Top Ten Tuesday: Satisfying Book Series

Helloooo everyone! Happy Tuesday! It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in Top Ten Tuesday – there’s been a lot going on lately, outside of the blog – so I’ve been a bit iffy with my posts for the past few weeks. But I decided it’s been way too long since the last time I properly engaged with this post, so here I am again!

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 Satisfying Book Series. This one was surprisingly a bit difficult for me, as I haven’t really read – or at the very least finished – too many series in the last several years. So most of this list is gonna be YA, both because I still read it pretty often even as an adult, and also because I read about half of these series that I’m about to list as a teenager.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get started! In no particular order, here are some of my favorite book series (when I read them, at least – some of them might not hold up for adult me, lol)!

  1. The Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima: Definitely one of my favorite high fantasy series – absolutely of the best I’ve ever read. I also think it’s Chima’s best work personally, considering I ended up DNF-ing her other series before I could finish them, haha.
  2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: And for this one, I mean the original trilogy – I haven’t gotten around to the standalone prequel novels yet! (It doesn’t help that I also see the prequel books as supplemental and sort of an ancillary part of the series, especially considering both came out over a decade later.) But I think that the original trilogy is a super solid set of three books; they’re some of the best written books I’ve ever read period.
  3. Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness: I’m always gonna adore this trilogy. No crappy movie adaptation – of which I will never ever see but am unfortunately very aware of – can ruin it.
  4. Emily Wilde Series by Heather Fawsett: This trilogy is just fantastic. It’s so well written and is such a wonderful and refreshing take on faerie stuff.
  5. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: I love fairytale retellings and this series is the pinnacle of that, and with a bit of a sci-fi twist to boot. Admittedly, I haven’t gotten around to reading the prequel novella nor the book of short stories, but again, I see them as supplemental and ancillary to the original series. And the original quadrilogy is solid.
  6. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan: What can I say – I adored these books as a teenager. Technically, this series is ongoing again, but since these five books have their own overarching-but-self-contained story and the three new books that Riordan is writing have their own overarching-but-self-contained story, I kind of consider them to be two separate things, and supplementary and companion novels to the original five books. Even if they’re technically considered part of the same series. The new books have been solid so far, though – for once I’ve actually read them, lol.
  7. Fablehaven by Brandon Mill: I loved this when I read it like fifteen years ago, and I loved its sequel series Dragonwatch when I read it over the last few years. This is a very engaging and well-written middle grade fantasy series.
  8. The Summoner Series by Taran Matharu: Very solidly written trilogy. It’s not super unique in regards to high fantasy, but I still enjoyed it, and it does stand out a little compared to a lot of the stuff I usually see in the YA section. It’s also one of the few series I’ve actually read and finished in the last decade, so there’s that too. Once again, I have not yet read the prequel companion book, but we all know how I feel about those by now, so I’m not gonna repeat myself. I’m thinking about re-reading this trilogy, honestly, it’s coming up on the tenth anniversary for when I read the first book and I’m feeling nostalgic.
  9. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: For what it is, it’s fine. Is it the most well-written fantasy ever? No. Did it start a writing trend and genre that I hate but love making fun of? Yes. But I ate this entire series up when I read it (which was over several years, but I did read the first two books in the original years they first came out). And the original trilogy is decently solid, which is what I’m basing this list on. The novella and the Nesta book are technically supplemental.
  10. The Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong: Some of her earlier work, and the only novels of hers that I’ve ever read. I liked these a lot as a teenager, even to the point of re-reading them once or twice. They’re very fast-paced, but the plot and characters aren’t sacrificed in order for the books to be that way, which is also great. I know that technically there’s another trilogy of Armstrong’s that falls under the Darkest Powers umbrella, but the two trilogies are still considered separate to a degree, so I’m going to consider them separate as well.

What are your favorite and most satisfying books series? Do you like or want to re-read them?

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

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Like to Re-Read

Hey, wow, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve participated in this post. Almost three months. Geez. Anyway, Happy 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 Guaranteed to Put an End to Your Book Slump. But seeing as I am in the midst of my second reading slump this year I’m not really feeling this week’s post, so I decided to go rogue.

I’m going for an easy one since it’s my first time back with this post in a while, a TTT prompt from earlier in the summer: Books I’d Like to Re-Read. Specifically, books that you enjoy re-reading or books that you’d like to re-read again at some point. I’ve decided to split this between the two: so I’ll do five books I like re-reading and five books I’d like to re-read someday.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get going!

Book Series and Novels That I’ve Read More Than Twice

I read basically all of these back when I was a teenager. I re-read stuff a lot more back then, not only because I had more time, but also because I unfortunately kind of feel out of the habit as an adult.

  1. The Warrior Cats Series by Erin Hunter
  2. The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
  3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
  4. The Other by Thomas Tryon
  5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Books Series and Novels That I’d Like to Re-Read in the Future

I’d like to get back into re-reading stuff again eventually. Because there are a decent amount of books and series that I would love to revisit again sometime. Here are five of them.

  1. The Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima
  2. The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
  3. This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee
  4. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  5. Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston

What are your favorite books/series to re-read? What books/series would you like to re-read but haven’t yet?

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

See ya ~Mar

Birthstone Book Covers: May 2025

Hey everybody, it’s been a few days. Happy Saturday – I hope everyone’s enjoying their weekend so far! It’s that time of the month again!

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.

May use one birthstone – Emerald. So the color of the month is green!

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!

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
The Iron Trial by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare

What are your favorite books with green book covers? If you participated in Birthstone Books, which books did you choose this May?

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have the most amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Wrap-Up: September Reading 2024

Here I am. Doing my due diligence with posting my September reading wrap-up for 2024 at a reasonable time in October. By which I mean within the first week. Yay!

I’m very happy with the reading I was able to do last month, and not just because I read (and finished) more books than I did in August. It just felt like I read a good amount of novels and that feeling is good enough for me. And I enjoyed all the books that I read in September, too, which is the best part about it.

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

September Reading 2024

I read 5 books and 2,299 pages

😐 MOODS: The reading Moods for September were fewer than in August, but there were still five of them. Adventurous was of course the biggest chunk of the pie chart. The second biggest slice is Lighthearted, which I’m not sure has happened before. The other three Moods were Tense, Mysterious and Funny.

👢 PACE: My books from last month were mostly fast paced, but around a quarter of them were slow paced.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 240 and 672 pages.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction in September. As is my usual.

🎭 GENRES: There were less Genres in September than there were in August. Fantasy was the Genre I read there most of, which is always the case. The other four genres were Young AdultMangaMiddle Grade and LGBT+. (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.) Almost all the books I read were physical copies, but one novel was digital.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.35. The ratings I gave were between 3.35 stars and 5.0 stars, so yeah.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read a lot during the last two thirds of September. My biggest reading spike of the month was the 23rd, though my reading on the 19th and the 20th were nearly as high. I also read books between the 11th and the 17th, as well as between the 26th and the 28th.

The Books I Read in September

Darker by Four by June CL Tan

★★★✬☆ • my review

One Piece: Volumes 46, 47 & 48 (Thriller Bark Arc) by Eiichiro Oda

★★★★✯

One Piece: Volumes 48, 49 & 50 (Thriller Bark Arc) by Eiichiro Oda

★★★★✯

The Glass Scientists: Volume Two by S.H. Cotugno

★★★★★ • my review

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

★★★★✯ • my review

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So yeah, I’m pretty satisfied with the stuff I read during September. It was a good month for me this year – and not just because a new Legend of Zelda game came out. The books that I did read, I liked, which is unfortunately something that doesn’t always happen.

I’m not sure what my reading is gonna look like for October this time. I think it’s gonna be more than last month, though, even though I’ve hardly read at all this past week. (Sorry, whenever a new Zelda game comes out, it usually takes up most of my attention for at least a week. That’s just how it is and I’m totally fine with it! 😁🎮) It’s ’cause I have plans to read specific books this month, and there are more of them than what I read in September. So that’s why. But we’ll see what ends up happening.

Anyway, thanks for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my September reading in 2024. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have an wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan | Book Review

October. Best month ever.

The air was crisp. The leaves were changing colors in Central Park. And my favorite food cart on 86th Street was serving pumpkin-spice burritos.

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

SERIES: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #7

LENGTH: 322 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, YA, Middle Grade, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Disney Hyperion

RELEASE DATE: 24 September 2024

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

In his continuing quest to earn college recommendation letters from the gods, Percy has to pet-sit the goddess Hecate’s polecat and giant mastiff during Halloween week. What could go wrong?

Rick Riordan’s newest Percy Jackson adventure is full of hilarious set pieces, a diverse cast of gods and monsters, and many other delightful tricks and treats.

Percy Jackson, now a high school senior, needs three recommendation letters from the Greek gods in order to get into New Rome University. He earned his first one by retrieving Ganymede’s chalice. Now the goddess Hecate has offered Percy another “opportunity”—all he has to do is pet sit her polecat, Gale, and mastiff, Hecuba, over Halloween week while she is away. Piece of cake, right?

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover settle into Hecate’s seemingly endless mansion and start getting acquainted with the fussy, terrifying animals. The trio has been warned not to touch anything, but while Percy and Annabeth are out at school, Grover can’t resist drinking a strawberry-flavored potion in the laboratory. It turns him into a giant frenzied goat, and after he rampages through the house, damaging everything in sight, and passes out, Gale and Hecuba escape. Now the friends have to find Hecate’s pets and somehow restore the house, all before Hecate gets back on Saturday. It’s going to take luck, demigod wiles, and some old and new friends to hunt down the animals and set things right again.

My Review

Her onyx eyes glittered. She sat forward and laced her fingers, looking more like a principal than my real principal ever did. “You may call me the Torch Bearer, the Star Walker, the Night Wanderer, the Disturber of the Dead, the daughter of Perses and Asteria, the Triple Goddess!”

“Uh-huh,” I said, still clueless.

You’re probably thinking, Percy, you’ve been dealing with the Greek gods for years. How could you not know her?

So Percy Jackson book seven came out… and I enjoyed reading it. And yes, I understand that nostalgia had some impact on my reading experience and overall rating, as it did with book six. Because of this I have altered my rating accordingly for Wrath of the Triple Goddess. (As even though when I read both books six and seven both felt like five star reads, I know in my soul that they weren’t as good as The Battle of the Labyrinth or The Last Olympian. So think of four and a half stars as the same rating for Chalice of the Gods now, I guess. I was a bit overzealous with that review.)

Out of the two new PJO novels, I’m honestly not sure whether I enjoyed The Chalice of the Gods or Wrath of the Triple Goddess more. On the one hand, TCOTG was the first actual-not-a-spinoff Percy Jackson book in years, and I loved the cameos and references, and seeing how Percy, Annabeth and Grover have grown up. But book seven was fun too, and it had Halloween vibes out the wazoo, which I always adore. I guess I enjoyed them equally?

Anyway, I never knew I needed a PJO book set around Halloween until now. It was great, and the book was released during the literal perfect time of the year for it. It’s still a little weird to me reading novels from this series that take place in the fall – nearly all of them, except for The Titan’s Curse which takes place over winter break – are set over the summer. But it’s a nice change.

Grover and I exchanged a look of relief. Whenever Annabeth joined the chat, the odds of us doing something idiotic went way down. The odds were never zero, mind you, because I was still in the mix.

Percy is still as sassy as ever, perhaps even more so than book six, and Annabeth and Grover still balance him perfectly. This really is one of the greatest trios I’ve ever had the pleasure of following. Grover also doesn’t feel like a third wheel here, which was a very minor problem in TCOTG, and his feelings on potential third wheel status and Percy and Annabeth moving on from him are addressed here and it’s great.

And I can’t forget about Percabeth, one of the greatest relationships ever written. Still here and still fantastic – Percy and Annabeth really are a great couple. They just work so unbelievably well together.

Annabeth and I were more than just two people. We were a pair, and when we stood at the crossroads, we did it together.

The plot, even though I really enjoyed it, might be a slightly weaker aspect of this novel, as it was with book six. But that probably feels that way because it doesn’t feel as big as the plots of my memories, nor is it a world ending prevention story like basically all other Percy Jackson novels and spinoffs. It was fine on its own, but is far more down to earth than the rest of the series (save TCOTG).

I can’t believe the final book in this additional trilogy to the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians is coming out next year. That’s twenty years after the original book, the one that started it all – The Lightning Thief – did. I can’t believe it’s been that long already. Just, the timing. I can’t wait to see how this ends. But at the same time, I’ll once again feel a little sad to see it go.

“Hey, Wise Girl,” I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice, “be wise. I don’t know much, but I do know we’re stronger together. Always.”

I definitely recommend Wrath of the Triple Goddess to fans of the Percy Jackson series. Alsoto fantasy fans who enjoy middle grade and YA stuff. But mostly to preexisting fans, ’cause you have to read the original five books (and book six) and have some knowledge of the sequel/spinoff series the Heroes of Olympus to really enjoy this novel. Also, read this book in October – the vibes are perfect.

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

See ya ~Mar


MY LINKS:


Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Wrath of the Triple Goddess

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve had upcoming books to talk about. But I’m finally back with more!

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:

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan! 🐾🔥

I’m a long time Percy Jackson fan and seeing the original series continued years after still feels surreal to me. I acknowledge that book six, The Chalice of the Gods, wasn’t the best and most amazing thing ever (and ended up not loving it quite as much a few weeks after I read it), but it was still good. I’m thinking – and hoping – that this one will be the same.

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

SERIES: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #7

LENGTH: 288 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Middle Grade, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Disney Hyperion

RELEASE DATE: 24 September 2024

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

In his continuing quest to earn college recommendation letters from the gods, Percy has to pet sit the goddess Hecate’s polecat and giant mastiff during Halloween week. What could go wrong?

Rick Riordan’s newest Percy Jackson adventure is full of hilarious set pieces, a diverse cast of gods and monsters, and many other delightful tricks and treats.

Percy Jackson, now a high school senior, needs three recommendation letters from the Greek gods in order to get into New Rome University. He earned his first one by retrieving Ganymede’s chalice. Now the goddess Hecate has offered Percy another “opportunity”—all he has to do is pet sit her polecat, Gale, and mastiff, Hecuba, over Halloween week while she is away. Piece of cake, right?

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover settle into Hecate’s seemingly endless mansion and start getting acquainted with the fussy, terrifying animals. The trio has been warned not to touch anything, but while Percy and Annabeth are out at school, Grover can’t resist drinking a strawberry-flavored potion in the laboratory. It turns him into a giant frenzied goat, and after he rampages through the house, damaging everything in sight, and passes out, Gale and Hecuba escape. Now the friends have to find Hecate’s pets and somehow restore the house, all before Hecate gets back on Saturday. It’s going to take luck, demigod wiles, and some old and new friends to hunt down the animals and set things right again.

Are you looking forward to Wrath of the Triple Goddess? 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 awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Favorite Books from Ten Favorite Series

Hey everybody! Happy 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 actually Books Featuring Travel, but I’m not feeling it this week. So I decided to do last week’s topic – 10 Favorite Books from 10 Favorite Series – since I missed last week.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

(Important Note: This list isn’t in order of my favorites, ironically enough. This list is in order of which book I thought of first. I just felt everyone should know that.)

#1

A Court of Mist and Fury: My mixed feelings about the ACOTAR series aside (aside from the fact that it’s one of my guilty pleasures), I loved A Court of Mist and Fury. Like, so much and so immediately, despite its flaws. I definitely think this is the best ACOTAR book.

#2

The Last Olympian: Not only is it the best PJO book, but I’d hazard to say that this book in particular is one of the greatest middle grade/young adult novels ever written. It’s just an amazing novel in general, and is such a satisfying conclusion to the original series. And since it’s so hard to stick the landing sometimes for authors, especially for a five book series, I’d say it’s a great accomplishment. (BTW, The Battle of the Labyrinth (book four) is also amazing – I honestly have trouble choosing which one I like more.)

#3

A Darker Shade of Magic: Despite being the first book in the Shades of Magic series, it’s still my favorite. Just, the way it’s written, the way it gives you just a taste of what’s coming, the characters, the setting(s) – it’s all just so, so good. I just love this book so much.

#4

The Gray Wolf Throne: I know that book three is a weird choice to pick, but out of the four Seven Realms books, The Gray Wolf Throne is my favorite for some reason. I like the final book, The Crimson Crown, a lot too, but book three is the one I like best.

#5

Once Upon a Broken Heart: I don’t think the OUABH books are the best written – in fact I think that these books have a TON of problems. But I enjoyed Once Upon a Broken Heart when I first read it a few years ago, and I like it more than the others in this trilogy, so it’s here.

#6

Exit Strategy: I love the first four novellas in the Murderbot Diaries pretty much equally, but there’s just something about Exit Strategy, what with everything coming together, that I love.

#7

Beautiful Creatures: Nearly every year in high school, I had this thing where every October, I’d get in the mood to read this book. Sometimes I’d read the second book in this series too (Beautiful Darkness), but there was something about Beautiful Creatures that made me want to come back and read it for years.

#8

Death Masks: Out of the seven Dresden Files books I’ve read, this one is by far my favorite. The pacing, the plot, the characters, the dialogue – the sass – it was all so perfect.

#9

Cress: When I first tried to read this like, six and a half years ago, I wasn’t vibing with it (I had a lot going on in my personal life at the time and it had a bit of a slow start), but reading it again last year… I dunno, it suddenly really clicked with me. Now I like it just about as much I love Scarlet – this was another one where I had trouble picking my favorite book out of two. It’s weird that they were both the two middle books – this series didn’t suffer from Middle Book Syndrome at all!

#10

The Inquisition: Out of the three books in the Summoner Trilogy, book two is the one I like the most. This is another case of a series where I liked the middle book(s) best. Once again, no Middle Book Syndrome here.

Birthstone Book Covers: May 2024

Happy Thursday everybody! How’s everyone’s May been going? What books have you been reading lately? Any with green covers?

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.

March has one birthstone – Emerald. Which means books with green covers!

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!

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Birthstone Book Covers: January 2024

Hey look. It’s me, participating in Birthstone Book Covers for another January. (Ugh. I’m sooo late.)

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.

January has one birthstone – Garnet. So here’s to some lovely red book covers!

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!

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordon
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordon
The Elite by Kiera Cass
The Elite by Kiera Cass
A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

What are your favorite books with red book covers? If you participated in Birthstone Books this time, what books did you choose for January?

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have the most amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 10/9 – 10/15

Betcha didn’t expect to see this! It’s been awhile since the last one of these. I know I said a couple months ago that I needed a bit of a break from Weekly Wrap-Ups, and that there was a chance I might drop them for good. But I’ve decided not to, and on top of that I’ve decided to start posting them again.

The week of 10/9 through 10/15 was more productive for me than recent weeks. I’m hoping that this, plus the return of wrap-ups, is the start of something good for my little blog. Fingers crossed. 🤞🍀

But it’s been weeks (months!) since the last one of these, and I know you’ve missed Weekly Wrap-Ups, so without further ado, I’ll get on with the post.

Monday 10/9: Most Anticipated Reads of 2023 (Part #4)

Last Monday, I posted my final Anticipated Reads of 2023 post. On it were six books that I’m interested in, coming out October, November, or December.

My Most Anticipated Reads of 2023: Oct, Nov, & Dec

Wednesday 10/11: The Chalice of the Gods Review

On Wednesday, I posted my book review for the unexpected sixth installment of the Rick Riordon’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series – The Chalice of the Gods.

This book meant a lot as a longtime fan of this series. And it was just as good as I had hoped it would be. I gave it ##.

The Chalice of the Gods Review

Friday 10/13: Friday the 13th / First Line Friday

Last Friday was a special Friday. Not only was it Friday the 13th, but it was a Friday the 13th in October! So it was doubly cool, and very Halloween-ey. 🎃👻🐈‍⬛💀🕸️🦇

I also posted a First Line Friday for the first time in a couple of weeks. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words.

First Line Friday: 10/13

Sunday 10/15: October 2023 Birthstone Book Covers

Yesterday, I participated in one of my favorite monthly posts, Birthstone Book Covers. Birthstone Book Covers is a fun post created and hosted by Leslie @ Books are the New Black. October has two birthstones, opal and tourmaline, so it was pink and/or white covers.

Birthstone Book Covers: October 2023

Books I Read Last Week

The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordon
One Piece: Volumes 1 - 2 - 3 by Eiichiro Oda
One Piece: Volumes 4 - 5 - 6 by Eiichiro Oda
The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub

🎁💝 Wrapping It All Up 🎁💝

Now this part is a bit different. I’m not doing a “Goals for Next Week” type of thing anymore, because it rarely ever amounted to anything. I really only ever did what I’d vow to do maybe half the time, and it frequently felt like I was breaking promises, both to myself and to anybody who’d read these posts. So I’m just not gonna do it anymore.

Instead, I’m going to talk about other stuff I did last week outside of the blog. And maybe mention a couple of things I might like to do in the future. Maybe.

Speaking of past and future, as you probably saw above, I’ve recently (finally) started reading One Piece. I’ve really enjoyed it so far, even though I’ve honestly barely scratched the surface – and I know that it only gets better. I’m looking forward to several more months of catching up, and then a few more years reading new chapters until Oda decides to end his magnum opus.

I also recently finished The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub, so I’ll have decided on my final star rating any time now, and a book review out this week. So watch out for it!

Outside of book stuff, I attended the Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie in theaters. Confession: I’m a huuuuge Swiftie. I’ve loved her music since the beginning, way back in 2006, and I’ve loved all her “eras” of music in different ways. So it was really fun especially since I haven’t gone out much lately. Highly recommend if you’re a Swiftie with the means. My only caveat was that they cut out a few of the songs for (what I feel are) very stupid reasons. (There was no need to shorten it – three plus hours movies exist!!)

What books have you been reading lately? Do we have any crossover – that is, have we been reading some of the same ones? What music do you like? What have you been listening to lately?

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar