December 2020 Wrap Up and Life Update!

Hey guys!! Long time no talk! It’s been a hot second since I last posted here so I figured that I would pop in and talk about where I’ve been and what books I ended up reading during the month of December 2020!

So these past couple of months rounding off 2020 have just been crazy. I haven’t had much time to really do anything due to the fact that school was wrapping up for the semester and the holidays were quickly approaching so my work was way more busy than normal. I had this grand plan on doing Vlogmas on my YouTube channel for the first half of December and while it started off great, it quickly went down hill. I also had the plan of posting here on the blog everyday during December and I just found that I didn’t have the time to put the effort into it.

So I’m back and better than ever. 2021 is going to be a much better year (crossing my fingers) than 2020 was. I have a lot of plans for this blog this year so I hope you guys will stay tuned to see what I have planned!

So with that little life update out of the way, here were my stats for my reading in the month of December and what I read!

Stats

• Books read: 1
• DNFs: 0
• Review books/ARCs: 1
• Physical: 1
• E-books: 0
• Audiobooks: 0
• Read-a-Thons participated in:
• Total Pages Read: 173
• Genres:
  • Fantasy: 1
  • Science Fiction: 0
  • Contemporary: 0
  • Historical Fiction: 0
  • Thriller/Mystery/Horror: 0
  • Other: 0

• Ratings:
  • No rating: 0
  • 1 star: 0
  • 2 stars: 0
  • 3 stars: 0
  • 4 stars: 1
  • 5 stars: 0

Books Read

• Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire (ARC sent to me for review by the publisher): 4/5

So there is my wrap up for the last month of 2020 as well as my mini life update! Now that the holidays are out of the way, hopefully everything will go back to normal for the time being!

Since Across the Green Grass Fields was provided to me as an ARC so kindly by the publisher I will have a review for it up the day before its release on January 12th, 2021! I’m really excited to share my thoughts on it with you guys and thank you again to Tor for sending me a copy early! After that is posted, I will be back to writing all those reviews that have been on the backlist for the past year or so (whoops)!

What did you guys read in December? Let me know in the comments!

October Update and November 2020 TBR!

Hey guys! Long time no talk! It’s been a hot second since I lasted posted on here and I sincerely apologize for that. Today I’m herer to talk about my October “Wrap Up” which is honestly going to be more of a life update and then I’ll talk about the books I plan on reading this November!

So let’s talk about October. It was a hot mess of a month to say the least.

I finished nothing in October. I’ve been finding myself in somewhat of a mini slump since the school semester began in September. Trying to manage school with working basically full time, plus reading, managing 2 YouTube channels and a Twitch channel has been really hard these past few months.

So I had to put reading on the backburner in October.

But hopefully November will go a lot better. I am participating in NaNoWriMo this month (the day I am writing this post it is day 1) so that will be keeping me busy and of course school and work will be as well.

With all that said though, here are the books that I will (hopefully) be getting to this month!

• The Green Mile by Stephen King (currently reading)
• Keeper of the Lost Cites by Sharon Messenger
• Room by Emma Donoghue
• On Writing by Stephen King
• The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue by V.E. Schwab (my book club book of the month)

So there is my TBR for the month. Short and sweet and hopefully (somewhat) manageable for my busy schedule.

As I have mentioned before, I’m still playing catch up on backlist reviews so as soon as those are published, I will have full reviews for all of these books up here on the blog!

What do you plan on reading in November? Let me know in the comments!

Stay Healthy and Stay Safe!

Happy Reading!

(LATE) SEPTEMBER 2020 TBR!

Hey guys!! Today I am here to tell you about the books that I plan on reading during the month of Setpember!

So we are already a few days into the month and to be honest, I have zero idea as far as how this month is going to go as far as reading. The day that I am writing this post (September 9th) is the same day as my fall semester of college begins. Work is just going to be its usual crazy self. I am also going to be starting to prepare for NaNoWriMo in November plus I have some other projects planned to do on top of all that.

So its going to be a crazy month.

With all that said, I do hope to get a good chunk of reading done. So here is my TBR for the month!!

• The Green Mile by Stephen King
• The Stand by Stephen King
• On Writing by Stephen King
• Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar (my book club’s book of the month for the month of September)
• House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

So there is my TBR for this month. A few chunky books on here but I do hope to read them all!

As I have mentioned several times before, I am still playing catch up on backlist reviews but I hope to get a good chunk of them written and posted for you guys this month! Once those are posted, reviews for all of the books mentioned above will be posted here on the blog!

What are you reading during the month of September? Let me know in the comments!!

Stay safe and stay healthy!

Happy Reading!

❤

AUGUST 2020 WRAP UP!

Hey everyone!! How are you guys? Hope you are all staying safe and staying healthy as always!! Today I am here to talk about all the books that I read in the month of August 2020!

So August didn’t exactly go as planned as far as reading. I must have been in some sort of mini reading slump because I felt like I wasn’t reading as much as usual.

But I did manage to read 4 books and complete my Goodreads reading challenge for this year (35 books) so that’s pretty exciting! And on top of that, nothing that I read this month got below a 4 star rating!!

So with all that said, here are my monthly stats and the books that I read!

STATS

• Books Read: 4
• DNFs: 0
• Physical: 2
• Ebooks: 1
• Audiobooks:
• Read-a-Thons participated in: 1
• Total Pages Read: 1,088
• Genres:
  • Fantasy: 2
  • Science Fiction: 1
  • Contemporary: 2
  • Historical Fiction: 0
  • Thriller/Mystery/Horror: 0
  • Other: 0
• Ratings:
  • No rating: 0
  • 1 star: 0
  • 2 stars: 0
  • 3 stars: 0
  • 4 stars: 2
  • 5 stars: 2

Books Read

• The Deep by Rivers Solomon: 5/5
• Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon: 4.5/5
• Slay by Brittney Morris: 5/5
• Star Wars The Clone Wars: Stories of Light Dark edited by Lou Anders: 4/5

So that’s everything I read this month! All books that I really enjoyed my time reading! Besides rereads, I haven’t given out a 5 star rating to a book this year since I read Kingdom of Ash back in March so to give out 2 this month it was a nice surprise!

As I’ve mentioned several times before, due to my busy schedule, I am still playing catch up on backlist reviews so once those are posted I will have reviews for all of these books up here on the blog!

What did you read in the month of August?! Let me know in the comments!!

The Handmaids Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margret Atwood

Synopsis:

“Everything Handmaids wear is red: the colour of blood, which defines us.

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships. She serves in the household of the Commander and his wife, and under the new social order she has only one purpose: once a month, she must lie on her back and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if they are fertile. But Offred remembers the years before Gilead, when she was an independent woman who had a job, a family, and a name of her own. Now, her memories and her will to survive are acts of rebellion.

Provocative, startling, prophetic, The Handmaid’s Tale has long been a global phenomenon. With this stunning graphic novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s modern classic, beautifully realized by artist Renee Nault, the terrifying reality of Gilead has been brought to vivid life like never before.”

August 2020 TBR!!

Hey everyone! Today I am here to tell you about all the books that I plan on reading during the month of August!!

So typically August is one of my best reading months. I don’t have a ton going on since school is done for the summer semester and work is work. I usually go on vacation the second to last week of the month but due to quarantine, I can’t do that this year. So I’m just going to kind of go with the flow when it comes to reading.

I will be participating in the N.E.W.T.S. Magical Read-a-Thon (hosted by Book Roast) as it is the final round before it gets remade next year, but very loosely. I will read the books that are on my monthly TBR and just see if any of them fulfill any of the prompts.

So with all that said, here are all the books I plan on reading!

• Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao (currently rereading)
• Slay by Brittni Morris (currently reading)
• The Deep by Rivers Solomon (my book club’s book of the month)
• An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
• The Stand by Stephen King

So that is my short and sweet TBR for August!! Hopefully I can read all of these and more during the month. Like I said I’m just going to go with the flow.

I have a full review for Forest of a Thousand Lanterns up here on the blog and as I am still playing catch up with backlist reviews, I will have reviews for all the other books up as soon as I can!!

What do you plan on reading in August? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Reading!!

Stay Safe and Stay Healthy!

July 2020 Wrap Up + Life Update!

Hey everyone!! I hope you are all doing well and staying safe! I know its been  a hot second since I last did a post here on the blog so I figured that I would do my wrap up as well as a life update in one post.

Life Update

So I didn’t make a post pretty much during the entire month of July. That was mostly because of I put a lot of focus on things in my personal life this past month. School was wrapping up for the summer semester. Being an essential worker during the COVID-19 pandemic I’ve been working like crazy. And there was a few other things that happened that I won’t go into detail in.

While all that was going on, I was also trying to read as much as I could, running a read-a-thon and participating in another back-to-back, and I daily vlogged one read-a-thon and was posting a new video everyday during the other.

So July was busy on many fronts for me, hence why I kind of took a break from blogging. But I’m back now and I’m hoping I can really get back on track with things in August!

So with all that out of the way, here are my monthly stats as well as the books that I read!

Stats

• Books read: 5
• DNFs: 0
• Physical: 3
• E-books: 1
• Audiobooks: 1
• Review books/ARCs read: 1
• Read-a-Thons participated in: 2
• Total page count: 1,660
• Genres:
  • Fantasy: 0
  • Science Fiction: 2
  • Historical Fiction: 0
  • Contemporary: 3
  • Thriller/Mystery/Horror: 0
  • Other: 0
• Ratings:
  • No rating: 0
  • 1 star: 0
  • 2 stars: 0
  • 3 stars: 0
  • 4 stars: 3
  • 5 stars 2 (both rereads)

Books Read

• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevado (listened to on audiobook): 4.5/5
• Mayhem by Estelle Laure(ARC sent to me for review for a blog tour by the publisher): 4/5
• Gray by Pete Wentz (reread): 5/5
• Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray: 4/5
• Star Wars Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover (reread): 5/5

So there’s a little life update and the books that I read in July! What a great reading month!!

I have full reviews for Mayhem, Gray, and Revenge of the Sith up here on the blog as well as a full video review of Revenge of the Sith (the movie as well as the book) up on my YouTube channel as well (you can check it out here!). I am still playing catch up with backlist reviews so once those are posted, I will have reviews for the other books up as well!!

What did you guys read in July? Let me know in the comments!!

 

Blog Tour: Mayhem by Estelle Laure

Synopsis: 

“The Lost Boys meets Wilder Girls in this supernatural feminist YA novel.

It’s 1987 and unfortunately it’s not all Madonna and cherry lip balm. Mayhem Brayburn has always known there was something off about her and her mother, Roxy. Maybe it has to do with Roxy’s constant physical pain, or maybe with Mayhem’s own irresistible pull to water. Either way, she knows they aren’t like everyone else.

But when May’s stepfather finally goes too far, Roxy and Mayhem flee to Santa Maria, California, the coastal beach town that holds the answers to all of Mayhem’s questions about who her mother is, her estranged family, and the mysteries of her own self. There she meets the kids who live with her aunt, and it opens the door to the magic that runs through the female lineage in her family, the very magic Mayhem is next in line to inherit and which will change her life for good.

But when she gets wrapped up in the search for the man who has been kidnapping girls from the beach, her life takes another dangerous turn and she is forced to face the price of vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost.

From the acclaimed author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back, Estelle Laure offers a riveting and complex story with magical elements about a family of women contending with what appears to be an irreversible destiny, taking control and saying when enough is enough.”

About the Author:

Estelle Laure, the author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back believes in love, magic, and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and she lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her family. Her work is translated widely around the world.

Author’s Social Media:

• Twitter: @starlaure
• Instagram: @estellelaurebooks

Buy the Book: https://wednesdaybooks.com/galaxies-and-kingdom/mayhem/

Review:

*ARC was provided to me for to read and review via NetGalley by the publisher. Mayhem comes out on July 14th, 2020. All opinions stated are my own.*

I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely a pleasant surprise for me as I had not heard to much about it before reading it.

I really enjoyed Mayhem as a character. She definitely grew on me as the story went on. I also enjoyed all of the side characters. I loved the friend dynamic that Mayhem had with her group of friends.

I think the plot was the strongest part of the book. Like I mentioned above, the friendship dynamic was great. I loved the fantastical elements as well. I’m not usually a big reader of the speculative side of the fantasy genre but it really did work well in this case for me. I do wish that the world had been developed a little more and just a little bit more backstory but overall it was fantastic.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I definitely looking forward to reading books by this author in the future (and also checking out her backlist titles). I think that if you are beginner when it comes to speculative fiction like I am, then this will be a great one to pick up when it comes out on July 14th!

RATING: 4/5

JUNE 2020 TBR!! HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!

Hey guys!! Hope you are all staying safe and healthy!! Today I am here to tell you about all the books that I plan on reading in June!

Happy Pride Month!!

Since June is pride, I decide to, as many others do during this month, read almost exclusively LGBTQIA+ books this month. Also, in support of what is currently going on in the Black Lives Matter movement right now, I wanted to add a few books by black authors as well.

If you have any recommendations for queer books by black authors, please leave them in the comments! I am always looking for recommendations!

So here is my TBR for this month! Can’t wait to read them all!

• The Stand by Stephen King (currently reading)
• The Poison Within by Rachel Marie Pearcy (currently reading)
• Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco (my book club book of the month) (ARC sent to me for review in a Fairyloot box)
• It Gets Worse by Shane Dawson
• The  Animals of Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey (ARC sent to me for review by the publisher)
• Scavange the Stars by Tara Sim
• I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
• On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

So that is my set TBR for this month! As always it is subject to change as the month goes along but either way, I’m excited for all of these books!!

I also have a secret TBR that I will (hopefully) be completing at some point this month. I will have those books featured in my wrap up as well as the video for it when it goes live!

I’m still playing catch up on reviews so when all backlist reviews are posted, reviews for all of these books will be up here on the blog!

What do you plan on reading in June? Any recommendations for books to read? Let me know in the comments!

Hope you are all staying healthy and safe! ❤

Happy Reading!!

MAY 2020 WRAP UP + A MESSAGE

Hey everybody!! I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!! Today I am here to tell you about all the books I read in the month of May.

So May, as with many months before it, didn’t go as planned. To be honest, my mental health hasn’t been great since the beginning of quarantine. I struggle with anxiety and depression and towards the end of May, it was the worst it has been in a long time.

With that said, I did manage to finish 4 books in the month of May. Definitely not my best reading month but also not my worst. I also enjoyed all the books that I read for the most part.

So here are my monthly stats and the books that I read!!

STATS

• Books read: 4
• DNFs: 0
• Physical: 3
• E-books: 0
• Audiobooks: 1
• Review books/ARCs: 0
• Read-a-Thons participated in: 1 (Medieval-a-Thon)
• Pages read: 1,251
• Genres:
  • Fantasy: 1
  • Science Fiction: 1
  • Contemporary: 0
  • Historical Fiction: 0
  • Thriller/Mystery/Horror: 0
  • Other: 2 (1 dystopian and 1 non-fiction)
• Ratings:
  • No rating: 0
  • 1 star: 0
  • 2 stars: 0
  • 3 stars: 2
  • 4 stars: 2
  • 5 stars: 0

Books Read

• Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire: 4.5/5
• The Giver by Lois Lowry: 4/5
• Enchanted Hunters by Maria Tatar: 3/5 (read for school)
• Crier’s War by Nina Verila 3/5

So that was my reading month in May! Again not a great reading month but not a terrible one either!

I am still playing catch up with reviews so when all backlist ones are posted, reviews for all of these books (except for Enchanted Hunters) will be up here on the blog!

A Message to the Bookish Community

As many of you know, last week in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in innocent, unarmed black man named George Floyd was murdered at the hands of police officers. His neck was pinned to the ground by an officers knee for 9 minutes. It was an awful death and the video that was posted on the internet afterwards was horrifying to watch.

I wanted take a moment to say that I am in full support of the protests currently going all across the world in the Black Lives Matter movement. I also feel as a person with a platform that I need to spread this to everyone in this community.

I am signing as many petitions as I can as well as donating my own money to support the movement during this difficult time. Here are some resources to where you can do the same:

https://blacklivesmatter.comhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloydhttps://www.obama.org/anguish-and-act…https://www.obama.org/anguish-and-act…https://www.change.org/p/minneapolis-…https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-…https://twitter.com/MNFreedomFund/sta…https://www.reclaimtheblock.org

I want to do my best as a white creator and do better job at support black creators as well as black authors. If you are a black booktuber/book blogger/bookstagramer, please leave your links in the comments or feel free to DM on social media. I will be following you all immediately. Also leave in recommendations for books to read as I am always looking for recommendations.

Your lives matter. I care about you all. I stand with you.

Please stay safe. I love you all. ❤