Everyone’s got a TBR pile, some are just bigger than others.
Ashley’s May TBR
I’ve decided to do something a little different with my reading plans in May. I’ve just come off of April where I completed two different readathons, during which I read some books which have been sitting on my TBR for a rather long time. It felt really good to check those off of my list, so I decided to dedicate May to knocking some of the books I have been putting off, off my list. However, I decided I am going to focus a little bit on fantasy books in particular.
Ashley’s April Wrap Up
April was such a good reading month! I did two major readathons, OWLs Readathon and End Game Readathon (hosted by Kari and I), and successfully completed both. I even read some things that weren’t on my TBRs for my readathons, and read some short stories with my English 11 class. I read 21 things this month, which is pretty good if you ask me! I loved almost everything I read, so I really can’t complain about it all that much.
Ashley’s 2019 Bookish Resolutions
Finish Harry Potter Re-Read
Last year, in 2018, I made plans to re-read Harry Potter. I read the first four, so I partially succeeded in this, but I still have three to go. I want to finish this up, but the waiting list for the Harry Potter audiobooks from the library is so long! I am still really wanting to get through them though.
Ashley’s Most Disappointing of 2018
Ace of Shades
Ace of Shades was advertised to me as one thing, and then it turned out that the thing it was advertised was a super tiny part of the book. I was really, really looking forward to the scenario described in the synopsis, the shadow game, and it was barely a part of the whole story. That being said, I still really enjoyed the book, but I just felt like it wasn’t completely what it was advertised and that was disappointing to me.
Ashley’s Most Surprising of 2018
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
I read this one because the movie was coming out and I thought that I ought to read the book before the movie came out. I wasn’t expecting much because I was in this place where I wasn’t feeling YA contemporary, but this one just blew me out of the water. I was obsessed with the story and read it really quickly. I loved, loved, loved it. It was sooo cute and Lara Jean was a fantastic protagonist. It made me really rethink me thoughts on YA Contemporary, and made me open my mind a bit more!
Ashley’s January Wrap Up
I had a pretty good reading month to start off 2019, because in January I read 19 books. That was completely unintentional but seemed appropriate in hindsight. I really, really enjoyed almost all of the books I read this month. None of them were super disappointing. Additionally, I did really well on my TBR for the month of January. I read all of the things that I put on it, with several extras that weren’t on it. I even read a couple of brand new releases that I had been anticipating, which is always super fun. Most of the books I read were audiobooks this month, but I had several physical books along with one eBook and one graphic novel. Below is the list of books I read, and I’ll give you my rating, the format in which I read it, and a quick review. So without further ado… Here we go!
Ashley’s Worst of 2018
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
I really enjoy To Kill a Mockingbird, and I know there are some issues with it and that it’s by no means perfect, but I really do enjoy this novel. I think it’s an important read, but to keep your critical thinking hat on as you do. So, after teaching it for the first time, I decided to read Go Set a Watchman, and boy oh boy, I did not enjoy it. I know it’s not truly a sequel and that certain parts of it are word for word from TKAM, but I really, really didn’t like the plot of Go Set a Watchman. I didn’t like the choices that were made with certain characters, and I just genuinely think it was a poor choice to publish it. (Again, I know there was some controversy when it came to publishing it at all.)
Ashley’s Best of 2018
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
I read this on a whim after a recommendation of the librarian at my school last school year. I thought it would be a nice quick read, and it definitely was, but I didn’t expect it to really blow me away like it did. I find that modern poetry can be quite hit or miss with me, but I have also discovered that I really, really love modern poetry when it’s telling me a story. This was one of those ones. I absolutely loved the story, and it was deeply moving. I likes the way that Reynolds put a pause on the story, telling the basics of a trip down the elevator but drawing it out to teach his character a lesson he needed to learn. I always recommend this book to students now.