Tag: Wrap Ups

2019 Wrap Ups

May Wrap Up & Life Update | 2019 Wrap Ups

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Life Update:

Hello Lovelies! I’m not gonna lie, May was the hardest month of my entire life. My mother had a heart attack on May 16th and was in the ICU until she passed away on May 22nd.

For those that don’t know, my mom was my best friend. Everything is too insufficient of a word to describe what she was to me. She made me into who I am today and losing her has been excruciating. It hasn’t completely sunk in yet and I do believe I am in the denial phase.

All of this has led me to taking a two week break from social media and my blog. I even took a break from reading entirely. I am back now, I just don’t know if I am going to be as active as I was. Grief is a weird thing and you never know when it’s going to sprout up out of no where. So just bare with me in the coming months.

May Wrap Up:

Total Books Read: 8

Total Pages Read: 1,838

Books I DNF’d: 2

Average Rating: 3.5 Stars

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Genre: ADULT Reverse Harem Contemporary Romance

I loved the first book in this series and the second one was no different. I could not get enough of this book and I need the final book like I need air!

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Genre: ADULT Reverse Harem Contemporary Romance

As explained in my review of this book, the pacing of this book completely threw me off and I had to DNF it. I am still interested in the characters though and might eventually come back to it.

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Genre: NEW ADULT Fantasy

I reread my favorite book this month and I loved every minute of it! I took my time, tabbed all of my favorite sections, and picked up on some foreshadowing that I didn’t last time.

I also read three adult contemporaries this month. All of them were short and similar in plot so it wasn’t worth making individual sections for them all. They were:

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Genre: NEW ADULT Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance

I read the first two books in the Fated Wings series this month and, while I enjoyed them, I wasn’t as impressed with it as C.R. Jane’s other series The Sound of Us. I am still debating on if I will be continuing the series or not.

Thank you for joining me today! If you have made it this far, I really thank you! I hope you enjoyed my Wrap Up and please feel free to leave a link to yours down below so I can check it out!

~𝒜𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓂𝓃 💕

2019 Wrap Ups

April Wrap Up | 2019 Wraps Ups

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Hello Lovelies! April went by SUPER fast for me, but I am SO ready for May to get here! I decided to change up my Wrap Ups a little bit. I’m going to do a top section like I usually do, where I discuss the books that I read. AND I will be doing an additional section where I have statistics and charts for people who love to look at them like I do!

Total Books Read: 22

Total Pages Read: 6,798

ARCs Reviewed: 5

Books I DNF’d: 4

Average Rating: 3.75

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Genre: ADULT Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

I started this month off by getting completely caught up on The Lords of the Underworld series. I have enjoyed all of the books (except for the disaster that is The Darkest Warrior) and I am anxiously awaiting the release of the next book sometime this year.

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Genre: ADULT Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

I really liked this book and the series does hold a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, after much consideration, I have decided to not continue this series anymore for reasons explained in my review.

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Genre: ADULT Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Next, I read the first few installments in the Dark Protectors series. I am really enjoying it so far and I plan to come back to the series sometime in May. I just needed a little break after binging all of those books.

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Genre: ADULT Contemporary Rockstar Romance

I fell IN LOVE with this series this month! I had been looking for a good rockstar romance for a while and I am SO happy that I found this series. These books are just the right mix of romance with a hint of dark that I love. I still have one more book to go (which is arguably the darkest in the series) which I will be getting to some time in May.

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Genre: ADULT Contemporary Romance

I really enjoyed this book. It was a classic Alexa Riley but surprisingly sweet. I just loved the dynamic between the two characters and the romance was developed perfectly.

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Genre: ADULT Reverse Harem Contemporary Romance

I. HAVE. FALLEN. IN. LOVE. WITH. THIS. BOOK. YOU. HAVE. NO. IDEA. It is SOOO good and I immediately jumped into the next book!

ARCs Reviewed:

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YA Fantasy:

ADULT Science Fiction:

ADULT Contemporary Romance:

ADULT Reverse Harem Romance:

STATISTICS AND CHARTS:

*NOTE: I would usually do a chart with my E-book/Hardcover/Paperback/Audiobook reads broken up, but I only read e-books this month.*

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This chart breaks up the books I read into genres. I wish that I would have gotten some more RH and fantasy in this month…

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I am actually really happy with these numbers. I rated a LOT more books 5 & 4 stars than I did last month. The only bad thing is that I did DNF a few more books than I usually do.

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I read a lot of smaller books this month which I’m not the happiest about. I am excited that I got a couple of 500 page books in this month though. I am planning on reading bigger books in May though for the Shelfcrate Readathon.

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I was able to get a few ARCs reviewed this month. I’m going to have at least four more coming out in May. I’m really excited to dive right into them!

By the way, I know a lot of people get their ARCs from NetGalley, but I recently signed up for Hidden Gems Books and I have had an amazing experience with them! I have never been denied for a book and I have found a lot of titles on there that I enjoyed. I encourage you to check them out if you haven’t already done so.

April in Review:

I am really happy with how April turned out! I got so much done and I have been able to really focus on my blog. Speaking of which, I want to thank each and every one of you for 200 followers! It means more than I can put into words. 💕

I also want to thank anyone who follows my Twitter or Bookstagram because I recently hit 500 followers on both platforms. Every time someone hits that follow button, I am in awe that you really care about my opinion that much. It’s surreal.

A Sneak Peak Into May:

I mentioned it earlier, but I am going to be participating in the Shelflove Crate Readathon is May. I am SOO excited since this is my first readathon and my TBR should be coming out on my blog VERY soon.

For my fellow Bookstagramers, I am doing my first ever Challenge this month!! 💕 I would love it if you would participate with me using the hashtag #BOOKREADSMAY19 on Instagram. What happens is that you post a picture on Instagram each day for the prompt given. Here is the picture of my Challenge if you are interested in participating:

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Thank you for joining me today! If you have made it this far, I really thank you! I hope you enjoyed my Wrap Up and please feel free to leave a link to yours down below so I can check it out!

~𝒜𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓂𝓃 💕

2019 Wrap Ups

I Read the Fewest Number of Books That I Have Read in Years/Why I Am the Happiest I Have Been With My Reading in a While | March Wrap Up

autumnbookreads

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Hello Lovelies! As you can probably tell by the SUPER long title, this is going to be my March Wrap Up mixed with a discussion. So, let me start off by saying that I read 10 books this month. That is the smallest amount that I have read since December 2016. And you know what? I am happier with my reading than I have been for a really long time. Here’s why:

For those that don’t know, I have a lot of free time on my hands and read for the majority of it. I ended up reading 283 books in 2017 and, because I am competitive as hell, I wanted to break that record and read 300 in 2018. I was able to accomplish my goal and ended up reading 313 books last year.

Again, because I am competitive and a borderline perfectionist, I wanted to push myself even farther this year and go for 365 (or one book a day).

In January and February, I worked tirelessly toward that goal and it became a constant fixture in my life. It dictated what I read, how I read, and I blew off a lot of other stuff I wanted to do in order to read. I started reading more for work than for my personal enjoyment. I started putting off books that I really wanted to read because they had higher page counts. I also started reading a lot of short stories just to meet my quota for the day.

March started off in a similar fashion. I pushed myself and then started stressing when I got a day or two behind. I soon realized that this was turning unhealthy and sat down and had a talk with myself one night. An intervention of sorts. I decided that I was going to take a step back from reading for a few days and just stop caring what my final tally of books read was.

This proved less hard than one might think. Once I made up my mind, it was like this weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I spent days dedicating myself to improving my website and just having fun. I played Skyrim (one of my favorite games that I hadn’t played in months) and got caught up on all of the Booktube videos that I hadn’t watched.

Yes, it hurt the perfectionist part of me to read so little this month. But, the reader part of me is happier than I have been in a long time.

Eventually I craved reading a book again, so I decided to pick up a series that I had been wanting to read for months but put off because of its length. And you know what? I had more fun reading those three books than I have reading the last fifty.

My point of all of this is to not let your Reading Challenge/Reading Goals get in the way of your life and happiness like I did. Strive to meet your goals, but don’t beat yourself up if you come up short every once in a while. And, sometimes, you just need a break from something (even if it is what you love to do the most). You might find that you love it more than you ever did after you take some time away. I certainly did.

Something that I also learned this month was to be thankful. I have more spare time to read than most and I didn’t value that. I didn’t make the most out of it when I should have. I have learned from that mistake and I won’t be making it again. Time is too precious and there are too many books out there to waste my time on ones that I know are just going to be “okay” for me when I finish them. So, I have made a promise to myself that, going forward, I am only going to read books that I am genuinely interested in and believe that I will enjoy.

Okay… Now that the heavy part of this post is out of the way, let’s get into my March Wrap Up:

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The first book I read this month was Sacrifice (Drakoryan Brides #1) by Ava Sinclair. This book is a Adult Reverse Harem Dragon Fantasy. I rated it 3.5 stars and my review can be found here.

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Next, I read a lot of short contemporary romances. I decided to link them all together because, honestly, this was still when I was striving for my 365 goal and all of them were were unremarkable. I have all of my reviews for them listed down below though:

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The last few books I read for March were all a part of the Lords of the Underworld series. I had been wanting to come back to this series for months and I was so happy that I sat down and did it. It felt so good to re-immerse myself in this world and to follow these characters again. My reviews for each book is listed below:

March in Review:

Ultimately, I am really happy with how March turned out for me. I talked a lot about this above so I don’t feel the need to say any more.

A Sneak Peak Into April:

April is a month that I have been waiting for for a LONG time and I am SOOO excited for it to get here!

  • Cassandra Clare’s new book The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses #1) is coming out. I am getting a signed copy of this through Good Choice Reading.
  • Some RH books from different series are being released.
  • MANY changes to the autumnbookreads website are coming: WWW posts, Book Quote of the Day posts, & more unique posts.

AND….

  • GAME OF THRONES SEASON 8 IS COMING OUT!!!! I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!

 

Finally:

Thank you for joining me today. I hope you learned something from this post or found something positive in it. If you have made it this far, I really thank you. See you in my next post! ~𝒜𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓂𝓃

2019 Wrap Ups

February Wrap Up | 2019 Wrap Ups

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Today I am going to be doing my Reading Wrap Up for the month of February. I read 26 books in the month of February. I am not going to be listing every single book I read (because we would be here forever) but I will be mentioning the significant ones and grouping series together.

Here are the books that I read in February:

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To start off, let’s talk about my Reread Challenge (in which I reread one of my favorite series per month). For this month, I reread the first half of The Grey Wolves Series. I read this series a couple years ago and I fell in love instantly. It felt good to revisit them and see some of my favorite characters again. I hope to be able to reread the rest of the series sometime soon.

My reviews for each of these books can be found individually by their title below:

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The first books of the month that I read was the first two books in the Desolate Lands Trilogy. This is a New Adult Dystopian Reverse Harem. I rated them both pretty highly, but I ultimately decided to stop reading the series after the second book for reasons listed in my reviews below.

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The next books I read this month were the first two books in the Blackthorn Mountain Men Series. They are Adult Contemporary Romances. They were both fun to pass the time with, but there was nothing too special about them. That is ultimately why I decided to stop reading the series. My reviews for both books is listed below.

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The next books I read this month were the first two books in the RH Fated Alpha Series. The series is an Adult Fantasy Reverse Harem. The first book was really good and I highly enjoyed it. However, the second book was a disappointment and made me decide to drop the series. My reviews go into further detail and can be found below.

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Next, I read the first two books in The Ravger Chronicles Series. It is an Adult Science Fiction Romance. I absolutely adored the first book and, for reasons explained in my review of the second book, eventually dropped the series. My reviews for both books can be found below.

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After that, I read the first two books in the The Bullets Series. This is an Adult Dark Reverse Harem. I had been dying to read this series for months and I was not disappointed. I could not put the first book down for the life of me. The second book was a different story. It was my first DNF of the month for reasons that I explain in my review below.

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The next book was one that I unfortunately had to DNF. I am not a fan of DNFing books and I typically do not do it, but this book was just one that I could not make myself finish. That is a shame because this was a New Adult Contemporary Reverse Harem that I had really been looking forward to. I go into further detail about why I DNF’d this book in my review which can be found here.

Books By Alexa Riley:

For those who don’t know, I am a big Alexa Riley fan. This co-author duo writes A LOT of short books and, because of that, they are my most read author. I have read over 50 of their books and there are so many more to get to. In my last Wrap Up, I decided to put them at the bottom of the list in their own separate category so that all of the books would be grouped together instead of randomly spread throughout it. I decided to carry that on as a monthly thing so here is that section for this month. I read 6 books by Alexa Riley this month and here they are:

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My reviews for each of these books can be found individually by their title below:

February In Review:

As far as the quantity of books I read goes, I am happy with this month. I read a good amount of books and I am on track for my 365 goal. As far as the quality of books I read goes, this month was not as good for me. I only had a handful of 5-Star reads and I DNF’d more books than I would have liked. I am hoping that next month will be better in that regard.

A Sneak Peak Into March:

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I was recently given Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin as a gift. I am a GIANT Game of Thrones fan and I was SO excited when I received the book. I will be reading and reviewing it sometime in March.

I am still debating which series is going to be the one I read for my Rereading Challenge in March though.

Finally:

That about sums up my February Wrap Up. If you have made it this far, I truly thank you. It means more than I can put into words. What are some of the books you read this month? Do we have any in common or are any of these books on your TBR?

~Autumn

2019 Wrap Ups

January Wrap Up | 2019 Wrap Ups

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Today I am going to be doing my first ever Wrap Up and I am really excited. I read 33 books in the month of January which is a great start to the new year. I am not going to be listing every single book I read (because we would be here forever) but I will be mentioning the significant ones and grouping series together. So, without further ado, let’s get into it:

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To start off the month, I started my Reread Challenge (in which I reread one of my favorite series per month). I reread the New Species Series by Laurann Dohner and I absolutely loved them. They were all just as good as I remembered! My reviews to each of these books can be found under Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance OR you can find them by my Goodreads reviews.

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Next, I read An Innocent Obsession by Jessa Kane. This is a Contemporary Adult Romance which was surprisingly good. I gave it 4.5 Stars and my review can be found here.

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The next book I read was A Kiss of Maddness by K.B. Everly & Stacy Jones. This is a New Adult Dark Reverse Harem. I gave it 2.5 Stars and my review can be found here.

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Following that, I read New Year Surprises by Brandy Slaven. This is a Adult Contemporary Reverse Harem Romance. I gave it 3.5 Stars and my review can be found here.

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I read All For One by Mia Moon after that. It is an Adult Contemporary Reverse Harem Romance. I gave it 2.5 Stars and my review can be found here.

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Next, I read Pleasure Unbound & Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione. This series is an Adult Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance. My Pleasure Unbound review can be found here and my Desire Unchained review can be found here.

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After that, I received an ARC of Meant to be Kept by Amelia Foster by the author in exchange for an honest review. It is an Adult Contemporary Romance that involves cheating. I gave it 3.25 Stars and my review can be found here.

Lone Wolves (3 Book Series) by Lux Carmine

Next, I read the first three books in the Dropout Series by Lux Carmine. The series is a Young Adult/New Adult Reverse Harem Romance. My review for the books can be found under RH OR you can find them on my Goodreads.

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After that, I read my first DNF of the year. My review and the reasons why I DNF’d this book can be found here.

Books By Alexa Riley:

 

For those who don’t know, I am a big Alexa Riley fan. This co-author duo writes A LOT of short books and, because of that, they are my most read author. I have read over 50 of their books and there are so many more to get to. I decided to put them at the bottom of this list in their own separate category so that all of the books would be grouped together instead of randomly spread throughout this list. Anyways, I read 8 books by Alexa Riley this month and here they are:

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My reviews for each of these books can be found individually by their title below:

January In Review:

This was a great start to the year for me. I read more books than I did last year, got some rereading done, and I read a larger variety of genres than I normally do. Hopefully, I can stay at this pace. I was able to read 313 books last year and my ultimate goal is 365 so I’m crossing my fingers that this is the year to do it.

As far as the quality of books I read, I’m pretty satisfied. I rated most of the books I read highly and I only DNF’d one book. The series that I reread was just as great as I remembered and it brought back a lot of feels. I am really happy that I decided to do this challenge.

A Sneak Peak Into February:

I have actually already decided which series is going to be a part of my Reread Challenge for February. I decided to go with Grey Wolves by Quinn Loftis. I don’t currently have any reviews for this series up because I read it before I started writing reviews. It is one of my favorite series of all time and I am SO excited to start it in February. Be on the look out for those reviews soon.

You can also be sure that plenty of RH books on top of Alexa Riley will be read in February. I am also debating starting another popular series, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I would really appreciate it if you would comment and let me know if this series deserves all of the hype it has gotten and if I should read it.

Finally:

If you have made it this far, I truly thank you. It means a lot. That about sums up my January Wrap Up. I am so happy that I finally got to do this and I hope you are not disappointed. I try to read as many books as I can each month and enjoy my time while reading them. What are some of the books you read this month? Do we have any in common or are any of these books on your TBR?

~Autumn