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New to Me Authors from 2020

By Brookelorren on January 19, 2021January 19, 202119 Comments

Hello! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl)! I hope your week has been going well! Mine has been–eventful. We discovered that my kids have a lot of money in Bitcoin, my dh interviewed for a job that would pay a lot more than where he’s working now, and then one of our family members had to go to the hospital (this person will be fine).

So perhaps this is why I got my weeks mixed up and did “New To Me Authors from 2020” instead of the actual topic, “Books I Didn’t Get to in 2020”. I love this yearly topic. Even though I’ve read lots of new authors in the first couple of years of this blog, there are still new authors. I wrote this topic right after coming back from dropping off my family member at the hospital, so forgive me for getting the topics mixed up.

Rachel Lynn Solomon – Although she’s had a few books out before Today Tonight Tomorrow, I never read any of them. So good. It was my “hot tub book” prior to the pandemic, and I would sit in the hot tub at the gym longer just so I could keep reading. I was sad when the gym closed. I think when I got to reading it at home, I finished it in one day.

James Crawford – Fallen Glory was an excellent book. This may be the only nonfiction author on this year’s list. However, since the book made my top 10 books of the year, I figured I’d include him on this list of new-to-me authors.

Cameron Lund – The Best Laid Plans was another book I really liked from last year. I’d definitely read another book from her.

Brigid Kemmerer – This book surprised me. I love how this book blended both modern times and a Renaissance fantasy setting. I hope to read the rest of the books in the series at some point.

These books all made my top books I read in 2020. So 40% of the books were by new-to-me authors. But I read other new authors too.

Melissa de la Cruz and Margaret Stohl – I’m only counting this as one author even though there were two people co-authoring. I met Melissa da la Cruz right before the pandemic shut everything down.

B.R. Meyers – Rogue Princess is a story about a princess who doesn’t exactly want to conform to the role expected of her–a lot like my Lila in the book I’m writing.

Emma Lord – Tweet Cute was an adorable story. I’m not much of a cook, but I’m sure the food featured in this story was delicious.

Celeste Harte – It’s not often that you get to hold a book from one of your friends in your hands. Celeste Harte was one of the hosts of Character Chaos on Twitter, and this is her debut.

Kasie West – Kasie West is probably the most prolific new-to-me author from last year. It’s hard to believe I read this book last August–it seems so much longer ago than that. I guess in pandemic-land, time has slowed a bit.

Stephanie Meyer – The most popular new-to-me author from 2020 was probably Stephanie Meyer. Hadn’t read any of the Twilight books or seen any of the movies. I probably wouldn’t have bothered to read these books–except Midnight Sun came out and I decided I might as well. Midnight Sun is the audiobook I’m currently reading.

So there are some of the new-to-me authors from last year. What new authors did you read this year? Next week, I’ll do the topic I was supposed to do this week!

Hopes for 2021

By Brookelorren on January 12, 2021January 11, 202116 Comments

Hello! It’s another fine Tuesday in 2021. I hope it’s going well for you. Since it’s a new year, we can make new goals! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Most of my goals this year involve writing. Here they are!

Get an Agent: This is a goal that I don’t have complete control over. After all, you can never guarantee that someone will like your book enough to want to represent you. Even if they like your book, it might be too much like something they’re already representing, the market for that kind of book isn’t right, etc. But what I can do is submit my book to agents. I figure five a month is good. By the time I run out of agents to submit to, I’ll hopefully have another book ready to try again.

Finish (and publish) Saving Adelinetta: I started writing this Young Elites fanfic nearly five years ago. I wrote nearly 200 pages while watching the Rio Olympics. When I came back to it a couple years later, I felt it was awful. However, I worked on it and finally finished publishing part 2 of the book last week. Now I have to write and publish part 3. I’ve known how it was going to end from the very beginning. Since I started this book five years ago, I’ve become a better writer, so hopefully it won’t be too difficult to finish.

Write The Rift: I think I got the idea for this fanfic before Wildcard came out. I’ve always wondered why June’s name was June, even though he was born in July. If she had been due in June, she would have been way overdue since she was born on the 12th. This book is to answer that question, along with: why is Day’s family impoverished when his ancestor was the incredibly wealthy Asher Wing? I pretty much know how this story will end too. I started this book a couple years ago, but I didn’t like the beginning, so I’m planning on redoing it.

Rewrite Save the Best for Last: I wrote my second “novel” my senior year of high school (it was around 100 pages, so it was more like novella size). It was a best-friends-to-lovers story called Save the Best for Last. I haven’t seen it since high school, but I’m going to “rewrite” it. It will probably turn out completely different, but it will be similar. However, this version is going to be set in The Brightness of Shadow universe. I love being able to expand on this universe. When I created the world, I figured it was too big for just one story. This is actually the second of four stories I’ve thought up in this universe. I haven’t even written about the Walrus people yet! Maybe someday. I hope to write this book during NaNoWriMo this year.

Finish 1st Draft of NaNo20 Duology: I started this duology during NaNoWriMo last year, and am in the second part of the duology. Right now my muse is having me write the rest of Saving Adelinetta (it’s been long enough) but I hope to get this one done too. I’m hoping for a productive writing year!

Read 110 Books: This was my Goodreads goal for last year, and I barely made it. I’m setting this goal this year, and am allowing myself to include The Great Courses audio/video courses in the 110.

Finish Reading The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: This book is 3980 pages long. I’ve been reading it (although not actively the whole time) since September 2017. It’s time to finish it.

Finish the Duolingo Welsh Tree: I have finished the Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese trees. If I finish one skill a day, I can finish the Welsh tree in about three months. Why Welsh? Will Herondale speaks it. Actually, I started learning it a little before I started reading The Infernal Devices for the first time. But I might as well finish. I started learning it because it was kind of obscure, but I like it.

Increase My Zazzle Products: One of the things I’d like to do is increase my Zazzle products. Looking back on my first (now completed) ten-year journal, I realized I used to make hundreds of dollars a month from it. I stopped making products for several years, and this year I’d like to increase my products and make some money. I don’t plan on working on it for hours a day like I used to, but spending a little bit of time on it several times a week will help me make some money.

Do More Craft Projects: Something that brings me joy is creating things for people. I love when people read my stories (especially if they enjoy them). Sure, I like making money from my Zazzle products, but I also think it’s pretty cool that people have things in their homes (or are wearing shirts) that I created. I’m also kind of picky about the things I make though. If I wouldn’t want to buy it in the store, I wouldn’t want to make it either. Right now I’m making my first sweater. I’d like to make this Sherb later on this year. Perhaps I may finish that dolphin cross-stitch I’ve been working on.

So those are ten goals I have for the new year! So what are you hoping to accomplish this year? Next week’s topic is “Books I Meant to Read in 2020 But Didn’t Get To.” There really aren’t that many, so I’m going to do “Books that have been in the TBR Lottery the Longest” instead.

Upcoming Releases that Catch My Eye

By Brookelorren on January 5, 2021January 4, 202126 Comments

Hello! It’s Top Ten Tuesday again (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl), and we’re talking about upcoming releases. The official topic is “Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2021,” but I always find this topic difficult. Typically, I only have a few books in pre-order status, and those are my most anticipated future releases. Then I get some ARCs, but if I have an ARC, there’s a good chance I’ve already read it. Most of the other books I read are already out. So… I’m going to talk about upcoming releases that catch my eye.

Chain of Iron comes out on March 2nd, but you’re probably not too surprised to discover I pre-ordered this book last July. I’ve written three short fanfiction stories about this series, and am in the middle of rereading the books and stories leading up to this. My #1 anticipated book!

I love the Grishaverse books, although it took me a while to read King of Scars, the book that comes before Rule of Wolves. While I don’t plan on pre-ordering this book, I’m sure it will make it to my TBR lottery and I’ll eventually read it.

Float Plan is another March 2nd release, although I don’t plan to pre-order this. I did enjoy Trish Doller’s book Start Here, so this book has been on my radar. I’m sure I’d enjoy it if/when I get the chance to read this.

The Four Winds is set in the Great Depression. I pre-ordered this book on audiobook, and it’s on my Winter TBR, so I’m likely to read it. I’ve never read a book by Kristin Hannah before, although she’s been on my radar for years, so I’m looking forward to it.

Sadly, I can’t share the cover of Of Princes and Promises with you yet. I’m pretty sure it underwent a cover change. I haven’t had the chance to read this one, but Sandhya Menon’s sequel to Of Curses and Kisses (a Princess and the Frog retelling) is sure to be great. This one comes out in June.

Counting Down with You comes out in May, and it sounds like it has an interesting premise. It’s a book with fake dating. I may want to check that out.

The Ex Talk comes out this month, and it looks like a book I may want to check out someday. I loved Rachel Lynn Solomon’s Today Tonight Tomorrow so much! I will probably wait to read this one, but I plan to keep it on my radar.

And that’s all the books I have from the first half of the year. If I included books I’ve already read, I’d include Everything that Burns by Gita Trelease and Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon. I recommend them.

The Heart Principle comes out in August. I’m sure I’ll end up reading this one, although it’s a little pricey for me, so unless I find it on sale, this’ll be a book I get from the library.

Skyhunter 2 by Marie Lu comes out on September 28th, and I pre-ordered it last year (it was in December, but that was still last year). It doesn’t have a title or a cover yet, but I want to find out what happens.

Once Upon a Broken Heart also comes out on September 28th, and I definitely plan on reading it. It takes place in the Caraval universe with other main characters. I definitely plan on reading this at some point.

So those are ten books I’ve got my eye on in this new year. What books are on your radar?

Next week, we’re going to talk about resolutions and hopes for 2021. Most of them are likely to be writing related. See you then!

December 2020 Wrap-Up

By Brookelorren on January 2, 2021January 2, 2021Leave a Comment

Hello! Another month is done, and it’s time for the monthly wrap-up! It’s the last month of the year too.

Books Read:

I finished my Goodreads goal! Yes! I actually went several books beyond that.

Goodreads tracks these audio/video classes I’ve been taking by The Great Courses, in addition to audiobooks and print books. It feels like cheating to count them, even though I often listen to them on my walks in lieu of listening to an audiobook. But going over My Year in Books, I still would have reached my Goodreads goal even without them. I don’t list them here (although maybe I should… I’ll start next month). I’m setting my Goodreads goal for 2021 assuming that I’m including them. Although I’m keeping my goal the same. I don’t want the Goodreads goal to be stressful.

Anyway, I read 12 books this month (not counting audio/video courses). This was the most of any month this year!

A Sky Beyond the Storm – Sabaa Tahir
Fireblood – Elly Blake
The Promised Neverland Volume 1
The Heavenly Man – Brother Yun (reread)
Starfish – Akemi Dawn Bowman
Enchantée – Gita Trelease (reread)
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
Golden Poppies – Laila Ibrahim
The Language of Thorns – Leigh Bardugo
Everything That Burns – Gita Trelease
Clockwork Angel – Cassandra Clare (reread)
The Promised Neverland Volume 2

I finished the last three books on December 31st, but they were all partially read. My dh was like “uh, we were planning on doing family stuff tonight” and I was like “not until 8!” And I managed to finish them all before then.

Writing:

Last month, I wrote two Shadowhunter’s fanfics: “A Walk in the Snow,” which takes place on Christmas Eve, and “The End of a Marriage Blanc.” They’re both post-Chain of Gold Jordelia fics. I probably should be finishing my NaNo20 duology, but I didn’t.

I sent my first queries!

I already know what I’m going to write for NaNo21 though. When I was in high school, I wrote a best-friends-to-lovers story called Save the Best for Last. Even though I haven’t seen the story since high school, and don’t know where it is, I’m going to rewrite it. Obviously, it’s going to be a lot different, especially since the original was a self-insert rpf. This one is going to take place in The Brightness of Shadow universe, 6000 years before that story takes place.

Originally, I was going to write a story about the evil queen Katerina and her daughter Elena for NaNoWriMo in 2018. In August, something told me “Don’t write that story yet. Turn that fanfic you wrote in April into a story about elves and humans.” So I did. Later, I found out that Katerina and Elena were in the same universe, just ~6000 years before The Brightness of Shadow.

Save the Best for Last is going to take place a few years before Katerina and Elena’s story. What I think is the coolest part, though, is that I’m discovering more about how the elves came to take over Erenya while I’m thinking about Save the Best for Last. Had I written Katerina and Elena’s story first, I would have made a mess of things. Some of the events that take place in Save the Best for Last will affect both my rewrites of The Brightness of Shadow and my unwritten story of Elena and Katerina. The characters in Save the Best for Last (I don’t know their names yet) aren’t politically important (they’re just simple villagers) but the times they live in will be important for the other stories.

Life:

My dh got a job! His new boss definitely needed an HR manager. My dh is already making improvements, and has ideas to help increase its rating on Yelp and reduce turnover.

We finished school for the year and have been off for a couple weeks. So nice having a vacation. But we start again on Monday. Homeschool coop doesn’t start again till later in January though. I don’t know if I’ll end up with enough students to teach the German class again, but I’ll probably teach the second semester of the Spanish class.

For Christmas, I ended up finishing FOUR scarves. One, for my sister-in-law, was almost done, and I just finished it. Then I made a maroon one for my daughter. Then I designed one with Seahawks colors for my brother. Finally, on December 21st, my dh was like “we need to spend my paycheck this week on the mortgage. We don’t have any money for Christmas.” Uh… so that night, I started making a scarf for him. I only worked on it while he was at work, and I finished it two hours before he came home on Christmas Eve (we eventually got a mortgage forbearance and were able to get a few Christmas presents).

2020 decided to give us one last gift. On December 29th, my dh blew a tire by running over something that was covered with snow. We didn’t have enough money in our bank account. So I went to my boy and told him “we have an emergency, we need to borrow your money!” With his help, we managed to scape together $188, which was $2 more than the final bill.

And I think the motor in our heater blower isn’t working (my dh doesn’t think so, but I believe he’s mistaken). So I’m looking forward to the coronabucks we’re getting on Monday. We’ll finally be able to get our 2nd car up and running again too! We stopped using it last April after my dh lost his job; we didn’t need it, and one of the windshield wipers is broken. Now that he’s working again, we can get it registered and insured and start using it again.

So that was December! How was your month? Did 2020 leave you with any parting gifts? Are you glad it’s 2021?

Favorite Books of 2020

By Brookelorren on January 1, 2021January 1, 20214 Comments

Hello! It’s my fourth blogoversary for this blog today! Since it’s January 1st, I can also put out my favorite books for the previous year! This list includes books from any year (including ARCs), but it doesn’t include rereads of any kind. So here are the books that stood out to me:

10. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V.E. Schwab. Several of the books on this list have things in common with this book: they take place in the 18th or 19th centuries, or they have something to do with France. Addie LaRue is a girl who started her life at the end of the 17th century France and continued her life into the present day. The only thing is–everybody forgets her.

9. A Curse So Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer. This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and this one takes place partly in a 18th century France-like place, and partly in our current world. It has a great main character, and I hope to read the next book in the series at some point.

8. Between Burning Worlds – Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell. The first book in the System Divine trilogy, Sky Without Stars, was my second favorite book from 2019. So it probably shouldn’t be surprising that Between Burning Worlds made my list this year. It also continues with the whole French theme that so many good books had last year, even though it takes place in the future.

7. The Best Laid Plans – Cameron Lund. This best friends-to-lovers story is just so sweet. It was just the kind of story one might need in 2020, when everything was so topsy-turvy.

6. Fallen Glory – James Crawford. Fallen Glory is the only nonfiction book to make my list this year. It was a book that Marie Lu was recommending last year, and if you read it, you can probably see where some of her inspiration for Skyhunter came from. Who would ever have thought that a book about no-longer-existing buildings would be so interesting? But it’s not really the buildings that are the interesting part: what’s interesting is how these buildings are representatives of civilizations or cultures that are no longer around, but once seemed invincible at the time.

5. Today Tonight Tomorrow – Rachel Lynn Solomon. This is one of those books that just make a person happy, and in 2020, we needed books like that. This is an enemies-to-lovers story that is absolutely wonderful.

4. Skyhunter – Marie Lu. Marie Lu has had a book on every one of my end-of-the-year lists since 2014, I think (yes, before this blog existed). This book will definitely get a reread from me before Skyhunter 2 (which I pre-ordered last year) comes out on September 28th.

3. A Sky Beyond the Storm – Sabaa Tahir. Laia, Elias, and Helene have had an awful past three books. They’ve lost family members, their home, and were put into situations they really didn’t want to be in. You may be afraid to read the final book, A Sky Beyond the Storm. Don’t be. There is hope for our friends, and I was very happy to read this. If it had ended badly, I would have wanted to throw this book against the wall. I didn’t.

2. Chain of Gold – Cassandra Clare. This book takes place in the 20th century, but really early, so it might as well have been the 19th (in fact, sometimes the period between 1789 and 1914 is known as the long 19th century because it’s a span of time that takes place between two world-shaking events). I absolutely adore Cordelia, James, and their friends, and am looking forward to Chain of Iron. I’m rereading The Infernal Devices, Chain of Gold, and the pre-Chain of Gold short stories I own before March 2nd to get ready. Cassandra Clare has had a book on all my best of the year lists since 2018.

1. Everything that Burns – Gita Trelease. I often feel sorry for books like Sky Beyond the Storm that are so amazing but come out at the end of the year, and therefore never make it onto people’s “best of” lists. This is why I always try to put out my list of favorite books on January 1st. I finished reading Everything that Burns (aka Liberté) on December 31st. I shouldn’t have been surprised that I loved it so much, because Enchantée (also known as All that Glitters) was my favorite book of 2018.

This wasn’t the first time that I’ve ever read my favorite book of the year on December 31st. I finished reading Warcross, my favorite book from 2017, on December 31st too.

This book won’t be released until February 2nd, so you still have time to pre-order it, but I absolutely loved it. It has more balloons, more Lazare, and, like Enchantée, has you wondering until almost the very end whether things will work out for our heroine.

So these were some of my favorite books from last year! Despite the fact that last year was a difficult reading year (I read 116 books, down from 156 the year before, and that includes some audio/video courses that are on Goodreads), I actually read quite a few really good books! Hopefully, 2021 will be a great reading year full of amazing books for everyone!

Favorite 2020 Releases

By Brookelorren on December 29, 2020December 28, 202034 Comments

Wow! Here we are, the last Tuesday of the year. Today’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) topic is “Favorite Books of 2020,” but it’s been a tradition of mine, before I even had this blog, to put out my list of favorite books I read (for the first time) on January 1st. Especially since one year, I read my favorite book of the year on December 31st. So… I’m going to tweak the topic a bit and do Favorite 2020 Releases. And as of today I’ll read no more 2020 releases so this list doesn’t end up changing in the next three days.

This week was actually difficult! If you’ve read my monthly wrap-ups for this year, then maybe you’ve noticed that this has been an awful reading year for me. This has begun to turn around, but over the course of this year, I didn’t request a lot of ARCs and didn’t read a whole lot of new books. But these were the new releases I think stood out to me the most this year. While they are in order, it’s possible that tomorrow I might shuffle some of these around. Or put a couple different ones in.

10. The Kingdom of Back – Marie Lu. This is the story of Mozart’s sister, Nannerl. She wants to be remembered in a world where girls are supposed to grow up, get married, and be forgotten. It’s different than any of her other stories, but it has beautiful descriptions and made me tear up at the end.

9. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Suzanne Collins. Am I the only person who gets Suzanne Collins the author mixed up with Susan Collins the legislator? Anyway, this is the story of President Snow when he was a teenager. How does a good person go bad? This book explains. It also tells the origin of the song “The Hanging Tree” which I loved.

8. Jo & Laurie – Margaret Stohl & Melissa de la Cruz. I first heard of this book when the Penguin Teen Tour, featuring Astrid Scholte, Melissa de la Cruz, and Marie Lu, came to Denver. I tried reading Little Women as a kid and got bored after the first page, so I initially wasn’t excited about this book. Then I got to read a sample of this on Bookish First and I wanted to read it. I ended up listening to it on audiobook on a road trip between my house and my in-laws in Arizona and it was good enough to make my top 10 this year.

7. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V.E. Schwab. This book was cleverly done, and heartbreaking at times. I also enjoyed the historical aspect of this book.

6. Between Burning Worlds – Jessica C. Brody and Joanne Rendell. This year, it’s somewhat hard to tell whether a book would have done better on this list if I hadn’t read it in the middle of a pandemic. Sky Without Stars was #3 on my list of favorite 2019 releases. This book came out towards the beginning of the pandemic. I was planning on meeting Jessica Brody at The Tattered Cover towards the end of March, but the book signing was cancelled and there was a Zoom book launch I attended instead. I loved returning to this world, but it seems like reading books took longer this year than last. Including this one, which I loved.

5. The Best Laid Plans – Cameron Lund. On the other hand, I have to wonder if, looking back on 2020, I think on The Best Laid Plans so fondly because this is a feel-good book in a year that a lot of us weren’t really feeling so good. Four of the top 5 books on this list this year are pretty much that – they leave me with feel-good vibes and hope.

4. Today Tonight Tomorrow – Rachel Lynn Solomon. Oh how I loved this book! I started reading this before the pandemic started shutting everything down, and it was initially my “hot tub book.” I would go to the gym, swim, then get out of the pool and read this book. But then the pandemic closed the gym, so no hot tub. But I did make it a priority to read this book, and I loved it.

3. Skyhunter – Marie Lu. This is the only book in this year’s top five that doesn’t end on a hopeful, happy note (what do you expect, this is a Marie Lu book in the middle of a duology). Would it have ranked higher in another year? Possibly. But I’ve already pre-ordered Skyhunter 2 (even though it doesn’t have a title or a cover yet) and will do a reread before the second book comes out next September.

2. A Sky Beyond the Storm – Sabaa Tahir. I think A Sky Beyond the Storm is the perfect metaphor for 2020. It’s been horrible for so many people, but at the end of the storm, there may be some blue sky. This tetralogy had the perfect ending.

1. Chain of Gold – Cassandra Clare. In a year that I barely made my Goodreads reading goal, Chain of Gold is the only book I’ve reread already. And I’m going to read it again before March 2nd, when Chain of Iron comes out. Now, I said that Skyhunter was the only book that didn’t have a hopeful ending. If you’ve read this book, you may be thinking how was this hopeful? There was a fire, and then the epilogue… anyway, I’ve read the Shadowhunter Found Family Tree, and I know that things will work out. I love how this book ends though.

I’m so glad there’s only 10 weeks until Chain of Iron comes out. A few days ago, I started rereading The Infernal Devices, and plan to read all the Shadowhunter books and stories from Ghosts of the Shadow Market that take place between Clockwork Angel and Chain of Iron. I don’t own a copy of The Bane Chronicles or Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, which is why I won’t be reading those stories. If you’re wondering what order these stories come in, there is a Shadowhunter timeline you can use as a reference.

So there’s my top ten list of 2020 releases. There are a couple books I’d really like to include, and might have, had I written this list on another day.

What books did you come up with? I have a feeling I’m going to have to expand my TBR this week!

Next week we’re going to talk about my “Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2021.” I may end up having to cut that “first half of” out of my list though. I only have one unread book on Netgalley right now. I stopped requesting books because I was having a hard time reading so many books.

Books I Hope to Buy with Santa’s Gift Cards

By Brookelorren on December 22, 2020December 14, 202024 Comments

Hello! ::waves:: It’s Tuesday again, and of course that means it’s time for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). Can you believe that Christmas is Friday? I don’t know about you, but it’s been a trying year for me. It’s starting to get better though.

Today’s topic is supposed to be “Books I Hope Santa Brings.” Since Santa is magical, I suppose he could bring me the books on today’s list, but I don’t think he will. I buy most of my books with gift cards as pre-orders; as a result, I don’t think I’ll get any books this year ::gasp::. What I do hope I get, however, is gift cards, which can be used to buy any of the books listed below.

Skyhunter 2 – Marie Lu. This book doesn’t have a title, and it’s not ready to read yet, but I pre-ordered this book today. It’s out September 28, 2021. Santa’d have to be really magical to bring me this one.

Make Up Break Up – Lily Menon. I’ve read the ARC already but am thinking about pre-ordering the hardback. Swoon Squad members who pre-order this book get to be the first to hear a preview of the next Lily Menon book (I can’t even tell you the title yet!). Plus I love to support great authors.

Chain of Iron – Cassandra Clare. I have read the extended excerpt of this one (available on Riveted if you’re interested), and I must read more! One of the great things about this book is that there’s such a wide variety of characters that there’s a ship for everyone in here. I happen to love Jordelia but there’s something for almost everyone (as a quick skim of the topic on AO3 will show).

Once Upon a Broken Heart – Stephanie Garber. Oh no. Stephanie Garber’s new book, Once Upon a Broken Heart, comes out September 28th as well (along with Skyhunter 2). This one takes place in the Caraval universe with different characters.

Everything That Burns – Gita Trelease. I’m rereading Enchantée this month, and I just love Camille (pronounced Ca-MEE, rhymes with the French word fille, according to the author, I asked)! I have the ARC for Everything That Burns and will probably read it at the beginning of January. This is such a good series I wouldn’t mind owning the real copies instead of the ARCs.

The Heart Principle – Helen Hoang. The Heart Principle doesn’t come out until next August, but this is another book I’d like to read someday. Right now the hardback is selling for $26, which is way too much for me to spend on a book. There’s always the library, although I’m pretty sure it will go down in price.

Winds of Winter – George RR Martin. I have a much better chance of Santa bringing me the unfinished Skyhunter 2 than he is of bringing me Winds of Winter. But I hope to buy this book with a gift card–someday. I mentioned the book in my 2018 Christmas wish list. Two years later, its status is still the same.

Broken Wish – Julie C. Dao. Before I cancelled my Audible membership, I was really hoping to get an audiobook copy of Broken Wish. Unfortunately, it’s not available on audiobook, only Kindle and hardback. This is the only book on today’s list I could actually get under my tree, although I probably won’t.

Red Tigress – Amelie Wen Zhao. The only copy of Blood Heir (the first book in this series) I read was the early ARC that was pulled. I don’t know if there were any significant changes made after that point, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. This is another March 2 release (along with Chain of Iron).

Sword Catcher – Cassandra Clare. I almost forgot about Cassandra Clare’s adult debut! Sword Catcher is supposed to be published in 2021, but it doesn’t have a date yet and you can’t pre-order it. It will be interesting to see what her adult books look like.

That’s 10! Do you often get books under your tree? Or are you like me, who pre-orders so many books that it’s really difficult for Santa (or your relatives) to know what to get you, so you hope for gift cards instead?

Next week is supposed to be “Favorite Books of 2020.” Even before I started this blog, I had an annual list called “Favorite Books I Read for the First Time in 20XX” list, that I always (with the exception of 1 year) release on January 1st. So I won’t be doing that. I will either do a “Favorite 2020 releases” list, or I’ll switch the order around and do the “Most Anticipated Releases of 2021” list. I don’t know yet though. I’ll see you then!

Fireblood

By Brookelorren on December 18, 2020December 18, 20201 Comment

I recently read Fireblood by Elly Blake. It’s been nearly two years since I read the first book, Frostblood. I liked the story, but I wasn’t enamored with the book (probably because I listened to the audiobook and I didn’t care for the narrator). I read a physical copy of Fireblood so I wouldn’t have those problems.

Because this is the second book in a trilogy, there are probably spoilers for the first book. You can read my review for book 1 here.

Ruby is an anomaly at the frost court. If she didn’t have the favor of the king, Arcus–King Arkanus–she wouldn’t be there at all. Even so, she feels out of place. So when she gets the chance to see the fire kingdom, Sudesia, she takes it. Especially since the fire nation might be the key to destroying the Minax, which is now wreaking havoc in the countryside.

Of course, things aren’t quite as simple as Ruby would hope them to be. There’s trouble at home, Tempesia, there’s trouble in Sudesia, and–there may be a love triangle in this book.

I enjoyed this book and immediately added Nightblood to my TBR lottery. It’s hard to tell whether I liked this book better because I wasn’t listening to the audiobook or whether the book was better, but there was a lot going on in this book from start to finish. And now I want to find out how this ends–because while Ruby meets her goals for this book, there’s another difficulty that arises that she’ll need another book for.

Fireblood is an excellent sequel to Frostblood. It was well-written, had excitement throughout, and I cared about the main character, Ruby. I’m looking forward to reading the final book in the trilogy, Nightblood, although I’ll probably wait until I draw its number in the TBR lottery before I read it, since there’s so many other books I also want to read on that list.

Winter 2020-21 TBR

By Brookelorren on December 15, 2020December 14, 202021 Comments

Hello! Today is Tuesday, and it’s also one of my favorite TTTs: the quarterly seasonal TBR. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and it gives us a chance to find out what books other people are interested in.

This week, we’re going to talk about what our reading plans are for this winter. Most of my choices on this TBR were picked from a list that I call the “TBR Lottery.” I make a list of books I’m interested in reading, and I use a random number generator to pick my books.

First, here’s what was on my Fall TBR. I had been doing terribly on my TBR this year, but for the first time since my Fall 2019 TBR, I read ALL the books on my list! They were:

Skyhunter – Marie Lu
Keeper – Kim Chance
The First Hostage – Joel C. Rosenberg
Mirror Gate – Jeff Wheeler
A Curse So Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer
A Sky Beyond the Storm – Sabaa Tahir
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V.E. Schwab
The Red Scrolls of Magic – Cassandra Clare
Talon – Julie Kagawa

I even read a couple other books on top of these!

Anyway, here is the list of books I hope to read this winter:

I’m so looking forward to Chain of Iron, the next book in The Last Hours Trilogy! This last week I’ve been writing Jordelia fics. I wrote one where Cordelia and James go for a walk and get stuck in a snowstorm. So there’s my Christmas story. For a little story, it took a lot of research! Then I wrote another one. Anyway, I did read the extended excerpt, but I can’t wait to reread the whole thing. Plus I’m reading Chain of Gold, but I’m not counting it here because it’s a reread.

According to my calculations, Chain of Iron takes place at the end of 1903 and into 1904. This next book goes forward a little in time. 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents sounds interesting. I first heard about it a long time ago and then forgot the title. But then I remembered the title and it ended up on my TBR lottery.

Although the title An Affair of Poisons isn’t really my favorite, the plot looks interesting. I also like historical novels, and this one has a bit of magic as well. This was another winner of the TBR lottery this season.

I’ve been interested in reading Switchback since I was not approved for the ARC on Netgalley. When I drew this book in the TBR lottery, I realized that my library didn’t have this. So I requested them to buy it, and they agreed! I had been looking for this book to go on sale on the Kindle, but it hasn’t yet.

I bought the entire Lunar Chronicles series for $2.99 each two years ago on Cyber Monday. Even though I’ve repeatedly said I wanted to read this book, I never got around to it. Fortunately, I drew its number and I’m reading Cinder in the next few months.

The Language of Thorns is a collection of short stories set in the Grishaverse. It sounds like a lot of fun. My library has several copies. Right now they’re only available for curbside pickup, so like Switchback, I’ll have to plan ahead and request this one about a week ahead of time so it’ll be ready when I can read it.

Everything that Burns (AKA Liberté) was supposed to come out on Bastille day this year (which would have been awesomely symbolic), but got pushed back to this winter. I was lucky enough to get an ARC for this. I’m currently reading Enchantée again before reading this. I’m loving this magical book all over again and am excited for its sequel!

Every once in a while, I start collecting books from an author I’ve never read. That’s the case with Kristin Hannah. I got The Great Alone on sale a couple years ago (who can pass up a $1.99 book if it looks like something they’d want to read?) and then I needed to use my Audible credits before I cancelled my membership for a while, so I pre-ordered The Four Winds. It’s set during the Great Depression, and sounds so interesting. Which makes me think that maybe I should write a fictional story (very) loosely based on my grandma’s life.

Six of the books on this list today have been on the TBR lottery since I first put it together more than a year ago (I’ve read about half of the original list). I’ve been interested in The Boy and His Ribbon for a while, and finally I picked it. Sure, I could just pick it, but there’s tons of other books I want to read as well. There’s 72 books on the TBR lottery right now, although 11 of them are either on today’s list or I read them after finishing my Fall TBR. It’s so hard to choose!

Three Dark Crowns is another book that’s been on my TBR forever and I finally picked it. Then I’ll just have to read the other four books in this series. Hopefully, if I can keep up a decent reading pace, it won’t take me another full year to get to the second book in this series.

So there’s my list. What books do you hope to read this winter? Do you like making seasonal TBRs? Has your reading been down this year too?

Next week, we’re supposed to talk about “Books I Hope Santa Brings.” I probably won’t get any books for Christmas since, after joining the book community, I’ve started pre-ordering almost all my must-have books, but I’ll probably get some gift cards (which is how I purchase almost all my books). So I’ll probably tweak the topic some. See you then!

Wintry Books

By Brookelorren on December 8, 2020December 7, 202036 Comments

Brrrr! I’ve been wearing my winter jacket around when I go places, and though it’s not officially winter yet, it sure feels like it. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a Holiday/Seasonal freebie, so I decided to talk about wintry and Christmasy books. Last year, we did a TTT on Holiday Reads, so I’m going to broaden the topic out a little bit so I can include a wider variety of books. Plus, we’ve had a whole year to find new books!

“Booked for Christmas” is Lily Menon’s Christmas novella! Lily Menon is a pen name that Sandhya Menon writes her adult books under. This one is not for kids. This is the story about a novelist and her harshest book critic. It would make a great Hallmark movie. If you can’t get your hands on her upcoming book Make Up Break Up, at least you can get this one! It’s only $.99 on Amazon.

The Bear and the Nightingale is a book that definitely gives off those wintry vibes. I need to add The Girl in the Tower to my winter TBR lottery because I haven’t read it yet, and I think the only time I really want to read it is in the winter or spring (when it’s still cold). It’s set in a magical, medieval-ish Russia, which is a plus for me.

For me, the Christmas season is fairly short, and I don’t have time to read a lot of novels most of the time. Besides, there aren’t a ton of holiday novels, even though there are some. This is one of the reason why Christmas novellas and short stories are so great. Rainbow Rowell’s Almost Midnight contains two short stories: “Midnights,” which is a beautiful story that follows two people for several New Year’s Eves in a row, and “Kindred Spirits,” a story about people waiting in line for a Star Wars movie (I can’t remember which one).

This book is good to check out of the library, but I don’t recommend buying it. “Midnights” appears in My True Love Gave to Me (a great anthology which is checked in at my library and I might borrow just to read this story), and “Kindred Spirits” can be purchased on the Kindle for $2.99. Since this little book is almost the same price as the others, if you’re buying, spend a few dollars more for the extra stories.

The Christmas Pact was originally an Audible Original that came out last year, and it’s now available on Kindle or paperback as well. It’s a cute story about two people who work at the same company and have similar names: one is Kennedy Riley, the other Riley Kennedy. When they get some emails mixed up, they become enemies. But… they don’t stay that way. Read this one before the 25th if you’re trying to get into the Christmasy mood.

Some of you may know I do this thing I call the TBR lottery: a list of all the books I’d like to read but can’t decide between. They’re all numbered, and I draw a random number to pick my next book. I typically rewrite the list twice a year, because I don’t want to read a cold-weather book in the middle of the summer. The Great Alone is set in Alaska, and it seems like it would be a cold weather book for me. Which makes it harder to win the TBR lottery. But I hope to read it someday.

Wintersong is another one of those books that leaves my TBR lottery list in the summer. Even the cover is icy. Brrrr!

Kingdom Cold has gotten mixed reviews, but this is another book on my TBR lottery that only is there during the cold months. I can’t imagine reading a book like this in the middle of August.

I have not read the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer picture book, but I have seen the TV show many times. Poor Rudolph is bullied (and Santa condones it!), at least in the TV show. Fortunately, he gets to be a hero in the end.

I did not like the narration to Frostblood, however, I liked the book enough that its sequel, Fireblood, made it to my TBR lottery, and I just finished it. I definitely like the print version better. Anyway, this book takes place in an icy land, which makes winter the perfect time to read this.

You might think a book with a tent on the cover might be better for summer reading, but not this one. Safe Harbour is a book about a girl who lives in her tent while waiting for her dad to show up… but as the days grow colder, he never does. Did Dad ghost her? What happened? It does have a satisfying ending though.

So there are some wintry books if you’re looking for something Christmasy, or something to read after the holidays while the snow still blankets the ground.

Next week is one of my favorite Top Ten Tuesdays: the seasonal TBR! I love to make these, I love to try to read everything on the list, and I love to see what other people are going to be reading. Not that I need to find new books–my TBR lottery page is bursting! But I like to find new books anyway.