Book Blogger Hop #339

 

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

This week's question is: It's 2025; are you looking forward to any highly anticipated book releases or reading events in January or the following months? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

MY ANSWER: Well, I'm writing this post in advance, so at this time there have not been any 2025 announcements yet for events. At least none that I got tickets for and can afford to get tickets for. So it's all pending on locality at this rate! Lol. As far as books? Hmm...Stephanie Garber has yet (again at this time and I suspect it won't be announced just yet, but who knows maybe it was announced and I've already edited this post! Lol) to announce her next book that I am hoping comes out this year, but we'll have to wait and see!

One for sure is The Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton! I feel like I've been waiting ages for this book that was supposed to release...what 4 or 5 years ago now? I read Alwyn's story of what happened and it totally makes sense! I had feared worse things when it came to this one so I am excited that it's finally really releasing this year!

And I know I have two duologies that are coming to an end so that means I'll hopefully be able to get them up in my reading queue, but I say that a lot!

OH! Yes, I am soooo looking forward to Bitten by Jordan Gray! This one is practically screaming my name and I cannot wait to read it!!

Books from the Backlog #116

 

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!

With any great change, there is always strife, and the Covenant University has become the frontline between pure-bloods who want the Breed Order reinstated and the half-bloods who want the right to control their own destinies.

"Fate has other plans."

The violence is escalating and war between the races seems inevitable, and it couldn't come at a worse time. Hyperion may be out of commission, but Josie and Seth know they have only earned a reprieve. Seth must get Josie fully prepared, which means controlling her newfound abilities, and they need to find the other demigods before the Titans do.

"But the gods are sensing a greater threat."

Only one thing is more dangerous than a bunch of starved Titans, and that's an out-of-control Apollyon. The aether in Josie is drawing Seth in deeper, and when lust mixes with love and gives way to power, he knows being close to her is not only dangerous to her, but to everyone around them, but letting her go requires a level of selflessness that just isn't Seth's style.

"The paths taken in the past are becoming the roads of the future."

Just as chaos breaks out, familiar faces from the past return, complicating the already strained bond between Josie and Seth, and when the danger from the Titans erupts with devastating consequences, the dark allure of power calls to Seth again, but this time Josie might not be able to pull him back.

"And when the struggle between power and love becomes the deadliest battleground, there may be no salvation.""

I added The Power to my TBR in March of 2016 which was when these Apollycon events started happening as I always ordered my book from the event back when you were able to do that when you couldn't get tickets. Sadly, I still can't get a ticket so it's now just a pipe dream of attending...by the time I manage a ticket none of the authors I read will be there other than Jen! It is what it is. I still want to read this series that I am massively behind on! And hopefully one day I can binge it!

2024 End of the Year Survey

 

Hosted by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner

It's time to look back over all the fantastic reads I've read this year and reflect! Lol. Borrowed the beautiful image from Lillian @ Mom With a Reading Problem.

2024 Reading Stats:

Number of Books Read: 77
Number of Re-Reads: 5--SHOCKING, I know!
Genre I Read the Most From: Fantasy

Best In Books

Best Book I Read:

I mean, obviously!

Book I was Excited About and Thought I Would Love More But Didn't:

I was hoping for a werewolf story wrapped with mystery. Instead I got the everyday lifestyles of a woman who got turned into a werewolf and only decided to try to find her "creator" until the very last chapter or two.

Most Surprising Book I Read:

I'm always hesitant about hyped books but I did really enjoy this one! Looking forward to starting the next duology set once I get my hands on book 2!

Best Series Starter, Sequel, and Finale in 2024:

A Dawn of Onyx was a great start to a trilogy I hope to finish this year!
Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray--this was such a fun sequel! I am already reading the third book and plan to make this my first series finish this year!
The Shadows Rule All by Abigail Owen--the finale I'd been waiting all year for and it was perfect!

Favorite New to Me Author in 2024:

I read a lot of new authors this year it seems and they were all fantastic! Kate Golden will be one I am excited to read more from!

Most Action-Packed/Thrilling/Unputdownable Book of the Year:

This one definitely kept me turning the pages as there were so many shocking twists going on and I was eager to see how it would all wrap up in the end!

Book I Read in 2024 That I Would Be MOST Likely to Re-Read Next Year:

Possibly this one if I am feeling holiday festive next year!

Favorite Book Cover of 2024:

Tough one! I think I like this one best for its simplicity but also spooky nature!

Most Memorable Character of 2024:

Tella of course!

Most Beautifully Written Book in 2024:

It's not a yearly wrap-up without Stephanie's book taking home the gold! Lol. This book was so visually stunning with the illustrations included! But the story itself was also beautifully written and I loved it to pieces!

Book Series I Can't Believe I Waited Until 2024 to Read:

I know I was waiting until I had both books in hand, as to why I waited beyond that is anyone's guess! Lol. This was a fun duology though and you can bet as soon as I get the next book of the newest duology I will be reading that as soon as I can as well! 

Shortest Book Read in 2024:

I decided not to count the graphic novel I read that was the shortest in page count. This one came in at 138 pages!

Longest Book I Read in 2024:

This one ended up being the longest at 618 pages. I skipped the dozen or so blank pages at the front and back and various other pages that weren't apart of the story. I did that a lot this year as I wanted an accurate page count and the goodreads version as they still have one book having nearly 100 pages more than it actually had. Weird.

OTP of the Year:

Tella & Legend of course!

Book That Put a Smile on My Face:

Yup! Again! Returning to this world and following my favorite characters around in a holiday novella with illustrations just had me smiling the whole time!

My Bookish Life:

I'm still here and blogging on the regular for 15 years! I'll be celebrating my 16th blogoversary at the end of the month!

Though I am still only at 1206 followers on Instagram; one of my posts from November has received over 1100 likes and I am just so touched that it's still getting likes every now and then! It's like whoa! I haven't see numbers like this in AGES since Instagram turned into one big popularity contest and buries those who do not meet their standards!

Looking Ahead:

One Book That I Did Not Get to in 2024 But Will Be a Top Priority in 2025 (hopefully):

I used to always be caught up with Kim's books! Not sure what happened in 2023 or 2024 but hopefully I can get caught up this year!

Book I'm Most Anticipating for 2025:

Besides hoping Stephanie Garber's next release comes out this year?

Try as I might, I could not find a used earlier copy of this book! None that were affordable at least! So wait I must!

Series Ending I Most Anticipate in 2025:

I am very much looking forward to reading this duology hopefully this year as well!

2025 Challenge Sign-up #1: 2025 Discussion Challenge

 

• Create a sign-up post announcing your intention to participate and link up below. There’s no need to say what your discussion posts will be about–just tell us you’re joining and let us know your goal. (Can be in an update post or a post with other challenges–you’re not required to make a completely separate sign-up post.)
• Please link back to both challenge hosts and include the challenge button in your sign-up posts. Feel free to also link back in your actual discussions (we appreciate it, so more people can find us!), but that’s not required.
• The challenge runs from January 1st until December 31st, 2025. Sign-ups will remain open through December 28th, 2025. So, you can basically sign up all year long. Come join us!
• Share it! The more people we get to participate in this, the more awesome discussions we can all be a part of and the more fun it will be! So, invite your friends to join us!
• On the 1st of every month, a link-up will go up on both Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight where you’ll leave your links for that month’s discussions. Every month, I’ll update the Discussion Challenge widget in the sidebar with the new post–so you’ll always know where to find the latest link-up!
• There will also be a big yearly giveaway–multiple winners for multiple things!–so do keep entering and checking back!
• Use the hashtag #LetsDiscuss2025 to share your progress and connect with other participants on Twitter

The Levels:

1-10 – Discussion Dabbler
11-20 – Creative Conversationalist
21-30 – Chatty Kathy
31-40 – Terrifically Talkative
41+ – Gift of the Gab

This year I will start myself off with 25 in the Chatty Kathy Level! I'll likely move it up later on, but as I've said before, I aim low as to not stress myself out! Lol.

Happy New Year!!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!

Hope your new year is filled with peace, love, happiness, good times all around, and of course GREAT reads!

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.

The New York Times bestselling author of Hotel Magnifique returns with another glittering dark fantasy about a deadly mystery that spans worlds and a teenage girl who must risk everything to uncover the truth.

Seven years ago, Maeve Abenthy lost her world, her father, even her name. Desperate to escape the stain of her father’s crimes, she lives under a fake name, never staying in one place long enough to put down roots.

Then she receives a mysterious letter with four impossible words Your father was innocent.

To uncover the truth, she poses as an apprentice for the Otherwhere Post, where she’ll be trained in the art of scriptomancy—the dangerous magic that allows couriers to enchant letters and deliver them to other worlds. But looking into her father’s past draws more attention than she’d planned.

Her secretive, infuriatingly handsome mentor knows she’s lying about her identity, and time is running out to convince him to trust her. Worse, she begins to receive threatening letters, warning her to drop her investigation—or else. For Maeve to unravel the mystery of what happened seven years ago, she may have to forfeit her life.

I still need to read Hotel Magnifique, but this story really caught my eye as well as that cover too! This sounds like an amazing read and so onto my TBR list it goes! And I might have already preordered it too! Lol.

TITLE: The Otherwhere Post
AUTHOR: Emily J. Taylor
PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: February 25, 2025