Review: Witchcraft and Monsters

January 8, 2019 DeAnneLeave a comment

I’m not always the biggest fan of modern poetry collections, but I could resist checking out this title when I saw the cover and description and I’m so glad I did. Though this book is very short, the author’s writing is lyrical and descriptive. There were phrases that literally made me suck in a breath because they were so impactful. I can’t say that there were any poems within this collection that I disliked and found myself identifying with so many of them.

This collection is broken up into different sections that feel like a natural progression. Not only do the themes evolve and change as you make your way through it, but as you make your way through the poems become more reality and less fantasy. It’s obvious that the author has poured herself into this work and truly laid out many of her emotions and thoughts for the reader. That kind of vulnerability is not an easy thing to do and all the more beautiful for it.

I definitely recommend picking this collection up and giving it a read and hope to see more from this author in the future. Witchcraft and Monsters by Kala Godin is coming out on January 21st by Patchwork press.

Happy reading!

Review: Cogheart by Peter Bunzl

January 4, 2019January 4, 2019 DeAnneLeave a comment

There are a number of words or topics that I would consider buzzwords for me, one of them being steampunk. Any books that include steampunk elements can peak my interest, so I was very excited to receive a copy of Cogheart by Peter Bunzl from NetGalley. Though I had never heard of this book, the synopsis was enough to draw me in. This middle grade steampunk adventure was full of twists and turns and interesting characters.

Cogheart follows Lily Hartman, the daughter of a famous inventor who has gone missing in an airship crash. Very quickly the reader is made aware of nefarious characters having ulterior motives towards Lily and her father. Lily is a feisty girl who pines for adventure and to be the heroine of her story. Throughout the book she is accompanied by her new friend Robert and her mechanical fox, Malkin, whose quick wit and sharp tongue made me laugh more than once.

The story itself was a tad predictable regarding the final outcome, but the journey to get there was worth it and full of character building and depth. Bunzl’s descriptions of settings, vehicles, different people and mechanicals were rich and full of the whimsy that I love to associate with steampunk in general. With such vivid details it was easy to see the story play out in one’s mind and made the read even more enjoyable.

If you’re looking for a fun middle grade adventure that is sure to suck the reader into a unique and whimsical world I would definitely recommend picking this up. I greatly look forward to getting the opportunity to read the following stories as well.

Cogheart is being released by Jolly Fish Press on February 12, 2019, be sure to check it out!

Happy reading!

Review: Hidden Heartbreak

January 2, 2019January 2, 2019 DeAnneLeave a comment

I used to follow @HiddenHeartbreak’s posts on Instagram as the art and story intrigued me, so when I found out that much of that story had been compiled into a book I was excited to take a look.

I was a little disappointed that it didn’t seem to include much art that was new, though it was nice to see the entire story, or healing process, in one continuous stream.

Hidden Heartbreak is a graphic representation of the author’s relationship and where it went wrong. It does take a look at insecurities some people may have, as well as glimpses of a toxic relationship and how the author worked her way back from it.

I probably would have gotten much more out of this book if I wasn’t already familiar with the art, of if there had been more that was brand new, but I felt that this was a great collection of the art from the instagram account.

Hidden Heartbreak comes out January 8, 2019 from Andrews McMeel Publishing. If it’s something that interests you, check it out!

Happy reading!

Bookish Goals for 2019

January 2, 2019 DeAnne1 Comment

I don’t know about everyone else, but 2018 went by super fast for me. I felt like I accomplished a lot regarding reading and writing, but it was also a whirlwind. This year and some of 2017 really felt like the first years I was back to being myself reading wise since my father died in 2013.

I ended 2018 with a total of 283 books read. They were a balance between audio books and physical/e-books and I won’t deny that the ability to listen to audio books at work really allowed me to listen to more.

While I would like to read that amount or more in 2019 and really tackle my TBR, I’ve set my Goodreads goal to 100. I have some other goals that I am setting for myself with books in mind.

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Make decent headway on the physical books on my TBR – currently my physical TBR is, shall we say, a tad out of control. I have 1.5 bookcases in my bedroom that purely contain unread books, plus a couple stacks. I have made some progress on some of those far down on my TBR by listening to their audiobooks, but I need to concentrate more on this backlist more than I have been. Last year only 58 of the 283 books I read were books that I already had a physical copy of, which is 20%. If I truly want to bring down my physical TBR I need to up this percentage.
Finish some of the series I have started – I have a good amount of duologies/series which I have started, but haven’t completed and in many cases I do own the other books. I’m going to strive to finish 5 of these active series in 2019.
Continue to keep track of my books added to my TBR, books read and other stats in my bullet journal – this was the first year I tried out a bullet journal and I kept it very simple. I had a page for books read, books added, and number of books per month as well as a couple other small graphs. This really helped me curb my buying as I had a physical representation of just how much I was bringing in. I made a goal to not add more books in a month than I read and I only failed that twice (one of which was my birthday month so…).
Ahem, be better about posting here – this blog is new for me but I am really enjoying it; however, with a full time job that requires a lot of my mental energy, it can sometimes be hard to get myself to do anything on my time off. I’m really going to make an effort to post more and be more regular about the content here.

And a bonus writing goal – I hope to once again participate in Nanowrimo in November. I did it this year for the 2nd time and while I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did in 2017, I made a lot of progress and reached my goal. I’m hoping to continue the trend for a 3rd time in a row.

So far that’s the main goals I have planned for myself and I will be more than happy if I can accomplish them. What are some of your goals for 2019?

Happy reading!