Weekly Recap: 9/23 - 9/29

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Hi everyone! This has been a busy and honestly kind of stressful week. I had a bit of an overuse injury in one leg from running and had to take four days off, which was awful. This is hilarious to me from 6 months ago who HATED running, but I feel like I've been set back because now I'm trying to take things slower in order to avoid the same thing happening. Alas. I think the hearings and news from Thursday and Friday were probably stressful for everyone, but hopefully things will level back off soon (maybe?). Finally, I spend a couple days dog sitting and madly scrambling to get candles made! I did finish...

How not to request reviews and six thing you should be doing

A few years ago I posted on the blog about how frustrating it is to realize authors don't take the time to read review policies before sending requests (you can find that post here). In the time since then, I've realized that expecting an author to look at a review policy is a fantasy and I've moved on. I've passed denial and anger and now I'm into acceptance and laughing at the ridiculous requests that come through my inbox. Today's post is a mixture of asking you to laugh with me combined with a how-not-to for any authors who stumble this way. Dear authors, When you open your email and begin composing a message to ask a blogger to review...

ARC Review: The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke

Title: The Boneless MerciesAuthor: April Genevieve Tucholke Publication Date: October 2, 2018 Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux  Pages: 384Add to Goodreads A dark and gorgeously drawn standalone YA fantasy about a band of mercenary girls in search of female glory. Won in a major six-house auction! Frey, Ovie, Juniper, and Runa are the Boneless Mercies—girls hired to kill quickly, quietly, and mercifully. But Frey is weary of the death trade and, having been raised on the heroic sagas of her people, dreams of a bigger life. When she hears of an unstoppable monster ravaging a nearby town, Frey decides this is the Mercies' one chance...

Top Ten Tuesday #206: Faves I need to read

Today's Topic:  Top Ten Books By My Favorite Authors That  I Still Haven’t Read or Can't Wait to Get My Hands On Today's topic was actually a challenge for me, mostly because when a favorite author releases a new book I usually read it immediately... which means I don't have many TBR books from my faves. This week on my blog, favorite = I've read at least a couple of their books and loved them! Some on the list are upcoming books from my all-time faves that I can't wait to get my hands on!  Alone by Scott Sigler Between the Spark and the Burn by April Genevieve Tucholke The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White Endless...

Weekly Recap: 9/16 - 9/22

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Hi everyone! This has been a super busy week but not a bad one! I did some dog sitting, ran a few miles, listened to a few audiobooks, and even found time to go to the Food and Wine Festival again for a couple hours. I'm also diving back into candle making for another couple weeks in preparation for October. I also signed up for the Fraterfest Readathon! This is super ambitious for me because I have a tendency to fail miserably at them, but I decided a spooky book readathon might be just the thing to make me finally meet a goal! Speaking of goals, I completed this year's Audiobook Reading Challenge this month!...

Four popular books that got huge makeovers

Have you ever seen a book that was just so ugly you had no desire to pick it up? I have readily admitted several times that I judge books by their covers. I know, I know. We shouldn't do it, but I can't help it! Sometimes these hideous books are lucky enough to get new covers that breathe new life into them and bring a new audience. These are four that started out rather unfortunately but ended up being popular after they had a makeover.  ERAGON Eragon started out as an indie book, written by Christopher Paolini when he was just a teenager. Of course, the book, published through his parents' independent publishing company, did...

Mini DNF ARC Review: Black Wings Beating

Title: Black Wings Beating (Skybound #1) Author: Alex London Publication Date: September 25, 2018Publisher: Farrar Straus GirouxPages: 432Add to Goodreads //I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review// The people of Uztar have long looked to the sky with hope and wonder. Nothing in their world is more revered than the birds of prey and no one more honored than the falconers who call them to their fists. Brysen strives to be a great falconer--while his twin sister, Kylee, rejects her ancient gifts for the sport and wishes to be free of falconry. She's nearly made it out, too, but a war is rolling toward...

Down the TBR Hole #4

Hi again! This week I'm back with five more books from my ever growing TBR list. Perhaps not surprisingly, there's another Disney book in the bunch, but my YA preferences are slowly becoming more apparent at this point in my TBR. It's interesting to see how my reading preferences changed as my TBR grew! The Down the TBR Hole meme was started by Lost In a Story and it is the most perfect tool for cleaning off shelves that I've come across. Here's how it works: Go to your goodreads to-read shelf. Order on ascending date added. Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books Read the synopses of the books Decide: keep...

Top Ten Tuesday #205: Fall 2018 TBR

Today's Topic:  Top Ten Books On My Fall 2018 TBR It's that time of year again when I get to share the Fall releases I'm excited to read! There are so many good books coming out that it was hard to pick just ten! Perhaps not surprisingly, the fantasy binge continues. Authors, please write dystopian books!  Amber & Dusk by Lyra Selene An Assassin's Guide to Love & Treason by Virginia Boecker Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore The Cursed Sea by Lauren DeStefano Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee The Light...

ARC Review: The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

Title: The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein Author: Kiersten White Publication Date: September 25, 2018 Publisher: Delacorte PressPages: 304Add to Goodreads Elizabeth Lavenza hasn't had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her "caregiver," and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything--except a friend. Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable--and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed,...

Weekly Recap: 9/9 - 9/15

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Hi everyone! First of all, I hope everyone in the path of the hurricane this week is safe and has air conditioning! I've spent a few days following the storm and talking to family members who were affected. Luckily so far, so good! This week I completed my Platform 9 3/4k race, which was a lot of fun (surprisingly)! I've also been talking details for my friend's upcoming wedding. I'm so excited to be there for it! In my reading life, I gave up on Escaping From Houdini after learning that the finished copy has a completely different ending. :/ I guess I'll be waiting for the audiobook of that one. In addition...