Waiting on Wednesday #78: A Conjuring of Light by VE (Victoria) Schwab February 1, 2017

“Waiting on Wednesday” is a weekly event hosted by Jill at the Breaking The Spine. It showcases upcoming releases we’re anticipating!

My pick of the week is:

A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3)

By: VE Schwab, Victoria Schwab

Coming: 21 February 2017

Publisher: Tor Books

Summary:

The battle between four magical Londons comes to a head in this stunning finale to the New York Times bestselling Shades of Magic trilogy by rising star V. E. Schwab

Londons fall and kingdoms rise while darkness sweeps the Maresh Empire—and the fraught balance of magic blossoms into dangerous territory while heroes and foes struggle alike. The direct sequel to A Gathering of Shadows, and the final book in the Shades of Magic epic fantasy series, A Conjuring of Light sees Schwab reach a thrilling culmination concerning the fate of beloved protagonists—and old enemies.

“Addictive and immersive, A Gathering of Shadows cements this series as a must-read. Rich details illuminate every dimension of an extravagant city flooded with magic, and intriguing personalities evolve into complex characters. …Schwab already has us anticipating the rest of the series.”–Entertainment Weekly, A

“[A Darker Shade of Magic] feels like a priceless object, brought from another, better world of fantasy books. Schwab’s writing is engaging and vivid…kept me engrossed by its story every bit as much as I was fascinated by its complex, multilayered world.”—io9.com

“Has all the hallmarks of a classic work of fantasy…Schwab has given us a gem of a tale. This is a book to treasure.”—Deborah Harkness, New York Times bestselling author of The All Souls trilogy on A Darker Shade of Magic

Why I’m excited:

I am absolutely addicted to this series. I cannot wait to see how things go down. I heard A Gathering of Shadows ended on an epic cliffhanger, so I have waited until A Conjuring of Light comes out to binge the last two. This tale of alternate Londons is fan-freaking-tastic!

Why I need you to be excited:

Victoria Schwab is amazing. If you haven’t read her books yet, you are seriously missing out!

Top Ten Tuesday #101: Ten Books That Have Been On Your Shelf (Or TBR) From Before You Started Blogging That You STILL Haven’t Read Yet August 23, 2016

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Ten Books That Have Been On Your Shelf (Or TBR) From Before You Started Blogging That You STILL Haven’t Read Yet

1. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

2. The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

 

3. Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

4. Eragon by Christopher Paolini

5. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

6. The Book of Dreams by OR Melling

7. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

8. Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer

9. Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

10. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

Top Ten Tuesday #98: Ten Books You’d Buy Right This Second If Someone Handed You A Fully Loaded Gift Card August 2, 2016

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Ten Books You’d Buy Right This Second If Someone Handed You A Fully Loaded Gift Card

1. Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory

 

2. Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

3. Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

4. Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

5. Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

6. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

7. A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard

8. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

9. Kiss Me Deadly by Trisha Telep

10. Slasher Girls & Monster Boys by April Genevieve Tucholke

 

What would you buy? I need all of these except Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory for YALLFest in November! haha.

Adult Fiction Beach Reading Recommendations July 7, 2016

Jamie’s post about beach reads really made me think about some reads I’ve loved while I read at the beach, or during a long car ride. Hubs and I really enjoy listening to audiobooks instead of trying to surf radio channels. I’ve already featured non-contemporary young adult reads, non-fiction adult reads, and contemporary young adult reads. Now for the adult fiction reads we’ve enjoyed!

1. World War Z by Max Brooks. Hubs and I listened to the audiobook of this. It was FANTASTIC. Multi-person performance. MUCH better than the movie too.

2. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. I read this while I was traveling in Italy & Greece in 2007. It was so neat to travel almost identically along to places Robert Langdon explored in Italy!

3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I read this in France in 2006. It was an experience exploring Paris and reading this at the same time!

4. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. Anything by Philippa Gregory is a great read! (excluding The Red Queen, but that’s a different story lol).

5. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. So much better than the movie!

6. In Defense of the Queen by Michelle Diener. Technically the third book in the series, Michelle Diener wrote these books to be read as standalones. Minimal advantage comes from reading the previous books. Review here.

7. The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I didn’t finish the first time I attempted to read, I read it between Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I think I was expecting too much of Twilight influence and it was anything but. My second attempt was actually at the beach and I flew through it. I enjoyed it much better than the Twilight series.

8. Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins. I’m not big on Christian lit, but I have loved the Left Behind series for years. I still really need to finish it! haha.

9. Lamb The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. A hysterical historical fiction. I should actually do a re-read soon.

I don’t really read much adult fiction! Haha. There’s also a whole slew of Star Wars novels that I love too.

 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday #94: Top Ten Books I Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings On Goodreads July 5, 2016

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Top Ten Books I Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings On Goodreads

This isn’t a pure list as I skipped books from the same series.

1. The Prophecy by Erin Rhew (all the books in this trilogy are under a dollar on Amazon!) My reviews for The Prophecy, The Outlanders, and The Fulfillment.

2. Waterfell by Amalie Howard (This duology is a great quick beachy read!) My reviews for Waterfell and Oceanborn.

3. Napoleon & Josephine The Sword and The Hummingbird by Gerald & Loretta Hausman. I read this back in high school and fell in love with it!

4. Burning Kingdoms by Lauren DeStefano. The other series I started with book one, but it has over 2k views. Books two and three don’t. This series is fantastic!

5. Rite of Conquest by Judith Tarr. I stumbled across this at our used bookstore in high school. I absolutely loved it! I should do a reread soon!

6. In Defense of the Queen by Michelle Diener. While this is the third book, it can easily be read as a standalone. My review of In Defense of the Queen.

7. The Hidden Prince by Jodi Meadows. Plus the other Black Knife novellas! I would suggest reading The Orphan Queen first though. SPOILERS and all that. (;

8. Artemis Fowl The Arctic Incident: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer. My love for Artemis Fowl goes deep and I finally read the graphic novels last summer.

9. Wolf Pact by Melissa de la Cruz. Companion to the Blue Bloods series. My review for Blue Bloods

10. A Tale of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris. I adore Rachel and her books. The My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century series is so cute and a quick read. My reviews for My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, A Tale of Two Centuries, and My Not So Super Sweet Life.

 

What are some of your under 2k rating reads?

Top Ten Tuesday #89: Series I Haven’t Finished September 8, 2015

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Series I Haven’t Finished

affiliate links used

The Taming of the Queen (The Tudor Court) by Philippa Gregory

Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer

Daughter of Smoke & Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor

Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Steampunk Chronicles by Kady Cross

Maids of Honor Trilogy by Jennifer McGowan

The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry

Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B Jenkins

Chronicles of Faerie by OR Melling

Defiance Trilogy by CJ Redwine

What’s on your list this week? I’m usually pretty good about finishing a series. I think all of these are complete series. You never can tell with Philippa Gregory though! (:

Secret Sister March Unwrapped April 9, 2015

affiliate links used

Last Monday, I received a glorious package from my Secret Sister, James Bond. The awesomeness and gratitude could NOT be fully shown in 140 characters on Twitter, so I decided to do a full unwrap on the blog. This will focus on my goodies. An in depth unwrap on the kiddos’ goodies can be found on Backyard Explorers.

When I opened the front door to see if the mail had gone by, Punk spotted our giant box first.

Bug was still napping, so we just opened the top to peek in.

Once Bug woke up, we dug in! I was SO overwhelmed by my Sister’s generosity. She is the sweetest for including the kiddos!

Now! To show off my goodies!

Isn’t she the BEST?! I am still so overwhelmed. Punk has tried to claim my hot chocolate, but I say it’s ALL MINE!

I’m on a huge Tudors kick right now. My Sis and I read Gilt by Katherine Longshore together and discussed it via letters. So much fun! Well, after finishing Gilt, I continued on to Tarnish and Brazen. While on this binge, I posted my Tudors era collection (Including the Cousins’ War series)

Tudor collection consists of:
The Other Boleyn GirlThe Secret Diary of Anne BoleynQueen Jezebel: A Catherine de’ Medici NovelThe Tudors: Season 1Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544 (The Royal Diaries)Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, France 1553 (The Royal Diaries)Mary, Bloody MaryDoomed Queen Anne: A Young Royals BookBeware, Princess ElizabethAnne of the Thousand Days / Mary, Queen of ScotsGiltElizabeth: The Struggle for the ThroneElizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, QueensElizabeth ILady JaneThe Other Boleyn GirlThe Boleyn InheritanceI did forget my DVD of Elizabeth (Spotlight Series)OOPS! I also have a few Philippa Gregory books on my kindle, but until they’re also in my physical collection, they don’t count (;

My sister very generously passed on some of her Philippa Gregory goodies to help flesh out my collection a bit more

The Other Queen
The Red Queen (The Cousin’s War)
The Lady of the Rivers: A Novel (The Cousins’ War)
The White Queen (The Cousins’ War)

Don’t worry about The White Queen not being the show cover! I don’t mind having multiple copies of favourites! (: I haven’t gotten to The Other Queen yet in my reading, so I’m pretty excited for it while I’m on my Tudor binge! (:

I was SO excited to see This Shattered World: A Starbound Novel in this month’s box! (: I have been dying to get my hands on this December 2014 release! It is definitely a top priority after my Tudor binge!

I am a huge hoarder – I mean collector of bookmarks. When I saw this adorable yarn ball and crochet hook bookmark by Craft’ed, I wanted it hardcore! I was so happy to see it! Aren’t the owls adorable? Can’t wait to use them!

In her letter, my Sis said she planned this month’s box as a royal theme and every queen needs to be pampered! The soap and bath salts smell awesome and I can’t wait to try the face mask. (: And chapstick. Oh. Man. It’s awesome and Bug keeps trying to pilfer it.

I am a HUGE Nashville Predators fan and have been wanting some regular post earrings to compliment my dangly ones. So happy to have these in my life for some post season play! Woohoo Preds clenching a playoffs spot.

My Sis is SO talented! She knit me a washcloth and some mug mats. The mats have hearts in them! LOVE! And I’ve already used one. (: Mug mat in use with my White Queen mug! (:

I am including the big bear with mine, because he was sent for me, but Bug has confiscated him for her own. He’s so soft! I can’t really blame her for stealing him!

I am so excited for my new reads! Thank you so much my dear Sister! I love and appreciate all of the goodies you shared with us! ❤

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Top Ten Tuesday #60: Favourite Reads of 2014 December 16, 2014

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Favourite Reads of 2014

So many great reads this year! It was nearly impossible to narrow my favourite reads to ten. Ask me again tomorrow, and it’s likely I will say a variation of these and maybe some others!

1. The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

2. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

3. Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

4. The King’s Curse by Philippa Gregory

5. Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

6. Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

7. If I Stay by Gayle Forman

8. Rites of Passage by Joy Hensley

9. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

10. The Falconer by Elizabeth May

Please Be Kind, Rewind: 21 September – 11 October 2014 October 11, 2014

It’s been a while, and I apologise. Blogging lately has felt more like a job/duty than being fun. So. Instead of putting out crap, I continued to take a step back. It’s probably hurt me from getting ARCs, but I’ll deal. Relaxing/spending time focused on my family this summer apparently wasn’t enough of a break of sorts. I have been doing a lot of reading now that I’m over my slump and I have a lot more to read between now and YALLFest. Yup. That’s right. This girl is going to YALLFest for her birthday present! WOOT! I am SO flipping excited. I am hoping to get some books signed to giveaway here. I’ll keep you updated on that! Hubby is supposed to be going with me and I’m going to get him to stand in line with me with the extra books. (: I am very behind on all things blogging, but I feel like I’m ready to start facing the challenge. Hopefully things are back on course!

***I am giving being an affiliate with Amazon a try. I would appreciate it if you’d consider buying the books through my links if they’re available. (: Helping me helps YOU! October Featured Books ***

 

Completed:

Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz

The King’s Curse by Philippa Gregory

The Transfer by Veronica Roth

The Traitor by Veronica Roth

The Initiate by Veronica Roth

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa de la Cruz

 

Currently Reading:

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas 

 

 

Read to the Kiddos:

Chicka Chicka ABC by Bill Martin Jr (still Bug’s current favourite!)

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Joffe Numeroff

Little Pink Pup

Pouch!

Possum come a-knocking at the door

Ladybug Girl Who Can Play? by David Soman & Jacky Davis

 

 

 

New to my shelf:

Rites of Passage by Joy N Hensley (ARC, Tea Time giveaway)

The Invisible by Amalia Kahaney (ARC, Tea Time giveaway)

Burning Kingdoms by Lauren DeStefano (ARC, author giveaway)

All of Baby Nose to Toes (Bug’s Imagination Library book)

From the library:

as usual, more audiobooks! (:

Please Be Kind, Rewind: 27 July – 10 August 2014 August 10, 2014

Sooooo…. I haven’t posted in ages and I kinda explained in my last Tot Time Thursday why that’s been the case. I’m spending today getting this week’s posts up and ready at the same time prepping for our first week of home preschool. I intended to start last week, but printer mishaps didn’t let that happen. So, instead of being a week ahead of our school system, we’ll be roughly on the same page with them. I think they start Wednesday, but we’ll be starting tomorrow. Needless to say, it’s been super busy around the house in the last few weeks with me deciding to buckle down and get things organised. Punk’s shown an increase in wanting to read and asking to learn to read. So, we’re giving home preschooling a go! I’ve also been super busy with reading. While working on ALL THE THINGS, I’ve also been listening to audiobooks. I figured why not kill two birds with one stone? I’ve been sitting at the computer lining things up and instead of music, I listened to audiobooks. Hopefully things will be going much more smoothly now or at least soon once we get in a rhythm for working throughout the day. I’ve also decided since I haven’t stayed on top of watching entries and revealing prizes, I’m going to extend my blogoversary giveaway by two weeks so the word has time to get around about the new prizes. Of course, I’m upstairs while I’m working on this and my prize list is written downstairs, so, I’ll add that ASAP later today. So, check back after around 2PM EST to see the list. I’m aiming to have it up after church around the kiddos’ naptime! (: Before I give the lowdown on what we’ve been reading, tell me, how have YOU been? I feel like I haven’t really talked to anyone lately! What are some great things you’ve read lately? What are you looking forward to? (Yes, I will have my Hello, Goodbye post fixed this week as well.) Time, I need more of it!

 

Completed:

The Queen’s Vow by C.W. Gortner (audiobook)

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord (OMG THIS BOOK!)

If I Stay by Gayle Forman (audiobook)

Where She Went by Gayle Forman (audiobook, not as good as I hoped)

Salvage by Alexandra Duncan (audiobook, also not as good as I hoped)

 

Currently Reading:

The Everything Mother Goose Book by June Rifkin (yes, we’re still working on it!)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling (audiobook)

The Jewel by Amy Ewing

 

 

Read to the Kiddos:
Read to Tiger by S.J. Fore

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, Pete the Cat: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and Pete the Cat: Pete at the Beach by James Dean & Eric Litwin

The Octonauts and the Great Ghost Reef by Meomi (Punk squealed with joy when I found this in the new books!)

 

New to my shelf:

 

From the library:

as usual, more audiobooks! (:

Something Strange and Deadly and A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard

The Giver quartet by Lois Lowry *swoons*

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (audiobook)

A TON of books for the kiddos!