June Update, Day 30

So, last day of June (wow, already? this year is flying by!) and I've read 23 books this month!  To be fair, that looks higher than last month's 20, but page-wise I've only read 7,017 pages (not counting my in progress book), so that's a bit less than last month but still well over my normal pace. :)

Let's hope July, the last month of Tower Teams challenge over on GoodRead's NBRC group, I can keep up the pace and finish strong!

Remaining on list:

Started/In Progress:
Two Nights by Kathy Reichs (ARC - July 11)

Finished so far:
Cast in Faefire by S.M. Reine (started in May)
Imago by N.R. Walker
Lies, Damned Lies, and History by Jodi Taylor
You by Caroline Kepnes
The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
Imagines by N.R. Walker
And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor
Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
Super Quick Mysteries, Vol. 1 by Andrew Stanek
Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet
Thick & Thin by Charlie Cochet
Cast in Balefire by S.M. Reine
Alpha & Omega by Isabelle Arden
The Long and Short of It by Jodi Taylor
The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
Red Dirt Heart #2 by N. R. Walker
Cast in Godfire by S.M. Reine
Hidden Blade by Pippa DaCosta
Red Dirt Heart #3 by N.R. Walker
Dog Tagged by James Brock
Witches' Bane by Pippa DaCosta 
Living with the Dead by Kelley Armstrong 
See No Evil by Pippa DaCosta

Didn't read/DNFed/Pushed back: 
Redemption Song by Craig Schaefer
A Killer Harvest by Paul Cleave (ARC - August)
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
Illegal Contact by Santino Hassell (ARC - August)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Sticks & Stones by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
Indexing: Reflections by Seanan McGuire
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
Scorpion Trap by Pippa DaCosta

Review: Living with the Dead

Living with the Dead by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wow, Adele, you're a seriously disturbed individual. Sociopath, murderer, schemer, stalker, sexual molester, manipulator, disgusting all around person. Gross.

Interesting "mystery" but it felt more like a lot of run-around and not a lot of development or plot. Still love the series, but wasn't thrilled with this one. I do like Finn, and I like Robyn as well. I'd be okay if they popped up in a later book. Guess since I'm reading the rest of the series, I'll see if they do or not, eh? :)

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Review: Red Dirt Heart 3

Red Dirt Heart 3 by N.R. Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Charlie and Travis and the Sutton Station family are just so lovable. :)

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June Update, Day 22

18 books down!  Looks like I'll be passing my record that I set in May and having an even better month!  I'm around 5,750 pages currently, so we'll see if I pass the page record along with the total number of books! :)  I had to move some things to a later month because of both mood and group reads being chosen, and I'm sure things will move around more before the end of the month. :)

Remaining on list:
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
Indexing: Reflections by Seanan McGuire
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
See No Evil by Pippa DaCosta
Scorpion Trap by Pippa DaCosta

Started/In Progress:
Red Dirt Heart #3 by N.R. Walker
Living with the Dead by Kelley Armstrong
Witches' Bane by Pippa DaCosta

Finished so far:
Cast in Faefire by S.M. Reine (started in May)
Imago by N.R. Walker
Lies, Damned Lies, and History by Jodi Taylor
You by Caroline Kepnes
The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
Imagines by N.R. Walker
And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor
Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
Super Quick Mysteries, Vol. 1 by Andrew Stanek
Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet
Thick & Thin by Charlie Cochet
Cast in Balefire by S.M. Reine
Alpha & Omega by Isabelle Arden
The Long and Short of It by Jodi Taylor
The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
Red Dirt Heart #2 by N. R. Walker
Cast in Godfire by S.M. Reine
Hidden Blade by Pippa DaCosta 

Didn't read/DNFed/Pushed back: 
Redemption Song by Craig Schaefer
Two Nights by Kathy Reichs (ARC - July 11)
A Killer Harvest by Paul Cleave (ARC - August)
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
Illegal Contact by Santino Hassell (ARC - August)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Sticks & Stones by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux

Review: Hidden Blade

Hidden Blade by Pippa DaCosta
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars rounded up. It would have been a full four but I felt that the end didn't really tie up the plot very well and make it feel complete. I loved the Egyptian mythology and have high expectations that book two will feel more complete and take the story to a higher level of awesome.

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Review: Red Dirt Heart 2

Red Dirt Heart 2 by N.R. Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Stupid of me to try to read this at work. I'm too sensitive/emotional/empathetic and had a hard time not crying at multiple beautiful or difficult times in the book. But these two are awesome together.

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Review: The Dead House

The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This would have been a four star read for me, but I felt like the story had a lot of buildup towards a big fiery ending, and then didn't deliver. I still enjoyed the book, and liked the interesting style.

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Review: Cast in Balefire

Cast in Balefire by S.M. Reine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Interesting plot twists? Check.
Really neat world and lore? Check.
Entertaining secondary characters? Check.
Really obnoxious, too stupid to live, makes terrible decisions, can't make up her mind about whether she wants to be a stupid bitch or a good, kind, and powerful person main character? Check.
Very abusive, awful, immoral, ridiculously rage-inducing love interest who deserves to have a million fire-biting fleas infest his genital regions until he fills up the billion gallon tank that he's captured in with his tears enough to drown himself? Check.

Seriously, Reine. If you'd stop pumping out books so fast and start giving them the extra attention you used to, we wouldn't end up with disgusting, awful Marion and Konig issues, now would we?

2.5 stars rounded up, because, well, Goodreads still won't do half stars.

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June Update, Day 13

We're a little under halfway through the month of June, and I've already read 10 books! :)  That's awesome!  I'm hoping to finish at least one more today, maybe another.  I probably won't get through all the books on the list, especially since I've been adding random strays to the list when the mood strikes, but I'm still doing great!

Remaining on list:
Cast in Godfire by S.M. Reine
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Sticks & Stones by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux
Redemption Song by Craig Schaefer
A Killer Harvest by Paul Cleave (ARC)
Two Nights by Kathy Reichs (ARC)
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
Indexing: Reflections by Seanan McGuire
Living with the Dead by Kelley Armstrong
Red Dirt Heart #2 by N. R. Walker

Started/In Progress:
Cast in Balefire by S.M. Reine
Thick & Thin by Charlie Cochet
The Long and Short of It by Jodi Taylor

Finished so far:
Cast in Faefire by S.M. Reine (started in May)
Imago by N.R. Walker
Lies, Damned Lies, and History by Jodi Taylor
You by Caroline Kepnes
The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
Imagines by N.R. Walker
And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor
Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
Super Quick Mysteries, Vol. 1 by Andrew Stanek
Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet

Didn't read/DNFed:

Review: Smoke & Mirrors

Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This series is starting to feel... blah. I dunno if this one just didn't have as much action, or had too much "feelings" and crying and emotional stuff, but it felt like, I dunno... less like men fighting side by side against bad guys and being naughty in the bedroom, and more like a girly romance novel/chick lit that just happened to have male protagonists. This is an issue I find that I have with so many of the female MM authors. It starts to feel like it's more aimed at female readers and less at the actual gay male readers. No offense intended to female MM readers or female MM authors... just hard to know how to accurately write something you'll never really get firsthand experience in ALL the time.

Sorry about the rant. This one wasn't BAD per se, just kinda boring.

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Review: Super Quick Mysteries

Super Quick Mysteries by Andrew Stanek
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a book of fun little mysteries and brain teasers. Definitely enjoyed it. Didn't love it, but it was fun. :)

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Review: And the Rest is History

And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Life isn't fair. Jodi Taylor knows that, and certainly makes a point of showing it in her books. But the main reason I'm saying life isn't fair? Because I have caught up to the current book and am not waiting a year for the next. I call bullshit. I need it now. NOW I SAY.

*wails uncontrollably, loudly, and unhappily*

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Review: The Chalk Pit

The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I very much enjoy the misadventures of Ruth Galloway and the cast of characters of her small town in the UK. Another solid entry with lots of character development. :)

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Review: Imago

Imago by N.R. Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lost a star because of the overuse of the word "hummed"(LOL!) but otherwise, cute story. I want me a Jack Brighton... yowza.

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June Reading Plan

Welcome to June!  Let's set a high goal for the month and do our damnedest to meet that goal!!!

Remaining on list:
Cast in Balefire by S.M. Reine
Cast in Godfire by S.M. Reine
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Sticks & Stones by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux
Redemption Song by Craig Schaefer
A Killer Harvest by Paul Cleave (ARC)
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor
The Long and the Short of It by Jodi Taylor
Indexing: Reflections by Seanan McGuire
Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet
Thick & Thin by Charlie Cochet
Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
Living with the Dead by Kelley Armstrong
Red Dirt Heart #2 by N. R. Walker


Started/In Progress:
Cast in Faefire by S.M. Reine (started in May)
Lies, Damned Lies, and History by Jodi Taylor


Finished so far:


Didn't read/DNFed: