Cats Luv Coffee Book Reviews: Book Lists

Showing posts with label Book Lists. Show all posts

I have never been happier to see a year end. 2020 was just TOUGH, ya'll. Life in the pandemic hasn't been fun. It definitely threw a lot of challenges my way and I know I'm not alone in that. I'm hoping 2021 is a gentler year for everyone. One great thing about being a reader is being able to escape into a new book but I'll tell you—even that has been a challenge this year! I did NOT complete my Goodreads challenge goal of 130 this year though my final total of 124 was close. Last year I completed 131 so at least it wasn't a huge change. *shrugs* I still read 24,500 pages and there were some incredible books along the way.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by The Book Date.

This meme lets you show fellow readers what you have read, what you are reading, and what you will be reading.

I thought since we are all hunkered down all over the world that this might be a good time to dive into a new series.

What is urban fantasy? Simply put, it's a subgenre of fantasy. Most usually, it's fantasy that is set in a cityscape. The "urban" in urban fantasy. It can be set in a modern city or even an alternate city in the modern world. There are typically strong tropes such as the hard-boiled hero of noir, gritty action, and/or a procedural style plot. Magic, supernatural creatures, and mystery play a big part in urban fantasy. Sometimes, urban fantasy can also be dark, even bordering on horror.

Sometimes it's hard to determine a book is urban fantasy or paranormal romance, but while urban fantasy can have romantic elements, it usually takes a backseat to the action. I enjoy urban fantasy over paranormal romance. While I don't mind some romance, I don't want it to be all consuming.

If you are looking to binge some urban fantasy series, these are my top 10 recommendations!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

I haven't done a Top Ten Tuesday in FOREVER! I thought maybe it was time to resurrect it.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is Books with One Word Titles.

I love looking back at the past year's reads.

It's interesting to see what I rated them then and if that rating has changed in my mind now that the book has marinated in this brain of mine. These aren't necessarily books that I rated 5 paws up, but books that I hated to finish or would definitely pick up again for a reread.

Here are the ten that made the cut:

There's something about tracking your reading on Goodreads that is so satisfying to me. It's so much fun at the end of the year to look back over all the titles I've read. And I'm a bit competitive in that I like to try and beat my goal from the year before. (Okay, okay, a LOT competitive.)

I've read 130 books in 2018. Out of those, only seventeen were five star reads for me so it was actually rather easy to pick my top ten of the year. For me, five-star reads are books that 1) stay with me long after I've finished them and 2) books that I would have no problem picking up and rereading. Using those two qualifiers helps me to not get too star happy! It's actually pretty challenging for me to rate a book five stars. While I might really enjoy a book, most books are not something that I'd tuck away and reread on a rainy day.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

The Longest Books I've Ever Read:

When I saw this prompt, I knew immediately which ones they'd be.

I wasn't wrong!

I didn't start reading the Outlander series until the tv show had already started.

THEN I went back and binged all the books that were already published in the series

before I would watch any more of the show.

My Goodreads challenge that year suffered in the number of books but the page count was waaaay up there!!

This week's TTT is Books by My Favorite Authors That I Still Haven't Read.

This week's TTT is Books on My Fall TBR!

It's TV time on TTT! I tend to gravitate towards tv that's a little dark and snarky. Really not that far off from what I enjoy reading! This week's top ten Tuesday is: shows you should binge watch.

This week's TTT is Back To School/Learning Themed.

I decided to go with the nonfiction books I've read and enjoyed.

This week's TTT is books that will pull you out of a reading slump. For those of us in the blogging world, we are almost in competition with ourselves. We eat, breathe and sleep reading. We are not the average reader though.

According to the research, Americans read a mean average of 12 books per year, and the typical (median) American has read four books in the past 12 months.

Can you imagine only reading that few? I certainly can't. That's a bad couple of weeks for me! What happens though when we hit that reading slump and no book is "talking" to us? When our TBR starts piling up and there's no end in sight?

This week's TTT is popular books that lived up to the hype. I decided to go with 5 that did...and 5 that did NOT.

To put a different spin on it, I chose those that had movie adaptations. I wonder if that makes me somewhat biased, or if the movie just fed into the hype surrounding it. I tend to want to read the book BEFORE I see the movie. I think the book is almost always better than the movie. I don't want to ruin my perception of the story if I see the movie first. I like to be able to picture the characters in my own mind first. It doesn't always happen that way though as you'll soon see.

Here we go! :)

This week's TTT is books with sensory memories.

"These are the books that are linked to very specific memories for you: where you were, what time of year it was, who you were with, what you were eating, what you were feeling, what you were seeing, etc. Ideas include books you read while on vacation, books that you read while you were eating, books you read at work/at a family or social event/on the train or plane, books you’ve buddy read with loved ones, books you read during an emotional time in your life, books you read by the fire, etc."

I struggled with this assignment at first. I read so much! How can I possibly come up with TEN books that remind me of something like that? I remember places I've read, like the beach, or in the cabin on the cruise ship, or at my family's cabin in the woods.

Hey guys, it's time for another...

This week's TTT is short stories! I've read a lot of urban fantasy anthologies. Mainly because I love certain series and they'll throw a .5'er into the mix. Especially when a series has ended, you read all the little bits and pieces the authors may throw your way!

Shew, I don't know about you guys but this week has come with a vengeance!

I was lucky enough to have last Wednesday off for Independence Day and didn't have to come back to work until Monday. It was wonderful while it lasted, but man, you pay for it when you do get back! I thought I'd try something new and give my brain cells a little rest today. So,without further ado, my first: