May 2023 Wrap Up

Here is what I read/posted/bought in May.

As always, let me know if you have read any of these books and (if you did) what you thought of them.


Books I Read:

Free Kindle Purchase
KU Purchase
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam
ARC from Sourcebooks Casablanca
ARC from St. Martin’s Press
ARC from St. Martin’s Press
Free Kindle Purchase
KU Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Kindle Purchase
ARC from St. Martin’s Press and St. Martin’s Griffin
Kindle Purchase
Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
KU Purchase
Kindle Purchase
Non-ARC from author
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
ARC from Author
ARC from Crooked Lane Books
ARC from Sourcebooks Casablanca
KU Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
ARC from Crooked Lane Books
ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
ARC from Shivnath Productions, IBPA, and Member’s Titles
ARC from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Non-ARC from author
Free Kindle Purchase
KU Purchase

Books I got from NetGalley:

Invite from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
Invite from Random House Publishing Group – Random House, Random House
Wish granted by Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey
Invite from St. Martin’s Press
Selection from Minotaur Influencer Program
Wished granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Delacorte Press
Read Now from St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books
Read Now from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
Read Now from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
Read Now from St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
Invite from St. Martin’s Press Influencer Program
Invite from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books
Wish granted from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey

Books I got from Authors/Indie Publishers:

ARC from Novel Cause
ARC from author
Non-ARC from author
Non-ARC from Author
Non-ARC from author

Giveaway Winners

Goodreads Giveaway: Paperback
Goodreads Giveaway: Kindle
Goodreads Giveaway: Kindle

Books Reviewed:

Dearly Beloved Departed by Nancy Lynn Jarvis—Review here

S.O.P.H.I.E. by C.J. Noble—Review here

How the Murder Crumbles by Debra Sennefelder—Review coming June 20th

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin—Review here

Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu—Review here

The Last Word by Katy Birchall—Review here

The Comeback by Lily Chu—Review here

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand—Review coming June 13th

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer—Review here

No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister—Review here

The Impossible Proof of Knowing Nothing by Maria Karvouni Truth—Review Here

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts by Kristyn J. Miller—Review Here

Brainstorm by Nissa Harlow—Review Here

Reality Is Just A P0ss1ble Fantasy by Maria Karvouni Truth—Review Here

You Are Always Innocent by Maria Karvouni Truth—Review Here

Desiree’s Revenge by K.C. Carson—Review Here

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee—Review Here

Her Latent Charm by Dana C. Brentson—Review coming June 1st

A Cryptic Clue by Victoria Gilbert—Review coming July 11th

The Book Proposal by KJ Micciche—-Review Here

Take the Honey and Run by Jennie Marts—Review coming July 18th


The StoryGraph Reading Challenges:

April

2023 ABC Challenge (D)—Descendants

2023 TBR Prompts (A BookTok Fave)—The Song of Achilles

May

Buzzword Reading Challenge 2023 (Flavour-related words: Must have flavour/herb/spice related words in the title: salter, pepper, dill, ginger, mango, vanilla, lemon…etc)—The Saltwater Marathon

2023 Monthly Themes (Mystery May)—Mermaid Cliff

2023 Sami Parker Reads Title Challenge (with a word such as rabbit, bunny, hare to honor Chinese Year of the Rabbit. Title should include at least one of those words)—Killer Rabbits

Cover Scavenger Hunt 2023 (A Leaf)—The Affiliate

The StoryGraph’s Onboarding Reading Challenge 2023 (Read a book in your least read format or genre)—Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

Scavenger Hunt TBR Book Challenge (Go to page 34, line 6 of the book you just read. How many words are there in that line? Divide that number by 3. That’s the amount of words the title of your next book should be): Modern Girl’s Guide to Vacation Flings by Gina Drayer

Beat the Backlist 2023 (meant to read it last year): Prepared by Courtney Konstantin

The StoryGraph’s Genre Challenge 2023 (A children’s book you never read as a kid): Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2023 (A book with a mythical creature): Hereditary by Jane Washington

2023 TBR Toppler (The last book in a series): Ten Thousand Truths by Kelli Washington


Books I bought*:

*Normally, there won’t be a lot of books on here. But I am going through my Goodreads shelves and downloading any free books I am coming across from books already shelved (as well as adding books that are in the same series). This is an ongoing project, and I should be done by September (yes, I have that many books).

Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Amazon Prime Read
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase
Free Kindle Purchase

Bookish Travels—September 2022 Destinations

I saw this meme on It’s All About Books and thought, I like this!! So, I decided to do it once a month also. Many thanks to Yvonne for originally posting this!!

This post is what it says: Places I travel to in books each month. Books are wonderful and take you to places you would never get a chance to go. That includes places of fantasy too!!

So….enjoy!! Please let me know if you have read these books or traveled to these areas (other than the fantasy….lol).


Here’s where I traveled in September:

United States:

Jackson County, somewhere in the Midwest or South/Portland, Oregon/Chicago, Illinois/ Louisiana/ Midwest
San Jose/Napa, California
Danville Heights/Sandry Lake, Unknown state
Denver, Colorado/Chicago, Illinois/Morganton, North Carolina
Denver, Colorado/NYC, New York
Denver, Colorado
Emerald Springs, Historical West (maybe Montana??)
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Shadow Geirolf Pack Land, unknown state
Harleyville, unknown state
Seaton Falls, Michigan
Los Angeles, California
New York City, New York/Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Greece

Greek Islands, Santorini

Mozambique

Lourenco Marques

Portugal

Libson, Madeira

South Africa

Johannesburg, Durban

United Kingdom

London, England
St. Pirran’s Island, Cornwall, England
London/Chelsea, England

France

Marseille
Paris

North Atlantic Ocean

The Bermuda Triangle

Zargothia

Little Zargothia

Russia


Persian Gulf/Pacific Ocean

USS Abraham Lincoln, aircraft carrier

Grattiara

City State of Grattiara

Sea

Durazzo Sea

Giva

Givan Islands

WWW Wednesday: September 14th, 2022

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?


Personal:

  • I got my Covid booster on Saturday, and my arm hurt. I swear the Walgreens tech used an extra-long needle. But I am glad that I got it.
  • Miss R has been home sick from school since Monday. She had an anxiety attack on Monday, and I had to grab her from school. She threw up twice (once at school and once at home) on Tuesday. Per the school, she has to be 24 hours without puking, so she will return on Thursday.
  • I have watched the Queen’s funeral (and all the reports on her death) since it happened last week. Today’s procession was hard to watch. Anne’s face conveyed everything that was unsaid about her mother’s death.
  • I am updating posts, but I have gone back to the beginning. I have added a section called “If you enjoyed these books, then you will like these” and added three books to the post.
  • I am behind by a review. I planned on being ahead, but with Miss R being home, I haven’t been able to sit down and write. I am planning on doing that tomorrow.
  • On the other hand, I am ahead in reading. I am halfway through the second book of the Owl Manor Trilogy, and I love this trilogy!!!

So that’s the major things for this past week. How was your week?

As always, let me know if you have read or are planning to read any of these books!!


What I Recently Finished Reading:

A tale of unspeakable murder, a doomed alliance, and retribution from the beyond
Sometimes the tide sweeps us into a fog where dark forces are at work…suddenly good and evil become blurred. Powerless and defenseless, we swim toward it, and wonder if we’re going mad.

Eva is born in the wrong era. In 1800s America, women are required to obey their husbands without question and to submit to their presumed superiority. But Eva wants more. Willful and ambitious, she considers herself equal to men. But the times are unrelenting, and it is her curse to remain unheard.

Rafe is a misogynist. Born of a demented mother who shattered his childhood and family, he is forever tormented by a scathing mistrust of women.

The tide brings them together at Owl Manor, a place shrouded in darkness, forsaken by the sun. A place where owls breathe in the very fabric of the walls, and shadows wander the passages. Where good and evil blur.

Will Eva make the right choice?

Owl Manor – the Dawning, the first in a trilogy of Gothic suspense novels, is inspired by authors such as Daphne du Maurier (Jamaica Inn), Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Shadow of the Wind), Shirley Jackson (The Haunting of Hill House).


What I am currently reading:

14 years ago, Owl Manor trembled with echoes of madness, mysterious deaths and marauding owls.

In 1870, Abigail fled the horror of Owl Manor with her fiancé, Peter. But she carried with her the terrible notion that she is unworthy of love, instilled by her reluctant mother. If her own mother could not love her, how would anyone else?

She trusts no one and keeps herself buried in a crypt of churning emotions, away from the world. Deep inside, her soul screams at the thought of dying alone and unloved.

Now she is back. Abandoned at the altar, and with nowhere to go, she returns to Owl Manor. Thus begin the nightmares of violent rage and destruction, ghostly images.

What really happened 14 years ago?

Enter Victor, the complete opposite of Peter, yet frighteningly familiar at times.

And the owls circle the sky once again.


What books I think I’ll read next:

For a quarter of a century, the horrors at Owl Manor have been buried under dust and decay, forgotten and unheard.

Then Dolores hears the whispers.

Dolores, a young artist, feels the pain all around her. It is the subject of her paintings. Strangely, once the pain is on her canvas, it diminishes.

A fated encounter takes her and her two best friends to Owl Manor in the Rocky Mountains. Ignoring the rumors of a gruesome past and ghosts, they take up residence. What’s the worst that could happen?

But it is the past that has summoned Dolores.

The owls begin to circle the sky again. The whispers get louder, seeping into each of their souls. And Dolores, besieged by the pain of brutal murders in the manor’s history, has no choice but to paint.

For the lives of those close to her hang in the balance.

Nightmares & Daydreams unravels the dark consequences of suppressing one’s innermost traumas and pain. Kalim, a 27 year old songwriter living with his boyfriend in Marseille, becomes tortured by nightmares, hallucinations and out of body experiences, as the trauma from his past starts to ripple from the depths of his subconscious. An entity starts to emerge through the fog of his tortured mind, haunting him within his nightmares.

After violent nights and dark days of suffering and relapsing into volatile vices, Kalim is forced to follow the ominous entity as his final hope for salvation. Dominic Anton’s third book and first paranormal fiction thriller further comprises a section of poetry expanding on the theme’s of addiction, trauma, loss of faith, and shedding the skin of the past.

She was a runaway from a cruel man who wanted to chase her and claim what he thought was his property. Who could know that finding shelter for the beautiful Daisy O’Malley in Jess Farthing’s barn would lead to love?

The man swore to keep her safe and vowed that the person who did this to her would suffer. Through many shades of danger they made a team and it turned out to be Jess who needed her help on more than one occasion.

Neither of them would admit to falling love in case the partnership came to an end. Daisy had lost her family but the friends who came to her aid formed a strong and lasting bond.The story is about friendship and a love affair that steals the reader’s heart along with a slight touch of the supernatural.

“Loving a Runaway Bride” is a historical western romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

Ashlyn just wants to move on with her life. Run her bakery. Heal her broken heart. She’s had three years to try and forget Dante Fontaine.

To the rest of the world, Dante is Hollywood royalty, the ridiculously attractive oldest son of the notorious Fontaine family.

To Ashlyn? He’s the guy who took her virginity and made her swear off men forever.

But when an accidental–and humiliating–encounter brings him back into her life, Ashlyn realizes that no matter how hard she’s tried to forget about him, Dante definitely hasn’t forgotten about her.

…and this time, he’s not going to let her go.

Goodreads Monday: The Sweet Taste of Sin (The Fontaines: Book 1) by Ember Casey

This is a weekly meme where anyone can choose a random book from their Goodreads TBR and highlight it This meme was formerly featured on LaurensPageTurners and was taken over by Budget Tales Book Blog.


This Week’s Selection

Book Cover

Synopsis:

Ashlyn just wants to move on with her life. Run her bakery. Heal her broken heart. She’s had three years to try and forget Dante Fontaine.

To the rest of the world, Dante is Hollywood royalty, the ridiculously attractive oldest son of the notorious Fontaine family.

To Ashlyn? He’s the guy who took her virginity and made her swear off men forever.

But when an accidental–and humiliating–encounter brings him back into her life, Ashlyn realizes that no matter how hard she’s tried to forget about him, Dante definitely hasn’t forgotten about her.

…and this time, he’s not going to let her go.

Top Ten Tuesday—Purple, Yellow and/or Green Covers

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

How it works:

She assigns each Tuesday a topic and then posts her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.


I know I am late with my TTT (being Thursday….oops). But I have a good reason. I had appointments out of the wahoo Tuesday and couldn’t sit down to write this post until today. So, here it is. Hope you enjoy it!!

Please leave a comment about what your favorite purple, yellow, green covered books are!!


1 The Sweet Taste of Sin by Ember Casey

The Sweet Taste of Sin (The Fontaines, #1)

2 Intrepid by Nate Johnson

Intrepid

3 Thread and Spool by Holly Hook

Thread and Spool (A Twisted Fairy Tale, #1)

4 Growing in Love by Paige Powers

Growing in Love

5 The Beholder by Ivan Amberlake

The Beholder (The Beholder #1)

6 The Day Human Prince by B. Kristin McMichael

The Day Human Prince (Day Human Trilogy #1)

7 Even the Moon Has Scars by Steph Campbell

Even the Moon Has Scars

8 The Girl Inside by Karyn Masters

The Girl Inside

9 Stalking Jack: The Hunt Begins by Madison Kent

Stalking Jack: The Hunt Begins (Madeline Donovan #1)

10 Purple Death by Brian L. Porter

Purple Death