Top Ten Tuesday #702

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is: One-Word Reviews for the Last Ten Books I Read

*starting with the most recent

10. THE WINGS THAT BIND by Briar Boleyn--Twisted
9. THE EMPEROR'S ENEMY by Jasmine Mas--Deceitful
8. THE VELVET KNIFE by Maureen Johnson--Time-warp (hyphenated counts as one word, lol)

7. CHILDREN OF ASH by Jaye Wells--Gritty
6. THE MIRROR OF INFINITE ENDINGS by Stephanie Garber--Magical
5. REBEL (THE GRAPHIC NOVEL) by Marie Lu--Vibrant

4. MERIDIAN SIX by Jaye Wells--Dark
3. THE CHAMPIONS by Kara Thomas--Chilling
2. DEATH AT MORNING HOUSE by Maureen Johnson--Surprising

1. THE HAUNTING OF PAYNES HOLLOW by Kelley Armstrong--Creepy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Last Week I was Reading:

Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry--sadly I am still reading it as I did not have much time for reading last week.

Review That Was Posted:

East of Envy by Nikki St. Crowe (ARC) (4 stars)

Currently Reading:

Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry

What I Plan to Read Next:

Devoured by Jordan Stephanie Gray

Other Posts of Interest:

Creatures of the Night Book Tag
Top Ten Tuesday #701
Can't Wait Wednesday #272
Books from the Backlog #209
Book Blogger Hop #435
Stacking the Shelves--Purple & Pink Edition
October Wrap-up

October Wrap-up

Well, this month felt horrible for reading! I feel like life has been SOOO busy these past two months that I didn't have much free time it felt like. My parents and I are still working on my house, little by little every weekend we're free. So pretty much every iota of free time I have has been devoted to that area of life. Then work has been crazy these last two months that I haven't had much free time there either and have worked through a break or two a few times each week just trying to stay caught up on everything. So yeah. It's been busy! Then when I finally sit down and have some time to myself, I am just super tired that I just watch TV for an hour before I fall asleep! Also, I don't know if we want to count this but for two of these books, the font size was really small as were the line spacing, so though the page count was just over 400 or so, it felt much longer! I was still enjoying the books of course, I just couldn't devote as much time to reading it! Hence the reason why I am still reading a book I started last and still have a ways to go.

ARC Reads

None

New Release Reads

The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson (9/29/26)
The Emperor's Enemy by Jasmine Mas (9/15/26)
The Wings That Bind by Briar Boleyn (3/10/26)

TBR Reads

None

Stacking the Shelves--Purple & Pink Edition

 

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course ebooks! The meme is now hosted by Reading Reality.

This wasn't the best of weeks to be honest. Work is still kind of busy. I think we're finally on the downward slope though. I was supposed to go to a signing Wednesday as a road trip but I was almost halfway there when I realized I forgot something important at home and had to turn around and cancel. So that really put a damper on the rest of my week. Today I originally planned to drive to Nashville to see Marie Lu and Mary E. Pearson, but then I learned of local signing with Astrid Scholte and for whatever reason, I did not know she was an international author so I decided to stay "home" and attend that signing instead! I had prepared for both in a sense, so at least I'll get to sleep in a little tomorrow! Lol.

Here's what I got this week:

Mortal Things by Marie Lu
Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber--Deluxe Edition SIGNED!

A Court of Splintered Harmony by Sarah J. Maas
The Poison Daughter by Shelia Masterson--Waterstones edition, a total impulse purchase as it was just gorgeous and I still need to read it too!
Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout--SIGNED! I had to get this one signed from Jennifer's new bookshop which I sooo want to visit! ALL of my Lux series books have been signed and since I will likely never get to Apollycon to see Jennifer again, this is the only way to keep my sanity! Lol.

Then my ACOSH copy was ordered from Target and I got the below "gift with purchase" for anyone who was curious, I knew it would be something of this vein but I'm kind of meh over it. Not necessarily by the product itself or even the art. I don't know. Maybe I just lost my enjoyment for this series. Maybe once I read the book it'll make more sense? I still need to read CC 3 so it's going to be awhile before any of that happens! Lol

And then finally, I got my first Funko Pop preorder! When they released a slew of new Beauty and the Beast ones, I preordered quite a bit and since I ordered from the Zon, of course they are all overpriced, but they were the only ones who had them up for sale at the time and then later when I was checking prices, they were gone entirely, so I had to keep my order. But I do LOVE this one! I only wish Belle was wearing her green dress or her pink one or even her blue one. I just feel like her "traditional" ballgown is a bit much for the library and reading. Of course, Belle would read no matter what she's wearing, but I just think one of her "everyday" dresses would've been better.

And that was it for me this week! What did you get?

Book Blogger Hop #435

This meme is hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict!

This week's question is: If you could retell a Halloween story or trope from a fresh angle, what would you choose and why?

MY ANSWER: I guess maybe a haunted house story? Don't ask me how I would do it or what it would be about. I've got no clue! Lol. Even though I am a huge chicken and cannot do the haunted houses at Halloween where people jump out and scare the bejeezus out of you, I do like the historical haunted houses...the ones that have actual ghost stories to them. So I would probably want to do something around a haunted house story. I dabbled with them as a preteen but they always lost momentum somewhere because I couldn't figure out the ending, like why I had these ghosts sticking around and causing chaos. So needless to say, I had a few "ghosty" ideas rattling around in my head, but just could never get them to go somewhere.
 

Books from the Backlog #209

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. This is a fun meme hosted by Carole's Random Life in Books!

When the Bat's away, the Cat will play. It's time to see how many lives this cat really has. . . .

Two years after escaping Gotham City's slums, Selina Kyle returns as the mysterious and wealthy Holly Vanderhees. She quickly discovers that with Batman off on a vital mission, Batwing is left to hold back the tide of notorious criminals. Gotham City is ripe for the taking.

Meanwhile, Luke Fox wants to prove he has what it takes to help people in his role as Batwing. He targets a new thief on the prowl who seems cleverer than most. She has teamed up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and together they are wreaking havoc. This Catwoman may be Batwing's undoing.

I added Catwoman: Soulstealer to my TBR pile in August of 2018, so when it came out! This was the DC Icons series where an array of NY Times Bestselling authors wrote about one of the DC heroes but in a teen's perspective. I remember I read Wonder Woman...because it was Leigh Bardugo and Marie Lu's Batman because it was Marie Lu and Batman! So naturally, I HAD to read Catwoman! But alas, it remains unread...still. I'm hoping since it's early Maas it won't be so hefty. Plus it was DC comics so she had to follow a set of rules and such, as I remember Marie and Leigh mentioning this when they were on tour for said books. I always loooooooved the Tim Burton Batman films, so Batman Returns was a HUGE win for me! So I definitely still want to read this one, just need to work it in somehow!

 

Can't Wait Wednesday #272

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Love, magic, gods, and monsters collide in the thrilling conclusion to the Soul of Shadow trilogy!

When Charlie Hudson awakens after her Trial, it’s to find that nothing will ever be the same. The king of the gods is plotting to destroy Asgard. Charlie and her brother are trapped a world away from the people they love most. And worst of all, she’s become the very thing she hates a night mare.

Charlie’s transition is anything but smooth. Stuck in Helheim Palace, she must train her new shadow magic alongside dozens of soulless mares who would gladly turn her over to the enemy if they discovered she’s Loki’s true heir.

Her only hope is Elias Everhart, her once-sworn enemy who has somehow become one of her closest allies. He’s promised to help train her mare abilities—an easy idea in theory, if her magic weren’t malfunctioning… and if being near Elias didn’t make the darkness within Charlie grow bigger and more all consuming by the day. Charlie is in a race against time to reconcile the powers warring within her. Because if the threat on Asgard isn’t enough to kill her… love certainly will be.

In Dreams of Ruin, the only thing worse than becoming a night mare, is loving one.

I still need to start this series but I like the vibes it gives off! So I'm adding this one to the list! Lol.

TITLE: Dreams of Ruin
AUTHOR: Emma Noyes
PUBLISHER: Wednesday Books
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: November 17, 2026

A teen investigates the history of disappearances on her island home and uncovers a dark, magical secret in this swoony romantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of the Hush, Hush saga, Becca Fitzpatrick.

A teen beauty queen has vanished from idyllic Tea Kettle Island, and all evidence points to the girl's ex-boyfriend, Sascha Sinner. When a local vigilante group posts a hefty reward for his capture, seventeen-year-old Bunny decides to go after it-and him-hoping the prize money will help her save her grandmother's failing farm.

Sascha, however, insists he didn't do it. And he wants Bunny to help him prove his innocence. Bunny's less sure, but when yet another disappearance reveals a hidden history of missing girls-a history that includes her own mother-she has to admit something is at play.

Her search for the truth takes her to the very edges of town, into its darkly magical past, and dredges up secrets the other townsfolk would rather not surface. All the while, there are devilish creatures stalking the woods, devilishly handsome young men with more than their fair share of darkness, and the very devil to pay if Bunny can't figure out what, exactly, is taking the girls of Tea Kettle Island...

I am SOOOOOO excited Becca has a new book coming out this year! I LOVED The Hush, Hush series and I LOVED her two standalone thrillers she wrote after that! So I am TOTALLY NEEDING this book in my life! 

TITLE: Vanishing Beauties
AUTHOR: Becca Fitzpatrick
PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
GENRE: YA Dark Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2026

 

Top Ten Tuesday #701

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is: HALLOWEEN FREEBIE: Top Ten Books That Gave Me Chills

*in no particular order

10. TEN by Gretchen McNeil--naturally I placed it here, because how can I resist? Lol. This was a really good thriller though from my hazy memory. I totally remembered calling the whodunit or part of it anyway! Lol.
9. SURVIVE THE NIGHT by Danielle Vega--this was a really freaky one that was a little unhinged, but I loved it anyway!
8. THE DEVOURING LIGHT by Kat Ellis--speaking of unhinged! I remember this one was pretty weird too but when you had seriously spooky to the weird it works!

7. DIARY OF A HAUNTING by M. Verano--I mean if the cover isn't spooky enough for you...
6. THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE by Stephanie Perkins--loved this one! Another twisted thriller. I can't remember my thoughts on the movie, I think I liked it...I don't remember hating it. But there was also likely a huge gap between my reading it and seeing it!
5. SWERVE by Vicki Pettersson--you'll forever fear roadside rest stops...never stop there!

4. RULES FOR VANISHING by Kate Alice Marshall--been so long since I've read this one but I remember it being CREEPY! Creepy good, but also creepy!!!
3. THE DEAD HOUSE by Dawn Kurtagich--I love a book that does mixed media woven into the story! This was another super creepy one!
2. NEAR THE BONE by Christina Henry--this is one that will chill you on the fictional horror and realistic horror as well! SO good!

1. DOOMED by Tracy Deebs--and speaking of realistic horror...this is one that will forever terrify me of happening, but I think AI might be trumping this fear. So this particular fear is in a very close second place now.