New Release Tuesday

The Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a ten-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris.

The nine women were all under thirty when they joined the resistance. They smuggled arms through Europe, harbored parachuting agents, coordinated communications between regional sectors, trekked escape routes to Spain and hid Jewish children in scattered apartments. They were arrested by French police, interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo. They were subjected to a series of French prisons and deported to Germany. The group formed along the way, meeting at different points, in prison, in transit, and at Ravensbrück. By the time they were enslaved at the labor camp in Leipzig, they were a close-knit group of friends. During the final days of the war, forced onto a death march, the nine chose their moment and made a daring escape.

Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative from Gwen Strauss is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times.

HAPPY READING!!

May Spotlight

In the ancient city of Bassa, Danso is a clever scholar on the cusp of achieving greatness—only he doesn’t want it. Instead, he prefers to chase forbidden stories about what lies outside the city walls. The Bassai elite claim there is nothing of interest. The city’s immigrants are sworn to secrecy.

But when Danso stumbles across a warrior wielding magic that shouldn’t exist, he’s put on a collision course with Bassa’s darkest secrets. Drawn into the city’s hidden history, he sets out on a journey beyond its borders. And the chaos left in the wake of his discovery threatens to destroy the empire.

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!

The King of the Land of Fritillary has incurred the wrath of his ex-bestie, the evil wizard Farland Phelps. Farland curses the King's firstborn to die if touched by sunlight, and just like that, Julianna must spend her life in the depths of a castle dungeon (emptied of prisoners and redecorated in the latest fashion, of course). A young woman of infinite resourcefulness, all she needs is a serving spoon, a loose rock in the wall, and eight years of digging, and Julianna is free to explore the city—just not while the sun is out!

HAPPY READING!!

April Wrap-Up

I fought the urge to lead this page with It's Gonna Be May Gif. It was a hard fought battle, but I figure everyone has seen enough of those. But, if someone could tell me what happened to April. Because I feel like the month slipped through my fingers. This was also not a reading month. I tried. I finished Gideon which was so good, and read my Netgalley books for the month. Even the two kids books were adorable. My attention span just hasn't been able to focus on books. 

The fact I hyper-extended my elbow didn't help. My second Covid vaccine has also left me tired, and my body isn't use to being back at work full time. Don't get me wrong I'm happy to be back at work five days a week, but after three months of home living, my body doesn't know what I've done to it. 

It wasn't a bad reading month, I did read and what I read I liked. Hoping I can pull myself out of this reading funk for May. There are so many good books sitting on my current TBR.

Books Read: 4 
BINGO Books: 1

Pages Read: 995

Currently Reading: Whisper Down the Lane

Bout of Books 31 is coming up! From May 10 - May 16 it's a week to unplug and get some reading done. Which is the kick in pants I need to pull away from the Netflix and Discovery+. But, if you want to join, click here!

I didn't purchase any books this month, but I did receive a few! Thanks to Quirk Books and Penguin Teen for both books they sent me, I'm excited to read both! I also got some great books in my Nightworms Package and my last My Thrill Club Box. The latter was shocking because the last Thrill Club box was kind of a dud. All of them are shown below!

HAPPY READING!!  

Mini Reviews

Oh my gosh, this was absolutely adorable. The artwork was hilarious, and I loved every little panel. Each page is set up like a little comic strip. Some of them tell a longer story. A few others are just cute little short shorties. I loved how bright and colorful each panel was. This perfect for kids who love water and sea life, and is a fun coffee table (or fireplace mantel in our case) book.

It's been a minute since I've read the Last Apprentice series, and I don't remember the movie. But, despite this being a part of that universe The Ghost Prison is more of a stand-alone. This story is half told through pictures as well as on the page, which was fun. I loved the little bits here and there in each piece of artwork. The story itself is a creepy little story that movies along really quickly. I like that it was a novella, the short page count worked in its favor. It was also a nice reminder that I should maybe finish this series. I remember liking the first two books. 
 

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.

Federico doesn’t mind being a political hostage in the Pope’s palace, especially now that he has a cat as a friend. But he must admit that a kitten walking into a wardrobe and returning full-grown a moment later is quite odd. Even stranger is Herbert, apparently an art collector from the future, who emerges from the wardrobe the next night. Herbert barters with Federico to get a sketch signed by the famous painter Raphael, but his plans take a dangerous turn when he hurries back to his era, desperate to save a dying girl.

Bee never wanted to move to New Jersey. When a neighbor shows Bee a sketch that perfectly resembles her, Bee, freaked out, solidifies her resolve to keep to herself. But then she meets a friendly cat and discovers a mysterious cabinet in her neighbor’s attic—a cabinet that leads her to Renaissance Rome. Bee, who has learned about Raphael and Michelangelo in school, never expected she’d get to meet them and see them paint their masterpieces.

Why I'm Waiting: Because this sounds absolutely adorable!

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Priya worked hard to pursue her premed dreams at Stanford, but a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease during her sophomore year sends her back to her loving but overbearing family in New Jersey—and leaves her wondering if she’ll ever be able to return to the way things were. Thankfully she has her online pen pal, Brigid, and the rest of the members of “oof ouch my bones,” a virtual support group that meets on Discord to crack jokes and vent about their own chronic illnesses.

When Brigid suddenly goes offline, Priya does something out of character: she steals the family car and drives to Pennsylvania to check on Brigid. Priya isn’t sure what to expect, but it isn’t the horrifying creature that's shut in the basement. With Brigid nowhere to be found, Priya begins to puzzle together an impossible but obvious truth: the creature might be a werewolf—and the werewolf might be Brigid. As Brigid's unique condition worsens, their friendship will be deepened and challenged in unexpected ways, forcing them to reckon with their own ideas of what it means to be normal.

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! Some are by authors I already enjoy, some are the reason I gave the book a longer look. Either way, they're all going to find their way here! 

Piper Sullivan never should have been at Suicide Point the day she fell. Her older sister, Savannah, knows this with all her heart—just as she knows that Piper’s “accident” was entirely her fault. Savannah did something awful, something she can barely stand to think about, and now Piper is in a coma.

But just as Savannah’s guilt threatens to swallow her whole, she finds something strange in Piper’s locker: a note inviting Piper to a meeting of their school’s wilderness club…at the very place and on the very day she fell. This means that there’s a chance Piper wasn’t alone.

Maybe it isn’t Savannah’s fault, after all. Someone in the club might know what really happened. Someone might have done something. But why? If Savannah wants to find out the truth about that tragic day, she’ll have to join the club on their weekend long camping trip…on the very same mountain where her sister fell. And with everyone in the club a suspect, she’ll need to be careful or she might follow her sister into the dark.

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 Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a ten-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris.

The nine women were all under thirty when they joined the resistance. They smuggled arms through Europe, harbored parachuting agents, coordinated communications between regional sectors, trekked escape routes to Spain and hid Jewish children in scattered apartments. They were arrested by French police, interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo. They were subjected to a series of French prisons and deported to Germany. The group formed along the way, meeting at different points, in prison, in transit, and at Ravensbrück. By the time they were enslaved at the labor camp in Leipzig, they were a close-knit group of friends. During the final days of the war, forced onto a death march, the nine chose their moment and made a daring escape.

Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative from Gwen Strauss is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times.

Why I'm Waiting: I've never heard of these women before, so I'm excited for this book's release!

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

 

Prince Tal has long awaited his coming-of-age tour. After spending most of his life cloistered behind palace walls as he learns to keep his forbidden magic secret, he can finally see his family’s kingdom for the first time. His first taste of adventure comes just two days into the journey when their crew discovers a mysterious prisoner on a burning derelict vessel.

Tasked with watching over the prisoner, Tal is surprised to feel an intense connection with the roguish Athlen. So when Athlen leaps overboard and disappears, Tal feels responsible and heartbroken, knowing Athlen could not have survived in the open ocean.

That is, until Tal runs into Athlen days later on dry land, very much alive, and as charming—and secretive—as ever. But before they can pursue anything further, Tal is kidnapped by pirates and held ransom in a plot to reveal his rumored powers and instigate a war. Tal must escape if he hopes to save his family and the kingdom. And Athlen might just be his only hope…

HAPPY READING!!

In Deeper Waters - Review

Author: F.T. Lukens

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy 

Format: e-book

Pages: 320

I received an early e-book copy of this through Netgalley for my honest opinion.

Sometimes you need to read a book with a happy ending, a book that is one hundred percent wholesome. Every once in a while I need to read a fluffy romance book where everyone survives at the end, and I cannot thank Netgalley enough for letting me get an early peek at just that. I wasn't overly certain what I was getting into with In Deeper Waters, but the cover leads me to believe it wholesome and not try to rip my heart out of my chest.

This was absolutely adorable. The perfect escape from reality. F.T Lukens takes some tried and tested tropes, and creates a wonderful story about accepting yourself and finding true love. Normally I read pretty slowly, but I flew through In Deeper Waters. I found myself reading it at the bus stop, while the car was warming up, waiting in line, just about anytime I had time to spare.

I love a character driven book, and right out of the gate I fell in love with Tal. He's an imperfect character and I love that. He makes mistakes, he learns from them, and through everything, he learns about himself, his magic, and even just how strong he became because of everything. Tal is a character that is hard to hate because he tries, fails, and tries again. I also loved the family dynamic in this. These weren't siblings fighting over who gets to sit on the throne. Each of them had a place, a role, and they loved each other like a family. It's was great to have a fantasy series where siblings got to be siblings. 

And Athlen, I love how he never fully conforms to be a land dweller. I love the way Athlen tries to see the world, and how all he wants to never be alone again. 

Normally, love, at first sight, isn't my favorite trope, but for this, it works. Athlen doesn't see the world as a human, since he's a merman, and Tal is a bit of shelter due to being hidden away for so long. It's not perfect, they both make mistakes throughout the whole story, Athlen is even keeping a secret up until the last few pages. But, they are learning together and there is respect. THERE IS CONSENT EVEN IN THIS BOOK! Which, ugh, just made me so happy. 

But, what I love about this book is the fact that there is no issue with Tal being bisexual, not from Tal's siblings, his people, or the Queen. It's just about of this world without issue, and I love a book with that kind of representation. Tal being able to love Athlen and that being enough for the people around him.

This one of those books that take everything I love about fantasy and created a beautiful coming of age story. F.T. Lukens has also created two characters that fell in love with. And, while In Deeper Waters is a stand-alone, and ties up nicely. I would never say no to another book with any of these characters, especially Athlen and Tal.

I just adored this book. Is there a bit of angst? Yup. Was there a moment where I thought I'd been betrayed? Yup, again. Did I nearly have heart failure when my e-reader right a crucial moment in the plot where I thought everything was going to become a dumpster fire? A third yup. In the end though is a book was the wholesome read I needed in my life. It was cute and held the happy ending I needed.

In Deeper Waters is one I definitely want to add to my bookshelves once it's officially out. Which is this Tuesday (April 20th!) It's a book I can see myself re-reading.

HAPPY READING!!