Tag taken from Dini @ dinipandareads This tag was originally created by Mollie @Mollie the Reader. I’m not a huge music listener these days – teenage me would let the ground swallow her up in shame – I’d rather listen to an audiobook when I’m out walking or whatever, but I do have a couple of CDs in my car (yes, I know, ancient) for when I’m not focused enough to listen and watch the road. Those CDs are pretty much a mix of musical soundtracks and Taylor Swift at the moment. Ready For It: A book that you are sooo ready to read and need to read it ASAP Napkins and Other Distractions ..read more

10 THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPENED ALEXIS HALL SERIES: Standalone [Technically part of the Material World (and eventually I think, London Calling) universe] REP: MM Romance GENRES/ SUBJECTS: RomCom, Christmas time, Fake Amnesia GOODREADS I’m pretty much a sucker for Alexis Hall’s romcoms at this point, and this one was no different. If you were one of the many, many people who loved BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, I think you’re going to love 10 THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPENED. I put off reading this one, because I think I was a little disappointed once I realised it wouldn’t feature any characters from the Lo ..read more

April 30: Here Come the E’s Yet another week off-topic! Todays official prompt is “Petty Reasons You’ve DNF’d a Book (Or reduced its rating. You don’t even have to say what the book was if you don’t want to!).” My problem is I don’t DNF enough!! So that was a non-starter (although I’m very interested to read the answers this week). Instead, I’m continuing the idea I borrowed from Pam at Read Bake Create, working through the alphabet to shake up the books in my Top Ten Tuesdays. Please check out Pam’s posts too! Do you have a favourite ‘E’ title? Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden — Not my f ..read more

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com I’ve never attempted the r/Fantasy Bingo before, mostly because I’m not on Reddit, but this is the tenth year it’s running and they’ve got both a StoryGraph Challenge and a bingo board, so when I saw a couple of TBR videos pop up in my YouTube feed, I decided – Why not? I’m already way over committed on yearlong challenges, what’s one more? There’s a couple of rules : Reading Period lasts from April 1st 2024 – March 31st 2025. Only ONE square can be a re-read. All other books must be first-time reads. The point of Bingo is to explore new grounds, so ..read more

STARLING HOUSE ALIX E. HARROW SERIES: Standalone REP: F/M Romance GENRES/ SUBJECTS: Fantasy/Horror Romance TRIGGER WARNINGS: Past death of a parent/ car accident GOODREADS STARLING HOUSE has been sitting on my TBR shelf a while – partly because (full disclosure) my NetGalley AudioARC had a weird issue with missing off the last minute-or-so of a lot of chapters. I don’t think that had any real impact on my experience of STARLING HOUSE as a whole, but something I think I should mention. Back when I first requested in STARLING HOUSE I was really hyped for it – the cover is gorgeous, Gothic h ..read more

April 23: Top Ten Books I Plan to Read for PopSugar 2024 – Part 2 Todays prompt is “Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon (Bonus points if you tell us how long it’s been sitting on your shelf waiting for you.)“ Today’s prompt sort of fitted with the tangent I took last week, so I decided to just continue that. The PopSugar yearly reading challenge has 50 prompts (including some real bitches) and this the first year where I’ve felt quietly confident in at least being able to find a book for each one. These are all just ideas, so definetly let me know if there’s any really good ones ..read more

Black dragon by Ehtisham Sajid  To steal from one of the Wyrd & Wonder hosts, Annemieke, Wyrd and Wonder is a fun and interactive event that reoccurs every May that focuses on Fantasy… Anyway you devour fantasy is welcomed, wether this is through consuming books, tv shows, movies, video games or even board games. Annemieke from A Dance With Books This years optional, slightly more targeted theme is comfort zone – whether that means cozy fantasy, re-reads, or diving into favourite subgenres. I have quite a lot on this month – including a trip to London to see Hadestown and my br ..read more

BRIDE OF THE SHADOW KING SYLVIA MERCEDES SERIES: Bride of the Shadow King #1 REP: FM Romance GENRES/ SUBJECTS: Fantasy Romance GOODREADS I requested BRIDE OF THE SHADOW KING because of the arranged marriage angle, which I’m a big fan of as a trope. I really enjoy getting to see two people, almost always at odds and in a confinement space, struggling to overcome misunderstandings and get to know one another. BRIDE OF THE SHADOW KING took me a bit by surprise, because although it is an arranged marriage story, it didn’t really go down that route I was expecting, but I still really enjoyed i ..read more

April 16: Top Ten Books I Plan to Read for PopSugar 2024 Todays prompt is “Characters I’d Like to go on Vacation With (Pretend you’re going on vacation and can bring 10 of your closest friends with you. Pick your vacation spot and tell us who you’d like to bring! Bonus point if you tell us why. Or maybe you like the idea of traveling in small groups, so plan 10 trips or 5 trips!)” I really wasn’t feeling that one, so I thought I do this instead. The PopSugar yearly reading challenge has 50 prompts (including some real bitches) and this the first year where I’ve felt quietly confident in at ..read more

A BOTANICAL DAUGHTER NOAH MEDLOCK SERIES: Standalone REP: FF & MM Romance GENRES/ SUBJECTS: Fantasy/Horror TRIGGER WARNINGS: Violence, murder, homophobia GOODREADS I love a Frankenstein retelling, or a vaguely Frankenstein-esque story. Adding in queer characters and a gorgeous flower-packed cover made A BOTANICAL DAUGHTER an really obvious request. A BOTANICAL DAUGHTER is beautifully written. The pacing is a little on the slow side, and has a slightly start-stop rhythm in places, but I thought that that actually worked very well with the slightly claustrophobic greenhouse in Simon and ..read more