February Reading

Here is an update on what I plan to be reading this month. I've picked out the must read books that fit into various challenges and after I read them, IF I read them all, I can mood read for the rest of the month!

WORLD READS-Venezuela

1) Greig Beck-Primordia
2) Greig Beck-Primordia 2

ROYAL CHALLENGE
1) Sharon Kay Penman-The Queen's Man

SERIES CATCHUP
1) Red Headed Stepchild
2) The Mage In Black
3) Green Eyed Demon
4) Silver Tongued Devil
5) Blue Blooded Vamp
 -Violet Tendencies #2.5 
 -Rusted Veins #5.5

PAPERBACK PURGE
1) Candace Robinson-Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault (Glass Vault #1)
2) Candace Robinson-The Bride of Glass (Glass Vault #2)

EBOOK ELIMINATOR
1) Bobby Adair-Ebola K
2) Hunter Shea-The Devil's Fingers

PUPPY LOVE
1) Amy Cross-The Dog
2) Mildred Abbott-Cruel Candy
3) Dixie Lyle-A Taste Fur Murder
4) Leigh Perry-A Skeleton in the Family
5) JC Eaton-Booked 4 Murder 

FOR FUN!
1) SM Wilson-The Extinction Trials #3 Rebel

Books From The Backlog-Tomorrow

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf.  You might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. Go to Carole's blog and add your blog post link in to join in the fun! Hosted by Carole at https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.co.uk/

This seems like a fun feature and I have been planning to take part since Carole launched this so at last, here we go! I have a TON of unread books to choose from in various genres and I'm looking forward to sharing some of them with everybody. 

When Ellie and her friends return from a camping trip in the Australian bush, they find things hideously wrong — their families are gone. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in their town has been taken prisoner. As the reality of the situation hits them, they must make a decision — run and hide, give themselves up and be with their families, or fight back. 

I read and loved the first two books in this series but life got in the way of me getting the rest of the series read so I really want to finish the series and the spin-off books. I wish they had turned this into a TV series rather than just doing one film!
 

Book Review Backlog Challenge Update 4

These are the books I read in 2018 but never got a review done for before the end of the year and I really do need to write them as I read some of these books back in August! I want to be no more than a few weeks behind, not half the year! I've written the date that I read them and when I finally review them I'll mark that too!

Progress update: I'm really happy to get so many book reviews done in two weeks! I'll be trying to get as many done in the second half of the month as I can.

1) Vivian Shaw-Strange Practice (read Aug) (reviewed Jan 19)
2) Cynthia Hand-My Lady Jane (read Aug) (reviewed Jan 19)
3) Rajan Khanna-Falling Sky (read Aug) (reviewed Jan 19)
4) Orlando A Sanchez-Tombyards & Butterflies (read Aug) (reviewed Jan 19)
5) Carrie Vaughn-Kitty's Big Trouble (read Sep) (reviewed Jan 19)
6) Carrie Vaughn-Kitty Steals The Show (read Sep) (reviewed Jan 19)
7) Carrie Vaughn-Kitty Rocks The House (read Sep) (reviewed Jan 19)
8) Carrie Vaughn-Kitty In The Underworld (read Sep) (reviewed Jan 19)
9) Carrie Vaughn-Low Midnight (read Sep) (reviewed Jan 19)
10) Carrie Vaughn-Kitty Saves The World (read Sep) (reviewed Jan 19)
11) Carrie Vaughn-Kitty's Greatest Hits (read Sep) (reviewed Jan 19)
12) Martha Wells-Rogue Protocol (read Sep) (reviewed Jan 19)
13) Martha Wells-Exit Strategy (read Nov) (reviewed Jan 19)
14) Michael Bray-Feed (read Sep) (reviewed Jan 19)
15) Rick Chesler-The Tank (read Sep)
16) Chris Jameson-Devil Sharks (read Sep)
17) Greig Beck-Fathomless (read Sep)
18) Jamie Hutchison-Black Spawn (read Sep)
19) Carolyn McCray-Shark Station Nyet (read Sep)
20) Carolyn McCray-The Shayu Situation (read Sep)
21) Curtis Richards-Halloween (read Oct) (reviewed Jan 19)
22) Russell James-Cavern of the Damned (read Oct)
23) Gerry Griffiths-Cryptid Zoo (read Oct)
24) Jeff Menapace-Wildlife 2 (read Oct)
25) Anne McCaffrey-Dinosaur Planet (read Nov) (reviewed Jan 19)
26) Anne McCaffrey-The Survivors (read Nov) (reviewed Jan 19)
27) Christopher Brookmyre-Bedlam (DNF Nov) (reviewed Jan 19)
28) Elizabeth Briggs-Future Threat (read Nov)
29) Elizabeth Briggs-Future Lost (read Nov)
30) William H Weber-Surviving America's Collapse (read Dec)
31) G Michael Hopf-The End (read Dec)
32) James Wesley Rawles-Patriots (DNF Dec) (reviewed Jan 19)
33) Valerie Anand-The House of Lanyon (DNF Dec) (reviewed Jan 19)
34) ML Brennan-Generation V (DNF Dec) (reviewed Jan 19)
35) Dean Koontz-Icebound (read Dec)
36) Sue Fortin-Sister Sister (read Dec)
37) Benjamin Percy-The Dark Web (DNF read) (reviewed Jan 19)
38) LD Goffigan-The Beast of London (read Dec)
39) Amie Kaufman-Illuminae (DNF Dec) (reviewed Jan 19)
40) Tom Harper-Zodiac Station (read Dec)

Reading Challenges Update 4

Progress update: This challenge is going really well! I hope to finish all these must reads in the next 7 days and fit in a week to ten days or so of mood reading before the month ends.

WORLD READS
1) Lee Murray-Into the Mist (New Zealand) (read-  star)
2) Lee Murray-Into The Sounds (New Zealand) (DNS)

ROYAL CHALLENGE/NON FICTION
1) Lady Colin Campbell-The Royal Marriages (read-4 star)

SERIES CATCHUP
1) Joelle Charbonneau-The Testing (re-read-5 star)
2) Joelle Charbonneau-Independent Study (read-4 star)
3) Joelle Charbonneau-Graduation Day (read-4 star)
4) George RR Martin-A Dance With Dragons pt 2 (read-5 star)

PAPERBACK PURGE
1) A American-Going Home (The Survivalist #1) (read-3 star)
2) CJ Tudor-The Chalk Man (read-4 star)
3) Annie Berdel-Alpha Farm (Prepper Chick #1) (DNF)

EBOOK ELIMINATOR
1) Bobby Akart-Axis of Evil (Lone Star #1) (DNF)
2) Bobby Akart-36 Hours (Blackout #1) (DNS)
3) Bobby Akart-The Loyal Nine (Boston Brahmin #1) (DNF)
4) WR Benton-Premonition of Death (Fall of America #1) (DNS)
5) Saul Tanpepper-Gameland (read-3 star) 
6) Diana E Anderson-The Farm (read-3.5 star)

EXTRA BOOKS READ: 
1) Jay J Falconer-Redfall (read-3 star)
2) Christopher Coleman-They came with the snow (read-2 star)
3) Chris Lowry-Flyover Zombie (read-3 star)
4) Kealan Patrick Burke-Jack and Jill (read-2 star)
5) Edward Chilvers-Curse of the forever rain (read-3 star)
6) Matthew Stott-66 (read-3.5 star)
7) Cheryl L Cholley-Survivalist by Circumstance (read-2 star)
8) Doug Kelly-Into the Darkness (read-3 star) 
9) DJ Molles-The Remaining (read-3 star)

Progress update: Isn't it typical that I've read 8 books so far and three of them begin with G??? Gameland, Going Home and Graduation Day!

A) A Dance With Dragons
B)
C) The Chalk Man
D)
E)
F) The Farm
G) Gameland
H)
I) Independent Study
J) Jack and Jill
K)
L)
M)
N)
O)
P)
Q)
R) The Royal Marriages
S) 66
T) The Testing
U)
V)
W)
X)
Y)
Z) 

Welcome to my ebook challenge! This year I plan to get as many books off the ereader and the tbr and free up space for other things. 

Here is my starting list of those I really want to deal with. I'll add to the list through the year.

Progress update: I've dealt with four of the ones I selected for this month so I'm happy! I should have the other three done before the end of January!

1) Bobby Akart-Axis of Evil (Lone Star #1) (DNF)
2) Bobby Akart-36 Hours (Blackout #1) (DNS)
3) Bobby Akart-The Loyal Nine (Boston Brahmin #1) (DNS)
4) WR Benton-Premonition of Death (Fall of America #1) (DNS)
5) Lee Murray-Into The Mist (read)
6) Lee Murray-Into The Sounds (DNS)
7) Donna Galanti-Joshua & The Lightning Road
8) Jeff VanderMeer-Annihilation
9) Meg Collett-Fear University
10) Alex Hughes-Clean (DNF)
11) Adam J Wright-Lost Soul (DNF)
12) Norman Christof-Destination Lost
13) Seth Skorkowsky-Damoren
14) Simone Pond-Exodus of Magic
15) Steve McHugh-Crimes Against Magic
16) Suzanne Lazerar-The Secret Life of Rock Stars
17) Michael F Haspil-Graveyard Shift
18) Lisa Blackwood-Betrayal's Price
19) Bobby Adair-Ebola K
20) Ania Ahlborn-The Shuddering
21) Saul Tanpepper-Gameland (read-3 star)
22) Hunter Shea-The Devil's Fingers

This year, I really need to get a pile of paperbacks off the tbr and bookshelf, and out to the charity shops! Every month I'll be trying to tackle a few that I'm not sure I'm going to like based on gut feelings, reading tastes or Goodreads reviews. On this list I'll indicate what I managed to read, what was DNFed and if any of them are keepers! I'll be adding to the list through the year and the challenge will end in December.

Progress update: I've read two out of the three set aside for the month so that is a success!

1) A American-Going Home (The Survivalist #1) (read-3 star)
2) Annie Berdel-Alpha Farm (Prepper Chick #1) (DNF)
3) Justin Somper-Allies & Assassins (Allies & Assassins #1)
4) Michael J Sullivan-The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1)
5) Candace Robinson-Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault (Glass Vault #1)
6) Candace Robinson-The Bride of Glass (Glass Vault #2)
7) Conn Iggulden-Darien (Empire of Salt #1)
8) RL King-Stone And A Hard Place
9) Stephen King-Revival
10) Joseph Nassise-Eyes To See
11) Joseph Nassise-By the Blood of Heroes
12) Boyd Craven-Breaking Point
13) Mary Kubika-Every Last Lie
14) CJ Tudor-The Chalk Man (read-3.5 star)
15) DB Thorne-Troll
16) Seth C Adams-If You Go Down to the Woods
17) Belinda Bauer-Snap
18) Terry Brooks-Running With The Demon
19) Thomas E Sniegoski-The Demonists

The idea is to read books with a royal theme ie Kings, Princesses, Queens, Dukes, Knights, Castles, Kingdoms, Quests etc. This challenge is hosted by Adriana Garcia over at https://shesgotbooksonhermind.blogspot.com/ .

Here are the books from my tbr that I hope to get read this year for the challenge. I've picked 15 to try and get Queen status but if I do well, more may be added!

Progress update: I set aside one book to read this month and I did that last week so nothing has changed for this challenge.

1) David Baldwin-Henry's Last Love
2) Shrabani Basu-Victoria and Abdul
3) Jane Bingham-The Tudors
4) Lady Colin Campbell-The Royal Marriages (read-4 star)
5) Lady Colin Campbell-Diana in Private
6) Sharon Kay Penman-The Queen's Man
7) Dinah Lampitt-Pour The Dark Wine
8) E Knight-My Lady Viper
9) Elizabeth Fremantle-Sisters of Treason
10) Katherine Longshore-Tarnish
11) Laurien Gardner-Plain Jane
12) Margaret Campbell Barnes-My Lady of Cleves
13) Diane Haeger-The Queen's Mistake
14) Judith Arnopp-Intractable Heart
15) Kate Emerson-The Pleasure Palace

I'm intending to catch up on quite a few series this year, starting with a few of the shorter series that have been lurking on my shelves for a while! If I can clear them it will help in the battle to reduce the never-ending tbr! 

The Plan is to start this year with a few series that I really must finish or catch up with. Once I've done them all I'll extend the challenge by adding more series on until I run out of days in the year. The challenge will run all year.

Progress update: I read the first series of the year so that's a good start!

SERIES TO BE FULLY READ

1) DD BARANT-BLOODHOUND FILES
1-Dying Bites
2-Death Blows
3-Killing Rocks
4-Better Off Undead
5-Back From The Undead
6-Undead To The World

2) JAYE WELLS-SABINA KANE 
1-Red Headed Stepchild
2-The Mage In Black
3-Green Eyed Demon
4-Silver Tongued Devil
5-Blue Blooded Vamp
 -Violet Tendencies #2.5 
 -Rusted Veins #5.5

3) MLN HANOVER-BLACK SUN'S DAUGHTER 
1-Unclean Spirits
2-Darker Angels
3-Vicious Grace
4-Killing Rites
5-Graveyard Child 

4) CHRISTINA HENRY-BLACK WINGS
1-Black Wings
2-Black Night
3-Black Howl
4-Black Lament
5-Black City
6-Black Heart
7-Black Spring 

5) KELLY MEDING-DREG CITY 
1-Three Days to Dead
2-As Lie the Dead
3-Another Kind of Dead
4-Wrong Side of Dead
5-Requiem For the Dead
6-The Night Before Dead 

6) JOELLE CHARBONNEAU-THE TESTING 
1-The Testing (read-5 star)
2-Independent Study (read-4 star)
3-Graduation Day (read-4 star)
 

Tackling the TBR

In 2019 I'm making a big effort to reduce my TBR by buying less, getting stuff read and getting rid of the things that I just don't want to read from my bookshelves and my ereaders Maurice and Myrnin! I'll be doing this regular post to show my progress-what came into the house, what I read and DNFed and what was taken off the TBR.

The TBR total shown is the total number of books I own but have not read yet-wishlist books are NOT in my TBR! Re-reads have already been taken off the TBR when I first read them so don't count in reducing the pile but is just here as a note to help for end of year stats! The re-read total is the running total so far for the year, not what I've read each week.

BOOKS IN

-Books in refers to bought, downloaded or gifted THIS WEEK. 

-Books added are books I bought a while back but haven't yet added to my Goodreads TBR so they aren't newly bought, just newly added. Both of these categories together are my 'in' total. 

BOOKS OUT

-Books read and DNFed are obvious. 

-Deleted from the TBR are books I lost interest in reading, or sequels to DNFed books I no longer want to read and have been removed without starting to read them. These three categories added together are my books 'out'.

Sarah over at https://allthebookblognamesaretaken.blogspot.com/ is also trying to reduce her book pile and we hope to keep each other motivated! I'm posting my progress on the 7th, 14th, 21st and final day of the month and noting what is coming in and out of my house. Anyone else is welcome to join in. No rules, set up your your posts how you want and when you want just reduce the pile!

JANUARY 1st-7th

TBR Start Total: 1199 

BOOKS IN:
New Books In: 4
Old Books Added: 0

BOOKS OUT: 
Books Read: 6

Books DNF: 2
Others Deleted From TBR: 12
 

Re-reads: 1

New Total: 1183  

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JANUARY 8th-14th  

TBR Start Total: 1183

BOOKS IN: 

New Books In: 6

Old Books Added: 0

BOOKS OUT: 

Books Read: 2

Books DNF: 0

Others Deleted From TBR: 14

Re-Reads: 1

New Total: 1173

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JANUARY 15th-24th

TBR Start Total: 1173 

BOOKS IN: 

New Books In: 5

Old Books Added: 0

BOOKS OUT: 

Books Read: 6

Books DNF: 3

Others Deleted From TBR: 8

Rereads: 1

New Total: 1161

This week I wasn't online to post on the 21st so I'm posting now and will do a final post on the 31st as planned! Two books I read weren't on my Goodreads TBR hence the read numbers don't quite match my total!
********************************* 

JANUARY 25th-31st 

TBR Start Total: 1161 

BOOKS IN: 

New Books In: 0

Old Books Added: 6

BOOKS OUT: 

Books Read: 2

Books DNF: 2

Others Deleted From TBR: 13

Rereads: 1 

New Total: 1150

Another good week! In the month of January I got 49 books off the TBR which is great and that total includes the books I bought and added! If I was to deal with 30 a month all year that would be 360 books off the pile not counting additions. Something to aim for!