So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Bookish Pet Peeves
I wasn’t totally enthusiastic about this topic when I drafted this post but once the ball got rolling it didn’t take long for me to come up with ten! I guess I have a lot of things that I like to whine about when it comes to books/reading! 😂
Read More »We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
I’ll be spending the rest of my Sunday finishing Seducing the Sorcerer by Lee Welch. I’ve never heard of this author before but I picked it up cos I saw Nick @ The Infinite Limits of Love review it and since it sounded like a fun MM romance, I thought I’d give it a try! It took a while for me to get into it but I’m enjoying it so far! These two are such softies (outside of the bedroom) and I they’re so awkwardly sweet together! ❤️
Homeless and jobless, Fenn Todd has nearly run out of hope. All he has left is his longing for horses and the strength of his own two hands. But when he’s cheated into accepting a very ugly sackcloth horse, he’s catapulted into a world of magic, politics and desire.
Fenn’s invited to stay at the black tower, home of the most terrifying man in the realm: Morgrim, the court sorcerer. Morgrim has a reputation as a scheming villain, but he seems surprisingly charming—and sexy—and Fenn falls hard for him.
However, nothing is as it seems and everyone at the tower is lying about something. Beset by evil hexes, violent political intrigue and a horse that eats eiderdowns, Fenn must make the hardest choices of his life.
Can a plain man like Fenn ever find true love with a scheming sorcerer?
What are you currently reading?
Read More »
I’m back with another blog tour with The Storytellers on Tour for The Goddess of Nothing at All by Cat Rector. Thanks to the author for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Be sure to click on the banner below to check out the rest of the bloggers on tour!
Goodreads: The Goddess of Nothing at All
Publication Date: 01 October 2021
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Retelling
Panda Rating:
(5 pandas)
A dark fantasy Norse myth retelling for fans of Circe, The Witch’s Heart, and The Silence of the Girls
Perhaps you know the myths.
Furious, benevolent Gods.
A tree that binds nine realms.
A hammer stronger than any weapon.
And someday, the end of everything.
But few have heard of me.
Looking back, it’s easy to know what choices I might have made differently. At least it feels that way. I might have given up on my title. Told my father he was useless, king of Gods or no, and left Asgard. Made a life somewhere else.
Maybe I would never have let Loki cross my path. Never have fallen in love.
But there’s no going back.
We were happy once.
And the price for that happiness was the end of everything.
Someone wanna tell me how it’s already October?! 😭
Not a whole lot happened in September but the month has literally passed by in a blur so I don’t even know if I’ve caught up yet mentally as I’m still at the start of the month but it’s already October? How?
I’ve still mostly stayed home but I took an exciting trip to Ikea for some Swedish Meatballs and new lux sheets early on in the month and I’m not mad about that! The parents also came back and we got to spend mum’s birthday together last weekend, which was nice 😊 Other than that it’s just been a slog of working, reading, occasionally painting, watching shows, and chilling to some good new tunes. I’ve been playing Montero repeatedly since it released and it’s a rare no-skip album for me and it just might be my favourite new release in 2021!
I’ve just counted how many books I’ve read in September and it’s a whopping 28 books! I think this is the most books I’ve read in a month in 2021 and it’s most likely because a lot of these books were romances and it’s so easy to binge those. I found my first 5-star read in Good Girl, Bad Blood after months of not having one and I couldn’t think of a book that deserved it more!
I have to also mention two other favourites this month: The Wolf’s Curse (MG SFF) and The Sweetest Oblivion (Adult Romance).
I joined The Magical Readathon in September and had hoped to finish books for all seven prompts but sadly only got through five. Out of those, only two were reads I picked out for my “possibility pile” and that’s how truly awful I am at sticking to TBRs of any kind! 😂 Here’s what I managed to complete for the prompts:
So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Freebie (Come up with your own topic or do a past TTT topic that you missed or would like to do again)!
I always struggle when it comes to freebie topics but I decided to keep things as simple as possible and share the first few lines from ten of my favourite reads this year! I surprisingly don’t have very many five-star reads this year but looking through my read list, I had a hard time choosing just ten from the ones that had me feeling all the feels! I would definitely recommend checking out these reads though so maybe these first lines will entice you to pick them up?! 😉
Read More »Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! It’s been a very hot minute since I did one but I figured I might as well get back into it! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.*
*Sorry if a book has been featured twice. I need to make better note of which ones I’ve done already!
This week’s featured book is How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox. It’s a Young Adult Contemporary that came out in 2019 and has an average rating of 4.02 with over 3k ratings and just under 1k reviews.
Read More »We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
I’ll be spending the rest of my Sunday night in bed with Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson. It’s the second book in the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series and I’m looking forward to reuniting with Poppy and seeing what’s on the cards for her this time around!
More dark secrets are exposed in this true-crime fueled mystery.
Pip is not a detective anymore.
With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.
But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing. Jamie Reynolds has disappeared, on the very same night the town hosted a memorial for the sixth-year anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh.
The police won’t do anything about it. And if they won’t look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town’s dark secrets along the way… and this time everyone is listening. But will she find him before it’s too late?
What are you currently reading?
Read More »Hello, friends! I’m coming at you with another fun tag today 😊 I first saw The Count to 10 With Me book tag on Julie @ One Book More’s page and it looked so fun I thought I’d give it a go. The original tag was created by booktuber Alyce @ The Bumbling Blogger.
Most of these books I’ve already read but perhaps one or two of them will still be on my TBR. If I’ve written a review for the book I’ll link it to the book cover if you want to check them out. On that note, here we go!
Slippery Creatures is a book that I just finished this past week and I subsequently devoured the rest of the trilogy. The vivid 1920s setting, masterful writing, and charming main cast has made this series one of my favourite historical (queer) romances and I (obvs) highly recommend it! 😊
I have the ebook and the hardcover for With the Fire on High. I read the physical copy first and loved it so much that I knew I wanted to get the ebook so I could mark all my favourite bits an re-read it whenever I want! It’s such a gorgeous book ❤️
The cover of Pride and Premeditation is one of my favourites! It’s so bright and SO colourful 😍 Bonus is that I really enjoyed this mystery re-telling of my favourite classic!
This was a little bit tough but I’ve settled on Aurora Burning in the end! Each chapter is a different POV and we get the POV of all the crew members 😍
Jade City is one of the best adult fantasies that I’ve ever read and I cannot recommend it enough! There’s so much to love about this series from the stellar world-building to the characters who come to feel like family. To say I was invested in both books in The Green Bone Saga would be an understatement. 😂 I cannot wait until the final book in this glorious series comes out because I need it in my life like yesterday already pls thanku!
I’m not much of an anthology reader but I did read Up All Night last month and surprisingly loved most of the stories! These coming-of-age stories are fun, magical, and full of the exciting, scary and hopeful feelings of change.
I thought this was gonna be much harder than I anticipated but I just had to look at my shelf and I immediately spotted one of my all time faves: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo!
Oof, this prompt was a little tougher to figure out! Good Talk is a great non-fiction graphic novel, the first I’ve read, and I really enjoyed the conversations this book brought up between me and a couple of friends! 😊
This one took a surprising amount of scrolling on my GR read list to find! I ended up with: 659 pages for The Crown of Gilded Bones, which is book three in the Blood and Ash series!
Okay, this one was the toughest out of all the prompts and I was unable to find a series that I want to read that had exactly ten books. It was even hard to find a series that had more than ten books… although counting the novellas, I ended up with The Outlander series. Without novellas there are 9 books, with novellas there are 12 books! I haven’t even read the first book so I have quite a bit of reading to do! 😂
And that’s it, folks! I won’t be tagging anyone specifically so if you feel like joining the fun, feel free to do so! I’d love to see what your picks are for this fun tag, especially for the last prompt! 😍
Hello, friends! I’m thrilled to be taking part in my first blog tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours for The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities: New Stories about Mythic Heroes by Rick Riordan, Carlos Hernandez, Roshani Chkoshi, J.C. Cervantes, Yoon Ha Lee, Kwame Mbalia, Rebecca Roanhorse, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Sarwat Chadda and Graci Kim.
Don’t forget to enter the GIVEAWAY (US only, sorry international friends)—details are at the end of my post, and don’t forget to check out the other blogs on tour in the schedule posted after my thoughts!
Special thanks to Rick Riordan Presents for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Goodreads: The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities
Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents
Publish Date: 28 September 2021
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Panda Rating:
(4 pandas)
Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents ten new stories–including one of his own–about beloved heroes that sprang from the imaginations of some of the best middle grade authors working today.
A cave monster . . . an abandoned demon . . . a ghost who wants to erase history . . . a killer commandant . . . These are just some of the challenges confronting the young heroes in this highly entertaining anthology.
All but one of the heroes previously starred in a popular book from Rick Riordan Presents. You”ll be reunited with Aru Shah, Zane Obispo, Min the fox spirit, Sal and Gabi, Tristan Strong, Nizhoni Begay, Paola Santiago, Sikander Aziz, and Riley Oh. Who is the new hero? Read Rick Riordan”s short story to find out!
Ten bestselling and award-winning middle grade authors contributed to this collection: Roshani Chokshi, J.C. Cervantes, Yoon Ha Lee, Carlos Hernandez, Kwame Mbalia, Rebecca Roanhorse, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Sarwat Chadda, Graci Kim, and Rick Riordan, who also served as the editor.
The cultures represented by these own-voices stories are: Indian, Mesoamerican, Korean, Cuban, Black American, African, Navajo, Mexican, Mesopotamian, and Celtic.
There’s something for everyone in this collection of fast-paced and funny adventure stories that show what it takes to be a hero in any time, setting, and universe.
GET A COPY:
Click on the author names to be taken to their websites!
TL;DR: For readers who are new to the worlds found in Rick Riordan Presents books, this will give you a wonderful taste of what lies in store when you finally dive into them head first! For those who are returning, these stories will take you on fun (mis)adventures with some of your favourite characters from your favourite stories! This was such a fun collection full of magic and it’s rich in diversity and cultural representation! Highly recommended for all readers but especially those who love action-packed (mis)adventures, an abundance of magic, diverse mythology, most likely demons and ghouls, and lots of cheeky and witty humour! 😊
I was completely immersed from the moment I set foot into this Multiverse Mansion and I was itching with eagerness to open each door to the different worlds held within. These stories are rich with diverse cultures and a wild kind of magic courses through each of the pages that hold you enthralled as the characters and their stories unfold. Honestly, these are the kind of stories that I wish had been available to younger me because it would’ve meant so much to see parts of myself in characters who look like me and have roots in parts of the world I’m from. Not to mention that it would’ve been amazing to learn about the different mythologies, too! Luckily, they’re stories that adult me can read and greatly appreciate and it makes me so happy knowing that such diverse heroic tales are available for younger generations to read and identify with!
We get small glimpses into magnificent worlds and we meet many new characters that I was eager to learn more about the minute their story ended. What makes me love a short story is when the story comes full circle, the questions are answered and it can essentially stand on its own, and the majority of stories in here did that! I often found myself going into deep(ish) dives on the interwebs to read up about the mythologies and creatures and I love when a story can pique my curiosity in that way because it makes the experience that much more unforgettable. While I enjoyed all of the stories my top three are: The Demon Drum by Rebecca Roanhorse, My Night at the Gifted Carnival by Graci Kim, and… it’s a tie between The Initiation by Yoon Ha Lee and Bruto and the Freaky Flower by Tehlor Kay Mejia (sorry, I really can’t choose)! 😜
Although I had only met the characters from one of the stories in this collection (Gum Baby forever!), I had no trouble following along with the adventures, so it’s okay to go into this without prior knowledge of the stories. I think it would be perfect for readers who want to get a taste of the worlds found in the Rick Riordan Presents books and I can guarantee that it will leave you wanting more as soon as possible!
Week One:
| 9/1/2021 | YA Books Central | Excerpt |
| 9/2/2021 | Kait Plus Books | Excerpt |
| 9/3/2021 | Rajiv’s Reviews | Review |
| 9/4/2021 | @Curlygrannylovestoread | Review |
Week Two:
| 9/5/2021 | #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog | Review |
| 9/6/2021 | A Dream Within A Dream | Review |
| 9/7/2021 | Nonbinary Knight Reads | Review |
| 9/8/2021 | The Bookwyrm’s Den | Review |
| 9/9/2021 | Log Cabin Library | Review |
| 9/10/2021 | Lifestyle of Me | Review |
| 9/11/2021 | Emelie’s Books | Review |
Week Three:
| 9/12/2021 | @pagesofyellow | Review |
| 9/13/2021 | Locks, Hooks and Books | Review |
| 9/14/2021 | More Books Please blog | Review |
| 9/15/2021 | Little Red Reads | Review |
| 9/16/2021 | Don’t Judge, Read | Review |
| 9/17/2021 | Fyrekatz Blog | Review |
| 9/18/2021 | booksaremagictoo | Review |
Week Four:
| 9/19/2021 | The Phantom Paragrapher | Review |
| 9/20/2021 | BookHounds YA | Excerpt |
| 9/21/2021 | Cindy’s Love of Books | Review |
| 9/22/2021 | dinipandareads | Review |
| 9/23/2021 | hauntedbybooks | Review |
| 9/24/2021 | Books a Plenty Book Reviews | Review |
| 9/25/2021 | Books and Zebras @jypsylynn | Review |
Week Five:
| 9/26/2021 | The Momma Spot | Review |
| 9/27/2021 | Zainey Laney | Review |
| 9/28/2021 | @fictitious.fox | Review |
| 9/29/2021 | Two Points of Interest | Review |
| 9/30/2021 | PopTheButterfly Reads | Review |
Have you read The Curse Carnival and Other Calamities or is it on your TBR?
So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Books on my Fall 2021 To-Read List.
As a mood reader, I’m not much of a TBR kinda person although some of these I do have to read before a certain date as they’re ARCs and for blog tours! The majority make up my possibility pile for the ‘fall’ season and while I’m not sure that I’ll get around to them this fall (again, it all depends on my mood), I’m still hoping to get them read at least before the year ends—and since they’ve made it onto a possibility pile, there’s a higher chance that I’ll get to them! 😊
Read More »
dinipandareads 