Always Me

Happy Saturday everyone!  I hope everyone's been staying healthy and happy.  I can't believe were just days away from December already.  Anyway, that means that I've now completed 22 tasks of  Book Riot's 2021 Read Harder Challenge .  The tasks I completed this month required me to read a realistic YA book not set in the U.S., U.K., or Canada  and  a historical fiction with a POC or LGBTQ+ protagonist.   I selected  The Weight of Our Sky  by Hanna Alkaf  and  Fingersmith  by Sarah Waters .  Read on to see my mini reviews and what's coming up for December: ❋  ❋  ❋   ❋ The Weight of Our Sky  by Hanna Alkaf  is an absolutely brutal and heart-wrenching work of historical fiction with a great cast of characters as well as good mental health representation.  The novel handles the tough subject matter very well and the characters voices are all quite distinct.  Now that I've finished it, I feel like I really ought to learn more about the history of Malaysia.  I don'

Happy Friday everyone!  In honor of  Sci-Fi Month 2021  (Image credit: Photo by  Liu Zishan  on  123RF.com  with a quote from  Babylon's Ashes  by James S.A. Corey), I'm taking part in the  Sci-Fi Month Challenge  and I'm sharing Judge A Book By Its Cover Artist.  I've seen a lot of great sci-fi covers lately, but I'm featuring two of my all time favorites which both happen to have been illustrated by Victo Ngai .  Her style is absolutely fantastic and these two pieces are perfect fits for their respective books.  Feast your eyes on these two beauties: Amberlough ( The Amberlough Dossier #1) by Lara Elena Donnelly  - If you haven't read this series opener, I can't recommend it enough but I think it perfectly encapsulates the novel and its tone and style.  I do like the art deco redesign which was done in time for the sequels, but I would have loved to have seen the sequels with covers designed by Ngai.   Vicious ( Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab - Schwab is on

On Friday's I take part in three weekly link ups - The Friday 56, hosted by  Freda's Voice , and Book Beginnings, hosted by  Rose City Reader .  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.  Happy Friday everyone!  In honor of  Sci-Fi Month 2021  (Image credit: Photo by  Liu Zishan  on  123RF.com  with a quote from  Babylon's Ashes  by James S.A. Corey), this week I'm spotlighting my current Sci-Fi Month read,  Outpost ( Donovan Trilogy #1) by W. Michael Gear .  I found this not too long ago at a bargain ou

Happy Thursday everyone!  And, Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it.  In honor of  Sci-Fi Month 2021  (Image credit: Photo by  Liu Zishan  on  123RF.com  with a quote from  Babylon's Ashes  by James S.A. Corey), I'm taking part in the  Sci-Fi Month Challenge  and I'm sharing Turn Back Time #ThrowbackThursday (at least 50 years old).  My picks down below are three favorite sci-fi novels released in 1971 or before.  Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order: Duel by Richard Matheson - I'll admit that I totally picked up this short story collection that was originally released in 1971 because I love the movie  based on the title horror thriller story, but I also enjoyed the sci-fi stories included as well.  Several of those were adapted into episodes of The Twilight Zone , for example " Little Girl Lost ". I, Robot  ( The Robot Series #1) by Isaac Asimov - It's been ages since I've read this, but I remember really enjoying it way bac

Happy Wednesday everyone! I can't believe Thanksgiving is almost here and by extension Black Friday.  I hope everyone stays healthy, safe, and happy this year.  I have today off so what better excuse do I have to celebrate Black Friday by reading all day long (with maybe a few breaks here and there)?  This year I'm back for the Black Friday Read-a-thon which is hosted by  Du Livre ,  Books & Sensibility , and  Mocha Girls Read .  You can also follow along on Twitter  here .  Anyway I'm going to use this readathon to work through my library five graphic novel library checkouts.  Will I be able to get through these?  Probably not, but I'm going to be ambitious and go for it.  Keep reading to see my potential tbr: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 5: Arena of Fear by Nick Abadzis - This has been a fun series so far.  I've really enjoyed getting to know Gabby, and it looks like Captain Jack will be included in this installment. Goldie Vance, Vol. Two ( Goldie Vanc

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my TBR for the Reindeer Readathon which will run for the entire month of December.  It is hosted by Breakeven Books  with some help from Steff , Noelle , Savy , and Amanda  as the other team leaders.  I am officially a member of the Snowflake Team which is Noelle (noelle7pages).  You can also check out the official Twitter account here .  I saw this readathon last year and it looked like fun, so I thought I'd give it a try this time around.  Without further ado, let's get to the prompts: DASHER - 10 PTS - A short story (or collection) or novella My choice: My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon edited by P.N. Elrod - I've had this short story anthology on my shelf for way too long.  Some of my favorite authors have contributed stories so I'm looking to see what is included. DANCER - 15 PTS - A book by one of your favorite authors (rereads count too) My choice: Battle Ground ( The Dresden Files #17) by Jim Butcher - This is