Always Me

I don't know about you, but April has really dragged by nearly as slowly as March did 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 8 out of 24 books of  Book Riot's 2020 Read Harder Challenge !  The tasks I completed required me to read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own   and a YA nonfiction book .  For the tasks, I selected    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  and  Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World  by Sarah Prager .   Read on to see my mini reviews and what's next for May:  ❋  ❋  ❋  ❋  ❋  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

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to the Top Ten Tuesday now hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Books I Wish I Had Read As a Child.  I'm focusing on picture books that I wish I was able to experience for he first time when I was little, instead now as an adult.  Now doubt about it, though, these are all delightful.  Here we go, in alphabetical order by title: Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars by Seth Fishman Magritte's Marvelous Hat by D.B. Johnson Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin and James Dean Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel Those Darn Squirrels! by Adam Rubin Waiting by Kevin Henkes Have you read any of these picture books?  What are some of your favorite picture books?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even comme

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 some more of my favorite songs from  Medieval & World Music by Brandon Fiechter .  Last week I featured this channel, but I thought I'd share some other favorites from them - I can't resist. Try Medieval Music - Mirador , Medieval Inn Music - Medieval Taverns , Medieval Folk Music -

Happy Sunday everyone!  Today I'm sharing two ARC mini reviews with you: Westside Saints ( Westside #2) by W.M. Akers  (available May 5, 2020) and Tomb of the Gods by Brian Moreland  (available May 21, 2020).  Thank you very much to NetGalley for providing me with these ARCs in exchange for honest reviews.  Read on to see my thoughts on these two books: ❋  ❋  ❋   ❋ Westside Saints by W.M. Akers is a fantastic follow up to last year's Westside . It's great being back in Gilda's world of alternate 1920s New York City. Historical fantasy is one of my favorite genres and a magical Jazz Age is one of my personal favorites, especially when they're set in an atmospheric metropolis such as NYC. Just like the last time around there's so much to love about this story, its characters, and its setting. This time around Gilda is determined to stick to solve her tiny mysteries - the concept as those is still just as fascinating - but she unexpectedly finds herse

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 Titles That Would Make Good Band Names (submitted by Michelle).  I don't know about you, but I'm always thinking about this - what would make a great band name or even song name.  Anyway, without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order by title: Animal Farm by George Orwell Boneshaker by Cherie Priest City of Bones by Cassandra Clare The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel Would you listen to any bands with these names?  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. Happy Monday everyone!  This week I'm spotlighting three of my favorite songs from  Medieval & World Music by Brandon Fiechter .  I love listening to this channel and I just realized that I've never mentioned it here.  Anyway without further ado, check out Ancient Arabian Music - Arabian Nights , Epic Japanese Music - Shadow Ninja  (two

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! 

❋   ❋  ❋  ❋   ❋  I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The upstart firm Foundryside is struggling to make it. Orso Igancio and his star employee, former thief Sancia Grado, are accomplishing brilliant things with scriving, the magical art of encoding sentience into everyday objects, but it's not enough. The massive merchant houses of Tevanne won't tolerate competition, and they're willing to do anything to crush Foundryside. But even the merchant houses of Tevanne might have met their match. An immensely powerful and deadly entity has been resurrected in the shadows of Tevanne, one that's not interested in wealth or trade routes: a hierophant, one of the ancient practitioners of scriving. And he has a great fascination for Foundryside, and its employees - especially Sancia. Now Sancia and the rest of Foundryside must race to combat this new menace, which means understanding the origins of scriving itself - before the hierophant burns