Cover Runway Sunday

       

They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes the cover initially 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!

On Halloween night, Josie and her two best friends, Jackson and Alison, sneak into the infamously haunted Bachelor’s Grove cemetery. They are hoping to prove the existence of a famous ghost to secure coveted editorial spots on the school newspaper. Instead, they are chased out by a security guard before they gather any evidence…or so they think.

Later, a sinister meme appears on their phones. It’s an image of the “phantom farmhouse,” an evil apparition rumored to appear to unlucky visitors at Bachelor's Grove—luring them in…and never letting them out—with the words I’m watching dripping down the screen.

Soon, strange and scary things begin to happen all around them. When a second meme from the same number arrives, this time with a countdown, they realize they have only three days to figure out who is terrorizing them. As they investigate, the trio must use their journalistic skills to uncover the truth, or risk becoming a part of the graveyard’s sinister past forever.

HAPPY READING!!

October Silent Book Club

Hi, me again to talk about Silent Book Club! With September just days away from wrapping up, I wanted to announce that the October date for the Edmonds Silent Books Club is October 16! Our tables open up at 7pm so we can get comfortable, order some food and drinks, and mingle with other readers. Then by 7:30pm, we'll go kick off the reading for an hour! It doesn't matter how, or what, you're reading. Bring your books, or device, and get an hour of low-stress reading with good food and fun drinks!

HAPPY READING!!

Currently Reading

There are only four days left until October. FOUR DAYS! I was so sure this month had just started, I nearly fell down when I was hanging up the schedule at work on Sunday. I lost a week somewhere, but at the same time, I've been really busy this month. Somehow though I've managed to squeeze in a few books. It's been a lot of short reads and audiobooks, but those count too! Sometimes you have to read the way that fits into your day. 

For the first time in what feels like forever (but is probably like two weeks) I have a full day off with nowhere to be. So I will be putting my phone on silent today, curling up, and doing some solid reading and snacking. What will be reading I'm sure you are asking? I have one or so options to work through.

All three of these are on point for the Spooky Season, which is finally here! The weather is supposed to be chilly and cloudy today. So I've put on my favorite sweater, some Halloween leggings, and my jack-o-lantern fuzzy socks! I might even do some chores to take a break stretch my legs, and get more snacks. I'm going to need so many snacks!

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 Fairyland adventures continue in the seventh volume of the wildly hilarious and bestselling series!

Gert wanders around Fairyland sticking her axe where it doesn’t belong on adventure after bloody adventure! Gert deals with Cloudia being in the real world instead of her, gets involved with the Billy Goats Gruff, has a movie made of her life in Fairyland, and has to transform into more of a monster than she already is to deal with an old problem!

Why I'm Waiting: Because I love this series, I love it got is a second go, and I love Gert!

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

 

The sole survivor of a serial killer might hold the key to stopping a new spree of murders in this propulsive thriller in the vein of The Black Phone and The Whisper Man.

Dark and twisting at every turn, fans of Catriona Ward will love this chilling new tale from the deviously inventive horror author that Peter Farris calls the “clear heir to Stephen King.”

Beware the one who got away . . .

Father Silence once terrorized the rural town of Twisted Tree, disguising himself as a priest to prey on the most vulnerable members of society. When the police finally found his “House of Horrors,” they uncovered nineteen bodies and one survivor–a boy now locked away in a hospital for the criminally insane.

Nearly two decades later, Father Silence is finally put to death, but by the next morning, the detective who made the original arrest is found dead. A new serial killer is taking credit for the murder and calling himself the Outcast.

The detective’s daughter, Tess Claibourne, is a detective herself, haunted by childhood trauma and horrified by the death of her father and the resurgence of Father Silence’s legacy.

When Tess’s daughter is kidnapped by the Outcast, Tess is forced to face her worst fears and long-buried memories. With no leads to follow, she travels back to Twisted Tree to visit the boy who survived and see what secrets might be buried in the tangled web of his broken mind.

With captivating prose and an old-school horror flair, Sleep Tight is a must-read, haunting tale from a true master of the genre.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

       

They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes the cover initially 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!

There’s power in a book…

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

HAPPY READING!!

Book Haul

 The plan was to go spooky shopping. I had things I wanted to get for Halloween. Just little things to have around the house year. Something new to add to decorations. I had a list and was not going to detour for the list. I am saving up for a new reading chair. Something a little smaller for my space, and a little more comfy. My first mistake was going alone. My second mistake was taking a side quest when I took a back road to avoid an accident on the highway. I ran into a store to find something for a co-worker going through a hard time. I didn't find the thing I wanted, but I ended up with a spooky purse that I'm in love with. So that happened.

However, after that side quest not a single thing I was hoping to get was in store. Everything was sold out and had to be ordered online. One of those things I did order because during the winter, if I'm in a restaurant I'm live in sweatpants. And, thanks to a friend I just found a pair that I don't have a couple of houses (I'm built weirdly both literally and figuratively). Long story short, now I have two pairs. But! Because everything I budgeted to buy was not in store, or I needed to go along with my life. I took that money and decided to go to the comic book store that just opened this summer.

One of the series I need to finish is Something is Killing the Children, and I also read a lot of graphic novels in the winter. It's cold and wet here, the latter is fine, but I really hate the cold. I put up with it because it's beautiful out here, but I hate it. So I spend winter curled up in a blanket nest reading and watching cooking shows. Or, standing in front of the stone oven at work soaking up every single inch of warmth in that kitchen.

So now I have no excuse to not finish this series because I own all the books! This winter I can power through this series, have my heart ripped from my chest, and mourn both of my favorite characters being dead. 

HAPPY READING!!

Mini Review

 

This turned out to be sadder than I thought it would be, but also really beautiful. It's so much more than a ghost story. Inside is a lesson on setting boundaries, and taking care of yourself first, and sometimes the scary thing isn't the real scary thing. There is so much jammed-backed in this book, but it was heavier than I expected so it did take me a couple of days to read. But, well worth the wait to stretch out because this has a wonderful happy ending for now kind of feel. I'd love to get more of this, but it also really works as a stand-alone. 

This was super adorable! It's also a really fun way to look at the things we see, do, and say that feel normal and every day, seem weird to others. But at the same time, it shows the weird ways we bend ourselves to fit in with the world around us. It was so much to Frankie D and his family to try to conform to not only the human world but a whole new country as well. It's filled with great one-liners, and sitcom-level comedy, and is adorable at every turn. It sets itself for the second book really well. It wraps all the issues of this book up and opens up the plot for season two with Eddie learning Frankie's secret. So what will happen to the family in book two?

This was my third read of this book, and it's still one of my favorite series. While Kady is still not one of my favorite characters in the series, she does have one of the best character arcs. However, Winnifred McCall is still my favorite character of all time. The audio cast is amazing, and if you loved the book but haven't listened to the full cast audio, I need to do that right now. Every character is spot on, and this is one of those books that thrives with full-cast audio. The reason for me re-read is because I still haven't read the last book in the series. (Super good at starting a series, really bad at finishing them.) So to fix that I'm going back and jumping back into this series and I'm going to wrap it up! Because I love everything about this series. Mostly just how the first two books connect (I'm sure how all three connect). As I was listening I was connecting dots, but so much happens that I'd forgotten since my last listen maybe two years ago. I've already jumped into the second book, Gemina. Such a good series, I cannot recommend it enough!

HAPPY READING!!

Book Mail

I was delighted to connect with Zeo Niu before the Kickstarter for Monkey went live. That meant I got to kick off my summer reading with this gem. It was honestly so much fun! Niu combined my love for Tank Girl, Mad Max, and odd science fiction stories and created something amazing. I was barely halfway through when I knew I wanted a whole series out of this story. 

While this first volume is jammed back with information about our main characters, it doesn't leave a few unanswered questions. It's a great introduction to the world (and how it ended). Monkey also left me wanting more and to know more about how exactly we got from the end of the world to that exact moment.

I didn't even think twice when I backed this project, and I've been so excited to get my hands on a physical copy. Mostly, I wanted to see the artwork on paper. It looked amazing on my phone or screen, but I wanted to be able to see it all in real-time, in glossy comic book form.

My fingers are crossed that Nui can create more of this comic in the future. I would a hundred perfect back a second issue! I'd try my hardest to be first in line!  

A huge thank you to Zeo Nui for reaching out and letting me know about this series. It's so much fun. I've already read it again, and I can't wait to hang the print on my nerd wall. 

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, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him.

Protect him. Lie for him. Kill for him.

High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality—Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won’t say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork—whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew’s wicked stories.

Desperate to figure out what’s wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster—Thomas’s drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator…

Why I'm Waiting: Because this sounds amazing and haunting beautiful! 

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

After twelve-year-old Charlie moves from New York City to sweaty, sticky Florida, she’ll do anything to get back home. Even if it involves ghosts. Winklevoss Manor, Charlie’s new house, is a towering Victorian mansion famous for one thing—it’s haunted. Three ghosts—Ada, Arthur, and Guff—live there, and not by choice. They’re trapped, cursed for stealing a dead man’s diamond. A diamond that, just like the ghosts, is still in the house. And this gets Charlie thinking. . .Maybe if she can find the diamond and sell it, Charlie’s family could have enough money to move back to the city. But lifting the curse isn’t that simple, especially when she’s pitted against the school bully and three unruly spirits. It’s frightening to think about, but what if the only way to get rid of the ghosts and curses is by doing what Charlie fears the most—confronting the past that haunts her?

HAPPY READING!!

Read-a-thon Wrap Up

 So over on Instagram, I joined in the Fall Back Into Reading, Read-a-Thon. It was super low stress and it ran from Monday to Friday. The low-stress aspect was what I loved about it because last week I was super busy, then got laid up with a cold, and then geared up for one more busy weekend. This was a nice way to give myself an excuse to curl up and read. While I didn't get a lot of reading done. I finished one of the books I started in August, set aside, and knocked a couple of graphic novels off my TBR! So a win in my books! 

Read-a-Thon Stats:

Books Read: 2

Pages Read: 473

This was a great drive to keep me reading this last week because it was really busy. I had back-to-back events these last two weekends that had me on my toes at work. Then one of my bookshelves gave up and broke, and that turned into a whole afternoon/evening project. I don't think I would have read at all this week if wouldn't have been for the Fall Back Into Reading, Read-a-Thon. It was the perfect excuse to curl up in a blanket nest and just exist. 

I even managed to crack open a book not on my TBR! So this will definitely be a read-a-thon I would do again!

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

       

They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes the cover initially 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!

On a cold winter day in 1832, Sarah Cornell was found hanging in a barn, four months pregnant, after a disgraceful liaison with a charismatic Methodist minister, Reverend Ephraim Avery. Some (Avery’s lawyers) claimed her death was suicide…but others weren’t so sure. Determined to uncover the real story, intrepid Victorian writer Catharine Williams threw herself into the investigation and wrote what many claim is the first American true-crime narrative, Fall River. The case and Williams’ book became a sensation—one that divided the country and inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. But the reverend was not convicted, and questions linger to this day about what really led to Sarah Cornell’s death. Until now.

In The Sinners All Bow, acclaimed true-crime historian Kate Winkler Dawson travels back in time to 19th century small town America, emboldened to finish the work Williams started nearly two centuries before. Using modern investigative advancements—such as “forensic knot analysis” to determine cause of death, the prosecutor’s notes from 1833, and criminal profiling which was invented 55 years later with Jack the Ripper—Dawson fills in the gaps of Williams’ research to find the truth. Along the way she also examines how society decides who is the “right kind” of crime victim and how America’s long history of religious evangelism may have clouded the facts both in the 1830s and today. Ultimately, The Sinners All Bow brings justice to an unsettling mystery that speaks to our past as well as our present, anchored by three women who subverted the script they were given.

HAPPY READING!!

Weird Medieval Guys - Review

Author: Olivia M. Swarthout

Genre: Nonfiction

Format: Hardback

Pages: 204

This is my favorite little subgenre of nonfiction. The mesh of humor, satire, and pieces of history. This book does that spot on. This was everything I wanted it to be and then some. I mean, look at the cover, who would walk past that and not pick it up, and the title, sealed the deal for me. Those two things, are immediately in my bag because you are coming home with me. The best thing is this book didn't disappoint because you knew exactly what you were getting.

A laugh-out-loud good time. Seriously this book had me giggling from the first page to the last page. I have no idea how much of the information inside these pages is true, and if this is how people thought all back then. But I don't care. What I do care about is how just over-the-top funny each page is. I also liked that the pieces of this book were interactive. So you, yourself, get to be a part of the fun.

Thanks to this book I've learned a lot about myself, the first being there is not a single moment in time where I did not struggle to spell the word medieval. Even now I still get confused about where the stupid 'i' goes. It's been a real struggle. But on a fun note, thanks to this book I've learned many more things: my medieval name, what job I would have (shocker it's basically the job I have no, and no I didn't cheat), and even if I would end up in the jail. The answer to that last question is yes, yes I would, and no one I know is surprised by that answer.

Medieval art just by itself is wild and confusing and always leaves me asking so many questions. Mainly had any one of them ever actually seen a cat. Because nightmare fuel. But this book takes ideas like that and runs with it. It's so much fun to not just look at each piece that Swarthout included in this book but to see how it drives each narrative, and just adds to the humor. Because really, how is a snail a serpent. But also, why did we hate owls back then.

I just loved this book from start to finish. I even took it to Silent Book Club, and everyone had to borrow to flip through the pages. So many people took pictures to add it to their TBRs. It's a crowd-pleaser and a great coffee table book. Just something for guests to pick up and flip through and have a small laugh. This was great, and a keeper. Thoroughly enjoy it!

HAPPY READING!!

Mini Reviews

 

Huge thank you NetGalley for letting me read this early! The country is huge and filled with haunted and creepy places to visit, and this book is just the tip of the iceberg. But what is great about this book is can both authors loved what they were researching and really wanted to share it with their readers. These weren't just tourist trap kind of stops, but places they found on accident or that locals sent them to. After reading the ebook version of this book, I really need a physical copy. I want to cover it with tabs and sticky notes of places to go, vacations to plans, or shops to visit online to support where I can. If you love haunted houses and the paranormal this is perfect for you. Travels of Terror hit shelves on August 27! 

I saw this while I was book shopping for my niece, and the cover caught my attention. So, I immediately added it to my library holds. Personally, I did really like this. It was unique, and I really liked the artwork that accompanied the story. I will say I'm not sure if this was a book I'd expect to find in the Children's Picture book section of the bookstore. The story itself is a little dark for young readers, especially at the end. Because that was a plot twist I didn't realize was going to happen. I'd say this sits from Middle Grade and up. Still a solid story and a quick read. I really like it and it was perfect for the start of Spooky Season.

Listen this was fine. It was quip and fun and kind of ridiculous. There were moments I really liked, but between those moments was this stupid show, contest, thing that made no sense. The competition itself made no sense. So this was just okay. I enjoyed it well enough and it was a very quick read. I just don't really have the will to finish this series. I don't care about the other brothers, I barely cared about Crimson. I'm not invested enough. It did have some laugh-out-loud moments between the main characters. 

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.

Faolan Kelly’s grandfather is dead. She’s alone in the world and suddenly homeless, all because the local powers that be don’t think a young man of sixteen is mature enough to take over his grandfather’s homestead…and that’s with them thinking Faolan is a young man. If she revealed that her grandfather had been disguising her for years, they would marry her off at the first opportunity.

The mayor finds a solution that serves everyone but He hires a gunslinger to ship her off to the Settlement, a remote fort where social outcasts live under the leadership of His Benevolence Gideon Dillard. It's a place rife with mystery, kept afloat by suspicious wealth. Dillard's absolute command over his staff just doesn't seem right. And neither do the strange noises that keep Faolan up at night.

When Faolan finds the body of a Settlement border, mangled by something that can’t possibly be human, it’s clear something vicious is stalking the palisades. And as Settlement boarders continue to drop like flies, Faolan knows she must escape to evade the creature’s wrath.

Why I'm Waiting: Because I adore Lish McBride's books and she's an insta-buy author for me!

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Have you ever wondered how smart, normal people end up enmeshed in extreme cults? Weird history expert J. W. Ocker strives to answer that question in Cult Following. Everything you've ever wanted to know about history's most notorious cults–and the psychology of the people who join them–is packed into this accessible, engaging volume. Walk in the footsteps of the followers who were lured into these sinister groups,   Branch Led by David Koresh, this cult was waiting out the apocalypse in 1993 when the FBI infamously raided their compound in Waco, Texas. This cult of drug traffickers in 1980s Mexico was led by Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo, who believed he had magic powers and committed human sacrifice.Brotherhood of the Seven The earliest known UFO cult, the infiltration and study of the Brotherhood by psychologists inspired the term “cognitive dissonance."Ho No Hana The founder, Hogen Fukunaga, claimed to be able to tell someone’s fortune by examining their feet. Breatherians believe that humans can live on air alone. Their founder, Wiley Brooks, claimed to have gone without food for nineteen years. This twenty-first century cult attracted several members of Hollywood and engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, and racketeering under the guise of personal development seminars.In Cult Following, Ocker sheds light on the terrifying attraction of cults, demonstrating the elasticity of belief, the desperateness of belonging, and the tragedy of trust.

HAPPY READING!!