Most Anticipated November and December 2019 Releases

Since December is always a light publishing month, I'm combining it with November for today's line-up. 

Waiting For

1. Supernova by Marissa Meyer (11/5/19)

This trilogy has really knocked it out of the park.

2. Deadly Little Scandals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (11/5/19)

We love a good sequel.

3. Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan (11/5/19)

Unique fantasy ftw.

4. Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater (11/5/19)

We'll see if this is as good as the Raven Cycle books.

5. Across a Broken Shore by Amy Trueblood (11/5/19)

Something different for historical fiction.

6. Crying Laughing by Lance Rubin (11/19/19)

I love funny YA! I hope this one will be a hit.

7. Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen (12/3/19)

I love a good Regency story. (But I don't know why this one has a subtitle, and a ridiculously cheesy one at that.)

8. Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters (12/3/19) 

Trying another adult romance, this one about movies and meet cutes.

Already Read - You Should, Too!


1. Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz (11/5/19)
A cute and heartfelt contemporary.


What books are you looking forward to, as 2019 winds down?

Why I Love The Lovely and the Lost

Jennifer Lynn Barnes has been on an incredible book streak as of late. I love her Naturals series and her Fixer duology. While Little White Lies definitely captured my attention last fall, it was a bit overshadowed by, in my opinion, by her spring 2019 release: The Lovely and the Lost. And here's why.

1. The puppers

I am a dog-lover through and through, so the amount of dogs in this book give me great joy. From Silver the German Shepherd, to Saskia the Husky, to NATO and Duchess the bloodhound mixes, there's a range of lovable furry companions.

2. The haunting plot lines

I don't want to spoil anything, but I'll just say Jen is good at twisty plots that keep you guessing and will often leave you a little spooked.

3. The family bond

Technically, the main character Kira is a foster daughter/sister, but she is very close to Cady, her foster mom, and Jude, her foster brother. Also there's good family stuff with Cady's dad, Bales, and I wouldn't hesitate to say that the dogs, especially Silver, are part of the family too.

4. The boy

Jen always has good potential love interests in her stories. Gabriel Cortez is no exception.

If you love contemporary that's a little more fast-paced and comes with dogs and strong characters, you need to read Jennifer Lynn Barnes's latest book.

Goodreads  Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble  The Book Depository

The Pancake Book Tag

It's a good thing I've already eaten breakfast, else doing this book tag would make me very hungry! :) This tag was originally created by Becky at Blogs of a Bookaholic, and she's graciously letting everyone who does it use the graphics she created as well. So without further ado, here's the Pancake Book Tag.

~A book that has a dusting of beautiful prose/descriptions.~

~A sharp character in wit or temperament.~

Cameron, from one of my favorite books this year...

~A comforting read you could devour again and again.~

~A novel that gave you a serious book hangover.~

~A book that gave you all the indulgent feels.~

~A character that seems all bad at first, but has hidden depths.~

Dean from...

~A book with a slippery plot that kept you guessing.~

(Or really, any of Megan's books.)

~A romantic pairing you weren't sure you'd like at first but ended up being a perfect match.~


Often I ship from the get-go, if I'm shipping a couple. But it took til I reread Fangirl for me to be on board with Cath and Levi. 

~A character that makes you recoil.~

Rowan in the TOG series. I said what I said.

~A book with wonderfully diverse characters.~

The obvious choice would be SoC. But I'm gonna go with Not Now, Not Ever. We've got an interracial romance, plus the supporting cast has more Black characters and a lot more that I'm blanking on at the moment.



Ok, now I'm hungry for breakfast food.

Rewind & Review #146

Created by Shae Has Left the Room.

~I had a short trip to New York. It mostly involved food and friends. I also saw the new McNally Jackson store down at South Street Seaport, and I sat by the river for awhile, and I also visited Cornelia Street again.

~I didn't realize until a few days before, but Nic Stone came to Richmond on the book tour for her latest, Jackpot. She was in conversation with Lamar Giles at one of the Barnes & Nobles in the area. It was great to see both of them again!

~I've added approximately eleventy million cozy mysteries to my TBR spreadsheet. Am very excited for the prospect of new authors, new series, and the perfect books for fall/winter.

Books I Received for Review

The Queen Bee and Me by Gillian McDunn (from Bloomsbury)

Books I Bought

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Jackpot by Nic Stone

Books I Read

Color Outside the Lines by various authors

Emily Out of Focus by Miriam Spitzer Franklin (3 stars)

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal (4 stars)

Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy (3.5 stars)

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys (4 stars)

The Measure of My Powers by Jackie Kai Ellis (5 stars)

A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (4 stars)

4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie (4 stars)

The Map from Here to There by Emery Lord

Blog Posts You Might've Missed in the Last Few Weeks

   (from 10/14-10/19)

• So You Like... #89
• Random Friday: Movie Soundtracks

   (from 10/20-10/26)

• What We Did in Asheville
• Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Give Different Titles To
• Review: Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz (4 stars)
• A to Z: A Book Tag

A to Z: A Book Tag

I seem to do book tags really close together but...no regrets. This one is super-duper long, which I'm excited for! The lovely Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner created this one yearssssss ago, but it's still totally relevant. Without further ado, let's get started. :)


A - Author you've read the most books from
Well you used to be able to track this via Goodreads, but they've gotten rid of the feature, so it's kind of hard to tell. 🙃 My gut instinct says Ann M. Martin or Gertrude Chandler Warner, because there are a heck ton of Babysitters Club books and Boxcar Children books.


B - Best sequel ever
Oh gosh... I'm really partial to Catching Fire, as well as Killer Instinct (in the Naturals series). Also The Winner's Crime continues to amp up the drama, and I'm so glad the To All the Boys I've Loved Before books are a trilogy.



C - Currently reading
As of working on this post, Songs from the Deep and Frankly in Love.


D - Drink of choice while reading
Honestly, I'm kind of boring, and I mostly drink water. But I do love a good PSL or a nice glass of wine or rosé cider.


E - e-reader or physical copy
Physical copy probably, but I got very comfortable reading books on my phone while riding the subway 12+ times a week.



F - Fictional character you would've dated in high school

Max Watson from The Start of Me and You, without question.


G - Glad you gave this book a chance
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls surprised me with just how much I loved it.
 


H - Hidden gem book
I routinely list these in #quietYA posts, but for this tag, I'll choose...

Not Now, Not Ever for the contemporary crowd and For a Muse of Fire for the fantasy lovers.

I - Important moment in your reading life
Maybe the first time I saw my name in the acknowledgements of a book? Sara Raasch thanked me in the author's note for Ice Like Fire, since I'd championed Snow Like Ashes from the get-go, so that was a special moment.

J - Just finished

A Match Made in Mehendi by Nandini Bajpai, which I loved!


K - Kind of books you won't read
Horror, straight up erotica, most adult romance, most adult fiction in general actually... Memoirs unless they have a good hook (travel, food, or something like Inheritance).

L - Longest book you've read
Les Miserables at 1,472 pages.



M - Major book hangover because of...
To this day, I still remember the book hangover that Prisoner of Night and Fog gave me in 2014. A more recent one was caused by Analee, in Real Life.



N - Number of bookcases you own
Well...if we count the one I get to use downstairs in my parents' office/library, I have seven. I only have two full-sized ones, though! Three are only two-shelvers, one is super narrow, and one is a nightstand/cube combo thing. But yeah, I own a lot of books.


O - One book you've read multiple times
P.S. I Like You by Kasie West. I reread it at least once every year.



P - Preferred place to read
I have one of those bowl-style chairs in my room, and it's pretty nice, not gonna lie.


Q - Quote that inspires you or gives you all the feels
This one gives me all the feels because it hits very close to home:

"Surely her purpose in life wasn't simply to read as many books as possible?" ~ The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman


R - Reading regret
Giving into pressure to read certain classics and then not enjoying them.


S - Series you started and need to finish
The Anne of Green Gables series. I even own Rainbow Valley, and every library has copies, so this shouldn't be that hard.


T - Three of your all-time favorite books
Hmmmmmmmm, this is hard. D:



Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills
Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
The Start of Me and You and The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord (They're by the same author, so it counts!)

U - Unapologetic fangirl for...
Emma Mills. So, so much. Ever since Foolish Hearts, she's written such consistently strong books, and I hope she never stops writing such soft, realistic, extraordinarily ordinary contemporary novels.

V - Very excited for this release
Supernova by Marissa Meyer for 2019 releases, and The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning for 2020.




W - Worst bookish habit
Skim-reading a book I don't like just so I can say I finished it, instead of DNFing. DNFing is a great thing, don't get me wrong, but I'm very stubborn, and I'd like to say I finished a book if I put enough effort into it.


X - X marks the spot - Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book.
I did this based off of my main YA shelves (which are done alphabetically).

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett


Y - Your latest book purchase
I wrote this post at the beginning of October, and it was The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys! :)


Z - Zzzz-snatcher book (Last book that kept you up way too late)
Hmm, it's been a little while but probably either Well Met or Five Dark Fates at the end of September.



Feel free to do this tag yourself! I never like tagging specific people. ;P