Always Me

Happy Friday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my ninth update for my September progress for the year long Beat The Backlist 2026 reading challenge, hosted by Austine Decker.  You can see my original tbr here .  In September, I completed 1 book for a total of 19 read so far out of 24 total books on my tbr.  5 to go!  Without further ado, keep reading to see my thoughts on the book I read in September: 21. the most beautiful cover: the art on this book cover stands above the rest to you ❋ The original book, The Phantom of the Opera novel, the movies, and the musical are some of my favorite things. That said, this YA reimagining,  Phantom Heart ( Phantom Heart #1) by Kelly Creagh , did not work at all for me for a lot of different reasons but the main reason is that the characters don't have any chemistry in any way and are hard to keep separate. I feel like I should rewatch the musical adaptation or another one soon to recover. My review is also on Goodreads ...

Happy Friday everyone! I'm sharing my third update for the r/Fantasy 2026 Book Bingo Challenge .  The challenge officially started on April 1st, 2026 and it will run through March 31st, 2027.  I'm hoping to complete the full board of 25 squares for the challenge. Since my last update, I read 3 books for a total of 9 read out of 25 books on my original tbr .  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I've read so far for this challenge: 5. Unusual Transportation - Story includes a surprising method of moving from place to place. By “unusual” we mean that it is out of the ordinary in real life AND uncommon to the book’s broader genre. This can include a highly unique take on a genre staple (spaceships with FTL wouldn’t normally count but the Infinite Improbability Drive from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would) or be a completely original mode of transit (autoducks in The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy). HARD MODE: Transportation is NOT combustion-powered or steam-po...

Happy Friday everyone! Today I'm sharing my thoughts on the book I read in September 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: September - 9B - Inspect frost (the mountain walls glimmer with an odd frost that is illuminated by your Truelight.  It's a very peculiar type of frost, you've never seen anything like this, it seems to dance and move with you... how odd.  You must collect some investigate later.) - read a book with a light blue cover  ❋ ❋ Celtika ( The Merlin Codex #1) by Robert Holdstock  is my first book by this author based on my experience with this, I doubt I'll be back for more. This sounded like it would be right up my alley, but it was incredibly underwhelming. I realized fairly early on that I wasn't interested in the characters or the world. It had its moments, bu...

On Fridays, I participate in the weekly linkup called Friday Book Snippets, co-hosted by Anne @ HeadFullofBooks and Olivia @ Bemused and Bookish .  The directions for are pretty simple.  Share two snippets (a sentence or short paragraph) from a. the book's beginning and b. page 56 (or another page) in the book you are currently reading. No spoilers, please. Join the fun every Friday.  Previously, this was The Friday 56 hosted by Anne @ HeadFullofBooks and Rose City Reader . Happy Friday everyone!  This week I'm spotlighting one of my  Halloween Bingo 2026  books,  Managing Death ( Death Works Trilogy #2) by Trent Jamieson .  This sounds really cool.  It's the second book in the series and book one isn't available at my library.  I'll give this a try and see if I want to buy the rest of the books. Beginning: There's blood behind my eyelids, and in my mouth. 56: Phones ring throughout the office. Are you participating in this challenge...

        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: Race to the End of the World ( The Mapmaker Chronicles #1) by A.L. Tait Published: October 14, 2014 Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Adventure My Copy: Format: Paperback Pages: 239 Where I Acquired It: Goodwill Summary (From Goodreads): A map of the world? Why did the King want that? Everyone knew if you went too far in either direction you'd fall off the edge, into the jaws of Genesi, the fire-breathing dragon. A reluctant adventurer. A ship captained by a slave. A mysterious sea monster. And a race to the end of the world. The first thrilling book in The Mapmaker Chronicles ...

  Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is a Fall Themed Freebie, so I'm going to share some of my Favorite Fall Movies.  Some of these are spooky but others just fit the season for me.  Each movie title will be linked back to its Letterboxd page.  Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order by title: The Addams Family   - I love these characters and this (and the 1993 sequel) is probably my favorite iteration of this kooky family. Arsenic and Old Lace - This movie is so unhinged and chaotic and it's an all time favorite Cary Grant movie.  Plus, it happens to be set at Halloween!  The movie poster doesn't quite do the story justice in my opinion.  Also, on a side note, last week someone was telling me that if there was ever a remake or new adaptation of this story that they would like to see Ryan Gosling play Mortimer.  I wasn't expecting that pa...