Sundays in Bed With… Music from Another World

The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.

This Sunday I’m reading Music from Another World by Robin Talley.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

It’s summer 1977 and closeted lesbian Tammy Larson can’t be herself anywhere. Not at her strict Christian high school, not at her conservative Orange County church and certainly not at home, where her ultrareligious aunt relentlessly organizes antigay political campaigns. Tammy’s only outlet is writing secret letters in her diary to gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk…until she’s matched with a real-life pen pal who changes everything.

Sharon Hawkins bonds with Tammy over punk music and carefully shared secrets, and soon their letters become the one place she can be honest. The rest of her life in San Francisco is full of lies. The kind she tells for others—like helping her gay brother hide the truth from their mom—and the kind she tells herself. But as antigay fervor in America reaches a frightening new pitch, Sharon and Tammy must rely on their long-distance friendship to discover their deeply personal truths, what they’ll stand for…and who they’ll rise against.

A master of award-winning queer historical fiction, New York Times bestselling author Robin Talley once again brings to life with heart and vivid detail an emotionally captivating story about the lives of two teen girls living in an age when just being yourself was an incredible act of bravery.

What book are you in bed with today?

Six for Sunday – Characters I’d Like To Be

This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.

This week’s prompt is Characters I’d Like To Be. Here’s my list:

1. Mia Thermopolis (The Princess Diaries)

2. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

3. Emma Woodhouse (Emma)

4. Cress Darnel (The Lunar Chronicles)

5. Nico Minoru (Runaways)

6. Suze Simon (The Mediator)

(All book cover images from Goodreads)

Did you make a Six for Sunday list?

Review: My Hero Academia, Vol. 1

Title: My Hero Academia, Vol. 1
Author: Kohei Horikoshi
Genre: Manga
Publisher: VIZ Media
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

What would the world be like if 80 percent of the population manifested superpowers called “Quirks” at age four? Heroes and villains would be battling it out everywhere! Being a hero would mean learning to use your power, but where would you go to study? The Hero Academy of course! But what would you do if you were one of the 20 percent who were born Quirkless?

Middle school student Izuku Midoriya wants to be a hero more than anything, but he hasn’t got an ounce of power in him. With no chance of ever getting into the prestigious U.A. High School for budding heroes, his life is looking more and more like a dead end. Then an encounter with All Might, the greatest hero of them all, gives him a chance to change his destiny… 

Review:

I’ve seen this series around for a while, so I was excited when I saw it available on NetGalley. I loved this book!

In this world, there are many real superheroes. They each have a unique quirk, which they use to fight villains. If someone is going to have a quirk, they usually exhibit it by the age of four. Izuku has always wanted to be a superhero, but he doesn’t have any powers. When he meets one of the heroes, named All Might, he trains him to follow in his footsteps.

I love it when authors give some information on how they created their work. At the end of each chapter, there was a character profile, where the artist talked about how he created the character and what changes the character went through before publication. This was some great insight into his process. I also liked the page at the end of the book, which gave a shout out to the assistants who helped create the book. It was nice to see those people, who also worked hard on the book, get credit for their work.

I enjoyed this story. It moved along quickly, and was entertaining. I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book. It lived up to the hype! I’m so glad I have many more volumes to read next!

Thank you Viz Media for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

My Hero Academia, Vol. 2 by Kohei Horikoshi

Have you read My Hero Academia, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?

Top 5 Saturday – Murder Mysteries

This is a weekly meme hosted Devouring Books. This week’s prompt is Murder Mysteries. Here’s my list:

1. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

2. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

3. The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley

4. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

5. One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

(All book covers from Goodreads)

If you’d like to do this list too, consider yourself tagged!

Did you make a Top 5 Saturday list?

Review: Take it Away, Tommy!: A Breaking Cat News Adventure

Title: Take It Away, Tommy!: A Breaking Cat News Adventure
Author: Georgia Dunn
Genre: Children’s, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 31, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Tonight’s top story: the intrepid team of feline reporters is back on the beat and tackling stories like a runaway toy mouse in this second collection of Breaking Cat News comics for middle-grade readers.

Once again Lupin, Elvis, and Puck—alongside boisterous field correspondents like Tommy—deliver hard-hitting reportage on all of the most pressing issues, such as Vacuum Awareness Week, the case of the missing breakfast, and the history of fuzzy blankets. The gang also meets new characters like Burt, the free-spirited barn cat who helps solve some AV problems. And these cats will need all of the help they can get to get to the bottom of some mysterious ghost sightings and prove they’re not scaredy.

The More-to-Explore section includes paper dolls, how to make pet rock cats, and explores the Big Pink House and the BCN apartment within.

Review:

This is a hilarious graphic novel, with cats reporting on the news.

The cats report on various issues in the house, including a ghost, holidays, and a kidnapping of a toy mouse. Their perspectives on human actions were so funny. They insisted on fixing a man’s hair once he got a haircut by licking his head. They had the common enemy of the vacuum cleaner, who they tried to become friends with despite the danger. They also got into any food that was left around the house.

There were some cute crafts at the end of the book. One idea was to make pet rocks for anyone who can’t have a pet cat. Another craft was paper dolls of the characters that could be cut out of the back of the book.

This book was so funny! It’s a great gift for anyone who loves cats!

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Lupin Leaps In: A Breaking Cat News Adventure by Georgia Dunn

Breaking Cat News: Cats Reporting on the News That Matters to Cats by Georgia Dunn

Have you read Take It Away, Tommy!: A Breaking Cat News Adventure? What did you think of it?

Bookish Friday – Reading Requirements

This is a weekly meme hosted by Laurie Reads and Niffler Reads. Every Friday, they post a list of bookish things based on the prompt they provided. The prompts for Feb to May can be found here.

This week’s prompt is Reading Requirements. Here’s my list:

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Curtis Sittenfeld

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali

(All book covers from Goodreads)

Did you make a list for Bookish Friday?

Review: Darling Rose Gold

Title: Darling Rose Gold
Author: Stephanie Wrobel
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 17, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Sharp Objects meets My Lovely Wife in this tightly drawn debut that peels back the layers of the most complicated of mother-daughter relationships…

For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold.

Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar.

After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes.

Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she’s forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score.

Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling…

And she’s waited such a long time for her mother to come home.

Review:

Patty was sent to prison for poisoning and abusing her daughter, Rose Gold. She made her daughter and everyone else believe Rose Gold had been sick her whole life, but it turns out she had been poisoning her. Now she has gotten out of prison, and her daughter welcomes her into her home, where she lives with her newborn baby.

This story follows two perspectives. Patty tells her story right as she’s gotten out of prison and moved in with Rose Gold. Rose Gold tells the story of what she was doing during the five years her mother was in prison. Their stories often conflicted, so I was curious to see what would happen in the end. The Rose Gold that Patty described in the present didn’t sound like the same Rose Gold who was telling her part of the story. These conflicting narratives kept up the tension and mystery of the story.

Many parts of this story were devastating and difficult to read. Patty treated Rose Gold horribly by poisoning her for years. It was almost hard to believe she could get away with it for so long, but there was a real mother who did that to her daughter. It made the story even more sad, imagining that this happened in real life.

The story didn’t end the way I thought it would. I was surprised at the way it all turned out. This was a very suspenseful story!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica

Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey

Have you read Darling Rose Gold? What did you think of it?

TBR Thursday – March 26

TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.

My pick this week is All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Set in a kingdom where danger lurks beneath the sea, mermaids seek vengeance with song, and magic is a choice.

She will reign.

As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer—the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic.

When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic.

But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder—and more peril—than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she’ll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected… or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever.

I am the right choice. The only choice. And I will protect my kingdom.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Review: Lola: A Ghost Story

Title: Lola: A Ghost Story
Author: J. Torres, Elbert Or (illustrator)
Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, Paranormal
Publisher: Oni Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 24, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Jesse sees dead people, monsters, demons, and lots of other things that go bump in the night that no one else can see. No one except his ailing grandmother—a woman who used her visions to help those living in her small town… the same rural community in all the scary stories Jesse’s heard as a child. Man-eating ogres in trees. Farmhouses haunted by wraiths. Even pigs possessed by the devil. Upon his grandmother’s passing, Jesse has no choice but to face his demons and whatever else might be awaiting him at grandma’s house. 

Review:

Jesse has inherited his grandmother’s ability to see ghosts. When his grandmother dies, his family travels back to their home country of the Philippines. He revisits some of his memories of his grandmother and his cousin, who died when he was a kid.

I didn’t know about this Filipino folklore before reading the book. There were some creatures in the graphic novel that were so creepy. There were some that were used as explanations for birth complications, and those “creatures” targeted pregnant women. All of the different kinds of creatures were listed in a glossary of these creatures at the end of the book.

This book was also dark at times. I found the ending really creepy.

This was a great, ghostly graphic novel!

Thank you Oni Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Sheets by Brenna Thummler

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Have you read Lola: A Ghost Story? What did you think of it?

'Waiting on' Wednesday – March 25

This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.

The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is Say Yes Summer by Lindsey Roth Culli. The expected publication date is May 12, 2020.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Perfect for fans of Morgan Matson and Netflix/Hallmark Channel rom-coms, this is the story of a girl who decides to give in to the universe and just say yes to everything, bringing her friendship, new experiences, and, if she lets her guard down, true love.

The perfect book to kick off summer! For as long as Rachel Brooks can remember, she’s had capital-G Goals: straight As, academic scholarship, college of her dreams. And it’s all paid off–after years of following the rules and acing every exam, Rachel is graduating at the top of her class and ready to celebrate by . . . doing absolutely nothing. Because Rachel Brooks has spent most of high school saying no. No to dances, no to parties, and most especially, no to boys.

Now, for the first time in her life, there’s nothing stopping Rachel from having a little fun–nothing, that is, except herself. So when she stumbles on a beat up old self-help book–A SEASON OF YES!–a crazy idea pops into her head: What if she just said yes to . . . everything?

And so begins a summer of yes. Yes to new experiences and big mistakes, yes to rekindled friendships and unexpected romances, yes to seeing the world in a whole new way. This book is a fresh and fun take on the coming-of-age novel that explores the quintessential themes of growing up: taking risks, making mistakes, and, of course, love. And who knows? Lindsey Roth Culli’s hilarious and heartwarming debut may just inspire your own SAY YES SUMMER. 

What books are you waiting on this week?