Always Me

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I'm sharing my my seventh update for my July progress for the year long reading challenge called The 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge .  You can see my original tbr here .  In July, I completed 4 books for a total of 43 read so far out of 52 total books on my tbr.  Only 9 books to go!  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in July: 27. Two or more authors, one pseudonym ❋ ❋  ❋ ❋ Magic Bleeds ( Kate Daniels #4) by Ilona Andrews   is an urban fantasy series that is on the way to becoming a favorite.  While I didn't quite like where this went as much as I did the previous installment, I still had a lot of fun.  As much as I like Kate and the rest of the cast, the love the unique world of the story just as much or more.  I'm glad I still have seven more installments of this series to explore in the future. My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . 24. Uneven number of chapters ❋ ...

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 ...