Down the TBR Rabbit Hole #15

This post was originated by Lost In A Story, who no longer blogs about books it looks like, but this post idea lives on without her! I will take five books on my TBR and assess if I still want to read them. It’s a way to clean up your list and remember books you wanted to read!

Here are my five books this week!

#1: Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

Goodreads Synopsis: Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Keep It? YES! A girl dressing up as a boy to rise above her station? COUNT ME IN.

#2: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Goodreads Synopsis: Life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall—named after the imposing stone barrier which separates the town from a grassy meadow. Here, young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the beautiful Victoria Forester and for the coveted prize of her hand, Tristran vows to retrieve a fallen star and deliver it to his beloved. It is an oath that sends him over the ancient wall and into a world that is dangerous and strange beyond imagining…

Keep It? No. I watched the movie and it was very cute. Maybe I’ll read it one day, but there are so many books I want to read I’m passing on this for now!

#3: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Goodreads Synopsis: Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

Keep It? Yes! I own it! I plan on reading it very soon!

#4: The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Goodreads Synopsis: Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…

Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.

Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.

Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.

Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.

But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.

Keep It? Yes, but I probably won’t read this until covid is over cause it sounds dark!

#5: Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz

Goodreads Synopsis: Darcy Fitzwilliam is 29, beautiful, successful, and brilliant. She dates hedge funders and basketball stars and is never without her three cellphones—one for work, one for play, and one to throw at her assistant (just kidding). Darcy’s never fallen in love, never has time for anyone else’s drama, and never goes home for Christmas if she can help it. But when her mother falls ill, she comes home to Pemberley, Ohio, to spend the season with her family.

Her parents throw their annual Christmas bash, where she meets one Luke Bennet, the smart, sardonic slacker son of their neighbor. Luke is 32-years-old and has never left home. He’s a carpenter and makes beautiful furniture, and is content with his simple life. He comes from a family of five brothers, each one less ambitious than the other. When Darcy and Luke fall into bed after too many eggnogs, Darcy thinks it’s just another one night stand. But why can’t she stop thinking of Luke? What is it about him? And can she fall in love, or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way?

Keep It? No. I always think I will want to read Christmas books, and then I never do.

I kept 3/5 this week! And I’m especially looking forward to reading The Cruel Prince soon!

Monday Evening in the Bog! 7/6/20

I couldn’t post this morning because my internet was out all day! So we have an evening in the bog instead, sounds spooky! I like it!

Currently Reading: Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

Queue: Winter by Marissa Meyer

• The Upside of Falling by Alex Light
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
• The Wicked King by Holly Black
• The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
• Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callendar
• An Unkindess of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Fun life updates!

• I finished Horizon Zero Dawn! It’s such a fun game, and the story is sooo good and clear, it was such a fun game.
• I started Kingdom Hearts 3 and it’s… the opposite. I have no idea what is going on and Sora is a whiny baby. Not like my gal Aloy.
• I have library books coming soon! We can now do hold pick ups and I am SO EXCITED to say good bye to e books! I put like 10 books on hold so I’ll be good for like two months, haha.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Down the TBR Rabbit Hole #14

This post was originated by Lost In A Story, who no longer blogs about books it looks like, but this post idea lives on without her! I will take five books on my TBR and assess if I still want to read them. It’s a way to clean up your list and remember books you wanted to read!

Here are my five books this week!

#1: Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Goodreads Synopsis: Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one. 

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will. 

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

Keep It? No, doesn’t sound interesting to me.

#2: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Goodreads Synopsis: All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

Keep It? Yes! This book sounds so good! Magic books, count me in.

#3: The Last One by Alexandra Oliva

Goodreads Synopsis: Survival is the name of the game as the line blurs between reality TV and reality itself in Alexandra Oliva’s fast-paced novel of suspense.

She wanted an adventure. She never imagined it would go this far.

It begins with a reality TV show. Twelve contestants are sent into the woods to face challenges that will test the limits of their endurance. While they are out there, something terrible happens—but how widespread is the destruction, and has it occurred naturally or is it human-made? Cut off from society, the contestants know nothing of it. When one of them—a young woman the show’s producers call Zoo—stumbles across the devastation, she can imagine only that it is part of the game.

Alone and disoriented, Zoo is heavy with doubt regarding the life—and husband—she left behind, but she refuses to quit. Staggering countless miles across unfamiliar territory, Zoo must summon all her survival skills—and learn new ones as she goes.

But as her emotional and physical reserves dwindle, she grasps that the real world might have been altered in terrifying ways—and her ability to parse the charade will be either her triumph or her undoing.

Sophisticated and provocative, The Last One is a novel that forces us to confront the role that media plays in our perception of what is real: how readily we cast our judgments, how easily we are manipulated.

Keep It? No. I don’t want to read about reality TV gone wrong, or any society gone wrong that isn’t fantasy. Hits too close to home right now.

#4: Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement by Rich Kaarlgard

Goodreads Synopsis: We live in a society where kids and parents are obsessed with early achievement, from getting perfect scores on SATs to getting into Ivy League colleges to landing an amazing job at Google or Facebook–or even better, creating a start-up with the potential to be the next Google or Facebook or Uber. We see software coders become millionaires or billionaires before age thirty and feel we are failing if we are not one of them.

Late bloomers, on the other hand, are undervalued in popular culture by educators and employers, and even unwittingly by parents. Yet the fact is, a lot of us – most of us – do not explode out of the gates in life. We have to discover our passions and talents and gifts. That was true for author Rich Karlgaard, who had a mediocre academic career at Stanford (which he got into by a fluke) and, after graduating, worked as a dishwasher and nightwatchman before finally finding the inner motivation and drive that ultimately led him to start up a high-tech magazine in Silicon Valley, and eventually to become the publisher of Forbes magazine.

There is a scientific explanation for why so many of us bloom later in life. The executive function of our brains doesn’t mature until age twenty-five – and later for some. In fact, our brain’s capabilities peak at different ages. We actually experience multiple periods of blooming in our lives. Moreover, late bloomers enjoy hidden strengths due to taking the time to discover their way in life – strengths coveted by many employers and partners, including curiosity, insight, compassion, resilience, and wisdom.

Based on years of research, personal experience, interviews with neuroscientists, psychologists, and countless people at different stages of their careers, Late Bloomers reveals how and when we achieve our full potential, and why today’s focus on early success is so misguided, and even harmful.

Keep It? No. I agree with the sentiment of this book, but I don’t feel like I need to read a whole book about it.

#5: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskill

Goodreads Synopsis: Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centres on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new step-sister enters Molly’s quiet life – loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.

Wives and Daughters is far more than a nostalgic evocation of village life; it offers an ironic critique of mid-Victorian society. ‘No nineteenth-century novel contains a more devastating rejection than this of the Victorian male assumption of moral authority’, writes Pam Morris in her introduction to this new edition, in which she explores the novel’s main themes – the role of women, Darwinism and the concept of Englishness – and its literary and social context.

Keep It? Yes! I want to read more classics written by women, and this book is on my “have to get to” list for this year!

So I only kept 2/5 books! I am proud of myself for this one. Plus, the two I kept I am excited to read!

Monday Morning in the Bog! 6/29/20

So, I totally bailed on any posts last week because I was busy finishing up an application to a fellowship that soaked up all my time and I went back to work! But I am back this week and here’s what I’m reading:

Currently Reading: The Perfect Escape by Suzanne Park

Queue: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

• Cress by Marissa Meyer
• Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
• Winter by Marissa Meyer
• One of us is Lying by Karen McManus
• Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebochi
• The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson
• Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie

Okay, also it’s so embarrassing but I read half on An Unkindness of Ghosts and then my library return ran out!!! I can’t remember the last time this happened to me. I just didn’t plan out my reading time right because last week ended up being so crazy. However, I should get it back in the next two weeks, then I’ll finish it and do the review.

Also, check out the special collab that I posted this morning with Peace and Love and Veggies!

Down the TBR Rabbit Hole #13

This post was originated by Lost In A Story, who no longer blogs about books it looks like, but this post idea lives on without her! I will take five books on my TBR and assess if I still want to read them. It’s a way to clean up your list and remember books you wanted to read!

Here are my five books this week!

Me trying to take books off my TBR

#1: Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

Goodreads Synopsis: Isabelle should be blissfully happy – she’s about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn’t the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince’s heart. She’s the ugly stepsister who’s cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella’s shoe … which is now filling with blood.

When the prince discovers Isabelle’s deception, she is turned away in shame. It’s no more than she deserves: she is a plain girl in a world that values beauty; a feisty girl in a world that wants her to be pliant.

Isabelle has tried to fit in. To live up to her mother’s expectations. To be like her stepsister. To be sweet. To be pretty. One by one, she has cut away pieces of herself in order to survive a world that doesn’t appreciate a girl like her. And that has made her mean, jealous, and hollow.

Until she gets a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.

Keep It? No. I am not interested in a story glorifying one of the evil stepsisters any more. Maybe this book doesn’t do that, but I don’t see myself reading this.

#2: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Goodreads Synopsis: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know…

Keep it? Uh duh, yes! This book is YA royalty and I will read it one day, maybe next year after I am finally done reading all of Sarah J. Mass’s books (THERE ARE SO MANY). I can only handle one giant series at a time.

#3: How the Light Gets In by Katy Upperman

Goodreads Synopsis: Since her sister’s tragic death, seventeen-year-old Callie Ryan has basically given up. Her grades have plummeted, she’s quit her swim team, and she barely recognizes the people her parents have become.

When she returns to her aunt’s run-down coastal Victorian one year after Chloe’s death, Callie resigns herself to a summer of guilt and home renovations. She doesn’t expect to be charmed by the tiny coastal town or by Tucker Morgan, a local boy brimming with sunshine.

But even as her days begin to brighten, Callie’s nights are crowded with chilling dreams, unanswered questions, and eerie phenomenon that have her convinced she’s being haunted. Will Callie be able to figure out what her sister is trying to communicate before it’s too late? 

Keep It? Yes, romance plus some spooky? I’m here for it.

#4: We are the Ghosts by Vicky Skinner

Goodreads Synopsis: After her estranged brother suddenly dies, a girl embarks on a road trip to rediscover who her brother really was in this contemporary YA novel.

When Ellie’s estranged brother, Luke, dies in a car accident, she’s not sure whether to be devastated that she lost the person who was once her best friend or enraged, still, that he left without a word a year ago. Now, the only people who seem to understand what she’s going through are Luke’s best friend and his ex-girlfriend, who she bonds with over their desire to figure out where Luke went when he walked out of their lives.

As she gets closer to them, and closer to Cade, a boy who seems determined to get to know her better, she realizes that she’s not the only one with reasons to be angry at Luke. And when Ellie makes a discovery that changes everything, she and her new friends hit the road, hoping that following Luke’s trail will bring them answers about the life Luke was living away from them.

Keep It? No. I added this because I was trying to read more books from Swoon Reads, but I can only handle so many siblings-dying kind of books. This one doesn’t peak my interest enough to keep.

#5: The Language of Fire: Joan of Arc Reimagined by Stephanie Hemphill

Goodreads Synopsis: Jehanne was an illiterate peasant, never quite at home among her siblings and peers. Until one day, she hears a voice call to her, telling her she is destined for important things. She begins to understand that she has been called by God, chosen for a higher purpose — to save France.

Through sheer determination and incredible courage, Jehanne becomes the unlikeliest of heroes. She runs away from home, dresses in men’s clothes, and convinces an army that she will lead France to victory.

As a girl in a man’s world, at a time when women truly had no power, Jehanne faced constant threats and violence from the men around her. Despite the impossible odds, Jehanne became a fearless warrior who has inspired generations.

This extraordinary verse novel from award-winning author Stephanie Hemphill dares to imagine how an ordinary girl became a great leader, and ultimately saved a nation.

The Language of Fire is a lyrical, dark, and moving look at the life of Joan of Arc, who as a teen girl in the fifteenth century commanded an army and helped crown a king of France. 

Keep It? No because I hate novels in verse. They aren’t for me. Sorry Joan.

I really cut down this week, I only kept two! I’m quite proud of myself for all the slicing and dicing.

Monday Morning in the Bog! 6/15/20

Currently Reading: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Queue: 

• An Unkindess of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
• The Perfect Escape by Suzanne Park
• Cress by Marissa Meyer
• Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
• Winter by Marissa Meyer
• One of us is Lying by Karen McManus
• Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebochi
• The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson

Does anyone else feel like their brains are complete mush? I feel like I can barely string a sentence together at the moment. I think because of that I need to switch over mostly to mini reviews for a bit. I’m thinking on Fridays I’ll do a review round up of all the books I read that week, like my mini-reviews posts. Plus, my mini reviews are the most liked posts on the blog, so it might be a win-win for everyone! Who has time to read a full review? No one!

That’s all the updates from me. What books are people reading right now?

Down the TBR Rabbit Hole #12

This post was originated by Lost In A Story, who no longer blogs about books it looks like, but this post idea lives on without her! I will take five books on my TBR and assess if I still want to read them. It’s a way to clean up your list and remember books you wanted to read!

#1: Dune by Frank Herbert

Goodreads Synopsis: Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for….

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.

A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction. 

Keep It? (Groans) Yes. I need to read this, ideally before the movie comes out, but it’s SO LONG. Sooooo loooooong. Also there are SIX BOOKS IN THIS SERIES? I just looked this up. I thought it was only one book. I’m a dingus! This is such a bigger commitment than I realized!

#2: The Girl King by Mimi Yu

Goodreads Synopsis: Two sisters become unwitting rivals in a war to claim the title of Emperor in this sweeping tale of ambition, sacrifice and betrayal for readers of Sabaa Tahir and Alwyn Hamilton.

All hail the Girl King. Sisters Lu and Min have always understood their places as princesses of the Empire. Lu knows she is destined to become the dynasty’s first female ruler, while Min is resigned to a life in her shadow. Then their father declares their male cousin Set the heir instead—a betrayal that sends the sisters down two very different paths.

Determined to reclaim her birthright, Lu goes on the run. She needs an ally—and an army—if she is to succeed. Her quest leads her to Nokhai, the last surviving wolf shapeshifter. Nok wants to keep his identity secret, but finds himself forced into an uneasy alliance with the girl whose family killed everyone he ever loved…

Alone in the volatile court, Min’s hidden power awakens—a forbidden, deadly magic that could secure Set’s reign…or allow Min to claim the throne herself. But there can only be one Emperor, and the sisters’ greatest enemy could turn out to be each other.

Keep It? Yes! This sounds great! Also, I heard her talk on a panel at Y’All West and she was super cool.

#3: Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches by Russell D. Moore

Goodreads Synopsis: A stirring call to Christian families and churches to be a people who care for orphans, not just in word, but in deed.

The gospel of Jesus Christ-the good news that through Jesus we have been adopted as sons and daughters into God’s family-means that Christians ought to be at the forefront of the adoption of orphans in North America and around the world.

Russell D. Moore does not shy away from this call in Adopted for Life, a popular-level, practical manifesto for Christians to adopt children and to help equip other Christian families to do the same. He shows that adoption is not just about couples who want children-or who want more children. It is about an entire culture within evangelicalism, a culture that sees adoption as part of the Great Commission mandate and as a sign of the gospel itself.

Moore, who adopted two boys from Russia and has spoken widely on the subject, writes for couples considering adoption, families who have adopted children, and pastors who wish to encourage adoption.

Keep It? No. I feel like I believe what this book preaches already so I don’t really need to read it.

#4: No Judgments by Meg Cabot

Goodreads Synopsis: The storm of the century is about to hit Little Bridge Island, Florida—and it’s sending waves crashing through Sabrina “Bree” Beckham’s love life…

When a massive hurricane severs all power and cell service to Little Bridge Island — as well as its connection to the mainland — twenty-five-year-old Bree Beckham isn’t worried… at first. She’s already escaped one storm — her emotionally abusive ex — so a hurricane seems like it will be a piece of cake.

But animal-loving Bree does become alarmed when she realizes how many islanders have been cut off from their beloved pets. Now it’s up to her to save as many of Little Bridge’s cats and dogs as she can… but to do so, she’s going to need help — help she has no choice but to accept from her boss’s sexy nephew, Drew Hartwell, the Mermaid Café’s most notorious heartbreaker.

But when Bree starts falling for Drew, just as Little Bridge’s power is restored and her penitent ex shows up, she has to ask herself if her island fling was only a result of the stormy weather, or if it could last during clear skies too.

Keep It? No, this doesn’t sound like something I want to read right now. I feel like there will be a time in my life where I read all of Meg Cabot’s adult books, because I love her, but I’d probably start with Size 12 is Not Fat or Queen of Babble.

#5: We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Goodreads Synopsis:

People lived because she killed.
People died because he lived.

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways.

Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

Set in a richly detailed world inspired by ancient Arabia, We Hunt the Flame is a gripping debut of discovery, conquering fear, and taking identity into your own hands.

Keep It? Yes! This is on my TBR for this year. The second book release was delayed to December, so I plan on reading this in maybe October/November so I don’t have to wait too long for book two.

I kept three and got rid of two! A successful week!

Monday Morning in the Bog! 6/8/20

Good morning! I hope everyone is feeling motivated this week, in whatever your pursuit may be. Here are my reading updates!

Currently Reading: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Queue: The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

• An Unkindess of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
• Scarlett by Marissa Meyer
• The Perfect Escape by Suzanne Park
• Cress by Marissa Meyer
• Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
• Winter by Marissa Meyer
• One of us is Lying by Karen McManus
• Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebochi
• The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson

Bye friends!

Down the TBR Rabbit Hole #11

This post was originated by Lost In A Story, who no longer blogs about books it looks like, but this post idea lives on without her! I will take five books on my TBR and assess if I still want to read them. It’s a way to clean up your list and remember books you wanted to read!

#1: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Goodreads Synopsis: Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she’s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex’s secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love. 

Keep It? Yes. I am an absolute sucker for the enemies to lovers trope, but if this book sucks I will probably DNF it. I have read so many good versions of the trope that I have NO TIME for bad ones.

#2: Ever the Brave by Erin Summerhill

Goodreads Synopsis: Ever the Divided. Ever the Feared. Ever the Brave.
After saving King Aodren with her newfound Channeler powers, Britta only wants to live a peaceful life in her childhood home. Unfortunately, saving the King has created a tether between them she cannot sever, no matter how much she’d like to, and now he’s insisting on making her a noble lady. And there are those who want to use Britta’s power for evil designs. If Britta cannot find a way to harness her new magical ability, her life—as well as her country—may be lost.

The stakes are higher than ever in the sequel to Ever the Hunted, as Britta struggles to protect her kingdom and her heart.

Keep It? Yes! I read the first one in this series and thought it was fun. I plan to try to finish the trilogy this year, I just haven’t been able to get to it yet!

#3: Zero Repeat Forever by Gabrielle S. Prendergast

Goodreads Synopsis: He has no voice, or name, only a rank, Eighth. He doesn’t know the details of the mission, only the directives that hum in his mind.

Dart the humans. Leave them where they fall.

His job is to protect his Offside. Let her do the shooting.

Until a human kills her…

Sixteen year-old Raven is at summer camp when the terrifying armored Nahx invade, annihilating entire cities, taking control of the Earth. Isolated in the wilderness, Raven and her friends have only a fragment of instruction from the human resistance.

Shelter in place.

Which seems like good advice at first. Stay put. Await rescue. Raven doesn’t like feeling helpless but what choice does she have?

Then a Nahx kills her boyfriend.

Thrown together in a violent, unfamiliar world, Eighth and Raven should feel only hate and fear. But when Raven is injured, and Eighth deserts his unit, their survival comes to depend on trusting each other… 

Keep it? No. I don’t want to read about a killer and “shelter in place” is pretty triggering right now with quarantine, so I think this is a pass for me.

#4: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Goodreads Synopsis: Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell. 

Keep It? Yes, I’ve heard of this book for a while, and I love me some witches, so I need to read this one!

#5: The Supervillain and Me by Danielle Banas

Goodreads Synopsis: In Abby Hamilton’s world, superheroes do more than just stop crime and save cats stuck in trees—they also drink milk straight from the carton and hog the television remote. Abby’s older brother moonlights as the famous Red Comet, but without powers of her own, following in his footsteps has never crossed her mind.

That is, until the city’s newest vigilante comes bursting into her life.

After saving Abby from an attempted mugging, Morriston’s fledgling supervillain Iron Phantom convinces her that he’s not as evil as everyone says, and that their city is under a vicious new threat. As Abby follows him deeper into their city’s darkest secrets, she comes to learn that heroes can’t always be trusted, and sometimes it’s the good guys who wear black.

Keep It? No, I read in the comments that there aren’t many superheroes in this book, so it’s a pass for me.

Okay, decent week! I kept three and got rid of two. Pretty good for me!

Tuesday Afternoon in the Bog! 6/2/20

I mourn the loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many African Americans who were murdered because of the color of their skin. I feel like there are no words in the world to express how wrong this injustice is. I stand by them and I need to do more.

One way I am trying to support them is to read more books by African American authors. I’ve changed my queue to reflect that. I would love any recommendations you guys have as well.

Currently Reading: The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

Queue: The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson

• An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• The Betrothed by Kiera Cass
• Scarlett by Marissa Meyer
• The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
• Cress by Marissa Meyer
• The Perfect Escape by Suzanne Park
• Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender

#BlackLivesMatter