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:

Mother Knows Best by Serena Valentino (5 stars)

Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu & Stuart Moore & Ill. by Chris Wildgoose (ARC) (5 stars)

Reviews That Were Posted:

The Burning Shadow by Jennifer L. Armentrout (ARC) (5 stars)

Unearthed by Cecy Robson (ARC) (3 stars)

Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo (ARC)--DNF

Currently Reading:

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

What I Plan to Read Next:

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh--FINALLY! Of course I still have to wait until Tuesday evening!

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays 

Waiting on Wednesday 

Random Thursday 

Book Blogger Hop

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 Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality.


Another week of me wanting to pull my hair out! My interview Monday was a bust. Yet again, I walk in and they said the position was filled, BUT...well the but meant nothing to me. I don't understand why THEY didn't call to tell me this ahead of time. Instead I'm leaving work a little early and trying to make up excuses why and it amounts to NOTHING! Now the first go around was my fault as I didn't check my voicemail before heading to the job, but this one is all on that company. Blah! I've another interview scheduled for this week, so let's hope by the time I go to it, the job is actually still available. 

Book-wise, this was still a pretty decent week!

Here's what I bought:

Rebel by Marie Lu

The latest to my Caraval collection is this gorgeous Swedish edition of Legendary! It's called LEGEND! AND it's HARDCOVER with the COVER ART on it! NO DUST JACKET! OMG THIS IS GORGEOUS!!!

Legendary by Stephanie Garber--SWEDISH EDITION!

And then I won a contest on Instagram from Laurie Faria Stolarz and got this:

Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz (ARC)--SIGNED!

THANK YOU Laurie!!

 

And then I went to Michael's--drove pretty far away to one location because they said they had an item in stock that was sold out online and sold out in just about every single Michael's location near me and in other states...it was a nightmare trying to track these down but I FOUND THEM!

Michael's had doorbuster sales this weekend on their Halloween stuff...HALF OFF! So I went shopping! I finally bought the skeleton reading a book on a stack of books--aka how Jessica will be found when she eventually dies! Lol.

 

Then I bought the stack of books with spells and potions on the spines...and the skull that left a mark on my arm! Lol.

 

And then the creme de la creme were these select tarot cards that I remember seeing on @hellojennyreads instagram page and she said they were from Michael's and weren't a full deck of tarot cards, but the designs were so cool and I wanted them for my own picture taking. So I drove about a little under an hour out of my way to go to a Michael's that "claimed" to have them online. My gamble paid off because there were at least 3 decks there!

 

 And then the odd man out in the middle is a piece I saw at Walmart! It was $4 and it can be hung by the rope or standing up like a frame and I thought that would make a good prop for winter pics so why not?! 

 

 

A few other items were acquired...one for my Spooktacular Giveaway at the end of the month and another for a crafty project I'm working on while ignoring another. Whoops! Still need to find one more piece for the second project and get started on the first one! I'll be sure to share pics of it when I do get around to be crafty! ;)

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DNF ARC Review--Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo

Into the Crooked Place begins a gritty two-book YA fantasy series from Alexandra Christo, the author of To Kill a Kingdom.

The streets of Creije are for the deadly and the dreamers, and four crooks in particular know just how much magic they need up their sleeve to survive.

Tavia, a busker ready to pack up her dark-magic wares and turn her back on Creije for good. She’ll do anything to put her crimes behind her.

Wesley, the closest thing Creije has to a gangster. After growing up on streets hungry enough to swallow the weak whole, he won’t stop until he has brought the entire realm to kneel before him.

Karam, a warrior who spends her days watching over the city’s worst criminals and her nights in the fighting rings, making a deadly name for herself.

And Saxony, a resistance fighter hiding from the very people who destroyed her family, and willing to do whatever it takes to get her revenge.

Everything in their lives is going to plan, until Tavia makes a crucial mistake: she delivers a vial of dark magic—a weapon she didn’t know she had—to someone she cares about, sparking the greatest conflict in decades. Now these four magical outsiders must come together to save their home and the world, before it’s too late. But with enemies at all sides, they can trust nobody. Least of all each other.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

It is with great sadness that I must add another DNF book to my list for this year. I wanted to read Alexandra Christo’s Into the Crooked Place because I adored her debut, To Kill a Kingdom, but alas, try as I did, I just could not get into this story.

I read up to the halfway point and felt like I didn’t really retain any information as it seemed very little was happening. Obviously, some things did happen, but it was more just like the start of the story. I’m aware that this is a duology, but I guess I was sort of expecting for this first book to complete or nearly complete the goal ahead of them and they were only starting their quest when I called it quits. These four misfits, you could say, join together to track down a nefarious character who is using other magic users for his own gain. They plan to kill him.

I will say that the characters were the better part of the story, at least the main four that I met, there was a mysterious fifth person who came in for a brief chapter, but since I had to quit reading this one, I never got a follow-up on that character. I can’t even remember his name, it is possible that it could’ve been the man they were after.

I feel like what led me to quit the story was partly a pacing issue but also a world-building one too. I felt like I wasn’t understanding this particular world we were in and how things work. I grasped some of how magic was used and how it worked. But then other magical related things popped up that seemed to contradict that knowledge.

I don’t know how else to describe it, as I was a little confused with it myself. As I might have mentioned before, I am picky with my fantasy reads. If the world becomes so complex or isn’t built in a way that I can easily understand how it works and how magic works, should it play a role in things, then I am likely to call it quits. I’m not going to give myself a headache just to try to read through it all or just mindlessly read so I don’t have a DNF on my plate. I read just past the halfway mark, and yet I won’t count this towards my reading goal, as that’s not how I roll. Nothing against others who would count it, but for me, I feel like the book needs to be read towards the end to count. I have flipped through books to see how it ends, but since this is a kindle read, I’m not messing with that way of reading. So this is a no-count DNF read for me.

But I’d still recommend giving Into the Crooked Place a go if you loved Alexandra’s previous book! This one was just wasn’t for me, as I said before, I am picky with my fantasy reads and how the world-building goes. That largely plays a part in my comprehension and ultimately, enjoyment of the story.

 

Book Blogger Hop

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

 

 

This week's question is: You've dropped your favorite book while being chased by a herd of zombies. Would you go back to retrieve it? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

 

 

 

MY ANSWER: Yes. Because when we say zombies, I think of those slow moving, feet shuffling type, that I can spare 3 seconds to run back and grab it!

 

 

Random Thursday

I can't believe there's only 6.5 pages left in The Little Book of Answers by Doug Lennox! I feel like we just started this book and yet, I also feel like it's been ages! Lol! That's what happens I suppose when you share a page or two every week! I've got another little book of randomness to share with you after this one...then I need to start looking for a new one! Lol.

(image borrowed from ThoughtCo)

In the 12th Century, Henry I of England made it so that one yard would be measured by the distance between his nose to the thumb of his outstretched arm. Despite the lunacy, Henry was only off by one-hundredth of an inch from today's "yard." The meter came from the French after the revolution and was meant to be exactly one ten-millionth the distance between the North Pole and equator, which was calculated as 39.37 inches.

This basically showed or explained why meters and yards are so different in length...but really, I felt like it was more an origin story. Whatever!

(image borrowed from CBS News)

Pirates (and other sailors and warriors) wore earrings for a very particular reason, and it had nothing to do with fashion. Earrings were given to young sailors as a symbol of their first crossing of the equator. The purpose of the earring was to protect their eardrums during battle. Pirates who fired the ship's cannons would keep wads of wax attached to the dangling part so that they could easily grab it and plug their ears.

That's very interesting.

 (image borrowed from Cheezburger)

The expression "possession is nine-tenth's of the law" comes from the 18th century and means the pursuit of justice possession in a dispute over property outweighs the other nine essential elements of a good court case: a lot of money [duh!], a lot of patience, a cause, a lawyer, counsel, witnesses, a jury, a judge, and good luck.

Huh. Interesting. Never knew what the 10 "attributes" of the law were until now. Or that there were actually 10 "attributes!"

(image borrowed from Kali Concrete)

Ever notice that we PARK in DRIVEways and DRIVE on PARKways? "Driveways" and "parkways" come from the times when only the wealthy could afford a car. The long winding roads from the highway that led to the manor were called driveways. On other end of that, to ensure the pleasure of driving, highways were built carefully with planted trees and groomed medians to imitate the natural beauty of a park, thus earning the name "parkway," meaning left in an enhanced natural state.

More new and interesting information to me!

 

Review--Mother Knows Best by Serena Valentino

The tale of the legendary golden flower is widely known. The story has been told many times and in many ways. But always the flower is coveted by an old witch to keep herself young and beautiful. And always the flower is used to save a dying queen, who then gives birth to a princess with magical hair. Not willing to lose the flower, the old witch steals the princess and locks her away in a high tower, raising her as her own. But the princess always finds out who she truly is and manages to defeat the old witch.

And yet this is only half the story. So what of the old witch, Mother Gothel? Where does she come from? And how does she come across the magical golden flower? Here is one account that recounts a version of the story that has remained untold for centuries . . . until now. It is a tale of mothers and daughters, of youth and dark magic. It is a tale of the old witch.

 
Serena Valentino’s Mother Knows Best is the tale of Mother Gothel and what was going on with her before she became Rapunzel’s kidnapper/mother. It’s a decidedly darker tale than the ones we’ve previously read in the Villains series, at least I thought so. It seemed Gothel was always on the path towards darkness.

We start the story with Gothel’s childhood, which made it a little difficult to place where this fell in the odd sister timeline, it seemed to be before most of the events of the series to date, but we eventually get back to the current time. Like many a villain, Gothel didn’t have an easy childhood. She and her sisters lived with their mother, the queen in the dead woods. This is basically where the nearby village took their dead after a person passed. The dead belonged to the queen and she planned on passing her legacy to her daughters one day when she was ready to die.

Gothel was the youngest out of her sisters who were triplets, but not identical. It was that fact that made their mother not love them as much. Gothel was always trying to read and study up on magic in hopes of pleasing her mother, while her sisters dreamed of leaving the dead woods and seeing more of the world.

Then one day, Gothel’s mother, Manea, showed her why the woods are so special and what was basically the source of her power, it was the rapunzel flowers that grew in her observatory. When you sang the magic song, the flowers could heal anything, including age. When Manea threatens to kill Gothel’s sisters, Gothel reacts in a finishing way and basically leaves her and her sisters on her own.

The story was decidedly more focused on Gothel and her sisters, we watched Gothel slowly descend into darkness and of course the odd sisters make their appearance in the guise of help. It’s really not until the last quarter of the book or so that we enter what would be the movie, Tangled.

Tangled is definitely one of my favorite Disney movies and I rather liked reading this interpretation of Gothel’s character. It did make things interesting and Serena definitely knows her Disney movies, for she always touches on those right little moments that came from the movie and kind of made you wonder…what was the villain thinking in THAT moment. Well, Serena answers that question for us. Not only does Serena know how to expand on these little moments, but she’s on point with her dialogue when it comes to reliving those movie moments. I was also quite pleased that my favorite animal friend, Maximus makes an appearance too! Though, I thought it would be funny if the odd sisters, who watched these events unfold would’ve commented on his prowess of moving aside the ruffians that Snuggly Duckling, but I guess you can’t win them all!

This story was very much a Mother Gothel story. It’s really not until the very last page or two that we see something that might help steer the story into the next book’s direction which of course is titled, The Odd Sisters. We’ll finally get to learn more about the witches who have been causing a bit of havoc in Disney Fairytale Land! It’s definitely going to be a more interesting story since—as far as I know—there’s no key Disney movie directing it.

Alas, that tale is not here (in my reading queue) yet. Soon though! Mother Knows Best was an interesting tale on its own. I just wish that there would’ve maybe been a bit more at the end that directs what will happen next in regards to the odd sisters. I’ve heard that next year’s book will be about Cruella, so that ought to be interesting. I’m rather curious if Hades will ever get a book since his name gets thrown out a lot when characters are cursing. Makes you wonder…

As I was saying, Mother Knows Best was yet another enchanting installment in the Disney Villains series. While I feel like it didn’t do much to add to the greater story arc at large, it’s still probably one of my favorites out of the series to date as it just had such a detailed history of who Gothel was before she became Mother Gothel. Which is likely the point behind these villain stories! Definitely a worthy read!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars

 

Waiting on 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. 

From the acclaimed author of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns comes a fantastical new tale of darkness and love, in which magical bonds are stronger than blood.

Will love break the spell? After cruelly rejecting Bao, the poor physician's apprentice who loves her, Lan, a wealthy nobleman's daughter, regrets her actions. So when she finds Bao's prized flute floating in his boat near her house, she takes it into her care, not knowing that his soul has been trapped inside it by an evil witch, who cursed Bao, telling him that only love will set him free. Though Bao now despises her, Lan vows to make amends and help break the spell.  

Ooh excited for this one! I still need to read last year's release from Julie but I positively LOVED AFOATL!

TITLE: Song of the Crimson Flower

AUTHOR: Julie C. Dao

PUBLISHER: Philomel Books
GENRE: YA Fantasy

RELEASE DATE: November 5, 2019

All's fair in love and anarchy...

The epic conclusion to Marissa Meyer's thrilling Renegades Trilogy finds Nova and Adrian struggling to keep their secret identities concealed while the battle rages on between their alter egos, their allies, and their greatest fears come to life. Secrets, lies, and betrayals are revealed as anarchy once again threatens to reclaim Gatlon City.

It's almost here! The conclusion to the Renegades trilogy that was supposed to be a duology that I had planned to binge read when the final book came out! Whew! Since I've yet to start the series, I still plan on binging it when I have the time! Lol. 

TITLE: Supernova

AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer

PUBLISHER: Feiwel & Friends

GENRE: YA Superheroes

RELEASE DATE: November 5, 2019 

 

ARC GRAPHIC NOVEL Review--Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu, Adapted by Stuart Moore, and Ill. by Chris Wildgoose

Based on the New York Times bestselling novel by Marie Lu, this graphic novel adaptation brings to life the dark mysteries behind the gates of Arkham Asylum. Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and 18 year-old Bruce Wayne is next on their list.

Bruce Wayne is turning 18 and inheriting his family's fortune. But on the way home from his birthday party, he makes an impulsive choice that leads him to Arkham Asylym, the infamous mental hospital. There, he meets Madeline Wallace, a brilliant killer . . . and Bruce's only hope. Madeline is the mystery Bruce must unravel, but is he convincing her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees?

Bruce Wayne is proof that you don't need superpowers to be a superhero, but can he survive Madeleine's game of tense intrigue and deception?

This graphic novel adaptation from New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu and artist Christian Wildgoose is a dark, action-packed thrill ride! 

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.


Marie Lu returns once again to Gothm City with Batman: Nightwalker, though this time she has some help from story adapter, Stuart Moore and illustrator Chris Wildgoose as they bring the world of Gotham City to life through Marie's original novel that released last year.

It is always fun reading a graphic novel that's based on a book I've already read! Since Batman started out in comics, it was even more fun to read this early Bruce Wayne story in comic book form than it was in its novel form--which was still a blast too, mind you! 

I read the novel version over a year ago, so time as let things slip, though as I read the graphic novel, the story came back to me. And seeing it all in illustrations with the gray/blue tint was amazing! I particularly liked seeing the splash of yellow that occasionally made it to the page! It was a stunning sight to see. I feel like Wildgoose really captured the characters well too! It's always hard to picture real life people to play book characters, but seeing them drawn is a little more fun for me. I feel like drawings can better capture a character than a real life actor who may or may not be the right likeness. That's a debate for another day!

The story plays out much the same as it did in the book. Bruce is given a community service sentence after he chased down a criminal in his high-tech car and ignored police presence to cease and desist. While working to clean up Arkham Asylum he meets a young girl his age named Madeline. She's apart of the rogue group of Nightwalkers that have been robbing the rich from their bank accounts to fund their own purposes. Not taking after Robin Hood in the good ol' sense. While Bruce continues to have these awkward conversations with her, he starts to learn more about the Nightwalkers and their apparent plan for Gotham. All is not what is seems of course and things get dicey rather quickly for Bruce. 

I always admire how well these graphic novels that are adapted from novels do to tell the full length story in a shortened sense. It gets the overall sense of the story out on the page in its illustrated glory and still leaves you with those same chills and thrills that you had when reading the book. Or at least I did!

The next installment in this series--so to speak--is Leigh Bardugo's Wonder Woman story and I cannot wait to see that one and its beautiful illustrations! This (possible) series of graphic novels of the DC Icons series is one not to be missed by fans of the original novels for who doesn't want to see books based on comic book heroes made back into comic books? It's a trip and a thrilling reading experience that you don't want to miss out on! 


Overall Rating 5/5 stars

ARC Review--Unearthed by Cecy Robson

Fae was once a flourishing paradise. Until Death turned greedy and destroyed it, targeting the creatures who inhabited it. Those who survived escaped to Earth’s realm, but Death wasn’t far behind . . .

Olivia Finn is just another pixie trying to blend in among humans and hide from the death hounds who devoured her family. Clinging to the talisman that keeps her veiled from those who hunt her, she believes she is safe. . .. Until Death finds her and discovers she’s immune to its grip.

Now that Olivia’s power is unearthed, she is sought by Fae who see her as their savior and stalked by dark entities compelled to destroy her. Can she trust the King of the Dead who has sworn to train and protect her? Or should she obey her instincts that warn he desires more?

Olivia can no longer hide from Death. To survive, she must seek it. 

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

I’ve been a fan of Cecy Robson’s books since her first Weird Girls novel and am always happy to pick up her next paranormal! This time it was Unearthed which was a different kind of story entirely from her Weird Girls series as there’s fae and Death!

The story was off to a good start. Our heroine is a pixie without magic, Olivia, who lost her family during the wars in faerie where Death basically came and took everyone out. She, along with a few other fae managed to escape and live cloaked in protection spells in the mortal realm. Until the night when gremlins attacked, taking away their protective charms and bringing Death to their door, and somehow through it all, Olivia survived yet again.

Olivia once had no powers, but somehow fought off Death and lived to tell the tale. It’s then that her magical fae friends realize Olivia has a very special kind of gift, one that will need harnessing from her slightly enemy coworker, Ryker. Except Ryker isn’t just your average jerk either. He’s Death too. But not the same one that Olivia fought. That’s actually one thing that kept tripping me up in this one, it seems there are version of Death throughout the realm and they sort of coexist. Some are good, like Ryker and some are evil, like the one Olivia had to deal with.

Despite there being a good premise for this story, I found that I couldn’t always stay focused. There were things that were just not really boring me, but not enticing me to want to read more either. It’s complicated to say the least. I liked the book, but at the same time I felt like it was dragging and wasn’t really dying to know what happens next, but still curious. It definitely falls into one of those rare absolute middle of the road ratings. It’s not a perfect read, but it’s not bad either.

What I did like was how Olivia constantly challenged and baffled Ryker. They are Life and Death basically. Pink and bubbly versus dark and brooding. It’s a total opposite clashing kind of thing, and naturally, you know romance will eventually kindle between these two because it’s just one of those things you know will come along eventually. I was quite pleased that it did take longer to come around, yet was built up with little moments. The little moments are definitely among my favorite when it comes to slow=burn romances!

I still can’t quite pin down why this read wasn’t an absolute delight and five star read for me. Maybe it was the newness? It’s hard to say. There were times I felt overwhelmed by Olivia’s bubbly personality, but as she points out, she’s a pixie, so it’s fitting to say the least. Maybe in part it was also the pacing. It was a little slower than I would’ve liked in my usual paranormal reads and there was a bit too much downtime without enough interest and sparks flying in between.

Unearthed was still a worthy read, just not entirely my kind of read. At this point, I don’t know if I would continue this series, but I can say I will continue to read Cecy’s books as they release, should they be of interest. This one just wasn’t entirely my kind of read, but it was still a rather enjoyable read.


Overall Rating 3/5 stars


Unearthed releases September 24, 2019

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.

You know you're reading a good book when there's a love of reading involved!

"The light from the flames was dancing on the numerous leather-bound books that filled the wall-to-wall bookshelves dominating the room. That was Gothel's favorite place in the world; she always felt at peace there. So many books to read and worlds to escape into, so much history to learn. No matter what was happening, no matter how distressing it was, all she had to do was go to the library and all would be well in her world." p. 49

TITLE: Mother Knows Best
AUTHOR: Serena Valentino
PUBLISHER: Disney Press
GENRE: Disney Retellings
RELEASE DATE: August 7, 2018 

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: Book Titles with Numbers In Them (Submitted by Emma @ Words and Peace)

*in numerical order

10. TEN by Gretchen McNeil--I couldn't not use such an easy one! Lol

9. NINTH KEY by Jenny Caroll aka Meg Cabot--this is the version I have, thus the author name!

8. EIGHTH GRAVE AFTER DARK by Darynda Jones

7. SEVEN BLACK DIAMONDS by Melissa Marr--almost forgot about this one since I still need to read it!

6. SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo--bound to be a popular pick today!

5. THE 5th WAVE by Rick Yancey

4. FOUR OF A KIND by Kate Kessler--still need to START this series too!

3. 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil--Gretchen's books filled out 2 spaces!

2. TWICE BITTEN by Chloe Neill--twice, two, it's the same thing really!

1. ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE by Jeaniene Frost