readathon

Magical Readathon: Orilium Spring Equinox TBR

April 3, 2022April 1, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

Hello, reader!

As some of you may or may not know, I took place in the opening phase of the Magical Readathon last September. During that readathon, players took their characters through the Novice Path to reach the magical academy of Orilium. This was all in preparation of our first classes to come in April. And now the time is finally here! It’s time for the Spring Equinox readathon!

But what is the Magical Readathon? It is the brain child of the marvelous G @ Book Roast, who created the world of Aeldia, where Orilium dwells, and every aspect therein. It’s an incredibly creative readathon where you build a character, choose and guild, and guide your character through classes to achieve their calling. I am notoriously bad at giving all the details in a coherent way, so you should definitely watch G’s announcement video for the scoop:

My Character

Before I get into which calling I choose for the Spring Equinox readathon, let me tell you more about my character!

✨✨✨ Name: Korrin Musgrave ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Guild: The Order of the Crescent Moon ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Conduit: Quarterstaff ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Legacy: Wolf familiar (Venandi) ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Background: Wildling ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Province: Irtheria ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Heritage: Earthling (earth element) ✨✨✨

If you want to learn more about these various choices, you can check out the Brief History of Aeldia on the Google drive. It’s awesome what G has dreamed up!

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BBNYA Finalist Spotlight: Sins of the Father by Sharon Bairden

April 2, 2022April 2, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Hello, reader!

Today is my stop on yet another blog tour for one of the fabulous finalists of last year’s Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA)! But the spotlight I’m doing today is a little special since it’s for our second place finisher. Sins of the Father by Sharon Gairden is a dark crime novel that wow’d a lot of panelists. My reading schedule has been packed, but I have to say I’m definitely intrigued!

Before I tell you more about this novel, let me first tell you more about BBNYA. BBNYA is a yearly competition where Book Bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website www.bbnya.com or twitter @bbnya_official.

The sign-ups will are now open for the 2022 BBNYA competition, be it for authors to enter their books, or for bloggers wanting to be part of the new panel, so head over to the website to check it out!!

I’m excited to bring you more details about one of the books that made it all the way to last round. So let’s jump right in!

Book Details

Title: Sins of the Father
Author: Sharon Gairden
Publication date: November 27th, 2020
Genre: Crime
Age group: Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: For a list of potential content and trigger warnings, check out this book’s page on BookTriggerWarnings.com

Book Links

Amazon::Goodreads

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blog tour · book spotlight

Blog Tour Spotlight: The Ventifact Colossus by Dorian Hart

April 1, 2022March 31, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Hello, reader!

It’s time for another lovely blog tour spotlight sponsored by The Write Reads! This time, I’ll be featuring a fantasy novel that sounds like it could be truly epic: The Ventifact Colossus by Dorian Hart! I didn’t get to read this book for the tour (March was a busy month for me!) but this sounds like something I would love. Which means I’ll definitely be picking it up when I have more space in my reading schedule!

Before I tell you more about this novel, I want to thank Dave @ The Write Reads and all the folks behind the scenes for allowing me to participate in this tour. My TBR has, once again, grown because of a The Write Reads tour and I’m not mad about it 😂

Now, let’s get to the post!

Book Details

Title: The Ventifact Colossus
Author: Dorian Hart
Publication date: January 7th, 2016
Genre: Fantasy
Age group: Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: For a list of potential content and trigger warnings, check out this book’s page on BookTriggerWarnings.com

Book Links

Amazon::Goodreads

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book reviews

ARC Review: Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega

March 31, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Title: Witchlings

Author: Claribel A. Ortega

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Content/Trigger Warnings: For a list of potential content and trigger warnings, check out this book’s page on BookTriggerWarnings.com

Rating: ★★★★★

Book Links:
Bookshop::TBD::B&N::Amazon::
Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis

A magical adventure for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers and Nevermoor, about three witchlings who must work together to do the impossible if they have any hope of earning their full powers.

Every year, in the magical town of Ravenskill, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches.

And twelve-year-old Seven Salazar can’t wait to be placed in the most powerful coven with her best friend! But on the night of the ceremony, in front of the entire town, Seven isn’t placed in one of the five covens. She’s a Spare!

Spare covens have fewer witches, are less powerful, and are looked down on by everyone. Even worse, when Seven and the other two Spares perform the magic circle to seal their coven and cement themselves as sisters, it doesn’t work! They’re stuck as Witchlings—and will never be able to perform powerful magic.

Seven invokes her only option: the impossible task. The three Spares will be assigned an impossible task: If they work together and succeed at it, their coven will be sealed and they’ll gain their full powers. If they fail… Well, the last coven to make the attempt ended up being turned into toads. Forever.

But maybe friendship can be the most powerful magic of all…

With action-packed adventure, a coven of quirky witchlings, Claribel A. Ortega’s signature humor and girl-power vibes, this middle grade Latine witch story is truly a modern classic.

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www wednesday

WWW Wednesday: Mar 30, 2022

March 30, 2022 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a 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:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
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

Scorpica by G.R. Macallister: I was sent an e-ARC of this book through Netgalley because the publisher sent an email asking if I was interested and, after reading the synopsis, I couldn’t say no! It sounds epic in the best way, with lots of moving parts and intricate world-building. So far, it’s living up to what I was imagining. Of course, I’ve only just started it, so who knows if it’ll keep up, but right now, I’m really loving it! Let’s hope that continues.
Dread Wood by Jennifer Killick: I’m reading this book for a blog tour sponsored by The Write Reads. It’s a middle grade that promises creepy vibes and, so far, it is delivering! I’m having a great time with this story and am fully invested in what happens to these kids. Also, love the fact that there are pigs, though I am a little worried for their well-being…

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top 5 tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday: Books On Books

March 29, 2022 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

Top 5 Tuesday is a fun, weekly meme that asks you to pick 5 books that fit that week’s theme. It was created by Bionic Bookworm and is currently being hosted by Meeghan Reads. You should check out their wonderful blog for more details and the list of prompts!

Hello, reader!

After quite the break, I’m doing another Top 5 Tuesday! I’m bad at scavenger hunts, so I’ve kinda been avoiding the March topics, heh. But today’s hunt is an easy one… I had to find books with books on them! Which, as someone who loves to read books about books, was pretty simple. That’s not to say that all the books I picked have bookish themes. Just four out of the five 😂

Alright, let’s dive into the post, shall we?

#1. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Starting off with an incredible story that was one of my first “book about books” read. I loved this tale about an elusive author who hires a young writer to write her biography. It’s an eerie and intriguing story that had me hooked from the beginning. Just talking about it now kind of makes me want to read it again! But, first, there are other Setterfield novels I would love to pick up.

#2. Uprooted by Naomi Novik

This is one book on this list that isn’t explicitly a book about a book or one with bookish themes. I’ve heard it’s supposed to be a loose fairytale retelling, though I couldn’t tell you which one off the top of my head, so there’s that. And, if you squint, you can see a teeny, tiny book on the right side, lol. Either way, I really enjoyed this story and I found myself completely enthralled with the world.

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5 on my tbr

#5OnMyTBR – Published Before 2000

March 28, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

#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!

It’s once again Monday and that means it’s time for another 5 On My TBR! This week’s topic had me struggling, I’m not gonna lie. I had to find five books on my TBR that were published before 2000! It’s not that I don’t have books on my TBR that were published that long ago. It’s just that most of the ones I could think of off the top of my head (Assassin’s Apprentice, Les Misérables) are books I’ve talked about over and over again on this blog. So I decided to root around for some older books that I don’t talk about nearly as much!

After a lot of combing through my TBR, I’ve found five that I really want to bump up my TBR pile.

#1. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

This is one of those books that just sounds like it’s going to be quite the experience. It’s a glimpse into the mind of a psychopath going about his life. If the movie is any indication, it won’t shy away from some gruesome stuff. I’m excited to give it a try and see if I get on with the writing and the story. From the reviews I’ve glanced through, it is either going to be a hit or a huge miss, lol.

#2. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

I honestly don’t remember what compelled me to add this to my TBR. But, having re-read the synopsis, I have to admit that I’m intrigued. A man that waits literally decades to re-confess his love to a woman? Sounds like it could either be real sweet or super creepy (leaning towards creepy… does that make me jaded?). Either way, I’m interested enough to read the book and find out for myself!

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down the tbr hole

Down the TBR Hole #28

March 27, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

It’s time for a new round of Down the TBR Hole! This is where I go through my Goodreads ‘Want to Read’ shelf and do a bit of cleaning up. If you want to see the full description of what this post is all about, check out my first round HERE.

Hello, reader!

You’ll be proud of me. For the first time in the history of my Down the TBR Hole posts (I think), the number of books on my Goodreads Want to Read shelf has gone down instead of up! My end total last round was 730 books and I’m currently sitting at 729 books. Yeah, I know, it’s only one book, but I’m gonna take it 😂

We all know this is subject to change at any moment, especially if I spend any amount of time on book Twitter, so let’s see if I can trim a few books I’m no longer interested in to make room for new ones!

Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan

Okay, this book sounds like it could be dramatic and intriguing. It’s a generational family drama following two Irish sisters as they move to the United States in the 1950s. It has incredible reviews. And, yet, I am completely uninterested in reading this. Perhaps it will make its way back at some other time? But, for now…

Verdict: Remove

Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

This has a lot going for it. It’s a short collection of short stories that sounds like it would be chilling. I typically enjoy Stephen King’s writing. But it also sounds like it may be connected to some of his previous work that I haven’t yet read. I have so many Stephen King books on my TBR. I think I can sacrifice this one.

Verdict: Remove

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

I will fully admit that I added this book because I liked the cover. Until today, I had no earthly clue what this book was actually about. Having read the synopsis, though, this sounds right up my alley! A thriller involving an author and his editor? In which the author’s latest novel might not be entirely fictional? Sign me up!

Verdict: Keep

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book blogger hop

Book Blogger Hop: Mar 25- 31

March 26, 2022 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 Question

Do you have a threshold on books where you will offer the author feedback but won’t review?

Submitted by Heather @ MM Romance Reviewed.

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first lines friday

First Lines Friday #39

March 25, 2022March 24, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

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 (I cheat a little bit here *cough*)
Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re using Twitter, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

Hello, reader!

We’ve reached the end of the week, which means it’s time for another First Lines Friday! I have a lot of books that are calling to me right now, so it was hard to pick one I wanted to feature. I decided to go with one of my current library books that I’m very excited to read. It’s also a book on my “12 friends, 12 recommendations” TBR! I haven’t had a chance to crack it open yet, but I’m hoping to pick it up soon.

Now let’s see if the first few lines can make me want to read it even more!

The Line(s):

“There’s a smudge of lipstick on the collar of his shirt. She sees it. She says nothing about it. Instead, she stands there, bobbing the crying baby up and down like the needle of a sewing machine piercing fabric.”