Oct 25, 2026

Stacking the Shelves--Chaos & Calm 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.


Another insane week, largely because of work. I've got to stop thinking things will slow down because every time I do, I open my email to a new day filled with a TON of requests that came in overnight. It is insane. Since we're now a smaller group this means more requests per person and I somehow get the ones that are BIG! We have a rotating order and it ends up being my luck to be assigned one with a large agent number and it always ends up being the one where we need to request multiple things and then have to check each user individually to see if their "items" have been completed. I peeked last Friday night and saw we received another two big requests and I am just betting one of them will end up on me. Our team dynamic has been a little wavery since we lost two members so I don't get the idea that anyone would be willing to "trade" request items either. The last time I had two big ones I believe they were both Mondays and everyone is busy on Monday so no one was really able to assist as we sometimes would split some of the work among each other, but by the time anyone started asking if anyone needed help, I had already gotten the request done on my own. (Granted the ask didn't come until the next day in the afternoon. That's how busy we all get!) Friday night I trekked out to my favorite indie bookstore, Main Street Books to meet Hazel Beck! They were at the library the night before, but I was too worn out from work that day, that I didn't feel like making the drive, I figured I'd just do the meet & greet on Friday instead. I had a nice day out too and shopped around Main Street. Mostly browsed while I had shopped earlier at other stores on the way to Main Street! Lol. This week I am making a midweek road trip to go see Briar Boleyn! Ironically, I made a road trip to see her and another author last year around this time, I think. She ended up coming to St. Louis a week or two after that adventure, but now with this road trip I will have this latest series of hers all signed so I deemed it worth it! Taking two half days at work so we're not totally left in a lurch, so hopefully I won't come back to utter craziness, but we'll see what happens I guess.


Here's what I got this week:




Daughter of the Tempest by Braidee Otto
Devoured by Jordan Stephanie Gray--UK edition!
The Dark in Her Veins by M.K. Lobb--found this one at TJ Maxx yesterday and I had debated about the book not too long ago and impulsively bought it since I was shopping solo and no one talked me out of it! Lol. Plus it was a good deal, better than the Zon, so there you go.
Some Kind of Haunted by Hazel Beck--SIGNED!



Then I got two preorder incentives yesterday as well:


First up is The Sixth Faction lenticular postcard and leather bookmark!


THANK YOU HarperTeen!




Then I got my bag charm for The Velvet Knife!


THANK YOU HarperTeen!




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








Oct 23, 2026

Book Blogger Hop #434

 

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


This week's topic is: What’s the creepiest book you’ve read that isn’t officially horror, but gave you chills?


MY ANSWER: Ooh that's a tough one. I mean compared to horror aficionados my picks probably are not really "horror" like. I mean, they might be in the horror section near Stephen King but content wise they might not be as scary as his stuff.

But yes, ignoring the label of horror, I am going to go TOTALLY old school and pick Tracy Deebs' (aka Tracy Wolff) Doomed!



This book, though already over 10 years old, gosh, I feel really old now, was super scary without even being close to a "horror" novel! This plot of this book was a teenaged girl accidentally unleashed a computer virus that basically shut down ALL technology across the country and I mean ALL! 13 years ago you're probably thinking like what did we even have? Really nothing that we still don't have now. But think...nothing will work. No computers, no internet, no cell phones, no credit cards to buy things, all the machines at hospitals and such stopped working...it was freaking scary because it turned apocalypse now style because NOTHING was working. So the girl along with two (hot) brothers must work to fix it and basically undo the virus before the country just dies because we can't do anything! It was scary because I could totally see this happening and I STILL can see this happening. 

Needless to say that 13 years ago, THIS was my book pick for what was once my annual Halloween giveaway. 






Oct 22, 2026

Review--The Wings That Bind by Briar Boleyn

 

The third installment of the viral Bloodwing Academy series is here! This dark academia romantasy delivers seductive vampires, high-stakes adventure, and dangerous romance.

The deluxe limited edition of The Wings That Bind features stenciled edges, custom endpapers, and a jacket with metallic effects! This breathtaking hardcover edition is available only on the first printing and is a must-have for any book lover while supplies last in the US and Canada.

The night's chaos left us breathless. Now the real nightmare begins.

In the wake of last winter's tragedies, through loss and heartbreak, we somehow made it to a new year. But our fight is far from over.

A second dragon has awoken--her heart tainted, and her power commandeered by two ruthless highbloods who will stop at nothing to uncover the dangerous, bloody secrets at the borders of Sangratha. Their cruelty knows no bounds.

Florence, my dearest friend, teetered on the brink of death. A dragon saved her, but now she's tied to him in a way I can scarcely understand. What will this new bond do to the woman I've come to love as a sister?

And then there's Blake. Once my relentless tormentor, then the keeper of my heart... he betrayed me again, nearly condemning Nyxaris to a cursed, stone-cold fate. But something has shifted in him. His gray eyes hide a secret he's desperate to protect. I saved Blake's life, despite everything. Yet with every heartbeat, I have to question where we go from here.

With Bloodwing Academy in turmoil and a new headmaster no one saw coming, only one thing is certain: This is going to be one hell of a year.

This dark fantasy series tackles mature themes. Readers are advised to consult the trigger warnings before embarking on this intense, morally gray/black journey through the realm of Sangratha!


I've been all over the place with my reading these days! Since I'm planning a road trip to see Briar Boleyn next week so I can have a fully signed set of these books, I thought I better get on reading The Wings That Bind as it's the third book in the series and the one before the grand finale! Luckily diving back into this one wasn't too hard with my notes and hopefully I'll be able to pick up the final book not too long from now, but knowing my luck, it will be awhile still! Lol.

We pick up where we left off which was once again, utter chaos! We open to what I believe was a new point of view, I read the first two books in their original format before moving to the big publishing house, so I don't know all of the changes that might or might not have been made. But anyway, this time we get also get Regan's point of view, Blake's wicked ex who was a capital B with an itch. But naturally, Briar decides to show us this character in a new light. While I can't call her a good person who was misunderstood, we do get a better insight to her person.

Then we also get Florence's point of view and I loved having her perspective! I've always been the quite bookish one, but with fictional books, I am not book smart! Lol. I still always feel a kinship to the bookworm whatever their choice in reading is. Florence is now bonded with a dragon, Nyxaris and it has definitely made life different for her.

That's not the only thing changing either. Big changes have come to Bloodwing Academy and it, naturally, won't be good changes. The classmates soon find themselves divided and pit against one another. Most are not for these changes, but some are embracing the change with relish.

Things continue to develop between Medra and Blake of course. They have definitely been one of those hot and cold relationships, hating one another, liking each other, then Blake messes things up and then there's more strife. They have the most up and down relationship I've ever encountered in a book before and it's mind-boggling! Lol. It's a supernatural version of Ross and Rachel practically but since we're nearing the end, hopefully things will turn out for these sometimes star-crossed lovers. They are definitely cross with one another that's for sure! But there are still plenty of heated moments between them.

Suffice to say, I cannot rank on the spicy scale! I feel like everyone has their own ranks to what's spicy and tame that putting a number on something tells me nothing unless I know how spicy your previous reads are. So I will just say that there are a few romantic interludes in the beginning portion of the novel, but when the chaos ensues, the romance takes a back seat! And Medra and Blake are not the only relationship to keep your eyes on. We get teases of another relationship and one that kind of had me theorizing things that are likely way off course, but when it's fantasy and/or paranormal, anything is fair game! Lol.

The ending to this one was pure chaos and I loved it! Of course chaos means cliffhangers galore since the cast of characters we dealt with all 400+ pages long were separated, so that's a lot of cliffies to deal with. But luckily the book is out and I get my copy next week! If you love a good paranormal fantasy romp with the classic school setting then this is a series you might just enjoy! It's set with college age students, so I guess we can call it new adult. Is that still a genre/level? But needless to say Briar Boleyn is a fantasy author to keep your eyes on if you love a good dragon and/or vampire read!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars




 

Books from the Backlog #208

 

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!


Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There's not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley's favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.

So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone's explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life.

Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer...before the killer strikes again.



I added Lily Anderson's Undead Girl Gang to my TBR pile in July of 2018...or I remembered to add it to my Goodreads then since it was a May 2018 release. You never know with me, lol. I remembered thinking this one sounded like fun! It was paranormally, it had some mystery going on and it seemed like a light-hearted read too. I mean, yes, there's murder mystery, but with the various paranormal books I've read, some have definitely had darker themes with murder, but with this fun looking cover, I was definitely getting more lighter vibes with this one. Naturally, I still want to give it a read!







Oct 21, 2026

Can't Wait Wednesday #271

 

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.



The gods took everything from Hades. Now he's coming to collect.

For once, I'm not the mortal condemned to face a series of deadly trials. Hades is.

To reclaim the powers that are rightfully his, the King of the Underworld must compete against the gods of Olympus-and survive a contest designed to bring even immortals to their knees.

I've lost count of how many impossible choices I've survived. I should be relieved to watch from the sidelines. Except the god I love is risking his life with every trial, and someone known only as the Deceiver is determined to destroy Team Underworld.

As ancient deception spreads across Olympus, the foundations begin to fracture from within. Hades and I must expose our hidden enemy before the gods turn against one another-and the world pays the price.

But while Hades battles the gods, I'm fighting to control the power awakening inside me. It's growing stronger. Wilder. And I'm no closer to understanding what it wants from me.

The gods think this is another game.

They're wrong.

This is war-and if anyone tries to take Hades from me, I'll show them what divine wrath really looks like.


I have enjoyed this series thus far--yes, I AM actually caught up! It's unbelievable! I plan to road trip to see Abigail and two other authors in November! It was kind of perfectly placed for a road trip signing and since there will be two other authors there, I deemed it worth the drive! Lol.


TITLE: The Wrath Gods Reap
AUTHOR: Abigail Owen

PUBLISHER: Red Tower Books
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: November 17, 2026



A tense, gripping novel about a mother whose child begins to change in ways she can’t explain, from the national bestselling author of The Place Where They Buried Your Heart.

Nora Pacetti is a new stay-at-home mother, tired but coping while caring for her happy, healthy baby Olivia. But then one morning, something that looks like a feather starts growing out of Olivia's arm. Or at least, that’s what Nora’s mother, Giulia, thinks. Nora thinks her mother has probably spent too much time watching conspiracy videos on YouTube.

Nora’s husband thinks Olivia needs tests, specialists, hospitals. But Nora senses that whatever is happening to her daughter needs to be concealed—and a mother’s intuition is never wrong. Soon sinister people begin asking questions about Olivia, and Nora starts to wonder if there really is something wrong with her baby. But she’s determined discover the truth about her daughter…no matter the cost.



Looooove Christina's books! The past few years she has written more standalones with horror/thriller vibes and they are just awesome! So I am definitely looking forward to this one AND I am contemplating another road trip to see her in November. Haven't quite landed on it yet if I will or won't as I did just see her last year, but it's on the backburner! We'll see what that week looks like weather-wise because you never know what you're gonna get in the Midwest...it's like a box of chocolates! Lol.


TITLE: Pinfeathers
AUTHOR: Christina Henry

PUBLISHER: Berkley
GENRE: Horror
RELEASE DATE: November 17, 2026






Oct 20, 2026

Top Ten Tuesday #700

 

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: Top Ten Things That Make Up My Perfect Day


*in no particular order


10. FAMILY
9. WEATHER UNDER 80 DEGREES
8. THE FIRST DAY HALLOWEEN DECOR COMES OUT IN STORES
7. FRESHLY BAKED COOKIES--
right after some cookie dough! Lol.
6. REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS
5. AN AUTHOR SIGNING
4. A SHINY NEW BOOK THAT ARRIVES ON TIME!
3. GOING TO THE BOOKSTORE
2. READING--of course!
1. DISNEY WORLD--the only thing I willingly give up a week of reading for! Lol.






Oct 19, 2026

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 Read:

The Emperor's Enemy by Jasmine Mas (5 stars)



Currently Reading:


The Wings That Bind by Briar Boleyn



What I Plan to Read Next:


Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry



Other Posts of Interest:









Oct 18, 2026

Stacking the Shelves--The Before 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.


Another week in the books. Man this one was rough! I swear, every time I start to think work might be finally slowing down we're bombarded with a huge wave of requests and it's nuts. I peeked at my inbox on Friday afternoon after I was already gone and saw I had a HUGE request that I would need to do on Monday. Me being Me, I started doing some lowkey setting up. Basically filling out the documents I know will need to be filled out before I can request anything and that let me check to make sure things looked "good" before I get into the meat of things. So yeah. Fun times. I did attend one signing this week! Elizabeth Kostova came to St. Louis. You're probably thinking...what on earth was I doing there? Lol. Well, a million years ago, or what feels like it, I read The Historian! Back in those dark, lonely days where I could not find a vampire (or werewolf, or ghost, or witchy or fantastically magical) read I would pick up random like titles and The Historian was one of them! It had an essence of vampire at least and I still had my worn out copy I bought in paperback at Target ever so looooong ago and I wanted to get it signed! Then I spontaneously preordered Mystery Play, her new book at the last B&N preorder sale as it takes place in the same world with a loose connection to things that happened back in The Historian. Granted I read that mammoth too long ago to remember anything but Elizabeth said you don't have to have read that one to enjoy this one so I'm going for it...one day! Lol.

Here's what I got this week:



Love You to Death by Jenna Levine
White Mountain by Ruby Jean Cottle
A Darker Act by Amy Goldsmith
Monstera by Delilah S. Dawson
Mystery Play by Elizabeth Kostova--
SIGNED!



And then I also got my Fairy Loot book for this month! I had forgotten that this particular title was the month's pick, which is fine! I was interested in it anyway! The cover is interesting and the edges are vibrant. I can't decide if I love or not. It's one of those odd kind of ones but yeah, still cool!





And then after a long wind of being very good about not requesting any ARCs, I broke down and requested something and got it right away! It sounded too good to pass up.


Forsaken Crown by Jenna Wolfhart (ARC)


THANK YOU Red Tower Books!




And then finally, as promised here are a few pictures of my new home...of course, none of the rooms look like this anymore! Lol. So this is basically the before pictures. We've ripped out the carpet to be replaced and then we're redoing the kitchen and the flooring on the main level as well. We originally weren't going to but then my dad thought we should and it was good that we did as we found a small patch of mold on the bare floor beneath. We've since attacked it with bleach and it's pretty much gone. We'll probably do one more round and then paint over it just to be safe as it wasn't that much. We think the water heater might have leaked at one point but all is good now. So hopefully sometime this year I might be able to move in! Lol.




So starting at the top from left to right, we have the main bedroom where we started ripping up carpet before I realized I forgot to take my before pictures! Lol. The carpet looks "nice" as it was vacuumed recently, but it was still a bit smelly and there was still dog hair all over the place and it was rather worn out in the main areas. So it needed to go. 

Then we have a smaller room which I plan to turn into my office.

A spare bedroom.

My kitchen is the next two. It's small, but I'll make it work. The hard part is figuring out where I'll store my "backup" supplies of stuff.

The living room.

And finally the basement. We plan to fix this up a bit so I can store all my books down here where it's a little cooler and such. There's AC throughout the house and it's essentially the biggest room in the house, so the library it will be! Lol. I'm also pondering if I can wrap fairy lights around the ceiling banisters or whatever you call them! Just have to follow the trail to see where they'd plug in and if it's accessible. We're kind of making the updates from top to bottom, so to speak, so my library room will likely be last. But one always saves the best for last anyway! Lol.

There will be bookcases scattered throughout the house as well, wherever I manage to fit one or two. Already thinking about putting three in the spare room as I wanted to make that a "reading/sitting" type room, but my mom suggested a daybed and I've reluctantly agreed. lol.

I'll definitely share all the after pictures once we finish the updates and I get moved in and have everything setup. Might be awhile until that happens since we are approaching the holidays but finished pictures will come along...eventually!




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








Oct 16, 2026

Book Blogger Hop #433

 

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


This week's question is: If you designed a book-themed escape room, what puzzles would be part of it?


MY ANSWER: Oh man! I am bad at puzzles like this! I can't always remember my trivia questions either! I guess it would kind of depend on if I made it a specific theme, like towards one book/series/author. But in the general bookish sense I would maybe have players arrange a book series in order, like a nice long running one! Or a match the author name to their pen name for the ones who write under more than one name. Or a book that's been reprinted multiple times and you have to put the covers in publishing order, like which is the OG followed by the first reprint, then the second, and so on! Random things like that but then of course it will only be doable if people know said authors/books. Lol. You put me in a similar room with similar games but with authors I've never heard of and I ain't getting out! Lol.






Oct 15, 2026

Books from the Backlog #207

 

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!


The dazzling conclusion to #1 New York Times bestselling author Richelle Mead's The Glittering Court series.

Meet Tamsin, the Glittering Court's hard-angled emerald. Her outsized aspirations make her a fierce competitor, rising to the top of the ranks. But when the ship she boards for the New World is tragically lost at sea, she is quite literally thrown off-course.








I added Richelle Mead's The Emerald Sea to my TBR pile in June of 2018, so when it released! I remember she toured here for the book so I was able to get the rest of my collection by her signed which was awesome! But alas! I STILL have not finished this trilogy! I read the first book and liked it well enough, I think I missed the paranormal vibes but if I recall there was still some sort of magic vibe to this...or maybe it was just mysterious? I can't recall! I still want to finish it as I believe it's still the last book Mead wrote. Which I vaguely remember her mentioning she wasn't under contract for anything so she was going to explore other worlds or stories and see what comes to her. Something like that. But I'm thinking, it's been eight years and I haven't seen anything from her lately. Sigh....and yes, I am getting sad about this when I still have 2 more books of hers to read! Lol.