Blogmas Day 22! We’re getting towards the end here! Today’s topic is prettiest covers! I’m going to pick from books I physically own, just to make it neater.
Apparently I like people on the cover as long as their faces aren’t in it and they aren’t photographs… :”D
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a top 5 wednesday. This week’s topic is books that exceeded my expectations. There are a few books I’ve gone into that I expected to like but ended up being some of my favorite books. I’ll mention a few of those here:
So at this point it’s obvious that Robin Hobb is my favorite author, but when I first picked up her books five or so years ago, I was kind of expecting a generic fantasy, based on this cover, the title and the synopsis. But man, I got more, I got soooo much more. If you haven’t read Assassin’s Apprentice yet, you really should.
I first read part of this book back in high school. I had borrowed it from a friend and got maybe half way through before giving it back. So when I picked it up again last year or so and read it, I was expecting to like it, because I remembered liking it in high school. But I didn’t expect to love it… which I did. Interview with the Vampire ended up being one of my favorite books of the year.
My expectations for this one were ‘this is gonna be difficult’ purely because it’s a classic and I tend to have a hard time with them. But not only did I fly through this book, I adored it. I still think about it a lot. The Phantom of the Opera is definitely one of my favorite classics to date.
Easy was one of my first new adult books back in 2015 or 2016ish, and the ones I had read beforehand were… so-so. So I wasn’t expecting to love this but hey I did. The topics of consent are thoroughly explored in this, and the love interest is actually a decent human.
I didn’t expect to become obsessed with this book like I did purely because it’s outside of my normal genres. But man did I adore this. And since I’ve started reading more books in this genre and those like and I’m finding… maybe this isn’t so outside my genre. So If We Were Villains was a gateway book for me on top of being a wonderful one.
And that’s it!
I do wanna say – doing blogmas after not posting for so long has definitely rekindled my interest in reading as well, so I’m happy I’m doing it. Until tomorrow!
So both Top Ten Tuesday and Top 5 Wednesday apply to this post, so I’m just gonna combine them! The TTT post for this topic was technically in December of 2020 some time, I just wasn’t ready for it yet. the T5W topic for this is a retro one that I’m re-using! So here we go, it’s both!
These are all the books I’m looking forward to coming out in 2021 between January and June! And the typical reminder, these are the posted release dates as of today, and they may change. Dammit Jackie, I can’t control the weather.
Release date: Jan 12th
Genre: YA Fantasy
Goodreads synopsis: Askia became heir to the Frozen Crown of Seravesh because of her devotion to her people. But her realm is facing a threat she cannot defeat by sheer will alone. The mad emperor of the Roven Empire has unleashed a horde of invading soldiers to enslave her lands. For months, her warriors have waged a valiant, stealth battle, yet they cannot stop the enemy’s advancement. Running out of time, she sets sail for sun-drenched Vishir, the neighboring land to the south, to seek help from its ruler, Emperor Armaan.
A young woman raised in army camps, Askia is ill-equipped to navigate Vishir’s labyrinthine political games. Her every move sinks her deeper into court intrigues which bewilder and repel her, leaving her vulnerable not only to enemies gathering at Vishir’s gates, but to those behind the palace walls.
And in this glittering court, where secrets are worth more than gold, Askia fears that one false step will expose her true nature. For Askia is a witch gifted with magical abilities—knowledge that could destroy not only her life but her people. As her adversaries draw closer, Askia is forced to make an impossible choice—and no matter what she decides, it may not be enough to prevent Seravesh’s fall.
Release Date: Jan 19th
Genre: Fantasy
Goodreads synopsis: On the never-ending, miles-high expanse of prairie grasses known as the Forever Sea, Kindred Greyreach, hearthfire keeper and sailor aboard harvesting vessel The Errant, is just beginning to fit in with the crew of her new ship when she receives devastating news. Her grandmother–The Marchess, legendary captain and hearthfire keeper–has stepped from her vessel and disappeared into the sea.
But the note she leaves Kindred suggests this was not an act of suicide. Something waits in the depths, and the Marchess has set out to find it.
To follow in her grandmother’s footsteps, Kindred must embroil herself in conflicts bigger than she could imagine: a water war simmering below the surface of two cultures; the politics of a mythic pirate city floating beyond the edges of safe seas; battles against beasts of the deep, driven to the brink of madness; and the elusive promise of a world below the waves.
Kindred finds that she will sacrifice almost everything–ship, crew, and a life sailing in the sun–to discover the truth of the darkness that waits below the Forever Sea.
Release date: Feb 16th
Genre: YA fantasy romance (New adult?)
Goodreads synopsis: Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.
The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre’s Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta’s orbit. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.
Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.
Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other’s arms.
Release date March 9th
Genre: Fantasy
Goodreads synopsis: Long ago Miren O’Malley’s family prospered due to a deal struck with the mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren’s grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of Miren’s freedom.
A spellbinding tale of dark family secrets, magic and witches, and creatures of myth and the sea; of strong women and the men who seek to control them.
Release date: March 30th
Genre: YA Fantasy
Goodreads synopsis: (Potential spoilers for King of Scars) The Demon King. As Fjerda’s massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king’s gift for the impossible.
The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.
The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.
King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.
Release date: May 4th
Genre: Sci-fi
Goodreads synopsis: Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission–and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, he realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Alone on this tiny ship that’s been cobbled together by every government and space agency on the planet and hurled into the depths of space, it’s up to him to conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And thanks to an unexpected ally, he just might have a chance.
Release date: June 15th
Genre: Fantasy
Goodreads synopsis: The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.
As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.
Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again.
But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole.
And that’s it! I’m particularly excited about this last one – I’ve been kinda stuck on Beauty and the Beast retellings lately, I don’t know what it is.
If you’re interested in any of the above, lemme know! Buddy reads are fun!
Happy Wednesday! It’s the last Wednesday of this dumpster fire of a year! Today I’m doing an old topic, ‘books I didn’t get to’. Basically all those books I said I was gonna read this year and then lol I didn’t.
These are the books:
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter – This one I bought over a year ago, late 2018 I think. This and all of the others on this list were on my 10 in 2020 list. Guess who didn’t finish that list.
The Scar by China Mieville – This is the sequel (ish? Companion novel?) to Perdido Street Station, a book I read way back in 2015.
Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson – I’ve read two other Stephenson novels at this point and tend to like them. This apparently is one of his best, so hopefully I’ll like it too.
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemison – Honestly I think it might be a travesty that I haven’t gotten to this one yet. For shame, for shame!
The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams – This one I’ve owned for probably ten years. It’s such a chunker though, I’m so intimidated!
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And that’s it! I mean, saying ‘I hope I get to them in 2021’ is a hopeful yet moot statement. There will always been books I hope to get to, aaaaaugh.
Happy reading!
Maaaan I think this is the closest I’ve ever been to missing a post on Blogmas. As of writing this, it’s 10:30pm. Today’s official post has something to do with food and honestly ain’t nobody got time for that, at least not me at 10:30pm trying to make it in time for Blogmas.
So instead I’m doing the alternative topic – Turquoise, for the birth stone of December.
This topic was actually harder than I expected: I only own four turquoise books that I’ve read. The fifty I picked out of my TBR because I had to, so bear with me.
The one book I haven’t read is Sleeping Giants, the rest I have.
All of the above books are pretty decent, ranging from 3 to 4 stars for me. Some I have stronger feelings for than others.
So yes, nice and easy today. Tomorrow is the Christmas Eve Book Tag and then I get a break for a day. From me posting this at this time of day, I’m sure you can tell that I’m starting to slow down, hawhaw. Wish me luck, I still have another couple weeks to go! Happy reading!
Today’s topic is technically ‘favorite villains’ but I tend to have a hard time coming up with characters that are fully villains. So I’m kinda expanding this topic to include antagonists in general. So work with me here.
These are in no particular order.
Sebastian and the Undertaker from Black Butler are two of my favorites. They’re both antagonists but in different ways and on… different sides? Their goals directly contradict each other, but at the same time they’re both pretty evil, no matter how well they hide it. They’re both great. Sebastian in particular is great because sometimes you forget. Sometimes he makes you think he actually cares, and then he does something and you remember that no, no, he’s literally a devil.
The Specks and the Gernians from the Soldier Son trilogy. This is why I expanded this topic to ‘antagonists’ instead of villains. The main character is a Gernian, and sees the Specks as an enemy to his country. But the Specks aren’t evil, they just have different goals. And when the main character becomes more familiar with the Specks and their ways of life, he sees that the Gernians are also an antagonist, and that the dispute between them isn’t black and white. Both of these groups of people are antagonists to the other, but neither are evil.
The Phantom from The Phantom of the Opera – I read this recently and ended up adoring it. I really like the eerie haunting of the place the phantom sets up, the way he makes everyone in the building feel juuuuust a bit uncertain at all times. He’s so good at it, man.
Mr. Wonderful from Mogworld. I finished this book recently as well and there are so many great characters in here. Mr. Wonderful is a psychotic murderer who goes a little more crazy when he realizes his kills no longer stick. Due to the sudden ‘nobody dies anymore’ wave that passed over this world, Mr. Wonderful finds himself being sued every time his murder victims wake up again and submit the paperwork.
Happy Wednesday! Today’s topic is ‘Gift Wrapped’ which can be interpreted a few different ways, so I’m going with ‘books I’ve received as gifts that my dumb ass hasn’t read yet’. There are a lot, so I’m further narrowing it down: Books given to me as gifts that were on my to-read list before receiving them that I still haven’t read. I’m kinda forgiving myself for not reading books that weren’t already on my radar but like.. all of these were. So here we go:
The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman – So I’m not completely sure what to categorize this book as. It’s shelved as fantasy and dystopian and sci-fi and all sorts of things. So.. we’ll see? My buddy bought me this book probably eight years ago now. I’m bad.
Jade City by Fonda Lee – I don’t remember if my parents got me this for my birthday this year, or Christmas last year. I just remember that it’s from my parents. This is my most recently received gift out of the books listed, so it’s the least terrible that I haven’t read it yet.
S by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst – Technically I’ve tried reading this one before, and got distracted and never picked it back up. This was also a give from my parents, for Christmas probably back in 2013 or 2014.
The Edge of the World by Kevin J. Anderson – Again, a gift from my parents for Christmas probably almost ten years ago now. I still do wanna read it and have since picked up the second one for like a dollar. I’ll get there, I’ll get there.
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell – So while some of the other ones above I’ve had for longer, this is the one I feel the most guilty about. That’s because my husband bought this for me for the first Christmas we ever spent together when we first started dating in 2012. First gift he ever got me. Still haven’t read it.
On top of that, I love the movie. I’m bad.
And that’s it! Looking through my books to make this list has made me realize my Goodreads shelf has fallen slightly out of sync with my physical shelves – I still have books marked owned that I got rid of, and I apparently own books that I’ve never marked as anything on Goodreads. Whoops. Guess who has a project this weekend!
Happy Blogmas!
Happy Wednesday! Today I’m doing a throwback topic from December 2017. I apparently didn’t do it originally when it came out so it’s perfecto.
1 – Sexualized character introductions
This occasionally will happen with male characters but I see it most often with female ones, especially when they’re introduced through a pov of a male character. It doesn’t seem to matter whether they’re in the middle of a discussion or a battle, the pov character upon meeting a woman and can’t help but describe her curves, her boobs, anything like that. It wouldn’t be as bad if they also then describes a dude’s body in a similar way but it almost never happens. It’s annoying. Unless it’s a smutty romance, I don’t need to know how big her boobs are.
2 – Book cases that don’t match
Now I’m talking ones that are supposed to match but don’t. Like, I tend to buy the same brand of book case every time I get a new one. This most recent time, I got one that I already had – same brand, same shelf count, same price, same item number. And then it turned out to be six inches narrower. I mean, if you’re gonna make your book cases littler but charge the same amount, at least change the item number. It’s super annoying.
Guess who’s changing brands.
3 – Books without chapter numbers
I didn’t know this was a thing until recently. Especially during buddy reads when you’re trying to coordinate how far to read when you each have different editions, it’s reaaaally hard to figure out where each of you should stop if there’s no number on the chapters.
4 – Sticky things in library books
Look I know I’m not gonna get a pristine thing when I get a library book. And honestly most of the time I don’t care. I don’t care about bends, dents, rips, dog-ears, writing, anything like that. I don’t care. But really. Why would you leave food or gum or worse in books. It’s disgusting.
5 – Gravity
Sometimes I just wanna pull like three or four books off a shelf without the rest of them falling over, ok?! I should just be able to do that! Roar.
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And that’s it. :”D See ya tomorrow
Today’s topic is ‘No Thanks!’ as in, situations you wouldn’t wanna find yourself in! This is a neat topic I think – because there are a lot of books where I just know if I found myself in the middle of them I’d just like go die immediately.
These are some of those books:
Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba – This is definitely a story I wouldn’t want to be in, either as a bystander or the main character. The decisions made here are way too morally loaded for me and I don’t know if I could handle it.
If I had a notebook that could kill anyone, would I use it like the main character did to kill off the villains in the show and become a villain myself? I’d like to say no, but I don’t want to be put in the position where I’d have to find out.
Midori Days by Kazurou Inoue – I definitely wouldn’t want to be in this situation. Midori, the girl with green hair on the cover, wakes up one day to find that she’s replaced the right hand of Seiji, a teenage boy. Romance and hijinx insue but like… the series kept this pretty light and fluffy and comedic, but there are definitely ways this could have ended up horrible if she would have ended up on a bad person’s hand. Yeah no thanks.
The Forest of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan – This is a blanket ‘no zombies’ statement. None of the zombies books, please.
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer – Despite the fact that I ended up not particularly caring for this book, it’s one that has lodged itself in my head and I think about it a lot. It’s basically climate horror, and no no no I don’t wanna be in it, thanks.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins – This is another one of those books set in a world that would just be like… horrifying to live in. I mean a) I’d died right away but also b) who in the world wouldn’t?! It’s terrifying!
And that’s it! On the off chance a magical book fairy ever appears and goes ‘I’ll put you in a book!’, these are the five that I’ll be like ‘yeah no, but thanks’.
Happy Wednesday! This week’s official topic is ‘Latin Lit’ but after going through all my books I realized I don’t have enough books to fill the post! That I’ll have to fix, so if you have any books written by Latinx authors, do let me know!
So today I’m doing the Alternate Topic that was supplied: Topaz. Because it’s November and topaz is the birthstone of November, the topic is to show books with topaz colors! Topaz I know can be many colors but one of the most common ones is yellow-y, so I’m doing yellow-y manga! Specifically yellow-y spines.
This is what I’ve chosen! (There are more than five, hush, I know):
The ones shown are:
Now, most of these I’ve read, but there are a few I haven’t. I’ll get there though, I’ll get there!
If you’ve read any of the above, do let me know! Happy reading!
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This hobby blog is dedicated to movie nerdom, nostalgia, and the occasional escape. In the late 90s, I worked at Blockbuster Video, where they let me take home two free movies a day. I caught up on the classics and reviewed theatrical releases for Denver 'burbs newspapers and magazines. Stay tuned to my ongoing Top 50 Reely Bernie Faves list. Comments and dialogue encouraged!
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