Category: Weekly Book Memes

Top Ten Tuesday | Books Covers with Interesting Typography

Posted February 2, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 39 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Book Covers Featuring Cool/Pretty/Unique/etc. Typography  

Some of these books I’ve read and loved, some I haven’t read, some I’m not interested in at all, but I thought all of them had really interesting typography on their covers that caught my attention so I added them here. If you’ve read any of them and think they’re worth reading, let me know!

Top Ten Books Covers with Interesting Typography

  1. Falling into Place by Amy Zhang – I loved this book and rated it 5 stars. I read it twice and thought it was written beautifully about some difficult things.
  2. Moby Dick by Herman Melville – I just recently read this and enjoyed it even though it was quite long-winded. I listened to this on audio while occasionally refering to my physical copy. Unfortunately, this is not the cover of my copy.
  3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – This is one of those stories I know and love through so many pop culture references, but I can’t remember if I’ve read the actual book. I love this cover though!
  4. Find Me by Ashley N. Rostek – This is book 1 of a series and all the covers are beautiful. It’s new adult, reverse harem romance, which isn’t typically what I’m interested in, but it has great reviews so I might try it.
  5. One Two by Eliane Brum – I’m not interested in reading this book but I love how simple yet creative the cover is, especially because I work with yarn and I love how it looks on the cover.
  6. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer – This book intrigues me and I fully intend to read it one day. The cover is beautiful too!
  7. The Age of Perpetual Light by Josh Weil – I love the cover design! It’s a collection of short stories with a common theme about light. It looks interesting.
  8. Falls The Shadow by Stefanie Gaither – The premise actually sounds interesting, it’s scifi with clones, but I have no interest in reading it. I do love the cover design and how the letters create a different shadow.
  9. Dry by Augusten Burroughs – I remember the hype around his other book Running With Scissors and I still want to read it one day. If I like it, I might read this one too.
  10. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Another popular book that I’m sure most people have heard of. I’ve read it but I don’t currently own a copy. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find this cover if I decide to buy it.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

Tags: , ,


Top Ten Tuesday | New-to-me Authors I Read in 2025

Posted January 26, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 37 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2025 

I will be focusing on new-to-me authors for today’s topic. There were a lot more than ten new-to-me authors in 2025, but I didn’t like all of them, and some only had the one book written. For my list today, I listed the authors whose books I enjoyed, who have written more than one book, and whose works I intend to read more of. Have you read any of these books/authors?

Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2025

  1. David Grann – I really enjoyed Killers of the Flower Moon, and I was stoked to find out that he also wrote The Lost City of Z and The Wager, books I definitely want to read!
  2. Ariel Lawhon – I was surprised by how much I loved The Frozen River and I see that she has several other historical fiction books published as well, many of which look interesting to me.
  3. Dan Simmons – I’d heard a lot about the Hyperion Cantos series, and had no idea when I was reading The Terror that they were written by the same author. I hope to read the Hyperion series soon!
  4. Victor HugoLes Misérables was an excruciatingly long read, but I enjoyed it and I still intend to read The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
  5. M.L. WangThe Sword of Kaigen has been on my tbr for a while, but I ended up reading Blood Over Bright Haven first. I loved it and it’s made me even more curious to read the former!
  6. Fredrik BackmanA Man Called Ove was one of my favorite reads in 2025, and there are so many books by Backman I want to read!
  7. Haruki Murakami – I read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running without realizing who the author was, and I loved it. I’ve never really been curious about Murakami’s books before but I feel like I should read a couple now.
  8. Jenny LawsonLet’s Pretend This Never Happened was a book club BOTM. I fell in love with her weird humor and really want to read her other books now!
  9. Kate RacculiaTuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts was another book that really surprised me by how much I enjoyed it, and I love the sound of her two other books as well. I hope she writes more!
  10. John Scalzi – I’ve heard so much about John Scalzi and his books but only read them because a couple were on Audible Plus. I loved how fun and creative they are and I intend to read many more!

Have you read any of these authors? What did you think of them? Would you read any of their books?

Tags: , ,


Top Ten Tuesday | Bookish Goals for 2026

Posted January 19, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 36 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Bookish Goals for 2026

I have to admit that I wasn’t the most intentional reader in 2025. I read a lot of amazing books, happily, but I feel like I was very checked out and going on automatic for most of the year. I joined too many buddy reads, went along with what other people wanted to read most of the time, rushed through reading deadlines, and was not intentional at all with my reading life.

The pro is that I did discover a lot of really good books from other readers, but the con is that I felt rushed and constantly chasing deadlines, and ended up putting a lot of my own TBRs and reading goals aside. I feel like I need to find the right balance so that I can enjoy the best of both worlds, so I’m going back to some of my basic goals this year.

Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2026

  1. Read more non-fiction – This is a repeat of my bookish goals from a couple of years ago because I didn’t do well with this last year. I do often read and enjoy non-fiction, but I’ve had some specific titles on my TBR for ages that I haven’t gotten to because they require me to pay more attention and I haven’t been very focused lately.
  2. Read more physical books – In the last couple of years, I’ve been reading a lot more books on digital and audio format, which is completely fine and valid, and very helpful for when I have to do chores but still want to read! But I miss physical books sometimes, being able to flip through them especially with fantasy books that have maps and character lists and so on. I’ve also neglected a lot of the physical books I already have on my shelves, so this is part of my next goal as well.
  3. Prioritize the older books from my TBR – I get very easily distracted by all the shiny new books that everyone else recommends, but I have a few books featured on my TBR lists since I started my blog that I still haven’t read yet and it’s getting embarrassing! I’m not going to pretend that I won’t get distracted by new books, but I want to at least try to read some books that have been on my TBR the longest.
  4. Finish series I start – If I start a series that I like and there are multiple books out already, I’d like to read them all back to back if possible so that I don’t forget and have to reread again. Obviously, I still have unfinished series from before that I’m going to try prioritize the ones that already have all their books out.
  5. DNF books more decisively – In relation to the above, I also need to make a decision after reading the first book in the series if it’s good enough for me to continue reading the rest of them. I have such a backlog because I can’t decide. I also need to be able to DNF standalone books sooner.
  6. Keep a book journal – Not an aesthetic book journal, I tried that before and couldn’t keep up. I bought a cheap daily planner that I’m not planning on decorating at all, and I plan to write very messy, spoiler-y notes about the books I read as I’m reading them.
  7. Stay on top of my book reviews – The reviews themselves don’t take a lot of time individually, but I tend to accumulate a whole bunch of them because I procrastinate about writing them, and then they add up and get overwhelming and I procrastinate some more. I feel like if I just write them as I finish each book, it would be much easier!
  8. Be more present with my book blog – For most of 2025, I’ve felt disconnected with my blogging and like I’m constantly rushing and catching up with everything. I really want to change that and go back to feeling the fun and enjoyment I had when I first started blogging. This relates with other non-bookish goals and how I want to reorganize other parts of my life so that I have more time and energy for things I love.
  9. Participate more in the book community – There have been so many bloghops, booktags, other fun stuff I’ve been wanting to participate in, people whose blogs I love reading and connecting with, and I’m hoping that I can do more of them this year!
  10. Reactivate my bookstagram account – This is not a priority and I don’t intend to do this immediately. I feel like I’m already not keeping up well enough with my blog so I definitely don’t need a bookstagram account to keep up with too. I’m only doing this if I feel like I can manage both, and my goal is to possibly get there before the end of the year.

I’m very hopeful for a more active presence on the blog in 2026! What are your bookish goals this year?

Tags: , ,


Top Ten Tuesday | Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

Posted January 12, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 49 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

All the books I’ve chosen for this topic are by authors I’ve read and loved before and I feel pretty confident that I’ll love these ones too! I’m so excited for them! However, I made a promise to myself that I would prioritize some of the older books on my TBR, so I’m going to pace myself and try to be a good TBR reader.

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

  1. Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett – Expected publication date: Feb 17, 2026. I loved the Emily Wilde series, and based off of this new title, I think I love it already.
  2. Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman – Expected publication date: Feb 10, 2026. I love the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by the same author, and Book 8 is supposed to be out May 12 but there wasn’t any cover design out yet, so I went with this unrelated book instead and I’ll probably read it too!
  3. All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan – Expected publication date: Feb 17, 2026. The first book in the series, Long Live Evil, surprised me by how much I ended up loving it, so of course I’m reading this second one!
  4. Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher – Expected publication date: Mar 24, 2026. I love so many of Kingfisher’s works, she’s an automatic read for me.
  5. The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer – Expected publication date: Apr 7, 2026. I mean, a witch with the power to go into books and interact with the world? It’s my dream!
  6. The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss – Expected publication date: Apr 7, 2026. I love a good mystery/thriller, and this one sounds so good.
  7. The Shippers by Katherine Center – Expected publication date: May 19, 2026. Just assume that I’ll read anything Katherine Center writes. I love her books!
  8. Platform Decay by Martha Wells – Expected publication date: May 5, 2026. This is Book 8 in the Murderbot Diaries series, which I love and must continue with!
  9. Whistler by Ann Patchett – Expected publication date: Jun 2, 2026. I loved Bel Canto and I feel like this one will make me feel all the emotions too.
  10. The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden – Expected publication date: Jun 2, 2026. Arden’s writing gives me such mystical and magical vibes. I need this.

Are you anticipating any of these books? Have you read any books by these authors? What books are you looking forward to?

Tags: , , ,


Top Ten Tuesday | Best Books I Read in 2025

Posted January 5, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday / 44 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Best Books I Read in 2025 

I read so many good books in 2025, it was so hard to choose! It’s a blessing though, I think, and I’d rather have too many good books than not enough to choose from. I also reread several favorite books that may or may not have a higher standing than some of the books I’ve listed here, but I didn’t think I should add them to this list in order to be fair to first time reads. The one exception is Dungeon Crawler Carl – I read the first two books the year before, but reread them, and the rest of the five books for the first time in 2025.

Top Ten Best Books I Read in 2025

  1. Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman – This is hands down my favorite books read in 2025. I know I’m cheating because it’s a whole series but it’s technically one story, and all seven books (so far) are so good! If I didn’t give the series a spot, it would be all seven books in seven spots on this list, and we gotta give the other books a chance!
  2. Lady Astronaut Universe series by Mary Robinette Kowal – Another cheat because it’s also a series. There are four books so far, and they are tangentially related but I really loved them and had to include them. I didn’t realize they were alternate historical fiction and initially expected something more sci-fi, but I loved what I got! I especially love how much attention to detail Kowal gave the story, and how nuanced the issues with societal and cultural prejudices were presented. It was very well-written.
  3. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville – This book is incredible and lives rent free in my head. There is so much to it; the worldbuilding, the characters, the emotions! OMG, the emotions! It was difficult to read at times because of how intense it got. It’s one book I know I want to reread because I know I’ll get more out of it, but not any time soon because I need to recover from the first time I read it!
  4. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – I tend to not remember much of the details of books I read, especially if it was a while ago, but I remember impressions, and this book really packed a punch. It’s especially painful for me to see small and vulnerable people getting hurt by big, authoritarian people, and this book made me rage and cry.
  5. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann – Another story that highlights racism, genocide, oppression, and the injustice of powerful people towards vulnerable people. Except that this is a true story and I hate that it happened and is still happening in less obvious ways. It hurts to see the evil that people are capable of, and especially with the current political climate we live in, that they get away with because other people allow them to, and even condone their actions. It frightens me and I really hope history doesn’t repeat itself.
  6. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman – This was a beautiful book about found family, which everyone knows I have a soft spot for. I can understand the despair and loneliness Ove initially felt and why he was so curmudgeonly at first, but I love seeing the journey of how things changed for him. It was such an emotional read for me.
  7. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher – I love Kingfisher’s books because I love fairytale retellings and the kind of stories she writes in particular, but some are better than others and I think this is one of them. I’m not very familiar with the original fairytale it’s based on (Goose Girl) but I love this story on its own. I especially loved the characters because they were all so different but so strong in their own ways.
  8. Christine by Stephen King – I was good and only put one Stephen King book on my list. I was so surprised by how much I loved this one. I never prioritized this book from his vast catalog because I was not very interested in cars, but of course, it’s not about the car, it’s about the story and the way he tells it. King is a master at creating the most interesting characters; I love how even the side characters stand out and reminds us of real people in our lives. I love the way he writes the relationships between the different characters in the book and how relatable they are in different ways. The characters are always the best part of any King book.
  9. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer – I don’t know where to start with this. The fact that it’s a true story and such a tragedy made it really hard to read, but also so hard to put down. It doesn’t matter that it happened years ago, Krakauer wrote it when it was relatively fresh for him and even though he tried to be objective, his emotions are obvious on the page. I had so many thoughts and feelings while reading this that I write about more in the review, but oof, I’m still processing even now.
  10. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – I love this book because of how subtle and nuanced the issues with classism and racism are. Don’t get me wrong, it’s also pretty blatant, but there are so many little details; the micro-aggressions, that you don’t see and don’t realize unless you’re living it or it’s pointed out to you. The topic of motherhood and what makes a good mother is also explored deeply here, and it’s emotional. I’m both traumatized and healed by this book.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

Tags: , , , , , , ,


Top Ten Tuesday | Ten Non-Bookish Things About Me

Posted October 13, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 40 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time 

The topic was originally supposed to be Non-Bookish Freebie, and today is my birthday(!) so I thought I’d do a non-bookish list about me today and share a little more about me. I’m not sure how many of us will do the original topic, but either way, I hope to learn more about you too!

Ten Non-Bookish Things About Me

  1. It’s my birthday! – October 14th! I’m a Libra baby! Unfortunately, I’m not celebrating this week as I got sick unexpectedly, but maybe once I get well.
  2. Yes, I am into astrology, tarot, numerology, and other metaphysical practices – I started practicing tarot and other witchy stuff as a child and became a professional tarot reader and numerologist as an adult.
  3. I’ve also worked at a bookstore and as a wedding singer – I’m pretty sure most of us bookworms have worked at a bookstore or a library, or with books at some capacity, at one point or other! Music is another big thing for me, so singing seemed like another thing I would enjoy, and I’ve sang with a couple of bands for weddings and corporate events.
  4. And was also an investment consultant – This is probably the job that is most unrelated to any of my interests, but I met my husband here so it turned out great!
  5. My husband is a musician and we bonded over our love for music – I have dated musicians before meeting my husband and I swore I would never date musicians again! Joke’s on me, huh?😂
  6. We make beautiful music together! – Not an euphemism! 😂 We actually make music together and have just released a few songs (and more coming soon!) under the name SpaceBlaze! I’ve added our Spotify playlist to the sidebar if anyone wants to check them out, or if you don’t use Spotify, you can try any of these platforms.
  7. We also have three cats together – Button, Pepper, and Loki. We lost Loki a few months ago, but he’s still very much in our hearts and minds. Click the link for the cat tax! They are Malaysian cats, and we brought them with us when we moved to Canada.
  8. We’re Malaysian cats too – We moved to Canada in 2018 and sometimes I’m surprised to realize that we’ve been here for seven years. It’s weird to be an immigrant because after seven years, I still feel like I’m new here. There’s so much I don’t know, and sometimes I don’t even know what I don’t know.
  9. I knit and crochet in my free time – These days it’s more crochet than knit, but I realized I haven’t posted many pictures of my crochet projects here. It looks like I only have this post and this post featuring my crochet pieces. I should really change that!
  10. It was surprisingly difficult to come up with ten non-bookish things about me – Books are such a huge part of my life, and probably the thing I talk most about. In fact, I’m probably cheating with this one, and the one about working in a bookstore, because they’re bookish-related, but this has somewhat inspired me to explore other interests so I’ll have more to talk about next time!

What are some non-bookish things about you? Do we have any non-bookish things in common? What non-bookish things would you like to try?

Tags: , , , , , ,


Top Ten Tuesday | Satisfying Book Series

Posted October 6, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 39 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Satisfying Book Series 

This was a dangerous topic for me; I ended up reminiscing about so many of these series and wanting to reread them! Plus, it also reminded me of many series I haven’t finished and now I have more books on my TBR!

Top Ten Satisfying Book Series

  1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – Whether you count this series as just the original trilogy, or also include the two prequels, this is one of my favorite series that only gets better with every reread. I get more out of it and see things I missed before every time I read it.
  2. Super Powereds by Drew Hayes – I had so much fun with this series. The writing is definitely not sophisticated at all, but the storytelling is so immersive and I love all the characters! It was fun and thrills all the way from start to finish.
  3. The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni – Objectively, this isn’t as well known as the other books on the list but I have fond memories of reading it, and I think maybe one of the reasons I loved it is because I came in without any expectations and ended up loving it.
  4. The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee – This series is incredible in a way I’m not sure how to describe. It feels real. It feels important. It feels like an epic that should be in the realm of LOTR but for urban fantasy. It is intense, and just so good.
  5. Rook & Rose by M.A. Carrick – I love the world-building and magical system in this series. I also really love the characters and their chemistry with each other. It’s one of the newer series I’ve finished (that wasn’t a reread) and that I know I will love even more with every reread.
  6. Oz: The Complete Collection by L. Frank Baum – This is my first time reading the Oz books and I was so surprised at how much more there is to them compared to the movies and Wicked retelling. I’m sure I would’ve loved these stories as a child, but honestly, they are pretty incredible reading as an adult too!
  7. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery – These are books I read as a child and they have remained one of my favorite series ever since. They are some of my favorite comfort reads and I know I can never go wrong with them.
  8. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – It’s been a while since I read this series but I remember loving them so much at the time. I’m definitely feeling the itch to reread!
  9. Dragonlance: Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – I just reread the first three books and have put it on hold because I’m missing the fourth book. I’d forgotten so much of the details and was quite surprised, and shocked, by some of the things that happened, but they are still amazing!
  10. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer – Another series I haven’t read in a while. I love fairytale retellings and I loved the different perspectives this series offered. It’s time to schedule a reread for these books too!

I’m usually good about limiting my TTT list to ten, but here are some notable ones I loved but didn’t put on the list because they are still ongoing or unfinished, or some other reason. They are all still worth reading though, imho!

  1. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman – Currently reading for the first time and I’m on the 6th book. It’s still ongoing but I love every book so far!
  2. Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown – If you count only the first three books, they’re finished and very good on their own, but the story that started from Book 4 onwards isn’t finished yet and I’m still waiting anxiously to find out what happens to my beloved characters!
  3. Wayfarers by Becky Chambers – This series is finished as far as I know, and I love it more than some of the other books in the TTT list, but every book is pretty much only tangentially related and can be read as standalones, so I decided to keep it off the TTT list.
  4. Fred, The Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes – This is also a finished series and one I loved, but I already have a series by the same author on the TTT so this one only gets a notable mention.
  5. The Murderbot Dairies by Martha Wells – Still ongoing, and there’s also a TV series out! I am loving it so much so far!
  6. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman – This series has my heart. I love it. I was so sad to hear the TV series has been cancelled, but I’m glad there’s still a book to look forward to.
  7. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin – I know, I know! But I was already listing unfinished book series, so I might as well, right?! Thing is, whether this series ever gets finished or not, the ones that are already out are amazing, and I honestly think they are still worth reading even if we never get an ending. These books helped me through a tough time and I can’t imagine never having them in my life.

Have you read any of these series? What did you think of them? Would you read any of them?

Tags: , , , , , , , ,


Sunday Post | 5 October 2025

Posted October 4, 2025 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 30 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. I am also linking up with Deb @ Readerbuzz for The Sunday Salon.

Good Food with Good Friends

This was a good week for Malaysian food; I made Hokkien Mee yesterday, and today I went to a Malaysian restaurant with my bookclub friends and had Chili Pan Mee. I don’t know, I was craving noodles this weekend! Our bookclub meeting was supposed to be the weekend before, but many of us couldn’t make it in the last minute so we decided to do lunch today instead.

It has been a long, long time since I made Hokkien Mee, and obviously it’s not the same as the ones you find in Malaysian hawker stalls because I’m using different ingredients and I don’t have sambal belacan on hand, but I did make the pork fat crisps and the husband loved it, so yay!

The pictures aren’t great but you can see just from the presentation which one is homemade and which one was restaurant-made! That one veggie piece in the middle of the noodle dish is a weird aesthetic, but it all went happily down our stomachs anyway. Honestly, the picture doesn’t do it justice, it was so good (or maybe I was just too hungry)! The Chili Pan Mee wasn’t the same as the ones back in Malaysia, but that’s to be expected and I appreciate the effort. I have eaten there before and a lot of the other Malaysian food on the menu are amazing, I just wanted to try the noodles today.

The Books

Books I read last week:

  1. The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman – I am still having so much fun with this series even though it does actually get more painful in some ways. I think it showcases how we can have hard-hitting stories but still keep our humor intact and make the best out of whatever situation we find ourselves in. Obviously Jeff Hays’ narration plays a big part in making the books so enjoyable too!
  2. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher – I started reading this with three more days to go before I had to return it to the library, and I expected to take some time to get into it since I was so engrossed in the DCC books, but surprisingly and happily, it sucked me in immediately and I finished it in two sittings! I loved it and I’m so glad I read it instead of letting the due date lapse!
  3. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman – I barely finished this in time for my bookclub meeting today! It was good but I feel like I rushed it and that wasn’t fair to the story because there were parts where dreams and hallucintions play an important role in the plot and I got really confused about what was really happening. I also didn’t like the narrator for some of the voices so that played a part in my enjoyment of the story.

Books I’m reading:

  1. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman – I couldn’t resist. I took a break already, reading two other books in between the last one, but I had to come back to Carl and Donut!
  2. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie – My attempt to still continue reading other book obligations even though I can’t stay away from DCC. I’m about 10% in and it’s reminding me a lot of Between Two Fires, so far! But I love the humor here, and I love Steven Pacey as the narrator!

Last Week on The Blog

I got a TTT and a Monthly Wrap-Up in! I should probably get started on the backlog of book reviews though!

This Week

It’s October and you know what that means; spooky books!

I’m doing really well on my October TBR intentions so far! I’ve finished three books on my list already, and started two others. I’m hoping that if I finish them quickly I’ll have enough time for some Stephen King as well and maybe more horror!

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

Tags: , , , , , ,


Top Ten Tuesday | Books Beginning with F

Posted September 29, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 43 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Book Covers that Give off Fall Vibes 

Normally I’d have no problems looking for books with fall vibes, but I’ve recently participated in a couple of reading challenges where there were a few prompts for books with fall vibes, and I just feel like doing something a little different today. Besides, my alphabetical TTT series has been a little slow, so I might as well add to it!

Top Ten Books Beginning with F

  1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – One of those classics I can’t believe I haven’t read yet.
  2. Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley – I keep going back and forth with this one; I wasn’t interested in it, but I keep seeing and hearing about it and I’m curious!
  3. Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson – This book calls to the part of me that’s broken but still has a wicked sense of humor. I should probably read it soon and get a little carthasis out of it.
  4. Falling by T.J. Newman – This one sounds thrilling and I’ve been excited to read it for a while.
  5. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North – Time travel scifi, right up my alley, it has been on my TBR since it came out 10 years ago and I’m annoyed with myself that I haven’t read it yet!
  6. Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith – I’ve loved many of the author’s books, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy this one too!
  7. Funny Farm by Laurie Zaleski – I love animals and at one point I wanted to be a vet, but now that I have pets and understand the responsibility of taking care of them, I don’t think I’ll want more than a few at a time. I’m sure I’ll enjoy reading about someone else doing it though!
  8. Firestarter by Stephen King – Is it even a Haze TTT if there’s no Stephen King book on the list?!
  9. Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald – My library was featuring this book quite aggressively and it worked! I’m interested! It’s more than 700 pages though, so I’m waiting for the right time to pick it up.
  10. Foxfire, Wolfskin by Sharon Blackie – Mythology, folklore, and fairy tales about women from across Europe. I want it, I need it. I want more!

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

Tags: , ,


Sunday Post | 28 September 2025

Posted September 27, 2025 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 22 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. I am also linking up with Deb @ Readerbuzz for The Sunday Salon.

The Universe Works in Mysterious Ways

It was another challenging week for me but overall I think it was good in many ways. One of the things I was most stoked about was that I got Brené Brown’s new book, Strong Ground, the day it released!

I am a huge fan of her works but I didn’t even know she had a book coming out and only found out about it the night before as I was going to bed. The next day, I was looking into where I could get the book and how much it cost, and apparently it was selling for $31.50 (plus tax) at a bookstore near me. And guess what? I just happened to have a giftcard for that bookstore that I had been holding on to for about two years (because I hardly buy physical books anymore) and it had exactly $31.50 left on it!!

It was just so serendipitous and I was like, the Universe wants me to have this book!

And then later the same day, I found out that there was a 2-for-1 sale on Audible, and one of the books on the sale was Book 5 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series! I had just finished Book 4 and was going to get Book 5 anyway, and now I get another free book out of it – Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, which has been on my TBR for a long time!

This hardly ever happens to me, and then twice in one day! Perhaps the Universe was making up for the other challenging things that happened last week (that we won’t talk about right now), but hey, I’ll take it! I’ll always be grateful for the good things, no matter how small, and I try to focus on the positive when I can.

Speaking of positive, good things; thank you so much to all of you who took the time to listen to our music that I shared here last week! We’ve gotten some great feedback and we’re really excited to get better and share more music with you!

I’ve added the widget to the sidebar for easy access and visibility, because of course, I’m never gonna shut up about it now. 😂 But truly, I’m just happy to be able to share something I love with you.

The Books

Books I read last week:

  1. The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman – There were a couple of reveals in this book that shook me, and that ending, omg! These books just keep getting better and better. I was going to stop at this book and take a break from the series because I had other book obligations, but I couldn’t stop after that ending, so I just kept reading!

Books I’m reading:

  1. The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman – Currently 4 hours into a 23-hour book. We haven’t gotten into the juicy stuff yet, but there’s been some funny and heartwarming scenes already.
  2. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman – I’m 4.5 hours into this 14-hour book. It’s my in-person bookclub’s botm and we were supposed to meet today (Saturday), but many of us couldn’t make it last minute so we’ve postponed the discussion to next week, which gives me more time to finish!

Last Week on The Blog

Just the TTT. I’ve only been reading Dungeon Crawler Carl, so the only book reviews I need to write are all Dungeon Crawler Carl books! I haven’t decided if I’ll write them all after I finish all the existing books, or if I should get started on each one soon!

This Week

Library due dates! I need to finish A Sorceress Comes to Call this week if I don’t want to go back on the queue and wait until it’s my turn again! But also, to be honest, I feel like I don’t have the bandwidth for focusing on new storylines at the moment, and being on a DCC binge helps because I’m already familiar with the world.

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

Tags: , , , , ,