Always Me

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope everyone's been keeping as well as can be. I can't believe February is already over and Spring is already on the way!  Anyway, that means that I've now completed the 4 tasks of  Book Riot's 2022 Read Harder Challenge .  The tasks I completed this month required me to r ead any book from the Women’s Prize shortlist/longlist/winner list  and a book in any genre by a POC that’s about joy and not trauma  and I selected  Piranesi  by Susanna Clarke  and  Let Me Hear a Rhyme  by Tiffany D. Jackson  respectively.   Read on to see my mini reviews and what's coming up for March: ❋   ❋  ❋   ❋  ❋   Piranesi  by Susanna Clarke   was one of my most highly anticipated reads and luckily it was absolutely outstanding.  I absolutely loved Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell , but this is very different.  It takes a bit to get used to the style, but once you do you'll be hooked.  I needed to know more and I'm glad I hung on to every word.  The pay

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 sharing a couple of my favorite songs from Goldmine Pickers .  I just recently started listening to this group and I love their sound - thanks very much to Sirius XM Radio!  Give a listen to Sean's Favorite and Far From Shore : You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope everyone's staying safe and healthy.  Today, I thought I'd share some of the new and used books I've recently added to my collection.  Keep reading the check them out: American Panda by Gloria Chao Into the Crooked Place ( Into the Crooked Place  #1)   by Alexandra Christo Caliban's War ( The Expanse #2)   by James S.A. Corey The Ghost Ships of Archangel: The Arctic Voyage That Defied the Nazis by William Geroux The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey The Quarter Storm ( Mamo Reina #1) by Veronica G. Henry Scorpica ( The Five Queendoms #1)   by G.R. Macallister Between Two Thorns ( The Split Worlds #1)   by Emma Newman The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup Daughter of the Moon Goddess ( The Celestial Kingdom Duology #1)   by Sue Lynn Tan Children of Time ( Children of Time #1)   by Adrian Tchaikovsky Ashes of the Sun by ( Burningblade & Silvereye #1) Django Wexler The Destructives by Matthew De Abaitua

On Friday's I take part in two weekly link ups - The Friday 56, hosted by  Freda's Voice , and Book Beginnings, hosted by  Rose City Reader .  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.    Happy Friday everyone! This week I'm spotlighting one of my current reads, The Crown Tower ( The Riyria Chronicles #1) by Michael J. Sullivan .  I've never read this author before, but this fantasy series opener sounds like it's going to be right up my alley. Beginning: Hadrian Blackwater hadn't gone more than f

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Dynamic Duos (Submitted by Elley @ Elley the Book Otter).   Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett Frodo and Sam from The Fellowship of the Ring ( The Lord of the Rings #1) by J.R.R. Tolkien Geralt and Jaskier/ Dandelion from Blood of Elves ( The Witcher #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski  Gideon and Harrow from Gideon the Ninth ( The Locked Tomb #1) by Tamsyn Muir Jace and Alec from City of Bones ( The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare Jean and Locke from The Lies of Locke Lamora ( Gentleman Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch Kaz and Inej from Six of Crows ( Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo Kell and Lila from A Darker Shade of Magic ( Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab Legolas and Gimli from  The Fellowship of the Ring  ( The Lord of the Rings  #1) by J.R.R. Tolkien Sherlock Holmes and John H. Watson from The Adventures of She

 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 sharing some of my favorite songs from the soundtrack of  The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) .  This movie is a whole lot of stylish fun and it works as a great prequel to the '60s tv show that inspired it.  It balances the action and sense of humor very well.  Plus, the soundtrack is just plain cool.  The movie is probably one of my favorite

Hello and happy Saturday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my plans for my third round of the  Trope-ical Readathon  which is hosted by  @jenjenreviews  and  @bookrob13 .  It will run the entire month of March and I'm joining Team Mystery/ Horror/ Thriller this time around.  Like before, there are fifteen total challenges to complete - two team challenges and thirteen common challenges (you either read a book that fits the given trope or one that fits the alternate prompt).  Each team also has two Team Book options to read as well.  For each challenge you complete, team book you read, and each page you read, you earn points for your team  You can also follow the official Trope-ical Readathon on  Twitter  and with the hashtag  #TropeicalReadathon .  Without further ado, let's get to my tbr:  Team Book: My choice: The Verifiers by Jane Pek - I hadn't heard of this before I saw it as one of the team book options, but this February 22nd, 2022 release sounds like it will be fant

On Friday's I take part in two weekly link ups - The Friday 56, hosted by  Freda's Voice , and Book Beginnings, hosted by  Rose City Reader .  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.    Happy Friday everyone! This week I'm spotlighting one of my  Popsugar Reading Challenge ,  House of Earth and Blood  ( Crescent City  #1) by Sarah J. Maas .  I really loved the Throne of Glass series and this has been sitting on my shelf for way too long.   Beginning: There was a wolf at the gallery door. 56: Going on a date

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Books Too Good To Review Properly (Submitted by Dedra @ A Book Wanderer).  I didn't write much of a review of these books on my blog or on Goodreads, but I thought all of these were pretty awesome.  Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order by title: Alex McKenna and the Academy of Souls ( Alex McKenna #2) by Vicki-Ann Bush All of Us Villains ( All of Us Villains #1) by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman All Things Bright and Beautiful ( All Creatures Great and Small #3-4) by James Herriot The Daughters of Ys by M.T. Anderson Later by Stephen King Pet ( Pet #1) by Akwaeke Emezi Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold Six Angry Girls by Adrienne Kisner This is My America by Kim Johnson Tristan Strong Destroys the World ( Tristan Strong #2) by Kwame Mbalia Have you read any of these?  What are some of your favorite books that were too good for you to