Reading Challenge update part 2: from #bookstagram find to Out of My Comfort Zone

These 5 books could not be more different. A testament to both my eclectic reading style and to the variety of book prompts brought to you by the Bookish Jay and Reading Mermaid's Challenge, co-hosted by The Redolent Mermaid and yours truly. Whether you identify with historical reads, epic adventures or risque Victorian ghost tales,...

Reading Challenge update Part 1: from Bob Ross approved to book from my birth decade

Hello book friends, good news! I've finally reviewed some books for my reading challenge with The Redolent Mermaid: Bookish Jay and the Reading Mermaid challenge. The bad news, depending on how you look at it, I write too much for my brain to handle more than 5 at a time. I'll be adding 5 more...

The Scented Library’s Top Reads for 2019

2018 was a stellar reading year (so many good books) spurring a resolve to read even more in 2019. In that spirit, I'm throwing my blogging ball cap into the ring of all the Most Anticipated New Books of 2019 lists (I do love to write a proper list). Pooling library resources from Bookpage, Booklist,...

A Year in Books: 2018 Reading Challenge finale

Thanks to all of the new bookish followers I've acquired this year, and to those here previously for staying with me as I incorporate more book topics into this blog. Here's my reading journey for 2018, stats and cover photos compiled from Goodreads. TOTALS: read 10,526 pages across 30 books AVERAGE LENGTH 350 pages  SHORTEST BOOK: 128 pages Fantastic Beasts and Where...

Book Reviews: Bird Box, The Hour I First Believed, The Sun Also Rises

Fiction--classics -Americans abroad -Hemingway is a real drag -the Lost generation -Pamplona, Spain -Um, perhaps I'm missing something The Sun Also Rises | Ernest Hemingway (read a Hemingway, Steinbeck or John D. MacDonald novel) ★★☆☆☆ "Published in 1926 to explosive acclaim, "The Sun Also Rises" stands as perhaps the most impressive first novel ever written...

Book Reviews: The Chalk Man, The Fellowship of The Ring, The Night Circus, Ways to Hide in Winter

Reading Challenge update time: Absolutely the most gratifying group of books I've read this year. All attending to different moods, not the least of which was tackling a book hovering on my to-be-read list for over 20 years. Fantasy--Fiction, classics--adventure stories--legendary--Middle earth--might Elrond's council end soon? I need another cup of tea--skip the prologue The...

Recent reads: Uncommon Type, The Historian, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and Essence and Alchemy

Reading Challenge updates and gut-check time. The Bookish Jay and Reading Mermaid challenge was progressing along swimmingly until July. Between an epic novel or two, and a rough end to summer, I've only finished 3 books in as many months. With 10 left and a finite amount of time to read, I'm double-timing the remainder...

Summer Reading: Circe, The Last Child, The Outsider, Notes from the Upside Down

My Summer reading started off gung-ho but my current status is gung-slow. Hoping to check off 4 more books on the Bookish Jay and Reading Mermaid co-challenge before Labor Day, but figured I'd submit some finished book reviews while they're still freshly read. Circe-Fiction --Mythology --sucks to be Prometheus --Titans v. Olympians --witches, bad-assess Circe...

Reading Challenge Update: Women’s empowerment edition

Back in March I disappeared down the tbr rabbit hole of women's empowering reads and have yet to resurface. Not all of these may seem to promote gender equality on the surface, but if one pays close attention, they encourage women to fight for rights inherent to any human being; from education, to the unrelenting...