Always Me

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 17 read so far out of 24 total books on my tbr.  7 to go!  Without further ado, keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in July: 19. oh the places you will go: place name in the title ❋ ❋ ❋ I definitely skipped around with  This Realm of England, 1399 to 1688 ( A History of England #2) by Lacey Baldwin Smith  to check out the sections of times and events I found myself more interested in, but overall this textbook is a slog. I probably would have given it 2 stars if it weren't for a previous owner's notes and commentary in the margins. Sometimes that actually held my attention more than the rest of the book. My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . 23. title starts with "L": book t...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today, I'm sharing my July update for Bookforager's Picture Prompt Book Bingo 2026 .  In July, I completed 2 out of 12 read so far of a total of 16 books on my tbr.  Without further ado, keep reading to see my thoughts on the book I read in July for this challenge: 13. A plant being repotted ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋   Garden of the Cursed ( Garden of the Cursed #1) by Katy Rose Pool   is a YA fantasy mystery that really caught my eye - both the cover and the description - and luckily I really enjoyed this one.  I haven't had the best luck with this author in the past, so I feel like I lucked out with this duology opener.  The world building is great is easily my favorite aspect of this.  The setting really brought it all to life for me.  I'll definitely be back for the finale soon. My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . 7. A human eye ❋ ❋ ❋  Working Stiff ( Dan Shamble, Zombie PI #5) by Kevin J. Anderson ...

Happy Wednesday everyone! I'm sharing my second 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. In July, I read 4 books for a total of 6 read out of 25 books on my original tbr .  Keep reading to see the books I've read so far for this challenge: 8. Vacation Spot - Story takes place somewhere you’d want to visit (either fictional or non-fictional). This is subjective, as everyone has different tastes. A cozy cottage at the edge of the sea, a mansion in the fantasy Alps, a cruise ship in the stars - anything can count, as long as you think you would enjoy visiting this world. HARD MODE: No hard mode. You deserve a break. ❋ ❋ With Desert Creatures by Kay Chronister , I think I was hoping for something more like a horror take on Fallout than this. The summary sounded great and it certainly had its moments...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my seventh update for my July progress for the year long Read Queerly 2026 which is hosted by Alexx @ Enthralled Bookworm .  In July, I completed 1 book for a total of 14 read so far out of 16 total books on my tbr.  I've only got two left - wow!  You can see my original tbr here .  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the book I read this month: ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ The Oleander Sword ( The Burning Kingdoms #2) by Tasha Suri was on my tbr for far too long.  I'm glad I finally got back to this series.  This was pretty great from the action, the characters, and the world-building.  It's a little too long, though, and at times it feels like the goal is to set up what's coming up in book three.  On that note, I can't wait to read the next book and I hope I won't put it off for so long. My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . Are you participating in this challenge?  Have you read any of these boo...

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I'm sharing my thoughts on the book I read in Junly 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: July - 7B - Read whilst on watch (a bit on edge after those traps, who set them up? Best stay on a watch before getting some sleep, good thing you have a great tome with you) - read this book entirely in the PM hours ❋ ❋  ❋ Jack of Kinrowan ( Jack of Kinrowan #1-2) by Charles de Lint   was good and although I know it's two books in this volume I don't think it needed to be quite as long as it is. Plus, there were like 20 blank pages at the very end of the book, and that's always annoying to me. I did like getting to know the faerie world here and how it works into the modern world. That was pretty good. I might have to check out more books by this author in the futur...

Happy Wednesday everyone!  I hope everyone's had a good July.  How are we already more than halfway through the year!  I've now completed 14 tasks for Book Riot's 2026 Read Harder Challenge .  The tasks I completed in July required me to read a book  book by a d/Deaf author and a  nonviolent true crime book.   I selected  True Biz by Sara Nović  and  A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan  respectively.   Read on to see my mini reviews and my plans for next month:   ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋   True Biz by Sara Nović  is a great YA contemporary coming-of-age story.  The author does an outstanding job of settling the audience into Deaf culture.  I also appreciated the characters in that they all feel very fleshed out and are allowed to be messy - they feel like real people.  Anyway, this book also reminded me that it's ...

  Happy Tuesday everyone!  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Books I HAD to Have Immediately but Still Haven’t Read, but 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've decided to share Goodreads Choice Awards Horror Nominees I Still Want To Read.  I'm going to start with one title from last year's awards and then work my way backward one at a time until I get to 2016.  Without further ado, here we go in order by year: Hungerstone by Kat Dunn - 2025 You Like It Darker by Stephen King - 2024 Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison - 2023 The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson - 2022 The Whispering Dead ( Gravekeeper #1) by Darcy Coates - 2021 The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry - 2020 Bunny ( Bunny #1) by Mona Awad - 2019 The Carrow Haunt by Darcy Coates - 2018 Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and O...

  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 music from  Minions & Monsters (2026), composed by John Powell.  I saw this one in the theater not long ago and as far as I'm concerned its the best Minion movie and is as good or better than the ...

Happy Sunday Funday and welcome to my eighth weekly update for Summer of Horror 2026 (my fourth of July), a celebration of all things horror running from June through August and hosted by Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy .  I made some more progress on my tbr and watchlist!  We're almost to August - wow!  Keep reading to see what I've gotten up to since last week. My Summer of Horror This Week: Sunday Funday: July Week 3 Update Music Monday: Evil Dead Burn (2026) Top Ten Tuesday: Horror Movies & TV Shows That Live In My Head Rent Free Books From The Backlog: Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): The Liar of Red Valley by Walter Goodwater What I've Watched This Week : ❋ ❋.5 Under Paris wasn't a good movie and it was pretty ridiculous, but I did like the ending. I wasn't expecting that at all. Good for those sharks, you know. Also, I was trying to figure out where I'd seen the main actress and it finally hit me that she play...

      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 Summer of Horror 2026 (hosted by Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy ),  The Liar of Red Valley by Walter Goodwater .  I was hoping to get to this last October for Halloween, but that didn't end up happening.  This looks li...

.         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,  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 a horror novel. This Week's Neglected Book: Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison Published: September 19, 2023 Genre: Horror My Copy: Format: Hardback Pages: 289 Where I Acquired It: A yard sale Summary (From Goodreads): A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle . Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vespe...