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 Verity by Colleen Hoover.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.
Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.
Maeve’s strangely astute tarot readings make her the talk of the school, until a classmate draws a chilling and unfamiliar card—and then disappears.
After Maeve finds a pack of tarot cards while cleaning out a closet during her in-school suspension, she quickly becomes the most sought-after diviner at St. Bernadette’s Catholic school. But when Maeve’s ex–best friend, Lily, draws an unsettling card called The Housekeeper that Maeve has never seen before, the session devolves into a heated argument that ends with Maeve wishing aloud that Lily would disappear. When Lily isn’t at school the next Monday, Maeve learns her ex-friend has vanished without a trace.
Shunned by her classmates and struggling to preserve a fledgling romance with Lily’s gender-fluid sibling, Roe, Maeve must dig deep into her connection with the cards to search for clues the police cannot find—even if they lead to the terrifying Housekeeper herself. Set in an Irish town where the church’s tight hold has loosened and new freedoms are trying to take root, this sharply contemporary story is witty, gripping, and tinged with mysticism.
Review:
While cleaning out a closet in her school during detention, Maeve Chambers finds an old deck of tarot cards. Fiona, another student, insists that Maeve start reading tarot cards for everyone. One day Maeve reads the cards for her ex-best friend, Lily. Lily draws a card called “The Housekeeper,” that Maeve has never seen before, but that she knows is bad news. Then, Lily disappears without a trace. Maeve knows the secret to Lily’s disappearance lies with the Housekeeper card, and she is the only one who can save Lily. Along with Fiona and Lily’s gender-fluid sibling, Roe, Maeve has to explore her magic to find Lily.
This was a fascinating magic story. There’s so much mystery behind tarot cards, that are able to determine a situation, but especially when an unknown card suddenly appears in the deck. The Housekeeper card was creepy and strange, holding powers in itself. It was at the center of the mystery of Lily’s disappearance.
The magic in the story was one layer of a deeper theme of injustice. There was an extremist group in the town, who were terrorizing people who didn’t share their beliefs. They committed hate attacks, particularly against the LGBTQ community. This part of the story added some realistic social justice elements to a magical and mystical story.
All Our Hidden Gifts is a powerful magic story. I can’t wait to read the next one!
Thank you Walker Books and Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
Edie in Between by Laura Sibson
Have you read All Our Hidden Gifts? What did you think of it?
Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow Author: Mariko Tamaki, Natacha Bustos, Eleonora Bruni Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, Fantasy Publisher: BOOM! Studios Source: Library Format: Ebook Release Date: May 11, 2021 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Now, truly alone for the first time in her life, Willow must rely only on her instincts – and her magic – to save herself from a different kind of threat than Buffy ever prepared her to face in her first ever comic book series!
NO MORE SUNNYDALE. NO MORE SCOOBY GANG. NO MORE…WILLOW?
After everything – and everyone – she lost to the Hellmouth, Willow is leaving Sunnydale behind for a new school that promises “to help you prioritize your true self.” But Willow soon learns that all is not as it seems, and if your true self isn’t what the school thinks it should be…well, don’t worry, they’ll help you get there. By any means necessary. Now, truly alone for the first time in her life, Willow must rely only on her instincts – and her magic – to save herself from a different kind of threat than Buffy ever prepared her to face!
Award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki (She-Hulk) and superstar artist Natacha Bustos (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur) bring Willow face to face with the truth of her past… and plant the seeds for a future no one could’ve predicted. Collects Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow #1-5.
Review:
Willow left everything behind in Sunnydale and moved to a new school in England. When the school wasn’t what she expected it to be, she got a one way bus ticket out of town. She ended up in Abhainn a mysterious witchy town. Willow has found her people, but she has to figure out the mystery of the town.
I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer occasionally when I was a kid, but I haven’t seen the show in years. When I saw that this was a witchy graphic novel, I had to read it. Since this book was about Willow leaving Sunnydale, it could be read as a stand-alone without knowing the background of Buffy.
I loved the beautiful art in this graphic novel. The alternate covers were particularly beautiful. Some of them had realistic images of the characters, which I always love to see. This graphic novel had lots of beautiful illustrations.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow is a fun graphic novel!
What to read next:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel: Hellmouth by Jordie Bellaire, Jeremy Lambert
Slayer by Kiersten White
Have you read Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow? What did you think of it?
Title: We Are One: How the World Adds Up Author: Susan Hood, Linda Yan (illustrator) Genre: Children’s, Picture Book, Nonfiction Publisher: Candlewick Press Source: Publisher Format: Hardcover Release Date: October 26, 2021 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts–and unity and connection are most important of all–in a beautifully illustrated counting book with a timely message.
One can be one thing all on its own–one star, one stream, one stick, one stone. But those on their toes, those using their smarts, know one can be more than the sum of its parts.
Consider the two slices of bread that make up one sandwich, or the three lines of poetry that form one haiku, or even the ten years that form one decade. From one to ten, from sandwiches to centuries, every part is necessary to the whole. In this fascinating concept book, a simple rhyming narration aimed at younger children is complemented by informational panels about subjects like the four compass points, the five acts in Shakespeare, the seven colors of a rainbow, or the nine innings in baseball. Award-winning author Susan Hood and debut children’s book illustrator Linda Yan offer a mind-expanding look at early math concepts such as part/whole relationships, fractions, and addition–while underlying themes of cooperation, peace, and kindness make this beautiful volume one to be enjoyed by anyone at any age.
Review:
The world is made up of “ones.” You can have one stick, but a bunch of sticks makes one pile. Many other numbers can create one too. Two slices of bread make one sandwich. Seven colours make one rainbow. This picture book explains the way that numbers, and especially the number one, make up the whole world.
This was a fascinating book. The world is made up of the same numbers. Things found in nature and man-made things all consist of numbers. There were examples from around the world, such as Haiku poems from Japan (one poem with three lines) and Shakespeare plays from England (one play with five acts).
The story was told in rhyming lines that were illustrated on the page. Each page also had more in depth details about the history of what was mentioned on the page. For example, it explained how Braille is made up of six dots in different formations to create the language, and how the seasons come from the way the Earth tilts as it circles the sun. These facts could be interesting for some older children who would also like this book.
We Are One is a beautiful and educational picture book!
Thank you Candlewick Press and Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
When Elephants Listen With Their Feet by Emmanuelle Grundmann, Clémence Dupont
Double Take!: A New Look at Opposites by Susan Hood, Jay Fleck (illustrator)
Have you read We Are One? What did you think of it?
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 Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore.
Goodreads Synopsis:
London banking heiress Hattie Greenfield wanted “just” three things in life:
1. Acclaim as an artist. 2. A noble cause. 3. Marriage to a young lord who puts the gentle in gentleman.
Why then does this Oxford scholar find herself at the altar with the darkly attractive financier Lucian Blackstone, whose murky past and ruthless business practices strike fear in the hearts of Britain’s peerage? Trust Hattie to take an invigorating little adventure too far. Now she’s stuck with a churlish Scot who just might be the end of her ambitions….
When the daughter of his business rival all but falls into his lap, Lucian sees opportunity. As a self-made man, he has vast wealth but holds little power, and Hattie might be the key to finally setting long-harbored political plans in motion. Driven by an old revenge, he has no room for his new wife’s apprehensions or romantic notions, bewitching as he finds her.
But a sudden journey to Scotland paints everything in a different light. Hattie slowly sees the real Lucian and realizes she could win everything—as long as she is prepared to lose her heart.
Going toe-to-toe with a brooding Scotsman is rather bold for a respectable suffragist, but when he happens to be one’s unexpected husband, what else is an unwilling bride to do?
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Title: You Can Go You Own Way Author: Eric Smith Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance Publisher: Inkyard Press Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: November 2, 2021 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
No one ever said love would be easy…but did they mention it would be freezing?
Adam Stillwater is in over his head. At least, that’s what his best friend would say. And his mom. And the guy who runs the hardware store down the street. But this pinball arcade is the only piece of his dad that Adam has left, and he’s determined to protect it from Philadelphia’s newest tech mogul, who wants to turn it into another one of his cold, lifeless gaming cafés.
Whitney Mitchell doesn’t know how she got here. Her parents split up. She lost all her friends. Her boyfriend dumped her. And now she’s spending her senior year running social media for her dad’s chain of super successful gaming cafés—which mostly consists of trading insults with that decrepit old pinball arcade across town.
But when a huge snowstorm hits, Adam and Whitney suddenly find themselves trapped inside the arcade. Cut off from their families, their worlds, and their responsibilities, the tension between them seems to melt away, leaving something else in its place. But what happens when the storm stops?
Review:
Adam Stillwater helps his mom run the pinball arcade that his father started. Though pinball isn’t as popular today as it once was, Adam is determined to keep their arcade running, and not sell it to Philadelphia’s newest tech mogul. Whitney Mitchell runs the social media account for her dad’s esport cafe. That job takes up so much of her time that her friends have ditched her and her boyfriend has broken up with her, because she never had time for them. After an accident with Whitney’s brother breaking a pinball machine at the arcade, Whitney and Adam start a social media argument that goes viral. Whitney and Adam used to be best friends, but stopped talking in high school. Then, a huge snowstorm hits, trapping Whitney and Adam together for the night. They have no choice to but to talk about their feelings and figure out where they’re meant to be in life.
There was a lot of 80s and 90s nostalgia in this book. Pinball machines may seem like an ancient technology to young readers today. I loved how passionate Adam was about the pinball machines. He knew every detail of them. Adam also loved the rock bands that his father loved. He wore vintage a lot of band shirts. There were also some more modern references from Whitney, who was from a more modern, high tech background. Adam and Whitney were the best of both worlds.
This book is the perfect winter read. The descriptions of the storm were so evocative that I was actually feeling cold while reading it. I wouldn’t want to be trapped in a cold building during a snow storm, but it’s fun to read about.
You Can Go Your Own Way is a great new contemporary novel!
Thank you Inkyard Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
Have you read You Can Go Your Own Way? What did you think of it?
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 If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich. The expected publication date is September 15, 2021.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he’s feeling smothered by management’s pressure to stay in the closet.
On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they’re ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Books I Would Hand to Someone Who Claims to Not Like Reading. Here’s my list:
1. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
2. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
3. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
4. Dear Martin by Nic Stone
5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
6. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
7. Take It Away, Tommy by Georgia Dunn
8. The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
9. Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
10. Fangs by Sarah Andersen
(All book covers from Goodreads)
What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?
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