Category: What I’m Reading

What I’m Reading – Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

It’s time.

I read Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo back in the spring in preparation for the Netflix show (highly recommend) but for whatever reason I held off on the remaining books of the trilogy. But now that I’m working my way through my to-be-read (TBR) cart, it seemed like a great time to finish the trilogy and move them from the TBR cart to the bookshelves.

While I haven’t written a review of Shadow and Bone (I plan on doing one post for the entire trilogy), I did enjoy both the book and the Netflix show. So if you haven’t visited Grishaverse yet, I highly recommend picking up a Leigh Bardugo book whenever you have a chance.

I typically write these posts once I’m about 50-100 pages into a book, but I haven’t started Siege and Storm yet. Hopefully I will only have great things to say about it. So stay tuned!

Synopsis

Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Alina Starkov’s power has grown, but not without a price. She is the Sun Summoner―hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Shadow Fold. But she and Mal can’t outrun their enemies for long.

The Darkling is more determined than ever to claim Alina’s magic and use it to take the Ravkan throne. With nowhere else to turn, Alina enlists the help of an infamous privateer and sets out to lead the Grisha army.

But as the truth of Alina’s destiny unfolds, she slips deeper into the Darkling’s deadly game of forbidden magic, and further away from her humanity. To save her country, Alina will have to choose between her power and the love she thought would always be her shelter. No victory can come without sacrifice―and only she can face the oncoming storm.

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What I’m Reading – The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

It’s time to put Goodreads to the test with the 2020 winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction – The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

I’m seen rave reviews via Goodreads and Bookstagram, so I’m hoping you are all right.

This book joined my TBR cart months ago following one of my “big” trips to the bookstore where I purchased entirely too many books. So this one has been staring me down and taunting me for a while.

On my journey to completing all the books on my TBR cart – this novel seemed interesting and different. Although, I will be honest, I didn’t know anything about the book until I read the synopsis last night. I blindly picked this book up from the store, which is not like me at all.

With just one night of reading, I’m already about 100 pages in and enjoying the story so far. I always like the shorter chapters that jump around a bit, so the style of writing is perfect for me.

Keep an eye out for the review to see if this one lives up to all the hype. I would hate to lose my faith in the Bookstagram community for future book recommendations.

Synopsis

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

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What I’m Reading – White Nights by Ann Cleeves

I picked up my first Ann Cleeves novel, Raven Black, a few years ago, and I was hooked. She really knows how to write a crime novel. So when it was time to pick up my next book, White Nights was an easy selection.

I’m in the process of reading every book on my to-be read (TBR) cart and wanted a small break from the usual fantasy novels I read. I quickly read through Verity by Colleen Hoover (so quickly that I didn’t have time to write a “What I’m Reading” post for it) and wanted a little more thriller/crime before I returned to the fantasy world.

Ann Cleeves is a brilliant writer and an excellent story teller, so I knew White Nights would pull me in. I was right. From the moment I picked up the second book in the Shetland Mysteries series, I’ve wanted to keep reading.

If you enjoy crime/thriller novels and haven’t read anything by Ann Cleeves yet, I highly suggest you add her to your list. You won’t be disappointed.

Also, for those who enjoy a good thriller novel but have a distaste for the violent and graphic content that often comes along with those – Ann Cleeves is a great author for you. While there is violence and death it’s never described in a graphic or terrifying way.

Synopsis

It’s midsummer in Shetland, the time of the white nights, when birds sing at midnight and the sun never sets.

Artist Bella Sinclair throws a party to launch an exhibition of her work and to introduce the paintings of Fran Hunter. The Herring House, the gallery where the exhibition is held, is on the beach at Biddista, in the remote north west of the island. When a mysterious Englishman bursts into tears and claims not to know who he is or where he’s come from, the evening ends in farce. The following day the Englishman is found hanging from a rafter in a boathouse on the jetty, a clown’s mask on his face.

Detective Jimmy Perez is convinced that this is a local murder. A second murder Biddista only reinforces this belief. But the detective’s relationship with Fran Hunter clouds his judgement. And this is a crazy time of the year when night blurs into day and nothing is quite as it seems.

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What I’m Reading – A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

I’m quite proud of myself for picking a book from my TBR cart instead of buying a new book. Some may give credit to the newborn keeping me at home a bit more than usual, but I really am trying to clear off the cart before making any big trips to the bookstore.

I initially picked up A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab after reading her novel The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (review here) earlier this year. I liked the book and Schwab’s writing style, so I thought it was worth a shot. Let me tell you – I made the right choice.

There should be warning labels on books that will cause loss of sleep. I have a 2.5-week-old baby. I should be sleeping every moment I have. Instead, all I want to do is keep reading. I’m about 150 pages in, and I can already tell I would fly through this in one day if I could.

I’m in the middle of about five series/trilogies at this point, so it was likely a bad idea to start yet another one without finishing the others. But I couldn’t help it.

Stay tuned for the review – I have a feeling it’s going to be a good one.

Synopsis

Kell is one of the last Antari―magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes―Red London―and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

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What I’m Reading – Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer wasn’t on my radar, but when I opened this month’s Bookish Box I knew I had to move it to the top of my TBR. I don’t often judge a book by it’s cover – but this one was so gorgeous I refused to just file it away on my book cart full of unread books.

I’m only 50ish pages in so far, and I’m already invested and excited to continue reading. Right away Kemmerer has created a world full of suspense and a strong desire to know more about the characters I’ve been introduced to. 50 pages in and I’m already making predictions about how things will play out. I love it.

Hoping the review I write at the end will be full of the same excitement, so stay tuned.

Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer comes a blockbuster fantasy series, perfect for fans of Holly Black and Victoria Aveyard, about a kingdom divided by corruption, the prince desperately holding it together, and the girl who will risk everything to bring it crashing down.

Apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade is tired of seeing her people die. King Harristan and his cruel brother, Prince Corrick, ignore the suffering of their people and react mercilessly to any sign of rebellion, even as a sickness ravages the land. That’s why she and her best friend Wes risk their lives each night to steal the petals of the delicate Moonflower, the only known cure. But it’s not enough to keep everyone she loves safe―or alive.

When Prince Corrick commits an act of unspeakable cruelty, Tessa becomes desperate enough to try the impossible: sneaking into the palace. But what she finds there makes her wonder if it’s even possible to fix their world without destroying it first.

Brigid Kemmerer’s captivating new series is about those with power and those without . . . and what happens when someone is brave enough to imagine a new future.

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What I’m Reading – The Serpent’s Curse by Lisa Maxwell

I’ve been waiting to read The Serpent’s Curse by Lisa Maxwell for a while. With The Last Magician and The Devil’s Thief (the first two books in the series) under my belt, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the third installation.

Previous Book Reviews

The Last Magician

The Devil’s Thief

I have loved this series since first picking up The Last Magician last year. There’s a badass female protagonist, an unstoppable gang of rebels/outcasts, and magic all around. From Esta to Harte and even our friends left back within the confines of the Brink – this series is filled with characters working together (whether they even realize it) to overthrow a corrupt government, fight against terrible unknown forces, and save magic.

It’s no secret I’m a HUGE Lisa Maxwell fan, and this series is the reason why.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend picking up book one in the series as soon as you can.

Synopsis

Evade the Serpent.
Heed the Curse.
Rewrite the Present.

Esta isn’t a stranger to high-stakes heists. She’s a seasoned thief who has no reservations about using her affinity for time to give her an edge, and she’s trained her whole life for one mission: travel back to 1902 New York, steal the ancient Book of Mysteries, and use its power to destroy the Brink and free the Mageus from the Order’s control.

But the Book held a danger that no one anticipated—Seshat, an angry goddess was trapped within its pages. Now that terrible power lives within Harte, and if given the chance, Seshat will use Esta to destroy the world and take her revenge.

Only Esta and Harte stand in her way.

Yet in their search to recover the elemental stones needed to bind Seshat’s power, Esta and Harte have found themselves stranded in time with a continent between them. As Esta fights to get back to Harte, the Order is no longer the only obstacle standing in her way.

Saving Harte—and magic itself—will put even Esta’s skills to the test. And all the while, another danger grows, one more terrible than both Seshat and the Order combined…

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What I’m Reading – The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

After reading The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2) I was angry. I hated the way it ended and wanted nothing to do with Cardan, Jude, or anyone from this novel. I think the hate was so strong because I loved the rest of the novel. I sped through, unable to put it down (I think I still owe y’all a review).

Then came the end, and it upset me so much – not because it didn’t fit with the plot or because Holly Black did anything wrong – but because I was so invested in these characters. I was angry because of what Holly did to the characters.

I love them all, so why can’t they just live happily ever after?

I guess the answer is, there really is no happily ever after in Faerie.

Fast forward about six months, and we are chatting in my book group about the series and someone brings up the end of The Wicked King. I am immediately triggered. I believe “100% fuck the ending of that book” is what I said.

Queue the group working to convince me to pick up The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #3) to quell some of my anger.

That brings us to my current read. I’ve decided to dive back in, and this book group better be right because I don’t know if I can handle any more heartbreak. At least not the level of heartbreak from The Wicked King.

Synopsis

He will be the destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan’s betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her twin sister, Taryn, whose life is in peril.

Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics.

And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity . . .

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What I’m Reading – Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

It’s time for a break from fantasy.

Throughout my reading life I’ve always jumped from fantasy to romance to thriller to dark/ monologue-y novels. I’ve never stayed in one place for long, and I enjoyed the journey. I have lived lives in both real and fictional places and loved every moment of it.

Like most everything else, I will blame this current hot streak in various fantasy worlds on the pandemic and the need to step away from reality for a bit. But it’s time for a small detour back to the real world, and for that detour I have chosen John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down.

I’ve read a few of John Green’s novels, a favorite of mine being Looking for Alaska, so I’m pretty excited to dive in. Who knows, maybe this is the start of a non-fantasy streak (doubtful).

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

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What I’m Reading – Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

In preparation for Alice’s Hoffman’s Facebook Live event this week where she will discuss Practical Magic, I’ve decided to finally pick up Practical Magic in honor of it’s 25th anniversary.

Facebook LIVE Q&A:
July 28, 2021 @ 5pm EST

I only recently watched the film Practical Magic and read The Rules of Magic (review here), so I’m a new fan of Alice Hoffman – and I’m loving every moment of it. If you haven’t read anything by Alice Hoffman, I highly recommend you give it a try. Her writing is lyrical, like magic.

Synopsis

The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman.

For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have endured that fate as well: as children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape.

One will do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they share will bring them back—almost as if by magic…

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