Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Frances Hardinge is an auto buy author for me. However, I enjoy most of her books more on an intellectual level. There have thus far only been two that I have felt a deep full connection to as a reader, A Face Like Glass  and The Lost Conspiracy . Now there are three. Hardinge's most recent release Deeplight  falls into the same category-intellectually and emotionally satisfying with prose that makes my mind sing. Just 50 years ago the people of the Myriad lived lives of fear. They lived in fear of the monstrous sea gods that would occasionally rise from the sea and swallow whole islands of people. Everything changed with the Cataclysm. The gods turned and destroyed each other, and the Myriad learned what peace was. Now enterprising exhibitions dive under the sea to recover pieces of old god to harvest the powerful godware that still carries a range of powers. On the island of Lady's Crave, Hark is an orphan who must use his wits and cunning to survive. His greatest talent...

April was an interesting month for me reading wise. After a slow start, I read my three favorites within a week, including my first 5 star MG read of the year. I also read the book that has infuriated me the most so far this year. I definitely covered the entire spectrum of feelings. The Favorites: The Chilbury Ladies' Choir  by Jennifer Ryan A Game of Fox and Squirrels  by Jennifer Reese Spooked! by Gail Jarrow April in Numbers: Total: 10 New:  8          Rereads: 2 MG: 2              YA:  3              Adult: 5 Contemporary: 2 Historical: 3 Fantasy: 4 Non-Fiction: 1 Here are some of the May Releases I'm looking forward to: Did you read any stand out books this month?

Jenn Reese's Above World  trilogy is a beloved set of books in this house. My daughter still has all her original copies on her favorite books shelf 8 years later. (One of three series that remained from elementary to high school when others were moved to other rooms as she grew older.) When I discovered a new MG by Reese would be coming out this year, I was so excited. Little did I know the emotional journey in store for me while reading this devastatingly beautiful book. You can try to plan for the Fox. You can save up your cards for him instead of trying to prepare for winter. Many people do. They spend so much time worried about the Fox that they forget about the rest of the game entirely. But remember: you never know when the Fox will appear, or what kind of Fox he will be when he does. And by then it will be too late. Samantha (Sam) has just arrived in Oregon with her sister Caitlyn. They are moving in her with their Aunt Vicky and her wife Hannah fol...

How is everyone doing??? We are hanging in there. We have had various illnesses during this quarantine but none too serious. It's been a huge adjustment for the extroverts I live with for sure. I, despite an abundance of extra time, feel listless. It actually feels harder to get these done. I actually read 12 books this month but most were rereads. I'm having a focus issue right now, so rereads are working better for me. The Favorites of the New Reads: Love Lettering  by Kate Clayborn Sal and Gabi Break the Universe  by Carlos Hernandez Undercover Bromance  by Lyssa Kay Adams January in Numbers: Total: 12 New: 4           Rereads: 8 MG: 1             YA:  1             Adult: 10 Contemporary: 2 Historical: 9 Fantasy: 0 Science-Fiction: 1 Non-Fiction: 0 April has a couple of releases I'm really looking forward to, so hopefully my focus and attention span will retu...

  I've been trying to read as many books from Riordan's imprint with Disney Hyperion as I can, though they're coming out so fast it's hard to keep up. I just love the concept of a whole imprint for own voices mythology books. Sal and Gabi Break the Universe  by Carlos Hernandez is my favorite one so far, which is interesting because it is not mythopoeic at all but science-fiction. If there is one thing Sal Vidon knows how to deal with, it's bullies. As a new kid, he knows he needs to be proactive when the school's biggest bully comes for him during his first week at school. One raw chicken in a locker later, Sal finds himself defending against accusations of witchcraft thanks to the interference of student council president Gabi Real, who showed up in the principal's office as the defense attorney of Yasmany. Sal prides himself on being a great magician, but he uses manipulation and sleight of hand-not actual magic. Except he has a talent few others could ...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly themed blog hop created by  The Broke and the Bookish  and now hosted at  That Artsy Reader Girl . This Week's Topic: Books with One Word Titles I was almost not going to do this one, but I decided to look through my favorites shelf and realized I loved a lot of really great books with one word titles that I haven't talked about in a while. This seemed the perfect opportunity. \ This is an entire trilogy with one word titles. They are all amazing. This is an entire trilogy full of one word titles that is a favorite, AND it has a spinoff series of one word titles that is equally good. Read them all.

I got a lot of reading in this month, but I only had one truly favorite new read of February. The Favorite: February in Numbers: Total: 13 New:  7            Rereads:  6 MG:  2           YA:   3            Adult:  8 Contemporary: 5 Historical:  6 Fantasy: 2 Science-Fiction: 0 Non-Fiction: 0 DNFs: By the Book We See the Sky Sparkling Would Like to Meet Here are some of the March releases I'm looking forward to:

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly themed blog hop created by  The Broke and the Bookish  and now hosted at  That Artsy Reader Girl . This Week's Topic: Characters I'd Follow On Social Media I love this topic. I actually have my students create social media pages for characters for extra credit assignments, so I've always thought this was fun to think about. It actually really requires some character analysis to do well. Which social media fits this character's personality? What would they post about? How much of their inner lives would they share? Here are the characters I would follow, where I would follow them, and why: Lizzie Bennet on Tumblr because you know her blog would be a beautiful mix of nerdy fangirl thoughtfulness and feminist manifestos. I love following people like that. Darcy on Twitter: He would use it rarely, but when he did, it would be to the point and oh so entertaining. Amy March on Instagram because it would be beautifully aesthetic, and...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly themed blog hop created by  The Broke and the Bookish  and now hosted at  That Artsy Reader Girl . This Week's Topic: Last 10 Books That Gave Me a Book Hangover There is no better feeling in the world than that of a good book hangover. Unfortunately, it is a feeling I've experienced less and less in the past few years, though I'm hoping a turnaround is nigh. The first three books on this list I've read in 2020. Even if they were mild hangovers, the feeling being back is still exciting. In Order of Recency: Wow, compiling this list forced me to remember the Dark Reading Time of 2018. I knew it was bad while it was happening, but going back and looking at the stats was kind of shock. And there are zero books from that year on this list. And I want to take this time to give a shoutout to the book that caused the most epic book hangover of my life. It lasted for WEEKS, and the first few days I was completely usel...

The ALA Youth Media Awards are on Monday. I'm as excited as ever even if in recent years I haven't had the bandwidth to read as many of the talked about books or engage in any of the lead up conversations. However, I have some 2019 books I would love to see recognized in some way on Monday. They are: I'll be watching the livestream Monday morning and missing the energy of that room!

Here are my reading stats for the last month of 2019. Look at all those new reads! (See what three weeks off of school with nowhere to go can do!) December Favorites: Total Reads: 8 (7 new, 1 reread) MG: 2 YA: 2 Adult: 4 Contemporary: 5 Historical: 1 Fantasy: 2 Looking forward to January, here are the releases I'm most anticipating: How was everyone else's reading month? What are you looking forward to reading in January?

The Top Ten No Matter Age Category: Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Keirnan The Faithful Spy   by John Hendrix The Lost Girl  by Anne Ursu Lovely War  by Julie Berry On the Come Up  by Angie Thomas The Princess Who Flew with Dragons   by Stephanie Burgis Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George Spinning Silver  by Naomi Novik There's Something about Sweetie  by Sandhya Menon Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind them All  by Laura Ruby Top MG: Top YA: Top Adult: Top Non-Fiction: