August Wrap up - Book Haul & What to Expect Next Month

Welcome, welcome my dear readers.

Welcome to the blog.

I've been pondering if I'd tell you this for a long time... but I decided that, in order to connect to my readers, I'd like to open up a bit more. I'm gonna start off by saying that August is not my favorite month ever. I lost my dad 2 years ago on August 30th. I've not said anything during that period, because my blog also felt like a way out, where no one knew what was going on and I wasn't the girl that lost her dad. Now, I had a rough week last week, because last week my grandmother died. She sadly lost her battle against cancer, she's been fighting for 4 months, but treatments were too harsh on her and didn't help the way we'd hoped...

I've seen a lot of bloggers opening up about things they go through in life, and I feel like I can connect if I go through similar things. It's been a tough week and August is a tough month since my father's death and now my grandmothers death and I always feel glad when August is over.

I'm a very happy person, that tries to see the good things in life, so my month-posts are usually laced with things that were fun and maybe a little rant about the weather. I wanted to share more personal things to show that my life is not only sunshine, but it does rain sometime!

Over to the fun parts of this month. I had a week of vacation left and really had time to relax and do all the things I love. Then I had a week of making arrangements for the school year, like decorating my classroom. On August 17th, the schools opened up here for the new school year and I've been having so much fun. My 5th/6th grade class has 27 learners in it and they work hard and are very social. We're having fun every day, because I'm reading Harry Potter!

So there ya go, this is my month, with me opening up, which I hope you can appreciate. Have a great September (the month of my own, my mother's and my brothers birthday!). I hope your month is filled with good books.

🕮

Review: Twisted Palace (The Royals #3)

Author: Erin Watt

Started reading: July 2nd 2020

Finished the book: August 22nd 2020

Pages: 370 / 10:03:47

Genres: Romane, New Adult

Published: October 17th 2016

Source: Audiobook from library

Goodreads score: 3.97

My score:

Synopsis

Ella Harper has met every challenge that life has thrown her way. She’s tough, resilient, and willing to do whatever it takes to defend the people she loves, but the challenge of a long-lost father and a boyfriend whose life is on the line might be too much for even Ella to overcome.

Reed Royal has a quick temper and even faster fists. But his tendency to meet every obstacle with violence has finally caught up with him. If he wants to save himself and the girl he loves, he’ll need to rise above his tortured past and tarnished reputation.

No one believes Ella can survive the Royals. Everyone is sure Reed will destroy them all. They may be right.

Review: Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern #1)

Author: Anne McCaffrey

Started reading: July 10th 2020

Finished the book: August 4th 2020

Pages: 299

Genres: Fantasy

Published: July 1968

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 4.09

My score:

Synopsis

To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise—and take back her stolen birthright.

But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa’s world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . .

Two Short Stories #14

Today I will be highlighting two picture books. One of them is a book in the Carefree Ollie series. The other one is a picture book about Sticky Brains...

Let's dive right in!

Review: Lost in Amber (An Out of This World Paranormal Romance #1)

Author: Esther Rabbit

Started reading: July 20th 2020

Finished the book: July 29th 2020

Pages: 364

Genres: Romance, Science Fiction

Published: January 17th 2019

Source: Digital copy from author

Goodreads score: 4.18

My score:

Synopsis

She just wanted to mope over her breakup, but the universe had other plans for Zoey Mills.

Twenty-four year old Zoey is at that particular point in her life when everything seems to be going sideways. Over the course of one week her boyfriend breaks up with her and she finds out she’s been genetically altered with enhancements foreign to her world.
Jasper’s first earthbound mission seemed simple enough: clean up the mess the former Interplanetary ambassador left behind, retrieve the altered survivors and capture the scientist who went rogue.

Meeting her changed and challenged everything he’d ever known.

Review: Single in Southeast Texas

Author: Gretchen Johnson

Started reading: July 15th 2020

Finished the book: July 19th 2020

Pages: 203

Genres: Humor, Romance

Published: August 14th 2017

Source: Physical copy from the author

Goodreads score: Not enough ratings

My score:

Synopsis

Gretchen Johnson gives a sensitive and humorous account of dating in Southeast Texas. Paige, the heroine of the novel, is a young, recently divorced transplant from Minnesota and a professor of English Literature at Lamar University. She's fascinated by the culture(s) of her adopted state and trying to find a suitable mate. Her "take" on singleness and the dating scene in Beaumont is alternately witty, hopeful, resigned, and philosophical. The dozen men Paige dates are as real as any of J.D. Vance's hillbillies and as individualized as the folks old Studs Terkel used to interview. Her attitude toward Texas is overall optimistic, though she's aware of the racism, sexism, and classism which her students, her would-be lovers, and at times she herself see as simply natural. Johnson has a poet's keen eye and ear, and something of Sarah Silverman's sense of humor.

Sunday Post #20

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead.

Review: Rain Will Come

Author: Thomas Holgate

Started reading: July 12th 2020

Finished the book: July 15th 2020

Pages: 301

Genres: Mystery, Thriller

Published: April 1st 2020

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads score: 3.93

My score:

Synopsis

Paul Czarcik, the longest-tenured detective in the Illinois Bureau of Judicial Enforcement, puts the rest of the team to shame. Ruthless and riddled with vices, Czarcik always gets his man. And fast. Until now…

A double slaying isn’t the open-and-shut case of urban crime he’s used to. Connecting it to a high-profile Texas judge, Czarcik realizes something bigger is going on. It’s the work of a serial killer for whom Chicago is just the beginning. Now he’s inviting Czarcik to play catch-me-if-you-can on a cross-country murder spree.

Going rogue, Czarcik accepts the challenge. But as the bodies pile up, he must come to grips with the fact that nothing—not the killer, the victims, or the rules—is what it seems in this bloody game of cat and mouse..

GIVEAWAY: 17 Fantasy Novels and a Kindle Fire 7

Welcome, welcome, dear readers.

Welcome to the blog!

Today I'm happy to announce an amazing Giveaway that contains 17 Fantasy Novels and a brand new Kindle Fire 7!

This Giveaway is by Abby Arthur, author of Twins of Shadow.

The prizes are in a Giveaway that is running for 4 weeks.

You get 4 chances to win and every entrant will receive a Free Copy of the book Twins of Shadow.

Read this post to find out more!

Review: Still Waters (Sandhamn Murders #1)

Author: Viveca Sten

Started reading: July 8th 2020

Finished the book: July 11th 2020

Pages: 387

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime

Published: October 1st 2015

Source: Borrowed the book

Goodreads score: 3.69

My score:

Synopsis

On a hot July morning on Sweden’s idyllic vacation island of Sandhamn, a man takes his dog for a walk and makes a gruesome discovery: a body, tangled in fishing net, has washed ashore.

Police detective Thomas Andreasson is the first to arrive on the scene. Before long, he has identified the deceased as Krister Berggren, a bachelor from the mainland who has been missing for months. All signs point to an accident—until another brutalized corpse is found at the local bed-and-breakfast. But this time it is Berggren’s cousin, whom Thomas interviewed in Stockholm just days before.

As the island’s residents reel from the news, Thomas turns to his childhood friend, local lawyer Nora Linde. Together, they attempt to unravel the riddles left behind by these two mysterious outsiders—while trying to make sense of the difficult twists their own lives have taken since the shared summer days of their youth.