Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
Since last Wednesday I’ve finished five books and had my first DNF of 2021 (not included here). My goal this year is to continue DNFing books that aren’t doing it for me instead of letting my guilt push me to keep reading something that I’m really not enjoying, so I’m proud that I managed to put this goal into action so early on in the year! 😂
Deadly Dreams (Fortuna Sworn #4) by K.J. Sutton ★★★☆☆ After ending book two feeling mad let down, I didn’t have big hopes for this book but it was better. I really enjoyed certain aspects of it, such as how Fortuna’s trauma was dealt with (for the most part) but I’m kinda tired of the story cos it keeps going around in circles and I feel like we still get no answers. There were more “political fae games” in this story, which also meant a lot more brutality and murders, which did keep it ‘interesting’ (lol) but I’m truly over the love-triangle/square/whatever vibes. I will say that the ending surprised me and for that alone I will be continuing on with the series because my curiosity has been piqued! Will share a series review soon.
Well, I can’t say that I’ve ever done a prompt like this one before! Prior to starting this book blog I never really paid attention to when books were published. To be honest, even with this book blog, I’m only mostly aware of pub dates for books that I’m reading for blog tours or for ARCs, but otherwise I still don’t pay dates that much attention. So I wasn’t even sure how to go about doing this list but thanks to Goodreads’ compiled lists for books going back to 1980, my decision was made easy! Since I was born in 1988 (I’m old?!) I thought I would share two books from my born year and share one each year going back to 1980. I’m quite surprised to find that I actually do have at least one book for each year! All of these are on my TBR (but like, long, long list TBR with the only exception being Midnight’s Children which is almost immediate TBR lol) and I’ll read them one day… One day! 😂
We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
I’m planning to spend the rest of my Sunday night tucked in bed finishing The Death of Honor. I’m finishing this up for a blog tour next week. So far, it’s an okay read. There are parts that I’m really enjoying and other parts (mostly the writing) is a bit so-so for me! I am enjoying it for the most part though 😊
All Rebecca wants in life is to sail through space in her ship—is that too much to ask? The moment she lays eyes on her old military buddy Jonathan, Rebecca knew there was no running away from her duties. With her best friend, sometimes with benefits, Nik, she desired to return home to the Nreff Nation, one of the four government powers of the systems, to serve on one last mission.
However, the problem with returning is that they all are wanted for treason. It wasn’t their fault, however, as they had been framed by their old admiral, Sebastien Wilde. Fortunately, succeeding in this mission might give them a clean slate, as they are to find evidence of Wilde’s involvement in the illegal human experimentation ring that goes against the Treaty Of World Equality and Rights (T.O.W.E.R.).
Rebecca and Nik agree to the mission, hoping to earn a more peaceful life, however Rebecca hides a dark secret: she was once closer to Sebastien than any of them ever realized, and the evidence incriminating him might also implicate her. Now Rebecca has a choice: turn her back on her comrades and run for her life, or face her sins in order to prevent an all-out war.
Welcome back to another Top 5 Saturday! Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is actually: Weapons on the Cover
I didn’t think I would struggle so hard to think of covers with weapons on them but I ended up spending a good chunk of time scrolling through my Goodreads TBR to find books for today’s prompt. I’m probably going to be smacking myself in the face when I see other peoples Top 5 Saturday lists because I’ll probably realise I have plenty more books with these covers on my TBR and I just totally forgot about them! 😂
Do I search out these kinds of covers? Not particularly. Do I also find myself more intrigued by a book if it has a weapon on the cover? I think it depends on what else is on there. I know none of these pulled me in because of the weapons–well, okay maybe a bit for These Violent Delights, but all the elements of the cover merge together so nicely and I love how the weapon is kind of obscured but also stands out the more you look at it! Anyway, before I go waffling on any further, here’s what I got on my list:
(SUGGESTED BY RIAN @ DOGS AND BOOKS) Examples: What are some books that had “good” endings for you? What are some books that had “bad” endings? What do you think makes an ending of a story satisfying? Is there anything you always hate in an ending?
WHAT MAKES A SATISFYING ENDING?
This is a great question and one that I honestly haven’t given very much thought to before and the more I think about it now, the more factors come up for me to consider. Are we talking series enders or are standalone endings or first-book-in-a-series endings? I mean, endings are endings (lol) but what I’m “okay with” when it comes to a first-book ending is obviously going to be different compared to what I expect from a series ender! I also think that some genres come with certain ending expectations, the most obvious being romance. I pick up romances for the HEA otherwise what am I reading the genre for? (It’s definitely not the angsty drama! 😂 ).
Since I joined the book community and started to really think about what works for me, I’ve come to realise that I’m one of those readers who like endings that give me an obvious sense of resolution. It doesn’t have to be “perfectly packaged” where everything is hunky-dory and 100% but at least the main issues are resolved, no lingering questions exist, the characters find some kind of peace, but most of all it just fits the story we’ve experienced. This “need” of mine to have a neat ending has changed a bit over the last year as I’ve started to feel less unsatisfied with open-endings as long as they fit the story.
One thing that I tend to hate is when endings are super abrupt AND open-ended. While I don’t think open endings will ever be a favourite, I’ve started to make peace with them. Then there are other times when the author ends the story so abruptly, usually mid-scene or at a half-formed thought, and it just feels sounsatisfying. Just thinking about it has me clenching my fist in frustration because WHY 😂
Another factor that determines what a good ending is for me also depends on where the author takes the final book in a series or the final parts of a standalone. I really dislike it when plots and character ARCs suddenly take completely different and unexpected directions that totally change the vibe of the story and results in a lacklustre or underwhelming ending. I also really dislike it when dramatic and traumatic events are used for shock factor in an ending especially when it’s (imho) unnecessary but will keep the dramatic plot going in a sequel.
BOOKS WITH ENDINGS I ENJOYED
If you’re not new to this blog, you’ll know by now my memory is like a sieve and I can hardly remember what I did last week let alone the endings of the many books I’ve read. Also, thankfully, most of the books I read do have satisfying endings (at least for me), so these are just going to be a few of the ones I enjoyed from books I read from the last couple years. I’ve also linked them to my reviews if available otherwise they’re linked to Goodreads.
Some of these (or maybe even all of these) are unpopular opinions of well-loved books. A few of these had the abrupt open-ended endings that are so not my jam:
The Toll: I was so saddened by this finale because we spent so little time with the characters that made me love this series in the first place. We follow new perspectives and characters that I never felt attached to and ultimately, this finale ended up being so disappointing.
Normal People: I loved this book but I hated this abrupt open-ending. Why Rooney do this to me? 😭
Restless Slumber: This was the second book in the Forutna Sworn series and I was enjoying myself until the ending of this book tanked it for me. Just… Why? I was so angry! Lol 🙈
What do you think makes a good or bad ending? What is something you hate to see in an ending? What are some endings you loved and hated? I’m curious to know what you think about this topic!
Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
Since last week I’ve managed to read six books. If you can’t tell by the books I’m reading, I’m definitely in a romance mood. All but one of the books I read were scifi/fantasy romance and I think that mood might be sticking around for a bit longer cos I’m (mostly) enjoying myself with these books! 😂
At the Edge of the Haight by Katherine Seligman ★★¾ While this was not the fast-paced plot-driven story that I had expected, I am still glad that I read it. I thought Seligman did really well in connecting us to those who are a part of society that many don’t give the time of day to understand. It was a bummer then that I didn’t connect to the characters and that resulted in me not feeling anything about the story. Check out my review!
So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is:New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2020 (if you didn’t read 10 new authors, that’s fine! Just do what you can)
I thought this was gonna be hard because my memory fails me but I took a quick look at my 2020 reading challenge and had to give myself a smack upside the head because the majority of the books I read last year were by new to me authors. 😂 If you’ve seen my December monthly wrap up and my 2020 yearly wrap up none of these titles will come as a surprise because I’ve mentioned some of them quite a few times (*cough* House in the Cerulean Sea *cough*), but all of these books and authors deserve to be read so I won’t stop gushing about them! Also, I’m mentioning 15 authors because there were so many new and amazing discoveries! 😍
Hello Mondays, welcome back to #5OnMyTBR, a meme created by the wonderful E @ The Local Bee Hunter’s Nook. This bookish meme gets us to dig even further into our TBRs by simply posting about five books on our TBR! You can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. You can find the full list of prompts (past and future) at the end of this post!
Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! It’s been a very hot minute since I did one but I figured I might as well get back into it! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.*
*Sorry if a book has been featured twice. I need to make better note of which ones I’ve done already!
We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
I’ve done zero reading this Sunday. I finished three sci-fi romances this weekend and now I’m not sure what I’m in the mood to pick up. I think (just maybe) I’m on a bit of a romance kick but I’m also keen for fantasy, so I might pick up a romantasy (romance fantasy). Maybe… Fortuna Sworn? I think I’ll give it a try and see if it’s my jam but if not, I’m also tempted to try A Deal with the Elf King (available on Kindle Unlimited, by the way!).
Fortuna Sworn is the last of her kind. Her brother disappeared two years ago, leaving her with no family or species to speak of. She hides among humans, spending her days working at a bar and her nights searching for him. The bleak pattern goes on and on… until she catches the eye of a powerful faerie. He makes no attempt to hide that he desires Fortuna. And in exchange for her, he offers something irresistible. So Fortuna reluctantly leaves her safe existence behind to step back into a world of creatures and power. It soon becomes clear that she may not have bargained with her heart, but her very life. TRIGGER WARNING: This novel contains scenes or themes of toxic relationships and slavery.
The elves come for two things: war and wives. In both cases, they come for death. Three-thousand years ago, humans were hunted by powerful races with wild magic until the treaty was formed. Now, for centuries, the elves have taken a young woman from Luella’s village to be their Human Queen. To be chosen is seen as a mark of death by the townsfolk. A mark nineteen-year-old Luella is grateful to have escaped as a girl. Instead, she’s dedicated her life to studying herbology and becoming the town’s only healer. That is, until the Elf King unexpectedly arrives… for her. Everything Luella had thought she’d known about her life, and herself, was a lie. Taken to a land filled with wild magic, Luella is forced to be the new queen to a cold yet blisteringly handsome Elf King. Once there, she learns about a dying world that only she can save. The magical land of Midscape pulls on one corner of her heart, her home and people tug on another… but what will truly break her is a passion she never wanted.
dinipandareads 