Lauren's Boookshelf: December 2023

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Bookish Resolutions for 2024

Every year, I like to reflect on my reading year and look ahead to what I want to accomplish in the new year. Like usual, my list of resolutions is more like general guidelines for the most part. Most of these are goals I set for 2023 as well, so many of them are continuations of what I'm already working on. Let's go ahead and dive in!

For the last few years, I have not sent a numerical reading goal. I'm continuing that this year and just saying I want to read regularly and prioritize reading. I read 100 books in 2023 which is the most in years and I would love to do that again in 2024. But one of the biggest reading stressors I've had in the past is trying to hit that quota. In 2023, I gave in fully to my mood reading and tried to prioritize reading over other things like watching Netflix or playing games. It worked out well so I'm going to continue with that philosophy again.

In terms of what I want to read, I want to get through more of my backlist TBR from previous years. There are books and series on my shelves that I've owned for years and I want to start making a dent in them. In that same vein, I want to complete Jane Washington's backlist of books I've not read yet, reread Percy Jackson, and start my reread of the Shadowhunter books.

Like many, my physical space is limited, especially living in a big city. I like to declutter my books every so often to make room for new ones I'd rather have. This year, I want to declutter my bookshelves (both physical and digital) as well as just my general living space. I don't want to be overwhelmed by stuff and I think it's good to continually go through my belongings. This also extends to my Kindle books as there are a lot that I think I could just get rid of so that they don't clutter my app anymore.

In that same line of thinking, I want to spend less money on books. I've been slowly spending less and less every year on books and I'm wanting to continue that in 2024. I'm proud of the progress I've made but I also know it's an uphill battle. One of the things that has worked well for me is putting £1 aside for every book I read and letting myself have a guilt-free book shop at the end of the year with however much I've saved from that. Instead of impulse-buying books throughout the year, I now put them on a wishlist for this end of the year haul.

Lastly, this is not a reading goal but a bookish goal. I love writing and I feel that I've finally rediscovered the spark after a few years of writing feeling like pulling teeth. I have an idea that I'm incredibly in love with and excited about. I know if I put my mind to it and ignored everything else, I could finish it in just a couple months. But I want to enjoy the process and integrate it into my daily life rather than force through as fast as I can. So for this year, I want to finish the first draft. Ideally, I'd want to do more but I'm not going to set a specific goal for anything else just yet.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Thursday, December 28, 2023

Most Anticipated 2024 Book Releases

One of my favorite parts of the year is when I get to wrap up the past reading year and look ahead at what I'm excited about in the new one. Today, I'm discussing my most anticipated releases for the new year! Now, the books I'm talking about here are my most anticipated but there are plenty more than I'm looking forward to or interested in. Additionally, I often find that releases in the back half of the year don't fall on my radar until a few months in so this is a bit front loaded. So while I'm interested in plenty more and see myself discovering plenty of new books in 2024, these are the ones that I'm currently most excited for in rough publication order.

Up first is a book that I'm actually not going to be able to discuss right now until the St. Martin's Press boycott ends. But it comes out soon here in the UK with a different publisher but as the US publisher is St. Martin's Press, I'll be refraining from doing any review for now. But I am very excited and plan on reading it soon.

Then I have House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas. I love all her books and I've been eagerly anticipating this third book for almost two years now (like most people probably). It's crazy to me that I started reading her books in 2015 and am still going. I'm hoping to do a full reread in January leading up to it.

Up next is City of Lies and Legends by Kayla Edwards. This is the third book in the House of Devils series and I'm so incredibly excited for it. The first book, City of Gods and Monsters, follows a woman and a supernatural bounty hunter who is contracted to kill her. When he meets her, though, he decides to become her bodyguard instead. It's so incredibly addicting and the second book just put me through so much angst. I'm so excited for the third book and I'm so happy it's coming in just a few months.

Then I'm excited for A Vicious Game by Melissa Blair. This is the third book in The Halfling Saga, a fantasy romance series that I first discovered in 2021. I absolutely loved the first book, A Broken Blade, and was excited for the sequel, A Shadow Crown, to come out earlier in 2023. My copy took a while to arrive, though, so I just decided to wait for the third book when it finally did get to me. Once this third book arrives, I'll be able to finally continue on after that cliffhanger and binge them all back to back.

We also have The Night Compass by Amanda Foody in the first few months. This is the fourth book in the middle grade Wilderlore series, which I absolutely adore. It's like Pokemon meets How to Train Your Dragon and it's just so much fun. While I've only read the first book, it was so comforting and fun and I'm eagerly awaiting when I can just binge the four books back to back.

Up next we have Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao. This is the sequel to Iron Widow, which I read and loved at the beginning of 2022. It's been two years of waiting and there's still about six months to go but I am very much looking forward to seeing where the story goes. It's such a unique world and I truly have no idea what could come in the future.

Then we have The Throne of Blood and Honor by J. Bree, the second book in The Mortal Fates series. This is a high fantasy series from the author of The Bonds That Tie series and I'm absolutely obsessed with it. 2023 was the year of reading all of J. Bree's books for me and I am in love with all of them. I blew through the first book in this series and I'm sooooo beyond excited for the sequel. The romance is super slow burn and I'm hoping we get some progression in the sequel, though I do love the angst of the slow burn. We don't have an exact release but I'm hoping it will be in the first few months of year.

Up next is Relever by Jane Washington, the fourth book in the Ironside Academy series. I love Jane and I love this series so of course this one had to make it onto my list. There's also the chance that we'll be getting the fifth book in 2024 and I truly hope that is the case. This is a RH omegaverse-style romance series set at a university that's also a reality tv-show. It's an insane idea but it's so well done and I've been fully pulled in.

Lastly, we have the next untitled Fourth Wing sequel by Rebecca Yarros. I loved Fourth Wing and I was someone who luckily loved Iron Flame. Of course, the ending was crazy for Iron Flame and I definitely need to know where things will go.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Friday, December 8, 2023

Series Review: "Pacific Prep" by R.A. Smyth

Series: Pacific Prep

Author: R.A. Smyth

Genre: RH/Why Choose? Romance / Organized Crime

Reading Order & Individual Ratings:

Broken Trust - 4 // 5 stars
Brutal Lies - 4.25 // 5 stars
Beyond Vengeance - 4.25 // 5 stars
Break Free - 4 // 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4 // 5 stars

Goodreads

If you've been around this blog for any amount of time then you'll know that I'm a huge fan of why choose romance series. I've been reading the genre since it was just a tiny lil corner of the book community and it's been wonderful to see it blossom into such a big genre. That being said, I've read a lot of them over the years which means I've become rather particular about the why choose books I read.

This series is addicting as hell. I went into it because people said you'd like it if you love Hannaford Prep series by J. Bree, which I absolutely am obsessed with. I read the entire series in four days and couldn't put them down. But my overall thoughts for this series are the following: enjoyable and addicting but nothing special or remarkable.

This series starts out as your classic bully romance. We're set at a boarding school with the characters in their final year. The new girl is one of the scholarship students whereas most of the school is for rich kids. However, we quickly get the feeling that there's something a bit darker going on with all the characters than just school politics.

I was having a lot of fun in the beginning. The tension between the characters was so good and the pacing was great. The secrecy regarding their histories and motivations was thrilling and I kept reading because I just wanted to know more about the characters and how it was going to impact the plot.

As the romances progressed, though, the characters started falling into a classic trap I've noticed in why choose romances where the love interests all start to meld together. What I mean by that is they stop feeling like their own characters with their own motivations and start feeling very "same-y." In some why choose series, the love interests never feel differentiated at all.

In this series, the love interests initially started as very unique characters. I loved getting to know more about them. However, as the series went on and once they started dating the main character, it just felt more like they were only there for the smut or to fill a body in a scene. It was rather disappointing as it could have been amazing. Additionally, I loved the side characters more than the love interests which indicates to me that they weren't very memorable by the end.

My other main gripe with the series is that it felt like it wrapped up way too easily. We're told for three books how dangerous the antagonists are, how difficult getting out of this situation would be, etc. However, the solutions for all of these obstacles felt too simple. To me, the solutions just negated the tension of the entire series.

Overall though, I enjoyed the story and it was rather addicting. I am also incredibly interested in one of the spin-off series that follows my favorite side characters from this series and have high hopes for that one. Unfortunately, the small issues I had made it so that this series wasn't worth five stars to me.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Monday, December 4, 2023

November 2023 Book Haul

Another month of 2023 gone, another book haul to dive into! This was a rather small book haul month but I'm excited about everything I got. I got four books this month with three of them being preorders. Let's go ahead and dive right on in!

The first book I got this month was the Illumicrate edition of The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard. I love everything I've ever read by Susan and even though I haven't read The Luminaries yet, I am so intrigued by the idea of these books. I was a part of the Twitter choose-your-own-adventure that it started as and it was so much fun. Getting to see the books come alive has been quite exciting. This edition is also stunning and perfectly matches my Illumicrate edition of The Luminaries.

Then I got my preorder of Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. This is the Waterstones edition and I'm thoroughly obsessed with it. These edges are some of the most stunning I've seen on a Waterstones edition and I'm so happy I was able to get it before it sold out in less than a few hours. I've also already read it and it was so good (I cried a lot).

Up next, I got Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong. This is the Fairyloot edition with special artwork, stenciled edges, and came signed. It matches the Fairyloot editions of Foul Lady Fortune and Last Violent Call and looks so good on my bookshelf. This was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and I'm so excited to dive in (hopefully soon). This edition is also just stunning and I'm thrilled to have it.

Lastly, I got the Australian paperback edition of Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. Like with Fourth Wing, I wasn't able to find this paperback until a week or so after the initial release but once I saw it available I immediately snatched it up. I've evolved over the last few years into a die-hard paperback girlie. More specifically, a floppy paperback girlie (with bonus points if it's a tall or oversized height). Australian paperbacks are pretty much perfect for that. Additionally, the Australian cover is the same as the American cover but not the UK one. Now that I have this paperback, I now have a version of that cover. The paperbacks are specifically for me to annotate and scribble all in without worrying about keeping a special edition perfect.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

You can follow my bookstagram here for more bookish content!

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Saturday, December 2, 2023

November 2023 Wrap-Up

November was an interesting month. Firstly, I can't believe we're already heading into the last month of the year. Secondly, I had such a long month but the reading this month was stellar. Even if I didn't love every book, I still enjoyed everything I read. Here's to hoping that December is as good of a reading month as November was!