Monthly Wrap-Up: January 2025

This month, I read 5 books, which totaled only about 1019 pages, almost 1500 pages LESS than the previous month 😬 To be fair, this was a terrible month for me in general. I have been SO stressed out that my brain cannot focus on reading (or blogging) right now. Anyway...

• 2 were full-length novels, 2 novellas, and 1 manga
• 3 were part of a series and 2 were standalone
• I started 2 series this month and caught up on 1
• 3 were finished copies and 2 ARCs
• 1 was a physical book and 4 were an ebooks
• 1 was a 5-star book, 3 were 4 stars, and 1 was 3 stars
• 1 was indie published and 4 were traditionally published
• 1 was by a new-to-me author and 4 were by authors I've previously read
• 4 were adult books and 1 YA
• 1 was nonfiction and 4 were fiction
• 3 were sci-fi, 1 adventure, and 1 about writing

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #404: Chaotic Orbits

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #438: How Is It Still January?

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: Salvation Day by Kali Wallace

Title: Salvation Day

Author: Kali Wallace

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, thriller

Publication date: July 2019

Published by: Berkley

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: They thought the ship would be their salvation.

Zahra knew every detail of the plan. House of Wisdom, a massive exploration vessel, had been abandoned by the government of Earth a decade earlier, when a deadly virus broke out and killed everyone on board in a matter of hours. But now it could belong to her people if they were bold enough to take it. All they needed to do was kidnap Jaswinder Bhattacharya—the sole survivor of the tragedy, and the last person whose genetic signature would allow entry to the spaceship.

But what Zahra and her crew could not know was what waited for them on the ship—a terrifying secret buried by the government. A threat to all of humanity that lay sleeping alongside the orbiting dead.

And then they woke it up.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

Last year I read Dead Space by this same author... well, I should say I tried to read it because it ended up being my one and only DNF of the year 😅 However, I already owned Salvation Day so I thought I would give this author another chance and, well, I didn’t DNF it! I didn’t love it, but I actually finished it this time! Lol.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #403: Full Speed to a Crash Landing

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #437: Buying Things I Don't Need, But What Else is New

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: Revenant-X (Red Space #2) by David Wellington

Title: Revenant-X

Series: Red Space #2

Previous book in this series: Paradise-1

Author: David Wellington

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, horror

Publication date: November 5th 2024

Published by: Orbit

Source: eARC from publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis: FEAR THE DARK.

The crew of the Artemis - led by Firewatch agent Alexandra Petrova - have survived the furious onslaught of the Basilisk and broken through the space blockade around Paradise-1. Now they can pursue their original mission and investigate why Earth's first deep space colony has fallen silent.

The answer seems the site is deserted.

Or so they think.

Some of the colonists remain. They're no longer human.

Petrova and her crew now face a desperate struggle to survive as they attempt to uncover the mystery of what has befallen the colony.

If they fail, the darkness that has fallen over Paradise-1 will consume them.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I have been waiting (im)patiently for this book ever since I finished reading Paradise-1 back in 2023. I really enjoyed that book! I loved the blend of horror and sci-fi, but that cliffhanger-ish ending was brutal! I was so excited to continue the story and Revenant-X did not disappoint!

Review: The Haunting by Natasha Preston

Title: The Haunting

Author: Natasha Preston

Genre: YA, mystery thriller

Publication date: September 2023

Published by: Delacorte Press

Source: eARC for review from publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis: Haunted by the past...

Penny's trying to forget about her ex, Nash. His father was arrested for the brutal murder of four teenagers on Devil's Night last year. Penny's parents have forbidden her to have anything to do with Nash or his family. It's hard not to think of what happened as spooky season gets underway--but she's trying.

That stops when she goes to the Halloween store with her friends to find a costume. What she finds instead is ripped from a horror movie: a girl from school bleeding out on the floor of a dressing room. Stabbed.

Is a copycat killer on the loose? The adults are saying no. But Penny knows better.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

This book was not as great as I was hoping it would be. I really liked the premise of a copycat killer hunting these kids. A copycat killer that was imitating the kills done by the dad of the main character's boyfriend, no less! Well, ex-boyfriend at this point. But still! That was so interesting and exciting to me! And I actually started off really enjoying the book.

Review- Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series (Write Your Own Series #2) by Jennifer Estep

Title: Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series

Series: Write Your Own Series #2

Previous book in this series: Write Your Own Cake: A Worldbuilding Essay

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, writing

Publication date: January 14th, 2025

Published by: Jennifer Estep

Source: eARC for review from author

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Synopsis: New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep continues her Write Your Own Cake series with an essay about creating and authoring a long book series. Estep is the author of more than 50 fantasy and science-fiction books, including the long-running Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

Writing a book is hard. But writing book after book with the same characters and settings? Well, that is even harder.

Whether you are penning epic fantasy adventures, pulse-pounding thrillers, or swoon-worthy romances, writing a book series comes with its own unique challenges. This essay offers some tips and tricks for setting up your initial worldbuilding and magic system in anticipation of writing multiple books in the same series. It also offers suggestions on characters, tropes, and more that can help keep an ongoing book series fresh and interesting for both authors and readers.

Note: Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series is a 2,100-word essay about writing and worldbuilding.

My rating: ★★★★☆

This is Jennifer Estep’s second book in this Write Your Own Series, which is nonfiction and all about how to write books and series and all that good writing/author stuff. I mentioned in my review of that previous book that I will literally read anything this woman writes, even this. Lol. And here we are again! 😆

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #402: Second Chance

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #436: Back to Work

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Did I Read the Books I Bought in 2024?

The other day I was watching BookswithEmilyFox on YouTube where she was going over the books she bought in 2024 and whether she had read them within that year. She actually did great! So I wondered how well, I did at reading the books I bought in 2024. I didn't think I did that terribly because I thought I didn't buy that many books. Boy was I wrong on both accounts 🫠

Finish the Series #36: Series I finished in 2024

In 2024 I finished TEN series and today we're going to take a look at that. But before we do that, let's take a look at how many series total I need to finish now compared to one year ago...

January 2024

January 2025

I decluttered my TBR last month and a bunch of series were removed, so that was satisfying. BUT 32 is still A LOT 😭

Looking Back at Books I Wish I’d read in 2023 & Anticipated Books of 2024

Today I want to take a look at the books in my Top Books I Wish I’d Read in 2023 list and the Top Anticipated Books of 2024 and see if I actually read any of those books in the last year. I always do this because every year I tend to roll over those books from those two lits onto my TBR for the next year. Sometimes my mood cooperates, and sometimes it doesn't. Let's see what it did this year. Lol.

Most Read Authors of 2024

Today we're looking at my most-read authors of the year, and I was a little surprised at who showed up because there are NO repeats from last year! I usually always have a repeat or two, but not in 2024! (Also I didn't do most read series this year because that typically alwyas correlates with my most read authors, sooo. Lol.)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #401: First Book of the Year

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #435: Happy New Year!

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

End of the Year TBR Update

I didn't do as well on this TBR as I did on my last one. And honestly, I'm not that surprised. Lol.

2024 Reading Challenges Update

I never complete ALL of the challenges I participate and honestly, that's fine with me. For me, the fun lies in setting up challenges and just the journey in general (she says as she fails challenges year after year 🤣) I didn't do TOO bad though. Lol.

2024 Reading Stats

This is one of my favorite posts to do every year because I just love looking at these graphs and seeing how they change over the years. Grab a snack because it's going to be a long one 😅

My Year in Books: 2024

Happy New Year everyone! 🥳 I hope you guys had a great reading year in 2024! Personally, I read 95 books which is pretty great. Though I do admit that a bunch of those books were manga and novellas 😂 But hey, my goal was 52 and I surpassed that by a lot, so I'll take it! Lol.