominent in these posts come 2022.

• Binti by Nnedi Okorafor – I picked up this novella on Kindle ages ago. I’ve been trying to read it for various prompts but never get to it. I feel like I’m finally in the mood for it, so I used it as a part of Creating & Co.’s December Readathon, which I am extending through the month of December. (Prompt 7)
• Betrayals & Broken Promises by Takari Hunter – This book has been on my Kindle shelf since January 2021 and I decided to finally use it for one of my books in the same Creating & Co. readathon. (Prompt 8)
• No Choice by Mel Todd – New to the TBR Stack this month! I’ve had it for a few months on Kindle, but will be reading it as a part of the December readathon. (Prompt 11)
• A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir – While I technically mentioned this as a new purchase in October’s TBR Stack, it is new to my reading list. I’ve been devouring this tetralogy, and I figured I could also use it as a part of the December readathon! (Prompt 5)
• Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs – While technically a re-read, this has never appeared on my TBR stack posts. I will be reading it as a part of the Creating & Co. December readathon. (Prompt 2)
• Unleashed by Sara Humphreys – I purchased the physical book years ago, but never read it due to the relationship I was in. I figured since I own most of the series it was about time to get to it. Because I’m not lying when I say PNR (Paranormal Romance) is my favorite genre. I’m also reading this for the December readathon. (Prompt 6, Trope is “fated mates”)
• One Witch Too Few by Judith Berens – This book first showed up in August’s TBR Stack. At the time, I had chosen it for another reading challenge, but since I never got to it, it is now fulfilling a prompt for the December readathon. (Prompt 4)
• All the Feels by Olivia Dade – I never got to this in November like I wanted, so now I am using it as a prompt for the December reading challenge. I may also re-read Spoiler Alert just because it’s such a cozy read for me! (Prompt 8)
• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – This one just keeps hanging on. I really want to try and finish it by the end of the year so I can move along and not have it hanging over my head!
• To Ride a Silver Broomstick by Silver RavenWolf – First appeared on last month’s TBR stack. Another one I really want to try and finish by the end of the year so I can move along to other books I might be a bit more interested in.
• On the Prowl by Various Authors – First showed up in September’s TBR stack. I’ve enjoyed the first two stories (though one was a given because it was a Patricia Briggs novella), and I’m hoping the next two are just as enjoyable.
• Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller – Another one that keeps hanging onto the TBR stack. I’d like to finish it out by the end of the year as well.

New Purchases to the TBR Stack

All of the new books I’ve picked up this past month—primarily on Kindle with some Audible sprinkled in. Some of these are actually books I plan to read for the month, too.

• Moon Touched by Elizabeth Briggs – At first glance I thought this was a new series by Patricia Briggs. The identical last name threw me off. However, I don’t mind trying out new PNR books, what with them being my favorite genre, so I picked it up anyway. I will be reading this as a part of Creating & Co. December reading challenge as well. (Prompt 12)
• The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan – I had an audible credit, and I’d like to give the series a try… so I figured why not pick it up? This is the newer narration, which if I understand correctly is by one of the actors in the current Wheel of Time show.
• Sabriel by Garth Nix – While I have owned the physical copy of this book for quite a while, I couldn’t resist picking up the audio book, narrated by Tim Curry. This was also my first ever audio book listen way back in high school, so it was also partly a nostalgia purchase. I will be reading this as a part of the Creating & Co. December reading challenge. (Prompt 4)
• Her Soul to Take by Harley LaRoux – Kinky horror PNR? Yes please!
• Her Soul for Revenge by Harley LaRoux – Book two of the kinky horror PNR trilogy.
• Murder at Teal’s Pond by David Bushman and Mark Givens – I picked this one up from the Amazon First Reads choices for December. It was the only book that even mildly caught my interest. And only because the murder case was the inspiration for Twin Peaks (which I absolutely adore).
• Find Layla by Meg Elison – This one was an unexpected grab. Amazon emailed me that I had a free credit, but I could only choose from a specific list of books. This one was the only one that sounded even remotely interesting.
• The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood – I picked this book up to read since it looked freaking adorable. It also fulfills a prompt for the December readathon. (Prompt 8)

Last month I wanted to focus on being gentle with myself and try to finish out books I’d already started as a part of my TBR stack. I also wanted to give myself the room to choose comfort reads as I desired.

I read six books in October, only three of which were on my TBR list for the month.

• Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (re-read, 4 stars)
• Darling by K. Ancrum (4 stars)
• Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur (4 stars)
• Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs (re-read, 4 stars)
• Peter Darling by Austin Chant (3 stars)
• City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab (4 stars)

I liked how I set things up last month, so I’m going to continue with that layout. So without further ado, here’s the books I want to try and tackle this month!

Library Run

These are books I already have or plan to grab from the library and Libby this month. This also includes books I’ve borrowed via Kindle Prime.

• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – Originally in August’s TBR stack. Currently about halfway through this one.
• Namesake by Adrienne Young – Another read from August’s list.
• Rebel’s Blade by Frost Kay – From October’s TBR stack. Like I mentioned last month, I’d really like to open up some space in my Kindle Prime borrows!
• What the Hex by Alexis Daria – New to the list this month. I’ve surprisingly been enjoying some modern romance novels, so I thought I’d give this novella in the Audible Plus catalog a try.
• Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab – Another new addition to the list for November. I read the first book in this trilogy as a group read for Creating & Co’s Fifth Annual RIP Readathon in October. This is the second book in the trilogy. It’s a middle grades read, so I expect a quick and fun fluff read like the first one.
• Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab – I figured since the library had the second and third book both available I’d pick them up together and binge them one weekend!
• Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer – This is the group read for the Creating & Co Fall Reading Challenge.

Shop My Shelves

I own all of these books either physically or digitally (Kindle or Audible).

• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – From August’s TBR stack. As I mentioned last month, this is helpful and important information for me to use both for this blog and my adult business, but it’s dry and has become a blocker to moving onto other books.
• Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller – From August’s list. I really want to get through all the books I have partially done, and this is one of them. I don’t know how helpful it will be to my desire to move out of corporate into content creation full time, but it’s worth the try.
• To Ride a Silver Broomstick by Silver RavenWolf – I’m trying to be more connected with my spirituality, and I figured I’d finish the book I started last year. I know it’s going be a bunch of me writing out notes with lots of comments like, “Gosh, she’s so condescending”, but that’s a great way to start building critical thought, right?
• Dune by Frank Herbert – From August’s list. I’d like to finish before the end of 2021 if I don’t get distracted by other books!
• Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – From August’s TBR stack. It was first a library choice, but I picked it up for myself since I didn’t want to wait on the list from the library.
• The Great Passage by Shion Miura – From August’s list. It’s not a long read, so I’m hoping to knock it out this month and not carry it into December.
• On the Prowl by Various Authors – This is a collection of four short stories/novellas from September’s TBR stack. I initially picked it up for Patricia Briggs’ Alpha & Omega novella, but would really like to finish the rest of the collection.
• A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir – Originally in October’s TBR stack. I want to finish this one and get onto the fourth one! This tetralogy is so good! I’m loving it.
• Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade – This is a re-read I wanted to tackle in October so that I could read the next book when it released in November.
• A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne Brown – Another re-read I wanted to finish in October so I could get into the sequel when it released November 2.

New Purchases to the TBR Stack

All of the reads I’ve picked up this past month.

• A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne Brown – I adored the first book, and I am very much looking forward to curling up with this read as well this month.
• Bound in Stone by Stefanie Simpson – Monster pounding smut? Yes, please!
• These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong – I read this the first time when I grabbed it from the library as a group read for one of the Creating & Co reading challenges. I saw the second one was releasing later in November, so I decided to add this to my ebook shelf to re-read for the new release!
• All the Feels by Olivia Dade – The sequel to Spoiler Alert! While it’s technically a stand-alone because it’s new scenario/characters, we were introduced to the characters and situations briefly in the first one. I can’t wait to curl up with this one and binge it!
• Greater than the Sum of our Parts by Richard C Schwartz – I picked this one up on audiobook at the suggestion of my therapist. We’ve started talking about doing some IFS therapy sessions, and she suggested this as both a great background on the subject as well as some guided meditations I can do on my own outside of therapy.
• The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice by JC Kang – I picked this one up when it showed up in my Twitter feed as a $.99 deal.
• Crown of the Sundered Empire by JC Kang – Another read from my Twitter feed I picked up for 99 cents.
• Masters of Deception by JC Kang – The last of the reads from that Twitter post.
• Read Between the Lines by Rachel Lacey – My Amazon First Read for the month of November.

Reading kind of went by the wayside in September due to lack of work and mental health balances. I also already know that it could possibly be a bit of a tough mental health month—my CPTSD has been giving me a bit of a rough time the past few days, so I want to be gentle with myself.

Being gentle with myself for October means trying to finish some books I’ve already started, and mainly just giving myself freedom to choose any comfort reads (whether re-reads or new reads in favored genres—largely paranormal romance) I want that are not on this list.

I also don’t know that I’m going to create the “rollovers” section like I did last month. I liked the idea at the time, but I kind of like the three categories I had laid out prior. I can note if it’s a rollover book or not when it’s in the list.

Library Run

All the books I already have, or plan to grab, from the library this month in no particular order. This also includes books I’ve borrowed via Kindle Prime.

• Rebel’s Blade by Frost Kay – I borrowed this book from Kindle Prime back on October 19, 2020. I’d really like to finish it and open up a bit of space in my borrows. Especially so I can check out all of the Black Stars collection.
• Air Awakens by Elise Kova – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack. Another Kindle Prime read that I’d like to return (and knock off of a reading challenge!).
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – This one is from August’s TBR Stack. I’m about a third of the way through. I’m really enjoying it, but it’s a hefty read.
• Darling by K. Ancrum – Initially picked it up as a part of August’s TBR Stack, and I’d like to finish it since it’s a quick and short read.
• Peter Darling by Austin Chant – Another quick and short read that showed up first in August’s TBR Stack that I still haven’t started.
• Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur – So far a really cute read that I’d like to finish up! First appeared in September’s TBR Stack.
• Namesake by Adrienne Young – Another one that was first on August’s TBR list. I currently have it out from the library and would like to get to it before it’s due!

Shop My Shelves

Books I own either digitally (Kindle or Audible) or physically that I want to dig into this month.

• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – I’m almost done with this, and just want it off my list. While it’s helpful and important information for my adult business, it’s also kind of dry. It feels like a blocker on my enjoyment of books with it looming over me.
• Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – This first appeared in August’s TBR Stack as a Library choice. I’d renewed it a few times and was interested in it enough to pick it up myself so that I didn’t have to keep getting it from the library to finish it. Sometimes I just take books I’m enjoying slowly. This is one of them.
• Shadow Fall by Erin Kellison – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack. A comfort read for the month that I’ve not actually picked up, yet. And I may just re-read the first one, again, because I love it that much.
• A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir – I’ve been loving these audio books! I especially love that each character that narrates the book also has a specific narrator to read their chapters. And all of the voice acting is extremely well done. So I definitely want to finish these up so I can re-read them.
• The Great Passage by Shion Miura – Another one I’m partially done with that first showed up in August’s TBR Stack.
• Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade – Oh gosh I loved this book so much that I need to re-read it. It’s honestly the book that made me willing to try other romance novels, because it centers around a thirty-something geeky fat girl. (Also, the sequel comes out this month!)
• A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne Brown – Another re-read! I picked this up as a pre-order and pretty much devoured it when it came out. I don’t often pre-order new books, but I figured there was no harm in diversifying my bookshelf. The sequel to this duology comes out at the start of November, so I want to make sure I’m up to snuff for the second one!
• Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews – The first book was not quite a 3-star for me just based on the writing and the way things felt so disjointed in some parts. But I enjoyed it enough that I wanted to try out the second book… so here we are!

New Purchases

Books of all sorts that I’ve picked up in the last month.

• A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir – The final book in the “Ember in the Ashes” tetralogy. I figured I’d at least pick it up so I could jump right into it after I finish A Reaper at the Gates.
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse – This was initially a Library choice back in August. I decided to pick it up on Kindle since the first few pages caught my interest that much.
• Mind Over Magic by Lindsay Buroker – I couldn’t say no to a 99 cent paranormal romance that popped up for me on Amazon. I figured I’d give it a try. I’ve spent more money on books that have ended up being a 1-star read, so it’s not like being out 99 cents is the worst that could happen.
• Tahira in Bloom by Farah Heron – Amazon First Reads is letting Prime members choose two books this month. This was one of the titles I chose. It sounded like a cutesy book, so why not?
• Star Mother by Charlie N. Holmberg – My second Amazon First Reads choice for the month of October. Again, another book that sounded intriguing! I also looked at Her Name is Knight, but the CWs made me decide not to pick it up since I’m having a tough time with triggers so far this month. And I think I also have Spellbreaker on my Kindle (though have yet to read it), so I’m hoping this was a good choice for me!

This is only my second time writing a post of this type. So I was unsure how to handle books I wanted to carry over from another month. I think I’m going to refer to it as the “rollover” section. Do you guys push books from month to month in hopes of reading it sooner than later?

Anyway, here’s my rollovers for September.

• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Namesake by Adrienne Young – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Darling by K. Ancrum – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Peter Darling by Austin Chant – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Dune by Frank Herbert – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• The Great Passage by Shion Miura – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• One Witch Too Few by Judith Berens – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Air Awakens by Elise Kova – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack. I also really need to get this off my Kindle since it’s a Prime Reads lend-out and I want to clear out the ten books I already have out.

Library Run

All the books that I plan to grab from the library that are new to this month.

• Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur – A queer romance book. It’s one of the group read choices for the Written in the Stars readathon on Creating & Co.

Shop My Shelves

Books I want to try and read this month that I either have on my Kindle or physical book shelf, and aren’t rolled over from a past month’s list.

• Binti by Nnedi Okorafor – Afrofuturist novella I’ve had on my Kindle for a while. Going to read it as a part of the Written in the Stars readathon.
• Bitter Demons by Sarra Cannon – I got this for free on Kindle, so I’d like to finish up this one since I read the other two. Reading as a part of the Written in the Stars readathon.
• On the Prowl by Various Authors – I picked this one up to read Alpha & Omega (I’m kind of obsessed with the Mercyverse), but haven’t read any of the other short stories. Reading as a part of the Written in the Stars readathon.

New Purchases

Things I bought this past month! Whether I get to them or not is another question.

• Night of the Wild Stags by Golden Angel – A reverse harem romance novel I decided to pick up for the Written in the Stars readathon.
• Shattered Grace by Josie R. Landry – Queer smut and a detective story? Heck yeah! I found out about this one from a smut author I follow on Twitter, so I had to pick it up on Kindle to try out.
• Struggling with the Current by A.R.K. Horton – I think this was one of those 99 cent specials on Kindle or some such, and I figured why not try it out.
• Hook: Dead to Rights by Melissa Snark – A book I got for free on Kindle that also happens to be a Peter Pan retelling where Hook is a woman.
• The Bennet Women by Eden Appiah-Kubi – Part of the Kindle First program for August. Decided to go for this one based on the diversity.
• A Conspiracy of Mothers by Colleen Van Niekerk – Part of the Kindle First program. This was the only one of September’s books that actually sounded interesting.

I’ve never done a post like this before, and I think it’d be fun to go over what’s currently in my reading stack for the month. I know I’m most likely not going to get to every single book on the list.

I’m not sure how it’ll look in future posts, but I really wanted to talk a smidge about all the books I’m looking forward to trying this month.

Reading is something that’s become enjoyable to me again in the past year or so, and because I’m feeling passionate about it, I figured why not share?

Library Run

These are the books I plan on grabbing from the library this month.

• Dear Martin by Nic Stone – This one is for the Diversify Your Reading Challenge for the “Contemporary Fiction” prompt I didn’t get to last month.
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – This fills in a prompt (Standalone) for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge.
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse – “Multiple POVs” prompt for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge. I’m also just trying to read more diverse authors within genres I like, and Native voices is one that is lacking.
• Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – Another one for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge—this time the prompt is “Published in May/June/July”. Cinderella is Dead was published July 7, 2020 and has been on my overall TBR for a while, so I figured why not.
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – I’ve been wanting to read more horror since re-discovering it, and the Diversify Your Reading Challenge had a prompt for reading a “Thriller” for August. I have this on hold as an audio book.
• Darling by K. Ancrum – A queer retelling of Peter Pan for the unofficial Second Star Challenge (Peter Pan Retellings Challenge).
• Peter Darling by Austin Chant – Another queer retelling of Peter Pan for the Second Star Challenge by a queer trans writer.
• Namesake by Adrienne Young – I read the first one (Fable) for another reading challenge and enjoyed it enough that I wanted to finish up the duology. Not related to any challenge prompts.
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer – I listened to the first one (Cinder) on audio book and enjoyed it enough that I figured I’d work my way through the Lunar Chronicles on audio book until they don’t hold my interest anymore.

Shop My Shelves

I may not have as many physical books as I once did, but I have a pretty extensive Kindle library, and I’d like to whittle it down.

• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – Suggested to me by a model help guru/adult content creator to help build SEO on my website.
• Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller – I picked this one up on a whim last year to start, and then I didn’t feel in a good place to continue with it. So I’m picking it back up this year.
• Dune by Frank Herbert – I grew up watching the movie and sci-fi tv-movies a bunch with my Dad, but I never read the book in full. I wanted to do that this year since the fandom calls to me. It also fits April’s “Classics” prompt in the Diversify Your Reading Challenge.
• The Great Passage by Shion Miura – Another for the Diversify Your Reading Challenge—”Translated Text” bonus prompt. I’m bad at reading books in the month the challenges are sometimes, so I have a lot of books from past prompts on my TBR.
• One Witch Too Few by Judith Berens – This was the first book I ever put on my Goodreads TBR (thus fulfilling a prompt for yet another reading challenge), and I’d like to finally get it off my TBR!
• Air Awakens by Elise Kova – Speaking of a book from a past prompt… Air Awakens fulfills the “Related to Weather” prompt in the Creating & Co. Spring Reading Challenge.
• 90 Days and Paid by Amberly Rothfield – Amberly is a sex worker and model help guru that just wants to see other sex workers succeed. So I had to pick this one up when she released it! Of course I’m not getting to it until now, though.
• Daughter of the Deep by Lina C. Amarego – Yet another book from a past prompt/challenge that I do still want to read.
• Shipped by Angie Hockman – Not my typical read, but it’s a group read for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge so I’m going to give it a try.
• Shadow Fall by Erin Kellison – I have had this book on my shelf since like, 2010. But my ex didn’t like me reading romance… so I’m reading it now. It’s also a prompt for one of the challenges, though which escapes me.
• King of Fools by Amanda Foody – I loved the first one, so I had to pick up the other two. Now I just have to read them!
• The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice – So… I have mixed feelings about this one. If you know me, you know I’m a sex-positive person. But this book… I have thoughts for the bit I’ve read of it. I picked it as a part of the Diversify bonus challenge to read a “Banned Book”. But I want to finish it and see if I can put together a book review on what I thought on my other blog.

New Purchases

I’m trying not to purchase as many books, especially since I do have so many unread books on my shelves (both digital and otherwise), but sometimes the library just doesn’t have things available.

• Lost Boi by Sassafras Lowrey – A queer retelling of Peter Pan for the unofficial Second Star Challenge. (Do you sense a theme, here?)
• Blood in the Water by M.A. Kersh – A Captain Hook backstory retelling for the unofficial Second Star Challenge. The series is called “Scary Faerie Tales”, so I figured why not give it a try?

So, what are y’all reading this month?

This is post 3/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!