The main character, Kristiana, lives in Latvia but drives to steeplechase horse races in the United Kingdom regularly. This was just 1 bit that was kind of unrealistic. (Ironic I know.) This is a closed door romance & slow burn. I thought the storyline concept was interesting. It doesn't end with a cliffhanger per say, but it does leave certain bits unresolved. I won't be reading more of the series but it was a fun enough read. That cover art 👎.

The Sycamore Gap tree was around 300 years old. Was. Past tense. My tree loving heart is so sad about this. Photo by Stu Meech.

I'm pretty sure this is an author signature amongst the other notes. I found this book at my local goodwill and nabbed since she is an autobuy author for me. Had no idea it was potentially signed by her until I was reading over the other notes last night. Now I have questions about how/why it ended up in the goodwill though.

Happy World Rhino Day!!!

They way this story unfolded was interesting. It is a look at the struggle to be free and what that ultimately means. But it also shines a spotlight on the nature of mankind, and the struggles with power and corruption that seem to plague humans. Overall I liked it. It did leave me with questions about what happens going forward with certain characters.

This was lyrical, philosophical, enraging, heartbreaking and illuminating. Ultimately it is about connections. I think it is also a love letter, as well as a warning. I loved it for so many different reasons.

I finished this today. What an amazing adventure. Does it have some elements of LOTR? Yes, but honestly so much fantasy does. It does not take away from THIS amazing story at all. Very well told/written. And that ending. Wowza! So glad I have the next book waiting already. I can't wait to see what comes next!

"It seems a cold world without something...more."
"On the contrary," said Oromis, "it is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our own actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat if divine punishment. I won't tell you what to believe, Eragon. It is far better to be taught to think critically......"
YES TO ALL OF THIS!

Ok I get the hype now. At least for some of us. Set in an absolutely brutal bootcamp of a dragon riders school where even graduates aren't guaranteed survival. Considering why they become riders it makes sense. (Forced or volunteered.) Loved the world building and how the story unfolded. The ending got me. Some spice but not overly graphic. I can't wait to see what comes next in book 2. It looks like there will be 5 books in the series.

A new book that my sister gifted me. It sounds right up my alley.

A rare hardcover purchase for me. I didn't want to wait for the paperback. #treenerd

I got to hear Neil speak in person tonight and then meet him afterwards. It was as wonderful as you can imagine. I even loaned him a pen when his ran out of ink near the end of the signing. He was as gracious, nice and as funny as I expected. There are very few famous people I've ever wanted to meet but he was one of them. I'm SO grateful I had the opportunity.

I found a classic as a board book. Magpie approves.

My daughter basicly ordered me to buy this. This was my "proof I did it" photo. Now that I've read the synopsis and 1st bit I'm just hoping it doesn't re-awaken my bootcamp dreams. Once was plenty thank you very much.

SQUEALING NOISES!!! I just got word that the Neil Gaiman event happening local to me had a cancelation so I was offered the ticket!!!! I just did one hell of a happy dance in my kitchen. OMG you guys!!! I have never been this excited to meet someone in my life. My heart is going to explode out of my chest. I had written it on my calendar hoping beyond hope that this might happen AND IT FREAKING DID!!! Talk about a day made!!

Ouch. This was an uncomfortable read. I learned some important things I didn't know, as well as having new perspectives of others that were right in front of me. Sometimes we need to sit in that uncomfortable space to truly learn. We need to acknowledge the privilege we have as white women that we take for granted. Or, sadly, we weaponize. (Knowingly or not.) I'll definitely need to re-read this one regularly to remind myself how to do better.

Happy Holiday to those who celebrate! Which is everyone here I assume. 📚 The tagged book is one of the six that I have in progress.

Vacation is going well. My feet aren't happy with the amount of walking we have been doing though. Excuse the bad lighting. I hide under a shade umbrella so I don't burst into flame.

Traveling recently from Maine to California. I hate to fly and have anxiety about it. One of the things I do to trick my brain is that I always bring a sci fi book that has space travel in it. I think it helps. Thought I'd share my trick here in case others might be similarly afflicted.

I recently retired and my co-workers gave me a gift card to thriftbooks and another to my favorite local indie store. This is what I have gotten so far, and I still have more credit left to spend. They were a great team and I will miss working with them. Happy about my increased reading time though!

I picked this up at a Ren Faire this weekend. The author was there last year as well. Gotta respect the hustle!

Not far along and already learning things.

I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this last night because I just HAD to know what happened next. I was not disappointed. This one is written by a local author to me. I really loved the unique use of the daydream within the story. I thought the writing was excellent, especially for a debut novel. Romantic scenes can be very tricky to do well in my opinion. I hope she writes more as I think she has a true talent for it.

I am addicted to this type of bookmark. I clip mine to the back of the book to make it easier to flip the ribbon in or out as needed. This brings my bookjig collection to 5.

Books seen in the wild. I was with my brother in a bookstore today and spied this trilogy. I listened to the audio version a while back and absolutely loved it. I might have to get them in this version though. They had lots of great pictures throughout. I do have a granddaughter I need to (gently) mold into a reader eventually after all.

This book may look very whimsical but it actually covers some serious themes. Parts of it are quite philosophical. This is a great example of how much depth can be found in many young adult books. Some of the backdrop is actual historical events. (The time of hand written books, the black plague, the great fire of London, & religious wars.) Yes it was anthropomorphic but very well done. I really enjoyed this story and it had a lovely ending.

I'm only a few chapters into this book and I already adore it.

I hit a mother lode at my local goodwill yesterday. There was so many manga series that had been donated. In pristine condition as well. I only nabbed these because they seemed interesting.i really should stick to reading the local library copies though. Some of these stories have so many issues in their series!

I really enjoyed this. It is amazing that he was a teenager when he wrote this. There was one twist that I definitely did not see coming. Fortunately I have the next 3 in the series waiting so I can immediately begin the next one. I heard there is a 5th book coming as well. (Called Murtagh.) I hope they release that in the same paper cover that will match the ones I have. I'll at least wait until the paperback is out before I buy it.

This book was so much better than I was expecting! This is written as letters from Elizabeth following the end of P&P. I loved it all. I even figured out which characters from JA's other books were re-named and mentioned as new characters based on how they acted, or decisions they were making. It also had a great feel good ending. I highly recommend this for P&P or JA fans. (Raspberry zinger herbal tea with raspberry honey and then iced.)

Good news: the rest of my Witch Hat Atelier books arrived. Bad news: they aren't all the same height. Aagghh!! This makes my OCD brain itch. It should be a law that all books in a series have matching spines!!!

As seen in the wild. Did you know the UK version of The Golden Compass has a different title? I didn't until today.

I'm actually grateful that I didn't read these books until I was an adult. I'm not sure they would have hit the same for my younger self. I really loved the lecture given at the end that she included called Earthsea Revisioned. It discusses the decisions she made regarding gender and the hero archetype within these books. It is very enlightening about her own growth as an author. This is, hands down, my new favorite series.

This is the next fantasy book on my tbr. I got this copy from ebay and it looks very well loved. I especially like that the spine is super flexible and yet not broken. I'm super excited about it and have heard great things. (Which is why I tracked it down.)

Did I buy a book because Keanu recommended it? Yes, I absolutely did. (Backstory: The interviewer asked him what books he would recommend as a known lover of literature so he said he was chosing one he read recently.)

I stayed up way too late to finish this one. I'm really loving this series though. One of the stories in this made me literally sob cry. I know a lot of people have read, and loved, this series as teens but I'm not sure my teenage self would have appreciated them back then. Certainly some of it, but not all. Grateful I read these at the right time for me.

Name the last book that made you cry. (Without spoilers please.) The story in book 5 of this omnibus, The Books of Earthsea, called "On the High Marsh" just did me in. (Kiki napping in the sun was oblivious.)

I was planning on reading this series next but then I bought a new book that bumped it. So as a workaround I went and got the audio version. This might be the book version of having my cake and eating it too. (Which is an odd saying honestly. Of course you have your cake and you eat it too! What else would you do with cake?!)

When your husband knows your favorite author team and buys you one of their books with a super cool cover.

I really enjoyed this. I'm glad I listened to it as well because the narration was incredible. I've heard it has been optioned by someone at the syfy channel. Rarely do book adaptations do the book justice, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with it. I absolutely loved the character of Charlie. This is a fantasy story but does have a touch of horror to it too. I can't wait to see how something I imagined is portrayed on the screen.

The story is solid and the artwork is good, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Though I did really enjoy some elements of it. (The penguin and what she does for 1 example.) Definate superhero and villain origin stories. It also starts fast which was nice.

I'm on a serious Manga kick. This series has way more depth than I was expecting. Glad my local library has them all. I'm a dog trainer but I don't mind anthropomorphic stories because I know the difference. I believe some people do it in real life because of wishful thinking. Treat animals humanely and accept their real life behaviors and we won't have a problem. *And by accept I don't mean allowing aggression in pets. Find a behaviorist to help.

Have I mentioned how obsessed I am with this series yet? The magic system is chef's kiss and the artwork is incredible. The storyline with an underlying mystery is also really intriguing. I know there are 11 written and I am here for all of it!

I absolutely loved this. This was an amazing and sometimes weird ride. It left me with a good amount of questions about what happens next. It didn't end on a cliffhanger per say but some of the journeys definitely weren't finished. I also want to know where this drug came from because of what it did. It seems suspect. Still trying to visualize the lab animal. I really hope this author writes more. Nice positive drag rep too. TW for mentions of SA.

Check out this beauty I saw at work today. He is a cross of a Bengal and a Highlander cat. He was also super sweet. (Some Bengals are a tad spicy.) I used to have the tagged book and really liked it. Sadly we are a cat free home now due to hubbys allergies and a high prey drive dog in residence. At least I get to enjoy them at work! #veterinaryhospital

How to guarantee I will never ever buy another book from your website. I've had good luck with goo gone on stickers in the past but it stresses me out so much. I recently got another with a bar code sticker ON THE BLURB!! What the actual eff?! You would think a bookseller would know not to deface the books!!!

My most recent bookhaul. I do have The 1st book in the Holly Black series already.

I'm just over halfway through this and loving it.

I adore this series already. The magic system is so unique. The artwork is fantastic as well. So far I'm finding the story very engaging and not predictable. I definitely found a great manga series to begin with. I've already begun the next book.

Yes I gave this to my mom for Mother's Day. She loves reading about bad moms. Ironically she is a narcissist who was a pretty shitty mother for the majority of my childhood. I'm alive though so there is that. Hugs to others out there who struggle with the day.