Category: TBR

July ’22 “Judge A Book By Its Cover” TBR

~ Mr Geek ~ Leave a comment

Hello Reader!

I can’t believe this year is officially half over – seriously, where has the time gone!? I’ve had a pretty awesome 2022 – lots of twists and unexpected turns but I’m enjoying the ride! I just got back from vacation (spent a week at the beach with my family) – it was the perfect mental reset that I’ve been so desperately needing! I also was able to get some prime reading time in which was awesome because I’m a little behind on my GoodReads goal. Thankfully, the books I picked out for this month have been solid and they’re getting me back into a nice groove and out of my slump. So without further ado, let’s talk about my July TBR and how it was selected!

I had this great idea earlier in the year to have someone else pick my monthly TBR. I thought it would be fun to have a couple of my bookish friends (Hi Mollie & Christi) pick out what books I would read for the month. They know me well and we have similar tastes, so I had no doubt they would knock it out of the park. This got me thinking. What if I had my Mum, who isn’t a huge reader, pick out my books based strictly on the cover images?! This seemed like too great of an idea not to pursue, so here we are! I took roughly 25 books that I’ve been thinking about reading, snagged all of their cover images and lined them up side-by-side. I showed this combined image to my Mum and told her to pick out 4 books for me to read this month based strictly on the cover images. She happily obliged and, spoiler, she picked out some good ones so far!

Her first selection was Lock Every Door by Riley Sager. I’ve read a few of Sager’s books and have always really enjoyed them. I love a good thriller and his writing style is very engaging. This was my first book I read while I was on vacation. It’s the story of Jules Larson, a down on her luck girl who happens to stumble into one amazing apartment sitting opportunity. She gets to live for free in a luxury apartment and get paid extremely well as long as she follows the eccentric rules and… hopefully doesn’t disappear like the other apartment sitters. This was a wild ride and while I thought the ending was a little out there, I enjoyed it overall!

My next book is The Night Swim. I loved Goldin’s debut novel, The Escape Room – it was fast paced, intrigued and compulsively readable! The Night Swim, so far, is following in its footsteps! This is the story about a Podcaster, Rachel, who shows up in a small town to cover a rape trial that’s about to begin. While she’s there, a local woman reaches out to her about investigating her sister death (which she thinks was murder). This book is told from multiple perspectives plus there are “Podcast” chapters sprinkled throughout. At the time of writing this post, I’m about 30% in and absolutely loving it. It’s addicting and I just want to keep reading to find out what’s going to happen!

The last of my “short” books is The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf. I actually just got this book for my birthday recently and am really looking forward to diving into this one! An author is snowed into a farmhouse, that she’s using as a retreat location, to finish her new novel. Secrets start to unravel, a small child shows up in the snow and she starts to realize that she’s not as alone as she once thought! This sounds like the perfect high tension thriller to round out this trifecta!

My final book on my TBR is Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare. The Shadowhunter Chronicles have quickly become one of my favorite series (The Dark Artifices trilogy is chef’s kiss). Chain of Gold is a follow up series to Clare’s Infernal Devices series. I don’t want to go into too much detail here because a lot of the characters from the original series make cameos in this series as well (in addition to their children). I’ve heard great things about this new series and am excited to dive in. I already own the first two books in this trilogy with the final book coming out early next year!

So there you have it! A solid TBR lineup for the month of July that I am really looking forward to making my way through. I’ll be doing a mid-year check in to talk through some of my favorite books, least favorite books and goal progress, so keep your eyes peeled for that! How has your reading year been so far? Let me know in the comments and, as always, don’t forget to subscribe!

Until We Meet Again,
Mr Geek

My Chaotic March TBR

~ Mr Geek ~ Leave a comment

Hello Readers!

I’m writing this post a little later than I originally intended. As I was wrapping up February, I had this great idea for March. My “Judge A Book By Its Cover” TBR. Well, like always, life threw me for a loop. I ended up getting an ARC a little later than expected and I had a copy of Acts of Violet show up that I have been dying to read, so… PLOT TWIST. I’m changing up my TBR and moving “Just A Book By Its Cover” to April – so keep an eye out for that! For now, I’m just going to let chaos rein and enjoy whatever March throws at me, which will include the follow books!

As you might’ve seen in my February TBR, I was working on a blog tour for This Golden State. I’m currently making my way though that and really enjoying it so far. It’s a sort of YA thriller / mystery and it has been GREAT! I’m going to review this book once I’m done (and I’ll include more spoiler-free details there). Definitely something to keep an eye on!

My new book is Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore. Montimore’s debut, Oona Out Of Order, was one of my favorite books of 2020 (and one of the best things to come out of that year). Acts of Violet is the story about a magician, Violet Volk, how vanishes in the middle of her magic show and is never seen from again. Similar to Oona, Violet is more of contemporary fiction and I’m LOVING it. This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022 and, so far, it’s living up to the hype! I’m also going to be doing a dedicated review for this book as well!

The last book that I’m currently reading is The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I’m actually helping out Lisa From Troy (on GoodReads & Twitter) with a read-a-long she’s hosting. I am enjoying this WAY more than I thought I would. I saw The Da Vinci Code movie years and years ago when it first was released and wasn’t crazy about it. The book is 10x better and Lisa is doing a GREAT job with the read-a-long. She posts discussion posts daily (then I’m there to support with fun side talk and chatter). More information on the read-a-long can be found HERE. Also, if you’re worried about starting late, don’t be! Lisa did a great job breaking each day into small, bite-sized pieces and you could easily knock out a few days at a time to catch up!

Outside of these books, I’m going to play it by ear and just read whatever I’m in the mood for. Chaos will likely ensue but I’m just going to enjoy it and ride this wave! Should be an interesting end of month wrap up post! If you’re enjoying my content, please consider following my blow here or on Twitter (@ItsMrGeekToYou). Enjoy your month, friends!

Until We Meet Again,
Mr Geek

February ’22 TBR

~ Mr Geek ~ Leave a comment

Hello Readers!

It’s hard to believe that we are officially into February already! Last year, I decided to do a Black History Month TBR that focused on POC authors. Not only did I read a lot of interesting, thought-provoking and engaging reads, this gave me a chance to purposefully flex my reading into genres that I don’t typically dabble in. Since I had so much success last year, I challenged myself to do it again! In addition to my BHM TBR, I was also asked to be part of a Blog Tour for an upcoming release from Flatiron Books (This Golden State by Marit Weisenberg), but I’ll get to that later in this post! For now, let’s talk my main TBR and what that lineup looks like.

To start things off, I’m reading The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. Last year, I read Jemisin’s The City We Became and it was one of my favorite books of the year. It was so unique and different, it pulled me in and didn’t let go. I’ve heard great things about her Broken Earth trilogy so I thought this would be the perfect time to give it a try! I’m not going to give.a synopsis here because everything I’ve read so far has been vague and I think that’s part of the fun – piecing the story together as you go. I only have about 100 pages left so I’ll be wrapping this one up soon and I’m curious to see how Jemisin ties this all together.

Next up will be The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo and Dear Justyce by Nic Stone. I actually read books from both of these authors last year and really enjoyed them so I thought they’d be perfect to include again in 2022. The Poet X is written in verse and I’ve heard great thing about the physical book and the audiobook (supposedly this one reads fast, so I might read it on each medium). The plot revolves around a Brooklyn high school student who begins using poetry as a means of self expression. Dear Justyce is the follow up novel to Dear Martin. I really liked Dear Martin (I wish it was longer) and I’m curious to see how this next novel plays out. I don’t want to go into plot details since it’s a sequel but I’m hoping to get a little more resolution and closure that I thought was missing from Dear Martin.

Finally, I’m round out this list with On The Come Up by Angie Thomas. This is the story of Bri a seventeen year old student who dreams to follow in her father’s footsteps and become the greatest rapper of all time. When life start to catch up to her, she’ll need to figure out if this dream can support her or if she’ll need to drop the mic in favor for a more steady option. I also read The Hate U Give last year and that was a masterpiece. I’ve heard great things about both of Thomas’ other books that I haven’t read so I have high expectations for this one!

As I previously mentioned, I was asked to participate in a Blog Tour support This Golden State, so I’ll also be reading that book in February, with a review and more content coming last this month! If you haven’t heard of This Golden State, here’s a quick summary:

The Winslow family lives by five principles:

1. No one can know your real name.
2. Don’t stay in one place too long.
3. If you sense anything is wrong, go immediately to the meeting spot.
4. Keeping our family together is everything.
5. We wish we could tell you who we are, but we can’t. Please—do not ask.

Poppy doesn’t know why her family has been running her whole life, but she does know that there are dire consequences if they’re ever caught. Still, her curiosity grows each year, as does her desire for real friends and the chance to build on something, instead of leaving behind school projects, teams, and crushes at a moment’s notice.

When a move to California exposes a crack in her parents’ airtight planning, Poppy realizes how fragile her world is. Determined to find out the truth, she mails in a home DNA test. Just as she starts to settle into her new life and even begins opening up to a boy in her math class, the forgotten test results bring her crashing back to reality.

Unraveling the shocking truth of her parents’ real identities, Poppy realizes that the DNA test has undone decades of careful work to keep her family anonymous—and the past is dangerously close to catching up to them. Determined to protect her family but desperate for more, Poppy must ask: How much of herself does she owe her family? And is it a betrayal to find her own place in the world?

I’m a big fan of YA and thrillers, so this seems to be right up my alley! Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@ItsMrGeekToYou) for live thoughts while I’m reading! What kind of books do you have planned for this month? Any recommendations for my BHM TBR? Be sure to leave a comment!

Until We Meet Again,
Mr.Geek

Happy New Year: 2022 Reading Goals, Life Updates & my January TBR!

~ Mr Geek ~ Leave a comment

Hello Readers and Happy New Year!

It has been awhile since my last post and we have a lot to catch up on! My lack of updates has been for a few reasons: 1) The last couple months have been absolutely insane (both personally and professionally, I work in eCommerce for a retail website, so the holidays are always chaos), 2) I had a huge “Oh Shit!” moment in November when I realized I was way behind on my GoodReads goal for the year and set out to turn that around and 3) I have just been feeling really burned out. With everything that’s been happening and the pandemic still going on, it all just finally caught up to me.

New Year is always one of my favorite times of the year. I usually create a few resolutions and, generally speaking, I’m really good about sticking with them. I love the idea of a fresh start and having a brand new year ahead of my full of adventures and opportunities (which, granted, hasn’t really been the case the last 2 years).

2021 wasn’t all bad though! I reached more readers with my blog and got to partner with some Publishers on their upcoming releases. If you’re reading this post now, thank you! I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to spend a few minutes with me and my thoughts. Prior to starting this post, I just set my GoodReads goal for 2022 and decided to read 37 books. 37 has always been a lucky number for me and I’m hoping that’s going to carry throughout the year. Last night, when the clock struck midnight, I started my first book of the year and it’s a long one!

For the month of January, I’m going to set the tone of the year. I’m kicking off with a few self-improvement books, most are actually re-reads. I’ve owned “Year of Yes” bye Shonda Rhimes for quite awhile and am finally going to read it. The vibe of the book seems like something I’ll enjoy but only time will tell. Sticking with the genre, I’m also planning re-reads of “Everything Is Figureoutable” by Marie Forleo and “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. I’ve read both of these books in the past, enjoyed them immensely, and thought it was time for a re-read! For my non-self-help books, I’m planning to read “Empire of the Vampire” by Jay Kristoff (which I started last night). I’m about 30 or so pages in – it’s definitely a slow burn but I’m finding it interesting. Hopefully it picks up a bit because this one is nearly 750 pages. After I wrap that up, I’m planning to tackle “All The Stars And Teeth” by Adalyn Grace and potentially the sequel “All The Tides of Fate.”

One other, more general, goal I’m making for myself this year is to 1) finish some of the series I currently have in progress. I made a list and it’s embarrassing! and 2) when I start a new series, stick with it and try to finish it within the same year or within a few months. There have been entirely too many instances where I start a series, read the first book and then don’t come back to it for months (or even years) later. By that time I’ve gotten what I read and either need to do a re-read or try to find a quick summary online to refresh my memory. I’ve never been one to binge read series, I always feel bored after two books, but I think I am going to give that another try. It has been years since I tried binge reading a series and I am, thankfully, not the same reader I was back then.

Keep your eyes peeled this week, I have lots of new content planned including my Top 5 Best Books of 2021 and Top 5 Worst Books of 2021. The worst list is going to be a challenge to whittle down, I read a lot of crappy books last year. I hope you all have a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Until We Meet Again,
Mr Geek

June ’21 Recap + July ’21 TBR

~ Mr Geek ~ 4 Comments

Hello Friends!

As I previously mentioned, I have been in a MASSIVE reading slump. I felt like I couldn’t get into a groove – plus, I wasn’t really feeling the book I was reading, so I started several books all at once which put me into a major hole. June was a bit of a rough month but I’m off to a STRONG start in July. Let’s chat about June first and then onto what I’m thinking for July!

In the month of June, I was able to finally finish Mistborn (The Final Empire). I started this waaaaay back in April and, while I enjoyed it, there was a lot of world building / explanation about the magic system. This was all necessary and important information, but it really slowed down the story for me. I fully intent to continue the series and am optimistic that the next books will move at a much faster pace (since such a strong foundation has been built)! The other book that I knocked out in June was Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters by Kara Goldin (the founder of Hint Water). I have always enjoyed Hint Water and REALLY enjoyed this story. I bought read this on Kindle and listened to the audiobook (which was narrated by Goldin). The story was a mix of entrepreneurial insights, sticking to your beliefs and a pretty inspirational biography. I did read this one rather quickly (but it was on the shorter side, clocking in around 260 pages). Goldin came across as down to earth and relatable, which I absolutely loved. Unfortunately, those were the only books I finished during June.

Flipping over to July. I’m currently writing this post from the sunny state of South Carolina (Hilton Head Island). This is our first family vacation in about 3 years and boy was I ready for this trip! Leading up to vacation, I finished The Electric Kingdom by David Arnold. This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It was a very confusing story (which is the point) and it slowly unpacks over the course of the novel… Oh… and it’s also about a pandemic. This probably wasn’t the right book for me to be reading right now but live and learn. I finished this one shortly before we left for our trip. Since the trip started, I finished “The Last Thing He Told Me” by Laura Dave. Thoughts on these two books, plus anything else I tackle this month will be included in my monthly wrap up! I just started The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. I was a HUGE fan of The Silent Patient, so I have high expectations for this new release. I’m already about 30 pages in and really enjoying it so far! If I finish The Maidens before the end of the week, I’ll probably start a Kindle book. Since I’ve been reading a lot of thrillers lately, I’m thinking I’ll opt for something in a different genre – maybe something Magic For Liars, This Savage Song, Malibu, Piranesi, Realm Breaker or Senlin Ascends. I’m even tossing the idea of reading a few short story novellas from Kindle Unlimited. Only time will tell!

How has your summer reading been going? Read anything you just want to rave about? Have any recommendations for me? Going anywhere fun on vacation? Let me know in the comments!

Until We Meet Again,
Mr Geek

Life Update + My May ’21 TBR… I guess?

~ Mr Geek ~ Leave a comment

To say the last month has been wild, crazy and unexpected would be the understatement of the year thus far! Since I have been neglecting my blog, I thought I’d draft up a quick post about what has been happening and the books I’m reading (or failing to read)! Let’s chat!

A little over a month ago, I was able to get my second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. After this last chaotic year, I was thrilled to get the vaccine and start getting some semblance of normalcy back! Once I was fully vaccinated, I decided to take a trip to Harrisburg, PA (I have a couple friends who live nearby). I wanted to make this trip last year but had to cancel due to the start of the pandemic. It was wonderful being able to take a short trip, have a fun weekend and see some friends! My hotel was in downtown Harrisburg, which put me in walking distance to a lot of places. I able to visit the Midtown Bookstore (unfortunately it was only open for an outdoor sidewalk sale), Hershey Park / Store, Troegs Brewery and a ton more! I had dinner with a friend who I met at my old company – it was great seeing and catching up with her (and our meal was absolutely delicious). On Saturday, I drove down to Lancaster, PA to spend the day with another friend and his wife. We spent the entire day driving around and hitting up a bunch of local spots. It was low key and a great way to spend the day! On Sunday, I went for a walk before I grabbed breakfast at this incredible local spot before heading home! Dropping in a few pictures below!

Now onto my reading life! I have been SO slumpy lately. I started The Electric Kingdom by David Arnold and while I’m enjoying it, it doesn’t really grab me (probably because it’s about a pandemic which is hitting a litttttttttttttttle too close to home right now). When I sit down and read, I really enjoy the story – it’s just finding that motivation! I was hoping to finish The Electric Kingdom before my trip because I wanted to start reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson while I was away. That ended up not happening and I STILL started Mistborn. I was so busy when I was traveling that I barely read. Whenever I got back, I co-hosted Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon and had plans to read Survive The Night by Riley Sager. I stuck with that plan and started ANOTHER new book! I am absolutely loving Survive The Night, it’s fast paced and twisty – exactly what I needed to really get me back into my reading. Honestly, the books really haven’t been the problem, it’s just finding the motivation! My plan for May is to try to clean up all my in progress books (and potentially start a new book if I get through everything else). Which is the perfect transition to my last update!

When the pandemic started, I decided I wanted to do something for self improvement or self development. I couldn’t really decide on something though. Back in March, I decided I wanted to enroll in an online certificate program. I ended up deciding to enroll in Cornell University’s Product Management certificate program. The skills that I get to focus on are extremely in demand right now plus they are applicable in my current role plus give me additional career paths in the future. I started the program about 3 weeks ago and so far I am loving it! Each class is 2 weeks long (6 in total) and the program lasts 12 weeks. It’s learn at your own pace too. You aren’t required to take all 6 courses back to back, you can space them out however you want and have 2 years to complete all the courses. I’m planning to take most of the courses back to back and am only taking off 2 weeks for my vacation in July. That’ll put my end date as August 3, 2021! In addition to this online program, work has also been a little crazy. We had a small restructure which impacted my role/responsibilities. This happened a few weeks ago and we’re still trying to work out how we adjust to the changes. I’m hoping that everything settles down here in the next week or two.

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. What books are you currently reading? What’s been happening with you? Leave me some updates in the comments!

Until We Meet Again,
Mr Geek

Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Warm Up: To Persevere or To DNF?

~ Mr Geek ~ 2 Comments

Hello readers! After an extremely busy past couple of weeks, I’m finally getting my reading life back on track (and the timing couldn’t be better)! This coming weekend (April 24), is next round of Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon! I am thrilled to be returning as a co-host plus I’ll be leading a Twitter party and a mini challenge! I’ve also already picked out my book for the read-a-thon but more on that later!

As we’re all warming up for the read-a-thon, I thought what better time to discuss the somewhat controversial topic of DNF’ing books. For those of you who don’t love acronyms, DNF stands for Did Not Finish. I thought this was a perfect topic to cover in my warm up post because as we’re all settling in for 24 hours of reading, you NEED to enjoy the book you’re reading!

Personally, if I start a book I always finish it. It doesn’t matter if I love it or hate it – I always persevere through until the end. My one little caveat is that I will sometimes “take a break” from a book to read something else, picking up my previously abandoned book here and there to chip away at it as time goes on. I love to write book reviews and feel like I can only do that if I complete the book. I’ve persevered through some really bad books like The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor (funny GoodReads review can be found here). So I’m curious, what’s your take on DNF’ing books? Do you read 25%? 50%? 75%? Before deciding it’s not for you and calling it quits? If you DNF a book, do you still write a review? Do you still give it a rating? Do you still count it towards your GoodReads challenge (for those of you who participate)? I’m really hoping all these questions stimulate some good conversation (also, this is a no judgement zone, if you frequently DNF I applaud you and want to learn your ways)!

Before signing off, I want to briefly talk about the book I selected for the read-a-thon! I was granted an ARC of Riley Sager’s upcoming release, Survive The Night and plan on reading this (hopefully) from start to finish during the read-a-thon. I am an avid thriller reader and am very excited to diving into this book. For those of you who haven’t heard of this book, here’s the synopsis:

Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father. Or so he says. Like the Hitchcock heroine she’s named after, Charlie has her doubts. There’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t seem to want Charlie to see inside the car’s trunk. As they travel an empty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly worried Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s suspicion merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination?

I’ve read several of Sager’s books so far (The Final Girls and Lock Every Door). I find his writing to be engrossing and oh so addicting! This new novel seems eerie, creepy, thrilling and right up my alley! I’ll be posting spoiler-free updates about this book during the read-a-thon and a full length review after I finish! If you’re a fan of thrillers, definitely keep an eye out! Survive The Night will be officially released on June 29, 2021!

Until We Meet Again,
Mr Geek

Tome Topple Round 14 Announcement!

~ Mr Geek ~ 1 Comment

Well, the cat is officially out of the bag – Tome Topple Round 14 begins in a couple short weeks (March 15-28). For those of you who aren’t familiar with Tome Topple, the premise is simple: Read those chunky, 500+ page books! Tome Topple was created by Sam over at Thoughts On Tomes (her content is excellent and you should absolutely check her out, if you haven’t already)! Back in 2019, I started researching read-a-thons and Tome Topple frequently popped up. I’ve always tended to stray away from really long books (partially because I feel like I never “make progress” and partially because I feel like some books are unnecessarily long / start to get boring). I wasn’t sure if this would really enjoy it or not and decided to just watch Tome Topple from a distance. Note to past self: You’re an idiot sandwich. It was a book-related event, of course you would enjoy it!

A live look at me “watching Tome Topple from a distance” in 2019

When the pandemic set in last year, I decided I might as well commit to a round of Tome Topple. I joined for Round 11 and had an absolutely blast BUT… it was an EPIC failure. I didn’t even get through a whole book in that 2 weeks! After that, I worked out a strategy of how I needed to approach the read-a-thon. I came back for Round 12 and did much, much better – I selected a book I was excited about and plowed right through it! In Round 13, I reached out to Sam and joined Tome Topple as a co-host! This co-host experience was absolutely a highlight of 2020 (which was a tough year for all of us). All of the co-hosts are kick ass people and really work hard to make this read-a-thon fun and enjoyable for everyone! Round 14 is coming up and I’m happy to say I’m back to co-host again! Before I get into the reading challenges for this round, I’d like to introduce my other fellow co-hosts! This is such a friendly, dedicated and awesome group of people!

The infamous “Non-Bingo” board is back to help everyone keep track of their reading challenges. As a reminder, there is no “bingo,” this is just a convenient way to track all of the reading prompts!

Round 14’s reading prompts are as follows:

  • The tome that has been on your TBR the longest
  • A tome audiobook
  • Tome with the most pages
  • Seasonal colored tome (for spring or autumn)
  • Read 1 tome
  • A tome written by a BIPOC author
  • Tome from a genre you don’t usually read
  • Tome in a series you haven’t read for a while
  • A tome you started during another round of Tome Topple

The last order of business, my TBR for Round 14! My main objective is to start and finish Queen of Air & Darkness by Cassandra Clare. This is the third and final installment in The Dark Artifices trilogy. Without a doubt, The Dark Artifices has been my favorite series by Cassandra Clare to date. From the first chapter of Lady Midnight, I was hooked! These are all pretty lengthy novels but they don’t feel long which proves just how addicting they are! I haven’t start The Lost Hours series yet but I’ve heard really positive things about this books as well (and feel like they have potential to take over the title of favorite Shadowhunter series)! If I’m able to knock out Queen of Air & Darkness, I’ll consider this round a win! If I have time to start another book, I’ll probably pick either Winter by Marissa Meyer or Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.

Are you planning to participate in Tome Topple? What’s your upcoming TBR look like? Need help selecting what to read? Leave me a comment – I love to chat about books! Definitely make sure you’re subscribed to my blog and following @Tome_Topple / @ItsMrGeekToYou on Twitter for all your read-a-thon updates!

Until Next Time,
Mr Geek

March ’21 TBR

~ Mr Geek ~ 2 Comments

2021 is moving at an uncomfortably fast pace. Truth be told, I am still processing LAST March when the pandemic really start to begin. My company had us begin working from home on March 16th, so that’s also coming up on its 1 year anniversary already (which is hard for me to believe). About this time last year, I really started to struggle to find my reading groove. There were so many unknowns and I just couldn’t focus on what I was reading (or really anything, if I’m being honest). I’m happy to say that I am in a much better spot, mentally, this year and have been absolutely crushing my reading so far! I have a fun and reasonable TBR planned for March, so let’s dive into the books!

I’m going to be tackling some short-ish books to start off the month because I want to be able to promptly start off Tome Topple Round 14 whenever it kicks off (more on that later). My first book I’m reading Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson. I’ve been a Swanson fan since The Kind Worth Killing. The plot of this book sounds like it’s going to be a fast-paced thrill ride. A local book store owner creates a list of the top 8 most unsolvable murders of the mystery genre. Soon after, the FBI show up and start asking questions. Apparently there’s a copycat murderer on the loose who’s killing individuals that follow the list! Next up, will be Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. Since Dexter is getting a reboot later this year, I wanted to pick back up the series and revisit this world. Dearly Devoted Dexter is the second book in the series and continues to extend the story from book one (Darkly Dreaming Dexter). Depending on how much time I have left, I might also try to squeeze in Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi. Destroy Me is the first novella in the Shatter Me series and takes place between books one and two. I’d like to try to read at least the first half of this series this year (maybe I’ll get adventurous and read the entire thing). It’s funny, I was just talking tonight about how I need to get better about committing to reading series in a timely fashion. In the past, I’ve never enjoyed binge reading series but I think I am going to take another shot at that this year.

All of these shorter books are to position me well to start Tome Topple on time. I am happy to announce that I’ll be back as a co-host for Round 14!! I have a formal announcement post coming later this week with all the details for this round, including my TBR and all of the reading prompts! Be sure to check back!!

March is sure to be a fun month and I’m looking forward to all the books I have planned! Have you read any of the books I mentioned? What did you think? Are you a Dexter fan? Excited about the reboot coming this Fall? As always, I love chatting with you so please sure to leave a comment or tweet me @ItsMrGeekToYou on Twitter!

Until Next Time,
Mr Geek