The Kerensa 2025 Reading Spreadsheet

Happy New Year! 

At the end of the year, one of the things I start doing is preparing my reading tracker spreadsheet for the new year. I have become a spreadsheet fiend over the last few years, mostly because of reading tracking (but have I also found excuses to work more spreadsheets into my job? Well, yes, yes I have). 

Near the end of 2023, one of my friends asked if she could use my reading tracking spreadsheet to start tracking her books as well, and I said, "Of course!" and then frantically began checking over the new spreadsheet I was making for 2024 to make sure it wasn't too esoteric and tailored to me specifically.

Now it's a new year, so I made a new spreadsheet, and now that someone else has used my spreadsheet for a year with no major mishaps I thought it could be fun to share it more broadly. So if you're in the market for a reading tracker spreadsheet, please feel free to try this one!

Ranking 2024 Releases (That I've Read)

Since I'm so dreadfully behind on actually doing monthly wrap-ups this year, I thought it might be fun to branch out into some other types of content. Like, for instance, ranking all 30 of the 2024 releases I've read this year (and last year).

This list spans fantasy, sci fi, and contemporary romance (with a random YA thriller thrown in for good measure) so it may feel a little all over the place. But that's fine. Only boring people separate their ranking lists by genre!

Let's get into it.

Reactor Magazine Readers (ft. Me) Pick the Most Iconic SFF Books of the 21st Century

A couple of weeks ago, Reactor released an article about the best sci fi and fantasy books of the 21st century, as decided by the Reactor staff and various SFF authors. Following this, they put out a google form where readers could nominate their own best SFF books of the 21st century - so I decided to submit mine.

And then they actually decided to feature three of my quotes in the follow-up article! 

I'm very pleased and surprised. I saved what I wrote in the form, just for my own reference, so I thought it would be fun to share my personal list of nominations in full. Disclaimer, of course, that if I were just making a list of my personal favorites, this list would be a bit different. "Iconic" is an interesting adjective to choose for lists like these, I think, because it denotes not just personal attachment but also cultural impact. As a result, while I like all of these books, some of them might be more broadly iconic than others. All of them are iconic to me.

Let's get into it!

August 2023 Wrap-Up: ARCs, ARcs, more ARCs, and an anticipated release!

August, the month of ARCs. The only book I read this month that wasn't an ARC was Never a Hero, and that doesn't feel like it should count since I tried really hard to get an ARC. (Harpercollins wasn't doing US ARCs, tragically, but they did send me a finished copy, which was really nice).

This was an okay reading month. I feel like I read a lot of books that I ended up not feeling that strongly about, with only a couple of standouts. The fact that almost everything I read this month was YA may have contributed to that? YA usually makes up 30-60% of my reading, not 90%. I definitely got to a point where I was extra-over certain YA tropes. But I don't think that was the only reason.

September will probably also be a month of ARCs, but I'm going to try and pivot a little to middle grade? It depends. 

Let's get into it!

I read 9 books in August and DNF'ed 2. My average rating out of 5 stars was 3.4. I'm usually a pretty generous rater, so I feel like this goes to show how many books I read this month that I was super "meh" about.

And now for the books.

Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton

Rating: 3 stars

I've already written a full review of this one, but Sing Me to Sleep is the story of a siren who's also an assassin in a magically-isolated fae kingdom where her existence is illegal. Very YA in trope choices and execution, but enjoyable if you like that vibe. I feel like people who like Tarquin from ACOTAR or Maven from Red Queen might like this. I can also see Saoirse appealing to Throne of Glass fans. What all of those comps mean is, this wasn't for me, but it's definitely for somebody. Possibly a lot of people. 

 

By Any Other Name by Erin Cotter

DNF

I picked this up because I was in the process of trying to read more 2023 YA and middle grade releases for work reasons. Then I read 60 pages and DNF'd. I wrote a little unstarred Goodreads review, but basically the writing felt like it was self-consciously trying really hard to sound historical by using 'tis in every other sentence. At the same time, some of the language felt oddly anachronistic, the main character annoyed me, and when the love interest showed up I could tell we were setting up a rivals/enemies-to-lovers situation that I just didn't care about at all. Another great example of "definitely for somebody, but not for me." I think to read this book, you really have to get on board with the 'tises, because I have a feeling they're never ending.

The Infinity Particle by Wendy Xu

Rating: 3 stars

A graphic novel about a robot engineer falling in love with a robot who looks like a xianxia character, all because they've both experienced emotional abuse. It is cute, and I loved all the different robot designs, but the romance felt very rushed and I thought this story didn't actually really do much that was interesting with AI ethical quandaries. You're telling me this beautiful robot man automatically gets rights, including the right to legally self-govern, simply because he happens to be a beautiful and exceptionally humanoid robot man? I think Murderbot has also spoiled me a bit for any kind of story where robots want to be as human-like as possible, so maybe I'm just not the right audience for this. It is cute though!

A Hundred Vicious Turns by Lee Paige-O'Brien

Rating: 3 stars

Oof. I really wanted to like this one. About halfway through, I realized that this book doesn't just have a slow start, it also has a slow middle and an end that's alternately slow and whirlwind. While the premise and character concepts were interesting, I couldn't quite connect with any aspect of this story, from the writing to the characters to the setting. Unfortunate! I know some people will love this though. Wish I were one of them...!

A Bright Heart by Kate Chenli

Rating: 3.5 stars

It's astonishing how good this book is at capturing the exact vibe of watching a historical/fantasy C-drama. I had fun imagining a C-drama version of this book in my head as I read along. That being said, if you want complex characters, relationships that feel natural instead of rushed, or worldbuilding that's not just conveyed in paragraphs of dialogue, this may not be the book for you. I appreciate it for what it is (essence of C-drama in book form) but there are also plenty of reasons why someone might not like this. (Also, there were like, several kissing scenes, and the writing was pretty but there was too much tongue action described. Excessive tongue action is an ick for me personally).

The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

Rating: 4.5 stars

I was super surprised by how much I liked this book! For context, last year I read Kylie Lee Baker's debut, Keeper of Night, and gave it 2 stars because I hated the main character and didn't like the direction the story took. But this book was such a ride! Many of the same elements from Keeper of Night are present here, but this time they really worked for me across the board. I'd describe this book as A Deadly Education meets Fullmetal Alchemist, with a villain inspired by Wu Zetian. Also I want to add the additional caveat that it's a pretty dark and bloody story (there are a fair amount of rotting corpses described, and in general it's pretty bloody for a YA novel IMO), so read with caution.

 

If I Have To Be Haunted by Miranda Sun

Rating: 2.75 stars

This book isn't the worst thing I've ever read and I think a lot of people would probably enjoy it. But I didn't mesh with it, and after a month of mostly mediocre reads, this was just a chore for me. I spent more time nitpicking the writing than enjoying the story while reading. I think it was especially tough to read something I was so "meh" on right after really enjoying The Scarlet Alchemist.

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez

Rating: 3 stars

I didn't hate the experience of reading this. But very often, my reaction to things that happened was just, "This is silly," or "Scorpions are arachnids, not insects," or "I don't think this book understands corsets very well." Early on, I did enjoy the dynamic between the romantic leads, but it kind of stagnated and got boring later (And let's be real, the Whit POV interludes were totally extraneous). I do have to give this book credit for a mildly interesting twist at the end, but I think Isabel Ibanez is still not for me. I did like this book better than Woven in Moonlight, though. At least this book doesn't have a doomed second male lead for me to get attached to before he's unceremoniously killed!

The cover is very pretty, though.

 

So Let Them Burn by Kamillah Cole

Soft DNF at 92ish pages

For some reason, I thought this was a fall release when I started reading it. It's actually coming out in January 2024, so I'm temporarily abandoning it because of my previously-mentioned work project. I think it's probably also better for this book that I don't keep reading it right now - the premise is great, but I keep noticing myself nitpicking little details and writing choices. It's like I can't turn off my writing/editing brain. Also, it keeps reminding me of Fire with Fire?

My hope is that when I come back to this one, I'm able to be a more generous reader and turn off the nitpicky part of my brain.

 

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

Rating: 4.5 stars

After all of the YA I've been reading this month, I really needed a palate cleanser, and I felt a middle grade book would be a good option. It was! This book is short, charming, and poignant. I teared up several times. It has cats, ghosts, some mystery, some books, and a lot of heart. I would recommend it to fans of the Beatryce Prophecy. Also, it came out on August 29th, so it should be available by the time I post this wrap-up!

Never a Hero by Vanessa Len (sequel to Only a Monster)

Rating: 4 stars

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and I couldn't get an ARC of it, so I was really excited to begin reading it on August 29th. I was super happy to be back in this world with these characters, and I'm really looking forward to the third book of the Monsters trilogy. This book definitely suffers a bit from being the second book in a trilogy and perhaps also from being Vanessa Len's second book (the sophomore slump comes for us all), but I liked it despite the flaws. I like Joan, I like Nick, and perhaps most importantly, I like Aaron. I'll definitely write a longer review soon.

Then on the very last day of August, I technically read chapter one of The Goblin Emperor, but that barely merits mentioning. I was having a bad day and thought rereading a favorite might be the cure. It wasn't, but the bad day eventually figured itself out anyway. I don't know if I'll actually reread The Goblin Emperor right now or do something else, but expect at least a few more ARCs from me in September.

I'm in my Martha Wells era

City of Bones IS on here twice, thanks for noticing

For a summation of what is likely to be a pretty wordy post, just look to the title. It says it all.

(Basically, this is a little retrospective on my Martha Wells journey, since she's the author I am definitively the most obsessed with at the moment)

Personal Idioms I Think More People Should Get On Board With

 Hi. Welcome to the blog post. There are certain things I say in everyday life that are references that no one but me understands. This is not my problem. This is everyone else's problem. But luckily, I've graciously decided to share some of my niche personal idioms with you, so that you can get on board.

1. Bright lunch for tomorrow

This one is sort of a family in-joke. There's a hymn that has a line about "bright hope for tomorrow," and for some reason my dad transformed bright hope for tomorrow into bright lunch for tomorrow. Every time you pack a lunch for yourself to take to work or wherever you're going tomorrow, that's bright lunch for tomorrow. Enjoy it!

2. Grabby Hands

Grabby hands originate from the book Well Wished by Franny Billingsley. If you've never heard of this book, it was published in 1997 and only has around 500 ratings on Goodreads, so that may have something to do with it. In the book, the main character Nuria has a number of inside jokes with her father figure, and one of them is "grabby hands," which is what she says when she wants something. I like to say "Grabby hands" and make grabby hands when I want someone to pass me something very interesting. Grabby hands can be whatever feels the grabbiest to you. Just remember not to actually grab, since like, that's rude.

3. A Suitable Basket

With this one, it's slightly easier to just link you to the exact moment that this comes from.

Basically, in the 1982 version of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Marguerite is waiting to go on a date with Percy, and he's late. When he comes in, he says he had a devil of a time finding a suitable basket. Marguerite says, "A...suitable...basket?" In such a distinctive way that I've never forgotten it. Every time I go looking for a basket to hold some knick knacks on a display table at work, I think about suitable baskets. I think we all should spend a little more of our time considering suitable baskets.

(Also, this movie is free on Youtube and it's one of my childhood favorites. It's a good way to spend two hours).

I suppose that's all for now, but expect a sequel to this post when I inevitably think of more of these.