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Top Ten Tuesday: Hidden Gems of 2025

Happy Tuesday everyone! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is Books for Armchair Travelers, but I feel like I've done something like this recently enough that I'll do something else altogether. This week instead I'm featuring some of my favorite Hidden Gems of 2025. I'm not just counting 2025 releases, but everything I read over the course of the year that I think more people should know about. All of the books on my list this week have under 1,000 ratings on Goodreads. Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order by title: Elizabethan Life in Town and Country by M. St. Clare Byrne - Goodreads ratings: 1 rating - I'm the only one for this one! It covers a wide variety of topics and was absolutely fascinating. I'm glad I decided to give this a try when I saw it for 50 cents at Goodwill. Hick: The Trailblazing Journalist Who Captured the Heart of Eleanor Roosev...

Music Monday: Lydia the Bard

Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to Music Monday! Let's share some songs we've been enjoying! If you would like to link up with me, please see the rules below. Rules: Every Monday share a few songs you've been enjoying. 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. Hello everyone! Today, I'm featuring three of my favorites from Lydia the Bard . I just happened to stumble upon her channel on YouTube and got hooked. She's got quite a variety of music and I've had a good time exploring her music. Give a listen to Run , Grow Up , and Way Back When : You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge 2026 - February Update: The Warmth of Other Suns & How Bad Things Can Get

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope everyone's had a good February so far. I've completed my 4 tasks for Book Riot's 2026 Read Harder Challenge . The tasks I completed in February required me to read a microhistory and a book about a cult or cults . I selected The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson and How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates respectively. Read on to see my mini reviews and my plans for next month: ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson is a must read that feels timely and fresh. I don't think I was quite as invested in this as I was with Caste . That said, I'm grateful that these stories of these three people and their lives are known. Wilkerson's style makes a history I otherwise I wouldn't have been all that familiar with co...

The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): This Halloween Moon by Joseph Fink

On Friday's I take part in two weekly link ups - The Friday 56, currently hosted by Anne @ My Head Is Full of Books , 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 Anne'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! This week I'm spotlighting one of my Beat The Backlist 2026 books, The Halloween Moon by Joseph Fink . Welcome to Night Vale is one of my favorite podcasts so when I found out about this book from Joseph Fink I thought I'd check it out....

Books From The Backlog: The Murder Game by Carrie Doyle

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: The Murder Game by Carrie Doyle Published: April 6, 2021 Genre: YA mystery thriller My Copy: Format: Trade paperback Pages: 384 Where I Acquired It: Target Summary (From Goodreads): What if your best friend and roommate killed a teacher at your prep school? Or what if he didn’t do it, but he’s being framed, and you’re the only person who can save him? Luke Chase didn’t mean to get caught up solving the mystery of Mrs. Heckler’s murder. He just wanted to spend alone time with the new British girl at their boarding school. But little did he know someone would e...

Magical Readathon: Orilium - Choose Your Own Adventure: Year In Aeldia 2026, The Boardgame - February Update

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I'm sharing my thoughts on the book I read in February for Choose Your Own Adventure: Year In Adelia 2026, The Boardgame , an additional challenge to G. @ Book Roast 's Magical Readathon . You can see my full tbr here . Without further ado, check out my mini review below: February - Pick a direction and work your way towards the number 2 spot. These prompts mainly correlate with your physical shelves and where the books are. 2B West - book from the middle left side of the shelf ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros is my first work from the author and I know it would be my last. It's not often I read a story with a Jewish main cast that isn't about WWII and/ or the Holocaust in one way or another, so just that is refreshing. I'm also a big fan of historical fantasy and I really liked the style and world-building here. Finally, I want to remind other readers that they can'...