Always Me

  Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is an Indie Freebie, so I've decided to feature ten self published books I want to read.  Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order by title: Empire of Shadows ( Raiders of the Arcana #1) by Jacquelyn Benson - This sounds like a lot of fun and it's been compared to The Mummy (1999) which is an all-time favorite movie, so this could be perfect! Gunmetal Gods ( Gunmetal Gods #1) by Zamil Akhtar - I think this has been on my tbr for too long! The Librarian of Crooked Lane ( Glass Library #1) by C.J. Archer - Historical fantasy about a librarian?  Sign me up! Never Die ( The Mortal Techniques ) by Rob J. Hayes - I haven't read any of the other standalone books in this series, but this sounds like it has a lot of potential. Nice Dragons Finish Last ( Heartstrikers #1) by Rachel Aaron - This is has been on my tbr for nearly a decade now...

  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 my favorite songs from Merrily We Roll Along (2025).  I recently watched the live recording of the 2024 Broadway revival featuring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, and Lindsey Mendez.  I wasn't at all familiar with it going in, but I really ended up enjoying it.  My favorite songs from the production are Franklin Shepard, Inc. , Old...

Happy Saturday everyone!  I know it's only the first week of September, but my books came in really early and I got to them first thing this month.  I've now completed 18 tasks for Book Riot's 2026 Read Harder Challenge .  The tasks I completed in September required me to r ead a   nonfiction book about AI or social media  and a  book by an intersex author.   I selected  Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater  and  Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon  respectively.   Read on to see my mini reviews and my plans for next month:   ❋ ❋ ❋ Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater  is an important work of social justice nonfiction for teens.  There is quite a bit of important information and narratives that help make the work of nonfiction more accessible....

      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  SeasonAthon Academy Semester Five books,  Half City ( Harker Academy #1) by Kate Golden .  It sounds like it will be a lot of fun and might be right up my alley. Beginning: Once, I crushed a beetle with my bare foot. 56: "Yo...

        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: Robots vs. Fairies edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe Published: January 9, 2018 Genre: Fantasy and Sci-fi Anthology My Copy: Format: Paperback Pages: 384 Where I Acquired It: Thrift shop Summary (From Goodreads): A unique anthology of all-new stories that challenges authors to throw down the gauntlet in an epic genre battle and demands an answer to the age-old question: Who is more awesome—robots or fairies? Rampaging robots! Tricksy fairies! Facing off for the first time in an epic genre death match! People love pitting two awesome things against each other. Robots vs. F...

  Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Books With Nationalities In The Title.  I wasn't expecting to have quite so many that fit this prompt, but anyway all of these are books that I liked quite a bit!  Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order by title: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin American Panda by Gloria Chao American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky by Sherri L. Smith and Elizabeth Wein The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad by Matthew F. Delmont I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez The Italian by Ann Radcliffe The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett Have you read any of these books?  As always,...