Spring 2023 Reading Challenge

Last year I completed my resolution to read 12 books in one year. So this year I challenged myself to read 30 books. I downloaded some new apps to keep track of my home library, to keep track of the books I've read, and how much I've enjoyed them along the way.

So far this year I have already surpassed last years reading goal of a dozen books and if I keep on track I will complete my goal for this year before the year is half over. It's wild to think that I ever let myself get pulled away from books. Maybe I needed a break after college, maybe I just forgot that I enjoyed it so much... regardless, I'm glad to be back. I feel like part of myself has returned.

So without further ado here is what I have read so far this year...

In January I finished up the last four books in one of my favorite series, Blue Bloods. No, not the TV show, but the teenage vampire book series by Melissa De La Cruz. I chose to reread it last year because when I read it as it came out, it felt very choppy, as I was reading lots of other things in-between. I was forgetting details, some that were critical to the story. I really enjoyed it this time around and I think that anyone who enjoyed the vampy love stories of the 2010's would enjoy this as well. It is somewhat of a long series, coming in at nine books total, but its a quick read because most of the books are around 250-300 pages.

In February I leaned in to Valentines day a little more this year choosing to read Lightlark and Cupids Match. While I did enjoy these books I found myself struggling with the fact that I thought these were stand alone books but they are not. Lightlark is going to have a sequel if not many, and Cupid's Match has two more continuing books that I can't get in print. Regardless, I enjoyed the ideas these authors came up with for overall story lines.

Up until March the books that I read were all considered YA... am I upset about this?, no... but I did want to branch out to some other things in the coming months so in March I read Hopeless by Colleen Hoover, and Madly, Deeply, the diaries of Alan Rickman. I had big expectations for Hopeless as Colleen Hoover has been the talk of the book community for a while now, with praise all over the internet for Verity, and Ugly Love. I could not have hated this book more. I understand that the content in this book has a place and for some it might just be what they would like to spend their time enjoying. I am not that individual. I wish that this book would have some form of content warning on the back or on the inside cover. The only warning I had was "Best book of 2012!". I threw this book in the trash the moment I was finished reading it.

On the other hand, Madly, Deeply was fantastic. I think the key points to take from this book are the smaller details and opinions that Alan Rickman thought important to jot down. Some of the bigger things are nice to note too but he really had a way of making sure his opinion was on the paper as well as the important events he was involved in. This book does not read well as a cohesive book or story like some diaries do. This is an inside view of Mr. Rickman's mind, and I don't think it requires the reader to sit and devour it in one sitting but rather chose a few days at a time to ponder on and wonder about where you were when he was where he was... if that makes sense.

I rounded off March by starting yet another series that had been recommended to me, A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair. I read the first three books in this series and was surprised to find that I enjoyed every one of them differently. The fourth book comes out in September and I will read it but I am also hoping that as a series it stops there. Ms. St. Clair wrote A touch of Darkness from Persephone's point of view as well as writing another version of the same story from Hades' point of view called A Game of Fate. So in my opinion, this series is well rounded out and I look forward to reading her series on Adrian and Isolde sometime this year as well.

Lastly, I finished off with an informative read, Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent by Jean Claude Ellena. This story although short was quite a large load to read... I found myself only able to read about a chapter at a time. Then I had to process what I read before I could move forward. I did really enjoy this read despite my slow processing time. It was very informative for a perfume class that I am taking.