Well, it’s that time of the month again. The time when all good book bloggers sit down and decide what books they are going to read for the month of whatever.
This month I have chosen five contenders for the top spot. Or just five books I know I want to read over the course of the month.
What joy! What rapture! What a relief I stopped at five!
Our first two book are sequels to books I read last month.
Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire.
This is the story of Liir. The mystery surrounding his life is still unanswered. Is he the Wicked Witches’ son? He sets out on a quest to answer this and other questions in an OZ that is under new and terrible management.
The Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso
Amalia and her bound Falcon Zaria must go behind enemy lines and use every bit of wit and wisdom they have to prevent war, or both nations may burn.
Cursed by Thomas Wheeler and art by Frank Wheeler
A story about Nimue, who becomes the legendary Lady of the Lake. I’m down for anything King Arthur related.
The Postmortal by Drew Magary
John Farrell is about to get “The Cure.” Old age can never kill him now. The only problem is, everything else still can . . .
The Road Not Taken by Susan Rubin
Suddenly widowed at 50, a woman is shown all of SpaceTime by the Lost, a species that has been on Earth since the cool down.
And that’s the list of books I am hoping to get through this month. I hope I can do it/remember to read them all!
Ya’ll, I turned 40 this year. So I celebrated by buying books. As a result, I’m pretty sure I can skip buying books for the rest of the year.
No really. I’m putting myself on a book buying ban.
Yeah, even I doubt that. But a girl can dream!
I went to Half Priced Books. I also shopped on Thriftbooks.com, and bought a few from Amazon.com.
Here are the books I bought this past month!
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
A story about a girl at a magic school that just might kill you before you graduate.
Cursed by Thomas Wheeler, art by Frank Miller
A new story about a mercenary named Arthur and Nimue, who holds the sword Excalibur.
Skyhunter by Marie Lu
The last free nation of Mara is fighting back against the might Federation. Is their newest prisoner a spy, or the savior of all?
Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
A young girl has to pose as a boy to compete to sew three magic dresses and win the role of imperial tailor.
Scythe by Neil Shusterman
Humanity has conquered war and disease. Even death. Now the Scythes are the only one’s who can end life.
The Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso
Amalia and her bound Falcon Zaria must go behind enemy lines and use every bit of wit and wisdom they have to prevent war, or both nations may burn.
The Unbound Empire by Melissa Caruso
In the sequel to The Defiant Heir, Amalia and her Falcon Zaria have new challenges to face in the court of Raverra. Can they survive?
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker
To save the city under siege will take a miracle. What it has is Orhan.
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
14 year old Mona isn’t like other wizards. Her magic only works on bread. But what happens when an assassin stalks the city’s wizards and only Mona is left?
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
In 1714 a young woman makes a deal with the devil to live forever. The catch? No one will remember her. Until one day 300 years later, someone does.
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
Stories and comics about dogs, depression and the god of cake.
The Postmortal by Drew Magery
John Farrell is about to get “The Cure.” Old age can never kill him now. The only problem is, everything else still can.
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
In a city that runs on industrialized magic, a secret war will be fought to overwrite reality itself.
The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg
Two transgender elders must learn to weave from Death in order to defeat an evil ruler.
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense.
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer Armentrout
Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers.
The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso
A queen must unite her divided land, even if she’s hated by the very people she’s trying to protect.
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable war for almost two hundred years. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine.
Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He’s going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn’t get the chance.
Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar
The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Pretending to be “normal.” But when an accidental flare of her starfire puts her human father in the hospital, Sheetal needs a full star’s help to heal him.
Some of these were Kindle purchases, so I got a few of them for cheap! And I did buy a few more books that were repurchases due to the book having fallen apart and needing to be replaced.
Rest in Peace Exiles Vol 1 and the Dragon Prince (both by Melanie Rawn, and both are very, very good).
And maybe a Christmas present for the hubs that I might have already given to him because I couldn’t wait.
Well, here we are. Another month gone. Another list of books I read. Hopefully you’ll see one you like and go find out whether or not I rated it correctly!
The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
Magic and politics combine when a Falconer meets her Falcon on the streets of Reverra. I loved this book from page one. The political aspects weren’t to dry or drawn out, which means I was able to enjoy them. 4 out of 5 stars.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The story about a boy named Nobody raised in a graveyard, but can the graveyard protect him from who killed his family? It was cute. I gave this 3.5 out of 5 stars.
The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
Ceony Twill is sent to apprentice under Emory Thane to learn the magical art of Paper Magic. But when Emory is attacked and his heart stolen, does she have the magic to take it back? I loved this book. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Yadriel is a trans teenager. His only goals are to be accepted by his family and be a brujo. So imagine his surprise when he summons Julian while performing a ritual that was forbidden to him. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.
To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
This is the story of four astronauts who embark on an eighty year long journey to see planets light years away from our own. But what has happened to the world they left behind? I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
A woman makes a Faustian deal to live forever, the catch is that no one remembers her. Until one day, a man in a bookstore does. This book was great. I initially gave it 4 stars but the more I let it sit with me, the more I loved it. 5 out of 5 stars.
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Charlie is a nice normal guy with a nice normal wife and a nice normal kid. That is, until people start dying around him. See Charlie has been chosen for a new career, as Death. I really didn’t like this book. I spent 3 days trying to read 50 pages and it just didn’t happen. This one got DNF’d. 1 out of 5 stars, cause you can’t give zero on Goodreads.
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
The life of the Wicked Witch of the West is laid out before us to read. What an interesting book, and it is nothing, I repeat, nothing, like the musical that is based on this book. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
Hyperbole and Half by Allie Brosh
It’s the author’s life as a child, her struggles with depression and her fights with her dogs. And a goose. This graphic novel of a webtoon made me laugh so much. 5 out of 5 stars.
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Alice must journey to the Hazel Wood to rescue her kidnapped mother. I was skeptical about this at first. When I bought it, YA hadn’t really been on my radar for a while, but a friend recommended it to me and I was not disappointed. I gave this one 4 out of 5 stars.
The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg
Two transgender elders journey out into the desert to seek out Death to defeat a tyrant. I really wanted to like this novella, but I didn’t. But here’s the thing, I didn’t hate it, I just didn’t like it enough to continue it. I may pick this up to try again in the future, but for now, it gets 1 star out of 5.
If you can’t tell, I got a PicMonkey membership for editing photos. So what do I do? I made that. Go me.
I thought I would try this thing that other bloggers do which is to wrap up their month of blog posts! What do you think? Does it help in case you missed something?
Everything I Read in September 2020
This is exactly what it says on the tin, awrap up of what I read in September.
What to Read-My October 2020 TBR
The TBR of all the books I wanted to read in October. I managed to read them all! Go me!
The Priory of the Orange Tree-A Book Review
Political intrigue meets dragons! You can see what I thought about it here.
A Birthday Away
The hubs and I spent our 40th birthday’s at a charming B&B. The Elm Creek Manor was very picturesque and the food was great!
A Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires-A Book Review
So my book club read this one this month. The story about a Book club that faces off against a vampire that has moved into the neighborhood? I loved it.
A Little Re-Organization Never Hurt Anybody
I redid the book shelves in our library. They needed a once over.
Cemetery Boys-A Book Review
A trans teenager just wants to prove to his family that he can be a brujo. Plus, ghosts! And queer romance! I loved it!
Anxiety and Book Reading
I admitted that reading makes me anxious. One book in particular set me off. But which one?
And there you have it, a complete wrap up of everything I posted in October! Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!
So I have generalized anxiety. Which means everything has the potential to make me anxious. And recently, I have noticed, that one of my favorite things sometimes, just sometimes, makes me anxious.
Reading.
Yes, reading.
Which is great cause I decided to have a book blog all of a sudden and now reading new books sometimes brings out my anxiety. Go me!
This is most evident when I am reading a book I really like. I have to put it down and walk away from it cause it gets to me. And then I have to do something to distance myself from the book for a little while, whether it’s for an hour or for a day.
This was most note-able to me while reading A Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. That book made me anxious as all get out. It’s because I didn’t want it to end. I knew that if I finished it, it would be over and I wouldn’t be able to read it anymore. I kept having to put it down because it just made me so dang anxious!
I know I can’t be the only one out there that has this happen, am I?
Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.
When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.
However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.
So I just finished up Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas and wow. I was not disappointed.
Which is great.
Because right as I started reading this my ADD started acting up and you would have thought I had never read a book before. I couldn’t sit still. I would read twenty pages then I would put the book down only to come back to the book two hours later and get yet another twenty pages read. I finally got past that hump when there about a hundred pages left in the book. Thank goodness!
And please don’t let my inability to sit still and read lead you to believe this book is anything other than good. Because it’s very great. I couldn’t play Animal Crossing for very long either, and I play that for at least an hour every day.
I have no life. Cause Covid.
Back to the book!
I enjoyed the world the author created. And given that it is our world, it was pretty easy. But the picture they painted of the graveyard and Yadriel’s place in it (and the world at large) was wonderful.
The characters were rich and colorful. And I really felt for Yadriel on his journey to gain his family’s acceptance as a trans man. And Julian and Maritza are wonderful characters. I liked how alive Julian felt, you know, for a dead guy.
The magic system in this book is great. I really loved how the author used generational magic. It was such a large part of Yadriel’s journey in his struggle to be accepted.
I loved the plot, but I did have some problem with how certain things progressed here and there. I feel the book had some plot progression issues and that they kind of rushed us to the end of the story once we got there.
There were a few things I would tweak here and there, mostly to do with the writing style and the plot progression issues. And that’s why this book gets 4 out of 5 stars.
What? It’s a great book! It also happens to be the authors debut novel and I’m really excited to see what they do next.
So the hubs and I have a small library. We have carefully cultivated our collection over the years and to be honest, we have neglected the bookshelves. Because we keep the books organized by authors, some of the books were starting to pile up, as there was no more room for new books.
I mean, there was a little room. But it wasn’t with the original authors!
I may have a thing.
This particular picture was taken after I had cleaned off this shelve to put the books downstairs. I wasn’t hauling all those books back upstairs. Clearly, I am a genius.
My project supervisor was sleeping on the job…until I went to take this photo. And then of course she wakes up.
The good news is this project only took a few hours. The bad news is I now know all the books I am missing from some series.
I want the pretties.
One has to have a shelf dedicated to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.
I can’t get the magazines to stand upright, so on their sides they go!
I still think there is some work to do. But I keep buying books, and my husband just informed me he has a bunch of books on the way soon, so its an ongoing struggle for us. As it is with any book lover.
it would help if I read them when I got them. Instead I am constantly reading old books. Because old books bring life!
Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.
One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor’s handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in.
Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.
Holy cow. What a ride this book was.
I have to say, I was not expecting to enjoy that as much as I did. I mean, I had heard great things about this book, but that doesn’t always mean a book is good.
But this book was great. I mean really. I couldn’t put it down.
Except I did put it down because I didn’t want it to end. Anyone else do that?
There are some trigger warnings for this book, so be aware of that. A hazard for any vampire book these days it seems.
The characters where great. I mean really, the author does a great job of painting Patricia as a woman who is is both uncovering the truth and seemingly coming unhinged to the people around her.
The world building was strong. Grady Hendrix’s world of the North Carolina suburbs in the 1990’s was really well done.
I loved our villain. James was wonderfully written. He was both charming and creepy all at the same time.
And that ending. Oh my goodness that ending! I loved it!
At the end of the day I had to give this book 5 out of 5 stars. How could I not? It was brilliant.
The Priory of the Orange Tree was written by Samantha Shannon
As I sat down to write this review, which was right after finishing the book, I realized that I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it.
The premise: The kingdom of Inys has stood for a thousand years, and at it’s heart lies it’s queen, Sabran. Now it’s time for Sabran to do her duty and conceive an heir, but evil lurks in the shadows. A plot to undo her kingdom is at hand, and an ancient Dragon awakens in the deep.
This 800 page fantasy book is 3 parts political drama 1 part fantasy story. With a little queer romance thrown in just for good measure. And I’m not the biggest fan of pure political drama if I’m going to be honest. To much real political drama in the world, thank you very much!
The world building is the book was excellently done. Like, superbly done. The author paints a chaotic landscape in fear of the apocalypse to come.
The character building was well done. Sabran, Ead, Margret, Tané, Loth, Nicklays, and all the rest are very well fleshed out with strong backstories. They all have growth, if not all in the ways that you expect (here’s looking at you unexpected queer relationships!).
The plot, well that, that is where I have some problems. Overall, it’s good. The story is engaging and the world is thriving. But I had some problems with the little bits. Some things happened too slowly, some too quickly. There was an awful lot of “if it could go wrong, it will go wrong” happening here. But again, overall, it’s a good plot, with plenty of momentum to pull the story forward.
On the whole, the book was pretty good. I gave it 3.75 out of 5 stars.
It’s a week of lists. First you get what I bought last month. Then you get what I read last month. Now you get what I want to read this month!
That’s a lot of lists.
On to the TBR!
The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
Magic is scarce in the Raverran Empire, and those born with such powers are strictly controlled — taken as children and conscripted into the Falcon army, to be used as weapons in times of war.
Zaira has lived her life on the streets to avoid this fate, hiding her mage mark and thieving to survive. But hers is a rare and dangerous magic, one that threatens the entire Empire.
Lady Amalia Cornaro was never meant to be a Falconer. Heiress and scholar, she was born into a treacherous world of political machinations.
But fate has bound the heir and the mage. And as war looms on the horizon, a single spark could turn their city into a pyre.
This book is also on my TBR for the year, so that makes me want to read it even more!
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They’re even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie’s doing okay until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death.
It’s a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody’s gotta do it.
I’ve had Christopher Moore on my to read list for a while now, I just didn’t know where to start. Hopefully this is a good place!
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.
When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.
However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.
I’m not gonna lie, I discovered this book because of booktok. The description reeled me in though. I mean, trans and Lantinx representation? I’m there.
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum’s classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?
Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.
I’ve read this before, but it’s been years. I want to give all four books a good read through, so I have to start here!
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
IT TAKES A GRAVEYARD TO RAISE A CHILD.
Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy—an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, he will be in danger from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family.
I’ve wanted to read this book for a years and just never got around to it. Halloween is the perfect time!
Well, that’s all for my TBR. I’m more of a mood reader, so I don’t want to try and make a huge grandiose list of books that I know I won’t get to. That would be awkward.
Lauren Corcur 