Happy Wednesday everyone! It’s been a few weeks since the last time I partook in a Can’t-Wait Wednesday. It’s just all the books I’ve been interested in all came out on the same days this month! There’s still one last book coming out that I’m looking forward too, though, so I’ll be happily focusing on that today.
But yeah, Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.
This week’s book is:
A Widow’s Charm by Caitlyn Paxson! 🍄🍋
I’m really looking forward to this one! So many things about the book description are hitting for me, and I can’t wait to crack this book open next week!
In this witty fantasy romance, a widow blackmails her rakish necromancer neighbor to bring her husband back to life and save her home – only to find herself falling for him instead.
Lady Hildegarde Croft is accustomed to changes in position. After all, she rose from maidservant to lady of the manor when she married Lord Thorgoode Croft. But when he drops dead quite unexpectedly, the plans that would have protected her and the people of Croftholde from her malevolent brother-in-law die along with him. What’s a widow to do?
Fortunately, potential salvation arrives in the form of Lord Erol Elmwood, who is fleeing the consequences of using his forbidden Charm to raise the dead and save his own life. Now he’s injured, destitute, and miserable, stuck hiding out at the neighboring estate.
For Hilde, blackmailing Lord Elmwood to resurrect Thorgoode seems like the perfect solution. For Elmwood, beautiful Lady Croft seems like the ideal distraction from his troubles. The problem is, all she wants from him is the horrifying power he knows he can never use again.
Are you looking forward to A Widow’s Charm? What books are coming out in the near future that you’re looking forward to?
As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!
Happy Tuesday everybody! Can’t believe it’s been a month since I last participated in this!
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Books on Your Spring 2026 To-Be Read List. It’s pretty self-explanatory, so I’m not gonna elaborate this time.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into it! Here are ten books currently near the top of my ever-shifting TBR! From most likely to least likely to be read.
One Piece (Volumes #73 – #78) by Eiichiro Oda
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
A Widow’s Charm by Caitlyn Paxson
Proven Guilty (Dresden Files #8) by Jim Butcher
The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu
Aurora (Volume #2) by Red
Platform Decay (Murderbot Diaries #8) by Martha Wells
The Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi Ishiguro
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawsett
The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence #1) by K.D. Edwards
What books are on your spring TBR? Which ones are you most excited to read? Are they upcoming releases, books that have been around awhile, or a mix of both?
As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope that you have an amazing day/night!
Yes! I’m on time today! Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a good week! It’s time for another Weekly Wrap-Up!
Last week wasn’t too bad, but it could’ve been a little better. I did read a book, though, and posted a few times on here, so I’m relatively content with it all.
But yeah, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!
Tuesday 3/17: St. Patrick’s Day
Last Tuesday was St. Pat’s, so here’s a belated Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! ☘️🍻💚🇮🇪 It’s one of my favorite days of the year; I just love how it almost always feels like spring, as well as the green theme. I really like the color green. And the food is always amazing.
Wednesday 3/18: WWW Wednesday
On Wednesday, I participated in WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. It focuses on the Three Ws of Reading: What are you currently reading?What did you recently finish reading? and What do you think you’ll read next?
Friday 3/20: First Day of Spring / First Line Friday
This past Friday was the First Day of Spring!! 🌸🌱🌼🌿 So long winter! And goodbye to freezing cold weather! Honestly, though it wasn’t as bad as in 2024, I’m still ready for some warmer temperatures.
This past Friday, I participated in First Line Friday again. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s where you guess what book the post is highlighting based on the book’s first words.
On Saturday, I posted my book review for Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan. It was the sequel to Darker By Four, and the second half of the Darker By Four Duology.
It was one one my most anticipated reads (and sequels) for the first half of this year, and it didn’t disappoint. I actually enjoyed it more than it’s predecessor, and thought that it wrapped things up well. I gave it ★★★✫☆.
So yeah, that’s what I did last week. I’m hoping to either at least match it this week, or to surpass it. Like reading more books or something, as well as maybe posting a little more.
For my blogging this week, I want to participate in a few of the weekly posts, as well as doing a monthly post. Concerning my reading, I’m planning on finishing up the Dressrosa saga of One Piece, and then hopefully moving on to Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. My spouse reading and liking the series, as well as literally everyone else at the moment, has finally worn me down, and I want in on that. And if I finish that before the end of the week, then I want to do a book review on it.
Not much else went on outside of books and blogging last week. There was St. Patrick’s Day, and the big cleaning day of the month came along, but that’s kind of it. It was a pretty chill week, honestly.
Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
“Your lack of belief is not proof of something’s lack of existence,” Madam Meng said. “What is real and what is myth? You will often find the truth somewhere in between.”
The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets Chinese diaspora folklore in this sequel to the #1 Sunday Times bestseller Darker by Four! The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets the Chinese underworld, drawing inspiration from diaspora folklore, in this epic, sweeping contemporary fantasy duology from Jade Fire Gold author June CL Tan.
Rui has her life back together – or so it seems. Hailed as a hero, she’s finally on her way to becoming an important member of the Exorcist Guild. But she knows the Hybrid Revenants are still out there, and they’re planning something big. Something evil.
Ziziis trapped in the underworld. As his mortal body deteriorates, he realizes he can access the Fourth King’s memories, which may be the key to keeping the mortal realm safe. To save the girl he loves, he must defy fate – and escape Hell.
Yiran watches from the shadows, magicless once more. When he discovers a dark family secret that changes everything he thought he knew, his hunger for power tempts him toward a possible betrayal. And he must decide what he truly stands for – before it’s too late.
As the consequences of the past wreak havoc on the present, three lives bound by the threads of fate must weave a new destiny for themselves – and the realms.
My Review
“What is fate, if not the universe conspiring?” One mused, turning to the gleaming horizon. “As I once told you, Fate connects us through the past, present, and future. It does not care if you have faith in it or not. It simply is, and we are mere moments in its timeline.”
It’s been awhile since Darker By Four.So you can imagine how pumped I was when I saw that the sequel was releasing early this year. It was one of my most anticipated reads for March. I ended up enjoying Brighter Than Nine, just as I hoped I would. I love it when books that I look forward to end up being good.
First off, I really liked how the characters developed here. Rui was just as awesome as in the first book, even if her point-of-view chapters were a little slower in the first half of the book. Her personality is just as strong and fierce, and I was reminded why she was one of my top FMCs to follow in 2024.
We also got to see a lot of Zizi’s POV here in the sequel, which I was ecstatic about. He was one of my favorite characters in book one, and he was just as great here. His chapters were so fun and interesting. Yiran was also a much stronger character here, compared to the first book, and I loved seeing him grow. He honestly kind of pissed me off in Darker By Four, and while there was a little of that here, it wasn’t nearly as annoying, and he had a great character arc.
I loved seeing more of Ash as well, and was so happy that he got to have a few chapters. I love Ash. It was great seeing more of his perspective on things, like his mentor-student dynamic with Rui, and his brotherly relationship with Yiran. And I also liked Yuki, which I wasn’t sure that I would, since he came out of nowhere in the first novel. But he ended up being an interesting character.
“I see you’re intent on being difficult tonight, Cadet Lin.”
Rui shrugged. “Not any more than usual.”
“I need a coffee,” Ash groaned.
Seeing all of the mythology and lore and magic of Tan’s world get expanded upon from the first novel was also amazing. It’s probably my favorite thing about the book – I loved learning more about the underworld, and meeting the other Kings, and discovering the celestial realm.
The romance was also fantastic. Zizi and Rui’s protectiveness was just as great as in Darker By Four, even if the pining during their separation hurt my heart. And I really liked Yiran and Yuki’s relationship here, it was built up really well.
There were only a few things I didn’t really like about Brighter Than Nine. I disliked that the trio – Rui, Yiran, and Zizi – were split up for so much of the book. Their dynamic and banter were some of my favorite things about the first book. There wasn’t a lot of it in this novel, either, which was a little disappointing. One of my least favorite tropes also made a little appearance in the last quarter of the book, which was annoying, but even with it there was a satisfying resolution to everything.
The other thing that kind of annoyed me were a few lines of dialogue. They just kind of took me out a little. The one that comes to mind is when one of the characters starts talking about which parts of their relationship are trope-y, and similar stuff like that. I dunno, it just felt a little meta and it kind of bugged me.
It was magical. Her city. She would save it, no matter what it took. As they sped on, the noise and chaos seemed to fade. For a moment, everything seemed to slow, and she was able to catch her breath. It was just the wind and her and Zizi. And she found herself wishing that this quiet would last forever.
But other than those few things, I thought that Brighter Than Nine was a fantastic book. I even felt that it was better than the first one. The climax was also good, and I ended up liking the ending a lot.
So yeah, this was a great book. I definitely recommend it, especially to fans of June CL Tan’s other stuff, as well as enjoyers of other Asian fantasy, YA, and anime. This novel was a lot of fun.
Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I hope that everybody has an amazing day/night!
Hey all and Happy Friday! It’s been a few weeks since I last did this.
First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.
What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?
If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:
📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page 📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first 📙 Finally… reveal the book!
Here are the first lines:
The transformation occurred at approximately 2:23 AM, Pacific Standard Time. As far as I could tell, anyone who was indoors when it happened died instantly.
Know the book? If not here are a few clues…
Still got no idea? Here’s an extra hint or two to help you out…
Are you still thinking about it? All good – here are some lovely pictures of books to admire while you do so…
Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman!
The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.
You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.
Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.
Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.
What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?
As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!
The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
What I’m Currently Reading
✯✯ Well, this is a bit embarrassing, but you’ve caught me in between books. Oh well – hopefully I’ll start reading something by tomorrow. I’m definitely reading something this week, though. ✯✯
★★ I thought it was better than Darker By Four, but it wasn’t quite as good as I was hoping. I did like it, however. Also, both book covers are awesome. I’m still deliberating on whether I want to give it 3.5 or 3.75 stars. ★★
☆☆ I’m definitely gonna start the next arc in One Piece wihhin the next week, but I’m not sure if I’m reading it next-next. It’s absolutely on my immediate TBR, though. ☆☆
☆☆ This has been on my radar for a few years, and I’m thinking about reading it in the very near future. I’m still not completely sure about it, however. ☆☆
What books has everyone been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What are you thinking of reading next?
Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a great day/night!
Ugh, this is so late. I hope you’re having a good week so far. This past weekend and the last few days have been a bit iffy, which is why this isn’t on Monday like it usually is. But anyway, it’s time for another Weekly Wrap-Up!
Last week was fine. I did a decent amount of posting here on the blog and I read another book. So I’m happy about that.
But anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!
Tuesday 3/10: February Reading 2026
Last Tuesday, I posted my Monthly Reading Wrap-Up for February 2026. And I got it out at a reasonable time of the month, this time. For those who don’t know, monthly wrap-ups are when I go over the books I read over the past month, as well as my stats over on The StoryGraph.
On Wednesday, I participated in WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. It focuses on the Three Ws of Reading: What are you currently reading?What did you recently finish reading? and What do you think you’ll read next?
Friday 3/13: Don’t Let the Forest In Review / Friday the 13th
This past Friday, I reviewed Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews. It’s a YA fantasy-horror novel, with LGBT+ themes. It was somewhat reminiscent of things I’ve read before and I had other issues with it, but I generally enjoyed it. I gave it ★★★★☆, because even though it had its flaws, I really like the cover and I think it was a pretty decent book.
It was also Friday the 13th. Like I said last month, it isn’t a holiday or anything. I just like to acknowledge it for whatever reason. And we had two of these this year – because one of the Friday the 13th’s happened to be in February.
Saturday 3/14: Pi Day (π)
On Saturday, I didn’t really post anything, but it was another day of the year I like to point out for some reason – Pi Day (3.14). We didn’t end up getting a pie to celebrate, unfortunately. Oh well. Still love the day, though.
Books I Read Last Week
Wrapping It All Up
So yeah, that’s all the stuff that happened last week. This week I want to do just as well or better. Hopefully I can keep this up.
Concerning my blogging, I want to post my review for Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan. I’d also like to participate in at least one or two of my usual weekly posts, and maybe something else. Not all sure yet. In regards to what I want to read next, I’m in between jumping right into the next arc of One Piece, or maybe reading The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards. I’m not completely sure yet.
Regarding stuff outside of books and blogging, last week my spouse and I finally finished the original Justice League cartoon from 2001. They’ve already seen it, so it was a rewatch for them, but it was new for me. We’d actually started watching its first season like a year and a half ago, but just now got around to watching the second and finishing up the show. I thought it was all right; I didn’t dislike it or anything, it just didn’t blow my mind either.
We also watched season two of the live action One Piece. And it was just as good as the first season. I can’t believe one of the top live action anime adaptations is One Piece – you’d think it would be impossible. And how the hell do they keep doing perfect casting?! But yeah, we really enjoyed it. Looking forward to season three (probably) next year – can’t wait to see how they adapt Alabasta.
Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
GENRES: Fantasy, Horror, LGBT+, Young Adult, Fiction
PUBLISHER: Feiwel & Friends
RELEASE DATE: 29 October 2024
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him.
Kill for him.
High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality – Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.
But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won’t say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork – whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew’s wicked stories.
Desperate to figure out what’s wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster – Thomas’s drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator…
My Review
Below them something scraped softly over the snowy path. The world smelled of sweet cloying decay, rotten leaves, and earth.
Happy Friday the 13th! What a perfect day to review a horror novel! Anyway, I really liked Don’t Let the Forest In. I had a feeling that I would, but my gut isn’t always correct when it comes to books, so it was nice that I was right this time.
The characters were all very compelling. I liked the main character, Andrew Perrault. From the get go, it’s immediately apparent that he has flaws and that there’s a lot going on with him. He’s a more reserved protagonist, but I didn’t mind that at all. He’s also one of my new favorite unreliable narrators. Thomas Rye was also a great deuteragonist. His personality both contrasts and complements Andrew’s very well, and they match each other nicely. They’re a writer and an artist – a perfect pairing. I enjoyed the side characters as well, like Lana, Chloe, as well as Dove, Andrew’s twin sister.
I really liked how surreal the story felt, both because of the prose and because of the way the narration is. There’s something not quite right about everything going on and it itches at the back of your mind throughout most of the plot, until things finally come to a head near the end of the novel.
“I think someday you’ll hate me.” Thomas’s voice stretched with a loneliness Andrew had never heard before. “You’ll cut me open and find a garden of rot where my heart should be.”
Andrew let the silence sharpen between them, waited until Thomas’s breath caught in quiet anguish from being made to wait. “When I cut you open,” Andrew finally said, “all I’ll find is that we match.”
The romance was also well done. I’m not always into books where most of the romance is just yearning. But because of all the horrific things going on, it felt fitting. It really fits in well with the rest of the narrative. And it also helped that Andrew and Thomas both had a lot of natural chemistry.
The horror aspect was probably my favorite thing about Don’t Let the Forest In. I preferred it over the last book I read that focused on horror, Snow Drowned.(Though I do appreciate Eldritch horror sometimes as well.) I tend to prefer it when it’s macabre and surreal like it is here. The way the writing is also accentuates this facet of the novel really well, with the unnatural line breaks within sentences and paragraphs, as well as emphasized and repeated words. I’ve heard people found it reminiscent of E.E. Cummings, and I find that I agree.
Sometimes there was no stopping pain. There was just seeing how much you could swallow before it spilled out your throat.
I also found several elements about the book reminiscent of The Other by Thomas Tryon, an old horror book from the early 1970s. (If you’re also read it, you’ll know what I’m getting at.) And because parts of this book reminded me so much of it, I was able to catch many of the twists extremely early on (I figured out one of them by chapter two or three). This isn’t even close to a bad thing, because I love getting to the end of a book even if I’ve figured things out and being validated that I guessed correctly. The author’s writing style itself is entertaining enough where it also kept me very engaged through the whole novel, as well.
Last but certainly not least, the art here was also amazing, and not just the cover either (though I love that the most). The interior sketches are phenomenal, and they help highlight so many of the scenes that they’re included in. It was great to get a visual of some of the monsters. I also liked the little writings from Andrew’s notebook scattered throughout most of the book, too.
To write something nice, he’d need something nice to say. But his ribs were a cage for monsters and they cut their teeth on his bones.
So yeah, Don’t Let the Forest In was an absolutely solid book. I enjoyed basically everything about it honestly, though not quite enough for a perfect star rating. I’m not sure why – maybe because I’ve read The Other already, and that had already set such a high standard. This was still an excellent novel though. Definitely recommend it.
Anyway, as always, thank you to everyone so much for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!
☆☆ Not fully decided though I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be continuing with the next arc of One Piece, which is Punk Hazard and directly followed by Dressrosa. I’ve heard Punk Hazard is a good arc, so I’m looking forward to it. ☆☆
What books has everyone been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What are you thinking of reading next?
Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a great day/night!
Yes! I’m posting this on a reasonable day of the month this time! So yeah, here’s my reading wrap-up for February 2026! I’m relatively happy with it, this time.
I read a couple of books, though as always, I wish I would’ve read more. Oh well, maybe in March I can do better. I think my problem this time around was that it took me a bit to get reading. My blog activity throughout February was pretty good, though, and I’m really satisfied with that.
Anyway, let’s just start talking about my StoryGraph statistics from last month!
February Reading 2026
I’m gonna continue with what I started last month, and my general statistics here first before getting into the more specific stuff. Not everything was as high as in January – such as my page count and ratings – but I’m okay with it.
I read 📚 2 books and 📑 784 pages in February, and my average star rating was ⭐ 3.0 stars. Also, the average length of the books I read was 📈 392 pages and my average time to finish a novel was 🗓️ 2 days.
😐 MOODS: For this past month, my Moods were Adventurous, Mysterious, and Reflective, and all three slices of the pie chart were equal.
👢 PACE: The pacing of of the books that I read in February was 100% medium.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Concerning my average Page Number per book, all 100% of the novels were between 300 and 499 pages. So they were both the same in this aspect.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: Regarding the ratio here, the books I read were both fiction. As is my usual.
🎭 GENRES: The Genres I read in February were Fantasy and Young Adult. Both books were Fantasy and one of them was Young Adult.
📄 FORMAT: The Format was 50% print and 50% digital. So, one of the novels was a physical copy, and the other was an ebook.
📊 STAR RATINGS: I’ve already mentioned this above, but this is what it looks like on the graph. One novel I read I gave 2.75 stars (Stolen Midnights) and the other I gave 3.5 stars (Strange Animals), resulting in my average.
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I didn’t read anything over the first half of the month, unfortunately, but I did during the second half. A decent amount, too. I read Strange Animals between the 22nd and the 24th, and then later I read Stolen Midnights at the very end of February on the 27th and the 28th. The last two days of the month were also my highest peak in reading.
So yeah, I would’ve liked February to have been a little bit better, but I’m overall not that disappointed. I’m really happy with my blog activity from last month, too. I just want to read more books per month.
In regards to my reading so far in March, I read Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews last week, and I’m planning to start Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan today (it just came out!). After that, I’m not as sure, but I definitely have a few ideas.
Anyway, as always, thank you for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my February reading in 2026. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!
