The Monthly Round-Up: December 2015

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Welcome to The Monthly Round-Up. Join me as I look back on the past month to see which books I’ve read, the reviews I’ve posted, the goals I’ve completed and my all important Book of the Month!

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| Books Read |

December has come to an end and we’ve crossed the threshold into 2016 – and what a year it has been! I’m currently compiling my year in review but December alone was a great month of phenomenal fiction. With a hefty pile of novellas bulking up the number, I’ve discovered some fantastic authors, read some thrilling tales and been taken to some truly amazing worlds.

And in the process of devouring – my Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge was well and truly surpassed, I fell just short of the mark on my Dragons and Jetpacks 2015 Reading Challenge and I well and truly flopped on my personal goals for December… But nevermind! This has been a fantastic month and here are the books to prove it:

| 1. |

Rising Tide by Rajan Khanna

| 2. |

Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds

| 3. |

13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough

| 4. |

A Reaper of Stone by Mark Gelineau and Joe King

| 5. |

Rend the Dark by Mark Gelineau and Joe King

| 6. |

The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard

| 7. |

The Serpent by Claire North

| 8. |

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

| 9. |

Best Left in the Shadows by Mark Gelineau and Joe King

| 10. |

The Builders by Daniel Polansky

| 11. |

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

| 12. |

Of Books, and Earth, and Courtship by Aliette de Bodard

| 13. |

The Thief by Claire North

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The Serpent

by Claire North

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| December Goals |

To finish at least one of the poor neglected novels which I am currently reading

(The Daylight War, NOS4R2 or Emma)

Status: 0 of 1 Complete

Status: Incomplete

To read at least one Christmas themed novel

Status: 0 of 1 Complete

Status: Incomplete (though started!)

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| Goals for 2015 |

Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge: 115/100 Books Read (115%)

Status: Completed

Dragons and Jetpacks 2015 Reading Challenge: 41/50 Books Read (82%)

Status: Incomplete

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| Reviews Posted |

The Serpent by Claire North

Superposition by David Walton

A Reaper of Stone by Mark Gelineau and Joe King

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13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough

Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds

Falling Sky by Rajan Khanna

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| Other Posts From December |

December brings with it a new feature – The Friday Face-Off – where I pit cover against cover to discover the best cover art from across both sides of the pond.

The Monthly Round-Up: November 2015

The Month Ahead: December 2015

Cover Reveal: Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie – UK Edition

Cover Reveal: Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Cover Reveal: Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie – US Edition

Bookish ‘Sci-Fi’ Beats: Oblivion OST

Bookish ‘Sci-Fi’ Beats: Ex Machina OST

Bookish Beats: Massive Attack – Heligoland

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Debuts from the Gollancz Festival 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Newly Read Authors 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Classics of 2015

Top Ten ‘X-Mas’ Tuesday: Top Ten… Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Most Anticipated Releases of 2016

‘Sci-Fi’ Teaser Tuesdays: December 01 – Rising Tide by Rajan Khanna

‘Sci-Fi’ Teaser Tuesdays: December 08 – Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut

Teaser Tuesdays: December 15 – The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard

An X-Mas Teaser Tuesday: December 22 – The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie

‘Sci-Fi’ Teaser Tuesdays: December 29 – Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

The Friday Face-Off: December 18 – The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard

The Friday Face-Off: December 25 – The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

The Monthly Round-Up: November 2015

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Welcome to The Monthly Round-Up. Join me as I look back on the past month to see which books I’ve read, the reviews I’ve posted, the goals I’ve completed and my all important Book of the Month!

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| Books Read |

Ahh November, the craziest month of the year! Not only was this Sci-Fi Month, hosted by Rinn Reads and Over the Effing Rainbow, but I started a new job! This meant I was unable to post as much as I had wanted to as I hadn’t prepared in advance (tut tut!).  I’m only just getting used to my schedule – or in other words: If I want to post anything at all I need to prepare in advance! – so hopefully December’s posts will be a little more organised.

Onto the overview. I read five books in November, none of which featured on my Sci-Fi Month Introductory Post! But they were all excellent reads and reviews for the unreviewed will be cropping up in the next few weeks. I managed to jump on the Sci-Fi Month Read Along of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (hello Book of the Month!) and I also reached my Goodreads Reading Challenge of 100 books in 2015 after finishing Superposition. Hurrah!

So without further ramblings, here are the books I slowly devoured in November:

| 1. |

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

| 2. |

Down Station by Simon Morden

| 3. |

Superposition by David Walton

| 4. |

Falling Sky by Rajan Khanna

| 5. |

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

by Becky Chambers

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| November Goals |

To finish all the (poor neglected) novels I’m currently reading

1 of 4 | Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

Status: Incomplete

To hop onto sci-fi month over at Rinn Reads

Status: Completed

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| Goals for 2015 |

Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge: 100/100 Books Read (100%)

Status: Completed

Dragons and Jetpacks 2015 Reading Challenge: 41/50 Books Read (82%)

Status: +0% during November

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| Reviews Posted |

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

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Down Station by Simon Morden

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| Other Posts From November |

The Monthly Round-Up: October 2015

The Month Ahead: November 2015

Sci-Fi Month: November 2015 – Introductory Post

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Read Along Week 1

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Read Along Week 2

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Read Along Week 3

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Read Along Week 4

Cover Reveal: Daughter of Blood by Helen Lowe

Tough Travelling: Military Genius

Tough Travelling: Tricksters

Bookish Beats: Inception OST

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Book to Movie Adaptations I’d Love to See

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Thanksgiving Bastards

Teaser Tuesdays: November 03 – NOS4R2 by Joe Hill

Teaser Tuesdays: November 10 – Emma by Jane Austen

‘Sci-Fi’ Teaser Tuesdays: November 24 – Superposition by David Walton

The Monthly Round-Up: October 2015

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Welcome to The Monthly Round-Up. Join me as I look back on the past month to see which books I’ve read, the reviews I’ve posted, the goals I’ve completed and my all important Book of the Month!

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| Books Read |

October was one of those months that’s starts off well – in a bookish kind of way – and then real life happens and it gets far too busy to even pick up a book! Hopefully things will be settling down shortly but I’ll try and keep on top of things in the meantime… which would be far easier if I was remotely organised in the first place!

A highlight of this month was attending the Gollancz Book Festival – which I will get round to blogging about shortly – where I bought some awesome sounding books, saw some amazing authors and got many a book signed! My poor October Goals have suffered though which means, except for the one goal I completed, the rest will roll over to November! I am getting very close to completing my Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge though so… hurrah! Here is the run-down of my October books:

| 1. |

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

| 2. |

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

| 3. |

Changes by Jim Butcher

| 4. |

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

| 5. |

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

| 6. |

The Few by Nadia Dalbuono

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Red Rising

by Pierce Brown

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| October Goals |

To read at least two spooky books in time for Halloween

1 of 2  | Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

2 of 2 | Incomplete

Status: Incomplete

To read at least two books from this autumn’s TBR list

1 of 2 | The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

2 of 2 | Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Status: Completed

September Roll-over: To finish The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

Status: p. 302 of 808 (37%)

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| Goals for 2015 |

Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge: 97/100 Books Read (97%)

Status: +6% during October

Dragons and Jetpacks 2015 Reading Challenge: 41/50 Books Read (82%)

Status: +6% during October

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| Reviews Posted |

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

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The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell

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The Few by Nadia Dalbuono

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Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

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| Other Posts From October |

The Monthly Round-Up: September 2015

The Month Ahead: October 2015

Cover Reveal: The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson

Cover Reveal: Calamity by Brandon Sanderson

Cover Reveal: The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Tough Travelling: Well Travelled Roads – A (Tough) Traveller’s Guide to the Roads of Middle Earth

Tough Travelling: Creative Cursing

Tough Travelling: The Good Thief

Bookish Beats: Assassin’s Creed III

Bookish Beats: Enigma – The Cross of Changes

Bookish Beats: Audiomachine – Phenomena

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Bad Bookish Habits

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Author Duos Which Should Exist

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Wishes for the Book Genie

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Homicidal Inanimate Objects

Teaser Tuesdays: October 06 – The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

Teaser Tuesdays: October 13 – NOS4R2 by Joe Hill

Teaser Tuesdays: October 20 – Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

Teaser Tuesdays: October 27 – Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

The Monthly Round-Up: September 2015

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Welcome to The Monthly Round-Up. Join me as I look back on the past month to see which books I’ve read, the reviews I’ve posted, the goals I’ve completed and my all important Book of the Month!

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| Books Read |

I’ve managed to complete a few goals this September but oh no! I still haven’t finished The Daylight War! My excuse is that it’s under a dust sheet whilst decorating… and I think I’ll stick with it! But hurrah I did manage to tick off my goal of reading at least two books featured in my Top Ten… Complete Series I Still Haven’t Finished and in doing so tick two books off my Top Ten… Books on my Fall TBR. It definitely feels good to complete some goals! I didn’t write as many reviews as I should have liked but I’ll definitely be making up for it this October. In some semblance of order, here are the nine books I’ve completed this September:

| 1. |

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

| 2. |

Vicious by V. E. Schwab

| 3. |

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

| 4. |

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

| 5. |

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

| 6. |

Raffles by E. W. Hornung

| 7. |

Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell

| 8. |

The Traitor Queen by Trudi Canavan

| 9. |

The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

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The Way of Shadows

by Brent Weeks

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| September Goals |

To read at least two books featured in my Top Ten… Complete Series I Still Haven’t Finished with at least one book finishing the series

1 of 2 | The Traitor Queen by Trudi Canavan

2 of 2 | The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

Status: Completed

To finish The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

Status: p. 286 of 808 (35%)

To read at least two classics

1 of 2 | Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

2 of 2 | Raffles by E. W. Hornung

Status: Completed

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| Goals for 2015 |

Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge: 91/100 Books Read (91%)

Status: +9% during September

Dragons and Jetpacks 2015 Reading Challenge: 38/50 Books Read (76%)

Status: +4% during September

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| Reviews Posted |

The Gathering of the Lost by Helen Lowe

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Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Vicious by V. E. Schwab

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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The Traitor Queen by Trudi Canavan

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| Other Posts From September|

The Monthly Round-Up: August 2015

The Month Ahead: September 2015

Tough Travelling: Labourers – Blacksmiths

Tough Travelling: Magic Systems – The Magic Systems of Brandon Sanderson

Tough Travelling: Portals to Another Land

Tough Travelling: A Lady and her Sword

Bookish Beats: Assassin’s Creed Unity

Bookish Beats: Elysium OST

Bookish Beats: Belle OST

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Characters I Didn’t Click With

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Complete Series I Still Haven’t Finished

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Fictional Cities in Fantasy Literature

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Books on my Fall TBR

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Book Pairings

Teaser Tuesdays: September 01 – Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Teaser Tuesdays: September 08 – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Teaser Tuesdays: September 15 – Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell

Teaser Tuesdays: September 22 – The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

Teaser Tuesdays: September 29 – Red Rising by Pierce Brown

The Monthly Round-Up: August 2015

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Welcome to the first post in my Monthly Round-Up feature. Join me as I look back on the past month to see which books I’ve read, the reviews I’ve posted, the goals I’ve completed and my all important Book of the Month!

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| Books Read |

August was pretty much my first month in the bookoblogosphere and, barring a few missed posts here and there, I don’t think it’s gone too badly! Over the course of this month I managed to get through ten books. Not bad. I even finished all those neglected classics that had begun to stack up on my currently reading pile. Hurrah! One goal complete and reviews for said classics will be appearing shortly! I’m moderately happy with ten books (actually, very happy!) but I would have liked to see more fantasy in the mix. I was obviously deceived by my reviews of fantasy novels from other months. Oh well, there’s nothing like self-deception to spur on new goals! So without further preamble, in order of reading, here are this month’s time consumers:

| 1. |

Agamemnon by Aeschylus

| 2. |

Inquisitor by Mitchell Hogan

| 3. |

The Somnambulist by Essie Fox

| 4. |

Armada by Ernest Cline

| 5. |

Doctor Who: The Drosten’s Curse by A.L. Kennedy

| 6. |

Pigs Have Wings by P.G. Wodehouse

| 7. |

The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

| 8. |

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

| 9. |

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

| 10. |

Persuasion by Jane Austen 

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A Darker Shade of Magic

by V.E. Schwab

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| August Goals |

To finish the classics on my currently reading pile (Agamemnon, Pigs Have Wings, The ABC Murders and Hard Times) 

Status: Completed

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| Goals for 2015 |

Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge: 82/100 Books Read (82%)

Status: +10% during August

Dragons and Jetpacks 2015 Reading Challenge: 36/50 Books Read (72%)

Status: +12% during August

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| Reviews Posted |

August has been a month of very good reviews, most of which were at the four and a half (heart shaped) star level! The highest rating given was five stars (awesome!) and the lowest rating given was three (still a good read!). Here’s the run-down:

The Scarab Path by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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The Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd

The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe

The Somnambulist by Essie Fox

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Morningstar by David Gemmell

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Inquisitor by Mitchell Hogan

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Armada by Ernest Cline

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Doctor Who: The Drosten’s Curse by A.L. Kennedy

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| Other Posts From August |

The Month Ahead: August 2015 

Blast from the Past: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner

Bookish Beats: The Machine OST

Bookish Beats: The Secret Garden OST

Bookish Beats: Röyksopp – The Inevitable End

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Authors on my Bookshelf

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Auto-buy Authors

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Books in Escapology 101

The Rapid Review: Crime Classic Firsts

N.B. Reviews can also be found in the Blast from the Past and The Rapid Review features