Always Me

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Books On My Fall 2025 TBR.  All of the books on my list this week are books I'm reading for my  Magical Readathon: Orilium - Choose Your Own Adventure: Year In Aeldia 2025, The Boardgame ,  Read Around the World Challenge: Europe , and my  Book Riot's 2025 Read Harder Challenge .  Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order: Almost Midnight  by Rainbow Rowell   Baptism of Fire ( The Witcher #3) by Andrzej Sapkowski The Birth of a King  ( The Legends of Kinthoria  #1) by Deborah Marsh and Carol Marsh Dead Man's Hand  ( The Unorthodox Chronicles  #1) by James J. Butcher Digging Up Devils: The Search For A Satanic Murder Cult in Rural Ohio  by Jack Legg The Divide  by Jeremy Robinson The Fisherman  by John Langan Frog and Toad Are Friends  ( Frog and Toad  #1)...

        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 two of my favorite pieces from the soundtrack of That Darn Cat (1965).  I watched this movie on a whim on Disney Plus and had a great time.  The soundtrack totally fits it and the opening titles song really sets it all up nicely.  DC is an awesome movie cat!  Hone...

      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  Magical Readathon: Orilium - Autumn Equinox 2025  books,  Craven Manor  by Darcy Coates .  I love this author's style and I'm happy to read more from her this month. Beginning: Daniel's shoe scuffed ove...

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: Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims Published: November 26th, 2020 Genre: Horror  My Copy: Format: Trade paperback Pages: 390 Where I Acquired It: Local new and used bookstore Summary (From Goodreads): You're cordially invited to dinner. Penthouse access is available via the broken freight elevator. Black tie optional. A dinner party is held in the penthouse of a multimillion-pound development. All the guests are strangers - even to their host, the billionaire owner of the building. None of them know why they were selected to receive his invitation. Whether privileged or deprived, bes...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Literary/Bookish Candles I’d Make (Pick a book and assign it a fragrance or fragrance combo that would make a nice candle) (Submitted by Heather @ The Frozen Library), but I've decided to continue that series I've been working on with Favorite Books Beginning With The Letter R.  I had quite a few to pick from for books beginning with this letter. Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order by title: The Raven Boys  ( The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier The Red Palace by June Hur Red Seas Under Red Skies ( Gentleman Bastard #2) by Scott Lynch The Reformatory by Tananarive Due Reticence ( The Custard Protocol #4) by Gail Carriger The Return of the King ( The Lord of the Rings #3) by J.R.R. Tolkien Revisionary ( Magic Ex Libris #4) by Jim C. Hines Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wol...

      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 few of my favorite pieces from the soundtrack of  The Bad Guys 2 (2025).  This sequel was a ton of fun and it had a cool soundtrack composed by Daniel Pemberton.  Give a listen to Cairo, Five Years Ago , The Evidence Board , The Wedding Plan , and  Jump the Rocket : ...

Happy Saturday everyone!  Today, I'm back for my September post of Birthstone Book Covers, hosted by  Foxes and Fairy Tales .  If you're new to it,  here are the rules - they're pretty simple: 1. Mention the creator ( Leslie @ Books Are The New Black ).  2. Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone. 3. HAVE FUN! 4. Nominate people if you want - if you'd like to do this, consider yourself nominated! September's birthstone is sapphire which is a rich, deep blue color.  In alphabetical order, here are some covers that fit this that I've really enjoyed that I haven't talked about much recently. Curtsies & Conspiracies ( Finishing School #2) by Gail Carriger Fairy Tale by Stephen King Life of Pi by Yann Martel These Broken Stars ( Starbound  #1) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner Upgrade by Blake Crouch Have your read any of these books?  What are your favorite sapphire colored book covers?  As always, thanks for visiting m...

      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  Magical Readathon: Orilium - Autumn Equinox 2025  books,  Death Comes As Epiphany  ( Catherine LeVendeur  #1) by Sharan Newman .  I like historical mysteries, but I don't think I've read one set in...

    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: The Hexologists ( The Hexologists #1) by Josiah Bancroft Published: September 26th, 2023 Genre: Fantasy Mystery  My Copy: Format: Trade paperback Pages: 313 Where I Acquired It: Barnes & Noble Summary (From Goodreads): The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well...

          Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I'm sharing my thoughts on the book I read this month for  Choose Your Own Adventure: Year In Adelia, The Boardgame , an additional challenge to  G. @ Book Roast 's  Magical Readathon .  You can see my full tbr  here .  Without further ado, check out my mini review for my September book below: ❋  ❋  Bait and Witch  ( Witch Way Librarian Mysteries  #1) by Angela M. Sanders  is a solid cozy mystery fantasy. It takes awhile to really get going and get into the aspects of the story I was most interested in - primarily the magic and the reason why Josie left the Library of Congress in the first place. Coming from working in a smaller rural library, I will say that it got old fast how to see how Josie thinks about her new community. I will be continuing the series, since it seems like now that all of this stuff is out of the way the fantasy element of this series could rea...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Villains, but I've decided to continue that series I've been working on with Favorite Books Beginning With The Letter Q.  It was a little tougher putting this list together more so than others in this series, but all of these are ones I liked.  Without further ado, here we go in alphabetical order by title: Quantum Radio by A.G. Riddle The Quantum Thief ( Jean le Flambeur #1) by Hanna Rajaniemi Queen of Air and Darkness ( The Dark Artifices #3) by Cassandra Clare The Queen of All Crows ( The Map of Unknown Things #1) by Rod Duncan The Queen of Nothing ( The Folk of the Air #3) by Holly Black Queen of Shadows ( Thrones of Glass #4) by Sarah J. Maas Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde Queer, There and Everwhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager Quests for Glory ( The School for Good and Evil #4) by Soman Chainani Quintana of Charyn...