Book Blogger Hop: May 29 – Jun 4

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Crazy-For-Books and is currently being hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer. Every Friday, a new question is posted for book bloggers to answer in the coming week. The purpose of the hop is connection and community. You can discover new blogs to follow, new books to read, and you may end up with some new followers, as well!

This Week’s Question

This week’s prompt submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews.


Well, Twitter pretty much owns my soul. I spend an exorbitant amount of time on that app. It’s probably on the verge of being unhealthy… 😅 I’ve met some awesome people there, though, so it can’t be all bad!

Twitter is honestly the best place to find me, but I do have an Instagram where I mostly post pictures of my cats, lol. When I have a better set up, I’m planning on going all in with bookstagram.

Other than that, I can also be found on Litsy and, of course, Goodreads! Feel free to add me on whatever platform you prefer. I’m always looking to make new bookish acquaintances 😃

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Mini Reviews: Audiobook Edition

Mini Reviews: Audiobooks

Hello, reader!

It’s been a minute since I’ve done a mini review, right? I’ve been doing quite a few blog tours and I’m really loving the experience! I have also been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately as I drive to work, so that seemed like a perfect theme for this edition. I feel like I go through phases with audiobooks. I’ll go through a stretch where I listen to them constantly and then I just… stop. I’m taking advantage of these current stretch by listening to as many as I can! And, today, I’ll be talking about three I’ve finished recently. Let’s get to it!


Title: The Poet X

Author/Narrator: Elizabeth Acevedo

Genre: YA Contemporary

Source: Borrowed (Scribd)

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Bookshop::Indiebound::TBD::B&N::Amazon

I was recently talking about this book because I did a whole post about books written in verse. It’s been on my radar for a minute, but I was always hesitant about picking it up. I’m just not a poetry person, it’s not my thing. But I had heard so many rave reviews about this coming-of-age story centered around a young, Dominican girl discovering slam poetry and her place in the world. I had also heard that the audiobook was the way to go to read this one, so, when I found it on Scribd, I thought I’d give it a shot.

Y’all… I’m mad. I’m mad at myself for waiting SO LONG TO READ THIS BOOK! I find it hard to put together words to describe how good this book was! It’s so powerful and raw and poignant. It wraps you up in Xiomara’s world and you feel all her fears, all her anxieties, and all her joys. It’s just so damn beautiful 💕

I feel part of my visceral reaction to this book is due to listening to the author perform her work. Elizabeth Acevedo narrates the audiobook and it’s just *chef’s kiss* She is an award winning slam poet and it is easy to see (or, rather, hear) why! She puts so much emotion into her performance. It absolutely takes your breath away as you listen!


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Blog Tour: Catalyst by Tracy Richardson

Hello, reader!

Today, #TheWriteReads Ultimate Blog Tour is making a stop at my little blog! We’ll be talking about a book that took me by surprise: Catalyst by Tracy Richardson. This is quite an interesting novel that was different than what I was expecting.

But let me save my thoughts for the review! First, I want to thank the author, Brown Books Publishing Group, and  Dave @TheWriteReads for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, I appreciate it so much! It”s such a privileged to be a part of the Write Reads gang and I’m glad to be able to participate in all the exciting blog tours that Dave puts together 😊

With that being said, let’s get to it!


Synopsis

Marcie is spending her summer working on the archaeological dig that her mother runs: Angel Mounds, a site of an ancient indigenous civilization. Soon after she arrives, she meet some intriguing individuals, and becomes wrapped up in a supernaturally-charged mission to save the planet from the destruction man has brought upon itself.

Marcie Horton has a sixth sense. Not in the “I see dead people” way, but . . . well, maybe a little. She feels a sort of knowing about certain things that can’t be explained-an intuition that goes beyond the normal. Then there was that one summer four years ago, when she connected with a long-departed spirit . . . But nothing that incredible has happened to Marcie since.
This summer, Marcie is spending time working at Angel Mounds, the archaeological dig her mother heads, along with her brother, Eric, and his girlfriend, Renee. The dig is the site of an ancient indigenous civilization, and things immediately shift into the paranormal when Marcie and her teammates meet Lorraine and Zeke. The two mysterious dig assistants reveal their abilities to access the Universal Energy Field with their minds-something Marcie knows only vaguely that her brother has also had experience with. Marcie learns how our planet will disintegrate if action is not taken, and she and her team must decide if they are brave enough to help Lorraine and Zeke in their plan to save Mother Earth, her resources, and her history. It looks like the summer just got a lot more interesting.”

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Top Ten Tuesday: Opening Lines

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish back in June 2010. It is currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and, as is stated on the blog, it was “born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.”

Hello, reader!

It’s time for another Top Ten Tuesday. This week’s topic is an interesting one that’s all about grabbing your attention. We’re focusing on opening lines! Now, I’m going to be honest, though there are plenty of books I love that I know probably have amazing opening lines, my brain is not good at remembering them. I don’t own all the books that first popped into my head, either. But I do have a stack of ten newly acquired books from Book Outlet that I haven’t hauled yet, so I’m gonna do a weird amalgamation of TTT and a book haul! We’ll be discovering the opening lines of these ten novels together and I’ll let you know my thoughts on them.

This is why I love the more open-ended prompts 😉


An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

My parlor smelled of linseed oil and spike lavender, and a dab of lead tin yellow glistened on my canvas. I had nearly perfected the color of Gadfly’s silk jacket.

Not the most compelling of first lines, but, still… color me intrigued!

(See what I did there?? 😆)

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#5OnMyTBR – Blue Books

Image by Local Bee Hunter

#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook where you chose five books from your to-be-read pile that fit that week’s theme. If you’d like more info, head over to the announcement post!

Hello, reader!

How is this Monday treating everyone? I’ve been a bit of a lazy bum all day, which felt wonderful compared to my normally busy days. Of course, that also means I was putting off blogging until just now! But I couldn’t skip today’s #5OnMyTBR topic because it’s all about books with blue covers. Blue is my favorite cover and we all know I’m a sucker for a pretty book! So here are the 5 blue books on my TBR that jumped to my mind.


#1. One Day in December by Josie Silver

This was a Book of the Month pick that was a result of me trying things out of my comfort zone. This is a wintery romance that sounded like I could get into it. Though the concept of falling for some guy you randomly see while on the bus is a bit much for me, I am curious how this romance would work out! I feel like I probably won’t pick this up til winter time, but I am excited to finally read it.

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Sunday By My Shelf: Standalones

Hello, reader!

It’s time for another Sunday By My Shelf! This is a bookish meme that was started by Fiona @ Fi’s Bibliofiles. The purpose is to explore books sitting on your physical TBR as opposed to a virtual one. It is bi-weekly, with new topics to talk about each time. The schedule can be found on Fiona’s original post here!

This week, the books I’ll be talking about are all standalones that are collecting dust on my bookshelf. All of these books are ones that I can’t wait to get to, but have been left behind in the rush of new books. I’m hoping to make room for them on my bedside table TBR soon!


#1. The Nobody People by Bob Proehl

I bought this book because it was blurbed by one of my favorite authors, Seanan McGuire. The fact that it sounds like a modern day X-men (in a fashion) didn’t hurt, either! I really do want to pick this one up soon. It just sounds like it would be a wild ride with lots of moral ambiguity. And if it’s suggested by one of my favorite writers, I have to give it a chance, right? Right!

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Book Tag: Disney Songs

The Disney Song Book Tag

Hello, readers!

As I was blog hopping and trying to think of what I wanted to post today, I stumbled across the Disney Song Book Tag over @TheBookDutchesses blog. Their blog is lovely and I always enjoy checking out their posts. You should definitely go check them out!

Both Candyce and Isabelle have done this tag and it looked like so much fun, I had to join in. I grew up on Disney and I still look back on movies like The Lion King and Aladdin with intense fondness. And of course I routinely belt out the popular tunes from all the old Disney movies! I just couldn’t pass up this tag! With that being said, let’s jump in.


Part of Your World – What book world would you change yourself for so you could be a part of that world?

Though I’m not all about changing yourself just to fit in somewhere, I would do some ludicrous things to be able to live in Red London! Especially if I got to hang out with Kell and Lila. Oh! Or if I could change myself into an Antari somehow and be able to travel between the Londons. I would be okay with that kind of change, lol. Either way, I think it’s such an interesting world and I would love to visit.

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Book Blogger Hop: May 22 – 28

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Crazy-For-Books and is currently being hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer. Every Friday, a new question is posted for book bloggers to answer in the coming week. The purpose of the hop is connection and community. You can discover new blogs to follow, new books to read, and you may end up with some new followers, as well!

This Week’s Question

Image by Coffee Addicted Writer

This week’s prompt submitted by Tabatha @ Broken Soul Reviews.


Oh, most definitely! Though I love my ebooks, I have a soft spot for physical books and I always will. So if I read something in ebook format that I absolutely love, I tend to want it in the physical format, as well. Especially since I go through phases where ebooks just don’t do it for me. Also, I can’t display my ebooks and I like having my favorite books on my bookshelves.

Beyond that, though, since I’m a member of Netgalley, I get a lot of ARCs in ebook format. If I read an ARC and love it, I like to buy the book to help support the author. And if I’m gonna buy a book, it’s going to be a physical book! I’m privileged enough to be able to buy the physical book of all the ARCs I’ve loved and it makes me and my bookshelves happy 💕

Other than that, if I read an ebook and just liked it, I’m not that inclined to buy another version of the same book.


Have you ever bought the physical book after reading an ebook? If so, what book was it? Let me know in the comments!

And, as always, happy reading!

WWW Wednesday: May 20, 2020

It’s time for another WWW Wednesday! This is a bookish meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where bloggers answer the 3 Ws:

  1. What are you currently reading?
  2. What did you recently finish reading?
  3. What do you think you’ll read next?

If you’d like to learn more about any of these books, click on the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page.

Current Reads

Catalyst by Tracy Richardson: I’ve just started this one for another #TheWriteReads Ultimate Blog Tour. It definitely drops you right into the story! The story revolves arounf a young woman with mysterious powers who is working on an archaeological dig. I’m excited to see where this one takes me.

Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James: I’m reading this for a monthly book club called Middle Grade Marvels! It is ridiculously cute and I’m loving the bookish aspect of it. Seriously, how cool would it be to be able to go into your favorite book?! It’s hard keeping to the reading schedule because I just want to devour this all in one sitting 💕

Recently Finished

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo: I have officially found a new auto-buy author. I will read anything Elizabeth Acevedo writes at this point. She has derailed all my reading plans for this month and I don’t even care! It’s taking all my willpower to not pick up my copy of With the Fire on High instead of all the books I need to read. This was such a gorgeous, heartbreaking book and it was especially powerful listening to the audiobook. My review will be up soon!

What’s Next

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant: I think I’ve mentioned this one on the blog before. It’s billed as a mash-up between Les Misérables and Six of Crows and that’s all I needed to hear to want to read it! And, amazingly, I got approved for an e-ARC on Netgalley! So I’m definitely going to try and get to this one ASAP.


What are you currently reading? Read any new favorites lately? Let me know in the comments!

And, as always, happy reading!

Top Ten Tuesday: Reasons I Love Fantasy

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish back in June 2010. It is currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and, as is stated on the blog, it was “born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.”

Hello, reader!

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is kind of an open-ended one. This week, we get to talk about reasons you love… anything really! I thought about it and decided to go with my favorite genre: fantasy. I have a lot more than ten reasons, but I’ll try to be brief!


  1. Nostalgia: Fantasy was the genre I first gravitated towards as a young reader. It will always hold a special place in my heart 💕
  2. Magic: I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of magic and fantasy is typically my go-to for magical things.
  3. Epic tales: I do love a good epic story, though I sometimes have difficulties finishing them! Fantasy has an abundance of epic tales that span multiple books I can get lost in.
  4. Immersion: Speaking of getting lost, I feel like fantasy is the best genre when you’re looking for something to completely engulf you.
  5. Creatures: I do love reading about mythical creatures, like dragons and fae. Fantasy is clutch when it comes to fulfilling my needs for creatures not seen in this world.
  6. Series: This is kind of attached to “epic tales”, but I really enjoy getting into a good series. A lot of times, these series are in fantasy. Well… at least the ones that I tend to enjoy. Now whether or not I finish the series… *cough*
  7. Therapy: Sometimes, when I’m in a foul mood or am feeling blue, I’ll turn to books to help me feel better. Usually, I’ll pick up a fantasy tale so I don’t have to think about the real world for a little while.
  8. Diversity: This is a more recent thing and can, of course, be found across genres, but I’m loving the current trend of diverse fantasy! I love being able to pick up a fantasy novel that feature characters that look like me.
  9. Covers: Not gonna lie, I’m a total sucker for a pretty cover. And fantasy books tend to have the prettiest covers! Totally my opinion, of course, but there have been so many stunning fantasy covers in the last few years!
  10. Themes: Though the themes I tend to love in books are ubiquitous across genres, I tend to enjoy them more if they are in a fantasy setting. It’s just interesting to see them explored in a setting where there are additional obstacles thrown in the way… like dragons.

What are some reasons you love your favorite genre? Did you do your own Top Ten Tuesday? Let me know in the comments!

And, as always, happy reading!