Always Me

It's already the end of June - meaning 12 of the 24 tasks for  Book Riot's 2018 Read Harder Challenge  are complete!  The tasks I completed required me to read a   romance novel by or about a person of color and a mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author.  For the tasks, I selected  The Hidden Blade  ( The Heart of Blade Duology  #1) by Sherry Thomas  and  A Conspiracy in Belgravia  ( Lady Sherlock  #2) by Sherry Thomas  respectively.  Read on to see my mini reviews and what's next for July: ❋  ❋  ❋  ❋ I wouldn't exactly say that historical romance is my go to genre, but The Hidden Blade by Sherry Thomas really surprised me. As it turns out, it was exactly up my alley - think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets Downton Abbey . I particularly enjoyed getting to know her cast of characters as they face the challenges coming to them. Both Ying-ying and Leighton are equally ...

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 hosts blogs. This week I'm spotlig...

❋  ❋  ❋ I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Amanda Grey has always been stressed out by life in NYC from the train to public restrooms. For her, avoidance has always been a great policy. Luckily, the apartment she shares with her parents is a great place of refuge against the stresses of city life. She goes from focusing on dealing with her own demons to dealing with actual demons since she accidentally unleashed the Six Shades of Hell on her city, and there's the fact that she's rented out a room to a very real demon, who goes by D. If she wants to make it through this she's going to have to accept the help of Barnem, the guy who lives upstairs, who just happens to be a seraphim. Though to tell the truth, she can't be sure if Barnem is motivated by roommate loyalty or the wish to enslave all of humanity. And Then There Were Crows by Alcy Leyva is a decent debut urban fantasy novel. This novel provides a good introduction to Aman...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the first Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Series I’ve Given Up On/Don’t Plan to Finish - I'll be focusing on Series I Don't Plan On Finishing.  Here we go: Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard - I've read the first three books in the series, but I have no plans of reading War Storm .  I thought it was only going to be three books - imagine my disappointment when there was zero resolution by the end of King's Cage .  The Giver series by Lois Lowry - I've only read book in school and you know what, I've never been interested in taking it any further. Gallagher Girls series by Allie Carter - I liked book one well enough, but not so much as to continue on with the series. Vampire Academy series by Kristin Cast - I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed book one, but now I have to admit that I've lost interest. Beautiful Creatures s...

❋  ❋  ❋  I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Jeremiah Black, an officer of the King’s Guard and British special agent, lands on the beach in late 1780 when the American Revolution is at its height but is currently deadlocked between the two sides. Black's mission is to change the tide of the war by kidnapping George Washington and sneaking him back to London on nearby ship with help from American Loyalists. Some of the Loyalists, though, would prefer to just kill Washington instead of sending him to England to stand trial for high treason. I can't resist a good alternate history story and The Trial and Execution of the Traitor George Washington by Charles Rosenberg certainly presents an intriguing hook. I can't say I've read a "what if" novel where so much of American Revolutionary history as we know it hangs in the balance. This is my first book by this author and I'd say it's a great introduction to his imagin...

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 spotlighting Barns Courtney   - I just happened to hear "Fire" (2016)  on the radio where they said it was one of their big songs from last year.  I don't remember hearing it at all last year, but I'm glad I've finally heard it for the first time because his voice is pretty fantastic.  Courtney only has a few s...

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 hosts blogs. This week I'm spo...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the first Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Books to Read By the Pool/At the Beach (this can also serve as your Summer TBR), so I'm going to share some new and upcoming releases coming out this June - August.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get to all of these books on my Summer TBR this season!  Here we go: June: A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews - Release date: June 7th - I'm really excited to try Paper Fury's debut novel - my hopes are very high to say the least!  I've ordered a copy, now I just have to hope it shows up soon! A Reaper at the Gates  ( Ember Quartet #3) by Sabaa Tahir - Release date: June 12th - I have absolutely loved the first two books of this series and I'm absolutely dying to get to this!  I just picked up my copy this past Friday and I just can't wait! My Plain Jane ( The Lady Janies #2) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi ...

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 been hearing both of these two songs on the radio lately and I love the sound of both songs.  I've enjoyed Beck's music for a while and I really like "Dreams"  as well, especially when you hear it back to back with "Life to Fix" by The Record Company .  I'd never heard of that one before, but I've got to s...

Oh my!  What a week - so much has happened!  Earlier this week I went on a road trip to Cincinnati with a friend.  We'd been planning it for ages and it was so exciting to actually go down and see the sights.  I also had the opportunity to pick up a few new-to-me books that I'm really looking forward to trying.  Plus, on Friday night I treated myself to seeing Incredibles 2  which was absolutely awesome!  Keep going to see some of my favorite photos from the trip, my book haul, and my mini review of the movie: Newport Aquarium A shark and a giant grouper saying hi during the dive show. That grouper is probably about 800 pounds by the way. Moon jellyfish - so ethereally beautiful, don't you think? A shark swimming overhead - so creepy! That giant grouper's back! The Cincinnati Zoo A couple of elephants playing in the water while another one grabs a bite to eat. It took me forever to spot the vulture - see...