Always Me

I don't know about you, but March has really dragged with everything that's been going on.  I hope everyone's been staying healthy.  On the plus side, I've had more time to read while the library has been closed.  Anyway, I've now completed 6 out of 24 books of  Book Riot's 2020 Read Harder Challenge !  The tasks I completed required me to read a book in any genre by a Native, First Nations, or Indigenous author and  a book about a natural disaster .  For the tasks, I selected  Resistance Reborn  ( Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker  #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse  and  Dry  by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman .   Read on to see my mini reviews and what's next for April:  ❋  ❋  ❋ Resistance Reborn  is honestly unnecessary, but luckily Rebecca Roanhorse's skills really help it stand out. I absolutely love The Sixth World series and I'll probably read everything she deci...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Ten Signs You’re a Book Lover.  Without further ado, here we go: You always make sure you have at least one book on your person - print, ebook, or audiobook. You have a back up book with you just in case. You always compare the adaptation with the book. You have multiple library cards and have put them all to good use. The only kind of shopping you like to do is shopping for new (to you) books. You've been dragged away from a book store by friends. Local librarians and book sellers know you by name. There's at least one book in every room of your house. You wish you could visit the worlds of some of your favorite books and/ or meet some of your favorite characters. You don't understand it when people say they don't like to read. By my list, do you qualify as a book lover?  ...

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. Happy Monday everyone!  This week I'm spotlighting three favorite songs from Blackmill .  I'm so glad I just happened to stumble upon to this music via Pandora recently.  Give The Drift , Miracle , and Redemption a listen below: You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

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. Happy Friday everyone!...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is a genre freebie.  I feel like I don't talk about standalone novels enough, so I featuring Future Standalone Fantasy Classics this week.  Here we go, in alphabetical order by title: Alex McKenna & The Geranium Deaths by Vicki-Ann Bush The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark The Deep by Rivers Solomon with Daveed Diggs, Willian Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes Finna by Nino Cipri Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Middlegame by Seanan McGuire The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey Have you read any of these books?  What are some of your favorite future classics?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down...

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. Happy Monday everyone!  This week I'm spotlighting music from Magic Giant .  I just happened to catch these songs on my local alternative radio station in the last couple of weeks and I've gotten hooked on their sound.  Give Set On Fire and Disaster Party  a listen: You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to ent...

❋  ❋  ❋   ❋  ❋ I won an ARC from the author via Twitter. The 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris is full of innovations, cultural displays, and inventions. Millions of visitors attend over the course of several months...so no one would notice if a few were missing, right? Maybe—but someone is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the guillotine with a display of their own: beheaded victims in some of the Exposition's most popular exhibits. Nathalie Baudin’s ability to see murder scenes should help, but she's suffering the effects of her magic more than ever before. Fortunately she has other Insightfuls to team up with—if they can be trusted. Sensational ( Spectacle #2) by Jodie Lynn Zdrok is a perfect send off for Nathalie and company. I don't know why I put off reading it once it arrived in my mailbox because it's ended up as one of my favorite 2020 YA releases so far. This duology absolutely deserves all the love it can get. I will say though that I'...

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋ I received an ecopy from Reedsy in exchange for an honest review. Cael and Sid are two rogues and musicians with a knack for trouble and solving crimes. In a fantasy world of medieval charm, Cael uses logic and science to uncover murders and mayhem, while Sid, his trusty friend, sidekick, troubadour and doctor, accompanies him, as long as there is a pretty lady or coin involved. Follow their exploits through the rough city of Bedlam, as the motley group of musicians pit themselves and their friends against a beast-worshiping cult. The Temple of the Eye by Ryan Husk is quite a pleasant surprise. I'm so glad I took the opportunity on this The   Bards of Bedlam series opener via Reedsy Discovery. At the time I selected the novel for review, I was just coming down from watching The Witcher on Netflix and I think that's what inspired my choice since this story is led by friends Cael and Sid, two bards who have a talent for trouble and solving crimes...

Today I'm sharing three mini ARC reviews with you:  The Secrets We Bury  ( The Undertaker's Daughter #1) by Debra Webb  (released April 19, 2019),  The Lies We Tell ( The Undertaker's Daughter #2) by Debra Webb  (released September 17, 2019), and  The Darkness We Hide ( The Undertaker's Daughter #3) by Debra Webb  (available March 31, 2020).  I received all of these ARCs from NetGalley via the publisher in exchange for honest reviews.  Read on to see my thoughts on them: ❋   ❋  ❋ The Secrets We Bury by Debra Webb has a lot of potential as a series opener. What initially caught my eye was the series title The Undertaker's Daughter and the fact that this is a suspenseful mystery. Plus, there's the part where the lead character grew up and now lives in the family funeral home. For some reason I had Prodigal Son , which is one of my favorite new shows, in the back of my mind while I was reading this. It's not quite like...

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. Happy Friday everyone!...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Spring 2020 TBR.  Check out books I plan on reading for the months of April and May: April: I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban  by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb  - I've been meaning to read this for ages, and Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge give me the perfect opportunity. Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World  by Sarah Prager  - I've had this on my radar for awhile at the library, so Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge is finally giving me a perfect excuse to pick it up. Shorefall ( Founders #2 ) by Robert Jackson Bennett  - I managed to get approved for an ARC of this sequel via NetGalley and I'm so excited to get to it! The Saturday Night Ghost Club  by Craig Davidson  - I'll be reading this fo...