Book Blogger Hop

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

 

This week's question is: If you go trick-or-treating with your favorite book character, who would it be? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

 

MY ANSWER: Totally Scarlett, Julian, Tella, and Legend! And Jacks if he wanted to come along too! LOL!

 

 

 

 

Random Thursday

 

Welcome to another amusing round of animal factoids from True Facts That Sound Like Bull$#*t by Shane Carley. You have to wonder how or where he did his research. I mean, we're only 1/3 of the way through the animal/nature chapter and there's still a long ways to go through the book itself! And it's all totally random tidbits...it's astounding!

(image borrowed from All About Birds)

When creating their homes, puffins set aside a space to be the designated bathroom.

That's weird and amazing!

 

 

 

(image borrowed from American Museum of Natural History)

There is a species of jellyfish that is basically immortal! The immortal jellyfish can be found in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Japan. The jellyfish can regenerate its cells indefinitely, but sadly get eaten by predators more often than not.

 

An immortal jellyfish. Wow! 

 

 

 

(image borrowed from Disney Wiki)

Baby sea turtles are telepathic! They can communicate with each other before they even hatch!

 

Tubular!

 

 

 

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

In 2008, King Harold V of Norway knighted Sir Nils Olav, a penguin from Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo that was adopted by a Norwegian military unit.

 

That's kind of funny, but I love it all the same! Note this is not that penguin, I just googled "penguin." Lol. 

 

 

 

 

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

Crows have the ability to recognize people, much like dogs do. Studies have shown they can recognize human faces and pick them out of a crowd, even.

 

That's too cool! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

Thorne Manor has always been haunted...and it has always haunted Bronwyn Dale. As a young girl, Bronwyn could pass through a time slip in her great-aunt’s house, where she visited William Thorne, a boy her own age, born two centuries earlier. After a family tragedy, the house was shuttered and Bronwyn was convinced that William existed only in her imagination.

Now, twenty years later Bronwyn inherits Thorne Manor. And when she returns, William is waiting.

William Thorne is no longer the boy she remembers. He’s a difficult and tempestuous man, his own life marred by tragedy and a scandal that had him retreating to self-imposed exile in his beloved moors. He’s also none too pleased with Bronwyn for abandoning him all those years ago.

As their friendship rekindles and sparks into something more, Bronwyn must also deal with ghosts in the present version of the house. Soon she realizes they are linked to William and the secret scandal that drove him back to Thorne Manor. To build a future, Bronwyn must confront the past.

 

 

This book sounds soooo good! Just as I write this post a few weeks in advance, I just placed my order for it! Love Kelley's books...though I am still quite behind in a few!

 

 

TITLE: A Stitch in Time

AUTHOR: Kelley Armstrong

PUBLISHER: Subterranean Press

GENRE: Paranormal Mystery

RELEASE DATE: October 31, 2020 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

"'What is this?' I asked, peering closer at a smaller area in the middle of Florida. Everything around it was blue, but it was colorless. 'Is this not part of winter's territory?'

Nori leaned down to see what I was pointing at and then frowned. 'That's Disney. The belief magic there is so strong, it reshapes Faerie. No court can hold it.'" Kindle loc. 8%*

 

*This quote comes from the eARC, therefore it and its location are not final.

 

 

 

TITLE: Grave War
AUTHOR: Kalayna Price
PUBLISHER: Ace
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: November 24, 2020

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 Ten Books That I Could Think of that I Read Because Someone Recommended Them to Me

 

*in no particular order

 

10. NOCTURNE by Syrie James--I can't remember what blogger it was...pretty much all of these were recommend by bloggers!
9. ILLUMINAE by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff--I mean obviously. I initially didn't want to read it because space settings are usually 70/30 with me hating/liking. This book has since upped that ratio!
8. DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY by Terri Garey--sadly, I still need to read this series!

7. THE DIABOLIC by S.J. Kincaid--I can't remember which blogger review finally got me to try this one...
6. OBSIDIAN by Jennifer L. Armentrout--I know right?! I initially thought it would be a poor ripoff of Roswell, but I was so, sooooooo, SOOOO wrong!
5. VAMPIRE ACADEMY by Richelle Mead--this I remember was recommend by two friends on a chat board I use to frequent before it disappeared. THIS was the book that brought me back to YA!

4. HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick--another one I can't pinpoint to which blogger that got me onto it. But oh wow! Oh I LOVED this series!
3. TIGER'S CURSE by Colleen Houck--this was more a combined effort of the blogosphere. I'd seen so many rave reviews that when I was at one of the RT's and they had it on the FREE table, I picked that puppy up!
2. THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER by Michelle Hodkin--another combined effort of the blogosphere! Saw so many awesome reviews for this one that I had to pick up a copy and I LOVED it! So bizarre and intriguing! 

1. FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT by Darynda Jones--I remember seeing this on the shelves and thinking it was a chick-lit book. Yeah, I know. I must have missed the skulls and black nail polish! Lol! I read a review and realized how wrong I was and immediately bought a copy of book 1...which upon finishing I bought books 2 & 3 which were out! It's kind of funny, I have a MM paperback of book 1, a trade paperback of book 2 and then book 3 was my first hardcover of the series!  When you start out with those odd sizes, you almost don't want to go back and buy hardcovers! Lol.

ARC Review--Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

Kerri Maniscalco introduces her next series, a dark tale of a beautiful young witch, a troubled demon, and their epic romance, set against a 19th century Italian backdrop.

Emilia and her twin sister Victoria are streghe - witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Victoria misses dinner service at the family's renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin...desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to discover who did this, and to seek vengeance at any cost—even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, the outlier among the seven demon brethren, always choosing duty over pleasure. He’s been tasked by his master with investigating a series of women’s murders on the island. When Emilia and Wrath’s fates collide, it’s clear this disturbing mystery will take a bewitching turn...

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


Kerri Maniscalco's newest series starts off with Kingdom of the Wicked and you can expect demons, witches, magic, vampires, murder, mystery, and mayhem among the other delights in this dark and enchanting tale! Here we have something that borders between Faustus and Beauty and the Beast but with an added murder mystery! This is sure to be a book to haunt you (in all the best possible ways) until its very end!

This book...whoa, you guys! Just whoa! I expected yet another engaging murder mystery from Kerri with a dynamic duo who may or may not kill one another before the night was through, but I wasn't expecting such a twisted and dynamic plot to evolve along with it! Just whoa!

Emilia and her twin sister, Vittoria are witches in secret, along with their family. It's a time when witches are killed for practicing magic and "consorting with the devil" yet that's not exactly how Emilia's magic works, nor her family's. Things were happy and content...until the murders started happening. Two young girls are brutally killed, and then the next victim is Vittoria, and Emilia's world shatters. Emilia had come across a young man standing over her sister's body who seemingly disappeared afterwards.

She's determined to uncover the truth behind her sister's murder. Not only finding out the whodunit, but to also figure out the secrets Vittoria had been keeping, dark and dangerous secrets...ones that involve demon summoning. When Emilia finds out the spell to summon the demon her sister was possibly summoning as well, she is astonished when the man who stood over her dead body appears.

Wrath is a demon, but not just any demon, a demon prince of one of the realms in hell. He offers an enticing deal to Emilia, if she agrees to a bond between them, one that will lend her protection, he will help her find her sister's killer. But Emilia is a not a witch to be trifled with, she knows demons are not to be trusted and they twist their words to their benefit.

But when more demons start popping up and more murders start happening, she relents that it's better the devil you know, than the one you don't.

This book was positively gripping! In simplest of terms it's darkly enchanting! A witch and a demon! Eep!! While there's no love lost between these two, there's definitely something there! Which also sounds familiar, right? Lol. Wrath is one secretive guy, and he chooses his words carefully, so much so that you can't find the lie within the truth. He's very misleading and oh my goodness, I'm dying to know what's going on in this guy's head! There's always these linger looks, the way he acts like he wants to protect Emilia, yet she can't help but think he has ulterior motives.

The mystery does get resolved in this one and it was pretty astonishing! I mean, I started to make my suspicions and was proven correct, but I couldn't get the reasoning down pat other than generalities. But the story is far from over after this revelation and it gets totally twisted after that. I'll admit I got a bit confused with references to the different princes and the devil himself. At times it read like they were one and the same. And then that final chapter reallllly threw me through a loop! Like what just happened?! I mean I suspected a teeny part of it, but other than the most basic element of the situation everything else was positively mind-blowing!

Kingdom of the Wicked is a dark and mysterious tale that will hold you spellbound! It's a tale filled with dark deals and sinister secrets. Add in a slightly forbidden romance and you have a simply unputdownable read in your hands! Kingdom of the Wicked is a book you will want to devour in one sitting, so set aside some time to enjoy this one to its fullest!



Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars



Kingdom of the Wicked releases October 27, 2020

 

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:

 

Defending the Galaxy by Maria V. Snyder (ARC)--Review to come at a later date
Hellworld by Tom Leveen (4 stars)

 

 

Reviews That Were Posted:

You Were Never Here by Kathleen Peacock (ARC) (4 stars)
Touch of Evil by Cecy Robson (ARC) (5 stars)

Currently Reading:

Grave War by Kalayna Price (ARC)

What I Plan to Read Next:

Hocus Pocus & the All-New Sequel by A.W. Jantha

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
The Second Annual: Creeptastic Giveaway!
Waiting on Wednesday
Random Thursday
Let's Discuss: Halloween
Book Blogger Hop
The Love Island Book Tag
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.

 

This has been an extremely long week and very trying weekend. I'm dogsitting a dog that literally never shuts up. He's barking constantly as he still misses his bro who went to the great big dog park in the sky back in July. It's literally been nothing but barking over and over and over again since I walked in the door Friday evening. He apparently sleeps when I run errands and whatnot and when I'm home BARKING NONSTOP. I let him outside and he just barks there too. I figure I don't want him disrupting the neighbors, but my throat is already getting sore from all the yelling and begging him to stop and needless to say, he hasn't.

Soooo, next weekend ought to be better and will actually be my time off from work to enjoy and whatnot. I tried watching movies last night but he wasn't having it. I mean, I get it. We all still miss our other dog, but oooomg you guys, I could barely sleep the night before!! I am sooo tired! I'll be going to be bed like uber early tonight in a vain hope of trying to catch up on missed sleep from the weekend and you know, the work week before.

And honestly, Friday evening was the absolute worst. I finally got some of my packages in the mail. One thing I totally ordered the wrong size. It's cool, I sent it back and ordered the correct one. But it's annoying since I gotta wait longer. Then an item I won at auction on eBay arrived totally broken! I was crushed! Like I practically had tears in my eyes because I was soooo excited for this piece and it was broken due to poor packaging. Luckily the seller is letting me return it and I should be refunded accordingly, but this was the first time I had a BAD eBay experience. I hope that won't happen again. I'm hunting for this piece again, but am fearful that I will have a repeat occurrence.

Now I guess, onto the better part of the week! The goodies!

 

Skyhunter by Marie Lu--SIGNED! I ordered a signed copy from Good Choice Reading and it finally came in! Though I've no clue when I will be able to read it! Lol!

The Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo--Illumicrate Edition! I was surprised by how quickly this one arrived! Check out this artwork too! Isn't it just gorgeous!?

 

 

Then for review I received: 

 

Blade of Secrets by Tricia Levenseller (ARC)

 

THANK YOU Feiwel & Friends!

 

 

Then I did get one eBay item I bought unharmed! I mean, it would take mad skills to damage it, but I've seen that happen too...

 

Yup, it's a Caraval patch! I've a few bookish patches floating around and recently bought a tote bag that I plan to decorate with them! Naturally, this will be the centerpiece!

 

 

And perfectly timed was this beauty, I believe it arrived the same day as my book:

 

It's my Skyhunter metal bookmark! 

 

 

THANK YOU Macmillan!! 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Love Island Book Tag

 

I saw this tag over at Nick's The Infinite Limits of Love and thought it looked like a lot of fun! I did not know that this was a TV show! Lol. I'm not a reality TV show person. But I thought it would still be fun to do! I love these tag posts, though I know I could never do one on my own! I like being given prompts! Lol. This tag was created by Paige at Minimal Bookie. I also borrowed the above picture from Nick because, you know, it goes with the tag! Lol.

RECOUPLING: a book or author you want to give a second try

I started reading an ARC of Where Dreams Descend but couldn't get into it, so I marked it DNF. Well, I decided, eventually, I'm going to give it a second try. I think at the time I was so eager to get back to my TBR pile and it was my "last" review book at the time that since I wasn't immediately grabbed by it, I set it down. Well, I'm going to give it another try at some point!

 

I GOT A TEXT: a book someone recommended to you, on or offline

Down Comes the Night was recently put onto my radar, likely by a WoW! It sounded deeply intriguing, so I added it to my list right away!

 

MUGGED OFF: a book you get gripe for liking

Well, I don't know if you would call it "griped." But since pretty much EVERYONE HATED Allegiant and how it ended...I honestly didn't feel that way. No, I wasn't excited for what happened, but I didn't regret reading the entire series. I honestly started to see it coming what with the glaring hints and all! Lol.

FACTOR 50: a book that went hard, for your feels, with its content, it just did the absolute most for you

Tella was my girl! I loved this girl. Legendary had sooo many feels and the next one just increased all those feels!

GRAFTING: a book you've seen a lot of hype about that you now want to read

Well, I technically wanted to read Blood & Honey asap, but I ordered the Fairy Loot box and if you've ordered one of those too, you know they've been delayed. What with my book buying habits as of late, I could not justify buying a second copy. So wait I must. But the hype around it has been strong since last month! Lol.

SHOOT YOUR SHOT: a book you'd die to read early

Go big or go home right?

CASA AMOR: a book that romanced you into buying it even though you already have too many books to read or one you have your eye on

The latest one was A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik...yeah...that was totally impulsive!

HEAD'S BEEN TURNED: a book everyone should read right now even if they're in the middle of something else

Yeah I know, I know. I keep having the completely unbelievable idealistic hope that Gena might actually write the finale one day. And yeah, I know, once upon a time she had a brief paragraph outline for how the book would go. But that's since disappeared and it did not have all the answers, so I was left bereft. SOOOO if everyone bought this book and read this book and reviewed this book in ALL the places...then maybe it would get its finale! I've seen it happen before with another canceled series, so I live on this idealistic hope! LOL!

BANTER: a book that made you laugh or that you think is really well written

Wow. That's two totally different topics! Lol. I decided to go with the latest Charley Davidson book because these books always had me LOLing!!

ON PAPER: a book with all the qualities you love that you're looking forward to reading

Yeah I know. I'm wayyyyy behind! I was hoping to get an early copy of this one, but sadly that did not happen. Now I'm stuck in review limbo and am not sure when I will get to this one. Hopefully soonish...

Ba Bam! Another tag completed! Woohoo! I pretty much tag anyone who wants to do this tag! Whether you know of what show its based on or not. Because I seriously had no idea upon doing this! Lol!