“Monster of Elendhaven” by Jennifer Giesbrecht

Here I am, finally getting these reviews out. So far my reading in 2020 has been sluggish; I think it’s because I’m so backed up on reviews. I need to get them out my head before moving on no matter how interesting the stories I’m currently reading are.

Anyway, here’s one I read in 2019 that was pretty good.

Genre:

Fantasy; Horror

Series:

n/a

Pubbed:

September 2019

Goodreads summary:

The city of Elendhaven sulks on the edge of the ocean. Wracked by plague, abandoned by the South, stripped of industry and left to die. But not everything dies so easily. A thing without a name stalks the city, a thing shaped like a man, with a dark heart and long pale fingers yearning to wrap around throats. A monster who cannot die. His frail master sends him out on errands, twisting him with magic, crafting a plan too cruel to name, while the monster’s heart grows fonder and colder and more cunning.

“Assassin’s Fate” by Robin Hobb

Here I am at the end of the Fitz and the Fool trilogy, the end of the Realm of the Elderlings series, a 16-book epic fantasy series that took me and Emily at Embuhleeliest about four years to read. We made it to the end and had our hearts and emotions ripped apart along the way. The story kept us at the edge of our seats as we wondered what will be become of favorite characters and how the story would end. And when it did… I couldn’t… I…

So much happens that I’ve procrastinated on writing this reflection for the past two months. But no more! I need to get this out (so I can review other books) and move on.

Genre:

Fantasy

Top 5 Tuesday #24: I Gotta Read These in 2020

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm.

This week’s topic:

Top 5 books I need to read in 2020

Some of these will look familiar because I mentioned them in my 2020 reading plans posts. But these are the 5 books I need to read this year to satiate my curiosity about them.

New Year’s Resolution Book Tag

I’m in the mood to do a book tag, so here’s one. I found this tag over on Kristin Kraves Books.

Lol, I’ll most likely mention all the books that were in my reading plans post.

An author you’d like to read that you’ve never read:

N.K. Jemisin

Book Haul #58: From Old Year to New

Umm…so it’s been a while since I’ve done a book haul and I hadn’t even noticed. Of course that doesn’t mean that I stopped buying books (if only). I’ve just been busy the past couple months and didn’t have time to post my book hauls (or anything else) on Instagram, which is what I use to alert myself to do a book haul on here. Smh, I’m behind on so many things.

So this might seem like a large haul (kinda), but it’s only because I hadn’t posted one of these since October.

Purchases

2020 Reading Plans

Last year I tailored my reading plans to my habits, and it worked out well for me. I hit more of my reading goals than I did in prior years, so I intend to continue that trend in 2020.

Overall reading goals:

spend less
read more of my own books
complete some series

These are the same overall goals I had last year, but I’d like to see if I can repeat my success with them. I spent more than I wanted to in 2019, but it was less than previous years. I also surprised myself and mostly read books either from the library or from own shelves. I’d like to do that again and hopefully read even more books from my shelves. Also, I’d like to complete some of the many series I have going, if I choose to continue with the stories. My other reading plans:

Goodreads Challenge

50 books

It’s the same amount as 2019 and I know I’ll read more than that, so this is my relaxed goal while I secretly strive for 100 books.

Characters of the Year Book Tag | 2019

I’ve decided to do this tag every year in addition to the roundup review of the books I read in the previous year. Characters need some love too and sometimes they stick with me longer than the story.

I believe this tag was created by Amanda, A Brighter Shade of Hope, at least that’s what I said in my previous posts of this tag; but Amanda’s tag link no longer works. Maybe it was taken down. I mention all this because I like to credit those who create the tags, and I really think she created this one.

Favorite male character of the year

Fitz

It’s Fitz from Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings epic fantasy series, which I completed in 2019. Fitz impressed me and ended up ripping my heart out in the last book, Assassin’s Fate. Oh my gosh! He has done and sacrificed so much for his family and kingdom…. I wasn’t happy with his fate by end of this book, but… I miss him so much. I wish there were more books (although the series is 16 books long and took me and Emily about 4 years to complete).