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!

A new Slayer for a new generation...

Frankie Rosenberg is passionate about the environment, a sophomore at New Sunnydale High School, and the daughter of the most powerful witch in Sunnydale history. Her mom, Willow, is slowly teaching her magic on the condition that she use it to better the world. But Frankie’s happily quiet life is upended when new girl Hailey shows up with news that the annual Slayer convention has been the target of an attack, and all the Slayers—including Buffy, Faith, and Hailey’s older sister Vi—might be dead. That means it’s time for this generation’s Slayer to be born.

But being the first-ever Slayer-Witch means learning how to wield a stake while trying to control her budding powers. With the help of Hailey, a werewolf named Jake, and a hot but nerdy sage demon, Frankie must become the Slayer, prevent the Hellmouth from opening again, and find out what happened to her Aunt Buffy, before she’s next.

Get ready for a whole new story within the world of Buffy!

HAPPY READING!!

The Temple House Vanishing - Review

Author: Rachel Donohue

Genre: Gothic

Format: Paperback

Pages: 304

I got a little nervous when I picked this one because I had started it over twice. The first time I got halfway through the second chapter of Louisa's POV and had re-read the back of the book, and started it all over again because I thought I might have been confused. I wasn't, the facts were still the same I just needed to trust the author's process. And, I'm glad I did because I really liked the narrator's that Donohue picked for this. Both of them were a little unreliable, but I don't think this story would have worked with just the Journalist's point of view.

Honestly, I can't think of a better setting than an old isolated private school that is one term away from closing. Temple House is a boarding school that thinks so much of itself, and its reputation and alumni donors are the only things keeping its doors open in 1990. The curriculum is dated and all it took was one scandal to close their doors. The way that both the Journalist and Louisa describe Temple House, sets up the reader for something weird to happen. The isolation of the "girls on the hill" also plays into all the aspects of this story. If they were so isolated would this of happened? If this school was more upgraded and Louisa treated better would this have happened?

It's hard to say for certain.

My favorite piece of this book is how Donohue kept me guessing. At the start of the story, I wasn't sure what to think about the disappearances of the student and teacher. The first couple of sections with Louisa didn't really lead me anywhere, and the Journalist wasn't really getting anywhere. It wasn't until I hit the halfway point that this book became hard to put down. Little things that Louisa would say lead to me wonder if maybe she'd killed Mr. Lavelle and Victoria helped her hide the body. I even thought I knew where they'd put the body.

A few chapters later I thought maybe Helen had done something to them. For about a hundred pages I went round and round until I finally got the last few pages. I was sort of right, in the I'm apparently really good at knowing where to hide a body, kind of right.

For me the reason I really liked this was Louisa's version of the story. Her journey of nearly finding herself and not knowing what to do with the pieces she found that don't exactly fit. The love she has for someone that can't love her back. Her chapters were my favorite and honestly, I think I would have liked the book a lot better without the Journalists' point of view. I found them boring, and as I write this I can't even remember the character's actual name. But the way Louisa told her story was wonderfully tragic, the perfect ode to a Gothic.

The perfect setting really. I thought the whole mystery was wonderfully laid and painfully beautiful. For a debut novel, I give kudos to Rachel Donohue. This was wonderful, I just didn't care for the bumbling Journalist. The epilogue was also not really needed, felt a bit extra, I just skimmed it. But as I whole I really liked this.

Donohue's writing style was wonderful and the mystery was well put together. As I said I love the idea of decaying boarding school for this tragic teenage love story. Probably one of the few love triangles I didn't hate. Because this one really kind of was a real love triangle. I will die on the hill Mr. Lavelle was a little in love with Louisa, as creepy as that thought is.

So I'm eager to see what this author writes next. Personally, this is one of the best "modern" Gothics I've picked up in a while. Definitely recommend it if you are in the mood for something spooky, but not scary.

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.

Is this the end?
What happens when you ask a bunch of losers, discipline cases, and misfits to save the galaxy from an ancient evil? The ancient evil wins, of course.
Wait. . . . Not. So. Fast.
When we last saw Squad 312, they were working together seamlessly (aka, freaking out) as an intergalactic battle raged and an ancient superweapon threatened to obliterate Earth. Everything went horribly wrong, naturally.
But as it turns out, not all endings are endings, and the te4am has one last chance to rewrite their's. Maybe two. It's complicated.
Cue Zila, Fin, and Scarlett (and MAGELLAN!): making friends, making enemies, and making history? Sure, no problem
Cue Tyler, Kal, and Auri: uniting with two of the galaxy’s most hated villains? Um, okay. That, too.
Actually saving the galaxy, though?
Now that will take a miracle.

Why I'm Waiting:  Because I adore this series, and despite my feelings on time travel, I have to make sure nothing bad happens to Fin. 

HAPP READING!!

New Release Tuesday

The great and prestigious man of science, Doctor Jameson Foster Hadley had somehow made a mistake. I wasn’t good and I wasn’t normal. His experiment had failed.

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.

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 Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.

Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren't really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?

HAPPY READING!!

Agents of Dreamland - Review

Author: Caitlin R. Kiernan

Genre: Science Fiction

Format: Novella

Pages: 123

What in the X-Files? Okay, so I found this tucked away at the library, the cover was hard to pass over, and the back of the book had my attention. I put off reading it because aliens freak me out, and this had huge outer space vibes. While I wasn't wrong about this, I also wasn't right. In fact, what I got was a wild ride stuffed in a little over a hundred pages, and I'm going to do my best to unpack it. Though I don' know if I'll do this book, or its author, justice.

I feel like the first thing I should mention is just how much information Kiernan packs into just a few short pages. Each chapter is another piece to the puzzle, but nothing is told in any sort of order, so sometimes you know where each piece goes the right way. I managed to get halfway through the book before I managed to piece together the biggest piece, but I still wasn't sure how everything was going to be tied together from the past, present, and future.

And I still don't. What I know is how present and the future. Which means I don't know the how or the why. Okay, I know a little of the why I think. Not that those answers matter to the gist of this story with the Signalman. His part of the story is done. And, while the end left with me questions. I'm satisfied with how this book ended, and I'm eager to pick up the second book. I want to see how the new story will fit into the timeline already built into this book.

Now, while the Signalman and Imacolata's story is very in the vein of X-Files and Fringe, and they were very well done. I have some theories about Imacolata that I'm curious to see if any of them are correct in the next novella. But, despite those shows being two of my favorites, their parts weren't my favorite. Even though I thought both of their chapters were well written and a lot of fun. Especially Immocalata because time travel is generally one of my least favorite things, but Kiernan handled it a way that did mess with the tenses and I could keep track of the when.

My favorite part of this book was the cult because we weren't just seeing it through the eyes of its leader of the government agency set out to stop them. We see it through the eyes of a member, and not just any member, but an important member. Seeing all of this happen through Chloe's eyes makes it all a little more unnerving. How she's given herself over to Drew's teachings and accepted the things that are happening to her so willing are crazy, and reading her chapters was extremely hard. I had to stop several times after her chapters because it was almost like falling down the rabbit with her. It was wild and fascinating and sad all at once. 

This is a hundred percent a series I'll be continuing. I'm invested in it now. I have questions that need answers, and I really liked the way that Kiernan writes. The story-telling in this was off the charts and I love the fact it's also a short read. Nothing is drawn out and overthought, the plot moves quickly despite a non-linear timeline, and this was a great introduction to this Tinfoil world. Book Two is already on hold, and I can tell you I'm not emotionally prepared for anything that's about to happen in those two hundred pages.

 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 fourth book in the enormously popular graphic novel series, the latest collection of Sarah's Scribbles comics explores the evils of procrastination, the trials of the creative process, the cuteness of kittens, and the beauty of not caring about your appearance as much as you did when you were younger. When it comes to humorous illustrations of the awkwardness and hilarity of millennial life, Sarah's Scribbles is without peer.

Why I'm Waiting: I adore Sarah Anderson's work and the previous three books!

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company.

It’s the perfect wedding venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends.

But a night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare. For lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart.

And she gets lonely down there in the dirt.

HAPPY READING!!

Bury Me Deep - Review

Author: Christopher Pike

Genre: Young Adult / Horror

Format: Paperback

Pages: 211

What a throwback! Christopher Pike was an author that sort of fell off my radar long ago. He was a stepping stone in my love for horror. I devoured his books before I was finally gifted my first Stephen King book. Until recently when I've seen his book all over Bookstagram and realized a couple of his books have stuck with me over the years. So I've been keeping my eye out for his books at the thrift store because I can't believe I've been alive long enough for me to find my childhood in one of those. But, here we are a dollar spent on one I'm almost one hundred percent certain I did not read back in my Middle School days.

Right off the bat, I can't lie, I cringed a little bit, and then several times after that. I don't remember Pike's writing of female characters being this terrible and stereotypical of the early 1990's. Then again, little me was most likely not paying attention to that. It's not great, in fact, there is a whole section of this book where I was frustrated with two of the three female characters. Honestly, Michele doesn't get enough page time for me to have an opinion about her. For half a second I thought she might be one of the bad guys, but the red herring in this story was pretty obvious. 

My biggest issue is that Mandy and Jean are supposed to be this best of friends, but the first thing Mandy does is warn her off about the cute guy that Mandy just met. Which considering what happened on the plane ride to Hawaii, you'd think they'd both have bigger concerns. In fact, the whole thing gets played down a lot. Paradise or not, that was trauma and it's hard to believe an eighteen-year-old high school student would just blow that off.

This leads me to the next complaint. At the beginning of the book, we're lead to believe that Jean is probably in college because she mentioned making up a lab. Then halfway through the book during a crisis, Jean says she's a High School student. Full stop. What? Even in the 1990s who is letting three high school girls just get off to Hawaii. Three Freshman College students, yeah I could see that, but I have questions. No, they do not pertain to the plot, but really. The book is two hundred pages. Yes, it's a small thing, but where are these kids' parents?

Okay, all that aside I did give this book three stars because despite pieces not aging well, like so many things from the 90s, the plot isn't half bad. It's super far-fetched, but so are half the teenage shows on the CW right now. So that aside. I can see what I from long ago enjoyed these books. Pike builds up the jump scares pretty well for his younger readers, and makes the plot just hard enough it takes a minute to unravel everything. I clocked it pretty early, but I'm not the target age for this book. Also if I hadn't I'd have felt bad for myself.

End of the day I enjoyed my couple of days with this. It was a great book to read while waiting on my bus. There was a lot of nostalgia in this read as well. There were a lot of problems from the characters to random Hawaii travels guide facts Pike randomly dropped for no reason. But that is a whole other rant. In the end, it was a dollar well spent, I'll be tossing this one back to a thrift store so it can end up in someone else's hands. 

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!

Celeste knows she should be excited to spend two weeks at her grandparents' lake house with her brother, Owen, and their cousins Capri and Daisy, but she's not.

Bugs, bad cell reception, and the dark waters of the lake... no thanks. On top of that, she just failed her swim test and hates being in the water-it's terrifying. But her grandparents are strong believers in their family knowing how to swim, especially having grown up during a time of segregation at public pools. Without the opportunity to learn, Grandma's sister drowned when they were kids.

But soon strange things start happening, like Celeste's cousins accusing her of waking them up in the middle of the night. But Celeste hasn't been awake during the night-she knows she's been fast asleep because she's been having terrible nightmares about drowning!

Things at the old house only get spookier until one evening when Celeste looks in the steamy mirror after a shower and sees her face, but twisted, different...

Who is the girl in the mirror? And what does she want?

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.

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.

Why I'm Waiting: I've been seeing this one around lately, and something about it has my attention. This isn't my usual genre, but this one has grabbed my attention.

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!

The fourth book in the enormously popular graphic novel series, the latest collection of Sarah's Scribbles comics explores the evils of procrastination, the trials of the creative process, the cuteness of kittens, and the beauty of not caring about your appearance as much as you did when you were younger. When it comes to humorous illustrations of the awkwardness and hilarity of millennial life, Sarah's Scribbles is without peer.

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.

Dark Stars is a tribute to horror’s long-standing short fiction legacy, featuring 11 terrifying novelettes from today’s most noteworthy authors, edited by Bram Stoker Award-nominee John F.D. Taff, with an introduction by bestselling author Josh Malerman (Bird Box).

Created in the tradition of the 1980 horror classic anthology Dark Forces edited by Kirby McCauley, this collection features all original novelettes showcasing the top talent in the horror field today, with a committed line-up of stories from both established names and up-and-coming voices. Dark Stars is not themed, allowing each author to write their very best horror story, unhampered by the need to conform to any unifying tropes.

Why I'm Waiting: I know I said it before, but I'm a sucker for a book that makes me sleep with the light on.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Deep in the heat and silence of rural Tennessee, down an untraveled road, sits the forgotten town of Three Summers. Mere miles away, on an overgrown river island, stands the house that once presided over the grand plantation of Angel’s Landing, moss-draped, decrepit. Waiting.

Failing crime writer Bradley Ellison and former prostitute Missy Holiday are drawn to this place, fleeing a world turned against them. For Brad, it is work—he must find a compelling story before the true-crime magazine he writes for judges him expendable. For Missy, it is recuperation—four years at "the club" have left her drained.

But the price of peace is high, and soon Brad and Missy discover that something hides behind the quiet. Something moves in the night. Something that manifests itself in bizarre symbols and disturbing funeral rites. Something that twists back through time and clings in the dust of the ancient house. A presence they must uncover before their own past catches up with them.

HAPPY READING!!

Reading Update 2021 Part 3

I cannot wrap my head around the fact that there is only three months left in 2021. While it felt like some months have dragged along to never end, somehow the middle of the year just flew by. While I'm excited that it's finally Spooky Season, it's weird to be thinking about the Holidays just around the corner.

Also, I was a little nervous to look at my goals because while the year started off strong I had a couple of non-reading months. 

READING GOALS:

Books Read: 49 of 65

Pages Read: 10,761 of 15,000

BINGO's: 1

So, not as bad as I thought. Goodreads says I'm a whole book a head of my goal. Which means I'm staying postive that I'll reach my 65 book goal by the end of year. Fingers are crossed for that. 

I will admit I'm worried about reaching my pages read goal. Five thousand pages in three months feels like a lot considering I barely read over a thousand a month. But, I knew that was a lofty goal when I set it.

As for BINGO this year, again started off strong, but slide away from this challenge over the summer months. Then again, I didn't set any goals for this challenge this year. For a second there I thought I'd manage to clear the whole board. Now, I'm not so sure. We shall see!

How's everyone else's year going, reading wise? Any personal goals you're smashing? Any you've give up on?

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!

Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day.

Type A Ivy lost a student council election to the class clown, and now she has to face the school, humiliated. Heartthrob Mateo is burned out--he's been working two jobs since his family's business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up . . . again.

So when Cal pulls into campus late for class and runs into Ivy and Mateo, it seems like the perfect opportunity to turn a bad day around. They'll ditch and go into the city. Just the three of them, like old times. Except they've barely left the parking lot before they run out of things to say . . .

. . . until they spot another Carlton High student skipping school--and follow him to the scene of his own murder. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. And it's about to get worse.

It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common. They all have a connection to the dead kid. And they're all hiding something.

Now they're all wondering--could it be that their chance reconnection wasn't by chance after all?

HAPPY READING!!

October Spotlight

I've been excited for this one all year. The cover just grabs a hold of you, it's freaking creepy, and that last part of the synopsis. Holy crap. Everything about this book sounds amazing, and I can't think of a better book to come on during Spooky Season!

A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company.

It’s the perfect wedding venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends.

But a night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare. For lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart.

And she gets lonely down there in the dirt.

HAPPY READING!!

September Wrap-Up

This has been a long and tedious month for a laundry list of reasons. Of course, there have been bright spots, but I haven't really had the bandwidth to read. I'm sad I didn't get to my Book Club Book, but luckily the library doesn't need it back. So I'm hoping to get to this month. My place is decorated for Spooky Season, I even got my roommate and me fuzzy blankets to curl up with during scary movies!

Since September was such a hard month I decided outside of my Book Club Book I wasn't going to do any other Halloween Reading Challenges. Though I do have a small TBR that I'll be picking my reads from his month in hopes I'll have the attention span to read. You can check out my Halloween TBR for both books and movies here!

Books Read:  2
BINGO Books: 0 

Pages Read: 368

Currently Reading: Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire

Broke Bitch Book Club

Dewey's 24-hr Readathon

I did pick up some "new" books while at the thrift store this past month, and of course Night Worms. I also did a small bookstore run for Kendare Blake's new book because I just couldn't wait. Which I guess means maybe I'm do a good October Book Haul!