Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Bookish Websites

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the first Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is Favorite Book Blogs/ Bookish Websites.  I've shared some of my favorite books blogs before, so today I'm sharing some of my favorite bookish websites.  Here we go, in alphabetical order:

Book Riot

Bookstr

Bustle Books

Epic Reads

Goodreads

The Hub

NetGalley

Off The Shelf

The Ohio Digital Library - Overdrive/ Libby

Project Gutenberg

Music Monday: The Lion King and Pocahontas

Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to Music Monday! Let's share some songs we've been enjoying lately!  If you would like to play and I really hope you do, please see the rules and link up below.

Rules:

Every Monday share a few songs you've been enjoying lately.  It doesn't have to be a specific genre, new, or one of your favorites - just something you'd like to share with others.  If possible, share a music or lyric video of the song and your thoughts on the song(s), artist(s), and/or music video(s).

If you would like to participate in Music Monday, please join the link up by sharing your post's url.


This week I'm sharing some more of my favorite Disney songs - "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" from The Lion King (1994) and "Steady As The Beating Drum" from Pocahontas (1995).  I love these two songs and I feel like I don't mention either of them enough.  By the way, The Lion King was the first movie I saw in the movie theater.  What are your favorite songs from these two movies?

Sky Girls: The True Story of the First Women's Cross-Country Air Race by Gene Nora Jessen (ARC) - Review

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I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The year is 1929, and on the eve of America's Great Depression, nineteen gutsy and passionate pilots soared above the glass ceiling in the very first female cross-country air race. Armed with grit and determination, they crossed thousands of miles in propeller-driven airplanes to defy the naysayers who would say it cannot - not should not - be done. From the indomitable Pancho Barnes to the infamous Amelia Earhart, Sky Girls chronicles a defining and previously forgotten moment when some of the first women pilots took their rightful place in the open skies. For a country on the brink of defining change, they would become symbols of hope, daring, and the unstoppable American spirit. And for generations to come, their actions would pave the way for others to step into the brave unknown and learn to fly.

Sky Girls is a reprint of the 2002 release The Powder Puff Derby of 1929: The First All Women's Transcontinental Air Race. Early aviation has always interested me, especially when it comes to women pioneers in the field. This history book is a decent entry to get you get interested in the topic. It covers the entire length of the race from California to Ohio and gives us a taste of the pilots involved including Amelia Earhart. Personally, I wish the author's narrative followed a few of the pilots more closely rather than jumping around between the entire group of racers involved. There are also a lot of photos and maps included (or at least there are supposed to be since the ARC mostly just had blank spaces representing where those are supposed to appear in the final copy which definitely made me feel a little out of the loop). Overall, my favorite aspect of this book is that at the end it features more in-depth profiles on all of the racers by concisely going beyond the narrow scope of the race. I also liked the fact that the author, a pilot herself, also goes a little further in the history of female aviation pioneers by touching on their involvement in WWII, commercial airlines, and space. By the way, she even features a profile of Jerrie Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world in 1964 completing Amelia Earhart's goal. She was awarded the Federal Aviation Agency Gold Medal by President Johnson for her achievements. Even cooler yet, she was a local central Ohioan from Newark.

Thanks again, NetGalley!

I read this history book from August 8 - 10, 2018 and my review is also on Goodreads.  Sky Girls: The True Story of the First Women's Cross-Country Air Race will be released on August 18th, 2018.

The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): My Life As A White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie #1) by Diana Rowland + 50/50 Friday

On Friday's I take part in three weekly link ups - The Friday 56, hosted by Freda's Voice, Book Beginnings, hosted by Rose City Reader, and 50/50 Friday is a new weekly link up and it is hosted by Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader and Laura @ Blue Eye Books. For The Friday 56, you choose a book, a book you have just finished, a book you are about to start, your current read, and share a line or a few lines that grab you (but don't spoil anything) from page 56 or 56% of the way through the ebook. Post it and share your post's url on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post. As for Book Beginnings, you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires, and then link up your post's url with Rose City Reader. Then, for 50/50 Friday, every week there's a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - you share a book that suits each category and link up on the hosts blogs.

This week I'm spotlighting my third book of the Make Me Read It Readathon, My Life as a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie #1) by Diana Rowland.  I've heard a lot of great things about this urban fantasy series and I'm liking what I'm seeing so far.

Beginning:

"You should be dead," the ER nurse stated as she adjusted something on my IV. 

56:

But I'd been craving brains.  The smell was like chocolate and cookies and biscuits and gravy and everything else that was delicious.

50/50 Friday: Favorite/ Least Favorite Summery Book

Least Favorite - I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus by S.G. Browne - I actually really liked this zombie Christmas book, but it just isn't summery book if you know what I mean.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - You have to admit, this classic is probably about the most Summery book out there with giant parties and everything.

What are you reading this weekend?  Are you taking part in the Make Me Read It Readathon this year?  As always thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!

The Raging Ones (The Raging Ones #1) by Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie (ARC) - Review

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I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Franny, a Fast-Tracker teen, dreams of dying with wealth she’s never known. Like everyone else, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday - until she does. Court knows wealth as well as pain. After five years in prison, he wants a life beyond all of that. Mykal, a Hinterlander who is willing to fight for those he cares for, shares a connection with Court which becomes more chaotic when they meet Franny. To avoid discovery by those who know they've seemingly escaped the impossible, they'll have to take drastic action and leave the planet. They'll have to hide their unique connection and manage to earn a place on the newest space mission against thousands of potential candidates.

The Raging Ones by Krista & Becca Ritchie was one of my most anticipated reads of the summer. I was really looking forward to it and had very high expectations even though I had never read anything from these authors before. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped. It wasn't a bad read and it didn't quite fall flat, but I didn't find it as addicting or as put together as I was expecting. It certainly has its moments, but in the long run for me I found it too mediocre to truly stand out among other 2018 releases. I will say that my favorite aspect, though, is the world-building which is always great for an intro into a sci-fi or fantasy world. The authors do a good job of fleshing out the world of our cast. I like that we get some answers about why things are the way things are in regards to the world like with the deathdays and the classes. The writing is quite visual which definitely lends itself to their descriptive writing. The authors also gave us some intriguing twists and turns throughout with the best for the cliffhanger ending. Finally, what really made this story fall short for me was our cast of characters. Franny, Mykal, and Court all came across as too flat and underdeveloped for my liking. I actually had a difficult time telling the three of them apart - even during their rotating perspective chapters. I could have been reading just one character rather than three. Let's just say I was grateful that each chapter listed the narrator because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

Overall, Krista & Becca Ritchie's The Raging Ones has a lot of potential as a YA sci-fi series with a lot to like about it especially when it comes to world-building and keeping the reader on their toes. However, it didn't quite live up to my expectations, mainly due to lax character development. You may want to try this novel for yourself if you like YA sci-fi with a dash of romance in a unique and clearly defined world. Thanks again for this opportunity, NetGalley.


I read this ARC from July 30 - August 5, 2018 and my review is also on Goodreads.  The Raging Ones will be released on August 14th.

Top Ten Tuesday: Crossovers I'd Like To See

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the first Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is Books You’d Mash Together which asks us to pick two books you think would make an epic story if combined (submitted by Rissi @ Finding Wonderland).  I had a difficult time narrowing it down to just ten, so I've included a few bonus.  Here we go, in no particular order:

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch & Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - I'd love to see the casts come together, but I'm dying to see what kind of stuff Locke and Kaz could get up to!

Storm Front by Jim Butcher & Hounded by Kevin Hearne - I need Harry and Karen to meet up with Atticus and Granuaile.  That combination would totally make my day!

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin & Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence - This would be insanely brutal, but seriously Joffrey could learn a thing or two from Jorg.

The Diviners by Libba Bray & In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters - Even though it's the Roaring '20s vs. WWI, this would still make a brilliantly creepy crossover.

These Vicious Masks by Kelly Zekas and Tarun Shanker & The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman - Yes, these stories are set 70 years apart, but this would be such a cool crossover - demon hunters and people with superpowers, how about it!

Jackaby by William Ritter & The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey - I need the citizens of the New England towns of New Fiddleham and New Jerusalem to meet up.  Pretty please?

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson & Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - I just want Parzival and Art3mis to meet up with Hiro and Y.T, is that too much to ask?

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater & The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black - Basically, I just want any excuse for these two authors to co-write something and this seems like it could be a really cool mashup.

Soulless by Gail Carriger & Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare - I'd love to see these characters meet up, especially Lord Akeldama and Magnus Bane.  I think they'd be great allies.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Supernatural - Since both series have tie-in books, this counts for me.  I don't know about you, but I'd love to see the Scoobies(!) meet Team Free Will!  I mean, we've already kind of had it since several Buffy actors have appeared on Supernatural.

Bonus:

Back to the Future & Doctor Who - Don't you just have the feeling that Marty and Rory would be good friends?

Columbo & Sherlock - Just one more thing, I have no clue how this could work out but the two detectives could make a good team.  I would totally watch that combination!

Music Monday: Lady and the Tramp, The Aristocats, and Oliver & Company

Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to Music Monday! Let's share some songs we've been enjoying lately!  If you would like to play and I really hope you do, please see the rules and link up below.

Rules:

Every Monday share a few songs you've been enjoying lately.  It doesn't have to be a specific genre, new, or one of your favorites - just something you'd like to share with others.  If possible, share a music or lyric video of the song and your thoughts on the song(s), artist(s), and/or music video(s).

If you would like to participate in Music Monday, please join the link up by sharing your post's url.


This week I'm sharing some more of my favorite classic Disney songs - this time I'm spotlighting one song each from Lady and the Tramp (1967), The Aristocats (1970), and Oliver & Company (1988).  I've picked "He's a Tramp" performed by Peggy Lee, "Everybody Wants to be a Cat" performed by Phil Harris, and "Why Should I Worry" performed by Billy Joel - can't get much cooler than any of these songs in my opinion!