Month: September 2019

Tag: Autumn Book Tag

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Many thanks to Consu for tagging me in the Autumn Book Tag! 🙂 I’m ready for fall, Halloween, pumpkin-themed everything, the weather cooling down… all of it. This was a perfect tag for me!

Rules

  • Answer the questions
  • link back to the creator (Jenniely)
  • tag other people!

1. Hot Chocolate – what is your comfort book?

I’m not sure that I really have a comfort book, but I have a comfort genre, and that’s fluffy YA contemporaries!

2. Pumpkin Carving – what is your favourite creative outlet?

I love sewing! (When I actually get the motivation to do it.) I especially love sewing things for babies, like blankets and bibs and burp cloths. I have no children of my own, but lots of my friends and coworkers do, and I love spoiling their kids.

3. Falling Leaves – changes that appear bad but you secretly love?

I think I’d have to agree with Consu here! I think that moving can be a really great experience if you go into it with the right mindset. Yes, it’s super stressful to deal with getting all of your stuff to a new place, but once you’re there, nobody knows anything about you! You’re starting totally fresh.

4. Pumpkin Spiced Latte – something you love that others tend to judge

STAYING IN. It’s fun to go out to concerts and stuff on the weekends sometimes, but sometimes it’s also night to sit at home and just relax. I mean, I work a full-time job. Sometimes it’s nice just to sleep in and have a lazy day with some Netflix and books. I used to work with someone who just did not understand why I would want to do nothing on the weekend. He would make me so mad because he was so judgy about it!

5. Bonfire Night – what makes you explode with joy?

Cats.

6. Fright Night – favourite scary book or film

172 Hours on the Moon, probably.

7. Halloween candy – favourite thing to eat

My favorite thing ever is probably mac and cheese. My favorite candy is anything sour, especially Sour Patch Kids or sour gummy worms.

8. Scarves – your autumn ‘must have’ accessory

A blanket and a cup of hot cocoa. 🙂

9. Fire – a book or film that burns your soul

The Hating Game. You probably saw that coming, though.

10. Toffee apples – a book or film that seems one thing but really has a different inside

There are a lot of books I could use for this one, but I’ll go with Beauty Queens! Between the title and the girl in the bikini with the lipstick ammo, it looks kind of like a disaster. It was so, so good though! It’s such an empowering book with such a great message.

I’m tagging

Jamsu 🍂 Lori 🍂 Dini 🍂 Nish & Ngoc

No pressure to do the tag if you don’t want to or already have! And if I didn’t tag you and you want to do it, please feel free to steal it! (And link back to me so I can see your answers!!) What’s your favorite creative outlet? What’s your favorite thing to eat? Let’s talk in the comments!

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Book Review: The Backstagers, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV

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The Backstagers, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV
Rating: ★★★★☆
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: July 25, 2017
Source: Borrowed

All the world’s a stage . . . but what happens behind the curtain is pure magic literally! 

When Jory transfers to an all-boys private high school, he’s taken in by the only ones who don’t treat him like a new kid, the lowly stage crew known as the Backstagers. Not only does he gain great, lifetime friends, Jory is also introduced to an entire magical world that lives beyond the curtain. With the unpredictable twists and turns of the underground world, the Backstagers venture into the unknown, determined to put together the best play their high school has ever seen. 

James Tynion IV (Detective Comics, The Woods) teams up with artist Rian Sygh (Munchkin, Stolen Forest) for an incredibly earnest story that explores what it means to find a place to fit in when you’re kinda an outcast.

I first saw this graphic novel advertised in the back of something else I’d read and added it to my list to read eventually. I ended up remembering it while scrolling through Hoopla after all of my books were packed into boxes.

When I first started reading it, I wasn’t entirely sure what I thought. I mean, the idea of it is super fun! There’s this whole magical world (literally!!) behind the scenes at a school play. I hadn’t really expected the whole magical realism plot, but that didn’t mean that I disliked it. In fact, as the story went on, I think that made me enjoy this little graphic novel even more.

The characters are great and really easy to relate to. Even though they’re moving through this mystical world filled with magical creatures and moving hallways and just… the strangest things you’ve ever seen, they’re your typical, everyday teenagers and they just want to make sure that the school musical goes off without a hitch.

The story does move along pretty quickly without a ton of character development or worldbuilding, but it is only the first volume. I’m hoping that we’ll see more of that in the next volume, which I’m excited to dive into soon!

Have you read The Backstagers? Can you recommend any similar books?
Let’s talk in the comments!

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Weekly Update

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In case you missed it, here are this week’s blog posts:

I’ve been reading:

Recently acquired:

More than 1 thing this week for once:

  • I was definitely still asleep when last week’s Weekly Update posted, so here’s a picture from the dodie concert!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2rcVl0gYOs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
  • Um, I started a new job?? In a plot twist to end all plot twists, I left my job of seven years, moved like 800 miles, and took a new job in a different (yet related) field.

Blog hopping:

  • Kristi is doing a giveaway!
  • Elaine shared a calendar & list of fun holidays in October!

Song of the week:

Is this my new favorite Sigrid song? It might be.

How was your week? What’s the best thing you read or listened to? Anything interesting happening in your life? Let’s talk in the comments!

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Book Review: Revival, Vol. 2 by Tim Seeley

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Revival, Vol. 2 by Tim Seeley
Rating: ★★★★☆
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: July 17, 2013
Source: Borrowed
For one day in rural central Wisconsin, the dead came back to life. Now, the living and the recently-returned struggle to maintain a sense of normalcy, amidst political and religious conflicts.


Collects REVIVAL #6-11.
 

After finishing the first volume of Revival, I was both excited and a little apprehensive to read the second. I’ve read more than one graphic novel that got dramatically worse after a good first volume, but not to worry! That’s not the case with Revival.

I found volume two to be just as intriguing as the first. This kind of gory horror graphic novel wouldn’t normally be my thing, but I’m glad I gave it a chance. There’s a lot going on in this volume, with new characters and new plot lines introduced, but I have a feeling that it’ll be worth it. I think one of the things I appreciate most about this series, at least so far, is that the characters’ real life drama doesn’t disappear in the face of what’s basically the zombie apocalypse.

I also appreciated that the setting — Wausau, Wisconsin — still plays a big role in the story. I mentioned in my review of the first volume that it’s like I’m actually there when I’m reading, and this volume is no different. I mean, Seeley even mentions the smell of the paper mills! It’s little things like that that have really made this series for me so far.

I’m excited to check out some more volumes of this and see where it goes.

Have you read Revival? Have you read any books set in your hometown?
Let’s talk in the comments!

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Theme Thursday: Office

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It’s time for another Theme Thursday! This month’s theme is office, which is pretty great since I love office-based romances and I’ve recently become obsessed with The Office. I’m interpreting “office” kind of loosely here, so the books I’m talking about are ones where both characters work in the same place. I’m also about 110% sure that I’ve missed at least a few!

Also, surprisingly, I have ZERO office-based books on my TBR! Please let me know your favorites so that I can read them!!

Theme Thursday is a new monthly feature created by Sophie @ Blame Chocolate where bloggers can share recs and newly found books featuring that month’s theme.

  • There will be a different theme (genre, trope, etc) every month. You can check the theme calendar here.
  • Those participating have to list titles that feature that theme in some way (doesn’t have to be the main theme of the book).
  • You can choose one of the four (or five) Thursdays of every month to post.
  • You can use the three main categories: Books I’ve Read/I’m Reading, Books I Want to Read, and Other Books That Fit The Theme but this isn’t mandatory.
  • You can repeat books in different themes, if they apply, and choose as many as you want.
  • You don’t have to take part every month! Just when you feel like it.
  • You can use #BlameThemeThursday on Twitter and other social media to make TT posts easier to find.
  • Finally, use this boxed text (or similar) in your post, as it doubles as a pingback.

If you have any theme suggestions, please leave them in the comments or email them to me!

Books I’ve Read

Books I Want to Read

I can’t think of any! Please recommend some to me!

Did you do your own Theme Thursday post this month? Feel free to leave your link in the comments and I’ll check it out! Have you read any of these books? What are your favorite office-based books? Let’s talk in the comments!

Find me all over the internet: Goodreads | Twitter | Bloglovin’