Spell the Month in Books: August 2023

Hello hello. *gasp* It’s an elusive Saturday post! I know, I know, calm down everyone. I’m okay! I just wanted to test the waters on a new monthly post I’ve found that I wanna participate in.

It’s probably obvious from my featured image, but the post is Spell the Month in Books. Spell the Month in Books is a monthly post created and hosted by Jana @ Reviews from the Stacks. I actually discovered it a bit ago, but was nervous about participating in it for whatever reason. But new I’m not, so here. We. Go! I’m gonna spell August in books!

A

Antimatter Blues by Edward Ashton

★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 • My Review

U

Unraveller by Frances Hardinge

★★★★★ • 5 / 5 • My Review

G

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

★★★★✯ • 4.5 / 5

U

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

★★★★★ • 5 / 5

S

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

★★★★★ • 5 / 5 • My Review

T

Timekeeper by Tara Sim

★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 • My Review

What books did you choose to spell August with? Did we choose any of the same ones? Have you read any of the books I chose?

As always, thank you to anyone who read and enjoyed my post. Regardless, I hope anyone and everyone has a really good day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Birthstone Book Covers: April 2023

It’s later in the month than I usually do this, but April. Is. HARD. So, I had to take some time and consider the covers I was gonna pick for this month.

Leslie @ Books Are the New Black created a fun monthly post called Birthstone Book Covers. Each month, she features book covers that are either the same color of that month’s birthstone or include the color in the title.

April has one birthstone – Diamond.

Rules:

📚 Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black) and link back to her so she can check out your post.
📚 Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone.
📚 HAVE FUN!
📚 Nominate people if you want!

This was a difficult birthstone for me, hence why this post is later than usual, as I mentioned above. I finally decided to choose primarily white or silver/gray covers. These are the book covers that I chose.

City of Souls and Sinners by Kayla Edwards — *City of Souls and Sinners* (House of Devils #2) by Kayla Edwards

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones — **My Heart is a Chainsaw** **(The Indian Lake Trilogy #1) by Stephen Graham Jones**

Starters by Lissa Price — **Starters** **(Starters #1) by Lissa Price**

White Night by Jim Butcher — **White Night** **(Dresden Files #9) by Jim Butcher**

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton — *Jurassic Park* (Jurassic Park #1) by Michael Crichton

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab — **City of Ghosts** **(Cassidy Blake #1) by Victoria Schwab**

Thank you so much for reading, and have a fabulous day/night!

See ya ~Mar

My Favorite Books I Read in 2022

I wanted to end the year on a high note, and there’s no higher note to end on on a book blog than a post glorifying books.

So I’m going to be highlighting my 5 star reads from the past year. Let’s get started!

Note: Despite this being a numbered list, it is not ranked in terms of how much I enjoyed these books. It isn’t ranked at all, actually. It’s just organized in the order that I read them.

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab: I loved this book sooo much. The magic system. The world building. The setting. It was just. Amazing. One of my favorite books I’ve ever read actually.
Gilded (Gilded #1) by Marissa Meyer: I absolutely loved this book. Just… so, so good. Marissa Meyer is truly the queen of fairytale retellings.
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton: This book got me out of a reading slump near the beginning of the year. Going into this book, I had a feeling that I would enjoy it a fair amount, but I was surprised just how much I enjoyed it.
Summer Knight (Dresden Files #4) by Jim Butcher: I started The Dresden Files very soon after finishing Mickey7 actually, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this series as a whole, as well. (Books 1 – 7 at least – I just... I haven’t gotten to reading the rest of the series yet, okay?!?) I only gave two of the books perfect 5 star ratings, however, and Summer Knight was one of them.
Death Masks (Dresden Files #5) by Jim Butcher: I almost enjoyed this more than Summer Knight if it were possible. Everything was absolutely perfect in this novel: the plot, the characters, the sass. I loved this book. (Note: I haven’t reviewed this series yet on the blog because I’m planning to do a massive review like with The Murderbot Diaries when I finish the entire series.)
The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells: Okay, so I’m cheating a bit here. I didn’t rate all of the novellas in this series perfectly. There were two that I gave 4.5 stars. But, as a whole, this series is definitely a 5 out of 5 for me. And the only reason those two even got that score was because they were just the slightest bit less than perfect. But I still consider this to be a perfect series.
The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding (Prosper Redding #1) by Alexandra Bracken: This was another unexpected surprise. I knew going into it that I would like this book, but once again, I was surprised by just how much. I just… I really loved everything about this one.