End of Year Book Haul!

It is officially the last day of December and the end of 2019, so it’s time for me to share the books I bought/received in the last 31 days!

It’s hard to believe that another year has come to an end, but I have some incredible books that I can’t wait to get to in 2019. Next year is going to be an amazing one for reading, I just know it because there are so many debuts that I am looking forward to and series that I want to complete (as well as books that have been sitting patiently on my shelves).

To kick off the end of the year and month, these are the books I received as Christmas gifts.

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

The Dark Vault by V. E. Schwab

I can’t tell you how excited I am to read every single one of these books and the covers all look so amazing! I’ve heard some great things about all of these, especially Girls of Paper and Fire, which I will definitely be reading in January at some point.

I wasn’t planning on buying any books myself this month (apart from a preorder I had on my Kindle) but then I saw there was a Kindle sale and I just couldn’t help myself. All of the books you see below apart from the pre-order cost me just over £5 altogether, which is amazing! The book I pre-ordered was Evermore, which is the sequel to Everless that I read last year.

Circe by Madeline Miller (currently reading)

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

Evermore by Sara Holland

The first four books are all ones that I have been dying to read but just never got the chance to. There was also the fact that some of them were quite expensive, so I’m glad that the sale happened and I can now see what all the hype is about.

Finally, these are the books that I requested on NetGalley!

Enchantee by Gita Trelease

Romanov by Nadine Brandes

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

I didn’t actually request Wicked Saints, I was asked if I wanted to participate in the blog tour that will be happening and I obviously said yes! I follow Emily on Twitter and have seen so much about this book that I cannot wait to dive into it at the beginning of the year.

All in all, this was a great month for book buying and receiving, which should keep me going well into the first few months of the year. One of my 2019 goals is to spend less time on social media and more time reading. I keep imaging how many pages or chapters I could read in the 20 or 30 minutes I spend on Twitter.

Let me know what books you bought for the month of December and which ones you are looking forward to the most in 2019!

Wrapping Up December & Setting Goals For 2018

December was a strange month. Not only did it fly by with Christmas looming in the distance, the first couple of weeks were stressful due to my boyfriend’s operation. The Christmas break allowed me time to relax, de-stress from the last few weeks and spend some quality time with the ones I love (although I wish I hadn’t been ill for most of it).

Today I just got home from my holiday in Ireland with my dad and family (btw, flying in the wind is not fun) and I am ready for the New Year, heading back to work and setting myself some goals to achieve in 2018. When I was thinking about what I wanted to achieve, I decided to make them as realistic as possible. Here are just a few:

• Finish writing my novel (I’m 50,000 words in and hope to finish it and have it edited by the end of 2018).
• Read 50 books (seems do-able with one a week).
• Work on my health and fitness (this is one I know will take time, but I am more than willing to commit).
• Post more regularly on my blog (If I can do at least 3 a week, I’ll be happy).
• Save money (this will be the most difficult for me, I like to buy things).
• Always look at the positives in every situation (if the last few months have taught me anything, it’s that things aren’t always as bad as they seem).

Fingers crossed, that at the end of 2018 I can look back on these and say that I completed them. Now to go onto the important things, the books I read. While it may not seem a lot, I have to remind myself that it was a busy month and I can work on it in the New Year.

Books I Read…

Everless By Sara Holland

I feel that Everless was one of my favourite reads of 2017, if not my favourite one! It was incredible, original and fast paced. Everless was everything I love in a book and I cannot wait for the sequel. I was easily able to give it five stars and you can check out my review here.

Angelfall by Susan Ee

Finally I got around to reading Angelfall after hearing so much about the series and I have to say that I enjoyed it. While it isn’t what I am used to reading now (I prefer Fantasy books and novels with a more grown up POV), it was a great change of pace and was worthy of the 4 stars. You can read my review here.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

All I can say is, Holy crap…this book was incredible and that ending was amazing. I loved Crown of Midnight even more than Throne of Glass (if that is even possible) and I have a feeling this series is going to get better and better with each one. Easily a five star read and you can check out my thoughts here.

I guess 3 books isn’t too bad considering all that happened in the space of a month. I am aiming to read at least 4 every month if I can and maybe sometimes I will read even more.

Hopefully you managed to read some incredible books in the last month of 2017 and here’s to many more in 2018!