Yule Holiday Reading List 2020

Yule Reading Challenge

November 1, 2020 - January 6, 2021

Welcome back to another year of the Yule Reading Challenge, here I attempt to read all the Yule/ Christmas books listed on my shelves and any ARCs I might have.  Last year I did this list and really enjoyed reading some of the books I owned.  This lead to me falling in love with a few new authors and adding them on to the TBR Pile but also made me aware of the awesome stories already sitting on the pile from those authors as well.

With another season on us I wanted to give myself plenty of time to really fall in love with these books, since I don't celebrate Thanksgiving I'm going to be going right from Halloween reads right into the Yule season.  If you would like to join in just share in the comments down below and we can work on motivating each other to clean up the TBR Pile just a little bit more.  To make this more fun, this year we are going to be doing some giveaways as well. More to be announced so be on the lookout!!

Now onto the books to be read:

Books From the Stockpile

• Naughty or Nice by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Friends
• A SEAL Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear
• A Bride For Christmas by Heather Graham and Friends
• This Christmas by Jane Green and Friends
• Under The Mistletoe by Stephanie Bond
• The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus by Carly Alexander
• Christmas on Mimosa Lane by Anna DeStefano
• Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand
• Three Days on Mimosa Lane Anna DeStefano
• @Home For The Holidays by Meredith Efken
• Jingle Bells Rock Anthology Lori Foster, Janelle Denison & More
• Mistletoe Games Jaci Burton
• Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley (re-Read)
• Christmas Star by Roz Denny Fox
• Yule Be Mine by Lori Foster
• I'm Your Santa Anthology Lori Foster & Friends
• Holiday Temptation Donna Hill, Farrah Rochon & K.M. Jackson

• The Holiday Inn (Anthology)
• Mistletoe & Molly by Janet Dailey
• Santa in Montana
• Searching For Santa
• The Gift by Nora Roberts
• First Impressions by Nora Roberts
• Winter Nights (Anthology)
• Once Upon a Cowboy Christmas by Soraya Lane
• Secret Prince's Christmas Seduction by Carol Marinelli
• 
  

ARCs That I Need To Read:

• The Keepers Christmas In Salem Heather Graham 
• A Last Chance Christmas by Vicki Lewis Thompson
• A Christmas To Remember by Jill Shalvis and Friends
• Christmas With The Seal by Tawny Weber 
• Christmas With The Billionaire Rancher by Mandy Baxter

Books I'm Adding on This Year ():

• Once Upon a Cowboy Christmas by Soraya Lane
• Secret Prince's Christmas Seduction by Carol Marinelli
• It Must Be Christmas by Jennifer Crusie, Donna Alward & Mandy Baxter

Let me know if you have read any of these and should I move them to the top.  I'm sure I will find more in my kindle, but for now, these are the ones I would like to work on.  The goal isn't to add any more books to this list but to clean up the books that have been waiting all year for me to read them.

Any comments or questions please feel free to leave them down below, and I will see you tomorrow my loves.

2020 Spooky TBR

Hi my loves since it's October, I thought I would challenge myself to read from the paranormal bookshelf that I have been severely neglecting so far this year.  With so many choices I decided I didn't want to tie myself down to specific books because as we know the second I do that, I rebel and don't follow through so instead I have a few prompts that will aide me in picking a few good reads this month. 

There is also a Samhain WitchAthon taking place from October 24th to the 31st. Here are the prompts:

•  Samhain is a time for honoring your ancestors... so once again, pick a book that features your heritage.
•  This Sabbat is a time when the veil is thinnest, pick a book that features communing with the dead... (ghosts or mediumship or necromancy)
• We are heading into the darkest part of the year... Pick a book that promises to be dark & twisted.
• Witches often make offerings to spirit guides or gods... Pick a book that involves a pantheon of deities!
• Dancing round the bonfire is a Samhain tradition... pick a book that has fire on the cover.
• Many celebrate the Sabbat as Halloween and dress up, post a picture of your costume and tag the readathon!
• Read Group book Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir ( I won't be doing this as I'm reading only books I own) 

You can follow along on twitter with the hashtag #WitchAThon and the live show after the readathon is on November 1st at 6pm CST

Spooky Reads for the Season:

Authors:

• L.A. Banks 
• Heather Graham & the Krewe of Hunters series
• Gena Showalter
• Nalini Singh
• Maggie Shayne ( non ebooks only) 
• Shiloh Walker
• Katie MacAlister
• Jennifer L Armentrout
• Holly Black
• Lilith Saintcrow
• Natasha Preston
• Christine Feehan
• Alice Hoffman
• The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
• The Witches by Roal Dahl 
• Fifth Grave by Darynda Jones
• A Little Night Magic
• Thornjack (re-read) by Katherine Harbour
• Briar Queen by Katherine Harbour
• Nettle King by Katherine Harbour
• Julie Kagawa
• Rin Chupeco

These are just a few of the books and authors I want to check in on. Let me know what spooky books are on your list this month. If you would like to buddy read let me know. 

May your reading be hauntingly awesome this month my loves

2020 Jennifer In July Challenge

Hi my loves

This is going to be my second year of doing this spin on the Jennifer in July reading challenge I give myself every year. Instead of reading just Jennifer L Armentrout I will be reading all the Jennifers/ Jens/ Jenna/ or variety of that name on my shelves. It's pretty extensive as well I can't wait to dive in. I have a varied list of books from several sub-genres of Romance and I'm so excited.

Last Year's Stats
Physical TBR: 31 

Ebook TBR: 7

Total To Read: 38

Completed in 2019: 8

Completed in 2020:
Physical TBR: 24
Ebook TBR: 5
To Be Read: 29

Jennifer L Armentrout ( All the Series Starters)

• Midnight and Sins 
• The Darkest Star
• The Return
• White Hot Kiss
• Stone Cold Touch
• LUX

Jennifer  Lynn Barnes:

• Raised by Wolves
• Trial By Fire (A Raised by Wolves Novel)

Jennifer Bernard

• The Fireman Who Love Me (Book 1)
• Hot For Fireman (Book 2)

Jenna Black

• Glimmerglass

Jennifer Brown

• Torn Away (ARC)
• Thousand Words

Jennifer Cruise:

• Agnes and the Hitman
• Faking It

Jennifer Donnelly

• Deep Blue
• Rogue Wave
• These Shallow Graves (Physical ARC)

Jennifer Greene

• Where Is He Now??
• Blame It on Paris

Jennifer  Haymore

• The Rogue's Proposal (ARC)

Jennifer Holm

• The Fourteenth Goldfish (ARC)

Jennifer Mathieu

• The Truth About Alice (ARC)

Mary Jennifer Payne

• Since You've Been Gone (ARC)

Jennifer Probst:

• Searching for Always
• Searching for Disaster

Jennifer E Smith

• The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight
• The Geography of Me & You (ARC)
• Hello Goodbye and Everything in Between (Physical ARC)

Motivation: Every 5 books from the physical stack that I read I earn 1 (one) new book from my wishlist of books I have.  Goal 7 new books. 

2019 Books Read:  8          Books Earned from Wishlist: 1
2020 Books Read:      Books Earned From Wishlist:

Would you like to participate with me?? Share what your list looks like and we can motivate each other on twitter, facebook or instagram.

Happy Reading my loves,

July 2020 To Be Read Pile

My goal this year is 225  books, if I break that down it comes out to 18 books per month, with 3 to 4  books a week. Totally doable in my books, so as the proverb says, you can eat an elephant one bite at a time, so here are my first few bites:

To be real the last few weeks have been very trying and I haven't really gotten anything read. I start a whole bunch of stuff and DNF for now because I just don't feel the reading bug. Or the blogging bug or anything really, I'm just working on getting up and going to work on time. I do believe though if you fail to plan that you plan to fail so here is my obviously ambitious plan for the month, well see at the end where we are.

Key:
Blue means the book added during the month. 
Red= DNF (Did Not Finish) 
Black= Original Titles at the beginning of the month.

Read So Far This Year: 

63

TBR Pile 

225

TBR Balance:
162

Lemonade Syllabus:

1. .
2. .

Perpetual Author Challenge:

• Spencer's Forbidden Seduction Brenda Jackson 
• Beverly Jenkins
• Coel's Red Hot Pursuit by Brenda Jackson
• Bane by Brenda Jackson
• One Night with the Wealthy Rancher by Brenda Jackson
• 
  

Black Out Challenge:

• 
  
• .
• .
• .
• .

Erotica books:

• .
• .
• .

Non Fiction Books:

1. Religious Book
2. Religious Book
3. 
   

How is this quarantine affecting your reading my loves?? What are you going to be reading my loves?? Share in the comments down below if you have read any of these and as always

Happy Reading

May 2020 TBR

My goal this year is 225  books, if I break that down it comes out to 18 books per month, with 3 to 4  books a week. Totally doable in my books, so as the proverb says, you can eat an elephant one bite at a time, so here are my first few bites:

TO be real the last few weeks have been very trying and I haven't really gotten anything read. is tart a whole bunch of stuff and DNF for now because I just don't feel the reading bug. Or the blogging bug or anything really, I'm just working on getting up and going to work on time. I do believe though if you fail to plan that you plan to fail so here is my obviously ambitious plan for the month, well see at the end where we are.

Key:
Blue means the book added during the month. 
Red= DNF (Did Not Finish) 
Black= Original Titles at the beginning of the month.

Read So Far This Year: 

47

TBR Pile 

225

TBR Balance:
178

Lemonade Syllabus:

1. .
2. .

Perpetual Author Challenge:

• Brenda Jackson 
• Beverly Jenkins
• Brenda Jackson

Finish Series Challenge:

• Panther Prowling by Yasmine Galenorn ✓
• Yasmine Galenorn ✓
• Sylvia Day Georgian series
• Christine Feehan Shadow Riders: Published 2020
• Christine Feehan Water Bound (Book 1)
• Air Bound by Christine Feehan
• Earth Bound by Christine Feehan  

ARC

• Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai ✓
• .
• .
• .
• .

Black Out Challenge:

• The Right Swipe Alisha Rai ✓
• .
• .
• .
• .

Erotica books:

• .
• .
• .

Non Fiction Books:

1. Religious Book
2. Religious Book
3. Finance Book
4. Social issues Book
5. Personal Interest Book

How is this quarantine affecting your reading my loves?? What are you going to be reading my loves?? Share in the comments down below if you have read any of these and as always

Happy Reading

April 2020 TBR

My goal this year is 225  books, if I break that down it comes out to 19 books per month, with 4 to 5  books a week. Totally doable in my books. This month's theme is also going to pivot off my perfect reading TBR along with YA and NA being the major focus of the month.  I have so many of these books on my shelf that I want to get read so I'm jumping in. As the proverb says, you can eat an elephant one bite at a time, so here are my first few bites:

Key:
Blue means the book added during the month. Red= DNF (Did Not Finish) Black= Original Titles at the beginning of the month.

Read So Far This Year: 

39

TBR Pile
225

TBR Balance:
186

Brenda Jackson Challenge:

• Westmoreland Book
• Steele Book
• Bennett Book

YA/ New Adult Challenge:

1. The Fight by L Divine
2. Jacqueline Woodson
3. Nic Stone
4. Walter Dean Mosley
5. Brave by Tammara Webber ( my final unread book by her) 
6. Losing It by Cora Cormack
7. Slammed Colleen Hoover
8. The Edge of Never by J.R Redmerski

Perpetual Author Challenge:

• Christine Feehan
• Sylvia Day
• A. R Torre'
• .
• 
  

Finish Series Challenge: ( YA/ NA Books) 

• Forged by Fire by Sharon M Draper
• Darkness Before Dawn by Sharon M Draper
• Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally
• Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally
• Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally
• Holly Black Title 
• Holly Black Title

ARC

• Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson
• How To Love Your Elef by Kerrelyn Sparks
• Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai
• 
  
• .

Black Out Challenge:

• Panic by Sharon M Draper
• .
• .
• .
• .

Erotica Books:

• .
• .
• .

Non Fiction Books:

1. Religious Book

What are you going to be reading my loves?? Share in the comments down below if you have read any of these and as always

Happy Reading

March 2020 TBR

Welcome to the new month. My reading year is going great so far. This is the final month of the quarter and I can't wait to see what my numbers come to. This month's theme is going to be my perfect dream TBR. I'm going to list what I have noticed gets me the most read books and try to go from there.

Read So Far This Year: 

24

TBR Pile 

225

TBR Balance:
201

Mocha Girl Reads Book Club Pick 
( I don't own this one but I want to list it anyway so that I know what to pick up next year) 

• Handbook For An Unpredictable Life by Rosie Perez

Brenda Jackson Challenge:

1. Westmoreland Book
2. Steele Book 1

Freshman Series:

1. Freshman Dorm (Freshman 1) 

Men Made in America:

1. Call It Destiny (Alabama) by Jayne Ann Krentz 
2. Borrowed Dreams (Alaska) by Debbie Macomber

Perpetual Author Challenge:

• The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts
• The Next Always by Nora Roberts
• Ghostwalker Book by Christine Feehan
• Topaz by Beverly Jenkins
• Blessing #10 by Beverly Jenkins

Finish Series Challenge:

• Shadow Rising by Yasmine Galenorn ✓
• Haunted Moon by Yasmine Galenorn 
• Yasmine Galenorn 
• Darynda Jones Book # 5
• .

ARC

• Tangled Threat by Heather Graham Review
• .
• .
• .
• .

Black Out Challenge:

• Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor 
• .
• .
• .
• .

Erotica Books:

• .
• .
• .

Non-Fiction Books:

1. Religious Book
2. Religious Book
3. Finance Book
4. Social issues Book
5. Personal Interest Book

What are you going to be reading my loves?? Share in the comments down below if you have read any of these and as always

Happy Reading

February To Be Read

My goal this year is 225 books, if I break that down it comes out to 19 books per month, with 5 books a week. Totally doable in my books, so as the proverb says, you can eat an elephant one bite at a time, so here are my first few bites:

Last month I really just focused on setting up my planners, my vision board and my new year. I barely read anything. Plus, Scribd limited what I could listen to just 2 TWO books. I'm still salty about it.  It's a new month and I'm willing to forgive them because I'm only paying $8.99 a month and getting access to so much, but I'm still side eyeing them.

Key:
Blue means the book added during the month. Red= DNF (Did Not Finish) Black= Original Titles at the beginning of the month.

Read So Far this Year: 3

TBR Pile 

225

TBR Balance:
223

Mocha Girl Reads Book Club:

• We're Going To Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union 

Nora Roberts/ JD Robb Challenge:

• Black Rose ✓
• Red Lily ✓

Brenda Jackson:

• .
• .

Perpetual Author Challenge:

• "Second Time Sweeter" Beverly Jenkins
• Beverly Jenkins
• Christine Feehan
• .

Finish It Series:

• Night Huntress by Yasmine Galenorn  ✓
• Demon Mistress by Yasmine Galenorn
• Bone Magic by Yasmine Galenorn 
• Harvest Hunting by Yasmine Galenorn 
• Shadow of Night (All Souls Book 2)
• The Book of Life (All Souls Book 3)

Freshman Series Challenge:

• Freshman Dorm (Freshman 1) 

Men Made In America Challenge:

• Call It Destiny (Alabama) by Jayne Ann Krentz 
• Borrowed Dreams (Alaska) by Debbie Macomber

ARC:

• Awaken The Dragon by A.C. Arthur
• A Cowboy To Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon
• .

Black Out Challenge:

• Tears of the Tiger Sharon Draper
• .

Erotica Books:

• Under His Kilt by Melissa Blue ✓
• .
• .

Non Fiction Books:

1. Religious Book

What are you going to be reading my loves?? Share in the comments down below if you have read any of these and as always

Happy Reading

7 Series To Work On In 2020:

Hi my loves,

I'm here to share the books and series I'm working on that aren't part of the challenges I have posted so far. I am reading something like 30 different series right now (because everybody and their mama is writing a series or a trilogy there are no more single titles I swear).

Here are seven I wish to catch up on this year:

Yasmine Galenorn, she's writing a paranormal series featuring sisters who are part fae and I purchased 18 of them at the local Savers last summer, and now I need to read them. I read the first three during the holidays and can't wait to get to the rest because the story is heating up!!

1. Night Huntress # 4 February
2. Demon Mistress # 5 February
3. Bone Magic # 6 February
4. Harvest Hunting # 7 February 
5. Blood Wine # 8February 
6. Courting Darkness # 9February 
7. Shaded Vision # 10 February 
8. Shadow Rising # 11
9. Haunted Moon #12
10. Autumn Whisper # 13
11. Crimson Veil # 14
12. Priestess Dreaming # 15
13. Panther Prowling # 16
14. Darkness Raging # 17

Darynda Jones Charley Davidson Series . I have a few of these left as well. I'm trying not to take this series too seriously because at times the characters are just. UGH 

1. Fifth Grave Past the Light
2. Sixth Grave on The Edge
3. Seventh Grave & No Body 
4. Eighth Grave After Dark
5. The Dirt On Ninth Grave 
6. The Curse of Tenth Gave
7. Eleventh Grave in Moonlight
8. The Trouble with Twelfth Grave 
9. Summoned to Thirteenth Grave

Deborah Harkness All Souls Trilogy. I want to finish this series before the second season comes back. COMPLETED February 

1. Shadow of Night 
2. The Book Of Life 

Diana Gabaldon's Outlander Series. I need to re-read this and catch up to the show and before the newest book comes out which is soonish.

1. Outlander
2. Dragonfly In Amber
3. Voyager
4. Drums of Autumn
5. The Fiery Cross
6. A Breath of Snow & Ashes
7. An Echo In The Bone
8. Written In My Own Heart Blood

Newest book Go Tell The Bees I'm Gone not sure when this one comes out, it doesn't show a date on the system.  

Heather Graham: Way too many to list, but I'm focusing on the romantic thriller series she has going. the Krewe of Hunters as much as possible, I do also own a few of er historicals but I have seen a few recent reviews that make me want to rethink reading those now as an adult.  

Julie Garwood's Renard- Buchanan Series I have read a few books in the series starting with book 8 to book 13 ( I didn't know it was a series when I started it) I need to read books 1 to 7 which I also own:

1. Heartbreaker
2. Mercy
3. Killjoy
4. Murder List
5. Slow Burn
6. Slow Dance
7. Fire & Ice
8. Wired (not owned but final book so far) 

Tara Sue Me I've been reading this series for a while now I own a few of them that I haven't gotten to yet. 

1. The Master
2. The Claiming
3. The Exposure
4. The Flirtation
5. Mentor's Match (Novella)
6. The Mentor & The Master (Novella)
7. Top Trouble 

And those are all of the none major series I want to complete this year, even if the authors come out with more I want to complete these before I pick up anymore from the authors.  I need to clean up the shelves so much.

What have you got to complete this year??  Are any of these on your list?? Let' s buddy read if you have them on you list as well.

2020 Freshmen Reading Challenge

Good Morning my loves

I'm trying to re-read this series that I loved when I was younger.  I think of these as the basis for what "new adult" is.  Linda Cooney's series has been my favorite for years and I can't wait to re-read and see how the stories have held up.

In no particular order here are all the books. I have 27 to read from the series:

To Be Read: 27

Read in 2020:

• Freshman Lies
• Feud
• Games
• Choices
• Flames
• Noel
• Freedom
• Guys
• Summer
• Obsession
• Secrets
• Loves
• Dreams
• Nights
• Promises
• Fling
• Changes
• Schemes
• Follies
• Dorm
• Breakup
• Heat
• Rivals

And the series that started it all the Class of 88 and 89 Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior years.

I can't wait, for me, this is a reminder of Degrassi before it sucked, a hint of Felicity, and A Different World all rolled into one. I loved the drama of the story and glimpse of what I thought college might be like (I'm still waiting for half that drama lol) but it was a good series that highlighted some of the stresses, pitfalls, and dangers that college had. And it made me so eager to experience it all.  I can't wait to see how this series holds up to my memories.

Have you read this series?? Would you like to know how it holds up?/ Make sure to check back each month as I share more about the series and my progress into it.  Let me know if you have any book you read as a kid ( and no harry potter doesn't count we know that one holds up) that made you excited about school or some wonderful adventure.

Share int he comments my love and of course, I will see you tomorrow
Happy Reading my loves

2020 Men Made In America Challenge

During the early 2000s late 90s Harlequin Published a series called the Men Made In America, with each author writing a romance from a different state.   I personally have on my shelves Connecticut and Delaware.  When I decided to collect them again, I used Fiction DB to find all the books I needed.

I made a concentrated effort to collect all of these books in 2018 with the plan of reading them in 2019, but that was too much considering all the other challenges I had going on.  I instead choose to put it off to this year.

Here I'm going to list all the books in the challenge and keep track of how I do. Since I have already read a few of the books it's not all 50 states. I'm aiming for 10 books read this year. There isn't any rush as these are all backlist books.

Books To Be Read: 48

Goal: 10

Read In 2019:

Balance Forward:

Let's start with: * books are in order of series, not alphabetical by state*

 Alabama Full House by Jackie Weger

Alaska Borrowed Dreams by Debbie Macomber

Arizona Call It Destiny by Jayne Ann Krentz

Arkansas Another Kind OF Love by Mary Lynn Baxter

California Deceptions by Annette Broadrick

Already own Number 7, Connecticut  & 8 Delaware

Florida Dream Come True Ann Major

Louisiana Bayou Midnight by Emilie Richards

Mississippi After The Storm by Rebecca Flanders

North Dakota A Class Act by Kathleen Eagle

Rhode Island The Bargain by Patricia Coughlin

South Dakota For Old Times' Sake by Kathleen Eagle

Texas For the Love of Mike by Candace Schuler

Vermont Finders Keepers Carla Neggers

Virginia The Devlin Dare by Cathy Gillen Thacker

West Virginis All In The Family by Heather Graham Pozzessere

Colorado  Stormwalker Dalla Schulze 

Georgia Way of The Willow Linda Shaw

Hawaii Tangles Lies Anne Stuart

Idaho Rogue's Valley Kathleen Creighton

Illinois Love by Proxy Diana Palmer

Indiana Possibles Lass Small

Iowa Kiss Yesterday Goodbye Leigh Michaels

Kansas A Time To Keep Curtiss Ann Matlock 

Kentucky One Pale, Fawn Glove Linda Shaw

Maine Rocky Road Anne Stuart

Maryland The Love Thing Dixie Browning

Massachusetts Pros & Cons Bethany Campbell

Michigan To Tame A Wolf Anne McAllister

Minnesota Winter Lady Janet Joyce

Mississippi After The Storm Rebecca Flanders

Missouri Choices Annette Broadrick

Montana Part of the Bargain Linda Lael Miller

Nebraska Secrets of Tyrone Regan Forest 

Nevada Nobody's Baby Barbara Bretton

New Hampshire Natural Attraction Marisa Carroll

New Jersey Moments Harsh, Moments Gentle Joan Hohl

New Mexico Within Reach Marilyn Pappano

New York In Good Faith Judith Williams

North Carolina The Security Man Dixie Browning 

Ohio Too Near the Fire Lindsay McKenna

Oklahoma A Time and a Season Curtiss Ann Matlock

Oregon Uneasy Alliance Jayne Ann Krentz

Pennsylvania The Wrong Man Ann Major

South Carolina The Last Frontier Rebecca Flanders

Tennessee To Love a Dreamer Ruth Langan

Utah To Tame The Hunter Stephanie James

Washington The Waiting Game Jayne Ann Krentz

Wisconsin Starstruck Anne McAllister 

And those are the books my loves, hopefully non of these women have outed themselves as NWL (nice white ladies = racists) recently as we all know RWA has imploded.

Join me if these books are on your shelves as well,

Happy Reading and Good Luck