Can’t-Wait Wednesday: The Floating World

Hey all, happy Wednesday! It’s been a couple of weeks since I last participated in this post. But I’m here again with another new release that I’m interested in.

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:

The Floating World by Axie Oh!! 🗡️✨

I really liked The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea when I first read it – when it came out, in early 2023. This novel is by the same author and it also looks interesting, so I’m intrigued. It also looks like it’s the start of a series as well!

The Floating World by Axie Oh

The Floating World by Axie Oh

SERIES: The Floating World #1

LENGTH: 368 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Feiwel and Friends

RELEASE DATE: 29 April 2025

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the SeaFinal Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this romantic fantasy reimagining the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens.

Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.

Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.

Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn’t realize she’s the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined… 

Are you looking forward to the release of The Floating World? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?

As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar | Book Review

If the river has roots, it has branches, too; learn to climb them, and find your sister. It all returns to grammar.

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

LENGTH: 133 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tordotcom

RELEASE DATE: 4 March 2025

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The River Has Roots is the hugely anticipated solo debut of the New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award winning author Amal El-Mohtar. Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death.

The hardcover edition features beautiful interior illustrations.

“Oh what is stronger than a death? Two sisters singing with one breath.”

In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family. 

There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees. 

But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…

My Review

What is a river but an open throat, what is water but a voice?

Nevermind what I said in my last weekly wrap-up, I’ve decided to do a book review today instead! And before I get into it, I just wanted to say to everyone: Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! ☘️🍻 It was a nice day today where I live. Spring really feels like it’s on its way.

The River Has Roots was a pretty good read. The cover is honestly what first caught my eye (it’s gorgeous). But as someone who recently read and loved This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar having written it also contributed to me wanting to read it. And, like I said, it wasn’t a bad read at all.

Ysabel said, fiercely for all that her voice was muffled into Esther’s shoulder: “Promise?”

“I promise,” said Esther, and meant it with her whole heart.

I really liked the focus on the two main characters: 🎵 Esther Hawthorne 🦢 and her younger sister 🎶 Ysabel Hawthorne 🔔 . I haven’t read any sibling-focused books lately, but I always enjoy a good sibling dynamic. And these sisters have one. They do it without having either being exactly the same, or exact opposites. This was refreshing, because siblings in media are usually one or the other.

💍 Rin 🌊 was also an interesting character. I tend to like characters who are fae creatures – mostly when they’re fae creatures written correctly – and Rin is not the exception here. I found their romance with Esther to be sweet, and I was rooting for them as a couple right away. The witch, 🪄 Agnes Crow 🐦‍⬛ , was also pretty awesome – I think she was the most interesting character to me, honestly.

I enjoyed 🖋️ the plot 📄 well enough, as well. I really appreciated the nods to other fairy stories (like Tam Lin) and some of the references therein. There’s a pretty strong story here too, despite it all being only about 100 pages or so. I will say that the book is noticably shorter than it appears to be. This is because literally a quarter of this book is just a sneak peak for El-Mohtar’s upcoming short story collection. So that’s what the last 30 pages are, if you were curious.

What is magic but a change in the world? What is conjugation but a transformation, one thing into another? She runs; she ran; she will run again.

My favorite thing about The River Has Roots, however, is the way that ✨ magic ✨ interacts with the 🗺️ world 🗺️ and the way it’s described. I loved the way the author used the word grammar, as well as the usage of conjugation. I also adored the singing sisters, and their singing ancestors, and how music framed so much of the novella and its magic. And the puns – the puns were also cool.

And before I close out this review, it would be remiss of me not to comment on the absolutely 🖌️ beautiful artwork 🎨 featured here. Yes, as I mentioned above, the cover art is very pretty, but the interior illustrations are also amazing. Essentially, in addition to being a pretty good novella, this book also has pretty pictures to look at, too.

But that is the nature of grammar-it is always tense, like an instrument, aching for release, longing to transform present into past into future, is into was into will.

So yeah, this was a pretty good book, and I enjoyed it well enough. I definitely recommend it to those who are big fans of This is How You Lose the Time War, and to a slightly lesser extent, those who like faerie stories and LGBT+ stuff in fantasy. Novella fans will probably also find something to like about this book.

As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar


MY LINKS:


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.

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.

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

Monthly Wrap-Up: February Reading 2025

February Reading 2025

It’s a couple of days later than last month, but I think I’m posting my reading wrap-up for February 2025 at a pretty reasonable time. The contents I’m gonna be analyzing here… are not so great in comparison.

Yeah. My reading last month sucked. I only read one book, and I didn’t even get to reviewing it until this month. But seeing as in February 2024 I only read one book as well, I guess I didn’t do worse than last year. So I guess that’s something. Technically.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into my StoryGraph statistics from last month!

February Reading 2025

I read 1 book and 356 pages

😐 MOODS: I had three Moods in February, which was the same as in January. They were all the same size slice. The Moods were: AdventurousLighthearted and Funny.

👢 PACE: The book I read last month was medium-paced.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: The novel that I read was 356 pages.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction. But when you only read one book and it’s strictly fiction, it’s impossible to also read nonfiction.

🎭 GENRES: There were two Genres in the books I read in February. They were Fantasy and Romance.

📄 FORMAT: This pie chart was actually correct for once. Or twice, since this is the second month in a row this has happened. The only novel I read was a physical copy.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.0, and it was my only rating.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: My reading for February basically sucked until the last week. As in, I didn’t read anything. The only reading I did was between the 22nd and the 28th.

The Books I Read in February

★★★★☆ • my review

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So yeah, my reading from last month really sucked. I’m hoping beyond anything that it improves in March. Like, just about anything would be better than my performance in February.

March has a couple new books that I’m particularly interested in, so there’s a good chance I’ll read at least one or two of them. I might not get to one of them until a later month in the year, though. I also have a bit of a backlog of a TBR I’ve been wanting to get to, as well as a sequel series that I’ve been thinking about continuing with for a while. We’ll see what I end up reading.

Anyway, as always, thank you for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my February reading in 2025. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett | Book Review

I let out a trembling breath. “And what sort of queen would that make me?”

He looked perfectly earnest as he leaned in to kiss my cheek. “Mine.”

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

SERIES: Emily Wilde #3

LENGTH: 352 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, 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.

My Review

“Where would I be without you, Em?” he said. It was an old joke of ours, but it wasn’t a joke now, the way he said it. I did not reply, merely straightened the hair he had mussed, brush-ing it back into place. He took my hand and we kept going. Soon, the castle came into view-its light was visible first, a glow that silhouetted the nearby trees.

Yes! I finally finished and posted this review! It only took me forever. Ugh, I don’t know what it was about February this year… I just couldn’t get into reading for whatever reason. (I also can’t believe it’s been a month since I last posted a book review. Grrr. I’m a little frustrated with myself.)

Anyway, let’s talk about Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales.

Despite how long it took me to get to reading this book (the end of February) and how long it took me to compose this review (now), I really did enjoy it. It wasn’t my favorite in the series – that’s still the first novel, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries – but it was still very good. Honestly, I found that I enjoyed it about the same as book two, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands.

And so, without further ado, here I go. This ended up being a longer review, so I had to break it into sections, lol.

The Characters

He rose, shaking the dew from his cloak. “You have that look.”

He had mirrored my own train of thought, which made me scowl at him irrationally. “Which?”

“The one you wear whenever you outsmart me in some area,” he said.

“Well,” I began with a shrug, then stopped. My magnanimity was wearing thin, I’m afraid. “Haven’t I?”

He laughed, a clear, bright sound, and then, before I knew what was happening, he had lifted me off my feet and spun me through the air, the greenery and shadow of the forest a whirl all around me.

“My beloved Emily,” he murmured in my ear.

📒 Emily Wilde 🖋️ is still a fantastic protagonist. I still love her narrative voice and the trajectory of her character arc was awesome. Her relationship and banter with her academic rival and heir to the faerie realm of Silva Lupi, 🍃 Wendell Brambleby 🪡 (and yes, Wendell is still just as ridiculous as he’s always been) is also just as wonderful as it’s been the past two books. I really love where their relationship starts off from in this book, and where it finally ends. Everything about it was beautiful.

I always enjoy animal companions in stories, and Emily’s Black Dog 🖤 Shadow 🐕 and Wendell’s faerie cat 🧶 Orga 🐈‍⬛ have been fantastic ones for this series. It’s been a little sad seeing Shadow slow down, as he’s an old dog now, but he’s still as sweet and loyal as ever, and it made me happy every time he appeared on page. And Orga… well, a cat is still a cat even if it’s a faerie one, and I enjoyed all of her appearances as well. I just love doggos and kitties.

📚 Niamh Proudfit 🌳 is, I believe, the only new major supporting character introduced in Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales, but I felt she was a strong one. I really enjoyed reading about her, as well as her developing friendship with Emily. And we got to learn more about characters introduced near the end of the last book that didn’t get a lot of pagetime before, like Taran (a faerie lord who is also Wendell’s step-uncle as well as apparently like a million years old – as well as a sadist) and Callum (Taran’s mortal consort who has the faerie lord wrapped around his finger, but is unfortunately still kind of a non-character here in book three).

As this was the last book in the series, we also saw the return of pretty much all of the relevant cast from the first two books, which was phenomenal. I always love it when final books do this; it gives the impression that the series has come full circle. So yeah, Lilja and Margret, Farris Rose, Ariadne, Poe, Wendell’s stepmother, and even the freaking Hidden King all make appearances. And none of them feel like they’re out of place.

The Plot

I paused as the weight of what he was saying sank in. “Then-you haven’t the slightest idea how to rule a kingdom.”

“Does anyone?” He took my hand, discomfort shifting suddenly into earnestness. “We will learn together.”

“Oh God,” I said faintly.

He studied me. “Is it that bad? You already know more about faerie kingdoms than any mortal.”

As with the other two books in this series, I rather 💖 enjoyed the plot 📖 – I’d put it on par with book two. I think the strongest part of this novel for me was the middle, but the beginning was also pretty good even if it was a little slow.

The ending was also something that I thoroughly appreciated. I think that it was a wonderful way to end not just this book but the entire series as a whole, and can’t imagine a different denouement. Though I will mention that some of the chapters leading up to it were slow and felt like the book was being drawn out a little. Yeah, some of the pacing of the last third of the book was kind of… yeah. But I still really liked the story of this novel as a whole!

The Romance and Prose

He took my hand. His eyes were greener in the dappled sun-light and emerald murk of the lake. “Will you marry me?”

As always, 💞 I adored the romance 🔥 between Emily and Wendell. Their banter, was of course, impeccable, and the respect and love and trust between these two characters is my favorite part of their relationship. These are two people who know and understand each other very well, even despite the very inhumaness of the way one of them feels sometimes. I can’t stress enough how much I love reading about a deep relationship between two mature (for the most part) adults that is very consentual and full of communication. This is why they’re one of my favorite couples in fiction.

Not to mention these two start dating near the end of book one, so the rest of the series sees their relationship continue to evolve beyond the “finally getting together” phase that most books with romance end on. Just, so much of their romance is refreshing to read. And they complement one another so well.

Regarding the 🖊️ writing and prose 📄 … well, of course it’s still fantastic. As I mentioned above, I love Emily’s distinct voice, but I also love the way her journal entries are written. Even though I admittedly skipped most of them, unless I needed or desired further clarification, I appreciated the footnotes. They were – and always are – a very nice touch in the Emily Wilde series, and even if I don’t always read them I like that I have the option to, if I so choose.

Final Thoughts

“What can mortals learn of the stars, given that we cannot walk among them? Yet we try.” I opened my notebook again. “Others have argued that it is the endeavour itself that is the point of scholarship. I am not so certain of that, for I can never stop yearning for new discoveries. Even the smallest are as precious jewels to me.”

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales was an amazing addition to the Emily Wilde books, and an awesome conclusion to the rest of the series. I enjoyed reading about these characters and their world, and am very satisfied with the way things finished off, even if I’m a little sad to say goodbye. But it had a good ending, and that’s always one of the things I hope for the most when reading a series.

Of course I’m going to recommend this book, just like I did the rest of the series. Heather Fawcett is just a fantastic writer all around, and this book and especially the Emily Wilde series, showcase it beautifully. So yeah, if you like fantasy, romance, well-written romance and characters, and enjoy the occasional epistolary novel, then I can’t recommend this book enough. This trilogy enough. Heck, if you just enjoy good books – just read the Emily Wilde series, okay?

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

See ya ~Mar


MY LINKS:


Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Unlock the Dark

Happy Wednesday! It’s been a couple of weeks since one of these from me, but there’s still quite a few books coming out lately that I’m interested in!

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:

Unlock the Dark by Sasa Hawk! 🗝️📜

Unlock the Dark by Sasa Hawk

LENGTH: 352 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins

RELEASE DATE: 25 February 2025

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Perfect for fans of Brigid Kemmerer and Lexi Ryan, this debut romantasy stand-alone novel blends an immersive world, unique magic system, and swoon-worthy romance to create an unputdownable read that explores the great and terrible lengths to which love compels us to go.

Elia Tallis’s key conjuring abilities, when used with her father’s magic, allow her to open a path to any location. But Papa is dying, and Elia has been forced to painfully tether him to life so she can siphon his magic to provide for her siblings. The god of death, angry to be denied his due, punishes her by claiming her youngest brother as a servant.

Desperate to save her brother, Elia accepts a potentially deadly commission from Trys, a kindhearted prince with his nose stuck in a book. Trys wants Elia to help him find a legendary scroll. In exchange, he’ll give her his hand in marriage, securing her and her siblings’ futures and allowing her to release Papa to the afterlife.

Despite the danger of their quest, Elia and Trys find themselves increasingly drawn to each other. But when Trys finally reads the scroll, it transforms him into a monster beyond comprehension. Elia will have to wield her power in ways she never thought possible, braving a world of endless darkness and the nightmares dwelling within it to bring home the prince she’s growing to love.

Are you looking forward to the release of Unlock the Dark? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?

As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Love Freebie

Happy Tuesday everybody!

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 Love Freebie. So for this one I’ve decided to do the ten most recent books I’ve loved (so given four stars or higher) that have romance in them.

On with the post!

  1. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (Red x Blue)
  2. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (Lan Wangji x Wei Wuxian)
  3. The Glass Scientists by S.H. Cotugno (Henry Jekyll x Robert Lanyon)
  4. The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor (Dorian x Brody)
  5. The Dragonwatch series by Brandon Mull (Kendra Sorenson x Bracken)
  6. The Magisterium by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare (Callum x Tamara)
  7. Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens (Ellery x Knox)
  8. So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens (Arek x Matt)
  9. The Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde x Wendell Brambleby)
  10. White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton (Adam x Vic)

What are your favorite new books that feature romance in them? How good is the romance? Is it one of the highlights of the book or is it one of the weaker aspects?

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

See ya ~Mar

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales

And the Can’t-Wait Wednesday streak continues! There are so many new books coming out lately that I’m interested in!

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:

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett!! 📔🌳

Now this – this is definitely one of my most anticipated books of 2025! I love the Emily Wilde series, and I’m really excited for this coming release!

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

SERIES: Emily Wilde #3

LENGTH: 352 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, 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.

Are you looking forward to the release of Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?

As always, thank you all so much for reading and 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

All the Books I Read Last Year | Reading 2024

Here it is! Part 2 of my reading wrap-up for the books I read during 2024. 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 55 books which were 21,359 pages all together. So many books! Not as many as I read in 2023, but still, so many books. I’m hoping that 2025 will be just as good a year regarding reading as the last two years have been.

2024 Reading Wrap-Up

The Books I Read in 2024

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 amazing, and I did pretty well with my novel reading as well as posting on this blog. I think. I’m really happy with the amount of books I got around to reading, honestly.

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

See ya ~Mar