Always Me

It's already the end of October - meaning 20 of the 24 tasks for  Book Riot's 2018 Read Harder Challenge  are complete!  Where are the days going?!  The tasks I completed required me to read a book of genre fiction in translation the first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series.  For the tasks, I selected  Handling the Dead  by John Ajvide Lindqvist  and  Grave Mercy  ( His Fair Assassin  #1) by Robin LaFevers  respectively.  Read on to see my mini reviews and what's next for November: ❋  ❋  ❋ Good, but not nearly as great as Let the Right One In . I love the concept behind the story but less so the execution. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but I think I would have preferred if it had just followed David and Mahler. I wasn't all that interested in how the story ended either, but I did particularly appreciate the first half. Regardless I think I'll be trying more of this author in the future. I read this novel from October 4 - 6,

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is a Halloween/ Creepy Freebie - and I'm sharing Horror Movies I Have Watched & Plan To Watch This Season.  Before this year, I'd never seen any of these classic horror movies.  Here we go, in order by title (linked to the Letterboxd page and/ or my Letterboxd review): Watched: An American Werewolf in London (1981) Blade (1998) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Shutter (2004) Re-Animator (1985) To Watch: Donnie Darko (2001) Cronos (1993) Jacob's Ladder (1990) Tales from the Crypt (1972) They Live (1988) What movies are you watching to get in the mood for the season?  Have you watched any of these movies?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!

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. Each week of this month I've been sharing some of my favorite lesser known Halloween songs - and this is the fifth and final week.  This week I'm sharing "Graveyard" by Leroy Bowman and The Arrows (1958) and "50% Murder" by Reverend Glasseye and His Wooden Legs (2001) .  "Graveyard" starts a bit slow, but it real

Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope everyone's had a great week and are enjoying their weekend.  I know I am, I've actually had all weekend off for a change!  I've been able to catch up on my reading, watching, blogging, and sleeping.  Anyway I've acquired a lot of books in the last two weeks - last weekend a local library held a book sale where you could fill an entire paper grocery sack as full as possible for only $1 and yesterday I went to probably one of the biggest indoor flea markets I've ever been to and there were a lot of book vendors that were selling used books for my kind of prices.  Check out what I've added to my collection: Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan - I've enjoyed what I've read from Brennan in the past and this YA fantasy retelling of A Tale of Two Cities sounds like it could be an intriguing one. Dark Triumph ( His Fair Assassin #2) by Robin LaFevers - I was really pleased to find this one because I just fi

❋  ❋  ❋  I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace’s enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Marry the prince. All are eligible to compete—all except yōkai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy. Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren't hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yōkai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life will be forfeit. As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari’s fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-yōkai outcast. Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean is a uniquely creative new standalone YA fantasy. While it wasn't quite a fa

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 sp

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Villains (favorite, best, worst, lovable, creepiest, most evil, etc.) - I'm sharing some of my favorite villains (but perhaps are not villains in the traditional sense and may even be the protagonist).  Here we go, in order by book title: Queen Levana -  Cinder  by Marissa Meyer Astrid and Athos Dane - A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab Holland Vosijk - A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab President Snow - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair - Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark Count Olaf - A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket Kaz Brekker - Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo Victor Vale and Eli Ever - Vicious by V.E. Schwab Joe -  You  by Caroline Kepnes Adelina Amouteru - The Young Elites by Marie Lu Who are some of your favorite vil

❋  ❋  ❋  I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Even though their parents disappeared during a hunt three months ago, seventeen-year-old Indi and his siblings, Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu, continue to roam the Mediterranean on their sailboat and hunt down monsters--but Indi yearns for a more settled life for his family, and he hopes that his parents' journal with its tantalizing hints of a treasure, will provide them all with the means of escape from their nomadic and dangerous life before it is too late. Salt is my first novel by Hannah Moskowitz and I can definitely say it will not be the last. There is so much to love here. I particularly enjoyed getting to know all four siblings - Beleza, Indi (our lead) Oscar, and Zulu - over the course of their tale. They are sea monster hunters who taken up the family business after their parents went missing. All of them have quite distinct voices and it's incredibly easy to get completely wrapped up on

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. Each week this October I'll be sharing two lesser known songs that are perfect for Halloween.  This week I'm sharing "Riboflavin" by 45 Grave (1983) and "Night of the Vampire" by The Fuzztones (1992) .  "Riboflavin" is so much fun (bit of a tongue-twister) and it's perfect for this time of year.  There are

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 sp