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 reviews: part 1

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...

Teaser Tuesday: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark

I generally don't tease a non-fiction read, but it would actually be criminal not to share a book of this caliber. I have spent the last five days inside this story, (it could easily be read in two) it has crept under my skin, meandered through my thoughts during waking hours and flowed through my...

Book Reviews: Scythe, The Dry, The Power

Greetings fellow readers, time for another Bookish Jay and the Reading Mermaid mini-update. I have been in reading binge mode lately and felt the need to review a few so as not to unload them all upon you at once. Young adult--dystopian --apocalyptic vision --challenging --Science fiction, death --Skynet just became self-aware Scythe by Neal...

Teaser Tuesday: The Great Alone

**I'm sure I'm doing this backwards because I reviewed this book a few days ago, and it would make more sense to preview before giving a final analysis. But I had to share a little of the elegant prose drawing readers across the globe to The Great Alone, highlighting it's greatest asset, even though I...

Bookish Jay and Reading Mermaid challenge update #1

Time for the first update of 2018 in the Bookish Jay and the Reading Mermaid Challenge. Autobiographies--Celebrity--Young Adult--Mental Health--Dodie --Entertainers,YouTubers --me,too old for this Secrets for the Mad: Obsessions, Confessions, and Life Lessons by dodie ★★☆☆☆I am not the intended audience for this book and that's okay. Twenty years ago, I would have eaten it up with...

Reading Challenge Finale 2017

December is coming to a close and alas, so is the 2017 reading challenge I joined, hosted by the Redolent Mermaid. During September's update, I was doing dismally. Although I've since finally finished the Harry Potter series (feels), I was only halfway through the challenge goal of 24 books at 12 (Sad). Since then, I've...

GoodReads: Hide a book day and Reading challenge update

I did a book thing! As part of Goodreads' Ten-Year Anniversary Celebration, (I think I've been a member for 9 of those 10) they teamed up with The Book Fairies to hide books for people to find, read, and pass on. The decreed day was Monday, September 18th. I first heard of The Book Fairies through...