Rainy Day Reads

This book is the second book in the Anna Dressed in Blood duology. It follows Cas in the months after Anna has disappeared, taking the Obeahman with her into Hell. Cas can’t stop thinking about Anna and soon he starts seeing her appear when he least expects it. Something seems wrong and Cas decides to find out where Anna is and why she seems to be trying to contact him from the other side. This leads to ghost hunting, portals and secret societies until everything is revealed and Cas must decide if he wants to sacrifice possibly everything in order to save Anna.   I really liked this book, and even though it has been a long time since I read the first one there were only a few times when I felt like I was missing something. But the book quickly caught me up and I didn’t feel like it took away from the reading experience of this book too much.  As in a lot of YA I feel like I would have liked basically everything to have been explored a bit more. I would love to know mo

Seeing as I felt like my reading was a bit unfocused and all over the place I decided to not only do Diversity Bingo but also try my hand at this challenge. I will only be aiming to read about 20 books off this list, and I have cheated a little and put on some books I’ve already read this year that fit the categories. Otherwise I think I would feel a bit overwhelmed.   Below is the list of books and the books I have read or plan on reading. I haven’t picked a book for every single challenge, because I don’t plan on finishing all challenges anyway. The books in cursive are the ones I have read (reviews will be linked) and the ones in cursive AND bold are the ones I plan to read.  Here is the link for the Goodreads page of the group if you want to check it out and maybe join yourself :) https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/174195-around-the-year-in-52-books   The 2017 List 1. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016 ( link ) 2. A book with at least 2 perspectives (m

This book was making its way around Youtube a year or two ago and it seemed like so much fun. It was branded as Buffy the Vampire Slayer set in the American South with all  that  that entails of cotillion and manners and lemonade.   It does have slight Buffy vibes as the main character, Harper, is a high school girl who must step up to the task of protecting, not the world, but one particular person. But that’s about it, as far as the Buffy comparison goes.  Harper is a regular, albeit slightly high-strung, girl who on prom night ends up in a magical fight between the janitor and her history teacher. As it turns out the janitor transfers some powers to her, and her history teacher then tries to kill her. Harper decides that she must be going crazy, but while she is figuring out how exactly, she finds out that indeed she is not crazy, but some seriously weird stuff is going on.  I gave this book just over 150 pages before I decided to DNF it. The story seemed a little

I recently decided to start this challenge because I do want to ramp up my reading. I was just too lazy at the start of the year, to bugger down and do this. So I don’t plan on finishing the entire thing this year, I’ll just see how many I can cross off and maybe carry it over into next year.   Sorry about the blurry quality. There are links to the original at the end of the post This is the list of all the topics. The books listed below each challenge are either my options I’m considering reading or the ones I have actually read. The ones I have read will be bold and contain links to my reviews, and my options will be in cursive .  Now, as for the books I haven’t read yet, I obviously can’t tell you if they are good or if I think they fit the challenge. If I read a book that I don’t think fits, I will remove it and try to find another one that fits better. But if you see something completely off on this list, please feel free to let me know :)  Disclaimer: I figu

I forgot I had this book on my bingo chart for the year, and I wasn't planning on writing a review until I remembered, because I don't really have a lot to say about it. The book follows Janie, a young black woman in the American south in the 1920s. She wants more out of life than the marriage her grandmother strives to get for her. When she kisses a boy her grandmother quickly sets her up with an older man and they are married. Janie resents this life and when a happy-go-lucky fellow comes by her garden gate she takes up with him. He gives her a different life from what she had, but she still isn't happy with it. When she finally meets Tea Cake she is content. As I said I wasn't planning on writing a review, because I didn't really enjoy this book, but I didn't hate it either. I just don't think it was for me. Janie seems unsatisfied with her lot in life, and she is portrayed as someone with gumption and drive, but then she sits back and lets the me

This book follows a boy who decides to transfer to a different high school in order to try a new life. This new life involves not being the gay guy. At his old school he is outspoken about his sexuality and is part of different organizations campaigning for gay rights. His parents are described as basically hippies, very open and accepting, almost too much so, and all his life they have been nothing but supportive. However, he starts to feel it like more of a pressure and less of support. When he transfers to this new school he leaves the “gay” label behind and settles into a new life, feeling free from the constraints of said label. But soon his attempt at living a label-free life starts to go a bit sour.   I thought this premise was super interesting and it has given me something to think about in terms of labels and showing our true selves. Rafe is tired of the label gay because a lot of people have predefined thoughts on what that label entails, and he is sick of having to l

I picked this one out of my TBR Jar and decided to give it a go. It’s one of those books that always seem to be floating around your subconscious but you never really actively think about picking it up. But I finally did! The narrator of this book is a man who comes upon a poster for an auction for the possessions of a lady. He finds out that this lady is a courtesan and I believe he had some sort of connection with her, because he goes and ends up buying a book. A little while later a young man comes looking for this book and wants to buy it off him. They end up becoming friends and the young man tells the narrator the story of his relationship with Marguerite, the courtesan, and why this book means so much to him.  The story itself is very Moulin Rouge-esque, but sort of lacklustre in my opinion. I think this is because I find that stories told in the first person always seem to lack something when it comes to building an atmosphere and a vibe. The same with the char

I was looking for a fun tag to do, and this one seemed like a quick little thing, so I decided to do it. I know the rapid fire element sort of fails when you write your answers out and have time to think about them, but I promise I will do them as quickly and intuitively as possible.   The tag was created by GirlReading and you can see her video here :) Let’s get started! E-Book or Physical Book?  I love physical books! I just can’t get into digital books in any way, shape or form Paperback or Hardback? I don’t really have a preference, except that I HATE those tiny hardbacks where your arms get a workout just from trying to keep the book cracked all the way open. You know the ones! Online or In-Store Book Shopping? I mostly do online, simply because my book shops don’t really have a lot of the things I am looking for, but when I do come across a well-supplied book store there is nothing better than browsing the shelves for hours on end. Online I tend