Tag: Goodreads

Popular Goodreads Romances I Haven’t Read: Romance TBR

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In honor of Valentine’s Day, this week has been Romance Week on Goodreads, where they shared a ton of romance recommendations. My favorite post of theirs this week was the 52 Most Popular Romances of the Past 3 Years. You may know that one of my 2021 reading goals is to catch up on popular contemporary romances, and this list definitely helped me figure out which books people have been reading and what I still need to read. I will put out a disclaimer to say that I know Goodreads generates most of their popular books list based on what users have been reading – I was happy to see that they did share an indie romance list curated by author Talia Hibbert. I have shared romance books that are on my TBR in a few posts

I’m glad to say that I’ve read 13 out of the 20 books I put on my contemporary romance TBR last March. I also did read 2 out of the 5 books I shared in a Top Five Wednesday about romance books back in September – 2 out of 3 that I haven’t yet read are actually on the Goodreads’ list, so I won’t be formally talking about them in this post (The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang at #2 and The Happily Ever After Playlist at #41). 

Back to the Most Popular Romances on Goodreads, I’ve read 25 out of the 52 books over the past few years. I also read 7 out of the top 10 most popular romances! While I won’t be adding all 27 of the other books on to my TBR, today I’ll be talking about some of the books I do plan on reading in the near future. The number after each book I list is its ranking on the Goodreads most popular list. 

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (#12) – From Blood and Ash has been highly recommended to me by one of my bookish friends IRL and so many people from the book blog community. I didn’t read much fantasy in 2020, so I’m excited to dive into this series – I’m probably going to hold off on reading until at least March when I’ll likely be in my post A Court of Silver Flames reading slump. 

The Friend Zone by Abbi Jimenz (#21) – I totally admit that I was previously more interested in reading the second book in The Friend Zone series, The Happily Ever After Playlist, because I’ve read so many rave reviews for that book, but I’m actually really intrigued by the synopsis upon this second time checking it out – the main character faces a medical procedure that would make it impossible for her to have children while developing feelings for a guy who would love to have a big family. Read More »

Getting Rid of Books on my Goodreads TBR #1

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I don’t know why, but one of my favorite types of blog posts to read are ones dedicated to taking books off your to-be-read pile or Goodreads want-to-read shelf. Goodreads is really the only way that I’ve tracked books on my TBR. Yes, I always live in fear of the books on my shelf mysteriously being deleted, but I’ve never been good about keeping track of the books I want to read in another way.

I do not care about how many books are on my Goodreads TBR – I accepted a long time ago that my TBR list will probably never break 80 books (let’s be even more honest, 100) because I’m always adding books on to my list. However, on Sunday morning when I was putting books on hold from the library and using Goodreads to do so, I realized that 95% of the time when I go to check out books from the library, I’m scrolling all the way down to the books I’ve most recently added…and not the books that have been on my TBR for months or even years! While yes, we all know that we tend to get more excited about new releases or books that have recently gotten rave reviews from friends, I am someone who will read books I’ve had on my TBR for quite some time. 

But this Sunday I realized that no matter for how long I’ve convinced myself, there are just some books on my TBR I’m never going to get to. Maybe someday I will, but I want to get rid of the sense of pressure I feel when I see them on my list. For today’s post, I’ll be sharing some of the books I removed from my TBR. I didn’t include all of the books I removed , but I took about 15 off!

The One We Fell in Love With by Paige Toon – Paige Toon’s The One We Fell in Love With had been on my TBR since October 2016. At some point, this book was a Zoella Book Club pick, and I want to say that’s how it ended up on my TBR. However, since Paige Toon is a British author, her books are difficult to find in the US both bookstore and library wise. I’m also not the biggest fan of the ‘two-to-three women find out they’ve been dating or in love with the same guy’ trope. 

The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1) by Rick Riordan – If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’ll know that Rick Riordan’s The Sword of Summer has been on so many of my ‘ I’ll read this eventually lists.’ I always felt pressured to read this one because so many people love Rick Riordan, and I actually have a personalized copy generously gifted from a friend. However, I’ve really begun to realize that I am just not a middle grade fan (if I do pick up a MG, its synopsis absolutely has to grab my interest), and I’ve never been super in love with Rick Riordan’s books. It’s definitely a ‘it’s not the book, it’s me’ thing, being that again I’m not a hue MG reader, not super into mythology, and I wish I had read Percy Jackson for the first time when I was younger vs. checking them out for the first time in high school largely because of BookTube. 

When We Caught Fire by Anna Godbersen – I added When We Caught Fire on to my TBR originally because I was absolutely obsessed with Anna Godbersen’s Luxe and Bright Young Things series when I was in middle school.  There are definitely other series from my childhood I want to reread more, but I actually want to reread The Luxe series and see how they hold up? This huge sense of nostalgia overtook me when I saw two years ago that she was coming out with a new book, When We Caught Fire. Read More »

Highest Rated Goodreads Books I’ve Read

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Let’s be honest, I’ve had the highest rated Goodreads book inspired-posts on my blogging-to write list from the start of Fangirl Fury. Flash forward July 2019, where I finally talked about the highest Goodreads books on my TBR (update: I’ve since only read 1 book on this list).

That being said, we are going to fulfill the second half of my Goodreads-blogging quest today by talking about some of the best rated books on my Goodreads ‘read’ shelf. Spoiler alert, but since I realized that the first ten books on my ‘read’ shelf were mostly composed of Sarah J. Mass and Harry Potter, I’ve decided to just mention the highest rated A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass, and HP books. As someone who mostly reads contemporary, I find it so interesting that the following books are mostly fantasy and other genres that are not contemporary.

How do I organize my Goodreads shelves by rating?

There are two ways to organize your Want to Read shelf by rating. You can first view your shelf by list and then click on avg. rating, or you can just select select avg. rating at the bottom of the screen. To organize from highest to lowest, make sure the triangle next to avg. rating is pointing down (click on the triangle to do so) or select the desc. bubble at the bottom.

A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J. Maas

Avg Rating: 4.67

I am a firm believer that Chapter 55 alone is what makes this book the highest rated on my read shelf.

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo

Avg Rating: 4.61

I tend to love series sequels more than the first book, so it’s not really too much of a surprise that Crooked Kingdom is my favorite in the Six of Crows duology—Wylan’s chapters in this CK sealed the deal for me.

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass #7)

Avg Rating: 4.61

Kingdom of Ash isn’t my absolute favorite book in the Throne of Glass series—hello Queen of Shadows (which happens to be the second highest rated ToG book with an average rating of 4.56)- but nonetheless, I have much love for this book. This epic finale deserves all the stars.

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Highest Rated Books on my Goodreads TBR

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It’s safe to say that most book bloggers love talking about their TBRs. Since I love reading blog posts centered about TBRs and Goodreads, today I’ll be discussing the highest rated books on my Goodreads TBR. I actually had this post ready to go back in April, but for some reason I never published it. I ended up reading most of the books in the original post!

I’ve been using Goodreads since 2015. While I do to try to track my TBR in my blogging notebooks, I primarily use Goodreads to do so. I also like printing out my Goodreads Want to Read shelf to have  a physical copy. Similar to my own rating scale, Goodreads ratings are out of 5 stars. And maybe one day, every user’s wish will be fulfilled and we’ll be able to give half star ratings. I’m still holding out hope for this one, given that the site has somewhat recently allowed us to count rereads towards the annual reading challenge.

 How do I organize my Goodreads TBR by rating?

There are two ways to organize your Want to Read shelf by rating. You can first view your shelf by list and then click on avg. rating, or you can just select select avg. rating at the bottom of the screen. To organize from highest to lowest, make sure the triangle next to avg. rating is pointing down (click on the triangle to do so) or select the desc. bubble at the bottom. 

 

For the purpose of this TBR, I will not be including books on my Want to Read shelf that have not been released yet.

With the Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevdeo | Rating: 4.37

With the Fire On High has been receiving such positive reviews lately! I’m always up for books with some sort of food aspect as well.

The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1) by Rick Riordan |Rating: 4.26

A very generous friend gave me a signed copy of The Sword of Summer that has been sitting on my physical TBR for far too long. I think I’ll pick up this book and its sequels when I’m craving a fun-filled series binge-read.

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills | Rating: 4.25

I’m not surprised at all by Foolish Hearts’ ratings position on my shelf because so many readers consider this to be their favorite Emma Mills’ book!

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Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Minor Characters

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Happy Wednesday! I’ve recently decided to participate in Top 5 Wednesday. If you haven’t heard of Top 5 Wednesday, it’s a huge collaborative group of book bloggers from any platform who post list of their top 5 favorite things every Wednesday. The category for each week changes, and for this week it’s favorite minor characters. My top five minor characters are from a mix of different mediums.

Dol from Vicious by V.E. Schwab – Dol is the perfect sidekick because HE’S A DOG AND HOW COULD YOU NOT WANT A DOG AS YOUR SIDEKICK? Sydney and Dol just make the best team in one of the best books ever- sorry, but I will not stop screaming my love for Vicious from the rooftops.

Alis from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas – Alis is one of the best components of the Spring Court. She has a quick wit and was one of the few members that actually helped Feyre in the long run.

Samuel Seabury from Hamilton– “Farmers Refuted” is one of my favorite songs (frankly, I love every song from the show) in the first act of Hamilton. I love how Samuel Seabury goes back and forth with Hamilton throughout the tune, and seeing his character come to life when I saw the show made the song even better.

Tigris from Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins– I loved seeing Tigris come to life in Mockingjay: Part 2, and I really enjoy learning about her part in the resistance. Having a The Hunger Games movie or reread marathon is a must for me this summer!

Jean Ralphio from Parks and Recreation – I’ve been re-watching Parks and Recreation a lot lately (when am I not is the true question), and my love for Jean Ralphio has only grown. I love his interaction with Ron the most, as Jean Ralphio’s humor and Ron’s bluntness makes for some funny scenes. It’s weird to think that the creators of Parks and Recreation considered making Jean Ralphio a love interest for Leslie!

Who are some of your favorite minor characters? Share in the comments below!