Always Me

Happy Sunday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my wrap up and mini reviews for both my August 2025 Bingo Round of the  Trope-ical Readathon  (which is hosted by  Jenjenreviews ) and Nevermore-athon (hosted by  Chaos in Bookland  with co-hosts amy from ‪@ AmyMcCaw ‬, Barbora from ‪@ bookworm.wander‬ , judith from ‪@ judithcakelover‬ , and Elena from @ they_read_and_spin ).  They both ran all of August.  I read all of the books on my original tbrs which you can check out here for Trope-ical Readathon and here for Nevermore-athon.  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read for these challenges: Trope-ical Readathon ❋   ❋ The Briar King  ( Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone  #1) by Greg Keyes  has a lot of potential to be great, but it didn't make the cut. The dialogue style grated on me after a little while. It's like the author is trying to show off. Some authors can really do that with no issue and you're even happier f...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today, I'm sharing my seventh update and mini reviews for the  Read Around the World Challenge .  Of the 46 books for the 46 European countries on my original  tbr , I managed to complete 9 in August for a total of 42 completed so far.  I've only got 4 books left!  You can check out my profile here on the challenge website  here .  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read this month: ❋   ❋  The Teacher of Cheops  by Albert Salvado  isn't bad, but I wonder if something just got lost in the translation to English. I normally like stories set in Ancient Egypt, but this one wasn't worth it for me.  I definitely wouldn't have bothered with this one if it wasn't for the Read Around the World Challenge. My review is also on  Goodreads  and  The StoryGraph . ❋   ❋  D (A Tale of Two Worlds)  by Michel Faber  is definitely a case of wishing I liked it quite a b...

      On Friday's I take part in two weekly link ups - The Friday 56, currently hosted by  Anne @ My Head Is Full of Books , 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  Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge 2025  books,  Crownchasers  ( Crownchasers  #1) by Rebecca Coffindaffer .  I've been meaning to read this YA sci-fi fantasy series opener for far too long.  I...

  Happy Thursday everyone! Welcome back to  Books from the Backlog , the weekly linkup I'm taking part of which is hosted by  Carole's Random Life in Books .  This is a great way to put a spotlight on books that I've had sitting on my shelf for awhile.  I don't know when I'll get to my weekly featured book, but I hope to some time hopefully soon. This Week's Neglected Book: 7,000 Clams by Lee Irby Published: 2005 Genre: Historical crime fiction My Copy: Format: Hardback Pages: 368 Where I Acquired It: Ollie's Bargain Outlet Summary (From Goodreads): Frank Hearn is a down-on-his-luck bootlegger and bruiser, looking for the big score in the heart of the Roaring Twenties. When he loses a shipment of top-quality booze to a double-crossing government thief, Frank hunts him down, roughs him up, and finds something that catches his eye. What at first appears to be a scrap of paper is actually a handwritten and unmistakably authentic IOU for $7,000, signed by...

      Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is a non-bookish freebie, so I thought I'd share some upcoming movies I'm looking forward to.  I don't know if I've mentioned here, but I'm a member of AMC Stubs A-List and I like to take advantage of that program when I have the chance.  All of the titles I've shared link back to their Letterboxd pages.  Here we go, in order by release date: The Conjuring: Last Rites   - Release date: September 5th - I've really liked the previous installments (the first is still the best in my opinion), and the trailer looks pretty great.  Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are a pretty great team. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale - Release date: September 12th - I really loved the tv series and the movies thus far.  I'm not ready for it to be all over.  I'll miss everybody. The Long Walk - Release date: September 12th ...

    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.  Welcome back again!  Today, I'm featuring a couple of mixes from Western Ambient .  I don't read or watch westerns all that often, but I do enjoy listening to this channel.  Give a listen to Night of the Spirits  and Dark Western : You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

Happy Saturday everyone!  I hope everyone's been doing well this month.  I've now completed 16 total tasks for  Book Riot's 2025 Read Harder Challenge .  I completed two tasks in August which required me to read a  comic in translation and a genre-blending  book and   I selected The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 13 ( The Way of the Househusband  #13) by Kosuke Oono (I was planning on reading  Days of Sand  by Aimee de Jongh , but when I realized my library hold wouldn't be showing up anytime at all this month I decided to switch to the newest installment of a favorite manga series that did arrive in my library holds) and  Crownchasers  ( Crownchasers  #1) by Rebecca Coffindaffer ,  Read on to see my mini review and my plans for next month: ❋   ❋  ❋   ❋ I love this series and  The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 13  ( The Way of the Househusband  #13) by Kosuke Oono  was another g...

    On Friday's I take part in two weekly link ups - The Friday 56, currently hosted by  Anne @ My Head Is Full of Books , 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  Trope-ical Readathon  books,  His Majesty's Dragon  ( Temeraire  #1) by Naomi Novik .  This author has been hit and miss with me, but I think I'm going to like this historical fantasy.  It sounds rea...

  Happy Thursday everyone! Welcome back to  Books from the Backlog , the weekly linkup I'm taking part of which is hosted by  Carole's Random Life in Books .  This is a great way to put a spotlight on books that I've had sitting on my shelf for awhile.  I don't know when I'll get to my weekly featured book, but I hope to some time hopefully soon. This Week's Neglected Book: Rescue by Jennifer A. Nielsen Published: March 2, 2021 Genre: Middle Grade Historical My Copy: Format: Hardback Pages: 387 Where I Acquired It: Friends of the Library Book Warehouse Summary (From Goodreads): Six hundred and fifty-seven days ago, Meg Kenyon's father left their home in France to fight for the Allies in World War II, and that was the last time Meg saw him. Recently, she heard he was being held prisoner by the Nazis, a terrible sentence from which Meg fears he'll never return. All she has left of him are the codes he placed in a jar for her to decipher, an affectionate ...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It's now that time to start my Autumn Equinox 2025 classes at Orilium  for the  Magical Readathon , hosted by  G. @ Book Roast .  I've followed the  Novice Path , completed the  Traveller's Key , have  Geared Up , completed the  Spring Equinox 2022  and  August Equinox 2022 , visited  Old Favour Pass in 2022 , completed the  Choose Your Own Adventure: Year In Aeldia 2023 , completed the  Spring Equinox 2023  and  Autumn Equinox 2023 , and visited  Old Favour Pass in 2023 .  I completed the  Spring Equinox 2024 ,  Autumn Equinox 2024 ,  Choose Your Own Adventure: Year In Aeldia 2024 , and  Old Favour Pass 2024 .  This year I've completed the Spring Equinox 2025 and I'm currently working my way through  Choose Your Own Adventure: Year In Aeldia 2025, The Boardgame .  Anyway, this time around the Autumn Equinox semester runs all ...