Category: discussion

Can’t Wait Wednesday 2/19/20

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Can’t Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings based on the meme Waiting on Wednesday by Breaking the Spine. In this weekly post people share a book that they’re excited about being released.

This week I want to highlight The Silence of Bones, a book I have been hyped about and eagerly anticipating for months. I love everything I’ve heard about this book and will definitely be preordering it or picking it up on release day.

1800, Joseon (Korea). Homesick and orphaned sixteen-year-old Seol is living out the ancient curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Indentured to the police bureau, she’s been tasked with assisting a well-respected young inspector with the investigation into the politically charged murder of a noblewoman.

As they delve deeper into the dead woman’s secrets, Seol forms an unlikely bond of friendship with the inspector. But her loyalty is tested when he becomes the prime suspect, and Seol may be the only one capable of discovering what truly happened on the night of the murder.

But in a land where silence and obedience are valued above all else, curiosity can be deadly.

June Hur’s elegant and haunting debut The Silence of Bones is a bloody tale perfect for fans of Kerri Maniscalco and Renée Ahdieh.

Doesn’t that sound amazing? I can’t wait to read it!

Happy reading!

Announcement & Shout Out

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Today I want to take some time to give a shout out to the people who recently made me my new banner and logo/icon. You may have seen some of the changes and I wanted to devote a post to thanking them!

My banner, the incredible and whimsical path of wandering books, was created by Mir at https://fangirlpixieblog.com/! You can find her at her blog, on twitter or at her etsy shop FangirlPixieJar!

The other change you may have seen was my icon/logo which my cousin A.J. made for me. With this I did want something different but still whimsical and he was great to work with for that. He can be found on instagram at @realajlogan, contacted by email at aj@imlhlife.com or by phone at (971)344-7469.

Both of these artists were amazing to work with! They communicated with me amazingly and customized everything to what I was wanting until I was happy. Be sure to reach out to them if you’re looking for great graphics!

Clearing the Hoard: Update and Month 2

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This challenge was created by Caffeinated Fae in an effort to reduce the number of physically owned but unread books in her collection. Make sure to head over to her post (linked above) to check it out.

So here we are, in month 2! If you want a refresher of what books I had selected and my reasoning, etc, head on over to my previous post. In that post I had selected five books and I read….one of them. Oops.

To be fair, my audiobook loan for The Cheerleaders expired shortly after I wrote that post and I only just recently was able to check it out again, so it will definitely get finished this month. The others (besides Battlefield Ghosts, which I finished) will maybe be added to this months list. Besides those I did manage to remove 3 other books from my physical TBR which were The Witch Boy, Norse Mythology and The Ten Thousand Doors of January. So while I didn’t get to all the ones I picked, I did get 4 physical books off of my TBR.

This month (besides those from last month) I would like to get to The Devouring Gray and Dragon Pearl, which I finally had come in from the library. Other than that I’m not going to make a list since I do have carry overs from last month.

So while January didn’t go exactly as planned, there were still four books from TBR to Read and that’s not too shabby. We’ll see what this month brings!

Happy reading!

Flashback Friday Challenge

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After writing my #FlashbackFriday post last week I got to thinking that I would really like to do some rereading of those favorites, so what better way to do it than to incorporate it into a challenge! With all the books I need to read this year this is probably going to be a form of torture, but I also think it’s going to be fun. Each month (or so) I’ll pick a few titles from my shelves that are specifically tied to when I was younger and give them a reread. We’ll just have to see how it goes, fingers crossed!

Now let’s get to the ones I picked for the first round of this. I’m pretty much always in some stage of a Nancy Drew reread, so I picked up the next original mystery I’m on in my reread, #11 – The Clue of the Broken Locket, and I picked up the next one in the files that I need to get through #3 – Smile and Say Murder.

Next is a reread of L.J. Smith’s Night World series, though I’m still salty about the fact that Strange Fate, the finale has never been released. At think point I’d just like an outline to see how things end. This month I’m going to start with book one, which used to be titled Secret Vampire (not my favorite in the series, but the starting point).

The other one I’m going to pick up is probably not known by anyone, it came out at the same time R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series was out and from another similar series that was being started. This one is The Forever House by Mark Rivers. My best friend and I both have fond memories of this one and I haven’t read it since I was a teenager, so I figured it was time for a reread.

So, that’s going to be the first group of books I pick up and reread. We’ll see if they still hold their places in my heart as they did when I was younger. I’m sure some opinions and feelings may change, but we’ll see!

Happy reading!

Flashback Friday: Books I Loved When I Was Younger

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We all have those books that hold a dear place in our hearts. Books that looking back may not be perfect but that we can reread time and again because of how much we loved them in our youth. I’m going to take a walk down memory lane and talk about some of the ones I loved and still love.

Nancy Drew – I read a lot of Nancy Drew as a young teen. I was voracious in my devouring of books so my mom suggested I try them out, thinking they would last me a while. Yeah, I read all of the original stories, the extended originals and most of the files books. I’ve now collected all of the originals and all of the filed through 100. These books are a product of their time and aren’t perfect, but in a lot of ways they are also timeless. I can usually pick up one if I’m in a slump and fly through it.

L.J. Smith – I may be somewhat revealing my age, but I read pretty much all of L.J. Smith’s books when they came out. The Forbidden Game trilogy (my favorite), Vampire Diaries (the originals, not the ones that were added on later), Secret Circle, Dark Visions and Night World (do not even get me started on Strange Fate unless you want to hear a mega rant). I now have two sets of the original cover editions of the Forbidden Game trilogy, as well as two editions of all the Night World books, including first editions and the new beautiful re-released ones. No, they don’t necessarily hold up as well to modern standards, but they all have such a dear place in my heart.

Anne of Green Gables – I was gifted a box set of the entire Anne of Green Gables series as a child, another gift from my mom, because I loved the TV series that was made (starring Megan Follows). I didn’t get to them until I was a little older, but they are a huge chunk of my adolescence. I have thought about getting a new set of books since mine are very battered, but haven’t settled on what exactly I want yet.

So there we have it, a very narrowed down snippet of books that I loved and still love. What are some of your old favorites?

Happy reading!

Top Ten Tuesday: Last 10 Books I’ve Added to My Shelves

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ ThatArtsy Reader Girl, I decided I wanted to participate to add a little more content to my blog, so here we go!

This week is all about the last 10 books I’ve added to my shelves. It’s a good thing I keep track of the books I add every month or I’d be hopeless in this. Early in the month I went to my local bookstore and traded in a bunch of unhaul books and books that family members had passed to me. On that excursion I picked up four books.

Then I received my Book of the Month box, which included my selection from the finalists for being a BFF, my monthly book and an add on pick. You just can’t beat their prices when it comes to the subscription cost and cost of add ons.

Finally I’ve ordered on book from Amazon this month, which is another Heather Graham book as I’m trying to pick up the ones that I’m missing from the Krewe of Hunters series. Those are all the physical books that I’ve picked up this month, but to make this an even 10 I’ll include the last two books I’ve picked up on my kindle, both of which I’m really excited to get to.

What are some of the last books you picked up? Happy reading!

Anticipated February 2020 Releases

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Everyone looks ahead to see what books they want to check out and add to their TBR. It may not be great for the bank account, but I’m always excited to add to my want to read list. Let’s look at some of the books coming out in February that I want to check out.

Of Curses and Kisses – Ok, this one is no surprise to anyone who knows me, since it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling. When it comes to fairy tale retellings anything Beauty and the Beast is always at the top of my list. Plus, I’ve enjoyed Sandhya Menon’s writing before in When Dimple Met Rishi so I’m eager to try out her writing with more of a fantasy twist.

The Sun Down Motel – While I haven’t read Simone St. James’ other book that I have, The Broken Girls I am eagerly wanting to read both that one and this one. I was able to select it as my book from Book of the Month so I already have it, now I just have to get to it. I knew after I read the blurb that it was definitely something I wanted to check out.

The Unspoken Name – Ok, I’ll admit I haven’t really heard of this one but it snagged my interest when I was browsing a list so I took a look. Based on the description alone I am intrigued and really want to check it out. We’ll see if I like it when I do get it and get to it! It definitely looks like it would be a fun ride with a lot of morally grey areas, plus a fantasy!

The Unwilling – This is a book that I received an eARC of and accepted it purely because of the premise. It sounds like a fantasy with many moving parts and at the center of it a girl that everyone might want to use. This is one I’ll be diving into very soon, so look for a post about it from me!

So that’s it, those are some titles coming in February that I am very excited to get to. I hope that I end up loving all of them when I get to them, but we’ll just have to see. Do any of these pique your interest?

Happy reading!

Top 5 Things I Love About a Bookstore

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We all buy books online quite a lot now, because of convenience or availability, but I still enjoy going to brick and mortar bookstores. Part of this is loyalty, there’s a local one that has been around since I was in high school and I like to support them – but another reason is that sometimes I just need the comfort of a bookstore.

The Smell – Yes, that’s right. Bookstores smell of paper and ink regardless of if they are new or old. I would love candles specifically with this scent because it’s so soothing and a happy place for me.

Books you may not expect – Each bookstore is going to have a different array of books available, especially if they are a used and new bookstore that accepts trades. Finding those rare books that you don’t see in other bookstores, or the hidden treasure of an edition no longer available is an amazing feeling.

The Staff – As I said it’s wonderful when you have a favorite local bookstore, it’s even better when you can build a rapport with them and get to know the staff. They start knowing your taste and trusting your opinions when they ask you how a certain book was.

Trading in – If your favorite bookstore is one that allows you to trade in books for cash or credit, take advantage of it! It’s a great way to ave money and to eliminate books from your shelves that you may no longer want. I’ve saved a ton of money by doing this at my local store.

Instant Gratification – Let’s face it, being able to grab the book and take it home immediately is WAY better than waiting for the book to arrive in the mail!

So those are my favorite things about bookstores – what are some of yours?

Happy reading!

Let’s Chat: How I Read So Many Books

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I get the question a lot from people in my life as to how I’m able to read so many books. Last year I read 301 books and that surprised quite a few people in my life, even though they almost always see me with a book or kindle. The question that always follows is ‘how?’ so I’m going to break down some of the things I do to read so much.

So the first thing that really ups my game is the fact that I am able to listen to audio books at work. I’ve mentioned this many times, but it really helps. With a lot of books I’m able to listen at about double speed, though depending on the speed of the narrator’s speech I have been known to up it to 2.5 times speed. If I was not able to listen to audio books my numbers would be no where near what they are.

I also read a number of different formats and things such as graphic novels, poetry collections, manga, etc. will obviously take less time to read than full size novels. I also enjoy novellas and don’t turn my nose up at shorter books, I don’t choose books based on their page count so I often end up with a wide range of lengths and formats.

Another thing I’m able to do is read multiple books at once. I know that a lot of people can’t do this or don’t like to do this. I used to not be able to do it but then I went to college and had a double major, so I was constantly reading multiple things and having to keep them straight (often many different types of literature, not just textbooks) and I think that is what really started my ability to read different things at the same time. I will give one caveat though that they have to be different genres/types of stories.

The only other thing I really do, which I know a lot of other people do as well, is make sure I make time for reading. Like I said, I always have some form of a book with me and even if I can only eek out half an hour on my lunch, I take it.

So those are the main things I do that allow me to read so many books. Sometimes I have years like last year but sometimes I don’t. I’m definitely always trying to read more, but I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t.

Happy reading!

Clearing the Hoard Challenge: Month 1

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This challenge was created by Caffeinated Fae in an effort to reduce the number of physically owned but unread books in her collection. Make sure to head over to her post (linked above) to check it out.

I have no where near the stats that she has in her post, I keep meaning to get some together but I have been busy with other things, but I can say that my number of unread books is definitely a couple hundred. Last year I did make good progress in removing some backlist from my shelves, but more progress is needed. I figured each month I could do posts of what I intended or hoped to read and then do an update at the end of the month to see how I did.

So if you read my TBR, you would know the physical books I pulled, but here’s a refresher:

  1. The Cheerleaders
  2. Night Music
  3. Battlefield Ghosts
  4. Dead Voices
  5. Robots Vs. Fairies

I’m not sure now if I’ll get to The Cheerleaders, as my audio book from the library expired. I’m back on the hold list, but I don’t know if I’ll get it back in time. A good number of the backlist books are consumed via audio book just because a lot of my physical reading time is used towards reading review copies. I do still have an audio book for Night Music. The others I am planning on reading physically.

Fingers crossed and happy reading!