Happy New Year...2018 in Review!

In 2018 I.....

Read 199 books for a total of 62,479 pages

First book of the year I read was Guilty by Association by E.A. Copen 

Last book of the year I read was Vengeance Road  by Christine Feehan

The longest book I read was Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

The shortest book I read was Suffer a Sea-Change by Seanan McGuire

The most popular (on Goodreads) book I read was Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

The least popular (on Goodreads) book I read was A Tracker's Tale by Karen Avizur

Posted a total of 320 blog posts

with

81 of those being reviews

First review of the year was Everless by Sara Holland

Last review of the year was Scattered Plume by J.M. Miller

Was there anything about UFI in 2018 that sticks out as your favorite? How many books did you read in 2018?

Here's to another fantastic year in 2019!

Week in Review: 12/23-12/29

Books Received for Review

Protect the Prince by Jennifer Estep

Books I've Read

How to Live an Undead Life by Hailey Edwards
For the Blood by Debbie Cassidy

Reviews Posted

Scattered Plume by J.M. Miller
The Phoenix Illusion by Lisa Shearin (@LisaShearin)

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Tuesday- Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings....

* Friday- DNF's of 2018

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

* Did you know you can follow UFI on these other sites?

BlogLovin

Networked Blogs

Facebook
Pinterest Board
Amazon
BookBub

You can also add me (as in Stacy) to your friends on these sites if you're on them.

Twitter

Goodreads

Librarything

Google+

 

 * I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

DNF's of 2018

 I really hate to give up on books so it isn't often that I mark a book as Did Not Finish (aka DNF). I only marked 2 books as DNF in 2018 and here is why. 

The Queens of Innis Lear

by Tessa Gratton

There seems to be a lot of fantastic reviews for this book, but after a few chapters, I just couldn't get into the story. I might try again in the future.

Branded 

by Abi Ketner

I don’t even know what to say about this book. I can't even begin to tell you how many WTF moments I had while reading. I wanted to love it, but it was extremely disappointing. I finally gave up about 1/2 of the way through it-after skimming for quite a while-and marked it as DNF.

Review: Scattered Plume by J.M. Miller

Scattered Plume

Author: J.M. Miller

Release Date: September 27, 2018

Publisher: Self-Published

Fallen Flame Book #2

ASIN:  B07HJCZ4L5

Genre: Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Author

In the wake of death and betrayal, Vala flees the island of Garlin with Xavyn in search of the truth about her identity.
To find the answers they seek, they must first cross The Divide—a mass of cloud and fog that has separated human lands from the rest of the world for hundreds of years. As they pass through what is meant to kill all who draw near, a surge of magic emerges, bringing death to some and more power to others. In turn, The Divide is weakened, the fog dissolving enough to reveal what lies beyond, reigniting thoughts of war between sides.

But the imminent collapse of The Divide isn’t the only thing concerning Vala and Xavyn. They discover what Vala needs the most is also what the Islain queen had been searching for—a feather. Not only could it help prevent war, it could restore Vala’s immortality despite all she has forgotten. Though there are others also searching, waiting for magic to return, prepared to risk it all for the same immortal goal.

I really enjoyed FALLEN FLAME, but SCATTERED PLUME didn't do much for me.

I found quite a bit of things to be confusing. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't remember everything that happened in FALLEN FLAME or if there just wasn't enough explaining. I'm leaning towards not enough explaining between info dumps and new character introductions.

I wasn't that into the romance of SCATTERED PLUME. I didn't feel their connection or really care if they ended up together or not. I just wasn't feeling it.

I'm on the fence about if I want to continue the series at this point. I probably won't unless something in the blurb really jumps out at me.

I gave it 2.5/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Quick Thought Review: The Phoenix Illusion by Lisa Shearin (@LisaShearin)

*Sometimes I read a book where I just don't have a lot to say about it. Hence the name quick thought review. This will be short and sweet.

The Phoenix Illusion

Author: Lisa Shearin

Release Date: November 6, 2018

Publisher: Murwood Media

SPI Files Book #6

ISBN:   1732722609

ISBN13: 9781732722606

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Author

The agents of Supernatural Protection & Investigation (SPI) are used to dealing with the weird and the wacky, but even they are stunned when a building from another world suddenly appears on an empty lot in New York. . .

I’m Makenna Fraser, seer for SPI, and it’s just my luck that my birthday party is literally crashed by a building from another planet. And it’s not just any building—it’s my goblin boyfriend’s house from his home world. SPI’s mission, to keep the public clueless about the supernatural, has us scrambling to find who did this and why, not to mention how.

The deeper we dig, the more we realize this incident is the opening gambit to a much larger event. Old enemies have combined forces with an even older nemesis to develop the means to kidnap an entire building and everyone in it. But who, or what, is their ultimate target? Finding out and getting to the mark before they do will require all hands on deck, including some extraterrestrial help from the goblin home world. We’re running out of time, and if we can’t get our act together, we’ll have front-row seats for the end of the world as we know it.

I'm a fan of the SPI Files series, but THE PHOENIX ILLUSION didn't blow me away.

What I liked: I enjoy watching Makenna and Rake's relationship grow. The overall story was interesting. I truly enjoy all the characters in this series.

What I didn't like: There was a LOT of explaining of past events and re-introductions of already known characters.

I honestly don't know 100% why I didn't totally love THE PHOENIX ILLUSION. It didn't grab me like the previous books in the series and had a different feel to it. Hopefully book 7 will draw me back in.

I gave it 3/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings....

Warm wishes to all! I hope no matter what holiday you are celebrating this month, that it's filled with family, friends, love and joy.

New Releases: 12/23-12/29

Tue. Dec. 25th

Nothing this week. Enjoy your holiday!!

Happy Reading!!