WRAP-UP | April 2019 + #TomeTopple Round 8

I’m such an awful book blogger. I tend to disappear with weeks and months only to come back with super late and almost irrelevant posts. But if you’re still here, still reading, I thank you so much. Like with every aspect of my fangirl life, I barely have reading mutuals IRL. So you, my bookish internet mutuals, are very much appreciated.

(If you want to know why I’ve been MIA apart my from my usual “life happens” spiel, do check out my Twitter and Instagram. Yes, life did happen – is happening – but all in a good way.)

Anyway, it’s a month late but here’s what happened with my Tome Topple Round 8 participation. I’ve decided this was my most successful attempt yet. There were only two set books in my TBR and I stuck with it. Nothing more and nothing less. I had a day or two left of the readathon after finishing my 2nd book but I was also prepping for an international trip so I capped it there.

 

I loved The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata (5 stars) so damn much. It was 16 hours on audio, 673 pages of slow burn goodness. I was saving this book for Tome Topple because it’s a romance book that satisfy the only important rule of this readathon. Then I also finished The Demon Crown by James Rollins (4 stars), part of the Sigma Force series that I love so much. I cheated on this a bit because the hardcover is a bit under 500 pages so I went with the ebook (and mass paperback) pagination that puts it at around 600.

I told myself that I’ll finally by catching up to Sigma Force so I strong armed this book for Tome Topple. Turns out, it’s partially set in Tokyo with Japanese characters… I was going to Japan at the beginning of May. Yeah. This is going to be a recurring event in the next month also.

The rest of my April reads were Soulless by TM Frazier (5 stars) and The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin (5 stars). I was supposed to read the latter for Sequelathon but was unable to finish it within the time allotted. But I loved it so much, as well as every TM Frazier book I’ve read so far.

In total, I read 2037 pages, two audio books. Not a single manga. XD

(I initially wanted this to be a readathon wrap-up for both Tome Topple and the Asian Readathon until I realized that my Asian Readathon IS my May wrap-up. LOL. Stay tuned for that.)

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.

WRAP-UP | FEBRUARY 2019

I’m starting to recognize that the secret to a good reading month for me is a readathon.

I read 7 books for Contemporaryathon Round 4. I started a new manga series (because I loved the anime so much, what’s new). I also read/listened to something that is not NA for a change. Who would’ve thought I’d say that lol.

I didn’t include reviews in my readathon wrap-up so I’ll have something to talk about here. I figured outside of the readathon, I won’t be able to do much more reading. And yes, I was right. After my 7th book for that week, I started a fantasy audio book. I put that on hold because I wasn’t in the mood for it and I didn’t have the time. Then I moved on to an NA audio book that I’m still listening to today. But I managed to finish another book, on March 1st.

Overall, I read 8 books. Not bad for a short month.

TOTAL BOOKS READ: 8.

• Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson – I loved The Remnant Chronicles. I read all three on audio so I figured I should do the same for this one. I actually borrowed this before, back when it was first released but I couldn’t get into it initially. I eventually picked it back up and I loved it. I loved going back to this world! 4/5 stars.
• Chihayafuru by Yuri Suetsugu – I loved the anime. In fact, I bought a “Caruta” shirt and a card set so that I can cosplay either Kana-chan or Chihaya come Anime Expo 2019.
  • Volume 1 – TAICHIIII!!! 4/5 stars.
  • Volume 2 – I mean, I already knew what was going to happen. But I still love it. 5/5 stars.
  • Volume 3 – Desk-tomu is my favorite character of this whole entire series. 5/5 stars.
  • Volume 4 – I’m so torn. I love Taichi and Arata both. Equally. But I feel so much pain for Taichi. That’s why I’m thankful that Desktomu is around. 5/5 stars.
• Tied by Carian Cole – Tyler and Holly were so adorable. I loved all the twists and turns of their relationships – with each other and with other people in their lives. So glad to have Toren around too. I hope we get stories about the other Grace brothers. Tesla too, I guess. I wonder if all of them are in age gap relationships lol. 5/5 stars.
• Newcomer by Keigo Higashino – Yes! Another Detective Kaga novel in English. I enjoy Detective Kaga books so much. They’re so witty and the storytelling is quite unique. This one was not as good as Malice. It took a while for me to get into it but once I did, I was hooked. 4/5 stars.
• Balance by Lucia Franco – I have feelings. I was so looking forward to this because this is a VERY forbidden age gap romance and from the snippets I spoiled myself for, the smut is PRIME. And they were, don’t get me wrong. The technical parts – explanations about gymnastics – read so easily, almost like a textbook. But everything else is… well, not the best. The main character is a privileged little bitch and the way she’s making fun of tofu and Kova’s accent was getting on my nerves. In the end, it picked up. I enjoyed it. 4/5 stars.

STATS:

• 2551 pages
• 3 audio books, 4 manga

I also bought one book! Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers. Signed, of course. I was supposed to go to her signing but I remember it was a rainy day and I had a late night at work. All my other LaFevers books are signed (and personalized) so I gotta keep up the tradition!

 

WRAP-UP | #CONTEMPORARYATHON Round 4

My first time participating in Contemporary-A-Thon was a complete success.

Who would’ve thunk it?! 😉

I’m listening to a fantasy novel as I write this, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I got approved while I was in the middle of my 2nd Contemporary-A-Thon audio book. A sign maybe? After a whole week of reading contemporary, the universe is giving me a fantasy novel to enjoy. (I was on the waitlist for this book for close to three months almost.)

Not only did I read 7 books, I also hit all prompts! This is probably the first time I’ve ever done that. Buddy read prompts usually trip me up because I don’t do buddy reads. Never will. This time, I actually built a TBR to count for every single one. Except the Instagram challenges LOL. Yes, I doubled up but I still hit all of them.

Let’s see how my readathon week turned out:

1. Read your most recently acquired contemporary novel – Newcomer by Keigo Higashino. I got approved for the audio for this right as I finished another book so it counted as my most recent acquisition.

2. Read a book with plurple (blue or purple) on the cover – Balance by Lucia Franco. It has this blue/purple watercolor effect. All the other books have the same pattern.

3. Read a diverse contemporary – Newcomer by Keigo Higashino. Japanese author. Story based in Japan.

4. Read a dark or taboo contemporary – Balance by Lucia Franco. She’s 16. He’s 32, That’s all you need to know. And also, Tied by Carian Cole. She’s an abduction survivor and he’s a pretty damaged one too.

5. Read a contemporary you meant to read in 2018 but didn’t get to – Balance by Lucia Franco. I found out about this last year and I actually planned to read it for Tome Topple. But I didn’t get to it until last week finally.

6. Read a contemporary in a non-traditional format. – I read Tied and Newcomer via audio and Balance as an e-book.

7. Read a contemporary with a picture on the spine. – Chihayafuru Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 by Yuki Suetsugu. I saw a set of the manga with the spines lined up and it’s all pretty.

All in all, it’s a total of 2043 pages read. I enjoyed most of them, rating all 4 to 5 stars. It was timely that I was obsessed with Chihayafuru and I was interested in reading the manga too. Carian Cole is easily becoming my new favorite author. I’ve always loved Higashino mysteries. I had a rocky start with Balance but in the end, I liked it a lot. I can’t wait to pick up the next book in the series.

I’m already scouting out potential readathons in March. Do you have any suggestions?

End of the Year Survey 2018

2018 was a wild and crazy year. The first six months were pretty normal until July and Anime Expo rolled around. Then it was all uphill from there, culminating in a trip to Japan.

Having taken two vacations meant there was a break in my reading. I did bring my e-readers but I didn’t really touch them while overseas. Same with my bullet journal during those times. I’m telling you, when I go on vacation, everything about me goes on a break too. XD

Nevertheless, I still read 130 things, matching my 2017 numbers. And I reached that on the very last hour of 2018. Yes, I sort of forced it. But it’s all good. It wasn’t really any pressure. I just wanted a rounded number hahaha.

So here we are to talk about my 2018 reading year as a whole. I hope I remember to change the years (since the questions remain the same anyway). Once again, thanks to Perpetual Page Turner Jamie for this tag.

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The “special yaoi book” section at Tsutaya LOL.

2018 READING STATS

Number Of Books You Read: 130
Number of Re-Reads: 1 
Genre You Read The Most From: manga and new adult.

BEST IN BOOKS

1. Best Book You Read In 2018?
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant. Murderous mermaids in a submarine expedition? Yes, please.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
The Young Elites by Marie Lu. I loved the Legend trilogy and Warcross duology. This one completely missed the mark and I don’t think I’ll be continuing on with the series.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
The New Camelot trilogy by Sierra Simone. And this surprised me in a good way. It’s super smutty and graphic, something that is usually trashy as fck and awful as hell. These books were well-written and researched. Surely not the best books but they were some of the best NA reads for me this year.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
I pushed a lot of books to my brother and mom last year. I had my brother read the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson and he listened to all three on audio. On 1x speed. Then my mom discovered audio books last year also and took so many of my recommendations.

WRAP-UP | DECEMBER 2018

Happy New Year! How is 2019 treating you so far? I’m kind of hoping that my luck in 2018 will carry over to 2019. After all, I drew a “good luck” at a Japanese shrine. (Not really a shrine; it was at the Ramen Museum lol.) I was on vacation during the final weeks of December so you know how I am when I’m on vacation — no reading, no journaling. XD

While I did read 10 things in December, that was me pushing it. I made myself read a bunch of manga. To be fair, I was in the mood for manga. After all, I was able to attend JumpFes 2019. YAAAAASSSS!

My picture. I took it while on our way upstairs to the food area.

My final read count is 130. Same as last year. But this year, I hammered it with manga and audio books. I’ll be doing the same in 2019, probably more new adult, to be honest. I will also try to participate in readathons, no matter how casual. I usually just do two – Tome Topple and Smutathon, both have contributed to my read count in December. But I want to try more. Not sure if I’ll do any annual challenges other than the one for smutty reads hehehe. I’ll do a resolutions post some time this month. I missed the T5W topic for that but there’s going to be a freebie later on so I might revisit that. Also, there’s the year end survey. So much more in store this January!

Before that, however, here’s a look back on all the things I read in December.

TOTAL BOOKS READ: 10.

• Night Film by Marisha Pessl – I finally read this book. It was for Tome Topple with 592 pages. This book was one huge build up then it fizzled out just like “whut?” It was like the author knew how to build tension but doesn’t know how to end it. I read like a horror survival game but it really was magical realism. To be fair, I did enjoy the first half very much. I just couldn’t with that cop out ending. 4/5 stars.
• Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Vol 2 by Fujita – Kabakura/Koyanagi is a relationship goal! I love me some Hirotaka but the sweetness and maturity between these two are what I want in life. Yes, sweetness. 4/5 stars.
• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang – NEW FAVORITE BOOK ALERT! I’m not much for hype. If not for the Smutathon, I wouldn’t even consider reading this. But I’m glad I took the leap and I’m a better person because of it LMAO. I listened to this on audio and am now on a hunt for a hard copy. 5/5 stars.
• A Nordic King by Karina Halle – Again, the ending was a bit too convenient. But I may have discovered a new favorite trope. I will read the other books in this sort of “royals” series and man, I cannot wait. 4.5/5 stars.
• The Hating Game by Sally Thorne – I don’t think this was for Smutathon but it’s a recommendation off of that. Hoopla said that the other people who borrowed The Kiss Quotient also liked this one so I did it. It was cute. Very cute. Smut-light, as a lot of people call it. It’s more on the romance than actual sexy times. 4/5 stars.
• Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Vol 3 by Fujita – Hirotaka’s inner monologue about Narumi and his feelings for her is so damn adorable. I wish they’d continue to animate this manga. (I’m just really selfish because I love Kento Itou, the seiyuu for Hirotaka.) 5/5 stars.
• My Brother’s Husband, Vol 2 by Gengoroh Tagame – I cried, guys. I cried reading a manga. I want a follow-up to this. Did they keep in touch? What about the other friends/characters? Waaah, more! 5/5 stars.
• Saga, Vol 7 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples – I admit, I fell off the wagon for a bit. After reading so many manga, it’s hard to go back to reading from left to right LOL. I did like this volume but it’s nothing super special. 4/5 stars.
• Onepunch-Man, Vol 11 by ONE – This was inspired by JumpFes. They were giving out Saitama fans/masks and the first chapter of the manga for free. I can’t wait for the next season coming out this year! 3/5 stars.
• Haikyuu, Vol 27 by Haruichi Furudate – Another JumpFes thing. I mean… what more can I say? I’m slowly catching up to the collated chapters and I kind of want to slow down or just suck it up with reading the chapters. 5/5 stars.

STATS:

• 3096 pages
• 2 audio books, 5 manga, 1 graphic novel.

I honestly can’t remember if I bought books. I did get a photo book from Japan. Uuuuma by Yuuma Uchida. Other than that… goodbye, December!

I won’t wrap up my 2018 reading here. I’ll save that for an actual wrap-up. We start from 0 again this year. Best of luck, everyone and enjoy reading!

WRAP-UP | #SMUTATHON Round 2

I don’t participate in a lot of readathons but I had so much fun with my time doing Smutathon. I admit, I didn’t take myself as seriously as I would with, say… Tome Topple, and I think that’s why I enjoyed it so much. Really, it was a mere reason for me to read just romance for the whole week and I did that.

I read two and a half books. I finally pushed myself into reading two very popular contemporary romance titles. And I discovered a new favorite trope. I know I could’ve done better but I’m preparing for my vacation, going through a stash of yarn, and I wasn’t in the mood to read stuff just for the sake of satisfying the challenges. But if you did that and read more than 7 books in five days, I love you and I want to be you.

So let’s see how I did, yes?

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, narrated by Carly Robins.
This book made its rounds in all of booktube, not just with the romance booktubers. It’s about Stella Lane, a 30-year-old career woman on the autism spectrum. Her parents have been pressuring her to settle down and start a family. Social situations aren’t her best suits, let alone romance, so she hires a professional escort, Michael, to teach her the ways of the bedroom.

I’ve heard of plotlines like this before – a fake relationship between an awkward girl and an experienced guy, they fall in love in the end anyway. And I’m not gonna lie, this was that, yes. However, this was done so well. Stella is such a sweet girl. Michael, yes is very experienced, but I loved how he’s so vulnerable. I liked the narration. It was easy to follow even with the POV changes. The sexy-times were just right. I kind of wanted more but this was just perfectly toeing the line between tasteful and plot-driven and gratuitous.  I loved it. So much.

Very early in the book, they mentioned that Michael looks like Daniel Henney. I’ve met Daniel Henney and that definitely helped enhance my enjoyment of the book. 😉 This satisfies the FAKE RELATIONSHIP challenge as well as the FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, if I had to force it hahaha. 5/5 stars.

A Nordic King by Karina Halle.
I hereby declare that my new favorite trope is anything to do with royalty. It could be between fellow royals or with commoners. No, this is not fairytale kink. I just terribly enjoyed this one book and am interested in reading more. Age gap romance is still my all-time guilty pleasure. And this book satisfies both of them!

Aurora starts working for the royal family of Denmark, headed by King Aksel, as a nanny for the two princesses Clara and Freya. The whole family instantly love her… including Aksel. I’ve read another Karina Halle book a few months ago and I do enjoy her writing. It was so easy to read and the enjoyment level is really high. The steamy scenes were very steamy indeed. I docked half a star because the bit about Aurora towards the end came out of nowhere and I thought a certain someone would have a bigger role. Other than that, I loved it!

And like with the previous book, I also had a dream casting for Aksel. Sure, you can argue he’s Swedish but Alexander Skarsgard is the perfect romance leading man. For anything. I survived reading the first two Fifty Shades books because I had him in mind. I’ve met Alex plenty of times and every time I do, I still get overwhelmed by his presence. We actually have a photo together on Getty Images, lol.

A Nordic King is my read for both DIFFERENT WORLDS (royal and commoner) and FORBIDDEN (age gap, if you really want to… Aksel is 14 years older than Aurora but she’s not that terribly young anyway) challenges.

I am currently 5.5 hours into The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. (Thank you, Hoopla for your no-wait audio books.) I thought I could work through this book over the weekend but a bout of anxiety laid waste on my Saturday and Sunday, I had no time. It started off rather… idk, uninteresting? I mean, it was just a back and forth banter between Lucy and Joshua from Lucy’s POV. I got tired of it quick and I really wanted the story to move along. I guess I was expecting The Kiss Quotient vibes but it wasn’t like that. It is smut-light, as someone on Twitter said, but so far, it’s been romance-light too. I am enjoying it though. I’ll finish it before I go on vacation.

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I loved Smutathon. I will be participating again. Haha, as if I need an excuse to read romance. 😉

As always, I’m open to more recommendations. Remember… royalty and age gap romances are my jam!

 

WRAP-UP | NOVEMBER 2018 + #TomeTopple Round 7

When the weather turns colder, some people call it the “perfect reading weather”. That also holds true even if you live in the “always sunny” Southern California. Well, there have been a couple of rainy days around here lately which sounds like another perfect condition for reading. But when the temperature drops, my fingers get that sudden urge to grab yarn and start crocheting. In fact, I’ve finished a couple of project already. I don’t always know what to do with them after I finish them though.

Thus I bring you my November wrap-up consisting of six books. Mostly audio books. I was left alone at my workplace for about a month and that meant at least eight hours of me being by my lonesome in the office. That meant I could listen to audio books undisturbed without seeming rude. I finally scratched off some of the titles in my TBR that had been there for a long time. With Tome Topple Round 7, I was determined to read more. In a way, I did but I either spent more of my free time crocheting… or assembling Gunpla. XD

Anyway, I’m still very close to 125 books read this year and that ain’t bad at all. I’m almost caught up to the Haikyuu titles that are officially translated to English and published in a volume so that kind of slowed me down a little bit.

TOTAL BOOKS READ: 6.

• The Eye of God by James Rollins – I was spoiled for the ending for this book. Normally, I wouldn’t have minded that but that particular spoiler hit me in the feels. I do read these books out of order but the spoiler mainly came from my nosy self flipping through the pages of the book in the store. Oops. BUT… Rollins books are amazing audio books so I still did enjoy this very much. 4/5 stars.
• Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman – Why it took me so long to read this book, I have no idea. I heard about this years ago from a booktuber and I got super interested, I got a digital copy. Eventually, I got the duology in book form but hey, the audio books are what finally got me into finishing it. It’s beautiful. So very beautiful. 5/5 stars.
• Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman – Of course I had the sequel downloaded and waiting for me. (I actually had to borrow, through Overdrive, the first one from the LA Public Library system and the second one from the Pasadena/Glendale Library.) The whole series read like one long and beautiful book. It was GORGEOUS. So very atmospheric and it was… “beautiful” is the word to describe it. 5/5 stars.
• Haikyuu Volume 26 by Haruichi Furudate – See that photo above? Shimizu Kiyoko is queen. She is the best-est girl there is. 4/5 stars.
• Wildcard by Marie Lu – It’s been a while since I read Warcross and I was afraid that I forgot a lot of it. It did take me a while to remember who everyone is but after that, it was action from page one. What I love about Marie Lu’s books is that no one has it easy. And the ending is not truly 100% a happy one. It’s more satisfying and “that’s what should have happened”. I loved it. 5/5 stars.
• Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab – Like with The Eye of God, I was also spoiled for the ending. Yep, exactly the same way but with my own signed copy. I can’t help but want to find out how things end when things become tense. Even so, I cannot end the year without reading this. I put it off long enough and Tome Topple was the perfect time to tackle it. This book destroyed me. 5/5 stars.

STATS:

• 2260 pages
• 4 audio books, 1 manga.

I think I bought one book? Yeah, the 3rd collection of Wotakoi by Fujita. Like I said, I haven’t been buying books much at all. I’m saving up… usually for anime figures. But this time, I’m actually going to Japan! Yes, in about two weeks, my brother and I are going to a Wake Up, Girls! concert as well as Jump Festa 2019. I’m so stupidly excited, y’all have no idea.

As for Tome Topple Round 7 round up…

WRAP-UP | SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 2018

Where have I been?

I went on vacation from late September to early October.

I brought my Kobo Aura ONE with be but did I do any reading?

Nope. Not at all. Not even an audio book. XD I’m like that when I go on vacation. Even my hobbies are left behind. I did watch anime while away (since I did go to a sort of anime convention while there) but I haven’t even finished all of the shows I was watching last season. I think I was able to read a manga on my phone while on the plane but no hardcore reading. Definitely no books started or finished. I took out my e-reader once just to take a photo of it for size comparison. Hehe. Oh well.

So now I’m back with a two-month wrap-up. And even with two months worth of reading, it’s still not very much. Twelve books in total. Four in September. FOUR. I can’t blame that on the trip… I had 19 days to read prior to leaving. Eh, it was just one of those months I guess. I made up for it in enjoyment! And then October was pretty good. Thanks to audio books. 🙂

TOTAL BOOKS READ: 12.

• Goodbye Paradise by Sarina Bowen – This was initially released as In Front of God and Everyone by Nealy Wagner. I loved this. This is a M/M romance between two guys who grew up in a cult. Then they found people who were willing to help them outside, not to mention confront their feelings for each other. The narrators were so good. 5/5 stars.
• City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab – My favorite middle grade read so far. It’s so atmospheric and still had that MG tone. I was hooked from start to finish. While I do have a signed copy, I did listen to this on audio. 5/5 stars.
• Haikyuu by Haruichi Furudate – You know the drill. (I seem to have missed Volume 21 in my August wrap-up. Heh.)
  • Volume 22 – Yaku-san is GOD. I loved this Nekoma chapter. I can see this being the next stage play. 4/5 stars.
  • Volume 23 – Everything is better with Bokuto-san! 4/5 stars.
  • Volume 24 – Poor Hinata. Fighto! 5/5 stars.
  • Volume 25 – 3/5 stars.
• Bright We Burn by Kiersten White – I own all three books signed but I read all three as audio books. I let a book, a trilogy, destroy me. It’s one of the most beautiful stories I’ve read ever. 5/5 stars.
• Before I Ever Met You by Karina Halle –  I’ve had this book sitting in my eReader for a while and I finally got to it. I love me some age gap romances and this was good. It seemed realistic enough. 4/5 stars.
• The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee –  Felicity is QUEEN. That’s all there is to it. 5/5 stars.
• Voyeur by Fiona Cole –  This is one of those books that starts out as 5 stars but suddenly loses a bunch of stars in the end. It’s hot. Don’t get me wrong. It’s very hot. Age-gap romance is my guilty pleasure. XD But I am so disappointed. So very disappointed. I may have to break my no review post streak just to convey my frustration with this book. It’s on my Goodreads but I may cross post it here too. Just… ah, so frustrating. 2/5 stars.
• The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro –  I owe this book a re-read. I was listening to this before my trip and I just sort of forgot about it. I got about halfway through then it got returned automatically. I re-borrowed it on Hoopla and fortunately, it kept my place. I still did like it but I think I really should give it another shot. 3/5 stars.
• Life After Legend 2 by Marie Lu –  It’s the pre-order perk for Wildcard (which I am reading and loving right now) and it was okay. I liked the first one more. 3/5 stars.

STATS:

• 3135 pages
• 4 manga, 6 audio books.

I honestly cannot remember if I bought any books in the past two months. Definitely didn’t buy any in the Philippines lol. So according to my bullet journal, my signed copies of City of Ghosts and Vengeful arrived in September. If I remember it correctly, I also bought the 2nd volume of My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame. Then in October, I got the Slytherin editions – paperback and hardback – of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Yeah, I do need another set of those. House pride, you know.

I’m still consuming a whole lot more audio books and I don’t see that changing. I’m trying to pare down my physical TBR but since the weather getting colder, I’ve been itching to do more crocheting on my “free time”. I’m currently LOVING Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman. I also loved the first book, Prisoner of Night and Fog so I immediately borrowed the next one as soon as I finished. I’ve been meaning to read this for years and finally, an opportunity presented itself.

I’m more than halfway done. I have to time this right so that I can start fresh with a Tome Topple audio book pick. Yes, it’s time for another round and I am so excited. I have to redeem myself from my dismal performance last round… because Anime Expo. Expect my TBR plans some time this week. 🙂

WRAP-UP | AUGUST 2018

I don’t know where August went. It’s usually my “blah” month… one month before September, my favorite, and right when seasons begin to change. Supposedly. It’s still in the 90s here in SoCal during daytime but it does go down to around mid-60s at night. I was finally able to wear my Engeki Haikyuu jacket one time. XD

This September, I will be travelling towards the end of the month until early October. I will be bringing my Kobo Aura ONE with me for reading. But unlike other people, I barely get any reading done whenever I’m on vacation. Idk, I feel like it’s time for enjoying and I can read any time when I’m at home anyway. It’s going to be an international travel so I’m more inclined to take that all in instead of the book I’m currently reading. I will still try to get something out of the way. 🙂

But back to August. I read 16 things. I think that’s my biggest number this year. All thanks to… Ten Count manga. Yep. Oh boy, it’s so good… so steamy. It was a wrong decision to read it at work because it is every definition of Not Safe for Work. But I read it, loved it. I want it read it again. I also was in a week-long reading slump. Yeah, I was disappointed at something and it affected everything including my reading. But still, 16 things!

TOTAL BOOKS READ: 16.

• Let’s start with Ten Count by Rihito Takarai – I’ve been reading steamy romances for about a month solid and nothing – NOTHING – is hotter than this manga series. It’s about an adorable germophobe and the gorgeous therapist that helps him break out of his shell. But Aidios help me, if you decide to read this, don’t read this at work and if you can, don’t read this in public.
  • Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 6 – 5/5 stars.
  • Volume 4 – 3/5 stars.
  • Volume 5 – 4/5 stars.
• Until it Fades by KA Tucker – I could give it 5 stars but that ending threw me off. I saw the possibility of it but when it actually happened, I had a hard time making sense of it. I understand the necessity of it, however… ah I don’t know. I loved everything else though. Catherine is a strong and very flawed character. Brett is pretty dreamy. I dare say that there was a hint of instalove from Brett’s side but at least Catherine didn’t let “love, sex, and money will solve all my problems” dictate her end of the story. 4/5 stars.
• Mister Tonight by Kendall Ryan– It was so sweet. Predictable but adorable nonetheless. 3.5/5 stars.
• The Library of Souls by Richard Denney – I’m so torn between 2 and 3 stars. The story has potential and it was really spooky. But I just could not get past the technical misses especially in the second half of the book. It’s a quick read. It’s an enjoyable book; a fun MG read. But it badly needs an editor. 2.5/5 stars.
• Evil and the Mask by Fuminori Nakamura– You can count on Japanese fiction for really messed up and gory storylines. I loved this and I’m so glad I consumed this on audio. 4/5 stars.
• Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku Volume 1 by Fujita – I loved this. I loved the anime. It didn’t only give me so much enjoyment it also gave me hope. If you’re an otaku, you need to read/watch this. Plus, Kento Itou is a precious one. 5/5 stars.
• Haikyuu by Haruichi Furudate – I’m finally done with the parts adapted to anime!
  • Volume 18 – 5/5 stars.
  • Volume 19 – 5/5 stars.
  • Volume 20 – Suga’s sets are always so special to me. 4/5 stars.
• Love Machine by Kendall Ryan – Two Kendall Ryan books in one month. Well, her books are quite easy to read, I think I flew through them in a weekend. Preedictable. I mean, you know what’s going to happen from the blurb alone. It’s a light and fluffy read. I could do without the epilogue but hey. 3/5 stars.
• The Young Elites by Marie Lu – Er… I’m not sure. This book did pull me out of a horrible reading slump. I listened to this. While I was super into it in the beginning, I began to sort of dislike it by the middle part. I’m not sure if I’ll continue on with this trilogy. If I am, not immediately. 3/5 stars.

STATS:

• 3792 pages
• 10 manga, 3 audio books

I only bought 3 things! Wotakoi Volumes 1 & 2 and the Kemono Friends manga omnibus. My Brother’s Husband Volumes 2 is coming out this month as well as the 3rd Wotakoi volume. So excited!

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Do you read when you’re on vacation? Do you bring a book or an e-reader with you? What are your top travel reads?