Sunday Funday: Book Haul & The LEGO Batman Movie

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope everyone's having a great weekend!  I know I am - I've actually had some free time for a nice change.  The last couple of weeks at my jobs have been pretty crazy all the way around and my schedule has been insane.  Anyway, since the Christmas I've picked up a few new to me books and I've even been approved for a few ARCs on Netgalley which I'm really pleased about.

The biggest name new release that I picked up for a steal this Saturday is Caraval by Stephanie Graber!  I've heard so many fantastic things about it that I'm really hyped up for it - I can't wait to get started.  I dare say that even Finn looks begrudgingly interested in this book that I've shoved in front of his face.

In January, I also picked up a few new to me books by taking advantage of some gift cards including The Ballad of Black Tom by Tom LaVelle, Dead Boys by Gabriel Squailia, Lost Gods by Brom, and Starflight by Melissa Landers.

Like I said above, I've also just managed to approved for some ARCs on NetGalley and I'm really excited to begin all of them:

Future Threat (Future Shock #2) by Elizabeth Briggs - I was hooked on book one, Future Shock, so I jumped at the chance to review the sequel as a part of Rockstar Book Tours upcoming blog tour.  My stop will be on March 3rd, so be sure to check back then to see my review!

From Ice to Ashes by Rhett C. Bruno - In this case, the author actually approached me about his upcoming release called From Ice to Ashes.  I liked one of his previous releases, The Circuit: Executor Rising and this sounds like it has a lot of potential.  It's official release date is March 28th.

Waking Gods (Themis Files #2) by Sylvain Neuvel - Of all of these ARCs, I'd say that this is the one that I'm most eagerly anticipating - I mean, did you read Sleeping Giants?  It was pretty awesome!  The official release date will be April 4th.

Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts - This made my Top Ten Tuesday list of 2017 debuts I'm Excited For and the summary of this sounds exactly like my kind of YA fantasy, plus I've already seen some great reviews!  This releases on June 2nd.

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Before work on Saturday, I thought I'd treat myself to seeing The LEGO Batman Movie at my local movie theater - since I have a gift card and all - and I'm so glad I did!  It was so much fun to see with a big crowd of people to gauge everyone's reactions to the action and laugh out loud humor.  If you loved The LEGO Movie and Will Arnett's Batman, you'll have to go see his own movie.  It really lived up to the hype - it's so much fun!  There's a lot of high-octane rat-a-tat-tat action and dialogue.  And, Batman's mixes and the movie's overall soundtrack is pretty awesome.  There are also a ton of references to Batman's past - comic book and onscreen (keep your eyes peeled for all of the Adam West era references) - as well as DC and Marvel references (I laughed out loud at Batman's password!).  This movie has a great voice cast behind it - Michael Cera's Robin is so bubbly that you just can't help but love him and Ralph Fiennes Alfred certainly has his moments.  Also, you'll want to keep your eyes open for all of the villains that show up - my two favorites being Lord Voldemort and Sauron!