CHALLENGES FOR 2019

Just a little post I'll be updating with all my challenges as I read throughout the year!

PERSONAL GOALS

read one poetry book a month

read an own voices book a month
Long Way Down by Jason Reynalds
read a backlist book every month

re-read one book every month

read a retelling every month

2017 BACKLIST BOOKS

I have three books I've owned from 2017, going into 2020 I want these gone.

- FANTASY/SCI-FI -

(categorized by color)

Splintered Silence by Kayla Olsen

Wicked King by Holly Black

RE-READS OF 2019

2018 TBR

(everything I bought in 2018 and my goal is 15)

Splintered Silence by Kayla Olsen

BEAT THE BACKLIST

)my goal is 25, i'll be italicizing them as I read them)

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

For Muse of Fire by Heidi Helig

Crowns Game by Evelyn Skye

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Splintered Silence by Kayla Olsen

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

If We Were Villains by M.L Rio

Star Touched Stories by Roshani Chokshi

Grave Mercy by Robin LeFevers

Distasters by M.K England

Bright We Burn by Kiersten White

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Fallen Kingdom by Elizabeth May

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suveda

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh

BEAT THE BACKLIST 2019 GOALS

I am absolutely thrilled that the 'beat the backlist' challenge has been announced! I wholly intended to take part in this for 2018, but things just did not go as planned. To sum it up, I didn't put in my post or just do all the things because I was busy, but next year things will change.

If you are not sure what Beat the Backlist is about, here is the link with all the information that you need.

Now, of course, my backlist is pretty sizable. Last year I had only included my 2017 backlist even though I had stuff from 2016, next year I am including both 2018 and 2017 because I need to downsize those books.

So my main goal for beat the backlist is to read 25 books off of the list. Now I think that is pretty doable, I should easily be able to do it and I will definitely have a TBR posted closer to the end of the year!

BELATED NOVEMBER GOALS

I feel like every month I say 'this is my month with blogging, I am going to do so much better' and then I fail completely. This month... is kind of my comeback month? I'm not promising anything to myself because if I do that, I will get stressed about it and feel obligated to have to post so I'm just... going to roll with it.

Also because there are some changes I might make in the new year so I'm not going to entirely commit myself to this blog like I had wanted to until I am ultimately sure. So without further ado, here is my very ambitious plans of the month.

I plan to read a lot this month, which... will be a challenge because of NANOWRIMO. So I am probably going to lean heavily on audiobooks this month so I can get more read and because of this, I am hoping that scribd (which is a reading app. download it because it is amazing) has the majority of the titles. I am also participating in a lot of readathons including my own which is a re-read of Air Awakens series by Elise Kova in preparation for the sequels coming out in January!
Anyway, here is my very ambitious TBR.

• Air Awakens by Elise Kova
• Fire Falling by Elise Kova
• Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
• Rosemarked by Livia Blackburne
• A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas
• Vengeful by V.E Schwab
• The Window by Amelia Brunskill
• These Rebel Waves by Sarah Raasch
• Kingdom of Copper by S.A Chakraborty
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
• Mirage by Somaiya Daud
• Blanca and Roja by Anna Marie McLemore
• Dragons of Nova by Elise Kova
• Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
• Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
• White Stag by Kara Barbeiri
• Sky of Stars by Jessica Brody
• Faceless Woman by Emma Hamm

So yeah there is my very very ambitious TBR. There is no way I can read all of these because the page count on a lot of these is 500+ but this is basically what I will be choosing from.

Now for some of my other goals this month;

• I am participating in NaNoWriMo and I am going to finish my book this month. I am pushing myself which is probably not the best thing, but it works for me and how I write. I do well under pressure even though it will probably be trash, but that is okay. It is the first draft, I am not going to be sad about it.

So that is it for my November goals and it is ambitious as always. Let me know down below some of the goals you have this month!

WHAT I WANT TO READ THIS FALL

     It is finally my favorite time of the year and I couldn't be more excited for Fall to come (even if the weather won't feel like it, I don't care) and apparently, Fall will start September 22nd which is like next week so I am ready, I'm hyped. But with Fall comes perfect reading atmosphere (And I have a vacation coming up in like two weeks) so without further ado, here are the books I want to read during the season!

Vengeful by V.E Schwab - One of my most anticipated books, I've waited years for this and I am very excited for this to come out. This is a follow up to Vicious which if you have yet to read, why haven't you? Read it now! I am reading this the second I get this one, so I'm so ready.

• Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor - Another one of my most anticipated books of the year, I am so excited for this follow up to Strange the Dreamer which is one of my favorite books in the world. I am super thrilled to see what happens and I am counting down the days!
• Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare - I bought this a while ago and then unhauled it, and then I decided to pick it up again because I've heard some great stuff about the Dark Artifices and the third and final book is coming out in December I think so I am hoping that I can get to this!
• Bright We Burn by Kiersten White - I have been saving this for the right time and what time is better than Fall? I am highly anticipating to read this and I know I will love it because Now I Rise absolutely killed me.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik - This will be my first Naomi Novik book and I am thrilled to finally actually read this. I think this has been on my TBR since it came out? But it just never seemed like the right time. However, since I have a vacation coming up in two weeks, I am actually going to save this one for that time.

• Crown of Wishes and Star Touched Stories by Roshani Chokshi - I've put Crown of Wishes off for SO long I feel mildly ashamed that it is still on my TBR. She also just recently released the Star Touched Stories which I really want to get to, so perhaps I can marathon the both of these.
• My Plain Jane by Lady Janies - Originally I had no interest in these books, but this one follows a different Jane, AND apparently, there are ghosts in this one? Like yes, I really need this in my life because Jane Eyre and Ghosts makes an interesting concept.
• Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton - I really have zero idea what this book is about but it sounds super cool and the cover is beautiful and reminds me of Halloween so... I kind of need this in my life.
• Blanca and Roja by Anna Marie McLemore - This just sounds like the PERFECT read for October. I think what hooked me on this immediately was "The biggest lie of all is the story you think you already know." Like that just sounds so cool already??

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan - this is a story where each year, eight girls are chosen to serve the demon king which is the highest and cruelest honor they could ever ask for. Until one year, a ninth girl is chosen and she isn't content to deal with what life has dealt her. Not only does the synopsis sound amazing, but the cover is absolutely stunning.

So those are the main books on my Fall TBR! Of course there are a ton of other books I want to read, but these are the top that I just need to get to this season! What are some Fall reads that you are looking forward to?

REVIEW: BEYOND A DARKENED SHORE

This review is like... super late but we aren't going to talk about that.

I just wanted to start this off by saying this book was not what I expected.  Which is good, I suppose but I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I was looking for something fun and quick and Viking-ish since I had just finished Sky in the Deep and found myself really surprised with how brutal this book was and how different it was from the previous.

If you thought Sky in the Deep was brutal, you’re in for a surprise with Darkened Shore. In my opinion, this was everything a Viking novel should be. It was filled with magic and mythology and gosh was it bloody. I’m gonna break it down to you some things I liked most but, to be honest, just read this book okay? It’s great.

• Writing: The writing is really good. It’s addictive and mesmerizing, like I finished this book in one day, almost one sitting because I just could NOT put it down. Also this book is bloody. It is VERY descriptive, especially battle scenes, like guts are flying. So if you are cool with that and want that in a fantasy, this one is for you.
• Mythology: Is just so darned cool?? Like it’s a mix of Celtic and Norse mythology and the author managed to weave it together so uniquely and enough to where the story didn’t become chaotic or confusing. 

"Each-uisce can never be tamed. They may appear as sleek black horses, eerily beautiful, or even ponies, deceptively small. Always their manes and tails are dripping wet, and their eyes glow like a wolf’s."

Like how scary does that sound? We also have the Morrigan, Faeries and many other characters as well as serpents, Jotnar giants and Odin and the Valkarie. I don’t know how to explain it to you, but the weaving of the myths are what makes this book so cool.

• Plot: Sort of bummed this is standalone, but you know it works as one. It wrapped up nicely, there were no plot holes and things that did not make sense and strangely enough, everything just worked. It was so fast paced and so much was happening it really had me worried. 
• Characters: I LOVED the characters, especially the main characters Leif and Ciara. They are so unique in their own ways and yes they are enemies and they have to work together and loved a lot of the other miscellaneous characters.

So that’s it for this review, it is a bit short but I really do recommend you read this book because it’s pretty amazing, gruesome and very Viking.

WAKE ME UP, WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS

It feels really good that it is September (because we’re one more month away from October) it’s getting cooler, everything is slowing down and a lot of really good books are coming out.

I took last month kinda slow because well, I was super tired and it was the last month of Summer season for my work so I was a bit busy. This month is cooling down for me so that means time for reading and time for doing everything else I want to complete. So without further ado, these are my goals for the month!

• First is to read ten books! I think this is plausible since lately, I have been reading 10 books a month with no issue, I feel like its possible to do! I just have to not be lazy, let's get real here. 
• Since I am writing two books, I want to have my outline for both of them completely done. I also just want to write every day in general, even if it’s 50 words.
• I also want to get this blog and my Instagram under control and managed because it’s just so impossible to actually sit down and write posts because honestly? I get unmotivated sometimes. We all do, it's a thing. 

Now let's get into the books I plan to read this month! I am actually joining the Emoji-a-thon and I will have a separate blog post delving into my picks later, but I also have some other books added to my list. Now there is definitely no way I can possibly read all of these books, but I am going to do my best. 

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (re-read/annotating)

These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch

Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Rientgen

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett

Fence iss # 6 by C.S Pacat

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas (re-read/annotating)

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton

Immortal Reign by Morgan Rhodes

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

City of Ghosts by V.E Schwab

Dawn of Legends by Eleanor Herman

Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill

Seafire by Natalie Parker

The Raging Ones by Krista Ritchie

The Caged Queen by Kristin Ciccarelli

Vengeful by V.E Schwab

Kind of ambitious right? But I have faith in myself that I will manage to complete at least half of these! So that's it for my goals this month, let me know in the comments section what is one book you would like to read this month? 

BOOKS THAT HELP ME SURVIVE A SLUMP

Ahh, the dreaded slump. We’ve all mostly been there done that and wow does it suck? You either don’t want to read AT all, or you want to read so badly and yet… you can’t bring yourself to even pick up a book. In the End of 2017, basically the entire month of December, I was in the worse slump I had ever been in. I barely read two books and I just felt so unmotivated to read. 

Now how did I get out of that slump? I read Everless and was hooked and it pulled me out of my slump. I’m going to go ahead with a little disclaimer and say that not ALL of these are books I read to get out of a slump, it is more so books I feel could help with a slump or things that I will gravitate towards if I am ever in a bad slump again. How I choose my books for battling a slump is based on how it made me feel. Not if I liked it or if I read it fast. Because usually when I am in a slump, it is because I am not going well mentally and emotionally so I tend to go for books that make me think or hit me emotionally.

The first step is obviously to re-read a book that you TRULY love. Perhaps one of your all-time favorites just so you can have that familiarity and nostalgia? If I am making any sense. A few books that I have to go to when I am in a slump include…

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir 

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas 

A Court of Mist and Fury by  Sarah J Maas

Legendary by Stephanie Garber

A Conjuring of Light by V.E Schwab

Illuminae by Jay Kristoff

Lifelik3 by Jay Kristoff

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

And for the second step is to read a book that is just happy and fun and just easy to fly through but still packs an emotional punch is… 

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertali

So these are all the books I do or would gravitate to if I am in a slump and I didn’t really even give any reasons as to why I specifically chose the book because they are sort of personal. Comment down below and let me know some books that you read to help you out of a slump!!