Always Me

  Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Books About/Set In Places on My Bucket List, but I've decided to feature books by authors from my home state of Ohio with Books From Ohio Authors I've Never Read I Want To Try.  It's fun to spotlight books by authors from my home state, especially if their stories are set in Ohio since I might actually recognize locations at least a little bit.  Anyways, here we go in alphabetical order by title: All Is Fair by Dee Garretsen  - This 2019 YA historical fiction standalone is set during WWI and the main character gets pulled into the world of spies and international intrigue. Crime and Poetry ( A Magical Bookshop Mystery #1) by Amanda Flower - Cozy mysteries aren't always my thing, but this fantasy inspired one sounds like fun.  I've been eyeing some of the author's other mysteries at the library as well. The Demon King ( Sev...

  Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to Music Monday!  Let's share some songs we've been enjoying!  If you would like to link up with me, please see the rules below. Rules: Every Monday share a few songs you've been enjoying.  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.  Hello everyone! Today, I'm featuring five of my favorite pieces from the soundtrack of  The Mandalorian , Season 2 .  I just recently finished watching it and I absolutely loved it.  I liked the first season, but I preferred the second season. There were some inspired choices that were made with the Ludwig Goransson's score.  Give a listen to  Ship o hoj, Mandalorian...

Happy Saturday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my wrap up and mini reviews for the March 2026 Bingo Round of the  Trope-ical Readathon  which was hosted by  Jenjenreviews .  Itran the entire month of March and I was on Team Fantasy.  This time around we've got unique bingo boards to complete that are based around your choice of team.  Of the 25 books on my original tbr , I managed to complete one bingo with a few extra squares for a total of 10 books.  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read for this round: Dark Academia ❋  ❋ I really wanted to love  Katabasis  by R.F. Kuang , but I was so irritated by the characters and the tone that it put me right off. I made it about 200 pages before I started skimming to see if anything would catch my eye to make me slow down to savor it but that never really happened again. Finally, I just wanted to mention that I couldn't help but think that Alice should talk to the Winchester b...

Happy Friday everyone! Today I'm sharing my my third update for my March progress for the year long reading challenge called  The 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge .  You can see my original tbr  here .  In March, I completed 6 books for a total of 22 read so far out of 52 total books on my tbr.  I think I made more great progress in the challenge.  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in March: 21. Written in the 1800s ❋   ❋  ❋ Journey to the Center of the Earth  by Jules Verne  is a classic that's been on my radar forever and I've seen adaptations of it before as well.  It's good to have finally read the source material to see where it all started.  I wouldn't call it a favorite (for Jules Verne stories that honor still goes to Around the World in 80 Days ) but it's still a fun adventure. My review is also on  Goodreads  and  The StoryGraph . 25. Includes a red herring ❋   ❋  ❋...

      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 Anne'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  2026 Popsugar Reading Challenge books,  Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World  by Mark Waddell .  This sounds awesome to me! Beginning: One week before I accidentally doomed all of humankind, I found mysel...

  Happy Thursday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my my third update for my progress for the year long reading challenge called the  2026 Popsugar Reading Challenge .  In March, I completed 7 books for a total of 15 read so far out of 50 total books on my tbr.  I think I'm making pretty great progress.  You can see my original tbr  here .  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in March for this challenge: 21. A book about a bachelorette trip ❋   ❋  ❋  ❋ I've only read Ashley Herring Blake's MG before and romance isn't usually my go-to genre, but I ended up enjoying  Delilah Green Doesn't Care  ( Bright Falls  #1) by Ashley Herring Blake  quite a bit more than I was expecting.  I most appreciated that it was told from both the perspectives of Delilah and Claire rather than just one of them.  I felt like I really got to know the both of them.  I don't think the book needed to be n...

        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: Between Two Thorns ( The Split Worlds #1) by Emma Newman Published: February 25, 2013 Genre: YA Urban Fantasy My Copy: Format: Trade Paperback Pages: 384 Where I Acquired It: Thrift shop Summary (From Goodreads): Something is wrong in Aquae Sulis, Bath’s secret mirror city. The new season is starting and the Master of Ceremonies is missing. Max, an Arbiter of the Split Worlds Treaty, is assigned with the task of finding him with no one to help but a dislocated soul and a mad sorcerer. There is a witness but his memories have been bound by magical chains only t...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my third update for my March progress for the year long Read Queerly 2026 which is hosted by Alexx @  Enthralled Bookworm .  In March, I completed 1 book for a total of 6 read so far out of 16 total books on my tbr.  You can see my original tbr  here .  Keep reading to see the sixteen books on my tbr for this challenge: 2. Black author: A queer book written by a Black Author ❋   ❋  ❋  ❋ Model Home  by Rivers Solomon  is my favorite book from this author so far.  That said it is intensely creepy and bleak.  I don't think I was quite prepared for just how intense it was going to be.  I'll have to catch up on more from Solomon soon. My review is also on  Goodreads  and  The StoryGraph .  Are you participating in this challenge?  Have you read this books?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today, I'm sharing my March update for  Bookforager's Picture Prompt Book Bingo 2026 .  In March, I completed 1 out of 5 read so far of a total of 16 books on my tbr.  Without further ado, keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in March for this challenge: 14. A skull and crossbones  ❋   ❋  ❋ Coffin Moon  by Keith Rosson  is a horror novel I was really looking forward to.  In the end, it was a novel I liked, but I wish I loved it a little more than I did.  I loved the atmosphere of the 1970s setting.  The tone and the style really worked for me for the first half but then it started to lose some steam for me for the second half.  Even though this wasn't quite a favorite, I think I'll try more from Keith Rosson in the future.   My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . Have you read these books?  Are you taking part in this challenge?  As always, thanks ...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Buzzwords or Phrases That Make Me Want to Read (or Avoid) a Book, but I'm going to specifically list Books Featuring Found Family On My TBR.  I love found family stuff and I hope these will be as good as they sound.  Here we go in alphabetical order by title: A College of Magics ( A College of Magics #1) by Caroline Stevermer The Goblin Emperor ( The Chronicles of Osreth #1) by Katherine Addison The Last Sun ( The Tarot Sequence #1) by K.D. Edwards Medici Heist  by Caitlin Schneiderhan The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson Nevermoor: The Trials on Morrigan Crow ( Nevermoor #1) by Jessica Townsend Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher One Killer Problem by Justine Pucella Winans So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens The Way of Kings ( The Stormlight Archives #1) by Brandon Sanderson   Have you read any of these books?  Wh...