Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Top Ten Tuesday  is a Meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish This Week's Topic: Books I Plan to Have in My Beach Bag Books I want to read and haven't yet: Books I've Already Read and Plan to Reread: *And by The Queen of Attolia, I mean the entire series. I reread it every June. 

Hello Everyone, It's been kind of quiet around here for the last week due to an unplanned and unexpected hiatus brought on by a massive reading slump. I don't have reading slumps often and I've never had one that has lasted this long. But this is how all new to me books are making me feel right now: It's rather terrifying because while a normal reading slump for me lasts a few days, I've been feeling this way for almost two weeks now. To snap out of my slump, I started reading Every Breath  which so many of my book loving friends have adored. I've been reading it for three days and am only half way through. It never takes me that long to read a book of that length. But I am not invested in it or the characters. Every book I've tried to read to get out of this slump has failed me. Now I'm terrified to try any new books because I don't want to hate them due to the weirdest reading mood I've ever experienced.  It really is my worst ...

Top Ten Tuesday  is a Meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish This Week's Topic: Authors I REALLY Want to Meet This list was not at all a hard one to make. Here are the authors I've become friends with thanks to the magic of Twitter I would really really love to meet in real life someday: R.J. Anderson , author of the Faery Rebels series and Ultraviolet   duology Sage Blackwood , author of Jinx trilogy Stephanie Burgis , author of Kat Incorrigible trilogy  (I've technically met her once, but it was super fast. I want more time to talk to her.) Laura Florand , author of Amour et Chocolat series and other awesome romances Rachel Neumeier , author of Black Dog  trilogy and other amazing fantasies Sarah Prineas , author of The Magic Thief series and Winterling trilogy Jenn Reese , author of Above World trilogy Then there is the one author I would love to meet, but am also scared to meet: Megan Whalen Turner , author of Queen's Thi...

Last year's Black Dog  by Rachel Neumeier was one of my favorites, and I was excited to explore more of the fascinating world she created in this anthology which includes four short stories set in the world peopled by werewolves and the people with the Pure magic to make their lives slightly less violent. (Slightly.) The first story centers on Natividad so readers familiar with her and her voice from the novel will feel  like they've come home again. It is a mostly fun, fluffy story about a shopping trip for Christmas presents that involves the unlikely team of Natividad and Keziah-neither of them together by choice but at the order of the Master of Dimilioc. There is some minor violence, but it's really just about the girls getting to know each other a little better, bonding just a little bit, and gaining some more respect for each other. This is a good story, but nothing spectacular. The second story focuses on Miguel. I enjoyed this as we didn't see as much from ...

Cover Love is a meme hosted by Shae at Shae Has Left the Room . In the spell-powered city of Tarreton, the wealthy have all the magic they desire while the working class can barely afford a simple spell to heat their homes. Twelve-year-old Isaveth is poor, but she’s also brave, loyal, and zealous in the pursuit of justice—which is lucky, because her father has just been wrongfully arrested for murder.  Isaveth is determined to prove his innocence. Quiz, the eccentric eyepatch-wearing street boy who befriends her, swears he can’t resist a good mystery. Together they set out to solve the magical murder of one of Tarreton’s most influential citizens and save Isaveth’s beloved Papa from execution. But each clue is more perplexing than the next. Was the victim truly killed by Common Magic—the kind of crude, cheap spell that only an unschooled magician would use—or was his death merely arranged to appear that way? And is Quiz truly helping her out of friendship, or does he have hid...

I love Frances Hardinge. She is one one of those writers for children that doesn't talk down to her audience and is unafraid to confront harsh truths and darknesses in her plots and characters. She is an auto-buy author for me and I anticipate her books so much. It is unfortunate that in the US we often have to wait even longer for them. (And even then may never get them. Seriously, how has A Face Like Glass not been published here yet???? It is amazing.) Hardinge's newest US release is Cuckoo Song , a book that came out in the UK last year to rave reviews from everyone I know who read it. I'm happy to add my voice to the chorus singing its praises. Triss wakes up after a dunking in the river on holiday. Her mind is muddled and memories hazy. She is missing all the hours leading up to her accident in the river. Her sister Penny is resentful toward and angry at her, but that is not a new development. The level of Penny's rancor and distrust is new however. Wrapped i...

I have enjoyed Kasie West's books in the past. She is a wonderful voice to have in the world of female YA writers who write about the experiences of girls. Her books are always enjoyable, but The Fill-In Boyfriend   was particularly excellent. Gia is about to walk into her senior prom and prove to her friends, once and for all, that her college boyfriend, Bradley, really does exist. The problem is Bradley breaks up with Gia and leaves her standing in the parking lot. In a desperate move to ensure her friends believe her, Gia conscripts the assistance of a random boy sitting in his car who just dropped off his sister and her date. But Gia's Fill-In boyfriend, Hayden, is quite intriguing in his own right. When his sister forces Gia to go to a party with him thrown by his ex-girlfriend, Gia becomes even more convinced he is a truly good guy and she genuinely begins to like him. She also begins to develop a friendship with his sister as she starts to realize that her family re...