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February 2015 Reading Recap!

Review Recap

I read a little bit more than usual this month, which is saying something considering my average is more than most people read in a year (not including fellow book bloggers who would probably wipe the floor my numbers). I also managed to put together a decent number of blog posts, attend a writing conference, and reorganize my library. I am wildly impressed with myself. Let’s take a look at February 2015’s month in reading:

Books Read:

My favorite book for February is a tie between Dead Heat and Wither.

Books Reviewed:

Guardians of the West by David Eddings – 2/5 stars

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – 3/5 stars

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas – 3.5/5 stars

Tinker by Wen Spencer – 4/5 stars

Stolen by Kelley Armstrong – 4.5/5 stars

Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs – 5/5 stars!

Waiting on Wednesday Features:

I am equally excited for both of these titles, to the point where I will probably read both of them as soon as they come out.

Top Ten Tuesday Features:

Niki’s Top Ten Bookish Problems!

Other Fun Stuff:

10981219_10203404931353253_4121600290854703076_nAfter years of pining, I finally got the chance to meet my all-time favorite author Richelle Mead! It was a surreal experience, and I was so nervous I’m pretty sure I repeated myself three or four times “I love you, your my favorite author… Your my favorite… I love your books…” and so on. It was pretty pathetic. I blame the massive headache I was suffering from at the time.Even so, it was neat, and I got a couple of my favorites signed.

For the past two months I have been competing to become one of Julie Czerneda’s beta readers for her upcoming Clan novel. Aside from my master’s degree, I can’t remember ever working this hard towards anything in my entire life. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but I am seriously putting my heart and soul into this thing. As of this moment, I’ve made it into the top ten, and have submitted my last round of quiz answers. I’ll find out if I’ve been chosen sometime after Wednesday… Wish me luck!

How was your month in reading?

by Niki Hawkes

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January 2015 Reading Recap!

Review Recap

Honestly I feel like this month is getting off to a slow start compared to 2014. Although, when you consider last year I was reading mostly YA while this year has been a heavy sci-fi/fantasy focus then that probably accounts for the difference. Because I have so many amazing books waiting in my TBR, it has made me a bit impatient with the longer novels… which is ironic, as most of the books in that TBR are 500+ page epic fantasies. In any case, here’s a look at what I’ve been up to:

Books Read:

I don’t normally read books from the same author back-to-back, but I’m making an exception this month for Czerneda because I’m competing become a beta reader for her next Clan novel. Wish me luck!

Books Reviewed:

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkowski – 3/5 stars

The Elvenbane by Andre Norton & Mercedes Lackey – 3.5/5 stars

Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne – 4/5 stars

And my favorites:

Kushiel’s Justice by Jacqueline Carey – 4.5/5 stars

Reap the Wild Wind by Julie E. Czerneda – 5/5 stars!

Other than lots of reading, not much else happened on the blog this month. I did do a

Top Ten Bookish Goals of 2015!

post, which I’ve actually been actively working on. It’s always nice to see progress that the goals you set for yourself. I also participated in a Read-athon midway through the month (and did atrociously, for what it’s worth). It was fun though, I’m totally doing it again in a couple of months.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot: I started a Writing Prompts page and of been updating that on a semi-regular basis. It has been really valuable in getting my creative juices flowing, and I’ve already seen improvement in my novel writing. #win

How was your month in reading/writing?

by Niki Hawkes

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April 2014: Review Recap!

Review Recap

 This month I made a concerted effort to post more reviews. After all, it’s not as if I’m lacking in material to write about – I think at last counts I was almost 20 books behind in reviewing (ouch!). As a book blogger, that’s not a horrible problem to have, but I’m looking forward to the day when I’m only, say, five books behind. The trouble is that I have been on a huge YA kick and those books take practically no time at all to read. I think maybe as early as June I will be able to get back to reading robust fantasy novels again… In the meantime, here’s a look at what went down in April on The Obsessive Bookseller:

Book Reviews:

The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas – 5/5 stars!

Abandon by Meg Cabot – 1/5 stars

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins – 4.5/5 stars

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau – 2.5/5 stars

Rush by Eve Silver – 3/5 stars

The Eight Day by Dianne K. Salerni – DNF

And my favorites this month:

 The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson – 5/5 stars!

Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey – 5/5 stars!

These books were epic!

Waiting on Wednesday Features:

Normally, I mention which WoW book I most excited to read. This month I’m choosing ALL of them!

Top Ten Tuesday Features:

Top Ten Books You Might Like If You Enjoyed Throne of Glass!

Top Ten Female Characters That Inspire Me!

Top Ten Most Unique Books I’ve Ever Read!

The Top Ten Gateway Books of My Reading Journey!

 I almost didn’t participate in a couple of these TTTs but found myself inspired at the last minute.

 April’s Escape Reality Book Club Pick:

Scarlet

(ERBC is for anyone who wants to geek out about YA. If you’re interested, check out our official launch post).

 That about sums up my month! What great books did you read in April?

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February 2014: Review Recap!

Review Recap

I have been having so much fun reading lately that I’m having a difficult time doing anything else. Currently, my reading has been split pretty evenly between awesome books I already own and the endless pile of ARCs I can’t seem to stop requesting. It’s okay though, because I finally have a good way to keep track of which books need to be read by when, and it is taken away a lot of the obligation I used to feel regarding them (It also helps that I’ve somehow managed to restrain my request to just the have-to-have titles). In any case, here my:

 Books Reviewed:

Panic by Lauren Oliver – 4.5/5 stars

Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey – 5/5 stars!

Death Sworn by Leah Cypress – 2.5/5 stars

Pale Demon by Kim Harrison – 5/5 stars

Dangerous by Shannon Hale – DNF

 Guests Review: The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison – 4/5 stars

My favorite book reviewed this month is probably Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey… although I am an uber fan of Kim Harrison.

Hopefully in March I will be posting a couple more reviews than I did this month. My plan to read more than I review has backfired, as I find myself a full ten books behind (meaning you are getting reviews for books I read as far back as December. Fail.). As I mentioned before, my time spent reading lately has been just ridiculous.

Waiting on Wednesday Features:

Other exciting news: Charlotte over at Apathy and Rhetoric and I started a monthly YA book club!  It has been really fun to participate in so far, and we are welcoming anybody who wants to join. For more info, click on the button below:

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 What awesome books did you read this month?