Top 5 Wednesday: Books I’ve Recently Removed from my TBR

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday, hosted by the Goodreads group, is a freebie. I decided to share some of the book I’ve recently removed from my TBR.

1. Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #3) by Cassandra Clare

First of all, I am not a Shadowhunters fangirl. I have had many problems with the multiple series, but I have also enjoyed several of them, as well. So why am I quitting this series at it’s finale? First of all, it’s 900+ pages. Just no. I’ve also happened to read a couple reviews that involved some spoilers and it has made me not at all interested enough to invest my time in this. Maybe if it was around 300 pages I would still give it a try, but not for 900 pages. The only thing I really care about in this series is Julian and Emma and their resolution sounds kind of stupid. I also refuse to ship polyamorous relationships. If that’s how you want to live your life, then ok, that has nothing to do with me, live your life. But I’m not going to choose to read and ship it.

2. Kiss Collector by Wendy Higgins

It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything by Wendy Higgins and I was excited for her new book. I did actually get this one from the library and I read the first chapter and knew I was just way too old for this book. I never marked it as reading and I didn’t really give it a chance past the first chapter, so I’m not marking it as DNF, I’m just removing it from the TBR.

3. I Like You, I Love Her by J.R. Rogue

I did get this off of Kindle Unlimited and read a few chapters before I knew I wasn’t in the right mood for it. I put it back on the TBR because I did plan on trying it again, but the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced I will never pick it up again.

4. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Ok, don’t hate. I’ve read pretty much nothing but wonderful things about this book and I have no doubt the author is very talented. However, lately I just CANNOT get into fantasy novels. Add that to the whole thing on Twitter where Adeyemi accused Nora Fricking Roberts of copying her and I just can’t. She did end up apologizing for jumping to conclusions and did eventually delete the tweet, I believe, but how full of yourself do you have to be -as a debut author, no less – to think an author as popular as Nora Roberts would need to copy you to sell books…

5. Moonlight Sins by Jennifer L. Armentrout

This is another book I have actually read several chapters of before deciding I wasn’t in the mood for it. I used to want to read all of JLA’s book, but a good deal of them end up just not being for me and this series falls into that category.

Have you read any of these books? Should I reconsider any of them?

Top 5 Wednesday: ARCs on the Top of My TBR

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday, hosted by the Goodreads group, is: Top of Your TBR. I’ve adapted it a little bit to ARCs on the Top of my TBR.

1. What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon. After trying to catch up on all of Harmon’s backlist, I’ve discovered a couple of her books are ones that I don’t really care for, so I’m just a little nervous about this since historical fiction isn’t really my thing anymore. But I do have faith that even if it’s not my favorite Harmon book, it will still be good.

2. Fumbled (Playbook #2) by Alexa Martin. Intercepted was a surprise hit for me, so even though this book has some tropes that are not my favorite, I’m still very excited to read it.

3. The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. This book just very recently got on my radar and it sounds right up my alley. I love stories that involve notes/texts/e-mails.

4. Passion on Park Avenue (Central Park Pact #1) by Lauren Layne. I am always excited to read a Lauren Layne book and I have high hopes for this one. I actually read a review that was complaining that the love scenes were not as graphic as other Layne books have been, but that’s a really big plus in my book and made me even more interested in it.

5. The Escape Room by Megan Goldin. I’ve seen a lot of hype for this one and I’m really hoping it lives up to expectations.

What books are on the top of your TBR?

Top 5 Wednesday: Most Disappointing Reads of 2018

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday, hosted by the Good Reads group, is: Most Disappointing Reads of 2018. These are books that I read in 2018, not necessarily were published in 2018.

1. My Plain Jane by the Lady Janies

2. Restore Me (Shatter Me #4) by Tahereh Mafi

3. The Date by Louise Jensesn

4. The Isaac Project by Sarah Monzon

5. Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin

What books disappointed you in 2018?

Top 5 Wednesday: Bookbloggers/Book Friends I’d Want at Friendsgiving

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday, hosted by the Good Reads Group is: Characters You’d Want at Friendsgiving. I decided to change it up a little to: Bookbloggers/Book Friends I’d Want at Friendsgiving. I always feel a little uncomfortable about these type of posts because I follow a lot of blogs, I love so many bloggers, and I don’t want to leave someone out. So, I could make a really long list for this, but I’m capping it at 5 in the spirit of Top 5 Wednesday and including people whose friendships have gone beyond the blog – whether we have met in person, e-mailed, or had long Twitter DMs (about books or life). And, by the way, if you’re not already following these wonderful ladies, you totally should!

 

1. Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse

 

2. Brandie @ Running on Words and Wine

 

3. Sarah @ The Aroma of Books

4. Annie @ The Misstery

 

5. Amanda – Not a bookblogger, but a book friend I met through blogging

Which book lovers would you want at your friendsgiving? Feel free to leave links to their blogs (if they have one).

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Want to Read Before 2019

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday, hosted by the Good Reads group, is: Books You Want to Read Before 2019: Our Goodreads goals are quickly closing in. What are you prioritizing for the end of the year? I surpassed my Good Reads goal awhile ago (yay me!). Lately I’ve been having a hard time to find time to read, so I’m going to prioritize the library books I want to read before they expire – and also the ARCS I’ve recently been approved for.

1. Pride by Ibi Zoboi

2. Marriage of Inconvenience by Penny Reid

3. Kiss Her Goodbye by Susan Gee

4. For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt

5. I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

What books do you want to read by the end of the year?

Top 5 Wednesday: Largest Books on My TBR

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday, hosted by the Good Reads group, is: Largest Books on my TBR. I noticed that a great deal of books on my TBR have “unknown” listed as page numbers, so this may not be entirely accurate. I also thought it was kind of funny that I don’t even remember adding most of these to my TBR. I guess the page number really has intimidated me away from them.

1. Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #3) by Cassandra Clare. 720 pages.

2. Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry. 689 pages. 

3. The Black Prison (Lightbringer #1) by Brent Weeks. 629 pages. 

4. Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff. 615 pages. 

5. Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern. 585 pages. 

 

What are some of the longest books on your TBR?

Top 5 Wednesday: Biggest Disappointments of 2018 (So Far)

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday is a freebie, so I decided to go with my Biggest Disappointments of 2018 (So Far).

1. My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies #2) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. I absolutely loved My Lady Jane and I had such high expectations for My Plain Jane. However, I thought the humor was forced, I was not at all into the Jane Eyre-Ghostbusters mash-up, and didn’t really care for any of the characters.

2. Restore Me (Shatter Me #4) by Tahereh Mafi. I had really enjoyed the original trilogy when I first read them and always felt there was potential for more story there. However, instead of moving the story forward very much, Mafi just retreads old ground and took away almost all the progress Juliette and Warner made.

3. Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin. Black-Eyed Susans is one of my favorite books and I’ve been looking forward to more from Heaberlin ever since reading it. Unfortunately, Paper Ghosts didn’t come close to meeting my expectations. The main character was not only unlikable, but her total ineptitude after constantly talking about how well trained she was was baffling.

4. The Isaac Project by Sarah Monzon. I hyped myself on this book years ago after one really great review. Earlier this year it finally was offered free for a limited time on Kindle and I was so excited to snatch it up. Unfortunately, lackluster writing and a really unlikable main character kept it from living up to it’s potential.

5. The Date by Louise Jensen. I have seen nothing by wonderful things about Louise Jensen books and I was excited to finally read one. I was so sad this one didn’t live up to the hype at all for me. A pretty cliched storyline and a “twist” I saw coming a mile away is going to make me think twice before picking up another book by her.

What are some of your biggest disappointments of 2018?

Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Romance Novels

I wasn’t really interested in today’s Top 5 Wednesday prompt, so I decided to borrow a topic I missed from when I was on hiatus. So for me, today’s topic is: Favorite Romance Novels. Straight up romance novels aren’t usually ones I reach for very often, but there are a few that I love.

1. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. I love almost everything about this book. It’s so funny and cute.

2. Dating You / Hating You by Christina Lauren. Can you tell I like Hate-to-Love stories?

3. Walk of Shame by Lauren Layne. Honestly, I could list pretty much every Lauren Layne book I’ve read. They’re always so cute.

4. Wrong Brother, Right Match by Jennifer Shirk. This book reminded me so much a Hallmark Christmas movie.

5. The Best Man by Kristan Higgins. Kristan Higgins is my definite go-to for romance novels and this is just one of my many favorites by her. She appears to be shifting her focus over to Women’s Fiction, which at first really annoyed me, even though they’re just as good as her romances. I’m coming around to it, though.

What are some of your favorite romance novels?

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Didn’t Get to In 2017

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday is: Books You Didn’t Get to In 2017. These are books you didn’t end up getting to in 2017, but really want to prioritize in 2018.

1. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo.

2. All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater.

3. Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda.

4. Lie to Me by J.T. Ellison

5. Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine.

What 2017 books do you still need to read?

Top 5 Wednesday: 2018 Wishlist

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday, hosted by the Good Reads group, is:  2018 Wishlist – Looking forward into the new year, this is a list of the types of books you’d like to see more of in 2018! Try to avoid actual titles, and discuss themes, genres, or tropes you’d like to see more of in the new year!

 

1. Books w/in books. What’s better than reading one book? Reading two! This year I’ve read a couple of books that did this really well (Lies She Told by Cate Holahan and The Weight of Lies by Emily Carpenter) and I would love to read more like them.

2. Realistic Christian characters. Most of the time if a mainstream book includes a “Christian” character it portrays them as some kind of hypocritical psycho. And sure there are lots of people who claim to be Christians who really are hypocritical psychos, but there are many genuine people out there, as well. In 2018 I’d like to see more of the genuine people. I thought Amy Harmon did this really well with Making Faces.

    

3. Well-written twists and surprises (that actually surprise me). I feel like I can almost always predict the twist in books these days and in 2017 I was pleasantly surprised by several books (such Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton,  One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus and The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen – which actually publishes in 2018).

4. Fake Relationships. This is my favorite romance trope and I am always on the look out for a good fake relationship story. This year’s favorite was When It’s Real by Erin Watt.

5. Alternative Formatting. Sometimes this annoys me because I read e-books about 95% of the time and lots of alternative formatting makes things unreadable, but I do love them in physical format. Even though I wasn’t blown away by the actual story, I really loved the formatting for Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman.

What type of books are on your 2018 Wishlist?