Stacking the Shelves: The Darkmore Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Holy cannoli. June is almost over. Where did that entire month go? I haven't really changed my routine much. I'm still working, sleeping, working out, etc. All while trying to go through some books and reorganize my shelves. My place is still a disaster, and it probably will be for the next few months. Blugh. But stay tuned for an unhaul post coming soon.

As for books I added to my shelves this week, I have now started purchasing the spinoff books for the Zodiac Academy series in the matching covers. First up is books one and three in the Darkmore Penitentiary series, which I got from PangoBooks. And once again, the corners were damaged in shipping because someone decided to ship in a plastic bag. The only reason I bought these two used is because they're not available in these covers on Barnes & Noble's site, and I don't like Amazon. But I may have to bite the bullet and just order from Amazon. Boo. The last book in the Darkmore series releases at the end of July, so I plan to start this series and binge it all next month. I just need to buy books two and preorder book four. I also had my preorder of the new cover for JLA's White Hot Kiss arrive on Thursday. It got here pretty quick compared to other orders I've made from B&N. I think that's the difference between the indie shipping and the trad. published shipping, unfortunately.

Up next, I have the June Romantasy FairyLoot book, Nectar of the Wicked by Ella Fields. This one sounds alright. It's not really the type of book I'm into right now. It's another fae romance story. I'm really waiting for FairyLoot to wow me with this new sub, but they just haven't yet, sadly. I think it took a year or so for the Adult sub to gain some momentum, so hopefully that's the case here, as I think the only one I've truly been excited about is A Fate Inked in Blood back in February or March. The book itself is pretty, though.

 And next is my Fall of Ruin and Wrath dustjacket order from Dirty Diction Designs. This one is super cute. I like that it's purple with character art. It's very different from the original cover. Now, I just need to find a cheap used copy of the book on Mercari or something, so I can add this beauty to my JLA shrine.

 

I also managed to get one last free Kindle book during the Stuff Your Kindle fantasy version. This one is called Shadow Kissed by Rebecca L. Garcia. I've been wanting to read it for a while. Plus, I know the author is a regular attendee of ApollyCon, and... 

 

I got an ApollyCon ticket for 2025! Well, technically my friend managed to snag two Primal tickets, and I just paid her back for mine. But, holy cow! We've never been able to buy the tickets so quickly before. The first time we bought them in 2021 for 2022's event, I managed to purchase tickets when everyone else thought they were sold out, simply because Eventbrite does a weird thing where they hold tickets back and drop them every few minutes. The second time we tried in 2022 for 2023, we got resale tickets in December right before I moved, and then this year, we volunteered. So it's nice to 100% know we're going so we can plan and read all the things we want to.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

The 2024 Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

The halfway mark is almost here. Just a couple of weeks and we're officially mid-way through 2024. This year hasn't been as crazy as last year. I think the only major thing that happened in my life was volunteering at ApollyCon. I need to make some fun plans soon so this year isn't so boring. But I guess every year can't have me finding a new place to live, going to ApollyCon, and prepping for a trip to Iceland. But anyway, the year being halfway over also means it’s time for the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag.

This tag was created years ago by someone in the book community to basically wrap up the first half of a person's reading year. I’ve had a mediocre reading year so far. It's been very slumpy. I've read a small number of books. I'm hoping I can reach at least 50 by the end of 2024, but it's not the end of the world if I fall short. That's why I set my Goodreads goal so low at 30 books. I hate the pressure.

As of June 21, 2024, I’ve read 15 books and am halfway through my Goodreads Challenge. I’m not going to change my goal from 30 books, but, like I said, reaching 50 by the end of the year would be awesome. I'm finally getting out of a major slump, so I think I can do it. I also got rid of Kindle Unlimited, which was what caused some major slumpage. It's much harder to pick up a physical book than it is to pick up my phone. However, I've persevered, and now I actually like picking up the books on my physical TBR... some days.

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2024

This was a difficult question to answer, as it's been a mediocre reading year in both quantity and quality. While I've been reading a lot of 3-4 star books, they just aren't anything I'm obsessing over. I think Gold by Raven Kennedy is the closest I've come to having a favorite this year, but even it is iffy, as the first half of the book was so slow. The ending really got me though. Those cliffhangers are brutal. I think runners up for my favorite would be Iron Flame, A Fate Inked in Blood, and the first three books in The Tarot Sequence.

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR

This question was a lot easier to answer. I binge read the two sequels to The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards so fast. These are books two and three in The Tarot Sequence. I only read book one in April of this year, but I picked up The Hanged Man and The Hourglass Throne as soon as I got them in my hands. I'm devastated the next book isn't likely to release until 2026. How disappointing. Iron Flame was a good one too, but it took me a long time to even want to pick that one up, and it wasn't as digestible as these quick-read paranormal/urban fantasy books. Oh, and Zodiac Academy: Restless Stars, the final book in the series, was good as well. It just didn't leave a huge impact as the stakes didn't feel as high. Basically, I wanted more death like in previous installments.

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET, BUT WANT TO

I honestly don't know how to answer this question. A lot of the books that I really want to read were released in 2023, so I'm trying to think about what would work best. I also have a lot of sequels that released in 2024, but I have yet to read the first book, so I feel like that doesn't count either. I guess Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu is one I want to get to soon. I need to review it. Plus, I enjoyed his YA series.

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR

THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

Honestly, 2024 is a quiet year for releases for me, simply because there wasn't an FBAA book released, and the next one isn't coming out until 2025. Ugh. But, I do have two books I'm highly anticipating for the second half of 2024, even if they aren't FBAA. Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy comes out very soon. Only two more months to go. While Swordcrossed by Freya Marske releases in October. Boo... So far away.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Does this even count as a disappointment when I had a strong suspicion it wasn't going to be good after the second book was terrible? House of Flame and Shadow was awful. I think it butchered a lot of character development and the showdown at the end was lackluster. The only redemption for the story was a couple of the side characters and their arcs, but even those couldn't hold it together.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Cat Sebastian's We Could Be So Good was actually... good. I enjoyed myself very much with this one. It's a historical MM romance set around news publishing in the '60s. I typically don't like historical stories if they don't have some sort of magical quality to them, but this was interesting and fun. I picked up the second book in the companion series, and it was good too.

FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR

I have only read three new authors this year, which is disappointing. But, it made this question really easy to answer. My newest favorite author is K.D. Edwards. While I can't guarantee I'll pick up everything he writes, since he has a ton of novellas out there, I think I'll definitely read his major works. Right now, he only has the one series that I know of, so I'm fairly safe from adding too many things to my TBR.

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

This was a tough one, but I went the safe route and chose Bjorn from A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen. He's a little too standoffish at times, but I do like him overall. There truly weren't a ton of options from the books I've read. It's been a pretty quiet year in terms of finding fictional crushes. I believe this art was commissioned by the author.

NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER

Brand from The Tarot Sequence. This character has me back and forth sometimes. He reminds me a lot of Dean Winchester in that he's protective and a badass, but he doesn't get as much individuality and page time as I always hope for in these books. (Art by oblivionsdream)

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

  I mean, is this is a surprise? Restless Stars is the final book in a nine-book series that I've been reading diligently over the past few years. Of course it was going to make me cry. I hate giving up these characters. I'm actually quite ticked that it's over. The only thing keeping me together is that the authors are releasing special editions with bonus content. I also still haven't read the sequel spinoff series (Darkmore Penitentiary and the new Never Keep one), so that'll help ease some of the pain too. Or it could make it worse, who knows.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

In that same vein, ZA 9, while leaving me sad that it's over, also had scenes that made me very happy. I love it when all the characters in the series are together. They're just so funny. The authors' writing style is so unique and witty. I'm excited to try their contemporary books and see how their writing style reflects in a real-world storyline.

FAVORITE BOOK ADAPTATION

YOU SAW THIS YEAR

I haven't watched many book adaptations. The TV adaptations I have watched include The Last Kingdom, which I haven't watched past the early episodes of season two; Anne with an E, which got really annoying in season three; and Bridgerton season three, which hasn't been my favorite of all the Bridgerton seasons. I also watched The Night Agent Netflix film, which I guess is an adaptation of a book; however, I've never read it. I haven't read any of these books, actually. So, this is a terrible question for me in the year 2024. Come back next year and maybe I'll have a better answer.

FAVORITE REVIEW YOU’VE WRITTEN THIS YEAR

I actually haven't written very many reviews in 2024, which doesn't come as a shock seeing as I haven't been reading as much. The one that I actually wrote and like the most is my review of Danielle L. Jensen's A Fate Inked in Blood. I think I liked it mostly because the book reminded me a lot of FBAA and Viking-esque shows, so it was a fun one to review. I'm excited about the sequel whenever it's supposed to release.

 

You can read my review of A Fate Inked in Blood here.

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE

RECEIVED SO FAR THIS YEAR

 Such an easy question to answer this year. Illumicrate did special editions of Rin Chupeco's Reaper series, and boy are these things gorgeous. I absolutely LOVE this duology, so I was beyond ecstatic when Illumicrate announced their editions. They're pretty and purple and red and they look amazing on my shelves. I'm considering purchasing their other Rin Chupeco set as well, but I just don't know if I want to fork over $100+ on a series I haven't read yet. Why can't Illumicrate get a U.S. distributor for their non-sub editions? Sigh.

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ

BY THE END OF THE YEAR

Everything on my never-ending TBR! Ugh. But some of the highlights, which haven't really changed a lot from what I answered last year, are:

The Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu

The Last Binding trilogy by Freya Marske

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

The Arcana Chronicles series by Kresley Cole

Charm and Cherish by Tracy Wolff

The Kingdom of the Wicked trilogy by Kerri Maniscalco

These are the books I want to have completed or at least, in the case of some of the series like KOTW and Arcana, significantly made my way through. I'm also over halfway through ASoS and Charm, I just need to finish them. I also have a few others I'd like to get to, but the ones I've listed are more important in terms of how long they've been on my physical TBR and how much I want to read them.

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Alright, there you have it. My Mid-Year Book Freak Out answers for 2024. What would your answers to these questions be? Let me know in the comments below!

Stacking the Shelves: The Overstuffed Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Another week of June bites the dust. It's crazy how fast this year is going by. Life is still chugging along. Nothing too exciting here, except I've completely destroyed my house while going through all of my bookshelves. It's chaos. There are books on the floor, books in boxes on the floor, books in plastic bins on the floor, books on closet racks, and books in closets. I hate it. Why did I do this to myself? But, it had to be done. I need to get rid of a lot of these because I can't handle the upkeep for books that aren't worth my time/energy.

As for books I added to my shelves this week, I have the ApollyCon editions I ordered during JLA's virtual signing. The only one I truly needed was The Crown of Gilded Bones, but I ordered A Fire in the Flesh, just in case the copy I got at ApollyCon was messed up. Now, I have two copies. Will I get rid of either of them? Nope. I don't get rid of duplicates of the FBAA/ASITE titles because I have a problem.

Up next, I have a book I ordered on a whim from Owlcrate. Because I have no self control. Owlcrate announced their edition of The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King, the sequel to The Serpent and the Wings of Night, and, even though I don't have book one, I ordered book two from them. Silly, me. I haven't even read this series yet, and I also have the FairyLoot copies on the way too.

 And next, we have a mess of epic proportions. It was Stuff Your Kindle Day on Thursday, so I downloaded way too many free ebooks. Some of which I'm unlikely to ever read. Again, no self control. Here's what all I got: Bewitched by Laura Thalassa, The Ever King by L.J. Andrews, Bite of Loyalty by R.L. Caulder, Chosen by Villains by Eva Chase, The Dagger and the Forbidden Heir by Emilia Jae, Academy of Protectors by Gray Holdborn, House of Striking Oaths by Olivia Wildenstein, The Dragon's Gift by Jasmine Walt, Crown of Earth and Sky by Emberly Ash, Night Elves of Ardani by Nina K. Westra, Stroke the Flame by Elizabeth Briggs, City of Thorns by C.N. Crawford (cont. below).

 

I also got Amethyst Dragon by Eileen Mueller, Burning by Tamar Sloan, Brutal Titan by E.V. Olsen, Dragonrider by S. Rodman, Death Eternal by Richard Amos, The Omega Problem Part One by Elizabeth Dunlap, From Frost to Flame by Viola Vines, The Silence Lies by Sophie Dyer, Forbidden Magic by Anya J. Cosgrove, Lantern by Charlie Godwyne, Bad Boy by Joe Satoria, and A Knife and a Blade by Adelaide Blaike..

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Deadly Books Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Well, it's been a week. I took off on Monday to travel two hours one-way to the bookstore I used to frequent in my previous city. The goal was to take a bunch of books from my parents' house and sell them (unhaul post coming soon, once I actually get rid of the rest of the books). Unfortunately, the bookstore didn't take that many, so it was kind of a waste of time in that regard. I did end up picking up a cool book at Barnes & Noble, though. So that made the trip worth it. Now, I just need to make sure I don't give in and keep the books I planned to get rid of. I must be strong. I'll sell them on FB Marketplace once I have the time and energy. I've been moving a lot of books lately and neglecting the condition of my house, which needs major cleaning, so that's this weekend's priority.

First up, I have the last of the Zodiac Academy books I needed to complete my collection. I got the first, seventh, and eighth books, as well as the bindup of Live and Let Lionel. It's just a bunch of short stories set in the ZA world. I ordered these off of Barnes & Noble, so they all came in great condition. There were very expensive though, which makes sense, considering I could probably k*ll someone with the seventh and eighth books. I mean, look at the size of those things! They're ginormous!

Up next, I have more JLA stuff. Surprise, surprise. My German Chest of Fandom's edition of A Soul of Ash and Blood came in this week, and it has Kieran artwork on the inside! KIERAN! Gah! It's amazing! I'd take a pic of it, but I'm lazy. I also ordered this FBAA dagger from The Bookish Box. It's a lot smaller than I thought it'd be, but it's still cute. I think this is my fifth replica of Poppy's dagger. Wow. I have problems.

 And lastly for the books, I have my replacement Stone Cold Touch edition from FairyLoot and the book I got on my trip to B&N. The replacement book isn't damaged like the first one was, but it still has a weird lump in the front dustjacket, almost like someone didn't fold it right or stretched it. I figure I can squish it back into place with a couple of heavy books though. The book I got at B&N was the new cover for Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat. I saw these posted in a FB group, and I guess they don't show up online, so the only way to get them is to see if they're in the store. Thankfully, B&N had one, so my entire trip wasn't a waste. I don't get to go to B&N very often anymore, simply because I live farther away and I'm lazy, so I'll have to hunt for the sequels later. Hopefully, they find their way online at some point, though.

 

I almost forgot about this. I ordered the recent FairyLoot secret book from Mercari. Someone was selling it for like $7, so I went for it. I think I'm going to try to get all four of the second set. I have three from the first set. I just wasn't too thrilled with the red and green of this second set. The first set with the purple theme was more my speed. But the last two they did in the second set, this one and the purple one, made me want all of them. The seller did include a free glasses case with this order, which I wasn't too happy about. I don't need junk. I'm trying to get rid of a bunch of stuff right now. I don't wear glasses, so I guess it will either go to my mom or Goodwill.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Hip Hip Hooray! Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Another weekend is here. Wow. 2024 is just flying right on by. I didn't do a whole lot this week. It was pretty much the same ol' stuff. Work, gym, sleep, eat, etc. I am in the process of unhauling some books as well as moving a lot of books from my parents' house, which is causing some stress. I've been seeing a lot of videos about book mold, and it's got me really paranoid lately. I don't think any of my books have it, I just don't want to ever have it, if you know what I mean. *Shudders in disgust.* I couldn't imagine my books being destroyed like that. I think I'd throw up and cry, and then just give up on life.

Let's move on to happier topics, shall we? First up, I've got more Zodiac Academy. This is Ruthless Fae, book two in the series. I got this one from PangoBooks. It and the one below are the last ZA books that I will ever order from a secondhand site. I just can't take the stress anymore of guessing if the shipper will be sending them in proper packaging, if they're actually in as good of shape as their photos seem, etc. Thankfully, this one is okay. The spine is a little wonky, as you can tell it's been read before, so it's got a tilt to it, but I'm using some heavy books to flatten it out a bit. The package did come with some cute bookmarks, stickers, and this pen too. How cute! Oh, and there was a sticker on the bubble mailer that said "Hip Hip Hooray! IT'S BOOK MAIL DAY" hence my post title. 

Up next, I have Origins of an Academy Bully, the prequel novella for the ZA series. I wasn't really planning on buying this thing, since it's so tiny and it might actually be in a larger bindup, but I had a $5-off-a-$30-purchase coupon on Pango, so I needed something cheap to get the second ZA book. Since this was only $8, I decided to go for it. My Barnes & Noble order for Amber V. Nicole's Dawn of the Cursed Queen also arrived. This is the third book in the series. I don't own book two yet. I'm thinking I'll buy that once the fourth book releases. This series is going to be seven books, so I have time to get it, especially since I'm waiting for them to all release before I reread book one and then binge the rest of the series.

 

 I almost forgot to include this, since I already read it and put it away on my shelves. My B&N order of Honey Cut by Sierra Simone arrived Monday evening. And I promptly started reading it that night and finished it at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning. Yes, I did skim some of the spicy scenes from one character's POV (*cough* Isolde *cough*), but I still finished it. So it counts. I will hear no objections.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

May Wrap-Up & June TBR

Well, we're almost halfway through 2024. Yikes. The month of May was full of ups and downs. I recovered from a post-ApollyCon illness in the first half of the month, slogged for another week, and am only just now feeling like I'm becoming a person again. I'm also getting back into reading. Woohoo! I actively want to pick up a book, and the only thing stopping me is how tired I've been after coming home from work and the gym. But, I'm ready for the weekends to just be me and my current read.

In this wrap-up, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in May

Zodiac Academy: Restless Stars: 3.5 stars

The Hanged Man: 4 stars

The Hourglass Throne: 4 stars

We Should Be So Lucky: 3.5 stars

I only read four books in May, all of which were new purchases. The first read of the month was Zodiac Academy: Restless Stars, the ninth, and final book in the ZA series. It's been a wild ride, and although this last installment wasn't quite what I wanted, it definitely wasn't a terrible ending by any means. I think I'd like to reread the entire series at some point though, just to give the ending a fair chance. Maybe in a year or two when a TV show is announced. Next, I desperately wanted to read the sequels to The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards: The Hanged Man and The Hourglass Throne. I read them despite knowing the fourth book isn't likely to release until 2026. Ugh! But they're addicting paranormal/urban fantasy books. I couldn't make myself stop. And lastly, I read You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian, a 1960s baseball MM romance. This was good, but not as fun as the companion book I read earlier this year.

Books Bought/Received in May

Now it's time for the dreaded "How much damage can I do to my bank account in a single month?" section. Altogether, I bought 18 books in the month of May, and of those, I received 11 of them. I also received eight other books (i.e., preorders, gifts, etc.). That's a total of 19 books I actually physically received in the month altogether.

I'm gonna start with the eight books I received in the month, which means I didn't pay for them in May. They were paid for in April or earlier or they were gifts. For the preorders that arrived this month, I got the three books in the FairyLoot Dark Elements trilogy and the April FairyLoot Adult Book, Evocation by S.T. Gibson. Sierra Simone was also generous enough to send me a copy of Salt Kiss after mine was lost at ApollyCon. She also sent a copy of the novella Salt in the Wound as well. Yay! Thank you, Sierra! And then two Barnes & Noble orders, The Hanged Man and The Hourglass Throne, were technically purchased in April but didn't arrive until May 1st.

 As for the 18 books I actually bought in May, there are too many. The 11 that arrived in May include eight orders from B&N: You Should Be So Lucky, Half-Blood by JLA, Burning Crowns by Catherine Doyle, The Queen's Starfire Throne by Hailey Turner, Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland, Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf, and Zodiac Academy #6 and #8.5. Those last two were actually purchased using a gift card balance. Now, I also preordered/bought seven other books that won't arrive until June or later. Those include two other B&N orders, The Dawn of the Cursed Queen and Honey Cut; two additional Zodiac Academy books from Pango; an Owlcrate preorder of Ashes and the Star-Cursed King; and two FairyLoot preorders for The Hemlock Queen and The Curse of Sins. 

Currently Obsessed With

I haven't been watching anything new this month. But, I have been watching new episodes....

Okay, so that was a dumb way to say Bridgerton season three, part one, is what I watched in May. Along with the rest of Anne with an E on Netflix. I'm almost done with the last season. Other than those, I think I rewatched an episode or two of Everybody Hates Chris, though the characters are kind of annoying now that I'm in season two. The first season was fun and nostalgic, but something feels different in this season. I also rewatched The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Hercules; and Crazy Rich Asians at my parents' house over Memorial Day weekend. Oh, and one major, non-book, non-TV update, I downloaded The Sims 4 on my laptop, which probably isn't good for my productivity or my laptop. Ha. I played a bit over the weekend, and I plan to play it during other future weekends as well.

June TBR

No surprise that there are repeats from last month in my May TBR, especially considering I only read four books in May. Although, ZA 9 was super thick, so that should count for extra, right? The repeats include Charm by Tracy Wolff, Visions of Flesh and Blood, and Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu. The newbies include Iron Flame, Salt in the Wound, and Honey Cut, which releases this month.

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Okay, well, that's the month of May, plus some June sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for last month? If so, share in the comments!