Category Feature Posts

Sep 11 2015
Image

Tackling the TBR [5]: September 2015!

tackling the TBR

This post is going up a LOT later than I would’ve liked, but I’m honestly thrilled it’s going up at all. You see, I’ve been dealing with the painful eye-strain injury for the last couple of months that has taken from me everything I love to do – blogging and reading at the top of that list. Luckily, I finally seem to be on the upswing of it… fingers crossed.

Because of these issues, I was only able to enjoy 3 TBR books last month, but all is not lost. You see, I discovered just how much I LOVE integrating this feature into my daily reading life. When I was confined to reading only a few pages a day, I knew exactly which novels got top priority and that somehow made my plight seem not so dire. I took comfort in the knowledge that I was reading the best books first. Bring on the mantras!

Read the best books first.
&
Life is too short to read books you’re not enjoying.

However you put together your TBR for the next month, the goal is to reduce the amount of obligation in reading and increase the fun.

Here’s a look at how this feature works:

1. Identify the titles that take top priority in your TBR.
2. Combine them all in your own Tackling the TBR post.
3. Throughout the month pick from that pile as the mood strikes you.

Here’s what mine looks like:

September 2015 TBR Tackler Shelf:

I really hope all have the ability to read most of these this month. I am incredibly excited for Soundless by Richelle Mead and will be dropping everything to devour that one first. I’m pretty sure every author on this list has made one of my Top Ten Tuesday posts one time or another – that bodes well.

Now, I can tell you from experience that this Tackling the TBR experiment is so much more fun and rewarding when there’s more than one person (me) participating. Does anybody want to play along?

Even if you don’t specifically use my system, feel free to share your versions of how you manage your TBR pile (and the links to your posts if applicable) in the comments!

Maybe we can help make each other’s systems even better. :)

What books are you Tackling this month?

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 14 2015
Image

Top Ten Authors I’ve Read The Most Books From!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Well, this post is embarrassingly late. I blame over ambition… And a horrifying eye strain issue that kept me from reading, writing, and essentially functioning for three days. :/ In any case, I initially tried to narrow my list down to ten authors, but felt guilty for every one I had to knock off. Long story short, enjoy ALL THE AUTHORS I’ve read the most books from (my favorites, anyway).

Top Ten Fifteen Authors I’ve Read The Most Books From!

1. Richelle Mead

I’ve read everything she’s published and for the longest time have considered her my favorite author. Thank goodness she’s so prolific!

2. R.A. Salvatore

I love this series and think the author is great at sparking a sense of adventure and excitement. Even though Salvatore made the list, I still have several non-Drizzt books on my shelves waiting to be read.

3. Brandon Sanderson

So many amazing stories – it’s difficult to believe they all came from one mind. I have not read a single Sanderson that got lower than 4 stars – in fact, most of them were solid 5s!

4. Kim Harrison/Dawn Cook

I actually read Kim Harrison first as Dawn Cook then got really bummed when four or five years went by where she didn’t publish anything new… Imagine my delight when I discovered her Rachel Morgan series (which is now my favorite urban fantasy series)!

5. Glenda Larke

I love Glenda Larke with a passion, so much so that I was even willing to pay astronomical shipping to buy her Mirage series from overseas. Her world building is phenomenal and her stories are unforgettable – I recommend all of them!

6. Raymond E. Feist

This is the author/series that really ignited my love of fantasy. I’ve been slowly making my way through all the books, savoring each one as I go, for the last fifteen years and am finally getting close to having read them all.

7. Patricia Briggs

Patricia Briggs is such a cool author – she’s made a huge fan out of me with her Mercy Thompson series, and I have also thoroughly enjoyed her fantasy novels (although I admit I still have a few of those to read). I like her. :-)

8. Daniel Abraham

Daniel Abraham is an author who does not get enough credit for his vast array of works (although, some of that might be due to his many pen names). Regardless, I’ve read most of his works and appreciate all of them.

9. Julie E. Czerneda

Czerneda is my favorite science fiction author, and I have to thank Luis Royo for putting them on my radar with his gorgeous cover art. I am super excited for This Gulf of Time and Stars coming out within the next couple of months!

10. Robin Hobb

It is so difficult for me to declare which author is my all-time favorite, but with every new book by Robin Hobb, that decision becomes easier and easier. She is a remarkable author, and her books stay with me years after I’ve read them.

11. Brian Jacques

I didn’t start taking reading seriously until my eleventh year, when I came across The Outcast of Redwall in my middle school library and decided I wanted to get good enough at reading to tackle a novel of that size. It was a major revelation in my life, and I have enjoyed each of these books countless times throughout the years.

12. Ann Aguirre

Aguirre might not be my favorite author, but she sure as hell makes my top five. I have completely enjoyed everything I’ve read by her and am impressed that she can brilliantly write stories from so many different genres.

13. Jacqueline Carey

I love this series with a passion and have not even made my way through all of them, but only because I take several weeks to savor each one. I am super eager to read her new urban fantasy series, but I’m equally terrified to run out of Carey books to read.

14. Keri Arthur

As many books as I’ve read from this fantastic urban fantasy author, I still have about double that amount before I’ve read everything she’s published. I like her newer stuff better than the older, and her Riley Jensen series is still among my all-time favorites.

15. Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

This was arguably one of the earliest series that I read to completion (not counting all of the spinoff novels, although I did read a bunch of those as well). I think these are an excellent introduction to the realm of fantasy and recommend it often to young readers wanting to tackle the genre without getting into anything too heavy.

I love all of the authors on this list, and would like to pay an honorable mention to Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Mindy McGinnis, Rae Carson, Rachel Aaron, and Melissa Landers. All of these authors would have made the list if they’d had more books out – I completely devour anything new that gets published! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my really long, really late list!

What authors have you read the most books from?

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 3 2015
Image

ARC August: Goals & Updates!

ARC-August-Banner

This yearly feature hosted by Octavia and Shelly at Read. Sleep. Repeat. couldn’t have come around at a better time. It seems like my ARC requests double around this time of year thanks to all of the brilliant upcoming releases. Currently, I’m challenging myself to make my way through the following ARCs by the end of August (there are a couple more since my sign-up post):

I’m shooting for one a week, but I would love to read them all before the end of August.

Week 1 – 8/8/15:

I finished two ARCs this week – Fool’s Quest and Breakout!

Week 2 – 8/15/15:

I got halfway through Hunter by Mercedes Lackey and picked up two more ARCs! #Fail

Week 3 – 8/22/15:

Week 4 – 8/29/15:

Total – 8/31/15:

Wish me luck!

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 1 2015
Image

Tackling the TBR [4]: August 2015!

tackling the TBR

I don’t think I’ve ever met a book lover who didn’t have an endless TBR. There are just so many amazing books out there! And we all have different ways that we like to work our way through the ever-growing pile. I started this feature back in April with the hopes of building a hub where book lovers could support each other’s tackling of their TBR’s and share their progress. Alas, it hasn’t caught on yet (which surprises me because it is seriously my favorite topic to discuss with other readers) but I’m in love with it so much I’m going to keep posting it at the first of each month, regardless. Here are the feature’s mantras:

Read the best books first.
&
Life is too short to read books you’re not enjoying.

I live by these mantras and as a result of that the best two years of reading in my entire life. However you put together your TBR for the next month, the goal is to reduce the amount of obligation in reading and increase the fun.

Over the last several Tackling the TBR posts, I’d been utilizing the following method:

1. At the beginning of each month, I select an author from each of my favorite genres
2. I compile all of their unread books onto my TBR Tackler shelves (physical & digital)
3. I pick from that pile throughout the month as the mood strikes me

This TBR strategy took away a lot of the stress I was feeling to get through all of my titles, but now that I have whittled away most of the books from my big series priority authors, it’s time for an adaptation. I also discovered that, while certain authors may be top priority, not necessarily every book they’ve written holds the same weight (authors who cross genres like Ann Aguirre is a great example). Because of this, I found my system needed to evolve to include slightly more variety, hence the new system.

I’m still focusing on the best books first, I’m just changing it to include more authors. My new system is a little less complicated:

1. Identify the titles that take top priority in your TBR.
2. Combine them all in your own Tackling the TBR post.
3. Throughout the month pick from that pile as the mood strikes you.

Here’s what mine looks like:

August 2015 TBR Tackler Shelf:

Many of my all-time favorite authors are on this list, so I know there’s no shortage of good books on my TBR this month. I love officially putting them in the top priority, because it really bothers me having so many unread titles from authors I absolutely love.

Now, I can tell you from experience that this Tackling the TBR experiment is so much more fun and rewarding when there’s more than one person (me) participating. I will still be posting a linky on each post in case anybody wants to play along!

Even if you don’t specifically use my system, feel free to share your versions of how you manage your TBR pile!

Maybe we can help make each other’s systems even better. :)

What books are you Tackling this month?

^Yeah, you totally have to click on the frog to see everyone’s links… wish I had been smart enough to figure that out before now (especially since it says so right on it).

by Niki Hawkes

Jul 15 2015
Image

ARC August: Niki’s Signing Up!

ARC-August-Banner

This yearly feature hosted by Octavia and Shelly at Read. Sleep. Repeat. couldn’t have come around at a better time. It seems like my ARC requests double around this time of year thanks to all of the brilliant upcoming releases. Currently, I’m challenging myself to make my way through the following ARCs by the end of August:

August 11, 2015
August 25, 2015
September 1, 2015
Hunter by Mercedes Lackey
October 6, 2015
October 6, 2015

It hurts my heart that Soundless by Richelle Mead is not on this list… Everybody seems to have a copy but me ::sobs::

Since I had to switch my reviewing status on NetGalley and Edelweiss from “bookseller” to “blogger” I’ve been consistent with maintaining a 100% response rate. Part of it is pure stubbornness, as I’ve convinced myself the only way to get approved more often is to be a dependable reviewer. However, the main reason I’ve been able to keep that percentage perfect is because of my “read the best books first” philosophy. I’ve only allowed myself to request titles I’ve already identified as releases I have to read on Goodreads (meaning no impulse requests just because I see something shiny). Since my upcoming releases list currently has over fifty books on it, I’ve been requesting more than average lately… Thank goodness for this challenge!

What ARCS are on your list this winter?

Jul 1 2015
Image

Tackling the TBR [3]: July 2015!

tackling the TBR

I started this feature in May as a possible solution to my desperate need for a good TBR system. And you know what? I’m LOVING it so far! It has allowed me to stop stressing about all the unread books in my life because it channels my focus onto the authors I deemed the highest priority. I rest assured that, despite the fact I’m not making my way through my collection as quickly as I’d like, I am at least focusing on the best books first. It also takes away a little bit of that “I’m overwhelmed” factor because there’s usually only twenty books at most in my shortlist (which also gives me a remarkable sense of achievement every time I get to check one off that list). Finally, I love it because I still feel like I get to follow my reading whims – there is a lot of variety within my smaller pool of choices. I think I’ll keep this feature around for a while!

If you missed the Introductory Post, here’s how Tackling the TBR works:

1. At the beginning of each month, I select an author from each of my favorite genres
2. I compile all of their unread books onto my TBR Tackler shelves (physical & digital)
3. I pick from that pile throughout the month as the mood strikes me

Here is my TBR Tackler Shelf for July 2015:

Science Fiction: Rachel Bach
Fantasy: Elizabeth Haydon
Middle Grade: Chad Morris
New Adult: Colleen Hoover
Young Adult: Ann Aguirre
Urban Fantasy: Jim Butcher
Book Club: Michael J. Sullivan

Last month I made it through more than half the titles on my list. There’s definitely a lot of variety on my TBR tackler shelf this month, which should help keep me from getting bored. There are more unread Jim Butcher books than I included, but I figured six novels was a lofty enough goal. I don’t see any reason why I can’t read and enjoy all of these by the end of July! :-) I included a new “Book Club” category because in some ways it’s the most important TBR for the month, but I didn’t wanted to take the place of my other priority authors. As you can see, my system is still adapting… hopefully for the better.

I will be sharing this post on the first of each month at least until the end of the year (we will see how it goes). I am also going to include a linky on each post so we can support each other in Tackling our TBRs! Even if you don’t specifically use my system, feel free to share your versions of how you manage your TBR pile… Maybe we can help make each other’s systems even better. :)

What authors are you Tackling this month?

^ You actually have to click on the blue frog to enter and see links… It seems simple, but it took me a full three weeks before I finally figured that out. #fail

by Niki Hawkes