Always Me

Happy Tuesday everyone and welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish .  This week's theme is Most Anticipated Releases For The First Half of 2016.  I'm going to try to repeat myself as little as possible here, so you may be seeing a few titles I haven't really mentioned before alongside the huge names!  Here we go, in order by release date: Drake ( The Burned Man #1) by Peter McLean  - January 6th, 2015 - Hitmen!  Greek Furies!  Lucifer!  Magical accomplices!   A Criminal Magic  by Lee Kelly - February 2nd, 2016 - This one had me at The Night Circus meets Peaky Blinders , and it's written by the author of City of Savages ! Revisionary  ( Magic Ex Libris  #4) by Jim C. Hines - February 2nd, 2016 - Isaac, Smudge, and Lena are back!! These Vicious Masks  by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas  - February 9th, 2016 - It had me at Jane Austen meets the X-Men! A Gathering of Shadows ( A Darker Shade of Magic  #2

Happy Monday everyone and welcome to my eleventh Music Monday! Let's share some songs we've been enjoying lately!  If you would like to play and I really hope you do, please see the rules and link up below. Rules:  Every Monday share one or two of songs you've been enjoying lately.  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 at the bottom of this post by sharing your post's url.  Finally, have fun sharing and discovering new to you music! "Black Mambo" by Glass Animals (2014) - I love the eerie sound of this song.  I think the name of the group really fits this song - it sounds glassy and eerie, yet bubbly at the same time. And then there's the music video which

It's been quite a while since I've done one of these posts - middle of October, I think - so I've got a fair bit to include. This week I've actually had some time off for the holidays, and I'll have some time off next week, too.  I really lucked out this year!  I've had the chance to get some reading, blogging, and watching done that I wouldn't have had the time to do otherwise.  And most importantly, I had the chance to spend some time with the family! First, I'd like to talk about some of the movies I've had the opportunity to see at the movie theater.  I've seen Spectre , The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 , and Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 3D.  I really enjoyed each movie. Spectre was very, very good.  I liked getting further into the James Bond mythology, and seeing that the Daniel Craig films are quite interconnected.  The pre-opening titles scene was pretty stunning and perhaps the best of Craig's entries!  Dave Bau

Wow!  I can't believe it - I've been nominated for the Liebster Award eight times!  Thanks so much to KayCeeK @ Wonder Struck for this nomination - everyone should go check out her blog because it's fantastic! The Liebster Award is a tag to help new bloggers be discovered- it's also a great way to get to know the blogger! The Rules: 1. Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog. 2. Answer the 11 questions the nominator has given you. 3. Tag 11 bloggers who have less than 1000 readers. 4. Think of 11 questions to ask the bloggers you have nominated. 5. Let them know you've nominated them through social media or their blog. KayCee's Questions for Me: 1. If you could live inside any book, what book would it be and why?  I'd love to live in the Magic Ex Libris series by Jim C. Hines .  Being a Libriomancer would be so cool - I'd love to be able to magically reach into books and draw objects out from them. 2. What is

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋ The Caliph of Khorasan, Khalid, takes a new bride every night only to kill her come dawn. When Shahrzad's best friend falls victim to the caliph, she vows to avenge her friend's death. She volunteers to be the next bride and plans on ending the caliph's reign of terror, all while surviving the ordeal herself. She knows each night could be her last, but she manages to enchant and beguile the caliph by weaving stories that end on a cliffhanger bringing him back for more. Over time, she begins to realize that Khalid is not exactly the monster everyone thinks he is. Unbelievably, she finds herself falling in love with him, the ultimate betrayal of her friend's memory. Either way, she's looking to uncover whatever secrets he, and the palace, still hold. Regardless of her new found love, she must be ready to take Khalid's life in retribution for all of those he has stolen. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh is a retelling inspired by A Thousand

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋   ❋ Clint Barton is Hawkeye, a fantastic archer and a member of the Avengers. Aside from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I don't know much about his character, but I liked where they went with him in Age of Ultron . I'd heard so many good things about this new story that I really wanted to check it out. And, as it turns out, the action is so much fun and the sense of humor is right on target. I loved that, for the most part, each issue started out with some variation of: "Okay, this looks bad." Followed up by a panel that goes something like this: Then, there's always an undercurrent of absurdity with his skill set like: I can't forget to mention the artwork that brings it all to life. There are several talented illustrators who lend their talents to Matt Fraction's text. Of all of them, I believe David Aja's contributions were my favorite overall. You can't go wrong with a good car chase scene: There's so muc

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋   ❋ Library of Souls is a fantastic finale to the marvelous Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series by Ransom Riggs. This installment takes up immediately after Hollow City concludes and continues at breakneck pace as Jacob and company travel from one time loop to another in an attempt to save their captured friends from a fortress at the center of everything. It's not just their lives at stake either, it's all of Peculiardom. If you enjoyed the first two books in this series, the finale is an absolute must read for fans. It has just about everything you could want to see and it wraps up the story beautifully. I particularly enjoyed meeting the new characters and watching them interact with favorites. The new locations and times are equally fascinating. As before I couldn't look away from the selection of photos, all of which are eerily perfect. I'm looking forward to whatever Ransom Riggs has in store for us next. Needless to say, I can't

Welcome to The Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by  Freda's Voice . These are the rules: 1. Grab a book, any book. 2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader. 3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. 4. Post it. 5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post. I'm also taking part in Book Beginnings, a weekly meme hosted by  Rose City Reader .  The rules are pretty simple - you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires.  Don't forget to link up your post's url with Rose City Reader. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!  I hope you find everything you wanted under your tree! This week I'm spotlighting my next read, Ross Poldark (Poldark #1) by Winston Graham .  I really enjoyed watching the show starring Aidan Turner when it aired on Masterpiece, and I can't wait until the next season begins.  I'

This is my second time participating in Emily's and Ashley G's wonderful monthly writing link up.  I had a lot of fun participating last month, so here I am this month.  This month's prompt is a line of dialog: My Scene: "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are doing?!" I shout at my friend. He's in the middle of sticking a styrofoam cup in the microwave - my microwave. He turns his head and looks at me, surprised by my outburst. I'm not the sort to get worked up easily, so if I'm shouting he knows it's for a good reason. "Uh, I was going to melt some chocolate in the microwave." It sounds more like a question. "Do you know what could happen if you turned that on?!" By my tone and expression, he can tell I'm serious, but he can't help himself. "I'd have melted chocolate by now?" I stare at him for a second. How does he not know this? Did he forget? "Remember that time in high school w

I recently saw this wonderfully festive tag by Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense  and knew I had to complete it.  Without further ado, I'll jump straight into the tag. What's your favorite Christmas movie? I've always enjoyed A Christmas Carol - my favorite version is the film from 1951 starring Alastair Sim as Ebeneezer Scrooge.  I also can't get enough of The Nightmare Before Christmas - it's great for Halloween and Christmas - and Christmas Vacation is so funny. Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Sometimes mom would let me open one early on Christmas Eve, but for the most part it's always in the morning. Do you have a favorite Christmas memory? I would say it's the looks on friends faces when they open an awesome gift that I found for them. Favorite Christmas food? I love my grandmother's homemade stuffing.  I could eat it all day - and the gravy that goes along with it is special, too. Favorite Ch

Happy Tuesday and Happy Holidays everyone!  This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish , is Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year.  I'm going to try to keep it narrowed down to ten!  Here we go, in alphabetical order by author: Six of Crows ( Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo Nightwise by R.S. Belcher A Court of Thorns and Roses ( A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J. Maas Ten Thousand Skies Above You ( Firebird #2) by Claudia Gray Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer ( Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1) by Rick Riordan Carry On by Rainbow Rowell The Mime Order ( The Bone Season #2) by Samantha Shannon Nevermore ( Cal Leandros #10) by Rob Thurman Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young So, what do you think of this week's list?  Would you like to get any of these books as a gift this year?  What w