Shon's Monthly Wrap-Up & Book Haul | February 2022

Happy Monday Bookworms! I hope you’re well & safe! I’m back with my February reading Wrap up. I read 8 books, and added 6 eBooks to my collection.

February Book Haul

Before They Are Hanged (The First Law #2) by Joe Abercrombie
Last Argument of Kings (The First Law #3) by Joe Abercrombie
Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames
The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer #2) by Brent Weeks
Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) by Fonda Lee
Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set (The Mistborn Saga #1-3) by Brandon Sanderson

Books Read In February 

The Blade Itself (The First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie (Rating: 5/5 stars)
Hot Ride by Lucy Lennox (Rating: 3/5 stars)
Catching Kalen (Diamond Dreams #1) by Maya Nicole, Britt Andrews (Rating: 3/5 stars)
Fireman's Carry (The Hot Cannolis #0.5) by Eli Easton (Rating: 3/5 stars)
Hot Seat (The Hot Cannolis #1) by Eli Easton, Tara Lain (Rating: 3/5 stars)
The Black Prism (Lightbringer #1) by Brent Weeks (Rating: 5/5 stars)
Trouble On Top (Bromance Chronicles #1) by Billie Bloom (Rating: 2/5 stars)
Nice Guys Finish First (Bromance Chronicles #2) by Billie Bloom (Rating: 2/5 stars)



How was your month? What was your favorite book you read in February? What books did you add to your collection? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo,
Shon

Book Review: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

The Blade Itself
(The First Law #1)
by Joe Abercrombie

Publication Date: September 8th 2015
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 536
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Own

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Available for Purchase:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.

Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glotka a whole lot more difficult.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.

My Thoughts

This book one is extremely character focus and I very much feel that it is a set up for the rest of the series. I went into this books knowing very little. This is a spoiler free review, but as I continue on with series because I will be continuing on with the series I all my sequel reviews may contain spoilers.

Like I said early this is a super character focused story, we get six characters point of view. There are three main characters I would say and then three characters that are very important supporting characters. In this book we spend time really getting to know these characters their back stories their motivation what makes them different. What I like about the characters, they are not your typical good guy facing off against the bad guy.  They are morally gray characters. The characters were fantastic in this book this is something that author obviously put a lot of attention to and he did it really well. The characters are very believable I feel like I know them very well but I also feel like any of them could surprise me at any moment.  

All of the great the character work was fantastic but was there really much going on outside of the character. It was a fairly contained story. I don't necessarily think that's a fault to this book it's just something that made me think that the author really wanted book one to be about the characters and then he is gonna build onto the story in the remaining books.

Let me go ahead and emphasize to you this book was really good. I loved this book and I'm so excited for the book two.


xoxo,
Shon

The TBR Book Tag

Hey guys! Let's have a bit of fun and answer some questions today so I thought I would do The TBR Book Tag which I saw on BookswithEmilyFox. I wasn’t tagged by anyone. I’m not going to tag anyone myself, but if you feel like writing this post consider yourself tagged! Let’s get into it shall we?

How do you keep track of your TBR book pile?

Not so good.  I have some books on my Goodreads' Want To Read shelve.  I have some physical books but they're mixed with book that I've read.  Also, have books on my Kindle.

Is your TBR mostly print or eBook?

It's about 50-50.

How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?

I’m a mood reader so I just see what I feel like picking up when I finish a book.

A book that’s been on your TBR list the longest?

I’m going to go with my physical TBR for this one, because last year I deleted all of the books off my Goodreads. There were some books on my Goodreads that I had unhauled. I'm going to go with Silver Shadows (Bloodlines #5) by Richelle Mead.

A book you recently added to your TBR?

Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations #1-2) by Michael J. Sullivan.  Trying to read more fantasy books this year.

A book in your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?

I seriously don't ever do it covered buy.  I add books to my TBR that I would like to read.

A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading?

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.  I read book 1 and I attempted to read book 2, but I didn't care for it, so I put it down and I just never continued eventually realizing I was too old for that, so I just never finished.

An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for?
Excited might be too strong of a word, but I'm looking forward to reading Wicked Heat (Chicago Heat #1) by Ella Frank.

A book on your TBR that basically everyone’s read but you?
Thay would be half of the books on my TBR. The Dark Artifices & The Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare, The Stormlight Archive Series & The Mistborn Saga by Brandon Sanderson and The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan.

A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss.

A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

The Black Prism (Lightbringer #1) by Brent Weeks.  The first book has been highly recommended.  

How many books are on your TBR shelf?

There are 72 books on my Goodreads shelf.  As for my physical bookshelves maybe 100.  I need to do another unhauled. 

That’s it for The TBR Book Tag. Please let me know your answers to the questions in the comment below.

xoxo,

Shon

Shon's Monthly Wrap-Up & Book Haul | January 2022

January Book Haul

The Raven Spell (Conspiracy of Magic #1) by Luanne G. Smith
The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time #1) by Robert Jordan
Super Hot Wingman (The Best Men #0.5) by Sarina Bowen, Lauren Blakely
The Best Men (The Best Men #1) by Sarina Bowen, Lauren Blakely
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch

Books Read in January

Skip Beat!, Vol. 45 by Yoshiki Nakamura
The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #2) by Rick Riordan
The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) by Rick Riordan
Super Hot Wingman (The Best Men #0.5) by Sarina Bowen, Lauren Blakely
Dear Mr. Brody (For Him #3) by A.M. Johnson

Format Break-Down

• 1 Physical books (Purchased)
• 2 Audiobooks (via Audible)
• 2 eBooks
• 1 (Purchased)
• 1 (Kindle Unlimited)

How was your month? What was your favorite book you read in January? What books did you add to your collection? Let me know in the comments!


xoxo,
Shon

Shon's 2022 Reading and Blogging Goals

Happy Monday! I hope you’re all doing well.

Ah, it’s that time of year again – to discuss my goals for the year. I think this will be a pretty short post because things are simple this time around since I’m trying to stick to mood reading for most of the year and my blogging will follow suit.

1. Goodreads Challenge – 100 Books.

2. Continue to read sequels / work on finishing off series I’ve started. This is a goal I set every year. Because I start so many new series each year it feels like this will always be a reoccurring goal.

3. No more monthly TBR’s. I’m just going to read what I feel like reading.

4. Sparse Book Buying. I have purchased a lot of books over the years that I have yet to read. This year, I will not be purchasing any physical books. I have no room left on my shelves for new books.

5. Book Unhaul.  There are some books that I'm definitely never going to read.

Those are all of the reading goals I have made for myself to complete this year! I’m trying not to stress myself out over blogging and reading this year.

Do you have any goals this year? Leave a comment, I’d love to chat!

Shon's May 2021 TBR

Hello Bookworms!!  How was everyone's reading month?  I did not have a good reading month in April, I was in a bit of a reading slump.  I am hoping for better reading month in May.  As usual this TBR is bound to changes, so this is what my TBR is looking like at the moment.

Want To Read

Fate's Attraction by Dirk Greyson

Wicked Game (The Sanguine Crown #3) by Susan Harris

Burn Notice (The Sanguine Crown Book 4) by Susan Harris

Turnabout (Vino & Veritas #9) by Laurel Greer 

Unguarded (Vino & Veritas #10) by Jay Hogan

Insatiable (Vino & Veritas #11) by Rhys Everly

Daybreak (Vino & Veritas #12) by Kate Hawthorne

Heartsong (Vino & Veritas #13) by A.E. Wasp

Do you guys have any of these on your May TBR? If you have read any of these what did you think? Are you participating in any challenges this month? Let me know what your TBR looks like for this month.

xoxo,
Shon

Shon's Monthly Wrap-Up & Book Haul | April 2021

Happy Friday Bookworms! I'm back with my April wrap-up. I had a little bit of a reading slump this month. Also, as I continue to read the Vino & Veritas series, I am seriously debating on quitting this series. Honestly, book 1 thru 5 I found pretty boring and I DNF book 6. We get the next wave of books in May I will see how I feel and if I decide to continue with the series.

eBook Haul

Champion of Fire & Ice (Champions #1) by Megan Derr

The Boss (Under Red Sky #1) by J. Calamy

Wrap-Up

Headstrong (Vino & Veritas #3) by Eden Finley (Rating: 4/5 stars)
Undercover (Vino & Veritas #4) by Eliot Grayson (Rating: 2/5 stars)
Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1) by E.L. James (Rating: 2/5 stars)
Aftermath (Vino & Veritas #5) by L.A. Witt (Rating: 2/5 stars)
More Than Blood (Blood #1) by Brea Alepoú (Rating: 3/5 stars)
Their Blood (Blood #2) by Brea Alepoú (Rating: 3/5 stars)
My Sunrise Sunset Paramour (Vampire’s Romance #2) by J.J. McAvoy (Rating: 4/5 stars)
The Endgame by Riley Hart (Rating: 4/5 stars)

DNF

Booklover (Vino & Veritas #6) by J.E. Birk

Format Break-Down

• 0 Physical books (Purchased)
• 0 Audiobooks (via Audible)
• 8 eBooks
• 1 (Purchased)
• 7 (Kindle Unlimited)

How was your month? What was your favorite book you read in April? What books did you add to your collection? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo,

Shon