Audiobook Review: Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett

Title: Onyx and Ivory (Rime Chronicles #1) Author: Mindee Arnett Publication Date: May 15, 2018Publisher: Balzer + BrayPages: 500Add to Goodreads They call her Traitor Kate. It’s a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king years ago. Now Kate lives as an outcast, clinging to the fringes of society as a member of the Relay, the imperial courier service. Only those most skilled in riding and bow hunting ride for the Relay; and only the fastest survive, for when dark falls, the nightdrakes—deadly flightless dragons—come out to hunt. Fortunately, Kate has a secret edge: she is a wilder, born with...

Top Ten Tuesday #224: Recent TBR additions

Today's Topic:  The Ten Most Recent Additions to My To-Read List Hi everyone! This week is such an easy topic and I'm here for it! My most recent ten additions are a combination of new releases and backlist books that I can't wait to read. A few of these I was actually lucky enough to get early copies of, but haven't gotten around to reading them yet. Soon! A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman Anyone Else? by Angela Scott Ararat by Christopher Golden The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross Dark of the West by Joanna Hathaway Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin...

Weekly Recap: 1/20 - 1/26

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Hi everyone! This week has been wild! The candle shop has been super busy, which is great! I've been working towards something big that I can't wait to share and it's killing me not to be able to talk about it! Next week, for sure. Unfortunately, all of that excitement meant I kind of accidentally forgot to post my review of East, so I guess that's coming next week! If you haven't entered yet, go check out my Stain giveaway because there are only a couple days left! In home life, I'm happy to report that my puppy is still doing well. It only seems right to give an update after SO MANY weeks of telling you all...

Saturday Screen Time #28: Unpopular Opinions

Happy Saturday, everyone! It's time for another edition of Saturday Screen Time! It has been a little while since I've done one of these and this week I'm actually including a TV series. I'm already ready for the boos since I definitely have some unpopular opinions to share about some loved movies this week.  THIS WEEK IN SCREEN TIME Revenge - I really need to stop watching movies I see on "best of" lists. I first saw this recommended somewhere... maybe on Reddit? But then I got an email from Shudder and this was their number one movie of the year! It had to be good, right? Then I looked up the ratings and was shocked at...

How often do I actually read the books on my TBR lists: 7 months later

Last June I discussed the sad state of my TBR list and how I very rarely get to the books I want to read. This is why I never made TBR lists for reading challenges. I know I'll never be able to complete them! But every season and sometimes more often, Top Ten Tuesday asks me to share my most anticipated upcoming reads. I felt that seven months later was enough time to check back in and see how well I've done since then. Spoiler: it's mildly embarrassing. Hmm. Well, I read seven out of twenty. And if we're being honest, I DNFd two of them. Yikes. For my Summer and Fall TBR lists in 2018 I did at least try to stick to fantasy reads since...

Audiobook Review: The Nightmare Room by Chris Sorensen

Title: The Nightmare Room (The Messy Man #1)  Author: Chris Sorensen Publication Date: January 25, 2018 Publisher: Harmful Monkey Press Pages: 276Add to Goodreads A boy in a basement, a man in a booth and a darkness that threatens to swallow them both... New York audiobook narrator Peter Larson and his wife Hannah head to his hometown of Maple City to help Peter's ailing father and to put a recent tragedy behind them. Though the small, Midwestern town seems the idyllic place to start afresh, Peter and Hannah will soon learn that evil currents flow beneath its surface. They move into an old farmhouse on the outskirts of town—a house...

Top Ten Tuesday #223: Books I forgot to read

Today's Topic:  Books I Meant to Read  In 2018 but Didn’t Get To Hi everyone! This week I'm sharing ten of the books I fully intended to read in 2018, but just never found the time for. This is literally the story of my life. There were SO many good books in 2018 (and even a few before) that I really wanted to get to. Here's hoping I can read at least a few of them this year! Chainbreaker by Tara Sim The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty Endless Water, Starless Sky by Rosamund Hodge Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston Inferno by Julie Kagawa Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff The Light Between...

Weekly Recap: 1/13 - 1/19

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Hi everyone! This reading week has been a bit of a disappointment. Not to say I haven't read anything good! I just haven't managed to finish anything. :/ I'm supposed to be going to a local book club at the end of next week so I've been listening to Onyx & Ivory, but the audiobook is SO LONG! It's literally over 15 hours. I'm not quite through it yet. I'm also working on reading a friend's NaNo project from last year, which is amazing so far, but does not count toward my Goodreads goal, sadly. In candle news, my shop's makeover is pretty much complete! The listings have all new photos and a few older candles...

Book Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Perfect Ruin (The Internment Chronicles #1) Author: Lauren DeStefano Publication Date: October 1, 2013Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young ReadersPages: 356Add to Goodreads On the floating city, you can be anything you dream - a novelist or a singer, a florist or a factory worker... Your life is yours to embrace or to squander. There's only one rule: you don't approach THE EDGE. If you do, it's already over. Morgan Stockhour knows getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though her older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. There’s too much for her at home: her parents, best...

Down the TBR Hole #10

Hi everyone! Here we are again! I don't THINK I added any books to my TBR this week... I wouldn't swear to it though. This week I'm looking at a couple horror books and three retellings, which also happen to be two of my absolute favorite genres! 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 it or should it go? THE BOOKS FIENDISH BY BRENNA...

Top Ten Tuesday #222: New to me in 2018

Today's Topic:  Top Ten New-to-Me  Authors I Read In 2018 Hi everyone! This week's topic was pretty simple compared to some others. Although I didn't have a TON of 5 star reads in 2018, I did read a lot of really good books by new to me authors!   Brigid Kemmerer | A Curse So Dark and Lonely André Aciman | Call Me By Your Name Holly Black | The Cruel Prince V.E. Schwab | A Darker Shade of Magic Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman | Dry Sara Holland | Everless Tracy Banghart | Grace and Fury A.C. Gaughen | Reign the Earth Kristina Pérez | Sweet Black Waves Tricia Levenseller | Warrior of...

ARC Review: A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: A Curse So Dark and Lonely Author: Brigid Kemmerer Publication Date: January 29, 2019Publisher: Bloomsbury Children'sPages: 496Add to Goodreads Fall in love, break the curse. It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope. Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With...

Weekly Recap: 1/6 - 1/12

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Hi everyone! It has been a crazy week, but a productive one! I got a little reading done and started watching You on Netflix. I forgot how much I love Penn Badgley! I never did read the book and I'm honestly glad because I have no idea what's happening. I got a new puppy client this week also. His name is Zion and he is completely obsessed with his new kitten friend! It's the cutest. And in my own puppy news, my little guy has been good for about the last month! We've had an issue here and there, but nothing major. No trips to the vet or the ER! Hurray! My candle business is also getting a tiny makeover at...