Disney Princess Book Tag [UPDATING]

 Disney Princess Book Tag

I just happened to see this tag, and I thought it looked lovely, so I decided to go ahead and do it - like I do with many tags that I see and find interesting. I do want to say, I adjusted the tag a little by adding on one more Princess: Moana. I saw this tag at the following link: 

1. Snow White: Favorite Classic

2. Cinderella: Book You Kept Reading Past Midnight

3. Aurora: Favorite Classic Romance

4. Ariel: Book About Making Sacrifices and Fighting For Your Dreams

5. Belle: Book with a Smart, Independent Main Female Character

6. Jasmine: Book with a Character Who Has Challenged the Norms of Their World

7. Pocahontas: Book Whose Ending was a Roller Coaster of Emotions

8. Mulan: Book with a Kickbutt Female Character

9. Rapunzel: Book that Features an Artist

10. Merida: Book with a Mother-Daughter Relationship

11. Anna and Elsa: Book with a Great Relationship Between Siblings

12. Tiana: Character Who Puts Their Dreams Above Romance

13. Moana: Book with a Character Who Steps Out into an Adventure

Who is your favorite princess and why?

Top Ten Tuesday: Adaptations that I Still Need to Read the Book For [UPDATING]

 Last week, I did a Top Ten Tuesday for the books I need to read before watching the adaptation for. This week I'm going to focus on the books I need to read when I've already seen the adaptation.

Five Feet Apart

Out Chemical Hearts (?)

When Dimple Met Rishi

Cursed

One & Only Ivan

P.S. I Love You

All the Bright Places

Little Women

Crazy Rich Asians

Tiny Pretty Things

Summer Scaries Book Tag [UPDATING]

This tag was created by Penguin Teen, and Emma over at emmabooks on youtube did the tag which is where I discovered it.

1. Specter: A book still haunts you after reading it. 2. Don't split up: A book would you want to read around a campfire with friends. 3. Ghost: A book would you like to ghost. 4. Frankenstein: A book that mixes genres well. 5. Murder: A book with a twist you didn't see coming. 6. Zombie: A book or series you would like to revive from the BookTube graveyard. 7. Witch: A horror book with a strong female protagonist. 8. Mind Control: A spooky book you would recommend to everyone.

Birthstone Tag [NEED TO COMPLETE]

I discovered this at Spines and Covers. This tag was originally created by Jay G. If you want to do this tag then feel free to do it.

January (GARNET): Associate with warding off negative forces and dark energies – Name a book with the darkest/evilest character you can think of

February (AMETHYST): Purple is associated with royalty – Name a book with regal qualities... You can base this off of characters of choice or the King of all books

March (AQUAMARINE): Washed out – Name a ‘wishy washy’ character, a character who is not strong or a follower

April (Diamond): A diamond in the rough – Name a book that you loved but is not well known

May (EMERALD): Said to balance energy – Name two characters who balance each other well

June (Pearl): Associated with loyalty – Name a character who is loyal to the end

July (RUBY): Blood red – Name a book that made your blood boil, one that made you angry

I Stop Somewhere by T.E. Carter

August (Peridot): Pale green (it pales in comparison to other gems) – Name a supporting character who you like better than the main character

Spam from To Catch a Killer and To Right the Wrongs by Sheryl Scarborough

September (SAPPHIRE): Blue like the ocean which is calming – Name a book that had a calming effect on you

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

October (Opal): Iridescent – Name an iridescent book. This can be a book with a beautiful cover (shiny? lots of color?) or you can base it off of a character (quirky? colorful?)

Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

November (TOPAZ): Associated with resilience – Name a book with a character who rises to the top in a time of adversity

December (Blue Zircon): Associated with friendship – Name a book with a friendship you want to be apart of

Christmas Song Book Tag [NEED TO COMPLETE]

The Christmas Song Book Tag is perfect for Christmas, I couldn’t help but participate in it, even though I wasn't tagged. This tag was created by Hailey in Bookland so you guys should go check out her video. Everyone who wants to do this is tagged by me.

1. “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch”

Name a villainous character you couldn’t help but love.

2. “All I Want for Christmas is You”

Which book do you most hope to see under your Christmas tree?

3. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

Name a character that overcomes major obstacles and learns to believe in themselves.

4. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”

a) Which character do you think would be on the top of the naughty list? 

b) Which character do you think would be at the top of the nice list? 

5. “Frosty the Snowman”

Which book just melts your heart?

6. “Feliz Navidad”

Choose a book that takes place in a country other than your own.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, which takes place in Nova Scotia, Canada.

7. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”

Which holiday-themed book do you use to spread the Christmas joy?

8. “Sleigh Ride”

Which fictional character would you choose to spend the holidays with (doesn’t have to be a love interest!)

9. “Baby it’s Cold Outside”

Which book that you didn’t like would you sacrifice to a fire to warm yourself up in the cold?

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (I would also go with Ronit & Jamil).

10. “Do you hear what I hear”

Which book do you think everyone should read?

12 Books of Christmas

 Christmas is a time of joy and what better way to experience that joy than to do something I love: reading. So me and a friend decided to do a reading challenge of reading 12 books before Christmas. She went a monster romance route, while I stuck with contemporary "Hallmark" and historical romance because I am currently on a historical romance kick and I always want to challenge myself to read more contemporary because it is my least favorite genre.

So without further ado, in no particular order of being completed here are my 12 Books of Christmas that I have planned to read:

1. In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

2. Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison

3. Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

4. Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese

5. Holiday Switch by Tif Marcelo

6. Christmas Pact by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward

7. Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist by Codi Hall

8. Christmas Cupid by Ilsa Madden-Mills

9. So, This is Christmas by Tracy Andreen

10. How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Various Authors

11. Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Matthews

12. Kissing Under the Mistletoe by Various Authors

List subject to change due to availability of books because most will be borrowed from the library through the Libby app. Some are through Kindle Unlimited.

Anti-TBR Tag

ANTI-TBR TAG

 1. A popular book everyone loves that you have no interest in reading

Cruel Prince by Holly Black. I'm not huge into fae stories, and I just have no desire to read this book for no real reason other than it just doesn't sound that exciting. 

2. A classic book (or author) that you don't have any interest in reading

Great Gatsby. Wuthering Heights. Jane Eyre. Great Expectations. There's probably a lot more that I could add to this list because I just don't really have a desire to read Classics.

3. An author whose books you have no interest in reading

Cassandra Clare. I don't really get the hype. I've tried picking up her books and it's always something I put down really quickly. Maybe some day I will try again, but as of right now - she's one author I will be avoiding.

4. A problematic author whose books you have no interest in reading

Going back to classics because I feel like a good chunk of classical authors are problematic.

5. An author you have read a couple of books from and have decided their books are not for you

Hailey Abbott. I've read two of her books and I gave them both 3 stars, so I think she's one author that I am going to not pick up another book. I feel like I don't have that issue anymore - I tend to either only read one book of an author and then never again if I didn't like or I just tend to pick up books that I will continue to read more by that author.

6. A genre you are not interested in or you have tried and couldn't get into

Magical Realism. I have attempted to enjoy Magical Realism but even for books that I kind of enjoyed, I've never given a book with Magical Realism more than like a 3 star rating. I just kind of try to avoid this genre as much as possible.

7. A book you have bought but will never read

Possibly Priory of the Orange Tree as much as I don't want that to be the case. But everytime I go to pick it up, I just end up deciding not to.

8. A series you have no interest in reading or a series you have started and DNFed

House of Night. Blue Bloods. Wicked Lovely. Maximum Ride. Divergent. Intertwined. There are so many series on this list that I will not be continuing.

9. A new release you have no interest in reading

Stolen Heir by Holly Black. She's an author that can probably join Cassandra Claire as an author that I have no desire to pick up a book by.

2023 Reading Goals and Challenges

 I'm going to link my 2022 Reading Goals and Challenges since I am pulling a lot from my goals last year since I didn't complete a single one. Last Years Goals. I am going to add and alter some of the goals, and I am going to post some Bookish goals that aren't reading specific.

READING GOALS

1. Goodreads Challenge

Read 50 books over the coarse of the year (I would like to hit 100, but I am only going to aim for 50). I don't want to put overwhelming pressure on me because when I see that I am behind, it stresses me out. I want to aim for 25 YA and Middle Grade, and 25 Adult and NA. I usually include Non-Fiction in my count for Adult books. 

2. Owlcrate Game Challenge

Using the Owlcrate game, et cetera, use the categories to pick my TBR for the month. I was going to finish out all of the categories when I planned this last year, but I am thinking of drawing four - picking four books, and then only aiming to finish one for the challenge. I'm not going to post anything ahead of time for this because there are so many categories.

3. Complete Five Series

I am so bad at finishing series, so I am picking at least five series that I what to prioritize and finish this year over other series that I have yet to complete. I am only including the full-length novels, no novellas for the completion of the challenge.

The first series is the Razorland series by Ann Aguirre. I gave the first book five stars, so I don't know why I never finished the series. If you've never heard of this series, it's a post-apocalyptic horror zombie series.

The next series is Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin. I absolutely loved the first book in this series, so I don't know why I never continued. I loved the first book so much that I read it in almost one sitting (with a slight work disruption).

The third series that I picked, is another series in which I loved the first book, and that is Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. It is a book that I recommend a lot, so it's tragic that I haven't finished reading the series. (As a bonus, I would also love to finish her Kingdom of the Wicked series, but it won't be in the challenge).

The fourth series is Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I really enjoyed the first book, I loved the atmosphere, and the tone. I just never got around to reading the rest of the series. This is by far the longest series that I need to finish, but I was able to get through the first book in a few hours so I expected nothing less from the rest of the series. Not gonna lie, the Map of Days cover really bothers me because it stands out from the rest.

The fifth and final series that I want to finish is the Cassidy Blake series by Victoria Schwab. I loved the ghostly aspects of the story, and really can't wait to finish with Cassidy's story.

4. Read One Non-Fiction Book

I want to read at least one non-fiction book per month. I just find learning new things and "disrupting" the fiction novels I pick up healthy for me in my reading habits.

BOOKISH GOALS

1. Video Game Book Recommendations

Recommend books that I think you would like if you like playing some of my favorite games. Or if you like the books, I'm recommending, you might enjoy playing the game.

3. Finish Reorganizing My Library

I still need at least one more bookshelf for my library because there is an empty section of my wall, and then finish putting the books I have on the shelves. Finish going through my books to see if there are any that I want to unhaul.

4. Complete the Reading Planner

I am planning on doing a reading planner this year, but in years past, I would start and then as the months progressed, I would slowly stop filling it out. Since this planner is already set-up, I just need to fill in information so I feel like this will be easier than writing up my own planner.

Where Was I... Once Again?

I feel like a lot of you understand how hard it is sometimes to keep up with projects and goals (and then there are those of you who are lucky enough to not struggle with this - and I'm jealous), but the past few years since graduating college have been some of the toughest for me when it comes to reading and posting on social platforms regarding books/reading.

My job takes up a lot of time, and it's a very physically draining job at times. I work in a medical-associated field so I'm moving around a lot, moving heavy equipment, and just standing on my feet some days for the whole eight hours of work. So when I come home, I usually want to wind down by just turning on the tv and listening/watching absently.

I also have other obligations in my life that also take up a decent amount of time, and other things that I do that are very important to me like spending time with family and friends. This means that in a given week, I have a very limited amount of time to read. And I just was never really in the mood to read - I've just been so burnt out with a lot. On top of that, I have really bad anxiety and depression.

This led to probably one of the worst years for me when it comes to reading. I usually set my goal around 75-100ish. This year, I set my goal to 80 books, and I've only read 42 and the majority of those books were read in the earlier months.

So, I still really like posting reviews even if there aren't many people who read them. Just getting to put my thoughts down is cathartic for me so I will continue to do so when I am able. That being said, I will probably not post anything for the month of December because I am going to be working on my blog with pages, reviews, etc. A lot of my current posts will be turned back into drafts as I decide whether I want them to still be available as I "revamp" my blog.

But starting in January, I am wanting to post at least twice weekly that are themed and planned postings. I want to still do a monthly wrap-up and tbr. And reviews will be as I read books and decide whether I want to do a review or not on them. Sometimes, I don't have much to say - which is why three star books just end up not really having full reviews because I tend to lean toward a "meh" feeling and I have no positive or negative commentary about them.

I will probably post at the end of December, a list of goals for reading and for challenges (one of which will be my Game Recommendations idea that I wanted to do back at the beginning of last year). The way that I will probably post this will be the game review, and at the bottom a list of recommendations. Then I will probably post reviews for all of the recommendations. That one is still a work in progress because ultimately I am going to be replaying the games and then finding books that fit the game. Initially, I was planning to do a Plague Tale. This game just ended up being much more of a challenge than I was planning on it being. So I'm not going to say what game I might end up doing first or not because I don't want to struggle to find books like I did last time, and this time, I just want it to be easy and fun.

That's all the current updates I have. Hopefully (as I've said many times before), this year will turn out well when it comes to posting. On a side not, I have a reading planner this year that I am going to attempt to try out to help me stay focused on what I want to accomplish. My ultimate goal is just to just rediscover my love for reading. It's just hard when I struggle finding books that resonate in me the way so many books in the past did.

Review: City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake #1) by Victoria Schwab

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Pages: 272

Format: E-Book

Published By: Scholastic

Genre: MG - Paranormal, Horror
Series: Cassidy Blake

Rating:
✮✮✮✮

Review:

The first book in a series following a young girl whose parents are a ghost-hunting team traveling across the world for their new tv show, City of Ghosts was a darker Middle Grade horror novel with just the right number of paranormal spooks for a younger audience.

Cassidy Blake travels to Scotland for the first part of her parents' documentary with her best friend who happens to be a ghost. She was gifted with the ability to travel between the living world and the dead world resulting from a near death experience when she was younger.

In Scotland, things take a very dark turn when Cassidy learns that children have gone missing, and it has something to do with a lady known as the Red Raven. With the help of another girl like her named Lara and her best friend, Cassidy decides to hunt down the Red Raven.

I really liked all of our central characters: Cassidy, Lara, and Jacob. They were very lovable characters, but also very simply written with not a lot of depth to them. I look forward to seeing how they grow as characters in the next books.

Another huge hit was the legend behind the Red Raven. She is based on a Mourning Mother ghost, which is a mother whose children die along with her, and she comes back as a spirit to take children from their parents. She also reminds me of the Piped Piper of Hamelin.

Even though I really enjoyed the novel, I did find the pacing to be slow and the story to be very straight-forward, lacking any surprise twists or turns. Which were the two biggest downfalls of the book. Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and cannot wait to continue with the two remaining books in the series.

New Post Idea

 So, I still have a lot to catch up on for this blog - a few reviews that need to be posted - but I am still working on fixing this up. There are old posts that never were published that I am going through and decided if I still want to do that or if I want to just get rid of it. I am also going to probably change the background because I want to see some change. That's a huge reason that you haven't see me post much and hopefully once that all gets wrapped up, I will catch up on a lot of what I need to do for the actual blog.

To throw this out real quick, some reviews you can look forward to:

For my new post idea, I want to give book recommendations based on video games that I play. I have been planning on doing this for some time now, but haven't had the opportunity yet to fully dive into this. But if you like the idea, I want to give a shout-out to Hardback Hoarder over on her booktube channel because she recently also did this.

My goal is to recommend five books that I think give the same tone and vibes that I get from playing the games. I am hoping that I can look for new books to recommend, so it's not going to be a quick turnaround time for this post. I am also planning on reviewing the game so that you might decide to give it a try yourself.

The first game that I will be doing this for is:

Other games you can look forward to are: