Happiest of Wednesday’s everyone! Now, tell me, is it a Bones day? Because I haven’t checked yet and my day can’t go on until I know.
Noodles the pug has taken over my life. If you want to know more about Noodles, here is a helpful article from NPR.
Anyway, you didn’t come here for Noodles, you came here for WWW Wednesday!
WWW Wednesday is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words but was previously hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm. WWW Wednesday asks three simple questions: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
What are you currently reading?
A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill
Noah’s dad can see monsters, so he built a horror theme park around them. But Noah sees monsters too, and unlike the rest of his family, he let’s them in. I just started this last night and have yet to form any kind of opinion, but I’ve really been looking forward to this one.
What did you recently finish reading?
Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper
Emmy hasn’t been home in a long time, thanks in no small part to a broken heart. But when a spellcasting tourney her family oversees takes place, she must return home. Only once there she runs into Talia, who was also seeing her ex. Turns out, her best friend was also seeing said ex at the same time. Now the two want revenge, but is Emmy in? This is my second romance read this month. What is even happening with me? I even liked it. What? And there is a sequel coming out next year? Want!
What do you think you’ll read next?
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
A group of Final Girls, and their therapist, form a support group to help each other deal with what they’ve been through, but when they start being picked off, they realize they have to stick together to survive. I loved A Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by the author and I have been waiting until the spookiest of months to read this one.
Do any of these sound good to you? What are you picking up next?
Well. Today is just going to be one of those days, isn’t it. I mean yeah, it’s a No Bones day, so it makes sense.
Basically, I didn’t get the notification that my post hadn’t, well, posted at the scheduled time. So I waited a little while (meaning I procrastinated and played Animal Crossing) and decided to check on it. Imagine my surprise to discover that not only had it not posted, but I hadn’t even written it yet!
Le sigh.
So basically, you are getting a later than usual post from me and I’m sorry! I would go cry in a corner somewhere but I have to write a blog post!
Anyway…it’s time for Top Ten Tuesday! TTT is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks topic is favorite online resources for book lovers. Not entirely sure that I have ten, but I’m gonna give it the good ole college try!
Book Bub: Book Bub is a great website that sends you a daily email to let you know about free or discounted e-books. It’s an amazing resource and I’ve used them for years. You can even select what genres you want for your recommendations, and they’ll send you those.
Digital Book Today: Digital Book Today also delivers the news of free or discounted Kindle books to your email, but it’s not personalized. You can also visit their website for the top 100 picks every day.
Libby: The Libby app is powered by Overdrive and works with your local library to get you free books to your Kindle or mobile device. It has both Android and Apple apps so it should work with all the phones! It’s great because depending on your library you can put a certain number of books on hold (mines is 5, but I’ve seen people with 10), check them out for a certain period of time (mine is two weeks), and you can extend your hold if you aren’t ready to read the book yet. I love this app!
The Storygraph: I have raved about The Storygraph ever since I discovered it last year. It helps keep track of your reading, gives you your stats in handy pie charts, allows you to leave detailed reviews, and, for example, give 4.25 star ratings. It’s great and I have loved using it not only for my blog but for me as well. It also has done a better job at keeping track of my reading challenge for me.
Goodreads: Goodreads, the original book tracker. It’s not as great as The Storygraph in my opinion, but all my friends use it and I love seeing what they are reading and what they rate their books.
WordPress Reader: This one is more niche, if you don’t have a WordPress account it won’t work for you. But I have found it to be invaluable when it comes to keeping up with the blogs I do follow or finding new blogs to read. And I’m always looking for new blogs to follow.
BookTok: Have you found yourself on the book side of TikTok yet? I love it there. Ezeekat’s great, just to name one booktoker. A lot of them give recommendations, some of them give the same recs over and over again, but some of them try to switch it up and give actual interesting recs. It’s also neat to see the booktokers try and do popular trends with books.
Bookstagram: The book side of Instagram. Here you can find interesting pictures of books (duh). Just search hashtags like #bookstagram, #bookaholic, and #bookish, just to name a few. I’m on there, but I can’t take a photo to save my life.
Pinterest: This one is gonna seem a little out there. But it’s a great resource for searching blogging tips, book reviews, or how to take bookstagram pics. I’ve used it a lot and I keep referring to it.
Well, lookie there, I did have ten things to share with you. I’m sorry I don’t have any podcast recommendations for you. I just haven’t found any I’m crazy about yet. Honorable mention to all the online book clubs out there doing their best to keep us sane in the pandemic.
Have a great rest of your Tuesday everyone! Hopefully I’ll remember to actually write next weeks!
Well, here we are. Trying another TBR. I didn’t do so badly last month. Especially considering I read a few books that weren’t on the TBR, because I can!
This month I am focusing on spooky themed books, cause October. I’ve never been a big fan of the horror genre, and this month I’ve committed myself to reading quite a few of them.
So that’s going to be fun.
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
A group of Final Girls get together to, well, support one another after surviving their own harrowing tales. Until one by one they are starting to be picked off. I loved A Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, so I have high hopes for this one.
Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark
The Klan’s ranks have grown thanks to dark forces and it’s up to resistance fighters, led by Maryse Boudreaux, a Hellfighter, to stop them. This sounds great!
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
Tom delivers a book to a shop and that opens his entire world to the occult. I’ve heard good things about this book so I have high hopes.
A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill
Noah Turner sees monsters. So does his father. His dad built a horror park dedicated to them. Noah just lets them into his life. But why does this sound terrifyingly cute?
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
Vivienne laid a curse on her ex-boyfriend 9 years ago. She didn’t think it would stick. Now he’s back in town and everything is going wrong. It’s a romance and I bought it? Yes! Have I read it already because I couldn’t wait? Also yes! I’ll have a review up on Thursday the 21st.
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
Immanuelle Moore does her best to follow the will of the Prophet of Bethel. But when she is lured into the forest outside Bethel, the spirits of the forest offer her her mother’s diary, and her whole life changes. This was one of my book clubs pick for this month and I’m so excited because this was the book I put up for voting! I had been holding onto this one since last year waiting patiently for October to arrive so I could suggest it. Yeah, I regret that decision.
Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
This fifth entry in the Mercy Thompson series is all about the Fae. I won’t go into details, because yeah, fifth in the series. But given that I’ve read it before, I know it will be good.
So yes, I know. There are 7 books on my TBR. What am I thinking? I’m thinking that several of these are shorter books so I should be able to get through those, at least, fairly quickly.
Will I get through every book? No idea. Am I hoping to? Of course I am.
Hello Internets! I have decided to try my hand at the First Lines Friday meme.
What is First Lines Friday, you may be asking?
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
Chosen First Lines for Today:
“She was born breach, in the deep of the night. The midwife, Martha, had to seize her by the ankles and drag her from the womb. She slipped out easy, dropped limp into Martha’s arms, and lay still as a stone.”
So, do you want to know?
In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement.
But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood.
Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.
I’m only about a third of the way through this one and have to finish it by tomorrow! It’s my book club’s book for the month! Of course it would have helped if I hadn’t of read another book after I started this one.
My bad.
As far as current thought’s for the book go, it’s kind of meh so far. I’m hoping it’s gets better, but I’ll finish it even if it doesn’t.
Well after August’s book buying extravaganza, you would think that I had no room for more books in my budget.
But books, much like life, find a way.
Mind you, I didn’t buy near as many books as I did in August. Praise be to Simon the god of hairdos.
On to the books!
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
What if Dr. Jekyll had a daughter? Oh, and Mr. Hyde too? And they teamed up with Watson and Holmes to solve some murders? That’s what this book is about, among other things. I picked it up for a book club pick.
Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
I’m pretty sure this book about a woman whose family was murdered by colonizers is going to be great. Also, it was on sale for like, $2.99 on Kindle. Gotta love those sales.
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
This audiobook, about Dream, who was imprisioned by a cult for decades, is free with an Audible membership until October 22, 2021. It features James McAvoy as the titular Dream, and a world class cast of other actors in these colorful roles. Get it now while you can!
Forever Young: A Memoir by Hayley Mills
I picked up this book with my audible credit. I love listening to memoirs, especially when the author reads them. They always inject little things into them that aren’t in the book.
How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas by Jeff Guinn
Using the true story of 1647 Puritanical England as it’s backdrop, this story tells how, well, Mrs. Claus saved Christmas. This is the sequel to the much loved (at least by me) The Autobiography of Santa Claus. I saw this on Thriftbooks for $3.00 and had to pick it up.
The Great Santa Search by Jeff Guinn
So this one is about Santa Claus getting fed up with all the fake Santas until he finally can’t take it anymore and enters a reality tv show to find the “real” Santa. I might be gearing up for my holiday reads. Can you tell? Also, this was on Thriftbooks for 4 bucks. I love when they have decent copies for cheap.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
The authors story of her childhood and coming of age in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution. I’ve wanted to read it for a while, and when I saw it on the list of banned books for my banned books week post, I knew I had to have it.
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
Vivienne Jones cursed her ex. She knows she shouldn’t have, but she used a scented candle so it shouldn’t take, right? Of course, when Rhys comes back to town everything starts to go wrong for him. I honestly forgot I pre-ordered this one until I got the shipping notification. I have issues. Also, I laughed when I saw it on Book of the Month’s list for October reads and I had already purchased it!
Well, that wasn’t too bad. 8 books. Several of which I had gotten at discounts! Or for free! Huzzah!
Happy Wednesday everyone! How are y’ll doin’? Are you taking care of yourselves? Drinking lots of water, taking your meds, and practicing good self care?
As for me, well, I remembered to write this post last night, so that’s going great!
But enough about that, on to WWW Wednesday!
WWW Wednesday is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words but was previously hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm. WWW Wednesday asks three simple questions: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
What are you currently reading?
Vampires Never Get Old edited by Zoraida Cordova and Natalie C. Parker
A collection of short stories about vampires by such notable authors as Rebecca Roanhorse, V.E. Schwab, and Julie Murphy. It’s YA, so you can’t expect anything to gruesome out of it. I just started it, so I’ll let you know how it goes. Anthologies are always a toss up, aren’t they?
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
Immanuelle never fit in. And when she finds her mother’s diary in the forbidden woods around her village, it opens up new possibilities for her, but can she use that to save the village? This is a terrible description and I’ve only just started this one too. I keep bouncing back and forth between both books if I’m honest.
What did you recently finish reading?
Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
Mercy just so happens to have a mystical artifact that belongs to the Fae. One of them will do anything to get it back. I’m really enjoying my re-read of this series. I’m trying very hard not to read eight books in eight days. I have stuff to do y’all!
What do you think you’ll read next?
Payback’s A Witch by Lana Harper
Emmy hasn’t been home in a long time, thanks in no small part to a broken heart. But when a spellcasting tourney her family oversees takes place, she must return home. Only once there she runs into Talia, who was also seeing her ex. Turns out, her best friend was also seeing said ex at the same time. Now the two want revenge, but is Emmy in? My library hold on this just came through last night, which is weird, since I wasn’t expecting it for another few months! That’s right, I said months.
And there it is. Another weeks worth of book reading! So exciting. What are you reading this week?
This weeks Top Ten Tuesday is all about our most favorite book settings. I have to say, I loved this topic. It really made me think about the worlds in which the characters I love inhabit. I really had to think about it this week.
Hogwarts from the Harry Potter Series
This one is pretty obvious. She-who-shall-not-be-named created a rich and vibrant world in Hogwarts and I would love to go visit. Maybe not live there. Too much crazy stuff happens.
Middle Earth From Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Just…all of it. Well, maybe not Mordor. But Tolkien created something lush and wonderous when he created Middle Earth, and I would love to go.
Sevenwaters from Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Technically, there is an entire series set in Sevenwaters. Six books, to be precise. And they are all fabulous. And I absolutely love Sevenwaters itself. Its an enchanted keep! How cool is that! Terrible things always seem to happen to the people that live there, but I love the setting. It’s fabulous.
Tri-Cities Area from the Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs
The Tri-Cities is exactly what it sounds like. Three cities, Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland in Washington. Home to a Fae reservation, a Vampire seethe, and a Werewolf pack, there is no shortage of colorful characters. I especially want to see what Mercy has done to the car in her backyard.
Graves Glen from The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
I loved the setting of The Ex Hex, which I will have a review up for later this month. Graves Glen reminds me of Stars Hollow, but, you know, in Georgia. The cover even has a gazebo on the cover of it, for crying out loud!
Lenfell from The Exiles Series by Melanie Rawn
This world has it’s terrifying places, like the Wastelands, but I still want to visit! I apparently like castles. And ruins of castles.
Valdemar in any of the Valdemar Series by Mercedes Lackey
I have loved reading about Valdemar since I was a teenager. I would love to go visit for a while. Why wouldn’t I want to go live in a place I love so much? No indoor plumbing.
The Five Kingdoms from the Dragonlord Trilogy by Joanne Bertin
Ignoring the fact that there are weredragons (weredragons!), there is a huge library in the second book (Dragon and Phoenix) that I would love to visit. Because, you know, bookworm. Also, weredragons.
Raverra from the Swords and Fire series by Melissa Caruso
Raverra sounds a bit like the Italian city of Venice, with it’s rivers and canals. Except for the whole built in a swamp thing that Venice has going for it.
2058 NYC from the In Death Series by J.D. Robb
I’ve been to New York City a couple of times, and I’d be curious to see how it looks in the future, what with all the FLYING CARS! Oh, and the colonies on the moon! Yeah, I wouldn’t want to see that city in the future at all.
There you have it. I have complied such a great list with utterly terrible descriptions of what the worlds are like.
Go me.
Did you make a TTT list? Share you link in the comments so we can go visit!
Thank you to Netgalley for providing this copy for review. I shall be honest in my review as a result!
Child of Light was written by the incomparable Terry Brooks and releases on October 12, 2021.
Update: The release date for Child of Light has, since I wrote this review, changed to October 19th.
Auris was a prisoner for as long as she could remember, which wasn’t long given her memory loss at the age of fifteen. She escapes the Goblin prison where she has been held and runs straight into the Fae, one of whom happens to think she might just be one of them.
I’m going to be honest with you, I didn’t like this book to the point where I DNF’d it.
Is that good for a reviewer? Probably not. But I told myself I wasn’t going to read things I don’t like.
Let me tell you why I don’t like it.
The writing was stiff and unwieldy. The author regularly used three words were one would do. And that wasn’t even when characters were speaking. Speaking of the dialogue, it had no flow to it. It was almost like the words for this book didn’t come easy to the author, and given that Terry Brooks has been writing good books for longer than I’ve been alive (I’m 41) this simply shouldn’t be the case.
So yes, my biggest complaint is with the writing. I just couldn’t get past it. I wasn’t enjoying myself at all. Which is not what I expected going into this book, as I loved the Landover series.
Now let’s talk about the other thing I have a problem with. Auris goes through something terrible at the beginning of the book, but what racks her brain when she’s rescued? How hot her rescuer is.
Sure, she thinks of the terrible thing now and again, but she thinks about how she is attracted to said rescuer more. Why does the author think this is something a 19-year-old girl fresh out of a traumatic experience needs to do?
Another month has gone by and it’s finally spooky season!
Let’s be honest, it’s been spooky season since September 1st, some of us (the Hubs) have just been in denial.
On to the books I read!
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
Mary Jekyll and other daughters of monsters team up with Holmes and Watson to bring down a secret society of scientists. I just found this to be okay. 3 stars.
Forgotten in Death by J.D. Robb
I finally got to this one! A homeless woman is found dead in the dumpster of a construction site and another body is found in an adjacent construction site. Eve and Roarke must do what they do to solve both murders. I really enjoyed this, the 53rd book in this series. I’m probably biased towards the books cause I’ve been reading them for twenty years, but I gave it 4 stars.
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
The first in a series about Mercy Thompson, a mechanic who just so happens to be a werecoyote surrounded by werewolves, vampires and fae. I love this series. It’s fast paced and fun to read. 5 stars.
The Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn
The story of Rohan, a prince of the desert, and Sioned a Sunrunner. It’s grand, it’s epic. And I love every minute of it. Oh, and it’s available on Kindle for $2.99. 5 Stars.
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
The story of Wallace, who realizes he’s dead when he sees his body at his own funeral. I reviewed this heart warming story and couldn’t help but give it 5 stars. A new favorite book.
The Hike by Drew Magary
The story of a man who goes for a hike. And that’s pretty much when everything goes wrong in the most crazy and fantastical of ways. I did not like this book at all and DNF’d. Which is a shame, because I really enjoyed my last read by the author, The Postmortal. 1 Star.
Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
Mercy owes a vampire a favor, and he calls to collect. This is the sequel to Moon Called, the first book in the series. And, as always with these books, I thoroughly enjoyed it! 5 stars!
Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
The third in the Mercy Thompson series. When her mentor and former boss, Zee, asks for her help, Mercy doesn’t hesitate to give it. Of course this leads to all kinds of trouble. Naturally, I loved this book and gave it 5 stars.
Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
The fourth in the Mercy Thompson series. Mercy goes to help her friend Amanda with a ghost. Of course, things go horribly wrong. I really enjoyed reading this. Ghost stories with a twist are always fun. 5 stars.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
This is the story of a woman’s journey from childhood to her coming of age in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution. This story has great reviews, but I just didn’t like the writing style of this graphic novel. It didn’t land with me. I DNF’d it. 1 star.
I did okay with my TBR. I’m still working on The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. I have about 8 hours left in the audiobook. And I started The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson, but starting a big, epic fantasy while I was in the middle of one and had just finished another didn’t really appeal to me. So I’m going to save that one for November. I am determined to read it this fall!
So, now comes one of my favorite parts, the stats!
Moods
As always, adventurous (8 books) were my most common mood, follow closely by mysterious (4 books) and emotional (also 4 books).
Pace
Since I read ten books, the pace stats kinda speaks for themselves. You know, if stats could speak.
Page Number
I wasn’t surprised by these stats. Chugging through those 4 Mercy Thompson books really edged the stats one way, for sure.
Genres
I read a lot of fantasy last month. Big shocker there. That’s usually all I read.
Star Rating
Don’t act surprised by all those 5 star ratings. You know I give those out like Halloween candy.
Average Pages
Storygraph added a new stat this month, how many pages you read between which days. I don’t think this is entirely accurate, but I like seeing it all laid out like this.
I have to say it was a great reading month, with ten books read! I hope I can keep up this momentum!
Well, my mind is curiously devoid of a witty greeting this morning, as I usually write this particular post the night (or day) before it actually goes live.
What I’m trying to say is I am tired and the tea hasn’t kicked in yet.
But, we can’t let this distract us from the reason we are really here. You want to see WWW Wednesday. Or, more accurately, I want to write it.
WWW Wednesday asks three simple questions: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
What am I currently reading?
A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Zinnia will not live past 21. It’s not her fault, there was an industrial accident when she was a child, and no one involved has lived past 21. But when she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel, she finds herself transported to another realm, where another sleeping beauty is trying to escape her fate. I started this book way to late last night and made it about a quarter of the way through before it was past my bed time. Yup, I have a bed time otherwise I would stay up until three A.M. reading books every night!
What did you recently finish reading?
Child of Light by Terry Brooks
At 19 Auris escapes the only home she can remember since loosing her memory at 15. Of course that home happened to be a prison camp that she was desperate to flee. After narrowly escaping with her life, she makes her way to the land of the wood fae, where she discovers she may not be as human as she thought. I got this book as a ARC from NetGalley and the review will be up next week.
What do you think you’ll read next?
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Zetain is seeking revenge against the Chrysalis pilot who is responsible for her sisters death. Especially because the system is set up to kill the girls involved in it. But when Zetain emerges victorious and her pilot dead, she is declared an Iron Widow, the most feared, and most silenced, of all concubine-pilots. This book sounds so good and I got is as a birthday gift from the hubs!
And there it is. My WWW Wednesday! I can’t tell you how many times I spelled Wednesday wrong today. I’ve really had problems with the tea not kicking in this morning.
Lauren Corcur 