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The first quarter of the year is over! How'd it go for everybody? Have you accomplished anything awesome? Did you get a lot of reading done? I've read 21 books so far in 2024. Let's talk about the best and worst of them.

🤔  Quarter Year Reading Check In  ✅

Best Books I've Read This Quarter?

The two that stand out the most are Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia Of Faeries by Heather Fawcett and The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett. They're very different books!

Emily Wilde is a cozy fantasy novel that forces me to look up the spelling of the title every time I type it. It's about fairies faeries who causally decapitate one another. The characters are sweet, funny, and a little dangerous. Emily Wilde is a university professor who travels to a remote island to study the faerie population. She plans to spend months alone in the wilderness, but then her academic rival, Wendell Bambleby, shows up on the doorstep of her decrepit cabin. Wendell is also there to study faeries. (Or so he claims.) At first, Emily is irritated, but then she realizes that she might have a crush on her rival. And the feeling might be mutual.

I feel like I've been searching for this book for years. (Not just because I can't spell the title.) I've been craving a medium-stakes fantasy book with fun characters and a world that doesn't require my whole brain to understand. This is the exact novel I wanted! I loved it!

Now for an extremely-not-cozy book. The Pillars Of The Earth is one of the biggest novels I've ever conquered. It's close to 1000 pages, and it consumed my life for nearly a month. I just wanted to spend all my time reading this book!

It's about building a cathedral in the Middle Ages. I know that sounds boring, but I promise it doesn't suck! Actually, it's a lot like A Game of Thrones without dragons and zombies. It starts with a mason searching for a job and then keeps sprawling outward until it's about a whole town. There are a ton of characters, but I never got confused because they're developed beautifully. They have distinctive personalities and goals. I was never mad about switching perspectives because I was invested in this town. I wanted to be in everybody's business.

For a giant book, the pacing moves quickly, and there's a new plot twist every few chapters. I can tell that the author was originally a thriller writer. I was surprised at how much I loved this book beast.

Worst Books I've Read This Quarter?

There have been a few bad ones, but I was the most disappointed in Navigate Chaos: A 5-Step Guide To Balance Work, Family, And Other Life Priorities by Steven B. Wiley. I read it for book club. I have no idea why the club chose it.

The author owns a life coaching company called CEEK. It's pronounced "seek." It's not an acronym. It's just "seek" spelled confusingly and in ALL CAPS. Sometimes CEEK is written in ALL CAPS and italics so it's extra noticeable while you're reading. The author never misses an opportunity to remind the reader that he has a company called CEEK. It gives the entire book sleezy salesman vibes.

Genres I've Read The Most?

This is a tricky question because I search for books that are genre-bending. I don't know how to categorize what I read. According to my spreadsheet, I mostly read historical fiction and fantasy in the first quarter. I don't actually know if that's accurate.

Books That Surprised Me?

Can I just talk about The Pillars Of The Earth again? I was surprised by how much I neglected my life to read that book.

One of my goals this year is to read happier books. I wasn't sure how much I'd like happy stories, but I thoroughly enjoyed Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree and The Very Secret Society Of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. They're both cozy fantasy books about magical creatures (magical people? Magical beings?) who are falling in love and trying to make a good life for themselves. They're cute and fun.

The most shocking book I read was Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller. It's about an eight-year-old girl who is abducted by her father and taken to a cabin in the woods. He convinces her that the world has ended, and they're the only two survivors. Then the girl meets a man who says he lives on the other side of the river. Chaos and death happen. There's a highly disturbing plot twist at the end of the book that I did not see coming.

Books That Came Out In 2023 That I Haven't Read Yet?

The Fragile Threads Of Power by V.E. Schwab. I have a good excuse! It's the first book in a companion series to the Shades Of Magic books. I have a terrible memory, so I want to reread the first series before starting the second. If you like books about parallel universes, you need to read Shades Of Magic.

Am I Succeeding At My Reading Goals?

Maybe? Most of my goals were vague, so it's hard to measure success. I set my Goodreads goal at 30 books because I wanted to read some giant ones. I didn't need Goodreads pressuring me to read faster. I'll hit 30 books pretty soon.

I wanted to read happier books and asked for recommendations at the start of the year. I think I'll finish all 12 recommendations before the year ends. I've read 6.

I'm trying to read all the unread books on my shelf. This has been slow going because I can't stay away from the library. The library has better books than me!

I think that's all the goals I made. Overall, I'm doing okay with them.

Do you want to answer these questions on your blog? Go for it!