Always Me

  Happy Thursday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my third update for my March progress on the year long  Beat The Backlist 2025  reading challenge, hosted by  Austine Decker .  You can see my original tbr  here .  In March, I completed 5 books for a total of 14 read so far out of 24 total books on my tbr.  Without further ado, keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in March: ❋   ❋  ❋   ❋ Realm of Ash  ( The Books of Ambha  #2) by Tasha Suri  is a great companion fantasy novel.  I love the world of this series - it's so richly written that it's practically a character itself. I can't wait to read more from this author in the future. My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . ❋   ❋  ❋   ❋  I'm not going in the right order for these, but I still had a lot of fun with  The Doctor and the Kid  ( Weird West Tales  #2) by Mike Resnick . I love seeing how a...

Happy Thursday everyone! Welcome back to  Books from the Backlog , the weekly linkup I'm taking part of which is hosted by  Carole's Random Life in Books .  This is a great way to put a spotlight on books that I've had sitting on my shelf for awhile.  I don't know when I'll get to my weekly featured book, but I hope to some time hopefully soon. This Week's Neglected Book: Jack of Kinrowan   ( Jack of Kinrowan #1-2)  by Charles de Lint Published: 1995 Genre: Urban Fantasy My Copy: Format: Trade Paperback Pages: 412 Where I Acquired It: Local used bookstore Summary (From Goodreads): Jack of Kinrowan An acknowledged classic of contemporary fantasy, Jack of Kinrowan brings together in one volume Charles de Lint's rollicking saga of wild faerie magic on the streets of the city. Hurled into the mythical land of Faerie by a faceless gang of bikers, young Jacky Rowan is stunned when she is immediately hailed as the legendary hero Jack of Kinrowan and dire...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my wrap up and mini reviews for the March 2025 round of the  Trope-ical Readathon  which was hosted by  Jenjenreviews .  It ran the entire month of March and I was a member of Team Fantasy this time around.  As usual, there were fifteen total challenges to complete - two team challenges and thirteen common challenges plus your choice of Team Book read as well.  I managed to read 14 of the 16 total books on my original tbr so I'd say I did a pretty great job. My total points earned for the challenge comes to 4,584.  If you'd like to see my original tbr, you can do that  here .  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I completed for this round: Team Book: ❋   ❋ This Woven Kingdom  ( This Woven Kingdom  #1) by Tahereh Mafi  is one of those books where I liked the idea of it, but not so much the final product. It has potential, but never quite lives up to it. I liked...

Happy Tuesday (and April Fools Day) everyone!  Today, I'm sharing my third update and mini reviews for the  Read Around the World Challenge .  Of the 46 books for the 46 European countries on my original  tbr , I managed to complete 4 in March for a total of 12 completed so far.  You can check out my profile here on the challenge website  here .  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read this month: ❋   ❋  ❋  I liked The Metamorphosis but  The Trial  by Franz Kafka  just didn't quite work out for me in the same way.  If you're looking for a bleak dystopia where it's more guilty until proven innocent than anything else, you might want to try this. My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . ❋   ❋  With  Palace: My Life in the Royal Family of Monaco  by Christian Louis de Massy , I thought I was getting an autobiography about Christian Louis de Massy, not mainly drama featuring Gr...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is is hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Books You’d be a Fool Not to Read, but I've decided to continue the series I've been working my way through with Favorite Books Beginning With The Letter L.  Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order by title: A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery ( The Risen Kingdoms #2)   by Curtis Craddock The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy ( Montague Siblings #2) by Mackenzi Lee Lair of Dreams ( The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray Legends & Lattes ( Legends & Lattes #1) by Travis Baldree Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist Leviathan ( Leviathan #1) by Scott Westerfeld Libriomancer ( Magic Ex Libris  #1) by Jim C. Hines The Lies of Locke Lamora ( Gentleman Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley Litany of Dreams ( Arkham Horror #13)   by Ari Marmell Have you read any of these books?  What...

 Happy Monday!  Today, I'm sharing my March update for my  12 Challenge 2025 .  This month I managed to complete 2 books for a total of 7 completed of the 12 books recommended to me.  Keep reading to see my thoughts on what I've read for this challenge in March: ❋  ❋  ❋  ❋  ❋  I'm so glad that  Les Normaux  by Janine Janssen  was recommended to me for the 12 Challenge 2025 because this is a new favorite. I went into this basically blind but absolutely loved it. The representation in this fantasy is so refreshing and the characters are all delightful. I have a feeling it will be on my best of 2025 list! I am eagerly awaiting Volume 2! My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . ❋  The Book of Ebenezer Le Page  by G.B. Edwards  is a classic piece of fiction that I pretty quickly realized wasn't for me. I was bored out of my mind and the formatting of it didn't help me focus. I'm interested in the idea...