Always Me

It's already the end of July - meaning 14 of the 24 tasks for  Book Riot's 2018 Read Harder Challenge  are complete!  The tasks I completed required me to read an essay anthology and a book of social science.   For the tasks, I selected  Supernatural and Philosophy: Metaphysics and Monsters... For Idjits  edited by Galen A. Foreman  and  Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory  by Caitlin Doughty  respectively.  Read on to see my mini reviews and what's next for August: ❋  ❋  ❋  Supernatural and Philosophy: Metaphysics and Monsters... for Idjits edited by Galen A Foresman is an entry of The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series that I needed to get my hands on as soon as I heard of it. While I was in college, I had to read a few entries in this series for class assignments and they were fun and accessible ways to approach a variety of philosophical theories. Over...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the first Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Popular Books That Lived Up To The Hype.  Here we go, in alphabetical order by title: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi Cinder  by Marissa Meyer The Cruel Prince by Holly Black Dark Matter  by Blake Crouch The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue  by Mackenzi Lee Illuminae  by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Lady Midnight  by Cassandra Clare The Martian  by Andy Weir More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera Stalking Jack the Ripper  by Kerri Maniscalco What popular books do you think lived up to the hype?  Have you read any of the books on my list?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!

Welcome to my sign up post for the 2018 Make Me Read It Readathon, hosted by  Ely @ Of Wonderland  and  Val @ The Innocent Smiley .  I took part in this readathon for the first time last year  and I enjoyed the challenge so much that I just had to come back this year.  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/ bookstagrammers ...

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 some of my favorite classic Disney songs.  I've picked one song from each from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) ,   Cinderella (1950) , and Peter Pan (1953) .  You might have noticed, but the princess songs from the first two movies aren't my favorites from their movies.  What are your favorite songs from thes...

❋  ❋  ❋ I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. THEN - They were four—Bex, Jenni, Ellory, Ret. Electric, headstrong young women; Ellory’s whole solar system. Lazy summer days. A party. A beautiful boy. Ellory met Matthias and fell into the beginning of a spectacular, bright love. NOW - Ellory is alone, her once inseparable group of friends torn apart by secrets, deception, and a shocking incident that changed their lives forever. Ellory returns to Pine Brook to navigate senior year after a two-month suspension and summer away—no boyfriend, no friends. No going back. Tormented by some and sought out by others, troubled by a mysterious note-writer who won’t let Ellory forget, and consumed by guilt over her not entirely innocent role in everything and everyone she’s lost, Ellory finds that even in the present, the past is everywhere. I was really hoping to like See All the Stars by Kit Frick more than I did. I've seen so many glowing reviews f...

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 spotligh...

❋  ❋  ❋  I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No matter what Valentine does she cannot get away from her mother's grim legacy. When a new string of murders occurs in her small town, all signs seemingly point to the daughter of a murderer. Interestingly enough the son of her mother's victim is the only person on Valentine's side. Valentine plans on uncovering the real killer, but when she discovers the truth she will have to come to terms with her own secrets, even if it means losing those she cares about. Girl at the Grave by Teri Bailey Black is a debut Gothic-tinged YA historical mystery thriller. It was one of my more anticipated books of the season and while it was decent, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. My favorite aspect of the novel is Valentine herself. She hasn't exactly had an easy life, but that's shaped her into the independent and decisive character that she is. The only thing that she isn't de...

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋ I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Scarlett Winter has always been an outsider as a daredevil and troublemaker, but she's hiding special powers she doesn't understand. She has no choice after graduation - either go to West Point or jail. She expects that she'll just be joining the army like her father before her, but she's actually joining a special unit of others with powers like her. Scarlett and her fellow students are learning to more accurately use their abilities, from telekinetic combat to running recon missions through strangers' dreamscapes, for eventual government service. Scarlett may have the strongest ability in her year with her power to control energy and use it as a weapon, she's a bomb waiting to explode, and she's not sure she can control herself for much longer. When a dangerous threat arises from the school's dark past, Scarlett will need to decide if she can truly step up and be a her...

If you haven't already guessed, today's my birthday - happy birthday to me!  There's plenty of virtual cake and ice cream, balloons, and confetti to go around!   Let's get to what you all came for - the giveaway (int).  Since I haven't hosted my own giveaway in ages, I thought I'd do up my birthday in awesome bookish fashion with an international giveaway of one of my favorite sequels of released this summer, A Reaper at the Gates ( An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir  - here is my review , if you're interested in seeing my thoughts. This giveaway will last until Midnight (ET), Tuesday, July 31st, 2018.  I will alert the winner via email and they will have 48 hours to respond or I will have to select another winner.  Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor! a Rafflecopter giveaway Thank you for celebrating my special day with me and as always, thank you for visiting my blog and perhaps commenting down below.

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the first Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Books With Sensory Reading Memories (where I was, what time of year it was, who I was with, what I was eating, etc.) which was submitted as a topic by Jessica @ A Cocoon of Books .  Here we go, in no particular order: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling  - I took this with me on a family vacation in 2002 to Virginia.  It got so hot that the spine glue melted - I still have that copy, at least I can say it looks unique and well loved! The Final Descent by Rick Yancey  - I have no idea why I remember this, but I can remember eating White Castle cheeseburgers and onion chips back when I was reading this. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare by Lilian Jackson Braun  - Technically, this is just before I started reading it, but when I bought it at a yard sale the original owner talked to me ...

Happy Monday everyone!  Today I'm sharing mini reviews of some recent five star reads - Children of Blood and Bone  ( Legacy of Orïsha  #1) by Tomi Adeyemi ,  Daughter of the Pirate King  ( Daughter of the Pirate King  #1) by Tricia Levenseller ,  Hunting Prince Dracula  ( Stalking Jack the Ripper  #2) by Kerri Maniscalco ,  Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan , and  A Reaper at the Gates ( An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir .  Without further ado, here we go: ❋  ❋  ❋  ❋   ❋ Children of Blood and Bone ( Legacy of Orïsha #1) by Tomi Adeyemi is one of the most hyped up books of 2018. Luckily, it totally lives up to the hype and is one of my favorite reads of 2018. This is honestly one of the best debut YA fantasy novels I've ever had the pleasure of picking up. Adeyemi's prose is downright stunning, the world-building and magic system is a breath of fresh air, and the charact...