It’s back for a third week in a row! That’s three weeks, so that’s technically a habit right? Or at least a turkey, like three strikes in bowling? Uh, nevermind.
I’m satisfied with my reading and my blog posting last week. Not only did I participate in a couple of my usual posts, but I put out two book reviews. Woohoo! Also, I read and finished three books! Fingers crossed I get the same kind of productivity this, or at least an amount that I’m personally happy with. 🤞🍀
Anyway, without further ado, on with the wrap-up!
Tuesday 11/12: One Piece Review (Part #1)
Last Tuesday, I finally posted my first review for One Piece. This one basically only focused on the pre-time skip arcs, but I’m planning on doing two more reviews of the long running series by the end of it. (One focusing on the New World and Wano, and the other focusing on One Piece’s Final Saga when the manga is finally complete.)
Though I had somewhat different thoughts regarding each of the arcs from the pre-time skip, I rated the entirety of it ★★★★✯.
On Wednesday, I participated in WWW Wednesday for the first time in a while. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. It focuses on talking about what you’re currently reading, what you recently read and what you’re thinking about reading next.
Last Friday, I participated in First Line Fridays for the first time in several weeks. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s a fun little post that focuses on guessing books based on their first lines.
Yesterday, I finally got my review out for Skyshade by Alex Aster. It’s a new release and a part of the Lightlark Saga, a YA romantasy series. I ended up giving this book ★✫☆☆☆.
So yeah, I’m really happy with both the posts I was able to do, as well as the amount of reading that I had gotten done. Also, I got out two book reviews, which I’m really satisfied with. I don’t know how common of an occurrence that’s gonna be, however, even though it might happen again this week, lol. We’ll see what happens together.
Regarding my upcoming posts for this week… I’m definitely planning on participating in a certain monthly post regarding the color of book covers. I’m also going to do at least one book review this week (I finished MDZS within the first half of last week, but wanted to review Skyshade first, so I still gotta review it). I’m hoping to read at least one or two books this week, as well. And I’ll probably participate in at least one weekly post, too.
Concerning stuff going on in life outside of books and blogs; there wasn’t too much of one, honestly. We mostly relaxed this past weekend, though I did clean a lot of the house last week. But other than that, nothing notable happened.
Anyway, as always, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope you all have a awesome day/night!
It’s been a few weeks since I last participated, but I’m reading something on a Wednesday again, so… yeah.
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!
☆★ Star rating is for all the entire story as a whole, not each individual volume. Also, haven’t posted a review yet, lol (though to be fair I just finished it). It’s coming eventually though! ★☆
The Thing(s) I Might Read Next
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie: I’ve wanted to read more Leckie ever since I read Lake of Souls a few months ago. I’ve already acquired this book, and am definitely planning on reading it before the end of the year at least.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas: I’ve had this book for several months now, and it’s been on my TBR for about the same amount of time. My cousins were also planning on reading Crescent City as of Christmas of last year and I kind of want to discuss it with them, so I’d like to read at least the first book before Christmas.
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie: This series has been on my radar for years, but as with most popular high fantasy series, I’ve been wary about reading it (mostly because I’ve DNF-ed quite a few of them – I’m looking at you A Song of Ice and Fire (got to book two), The Name of the Wind and The Way of Kings). But I’m thinking of giving it a real shot, and am hoping to read it before the year ends.
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!
Join Monkey D. Luffy and his swashbuckling crew in their search for the ultimate treasure, the One Piece.
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Its only drawback? He’ll never be able to swim again—a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog! Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…
Get Ready to Set Sail!
My Review
This review has been a long time coming. I’ve been buddy reading One Piece with my spouse for the past year – it’s so long that we take breaks every month or so (also so I can read stuff other than One Piece).
It’s also so long that I decided from the get go that I’d split it into three reviews. The first review: the Pre-Time Skip Arcs (aka: this one). The second review: the New World to Wano. And the third review: the Final Saga (this one I wouldn’t do until after One Piece is complete, which could be a couple more years).
So yeah, my spouse and I started reading it about a year ago. Which, wow, that’s a while. There’s a lot of ground to cover here (because of how freaking long this manga is), but I have surprisingly little to say. Or maybe I have too much to say about it and it’s too much, so my brain decided to automatically process the extraneous stuff out. I don’t really know. Either way, this might be a shorter review than you’d expect for such a long and long-running series as this.
The Characters
The characters are one of the things that keeps me coming back. I love the Straw Hats, they’re such a fun, eclectic crew with all kinds of quirks.
👒 Luffy: Ah, the crazy rubber man. He’s so ridiculous, funny and dumb. I know he’s a cookie-cutter shounen protagonist, but I love him. He’s so extra.
🗡️ Zoro: Zoro and Luffy are two peas in a pod. They’re both dumb and ridiculous and extra, but different kinds of dumb and ridiculous and extra. He’s the first person to join the crew, and he’s Luffy’s right hand man. I love the running gag about his complete lack of sense of direction.
🍊 Nami: The second one to join the Straw Hats, and the navigator. For so long, Nami held the single brain cell (until Robin). I love her attitude and how she keeps the group on track.
🏹 Usopp: Luffy’s liar – I mean sharpshooter. His arc in Water Seven changed how I saw him as a character – though his exaggerated cowardice alternatively irritates and amuses me.
🍲 Sanji: The ship’s cook. I like Sanji for the most part, but his pervy tendencies annoyed me sometimes. The anime pervert trope needs to go away for a bit, I’m kinda getting tired of it.
🦌 Chopper: The reindeer doctor. He’s so CUTE. 😍
📚 Robin: The sixth member to join the Straw Hats and an archeologist. I really enjoyed her – she’s got a great character arc and I like her dark humor.
🛠️ Franky: The Straw Hats’ shipwright. Also, a blue haired cyborg engineer powered by cola (yes, really). I didn’t expect to like him as much as I did, but I think he’s in my tip five Straw Hats.
💀 Brook: A skeleton and musician. He was the Straw Hat I was most excited to meet, partially because it took a bit to get to him (and also because he’s a singing skeleton who makes bad puns). He didn’t disappoint.
I loved a lot of the supporting characters that appeared in each arc as well, but there’s waayyy yo many to even mention here. My favorite characters that weren’t Straw Hats, though, were: Vivi, Buggy, Dr. Kureha, Chouchou the dog, Iceberg, Kokoro, and Ace.
The Plot
There’s. So. Much. Plot. Like, so much. This story just keeps going on and on. And I love it, even if it is incredibly long. Every arc in One Piece has something to love, even if I enjoy some a little bit more than others.
The setting itself is also really cool. I love the idea of a world that’s basically a giant ocean. It reminds me a lot of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. (And yes, I know One Piece predates this game by about five years and that Oda was working on it for years before it started being serialized. I just played this Zelda game first, many years before I started reading OP, in fact.) I love all the unique islands and biomes and how like sixteen different seasons technically exist. It’s also really interesting how even this early on, there’s some foreshadowing and implications that not everything about the way the world is currently is as it seems.
Impressively, nearly all the arcs have some relevancy to most of the major plot points that have come up as well. Even the ones that don’t really seem to affect it as much still have stuff to contribute to the world building. I’m also impressed with the consistency, despite the length and how long this series has been running.
But now for a brief review of all the arcs I’ve read so far:
🏴☠️ East Blue: Though some people have said that this is the weakest and one of the worst arcs compared to the rest of the story, the East Blue Arc is actually one of my favorites. I think it’s even in the Top Three. I found it to be a fast-paced, engaging and solid start. Most of the Straw Hats are introduced in this arc, and I loved reading them join the crew, and all the hijinks that occurred along the way.
🧭 Baroque Works: My favorite arc in the series so far. There’s just something about it that I really love. I gave nearly every part of it five stars. The crew finally venture out to the Grand Line here, and I loved seeing the crazy adventures turn up to eleven.
☁️ Skypiea: As much as I ended up loving the later parts of this arc, Skypiea definitely wasn’t my favorite. Let me be clear, I enjoyed this arc as I did all of the rest of One Piece. But… it’s probably my least favorite. It just doesn’t feel as connected to the rest of the story, and I think that’s part of what bothered me. (That, and the build up at the beginning felt a bit slow.) Here, the crew sail to an island in the sky.
🌊 Water Seven: I really liked this arc. Top Three (or Four) definitely. We get to learn a lot about some of the crew, and stuff really starts to build up for the stuff that leads to the time skip. There’s also a lot of world building that goes on here. In this arc, the Straw Hats seek a shipwright to help repair their shop, the Going Merry.
👻 Thriller Bark: Probably my second least favorite arc, actually. I love it to bits still, like Skypiea, but it isn’t quite up to par with the rest of the story for me. I really enjoyed the idea of a Halloween themed island (or ship I guess, technically), but parts of it just weren’t as interesting as other arcs. The crew are waylaid and sucked into the Florian Triangle in this arc.
🏝️ Sabaody / 🔐 Impel Down / 🔥 Marineford: I know, I know, these are technically three separate arcs. But they’re all so short and the events that occur throughout all three are highly related and really build off each other before culminating in the event that causes the time skip. So I’m grouping them together here. Anyway, this was another Top Three Arc for me; everything is all just so crazy and intense and it’s one event right after another. During these arcs the Straw Hats are separated and Luffy sets off to rescue someone close to him.
The Art
It would be remiss of me to review a manga without mentioning the art. Though I was initially put off by the art style – this was several years ago now when during my one and only attempt to watch the One Piece anime – I ended up liking it. It’s pretty goofy and unique.
The only thing kind of negative I gotta say about it is that there aren’t really unique female character designs. A lot of the women generally look the same. But other than that, I don’t really have anything unfavorable to say regarding the artwork.
Final Thoughts
I really, really enjoyed what I’ve read of One Piece so far, and am definitely looking forward to what is to come. I can’t wait to see what happens next! And the characters and story and world building and art are all just so good. I really do love almost everything about this magnum opus of Oda’s.
Unfortunately, as much as I adore this manga, I don’t really feel comfortable recommending it. Because of how insanely long it is. One Piece is definitely a commitment, and despite what OP manga superfans claim about this being the greatest manga ever (which I don’t think, just to be clear), probably not for everyone. If you are interested, however, this series is very accessible – there are a lot of different options to read and/or watch it. As of now, I rate what I’ve read as a whole:
But yeah, I’m possibly going to continue with this perhaps at the end of this month, but if not then hopefully next month in December. I wanna read what happens next, but I also want to read other books, too. So I have to manage my OP reading!
Anyway, as always, thank you so much to everyone for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic day/night!
Hey everybody, it’s been a while. Happy Friday! Jeez, I can’t believe it’s been over a month since the last time I posted one of these!
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:
Jenna Grodonsky was terrified of the snow.
Any ideas? If not, here’s another hint or two for you…
Still don’t know? Here’s some awesome pictures of books to start at while you consider it…
Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 Snow Drowned by Jennifer D. Lyle!!
There’s a saying on Fall Island: the snow will get you.
Gracie Hutchinson has lived here her whole life and knows there’s some truth to those words. Every few years someone dies in a snowstorm, or loses their mind, or disappears without a trace. Sometimes it seems like more than just New England weather. Now, a hundred-year-storm is approaching, and while most of the locals have taken the ferry to the mainland, Gracie must stay behind.
But she’s intrigued to find someone else her age has stayed too—Joseph Wescott, whose mysterious family lives in Wescott Manor, descendants of the legendary first settlers of Fall Island. Together, they stumble across something even more unsettling than the coming storm: the body of a stranger, murdered in a grim ritual. Someone on the island believes the old Fall superstitions have a dark power—and now, they have Gracie in their sights.
As the hours count down to the blizzard’s landfall, it seems the only safe place to go is Westcott Manor. But Gracie wonders if there’s another reason why she’s been brought there, one that has to do with Joseph. She’ll discover secrets that have been kept for generations, a hidden history, and the terrifying truth about Fall Island. Because even when the storm ends, there’s no escape from the horror beneath the snow.
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!
Ugh. I’m later in the month again. I hate it when I post my monthly wrap-ups later than like, the 5th of the month. ‘Cause then it just feels super late to me. But yeah, I’m finally posting my October reading for 2024.
I’m very pleased with the amount of reading I got done last month. It’s been some time since I’ve read nine books in a month, and it’s something that I wish I would do more often. And I enjoyed almost all of the books I read in October, which was a huge bonus.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into my StoryGraph statistics from last month!
October Reading 2024
I read 9 books and 3,995 pages
😐 MOODS: I had more reading Moods in October that I’ve had in a long while – possibly the most ever. Adventurous was of course the biggest chunk of the pie chart. The second biggest slice is Emotional, then Lighthearted and Hopeful. The other four Moods were Reflective, Mysterious, Inspiring and Funny.
👢 PACE: My books from last month were mostly medium paced, but around a third of them were fast or slow paced.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 152 and 640 pages.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction in October. As is my usual.
🎭 GENRES: There were more Genres in October than there have been in months. Fantasy was the Genre I read there most of, which is always the case. Though, interestingly it’s actually tied with Young Adult this time. The other five genres were Manga, Graphic Novel, Romance, LGBT+ and Romance. (BTW, in case you were wondering, the genre vs. demographic thing still bugs me.)
📄 FORMAT: This particular pie graph is once again wrong. (As it always is.) About half of the books I read were physical copies, but some novels were digital.
⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.11. The ratings I gave were between 2.5 stars and 5.0 stars, so yeah.
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I did most of my reading during the last third of October. My biggest reading spike of the month was the 23rd, though my reading was decently high on the 14th, 29th and 31st. I also read books on the 3rd and 4th, and between the 21st and the 27th.
So yeah, I liked how much stuff I ended up reading in October. Did it feel a bit like cheating because the majority of what I read were graphic novels or manga? Yes, but I’m actually okay with that this time. Especially because the One Piece super volumes are so thick. Plus, I enjoyed most – almost all – of the novels I read last month, which is always fantastic.
I’m not sure how my reading is going to be for November. This is usually one of my best months of the year for it, but I’ve been so indecisive about which book I’m gonna read next that I haven’t started reading a new novel yet. Which, ugh, I hate it when that happens. Hopefully I’ll finally make a decision and get something started tomorrow.
Anyway, thanks for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my October reading in 2024. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!
Bet you didn’t expect to ever see this post again. I think the last time I did this post was at the end of January this year. I did say I was going to discontinue it because it was becoming too much after all. But I’ve been giving it some thought for the past couple of months, and I’ve decided that I’d like to try keeping up with this post again.
I’ve been doing pretty well with my posting lately. At the very least, I’m happy with the last few weeks on the blog, which is honestly what I want the most out of this blog.
Anyway, let’s get on with the post! Here’s to the furry weekly wrap-up in almost a year! 🥂🍻
Monday 10/28: Fall 2024 Book Recs
Last Monday, I finally got around to posting my Fall Book Recommendations for 2024. Basically, it was a list post that consisted of books I liked that I thought had autumn and/or spooky vibes. I had about seven of them this time. Check out the full post if you’re interested in which books made the cut this year.
On Tuesday, I participated in Top Ten Tuesday. The topic of last week was Halloween Freebie, and I went with a bit of a medley – a Creature Feature or monster mashup if you will.
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 past Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday again. It was the first time I’d done so in the past 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.
And last Thursday was Halloween. Again, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween!! 🎃👻🐈⬛🧹🦇🕸️ I hope that everyone enjoyed theirs.
Sunday 11/3: Sheets Series Review
Yesterday, I finally posted my review for the Sheets series. I had wanted to post it on Halloween, but it just didn’t work out, unfortunately. Oh well.
Sheets and its sequels, are a trilogy of cute graphic novels that feature ghosts that wear actual bedsheets. Yes, really. I enjoyed the series and ended up giving it a median rating of ★★★★☆.
So yeah, it’s been awhile. I wasn’t ever sure if I ever planned on starting up this series of posts again, but I guess I have. We’ll see how long this lasts this time, haha. Hopefully I’ll keep it up? 🤞🍀
(Also, last week I officially crested 400 blog posts on the Blog That Nobody Knows! Yay! 🎉💖)
I’m generally pretty happy with what I ended up posting last week. Regarding this coming week, I’m planning on finally getting out my Monthly Reading Wrap-Up for October 2024, probably (hopefully) tomorrow. I also have another couple of posts I’m planning on doing, and am of course hoping to get another book review out.
As always, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope you all have a great day/night!
It’s that time of year again – the time of year where I recommend books for the season! My recommendations of autumn books of 2024!
It’s unfortunately a bit later than I had intended it to be this year (I had planned to get this post out yesterday or the day before), but it’s still October so it’s not too late. (Though it’s definitely later than when I did this post last year.) Also, because it’s spooky month I might also recommend some spookier books and not just books with that are autumn themed or have fall vibes in general.
I usually try to make this a list of five, but we all know how that goes. Especially since I’ve read such perfect books for this list in the past year or so!
A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love, in this heartwarming and enchanting fantasy.
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party—or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.
So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.
But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones—the most elusive of all faeries—lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all—her own heart.
When I read this book last November (and its sequel in January when it came out), I was immediately drawn to the impeccable autumn vibes that it had. Like, they were absolutely perfect – everything felt so cozy. I loved it.
It also helps that Encyclopaedia also takes place in the fall – that’s right everyone, this book’s got a fall setting as well! The epistolary nature of the novel also brings out the cozier vibes even more. Not to mention just about everything about this book is perfect on its own. Just. Read it.
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.
What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.
Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
This one’s gonna be one of my spookier recs on the list. I really enjoyed how unsettling What Moves the Dead ended up being. Not to mention, it was an excellent retelling.
I should probably note that its sequel, What Feasts at Night, also has a few of the same vibes, but I ultimately preferred book one. It just does everything better.
Perfect for fans of everything from Lockwood & Co. to The Haunting of Hill House, this gothic graphic novel follows a young medium with the gift—or curse, as some might say—to communicate with the dead. This ghost story “powerfully, tenderly, and empathetically examines death, grief, and the afterlife” raved Kirkus in a starred review!
Dorian Leith can see ghosts. Not only that, he listens to their problems and tries to help them move on to the afterlife. It’s a gift that’s made him an outcast to everyone in town. That is except for his dearly departed grandmother, who he’s partnered with to turn this paranormal ability into an honest living, and the local bookshop owner, who seems to be the only non-deceased person willing to give him a chance. But it’s all worth it to Dorian, who feels like he’s been given a bigger purpose. A chance to save those who cannot save themselves.
Then one day, the key to Death’s Door is stolen, trapping all the ghosts in the land of the living. Since he’s only one who can see them, the spirits rely on Dorian to retrieve the key before it is too late. If they can’t move on, they’ll soon be consumed by a ghostly rot that has begun to plague them.
As it continues to fester and spread, and the ghosts become desperate for relief, Dorian must do whatever it takes to find a way to bring peace to the restless dead—even if that peace comes at the cost of his own….
I feel like I’m cheating a bit with this one, because it’s also gonna go on the next list that I do, but I can’t not put it here either. Ever since I read it this past summer, I’ve known that The Ghostkeeper absolutely belonged on my Fall Recs List for 2024. The autumnal vibes are just too perfect.
It also works as a spooky recommendation as well. There’s just so much ghostly activity going on here, not to mention the gothic and gaslamp fantasy aesthetic it has going on. Like it said – it’s too perfect not to include here.
High Fantasy with a double-shot of self-reinvention
Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.
However, her dreams of a fresh start pulling shots instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners and a different kind of resolve.
A hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth.
Including Legends & Lattes here also feels like cheating, but for a different reason than above. Confession: I actually DNF-ed this book. Yep. That’s why it feels kinda disingenuous to me.
BUT! But, but, but – even though I stopped at 20% I’d read enough of it to know that it has the right kind of vibes for this season. Like, it totally already felt like a Fantasy Coffee Shop AU, and there’s really no better fall feeling than that. And honestly, I adored this aspect of the book. (It was the pacing that was the problem for me, and only the pacin. So freaking slow, ugh!)
A family flees the crime-ridden city—and finds something worse—in “a brilliantly imagined horror story” by the New York Times–bestselling author (The Boston Globe).
After watching his asthmatic daughter suffer in the foul city air, Theodore Constantine decides to get back to the land. When he and his wife search New England for the perfect nineteenth-century home, they find no township more charming, no countryside more idyllic than the farming village of Cornwall Coombe. Here they begin a new life: simple, pure, close to nature—and ultimately more terrifying than Manhattan’s darkest alley.
When the Constantines win the friendship of the town matriarch, the mysterious Widow Fortune, they are invited to join the ancient festival of Harvest Home, a ceremony whose quaintness disguises dark intentions. In this bucolic hamlet, where bootleggers work by moonlight and all of the villagers seem to share the same last name, the past is more present than outsiders can fathom—and something far more sinister than the annual harvest is about to rise out of the earth.
Credited as the inspiration for Stephen King’s Children of the Corn, Thomas Tryon’s chilling novel was ahead of its time when first published, and continues to provoke abject terror in readers.
Everything about Harvest Home screams fall. The setting, the corn festival, the vaguely unsettling atmosphere in the background. Everything.
I really can’t say anything else because I don’t want to spoil anything about this book (because I like it so much), but just know that it has both the fall vibes and the spooky vibes. (Also, it inspired Stephen King to write Children of the Corn guys. Come on.)
France, 1714: In a moment of desperation, a young woman named Adeline meets a dangerous stranger and makes a terrible mistake.
As she realizes the limitations of her Faustian bargain-being able to live forever, without being able to be remembered by anyone she sees- Addie chooses to flee her small village, as everything she once held dear is torn away.
But there are still dreams to be had, and a life to live, and she is determined to find excitement and satisfaction in the wide, beckoning world-even if she will be doomed to be alone forever.
Or not quite alone-as every year, on her birth-day, the alluring Luc comes to visit, checking to see if she is ready to give up her soul. Their darkly thrilling game stretches through the ages, seeing Addie witness history and fight to regain herself as she crosses oceans and tries on various lives.
It will be three hundred years before she stumbles into a hidden bookstore and discovers someone who can remember her name-and suddenly, everything changes again.
In the vein of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is by a New York Times bestselling author
V. E. Schwab’s genre-defying tour de force.
Addie LaRue has it all guys. Demons, magic, curses, and cozy Bookshop AU vibes. It is yet another book perfect for fall reading. And just a good book in general.
Of course the vibes are there, but it’s also just all in the novel’s atmosphere as well. Just. Yeah.
#1 New York Times best seller Booklist Editors’ Choice 2015 – Youth Named a Best Book of 2015 by Time Magazine, School Library Journal, Barnes & Noble, NPR, PopSugar, The Millions, and The News & Observer
Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who’s ever been chosen.
That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.
Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here–it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.
Carry On is a ghost story, a love story and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story – but far, far more monsters.
Honestly, dark academia in general always feels right to read in the fall. And Carry On is certainly no different in that regard. It helps that at least half of the novel takes place in autumn.
It also helps that there are quite a few supernatural goings on. ‘Cause not only does it feature witches in the form of mages, but ghosts show up too. And we can’t forget about the vampires too, of course. So, once again, we don’t just have autumnal vibes here, but spooky ones, too.
What books have you been reading this fall? Have any of them had any autumn or spooky vibes? Do we share any of the same favorites?
And if course, thank you to everyone so much for reading, and I hope that you have an wonderful day/night!
So. Here we are. It’s been a year, but October 18th has once again come and gone.
Bet you guys were expecting a different post today – perhaps a Friday themed one?! Haha, surprise! It’s my anniversary! (No – really!)
Happy Blogging Birthday to me!! 🎂🎈🎁🎉 (Or anniversary, if you prefer!) I can’t believe it’s already been two years!
Like last year, I want to thank everyone who’s ever liked or commented on my posts here, or followed The Blog That Nobody Knows. Heck, even if you’ve ever just clicked on (or tapped on mobile) one of my posts and didn’t even finish reading it, I’m eternally grateful. It means a lot. Even those of you who aren’t human, lol.
I started this blog for fun two years ago, and I’m hoping to continue that. Sure, I wouldn’t mind making money off of it eventually, but having fun with it is my main priority here. When I created this blog, I did so with the goal of talking about books. And I think I’ve definitely succeeded with that, haha. I hope to spend many more years doing so here!
I guess the only other thing I can think of to say is, here’s to another year of books and book reviews! 🍻🥂
As always, thank you again so much for reading, and I hope you all have an absolutely perfect day/night!
Hey everybody! Happy Wednesday! Two weeks in a row with this one!
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:
Bloodguard by Cecy Robson! ⚔️🌹
This has been on my radar for awhile, but the release date kept changing, so I kept it off of all my Anticipated SFF lists. After all this time, I’m not sure how I feel about reading it – though I’m still interested – but I’ll probably read it sometime soon.
One hundred years. Tens of thousands of gladiators. And today, only one will rise…
Everything in the Kingdom of Arrow is a lie.
Leith of Grey thought coming to this new land and volunteering to fight in the gladiator arena―vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive―would earn him enough gold to save his dying sister. He thought there was nothing left to lose.
He was wrong―and they took everything. His hope. His freedom. His very humanity.
All Leith has left is his battle-scarred body, fueled by rage and hardened from years of fighting for the right to live another day.
Then Leith meets Maeve, an elven royal who is everything he despises. Everything he should hate. Until the alluring princess offers him the one thing he needs most: a chance to win the coveted title of Bloodguard―and his freedom.
But in a kingdom built on secrets and lies, hope doesn’t come cheap.
Nor will his ultimate revenge…
Are you looking forward to the next volume of Bloodguard? 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 great day/night!
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:
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! I imagine myself saying from the pulpit in the pink sanctuary of our church. My name is Edgar Poe, and today, for reasons I don’t fully comprehend, I’m obsessed with the seventy-two bodies buried beneath us.
Any guesses? If you’re still having trouble, here’s another hint or two…
Still have no idea? Here’s some gorgeous pictures of books to stare at, while you think about it a bit longer…
Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 The Raven’s Tale by Cat Winters!!
Seventeen-year-old Edgar Poe counts down the days until he can escape his foster family–the wealthy Allans of Richmond, Virginia. He hungers for his upcoming life as a student at the prestigious new university, almost as much as he longs to marry his beloved Elmira Royster. However, on the brink of his departure, all his plans go awry when a macabre Muse named Lenore appears to him. Muses are frightful creatures that lead Artists down a path of ruin and disgrace, and no respectable person could possibly understand or accept them. But Lenore steps out of the shadows with one request: “Let them see me “
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!
