Always Me

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋ I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Now: June, an anthropologist who specializes in ancient technology, discovers a hidden world that lurks just below our own when she comes across a secret inside a three hundred year old mechanical doll. Before she knows it both her career and her life are at stake, and she finds herself on a worldwide adventure with a brand new ally in her corner. Russia, 1725: The Tsar's mechanician brings to life Peter and Elena, two human-like machines who are destined to serve empires. The two siblings have trouble assimilating into this pre-Victorian society and find themselves pulled right into the heart of a war that's been going on for centuries. I've been wanting to try a Daniel H. Wilson story for a while now and when I heard about The Clockwork Dynasty I was instantly intrigued by the clockwork automatons. Plus, I couldn't resist the idea of the steampunk elements featuring in both the ...

Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to 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 a few 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 by sharing your post's url. I've just recently finished listening to Year 4 of my favorite podcast, Welcome to Night Vale , and I thought I would share some of my favorite songs from the Weather this week and next week.  Here we go, in episode order: "Children of God" by AJJ (from Episode 72, "Well of Night"), "The Heroine" by Unwoman (from Epi...

  On Friday's I take part in three weekly link ups - The Friday 56, hosted by  Freda's Voice , Book Beginnings, hosted by  Rose City Reader , and 50/50 Friday is a new weekly link up and it is hosted by  Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader  and  Laura @ Blue Eye Books .  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 Freda'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.   Then, for  50/50 Friday, every week there's a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - you share a book that suits each category and link up on the host...

Happy Thursday everyone!  This is my sign up post for the Make Me Read It Readathon, hosted by Ely @ Tea and Titles and Val @ The Innocent Smiley .  I remembered seeing readathon around the blogosphere last year and I thought I'd take part this year (the readathon's third year) for the first time.  It begins midnight wherever you are on August 6th and goes through to August 13th. Rules: Look at the books you own, either physical, e-book or ones you've borrowed from the library and pick out a few you really want to read, or feel like you should read. It’s up to you how many you pick, personally I'd pick a few more than you expect to be able to read in a week. Example: if you think you’ll only read two, pick out five books or if you think you can read seven, pick out ten. Make a list of these books on your blog, or make a video, or a Goodreads shelf or post a picture on Instagram—whatever is easiest for you. Then get friends, other bloggers/ booktubers/ ...

Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to 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 a few 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 by sharing your post's url. This week I'm back sharing more favorite Disney villain songs - "Be Prepared" from The Lion King (1994) & "The Mob Song" from Beauty and the Beast (1991) .   The Lion King was the first movie my mom ever took me to see at the movie theater, I was 5 and the stampede scene and this song just about did little me in!  When the...

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋ I received a free copy of this short story from the author in exchange for an honest review. Sgt. Schaefer, an LAPD officer, helps people fight their enemies. Even if one of those people, Sgt. Major Bushnell, has just broken out of a psychiatric ward, has declared war on Mother Nature and has brutal plans to exact his revenge on nature. Schaefer has a whole team, willing or otherwise, to help him make sure Bushnell's revenge goes off without a hitch to better help him in the long run. I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this short story, but it's a nonstop adrenaline rush of a tale. For only nineteen pages long, Environmentally Friendly sure packs an intense punch. It took me a couple of pages to get into the swing of things, but once I did I was absolutely hooked. I wouldn't say no to seeing more of Sgt. Schaefer in the future. If you're looking for a unique and clever short story to keep you on the edge of your seat, you need to try Envir...

  On Friday's I take part in three weekly link ups - The Friday 56, hosted by  Freda's Voice , Book Beginnings, hosted by  Rose City Reader , and 50/50 Friday is a new weekly link up and it is hosted by  Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader  and  Laura @ Blue Eye Books .  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 Freda'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.   Then, for  50/50 Friday, every week there's a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - you share a book that suits each category and link up on the host...

Thanks very much for nominating me for The Liebster Award, Genni! I can't believe this is my 11th nomination...wow, thanks everyone!  If you haven't checked out Genni's blog @ Ready, Set, Read! , you're really missing out - you need to check out her little space on the internet.  This time I believe I'll just be sharing my answers to the questions that Genni has set to me. Let's get started: 1) What is your favorite book of the year so far? A Conjuring of Light ( Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab - A perfect series ender! 2) If you could un-read a book, what would it be? Probably Fallen by Lauren Kate - and I only read the first couple of chapters! 3) If you could read a book again like it was the first time, what would it be? The entire Harry Potter series - no doubt about it! 4) What advice would you give to a blogger who just started off? Read what you enjoy and post about what you are interested in. 5) Shout out some of you...

The Comment Challenge, hosted by  Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense  and  Lonna @ FLYLēF , is back for August!  This challenge is an fantastic way to connect with fellow book bloggers.  If you haven't already taken part, I highly recommend giving it a shot as it's a great way to make new blogging pals.  Through previous incarnations of this challenge last summer and winter, I've had the opportunity to get to know  Ellen and Sierra @ Quest Reviews ,  Mari @ Story and Somnomancy ,  Anne @ Head Full of Books ,  Lia @ Lost In A Story ,  Bill @ Billbrarian ,  Lonna @ FLYLēF ,  Balie @ Nerd in New York , and Rissi @ Finding Wonderland .  I plan on being ambitious by commenting 10+ times with my to be assigned partner - I can't wait to get to know you, whoever you are!  You can also tweet along on Twitter with the hashtag #Summer17CC.  It's been a wonderful Summer so far!

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋ I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Greta Helsing follows in her family's footsteps by inheriting an extremely specialized, and sometimes just plain freaky, medical practice. She's one of very few doctors to supernatural creatures and everything that goes bump in the night. Greta doesn't have magical powers herself, unless you count treating banshees for vocal strain, mummies from coming completely unraveled, and the like. It's fairly quiet and doesn't pay a lot, but she's been prepared for this all of her just supernatural-adjacent life. Then, a group of monks suddenly begins killing fellow Londoners - the living and the undead - and Greta has to put all of her not inconsiderable skills to the test if she wants to stop these deranged murderers, save her life, clients, and her medical practice. Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw is an incredibly promising beginning for a brand new urban fantasy series. I'm...

Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to 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 a few 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 by sharing your post's url. This week I'm sharing two of my favorite Disney villain songs - "Friends on the Other Side" from The Princess and the Frog (2009)  & "Hellfire" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame  (1996) .  "Friends on the Other Side" is easily my favorite song from The Princess and the Frog  and - Keith David, as Dr. Facilier, has...

Happy Sunday everyone!  This weekend I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos that I took while on vacation during the first week of July (that's why I was a bit absent - I sure am glad I can schedule posts ahead!), books I picked up on my travels, and my thoughts on Spider-Man: Homecoming  (2017)!  During my vacation I traveled from my home state of Ohio through Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts.  Before this year, I had never been to Vermont and aside from fascinating sights and breathtaking scenery I was really interested in solving some mysteries involving family history in the state - I may do a post about this in the topic in the future because I've found out some some really cool things about one of my ancestors!  Anyway, I took a ton of pictures during that week, but the eight photos below are from my favorite places  that I had the opportunity to visit. Bennington Battle Monument in Bennington, V...

  On Friday's I take part in three weekly link ups - The Friday 56, hosted by  Freda's Voice , Book Beginnings, hosted by  Rose City Reader , and 50/50 Friday is a new weekly link up and it is hosted by  Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader  and  Laura @ Blue Eye Books .  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 Freda'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.   Then, for  50/50 Friday, every week there's a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - you share a book that suits each category and link up on the host...