Always Me

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope everyone's had a good August.  This year is really flying by, isn't it!  I've now completed 16 tasks for Book Riot's 2026 Read Harder Challenge .  The tasks I completed in August required me to r ead/try a recipe from a cookbook about a culture whose food you’ve never eaten and a  book by a librarian .   I selected  FUSÃO: Untraditional recipes inspired by Brasil by Ixta Belfrage  and  A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff  respectively.   Read on to see my mini reviews and my plans for next month:   ❋ ❋ ❋ FUSÃO: Untraditional recipes inspired by Brasil by Ixta Belfrage   has some great photography. Honestly, I can say I was much more interested in the history and culture segments than the actual recipes. I already know that I won't be making any of the recipes in this book though.  Let me just say, I have no idea where I'd get some of the regular ingredients for th...

      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 Summer of Horror 2026 (hosted by Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy ),  Koko ( Blue Rose Trilogy #1) by Peter Straub .  Okay, this has been sitting on my shelf for about a million years and I'm finally going to give it a try. B...

        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 Queen Is Dead ( The Immortal Empire #2) by Kate Locke Published: February 5, 2013 Genre: Steampunk Urban Fantasy My Copy: Format: Hardback Pages: 333 Where I Acquired It: Ollie's Bargain Outlet Summary (From Goodreads): Nothing lasts forever---and immortality isn't all its cracked up to be.  When her brother Val gets in over his head in an investigation of Half-Blood disappearances and goes missing himself, it's up to Xandra, newly crowned Goblin Queen, to get him back and bring the atrocities to light. Xandra must frequent the seediest parts of London, while also coping...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It's that time!  Time to start my Autumn Equinox 2026 classes at Orilium for the Magical Readathon , hosted by G. @ Book Roast .  During the Spring Equinox this year , I started working toward completing my new Calling of a Moon Warden.  Anyway, this Autumn Equinox runs all of September.  This semester I'll be taking 4 courses: I need an O in Elemental Studies, a Q in Astronomy, a Q in Restoration, and and O in Spells & Incantations (that's 6 books in total).  To earn a Q that requires me to read one book to fulfill a specific prompt and to earn an O that requires me to read two books.  Keep reading to see what I plan on reading to complete my course of study for this semester: Elemental Studies O - Enchanted Forestry: Forest My choice: Hunted by Darcy Coates - This sounds like it will be quite an unsettling horror story from a favorite author. Astronomy O - Birthchart Numerology: Popular book from year: your DOB = XXY...

  Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Bookish Places I’ve Visited, but in honor of Summer of Horror 2026 , a celebration of all things horror running from June through August and hosted by Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy , I'm going to do something a bit different and share Horror Locations I Really Don't Want To Visit.  Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order by title: Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer - New Creations craft store - no, thanks! Dracula by Bram Stoker - Dracula's castle - nah!  The above gif is from the movie Horror of Dracula (1958) which stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and is one of my favorite adaptations. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales  by Edgar Allan Poe - The House of Usher - I'll just stay home okay! Fear Street by R.L. Stine - Fear Street and Shadyside - Another one I'll stay away from, thanks!  Readin...

  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! In honor of Summer of Horror 2026 , a celebration of all things horror running from June through August and hosted by Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy , I'm featuring music from the Holiday Sweater YouTube channel.  Their music is perfectly atmospheric for the Summer of Horror.  Plus, the dancing skeletons look pretty great.  Give a listen to  Chill ...