Month: August 2026

Goodreads/TBR Monday: August 31st, 2026
goodreads monday

Goodreads/TBR Monday: August 31st, 2026

Featured kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

Goodreads Monday/TBR Monday is a bookish meme hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog invites you to post about what books are on your Goodreads “to read” lists or TBR lists, the progress you have made on your current books and reading challenges, and any other bookish news!

Hello, reader!

It’s the beginning of the week and it’s time for another Goodreads Monday. That means I need to pick a random book from my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and see if I want to keep it on my shelf. My amount of books has climbed a bit because I found myself browsing around Goodreads and… things happened 😂 So we’ll see if this random pick helps me bring the count down or not.

Let’s jump in!

Random Goodreads Pick

Book:
A Clash of Carnivores

Author:
Liselle Sambury

Publisher:
Margaret K. McElderry Books

Publication Date:
August 4th, 2026

Pages:
608

Genre:
Horror/Fantasy

Synopsis:
The thrilling sequel to A Mastery of Monsters, following the fiercely determined eighteen-year-old August Black as she infiltrates a secret society hiding the frightening reality that monsters are real, while unraveling the mystery behind her brother’s disappearance.

August risked everything to find her brother, joining a deadly secret society protecting the chilling truth that monsters are very, very real. She thought when she found him that she would leave the society behind.

Instead, she fought and bled to bond herself to a Monster for life.

Now, despite her efforts to stay unattached, her connection to her Monster partner, Virgil, continues to grow. She can’t stop replaying the memory of their forbidden kiss that Virgil wants to pretend never happened.

Their strained bond is put to the test as they prepare for the Monster’s Ball, a brutal tournament where pairs battle for the coveted title of Master. But despite the danger of the contest, August is consumed with finding her mom’s killer and getting revenge. Her vendetta leads to her accidentally form a rare second bond with Nolan, a Wild Monster who wants nothing to do with her. And if the three of them can’t work together, they’ll be kicked out of the tournament before it even begins.

But August can’t pull her focus away from revenge—even if it means becoming the worst sort of monster herself. She believes that vengeance will cure her grief, but it may just be the thing that breaks her bonds for good.

Continue reading “Goodreads/TBR Monday: August 31st, 2026” →
The Sunday Post: August 30th, 2026
the sunday post

The Sunday Post: August 30th, 2026

Featured kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme created by @CaffeinatedReviewer! It gives you a chance to post a recap of your last week, whether that pertains to books or not. You can talk about however much (or however little) you would like.

Hello, reader!

The end of the week is upon us and that means it’s time for another edition of The Sunday Post! Time to share what I’ve been up to here on the blog and in life offline. I’ve been a bit busier than usual this past week, so more to talk about today!

That being said, let’s jump in!

Week in Review

Work was a blur last week, I’m not gonna lie. We had people out that lead to me having to work the bench a few days and I was going in early so I could pick my husband up from work. So I was tired and busy, haha. Still, it was a good work week because I got quite a bit done! I think working from home on Friday certainly helped with that.

Saturday, we brought our eldest back to her university to start her sophomore year 😭 I’m so proud of her work so far and I know she’s going to do wonderfully again this year! Still, I already miss her. Her new dorm situation is almost like an apartment set-up, which is nice. Her room has a living area which has a kitchen and a washer and dryer! I hope she has an amazing year.

Today, I spent my day in Boston with my bestie to check out a restaurant called the Union Oyster House. It’s a staple in Boston that has been around for years and yet neither of us had ever been there, haha. The food was delicious! After lunch, we headed to the Boston Market to stroll around. We ended up picking up some apple cider donuts and questionable mixed drinks 😂 Then we headed back to her place and watched some YouTube. It was a lovely day!

Now it’s back to the grind and getting the youngest ready for his first day of school. Then we’ll be back to our typical routine.

Continue reading “The Sunday Post: August 30th, 2026” →
Book Blogger Hop: Book Hooks
book blogger hop

Book Blogger Hop: Book Hooks

Featured kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

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 Prompt

What grabs you and keeps you hooked in a book?

Submitted by Billy, Coffee-Addicted Writer.

Continue reading “Book Blogger Hop: Book Hooks” →
First Lines Friday: August 28th, 2026
first lines friday

First Lines Friday: August 28th, 2026

Featured kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?  If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re sharing on social media, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

Hello, reader!

Happy Friday, everyone! For this week’s First Lines Friday, I’m sharing another of my current reads. It’s a YA dark academia that feels like a spooky autumn evening. It’s definitely getting me ready for my second favorite season!

The first line certainly intrigued me, so let see if it works for you!

The Line(s):

“‘Thirteen thousand feet above sea level, you can drown in air like water.”

The Build Up:

The Reveal:

Continue reading “First Lines Friday: August 28th, 2026” →
Book Review: Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones
book reviews

Book Review: Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones

Featured kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

Title: Off the Reservation
Series: The Only Good Indians #2
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
Publisher: S&S/Saga Press
Genre: Horror
Age Group: Adult
Format: E-book
Content/Trigger Warnings: Body horror, blood, gore, child abuse, kidnapping, death of a child, substance abuse, transphobia, deadnaming, violence
Book Links: Bookshop::B&N::Goodreads::Storygraph

A ragtag group of activists sets out to repatriate the bones of a Blackfeet boy taken to the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School in author Stephen Graham Jones’s return to the Blackfeet reservation of his award-winning New York Times bestsellers The Only Good Indians and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.

Five years have passed since the massacre on the Blackfeet reservation in Stephen Graham Jones’s breakout bestseller The Only Good Indians. Nathan Yellow Tail, one of the survivors of the revenge murders, finds himself in the hospital after a terrible accident that should’ve killed him and that nearly killed his best friend, Sebby, who is hanging on to life in a room a few doors down.

Nate’s life is out of balance, so when he is given the chance to reset his life, and maybe save Sebby in the process, Nate steps up, again. This time it’s into a camper van that is almost as run down as his broken body, filled with three older Blackfeet, to find the bones of the lone Blackfeet boy who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School—where many Indigenous children were abused—and repatriate this boy home. The problem is, when they get the bones, something terrible has escaped with them.

By turns terrifying and deeply moving, Off the Reservation is a haunting American Indian novel of survival, reckoning, and redemption, shining light on the dark corners of this country’s history while also showing the desperate choices people make when they’re put up against a wall.

Continue reading “Book Review: Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones” →
WWW Wednesday: August 26th, 2026
www wednesday

WWW Wednesday: August 26th, 2026

Featured kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

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

  • Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones: Okay, completely disregard what I said in my last WWW Wednesday! We weren’t switching timelines, we were just getting into the mind of a character that I thought I already knew but Stephen Graham Jones had a surprise for me. Every time I sit to read this book, I get completely engrossed! Which is saying something for me because I’m not a fan of e-book reading. Mostly because I lost my Kindle and have to read ’em on my phone 😅 This is getting even more bizarre and twisted and I’m loving it!
  • A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee: Audiobooks are making a comeback this month. This is evidence by the fact that I’ve been listening to this YA thriller that I’m only kind of enjoying over picking up the two physical novels that I have been loving. I’m intrigued by the mystery of this novel and I like the general witchiness of it, but literally every character is insufferable. And it’s delving into some topics that feel super tired in the year of our lord 2026. I can’t really hold that against the book, though, as it came out in 2021 and I just took forever to read it… so I’m trying to give it grace, haha.
Continue reading “WWW Wednesday: August 26th, 2026” →
Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Places
top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Places

Featured kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

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!

As a person who loves to (but doesn’t often get to) travel, today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt was right up my alley! It’s all about bookish places I’ve been! Now, I haven’t been to a ton of bookish spots and there are a ton on my bucket list, so I thought I’d split this up. I’m going to share five places I’ve been and five places I want to go.

Bookish Places I’ve Visited

  • Bremen, Germany
    • My family used to live in Germany when I was a toddler. My brother and I loved German fairytales, like the Town Musicians of Bremen, so our parents took us to the actual town! Somewhere, there is a picture of tiny-me standing in front of the statue pictured above. Definitely one of my most cherished childhood memories.
  • Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Massachusetts
    • This cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts is the final resting place of quite a few famous writers. The grave in the picture above is that of Ralph Waldo Emerson! Louise May Alcott is buried there, as well, but I couldn’t find her grave when my husband and I went to visit. Good excuse to go back!
  • An Unlikely Story, Massachusetts
    • This is my favorite indie bookstore near where we live. It’s located in Plainville, Massachusetts and it has a little more claim to fame than just being my fave. This bookstore is owned by the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Jeff Kinney! He even has a workshop on the top floor and they offer tours every once in awhile. This was especially cool because my son is obsessed with that series 😂
  • Make Way For Ducklings Statue, Massachusetts
    • The setting of the classic children’s book, Make Way For Ducklings, is set at the Boston Public Gardens. So of course there is a lovely little statue dedicated to the book! My favorite thing about this art is that they routinely dress the duck and her ducklings in outfits to match seasons/occasions. It’s very cute and we make a point to stop by every time we’re in the Gardens.
  • The Boston Public Library, Massachusetts
    • I couldn’t make about a post about bookish places I’ve been and not include the Boston Public Library. To be honest, I’ve lived in the area for around seven years now and only just went inside the library last year! It’s just as gorgeous as I heard it would be. I definitely want to go back and poke around more!
Continue reading “Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Places” →
Goodreads/TBR Monday: August 24th, 2026
goodreads monday

Goodreads/TBR Monday: August 24th, 2026

Featured kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

Goodreads Monday/TBR Monday is a bookish meme hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog invites you to post about what books are on your Goodreads “to read” lists or TBR lists, the progress you have made on your current books and reading challenges, and any other bookish news!

Hello, reader!

Happy Goodreads Monday, everyone! It’s time for me to delve back into my Goodreads “Want to Read” list to see what it has to offer. Let’s see if today’s choice gets to linger on the list or it gets the boot.

Random Goodreads Pick

Book:
Forging Silver into Stars

Author:
Brigid Kemmerer

Publisher:
Bloomsbury YA

Publication Date:
June 7th, 2022

Pages:
560

Genre:
Fantasy/Romance

Synopsis:
Forbidden magic. Secret romance. Dangerous alliances. Enter the world of New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer’s electrifying series.

When nineteen-year-old Tycho, the King’s Courier, arrives in the remote village of Briarlock, he hopes to escape the demands of his new life in the royal court, where magic reigns for the first time in ages. He doesn’t expect to fall for a handsome blacksmith with a bruised heart.

After years of cruelty in his father’s forge, Jax never dared to dream of a better life — until a magic-wielding young lord shows him an enticing alternative. But when rumors of a rebellion reach Briarlock, Jax wonders who he can trust — and if he’ll even survive.

Jax’s best friend, Callyn, doesn’t trust anyone — especially not a handsome stranger with magic, which killed her parents years ago. When another royal emissary arrives, seeing a co-conspirator, Callyn finds herself embroiled in a plot that could lead them all to ruin. . .

As tensions flare throughout the kingdom, it won’t be long before everyone must choose a side.

War is brewing. Passions are building. And magic may doom — or save — them all . . .

Continue reading “Goodreads/TBR Monday: August 24th, 2026” →
The Sunday Post: August 23rd, 2026
the sunday post

The Sunday Post: August 23rd, 2026

Featured kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme created by @CaffeinatedReviewer! It gives you a chance to post a recap of your last week, whether that pertains to books or not. You can talk about however much (or however little) you would like.

Hello, reader!

I’m bringing you another edition of The Sunday Post today! Time to let you know what I got up to this week, both here and out in the world. I was actually social this week so I have more to talk about, haha.

That being said, let’s jump in!

Week in Review

Ahh what to say about this week at work. It was a lot. Mostly because the place where we get a lot of our supplies for our department is having a huge warehouse issue and it is trickling down to us, the buyers. Which is stressing me out 🫠 Ahh, the fun of being a supervisor… But it honestly wasn’t a bad work week besides all the supply issues. I feel like I got a lot done, which is always a great feeling.

Friday was my day off since I worked this weekend and I actually left the house! Please clap! I went over to a fellow choir member’s house to help put together the music for our upcoming season. There were a handful of us that showed up to help out and it was fun to chat and catch up with everyone! I’m looking forward to starting our new season soon in September.

This weekend was a work weekend, so pretty boring, lol. I did take the kids to do some back to school shopping today after work. Now I’m a little poorer and a lot more exhausted 😂 I like shopping with my kiddos, though, because they are hilarious, lol. And at least it’s done now! Now we just gotta get the oldest packed and ready to move back to the dorms this coming weekend. Summer really flew by, didn’t it?

Continue reading “The Sunday Post: August 23rd, 2026” →
Book Blogger Hop: Book Trends & Bestsellers
book blogger hop

Book Blogger Hop: Book Trends & Bestsellers

Featured kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

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 Prompt

Do you follow book trends and bestsellers, or do you prefer hunting down lesser-known titles?

Submitted by Billy, Coffee-Addicted Writer.

Continue reading “Book Blogger Hop: Book Trends & Bestsellers” →