10 Years in 10 Books | #readathon challenge

I love this idea for a readathon challenge so much that I'm typing up this post before I've started reading for the day, also possibly because I'm just not really in a reading mood. Which is a problem on readathon day. Anyway - I went for books that weren't the obvious choice, or tried to. Also tried to go for books I've read.

For example, yes, I could of put Deathly Hallows for 2007 but I think everyone's aware of my love of Harry Potter considering the 2 tattoos I have related to it.

2007: The Arrival by Shaun Tan - this is a gorgeous graphic novel that uses no words, cannot recommend enough.
2008: Duma Key by Stephen King - honestly, one of my favorite books. By King and just in general - a very underrated book by him that I highly, highly recommend.
2009: Leviathan (#1) by Scott Westerfeld - this is such a fun first book, and fun series. It's been a while since I've read them but - so much fun!
2010: Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices #1) by Cassie Clare - I love the Infernal Devices series, so much. I've got problems with Clare but this series, I can't even tell you.
2011: Darkest Mercy (Wicked Lovely #5) by Melissa Marr - this whole series is gorgeous. It's been a while since I've reread, and I know they'll probably seem a little outdated now but - I love them.
2012: Adaptation (#1) by Malinda Lo - just read this for the first time recently, and something about it just clicked with me. I'm still in love with it months later.
2013: The Dream Thieves (Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater - this might me by favorite of this series, I just love it so much. The atmosphere, the world.
2014: The Saint (Original Sinners #5) by Tiffany Reisz - not my favorite of the series, but still the best I read that year that I can find. If you haven't heard of this series - they're amazing but also all the trigger warnings in the world.
2015: Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo - this was hard, so many good books. But I've already read this book three times so I think it wins. Incredible duology.
2016: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman - this book. God damn. I will shout it's praises from the rooftop. And Exit, Pursued by Bear came out in 2016, too, so it was a tough choice.
2017: City of Strife (#1) by Claudie Arseneault - this was rough cause everything is so fresh but this book was incredible. So diverse, so full of plot and feeling. Cannot wait for book 2!

Whew, that was harder then I thought it'd be. If you posted a list, anywhere, let me know! I kind of failed in the not the obvious choice place, a few times, but I feel like in a few other places I did pull out a different one. Either way - I've got to go read something now, hopefully.

Happy reading!

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon | October 21st

Once again, we've reached Dewey's 24 hour readathon! One of my favorites of the year and I love how seriously so many people, myself included, take this readathon. This year is probably going to be a little bit different though because I don't want to wear myself out too much. I'm traveling at the end of the week and have a lot of to do before then, and then then.

Speaking of which - blog posts during November will probably be pretty sparse considering I'll be visiting friends and it'll also be NaNoWriMo.

My plan is to be up at 8am and then read as long as I can, and then friends might want to do virtual hang out stuff. I have a lot I want to get done, I'm also in the middle of a lot of books and I'd like to get some of them finished, especially before my trip.

The Stack:

• Not Your Villain by C.B. Lee
• This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
• Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh
• Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
• This Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab

The Goals:

• finish books on my currently-reading stack
• read for literally any amount of time
• participate on twitter and cheer people on
• mostly just read!

The Updates:

8am - 12pm

Books:

Not Your Villain (Sidekicks Squad #2) by C.B. Lee (finished - 170 pages)

# of pages read:  170

# books read: 1

time spent reading: 1 hour, 23 minutes

Notes:

I woke up tired and not in a mood to read but I love this readathon and wanted to get in the mood so I made myself stop sleeping and read. Which is something I don't do enough and never regret? i'm breaking now cause my eyes are a bit iffy and I definitely overdid it yesterday but planning to finish at least one more book, if not two. I'm mostly working on currently-reading books and, specifically, hardcover currently-reading because probably not bringing hardcovers when I leave for my trip at the end of the week!

Let me know how your readathon is going!

12pm - 4pm

Books:

Smoke and Mirrors by Michael Faudet (started and finished - 240 pages)
Depression and other Magic Tricks by Sabrina Benaim (started and finished - 97 pages)

# of pages read: 337

total # of pages: 507

# books read: 2

total # of books: 3 

time spend reading: 1 hour, 14 minutes 

total time spent reading: 2 hours, 37 minutes

Notes:

I wasn't super in the mood to read when I woke up and then, eventually, I ended up taking a nap. I think just because I wore myself out so much the day before I just couldn't function today. And then finally got to talk to some friends over video and, sorry, more important then books (don't tell them, they'll be shocked).

Readathon | House Cup + Dewey's 24 hour

First off: The Hogwarts House Cup Reading Challenge. This is such a great idea, I think you're all aware of how much I love Harry Potter, but also - house points, and not all strict reading goals. Like the 7 years are free choices, which I love because mood reader. And, of course, you have to report to your head girl, I believe they're all girls. All of the heads of house are the co-hosts, of course, there's 4 hosts for this readathon and I just love that idea. Basically I'm all about this readathon.

Anyway - I'm a Ravenclaw, if you didn't know, and will definitely be trying to get some house points for the house because I can be a tad competitive.

Also it lasts for about a month. Starting October 15th and going until the 12th of November. (A Sunday - Sunday deal, which I do enjoy). I will be out of town for like two weeks of this readathon, maybe three, so that will be interesting but it's more visit friends then vacation/travel and I'm sure there will be reading time just not sure how much reading time.

And now there's a little sign up questionnaire to answer.

Hogwarts Student Questionnaire
Name: Casey Cassidy
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Wand Type: I forget the wood but dragon heart string core
Pet: Owl
Favorite Subject: Defense Against the Dart Arts
Favorite Professor: McGonigal


And now - Dewey's. I almost always participate in Dewey's 24 hours readathon. A 24 hour readathon, that starts in the same time in every time zone so everyone's reading together. It's one of my fav parts about it. I normally don't stay up for all the house - because I need sleep if I can get it - but I do try and read as much as possible.

This round takes place on 21st of October, and it starts at 8am Eastern Time. About page, time zone page, sign up post.

I normally do a post for Dewey's and update every few hours, so I'll probably be doing that - even though I shouldn't even do it, because I leave for chicago less then a week later but whatever. And, also, this is going up Friday the 13th and tomorrow is a social media 24 hour readathon being run by a booktuber - #readathonbyzoe is the hashtag if you want to check that out. I'll probably be actually reading something tomorrow for that, I haven't had much time recently and especially not the last few days.

Happy Reading! As always, let me know if you're participating in any of these readathons, or any I might not of heard of.

Book Review: Michael's Wings

Title(s): Michael's Wings (Original Sinners #6.3)
Author: Tiffany Reisz
Genre: romance/erotica (BDSM)
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 253
Publication Date: November 7th, 2017

Plot:
A few short stories set in the Original Sinners universe, all revolving around Michael and/or Griffin. The title story takes place before the last two books of the whole series, which I won't give the synopsis for as to not spoil you.

You cannot read this, without spoiling yourself, if you haven't read up to book 6 - or book 2 of the White Years. The first story, Michael's Wings, is the one that's the most spoilery but the others also spoil a lot - especially the Christmas one (which is available for free on her website). Apparently all have been put online/published previously, but I think I'd previously only read one, maybe two of the stories in this collection.


(Trigger warnings by story, let me know if I missed any:
Michael's Wings: OD/death mention, past drug/alcohol abuse mention, I mean a lot of pain play? Whips, i think, crops. Wax play.
Griffin in Wonderland - drug/alcohol addiction
The Gauze - self harm, suicide attempt mention. Michael dealing with both, flashbacks to the sucide
The Theory of the Moment - don't think any? Let me know if wrong, on any of these.
The Couch -D/s, don't think anything else?
A Better Distraction - D/s, also don't think any.
Any questions, feel free to just ask me!)


Review:
I'm definitely bias towards this series just on the fact that I love these characters so much. Just all of them, I don't know if I could pick a favorite ever.

I'm not entirely sure which of these stories were published elsewhere before being here, but the only one I'd read was the Christmas story - which I love, and reread in this anyone because so good. Anyway, the title story was for sure new and it's the first, which is where we're going to start.

Michael's Wings - first off, small note, I thought it was a little weird that this was first? I understand it's the title story and such, but I feel like it should of been in chronological order. It wasn't that confusing for me when I was putting it down between stories, but if I kept going it was a little jarring to skip around like that.

However, saying that, this story was amazing. We got to see Michael and Nora interact more, which is always good. And, of course, Michael and Griffin. I'm was not going to spoil anything at all, but I've decided against that. So if you don't want to be spoiled for a major plot point in the last two books, jump ship now (just know I love this collection and would highly recommend it, and the entire series).

So in this we get to see how Griff proposed, which I was always a tad curious about because... well, he's Griff, honestly. And so I was so proud he did it in a quiet way because he knew Mick wouldn't want it any other way? It gave me a lot of feelings, and the answer scene... I've missed these boys.

Griffin in Wonderland. A super interesting one, that I've never read before but might of been floating around, I'm not sure. Seeing Griff six years before we officially meet him was super interesting to me. I adore him and to see how King reached out to him... I love them all so much.

The Gauze. This one was more intense then I expected? Like I said above, trigger warnings for self harm, suicide mention, attempt flashbacks. D/s, also. It's a good short story, something we don't get to see about Michael dealing with gauze from tattoos (which isn't a thing but I'm letting it go), and talking to Griffin about his attempt. Really touching - also great sex scene.

The Theory of the Moment. Super cute dinner with Griffin and Michael's mom? I don't know what it was about this, but it was just so cute. I think it's just because I love seeing platonic relationships and we really don't get to see them enough. And Michael's mom takes this whole thing like a champ, honestly.

The Couch. Their first fight story, so cute. And then making up on the new couch. They're such dorks, I love it so much.

A Better Distraction. For some reason this is the one I remember least? But I do feel like I've read it before. Basically just Griff trying to help with Michael's homework, totally innocent, nothing D/s here at all (we need a sarcasm font).

Christmas in Suite 37A. I've read this at least four times now. It's so sweet and cute, and I love Griff and Nora's interactions - and also the snippet we get of Griff and Soren interacting. And, of course, Griff and Michael. Of course they'd had problems in their relationships, neither had ever done this and Michael was still so young. I adore this story. Especially the end and Griffin freaking out,. It's also very sweet, though, and tugs on the heart strings a little.

I think you can tell by now that I loved this collection. I was so excited when it was announced, and am even more excited when the young Kingsley story finally comes out next year. Alright, if I had to pick a favorite character, it might be King, but don't tell any of the others, alright?

If you haven't read this series - first of all, spoiling yourself, though I do it to myself sometimes, too. But I do highly recommend the series, just trigger warnings for everything through out. Book two has bloodplay, but I love these characters, and I really like the writing, as well.

Happy Reading! Let me know if you're planning to pick this one up, or let me know what you thought.

Book Review: 27 Hours

Title: 27 Hours
Author: Tristina Wright
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 400
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2017

Plot:
This book takes place over one night that lasts 27 hours, and contains an incredible, diverse cast of teens. Takes place on a planet that humans colonized but contained a species before they got there. The humans call them gargoyles, but they're Chimera.

The main characters spend the 27 hours trying to stop the war that's been going on since the original colonists landed on the planet. And learn things about themselves and their government they might of been better off not knowing.

The plot is interesting, and intricate, but the stars of this book are the characters. Four out of five are people of color, and all of them are queer. Rumor, Dahlia, Nyx, Braeden, Jude.

If you want a more in depth synopsis, goodreads, but honestly I'd suggest going in just knowing that. It's worth it and so good.

Review:
Content/trigger warnings (in the REVIEW, THIS REVIEW) for: colonization, racism.

I want to just put a disclaimer here that I loved this book. It's been a rough year for me - a rough life? - and something about this book touched me? The characters, mostly, I adored them all. I'm aware there are issues with it, though. However, hi, I'm white so the recent talk about this is not for me to speak about, though I agree with them. I'm just linking some reviews about the problems people had below which were about how it has colonization issues, and also not great PoC rep.

I’m not going to go into depth about either because it’s not for me to speak on, so I’ll just leave these reviews and go:

"Has colonist guilt & flawed racial representation" by Aimal (Bookshelves and Paperbacks blog) (quotes used here and below cause what their review is titled with/called)

2/5 - "disappointed and frustrated" by Jesse

3/5 - still had problems, but enjoyed by Anna Elisa Monte


I still have a few things to say, but honestly I feel like I should just leave it there. I just can’t, though, because I did really enjoy this book. Like I really, really loved this book. Mostly because I didn’t notice this was happening – well with the colonist bullshit, I was a little skeptical about the heritage representation, but I guess I added more time in my head. Looking back, maybe shouldn’t have read this during/right after BEA.

Tristina has addressed this online yet, so I’m just going to link that here with no more comment from me. Once again, not something for me to speak of.

I've rewritten this part about 100 times in the past three weeks and I just don't know anymore. First off - I loved this book, as I'm sure you can see by the rating. It's been a rough year, hell a rough few years, and this one just was amazing to me.

It was completely that right time, right book kind of thing and I'm fully aware of  that but the characters. I love them so much. I had minor problems with it when I was reading it, but didn't see all the problems that are there. Mostly because I kind of forgot any of the main characters were white - and was confused a few weeks ago when I saw fanart and he was white, but apparently he's white.

I first read this book in June and haven't reread yet, but I just got the physical copy in my hands - wanted to reread the physical one because things do change. My personal problem is that we never get a clear answer about Braeden, if he's aro/ace or gray-romantic, I'm kind of on board for either but really want gray-rom/ace.

I feel a little guilty now, which is why I've rewritten this review so many times, with that I love this so much and it is problematic. I just - I'm not dealing with that well but that's my problem. I still wanted to review this, though, because I loved it so much.

And, no, some good rep doesn't cancel out the bad rep, that's now how that works, but it meant a lot to me when I read it and I think it might to others. If it did hurt you, though, I'm sorry - and definitely, if you're going to check it out, check into this before you do (reviews above)

Happy reading!

Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

#30DayBookBinge October + possible TBR

I posted about this the last time around, and really enjoyed taking part in it. It's the brain child of Misty from The Book Rat - who I've been watching her videos, and reading her blog, for longer then I've had this blog, which doesn't seem like a long time until I actually start to think about it.

The first time around for this happened this past June and I really enjoyed taking part. I don't think I missed a single day, though I probably missed at least one. I'll probably also miss at least one this month, too, though there is thirty one days in October and not thirty so technically could take a day off. I'm hoping not to, but I am flying to hang out with friends for about a few weeks at the end of the month, so we'll see how that plan goes (but yay friends, I love friends).

However, here to talk about #30DayBookBinge and my personal plans. Misty's October announcement post, with video. Also printables post!

All information you could possibly need is in those two posts but it's a pretty simple premise, try and read every day - anything! - for the whole month. I'm definitely going to be aiming for all thirty one days but we'll see how that goes. I'm writing this on the 2nd and I've already finished a book so I'm feeling pretty good about it, but I'm sure I won't be able to keep that up.

As for what I'll be reading, I have no idea. I don't do TBRs anymore because I'm such a mood reader I just never know what I'll actually be in the mood for. However, saying that, I do have some ideas. I'd really like to get more into, and finish, This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab - I'm loving it so much I don't want to read more because it's just so good?? That doesn't make any sense but it's how I feel.

And then I also want to get to The Rose and the Dagger, since I just read the first book in that duology, and there are about a million new releases coming out this month that I'd also like to get to. Not to mention I do have ARCs I should be reading, and doubt I'll get to much in November with friend time and also NaNoWriMo.

Some releases this month I'm loving forward to, though, are: Wild Beauty, That Inevitable Victorian Thing, 27 Hours, The Illustrated Prisoner of Azkaban, Not Your Villain, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, A Line in the Dark, The Glass Spare. And more. Oh, also, I did a bookoutlet order and while most of them I've already read and just getting copies of - or different copies of - there are still a few coming I haven't read and would like to. Basically, if there's a way to read about 100 books in a month, someone let me know?

If you're taking part in this month long readathon, let me know! And let me know where you'll be updating. I'll, most likely, be updating more on twitter and instagram then anywhere else.

Happy reading! (And happy fall, it's finally cooling down a little here, and Halloween is basically here which I'm 100% okay with)

September 2017 | Monthly Wrap Up

I can't believe it's been another month, that's honestly a little incredible how fast time is going. My inability to understand time, though, is well known.

I started off this month in Dublin, by the way, which still seems incredible to me? I still can't believe really believe that the whole trip was real, and so much fun. It was my first time traveling with friends and it was so much fun. High stress at points - and, also, ridiculous? I mean we get ridiculous, anyway, but put us alone in London and add 74 steps to our airbnb and whew, we get more ridiculous then usual, which I didn't know was possible.

Books:

• Michael's Wings by Tiffany Reisz (5/5)
• The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Braken (3.5/5)
• The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee (3.5/5)
• The Red by Tiffany Reisz (3/5)
• Geekerella by Ashley Poston (3/5)
• Girls Like Me by Lola St.Vil (3/5)
• City of Strife (City of Strife #1) by Claudie Arseneault (4/5)

I, actually, posted a few reviews this month for what I read, and one that'll be going up closer to release date so instead of saying  more here: The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding, The Red, and one for Michael's Wings is coming.

Overall, it was a pretty good reading month for me. Especially considering I wasn't reading much in the first week or two of the month with traveling, and post-travel everything. And, also, with apartment guests in the middle of the month, it was a month, that's for sure.

I read Geekerella in pretty much one sitting, and it was cute but not amazing. I really, really loved City of Strife - it took me a ridiculously long time to read, but it's just a slower book, I think, which is not a bad thing. Seriously, check this book out, it's incredible. And I'm impatiently waiting for book two, which comes out in October, actually, so soon!

I enjoyed Girls Like Me, and really liked the message behind it, but I didn't feel like we had enough time with that message after? The main character is down on herself for the whole book and, when she finally realizes she isn't the problem, everyone else is the asshole, we don't get to see much of her really accepting that. Because it's not just a switch, and suddenly you know/accept your awesome. However - definitely still a solid book. I also didn't like the writing a lot - it's written in verse, which is fine, but it didn't blow me away.

Let me know what you read this week, or if you've read anything I have, and I hope you have a fantastic week!

Happy reading!

On The Blog:

August 2017 | Monthly Wrap Up

Book Review: Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power!

Book Review: The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding

Book Review: The Red

Graphic Novel Review: The Little Red Wolf