Book Blogger Hop

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

 

 

This week's question is: If you own an eBook, would you also purchase a print copy as well? (submitted by Tabatha @ Broken Soul Reviews)

 

 

 

MY ANSWER: I would say close to half the time YES! Lol. Some books I decided to try when the ebook was cheap or free and after loving it, I bought a real copy, because REAL BOOKS!!! 

 

Though I will admit, for some of my independent authors that I get their ebooks, I can't afford to also buy all their paperbacks. So for them, I will usually just buy the first book in paperback as a placeholder for them on my shelves. So not EVERY ebook I buy will I also buy in paperback, but pretty close!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random Thursday

Today's foray into Weird But True by Leslie Gilbert Elman has us looking at rocks and precious stones! At least my quick glimpse that the pages seem to lend toward that theme! Let's check it out!

(image borrowed from Amazon)

Pearl oysters aren't closely related to the oysters that we eat at all. The ones that we eat don't produce pearls. But there are other mollusks that produce pearls, such as mussels and clams and one might be able to find a pearl inside one before eating it. Though the pearls found in clams aren't usually as lustrous or valuable, but are still beautiful.

Did not know this at all! Lol.

(image borrowed from Natural History Magazine)

The largest pearl ever found was found in the Phillippines and it mostly likely came from a giant clam. The pearl is known as Pearl of Lao-Tazu or the Pearl of Allah. It's 9in long and wights nearly 14lbs, valued between $40-60 million.

Whoa! And a google check says that this picture is it!

(image borrowed from Youtube)

If the temperature is high enough, a diamond will burn.

That's narly!

(image borrowed from FORM Medical)

When you buy something that is rather expensive, that activates the part of the brain that's responsible for pain and guilt.

But...what if you don't regret it? Lol. I mean, I spent almost $200 on a rare book once and I have zero regrets! I mean, it was still under $200 after taxes and shipping, so I consider it a good deal! LOL!

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

On March 18, 1990 two thieves dressed as police officers broke into Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and stole 13 works of art, including pieces by Cermeer, Rembrandt, Degas, and Manet. It was the largest art theft in history. Over 20 years later, nothing has been recovered and the paintings are valued at $500 million. The museum still has the empty frames up in the places where they were meant to be...waiting for the day that they will return home.

FUN FACT: The Art Loss Register says that Picasso's painting are the most frequently stolen ones. Hundreds of Picassos have been stolen over the years from multiple types of places...including the theft of 2007 from Picasso's granddaughter!

Whoa! Those b*st*rds have balls to steal from Picasso's own granddaughter. Though I know names and notoriety means nothing to thieves and they might even enjoy bragging about it! 

 

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. 

 

 

 

One cold, crisp night, Jack Sommers was faced with a choice—live forever according to the ancient, magical rules of Gaia, or die.

Jack chose to live, and in exchange, he became a Winter—an immortal physical embodiment of the season on Earth. Every year, he must hunt the Season who comes before him. Summer kills Spring. Autumn kills Summer. Winter kills Autumn. And Spring kills Winter.

Jack and Fleur, a Winter and a Spring, fall for each other against all odds. To be together, they’ll have to escape the cycle that’s been forcing them apart. But their creator won’t let them go without a fight.

 

 

 

 

 

HOLY SCHMOLY! This book sounds A-MAZING! I love a good mythical story! One involving seasons as entities sounds incredible too!!

 

 

TITLE: Seasons of the Storm

AUTHOR: Elle Cosimano

PUBLISHER: HarperTeen

GENRE: YA Fantasy

RELEASE DATE: June 23, 2020 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review--Bright Blaze of Magic by Jennifer Estep

Bad Things Always Come In Threes…

As a thief, I'm good at three things: hiding in the shadows, getting in and out unseen, and uncovering secrets. I put these skills to work for the Sinclair Family, one of the magical mobs that run the tourist town of Cloudburst Falls.

Everyone knows Victor Draconi wants to take over all the other Families--and kill every last Sinclair. What they don't know is that I'm on to him, and no way will I let the man who murdered my mom get away with hurting all the other people I care about. Especially when I've got places to break into, stuff to steal, and Devon Sinclair fighting right by my side… 

Jennifer Estep’s Bright Blaze of Magic is the final installment in the Black Blade trilogy and it was once again an amazing read! This series was so much fun and is pure paranormal at heart! In this one, Lila will have to fight to save everything she’s fought for as the enemy is about to make his final move.
 
Lila, Devon, and Felix are about to attend a big Family dinner where all the Families are in attendance. It’s supposed to be a peaceful gathering of sorts, but Lila has a suspicion that this could be the night Victor Draconi makes his move and attack. It turns out her instincts were on par. Now she, Devon, Deah and Felix will do whatever it takes to rescue everyone that Victor captured, which was basically everyone—other Families included.
 
This book was pretty much gearing up to the battle to end all battles and the pacing was spot on! Just when you think you might know where things are headed, Jennifer makes a few twists and turns to give the reader a rush!
 
In some ways, this was a rather simple plot but it was filled with many, many different obstacles that Lila would have to overcome. All throughout the two books ahead of this one, she has been wanting to exact her revenge on Victor for killing her mother, but is she strong enough to do it now?
 
I felt like the tone in this one was definitely more serious than the last book, which had its serious moments no doubt. But there was very little time for happy moments in this one when they have fear for their lives while trying to save the lives of their loved ones. There was also a great deal of bloodshed in this one that surprised me for some reason. We mostly saw this in the aftermath part, and there wasn’t a whole lot of emphasis put into it, but the picture was still pretty clear…lots of bloodshed.
 
Since the plot was focused on the saving lives part, there was very little time for romance as well. The relationship between Lila and Devon though never faltered, which was nice considering they just finally got together. Felix and Leah rarely had time for any romance as well, so it was a bit of a letdown in that area, but honestly looking back, I’m not upset at all about the lack of kissing. There just wasn’t the time or place for it.
 
I did like how the relationship between Lila and Deah continued to grow. Leah wasn’t nearly as horrid as her father and brother in the Draconi family. It was a little heart-sickening to know of all the abuse she suffered from her family, but Deah never let that keep her down for long. She was a strong heroine and I would’ve liked to seen more of her.
 
The ending here was nice and simple…yet there seemed like there was a tease of more possibilities but since this is already four years old, I think that ship might have sailed. It was probably just one of those teasers that gives you hope for a better future and more adventures for our characters, which honestly, is always the best way to end a series.
 
Bright Blaze of Magic was exactly what one would expect from a finale! It has all the right heart-rushing feels and an excellently paced action filled plot. This is definitely a series that any paranormal fan should check out! It’s quite the entertaining read!
 
 
Overall Rating 4/5 stars

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 froze, my breath hissing out between my teeth. Because Deah had just run into the very last person either one of us wanted to see right now." p 150

TITLE: Bright Blaze of Magic
AUTHOR: Jennifer Estep
PUBLISHER: Kensington
GENRE: YA Paranormal
RELEASE DATE: April 26, 2016

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.

*prepared to NOT be shocked NOR amazed...lol

This week's topic is: Top Ten Reasons Why I Love the World of Caraval!!

**in no particular order

10. THE AMAZING/UNIQUE STORY-LINE--I really enjoyed the storyline of this series! It was unique and different for me. 

9. MYSTERIOUS--the game, the characters! There was so much mystery to this world!

8. THE SISTERLY BOND--Scarlett was very much driven by her love for her sister in this one! Fearing for Tella's life, she's willing to play the ultimate dangerous game!

7. TELLA--I looooved Tella! I loved her sass and attitude! Yes, she was bold and brash and in the best possible of ways!

6. LEGEND--the man of mystery himself! Complicated, puzzling, and sometimes infuriating, but oh so lovable!

5. JACKS--another man of mystery who only continued to grow on me! Sooo hoping he stars in Encore--the rumored title of book 4!

4. GORGEOUS COVERS--this series has had the most gorgeous covers worldwide! I'm stoked that I have so many of them in my collection! Lol.

3. MAGIC--this series is truly magical in all the ways! Magic in the way that books are always magical and of course the mysterious magic that lies within the game itself.

2. THE GAME--I mean, it's a pretty high stakes game at times! Everyone fighting for that one wish, everyone willing to do anything to get it! Talk about intense!!

1. STEPHANIE GARBER--I mean seriously! She writes the most AMAZING books ever and she is the most super sweetest author I've ever met! She was shocked and amazed by all the copies I brought with me the 2 out of 3 times I met her! The first time at book 1, I only had, you know, my book 1 plus 1 UK copy! Lol.

 

Let's Discuss: TBR Reading

I haven't had a discussion yet this month. Starting to find less things to talk about. There's not much going on that spurs a discussion within me. But then one came to me the other day, and I thought, why not discuss it?

TBR Reading

So for almost two months now, I've been reading mostly TBR books! I think I read one review book in April and I have another one coming up this week. But other than those, it's been all TBR! No other new releases have made their way into my queue and yet...I'm totally fine with that!

I feel like blogging has gotten to only reading and reviewing the latest and greatest! If you're going to post content it needs to be on new and fresh books. Which is good and all, because the new books need all the promo they can get! Whether they're from a debut author or established--though to be honest, I only write my established author reviews just because I'm used to writing a review these days! I don't read any of those anymore to be honest unless it's for a book I'm on the fence about.

By reading my TBR books lately, it's almost like I've gone back to reading for me! Which is weird, because that's what I've been doing for the past 11+ years to begin with! If I happen to get an ARC or get a new release early enough to post a review during its height, that's great! If not...no big deal.

I find I'm becoming more laid back as a reader and reviewer. I'm really happy to be getting back to my older TBR books, especially series I've left hanging for years on end! I've set aside at least 13 series I wouldn't mind finishing this year. Some are new ones that just have 1 book left, others are unfinished trilogies that I only started, one or two might be a long running series where I still had 2 or so books left to read. Then of course I still have other longer series to read as well, but those are more the standalone books that form into a world series, so it's no big rush to finish those right away like these other ones!

I told myself I won't allow myself to start any new series in my TBR pile or otherwise until I finish those 13. Really it was 15, but I finished one last week and am in the midst of finishing another, so I'm making progress already!

That's not to say I won't stop when a review book pops up or a new release I am dying to read comes into my hands...say anything Jennifer L. Armentrout related! Though I still need to read her new adult one that just released! I actually just ordered a signed copy from her shop! So goodbye ebook I haven't even started yet! Lol. Though that one will come in handy if I have to leave said book behind and am stuck somewhere else needing to read something!

My review books end up being ones that would make its way into my TBR pile at release day, so for me those are a never a hardship to make a decision on! Though I did pass on a digital download now book only because I am so happy to be reading TBR books. And I want to read another book from that author who's in my TBR pile...even in my current pile of 13 series to be finished! So I thought...it can wait.

I'm not even sure how to pose a question to you guys about this one...how do you balance your review book reading and TBR book reading? Do you feel like you're always reading review books and never your TBR books? How do you define your TBR pile? For me it's all books I've bought for myself (or were gifted) that I want to read. The review pile is completely separate.

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:

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray (4 stars)

A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray (4 stars)

Dark Heart of Magic by Jennifer Estep (4.5 stars)

Currently Reading:

Bright Blaze of Magic by Jennifer Estep

What I Plan to Read Next:

Wait by Alyssa Rose Ivy (ARC)

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays 

Waiting on Wednesday 

Random Thursday 

Book Blogger Hop 

Stacking the Shelves

Review--Dark Heart of Magic by Jennifer Estep

Something Wicked This Way Comes . . .

As a thief, I stick to the shadows as much as possible. But when the head of the Sinclair Family picks me to compete in the Tournament of Blades, there's no escaping the spotlight--or the danger.

Even though he's my competition, Devon Sinclair thinks I have the best shot at winning what's supposed to be a friendly contest. But when the competitors start having mysterious "accidents," it looks like someone will do anything to win--no matter who they hurt.

As if I didn't have enough to worry about, mobster Victor Draconi is plotting against Devon and the rest of my friends, and someone's going around Cloudburst Falls murdering monsters. One thing's for sure. Sometimes, humans can be more monstrous than anything else...

I dived right back into Jennifer Estep's Black Blade trilogy by picking up Dark Heart of Magic and I had virtually no memory of the first book since I read it as an ARC over five years ago. Luckily, it seems getting back into the thick of things with this one was relatively easy. The characters discuss enough of the main parts of the first book that I felt like I knew enough!

Lila is still a new member of the Sinclair Family in Cloudburst Falls, a town in West Virginia, if memory serves. She acts as the Family's bruiser or bodyguard if you will to Devon, the Family leader's son. There's a great deal of romantic tension between these two, but Lila continues to fight the feelings she has for him, and due to her own magical powers of seeing into a person's soul (so to speak) she knows how he feels about her too. Life has reached a sort of calm before the storm for them, and that storm is coming closer and is called the Tournament of Blades.

The tournament is one where all the magical families come together and they have their best of the best compete until there's only one champion left. This year Lila was chosen to compete for the Sinclair family with a handful of others too.

Lila isn't too sure how she feels about this game, for she never really felt like part of the Family. It was more a job for her. She mainly wants to stick around town long enough to find the evidence that proves Victor Draconi is the one that killed her mother years ago, and basically bring him down. But he's the leader of the most powerful family in town, so it's going to take a lot of digging or a stroke of luck for that to happen.

In the meantime, Lila has the tournament to focus on. That, and the fact that someone is murdering magical creatures around town. The murders are vicious and brutal. The only clue Lila has to the murderer is hearing an evil laugh when she looks into the victim's eyes, for she can see what they saw in their last moments.

I was really surprised by how easy it was to get back into this series! I was afraid of my memory loss holding me back and while there was some of that early confusion I had in the beginning, but once the story started rolling, I found myself just immersed in this world once again! This is basically Young Adult Urban Fantasy and I was loving it! Real world meets paranormal people and problems! It was amazing! I forgot how easy-going Lila was, well, easy-going in terms of kickass heroines! She's a feisty girl and I loved her sense of humor and snark! Her love for bacon didn't hurt either! Gotta love when a heroine has her favorite food be totally unhealthy! Though, there was no mention of how quickly she can burn through those calories, because man, that girl eats a lot of bacon! Lol.

The pacing to this one was relatively fast! I pretty much binge read this sucker in two days! I wanted to read more last night, but was too tired, but once I picked it up again the next day, I just kept reading and reading and after I passed my goal mark, I kept reading more because I was deeply curious as to how things were going to end! 

The romantic tension between Lila and Devon continues to remain thick and intense. You start to feel a little bad for Lila because she literally can see/know how much Devon cares for her. Yet, she can't bring herself to feel things for anyone since her end goal is to leave town as soon as she avenges her mother's death.

The bodies keep turning up during the tournament though it's not until midway through the event that the murders hit closer to home. This made for an intense mystery and all the while we see things slowly building in the background that lays the groundwork for the final book.

The ending to this one was filled with all the shocks! There was the answer to the mystery, a startling reveal about Lila, and of course the shocking reveal of what Victor has planned! Needless to say I am super glad that I have the final book at the ready!

Dark Heart of Magic was an exciting read filled with an array of surprises! I literally could not put this one down! If you're looking for that nice introduction to the wonderful world of paranormal, then the Black Blade trilogy would be a good place to start! I highly recommend this series!


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars

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 down. Well, tomorrow, our county officially opens up for business! What this means exactly, I have no clue! Lol. I know some stores are opening, but others are choosing to remain closed for awhile longer. Hopefully this will mean my job search will start to pick up again if the business-y companies are opening up again as well. I guess it's a wait and see matter at this point. But other than that it's all been very quiet here.

Though my haul this week was once again minimal--which is a good thing for the TBR pile! I did end up order wayyyyy too many books this week! As you know certain book subscription boxes had their matching additions to the Folk of the Air series and my collector's CDO demanded that I get both sets to complete my trilogy sets. Add to that another major purchase from another country and then getting my stepdad's Father's Day gift AND birthday gift since they're in the same week next month...my pocketbook got quite the workout! And I'm still trying to find one more thing for my mom's birthday, but I have one thing that I could turn into something more to help level things out to have that taken care of. I was amazed with myself and all the online shopping I did this week...I'm not usually like that except for the Christmas holidays! Lol.

Anyway, here's what I got this week:

Crave by Tracy Wolff--The Bookish Box SIGNED edition! My copy finally arrived after COVID delays! I decided not to show off the alternative cover that it was wrapped in, in case some of you are still waiting for your copies to arrive! I was realllllly happy to see that it was actually a SIGNED signed copy, not one with the added page in the front! Makes it feel more real to me! Lol. Now I'll need to buy another copy so the original cover can grace my shelves too! But that one might have to wait for a bit. As I said, I need B&N to send out coupons already!

For review from the author I received:

Wait by Alyssa Rose Ivy (ARC)

THANK YOU Alyssa!!!

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

 

 

 

Book Blogger Hop

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

 

 

This week's question is: As a book blogger yourself, what was the last book you read as a result of a fellow blogger's post? (submitted by Flora @ Flora's Musings...)

 

 

 

MY ANSWER: Hmm...it's honestly been awhile since I had that happened. Mostly because the bloggers I follow read the same books I do. So I'll know about a book, buy it, but might not read it right away.

 

Dang, this is hard! I'm struggling mostly to think of one I actually read, I've bought a few, but you know, haven't read them yet.

I guess one will be when I finally gave in and read Throne of Glass, but that was more so because a friend also bought it for me for Christmas. But as you all know, I didn't take to that series of Sarah's.

One of the last ones that I bought--to my recollection--but have yet to read, that was based on a blogger's review was The Extinction Trials by S.M. Wilson.