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.

Well it was another week! Work is getting a bit busier and I'm dealing with people who don't know how to answer an email and it's driving me crazy! No matter how much prodding I try to do, I can get answers out of them. It's freaking nuts! I did have two book signings this week, so that was a lot of fun! I always enjoy going to these and am tickled when authors actually visit St. Louis, let alone visit St. Louis AGAIN! So yeah, this week wasn't too bad! The only bad part was B&N not shipping my books on time again! I was once again promised them on Thursday and here I am Saturday night with no book in hand and still no delivery date in sight! That I get freaking media mail packages that ship AFTER my B&N orders from states that are not nearby ticks me off to no end! B&N seriously needs to do something about this shipping fiasco because this is not what I pay my membership for every year to get books the week AFTER they release.

So here's what I got at the signings this week as that's all I got since my preorders weren't delivered on time:

Dirty Lying Wolves by Sabrina Blackburry--SIGNED
So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison--SIGNED

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

Book Blogger Hop #323

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

This week's question is: It's back-to-school time. What book would you recommend to students, whether it's an educational read or an enjoyable diversion from textbooks? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer) 

MY ANSWER: Oh man. I actually struggle with this one. I don't want to recommend a book I loved, not knowing what other students might be into. It's like someone recommending me a contemporary book. I won't read it as it's not my genre of choice.

I feel like going old school with this choice. I'll first pick Gregory Maguire's Wicked!

Honestly I feel like this one is a good choice for soooo many reasons! It's gained a lot of popularity over these years, can you believe it's been almost 30?! Not only does it give you a different look to the Wicked Witch of the West, but it also kind of deals with relevant topics too that are still present in society today. You can do a lot of comparisons with this one. Not only with the original Wizard of Oz books and movie, but also compare it to the Broadway musical which did make some changes to it. And then we have the movie coming out in the fall, which I am actually curious about too. I wonder which ending they will go with, the book or the musical? I almost wonder if this is in any school curriculum for high school students.

And because I took a class in college with a book-to-film comparison theme, which was a lot of fun! I feel like adding this to my make-believe curriculum:

Okay, I know you all think I'm probably just obsessed with Jaws, and yes I am! But Peter Benchley's Jaws really is phenomenal when you combined it with the movie. There are quite a few differences. Ones that actually had me liking the movie more because of them, yes a very rare occurrence but I grew up on the movie before I was "old enough" to read the book. It's really this and The Princess Bride where I watched the movie 1000x before reading the book that has me liking the movies more.

 

Not only can you do that sort of side by side comparison, but you can also look at the impact this book/film had on summers. Summer movies changed because of Jaws! It was the first summer blockbuster before Star Wars came out. Then you also see how it effected people and their mindset of going to the beaches. Benchley regrets how he villainized sharks because afterwards people went shark hunting way too much and kind of endangered sharks too. They are not near extinction or anything, but there was too much hunting for the sake of hunting and yes, perhaps some of it was out of fear.

But then you could even expand upon this sort of comparison and all the shark movies that came afterwards. Each of those maneating shark movies kept making their sharks bigger and bigger! I think some of them were books too, like The Meg!

Review--Shattered by Kevin Hearne

 

Acclaimed author Kevin Hearne makes his hardcover debut with the new novel in his epic urban fantasy series starring the unforgettable Atticus O’Sullivan.

For nearly two thousand years, only one Druid has walked the Earth—Atticus O’Sullivan, the Iron Druid, whose sharp wit and sharp sword have kept him alive as he’s been pursued by a pantheon of hostile deities. Now he’s got company.

Atticus’s apprentice Granuaile is at last a full Druid herself. What’s more, Atticus has defrosted an archdruid long ago frozen in time, a father figure (of sorts) who now goes by the modern equivalent of his old Irish name: Owen Kennedy.

And Owen has some catching up to do.

Atticus takes pleasure in the role reversal, as the student is now the teacher. Between busting Atticus’s chops and trying to fathom a cell phone, Owen must also learn English. For Atticus, the jury’s still out on whether the wily old coot will be an asset in the epic battle with Norse god Loki—or merely a pain in the arse.

But Atticus isn’t the only one with daddy issues. Granuaile faces a great challenge: to exorcise a sorcerer’s spirit that is possessing her father in India. Even with the help of the witch Laksha, Granuaile may be facing a crushing defeat.

As the trio of Druids deals with pestilence-spreading demons, bacon-loving yeti, fierce flying foxes, and frenzied Fae, they’re hoping that this time, three’s a charm.

 

It was high time I get back to Kevin Hearne's The Iron Druid Chronicles that has been sitting on my TBR pile for far too long! I last left off at Shattered, which ironically, was when the series turned to hardcover releases! Lol. I think at that point I thought I'd just wait out the rest of the series to finish, what happened in the interim is the usual!

I found it easy to dive back into the series though. Yes, my memory was shot, but luckily Hearne had a nice little set of recaps going on before the book to bring me up to speed. Which was enough to jog some of my feeble memory.

Needless to say that this was an action-packed read and I so remember why I loved this series. Firstly, Oberon! Omg, I forgotten how much I love the hound! Oberon is Atticus's faithful Irish Wolfhound and is a positive delight! He and Atticus share a connection that basically allows them to talk to one another and getting that inside knowledge of a dog's mind is just a riot! He brings much needed comic relief to some of the more intense situations!

Granuaile is soon called by an old acquaintance to get to India asap as Granuaile's father has been possessed by one scary demon and since this is her father, Granuaile is quick to move! But the situation is far dicier than expected as the demon is a big bad, scary kind that will take a lot of power to get rid of and she runs the risk of causing permanent harm to her father as well.

Meanwhile, Atticus is helping his former archdruid readjust to life in the 21st century. Having been in a bespelled sleep, you could say, Owen Kennedy has missed out on a lot of "things" for the past 100 years or so. Atticus may or may not be having a little extra fun with him having the tables turned since he now has more knowledge than his former "mentor" of sorts.

But there is more trouble afoot as chaos starts brewing among the fae and Atticus finds himself caught up in the middle of the fighting. Then there's still Loki to contend with, and yes, I kept wanting to picture Tom Hiddleston, but it's not that Loki for sure! Here we have the true trickster at hand and he will stop at nothing to see Atticus dead. But that is likely to be a problem for the final book as I have long suspected that that is where this all headed to.

We do get a glimpse of what Atticus' next problem will be and it's not quite at Loki's door just yet, but time will tell who the final champion will be!

All in all, I found Shattered to be a great read! True, I still might have struggled a bit here and there trying to re-acclimate to this series/world after I was away for so long. But that usually tends to be more of a me problem than an actual problem. I do remember each book kind of stood on its own with just some of the character relationships and whatnot being what carries over from book to book. So I am in a good place overall! I intend to finish this series by the end of the month for sure!

So if you're new to The Iron Druid Chronicles and have been wanting to read an Urban Fantasy series with a nice Irish flare, rich in mythology of all kinds, then this is the series you've been looking for!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Books from the Backlog #100

 

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.

 

Sixteen-year-old Josie Ferguson has just lost both her parents. She is sent to live with an unknown aunt and uncle in a town on the stormy northwest coast of Scotland. But the townspeople, including her relatives, are as cold and hostile as the sea.

Josie has never felt so alone.

Then Eli appears. Mysterious but kind—and handsome—he sparks a desire in Josie unlike anything she has ever experienced. Even though she’s been warned that Eli is forbidden, she can’t stop thinking about him.

And the locals are harboring a secret. When curious, determined Josie sets out to uncover it, the truth is more horrific than she could have imagined.

It’s a truth terrible enough to raise the spirits of the dead.

 

 

MY ONE HUNDREDTH POST! I added Forbidden by Eve Bunting to my TBR pile in January of 2016, I could've possibly gotten it as a Christmas gift in December as it had just released, but I can't remember. That bad habit of sometimes forgetting to add my books to Goodreads right away! Whoops! Lol. This one sounded very intriguing and mysterious. I wasn't positive if the "spirits of the dead" were literal ghosts or not but I was curious enough to want to find out! I still do too as reading this again has me excited for it again! Lol.

 

 

 
 

Let's Discuss: Reading Schedules

How often do you stick to your reading schedule? As in what you plan to read on a weekly, monthly or however far in advance basis? I find that I do okay for the most part but then I get too ambitious or don't realize the formatting of the books I want to read is set up in a way that it will take me way longer to read than anticipated. Or suddenly there will be an event I want to attend and I throw myself into reading books to "prepare" for that one!

 

Reading Schedules

 

So generally in October, I love to read spooky books just for the sake of Halloween! Well, that hasn't happened in the last year or two, mainly because Stephanie Garber's books were releasing in October and I did a rare re-read of the books to be ready for the current one! While I had hope I could maybe re-read the Caraval trilogy this year in advance of Spectacular's release, I'm starting to think that might not be possible. 

Currently I am going back to a series I've been meaning to finish for years as I plan to make a road trip to see the author plus another author I love, and one I never read at an event at Andersons! So I thought, let's finish that OG series of his, try to buy the other 2 books to this trilogy that's finishing that he's touring for and maybe try to read one or two of my other author's books that I haven't gotten around to! I have a standalone or two of hers, plus a series I never started. I am perhaps deluding myself in thinking I can finish the last 3 books of the one author AND read the first book of this author AND order the rest of the books and have them all arrive in time for said signing. It's futile. I would have to order them all sooner rather than later to play it safe and I may end up doing that this week.

But anyway, this got me thinking, this was so not how I was planning my tentative fall reading schedule a few months ago! I never set my "reading schedule" in stone. Obviously. Things change. Signings pop up at the last minute that I can maybe reroute myself for and read a book in time. Or other times not. Like I had wanted to read one in time for a signing this week but when I looked at the formatting and length of the books for my October 1 signing event, I knew there was no way I could afford the time for this week's event. Luckily, there shouldn't be spoilers from that book 2 for this book 3 as it's a same world, different characters kind of thing.

But yeah. Every season or so, I'll do the Top Ten Tuesdays post for what I plan to read that season and I cannot say how many times I do not complete all 10 of those choices. I might get 2-3 at most, if I am lucky. Lol. But yeah. It's also hard to say what kind of events will be happening at the beginning of the actual season. Like I have drafted my top 10 picks for the fall season of what I hope to read and I'll probably only get to 2-3 of them! Lol. Of course, I never really list ALL of them. Like for the series I am trying to wrap up now, I am tentatively hoping that I will be reading the second of three books I need to have, so I'll either list just that second one or change it to the third and call it done! Usually, I'll leave a note in my list saying I am tentative planning to finish said series too...so technically I have over 10 picks that I hope to read for the season! Lol. Which can possibly be the reason why I don't always read all 10 of my picks listed!

I also had hoped I could re-read the Caraval trilogy before Spectacular but now I am unsure if that will happen based on my average reading pace and how busy I'll be at work in the coming weeks. We're in the busy season, so yeah, I might not get my full break in because I am that weirdo who will work through my break time if needed! I probably don't have to re-read the books for the enjoyment and I know Stephanie has said the same. If anything I might want to re-read Legendary and Finale...or maybe Finale at the very least just to get in the right vibes. But even then I feel like I'll still be okay, because then I remembered I signed up for a possible book tour at the end of September. But I don't know if I was "chosen" yet. While I do enjoy doing these on occasion, I feel like the book comes at the last minute almost based on the the dates I signed up for! Like I can't read THAT fast and do my actual job in the time that I have left before my schedule date! So that might end up mucking up even my own personal reading schedule.

Time will tell on that front I guess!

 

But yeah, my main question: do you stick to the reading queue/schedule you set for yourself? Do you plan your reads in advance? How often do you have to shift things due to other occurrences, like wanting to read a book before an author event that popped up at the last minute that you really want to attend?

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.

 

Welcome, welcome back to the mysteriously enchanting world of CARAVAL! Return to the legendary magic and the whimsical wonder with this beautifully illustrated holiday novella.

Snowflakes are falling.
Invitations are arriving.
And holiday magic is swirling in the capital city of the Meridian Empire.

It’s Great Holiday Eve Eve. Scarlett Dragna is planning a spectacular Holiday celebration for the city. Donatella is searching for the perfect gift. Julian is looking ridiculously handsome in green. And Legend . . .

Well, sadly Legend is not fond of the Great Holiday. Tella is hoping her perfect gift will change his mind. Unfortunately, she hasn’t found this perfect gift just yet. But it is Great Holiday Eve Eve . . . surely there’s some holiday magic swirling around.

Welcome, welcome back to the world of Caraval, where even holidays are not as they seem.

Set after Stephanie Garber's #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling Caraval series, this delightful novella will take readers on the ultimate holiday adventure full of clockwork boys, poisoned candy, impish snow globes, merriment, and―if Tella gets her way―love.

Gorgeously illustrated by Rosie Thorns, SPECTACULAR is the perfect edition for collectors, readers, dreamers, and lovers of holiday magic.

 

Ahh yes! The moment you've all been waiting for! Lol. I'm sure you've all been wondering when I would feature this one! I do my CWWs in a calendar order sort of thing, so here we finally are in October releases! This is MY MOST ANTICIPATED 2024 release and we now just have a little over a month to go! I'm on pins and needles waiting too!!! EEK! You're also probably wondering just how many copies I've preordered...yeah...we'll talk in October (and November for the UK ones!)! ;)

 

TITLE: Spectacular
AUTHOR: Stephanie Garber
ILLUSTRATOR: Rosie Fowinkle
PUBLISHER: Flatiron Books
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: October 22, 2024
 

 

 

 

 

Let's Discuss: For the Love of Bookmarks

 

So the other day I saw a t-shirt that said: Bookmarks are For Quitters. Now I've seen this and other similar sayings and I have to say, it really, really aggravates me!

For the Love of Bookmarks

Now first, let me just say, I know these shirts and such are meaning any ill will to bookmarks and the people who use them. These are simply readers who have lots of time to read all the way through a book from start to finish. They must read insanely fast! Lol.

But see, I'm the reader who savors every word. I put myself into the story, I imagine all the scenes and visuals. I live inside the book! Which tends to be why I read a little slower these days. Lol.

There's also the fact that I might sneak in a few pages or sometimes just a paragraph or two when I'm really "not supposed" to be reading. Not like at traffic lights when driving, lol. Never anything that would cause me or others harm. But also in times like when you're waiting for the doctor and sure enough they always walk in mid chapter, so a bookmark is necessary to stop the book after all that time!

There's also times when you need to eat and the the meal might not be the kind to eat one-handed or is just messier and it's better to put the book down far from the mess! Or like when you need to shower and such because you've been reading for so many days and you know, you need a shower! Or that dreadful nuisance called sleep. I mean seriously, if there's one thing I wish I could give up and still be a "healthy and functional" human being, it's sleep! I could get SO much more reading done if I didn't need those 8 hours and I'm lucky if I get 8 hours even with a sleep aid. I have a mind that's always running a mile a minute!

So this is the kind of thing I end up doing, I nit pick at things like this when people want to call bookmarks "quitter strips." I love bookmarks! Like legit love them because I have soooooo many of them as well! They are fun and I love coordinating them with my books when possible, either by color, theme or saying or whatever similarity I can see between them.

So for the sake of argument, I am against the idea of bookmarks betting "quitter strips." I think they are great devices to the reader because they are necessary. I mean, are you going to tell the doctor to wait another 50-75 minutes until you finish the book to come back to your physical? I think not. You'd need a bookmark for that! Lol.

So I guess I'll just ask, what's your opinion on bookmarks? In whatever form you choose, be it an actual bookmark, a scrap of paper, a pencil, or *shudders* dog-earring. Are you a fan of the bookmark? Or do you consider it a "quitter strip?"

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.

"Meeting Frederick in person had apparently put Sam's mind at ease that I wasn't living with a serial-killer monster. Which was great, of course. Even if a bit ironic, since Frederick was a literal monster." p 202-203

TITLE: My Roommate is a Vampire
AUTHOR: Jenna Levine
PUBLISHER: Berkley
GENRE: Paranormal Romance
RELEASE DATE: August 29, 2023

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 That Provide a Much Needed Escape

*in no particular order

10. WHAT THE RIVER KNOWS by Isabel Ibanez--a very lush descriptive world of Egypt! I felt like Ibanez really painted a fascinating picture here and the danger and mystery and romance were just added icing on the cake!
9. TIGER LILY by Jodi Lynn Anderson--one of the more unique takes on Peter Pan! I mean, you can't go wrong with an escape to Neverland!
8. ECHOES by Alice Reeds--this might not be a happy escape but man is it a trip! Trapped on a deserted island with your worst enemy and it's a bat$#*t crazy island a la LOST style!

7. IN NIGHTFALL by Suzanne Young--probably not a happy escape, but it definitely puts you into a thrilling and dangerous suspenseful state of mind! This was a read that kept me guessing for a little while, you knew something weird was going on, but I remember having another theory entirely!
6. DOON by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon--the lush and misty hills of Scotland, but involving time travel and just being a perfect fantasy read!
5. DEMON IN MY VIEW by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes--okay, another odd choice, but in this escape a young author learns that the characters she wrote about are very real and were not too happy to have their stories told by her! Definitely a fun paranormal read and a look at very early YA Paranormal!

4. OLD MAGIC by Marianne Curley--another classic choice! Magic, time traveling, putting an end to a centuries long curse? Plus an Australian setting, this book just screams escape!
3. THE FORBIDDEN GAME TRILOGY by L.J. Smith--I tend to forget this is 3 books since I bought the old school omnibus years ago! But a group of friends play an "innocent" boardgame only to be sucked into a game of their own creation and must battle their nightmares in order to survive!
2. ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART by Stephanie Garber--this whole trilogy was lush with beautiful and wonderful places! Sure there might have been a few terrifying things here or there, but it was still a gorgeous setting and world to escape to!

1. CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber--and to no one's surprise, the #1 book of escapism is this one! Playing a game with an array of "actors" who you don't always know are actors or players all for a chance to win a wish! This trilogy was yet another magical escape that I could not get enough of!

Review--My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine

 

True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy.

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean...

Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her.

I finally picked up Jenna Levine's My Roommate is a Vampire and this is the perfect read for the paranormal lover at heart, looking for something that is more lighthearted than dark and brooding! This was such a fun and cutesy read that my dark side almost shuddered! Lol. Honestly, I enjoy a cute paranormal read every now and then, one where things are less dire and serious, but still paranormally fun!

Cassie is in need of a place to live and when she finds the ad for what has to be a gorgeous apartment based on its location listed for an incredibly low price, she thinks there has to be a catch. But when she meets Frederick Fitzwilliam she is shocked to learn that all is as he proclaimed, even if he seemed perturbed but her shock. Frederick is definitely what one would call an old-soul. But Cassie doesn't realize just how old-school he really is until she learns the shocking truth.

Cassie goes a short time just thinking Frederick is peculiar and sweet, but when she learns he is actually a vampire, well, you can imagine how things might have went! After taking time to digest the information, she learns why Frederick was looking for a roommate. His friend and fellow vampire, Reginald, accidentally poisoned him that led him to take a 100 year nap. Reginald has awakened to a new century and needs a bit of guidance in navigating pretty much every technology wise. Since Cassie still needs to live somewhere, she decides to take on the challenge of teaching an old vampire several new tricks!

This was seriously just a very cute read! I shock myself sometimes by how I can enjoy these paranormal rom coms! If there wasn't that added dose of paranormally goodness to it, I definitely wouldn't be able to handle reading these, but thankfully, we've got vampires! Lol. 

Cassie was a fun character too! I could totally relate to her in the whole trying to find the right job and be independent and have somewhere you can afford to live. That she could afford a Chicago-area apartment beforehand on her own was astonishing! I know she has at least two jobs and she's also an artist, so she spends whatever free time she has creating her art which is definitely on the modern side. I found it very intriguing how she uses recyclables and things other people throw away to create her pieces. They would really be something to see for sure!

Then of course there's the romance! You can definitely see a budding romance growing between Frederick and Cassie! It was definitely sweet! Frederick is as old-school as one can get since he was already a century or two old before he slept for another century! Before each chapter we were treated to something that was usually his own point of view, as the story is told from Cassie's, but we got to know Frederick a little more with these added snippets that were usually emails, text messages with Reginald, or letters even! It is through these letters in particular that we see a plot twist coming up, as there is someone from Frederick's past who is coming to collect something from him! Cue the dramatic music on that one!

I did think the resolution to the whole last minute problem came about just as quickly and easily. It almost felt like this was thrown in as an after thought. Like we need a little bit more conflict in here for good measure but let's resolve it quickly. I just felt like the conflict and resolution were so quick that it almost felt pointless to have it there in the first place.

The ending was as sweet as you could expect. I did make a few guesses as to where I thought things were headed and while there was nothing concrete, I did love that the "up in the air" feeling felt right for Cassie and Frederick. But honestly, we all know what's going to happen! Lol. 

So if you're looking for that cute little paranormal rom com with a good dose of Buffy binging, then this is definitely the read for you! I took a peek at the sequel and saw we'd be in the same world but with different characters, albeit ones we've met, and I am so excited for that one as well! I'm actually half pondering about a third book too! Lol. Time will tell of course!

Overall Rating 3.75/5 stars--yup the awkward rating. I feel like it was a bit too cutesy and not enough conflict to be a full 4 stars, but I did find it more enjoyable than a 3.5! Hence the elusive awkward rating!

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 Return by Rachel Harrison (4 stars)
My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine--Review to come later this morning!

Currently Reading:

Shattered by Kevin Hearne

What I Plan to Read Next:

Staked by Kevin Hearne

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Can't Wait Wednesday
Books from the Backlog #99
Book Blogger Hop #322
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.

I'm already in the fog of craziness at work! I was sitting here thinking...what happened this past week...? Work is starting to pick up into the busy season so my brain is a bit scattered. Plus I was insanely tired all week almost no matter how early I went to bed. Tuesday I had a book signing and got to see J. Elle again! I was super surprised she came back and they did mention how rare that is! I guess the first turn out last year went well and J. liked us so much that she was able to return! So yay! Looking at this coming week, I have TWO signings! 1 just popped up on my radar like last week, so it must have been a late thing. Too late to try to read the author's latest book before the newest one that comes out this week, but oh well. Luckily I already know it's a series in the same world with multiple characters going on, so I should be able to avoid spoilers. Hopefully. At least for the second book. Lol. Then I got another signing on Saturday in the bookstore's newest venue and apparently semi-permanent, maybe? I thought it was right down the street when I googled it, but google failed me on that one as it's actually closer to the city limits, which I am not super excited about, but what can you do? There's already one or two more scheduled to be there and a few others are still TBD, so they could be there too.

Anyway, onto this week's haul! And yes, 2/3 of these were late. As usual. Thanks B&N.

The Games Gods Play by Abigail Owen
Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma
Shadows of Perl by J. Elle--SIGNED!

Then I this print and sticker from the J. Elle signing:

Then my latest A Touch of Magic Designs order came in:

I got the Tella print I was eyeing a few months back but the cupcake pin wasn't available yet, so I held off.
Then I got the latest cupcake pin which is a Percy Jackson one...although I could've sworn we had that fandom already, but my first banner is in storage somewhere. I thought this was the last pin as I only have 1 space left, but the team seemed to think there was going to be one more. So now I am SUPER confused! Lol. I guess the only thing that could've happened was the Fourth Wing wasn't an "official" cupcake pin. It just was a cupcake pin...I've got no clue! This was the first time the cupcake pin was late, so I think some things fell through some cracks. Only time will tell!

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