Posted in Book Tags

The Grishaverse Book Tag 🐐

Happy Saturday, bibliophiles!

Before I get going with this tag, I thought you’d all appreciate this…I’m currently in Florida helping my grandma clean out her house, and we’ve found all sorts of weird things lying around. But yesterday I found something great that I figured my fellow bibliophiles would appreciate…

…it appears Kaz Brekker left his cane in Florida. (My friend suggested that it was Inej’s revenge for him calling her an investment SKDJFHSKJDFHSKDJFH)

We’re shipping this back home soon, so I might just have a Halloween costume for this year…😳

Now for the book tag! I found this over at Kira Jeanette’s blog, and the tag was originally created by Rebecca McPeake on YouTube. I’m a huge Grishaverse fan, so I had to give this one a go!

Let’s begin, shall we?

🦌THE GRISHAVERSE BOOK TAG🐉

KAZ BREKKER: A book you shouldn’t judge by its cover

be kind. — FREDDY CARTER IN SHADOW AND BONE EPISODE...
Amazon.com: Zero Repeat Forever (1) (The Nahx Invasions) (9781481481847):  Prendergast, G. S.: Books

UHHH THIS PROMPT WAS REALLY HARD –

Anyway, even though the cover for this edition of Zero Repeat Forever doesn’t make a whole lot of sense before reading the book, but I assure you, this one’s a treasure. (Maybe just stick with book 1, though? Book 2 was…weird, to say the least…)

NINA ZENIK: A book that made you feel empowered

Words Are Life — fairytcpia: NINA ZENIK AND MATTHIAS HELVAR...
Amazon.com: Sawkill Girls: 9780062696601: Legrand, Claire: Books

Sawkill Girls was a PHENOMENAL book – not only was the paranormal aspect amazing, but I loved the themes of sisterhood and feminine empowerment throughout. Highly recommended!

INEJ GHAFA: A book with a good balance of character and plot

Just leaving in 2021 | Six of crows, The grisha trilogy, Shadow
Gearbreakers (Gearbreakers, #1) by Zoe Hana Mikuta

Gearbreakers hit the perfect notes for me – I loved the plot, I loved the characters, and those two aspects were balanced so neatly! I am a little partial to all the characters interactions, though, because the chemistry between Eris and the rest of the Gearbreakers was so sweet…🥺

ALINA STARKOV: A unique book, one that is unlike anything you’ve ever read

shadow and bone gif on Tumblr
Amazon.com: Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything  (9781534448636): Gilliland, Raquel Vasquez: Books

I’ve seen a lot of genre-bending books out there, but rarely do ones like Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything come along – a seamless mix of sci-fi, contemporary and magical realism that tugged at all my heartstrings!

MAL ORETSEV: A book that always sticks with you

burns, babble & books
Amazon.com: The Darkness Outside Us eBook: Schrefer, Eliot: Kindle Store

Okay, I only finished this one on Tuesday, but MAN. THIS BOOK. The Darkness Outside Us is my most recent 5-star read as of now – it started out like any other sci-fi thriller, but it quickly took a turn for simultaneous darkness, philosophical musings, existential crises, and a little bit of hope. I could not stop thinking about it, and I still can’t. (Expect a review next week!)

THE DARKLING: A book with a dark plot/storyline

general kirigan on Tumblr
ew
I'm Thinking of Ending Things | Book by Iain Reid | Official Publisher Page  | Simon & Schuster

There’s a lot of dark things about I’m Thinking of Ending Thingsthis one could’ve fit with the last prompt as well, since it’s stuck with me for quite a while too…(the movie’s amazing as well!)

JESPER FAHEY: A book that people always seem to leave out

Jesper Fahey Is The Best Character In "Shadow And Bone"
HEHE the giddy grin on my face when I found this gif –
Amazon.com: Heart of Iron (9780062652850): Poston, Ashley: Books

Okay, okay, I know I put this book in every single book tag I do, but HEAR ME OUT…

As I’m starting to see Ashley Poston’s books get the recognition they deserve, it feels like Heart of Iron is left out of a lot of the discussion, which is such a shame, seeing as it’s everything you could ever want in both a space opera and a retelling…

WYLAN VAN ECK: A book that wasn’t what it seemed at first

Amazon.com: Invincible Compendium Volume 1 (8601420907461): Robert Kirkman,  Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley: Books

I’m just gonna slap this one in here and count the show in too…without spoiling anything, Invincible starts out like most every superhero origin story, but it gets a lot darker VERY quickly, trust me…

MATTHIAS HELVAR: A book that was bad at first but turned out good

SUOMI FINLAND PERKELE — Hello! May I ask for a song prompt for Matthias...
Amazon.com: The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea (9781536204315):  Tokuda-Hall, Maggie: Books

This one was another hard one, so this is the closest I could find…

I wouldn’t say The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea started out badly, per se – it was just a little slow to start. But once it got going, it turned out to be one of my favorite reads of this year so far!

NIKOLAI LANTSOV: A witty book

Amazon.com: How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse: Book One of the Thorne  Chronicles eBook: Eason, K.: Kindle Store

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse had no shortage of sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek parody, and I loved every minute of it!

I TAG:

shadowandbonedit | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs | Tumgir

Today’s song:

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

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Posted in Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: July 19-25, 2021

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.

This week…could’ve been better for me, if I’m being honest, but it picked up in the end. It was mostly just Tuesday that bogged me down. Remember that writing contest I entered back in April? I ended up checking back on it (they didn’t send an email for some reason??) and the short story I wrote didn’t end up placing. I specifically remember saying that I was expecting not to win, and yeah, I tried not to get my hopes up, but…yeah, well, I’m not very good at handling these things.

Sound Gear GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Eh, well, all I can do is tweak that short story, keep on writing, and try again. I’m at least proud of myself for putting myself out there…

Reading-wise, I’ve mostly been reading some books that family friends lent to us (thank you!) and some stuff from the comic shop. I got a nice library haul yesterday, so it looks like next week will be promising!

Writing-wise, I’ve mostly stayed on track with Camp NaNoWriMo (I’m almost to my goal now!!), even though being depressed all Tuesday sapped my energy. I’m getting to a good place in my WIP though – I just passed about 220ish pages last night!

Other than that, I’ve been drawing a bit, getting the last of my summer homework done, learning some new songs on guitar, obsessing over my new bees in Minecraft, watching The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro likes his Tennyson, huh?), picking back up in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and volunteering at the library.

Arrested Development Heavenly Fathers GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY
Two Gob gifs in a row…oops

And I just got to 450 followers! Jeez, I can’t believe it…THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH 💗

feelings, love and cat - image #6773437 on Favim.com

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

The Never Tilting World (The Never Tilting World, #1) – Rin Chupeco (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: The Never Tilting World (Never Tilting World, 1)  (9780062821799): Chupeco, Rin: Books

Earth Abides – George R. Stewart (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Earth Abides: A Novel: Stewart, George R.: 9780345487131: Amazon.com: Books

Invincible: Compendium One – Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Invincible Compendium Volume 1 – Get Ready Comics

Circe – Madeline Miller (⭐️⭐️.5)

Amazon.com: CIRCE eBook: Miller, Madeline: Kindle Store

The Iron Giant (originally The Iron Man) – Ted Hughes (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

The Iron Giant - Kindle edition by Hughes, Ted, Davidson, Andrew. Children  Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

It’s My Life – Stacie Ramey (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: It's My Life (9781492694526): Ramey, Stacie: Books

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

In Deeper Waters – F.T. Lukens

Amazon.com: In Deeper Waters (9781534480506): Lukens, F.T.: Books

The Boy Who Steals Houses – C.G. Drews

Amazon.com: The Boy Who Steals Houses (9781408349922): Drews, C.G.: Books

Sorrowland – Rivers Solomon

Sorrowland | Rivers Solomon | First Edition

The Magic Fish – Trung Le Nguyen

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen: 9780593125298 | PenguinRandomHouse.com:  Books

The Iron Woman (The Iron Man, #2) – Ted Hughes

The Iron Woman by Ted Hughes

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Monthly Wrap-Ups

June 2021 Wrap-Up 🌈

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles! I hope this last Wednesday of June has treated you well.

It’s finally summer, and now we’re halfway through 2021! Crazy to think about, but honestly? Good riddance. Online school was horrendous. But now that’s all done for, and I still have a bit more free time before I go back to school.

Anyways…

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Summer has freed up a lot more time to blog, which I’ve enjoyed! Even though I took a break with my vacation, I had time to make a lot of posts that were loads of fun to write.

And my vacation! Being in an airport for the first time since mid-2019 was…weird, to say the least, but Glacier National Park was beautiful! Being back in nature for a solid week definitely mended up some of the pieces that learning from a screen broke down.

Somehow, June has been one of my lowest reading months, though. I think it’s partly because while I was reading on vacation, I spread the three books I bought out a little bit more, but hey, I’m officially halfway to my goal of 250 books for the year! (I’m at 132 right now.) I also read a lot of great queer stuff for pride month, and I found some amazing books as a result. (But hey! Read queer all year long!) I hope you all had a lovely pride month. As always, here’s a reminder: you are loved, you are valid, you are beautiful, and nobody has a say in your identity except for YOU. ❤️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Pin on Gif

I’ve made some good progress with my sci-fi WIP as well! I had a nasty case of creative block for a few days after getting back from Montana, but with a little help from sci-fi Pinterest and my sketchbook, I’m back on track. I just passed 100 pages yesterday!!

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing little aliens, getting back to volunteering at the library, watching Loki and Invincible, and enjoying the warmer weather.

i had a few
[sniffles]

Also, I changed my profile picture to Rabbi Milligan from Fargo on a whim…hey, why not?

We live with the choices we make. Consequences.”... - Tumbex

READING AND BLOGGING:

I managed to read 20 books this month! Not as many as I would’ve liked to, but at least I got to make some trips to my favorite bookstore. Didn’t have any 5-stars that weren’t re-reads, but I have a few 4.5-star reads that I adored!

2 – 2.75 stars:

Here the Whole Time by Vitor Martins – ARC Review – Books Real When Shared
Here the Whole Time

The Orphanage of Gods – Helena Coggan (⭐️⭐️)

The Obsidian Tower (Rooks and Ruin, #1) – Melissa Caruso (⭐️⭐️)

Here the Whole Time – Vitor Martins (⭐️⭐️.75)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh
Every Body Looking

The First Sister – Linden A. Lewis (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

The Upside of Unrequited – Becky Albertalli (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

The Hidden World of the Fox – Adele Brand (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Hot Dog Girl – Jennifer Dugan (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Off Planet (Aunare Chronicles, #1) – Aileen Erin (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

The Light of the Midnight Stars – Rena Rossner (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

A Chorus Rises (A Song Below Water, #2) – Bethany C. Morrow (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

Every Body Looking – Candice Iloh (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Amazon.com: The Ones We're Meant to Find (9781250258564): He, Joan: Books
The Ones We’re Meant to Find

The Falling in Love Montage – Ciara Smyth (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Chameleon Moon (Chameleon Moon, #1) – RoAnna Sylver (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Juliet Takes a Breath – Gabby Rivera (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Instructions for Dancing – Nicola Yoon (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Sasha Masha – Agnes Borinsky (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Between Burning Worlds (System Divine, #2) – Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)

The Ones We’re Meant to Find – Joan He (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea – Maggie Tokuda-Hall (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

5 stars:

Heart of Iron: Amazon.co.uk: Poston, Ashley: 9780062652850: Books
Heart of Iron

Heart of Iron (Heart of Iron, #1) – Ashley Poston (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH (NOT COUNTING RE-READS): The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea4.5 stars

Amazon.com: The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea (9781536204315):  Tokuda-Hall, Maggie: Books

SOME POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

POSTS I ENJOYED FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE:

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I’VE ENJOYED:

I haven’t listened to Neighborhood #3 but #1 and #2 are just gorgeous
This might just be my favorite song right now?? So many childhood memories of being in the car…big thank you to my dad for putting this on the playlist while we were in Glacier
The new Danny Elfman was hit or miss for me but I loved this one
SOPHIE RETURNS
this whole album is incredible
AND NEW CAR SEAT HEADREST! The remixes EP wasn’t that great but I loved this covers EP

DID I FOLLOW THROUGH ON MY JUNE GOALS?

Download Girl Reading B GIF Status, Shayari, Quotes | Nojoto
  • Make a list with some Pride Month recs: see the SOME POSTS I’M PROUD OF section!
  • Read at least 20 books: 20!
  • Enjoy the first month of summer: absolutely!
  • ACTUALLY start that first draft of the sci-fi WIP: done, and I’ve made lots of progress since then!

GOALS FOR JULY:

Unf its getting hot in here GIF on GIFER - by Oghmalis
July in Colorado is ✨way too hot✨ and we already had a heat wave recently…wheee…
  • Read at least 20 books
  • Get into Camp NaNoWriMo for the sci-fi WIP
  • Don’t melt into a puddle from the heat

First month of summer? I’d say it’s been a success.

Today’s song:

guess I’m on a Blur kick hehe

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: June 21 – 27, 2021

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.

It’s been kind of a semi-quiet summer week for me, which I’m not complaining about in the slightest. I had a lot of time to read, I did some drawing and writing, and I hung out and got ice cream with one of my closest friends! Since I was fully remote for all of last year for school, I hadn’t really hung out with anyone since…oh, probably 2019, so it was so lovely to see her again.

Reading-wise, I had a bit of a hit-or-miss week; I read a lot, but almost every other book I read was just kind of meh. I did find an AMAZING read though, and I can’t wait to review it next week! The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea made my heart so happy, but more on that later…

As for writing, it’s also been a toss-up; I had a few days this week where I cranked out a whole bunch of words for scenes I really liked, but then the motivation would fade away a little bit. Last night I could barely write, even though I’m switching to the POV of my favorite character, so hopefully I can get my motivation back into gear…

Loki Episode 3 Casual Marvel Fan Thoughts
my will to write disappearing as soon as I open the Pages document

Other than that, I finished Invincible (That finale was BRUTAL), caught up on Loki (BI RIGHTS), listened to a lot of Gorillaz and the new Car Seat Headrest covers EP, and drove on the highway for the first time! I still need quite a few more hours before I can do my driver’s test, but I’m getting there!

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

Juliet Takes a Breath – Gabby Rivera (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera: 9780593108192 |  PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea – Maggie Tokuda Hall (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Amazon.com: The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea (9781536204315):  Tokuda-Hall, Maggie: Books

Here the Whole Time – Vitor Martins (⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: Here the Whole Time eBook: Martins, Vitor, Helena, Larissa:  Kindle Store

Every Body Looking – Candice Iloh (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh

The Obsidian Tower (Rooks and Ruin, #1) – Melissa Caruso (⭐️⭐️)

The Obsidian Tower (The Gate of Secrets): Caruso, Melissa: 9780356513195:  Amazon.com: Books

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

Instructions for Dancing – Nicola Yoon

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon: 9781524718961 |  PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

The Light of the Midnight Stars – Rena Rossner

The Light of the Midnight Stars - Kindle edition by Rossner, Rena.  Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

The Gilded Ones – Namina Forna

The Gilded Ones(Deathless #1) by Namina Forna – Superfluous Reading

Miss Benson’s Beetle – Rachel Joyce

Miss Benson's Beetle eBook por Rachel Joyce - 9780812996715 | Rakuten Kobo  Estados Unidos

Sasha Masha – Agnes Borinsky

Amazon.com: Sasha Masha eBook: Borinsky, Agnes: Kindle Store

Today’s song:

C H I L L S

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: June 14-20, 2021

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles, and happy Father’s Day as well! Who knows where I’d be without my dad, so thank you so much. 💗

I flew back home from Glacier National Park earlier in the week, so the rest of the week hasn’t been super eventful. I fell into a bit of a (very brief) reading slump, and my writing wasn’t going where I wanted it to go, so I was feeling a little down. But I cleaned up around my room, did some rearranging of my bookshelves, and I made a new Pinterest account and went down a sci-fi rabbit hole, which gave me a lot of inspiration for creature design and the visuals of my WIP.

Other than that, I’m now about halfway through Invincible (WHOA THE FIRST TWO EPISODES), I rewatched The Big Lebowski with family (the Dude abides), and I haven’t gotten to episode 2 of Loki yet, but I can’t wait!

And The Dude says "man" 147 times overall. | The big lebowski, Movies,  Netflix streaming
this is very high on the list of movie lines that I quote way too often

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

Chameleon Moon (Chameleon Moon, #1) – RoAnna Sylver (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Chameleon Moon - Kindle edition by Sylver, RoAnna. Literature & Fiction  Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Heart of Iron (Heart of Iron, #1) – Ashley Poston (re-read bc I had a two hour wait at the airport) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: Heart of Iron (9780062652850): Poston, Ashley: Books

The Ones We’re Meant to Find – Joan He (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He

The First Sister (The First Sister Trilogy, #1) – Linden A. Lewis (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: The First Sister (1) (The First Sister trilogy)  (9781982126995): Lewis, Linden A.: Books

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

Juliet Takes a Breath – Gabby Rivera

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera: 9780593108192 |  PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!