Deck of Cards Book Challenge

 

So I saw this challenge on Instagram from @NurseKendraReads and thought it looked like fun! Not sure where it originated as it was an Instagram post and I didn't want to limit myself to the TBR books I had on hand, so I thought I'd just make it a blog post!

 

 

KING
a big book

I decided to go with "read" books and I chose the longest book I've read to date which was Winter by Marissa Meyer! It clocks in at 827 pages! Now I could've read something longer pre-Goodreads records, I think The Count of Monte Cristo was 1000+ but that sometimes depends on which edition you've read. Apparently my ebook of Oblivion was 1,000+ pages, but that's ebook pages and I don't know what that equates to in real book pages...so I'm sticking with real books as well! Lol.

QUEEN
a pretty book

I think I will always be in love with the cover of 13 to Life by Shannon Delany! It just captivated me! I remember seeing it on swag tables at my first RT Conference and I had to know more! I found that author on "signing day," and even though the book wasn't set to release until the following month, I still got a ton of signed swag from her with the cover art all over! I just loved the colors, the moon, the woods...just that feeling you knew you were getting a werewolf book!

JOKER
a book I thought I'd love, but didn't

Well, that one took digging! So I basically went to Goodreads and browsed through my 1 star reviews and found The Missing Season by Gillian French. I went into this one thinking it would be an eerie thriller, maybe with a supernatural twist. I didn't get any of that. Based on my review, it took 200 pages of contemporary nonsense before anything exciting happened in a 304 page book! So yeah, this was definitely a disappointment.

ACE
a short book

So for this one, I didn't want to choose a novella, as I feel like that's "cheating," so to speak. I mean, yes, it's a story in bookish form...but the novellas I read were always "bonus" ebook stories. So, again, I feel like the page number is skewed. I don't know. It's one of the issues I have with ebooks, I like knowing my actual page number and ebooks and physical books don't tend to line up. At least not the ones I've dealt with! So as I was scrolling and scrolling through Goodreads, I was encountering a LOT of novellas, lots! Tons! Then there were the graphic novels I've read and comic books...again, don't really want to count those, because that's a different story format entirely! So I ended up with Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater Rhodes from my youth! This was SO short compared to YA books of today! It came in at 176 pages according to Goodreads and I do remember it was under 200 in real life. Goodreads doesn't always have accurate numbers. But obviously for this challenge, I am relying on them for said numbers!

HEARTS
a romance book

So I'm not a big "romance" reader, but I like books with romance in it! Lol. So yes, readers know the difference when one says that! One book I loved and loved the romance of was Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost! One of my favorite vampire books and still is to date! I need to get going on those Bones' books from his pov. 

CLUBS
a book outside my usual genre

Well, at first glance, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen doesn't really sound like my kind of read. But it was one of the first Fairy Loot Adult picks and I ended up getting it before I canceled my subscription. I thought it sounded interesting enough so I thought why not. It was actually pretty cute all things considered. There was still enough paranormally goodness in the story with the cute romance happening that I was pretty well entertained! You can bet I'll be ordering the spinoff as well!

DIAMONDS
a predicted 5 star read

Without a doubt in my mind do I think Stephanie Garber's Spectacular will be anything less than a 5 star read! If you know me at all you know how much I LOVE this world Stephanie has created!

SPADES
a book with nature on the cover

So ironically when I was scrolling for another book I left the page right near Foxglove by Adalyn Grace! Not only does it have flowers on the cover, but the title itself is naturey. I still need to read this one, hopefully soon since the final book comes out this year as well!

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:

Against the Darkness by Kendare Blake (5 stars)

 

 

Currently Reading:

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

 

 

What I Plan to Read Next:

Twisted Fates by Danielle Rollins

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Let's Discuss: Missing the Author Cons
Can't Wait Wednesday
Books from the Backlog #80
Book Blogger Hop #303
Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves

 

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.

 

It was another meh week. I started my new program at work. Really it was just sort of another orientation day. I suspect sometime this week we'll try getting into the nit and gritty of it where I meet with my mentor and team through Teams and whatnot and try to figure out how we want to do things. This first week was more about getting introduced and working on our personal action plans. So we'll see where this goes! I'm excited and apprehensive just because last year two of team members did this and got promoted, so I don't really think there's going to be promotions all around when we each take our turn at this because then what? I don't know. I'm trying to keep an open mind. The weekend was filled with a bit of woe since Apollycon was happening and all the instagram posts were just reminding me that I failed to get tickets. I was on the site super early, I was ready to click as soon as the clock struck and I was immediately ejected! I know the site was overloaded but man...this sucks. I've tried a few years now and have failed each and every time. So yeah, seeing all the posts is really giving me the KOMO. Then apparently other events were happening around the country this weekend and next, so it's just wave after wave of sadness. I did go to my favorite Indie bookstore for Indie Bookstore Day yesterday. I give the occasional glance around for the Audiobook Golden Ticket, but since I don't care for audiobooks, I'd rather someone who loves them finds it! I would just pass it onto a friend anyway! Lol. And naturally, my Tuesday releases that I preorder did not arrive on Friday. I do not know what B&N is doing these days and it is seriously driving me insane! I wish I knew who I could write to about this because this is absolutely ridiculous! I do my due diligence and preorder books for authors as that's always best, and yet, B&N is determined that I DO NOT GET THEM during release week. And this sucks!! And now, my bad luck is stretching out to other orders! I ordered something from Kohls last weekend online and ALL WEEK LONG it's been waiting for the carrier to pick it up! I was like are you kidding me?! It's not a book! I should have this already! So yeah, it seems USPS is working against me these days.

 

Anyway, here's what I got this week:

The Study of Magic by Maria V. Snyder--SIGNED keeper copy! I forgot to include in my notes that while I didn't personalization that I still would like the usual quote! I didn't think to do it honestly. I have been trying to do less personalized books lately unless I felt like I REALLY REALLY needed it personalized. Lol. I have so many personalized from Maria I thought I could do without one this time around but didn't think I needed to inclue "fun message" that Maria usually includes. Oh well.

Hunted by Bella Higgin--I still need to start this series but since this last book wasn't in HC I decided I better pick it up stat before it becomes too hard to find!
That's Not My Name by Megan Lally--this is what I picked up at my indie store as I couldn't find Higgin's book there. Sigh, I knew I should've called them last week but I didn't think they'd be totally out! But I did have "rewards" dollars so this only cost me like $3!

Then what I love about my favorite indie store is that they do the "blind date with a book" with every purchase on indie day. But as you know I HATE these kinds of things because I either get a book I have zero interest in or I get one that I already have! This year, sadly, it seems my store was giving even LESS hints. They just wrote genres on there and I was like oh crap. So basically if it just said YA, I said NO! I knew it would likely be a contemporary novel. I debated about a regular fantasy, but was squirming because I was thinking there's too many out there for adults! So I went back to looking at YA genres. I was debating about a YA fairy tale retelling and YA horror. I was almost leaning towards the fairy tale retelling but then felt too hesitant so I went with YA horror and here's what I got:

The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington (ARC)--I was seeing this one around a bit lately and kind of threw it on my backburner list. Like let's look at this if it ever comes up somewhere I am at kind of thing. Lol. I might try reading it before its release date as it says horror so hopefully it will live up to it!

Then I won a contest on Instagram from Maureen's Books! I was able to get a book of my choice so I went with this one as it was right at the top of my Goodreads list and I thought why not? This way I have the duology at the ready and can give it a binge!

Silence and Shadow by Erin Beaty

THANK YOU Maureen!

 

 

And then I got my cupcake pin from A Touch of Magic Designs! I think this was Narnia this time around! They're all so cute! I wish they could've put the title on the back of the pin to help with memory issues...like mine! Lol.

 

 

And that was it for me this week! What all did you get? Did you go anywhere for Indie Bookstore Day yesterday?