Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

On a quiet midsummer day in 1776, weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, thirteen-year-old Jemima Boone and her friends Betsy and Fanny Callaway disappear near the Kentucky settlement of Boonesboro, the echoes of their faraway screams lingering on the air.

 A Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party has taken the girls as the latest salvo in the blood feud between American Indians and the colonial settlers who have decimated native lands and resources. Hanging Maw, the raiders’ leader, recognizes one of the captives as Jemima Boone, daughter of Kentucky's most influential pioneers, and realizes she could be a valuable pawn in the battle to drive the colonists out of the contested Kentucky territory for good.

 With Daniel Boone and his posse in pursuit, Hanging Maw devises a plan that could ultimately bring greater peace both to the tribes and the colonists. But after the girls find clever ways to create a trail of clues, the raiding party is ambushed by Boone and the rescuers in a battle with reverberations that nobody could predict. As Matthew Pearl reveals, the exciting story of Jemima Boone’s kidnapping vividly illuminates the early days of America’s westward expansion and the violent and tragic clashes across cultural lines that ensue.

Why I'm Waiting: I've never heard about Daniel Boone's daughter being kidnapped, it's not one of the things my many history classes ever touched on. 

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Take a spirited tour through the supernatural history of America, from its haunted sites to its famous ghosts to its ghost-obsessed pop culture.

Ghosts are everywhere—whether you believe in them or not. Every town has its local legends, and countless books, movies, and TV shows are haunted by their presence. But our obsession with ghosts runs deeper than we know—and is embedded in the very fabric of American history.

Writer and historian Marc Hartzman dons the mantle of tour guide, taking readers on a fascinating journey through supernatural history, including:

• The Fox Sisters and the rise of Spiritualism
• The supernatural obsessions of famous figures like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Famous haunted sites like the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia and the LaLaurie House in New Orleans
• Famous ghosts like the Bell Witch of Tennessee and the Greenbrier Ghost of West Virginia
• Paranormal investigators like Ed and Lorraine Warren

Deeply researched and highly entertaining, with archival images and black and white illustrations, Chasing Ghosts will satisfy believers and skeptics alike.

HAPPY READING!!

If Ur Stabby - Review

Author: Kaz Windness

Genre: Humor

Format: Hardback

Pages: 96

I saw this gem on my library's new arrival page and I couldn't help myself. I'm a sucker for books like this, and with the week I had, I figured this would be just what I needed. And, this book did not disappoint. I will say this is one hundred percent not for kids. The target audience for If Ur Stabby is older readers.

Honestly, I wasn't really sure what I was about to walk into with this one. I saw the cover and the title and thought, yup putting this on hold. If Ur Stabby is a short illustrated book set up almost like a kids book, but definitely is not. It follows a not-so-happy unicorn throughout his life, and in the words of his roommate, is me as a unicorn. Though I wouldn't say this book is dark, it's definitely got some gore. At the end of the day, it's geared more at humor than anything else.

The artwork for If Ur Stabby reminds me of Llamas With Hats. The authors do all of the illustrations and I loved them, especially the tarot cards used as each chapter's artwork. It reads a bit like the Sarah Doodles series, and combine that with the llamas created something I adored. I've been a bit in a reading slump this month due to a laundry list of reasons, but If Ur Stabby has helped boost me out of that slump. 

I laughed the whole time I read this, even areas a handful of passages out to my roommate. It's a fun take on the unicorn craze that is currently going on. Honestly, this is a book I've suggested to a handful of my friends just because it's a quick read and I thought it was a lot of fun. Because sometimes you full just a little bit stabby.

Not going to lie, this is one I'd love to add to my own personal library.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sundays

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

When Cisco Collins returns to his hometown thirty years after saving it from being swallowed by a hell-mouth opened by an ancient pirate ghost, he realizes that being a childhood hero isn't like it was in the movies.

Especially when nobody remembers the heroic bits - even the friends who once fought alongside him.

Struggling with single parenting and being treated as a bit of a joke, Cisco isn't really in the Christmas spirit like everyone else. A fact that's made worse by the tendrils of the pirate's powers creeping back into our world and people beginning to die in bizarre ways.

With the help of a talking fox, an enchanted forest, a long-lost friend haunting his dreams, and some 80s video game consoles turned into weapons, Cisco must now convince his friends to once again help him save the day. Yet they quickly discover that being a ghostbusting hero is so much easier when you don't have school runs, parent evenings, and nativity plays to attend. And even in the middle of a supernatural battle, you always need to bring snacks and wipes...

HAPPY READING!!

Spooky Season Read & Watch

Spooky Season is fast approaching, I've decorated the house with only a couple of things still en route. Personally, I think the house looks pretty cute. I cannot wait to watch scary movies with our new blankets and pillows! But, with October nearly here, just one week away, it's time to unveil my Spooky TBR and the movies we've got lined up! 

Now, since I hit a reading slump this month for a laundry list of reasons, this month I'm going to do the TBR a little differently. My goal isn't to read all of these before month's end. Instead, this is the pool of books I'll be choosing my next reads from. This is a combination of spooky reads that have been on my shelves too long and recently added. It would be great to get through them all.

As for the movies, this is a combo of books I want to watch, but my roommate probably won't join me for all of them. She has rules to what kind of scary movies she watches, and some of these break those rules.

There will be other movies and I'm halfway through the second season of iZombie. These are just ones I want to make sure I get to. The same goes for the books, I will one hundred percent be going off-script. I have a few still on hold and I'm always bad about sticking to TBRs.

Does anyone else have any Spooky Movies in their quest, or a good Scary TBR waiting on them?

HAPPY READING!!

Chasing Ghosts - Review

Author: Marc Hartzman

Genre: Paranormal /  Nonfiction

Format: Paperback

Pages: 272

A huge thank you to Quirk Books for an advance copy of this book for my honest review.

I'm a huge fan of paranormal shows, the caught-on-camera YouTube videos, and the history of how people tried to talk to the dead during the height of the Spiritualism movement. Something about it all fascinates me, and it's always a go-to subject matter. This means I was excited to get a chance to read Chasing Ghosts early. In fact, I took my time with the book and didn't let myself devour it in one sitting. 

There's a lot to this book in just a little over two hundred pages. It's jammed packed with information from cover to cover, but it's super easy to read. You can tell that Marc Hartzman enjoyed his research, but I liked that he never really put in his own opinion in too much what he was telling. Yes, there were a few sarcastic comments here and there, but this had perfect timing throughout the book. I loved that this was a mix of information and haunting had heard of, and some I hadn't heard of it. I love when a book sends me to Google to know more.

Hartzman did a lot of research for this book and it shows, and he told each story in a way that didn't sound like I was reading a textbook. This is always my biggest worry about nonfiction books, but that wasn't an issue here. I really liked the page breaks of fan facts in each section. Little add-ons that are super fun and a great break from each section.

I also really liked the illustrations that appeared through the book and the addition of photos. It was a great look at the history of ghost hunting and added great visuals to the information that Hartzman had gathered. Personally, I thought it was a great read and fund for anyone who dives deep into the paranormal or just enjoys the ghost shows. It's a lot of fun information on the history of ghost hunting, and haunted houses, and how the whole haunted house started.

A super great read for the upcoming Spooky Season. Chasing Ghosts by Marc Hartzman comes out next week, September 28, 2021!

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

What happens when Tinker Bell is in love with both Peter Pan and Wendy? In this sparkling reimagining of Peter Pan, Peter and Wendy’s granddaughter Hope Darling finds the reclusive Tinker Bell squatting at the Darling mansion in order to care for the graves of her two lost friends after a love triangle gone awry. As Hope wins the fairy’s trust, Tink tells her the truth about Wendy and Peter—and her own role in their ultimate fate. Told in three alternating perspectives—past, present, and excerpts from a book called Neverland: A History written by Tink’s own fairy godmother—this queer adaptation is for anyone who has ever wondered if there might have been more to the story of Tinker Bell and the rest of the Peter Pan legend. 

Why I'm Waiting: Peter Pan is one of my favorite stories, and I'm always down for a retelling of the story. I'm interested in the LGBTQ+ spin on this story.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Sixteen bloodless bodies. Two teenagers. One impossible explanation.

Summer 1958—a string of murders plagues the Midwest. The victims are found in their cars and in their homes—even in their beds—their bodies drained, but with no blood anywhere.

September 19- the Carlson family is slaughtered in their Minnesota farmhouse, and the case gets its first lead: 15-year-old Marie Catherine Hale is found at the scene. She is covered in blood from head to toe, and at first, she’s mistaken for a survivor. But not a drop of the blood is hers.

Michael Jensen, son of the local sheriff, yearns to become a journalist and escape his small-town. He never imagined that the biggest story in the country would fall into his lap, or that he would be pulled into the investigation when Marie decides that he is the only one she will confess to.

As Marie recounts her version of the story, it falls to Michael to find the truth: What really happened the night that the Carlsons were killed? And how did one girl wind up in the middle of all these bodies?

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sundays

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

I know seven secrets:
One caused the fall. One did nothing. One saw it all.
One didn’t care. One used their head. One played the hero.
One was left for dead.

On her eighteenth birthday, Cleo receives a mysterious invitation to a scavenger hunt. She’s sure her best friend Hope or her brother Connor is behind it, but no one confesses. And as Cleo and Hope embark on the hunt, the seemingly random locations and clues begin to feel familiar.

In fact, all of the clues seem to be about Cleo’s dead boyfriend, Cyrus, who drowned on a group rafting trip exactly a year ago. A bracelet she bought him. A song he loved. A photo of the rafting group, taken just before Cyrus drowned. And then the phone calls start, Cyrus’s voice taunting Cleo with a cryptic question: You ready?

As the clock on the scavenger hunt ticks down, it becomes clear that someone knows what really happened to Cyrus. And that person will stop at nothing to make sure Cleo and her friends pay. Can they solve the hunt before someone else winds up dead?

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

The tedium and terrors of Josephine "Jo" Hadley's existence within the stone walls of London's Bethnal Asylum are interrupted by a strange visitor, Cora Drummond, a woman who demands to interview one of the asylum's most insane residents. The patient's rantings include tales of ghosts and demons, but it is the bizarre, near-riotous muttering of prophetic nursery rhymes that follow Jo throughout the asylum wards that is most illuminating to Miss Drummond.

Eeeper Weeper, chimney sweeper. Had a wife, but couldn't keep her...

Days later, Jo and her adoptive father receive an invitation to attend an exclusive tea at the prestigious Whitehall Club. But the request for Jo's attendance is more than it might seem. She has caught the attention of a secret branch of government working directly for the queen.

Will Jo Hadley's unusual talent for inciting prophetic nursery rhymes prove useful to the crown? She is given one chance to demonstrate her worth to the Special Paranormal Research Branch, but this is one mission that even the most highly trained operatives might not survive.

Why I'm Waiting: I love a good Victorian murder mystery, add in the paranormal, just take my money now!

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hands sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.

Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending the realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order couldn’t stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.

Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith, lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope:

The Holy Grail.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

After the publication of a salacious tell-all book, the remote city of Ilvernath is thrust into worldwide spotlight. Tourists, protesters, and reporters flock to its spellshops and ruins to witness an ancient curse unfold: every generation, seven families name a champion among them to compete in a tournament to the death. The winner awards their family exclusive control over the city’s high magick supply, the most powerful resource in the world.

In the past, the villainous Lowes have won nearly every tournament, and their champion is prepared to continue his family’s reign. But this year, thanks to the influence of their newfound notoriety, each of the champions has a means to win. Or better yet--a chance to rewrite their story.

But this is a story that must be penned in blood.

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love--and she's on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja's otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life for herself.

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja's tail, she'll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.

Why I'm Waiting: I don't know the original story, The Goose Girl, very well, but this has heist movie vibes. So it has my attention!

HAPPY READING!!