Category: Wrap Ups

Wrap Ups

November 2020 Wrap Up

ChapterMalliumpkinLeave a comment

Salutations friends! I have a cup of hot coffee and I’m hoping it’ll fuel me to share all my thoughts about November, and tell you a little bit about how it hasn’t gone exactly as planned. That aside, I hope you all are doing well, staying healthy, and if you’re struggling right now, I see you and I love you!

Now let’s talk about November. Oh boy, where do I start. I think I’ve mentioned a few times that I’ve been feeling very long-winded and I think I’ve narrowed it down to one thing that’s been looming over my head for about a month now. Yes, it’s a review and I have it started, but the thought of writing this review bring large amount of dread within me especially since I’m in the minority opinion. Even more dread from the fact that I’m bringing statics and various resources to this review, but I don’t know how many people are going to listen, let alone who may try to argue with my statements in that review. So it’s been a very big weight that’s been impacting my reading (if you couldn’t tell from the anthologies, manga, and graphic novels). Needless to say, November has felt like a very hard month to read.

On top of that, I’ve had a few classes I’ve taken and I’ve been working on a big project that I’ve been wanting to do, for almost three-four years now, but it’s been a process of gathering everything up. So hopefully I’ll be announcing this project in December or possibly by the end of December. I have to wait and see where things fall, but I’m excited to share with all of you. So as you can see, November has been a roller coaster and a challenge to get reading accomplished, but I still managed to read six things and I’m really proud of that.

🍂 Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbii Weiden ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Read for the Dragons & Tea Book Club 🐉
I’ll be honest, I was really nervous about picking this book up. October wasn’t the best month for reading thrillers and suspenseful books, and I was nervous this was going to fall in the category of ‘books I shouldn’t have picked up right now’ pile. But, I’m pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it and there were some quotes I pulled from this book that really hit a certain spot within my soul. The writing of this book was absolutely lovely and very well written. I don’t know if this author has other pieces out yet, but I’m excited for the next story this author creates. Also, I really appreciated the insight of the hardships and issues Natives face, but most importantly, I loved how this book is carving out a space in a genre that doesn’t have enough Indigenous voice represented. And let me add this side note; when I saw Winter Counts (and a few other books by Native authors) had made it onto the GoodReads choice awards, it’s an impactful moment when you see those who are like you paving a path and making a space to say, “I’m Native, I’m here, and look at everything I have accomplished.” Words can’t express how important it is to see and hopefully, we’ll see this happen more often in the future.

🍂 Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids by Cynthia Leitich Smith ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pub. Date: February 9th, 2021
I absolutely loved this book so, so much! There were a lot of parts in this book that I found healing and many parts that I connected to. Also, there’s a plethora of diversity throughout this book. From the different family dynamics, to alternating perspectives, all the way to seeing how each story is connected to one another and happening along this same timeline. It was just a fantastic read and it made me miss going to Powwow with my aunts so dang much. Hopefully in this future, I’ll be able to return with them and have my spouse experience their first Powwow with us. And I promise, I’m working on the review for this book. I just haven’t decided how soon I want to publish the review since this book doesn’t come out till February of 2021. So, it’s coming, I promise. I just don’t know when yet.

🍂 Delicates (Sheets, #2) by Brenna Thummler ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pub. Date: March 16th, 2021
I loved this graphic novel so much! I enjoyed the first graphic novel, Sheets and thought it was cute, endearing, and a bit whimsical. However, this one was a whole other level of enjoyable. However, this graphic novel touches on a lot of hard topics like peer pressure, bullying, thoughts of suicide, etc… I do have all the content warnings listed on my GR review, but I definitely recommend caution for the depictions of suicidal thoughts and feelings. Otherwise, this is a really good book and I think many readers are going to really enjoy it the way I did.

🍂 Together, Apart by Erin A. Craig ⭐⭐⭐
I really wish I would have loved this more, but I think I went in with my expectations too high. I really thought I was going to have more emotional pull than I did, but there were some that didn’t pull any emotions from me. However, there were quite a few gems within this anthology that I absolutely adored and wished were a bit longer than they were. I think a lot of readers are going to see themselves or their situations within this book and I think many readers will find emotional validation to how they’re feeling since quarantine happened. Also, there’s a wide diversity throughout this book. From characters of color, to LGBTQIAP+, all the way to the family dynamics. I think readers are going to enjoy this anthology.

🍂 In Love & Pajamas by Catana Comics ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pub. Date: February 2nd, 2021
Absolutely adorable! If you’re looking for a graphic novel that’s going to make you laugh, smile, and charm it’s way into your heart then you need to read this book. I saw so much of my spouse and I within these pages. I couldn’t help falling in love with this book because it’s too precious. I highly recommend!

🍂 Whisper Me A Love Song (Whisper Me A Love Song #1) by Eku Takeshima ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was pleasantly surprised by this manga. Let me start by saying that if you’re looking for a manga to lift your spirits with love at first sight and two characters who have personalities that work really well together then you definitely need to give this manga a chance. The chemistry is really good and neither love interest overshadows the other. However, I definitely had the issue of the two main tropes, love at first sight trope and two people not being on the same page, feeling like a bit much. Regardless, I’m excited to see how the rest of the series will play out!

I’d say that was a successful month of reading. I hope you all enjoyed this little wrap up of mine. I know it wasn’t super long, but hopefully I’ll get caught up in December. What was your favorite read of November? Please let me know! I’m always looking for new book recommendations recommendations. Until next time, stay cozy and safe! I love you! 💛

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Wrap Ups

October 2020 Wrap Up

ChapterMalliumpkin7 Comments

On this last October day, I leave you with this mini October wrap up! And boy, do I wish we could just turn away and pretend this reading month didn’t turn out the way it did!

Salutations Chapterlings! I hop you’ve all been staying snuggly and sipping tea, staying health I hope! Myself? Not so much and there are many regrets, but I digress. We’re here to talk about my October wrap up and boy, October was a cruel and vicious mistress to my reading and myself this month. This might actually turn out to be my worst reading month for all of 2020. And after we left September on such a high note, too! I only read five things this month and the results… oh boy, they’re looking pretty grim. To clarify, I only had one five star read and one four star read. The rest… can we just look away? No? Well, it wasn’t good and one book didn’t even receive a rating. On top of all of that, since a lot of the books impacted my mental health so badly, I hit a reading slump… pretty darn hard, if I do say so myself. That slump prevented me from picking up any books and even caused a great deal of internal stress.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that someway, somehow, I can turn the last two months of the year around and finish the year off strong. However, November and December are both months that heavily revolve around my family. If you’ve been here a while, you know my family is at the very core of my heart and soul. So during these two months, reading sometimes gets put to the side, but I digress, again. I’m really hoping I can turn my reading around soon. And with that being said, I hope you still enjoy this wrap up even though there’s not many books to talk about.

🎃 Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Buddy Read with Robin 💜
I absolutely fell in love with this book and these characters. Truly, this is the best read from all of October. Originally, I was going to rate this book a strong four stars, but the more I thought on it, how I felt about this book, and the three main characters we follow, I decided to just go ahead and give it the five stars this book truly deserved. From the atmosphere to the unique writing style, this makes for the perfect spooky season read and rainy day read. I can’t wait to draft my full review for this book.

🎃 Victor and Nora A Gotham Love Story by Lauren Myracle & Isaac Goodhart ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I love graphic novels and the DC Universe is one of this first universes I fell in love with when I was first diving into this comic book world. Most importantly, Victor and Nora is my all time favorite love story throughout the entire Gotham universe. I know there’s so many other relationships, pairings, etc… but I truly love and cherish everything and anything that revolves around Victor and Nora. For those who aren’t familiar with these two characters, their love story and even Victor’s villain backstory is one of a Greek tragedy. Nora is terminally ill and dying, and upon learning of this news, Victor ends up freezing Nora until he can find a cure. Ultimately, Victor becomes a villain as he continues to search for a cure for Nora, doing whatever it takes to save the love of his life. There are many love stories in Gotham, but none that burn quite as fierce and bright like that of Nora and Victor. To love someone so much that you would move mountains, you would become a villain to everyone who doesn’t know the full story, and to give up your life using your skills in science to find a cure to a terminal illness all for the the one you love; it’s a tragic story, but truly, a story that resonates with the flames in my soul.

🎃 Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo ⭐⭐⭐ | Buddy Read with Robin 💜
Let’s just rip the band-aid right off, I dnf’d this book at 80% through this book and yes, I still gave it a rating. Now, I promise my full review for this is the first one coming because I have so much to talk about when it comes to this book. Here’s a brief run down with things I liked and strongly disliked. Starting with the things I enjoyed, I loved the atmosphere and I loved how the characters weren’t perfect. I really enjoyed those two elements and I wish more authors wrote characters like this. Hands down, this is a fantastic book to read for the spooky season and during rainy days.

However, there were things I didn’t like. Starting with pg 50 and pg 51. I love how no one, absolutely no one talks about how this author decided to bring up an actual crime and traumatic event that was committed concerning Geronimo’s remains and the desecration of his grave, and how the author just wrote it off like it never happened. Maybe you need someone who’s Apache, like myself, to step in and remind you that if you’re going to write about these events, especially when this event did happen and we knew about the five people involved in this whole incident, the entire event devastated the remaining family and relatives of Geronimo, and resulted in an actual court trial that came of nothing and the Chiricahua chief to rule leaving the burial site where it is despite the request from the family, to remind non-Indigenous authors to write and speak about these events accurately instead of brushing it off, down playing the whole incident like it wasn’t a problematic situation in the first place, and using these events as a way to cause tension between two non-Indigenous characters in your book.

Then there’s page 165 and I quote, “He didn’t want to spend the evening fielding judgmental snipes from Manuscript because Alex had felt the urge to dress as sexy Pocahontas.” Another thing concerning First Nations and yet no one is talking about this. Her name was Matoaka and she was one of the first stolen and missing Indigenous women from the colonization of Turtle Island. I don’t know about anyone else, but just these two snippets from this book alone made me really uncomfortable and in my opinion should have never been included in this book in the first place. I also didn’t enjoy how the traumatic events in this book felt like they were being used for shock value and to forward the story. Literally, content and trigger warnings about everything and anything for days. I digress, I digress. This wasn’t meant to be a rant. These are just some of things I’m going to be talking about in my final review because no one wants to talk about any of this and I think we should be talking about it.

🎃 Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Dragons & Tea Book Club September Pick 💜
The first book I’m not giving a rating for. The world must be freezing over because I always rate my books. No matter how good or bad. However, I feel that for myself, personally, rating this book isn’t beneficial. Here’s why. If I were to rate this book, it would be a low rating because of various reasons (and the fact that this book made me vomit on several occasions), it benefits no one because this isn’t a bad book. In fact, this book does exactly what it’s supposed to do, it’s a horror book that’s designed to crawl under your skin and make you all kinds of uncomfortable. Unfortunately, I’m the type of reader who doesn’t read horror often, I try to avoid it at all costs because I know how it impacts my reading and myself. So if there’s one thing you take away from this, let it be that this book does a fantastic job in the genre it’s designed for, but it impacted me in the way that I dnf’d this book at 75% because it destroyed my mental health, that includes going in knowing content and trigger warnings.

🎃 The Fangirl’s Guide to the Universe by Sam Maggs ⭐⭐
Let me just say this before I lay this all out. I have been active in various nerdy communities for a very long time and still am. Seventeen years worth of knowledge and experience, of LARPing, gaming, cosplaying, attending conventions, etc… and this book made my blood boil. I strongly disliked this book. Not only does this book not talk about the actual statistics or even give accurate information on how much of an influence women have had throughout history in the development of various nerdy communities, but this book has multiple underlying themes of misandry, and refuses to accurately talk about female/female and male/male harassment within these communities. If you’re going to write a guide book or a self-help book and you want to talk about these things then you need to write about it accurately, you need to include the whole spectrum of how harassment impacts the community as a whole, and if you’re going to repeatedly write how you support men then don’t go onto the next page talking about how terrible men in the community are. You can’t preach about how as a community we’re all in this together and then continuously throughout the book contradict yourself by writing how terrible all men are, how their actions are nothing but horrible things, when that’s not the actual reality of things. But I digress. This just wasn’t a good book, in my personal opinion and I’m actually dreading writing this review which is one of the main reason why I haven’t written it.

Whew, I may have ranted a few times, whoops! As you can see, though it was only five books, some of these books I have some pretty strong feelings about, some that made me feel a certain kind of way and I promise, these will all be addressed in reviews. I’ve mentioned this a lot this week, but as soon as I’m better and recovered from being sick, these reviews are getting written up, I promise! Anyway, did you have a good reading month? What book did you love the most? Please let me know! Until next time, I hope you enjoy All Hallows Eve! I love you! 🎃🖤

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Wrap Ups

September 2020 Wrap Up

ChapterMalliumpkin14 Comments

September has finally ended and we’re moving into the thick of fall! Salutations Chapterlings! I hope you all are doing well, that your days have been filled with lots of love and good health. September was such a fantastic reading month for me. I read sixteen books during September and I’m shocked. I didn’t think I read that much, yet here we are with so many books to talk about. Lately, I’ve been feeling really good about my reading and I’m keeping my fingers crossed I don’t jinx anything. But I’m so grateful that I read so much and I can’t wait to see what’s waiting for me on the horizon!

🍂 Blanca y Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It’s very rare when a book can touch me on multiple personal levels, but this book did just that. Between the sibling bond, the blood and found family themes, and so many other important topics, this book truly touched all the soft parts of my soul. And I think I’ll always cherish this book for those reason. Plus, this retelling was just so beautiful and you know I’m a sucker for retellings!

🍂 Space Battle Lunchtime Vol. 1Lights, Camera, Snacktion by Natalie Riess ⭐⭐⭐
This was a really cute and quirky graphic novel. There’s cooking/baking, a slow burn romance brewing, and an underlying mystery at hand. An all around fun time! However, I wish we would have received more pages and details. I felt that this graphic novel would have really benefitted from those two elements had they been added.

🍂 When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I will mention this in another part of this wrap up, but I’ve never read anything by Alyssa Cole before. This was my first introduction to her work and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved the writing. This is also the very first book I’ve ever read with gentrification in it and it blew me away with how accurately Cole talked about it. I did listen to the audiobook for this and if you haven’t given it a try, then I can’t recommend it enough!

🍂 Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I went back and forth on my rating for this book for the longest time. Ultimately, I really enjoyed this book and I think it talks about so many important topics like deportation and immigration. There’s also strong family bonds and the ups and downs of friendship. So many elements that I love with my whole heart. My least favorite thing about this book is how obviously divided the book is and what I mean is the genre blending. The first half of this book is all contemporary and then the second half is scifi. It just wasn’t my cup of tea, but I still encourage readers to give this book a chance.

🍂 A Princess in Theory ( Reluctant Royals, #1) by Alyssa Cole ⭐⭐⭐⭐
As I mentioned before, I’ve never read anything by Alyssa Cole, but this book and When No One Is Watching are my two introductions to Cole’s writing. I started both of these books at the same time and I just fell in love with the writing. I thought the writing in this book was so beautifully done and I loved the way the characters were written. I’m eager to read more of this series, the novella and book two are sitting patiently on my tbr cart.

🍂 Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Buddy Read with Robin 💜
I came, I read, I thrived and lived my best life! I knew in my bones I would love this book and it would make my top books for 2020. Everything I wanted and more was delivered in this book. Aiden is going to touch so many hearts with this book and I hope everyone picks this book up this fall!

🍂 Heaven’s Design Team 1 ([Ten-De-Bu] What a strange animal! #1) by Hebi-Zou⭐⭐⭐
This was a super cute read to pass the time! This is probably the first manga I’ve ever encountered that exist to just educate the reader on a plethora of animals. Personally, I think this is going to be great for younger readers and will probably do really well as an anime. However, there’s not much of a story-line or plot to this book. So go in expecting a humorous and educational time.

🍂 The Wicker King (The Wicker King, #1) by K. Ancrum ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
No one is out here doing it the way Ancrum is doing it. If you asked me to name one book that emotionally wrecked me, made my heart crumble to dust, and leave me wanting more… it’s this book. I loved this book so, so much and this book was perfection. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that Rina will get her own novella!

🍂 The Legend of the Golden Raven (The Wicker King, #1.5) by K. Ancrum ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Wicker King retold from the perspective of Jack! I loved this! It’ll remind you of Alice in Wonderland and the mechanics of that world. I wish this would have been a little bit longer than it was, but truly a great read.

🍂 While the Earth Sleeps We Travel: Stories, Poetry, and Art from Refugee Youth Around the World by Ahmed M. Badr ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I wish more readers were talking about this book! Youth, around the world, are our future and I can’t think of a better book that boosts some of those voices. I think this collection is very important and every reader out there needs to read this book at least once in their life. I was truly touched by this book and I think we need more books that give us a different perspective of hardships, life, and the world.

🍂 Gemini Keeps Capricorn (Signs of Love #3) by Anyta Sunday ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I promise the full review for this is coming soon! Surprisingly enough, I found myself very conflicted with this book. I thought I was going to be a bit biased because, well you know, I’m a Gemini, but that wasn’t the case. I still enjoyed this book very much, but I didn’t love it the way I loved the first two. There was something about this book that kept throwing me off and I’m still figuring out what, but I did enjoy this book. Fake engagement has always been a trope I love.

🍂 Scorpio Hates Virgo (Signs of Love #2) by Anyta Sunday ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My heart gets all soft and squishy when I think about this book. I adored this book with my whole heart. I thought the elements of loss and grief would have an affect on my reading, but this book delivered so much to prevent that from happening. My heart was so full and I just loved this a heck-a-ton!

🍂 Leo Tops Aries (Signs of Love #1.5) by Anyta Sunday ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was a nice steamy novella to read immediately after the first book in this series! I mean, it’s steamy from page one. It was a really enjoyable time! I can’t recommend this series enough!

🍂 Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was such a fantastic read! I’m very much a new reader to Roanhorse’s writing and I was blown away by the world and the characters she built in this world. Morally grey characters will always be a weakness of mine. My only two reasons why I couldn’t give this a full five stars was due to a lot of the dark themes throughout this book and how it impacted my mental health (check my review for detailed content/trigger warnings), and the second was the multiple povs.

🍂 Alaskan Christmas Redemption (Home to Owl Creek Book 3) by Belle Calhoune ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was a cute holiday romance all about saving a family owned dinner! Did I read the third book in a series? Technically, yes. But I had a great time reading it and I do believe you can read this book without have to read the first two books. I will say this book does have topics of grief and loss, and talks about them often. Something to keep in mind when you pick this book up.

🍂 Wotakoi Love is Hard For Otaku, Vol. 1 by Fujita ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Buddy Read with Kayla 💜
This was such a cute and humorous read! I such a fun time reading this book and chuckling at little bits throughout this manga. I will say that there’s not much of a story-line or plot. This is just a fun and charming little read for day you need something light for the heart and mind.

Whew! So many books, but we got through them all! Truly, I read some really great books and this might have been my best month so far this year. Come tell me what your favorite read of September was or what you loved most for the month of September! Until next time, I hope you’re being kind to yourself, a gentle reminder to stay hydrated, and as always, I love you so much! 🧡

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Wrap Ups

August 2020 Wrap Up

ChapterMalliumpkin3 Comments

Salutations Chapterlings! How have you been? I hope you’re doing well, you’re staying hydrated, and safe! I know I’ve been a ghost, even more so with my wrap ups. I think the last wrap up I did was back in February or March? However, August has been a really successful reading month for me! I think this has been the month where I’ve read the most thus far (July might be the second, I think). If you’ve been following my content and my updates recently, you know there has been a lot of things happening that have been shifting my content, how much I’ve been reading, etc… So I was really nervous that August was going to fall short of my personal expectations, but I’m so, so happy that I exceeded past those goals.

I have read some truly fantastic books this month. Many of these books are upcoming releases, but some are not and two have made it onto my ‘top books of 2020’ list. I’m really hoping to keep this momentum going as we rapidly approach into September and hopefully, I’ll have even more books I’ve fallen in love with to share with all of you. For the month of August, I’ve read thirteen books (technically it’s a little bit more than that, roughly around sixteen, but some I don’t want to count those). Below you can find the reviews for each book. I also wanted to try to do something a little bit different this time with my wrap up to kind of give it a bit of a fresh start since I haven’t done a wrap up in months. So I hope you like this freshening up of my content and I hope you give some of these books a chance!

🌻 The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen ⭐⭐⭐
I know, I wish I would have loved this book so much more. This wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t quite what I was expecting it to be. As a lover of retellings and the fact that this is A Midsummer Night’s Dream retelling, I think my expectations were just too high. But I do encourage others to pick this book up. There are some great elements and as I said, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream retelling.

🌻 Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Buddy Read with Destiny 💜
This book was truly a roller coaster of emotions. There were twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting, some taking me completely off guard. My only real issue with this book was the multiple point of views. For the most part we were in the perspective of the main character, but there were three other point of views and most times, if there’s more than two povs, they start to bleed together. Otherwise, this was a fantastic read. I loved the rougarou.

🌻 The Language of Ghosts by Heather Fawcett ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was a fast paced, fantastic time. I had a real blast reading this book. There’s invisible cats, a lazy dragon, a sea serpent who adores cake, and lost magical languages! It was a really fun time. This book is also broken down into three sections of the book which was really unique. Plus, the sections were named after islands in the book. I haven’t seen that in a middle grade novel, yet. I think the reason this wasn’t a full five stars was due to Mite’s pov, spiders in Mite’s pov, and I wish there had been a little more insight or details some of the backstory. Otherwise, anyone who picks this book up will fly through it!

🌻 Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall ⭐⭐
Big oof, this one hurts a lot. I truly feel like I’ve read an entirely different story compared to everyone else. Yes there were some funny times and there were some wonderful moments between the main character and love interest, yes there was great family dynamics, but that’s not enough to make me forget a lot of the content that was put in this book. I truly wish I could have loved this book and maybe I’m being too much of a critical reader, but I really didn’t enjoy my time reading this. We’re just going to pretend this didn’t happen.

🌻 Unbirthday by Liz Braswell ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I love a good retelling especially if it’s Alice in Wonderland! I have a lot of history with Alice in Wonderland; whether it’s my nickname, childhood memories, or the way it comes into play with my bookish content, the story has been a part of my life for a very long time. So naturally when I heard Disney-Hyperion was releasing a retelling, I jumped on that train to request an arc so fast. When I say I loved this book, I absolutely loved this book. This made it onto my top books of 2020! That’s how much I enjoyed this book and it was so hard to put down. Sleep and I were in discord with one another because of this book, but it was so worth it!

🌻 Teen Titans: Beast Boy (Teen Titans #2) by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo ⭐⭐⭐⭐
There it goes again, my nerdy side is showing and I have no regrets! Beast Boy is probably my favorite Teen Titan. I’m a big lover of shape-shifting and the way Kami and Gabriel brought Beast Boy to life in this graphic novel just filled my soul with so much love. I think the reason why this wasn’t the full five stars like I expected was due to not really seeing enough of Gar being there for his friends. His friends had a lot going on and I wish we would have seen just a little bit more of them and Gar being there for one another.

🌻 Well Played by Jen DeLuca ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I fell in love with Well Met earlier this year and when all my friends told me there was a second book coming out, I couldn’t be happier! I’m even more happy because the pandemic has cancelled a lot of plans. One of those plans being the Maryland Renaissance Festival (yes, that’s an actual event that takes place from August-October). This will be the first year I don’t get to attend and I’ve been a little sad by it. So getting an arc of Well Played has lessened that sadness and I’m happy to say that I enjoyed this book. And I’m even more excited for the third book, Well Matched! I just adore this series so, so much!

🌻 There Are Things I Can’t Tell You by Edako Mofumofu ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was truly a beautiful experience. This is just such a wholesome manga and my heart was a mess. These two cinnamon roll characters deserve the best and I’m hoping we’ll see more of them in the future by the author. I just can’t believe I sobbed through the majority of this book. I’m still not okay, but I love this so, so much and can’t recommend it enough!

🌻 Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land by Toni Jensen ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is such a powerful and an emotional read. I can’t recommend enough making sure you practice self-care while reading this book. When I read this book, I was definitely not in the best head space and there were parts that were so hard to read through. I do have the majority of the content and trigger warnings listed in my review for book. Content and trigger warnings for almost anything you could think of. So please make sure you read that before deciding to pick this book up.

🌻 In An Absent Dream (Wayward Children, #4) by Seanan McGuire ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Oh gosh did I love this. I loved this book so, so much. Truly, I think a piece of my heart was left in between the pages of this book. Seanan McGuire’s writing is always so beautiful and just has a wonderful way intertwining important topics that aren’t often discussed enough throughout the book. And I mentioned this in my review, but Lundy, oh sweet Lundy, I connected with her on such a personal level. I just fell in love with this book so hard and if you’re a fantasy reader who loves portal worlds, I can’t recommend this series enough!

🌻 Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I have heard the whispers of Mark Oshiro’s writing before, but I’ve never read anything by Oshiro before… until now. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I fell in love with the writing and the incredible world building. Throughout this book you can feel how high the stakes are and the ending was beautifully done. I definitely recommend keeping a water bottle close by because this book does a great job at making you appreciate water and making you feel incredibly thirsty.

🌻 The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Read for the Dragons & Tea Book Club 🐲

This book was so much more than I expected. Going into this book I knew that it was going to deal with a lot of important topics, but I didn’t know that I would spend giant chunks of this book crying my eyes out. This was truly a beautiful book and it was so hard to put it down. There’s truly so much to love about this book and I don’t want to spoil any of it for you. Just know, that despite the four stars, this book has made it onto my top books for 2020.

🌻 Midnight Poppy Land by Lilydusk ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Before I start, this is a free webcomic and you can read it for free HERE!
I loved this so darn much! Let’s just be honest, I love the mob/innocent girl trope. I love anything that has to do with a syndicate or roaring 20’s with speakeasies, mobs, etc… You get where I’m going. So when a little birdie dropped a link for this in my inbox, well I disappeared for two days and reemerged hooked on a new webcomic. I loved this. I have so many questions and I need answers! And the artwork is so beautiful. Every time I read a new piece of this story, I just fall in love with it even more. I definitely recommend giving this webcomic a chance and supporting the independent creator of this comic. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this author.

I truly cannot believe I read so much during the month of August! Who am I anymore, truly? Okay, friends! My August wrap up has finally come to an end. I hope you enjoyed this little reboot of my wrap up! I haven’t talked about it much, but August has been a really hard month and if you’ve been following my content, you know that I’ve been devoting a lot of energy into giving my blog a breath of fresh air. Kind of like spring cleaning, but it’s actually summer cleaning. I just really wanted to spice up my content, but give my blog the love it truly deserves because I truly love my blog (it makes me so, so happy), the content I make for it, and we’re healing each other with that love. And all of you play a role in this too because you continue to love my content, my blog, and you let me be myself. I’m so, so grateful for that, truly. This ending ended up being longer than I anticipated, but let me know in the comments below if you like the new wrap up style (with some final thoughts on the book) or tell me if there’s something else you’d like to see me do. Until next time, I love you! 💛

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Wrap Ups

February 2020 Wrap Up

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Salutations Chapterlings! February has finally come to an end which means a new wrap up has finally arrived! I’m not going to lie, February was a really rough month for my mental health. There were a lot of things happening in my personal life that really took a toll on my reading. It became so bad that I ended up ‘dnfing’ a buddy read book and I didn’t get the chance to read two other books that I wanted to read in the month of February. My heart is a little bit crushed because I know I could have read at least one of those two books, but I reached a point where I was forcing myself to read. To which, in doing just that I caused even more strain on my mental health. So February really wasn’t the best month for me. And even now as we move into March, I’m still not in the best head-space, I’m trying to find the best way to be okay and move forward to happier and brighter things.

However, exciting and new things are coming to my blog! We are moving into spring and I wanted to spice things up a bit! So a new theme will finally be arriving onto my blog to welcome in the start of the spring season. I may also be introducing a new article to my blogged called “Weekly Check-In” to update on my reading, things that I’m up to, and just a place to chit-chat with all of you. I also have an exciting haul currently in the works that will hopefully be coming to the blog soon so make sure you keep your eyes open for that! So, lots of new things coming to the blog and lots of things in the works that will hopefully be coming sooner rather than later!

Enough of the updates, let’s talk about books! I only read three books in the month of February. Two YA Fantasy books and one Contemporary graphic novel. Even though this wasn’t my strongest reading month for 2020, I’m still glad that I got the chance to read the three books that I did. As always, my reviews for these books are linked down below if you wanted to check out my thoughts on each individual book.

💕 A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer | ⭐⭐⭐

💕 Heartstopper: Volume Three (Heartstopper, #3) by Alice Oseman | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

💕 The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Okay, readers! That covers all the books I read in the month of February! Thank you for sticking around enough for my chit-chat and updates, and to check out the reviews for these books. I’m hoping that I will have more books read and more amazing things to share with you. March in the month of anticipated releases and reads. Feel free to tell me down in the comments below how your reading month was and some of the books you were able to read, I would love to hear about. And until next time, may March bring lots of good reads, I love you! 💗

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Wrap Ups

January 2020 Wrap Up

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Salutations friends! Today I’m bringing you my January Wrap Up! I wish I could say I read everything I wanted to read in the month of January, but life happens and sometimes we don’t get to read all the things. However, I’m super happy with the books that I did get to read! I read some really great books in the month of January and even found my first favorite read of 2020! What an exciting time! But without any further delay, here are the eight books that I read in the month of January!

❄️ Beasts of Abigaile Vol. 1 by Spica Aoki | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❄️ Infinity Son (Infinity Cycle #1) by Adam Silvera | ⭐⭐⭐

❄️ The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❄️ An Incurable Case of Love Vol. 2 by Maki Enjoji | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❄️ 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❄️ Beasts of Abigaile Series Review | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❄️ The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❄️ Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Okay, Chapterlings! Those are all the books that I read in January! I hope you all enjoyed seeing the books I read in the month of January. While it’s not a lot of books, these were some pretty great reads. But please feel free to tell me some of the wonderful books you read in the month of January or tell about the books that disappointed you. Until next time, may February bring plenty of great reads, I love you! 💙

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Wrap Ups

December 2019 Wrap Up

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Salutations dear readers! Welcome to the new year and me catching you up on all the things that have happened in the month of December! Yes, I have a wrap up for you and as always, I want to be completely open with you. December was a struggle of a month with a lot of things happening in my personal life. More specifically around the holidays I took three major blows that really took a toll on my mental health and trying to finish the books that I had was a struggle. However, I’m very proud of finishing the books that I have and I think it’s okay to have a small number count in the books you’ve read for a month. Honestly, I thought I read only one or two books for the month of December. I’m content and satisfied with these few books and I hope you enjoy the reviews for these books!

❄️ An Alaskan Christmas by Jennifer Snow | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❄️ An Incurable Case of Love, Vol 1 (An Incurable Case of Love #1) by Maki Enjoji | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❄️ In/Spectre, Vol. 1 (In/Spectre #1) by Chashiba Katase | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❄️ Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin | ⭐⭐⭐

❄️ My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by Stephanie Perkins | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Okay, Chapterlings! Those are all the books I read in the month of December! As I said, it was going to be a short list of just five books, but it’s okay to have a small reading count. I think it’s important that we take our mental into consideration when we read and if that means we read less in a month then that’s okay. So we shouldn’t be hard on ourselves if we read more in one month and less in another. But please feel free to tell me in the comments below some of the books you read in the month of December! I’m always looking for new books to look into! Until next time, my January bring you many five star reads, I love you! 💙

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Wrap Ups

November 2019 Wrap Up

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Salutations Chapterlings! I’m finally getting back on track with everything, but it’s still going to be a bit bumpy until everything is back on track! However, we’re talking about November and all the books I read for November. November has been a crazy time for me. I’ve talked about this in a few posts, but I’ll talk about it here as well… November has been a stressful and exhausting month, mostly in my personal life. I was hit with high levels of stress in my work life, I then got really sick and I couldn’t get my voice back for two and a half weeks, I also had reading burn out from October, and then there was also spending time with my family which I talk about more in my Top Ten Tuesday|Books I’m Thankful For. There was just so much happening that my reading time and the time I devote to everything bookish really took some hard hits. Honestly, I’m a little sad about it all. I love reading and I love being able to put content out for all of you. I truly wish I could have done more. However, even though it was a tough month, I did get some reading in! I read four books in the month of November which completing just one book was fantastic, but reading four books under the circumstances, I’m incredibly proud of myself and happy with getting 95% of my November TBR finished! So, without me taking up anymore time, here are the four books that I read in the month of November!

🍁 House of Salt & Sorrows by Erin A. Craig | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍁 The Witch’s Book of Self-Care by Arin Murphy-Hiscock | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍁 Almost Home by Joan Bauer | ⭐⭐⭐

🍁 No Tricks, Just Treats by TIJAN, J. Daniels, Helena Hunting, and Tara Sivec | ⭐⭐⭐

Okay, readers! I know that wasn’t a very long wrap up and most of it was me updating you on where I’m at, but I promise December has some magical and fun things in store! A new theme is coming, a very exciting TBR, some amazing buddy reads with one of my dearest friends, some exciting announcements, and so much more! I can feel the magical December vibes in the air! But I hope you enjoyed these books and checking out the reviews that have been written for them. And don’t forget to tell me some of the amazing books you read for the month of November, I can always use a recommendation for a great book to dive into! Until next time friends, may December bring you hot coco, warm vibes, a little bit of magic, and as always, I love you! ❤️

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Wrap Ups

October 2019 Wrap Up

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Salutations Chapterlings! Yes, I’m finally getting my wrap up posted and I promise my October book haul will be following shortly. If you saw my November TBR post then you probably know why I’ve been a bit of a ghost lately. However, if you haven’t seen it then I’ll give a brief run down. In October I suffered a major burn out and fell into a really bad reading slump. There was a lot of things happening in my personal life that was happening and then the last week of October I ended up really sick. I’ve been spending most of November trying to recover my voice and my strength. Even though my fever broke, I’m still sick and still working as well. So a lot of my days off and down time I’ve been using to recover. Hopefully I’ll be at a 100% soon, but time will only tell. The biggest thing is my reading has suffered greatly for being sick and it’s still kinda suffering for it. I’m truly hoping that I’ll be getting some more reading done soon. This time of year I tend to cut back on the reading due to holidays and visiting my family. But back to the main point, that’s where I’ve been hiding for the last week or so. I’ve been buried in a mountain of blankets and drinking twelve cups of peppermint tea a day!

Anyway, you’re here for my October Wrap Up and I’m sad to say it wasn’t as big as I was hoping it would be. However, I got very lucky that I had a lot of five star and a few four stars for the month of October. So even though I was sick and fell into a reading slump, I’m really happy with the books I got to read for the spooky season! However, if I’m being honest, I did dnf one book in the month of October. Aside from that, it was a good reading month! So I hope you check out some of my reviews for the books below especially for The Bone Houses because out of all the books I read for October, that has to be my favorite read of the month so far! Any who…here are the six books I read in the month of October!

🎃 Fence Vol. 3 (Fence #3) by P.C. Cast & Johanna the Mad | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🎃 The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🎃 The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins by Clint McElroy |⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🎃 Mooncakes by Suzabba Walker & Wendy Xu | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🎃 Spell on Wheels (Spell on Wheels #1-5) by Kate Leth & Megan Levens | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🎃 War by Laura Thalassa | ⭐⭐⭐

Okay, friends! Those are all the books I read for the month of October. As I said, super short and I’m really bummed out it wasn’t large than what it is. But you should always put your mental and physical health first before trying to push yourself past your limits. If that means you have to take a break from reading then you have to do it. But anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful month of reading! As always, may November be kind to you, I love you! 🧡

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Wrap Ups

September 2019 Wrap Up

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Salutations Chapterlings! Holy cow, it has been a crazy and wild ride! September has left me breathless and scrambling to catch up with everything! The fatigue has been hitting hard and things in my personal life have been keeping me on my toes. However, I’m finally back and finally posting my September 2019 Wrap Up! I know this wrap up is coming in super late, but I promise, September was a really good reading month.

So I mentioned that September was a wild ride and I’m basically picking up everything where I left off. I always want to be open and honest as I can with all of you, so here’s a bit of a breakdown of the month of September. For starters, I had a few buddy reads in the month of September. Both of them were wonderful and amazing! Both of those buddy reads were shared with two amazing people, Kayla at Books and Blends and Donna from Moms Book Collection. I’m so grateful that both of these ladies wanted to do buddy reads with me and it truly meant the whole world. Then things got crazy and I ended up participating in The Contemporary-a-Thon| Round Five for the very first time, ever! That whole week was intense binge reading, full of anxiety and panic, and honestly, some of the weirdest reading mood swings I ever experienced! After everything was said and done, I was over the moon with feeling accomplished and completely grateful for finishing so many books. I truly had a fantastic time! Then on the very last day of September, I completely crashed and severe fatigue hit in full force. My mental health was in a really bad place, I was barely eating, and I wasn’t doing too good (to put things mildly).

Now we’re in second week of October and I have officially recovered or should I say that I’m about 95% better than what I was. There’s still a lot of lingering fatigue, but I have enough energy to finally get caught up on everything and start getting things posted. So welcome to my crazy, wild ride of a September wrap up! I was able to read so many wonderful books during the month of September and I hope some of the books I have listed will find their way onto your TBR! But enough talk, enjoy this wrap up and I hope you enjoy the reviews I’ve written for these books!

🌻 First Half of September 🌻

🌻 The Girl from the Other Side: Siuil, A Run Vol. 7 by NAGABE | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Pestilence (The Four Horsemen, #1) by Laura Thalassa | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Every Heart A Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 To Drink Coffee with a Ghost (Things that Haunt, #2) by Amanda Lovelace | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Sadie by Courtney Summers | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌻 Contemporary-A-Thon Reads 🌻

🌻 The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon #2) by Katie O’Neill | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 The Hating Game by Sally Thorne | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Fence Vol. 3 (Fence #3) by CS. Pacat & Johanna the Mad | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Okay, friends! Those are all the incredible books I read for the month of September! Honestly, I’m surprised I read so many four star and five star reads. It was completely unexpected, but I’m truly happy that I had an excellent month of reading. But please feel free to tell me in the comments what some of your favorite reads of September were and if you participated in the fifth round of Contemporary-a-thon! That about wraps things up! Until next time Chapterlings, may October bring you spooky vibes and cozy weather, I love you! ❤️

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