Under The Book Cover: that artsy reader girl

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish

c.r. gray 8:00:00 AM

Hi hello and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! This weekly post is hosted by the wonderful Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl so please be sure to go check out her post with all of the information about TTT. The topic this week is the ten most recent books you haven’t finished. I wasn’t sure if I was going to do this topic or not because I typically don’t talk about books I DNF, but this ended up being helpful for me! It allowed me to remember some of the books I had forgotten about and now I plan to pick those up soon. So yay for more reading! Plus, I feel like DNF’ing books doesn’t need to and definitely shouldn’t feel like a bad thing, so it’s good to talk about them more. Let’s get started!

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1. The Handler by L.T. Ryan & C.R. Gray
I think I just got distracted and ended up putting this aside for another book, which happens often because I’m easily distracted and forgetful! But I read the prequel and loved it, and was really enjoying The Handler when I was reading it, so I’ll absolutely be picking this back up soon.

2. Little Fox by M. Violet

I’m not ashamed to admit that I enjoy smutty spicy romance books. And for the most part, I don’t mind the direction these books tend to go. I don’t think I’ve ever really been bothered by anything I’ve read and I typically enjoy every book I read in the genre. But Little Fox just ended up being too much for me. I enjoyed the first novella and was excited about a sequel, but it unfortunately just ended up being a lot and I guess I found my limit, and I wasn’t able to finish it.

3. The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

This book and I just didn’t vibe and that’s pretty much it. Sometimes you pick up a book and it just doesn’t end up being a good fit for you as a reader and that’s okay!

4. Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

I was reading this and really enjoying the format of how the story was laid out, but I think when I realized how long it was, I set it aside because I just wasn’t in the mood for a long book at the time. What I read was really good and I was excited to see where the plot was going (I’d heard really good things about the book) so I’ll probably pick it back up around October!

5. Lavender House by Lev A.C. Rosen

This is one that I have no idea why I put down because I was so excited to read it and was loving it when I was reading! I think it’s just another case of “Megan found a shiny cover that distracted her and now she’s put down her current read for the new one” and like I said, that happens a lot.

6. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

This should not be a surprise to anyone who has (somehow) managed to read this one. I have tried reading Gideon the Ninth at least six times by now and I just can’t do it. It’s so confusing and I can’t stay focused because I don’t understand what’s happening, so I get frustrated and put it down. I want to read this so bad but my brain is the worst. Maybe I’ll try to buddy read it with someone and see if having another person to help me understand will make it easier to read for me.

7. Mary by Nat Cassidy

This one is tough to remember why I put it down. Was I not enjoying it? Did I get distracted? Did I just simply forget about it? I know I was liking the weirdness of it but something happened and I just never picked it back up. This might be one I have to finish out of principle because why did I stop reading?!

8. Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Have I finished reading this? No. Do I have three copies of it? Yes. Look, I’m a sucker for a pretty book cover and this book had some pretty editions and I fell for them. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever pick this back up for reasons but I guess at least I have some pretty covers on my shelf, right?

9. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

Honestly, I don’t think I made it even 5 chapters in to this before my brain was screaming from being overwhelmed with information. I want to read this because I’ve heard it’s really good and that the sequel is even better, but the info dumping right at the start absolutely killed me.

10. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

Okay listen I got really far into this before I got distracted. I think I was somewhere around 80% of the way through and I knew in my soul this was a five star read. My mom loved it and wanted me to pick it up so I did and what I read was so good! It’s one of V.E. Schwab’s favorite books so like, obviously I have to read it, you know? Another case of shiny cover distraction but this is one I really do plan on finishing because I am dying to know how it all ends. And it better be a happy ending!

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And that’s it for this Top Ten Tuesday! As I said above, I’m glad I did end up doing this prompt because now I want to pick up several of these books I had forgotten about. And I don’t think I didn’t finish most of these because they were bad, but because I just got distracted and forgot that I was reading them. It’s frustrating, especially when I think back and remember that I was enjoying most of these when I was reading, but it’ll be nice to revisit and finish these worlds I’ve dipped my toes into! Have you read any of the books I talked about? Have you DNF’d any books on my list? What’s one book that you DNF’d but are considering picking up again? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next chapter!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books With One-Word Titles

adalyn grace 6:00:00 AM

Hi hello and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! This weekly post is hosted by the wonderful Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl so please be sure to go check out her post with all of the information about TTT. The topic this week is books with one-word titles and this was both harder than I thought and really fun! I never noticed before just how many books have multiple words in their title until I was searching for ones that only had one word. I think I picked out some good ones, though, and maybe one or two you've been thinking about picking up to read or will add on your TBR. Let's get started!
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1. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

"Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena's a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn't even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I. So what if June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song--complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That's what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree. But June can't get away from Athena's shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June's (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves."

2. Playground by Aron Beauregard

"Three low-income families have been given a handsome retainer to join Geraldine Borden for a day at her cliffside estate. All the parents must do to collect the rest of their money is allow their children to test out the revolutionary playground equipment Geraldine has been working on for decades. But there’s a reason the structures in the bowels of her gothic castle have taken so long to develop—they were never meant to see the light of day.

When a band of dysfunctional children is suddenly thrust into a diabolical realm of violence, they must grow up instantly to have a chance at survival. Will they find a way to put their differences aside, or be swallowed up by the insidious architecture all around them?"

3. Chlorine by Jade Song

"Ren Yu is a swimmer. Her daily life starts and ends with the pool. Her teammates are her only friends. Her coach, her guiding light. If she swims well enough, she will be scouted, get a scholarship, go to a good school. Her parents will love her. Her coach will be kind to her. She will have a good life. But these are human concerns. These are the concerns of those confined to land, those with legs. Ren grew up on stories of creatures of the deep, of the oceans and the rivers. Ones that called sailors to their doom. Ones that dragged them down and drowned them. Ones that feasted on their flesh. Ones of the creature that she's always longed to become: mermaid. Ren aches to be in the water. She dreams of the scent of chlorine--the feel of it on her skin. And she will do anything she can to make a life for herself where she can be free. No matter the pain. No matter what anyone else thinks. No matter how much blood she has to spill."

4. Vicious by V.E. Schwab

"Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?"

5. Sundial by Catriona Ward

"All Rob wanted was a normal life. She almost got it, too: a husband, two kids, a nice house in the suburbs. But Rob fears for her oldest daughter, Callie, who collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends. Rob sees a darkness in Callie, one that reminds her too much of the family she left behind. She decides to take Callie back to her childhood home, to Sundial, deep in the Mojave Desert. And there she will have to make a terrible choice.

Callie is worried about her mother. Rob has begun to look at her strangely, and speaks of past secrets. And Callie fears that only one of them will leave Sundial alive…

The mother and daughter embark on a dark, desert journey to the past in the hopes of redeeming their future."

6. Mary by Nat Cassidy

"Mary is a quiet, middle-aged woman doing her best to blend into the background. Unremarkable. Invisible. Unknown even to herself. But lately, things have been changing inside Mary. Along with the hot flashes and body aches, she can’t look in a mirror without passing out, and the voices in her head have been urging her to do unspeakable things. Fired from her job in New York, she moves back to her hometown, hoping to reconnect with her past and inner self. Instead, visions of terrifying, mutilated specters overwhelm her with increasing regularity and she begins auto-writing strange thoughts and phrases. Mary discovers that these experiences are echoes of an infamous serial killer.

Then the killings begin again.

Mary’s definitely going to find herself."

7. Nightstrider by Sophia Slade

"Wren has spent her life doing the bidding of her cruel creator Para Warwick in the dream world known as the Reverie. When she learns of a weapon with the power to destroy him, she jumps at the chance to steal it. Her plan goes awry and she finds herself in the clutches of the rebellion and the rogue Alaric, a nightmare himself with twisted horns and dark magic. When a plea from a strange being known as a dreambreaker reaches them, the two ’mares find themselves thrown together in a desperate mission to save her before time runs out. Meanwhile, in the waking world, Caine Fallon, son of King Warwick and Prince of Wolfhelm, prepares to wed Ila Enevoldson, the young queen from the wild kingdom of Galesborough. But Ila is more than a queen. She is a weaver, a protector of the ancient Boundary that separates the Reverie and the Wake. Three nights before their wedding, Caine catches Ila in the act of opening a portal to the dream world and follows her, landing himself in a universe stranger than he could have imagined—a realm where his father is more monstrous than he ever could have fathomed. Now, the fates of four strangers will become intricately entwined, and the fate of their worlds will be sewn by their choices."

8. Bride by Ali Hazelwood

"Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again. Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was. Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf."

9. Rouge by Mona Awad

"For as long as she can remember, Belle has been insidiously obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother’s considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death. The stakes escalate when a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, offering a tantalizing clue about her mother’s demise, followed by a cryptic video about a transformative spa experience. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Méduse, the same lavish, culty spa to which her mother was devoted. There, Belle discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother’s) obsession with the mirror—and the great shimmering depths (and demons) that lurk on the other side of the glass."

10. Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

"Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her well-being—and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy. Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family’s waning reputation, and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother’s restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer. However, Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he’s made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful—and more irresistible—than she ever dared imagine."

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And that does it for this Top Ten Tuesday! I don't think it was surprising that I had Yellowface on my list because of how much I've been talking about it ever since I read it. Vicious was honestly probably another unsurprising pick, simply because it's my favorite book! I'm really excited to see the wide variety of choices for the topic this week, mostly because I'll have new books to add to my TBR and that's never a bad thing. What books were on your list this week? Have you read (or do you want to read) any of the books that I listed? Be sure to let me know in the comments below and link me your post if you participated in the topic this week. Also, don't forget to visit That Artsy Reader Girl to see Jana's post and check out some of the other wonderful bloggers that have shared their links. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you in the next chapter!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Red, White, and Blue Book Covers

ali hazelwood 7:00:00 AM

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Top Ten Tuesday: The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf

ebook 8:00:00 AM

Hi hello and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! This weekly post is hosted by the wonderful Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl so please be sure to go check out her post with all of the information about TTT. The topic this week is about the first ten books you grab from your shelf! The prompt says to close your eyes and touch/grab/point to ten random books, talk about what the books you chose are, and then discuss what you thought about them if you’ve read them. This sounds super fun and also dangerous because I plan to use my Kindle library (let’s face it, if I used my physical shelf then every book would be Addie LaRue) so who knows what I’ll pick out. Let’s get started!

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1. The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

I have absolutely read The Haunting of Alejandra (I just finished it recently) and it's my favorite book of 2023! This was such a fantastic read and I want to throw it at everyone and make them read it. It's a haunting and beautiful story and I cannot recommend it enough. If you love horror, generational trauma, empowered females, and did I mention horror, then this is the book you don't want to miss! 5 spooky stars for this one.

2. You’ve Lost A Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca

This was a 4.5 star read for me and Katie Colson said it best: "This is all vibes." You don't have to know what's going on while you read to know that this is a fantastic book. I know it's not for everyone and that's totally fine, but I know it occasionally finds its audience and they always end up praising how unhinged this book is.

3. The Sea Witch by Katee Robert

I kind of wish I had landed on another of the Wicked Villains books because this one wasn't my favorite, sadly. I have read it, but I enjoyed the other books in the series a lot more than this one. I believe this was a 2.5 star read for me but I may feel differently if I go back and read the series again one day. Who knows! I do still love Katee Robert, though.

4. We Need to Do Something by Max Booth III

This is another one of those books that has to find its audience because it's weird as heck. For me, it was five stars because it was my kind of weird. Claustrophobic cosmic horror apparently appeals to me and now I really want to read this again because it was just so weird.

5. All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody & C.L. Herman

I haven't read this one yet but I know Kayla from BooksandLala just read it recently and gave it a three star rating so maybe it's time for me to pick it up! I'm a little hesitant because I don't read YA a bunch anymore, but this has been on my TBR for so long that I feel like I should read it at some point, you know?

6. Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald

This is a book that I completely forgot I had until this post! But I don't think I'll be picking it up anytime soon sadly, because as I said above, I don't really read YA anymore. The synopsis sounds intriguing so maybe I'll get interested and keep thinking about it, but it's probably just going to sit on my Kindle for the time being.

7. The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

I am offended that I haven't read this yet. Like, this is right up my alley and somehow I never picked it up?! Absolutely offensive. This is one that I will probably pick up soon because it really does sound super cool and I just want to know what it's all about.

8. Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

I completely forgot that I read this somehow and I'm so excited to be reminded that this exists! I loved it so much and now I really want to read it again because it was just so stinkin cute. This was a 4.5 star read for me and I also enjoyed the sequel, All the Feels!

9. Dark Waters by Katherine Arden

Okay another one that I cannot believe I haven't read yet. Small Spaces was so good and I'm about halfway through Dead Voices (I should probably just start over from the beginning but that's fine) and I know I'll read Dark Waters because I loved the first book so much. I never could have imagined that a middle grade book would creep me out as much as it did!

10. Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste

I think the best part about this prompt is that it's reminding me of all of these books that I had forgotten that I had on my Kindle! This cover is absolutely gorgeous and I went back and read the synopsis (my brain is like a goldfish okay) and it's historical horror with vampires?! Say less, bestie, now I remember why I got this. I might actually pick this up pretty soon because again, gorgeous cover, and I'm so interested in the premise for this!
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And that's it for this week's Top Ten Tuesday! This might be my favorite prompt yet because it reminded me of a few books that I had just sitting on my Kindle that I actually really want to pick up. I genuinely had no idea what was going to pop up because I have a lot of books on my Kindle across several genres and it really could have been anything that I ended up talking about. I'd love to know if you've read any of the books on this list and what you thought about them. And if you did the prompt this week, link me your post below so I can go check it out because I'd love to see what books you ended up picking out! Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you in the next chapter!