Café Con Monica

Books: January TBR

After blowing my reading goal out of the water last year I realized that I don’t need to set an overall reading goal because I read a ton anyway. What I do need is a way to get more books I don’t usually read and non-fiction books onto my TBR lists!

I started the Girly Book Club chapter for Austin (More on this another day) so that right there gets me 12 books that I will read that were not chosen by me. Easy.

I thought I would Share some of my TBR List for January and why!

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekannen

This book is the GBC book for January. It has actually been on my TBR list for about a year now so I was super excited to kind of get forced into reading it now, plus it was free! Yay for free books!

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

This book. Guys it has been on hold at the library for the ebook for about 4 months now. Not even kidding. When I first put it on hold I was #358 of 15 copies. It took forever!! Then I keep seeing it everywhere and people reviewing it and I am like COME ON! So now I finally get to read it!

The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I tried a book subscription book for a couple months last year and didn’t particularly like it. I might try another one soon but this book came in the second box.

I found #TheUnreadShelfProject on Instagram and decided to this could be an awesome way to get some of the books I haven’t read off my shelves or off my kindle! The premise if that if you don’t finish the book you pick before the month is over it has to go. So that being said this book was on my shelf and for January we can pick any unread book.

By the By…my Kindle now has over 1000 books on it. Damn you Bookbub and your free ebooks!

I’d Rather be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel

I am a fan of Modern Mrs. Darcy and have been following her for awhile. This is her book! How exciting right? I picked it because the title is real life for me and also this counts as my non-fiction book for the month!

I will definitely read more than these 4. I usually average about 10-11 books a month but I wanted to share some of what I am reading!

What’s on your TBR this month? Are you participating in any reading challenges??

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Show Us Your Books & 2019 Book Goals!

It’s that time again! Linking up with Jana Says & Life According to Steph for the last SUYB of 2018! 

OOh I am always so excited for SUYB but love that it is the first of 2019!! I had planned to do a book goals post but I realized I wanted to share them at the same time as I shared my December books!

For 2019 my Book Goals are….

  • Read at least 25 Books that I don’t choose
  • Read 12 non-fiction books
  • Take more photos, post more about books & reviews

I never have a problem hitting a high number of books. I read 142 books last year. What I do have a problem with is letting other people choose the books I read. I often miss book club meetings if they don’t pick a book I want them to pick (sounds bratty I know) or let a book I am gifted sit on my shelf forever since I didn’t pick the book. So for 2019 I really want to make an effort to branch out!

I started the Austin Chapter of Girly Book Club so right there are 12 books this year that I will not choose!

Now….Let’s talk about what I read in December!

Tainted Accords Series (****) – This series hooked me right away, I loved not knowing what the veil was hiding. I am a sucker for fantasy, romance, YA and this pretty much hits all three.

Reaper at the Gates (****) If you are like me you have been waiting for this book from the library for what feels like forever. I was mad when 3/4 of the way through the book I realized that I would have to wait for another book. I hate it. I still give it 4 stars but there were some parts in this book that felt like filler for the next book. A way to keep you just engaged enough that you want to know whats going to happen.

An American Marriage (****) Even though this book was on everyone’s posts the last few months I still didn’t really know what it was really about so when I started to read it I wasn’t sure it was going to be for me. I thought it was very interesting, especially when they got to letters back and forth. I am still not sure how I felt about the ending which makes me like it even more.

The Hate U Give (****) Like I mentioned in my review it took me a long time to finally read this book because I knew that from the topics it covered that a lot of people would claim the book was amazing simply not to look racist. The book was good. Not amazingly written but still a good book. It covers some real s**t that is not easy to swallow if you have zero experience with it. It hit home for me having grown up going to a school that was 95% Caucasian being that I and my family are not.

High Tide Club (***) I am a Mary Kay Andrews fan so I was surprised that this one wasn’t a big hit for me. Even though there was a slight surprise that I didn’t expect the rest felt very made for tv movie if that makes sense? I wouldn’t say it was bad but it isn’t one of her books I’d recommend to someone.

Some notable mentions….

  • Something Strange & Deadly it was a fun filler read while waiting for another book but I probably won’t bother with the 2nd book.
  • A Cotswold Christmas It felt so much like everything other holiday book that I was a bit sad. I was hoping it wouldn’t be that easy.

What have you been reading? Have you read any of these??

Don’t forget to check out my new Instagram! Or you can follow me on Twitter,  Pinterest or Bloglovin

My Top Ten Books in 2018

Something that often surprises people who have met me or get to know me is that I read. A lot. Maybe not as much as some of the bloggers I follow but I exceeded my goal this year after blowing last year’s goal out of the water.

This year I used Goodreads and set a goal of 120 books and as of today I am at 141 and I will definitely finish the book I am currently reading before Tuesday.

One of my reading goals for 2019 is to actually write down the books I’ve read and at least a sentence about them. As I was looking back through my books read in 2018 on Goodreads I realized I felt like some of them were so long ago and I couldn’t remember if I liked them or not. Also, I am aiming for 140 for 2019!

Now on to my Top Ten of 2018!

While this is my Top Ten I have listed a few series as 1 but some are actually 3-5 books. From Left to Right…

Throne of Glass Series (1-5) by Sarah J. Maas -There are actually 7 books in the series but I haven’t gotten to the other two yet (damn library makes me wait ages) also because the 5th felt like it should have ended the series for me. I enjoyed this series so much that I read them all back to back fairly quickly. I even had a couple books fall back the wayside and have to be re-checked out because I didn’t want to read anything else at the time.

Tampa by Alissa Nutting – The thing about Tampa was that the topic of pedophilia, which is what she was is disgusting. There is no doubt about that but the book was well written in that as much I was disgusted I also couldn’t put it down. I needed to know what was going to happen. For this alone I feel like this makes my top ten. It is not often that I read something that bothers me but I don’t want to stop reading.

Crazy Rich Asians Series by Kevin Kwan – When I got the first book I actually started to read it and was like meh…and let it expire. A couple weeks later at a meetup I met a girl who was knee deep in the books and talking about them and she insisted I try again now that she explained that the whole talking about how rich they were and their designer labels was part of the fun. So I picked it up and tried it again, ended up loving it and zipping through all three books.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty – So I know people swear by this author but I DNF Truly Madly Guilty so I wasn’t sure if I would like this one. BUT guys it is definitely #2 on this list! I loved the twists and the characters and seriously couldn’t put it down.

A List of Cages by Robin Roe – I found this one through Show Us Your Books link up and I am so glad that I did. This book got me in the feels hard. Super emotional and well written. I hate to give away anything about a book this good other than to say that deals with abuse, friendship, love, life and experiences.

An Ember in the Ashes (#1-3) by Sabaa Tahir – These books…I was waiting for almost two months for the third book dammit. The fact that I enjoyed the second and third books just as much as the first is a big deal to me. The characters are strong, emotional, vicious and so damn interesting.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – It took me a bit to get into the book and it definitely had moments that I sped right through but for the most part I didn’t want to put it down once it got going. I realized looking back at it that the story may have been written in a way that easily makes you feel something for some characters over others and that its also even hard to dislike a character even when you find out the shitty things they have done. I put it on this list specifically because it wasn’t one of those books that I absolutely loved but I am glad that I read it.

We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union – I have always loved Gabrielle Union, there is just something about her that I always sat well with me and this book did nothing but encourage my love for her. You really get to see a side of her that you may not know about. She gets real in this book, and it needs a trigger warning for people who don’t know (like me) going in the kind of life she has had. The best part was that it really felt like you could hear her voice in the whole thing.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah – This book was such a surprise for me. I kept seeing it on everyone’s monthly link up posts and I just wasn’t sure. I finally got it from the library and it ended up being one of the few 5 star books. The description makes it sound so freaking boring and it really isn’t. I would say that this book dragged me in and didn’t let me go, I read it very quickly considering it is a 400+ page book such was that I couldn’t put it down.

Three Dark Crowns (#1-2) by Kendare Blake – I wasn’t expecting to like this series as much as I did (and if the library ever gives me the 3rd I’ll get to finish it!) This family dynamics are crazy. I will say that it didn’t pick up until the 2nd half of the book and then I was dying for the 2nd book.

So those are my Top Ten books of 2018. What books are in your top ten? Do you have any books you absolutely think people should read?

You can check out what I am reading on Goodreads!


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