January 2023 TBR

January 10, 2023January 9, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Hello, reader!

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you know that I don’t typically do TBRs. Mostly because I’m a mood reader and I had convinced myself that TBRs are not my thing. I discovered last year, though, that any month where I actually made a TBR (typically for a readathon) I not only read more, but I found it less daunting when deciding what to read next. So… dare I say that I might be jumping on the TBR train?

Well, clearly I am, else this post wouldn’t exist 😂

I’m excited to give TBRs a go in 2023 and see if it helps me to reach my bookish goals for the year. Now, I’m gonna say right now that there may be more books on this TBR than I’ll actually be able to get to in January, but I’m going to give it my best shot! And if I don’t manage to read them all, I’m not going to beat myself up about it.

All that being said, let’s get to what I’m hoping to read in January!

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
Slappy, Beware! by R.L. Stine (my 12 friends, 12 recommendations book of the month)

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5 on my tbr

#5OnMyTBR – Something New

January 9, 2023January 8, 2023 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook where you chose five books from your to-be-read pile that fit that week’s theme. If you’d like more info, head over to the announcement post!

Hello, reader!

It’s time for my first 5 on My TBR post of 2023! This week, the theme is picking something new, which, honestly, could mean a lot of things. I’ve decided to interpret it as books that I have newly arrived in my house and tell you all about my recent library haul 😁 Playing fast and loose with the prompt, but I think it works!

That being said, let’s jump into the list.

#1. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

I’m so excited I spotted this at my library when I was going to pick up some holds! The librarian said it had just come in and I’m glad I snagged it. This book has been all over the book community and it sounds like something I would love. Cosy fantasy is truly calling my name in 2023 and I’m quite happy to go along for the ride. Excited to give this one a go!

#2. Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

Rebecca Roanhorse has swiftly become one of my favorite authors. I wanted to read Tread of Angels last year, but that clearly didn’t happen 😅 I was glad I spotted it when I was poking through the new books at the library. It’s a lot shorter than I was imagining, so I’m hoping I can squeeze it into my reads for January.

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book discussion

2023 Bookish Goals

January 8, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd8 Comments

Hello, reader!

I hope you’re having a great weekend. Today seemed like a good day to finally share my 2023 bookish goals! Now, a few of these goals are going to be holdovers from 2022 (*cough*), but I think the main goal of 2023 is trying not to do ALL THE THINGS. Ya girl just does not have the time. I’m also going to talk about my blogging goals and the reading challenges I’m planning on trying to complete this year.

That being said, let’s jump in!

In 2023, I’m trying not to set myself too many goals because I’m the type of person who beats herself up if she does not achieve some arbitrary goal that I made up in my head 😅😂 So I’m trying to be kind to 2024-Kerri’s mental health and set some achievable goals that are a little more ambiguous in nature. Only one hard number here, but it’s definitely something do-able and I can’t go a year without setting a Goodreads goal! So let me share my reading goals for 2023.

#1. Read 100 books

An image showing my 2023 Goodreads goal set for 100 books!

This is my one reading goal that actually has a number attached to it (not counting reading challenges, of course). This is also the highest I’ve ever set my Goodreads goal! I’ve read over 100 books the last two years and, with blogging and Netgalley, I think it’s something I can do again. Blog tours and ARCs have certainly upped my reading in recent years and I can’t imagine 2023 being any different. Still, seeing those triple digits makes me a little nervous 😅

#2. Read from my owned TBR as much as possible

This was a goal last year and it did not go well, lol. I got distracted by a lot of blog tours and new, shiny releases so I’m fairly certainly my owned TBR has grown rather than shrunk. I’m planning on cataloguing my owned TBR… soon. Looking at all the stacks around my bedroom and on my TBR bookshelf is daunting, to say the least, but I want to know where I’m starting so I can see how well I stick to this goal in 2023. I don’t have a specific number that I want to hit, or an amount I’d like to reduce my owned TBR by… I’m just hoping to end the year with less instead of more.

#3. Stay on top of Netgalley reads

Now, there’s definitely a number involved with this, but I’m not setting myself a specific number that I’m trying to achieve. I’m already pretty close to the recommended feedback ratio, so I’m not stressed about that. Mostly, I want to stay on top of my Netgalley reads instead of letting ARCs languish on my shelf until they are already published… heh.

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book blogger hop

Book Blogger Hop: Jan 6 – 12

January 7, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Crazy-For-Books and is currently being hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer. Every Friday, a new question is posted for book bloggers to answer in the coming week. The purpose of the hop is connection and community. You can discover new blogs to follow, new books to read, and you may end up with some new followers, as well!

This Week’s Question

What was the first book you read this year?

Submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer.

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first lines friday

First Lines Friday #68

January 6, 2023January 5, 2023 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first (I cheat a little bit here *cough*)
Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re using Twitter, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

Hello, reader!

Welcome to my first First Lines Friday post of 2023! Today, I’m featuring a book that I’m reading for a tour hosted by The Write Reads. The synopsis sounds like it’s going to be intense, so I’m excited to get into it!

But first, let’s see if the first few lines can capture my attention.

The Line(s):

“No one should live past hope, and he was ready to die. The girl screamed as he walked away, death struggling to cull so much life, and so her agony lingered, and so did her screams.”

The Hints:

This is a science fiction that sounds heavy (check TWs!).

It will be my first indie published book of the year.

It features AI, virtual reality, and gods.

The Reveal:

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year end wrap up

2022 Reading Wrap Up

January 5, 2023January 4, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd5 Comments

Hello, reader!

We’re five days into the new year, so I figured I would finally, fully wrap up how my reading went in 2022. Honestly, last year was the year of four star reads and I wasn’t mad about it! I read so many really wonderful books and discovered some authors that I would love to continue to read. I started to dip my toe in the romance genre, I picked up a few books that I’ve been meaning to read for ages, and I actually finished a series!

That being said, let’s go ahead and get into my wrap up post!

In 2022, I read the most books I’ve ever read since I got back into reading as a hobby! It boggles my mind that I read 135 books and 41,950 pages. Like… what?! I’m not complaining though because I feel quite accomplished. I have to give props to rekindling my love for audiobooks and graphic novels. I’m hoping to continue this energy into the new year, though I think that I will be shocked if I get close to or surpass that number in 2023. We shall see!

The fact that the average length of the books I picked up was only 310 pages definitely helped me read the amount that I did, too. This was the year of short, quick reads, which I kind of needed because I was a busy bee in 2022. I think this average length also has to do with the fact that I read a lot more romance this year than I ever have before. Romances tend to be shorter than the fantasy books I usually read. Being a fan of epic, sweeping stories is both a blessing and a curse 😂 Romances also brought me so much joy in 2022, so I am most definitely continuing my exploration of the genre!

I told you that this was the year of four star reads and the fact that my average rating in 2022 was 4.1 stars proves my point! There were so many books I read that were incredible, but didn’t quite reach that five star mark. I mean, I still read 24 five star books this year, which is a great number, I think. So many new favorites! The fact that the rest of my reads were mostly still great makes me quite happy. Here’s hoping 2023 treats me just as well.

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blog tour · book reviews

Blog Tour: Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

January 4, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd6 Comments

Hello, reader!

I’m so excited to be participating in my first TBR & Beyond Tours blog tour of 2023! I’m extra excited because it’s for a book by an author who is swiftly becoming a favorite: Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert! This is Talia Hibbert’s YA debut and, spoiler alert, I adored it.

But, before I jump into my review (and a playlist I threw together while reading!) I want to say thank you. Thank you to the people at TBR & Beyond Tours for choosing me to take part in this tour. Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to the book via Netgalley. And thank you to all my readers for supporting my little blog! Also, if you’d like to support the other incredible bloggers and bookstagrammers participating, make sure to check out the tour schedule by clicking here.

Alright! Now let’s get to the tour post!

Title: Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute
Author: Talia Hibbert
Publisher: Joy Revolution
Publication date: January 3rd, 2023
Genre: Romance
Age group: Young Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: Depictions of anxiety and struggles with OCD, child abandonment, depictions of intrusive thinking

Book Links

Bookshop::TBD::B&N::Indigo::
Amazon::Goodreads

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Brown Sisters trilogy, comes a laugh-out-loud story about a quirky content creator and a clean-cut athlete testing their abilities to survive the great outdoors–and each other.

Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes . . . except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.

Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption–yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.)

These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her.

Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed . . . or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

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wrap up

December 2022 Wrap Up

January 3, 2023February 9, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

Hello, reader!

As we start to settle the new year, I figured I would wrap my last month of reading in 2022. Honestly, December was a bit of a blur for me. Mostly because of the holidays but also because I was trying to squeeze in books that I needed to read! This is why I need to stop procrastinating on my BBNYA reads… I love being a panelist but I really need to plan better 😂

Either way, I think that’s why my December reading felt a little all over the place and frazzled. I didn’t read nearly as much I did for most of the year and the ratings fluctuated a bit more, but I still had a good time. And I will say that I closed out the year with an absolute winner!

That being said, let’s jump into the wrap up.

Books Reads

The Reaper’s Quota by Sarah McKnight: This was my first BBNYA read for the final round. I don’t want to talk too much about it because there will be tours coming up for all our finalists, but I found myself really enjoying this book! It was interesting, dark, and humorous in the best way. It didn’t blow me away or anything but it was definitely a solid read. Stay tuned for my more in-depth thoughts once the tours begin! ★★★
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead: I’m not a big historical fiction reader, but I continue to enjoy pretty much any historical fiction that Colson Whitehead writes. This book is no different! It focuses on a Black furniture salesman in Harlem during the 1960s and his fall into (and rise from) a life of crime. I loved following Carney on his journey and getting to know the varied personalities he runs into throughout this book. And I didn’t realize this was the first in a series, but I’m excited to give the next one a read! ★★★★
Lesser Known Monsters by Rory Michaelson: This was my second BBNYA read for the final round and I loved it! Again, I don’t want to talk too much about it because I want to save it for the tour, but this book totally sucked me in. I have so many angry notes about people being mean to Oscar, so you know I was invested in his story 😂 He is such a compelling character with flaws and nuances that makes him feel so real. I’ll tell y’all more once the tours start, but I highly recommend this one if you enjoy horror and would love to read one with strong LGBTQIA+ representation. ★★★★
Inheriting Her Ghosts by S.H. Cooper: And then I read my final BBNYA read for 2022 and it smashed it out of the park! I adored this gothic book so much! First of all, the main character is a middle aged woman and I’m here. for. IT. Second, she has two huge dogs that are her constant companions and I would die for them 😭 You know I’m going to be gushing about this book when the tours swing around, so stay tuned! ★★★★★

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blog tour · book spotlight

Blog Tour Spotlight: Malibu Burns by Mark Richardson

January 2, 2023January 1, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Hello, reader!

Today on the blog, I have a blog tour spotlight for y’all! This tour is hosted by The Write Reads which is 100% my favorite blog tour company with which to work. If you’re a book blogger and interested in getting in on blog tours, you should definitely check them out! Now, though, let me tell you more about a dystopian fantasy that sounds like it would be an intense read: Malibu Burns by Mark Richardson.

Before I jump into my spotlight, I want to thank Dave @ The Write Reads and all the lovely people behind the scenes for allowing me to participate in this tour! It is, as always, very much appreciated.

Alright, now let’s get to it!

Title: Malibu Burns
Author: Mark Richardson
Publication date: September 29th, 2022
Genre: Dystopian Urban Fantasy
Age group: Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: For a list of potential content and trigger warnings, check out this book’s page on BookTriggerWarnings.com