#5OnMyTBR – Horror

January 24, 2022January 23, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd7 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!

Welcome to another week and another 5 On My TBR! And I’m super excited for this one because the theme is horror 👻 I love horror movies, but I’m still dipping my toes into reading horror novels. Not because I don’t like them! Just because I usually push them to the side for my tried and true SFF books, lol. But I love a scary story and so I have quite a few horror books on my TBR that I hope will give me a spine-tingling good time.

Of course, that means it took me awhile to pick just five to feature. I’m happy with the ones I chose, though, because they are all books that are high on my list! Let’s jump in the post.

#1. The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Ever since I read Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones, I’ve wanted to give another one of his books a try. I really got on well with his writing and his take on werewolves! Now I want to sink into one of his horror novels that taps into some dark places. I’ve heard so many good things about this one, as well! Fingers crossed that I have as good a time with this as I did with Mongrels.

#2. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I had to include a classic of the genre! I’ve been wanting to read The Haunting of Hill House since I saw the 1999 movie adaptation. Which I loved even though it was terrible 😂 I have a soft spot for bad horror movies, okay? I’ve been curious about reading the source material for a minute and that curiosity ramped up when the Netflix series came out. I’m hoping to give this one a go soon because winter always seems like a good time to curl up with a scary story.

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book discussion

22 Reads In 2022

January 23, 2022January 22, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd7 Comments

Hello, reader!

A couple of weeks ago over on Instagram, I shared a post about another reading challenge I want to accomplish in 2022. I picked 22 books that I want to prioritize reading this year. Now, to keep myself accountable, I wanted to bring it over to the blog, as well!

Now I tried to wiggle out of my comfort zone a bit and now choose all fantasy novels. Fantasy is definitely a significant portion of the stack, but I wanted to make sure I had a bit of variety. I’m really happy with the books I’ve chosen and I think it’ll make for an even more exciting reading year! Let’s go through my choices by genre.

Fantasy

Though I tried to choose more than just fantasy, it doesn’t mean I can’t start with my favorite genre! It also makes up the majority of my list because, being a fantasy lover and someone who loves completing challenges, I want to give myself a fighting chance of finishing this, lol. Twelve of my 22 books fit in the fantasy genre and they are as follows:

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Jade City by Fonda Lee
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

These Violents Delights by Chloe Gong
Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A. Brown

The Part About the Dragon was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
Equal Rights by Sir Terry Pratchett

Mystery/Thriller

The rest of the genres that make up my stack of 22 are sprinkled throughout in smaller numbers. The next highest would be the mystery/thrillers! I found three that I’m desperate to read and I’m hoping I’ll love them! The three books I chose from this genre are as follows:

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

Science Fiction

This is another genre that is high up on my favorites list. You wouldn’t really know it with as little sci-fi I read in a year, though 😅 I don’t know why I don’t pick it up more… I tend to really love the books I do read in this genre. Hence it being one of my favorites! I’m hoping the same holds true for the two science fiction books I picked. Although one could be considered fantasy, but I felt like it had more of a sci-fi feel. The two books I chose from this genre are as follows:

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Romance

As I may or may not have mentioned before on the blog, I’ve been feeling the urge to read romance rising as of late. I’m not sure where this urge is coming from as I’m really not a big romance reader. No shade, it’s just not a genre I gravitate towards. I blame my generally apathetic attitude towards most rom-com movies. Lately, though, I’ve noticed that if the rom-com is in book form, then I am totally on-board! That being said, I’ve chosen two romance novels for my stack, and those are as follows:

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Well Played by Jen DeLuca

Horror

There was no way I was making a list of books to read in 2022 and not including any horror novels! What would I read during the spooky season? Or whenever I feel like a good scare? Horror is a genre that can be pretty hit or miss for me, so I tend to be a little wary when I pick them up. I’m hoping that the two I chose will be hits! The two horror novels I picked are as follows:

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

Poetry

Rounding out my list is a genre that I rarely, if ever, pick up: poetry I talked about this in a recent Book Blogger Hop, but poetry is definitely on the low end of genres I willingly choose to read. But I honestly think I just haven’t found the right poetry for me! So, though there is only one poetry book on this stack, it hopefully won’t be the only one I read in 2022. I really want to give this genre the chance it deserves. That being said, the one poetry book that made it on my stack is as follows:

The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

Did you make a list of 22 reads you want to read in 2022? Have you read any of the books I’ve included in my stack? Let me know in the comments!

And, as always, happy reading!

book blogger hop

Book Blogger Hop: Jan 21 – 27

January 22, 2022January 21, 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

What is the average number of books you read per month?

Submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews.

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first lines friday

First Lines Friday #31

January 21, 2022January 20, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd2 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 😉)
Finally… reveal the book!

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

Hello, reader!

We’ve made it to the end of another week and that means it’s time for First Lines Friday! I would be more hyped about the end of the work week, but I’m actually working this weekend. So, to get me in a better mood, I figured I would feature a book that I’ve started reading recently and has me wanting to read nothing else!

I know the first few lines captured my interest, but let’s see if they can entice you, as well.

The Line(s):

“Time had run away from me again, but I couldn’t afford to let it escape, not today. It chastised me like an unruly student with every tick and tock. Even as a child, I could never be constrained by time, could never obey its laws or heed its lessons. Time had finally grown impatient with my attempts to catch up.”

The Hints:

This is a recently published fantasy that is the first in a series.

The world contained in this story is centered around a myriad of gods.

And the mortals are as varied as the gods that rule over them!

The Reveal:

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book tag

Red (Taylor’s Version) Book Tag

January 20, 2022January 19, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Hello, reader!

Today on the blog, I’m bringing a music inspired book tag. This is the Red (Taylor’s Version) Book Tag as created by Tiffany @ Gazer of Books! Now, I’m not the biggest Swiftie, but I do like her a lot of her music. Folklore was on repeat in my car for an embarrassingly long amount of time. I also love her current project of redoing her old albums so they reflect how she really wanted them to sound. So, while I wasn’t waiting with bated breath for the release of the new and improved Red album, I still enjoyed it when it came out.

That being said, when Tiffany put out a call for bloggers who would like to be tagged, I jumped at the chance. Now, let’s put some music and get to the post!

The Rules:

Link to the original creator and her post: Tiffany from Gazer of Books
Declare the rules and list of prompts in your post (Feel free to copy the original format and graphics!)
Tag all the Swifties in your life!

The Prompts:

State of Grace – A Painful Romantic Love

Though I don’t know how their romance will ultimately end, the first one that popped into my mind was Alyce and Aurora from Malice by Heather Walter. Everything in this story is conspiring against these two and it makes my heart hurt! I loved this story quite a bit and I’m eager to see how their love story will end in the sequel.

Red – A Book or Character That Makes You See RED

Ooo, do I get to talk about my hatred of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë again? Because that book is the WORST! I apologize to all the WH lovers out there, but I hated this book so much, I “lost” it as soon as I was done with it. I liked literally nothing about it; not the characters, not the plot, not the writing. Everything about this book made me want to raaaaage. Ugh… never again…

Treacherous – A Book You Couldn’t Help But Buy

Definitely House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. Look. I wanted to try a SJM book and this cover was very pretty.

I also came across it in a Target, I believe, and I just… couldn’t… resist! I snapped it up and now it sits on my TBR bookshelf with all of my other impulse buys 😂

Still, I am excited to read this one!

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www wednesday

WWW Wednesday: Jan 18, 2022

January 19, 2022January 18, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

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

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch: I started the eighth book of the Rivers of London series for an informal readalong and, y’all… I think this one might be my favorite in the series so far. I’m in the middle of Part Two, so it may be a little earlier to call it, but I am loving this addition to the world! It’s funny to think how much Peter has grown as a character since the first book. I think this one is showcasing it more than any of the previous installments. I’m eager to keep going!
The Thirteenth Hour by Trudie Skies: I started reading this yesterday as The Write Reads blog tour for it is coming up soon. Everyone. Listen. This book has absolutely captured my imagination! It’s a complex world filled with gods and different societies that are equal but not. It started off with a bang and I am hooked! It makes me even more excited to do my tour post 😄

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book reviews

Mini Reviews: Novellas Edition

January 18, 2022January 17, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd3 Comments

Hello, reader!

I’m back with some mini reviews today. As a big consumer of fantasy, I tend to read a lot of longer books. Fantasy writers have a lot to get into a story and, sometimes, that can lead to some chonky books. Lately, though, I’ve found myself really getting into shorter fiction. That’s why I figured it was time to do a mini review of some mini books, aka novellas!

I’ve been having a great time with the novellas I’ve read recently, but am so behind on actually reviewing them! That being said, let’s jump into this post, shall we?

Title: Remote Control

Author: Nnedi Okorafor

Publisher: Tor.com

Genre: Science Fiction

CW/TW: Child abuse, body horror, grief & loss depiction, death of a family member, gun violence, animal death

Rating: ★★★★

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

Nnedi Okorafor has been on my radar for quite some time, but this was my first experience reading her work. Now, I wish to read everything she has ever written!

In Remote Control, we follow the story of a young girl who has lost her name and been adopted by Death. After a tragic event, Sankofa becomes her new name and death follows wherever she goes. She spends her days wandering Ghana with her small fox companion, trying to find answers and an object that fell from the sky and changed her life.

This was such an incredible, quiet read. You would think a book about a girl that brings death with her would be more in-you-face, but this book is much more a character study that was strangely calm. Even when the character was surrounded by death and destruction. I absolutely loved the writing in this story and how it gripped me from beginning to end. I loved Fatima/Sankofa and following her around as she searches for answers to her suffering. Watching her character growth and her interactions with the world around her was a treat! And, even though I could have followed this story for chapters and chapters more, it still felt like a fully formed and finished book in this short amount of pages. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

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5 on my tbr

#5OnMyTBR – Celebrity/Famous

January 17, 2022January 16, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd5 Comments

Hello, reader!

It’s time for another 5 On My TBR and the theme for this week certainly made me think. The theme is celebrity/famous and it took me a minute to figure out how I wanted to interpret this. Did I want to choose books written about celebrities or famous people? Did I want to choose fiction where the main character is a celebrity or famous? What I ended up choosing are books written by a celebrity!

It was literally the only way I could get to five books 😂

I’m not one who follows celebrities and their lives and I’m not a huge fan of memoirs. So there was a moment where I didn’t think I would have enough books to do this week’s post! But I found five books on my TBR that fit the bill. Let’s get to the list so I can share them with you.

#1. Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler is probably one of my favorite comediennes on the planet. I loved her in Parks & Rec and I feel like this book would be a lot of fun. I also wouldn’t mind learning more about her as a person. She just seems like she would be cool to hang out with, ya know? Anyways, that’s why this memoir (not my favorite genre, as we’ve established) has stuck around on my TBR.

#2. America (The Book) by Jon Stewart

I was a big Daily Show fan back when Jon Stewart was the host. Not saying Trevor Noah is bad, just that I no longer have cable. That’s probably why this book ended up on my TBR. I like his humor and learning more about politics and civics, so this seemed like a perfect fit for me! We’ll see if I ever actually read it, though, because I always forget it’s a thing 😅

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book discussion

The 12 Challenge: 12 months, 12 books, 12 friends

January 16, 2022January 15, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd13 Comments

Hello, reader!

If you spend anytime in the online bookish community, you probably already know what this post is about. You probably saw a certain graphic floating around the internet at the beginning of 2022. If not, let me give you a peek at the beautiful template made by @shadowbooker over on Instagram!

This graphic/challenge prompts you to read 12 books that have been recommended to you by 12 friends. It sounded like fun (and was literally everywhere), so I figured I would give it a shot! So, through a mix of both online and IRL friends and family, I cobbled together a TBR of twelve recommendations that I wish to read in 2022.

My 12 Challenge

First, I want to say “Thank you!” to everyone who gave me a recommendation! I made sure to ask for books beyond my usual SFF realm and y’all certainly delivered. I think I have a good mix of SFF, mystery/thriller, and romance going on here and that’s exactly what I asked for. I do love my fantasy and science fiction, but 2022 feels like a good year to try and branch out a little more. That being said, let’s take a look at the books that I ended up choosing from all your wonderful recommendations ❤

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book reviews

ARC Review: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

January 15, 2022January 14, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd7 Comments

Title: These Violent Delights

Author: Chloe Gong

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Genre: 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

One Sentence Synopsis

Juliette Cai and Roma Montagov are the heirs to two rival gangs in 1926 Shanghai who must work together, despite their difficult past, to save their city.

Favorite Quote

“Memories were beastly little creatures, after all – they rose with the faintest whiff of nourishment.”

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