Let's Discuss: Reading Makes Me Happy

 

I write this post on Sunday morning...it's been a little over 48 hours since I last picked up a book and I am going crazy! Yes, this is self-inflicted torture but I wanted to do a Caraval trilogy re-read before Spectacular released and I finished too early, obviously, and I don't want to interrupt my Caraval brain-flow. Yes, it wasn't necessary to re-read the series before the novella, but when have I ever done the "not necessary" things? Lol. So this self-inflicted torture has made me realize, I love reading. Reading makes me happy, without reading...I'm a little...not happy.

Reading Makes Me Happy

Reading has been a staple in my life for years...I'd say ever...but clearly I wasn't reading when I was a baby. If I wasn't reading, I was being read to or I did the childlike thing of looking at the picture books and cobbling up my own stories. Yes, there have been times in the past where I wouldn't read for a day or two, but I was actively doing something, like being on vacation. When I went to Disney World 6 years ago--as One Drive and Shutterfly were reminding daily last week of the last best trip of my life as I highly doubt it will ever be in my budget to return, I didn't get any reading done. Maybe I read on the plane, but I know I was dawn to dusk girlie at the parks, so I didn't read, but I was also in my happy place, so my mental state was safe! Lol.

Occasionally on weekends I might not read but I'll still be doing other things. Well, this past weekend I didn't really have anything to do. No signings. So I started my diamond art project again and did make good progress, but I am still without a book to read and it's starting to wear on my mental state.

I know I could easily pick up a short story or novella, but again, I don't want to break my Caraval mindset, it's the last thing I read so when I finally dive into Spectacular everything will still be (somewhat) fresh! But ugh...it's killing me not to pick up a book or a graphic novel or something to just breeze through to soothe the heartbreak.

But I also know my mind and any other "interaction" with new characters and whatnot will erase the things I remember from Finale and I don't want that. So suffer I must. I only have 24 hours from the time this post goes up and after I get it "scheduled" I will personally have 49 and half hours! I'll be working on my diamond art project for a little bit today after a few errands and whatnot then it's back to work on Monday...with nothing to read on my break.

So the short answer to my rambling here is, that reading makes me happy! When I don't read for a long time (and 2 and half days is a considerably long time) I start to get unhappy. Yes, it's easily fixed but as previously stated, I don't want to confuse my addled memory any more than necessary. This is what happens when you read too fast. I guess I should've started my re-read a week later than I did. Oh well. 

What about you? If you don't read for a certain amount of time, do you start to get sad? Does reading provide you happiness that can't be fulfilled by other easily obtained things? Trust me, if I lived in FL I'd be as Disney World this weekend! Lol.

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:

Finale by Stephanie Garber (5 stars)

Currently Waiting for Tuesday to Read (as I wasn't blessed with an early copy):

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber

What I Plan to Read Next:

Of Song and Scepter by Liesl West

Other Posts of Interest:

Let's Discuss: Cosplaying
Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Let's Discuss: Author Swag
Can't Wait Wednesday
Books from the Backlog #105
Let's Discuss: Early Cover Changes
Book Blogger Hop #328
Stacking the Shelves--The Whoops Edition

Stacking the Shelves--The Whoops 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.

The week was definitely longer this time around without a signing to break it up. I actually did have one signing on Sunday evening which was nice! I had never met Olivie Blake (who I still need to read but she's in the TBR pile now!) and Alix E. Harrow (still need to read her too!), but if was a fun evening and I got to socialize with another reader for a bit which is always nice as I don't really get to socialize in reality much. "Reality" being real life, in person, as I do converse with my coworkers online and other readers online, but never face to face socializations. Lol. Naturally I finished Finale way too early and have been going stark raving mad with nothing to read these last 2 days and still have another 2 days and some plus hours to go. Seeing that other random readers were gifted with early copies of my most anticipated 2024 read sent me into a depressive spiral. Like legit crying and not wanting to do anything, though I was forced to do my job. Still not in the best of places mentally, but nothing to be done about it. At least I have Thursday's trip to look forward to with Stephanie Garber! Hopefully that all goes well and without a hitch!

Ended up with way too many books this week. True, two came from the signing, one set was a preorder "of sorts" that I ordered back in August and I had a few contest wins that were also delayed, but the rest was all my poor little pocketbook.

Here's what I got:

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder--new edition SIGNED!
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder--new edition SIGNED!
Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder--new edition SIGNED!

I've been a huge fan of Maria's books pretty much since they came out, I think I found Poison Study some months before Magic Study released and fell in love with the books! That whatever bookish PR rep that climbed out of the cave recently and coined the new genre "ROMANTASY" clearly had not been alive or around in 2005 when this fantasy with a romantic element story started! Anyway, the covers were just too pretty too pass up for my collection so I had to get them. Now to save up and order the UK reprints!

Januaries by Olivie Blake--SIGNED!
Masters of Death by Olivie Blake--SIGNED! Impulsively purchased at the signing, where as the above book was my "ticket" purchase in!

The Cards of Life and Death by Colleen Gleason
The Gems of Vice and Greed by Colleen Gleason

I am massively behind on her books but she's coming to St. Louis this week, legit the night before I fly out to Sacramento for Stephanie's signing--I will be getting no sleep between those nights as I leave super early to go CA and then the next day to come home on a super early flight. So I impulsively bought the last two books of this series of hers that I need to start and B&N did the WORST packing job ever! I swear I would've thought it was Amazon as whoever did it, first had to bend the book cover back or something BEFORE putting it into the box face down so that the crease could set in on its 7-10 day "member's express" journey to my address. I did the best I could to flatten it, but with zero time left to order replacements I had to endure.

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith--honestly, as soon as I saw the "Caraval meets Throne of the Fallen" I had to have it!
The Ashes & The Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent
Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent--Target edition

At the Sunday signing, I learned Carissa is coming to St. Louis next month, so I bought that ticket then and there and then picked these two up this weekend! Luckily I had a $10 Target gift card I earned from a previous purchase that helped bring down that receipt! Man, I wish I could still earn Target Circle Rewards, but there is no longer any earning cash for later purchases anymore.

Then I won a contest from Danielle Paige about a month or two ago and I finally got my prizes!

Wish of the Wicked by Danielle Paige
Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken
The Mirror of Beasts by Alexandra Bracken

THANK YOU Danielle!

And that was it for me! So really, it was a long overdue preorder of books I've read but in new pretty covers, three contest wins, and then the rest! So yeah...I was not good. But it just means I'm getting closer to a B&N gift card! Lol. What all did you get this week?

Re-Review--Finale by Stephanie Garber

 

A love worth fighting for. A dream worth dying for. An ending worth waiting for.

It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist.

With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change and define him.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun. There are no spectators this time—only those who will win, and those who will lose everything.

Welcome, welcome to Finale . . . all games must come to an end.

As you can see, I finished my re-read of Stephanie Garber's Finale way too early...and I even forced myself to read ONLY 50 pages a day these last 4 days AND I skipped the weekend entirely! Alas now I have wayyyyyyyy too long to wait until Spectacular releases. But re-reading Finale was just as magical as the first time around. I do believe this was my first re-read of it too and there was a good bit that I had forgotten when it came to all the Fates, but I loved it all the same!

After releasing the Fates from the Deck of Destiny in order to save Tella from a fate worse than Death, Legend has presented himself as the heir to the throne and is ready to take over all of Valenda, but naturally things don't go quite as planned.

The Fates are free and they are ready to play...of course, knowing who the Fates are just means that Valenda and pretty much the world is in peril. Leading them, so to speak, is The Fallen Star, the most powerful of the Fates and the proposed king who is looking to rule more than just his fellow Fates.

So much happened in this book...so much so that I don't really know what to dive into as what could be construed as spoilers...for a book I re-read that was released in 2019! Honestly, if you're here for true reviews, go to my search bar on the right and type in "Finale" and the original review should pop up among the first searches! Lol. This re-read review is more me just gushing over how much I loved and still love this book because omg...this book was just everything!

I remember Stephanie sort of built us into a maybe love triangle when it came to Tella, Legend, and Jacks. Of course, knowing where we are now, you know who wins that game. I remember feeling very conflicted over this choice as well. While I was originally (and still am, and still ended there too, lol) Team Legend, I was not a fan of the way he treated Tella. This back and forth game he played with her about wanting her, but not wanting to give up his immortality and then when she was ready to be with him he couldn't be with her. It was a mess! Then you have Jacks, a Fate, and I just felt like I could never really trust him. He showed his true colors in this series and they were pretty dark.

Knowing how he turned out in the OUABH trilogy though more than makes up for it. Let's just say, that in this trilogy we see his darker nature. The B.E.; Before Evangeline. 

I think what made it hard for me to like Jacks in this series at least was I felt like we could never trust him. Trust is a big thing for me and time and time again Jacks proved to me why he should not be trusted. And I really did not like what he did to Tella in the end, that had me seeing red.

But people change and I felt like it took awhile for him to change in OUABH but change he did and I was growing to love the guy...just not in these "early days!"

The ending to this one really warmed my cold heart once again! Lol. I love how things ended with Scarlett and Julian and I love how things ended with Legend and Tella. I feel like truly, everyone was in a happy ending here. The ending still feels right to me, but this new added adventure of Spectacular has me SOOO unbelievably excited! Like, I'd camp out at B&N if I thought they'd sell me a copy when they come into open the store that day before official opening time. I mean, where's the midnight release party for this book? I'd totally stay up late to buy it and then read it and I'm a morning bird, not a night owl, so THAT is saying something! Lol.

Needless to say my re-read went spectacularly well--and omg I swear I read this word three times maybe? It had me wondering if the idea was percolating in the back of Stephanie's mind at the time. I should've noted how many times, I want to say a definite twice at the very least, but I thought maybe thrice--thrice, love it. Lol. Sorry, I'm getting a little giddy despite there being 96 hours until go time!

The Caraval series holds a special place in my heart. I remember going into it with something else in mind but the story totally blew me away. The pure magic and mystery that is Caraval and all the secrets that came after! Finale proved to be magical ending to the series, but as Stephanie pointed out there is the almost-ending, and then there is the true ending! While Finale may be the true ending...Spectacular will be the wonderful epilogue!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars

Book Blogger Hop #328

 

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

This week's question is: What novel would you recommend that blends characteristics of your favorite genre with horror concepts, and why? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

MY ANSWER: Oh wow. Tricky since I already like paranormal books and those can be spooky depending on the author's take!

Old favorites that come to mind are Dawn Kurtagich's The Dead House! Spooky haunted house vibes story.

Then there's Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood! Ghost story with the ghost as the main character! Creepy and delightful!

Another I remember loving was Kate Alice Marshall's Rules for Vanishing! Another ghost story with The Blair Witch Project vibes--never really saw that movie because I am a big chicken but I caught the gist of it! Lol.

Let's Discuss: Early Cover Changes

 

So it was as I was reading an email I was noticing that a few books that are on my TBR pile that I still need to read recently had cover changes from their hardcover to paperback format and it makes me wonder...why change so soon?

Early Cover Changes

I mean, I get it. It's a marketing thing. But then with the change...I'm thinking it's not all THAT different. So why change? What was "not working" for the first book? I'm just curious really. I mean, yes, we have all dealt with deplorable cover changes mid-series or the dreaded "let's change the cover scheme/look for this GRAND FINALE! Readers won't care!" We've all been there. We've all ranted, rioted, or had our eye just constantly twitch...

Here's The Changing Man by Tomi Oyemakinde, the left is the hardcover from last year and on the right we have the paperback. So a little different in terms of setting. The font is slightly different in size and style, but still had that squiggly look going on. The girl is still in uniform and we still see a creepy shadow with red eyes. Both are still rather chilling, but I guess, I just don't get why the change? I would think that a new cover look would be more costly to a publisher...but I really don't know. I know cover changes tend to be about drawing in more readers for more $$$ or the previous one feels "outdated," but that's usually from a beloved series from X amount of years ago and is getting revamped. Or some other such fabricated reason. But these have the same themes and feels...so I guess I just don't get it.

Here's another one that was in the same newsletter! I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea...also on my TBR pile from last year. Another horror themed novel, so the overall "feel" of the covers didn't change so much. Since I still need to read it, perhaps I am missing out on some of the symbolism of the differences here. They are a little alike, a girl is floating in reddish water, not sure if it's blood, it come be since it's horror and you just see her face. Then comes the paperback and we have what still looks like blood dripping all over. Pretty sure it is blood running down her face, but the pillars behind her look bloody. I know, it's red light, but the imagery projects a lot of "bloody" thoughts going on. I almost thought her hair was just a bloody mess, but I am seeing it more as red light behind her. Both are chilling and evoke the right spooky read feel. But again...why the change? The sequel cover fits with the first one I feel like. 

I guess I am just baffled with these "early cover changes." Whether there's a sequel or not. What makes a publisher decide a new cover is needed from hardcover to paperback? Is there some sort of copyright happening with the artist? Is that a thing? There are some thing I don't know in regards to the publishing world. This is when I wish we still had the classic RT Booklovers' Convention because I think this would make an interesting panel. Probably more so with publishers than authors, since we know sometimes authors get very little input with their covers.

I guess it just baffles me when a cover gets changed or in these cases "tweaked" so soon. These were debut authors from the looks of Goodreads, so yeah, I guess I am "perplexed" by this.

What's your opinion or stance on these hardcover to paperback changes? I mean, the one is a standalone and the other is a part of a duology, but with the cover schemes both covers for book 1 look fine next to book 2. In that sense...it almost makes you wish publishers could keep the theme the same instead of doing a complete 180 spin on some covers.

Books from the Backlog #105

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 @ Carole's Random Life in Books.

Things seem to be going well for Liv Silver: she’s adjusting to her new home in London; she has a burgeoning romance with Henry Harper, one of the cutest boys in school; and the girl who’s been turning her dreams into nightmares, Anabel, is now locked up. But serenity doesn’t last for long.

It seems that Liv’s troubles are far from over—in fact, suddenly they’re piling up. School gossip blogger Secrecy knows all of Liv’s most intimate secrets, Henry might be hiding something from her, and at night Liv senses a dark presence following her through the corridors of the dream world. Does someone have a score to settle with Liv?

I added Kerstin Gier's Dream On to my TBR in January of 2016. Pretty sure I bought most of her books from Book Outlet or other bargain hunting finds! I remember hearing mixed things about her stuff, mostly how it translated from the original German to English, things got a little wonky from what I recall. I still wanted to give it a try and when bargains were found or free books offered, I took them up! Lol.

 

Can't Wait Wednesday

 

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.

After escaping the mist, Kiara and Jude are pursued by a vengeful god hell-bent on stopping them from breaking the curse that torments the realm, in this sequel to the highly anticipated debut YA fantasy, To Kill a Shadow…

I still need to read the first book, but now that I know for sure it's a duology, I'm glad I waited! It's better for my sanity if duologies are read back-to-back! Lol.

TITLE: To Shatter the Night
AUTHOR: Katherine Quinn
PUBLISHER: Entangled Teen
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: December 3, 2024

Let's Discuss: Author Swag

 

So I thought of another discussion which I may or may not have talked about somewhere down the line, but revisiting after a few years is always fun too! Today's topic...

Author Swag

As a reader I have always loved author swag! I still do! Although I do find it hard to display the items as times depending on what it is. For the art prints I end up putting these in a photo album of sorts so I can look through them all. I have a few different sizes going on currently and they are already filling up! 2 of them are filled with mainly A Touch of Magic Designs prints because they have some seriously pretty stuff! I have a whole book dedicated to Stephanie Garber pictures of Caraval and OUABH!

Other items I still enjoy, but they end up sitting in a box...or what I like to call a "treasure chest!" Lol. Some things are just hard to display. Also since I am house hunting still, it's not possible to display them since my shelves are all in storage too. I mean, when that day comes and I get to move in and have my shelves up I know I will be overwhelmed as I have shelf displaying things packed away in storage as well and I still occasionally buy another one every now and then.

But with the fun author swag, I am always hard pressed on what to do with them. I do remember one instagram friend had put all her bookmarks into a photo collage sort of thing that I think would be fun! I end up saving the bookmarks I get but I never use them really as I end up using one from my personal collection.

But still, when an author has swag at their signing, I end up taking a piece or two. Especially for character art. It's the "other" items I have trouble trying to display. Since some pieces are so old now, the books aren't really current or relevant even if some are in ongoing series.

I just don't know what to do with it all. I don't want to get rid of it after all this time, but I feel like I need a better thing to do with them all.

What do you do with the author swag you have? Do you display it somehow? For items like bookmarks and other things that are harder to display--unless you're very crafty--what do you do with those? I guess I am just looking for ideas!

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker. 

Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.

I feel like I am seeing some of the other seeds of OUABH being planted in this one! I mean I knew Stephanie was slowly getting an idea for it at the time of writing this one, but now I'm wondering how many seeds were coincidental or not. Lol.

"Tella knew she'd found the right place when she saw the door clapper shaped like a broken heart. It felt like a warning that nothing good come from stepping inside." p 145

TITLE: Finale
AUTHOR: Stephanie Garber
PUBLISHER: Flatiron Books
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2019

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 10 Books I was Assigned to Read in School

*in no particular order
**I pretty much hated every book I was "assigned" to read...so maybe don't read my comment if the book happens to be one of you fave! Lol. The last 2 are ones I actually enjoyed, as an FYI. Lol.

10. HAMLET by William Shakespeare--yeah...I just didn't get this one. Shakespeare was just hard for me as a teen. It was always so confusing. All the metaphor type speech...it confused me endlessly and still does. Lol.
9. ROMEO & JULIET by William Shakespeare--yeah...besides the language style barrier, the actual story of this one aggravated me to no end!
8. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald--when I was required to read this one, I was already in my I WANT TO READ PARANORMALS streak and this story just bored me.

7. GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Charles Dickens--honestly, from the very first line, I knew this book would be the death of me. And for that particular unit in high school English class, it nearly was! Thank you Spark Notes, you saved my bacon!
6. THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain--I don't remember having a strong dislike of this one, just that it bored me as well. I guess Tom Sawyer might have been better as I remember that JTT movie being fun! Lol.
5. MACBETH by William Shakespeare--sorry, William, I just could not get into your stuff.

4. THE DA VINCI CODE by Dan Brown--again, this was probably one of the ones I disliked the least. It was for a fun course I took in college about conspiracies in literature. But overall, I was entirely bored with the book. I was again thick into my paranormal streak at this point and YA Paranormal was FINALLY coming to life!
3. MUMBO JUMBO by Ishmael Reed--this was again for that same college course. It was just very, very confusing. And when I encountered a chapter number that repeated itself, I was ready to throw the book across the room. I didn't of course, I couldn't do that even to a book I disliked...another student did so I lived vicariously through him for that moment! Lol.
2. THE PRINCESS BRIDE by William Goldman--at last! I finally had a college course that brought up a book I ADORED and had read a few times on my own previously! This was another fun one where we read a book, then watched the movie and did some talks about differences and parallels...that kind of thing! Very fun!

1. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas--at last! The one book I actually enjoyed that I was assigned to read in high school came up in my senior year in the English class that I took for fun because I already had all my English credits. This book was the best I was ever forced to read in school! Again, I was in my paranormal craze at the time (and really, that never ended!) so that I enjoyed a book without an ounce of paranormal or fantasy was shocking! I think it was his looooong game of revenge that I enjoyed the most and what kept me intrigued!