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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 Superpowers I Wish I Had
I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for this topic and asked some of my bookish friends this question for fun. I ended up liking some of their answers more than my own, so I’ve stolen their ideas and added them here!
Top Ten Bookish Superpowers I Wish I Had
My own ideas:
Books on my library waitlist always come at exactly the right time, staggered, and not all at once!
Invincibility to FOMO
Books I want to buy always just happen to be on sale when I want to buy them
Ability to stop time while I savor reading
Ability to remember every single detail of books I read – unless I want to reread, in which case, I forget everything except the fact I loved it, and get surprised all over again!
Automatically forget any accidental spoilers so books never get ruined for me
Ideas I stole:
Ability to read in every language
Always picking up the exact books with the exact tropes you want in the moment
Ability to know if you’ll like a book once you pick it up, so you don’t waste your time on books you wouldn’t like
The artistic prowess for bookbinding and fore-edge painting so all my books look unique and beautiful!
Oh, how I wish some of these were real and actual superpowers I could have! What bookish superpowers would you wish for?
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.
All the Legends, All the Lattes
I had a great reading week! I finished six books and they were all really good! Granted half of them were novellas and graphic novels, but still.
In particular, I finally read Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, and omg, it totally lived up to the hype for me. I finished it in one sitting on Tuesday, neglected everything else I was supposed to do, and I don’t even regret it. I loved it so much and I cannot wait to read the prequel!
Books I read this week:
I’ve written reviews for most of them, and if you’re interested in what I thought about them, you can check them out! I’m not planning to write reviews for the Debbie Tung books, but I do want to mention them here and express how much I loved them and how relatable they are. It’s like she sees into my soul!
Other than reading and burying my head in books this week, I didn’t really do much else. But again, I don’t regret anything!
I’m reading Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt this week. Our book club is having its first meeting this weekend and this is our first book of the month! Yay!
I’m also reading The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan on audio, and rereading The Count of Monte Cristo. There’s a readalong happening for The Count of Monte Cristo and it’s one of my all-time favorite books so I couldn’t resist joining in!
I’m not sure if I should keep up the pretense of reading The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner. I still really want to, but I’m just not. How do I make myself read it?
How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!
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 Love Freebie and I’m doing my Top Ten Favorite Book Relationships
Happy Valentine’s Day! This list will include all kinds of relationships; romantic, platonic, familial, symbiotic… I wanted to feature all the characters I love and their love for each other.
Top Ten Favorite Book Relationships
Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables – I think the books represent the evolution of their relationship a lot better than the mini-series but it was just so sweet to see them grow up and grow older together. They were horrible to each other when they were children, but once they grew up, they were just perfect together.
Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth from A Song of Ice and Fire – An actual enemies to (sort-of) lovers story? I’d say respected comrade, but it’s clear they trauma-bonded in some way and feel deeply for each other. Look, I’m not saying that it’s a healthy relationship, but it was clearly a meaningful one. It was just amazing to see the way they had to trust each other, first out of necessity, then later out of respect and feelings.
Darrow and Sevro from the Red Rising series – Darrow and Sevro are my ride-or-die people. I can’t bear it when they are at odds with each other. I need them to be okay with each other, more than I need Darrow with Virginia. If anything happened to their relationship, I will riot!
Aurianne and Marcus from The Light Bearer – This is a very underrated book that I love with my whole heart. I love Aurianne because she’s one of the strongest, smartest, bravest woman I’ve ever met (read about), and Marcus is an incredibly intelligent strategist. And while they are both amazing as individuals, together they are the most powerful of power couples, and I love them!
Vargo, Ren, and Gray from the Rook and Rose series – This isn’t a throuple, I promise, but a very unique relationship that comes from complete love and trust for each other. I love Vargo especially because of how badass his reputation is to everyone else, but how vulnerable he is with Ren and Gray. I am in love with them all!
Pi and Richard Parker from Life of Pi – This was one of the most intense relationships I loved reading about. I don’t think Richard Parker loved Pi in any way except symbiotically, but they had such a beautiful relationship, nonetheless. I mean, not that it’s anything I’d want to aspire to, but in the context of the story. From fear of each other, to tolerance, to trust. Oh, I don’t know, it’s just such a complex thing to read about and it elicits so many feelings.
Rocky and Ryland Grace from Project Hail Mary – Amaze! I am in love with Rocky, and I love Ryland Grace more because I see him through Rocky’s POV. I love how they bonded. I love how they learned about each other, how they adapted and respected each other’s needs, customs, and more. It’s just such an example for how we should treat people different from us. Do you agree? Fist my bump!
Peter and Bea from The Book of Strange New Things – Full disclosure, it’s been 10 years since I read this book and I don’t remember very much, but I remember thinking that this was one of most interesting books I’ve ever read that showcased what a marriage was like, and this while Peter and his wife, Bea, lived on different planets for pretty much the whole book! You know what, I should probably reread this sometime soon.
Alice and Leonard from This Time Tomorrow – This was one of the more recent books I read, so you can read more about what I thought about the book here. Alice and Leonard are daughter and father, and I loved how they loved each other. I loved how present Leonard was for his daughter. I loved how Alice realized that having more time with her father was what was most important for her. It was just such a wholesome relationship, with all its beauty and bittersweetness.
Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games series – I’m sorry if it’s overdone and overrated, but there are so many reasons why I love The Hunger Games, and Peeta with Katniss is just one of the reasons. Peeta accepts Katniss as she is, with all her flaws, and he’s totally willing to die for her. It might have taken Katniss some time to feel her feelings, but that’s part of what I loved about their relationship; that it wasn’t insta-love. They had real reasons for falling for each other, each in their own time.
Who are your favorite book relationships? Why do you like them? Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
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.
Happy Lunar New Year!
As of this writing, I am exhausted because it’s the Lunar New Year and I’m prepping for our “traditional” new year meal (traditional to our family, not really to the culture as a whole). I’ve also been cleaning the house and doing laundry and all the extras, although I’ll admit that my definition of clean is probably not as strict as it used to be. Clean enough is good enough.
It’s just my husband and me this year, so I didn’t go overboard. I made crispy pork belly in the air fryer, and we had several side vegetable dishes to go with it. We’ll have enough leftovers for the next couple of days too, which is great! Are you celebrating the Lunar New Year?
I’ve also finally finished Season 3 of Veronica Mars, and it’s so apparent to me now how toxic Veronica’s relationship with Logan is. I used to ship them so much, but now I’m like, you guys need to stay away from each other. It’s funny that this time around I’m more invested with her relationship with Piz. Piz is so much better for her than Logan ever was.
I did start watching a couple of episodes of Season 4, but not liking it very much. Logan and Veronica’s relationship is as toxic as ever, maybe more. And Piz is nowhere to be seen. I don’t know if I’ll finish watching it. It’s more of a curiosity to see where it goes.
As for my reading last week, I finished Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley on audiobook, and I binged on The Improbable Meet-Cute Series, which were so much fun! I’m also currently reading Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng on audio and loving it so far.
I dnf’d two books, which I’m very proud of because dnf-ing doesn’t come easy to me. As it was, I spent way too long on them before I finally dnf’d, but it’s a practice and I’ll get better at it!
The books I dnf’d:
Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien – so apparently I’ve picked up this book before and dnf’d it then. I didn’t remember it but it started to get really familiar as I read, and instead of dnf-ing again, I kept reading past where I stopped last time because I thought maybe this time, I’d like it better. I didn’t.
Children of Virtue and Vengence by Tomi Adeyemi – This is the second book in the Legacy of Orïsha series, and I’m very disappointed because I wanted to like it. I dnf’d at 53% because there’s a character in the story that gave me the ick and I can’t get past it. I’d accept this character as a villain but it seemed like the author might be trying to redeem them, and I can’t. It’s too icky. I have more I want to say, so maybe I’ll write a separate post about it later.
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 Recent Books I Read In One Sitting
Some of these books are novellas, and there’s also a gag book, but many of them are full-length novels which I finished very quickly because they were easy reads and so good I couldn’t put them down.
Top Ten Recent Books I Read In One Sitting
10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston – 336 pages. It’s a fun YA romance set around Christmas season. I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much, but I did!
The September House by Carissa Orlando– 344 pages. It’s so good, I couldn’t put it down! It was scary and horrifying, but also funny and insightful. It’s my favorite book of January!
All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen and Jory John – 96 pages. Funny story; I came across this book while I was looking up another book on this list (Book Love by Debbie Tung), and this book came up in the “Readers also enjoyed…” section. It looked fun, so I went on Libby and it was available so I borrowed it, and opened it intending just to look inside. I ended up finishing the whole thing in maybe… 10 minutes? It was funny and sad, and I felt totally called out by the plant that said to stop buying their friends only to kill them slowly!
Book Love by Debbie Tung – 137 pages. I loved this book! I relate so much to it because of all the book related jokes and tales of the reading life.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros – 498 pages. This isn’t a short book and it was also pretty intense, but it was so good and I just couldn’t put it down. I finished it way too fast, and I wanted more, but I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here with most of you.
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher – 116 pages. I’m a huge fan of T. Kingfisher, and this was a short but really good story! I love this perspective of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale.
You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle – 368 pages. I didn’t expect to love this so much when I started it because I thought they were horrible to each other, but it got really good and I loved how it all went down.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – 390 pages. I laughed out loud at so many parts in the story, and also cried at some places. I went in with zero expectations because I didn’t know about the hype at the time, but it became one of my favorite books in 2023.
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – 65 pages. This is a very short book, but so impactful. It says so much in so few pages, and it really makes you think. I’d highly recommend it to anyone.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? What books did you finish in one sitting because they were just so good?
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.
“And I just want a million dollars…!”
Funny story, last week I posted about maybe starting an in-person book club. I was only kinda joking, but guess what?!
Yup, there’s a book club.
I asked around and ended up getting a handful of people who are interested, and that makes me so happy! It’s just getting started and our first meeting is going to be at the end of the month, so who knows what’s going to happen and if it will work out long term, but I really hope it does!
So I spent the first part of the week setting up a couple of platforms for our new bookclub, for book picks and voting on our first book, getting to know each other, and so on. I’m nervous and excited for our first meeting! It’s totally still open to new members, if you happen to live or know anyone who lives in Calgary! Just letting you all know it’s an open invitation!
As for everything else, I’m running behind and trying to catch up. I didn’t read a lot, but I managed to finish Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, and I loved it! I’m still working on Stiletto, the second book in the Checquy Files series by Daniel O’Malley. I haven’t gotten much else done this week, unfortunately. The new month caught me by surprise, January went by so fast! How was January for you?
I’m sure I can finish Stiletto this week, and I have Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi up next on audiobook. On e-book, I’ve got Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien, and I’ve got Legends and Lattes as a physical copy from the library. I am looking forward to all of them!
How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!
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 New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023
I wasn’t sure if I had ten new authors I read in 2023, but apparently I did! Some of them I liked better than others, but I’m happy to say all of them are authors whose works I’d read again.
Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023
M.R. Carey – I read the Rampart Trilogy and I loved it. He is also the author of The Girl With All The Gifts series, which was turned into a movie I remember enjoying. I didn’t know at the time it was based on books, but I’m curious to read the series.
Tomi Adeyemi – I read Children of Blood and Bone, the first book in the Legacy of Orisha series, and I’m intending to finish the series this year, hopefully.
Bonnie Garmus – I read Lessons in Chemistry. It looks like she’s only got a single book released, but if/when she writes more, I’ll be reading them.
Sarah Hogle – I read You Deserve Each Other. It was so well-written and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. It looks like she’s got plenty of books in the same vein and I’m going to make my way through them.
Allison Ashley – I read The Roommate Pact. Fun, light-hearted, heartwarming contemporary romance. I’ll be reading her other books as well.
Emma Straub – I read This Time Tomorrow, a time-travel story with a lovely father-daughter relationship I fell in love with. Apparently she’s the daughter of famed author Peter Straub. I’ve never read him, but I’ve seen many of his books around. I’m interested in reading more of her books as well as trying some of Peter Straub’s books.
Rebecca Yarros – I read Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, and I’m obviously going to read the next books in this series!
Louis Erdrich – I read The Sentence. It was not what I expected at all. It was simultaneously so mundane and yet magical. I love the glimpse into the Native American world, and I want to read more from her.
Ashley Elston – I read 10 Blind Dates and it was such a joy to read that now I want to read more. There’s a sequel, and there are several other books I’m looking forward to.
Have you read any of these authors? Did you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
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.
Happiness Is…
We got to go to the zoo this week and see the Penguin Walk! I loved it! They were so adorable and I loved watching them walk! The big furry brown one is Augustus, and he was chirping so happily, omg! It’s lucky they cordoned off the space and had people controlling the crowd and protecting the penguins from me, because it was all I could do not to throw myself at them!
Happy!
I also went down to the Central Library this week because it’s been a while, and that’s another happy place for me! I wanted to browse books I might not have found on my own (like I don’t have enough books already anyway!), and I ended up with more books than I can carry, so I just took a couple and placed a hold for the rest.
I asked about book clubs because the library used to have a whole bunch of them listed in the programs guide, but apparently, they have no more book clubs now, ever since the pandemic. Which is really disappointing to hear.
Not so happy. =(
I’ve been looking for an in-person book club for a while but haven’t found one that would be right for me. Logistics is an issue for me so there are limited locations I can travel to, and there was a couple that seemed to be “dinner and book club” things, which would be too pricey for me. A book club at the library would’ve been perfect for me, but oh well. I’ll keep looking.
Or maybe I’ll start one! Does anyone live in Calgary, Canada, or knows someone who lives here and wants start a book club with me? Lol! (I’m only half-joking!)
As for reading, I’m also very happy because I managed to read three books that I’d been wanting to read for a while!
I finally finished The Rook by Daniel O’Malley, Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher, and by popular demand, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I loved how many of you were telling me to read it and how much you loved it. Well, I read it! And I loved it! Thank you for your enthusiasm for the book! I’ve written a review if you wanna know what I thought!
I have started on Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries and I am loving it so far. I just got the second book in the Checquy series on audio today, and I’m excited to dive in as well! I’m happy I didn’t have to wait too long after finishing The Rook!
I am still planning to read The Dance of Anger. I know I said I’ll try to read it for last week, but I was caught up with other books and activities, and wasn’t in the right frame of mind. I’m still not ready to give up on it, but I’m not certain if I should give up on it for now and pick it up again a couple of weeks later. I’ll just play it by ear and see how I feel.
How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!
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 Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To
Oh, the shame!
Not only are there so many books that I meant to read in 2023 but didn’t, some of them go so far back on my TBR list, I don’t even remember what they’re about or if I still want to read them! These are just the few that I most want to read, and I really hope I get to them some time this year!
Top Ten Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To
Top-Bottom, Left-Right:
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley – Well, the whole Checquy series, actually. This is the first book in the series, and I’ve read it a while ago. I meant to reread this and then the rest of the series in 2022, but I didn’t, and then I meant to read it in 2023, but didn’t. The good news is, I got the audiobook last week and have started reading it, finally! So hopefully I’ll actually finish the series this year.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – I keep meaning to read this and the rest of the series too, but this one isn’t my fault. It took a long time to get to me on the waitlist, and I had other books in the queue as well, and didn’t manage to get to it before I had to return it again for the next reader. Let’s hope the timing works out for this year!
Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer – And yet another series I meant to read. I hear great things about it, I just haven’t gotten around to it.
The Glass Chateau by Stephen P. Kiernan – This is one of my favorite authors and I’ve read all his other books. I was so excited when this book came out last year, and I meant to read it, but I took it for granted and before I knew it, the year ended and it’s still unread!
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang – I loved the first book in this series, and I have this and the next book on my high priority list. The first book was good but a little heavy, and I’m afraid the next books will be too, so I’m procrastinating a bit.
Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller – By all accounts, I think I’d love this book and I keep meaning to read it but I just haven’t picked it up yet.
Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane – I’m not too ashamed of this one because it’s relatively new, but I originally planned to read it as soon as it came out, so I hope I get to it this year.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – I’ve had this on my physical bookshelf for a couple of years and I keep meaning to read it. It was supposed to be one of the first books I meant to read this year too, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon – I won’t lie, I’m a bit intimidated by the size, but then again I do love big books. I’m not in a hurry to read this, but I do want to try to get to it before the end of 2024.
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder – This series has been on my TBR for years and years and years. I hope to at least read the first book this year!
Did you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Are they worth still keeping on my TBR for 2024?
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.
Things I Do When I’m Stuck Indoors
The weather this week isn’t as bad as it was last week, thank goodness! But it was still cold and I did not want to go out at all. We had planned to visit the zoo again if the weather gets better, but it didn’t so we didn’t. Hopefully next week will be better.
Since I was mostly stuck at home, I made the best out of it and spent my free time reading, crocheting, and binge-watching Veronica Mars.
To be more precise, I was re-watching Veronica Mars. I used to love the series back when it first came out and it has been a long time, so I wanted to revisit it again. I feel like some of the drama didn’t age very well, but the nostalgia is stronger than my “wokeness”, so I’m still loving the show.
I’m only in the middle of Season 2 right now, but I never finished Season 4 – I never wanted to at the time. Season 1-3 came out from 2004 to 2007, and Season 4 came out years later in 2019. There was a movie in between, in 2014, and I think I watched that, but I never watched Season 4. I read reviews that made me not want to, so I don’t think that I’ll watch Season 4 this time around either. If you’ve watched it and you liked it, you could try to change my mind. Maybe I should watch it just for posterity’s sake, I don’t know.
I also spent a lot of time crocheting, but I am very unhappy to say the project ended up ugly so I had to frog and now I have nothing to show for it and have to redo the whole thing. Ah well.
I am still working on The Dance of Anger. I haven’t made any progress, but I’m not ready to give up on it yet. I’ll try again this week.
I was supposed to read Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries right after The Switch, but I just got The Rook by Daniel O’Malley on audiobook, and Emily Wilde is a physical copy. It’s just easier to listen to audiobooks and do chores and/or crochet. I’ll make an effort though, because I really want to read Emily Wilde!
How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!
