bibliophile

Weekly Wrap-Up: 2/2 – 2/8

Right on time this week! I know I’ve been saying this for the past few weeks, but man did last week fly by.

Last week wasn’t too bad, regarding my blog activity, though I didn’t do everything that I’d wanted to. I didn’t get to reading any books either. Oh well. I’ll aim to do better this week.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Tuesday 2/3: The Most Interesting Looking New Books of February 2026

Last Tuesday, I posted a list of the books that I’m looking forward to this month. Or, at least the ones that I think look the most interesting. It was the The Most Interesting Looking New Books of February 2026. As always, it’s basically only fantasy and science fiction, as those are the two genres I primarily read. This time there were six books on my list.

The Most Interesting Looking New Books of February 2026

Wednesday 2/4: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Strange Animals

Friday 2/6: Bewitching Book Covers

This past Friday, I posted a Bewitching Book Covers for the first time in over a month. Bewitching Book Covers (formerly known as Majestic Mondays and Tasteful Tuesdays), is when I gush over a book cover that I like as well as analyze it (sometimes). I also typically give the book covers funny rating systems – not the usual blank out of five stars kind of thing.

Bewitching Book Covers: Stolen Midnights

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, last week was okay. It wasn’t great, but it was fine enough. I’m hoping that this week I’ll be a little bit better with my blog stuff, and that I’ll at least read one book. We’ll see.

For my posts, I’m at the very least planning on (finally) posting my review for The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune, as well as my monthly reading wrap-up for January 2026. I’d also like to participate in at least a couple of the usual weekly posts that I try to join in during most weeks.

Regarding books and reading, I think I’m going to read a February new release. After that, it’s a little bit up in the air at the moment. I’ll see what I’m feeling after I finish the next book I decide to go for.

Concerning stuff outside of books and blogging, I did a little more than my usual last week. I mean, yeah, my spouse and I are still trying to be healthier, but I also finally got around to changing the decor. So the Christmas and Winter decorations have at last been taken down, and now the Valentine’s Day stuff is up. Yay! I’m very happy to finally be switched over. So is my spouse, haha.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

All the Books I Read Last Year | Reading 2025

Here it is! Part 2 of my reading wrap-up for the books I read during 2025. You can check out Part #1 here if you’re interested in the rest of my statistics from The StoryGraph and you haven’t already.

Anyway, I read 20 books, which were 6,379 pages all together. A decent amount of books. Not as many as I read in 2024 or 2023 as I mentioned in Part #1, but it’s still not bad. I’m hoping I’ll get back in the game this year, though, and that my reading in 2026 will be much better than it was last year.

2025 Reading Wrap-Up

The Books I Read in 2025

How many books did you read last year? How many did you like and dislike? What was your favorite and least favorite? Did we read any of the same books?

Anyway, last year was fine, and I did okay with my novel reading as well as posting on this blog. I think. I could’ve done better, though. Hopefully this year things will be different.

But yeah, as always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

End of the Year Book Tag 2025

Hello all and Happy New Year’s Eve!! 🍾🎉 Since it’s the last day of the year, I thought I’d do the End of the Year Book Tag like I did last year. It’s just the perfect thing to do. Also, Leslie @ Books Are the New Black tagged everybody, which reminded me about it, sooo… yeah.

The End of the Year Book Tag was created by Ariel Bissett over at YouTube. There are six questions, and the tag focuses on reflecting on the past year’s reading, as well as looking forward to future reading. Once again, I’m kind of posting this at the eleventh hour, but oh well.

Anyway, here we go!

📖 Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish? 📖

No. I think I finished all of the books that I’ve intended to. Especially considering that it’s the last day of the year; had it been earlier, my answer here might have been different.

🎆 Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year? 🎆

This isn’t exactly a Christmas themed book, but it does take place just before it. Plus, there’s magical stuff going on, so it’s kind of got a holiday vibe on that front.

🕛 Is there a new release you’re still waiting for? 🕛

No, all the books I was looking forward to in 2025 have already come out.

📚 What are three books you want(ed) to read by the end of the year? 📚

Out of all three of these books, The Ashfire King is the one that I definitely wanted to read the most. Like, by a wide margin. But as the days crept closer to the end of the year, I realized I wasn’t going to have time, considering it’s size. Which is disappointing, because I got this book the day it came out way back in April. I’m definitely reading it next year, though – hopefully in January.

I’ve wanted to read This is How You Lose the Time War for a couple of years now, and after I got it for Christmas last year, I was determined to read it within the year. Which is why I read it in January – to make sure I read it in 2025.

This was another book that I’ve had my eye on for a while, as well as received for Christmas last year. I was also resolved about reading A Study in Charlotte in 2025, especially during the last third of the year after the really bad thing happened in my personal life. And I did, and I was very happy that I was able to read it.

💘 Is there a book you think that could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year? 💘

No, I don’t think so, not with the end of the year being hours away. Not to mention, I’m not going to read anything else this year, and I don’t believe I’m going to change my mind about anything in the meager time remaining of 2025.

🗒️ Have you already started making reading plans for 2025? 🗒️

Somewhat. As always, it’s nothing too specific, nor do I have a certain order I want to read any of these books in, if I don’t change my mind about reading them. I’m definitely planning on reading The Ashfire King very soon, though. I’ve sat on this book for more than long enough. I’m pretty sure I’m going to read this one next, but we’ll see.

So, I guess I’ll tag everyone who wants to do this tag again, even though it’s basically too late to do this tag at this point. Unless you’ve got some time and you’re quick, lol. This was a fun little tag, though, and I’m glad I managed to squeak this out.

As always, thanks to everybody so much for reading, and I hope that you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 11/17 – 11/23

Hey there. I’m a little late with this, but it’s still really early in the week, so I’ll take it. Ugh. Still getting back into things.

Like the couple of weeks of the month, I still haven’t really read any books, unfortunately. I really, really want to, though! I don’t know why it’s so hard to get into the mindset of novel reading right now, but I’m very annoyed about it. As for my blogging last week… well, at least there was some of that, even if I only ended up posting twice. Erghhhh. (I’m kind of frustrated with myself about this, lol.)

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Friday 11/21: First Line Friday

Last Friday, I participated in First Line Fridays for the first time in a couple of months. 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.

First Line Friday: 11/21

Sunday 11/23: Bewitching Book Covers

On Sunday, I finally got around to posting another Bewitching Book Covers. The gap wasn’t as long as last time, but it’s still been over a month since the last time I did one of these posts. So I thought it was more than time for another one.

Bewitching Book Covers (formerly known as Majestic Mondays and Tasteful Tuesdays), is when I gush over a book cover that I like as well as analyze it (sometimes). I also typically give the book covers funny rating systems – not the usual blank out of five stars kind of thing.

Bewitching Book Covers: Seven Deadly Thorns

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, last week wasn’t what I was hoping it would be, but it definitely could’ve been – and absolutely has been – worse, so even though I’m annoyed about it, it’s not as much as I could be. I do want this coming week to be better, however. I really have to get back into gear.

I’m still debating about which book to read next, which has created the problem in which I don’t read anything at all. It’s very stupid, I know. I just gotta pick up a book and read, damnit! Ugh! My blog activity was okay, though. I would’ve liked it if it were better – and it should’ve been better – but it wasn’t, and I just gotta accept that. Hopefully I’ll be better with both reading and posting on the blog this coming week.

Regarding stuff outside of books and blogging, there wasn’t really anything big that went on last week, as usual. It was cleaning week, so we did that, but that was kind of it. I did do a couple of things to prepare for Thanksgiving as well, though. My spouse and I are also trying to watch what we eat more, and try to be healthier in general. We kind of fell off of that for a while, what with everything going on.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Bewitching Book Covers: The Stardust Thief

Oh wow, it’s been a bit since I’ve done this post, huh? This is what I get for going with the flow on this blog, I guess. Happy Saturday everybody, by the way. Now let’s talk about a Bewitching Book Cover.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Bewitching Book Covers (formerly Tasteful Tuesdays, and before that, Majestic Mondays), is a series where I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it. That’s it, that’s pretty much the point of this post.

This week, the book cover that I’m highlighting is The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah! I’ve been meaning to get to its sequel, The Ashfire King, but I’ve been both distracted and busy, so I’m hoping doing this post will hype me up to read it.

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

SERIES: The Sandsea Trilogy (Book #1)

LENGTH: 467 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Orbit Books

RELEASE DATE: 17 May 2022

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief weaves the gripping tale of a legendary smuggler, a cowardly prince, and a dangerous quest across the desert to find a legendary, magical lamp.

Neither here nor there, but long ago…

Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land—at the cost of sacrificing all jinn.

With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie’s past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything—her enemy, her magic, even her own past—is not what it seems, and she must decide who she will become in this new reality.

Book Cover Rating: ✨✨✨✨ • 4 handfuls of magic

Ahhh, it’s been so long since I’ve read this (ei: about two years, lol). But seeing as The Stardust Thief’s long-awaited sequel has finally released, I thought it was finally time to gush about this book cover art.

I’ve always loved this book cover; and I actually owe it to the cover for getting me to pick up this novel. It really caught my eye, for some reason. I think it was the colors and the way they supplemented one another, along with the book’s really interesting sound title. So I guess let’s start with that – I really like the colors and how they’re used here.

If you’ve read any of my Bewitching Book Cover posts before, you know that I have trouble resisting a cover when it has purple on it, particularly when it’s used well. I also happen to like how the fire is integrated well in a cover, and this book has they too, which I of course enjoy. The bonus is that the range and purple complement one another really well, which bumps the cover up when higher in my rating.

The font used for the title and author also looks very nice. I especially like the presentation of the title – the little extra swirl on some of the letters is pretty in a simple way. And it’s not overly detailed, which I enjoy about it. The way the dark purple and gold colors used for the fonts of the title and author’s make respectively, is also pretty cool. I love a good contrast, as well as complementary stuff on covers, so this novel having both makes it extra great.

So yeah, here’s yet another beautiful book cover. What do you think about this cover art? Have you read The Stardust Thief? If you have, have you also read The Ashfire King, its sequel?

Anyway, as always, thank you for reading, and I hope that you have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with the Word “Thief” in the Title

Hi everybody! It’s pretty late at night here, but there’s still time for a Top Ten Tuesday!

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 with the Word “[Insert Word Here]” in the Title. Basically, just pick a word and then find ten books with the word you chose in the title. The word I chose – as you can already tell by the title of this post – is “Thief” (or its plural form), a word I see a lot in titles of books. (Can you tell that The Stardust Thief has been on my mind lately because of the sequel?)

So without further ado, here are ten novels with the word “Thief” in their titles!

  1. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
  2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
  3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
  4. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
  5. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
  6. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
  7. Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick
  8. The Thief Queen’s Daughter by Elizabeth Haydon
  9. Thief’s Covenant by Ari Marmell
  10. The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron

What word did you pick for your post? Which words have you noticed tend to be in book titles?

As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope that you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 3/10 – 3/16

So… I didn’t post as much last week as I’d planned to – I had wanted to do at least one more post. But what can you do. This weekend kind of got a little busy, so I wasn’t able to squeeze another post or two out.

I have started reading books again! Or, at least, a book. It’s a novella too, but I’m feeling in the mood to read books again, which is so awesome. The past two or three months have been really rough in that regard, unfortunately. I’m really hoping that March will end up differently.

Anyway, I’ll shut up now. Without further ado, let’s get on with the weekly wrap-up!

Wednesday 3/12: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

Last Wednesday, I did another Can’t-Wait Wednesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. There’s a good chance it’s the first of some in a row. There are just a bunch of books coming out lately that look interesting.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: The Keeper of Lonely Spirits

Friday 3/14: First Line Friday / Pi Day

On Friday, I participated in First Line Fridays for the first time in a few weeks. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words.

This past Friday was also Pi Day – 3/14. We forgot to get a pie to celebrate last week before Pi Day, and then the weather sucked too much to go out and grab one, so we didn’t do anything for it this year. Oh well. Hopefully next year we’ll be able to do it.

First Line Friday: 3/14

Books I Read Last Week

💖🎁 Wrapping It All Up 💖🎁

So yeah, last week wasn’t what I was planning regarding posting and it wasn’t as much as I normally would’ve wanted, but I’m actually okay with how stuff turned out. And hey, I’m not only reading novels again, but I’m in the mood to be reading novels again. So I’m counting that as a win.

In relation to books and reading, the things I’m gonna read next are a couple of fantasy series from the ’00s and from the ’10s. Well, the one from the ’10s is actually a sequel series to another quadrilogy that I read and absolutely loved that I’ve never read, but they’re by the same author, so I’m kind of grouping them together because of that.

It’s been about ten years since I read that series – The Seven Realms – and I’m feeling nostalgic. Which is why I think I’m finally ready to read its sequel quadrilogy, The Shattered Realms. I also want to read The Dragon Heir, the third book (and possibly the original final novel) in The Heir Chronicles, before the author added more books several years later. I read the first two books about five and a half years ago, and I want to finish the original trilogy. So March might be Cinda Williams Chima for me this year.

So for blog posts this week: I want to do more of them than last week. I want to do a couple of my usual weekly posts of course, a book review and the monthly post that I usually like to do. I had intended to do this one this weekend actually, but time got away from me – I think I might double post today because of that, actually.

Anyway, I’ve talked more than enough here. As always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Another Time

Hello everyone, and Happy Tuesday! It’s been a couple of weeks.

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 Set in Another Time. It can be any book that’s historical, futuristic, is an alternate universe, or even in a world where you’re not sure when it takes place you just know it’s not right now.

This one was interesting. I think I kind of ended up going the alternate universe route, because the books I chose ended up being fantasy or sci-fi with magic or advanced technology, whether they take place in the past or future. Anyway, without further ado, on with the post!

  1. All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
  2. A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
  3. The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) by Patrick Ness
  4. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
  5. Winterspell (Winterspell #1) by Claire Legrand
  6. Sheets by Brenna Thummler
  7. The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor
  8. The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennett, Witch by Melinda Taub
  9. Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro
  10. This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee

What books do you like that take place in a different time period? Do you prefer stories set in the past or the future?

As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope that you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 2/14

Happy Valentine’s Day!! 💝🌹💌🌷🍫💐 Wow, it’s been like three weeks since I last participated in this post.

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’s the first line:

If there is one subject upon which Wendell and I will never agree, it is the wisdom of attempting to drag a cat into Faerie.

Know the book? If you don’t, here’s a couple more hints…

Still not know? Think about it a bit more while looking at these nice photos of books…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett!!

(Didja guess it?)

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

SERIES: Emily Wilde #3

LENGTH: 352 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Del Rey

RELEASE DATE: 11 February 2025

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The third installment in the heartwarming and enchanting Emily Wilde series, about a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore and the fae prince she loves.

Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen.

Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world: How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.

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 a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 1/17

Jeez, what is with me this week?! I thought I was finally back on track after the holidays. Ugh. Oh well. Anyway, it’s been a few weeks since I last participated in First Line Fridays.

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’s the first line:

The first time I met her was at the tail end of one of those endless weekday nights you could only have at a school like Sherringford.

Know the book yet? If not, here’s another couple of hints for you…

Still have no idea? Think about it a little more, while staring at these pretty pictures of books…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallero!!

(Didja guess it?)

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallero

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallero

SERIES: Charlotte Holmes #1

LENGTH: 336 pages

GENRES: Contemporary, Mystery, Young Adult, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Katherine Tegen Books

RELEASE DATE: 1 March 2016

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The first book in a witty, suspenseful new series about a brilliant new crime-solving duo: the teen descendants of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. This clever page-turner will appeal to fans of Maureen Johnson and Ally Carter.

Jamie Watson has always been intrigued by Charlotte Holmes; after all, their great-great-great-grandfathers are one of the most infamous pairs in history. But the Holmes family has always been odd, and Charlotte is no exception. She’s inherited Sherlock’s volatility and some of his vices–and when Jamie and Charlotte end up at the same Connecticut boarding school, Charlotte makes it clear she’s not looking for friends.

But when a student they both have a history with dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Danger is mounting and nowhere is safe–and the only people they can trust are each other.

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 amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar