Always Me

        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 Dark Mirror ( The Bridei Chronicles #1) Juliet Marillier Published: March 6, 2007 (originally 2004) Genre: Historical fantasy romance My Copy: Format: Mass Market Paperback Pages: 561 Where I Acquired It: A yard sale Summary (From Goodreads): Bridei is a young nobleman fostered at the home of Broichan, one of the most powerful druids in the land. His earliest memories are not of hearth and kin but of this dark stranger who while not unkind is mysterious in his ways. The tasks that he sets Bridei appear to have one goal-to make him a vessel for some distant purpose. What that pu...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my sixth update for my June progress for the year long Read Queerly 2026 which is hosted by Alexx @ Enthralled Bookworm .  In June, I completed 2 books for a total of 13 read so far out of 16 total books on my tbr.  I can't believe I'm already almost done with this one!  You can see my original tbr here .  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read this month: 6. Series or Duolog: A queer book that's part of a duology, trilogy/series ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ I absolutely loved Into the Drowning Deep ( Rolling in the Deep #1) by Mira Grant ! I don't have a lot to say about this one other than that I need lots more ocean horror/ mermaid horror books like it, please and thank you. My review is also on Goodreads ,  The StoryGraph , and my Summer of Horror 2026 - Sunday Funday: June Week 2 Update post . 4. Island icon: Any queer book set on an island or about an island ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ I really liked La Sala's style in this du...

Happy Wednesday everyone! I'm sharing my first update for the  r/Fantasy 2026 Book Bingo Challenge .  The challenge officially started on April 1st, 2026 and it will run through March 31st, 2027.  I'm hoping to complete the full board of 25 squares for the challenge. So far I've read 2 of 25 books on my original tbr .  Keep reading to see the books I've read so far for this challenge: 14. Explorers and Rangers - Story features an explorer (a character who travels to and investigates an unfamiliar region) or a ranger (a wilderness or forest-oriented warrior frequently specializing in things like stealth, bows, tracking, and other hunting-related skills). HARD MODE: The explorer or ranger has an animal companion. ❋ I was really looking forward to The No-End House by Jeremey Bates , but this ended up being off-putting and just not good at all. I liked the idea of it and the creepypasta that inspired it, but you know what did the story about a million times better? The s...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my sixth update for my June progress for the year long Beat The Backlist 2026 reading challenge, hosted by Austine Decker.  You can see my original tbr here .  In June, I completed 2 books for a total of 15 read so far out of 24 total books on my tbr.  9 to go!  Without further ado, keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in June: 11. end of an era: last book in a series ❋ ❋ ❋ Fire Arrow ( The Songs of Eirren #2)  by Edith Pattou  is definitely an improvement from book one but still not enough to raise it quite up to 4 stars.  I appreciated the main character a little more this time around in the new setting.  Anyway, I'm not sure if I'm interested in reading more from this author in the future. My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . 2. 2025 debut: an author's first book that released in 2025 ❋ ❋ ❋ A Language of Dragons (A Language of Dragons #1) by S.F. Williamso...

  Happy Wednesday everyone!  I can't believe it's already the first of July!  Today I'm sharing my my sixth update for my progress for the year long reading challenge called the 2026 Popsugar Reading Challenge .  In June, I completed 6 books for a total of 38 read so far out of 50 total books on my tbr.  Only 12 to go!  You can see my original tbr here .  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in June for this challenge: 27. A book with a character who has curly hair ❋ ❋ Witches' Night of Fear ( Witches' Chillers #2) by Silver RavenWolf  was okay, but definitely not a favorite. Also, I haven't read book one of this series so I was missing some stuff. Either way, not a whole lot happened in this until far too close to the end.  It feels like a bit of a time capsule too (back to 2001) which I wasn't quite expecting going in. My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . 15. A book about new beginnings ❋ ❋ ❋ It Will Only Hur...

Happy Thursday everyone! Today I'm sharing my thoughts on the book I read in June for Choose Your Own Adventure: Year In Adelia 2026, 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 below: June - 6B - Solve traps (turn right, good news - this definitely has to lead somewhere, bad news - someone really tried to make sure not everyone passed because the cave is riddled with traps!) - read a mystery book ❋ ❋ I wanted to like  The Undetectables ( The Undetectables #1) by Courtney Smythe  a lot more than I did. It's trying to do too much and it can't decide what it's trying to do.  Some books can juggle multiple tones/ styles well, but this one doesn't do it well enough to merit rating this higher.  It had potential, but didn't live up to my expectations.  It strikes me as something that could grow into itself as a series, but I don't think I'...

  Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Most Anticipated Books Releasing In The Second Half Of 2026, and in honor of Summer of Horror 2026 , a celebration of all things horror running from June through August and hosted by Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy , I'm specifically featuring horror books.  Here we go, in order by release date: The Brides by Charlotte Cross  - Release date: July 7th The Unknown by Riley Sager - Release date: August 4th The Burn Line by Jonathan Sims - Release date: August 25th Dead Beat ( Alex Stern #3) by Leigh Bardugo - Release date: September 15th Mazywood by Tananarive Due - Release date: September 22nd Look What the Cat Dragged In by Jason Rekulak - Release date: October 13th Off the Reservation ( The Only Good Indians #2) by Stephen Graham Jones - Release date: October 13th Scorpion Deep by C.G. Drews - Release date: October 27th What Rough Beast...

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope everyone's had a good June.  It's just started to really heat up here for the season after being pretty mild and I'm not ready.  I've now completed 10 tasks for Book Riot's 2026 Read Harder Challenge .  The tasks I completed in June required me to read a  book with a   main character who uses they/them pronouns and a  sports book by a woman, trans, or nonbinary author.   I selected  Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens  and  Ana on the Edge by A.J. Sass  respectively.   Read on to see my mini reviews and my plans for next month: ❋ ❋ ❋  ❋ Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens  is a book I'd been looking forward to for awhile.  As it turns out, this was just delightful.  Lukens' writing style really works for me and it just plain enjoyable.  I liked getting to know the full cast of characters and explore their world and unique magic system.  I can't wait to read even...

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing my my sixth update for my June progress for the year long reading challenge called The 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge .  You can see my original tbr here .  In June, I completed 8 books for a total of 39 read so far out of 52 total books on my tbr.  I can't believe I've only got 13 books left for this challenge!  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in June: 18. Provokes strong emotion ❋ ❋ ❋  ❋ ❋  I didn't know to expect going into  The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah  but I really appreciated this World War II story. I could have done without the 1990s bookends though, but they didn't deter me from absolutely loving this. I will definitely be back to read even more from this author in the future. My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . 10. Spans a decade or more ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See  is a book I've been eyeing for years, so I'm glad this readi...

  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! In honor of Summer of Horror 2026 , a celebration of all things horror running from June through August and hosted by Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy , I'm featuring some of my favorite pieces of music from  IT: Welcome to Derry (2025).  I just recently finished watching this series and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  Going in I had no exp...