So, full disclosure, only 3 out of these 5 books actually came out in 2021. Two of them came out in 2019, but I didn’t actually read either until this year. So that still counts right?
I really loved all of these books. I’m realizing now that I only gave A Court of Silver Flames a 4/5, but that was because of some side stuff in the book that pissed me off, whereas I loved the book as a whole. Aurora’s End I just read in the last month and it was the perfect end to a beloved trilogy. Chain of Iron reminded me why I try to stick to my rule of not reading trilogies as they come out, only when they’re done. Did I do that with Cass’s Last Hours trilogy? Of course not! So now I’m stuck waiting some more for Chain of Thorns.
A Curse so Dark and Lovely was one where I did stick to my rule, and binged the whole trilogy in about 2 or 3 days when on vacation in the woods. In a way, that book represents the whole trilogy. But if I had to choose just one, it would be the first one. And Supernova was the last book in it’s trilogy, but I didn’t get around to reading it until earlier this year. The second book in the series was a little more of a slog to get through for some reason, but I LOVED Supernova.
What were ya’ll’s favorite books of 2021?? Any of them match mine?
Discovered a new Friday theme this morning that I really am liking! The meme was originally created by Books by Proxy and is being continued by Lynn’s Books. The premise is that you choose a cover of a book you like (read or unread, doesn’t matter, it’s the cover you’re going for) based on a set theme, and then comparing all the different covers for that title, at the end choosing which one you like best.
This weeks theme was “Windswept – the classic figure, stood majestically, with wind blowing out in a fetching way.”
It took me a little while to find a book I wanted to use, all the original ones I was feeling like the hair wasn’t “windswept” enough! I think I was being far too picky to be fair, haha. But then I remembered how much I loved the cover of The Siren by Kiera Cass. Here is the original to me cover:
The Siren by Kiera Cass
I friggin love this cover. I know it’s very similar to her Selection Series covers and that might turn some people off, but I think it’s gorgeous. And who wouldn’t want those waves for a hairstyle!?
These are the alternate covers. I actually really love the sketched cover on the bottom right ( I think it’s the Indonesian cover, but please correct me if I’m wrong!). If I wasn’t so in love with the cover I knew best, I could easily choose that one as my favorite. The style is just so pretty!
auto Approved Who’s one author whose books you automatically want to read, regardless of what they’re about?
Meg Cabot
I will legit buy and read anything Meg Cabot writes. They are all insta buys for me the day they come out. I’ve been reading her since early Princess Diaries days, and love both her YA and Adult works. If she’s written it, I’ve read it. I also have multiple copies of a good number of her books because my sister and I will both buy them, lose one, and buy a replacement. Leaving us with 2 or 3 copies. We definitely have 3 copies of the first Mediator book…
Other authors I would insta buy/request:
Sarah J Maas
Cassandra Clare
Mary Pearson
Ashley Poston
Maria V Snyder
Rachel Hawkins
Marissa Meyer
….ok I should stop now…this is why I have so many books
Request What makes you want to request a book that you see on NetGalley?
It can depend on a few things. First, if it’s an author I’ve read and enjoyed I’ll typically request it without even needing to give the synopsis a once over. If the title or cover grabs me then I’ll read the synopsis to see if it’s something I’ll like. The other thing that will push a book over the edge is if it’s a debut author. Thanks to my sister being an author, I understand how much early reviews and feedback is for a debut author, so I like to grab those when I can.
Feedback Ratio Do you review every book you read? If not, how do you decide what books to review?
I know I should, but I don’t. My ratio percentage was a respectable 91% recently, but I just was approved for a wave of books so I’m down to 57%. Sometimes if a book really doesn’t gel with me story wise I won’t review it because that’s not really the fault of the author. I don’t really give negative reviews unless the writing or editing was particularly bad. But if I don’t vibe with a storyline, I won’t review a book usually. At least on NetGalley. Sometimes I’ll still do reviews on goodreads.
Badges If you could create your own badge to display on your blog, what would it be for?
I wish I could have a badge that says how many pages I have read in my history of NetGalley and/or Goodreads. That would make me feel far more powerful than I normally would (or need to).
Wish for It What’s one book that you are absolutely dying to read?
Can I only choose one? Because, like, there’s a lot of books I’m insanely looking forward to. As of right now, it’s probably Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare. Might seem like an easy answer, but man, that cliffhanger killed me. The other one that I have been waiting to get approved for is the next Tirzah Price book Sense and Second Degree Murder. Tirzah, if you’re reading this, tell your publisher to let me in!
NetGalley Challenge What was the last book that you received as an ARC that you reviewed? If you’ve never received an ARC, what’s the last book you reviewed?
When You Get The Chance by Emma Lord. I loved her book. Her review is up on my blog from earlier this week I think. She is another author that is, at this point an insta buy.
Ok December. I need to finish 13 books in you. Do you hear me? If I read 13 books this month I’ll hit my goal of 48 books this year. I had such a strong start to the year, and then between August and November I read like 1 book. That really set me back. Like most months, I plan on predominantly reading YA Fantasy, but there might be a contemporary book or two in there!
I tried to somewhat order them in the order I plan to read them, but it get’s a little muddy at the end. I want to finish out the Falling Kingdoms series for sure. But we’ll see where I go after that. I just got Perfect on Paper in in my bookmail so that’s high up there, but I also just excitedly got approved for ARCs of both A Forgery of Roses and In Every Generation (and as Buffy is my literal favorite TV show, you can see why this would be high on my list!).
And for a better rundown (with links to their goodreads pages):
Hey ya’ll!!! November was a pretty good reading month for me. I was on bedrest with a torn MCL for 2+ weeks, so you would think I would have read way more, but did I? Nope. Instead I binged watched the entire Attack on Titan series (Sasha is best girl and nobody can do anything to sway me from that opinion), did a lot of art tutorials on my iPad, and worked from home as much as possible so I didn’t have to burn through my precious PTO(the perks of working in IT).
Still, I read 4 books, so that’s pretty good considering I had to keep up with my night classes too! I really enjoyed all of them too! One was a re-read, The Princess Diaries. One was a MUCH anticipated trilogy ender, Aurora’s End, my boy Fin looking so handsome on the cover! Then was the first book in a series I have owned for ages, but never got around to reading, Falling Kingdoms, this was prolly my least favorite of the 4, but I still enjoyed it enough that I’m in the middle of Rebel Spring right now and really enjoying it! And last up was the ARC of Emma Lord’s newest upcoming book, When You Get the Chance, which I absolutely ADORED. The review for that one is up on my blog now, so you can see more info there.
In order to keep my original Goodreads goal of 48 books this year, I need to read 13 in December. Not sure I’ll make it, haha, but a girl can dream! Seriously, I’ll never know how I did it the one year I read 317 books….
marenbobarenreads 