The Map Shop

Photo by  mentatdgt  from  Pexels Hello travelers,     Welcome back to another wrap-up and TBR. I know this isn't everyone's favorite kind of post (and I'm honestly not a huge fan of it either but it's holding me accountable, so I'll do it for this year and maybe switch things up next year). June wasn't that great a month for me in terms of reading. I hit a reading slump hard  and struggled to get out of it. I think this is also because of everything that's been happening in the world and I just became exhausted. Despite all that, I did manage to read five books in June. These included: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for my Decades Read challenge Review: I enjoyed this. There were some very powerful quotes that rung a little too true but it's not my favorite work by him. Sometimes it felt like it lingered a little too long on an idea or bounced around a little too much. But i'd recommend it. Little House in the Big woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder for C...

I know most people do these as two separate videos but I don't tend to watch those so I thought I'd just do them both here instead. So in January, I read a total of  nine books. These include: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum This is a classic children's fantasy that follows Dorothy from Kansas as she attempts to find her way home from a fantastical world. It's similar enough to the movie that most people know it but there are a few differences that might surprise people. I ended up not liking it as much because I felt it didn't really do anything. there is no threat or danger throughout the story, no lessons are learned and nothing really happens. On top of that, I felt the writing style was dumbed down a lot but it is meant for kids.  Call of the Wild by Jack London A short, classic adventure story that follows Buck, the dog, who is taken from his home in the Southlands and sold as a sled dog during the Yukon Gold rush. He learns how to pull...

  I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. For more information, see the bottom of this post. I knew going into this month I probably bit off more than I could chew. By some miracle, I'd read 18 books in April and I thought I could do it again this month. No such luck, unfortunately. My digital pile of ARCs from NetGalley is still far too large and I'm struggling to make my way through it all. Have you ever felt like you might disappoint someone if you didn't get through all of the "for fun but sorta assigned" reading? No? Maybe it's just me. If you're interested, I'll make a running list for all the ARCs I need to read but haven't been able to get to yet.  In May, I read a total of  13 books, with two DNFs, for a total of 3,269 pages read this month. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle Again, but Better by Christine Riccio Princess Academy by Shannon Hale Death of a King by Andrew H. Vanderwal Sold by Patricia McCormick ...

I feel like I've been run over by a semi. How I managed to read as much  as I did this month is beyond me and I doubt I'll ever be able to do it again. In the month of April, I managed to read 15 books, DNF'ing only two. This month I read;  Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan  Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Posten (DNF'ed after 107 pages because I disliked both of the main characters) Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen Descendant of the Crane by Joan He We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia I Work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan Four Souls by Louise Erdrich The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 1 by Kieron Gillen Animal Jack by Kid Toussaint Otaku Blue by Richard Marazano Green Class by Hamon Jerome Living Simply: A Teenage Guide to Minimalism by Sally McGraw Rolled & Told Vol. 1 by E.L. Thomas Scarlet Vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis (DNF'ed because I couldn't get into it) Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator by Leighton Gray Most of th...

Another productive reading month gone. I honestly didn't think I read as much as I did this month but I managed to read seven books, DNFing only one. i also got to attend a book signing at my local Barnes and Nobles store. The authors in attendance included Tehlor Kay Mejia, Mindy McGinnis, Brittany Cavaallaro, and Justin A. Reynolds. This was a lot of fun. Each had 10 minutes to talk to us about their most recent works, their writing process, and  bit about themselves. We  got to ask questions about their books or writing in general. It was fun to hear from them and get a little insight into their books. Afterwards there was a signing and I may have purchased far too many for them to sign. Now, onto the recent reads . . . Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Lost Cult by E. E. Knight-- I read this based on the POPSUGAR challenge prompt "a book revolving around puzzles or a game." Tomb Raider is a video game turned movie and apparently book series. I went into this book e...

#notsponsored. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. See link at the bottom of the post. Hello everyone, I wanted to give you an update on my reading progress. As you know, my goal is to read eight books every month which means I need to read at least two books per week. This worked out well for me in January but, unfortunately, I didn't quite make that goal in February. Out of the eight books I set out to read, I only completed: Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronavitch-- This book was recommended by a co-worker. It follows Peter Grant as he goes from being a low-level cop to investigating strange deaths and murders that may or may not be caused by magical creatures. He's trained as a magician-- making several references to Harry Potter-- and has to find the culprit while also solving a blood feud between the river spirits. It's fun and strange and magical. Love by Toni Morrison-- I read this one for the POPSUGAR challenge prompt: "read a book with 'love' i...

Well, it's the end of the first month of my crazy reading challenge for the year. As I said before, I am doing both a personal TBR challenge where everything I read is either something I own but haven't read or something someone has recommended to me (or I received as a review copy and needed to get done). With a goal of 100 books for the year and a goal of eight books per month, I'm happy to say I achived this goal for January. If you are interested in full reviews of any of these books (which I might do anyway), please let me know. For my January Wrap-Up, I have read 8 books  this month. These include: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka-- A historical fiction/ group memoir about the Japanese women who were "picture brides" to men in America right before World War II. Told in eight short stories, everything is told from the collective "we" perspective, from their trip across the Pacific to their first nights with their husbands, to dealing wi...