When All Is Read And Done // January 2019 Wrap-Up ft. My YARC Sign-Up

I don’t talk about my son on here very often, but I love him more than both books and waffles combined – so that’s a whole dang lot. He’s two years old and about as rambunctious as a spinning top stuck in a EF-5 tornado. Like I said: he’s two. That’s how most two-year-olds are. They like to run around, channeling the speed of a cheetah and the slickness of an oil-dipped otter right when you’re trying to put them to sleep. They bounce up and down like their name is T-I-Double-Guh-Er. This is especially great when you live in a second floor apartment and your neighbors downstairs don’t appreciate the live Winnie-the-Pooh reenactments.

Most of all, energetic toddlers love to make noise. They love to shout, screech, squeal, and scream (usually loudest when you’re in the midst of a raging battle with your old nemesis: The Massive Migraine™). I’ve tried to patiently explain to my son that unless he is getting abducted by vicious vampire-aliens, he should never let loose a scream that exceeds 150 decibels.

But when I saw the announcement for the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge, I think I broke my own rule.

Bloodsucking extraterrestrials aside, I’m Kermit-the-Frog excited to announce that I will be participating in the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge 2019 – or YARC for short. Hosted by four of the most amazing and hardworking book bloggers out there (CW, Vicky, Lily, & Shealea I’m looking at you), YARC aims to shower love and support on Asian literature and Asian authors. And if that isn’t a worthy cause, I don’t know what is.

Now, on to the part that’s as mad as a March hare: I’ve made an utterly impractical a completely realistic goal of reading 100 books this year. EEP. I THINK I MUST BE GOING CRAZY IN MY OLD AGE.

*In a cheesy Infomercial Pitchman voice* But wait, there’s more! Not only do I want to read 100 books, but I also want over half of those to be written by Asian authors. Yes, Dear Reader, you read that correctly. I’m going to get that Bengali Tiger even if it kills me. NOW LET’S DO THIS!!

The Midnight Star // Marie Lu // ★★★★☆ – You know that feeling when you keep scraping the bottom of the ice cream bowl with your spoon because you can’t admit that you ate it all? That’s how I feel about this book. After I finished listening to the audiobook, I just sat there, staring off into space. For like…five minutes. Straight. Because IT ENDED. HOW DARE THIS WONDERFUL SERIES EVEN THINK OF ENDING. And although the ending wasn’t perfect, I found myself scraping the bottom of the empty bowl, wishing that the proverbial ice cream wasn’t all gone. Okay, wow. Now I want some ice-cream.

The Bone Witch // Rin Chupeco // ★★★★☆ – The storytelling in this book is so unique and my smol brain struggles to wrap itself around just how vast Chupeco’s fictional world really is. This is an example of true high fantasy AND IT’S DIVERSE. What more do you really need? Me @ Me: Maybe some ice-cream…

When Dimple Met Rishi // Sandhya Menon //★★☆☆☆ – I initially was going to give this book three stars, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn’t really enjoy it. Also, the number of times Dimple “playfully” punches Rishi could probably surpass the National Debt. Okay mmaaaaaybe I’m exaggerating a bit here, but still. It was a lot. Is that how all the young’uns flirt these days? Apparently, I’ve been doing it all wrong! Shouts over my should to my husband: “Honey, come here so I can lovingly punch you!”

The Star-Touched Queen // Roshani Chokshi // ★★½☆☆☆ – The purple prose is strong with this one. Don’t get me wrong – I love flowery language as much as the next person. Give me the purpliest, purple prose that you can find, and I’ll be as happy as a pair of plums asleep under a blanket of violet sky. Did that make any sense? No? Well good, because that was kind of the point. While Chokshi’s writing style in The Star-Touched Queen was undoubtably beautiful, it distanced me from the story and made it harder to fully understand the plot. Sure, it was magical and atmospheric, but it also left me feeling detached and confused.

Legendary // Stephanie Garber // ★★★★½☆– I was reeeaaaaally skeptical when I started reading this. I didn’t enjoy Caraval very much and thought that Tella was (and I quote): “border-line obnoxious,” but I picked up Legendary anyways. I thought, “If I like this book, pistachios for everyone.” Lo and behold:

The story itself was very disjointed from Caraval and was more like a spinoff series than a direct sequel. A whole mythology was introduced that never once was mentioned in Caraval, thus making the story feel like it was taking place in a completely different world. And that’s probably why I liked this installment so much more.

Daughter of the Siren Queen // Tricia Levenseller // ★★★★☆ – The slow burn is real, folks. And it very nearly killed me. The whole time I was reading this, I wanted to take Alosa by the shoulders and yell, “YOU’RE IN DENIAL. JUST KISS HIM ALREADY.”

Also, you know that piece of writing advice that goes something like, “Think of the worst thing that could happen to your characters – and then make it even worse?” Well, Levenseller really nails that on the head in this book. The stakes were so high, they were taller than the Empire State Building.

Love, Hate, and Other Filters // Samira Ahmed // ★★★★★ – In the beginning of January, I made a goal to try and read more books outside of my usual preferences (read: books that are not YA fantasy), and that resolution is already paying off. Without it, I wouldn’t have picked this book up and that would have been a shame. Ahmed’s #ownvoices debut novel is the perfect tie-dyed mix of fluffy romance and hard-hitting topics, such as racism and Islamophobia.

Men in Black // What with the Men in Black: International trailer being dropped this month, I figured I should probably culture myself and watch the original, which I hadn’t seen before. The fact that I am only now partaking of the glory that is this movie is a complete travesty, because UM HELLO? THEY CALL THEIR MEMORY-WIPING DEVICE THE “FLASHY-THING!” Now that’s my kind of humor.

Gone With the Wind // This was how I spent my New Years Eve/New Years Day: snuggled up with the hubbie under our fuzzy heated blanket (which is probably one of the best human inventions ever, alongside the air conditioner and indoor plumbing), having a Gone With the Wind marathon. I married a good one, folks.

The Muppets // The music in this movie is SO CATCHY! It got stuck on the walls of my mind like honey-covered superglue. Gosh, Kat. Remember that discussion we just had about purple prose? I was humming it nonstop for at least a week afterwards. Also, I’m pretty sure Walter is my spirit animal. I mean, just look at this:

The Good Place {Season 3} // DEAD. I AM DEAD. This show happily dug my grave for me and now I’m lying in it, crying my eyes out like the emotional mess that I am. Thank you and goodnight.

• I had my first guest post on the blog! The wonderful Tiffany @ Read By Tiffany shared her contemporary recommendations for 2019 and we named it “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” because we’re extra like that.
• I was the #blogoftheday on The Write Reads and my stats exploded like a well-aimed water balloon! It’s only January, but I’ve almost surpassed my total number of views for all of 2018. WHUT.
• I started a new blog feature called, “Going Undercover,” where I interview book cover illustrators. The first installment spotlighted Maike Plenzke’s amazing work and it was so fascinating to learn more about all the work that goes into cover illustration.
• The #NewAdultRevolution became a thing, somehow? I’m still shook that it’s gotten such a positive reaction. Like, people are actually listening to little ol’ me? WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT?

• The angelic Kelly @ Another Book in the Wall went self-hosted and you should all go check out her new fancy website!
• Shealea deleted her old blog, and launched her new masterpiece, Shut Up, Shealea, which makes my sunflower-loving heart go all mushy-gushy.
• Kaleena @ Reader Voracious started a new online running club for book lovers (and I really need to make the time to be more active in it).
• Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books shared a list of happy-go-lucky books that will melt your souls like warm cotton candy.
• Malanie @ Malanie Loves Fiction recommends some stress-free books to help us all destress, and if there is one thing I need, it is to DE-THE-HECK-STRESS.
• Karlita @ Tale Out Loud wrote a basic HTML tutorial and it is a game-changer. Like, seriously. I should print this baby out and laminate it.

What did you read this month?

Have you/are you going to join the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge?

What books are on your February TBR?