Monthly Rewind » July 2016

Welcome to Ellen and Sierra's July Rewind! Or Wrap-Up. It's both the same thing :).

Ellen will be skipping this month as she's had a lot going on. So it will just be me (aka Sierra) this month.

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Sierra's July Rewind

Including novellas and graphic novels, I read a grand total of 24 books this month. That's crazy! Time to go through my list.

And I Darken · Kiersten White
The Conqueror's Saga #1
My Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="four-stars"]

Rat Queens, Vol. 1 & 2 · Kurtis J. Wiebe
My Review // Goodreads (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2)

[rating stars="four-stars"]            [rating stars="four-stars"]

Bushido: The Soul of the Samurai · Inazo Nitobe
My Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="two-half-stars"]

Wink Poppy Midnight · April Genevieve Tucholke
My Review // Ellen's Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="two-stars"]

Awake · Natasha Preston
My Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="one-star"]

Mirror in the Sky · Aditi Khorana
My Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="three-stars"]

The Scorpion Rules · Erin Bow
Prisoners of Peace #1
My Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="four-stars"]

The Forbidden Wish & The Jinni · Jessica Khoury
The Forbidden Wish #1 & #0.5
My Review // Goodreads // Goodreads (Jinni)

[rating stars="five-stars"]            [rating stars="three-stars"]

The Witch Hunter & The Healer · Virginia Boecker
The Witch Hunter #1 & #0.5
My Review // Goodreads // Goodreads (Healer)

[rating stars="two-stars"]            [rating stars="two-half-stars"]

Since You've Been Gone · Mary Jennifer Payne
My Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="one-half-stars"]

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett · Chelsea Sedoti
My Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="two-stars"]

A Promise of Fire · Amanda Bouchet
Kingmaker Chronicles #1
My Review // Ellen's Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="three-stars"]

The Butterfly Garden · Dot Hutchison
My Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="four-stars"]

Lumberjanes, Vol. 1 & 2 · Noelle Stevenson
Goodreads // Goodreads

[rating stars="five-stars"]            [rating stars="five-stars"]

Imprudence · Gail Carriger
The Custard Protocol #2
My Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="four-stars"]

A Study in Charlotte · Brittany Cavallaro
Charlotte Holmes #1
My Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="two-stars"]

With Malice · Eileen Cook
My Review TBP // Ellen's Review // Goodreads

[rating stars="two-half-stars"]

Broken Prince · Erin Watt
The Royals #2
My Review TBP // Goodreads

[rating stars="two-half-stars"]

Poppy · Mary Hooper
Poppy #1
My Review TBP // Goodreads

[rating stars="two-stars"]

The Movie Version · Emma Wunsch
My Review TBP // Goodreads

[rating stars="two-stars"]

Sierra: That's all of them! 17 books, 5 graphic novels and 2 novellas totaling 24 books. That has put my Goodreads reading challenge at 48 books (out of a 100). I'm still 10 books behind, but I know I can definitely get myself caught up.

This month has been pretty challenging for me personally. It's why I threw myself into reading and blogging. It was great, but I now have to come back to the real world and balance my life a little better. That's why I've been absent from the blogging sphere this past week. But I will be back! Thank you to everyone for your support. I'm constantly amazed by how kind and wonderful all of you are :).

Booktubeathon 2016 » Wrap-Up

That's a wrap on my first ever read-a-thon! I had a ton of fun doing this, though I wish I had had the time to participate in the booktube community. I mainly stuck to reading and reviewing which is what I generally do in my everyday life.

Next year, I shall be better! I announced my TBR here. Let's see how I did!

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Books I Read

The Butterfly Garden · Dot Hutchison
Review // Goodreads

Lumberjanes, Vol. 1
Goodreads

Lumberjanes, Vol. 2
Goodreads

Imprudence · Gail Carriger
Review // Goodreads

A Study in Charlotte · Brittany Cavallaro
Review // Goodreads

With Malice · Eileen Cook
Ellen's Review // My Review TBP // Goodreads

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For those who didn't keep count (and I don't blame you), that makes 6 books.

These were the reading challenges I meant to complete (blue for complete, red for incomplete):

1. Read a book with yellow on the cover: Imprudence


2. Read a book only after sunset: The Butterfly Garden


3. Read a book you discovered through booktube:
   


4. Read a book by one of your favorite authors: Imprudence


5. Read a book that is older than you:
   


6. Read and watch a book-to-movie adaptation:
   


7. Read 7 books:
   

3/7 isn't spectacular but I was pretty distracted with real-life concerns this week. I look forward to doing this next year and actually participating in booktube!

Happy Reading, everyone!

June 2016 » Monthly Wrap-Up

Welcome to our Monthly Wrap-Up! Without further ado, let's get started.

Sierra's June Reads

I had an exceptional reading month! I've been in a major reading slump for months now. So it was lovely to get back into the swing of things. Co-blogging has definitely inspired me to read more as well (thanks Ellen!). If you're interested in knowing more about my thoughts for each book, my reviews will be linked below.

1. Brighter than the Sun by Darynda Jones
   (Charley Davidson #8.5)

[rating stars="three-half-stars"]

2. Manners & Mutiny by Gail Carriger
(The Finishing School #4)

[rating stars="five-stars"]

3. These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
Full Review HERE

[rating stars="four-stars"]

4. Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay
Full Review HERE

[rating stars="three-half-stars"]

5. Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger
(Delightfully Deadly #1)
Full Review HERE

[rating stars="four-stars"]

6. Every Ugly Word by Aimee L. Salter
Full Review HERE

[rating stars="four-stars"]

7. Imitation by Heather Hildenbrand
(Clone Chronicles #1)
Full Review HERE

[rating stars="one-star"]

8. Rebel Wing by Tracy Banghart
(Rebel Wing #1)
Full Review HERE

[rating stars="three-half-stars"]

9. Buzz Books 2016: YA Fall/Winter
Full Review HERE

10. The Assassin Game by Kirsty McKay
Full Review TBP (To Be Posted)

[rating stars="one-half-stars"]

11. Prudence by Gail Carriger
(The Custard Protocol #1)
Full Review TBP

[rating stars="four-stars"]

12. Paper Princess by Erin Watt
(The Royals #1)
My Full Review HERE
Ellen's Full Review HERE
Spoilery Discussion TBP

[rating stars="four-stars"]

Considering that I couldn't complete a single book in January or February, could only read 6 books in March, 2 in April, and 4 in May, June has been a major success for me. I'm still significantly behind in my Goodreads challenge, but I have hope that I can make it up! So far this year, I've read 24 books. I hope July is just as wonderful!

Ellen's June Reads

Um, June hasn't been so great for me, reading wise. I've started quite a few books, but finishing them? Not so much. Here's what I've read...

With Malice by Eileen Cook

Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Reliquary by Sarah Fine

High Contrast by Tess Bowery

Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff

Ellen: Okay, perhaps I'm being too hard on myself. Nine books isn't bad for a month, but I feel like it doesn't reflect the sheer amount of start/stop reading I've been doing.  If I'd finished all the books I began to read, then June would have shown fantastic stats.

Sierra (butts in): You are being too hard on yourself! YOU ARE FABULOUS. Let's not forget those Buzz and Penguin sampler reviews! And we raised our Netgalley stats! Ellen = success. I shall turn it back to Ellen now :P.

Ellen: But the month hasn't exactly been a wash.  As everyone has probably noticed (</sarcasm>), I'm no longer alone at Quest Reviews! Sierra hopped aboard at the beginning of the month and it's been so wonderful, I can't even express the true extent of my joy.

Perhaps this says it best — yesterday, Sierra and I had a rousing conversation about Paper Princess at 7 AM. SEVEN AY-EM. I literally rolled out of bed, checked my Twitter messages, and got to laugh out loud first thing. It was awesome.

So that's it for June, everyone! Here's to July!