Showing posts with label monthly recap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monthly recap. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

The Ladybug Looks Back... March 2015

Looking back...

I realized that I neglected to do a recap post at the end of February!  That's too bad, because it was actually not a bad reading month for me.  I reviewed three books, and I really enjoyed two of them.

The best book I've read so far this year was All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill, and I finished it in early February.  That was followed by Watch the Sky by Kirsten Hubbard, a rather weak middle grade contemporary that didn't offer enough concrete answers.  I finished up February with Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen, which turned out to be an entertaining middle grade read that I could count toward the Fairytale Retelling Challenge.

In February, I also participated in Top Ten Tuesday twice.  The first topic was things I like or dislike when it comes to romance.  The second topic was my favourite heroines from historical fiction.

In March, I reviewed Unwind by Neal Shusterman.  I'd really been looking forward to that one, but it turned out to be a massive disappointment.  I'm not going to bother with the rest of the series.  Then I read Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, the second installment of The Lunar Chronicles.  I didn't like that one, either.

I also participated in Top Ten Tuesday a few times in March.  The first topic was my favourite books of the past three years.  Second was books for readers who like animals or pets.  Third was books from my childhood that I wouldn't mind reading again.  And, fourth, was books that I recently added to my TBR list.

Also, for something a little different, I did the Cake Book Tag, where I talked about my favourite book "ingredients".

Looking ahead...

At the moment, I'm reading two books, but they're so different that I'm not worried about getting the plots mixed up.  I'm working my way through Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai, a middle grade contemporary about a preteen from California who accompanies her grandmother to Vietnam for the summer.  I was expecting it to be a verse novel like the author's wonderful Inside Out & Back Again, but it's not.  That's okay, because it's quite good.  I'm also reading Stephen King's Carrie.  I saw the movie a couple of years ago (the original from the '70s) and I've wanted to try reading the book ever since.  I've never read a novel by Stephen King, and so many of his recent ones have scary page counts.  Carrie is nice and short, so I thought it would be a good one to start with in case I wasn't a fan of his writing.  But I'm liking the book so far.

I haven't yet decided what I'll read next.  I'll probably play it by ear, once I'm done with Listen, Slowly and Carrie.


How was your March?
Let me know in the comments.

Saturday, January 31, 2015

The Ladybug Looks Back... January 2015

Looking back...

I will be the first to admit that this recap is a little bit pathetic.  January was a busy month for me, though not in a reading sense (unfortunately).  There was a long visit from a family member, as well as numerous appointments that took me away from home (and my books... that's the problem with reading most novels on your computer).  I even spent a couple of long stretches without accessing the Internet at all!  It's kind of cool to know that I can still do that, that I'm not so addicted that I can't unplug every now and then.  But, oh, it sure makes for a pile of crap to wade through in the e-mail inbox when you finally do come back!  Junk mail filters really don't do as good of a job as they should.

I only managed to finish and review one book this month, and that was Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.  I wasn't really thrilled with that one, though I've been told that the story picks up in subsequent books.  In that case, I may try Crown of Midnight at some point... though maybe not for a while.

Despite all the busyness of the past month, I did manage to participate in Top Ten Tuesday a couple of times.  The first topic was the Top Ten Most Anticipated Debut Novels For 2015.  The second topic was a freebie, so I chose to list the Top Ten Books That Everybody Loved... Except Me.  As you can probably tell, I'm still annoyed with The Fault in Our Stars.

And, since it was the beginning of the year, I also signed up for the 2015 Reading Challenge on Goodreads.  This year, my goal is to read 25 novels.  I read a few more than that last year, so I think that number is probably manageable... well, as long as I don't have any other busy months like this past January!

Looking ahead...

I'm almost finished reading All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill.  I was hoping to finish and review it in January, but that just wasn't in the cards.  So that review will be coming soon.

My next read is going to be Watch the Sky by Kirsten Hubbard.  It's a NetGalley book, so I really want to get to it sooner rather than later.  I haven't read any middle grade novels in a while, so that'll be a nice change of pace.

And then I'm hoping to start Unwind by Neal Shusterman, because when I wrote about adding it to my TBR pile, so many people said how good it was.  I'm looking forward to reading that one.


How was your January?
Let me know in the comments.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

The Ladybug Looks Back... November 2014


Here's a look back at what happened on my blog in November 2014:

I was nominated for the Liebster Award.

I participated in Top Ten Tuesday:

Books I Want To Reread
Characters You Wish Would Get Their OWN Book
Sequels I Can't Wait To Get
Book On My Winter TBR List

I participated in Booking Through Thursday:

Helpful
Better Endings
Quantity

I shared the new books I got in New to the TBR Pile.  I got 16 new books this month.

I reviewed 10 books.  2 of those were novels; 1 was a poetry collection; 7 were picture books.

Novels:

Free as a Bird by Gina McMurchy-Barber
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Poetry Collections:

Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Heppermann

Picture Books:

I Had a Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn & Julia Denos
Lulu & Pip by Nina Gruener & Stephanie Rausser
Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney
Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney
Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan & Sophie Blackall
You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey & Soyeon Kim


So that's what happened in November!
Join me next month when I look back on December!

Friday, October 31, 2014

The Ladybug Looks Back... October 2014


Here's a look back at what happened on my blog in October 2014:

I participated in Top Ten Tuesday 4 times:

Books For Readers Who Like Character Driven Novels
Places Books Have Made Me Want To Visit
New Series I Want To Start
Characters Who I Would Totally Want To Be For Halloween

I participated in Booking Through Thursday 2 times:

Obscure
Scary

I shared the new books I got in New to the TBR Pile.  I got 16 new books this month.

I reviewed 10 books.  3 of those were novels; 1 was a short story collection; 1 was a short story; 5 were picture books.

Novels:

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
Timebound by Rysa Walker DNF
All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry

Short Story Collections:

Other Worlds edited by Jon Scieszka DNF

Short Stories:

Resurrection Bay by Neal Shusterman

Picture Books:

Journey by Aaron Becker
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch by Anne Isaacs & Kevin Hawkes
Up by Jim LaMarche
Thomas' Snowsuit by Robert Munsch & Michael Martchenko
Maybe: A Little Zen for Little Ones by Sanjay Nambiar


So that's what happened in October!
Join me next month when I look back on November!