Weekly Reading Update #14 – December 18, 2022
Welcome back to my weekly reading update! It’s been a while since I did one of these, mostly because for the last months my reading had been sparse and chaotic. I’m thinking of maybe making a bigger recent reads post (so please let me know if that’s something you’d like to see). But for today, let’s talk about the books I finished, what I’m currently reading, and my reading plans for next week! Let the weekly reading update begin…
What I Read This Week
Admittedly, I’ve been very absent on social media lately, but if you follow me you’ll know I’m attempting another 30 books in 31 days reading challenge! It’s my third this year and I went into it knowing that I probably wouldn’t read 30 books. And as predicted, I am incredibly behind! As of right now, I have read six books…that’s a lot less than the 18 I should have read by now.
Related: How I Read 30 Books in 31 Days | Lessons from a Reading Challenge
1) I finally finished reading These Violent Delights! This has been such a struggle book for me, I started reading it multiple times and never got into it enough to continue. And now, having finished it, I’m left a little disappointed. I really liked Chloe Gong’s atmospheric and cinematic writing style and was so sure this would be a 5-star read. Unfortunately, it ended up being more of a 3.5 for me, simply because I just wasn’t invested emotionally at all. I definitely see why this is such a hyped book and I’m definitely going to read the sequel, I’m just sad that it didn’t really work for me.
2) My partner got me into Naruto and we started watching the anime together! Obviously, that meant I had to start reading the manga as well. I think this is the first manga I’ve read in almost a decade (that makes me sound old lol) and I’m having a great time!
3) Finally, I reread Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s been a few years since I first read this and I’ve been meaning to revisit it for some time now. 2022 has been a challenging year for me, especially creatively. While I don’t agree with every aspect of Gilbert’s take on creativity, I always take some valuable insight with me.
What I’m Currently Reading
I’m going to be honest, there are quite a few books that are dying a slow death on my currently reading shelf. I’m not proud of it, but sometimes that’s just how it goes as a mood reader. The only two books I am actively reading right now are Naruto Vol. 3 and None Shall Sleep! The latter was recommended to me when I was on the hunt for more books like The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. It’s a YA thriller set in 1982 that follows two teens who get recruited by the FBI to interview teenage serial killers. I’m buddy reading it with a friend and I’m so excited, I feel like this book has the potential to be a new favourite!
That being said, I am still looking for books like the Naturals series! Those books are pretty much the only reading I did in the past months and I am a little bit obsessed. So please, if you know of any books similar to that series (young adults working with the FBI, profiling, could also be mistaken for Criminal Minds fanfiction) let me know! My own research has come up shockingly empty and I refuse to believe that there aren’t more books like this out there!
The Week Ahead
Let’s take a look at the week ahead…
This coming week, I’ll probably be in the midst of all the holiday stress. I still have a lot of crafting to do for various Christmas presents and I also have uni classes until Thursday. So my time for reading will probably be limited.
However, I am not discouraged by that because I have a plan! Ideally, I would love to resurrect the books from my currently reading shelf and finally finish them. Either that or I’ll make a choice to put them aside for later. My goal for the week is to make a choice about them.
Because I still have an Amazon Prime subscription, I keep seeing those prime reading book recommendations on my kindle. And it turns out that there’s a whole bunch of short story collections I can read for free! And even better: they all come with audiobooks!
It’s a match made in heaven, I get to read cool stories and explore new authors in short amounts of time and it gets me a little closer to my reading challenge.
Let’s Chat!
Thank you for reading this weekly reading update! What’s happening in your reading life?
📚 Did any of your 5-star predictions disappoint you this year?
📚What was the last series you read?
I hope you have a lovely day,
If you like my work and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee!
3 Comments
Caro @ bookcheshirecat
Would love to see a Recent Reads post 🥰 I also really need to continue The Naturals series, I only read the first book but it was so much fun 😄 None Shall Sleep sounds intriguing as well 👀
bookshelfsoliloquies
I’m so close to writing an entire post about just the Naturals series because it has stolen my heart 😂 it’s such fun classic, slightly cringey YA and I need more. I looove how the story continues and different threads connect in the other books! Particularly, I really liked whenever the story focused on the other Naturals and their pasts and problems, I found that to be a very welcome balance to Cassie. And I’ll definitely report back on None Shall Sleep, I’m so excited to continue later tonight though it might not be the best bedtime read 😂
WendyW
My kids used to read Naruto quite a bit. I’m sure they still have some books around. Even thought you don’t think you’ll read 30 book, that great that you’re doing the challenge.