January 19 | Currently Reading

I'm posting my update late this week; it was a really hectic weekend.

Books Read Last Week(s)

I've been in such a reading slump! The only book I finished since my last update was Truthwitch by Susan Dennard.

I'm glad I didn't know how hyped this book was going into it; my expectations would have been too high. I read Truthwitch based on the book description, and it was probably the promised friendship of the witches that appealed to me the most.

There were a lot of "witches" in this book. Truthwitch, Bloodwitch, Threadwitch, Wordwitch, Earthwitch, Soilwitch, Firewitch, Airwitch, Voicewitch, Tidewitch, Windwitch, Voidwitch, Poisonwitch, Cursewitch, Glamourwitch... There were so many of them I was kind of "so what" about all of them.

Truthwitch was a fun book, though. There was a lot of action, and I was never bored. I will probably pick up the sequel, but I don't think I'll be suggesting the series to anyone else just yet.

6/10: Good Read

Books Currently Reading

I started reading Best of Apex Magazine edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner.

The first story in the anthology (Jackalope Wives by Ursula Vernon) was AMAZING, but I started bouncing off the other stories so I'm stepping back a bit to give each story the proper attention.

I'm also reading the first Hap and Leonard book Savage Season by Joe R. Lansdale.

Savage Season is helping to bring me out of my reading slump.

What about you? What are you reading this week? Be sure to let me know in the comments or leave me a link!

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This post is being shared as part of Book Date's It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Rereading Old Favorites | Discussion

I had a lot of thoughts pertaining to rereads as I was writing up yesterday's post on The Lies of Locke Lamora. I thought I'd take advantage of an opportunity to spark some discussion.

The first thing I'd like to know is do you reread?

I am a rereader. I love it. I reread books for pretty much the same reason I sit down and binge watch old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's great to visit old friends, and I love re-experiencing really great writing.

If you reread, why?

I will sometimes reread books in a series before a new one comes out (like The Lies of Locke Lamora), but I don't think I've ever done it just to remember the details. I think I only reread out of love and not out of necessity.

Bonnie (from For the Love of Words) mentioned this week that she's considering rereading Justin Cronin's The Passage series before the final book The City of Mirrors is released. I had an OMG moment because it hadn't crossed my mind. I immediately knew I wouldn't be able to get the idea of a reread out of my mind. I didn't love the second book, though. I think I might just have to reread The Passage and hope that I remember what happened in The Twelve.

If I were a much faster reader, I would probably be willing to reread a series book that I wasn't in love with, but my current reading time is precious to me. Rereads do take up time that could be spent reading new stories. At 766 pages, rereading The Passage will not be insignificant, but I know I will be getting a story that I love so it's a fair trade for me.

The fact that I'm a slow reader and a rereader brings me to a bit of a rant:

Goodreads

Having no way to log a reread is hell on my challenges. I've tried adding multiple copies of the same book, but then that messes up my stats and book comparisons. I recently realized I can at least keep track of the dates in the "private notes" of my review, but I'd love to have the dates reflected in my challenges. The stats I share at the end of the year aren't actually correct because I go by what Goodreads tells me and that doesn't include my rereads.

How do you log your rereads at Goodreads?

The past few years has found me rereading a lot of books with my kids (which has been awesome). There have been a few books I wouldn't have necessarily reread on my own so it has been great getting to remember the things I loved about those books when I was younger. I have also been exposed to some really great books I didn't read as a child. One of those books is Charlotte's Web which I have already reread since first experiencing it two years ago. I may just continue to reread that one every year...

Audiobooks

One thing I've started doing is rereading books via audio. I'm really loving experiencing my favorites in a new way. I've been using my audible credits to gather up Robert McCammon's Matthew Corbett books. I have some catching up to do on that series anyway so I thought it might be great to start back at the beginning with the audiobooks.

What books have you reread?

While I've managed reread a lot of my favorite books, Harry Potter is probably the only series I continue to reread over and over again. I can't help myself.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on rereading (or the reasons you choose not to reread).

The Lies of Locke Lamora | Reread Thoughts

The Lies of Locke Lamora is the first book in the Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch.

In this stunning debut, author Scott Lynch delivers the wonderfully thrilling tale of an audacious criminal and his band of confidence tricksters. Set in a fantastic city pulsing with the lives of decadent nobles and daring thieves, here is a story of adventure, loyalty, and survival that is one part "Robin Hood", one part Ocean's Eleven, and entirely enthralling...

An orphan's life is harsh — and often short — in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race. But born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora has dodged both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains — a man who is neither blind nor a priest.

A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected "family" of orphans — a group known as the Gentlemen Bastards. Under his tutelage, Locke grows to lead the Bastards, delightedly pulling off one outrageous confidence game after another. Soon he is infamous as the Thorn of Camorr, and no wealthy noble is safe from his sting.

Passing themselves off as petty thieves, the brilliant Locke and his tightly knit band of light-fingered brothers have fooled even the criminal underworld's most feared ruler, Capa Barsavi. But there is someone in the shadows more powerful — and more ambitious — than Locke has yet imagined.

Known as the Gray King, he is slowly killing Capa Barsavi's most trusted men — and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr's underworld. With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the Gray King at his own brutal game — or die trying...

I listed The Lies of Locke Lamora in my update post Monday, but I failed to mention it was a reread. I wish I had because I think the simple fact that a book is worth rereading says a lot about the book.

If you'd like to read my original review, that can be found here.

A few people commented that they own a copy of Locke Lamora but haven't read it yet. If you happened to grab a Kindle deal, do yourself a favor and add on the audio. Audible has one of those amazing deals where you can add on the audio for $3.99. I think I enjoyed it even more via audiobook! It's truly fantastic.

I'm hoping to make my way through this series again before The Thorn of Emberlain is released in July. This will probably not be my last reread of the series. There is something about this series that I adore.

My biggest complaint the first time around was the interludes. The plot would get going and then we would jump back in time. Maybe it was already knowing what happens, maybe it was the audio, but I didn't mind the interludes at all this time. I enjoyed revisiting the history of my old friends.

I'm not sure I had any complaints at all this time around.

As with most rereads, I now feel the need to up my rating, but my initial feelings are probably more accurate so I won't.

8/10: Great Read

Top Ten Bookish Resolutions for 2016

It's that time of year again! I've been giving some thought to what I want to accomplish this year both as a book blogger and a reader. These are my top ten bookish resolutions for 2016.

Read More Non-fiction

My biggest surprise/complaint about 2015 is I read no non-fiction. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. I love non-fiction. I always wish I was reading more, but I can't remember a year where I read none. This cannot happen again. In 2016 I will read more non-fiction.

Seek Out and Share Horror Fiction

Each and every year horror fiction gets harder and harder to find. It could totally just be me - I see people reading it all of the time - but I'm constantly asking myself (and my poor husband) where is all of the horror? When I find it, I will share it.

Return to My Blogging Roots

When I started this blog (five years ago this month!), I had no qualms about posting a one sentence review that simply said "I dug it". These days if I don't have anything substantial to say, I don't say anything at all. That's not what this blog is about, though. This blog is here for me to say I read this thing, and I dug it.

Discussion Posts

I have never been good at posting discussion posts. Most of my discussions stay in my "drafts" and never make it on to the blog. This is something I plan to work on in 2016.

Read More New Releases

I was actually much better at this last year than I normally am, but it's something I'd like to keep working on. I created a page with all of the 2016 new releases I'd like to read. I obviously won't be reading the entire list, but my hope is to keep it updated and fresh on my mind.

Be More Social

At the very least I'd like to utilize twitter and Goodreads more than I currently do.

Reading/Commenting on Other Blogs

I feel great in the fact that I do still comment, but I need a much better routine so I don't miss out on the posts I want to be reading. I've been trying to greatly narrow down my Feedly. I hope to have this under control this year.

Read 50 Books

My goal will always be 50 books a year no matter how far over 50 I go each year.

Read More "Best of" Books

I love book lists. I know they are flawed, but there's always a significant reason that a particular book has been placed on a "best of" list. I keep track of a lot of lists on my Goodreads, and I toss most of the lists onto one giant "bucket-list" shelf. I return to these lists often, but I want to start tracking my progress of each list instead of just pulling from my giant list. I plan to start making master posts here on the blog soon.

Revisit These Resolutions

It's one thing to set resolutions, it's another to check in and see how much I'm accomplishing. I plan to revisit these resolutions in 2016.

Have you set any resolutions this year? I'd love to hear them. Let me know in the comments or leave me link!

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This post is being shared as part of The Broke and the Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday.

January 4 | Currently Reading

It's a new reading year! I imagine we are all busy making our reading plans for the year. I posted all of the 2016 books I'd love to read this year (as well as a more detailed list of January releases).

I haven't done much blogging due to holiday commitments so my books read list covers the last couple of weeks.

Books Read Last Week(s)

Blood And Rain by Glenn Rolfe
Countless Haints (Harrow County #1-4) by Cullen Bunn
Prince of the Elves (Amulet #5) by Kazu Kibuishi
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch
The Rats (Rats #1) by James Herbert

Books Currently Reading

The only book I'm currently reading is Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs. The sequel comes out later this month so I'm playing catch up.

What about you? What are you reading this week? Be sure to let me know in the comments or leave me a link!

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This post is being shared as part of Book Date's It's Monday! What Are You Reading?