WRAP-UP | MARCH 2019 + SEQUELATHON

It was a modest reading month. I did participate in a readathon but I can’t say it was a smashing success. For shame. It was a rather easy one but it just goes to show how much a mood reader I really am.

But this was a rather unique reading month for me. I did not read a single manga… something that I will hopefully remedy this month and the next. Also, all five of my reads are from the NA romance genre, three from the same author, the same series. It’s not as if I’m consciously crossing out prompts from the annual challenge. It’s what I’m in the mood for.

I’m thinking that April will be different. I went to a James Rollins signing and that inspired me to go back to one of my favorite genres, mystery/thrillers. They’re fun and easy to read or listen to on audio.

In 2011, I won a Goodreads giveaway for the book The Devil Colony by James Rollins. I had no idea what I was getting into. Eleven Sigma Force novels (and 4 of his other works) later, I finally met one of my favorite authors! Thank you so very much, Mr. Rollins, for these incredible books. And thank you, Vroman’s Bookstore for the opportunity. It seriously made my month. It was so exciting to hear his speak. I asked him who was his favorite character to write and he said it was Kowalski. He liked him so much that he brought him over to Sigma Force from Ice Hunt. And because of that, I’m listening to Ice Hunt right now.

Needless to say, I bought books in March. All of them signed, of course. On the day of the signing, I scored a signed copy of The Judas Strain from a used bookstore. From the same store, I bought a mass paperback copy of Blood Line, my favorite from the series, and The Bone Labyrinth, to bring to the signing. I do have copies of James Rollins’ books in my house but it’s a literal excavation getting to them. Then I bought Crucible at Vroman’s so I can get into the signing line. Keeping up with this signed book thing is working so far.

Even if I only read 5 books, I consider it a good reading month. I didn’t take the easy way by padding my numbers with manga, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Again, mood. Then I was able to stick with a series. And I was able to be a bit more critical with my rating. I would like to continue this trend. Never mind reading “less”.

(However, I’ve been binge-watching reading vlogs lately. They’re seriously inspiring me to read more. But. The new anime season is here. OTL.)

TOTAL BOOKS READ: 5.

• King by TM Frazier – I’m still getting used to aggressive alpha males but oh boy, that ending! I’ve been meaning to pick this book/series up for a while now. I heard this is a good dark motorcycle club “romance”. A lot of blood and violence. At first, I wasn’t too sure about the possessiveness of the guy and the blatant drug use but the more I read it, I’m actually liking it. 4/5 stars.
• The Controversial Princess by Jodi Ellen Malpas –  Okay. So. Adeline. I have some words. I went into this with high hopes. As you know, I like the royalty trope. But… I did not like this book. Yes, I was expecting the ending but everything happened in between felt so detached and unnecessarily long. Adeline is dumb and I wanted to punch Josh every time he opened his damn mouth. Oh Adeline… I have no idea how real royalty is but I sure as hell know regular people as stupid and useless as her so I know how and why her character irritates me. And Josh should just go the fck away. However, I like Damon. He can stay. Everyone else can leave. That’s one whole star for him and the other for the ending that I 1000% expected. Who knows… maybe I’ll read the next one too, a glutton for punishment. 2/5 stars.
• Tyrant by TM Frazier –  2nd part of the King/Doe arc. This was pretty dark. Like, I was shocked. There were some parts that I didn’t expect but it all wrapped up well in the end. I don’t know how people come out of this without some kind of psychological problem. Just… wow. 4/5 stars.
• Gabriel’s Inferno by Sylvain Reynard –  I finally got to this book and it didn’t live up to the hype that was in my head. It was a 20-hour audiobook. If I have to hear the narrator say “Julianne” one more time, there’d be hell to pay. It was longer than necessary and that ending was rushed, I literally missed it. (I listen to audio books at work so half my attention is elsewhere. Next thing I know, it’s the acknowledgements.) It was bordering on pretentious. I was expecting that but I just can’t get over the damn “Julianne” thing. Will I continue with the rest? Maybe. Idk. Someday. 3/5 stars.
• Lawless by TM Frazier – I didn’t realize that I was alternating my reading. This one I read for Sequelathon. I thought of taking a break from TM Frazier after finishing one arc but I needed to read about Bear and his girl, Thia. I like Bear. I liked him even in King’s story. I enjoyed the narration of his POV; it has me literally laughing out loud at some parts. Something awful was done to him at the end of Tyrant but he never let that show. He did drown himself in bad things but when he was needed to step up, he pushed through his pain. Thia, wow. I liked her too. Although I didn’t get much of her personality. (It could be my fault because I was so into Bear lol.) These two are very damaged people who found strength in each other. I liked that. 4/5 stars.

STATS:

• 1733 pages
• 3 audio books

As for Sequelathon, I got about 70% of The Stone Sky before the readathon ended. So my only book read for this particular readathon is Lawless… which is sort of a spin-off sequel, if that makes sense. It does not directly follow the book that came before it, however, it’s in the same series. Eh, whatever. It counts. XD

For this month, my readathon pick is one of my favorites… TOME TOPPLE! I’ll post my announcement and reading plans within the week.