Top 5 Tuesday: Books With Swords

August 16, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd3 Comments

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!

We’ve arrived at another lovely Tuesday, which means it’s time for a Top 5 Tuesday post! This week, I had a much easier time with the scavenger hunt. That’s because I had to find books with swords on the cover and, apparently, I read a lot of sword books 😂 I’ve trimmed the list down to five of my favorite books that feature a large piece of cutlery on the front.

That being said, let’s get to my list!

#1. Nimona by N.D. Stevenson

This is probably one of my favorite graphic novels, so I’m glad one of the characters is holding a sword so I could feature it! Lord Blackheart happens to be my favorite character, too. Nimona is a shapeshifter that is bound and determined to become the villainous Blackwell’s minion. This was such a wild ride with action and adventure on every page. It also made me get a bit teary-eyed with Nimona and Blackwell’s backstories. It was such an incredible read!

#2. The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

There is quite an assortment of weapons on the cover of this one, but there’s definitely at least one sword. It makes sense as this book follows a nation at war and a man seeking revenge. The first book in The Burning series was such an intense ride! It’s an incredibly compelling story that has fantastic world-building. The characters have to be my favorite part of the story, though, especially Tau. He is single-minded yet complex and it’s fascinating watching his growth throughout this novel.

Continue reading →

Blog Tour: Hag of the Hills by J.T.T. Ryder

August 14, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd5 Comments

Hello, reader!

I’m bringing you yet another tour stop today sponsored by The Write Reads! This time, I’ll be talking about an historical fantasy immersed in Celtic mythology and set on the Isle of Skye: Hag of the Hills by J.T.T. Ryder. If the gorgeous cover doesn’t pull you in, perhaps the promise of a well-researched story that blends historical fiction and fantasy will appeal to you!

Before we jump in, though, I want to thank Dave @ The Write Reads and all of the crew for giving me a spot on this tour! I also want to thank the author for sending me a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review! It is, as always, much appreciated.

Now, let’s get into the post!

Title: Hag of the Hills
Author: J.T.T. Ryder
Publication date: March 1st, 2022
Genre: Fantasy
Age group: Adult
Content/Trigger Warnings: Slavery, violence, gore, blood, suicide, child death

Book Links

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

“Nothing is unconquerable; even our gods can die.”

Brennus is destined from birth to become a warrior, despite his farmer’s life. But when the Hillmen kill his family and annihilate his clan, he now has the opportunity to avenge those who he loved.

Brennus must survive endless hordes of invading Hillmen and magic-wielding sidhe, aided by only a band of shifty mercenaries, and an ancient bronze sword.

Failure means his family and clan go unavenged. Victory will bring glory to Brennus and his ancestors.

Hag of the Hills is a heroic fantasy novel set in 200 B.C. on the Isle of Skye, steeped in Celtic mythology and culture.

Continue reading →

blog tour · book spotlight

Blog Tour Spotlight: Advocatus by A.R. Turner

August 13, 2022 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

Hello, reader!

Today, I’m participating in another blog tour hosted by the incredible The Write Reads tour company! I’ll be spotlighting a fantasy novel that has been getting some rave reviews: Advocatus by A.R. Turner! Come join me as I tell you more about this fascinating sounding book.

Before we jump into my post, though, I want to thank Dave @ The Write Reads and all the lovely people behind the scenes for allowing me to participate in this tour! It is, as always, very much appreciated. If you’re a book blogger looking to participate in book tours, you can’t go wrong with The Write Reads.

Now, let’s get to my post!

Title: Advocatus
Author: A.R. Turner
Publication date: January 17th, 2022
Genre: Fantasy
Age group: Adult

Book Links

Amazon::Goodreads

Continue reading →

first lines friday

First Lines Friday #57

August 12, 2022 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a 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 (I cheat a little bit here *cough*)
Finally… reveal the book!

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

Hello, reader!

It’s Friday and I actually have Saturday off so I’m extra excited 🥳 It’s also time for another First Lines Friday! This week, I’m featuring a book that has been on my TBR for what feels like an eternity. I’m listening to the audiobook and I’m kind of in love. It’s fun, funny, and magical in a way that somehow feels nostalgic.

The first few lines certainly captured my interest. Now let’s see if they can capture yours, as well!

The Line(s):

“There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart’s Desire.

And while that is, as beginnings go, not entirely novel (for every tale about every young man there ever was or will be could start in a similar manner) there was much about this young man and what happened to him that was unusual, although even he never knew the whole of it.”

The Hints:

This is a fantasy that was released in the late 90s.

The audiobook is narrated by the author.

It features a young man trying to catch a star.

The Reveal:

Continue reading →

top 5 tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday: Books With Crowns

August 9, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Hello, reader!

It’s time for another Top 5 Tuesday! For this week’s cover scavenger hunt, I’ll be looking for some of my favorite books with crowns on the cover. This was, once again, surprisingly difficult, though not as bad as last week’s keys. That being said, I managed to find five books that I truly enjoyed that also have a crown on the cover.

So let’s jump into the post!

#1. Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

Are you looking for a dark fairytale that features a kickass female main character? This might be the book for you! And it has a teeny, tiny crown right about the title, so I get to include it in this list. I loved this story so much; it made me emotional in ways I wasn’t expecting and it was such an incredibly written story. It’s also the first in a series, so I get to read more about our fine gremlin girl, Vanja, and the encyclopedia who loves her, Emeric.

#2. Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko

You all know how much I love Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko. It’s definitely in my top five favorite books of all time! That being said, I don’t talk about the sequel, Redemptor, nearly enough. I loved this book so much! It built on what Raybearer started, growing the world and the characters in the best of ways. It also had some pretty creepy elements that I just ate up! I’m glad Tarisai is rocking a crown on the cover so I could include it on the list.

Continue reading →

down the tbr hole

Down the TBR Hole #35

August 8, 2022 kerrimcbooknerdLeave a comment

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!

I’m back with another round of TBR trimming! This is going to be a shortened one like last time because ya girl has been working for eight days straight and I am T I R E D. But we’re still gonna sift through five books and see if I want to keep them on the TBR or if they’ve gotta go. Also, I went from having 708 books on my Goodreads ‘Want to Shelf’ to 718 books… I honestly don’t know how that happened 😂

Alright, let’s get to trimming!

Furyborn by Claire Legrand

This is a start to yet another fantasy series that I shouldn’t be keeping… but the synopsis sounds so good! It follows two different people in two different timelines who are inextricably linked. I’ve heard so many good things about this book/series, as well. So here I am, keeping yet another series while I finish none, lol.

Verdict: Keep

The Warehouse by Rob Hart

So, if I hadn’t recently read The Paradox Hotel by the same author and thoroughly enjoyed it, this would probably be getting the chop. But I did so here we are! I really loved Rob Hart’s writing style and I’m interested to see what he does with the dystopian world in this one. Also, this one sounds deliciously sinister.

Verdict: Keep

Continue reading →

readathon

Magical Readathon: Orilium Autumn Equinox TBR

August 4, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Hello, reader!

That’s right. In the month of August, you get not one, but two TBRs from me! Readathons are great TBR-creating motivators 😂

It’s time to continue my character’s journey at the magical academy called Orilium in one of my favorite readathons: the Magical Readathon! I’ve been on-board with this Orilium journey since the beginning and managed to complete all the prompts for the Spring Equinox. Now it’s time to dive further into my studies with this latest round.

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 jump into my TBR for this round, I wanted to re-introduce you all to the character I created for this readathon! She’s living her best life at this magical academy so far.

✨✨✨Name: Korrin Musgrave✨✨✨
✨✨✨Guild: The Order of the Crescent Moon✨✨✨
✨✨✨Current Guild Standing: Assistant (110 gp)✨✨✨
✨✨✨Legacy: Wolf familiar (Venandi)✨✨✨
✨✨✨Background: Wildling✨✨✨
✨✨✨Province: Irtheria✨✨✨
✨✨✨Heritage: Earthling (earth element)✨✨✨

Don’t know what any of that means? You can check out the Brief History of Aeldia on the Google drive. The drive also has the syllabus for this round and lots of other incredibly imaginative information all from the mind of G!

Continue reading →

www wednesday

WWW Wednesday: Aug 3, 2022

August 3, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd6 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

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall: I’ve just started this spooky YA horror and, already, I’m entranced! The atmosphere is pitch perfect, the little hints that something is not right have me intrigued, and I’m truly interested in finding out more about our main character, Helen. I’m very much getting an The Inheritance Games vibes, what with her inheritance of this creepy house hinging on her staying in it a full year and some less than friendly relatives who seem upset about the will. But this is definitely got a more paranormal vibe and I am here for it!
Hide by Kiersten White: I literally just finished the first chapter of this horror novel and, in comparison, I’m not as immediately into it as I was with These Fleeting Shadows. Maybe it’s because I’ve only read one chapter so far. Maybe it’s because nothing has really happened yet. I’m definitely intrigued enough to keep going but the writing hasn’t really gripped me yet. The main character, Mack, certainly seems like she has a Past and I’m interested to find out more about her. Here’s hoping I get more invested as I continue.

Continue reading →

top 5 tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday: Books With Keys

August 2, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd6 Comments

Hello, reader!

It’s pretty late on a Tuesday and I’ve had quite the day 😅 Still, before we roll into the middle of the week, it’s time for another Top 5 Tuesday post! The themes during August are all scavenger hunts and, I have to admit, this one threw me for a loop. I, apparently, have not read a ton of books with keys on the cover. That being said, I’ve cobbled together a list that only stretches the theme a teensy bit, haha.

Let’s jump into the post, shall we?

#1. Duma Key by Stephen King

So there’s definitely not a key in this beachy cover, but there is one in the title! This also happens to be one of my favorite Stephen King novels, if not my favorite. I feel like this is one that people don’t talk about often or really know about, but it’s absolutely incredible! It follows a man named Edgar Freemantle who moves to the beaches of Florida after a construction site accident leaves him without an arm. He gets back into art, something that used to bring him joy… and things get weird from there. This is well worth the read!

#2. Nightbooks by J.A. White

We’re playing a little bit more loose with this scavenger hunt with this one 😂 There’s no key in the cover image or in the title… but there is a keyhole! Shape! The suggestion of a keyhole at the very least! Look, I told you I had a rough time with this one, haha. All that aside, I loved this middle grade horror. It was spooky yet endearing and left me wanting more from this author. My favorite bits were the scare stories sprinkled throughout the already scary story, curtesy of our MC, Alex. I could read a whole book just filled with those!

Continue reading →

www wednesday

WWW Wednesday: Jul 27, 2022

July 27, 2022 kerrimcbooknerd6 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

Jade City by Fonda Lee: I’m not too far into this book but it certainly starts off with a bang! I also kind of already love Hilo and this seems like a bad choice to make? I dunno, there’s something about that hot-headed idiot that entices. The entire Kaul family are an interesting bunch and I can’t wait to learn more about them. I’m loving the writing, as well! So… so far, so good.
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett: I’m finally continuing on reading the Discworld books! I’m glad that you can kind of pick these books up at your own place and easily fall back into the story. And I had forgotten how much I enjoy Sir Pratchett’s writing! I love the humor and the wit. The fact that this story centers around a girl who is determined to become the world’s first female wizard is certainly making this an interesting read. Esk is such a great character and I can’t wait to watch her kick the patriarchy’s butt.

Continue reading →