2021 Reading Goals

With 2021 here it's time for me to make my goals for reading. This year I want to make much more manageable goals that don't feel overwhelming. Part of where I think my reading funks come from is because I feel the stress to read as many books as I can. Sometimes I focus too much on quantity and not quality. As a result I end up reading a lot of books that I don't necessarily hate but I don't like. And sometimes I think it wears me down.

Anyway, this year I've decided to focus on books that I actually want to read instead of focusing on the number of books I read. I've created this list below, which I think is very manageable.

1.  One Piece: Ace's Story Vol. 2: New World
• I'm a big fan of One Piece. So when I found out they were publishing a novel about one of my favorite characters (who am I kidding? Basically all the characters are my favorite), I was excited to read it. The first one wasn't bad, and I'm hoping the second one follows suit.
2. When Dragons Came to Alice Street
• Got this book free from a giveaway. I started reading it, but I've been stalled on it for some time now. It's not really that long a book so I'm hoping that I'll be able to finish it this year.
3. The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5)
• To be honest this series was never on my radar even with the smashing success of the video game. But, I have a friend who is a big fan and when the Netflix series came out I ended up watching it with them. I only managed to get through 50% of the series, not because I didn't like it but because other stuff got into the way. Regardless, I liked what I saw on Netflix and so someone lent me the book. I read the first story which I really liked, but then I got into my reading funk and never kept going. So this one's on the list for a 2021 finish.
4. Kiki's Delivery Service
• I've been a big fan of the movie since I was a kid and when I learned that they had published an English version of the book I knew I had to read it. I intended to read it last year, but...well...it just didn't happen. I ran into somewhat of a reading block and while I checked this one out from the library I ended up not reading it before it was due. Regardless, I hope to get to this one before 2021 is over.
5. Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch
• Got this one from Barnes and Noble in their after holiday clearance. It is a hard cover book at 50% off. So I spent around $8.50 on it. I picked it up mostly because it sounded like a cute, fun read. Sort of like Kiki's Delivery Service (I've only seen the movie so far though...), which is actually mentioned in the inner cover. I'm excited to give this one a try.
6. Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven (September 28, 2021)
• As a child I loved the character of Raven so anything to do with her automatically piques my interest. As the years have gone by I've become interested in her relationship with Beast Boy as well. So, needless to say, I've been anticipating this comic since I read the Beast Boy comic last year. In fact, I'll probably re-read the Raven graphic novel because this seems to be a continuation of both the Beast Boy and Raven graphic novels.
7. Daphne and Velma #3
• I'm a Scooby Doo fan. I read the first two and enjoyed them. This one's a no-brainer. 
8. 5 Worlds: The Emerald Gate
• I mostly want to finish this one for completeness. I've read all the other one's. Truthfully, I didn't really get into the story as much as I was hoping I would. Even so, I do still enjoy the series.
9. A Spoonful of Murder
10. Top Marks for Murder
11. Death Sets Sail
• Number 9-11, are all part of the Murder Most Unladylike series. I love mysteries and this series hasn't let me down yet. Though I'm a little sad the series is over, I'm excited to solve the mysteries in these 3 books.
12. The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya
• I've been waiting for this book since the end of the last book (back in 2013). I can't pinpoint exactly why, but I love everything about this series. I first found this series many years ago as the tv show and I liked it so much I tried the books, which I ended up loving as well. I hope the author continues this series for many years to come. I'll keep coming back for more.

Reading Goals 2020

It's the New Year!

I've decided to read 100 books this year. I figured that I would start to list out a few of the books I'm hoping to get through this year.

1. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
2. Pros and (Comic) Cons
3. Picture Perfect (Geek Charming #3)
4. They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie
5. A Peter Rabbit Christmas Collection
6. Bounders #5: Fractured Futures
7. Redwall by Brian Jacques
8. Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret Plans
9. Danger in Paris: A Samantha Mystery
10. Pumpkinheads
11. Cleopatra in Space: Queen of the Nile
12. Peace Talks by Jim Butcher
13. Reflection (A Twisted Tale)
14. Frozen Heart
15. A Tale of Two Sisters (A Twisted Tale)
16. Frozen 2: Forest of Shadows
17. Wished (Fairy Tale Reform School #5)
18. Cursed (Fairy Tale Reform School #6)
19. Misfits (Royal Academy Rebels #1)
20. Outlaw (Royal Academy Rebels #2)
21. Nancy Drew: The Palace of Wisdom
22. House of Fear: Attack of the Killer Snowman and Other Stories
23. Clueless: Senior Year
24. Clueless: One Last Summer
25. Cameron Sandiego The Sticky Rice Caper
26. Disney Storied Places
27. The Fowl Twins: Deny All Changes
28. Avatar: The Rise of Kyoshi
29. Crush by Svetlana Chmakova
30. Brave by Svetlana Chmakova
31. Deep Wizardry
32. Delicates by Brenna Thummler
33. Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator
34. Diana Princess of the Amazons
35. Conceal, Don't Feel
36. Disney: A Christmas Carol (Graphic Novel)
37. Disney Fairies: Tink in a Fairy Fix
38. Pilfer Academy: A School So Bad it's Criminal
39. Bad Kitty
40. Good Wish Gone Bad
41. The Last Musketeer
42. Traitor's Chase
43. Potropica The Secret Society
44. All Summer Long
45. Poptropica The End of Time
46. Let's Pretend We Never Met
47. Pandora Gets Jealous
48. Reflection

This is of course just a preliminary list of books that I would like to read and I'm going to be adding books as I think of them. I likely will not finish all of these, but hopefully I will at least make a dent in the list.

As always, I'm hoping that I will be better at creating my thoughts on these books throughout the year. I want to post more frequently.

I know that I've been trying to improve posting on this website, but I seem to have progressively be getting worse. I don't think it's too late to turn it around and I fully intend to give it another go.

Summer 2019

As always I have a huge to read list and I just keep gathering more books. I find great deals all over the place and I just can't resist buying more! Unfortunately I'm running out of bookshelf space so I've decided to try to clear some of it this summer (as I did last summer). As with last summer after I read each book my goal is to post something about the book, if not a full review than at least a blurb of what I thought. Hopefully, I am able to finish all 25 books this summer!

8

1. Redwall: The Legend Begins (Redwall #1)


2. Wished (Fairy Tale Reform School #5)


3. Misfits (Royal Academy Rebels #1)


4. Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret Plans


5. Trapped (Framed #3)


6. The Early Cases of Hercule Poirot


7. The Angel Tree


8. The Rooster Bar


9. Don't Care High


10. Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Volume 3


11. Alcatraz 1259


12. The Year of the Rat


13. Whatshisface


14. Woundabout


15. Airman


16. Engaging Father Christmas


17. Children of the Lamp: The Blue Djinn of Babylon


18. Positively Izzy


19. Escape from the Isle of the Lost


20. Danger in Paris: A Samantha Mystery


21. Ghost of a Chance (100 Dresses #2)


22. Star Darlings Collection 2


23. Big Game (FunJungle #3)


24. Panda-Monium (FunJungle #4)


25. Lion Down (FunJungle #5)

Review! Spy School Goes South

Author: Stuart Gibbs

352 Pages

Published by: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

Summary:

Thirteen-year-old Ben Ripley has been caught in the snares of SPYDER more than once and knows well enough to be suspicious of anything that seems too good to be true—despite needing special tutoring in advanced survival techniques. So when Murray Hill finally breaks his silence with an offer to hand over the SPYDER elite, Ben knows that there must be something going on. But his hesitation doesn’t stop the assignment.

The Mission: Follow Murray Hill to an undisclosed location with no one else but Erica Hale to identify SPYDER leadership. Once found, contact the CIA to sweep in and finish the job. DO NOT CONTACT SPYDER DIRECTLY.

However, as Ben suspected, nothing goes as planned, and what should be an easy mission quickly turns deadly. Now, Ben and Erica will have to face rogue agents, trained killers, and even very hungry crocodiles in a race against the clock to find out what SPYDER is up to this time—and thwart their evil plans.

Reading Update February 2019

I have not been very good at keeping up with posts on this website lately. I have all sorts of reason prepared, but frankly they are all just excuses.

So I decided to write a small update on what I've been reading recently.



I started reading The Killing Game by Iris Johansen and The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris. Two surprisingly different books. The only reason I started The Killing Game is because it was recommended to me by a friend's mother, who is an avid reader. I'm not very far in the story, only about two chapters in, but so far it's interesting. I am having a little bit of trouble keeping up with the characters and which character is talking during some of the dialogue, but overall I am sort of following the story line. To be honest, I thought the book would hook me in more by now (like The Cinderella Murder) but I'm sure eventually I'll get into it (at least I'm hoping).

Honestly, The Magic Misfits caught my eye when it first came out due to it's title, colorful cover, and interesting book summary. Then I realized that it was written by Neil Patrick Harris and I got even more excited. Neil Patrick Harris is hilarious so I was betting his book would be just as funny. When I first started reading it I kept looking for his voice within the text, but I just couldn't find it. At first I was disappointed, but now I'm just enjoying the story. So far I like it and I'm excited to see where it goes.

There is a third book that I'm slowly trying to make my way through. It's called The Truth Cookie. Admittedly, I don't like this book at all. I think it's boring and I don't like Lulu. But it's not too long and I don't want to judge it without finishing it, so I'm determined to make my way through it.

Review! The Wurst is Yet to Come (Bed and Breakfast Mysteries #27)

Author: Mary Daheim

304 Pages

Published by: HarperLuxe on July 3, 2012

Summary (from amazon.com):

The charming Hillside Manor is the perfect B&B for a few days of R&R. Okay, so it also features the occasional corpse or two. But is a small body count really any reason for the state to yank Judith McMonigle Flynn's innkeeper's license? Exhausted from answering the nosy critics from the state B&B association, Judith needs a change of scenery. Volunteering to help out at the State B&B booth during Oktoberfest is just the opportunity she's looking for. But before the beer begins flowing, Judith finds a dead body.

Unfortunately, Judith's reputation has preceded her, and the local police chief wants her help. So Judith hits on a brilliant idea: Her cousin Renie will pose as the sleuth. Now, what could possibly go wrong?

Review! The Mystery of the Painted Dragon (Sinclair Mysteries #3)

Author: Katherine Woodfine

339 Pages

Published by: Egmont Books Ltd on 09 February 2017

Summary (goodreads.com):

When a priceless painting is stolen, our dauntless heroines Sophie and Lil find themselves faced with forgery, trickery and deceit on all sides!

Be amazed as the brave duo pit their wits against this perilous puzzle! Marvel at their cunning plan to unmask the villain and prove themselves detectives to be reckoned with – no matter what dangers lie ahead . . .