It's official: I'm on hiatus

Hi everyone! You may (or may not) have noticed that I've been a bit MIA over the past month. Since Covid hit, I have struggled a bit with blogging and keeping up with everyone. A ton has happened over the past two years that has pulled me in different directions and moved my beloved blog to the back burner. Although I still love the community and all of my wonderful blogging buddies, I've spent the last month exploring new hobbies and finding new passions that are taking up quite a bit of my time. 

I'm still reading, but at this point it's mostly fanfiction with some audiobooks here and there. I've found my comfort area and right now it just feels good to live in that space. With all the uncertainty in the world, it's nice to have something familiar to fall back into. Unfortunately, reading 5000 stories about the same characters doesn't make for a great book blog. 

So, after eight wonderful years of blogging, I'm officially taking some time off. I don't know how much time but, after arguing with myself for awhile, I've come to the realization that it's okay to take a step back from something even after loving it for almost a decade. For the time being I'm planning to spend time pursuing some exciting new hobbies and fully letting myself enjoy fandom without constantly feeling guilty for not reading "real" books to keep up my blog. 

I love the book blogging community so much and I will forever be grateful because this was exactly what I needed at the time that I found it and you all have been one of the most important parts of my life for the eight years since. My domain just renewed so Cornerfolds will still be here for the next year and I feel like that gives me plenty of time to come back and get going again whenever I feel ready. 

In the meantime, I'll still be active on Twitter and my candle Instagram! I love all of you and I'm sure I'll be back soon!

Top Ten Tuesday #312: 21st Century Classics

Today's Topic: 

21st Century Books I Think

Will Become Classics

Happy Tuesday! This is such an interesting topic! Not all of the books I chose this week are ones that I loved (or even liked), but they're all books I believe will stand the test of time and become classics. 

Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

---

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Saturday Screen Time #47: Superheroes and miracle workers

 

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'm back with the first screen time update for 2022 and it's packed with movies and shows. Last year I started watching horror movies with a friend who lives in Canada so I'm watching those pretty consistently these days. I've FINALLY made it to a theater to see two movies in the past few months, and that was an adventure. Let's get into it!

RECENTLY IN (NEW TO ME) MOVIES

THE BEST

The Batman - If you had told me ten years ago that I would be utterly obsessed with Robert Pattinson as Batman, I would not have believed you, but here we are. I expected to enjoy this movie, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it! I loved that it wasn't another origin story (the prequel novella is worth checking out for that) and the Riddler was such a disturbingly plausible villain. I will absolutely be buying this in 4k on day one and rewatching it again and again. (5/5 stars)

Spider-Man: No Way Home - To absolutely no one's surprise, I adored this movie! It was the first one to bring me back to the theater since Covid started and, although I regretted it for the next two weeks when I was worried I was going get sick, I'm so glad I got to see it on the big screen. Seeing The Toby Maguire back as Spidey alongside the others was just perfect and I'm so excited to see where this new phase of Marvel is going to take Peter Parker and Doctor Strange! (5/5 stars)

Pig - I fully expected to love this just based on Nicolas Cage being the lead, but it was so much more than a Nic-Cage-doing-his-thing movie. This was not John Wick but with a pig, like I've seen so many others say. It was its own story that went so much deeper than anticipated. I don't want to say much, but this movie is definitely worth your time. (4.5/5 stars)

THE WORST

Better Watch Out - This one is a huge nope from me in almost every way. I felt uncomfortable from the beginning and that only compounded as the movie went on. I know that's a reaction that's generally desired from horror, but this was not in a good way for me. There is a SA plot line that absolutely did not need to exist in this movie at all and was purely there for shock value. Disappointing because this was nothing like the "if Home Alone was a horror movie" that was advertised. (1/5 stars)

The Bunker Game - What I did not expect when I turned on this Shudder exclusive was people LARPing as Nazis, but that's definitely what I got. This movie has no idea what it wants to be. There are a few good ideas that were executed horribly and genuinely do not fit together at all. I knew going in that this would probably be awful, but I was not prepared for how bad it was! I will say I never got bored, so that's something, I guess. (1/5 stars)

Aftermath - Iceman and Alice Cullen in marital turmoil. This is a full 90 minutes of a woman being gaslit by everyone around her and continuing to stay in a marriage with a man who says he's forgiven her for her infidelity but clearly has not. Everything about it was painful. (1/5 stars)

RECENTLY IN REWATCHES

RECENTLY IN TV

THE BEST

Euphoria Season 2 - Man, this show is just brutal. There's nothing I can say about it that hasn't already been said, but Zendaya continues to impress the hell out of me with every episode. It's absolutely wild how this show can make me sympathize with even the scummiest of characters one second, and hope they die the next. Anyone who says Euphoria romanticizes drug use really needs to give this season a watch. (5/5 stars)

Miracle Workers Season 1 - My husband and I fully started watching this for Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi. It's weird and irreverent and hilarious and I'm so hyped to start season two! Daniel Radcliffe is absolutely brilliant and Steve Buscemi is the most hilarious God I've ever seen. (4/5 stars)

Before the 90 Days Season 5 - This show is an absolute train wreck and I love every single second of it. From the 52-year-old pastor dating a 22-year-old Peruvian catfish, to the "24-year-old" single mom who's absolutely using a 34-year-old slob for his money, this show is a gold mine of second-hand embarrassment. (Unratable)

WATCHLIST & CURRENT WATCHES

---

Have you been to a theater lately?
Are you a sucker for trash TV?

Let me know in the comments!

ARC Review: The Dragon's Bride by Katee Robert

Title: The Dragon's Bride (A Deal With A Demon #1)
Author: Katee Robert
Publication Date: March 29, 2022
Publisher: Trinkets and Tales LLC
Pages: 185
Add to Goodreads

//I received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review//

Briar Rose might have a name out of a storybook, but she learned at a very young age that no prince was coming to save her. She’ll have to save herself. Unfortunately, even that is an impossible task in her current situation—trapped in a terrifying marriage to a dangerous man.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is how she finds herself making a deal with a demon. Freedom from her husband…in return for seven years of service.

She expects the service to be backbreaking and harsh. She doesn’t expect to be put on an auction block in a room full of literal monsters and sold to the highest bidder.

To Sol.

A dragon.

He might seem kinder than his fearsome looks imply, but she knows better than to trust the way he wants to take care of her, or how invested he is in her pleasure. In her experience, if something seems too good to be true, it certainly is.

Falling for Sol is out of the question. She’s suffered enough, and she has no intention of staying in this realm…even if she leaves her heart behind when she returns to her normal life.

Author's Note: Please check the author's website for all tropes, tags, and CWs. 

It's no secret around here that I adore Katee Robert. Whether or not something she writes sounds like my thing, I will absolutely give it a try and I'm so glad I decided to take a shot on The Dragon's Bride, my first monster romance! 

This book is as absolutely bonkers as you'd expect and I loved every wild minute of it. Briar Rose is makes a deal with a demon to kill her abusive husband in exchange for seven years in the demon realm. She thinks she's going in with eyes wide open, but she does not expect to be married off to the leader of the dragon territory, who happens to be a dragon himself. (Humanoid, but still.) A real monster can't be right than the monster she escaped, can he? 

Sol needs a bride as the leader of his territory and he has one in Briar for the next seven years. His parent put a stop to his pervious relationship, and he's never experienced anyone like Briar Rose. Sol doesn't expect his new bride to come with a boatload of trauma, but he's in it for the long haul. 

I absolutely loved both of these characters so much! Katee handled Briar's past trauma so carefully and I found myself rooting for her at every turn as she found her confidence with Sol. Of course, this isn't a Katee Robert book without steam and this had plenty of that! I knew going in that Katee's explanation for the physical logistics of Sol and Briar's romance was *magic* so that helped my suspension of disbelief. She knows how nuts this pairing is and goes full steam ahead and it's amazing! 

The world building was great for a 185 page monster romance novel and I'm eager to dive into book two to learn about the kraken and his realm. I wasn't quite sure how a seven year story would fit into such a small book, but it was incredibly well done with a nice little epilogue to wrap things up. I definitely plan to buy both the monster and discreet paperbacks of this book for my shelf! 

Top Ten Tuesday #311: Spring 2022 TBR

Today's Topic: 

Books On My

Spring 2022 TBR

Happy Tuesday! It's time for one of my favorite post topics of the year, seasonal TBRs! There are so many gorgeous (red and yellow??) books releasing this spring. I hope I can get to all of them! 

Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson

Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert

Hide by Kiersten White

Book of Night by Holly Black

For the Throne by Hannah Whitten

In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

Wind Daughter by Joanna Ruth Meyer

---

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

ARC Review: The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark

Title: The Lies I Tell
Author: Julie Clark
Publication Date: June 21, 2022
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Pages: 320
Add to Goodreads

//I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review//

She's back.

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She's a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be—a college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she's done, you've likely lost everything.

Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat's long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg's true target is.

The Lies I Tell is a twisted domestic thriller that dives deep into the psyches and motivations of two women and their unwavering quest to seek justice for the past and rewrite the future. 

First, a HUGE thank you to @netgalley for this ARC! When I originally went to request this book, unfortunately all of the spots were taken so I wish listed it. A few days later, NetGalley emailed me saying that wishes come true and I was randomly selected to read this one. I am SO grateful I was chosen because this book was PHENOMENAL!

CONTENT WARNING: There is sexual assault in this book. It’s not descriptive but it’s a driving force of one of the main characters’ life.

“A good story can be seductive. Most people are inclined to believe one rather than examine the evidence piling up in front of them. But what they don't know is that no one is a reliable narrator. Reliable narrators don't exist.”

Kat Roberts was at a fundraising party when she spotted Meg Williams: the woman who changed the course of her life. Depending on what or who you need determine which Meg you’ll receive: college students, life coach, real estate agent, you name it. 10 years after Meg Williams disappeared, she popped up again and Kat was determined to reveal Meg Williams as the con artist she is.

Meg and Kat are the alternating points of view in this book. I loved following the developing pseudo-friendship Meg and Kat developed. It was a friendship where both were keeping secrets from the other and neither trusted the other, yet they still grew to care about each other as much as they could. This was a really good psychological thriller, but beneath the surface, it’s also about the resilience of the human spirit, it gave some great insight into the human psyche, and it promoted strong female empowerment. This was a really quick read and once you get started, it’s almost impossible to put it down.

My only complaint about the book is that I wanted more of it. Especially with the semi-open ending Clark gave us.

This was my first Julie Clark book but it is DEFINITELY not my last!

Top Ten Tuesday #310: Enemies to Lovers

Today's Topic: 

Enemies to Lovers
Fantasy Romance

Happy Tuesday! Today I'm sharing some of my favorite enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance books! There are some older and some fairly recent, but all of them were amazing, five star reads for me! 

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer

The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

---

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

February Recap

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG

Hi, everyone! To no one's surprise, I've barely posted. I haven't gotten off the struggle bus since 2020, but it's fine. I'll just be over here cuddling puppies and reading fanfiction. I did manage to read a couple of actual books in the month of February, but mostly I stuck to my comfort characters. I also watched the new season of Love Is Blind and started season two of Euphoria! 

In other news, I now have more hobbies than I have time for and one of them is going to be coming to the shop as a new product hopefully tomorrow! It couldn't be farther from candles, but I'm obsessed and I've made so many of them that I can't possibly make any more for myself. Hence, the selling. It's a useful item, rather than decorative, and I'm excited (and nervous) to finally share it! 

Finally, because I promised puppy pictures, here is almost-11-month-old Rufio cuddling with his Lambchop and looking adorable.

NEW BOOKS IN FEBRUARY

    

IN FEBRUARY I READ

 

    

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

ARC Review of Gallant

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

---

I'm linking up to Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post!

ARC Review: Gallant by Victoria Schwab

Title: Gallant
Author: Victoria Schwab
Publication Date: March 1, 2022
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 384
Add to Goodreads

Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.

Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.

Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?

Victoria Schwab is an author I have always had a bit of a weird relationship with. Everyone seems to love her, but I've never been able to connect with her books. I thought A Darker Shade of Magic was fine and I gave up on The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I WANT to love her, I just don't think I'd found the right book. Until Gallant. A friend lent me her ARC a few months back after I'd read the synopsis and been sure this was THE book that would make me a Schwab fan and I was absolutely right. 

This story follows Olivia Prior, an orphan who unexpectedly finds herself invited to Gallant, her family home, a house full of secrets and mysteries. I don't think that this book will be for everyone. It's definitely more about the *vibes* than the plot, although I absolutely fell in love with Olivia. I've seen another reviewer compare this to Crimson Peak and Coraline, and I think that description perfectly encapsulates the way Gallant feels. 

What I most loved about this story was the feeling of being pulled fully into the world of Gallant. Even months after reading it I can still imagine the world (to the best of my aphant abilities) and want to go back and experience its creepy charm again. Of course, the plot that pulled Olivia along as she unraveled the multi-generational mystery was intriguing and I was dying to find out all of the house's secrets. What kept me entranced, though, was the feeling the story gave me. And I guess that's the magic of V.E. Schwab that I've been hearing about for all these years. 

I'll absolutely be buying as many special editions of this haunting book as I can afford and recommending it to everyone. I'll also be giving Schwab's backlist another look because I desperately want more stories this beautiful. 

Weekly(ish) Recap: 1/9 - 1/29

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG

Hi, everyone! I hope you've all had a decent January! I've spent the month reading quite a bit, and not just fanfition! Yay, me! XD This month I've also made a new bookish friend IN PERSON! Can you imagine? We met up for lunch and it went really well. We got to talk about BOOKS, which is not something that usually happens outside of the internet for me. I then rewarded myself with Cold Stone (they have dairy free now!) for managing a positive social interaction. Hahaha! Anyone else with social anxiety? 

Little puppy is doing really well! He's still an absolute menace, but he's healthy in every way. He still has shark teeth since three of his baby canines have yet to fall out, but we're hopeful they'll go on their own without surgical intervention. Anyone interested in puppy pictures? 

NEW BOOKS THIS WEEK

   

 

THIS WEEK I READ

 

(And quite a bit of fanfiction)

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Book Review of The Vacation

Series review of The Sinners Duet

ARC Review of Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Students

The topic was new to me authors in 2021 for Top Ten Tuesday

UPCOMING REVIEWS

---

I'm linking up to Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post!

Top Ten Tuesday #309: New to me authors in 2021

Today's Topic: 

New-to-Me Authors

I Discovered in 2021

Happy Tuesday! Today I'm sharing new-to-me authors I found (and loved) in 2021. There are no 2021 debuts on this week's list! These are all authors who've published in 2020 or earlier who I'd never read before. So many I'm glad to finally know!

Laura Thalassa | Pestilence
Alice Feeney | Rock Paper Scissors
Penelope Douglas | Credence
Samantha Shannon | The Bone Season
Talia Hibbert | Work For It
Tasha Suri | The Jasmine Throne
A.M. Strickland | In the Ravenous Dark
T.J. Klune | The House in the Cerulean Sea
Caroline Kepnes | You
Harley LaRoux | Her Soul to Take

---

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.