Can't-Wait Wednesday #9: The Devils You Know by M.C. Atwood

Happy Wednesday, fellow book lovers! This week's "can't wait to read" is: The Devils You Know by M.C. Atwood Publication Date: October 3, 2017 Plenty of legends surround the infamous Boulder House in Whispering Bluffs, Wisconsin, but nobody takes them seriously. Certainly nobody believes that the original owner, Maxwell Cartwright Jr., cursed its construction—or that a murder of crows died upon its completion, their carcasses turning the land black. If anyone did believe it all, there’s no way River Red High would offer a field trip there for the senior class. Five very different seniors on the trip—Violet, Paul, Ashley, Dylan,...

Top Ten Tuesday #155: Hidden gem horror & fantasy

Today's Topic:  Top Ten Hidden Gem Horror & Fantasy Books Happy Tuesday, everyone! So yes, I am aware that horror and fantasy are two weird genres to put together. I did it because I'm worried that all of my top lists are too similar and I didn't want to do the same old thing! I chose books for this list that had under 550 reviews, although the majority of these books had less than 300 and that is a TRAGEDY! Every single one of these is 100% worth your time! The Architect of Song by A.G. Howard (Fantasy) The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale (Horror/Fantasy) Insylum by Z. Rider (Horror) Never Never by...

Audiobook Review: The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd

Title: The Secret Horses of Briar Hill Author: Megan ShepherdPublication Date: October 11, 2016Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers Pages: 220Add to Goodreads There are winged horses that live in the mirrors of Briar Hill hospital. In the mirrors that line its grand hallways, which once belonged to a princess. In those that reflect the elegant rooms, now filled with sick children. It is her secret. One morning, when Emmaline climbs over the wall of the hospital’s abandoned gardens, she discovers something incredible: a white horse with broken wings has left the mirror-world and entered her own. Tucked into the garden’s once-gleaming...

Weekly Recap: 8/20 - 8/26

TRACY'S HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Happy weekend, everyone! I hope you're all having a fantastic Sunday doing whatever it is you love! I'm currently spending time with friends and family while trying to catch up on some reading. I'm very impatiently waiting for the Game of Thrones Finale and trying to avoid spoilers like the plague! Today I'll be visiting friends and going to an escape room for the first time so wish me luck! NEW BOOKS THIS WEEK No new books this week! THIS WEEK I READ MC'S HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Happy weekend! Man, this week was long. I have been working my butt off trying to get a whole bunch...

Graphic Novel Sampler Review: First Second Fall 2017

I received the First Second Sampler in the Fall Fierce Reads box and, I'll admit, I wasn't quite sure how to review it. How exactly does one review samples of multiple graphic novels? But I'll do my best to tell you about this cute little sampler and the content inside! There are fifteen separate samplers inside this little book and SO many of them drew me right in! The art varies wildly, as does the content, but there are definitely a few that I'm interested to know more about. Here are my more complete thoughts on some of the stand-out stories I can't wait to get my hands on: Title: The Dam Keeper Authors: Robert Kondo & Dice Tsutsumi Publication...

ARC Review: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Title: Girls Made of Snow and Glass Author: Melissa Bashardoust Publication Date: September 5, 2017 Publisher: Flatiron BooksPages: 384Add to Goodreads Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber in this feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White fairytale. At sixteen, Mina's mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone—has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s...

Top Ten Tuesday #154: Books I Wish I'd Read In School

Today's Topic:  Top Ten Books I Wish I'd Read In School Happy Tuesday, everyone! This is a topic I actually feel somewhat strongly about. My school didn't have very much required reading. I grew up in the American South and the only books I remember being assigned in high school were A Separate Peace, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, Beowulf, and Wuthering Heights (did I mention I took AP English for two years?). We watched movies instead of reading books in English class (Romeo and Juliet, for example, which I think we read a scene from) and everything we read was rated PG. We didn't read much that forced us to think...

Audiobook Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #1) Author: Jenny Han Publication Date: April 15, 2014Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young ReadersPages: 355 Add to Goodreads What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them… all at once? Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are...

Weekly Recap: 8/13 - 8/19

TRACY'S HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend! Mine has been spent making final runs to various stores to make final preparations for my upcoming trip to Europe. I'm so excited, but also super nervous about all of our travel arrangements! Can anyone recommend a must-do bookstore near Westminster?? Yesterday I also got my flu vaccine (maybe I actually won't get sick on this trip) and spent the afternoon being a super wimp about how sore my arm was. It was also a fantastic candle week as we added several new products to our shop, including Halloween candles! And now I'm rambling. Have a great...

Tolkien Book Tag

You may or may not know that I am totally obsessed with The Lord of the Rings! I regret to inform you that my answers will revolve mostly around the LotR films instead of the books, because I love them the most. I originally saw this book tag on The Book Nut and knew I had to do it, despite not being tagged. As usual, I tag all of my fellow LotR fans because why should anyone have to wait for a tag to join the fun? HOW DID YOUR MIDDLE EARTH JOURNEY BEGIN? In the early 2000s I was not super aware of popular culture. I had heard some things about The Fellowship of the Ring film, but I didn't know a whole lot about it. My best friend had...

Audiobook Review: The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

Title: The Forgetting (The Forgetting #1) Author: Sharon Cameron Publication Date: September 13, 2016Publisher: Scholastic PressPages: 403Add to Goodreads What isn't written, isn't remembered. Even your crimes. Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories – of parents, children, love, life, and self – are lost. Unless they have been written. In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly...