Tag: tbr list

Monthly Wrap-Up | September 2025

Posted September 30, 2025 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 10 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

September 2025 Wrap Up

This was a busy month for me and I didn’t read a lot of variety, but I did spend time on trying to finish a couple of series, which is good in and of itself, but they’re not completely done yet!

My September 2025 TBR Intentions

My September TBR intentions has been woefully neglected this month. I’ll be migrating them forward into October and hope I have better luck getting to them!

  1. Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  2. Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  3. Dragons of Summer Flame by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  4. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
  5. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
  6. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
  7. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher
  8. Falling by T.J. Newman
  9. S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

Books Read in September 2025

  1. Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  2. Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  3. Taste by Stanley Tucci
  4. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
  5. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
  6. Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
  7. The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
  8. The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman

Notable Books This Month

Obviously, the Dungeon Crawler Carl series has very much taken over my brain at the moment! I am loving all of them so far, and I’m almost done with Book 5. I have about 4 hours left of it as of this writing. I mean to continue with the rest of the books and finish the series in October, but I think I’ll have to take a break and read some other books first because of library due dates and reading deadlines.

However, I must say that I loved all the books I read this month!

The Dragonlance series were amazing also! I didn’t finish it because I realized there was a book in between Dragons of Spring Dawning and Dragons of Summer Flame, and I have not acquired that book yet. I also loved Stanley Tucci’s Taste, because I love him in general and I love how he talks about food and how food has shaped some of the relationships in his life.

Most notably, I was very surprised by how much I loved What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. I have never read his books, and I didn’t realize who the author was when I picked up this book, but I am very inspired by this book and I’m very curious to read his other books.

October 2025 TBR Intentions

I want to read the rest of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and hopefully finish some of the books I meant to read last month.

  1. The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman
  2. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman
  3. This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman
  4. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
  5. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher
  6. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
  7. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
  8. Falling by T.J. Newman

How was your month in September? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful October with lots of great books!

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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!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books on My Fall 2025 TBR

Posted September 22, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 22 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 on My Fall 2025 to-Read List 

Most of these books were already included in my September intended TBR but I haven’t gotten to them and we have just about a week left in the month. Hopefully, I’ll get to them some time this fall! I also realize that I have three Stephen King titles on this list, but to be fair, they are all actual buddy reads that I signed up for that have fall deadlines, plus I realized I need to amp up my Stephen King reading if I want to finish my Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge in a timely manner!

Top Ten Books on My Fall 2025 TBR

  1. The Wedding People by Alison Espach – I have heard interesting things about this book. It seems like a light-hearted book but apparently there are some heavy themes, but it looks like there are generally great reviews for it.
  2. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston – I have read another book by the author, and I really like the sound of the plot for this book.
  3. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman – It’s the BOTM for my in-person bookclub this month, meeting this weekend! I really hope I can finish it by then!
  4. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab – I have enjoyed several of the author’s books, but I like some more than others. I hope this is one of the good ones!
  5. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie – I really enjoyed The First Law Trilogy and I’d already read the first few chapters of this one and found it really intriguing too! It’s a thicker book but hopefully I can dive in soon.
  6. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher – I initially started this book a few days ago but realized that I had more time on it (library deadline) than I had on Between Two Fires, so I’m putting it down and reading the other one first!
  7. Falling by T.J. Newman – The plot sounds fascinating when I heard it and I’m excited to get to it soon!
  8. Duma Key by Stephen King – I have read this before and remember loving it, but I don’t remember a single thing about it. It’s a buddy read so I decided to reread it with everyone else for the discussion.
  9. Christine by Stephen King – Another buddy read! I recently watched the movie but haven’t yet read the book. My husband has watched many of King’s film adaptations and is a fan of his works, but the only King book he has read that I have not is this one! I have to remedy that (on both sides)!
  10. The Running Man by Stephen King – And yet another buddy read; my online bookclub has a lot of serious Stephen King fans!

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

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Sunday Post | 14 September 2025

Posted September 13, 2025 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 10 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. 

All’s Well That Ends Well

I was hoping the second week of school would be easier but the Universe had other plans for me. This time again, it wasn’t school kicking my butt although I have to admit I’m finding myself using parts of my brain I haven’t accessed in years and that’s a challenge in itself.

Nope, what happened was we had a plumbing issue on Monday, and we were lucky enough that we got the plumber to come on Tuesday, but those couple of days weren’t fun, let me tell you. And then on Thursday, we woke up to one of our cats, Pepper, limping, and after having Loki just passing a few months ago, I was perhaps a tad paranoid and worried about something bad happening to Pepper as well. I was anxiously monitoring and babying her the whole day. Fortunately, she seemed a lot better the next morning and is pretty much back to normal now. (I’m still babying her a little bit though.)

So yeah, it was an emotionally difficult and anxiety-ridden week for me. I didn’t get much sleep, which made it difficult for me to concentrate in class as well. I was so glad for the weekend! Everything is looking up this weekend!

Please let the coming week be as easy breezy as can be! I should mention I have my first exam this week, but the sentiment stands! Please let this week be so easy breezy that I’ll ease and breeze through the exam too!

The Books

Books I read last week:

  1. Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – It was so much more intense than I remembered! To be fair, it’s been maybe 30 years since I last read it, but I still love it! I was initially going to read the Dragons of Summer Flame after this one but just found out that there’s another book that I don’t have in between these two, so I’m putting the series on hold.
  2. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman – I read this last year and loved it, but haven’t finished the series, so I reread to refresh my memory and I intend to finish the series this time!

Books I’m reading:

  1. Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman – I also read this last year and stopped halfway through book 3. Rereading it for a refresher and finishing the rest of the books. I’m on Ch 7 now!
  2. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie – I’m only on the third chapter, which is only 3% in, but it’s already really interesting and the characters are really standing out.

Last Week on The Blog

I missed out on Top Ten Tuesday last week, but I got a couple of reviews done!

This Week

I have temporarily given up on S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst. I don’t have the mental power for an intellectual book like that right now. The Dungeon Crawler Carl series weren’t really in my plans this month, but I just needed something fun and it fits the bill!

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

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books With Occupations in the Title

Posted September 1, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 42 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 With Occupations in the Title 

Apparently, I have a lot of books with occupations in the title on my TBR list. I had a hard time narrowing it down to ten but these are the ones higher up on my TBR, so hopefully I’ll actually read some of them soon!

Top Ten Books With Occupations in the Title

  1. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie – This has been on my TBR the longest and I don’t even remember why I was interested in it at the time, but it’s relatively short, so I’m curious to get it read and crossed off my list.
  2. The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan – I’m actually interested in many of Amy Tan’s books, but this is the only one that had an occupation on the title. I’ll make my way through her portfolio eventually!
  3. The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed – This one calls to me. I love fantasy and horror and it gives me dark fairytale vibes. For some reason, I’m reminded about the Grimm Brother’s fairytales, the dark ones, not the Disney ones, and I hope I’ll get something like that here.
  4. Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth – The TV series charmed me although I only watched the first couple of seasons. I just googled it and I’m surprised to learn it’s apparently still ongoing and on its 14th season now! I’m sure it has deviated a lot from the book already, but I’ve lost interest in the show anyway, and I’m curious to read the book itself.
  5. Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller – I really need to get to this one soon. It calls to the adventurous, swash-buckling feminist in me, and I just want to immerse myself in adventure. It’s the first of a series though, and I’m trying to finish series I’ve already started before starting more.
  6. The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart – I have a fascination with plants and what they can do and the author has another book called Wicked Plants that’s on my TBR too! This book is about plants that go into alcoholic beverages and I don’t drink, so I’m not as excited about this one compared to Wicked Plants, which is about dangerous and poisonous plants. Perhaps I should clarify that I don’t do poison either! 😂
  7. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett – Who doesn’t like Terry Pratchett and the Discworld books? Unfortunately, I haven’t read many of them because I have this thing about series. I find it hard to read them out of order (unless I didn’t know they were a part of a series) even if they’re not sequentially related. One day I’ll either read them all, or I’ll break the series-in-order rule!
  8. The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi – I found this book in a Little Free Library and brought it home because it caught my attention. I’m not sure when I’ll get to this one; it sounds a little heavy and I think I need to be in the right frame of mind for it.
  9. The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich – I’ve read The Sentence by the author and loved it, and I have The Mighty Red higher up on the TBR. I intend to read this one after, because I really like the author’s writing style so far and I hope to read more from her.
  10. The Soul of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman – I read The Main Dish and The Making of a Chef by the author and loved them, and of course immediately added this book to my TBR as well. I just love the way he talks about food and cooking. I want more!

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

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Monthly Wrap-Up | August 2025

Posted August 31, 2025 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 3 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

August 2025 Wrap Up

I spent the first half of August mood reading, and the second half reading from the TBR, so I satisfied both sides of the reader inside me! I realized that it’s important to leave room for mood reading, and it’s okay to let go of some of the books I previously committed to if I’m not feeling it.

My August 2025 TBR Intentions

Six out of eight ain’t bad! I’ve lost interest in the last Children of Time book, unfortunately. I’m not sure if I’ll ever come back to it. I am still very interested in reading The Power of Myth, but every time I pick it up I end up putting it down after a few passages because I want to savor and contemplate everything. I want to study every last bit of it! I might end up having to make up a study schedule for it or something!

  1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
  3. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
  4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
  5. Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  6. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
  7. The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin
  8. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

Books Read in August 2025

  1. The Crêpes of Wrath by Sarah Fox
  2. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
  3. The Long Walk by Stephen King
  4. Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
  5. The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin
  6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  7. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
  8. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
  9. Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  10. Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
  11. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
  12. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

Notable Books This Month

My favorite books in August were obviously The Hunger Games trilogy. They are my all-time favorites and always get better the more I reread them. Dragons of Autumn Twilight is also a reread and from one of my favorite series, and The Long Walk is another reread from a favorite author.

So in the interest of fairness, I should talk about the new reads that I loved this month; most notably A Man Called Ove and Blood Over Bright Haven. These two were amazing and they make me so happy that the authors have other books that have gotten great reviews as well. I’m so looking forward to reading more from them!

September 2025 TBR Intentions

My aim is to finish the Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman this month, hopefully. I do have a couple of September BOTMs and a few other books that have September deadlines I should focus on though. I also hope to finish S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst if possible, but I’m perfectly happy to take it slow so we’ll see how it goes.

  1. Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  2. Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  3. Dragons of Summer Flame by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  4. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
  5. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
  6. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
  7. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher
  8. Falling by T.J. Newman
  9. S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

How was your month in August? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful September with lots of great books!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Stephen King Books That Are Not Horror

Posted August 4, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 29 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 Genre freebie 

I’m going with Stephen King Books that are Not Horror. I’m currently doing a Stephen King Reading Challenge, and although I’ve read several of his books, his catalog is so extensive that I’m not even halfway done yet. I don’t think I’m even a quarter-way done! He also has a lot of books that aren’t explicitly horror, even though he’s most recognized as a horror writer. Below is a list of books he’s written that I wouldn’t categorize as horror.

I haven’t read all of these, but have watched some of the film adaptations so I’m vaguely familiar with the stories, and I’m quite confident they’re mostly non-horror. If you’ve read them and don’t agree, please let me know! If you’re familiar with his works and can name more that aren’t horror, please do!

Top Ten Stephen King Books That Are Not Horror

  1. 11/22/63 – One of his best works; I have read this book twice, watched the tv series, loved both and I could probably reread it over and over again! I would categorize this as time-travel historical fiction.
  2. The Green Mile – I’ve read the book and watched the movie, and it’s just heartbreaking drama. If there’s any horror, it’s the horror of human monsters. I cried so much for both the book and movie.
  3. Billy Summers – I’ve only read this once a while ago so I don’t remember a lot, but I remember loving it. It reads more like a crime thriller.
  4. Under the Dome – I read this and watched the tv series a long time ago and don’t remember much either. I mean, the dome phenomena is probably supernatural, but the monsters are only of the human kind.
  5. On Writing – The most obvious non-horror, since it’s his non-fiction memoir. I’ve read this a couple of times and it’s always amazing listening to him talk about writing. It’s so inspiring and it makes me want to be his bff!
  6. Fairy Tale – One of my favorite SK books; it’s like the title says, it’s more like a fairy tale than any horror story. I am enchanted by the book from the first page.
  7. Dolores Claiborne – I watched the movie but haven’t read the book. It’s another one I would categorize as a drama. Kathy Bates acts as the titular character, and she’s amazing as usual. I’m excited to read it eventually.
  8. Joyland – More like a coming-of-age story. SK is really good at those, and I enjoyed this one.
  9. The Body – Also a coming-of-age story, perhaps better known by its movie’s name, Stand By Me. I think most people are familiar with the movie and know that there’s not much horror to it. I haven’t read the book. Hopefully soon.
  10. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon – A survival story, not horror unless it’s adventure horror? It stays pretty true to real life and there isn’t very many paranormal elements to it except for hallucinations that can be explained in extreme survival conditions. At least, as far as I remember.

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

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Monthly Wrap-Up | July 2025

Posted July 31, 2025 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 3 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

July 2025 Wrap Up

July went by in a whirlwind. I feel like I got a lot of things done, but I also feel like there’s still so much to do! And of course, my coping mechanism is reading for escapism, so the good news is that I got a lot of reading done this month. The bad news is that now I’ve got even more book reviews to catch up on, in addition to the ones I’m already behind on! 😅

My July 2025 TBR Intentions

I made my July TBR list based off a friendly team reading competition in my online bookclub for thick books, plus also books that had July deadlines. My team didn’t win unfortunately, but we had lots of fun! I also actually did pick up The Brothers Karamazov but in the last minute realized that my copy was the abridged version and it was too late to put a hold for the unabridged one. I wouldn’t have gotten it in time so I just let it go.

  1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  2. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
  3. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
  4. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  5. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
  6. If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino

Books Read in July 2025

  1. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
  2. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
  3. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  4. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
  5. The Accidental Text by Becky Monson
  6. The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown
  7. Swept Away by Beth O’Leary
  8. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
  9. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  10. The Love Haters by Katherine Center
  11. A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost
  12. If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino
  13. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  14. Revival by Stephen King

Notable Books This Month

Purple Hibiscus, and Atmosphere were the standouts for me this month. They both packed an emotional punch and made me feel all the feelings! I love books that make me feel, and these two did that the most for me. However, I cannot exclude The Count of Monte Cristo because it is one of my all-time favorite books that make me feel but it’s a reread and I’ve talked about it a lot already so I thought I’d let other books have a chance.

Also, I cannot not mention Sunrise on the Reaping, but I thought it’s a series and people who loved The Hunger Games don’t need convincing, and people who don’t love THG probably wouldn’t care for another book in the series. But I have to mention it because I need the world to know I personally loved it too!

August 2025 TBR Intentions

Every book on this list are books I have to read for August BOTMs or buddy reads with August deadlines. The Hunger Games series are rereads but I’m in the mood because I want to revisit after reading Sunrise on the Reaping. I’m probably going to end up reading other books based off my mood as well, but these are the priorities.

  1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
  3. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
  4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
  5. Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  6. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
  7. The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin
  8. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

How was your month in July? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful August with lots of great books!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025

Posted July 28, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 28 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 Beach/Beachy Reads 

Going with a topic I missed again today with the Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025. A couple of them have already been released since I’m late with the topic, but I’m excited about them and definitely still anticipating when I can read them!

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025

  1. No Body No Crime by Tess Sharpe – 15th July. I have enjoyed a few of Tess Sharpe’s books and I’m so excited about this one. I love how she writes her female protagonists and I’m sure I’ll enjoy this one too.
  2. The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst – 15th July. I only just finished reading The Spellshop recently but I loved it and I love that there’s another one! Telling us more about Caz’s mom, no less, and what comes after!
  3. Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher – 19th August. I am aware that I haven’t even finished Kingfisher’s other works yet, but this one sounds so good too! I love fairytale retellings, I can’t help it!
  4. The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin – 26th August. Fine, I’ll admit it! I haven’t finished Martin’s other books either, but I’m still really happy to know that there’s going to be more waiting on me.
  5. We Met Like This by Kasie West – 16th September. I read a lot of Kasie West’s books when I was younger and I have maybe aged out of the genre, but I still love her books because it’s the comfort of reading a familiar author whose works make me happy.
  6. Thief of Night by Holly Black – 23rd September. It’s about time the sequel to Book of Night was released! I loved the first book and I’ve been waiting for more!
  7. Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane – 7th October. Another author whose earlier works I haven’t finished, but you can never have too much of a good thing!
  8. Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree – 11th November. Yayy, more books in the Legends & Lattes universe! You know I’m totally here for it!
  9. Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth – 30th September. I’ve read a couple of Sally Hepworth’s books and they are just the kind of mystery/thrillers I enjoy. Some are better than others, but I’m excited about this new one!
  10. The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer – 4th November. The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favorite series and I’m excited to read something else by the author. This one is about a witch who sees ghosts, totally right up my alley! I’m so excited!

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

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books Set in the Dream Realm

Posted July 21, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 34 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 Set in/Take Place During X 

I’m choosing books set in the dream realm for today’s topic. The distinction for me with “dream realm” is that they are not portals to an alternate world, but rather a place where you can only go with your mind, ie. your body does not follow.

Having said that, I haven’t read some of the books below (and some I read a while ago and might have forgotten details) so I can’t be 100% sure if they fit the criteria. I’ve added them here based on their book descriptions, what others have said about them, and other non-spoilery info. If you’ve read them and you think I’m wrong, feel free to let me know!

Top Ten Books Set in the Dream Realm

  1. The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick – This series has one of the best world-building and magical lore. Most of it relates to card divination but it also includes navigating the spiritual realm. It needs a reread!
  2. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo – This is one of my favorite books that I’ve talked a lot about. A big part of the story has the FMC’s body sick and unconscious and her spirit spending a lot of time in the underworld.
  3. Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan – A recent favorite, but interesting enough, it also has the FMC sick and I’m assuming in a coma, while her consciousness is in another world.
  4. Super Powered by Drew Hayes – This is a series featuring super powered young adults. One of them has the ability to go into people’s dreams and influence them that way. I loved the series, it was so much fun!
  5. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King – The sequel to The Shining, it follows a now-adult Dan. Dan and another one of the MCs, Abra, communicate through dreams. One of my favorites from the King.
  6. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin – I have heard much about this book but haven’t read it. It’s a scifi story where the MC’s dreams can affect reality. Definitely adding to my TBR.
  7. Dreamfall by Amy Plum – This is a thriller/horror where the MCs participate in some kind of sleep study and end up stuck in the dream together. It sounds so good!
  8. Dreamology by Lucy Keating – This is a romance where the two MCs dream about each other all the time, but one day they meet and realize the other person is real! I’m intrigued!
  9. Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente – I’ve only read one book by the author but loved it. This one is about a world that you can only access through dreams, but you have to sleep with someone who’s already been there.
  10. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – Dreams choose the dreamer in this book. I had this on my TBR but forgot all about it. Now it’s back on my radar!

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

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