@TheBookHippie It‘s here 😍 Now I have to practice my patience. 😂

#mws #modernwitchswap

Hi. I‘m running short staffed lately (It‘s me. I‘m the staff. The staff is exhausted 😂) and I‘m falling behind on reviews. But anyhow this could quite possibly be the best month of reading I‘ve had all year. The Butcher‘s Daughter was yet another five star read and I can‘t say enough good things about it.

Full review here: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/10/11/the-butchers-daughter-review/

It no secret that I‘m a spooky book lover. So today I shared a few of my favorites over on the blog. Also, my spooky shelf is getting dangerously small so please share your favorites in the comments.

https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/10/10/spooky-book-recommendations/

It‘s here @AmyG 🎃🎃🎃

#allhallowsreadswap #ahrs2025

@MaleficentBookDragon

My #allhallowsreadswap and #modernwitchswap packages are all packed up and ready to go. 🎃🎃🎃

@MaleficentBookDragon @BookwormAHN

It‘s spooky season, witches. What are we reading?? I need all of the spooky book recommendations. 🎃🎃🎃

My tbr: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/10/01/october-2025-tbr/

I figured I would love Play Nice. I love Rachel Harrison and haunted house stories so I knew this book was for me. And if I‘m being honest I *almost* liked it better than Cackle. But be sure to check trigger warnings. This one was spooky. And also don‘t go into it expecting to love the characters. They‘re horrible people. But it worked for me.

Thank you for all of the goodies! I‘m obsessed with the apple cinnamon tea. I‘ve already had three cups this morning. 😂 I also need you to teach me how to wrap presents because your wrapping skills are immaculate!

#fffs #fallingforfallswap

@KadaGul @Chrissyreadit @Avanders

Finally knocked this chunk of a book off of my physical tbr. I don‘t know why it took me so long to read it. I loved every minute of this. The detail and work Follett put into this book is incredible. It‘s definitely a five star read.

Full review: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/09/19/winter-of-the-world-review/

Gotta love a fall book haul 😍

https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/09/15/an-early-fall-book-haul/

#falling

Today‘s Prompt: Sweater

It will be a minute before I can wear a sweater in Alabama, but I‘m so excited to wear this one for the first time.

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

@KadaGul It‘s here and it‘s beautiful! Thank you! I can‘t wait to open it 😍 #fallingforfallswap #fffs

@Chrissyreadit @Avanders

#falling

Today‘s Prompt: Coffee and a Book

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

As I type this, I have a few books on my tbr shelf that keep catching my attention. Want to know why? Because they are dusty. They have been on my shelf long enough to collect actual dust. And I was super excited about all of them when I bought them. So why didn't I pick them up? And honestly, I don't know. But today I'm making a pact to finish these this year. So here are the books that I want to finish before 2026.

#falling

Today‘s Prompt: Neighbors

If you know, you know.

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

The Monday blahs have hit. My body is at my desk but my mind is roaming a bookstore.

I‘m super excited to finally have an indie bookstore within an hour of my house. We went a couple of weekends ago. I‘ll have to share my haul soon.

https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/09/08/a-day-out-in-rome-georgia-2/

#falling

Today‘s Prompt: Dear Diary

I‘m going to pretend like last week didn‘t happen. I don‘t know what sickness I had but it whooped my butt. Anyhow, today‘s prompt is Dear Diary. I don‘t really keep a diary but my notebook and planner are the closest things I have. I keep my whole life in my planner and all of my writing projects in this notebook.

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Well September has not started as planned. My nine month old and I ended up with some weird unexpected sickness but thankfully she‘s bounced back quicker than I have. Anyhow, here‘s what I hope to read this month.

Full tbr: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/09/05/september-2025-tbr/

#falling

We take college football very seriously in our house. Unfortunately though my husband is a Bama fan. 👎

 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I read six books in August. Three physical books and three audiobooks. August was a month of unique reads but I enjoyed most of them. I‘ll consider that a success.

Full wrap up: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/09/02/august-2025-wrap-up/

#falling

I‘m a day behind but better late than never 😂.

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

My #fallingforfallswap is on its way. 🍂🍁🍂🍁

#fffswap #fallingforfallswap

@Chrissyreadit @Avanders

Small Favors felt like warm autumn sunshine in the beginning which is an odd way to start a horror novel but I was all for it. Even with the idyllic setting I could feel the tension lurking in the woods. I loved it but then it seemed to drag in the middle. Then the ending disappointed me just a bit. I guessed the big reveal from the moment the character was introduced and the normally astute main character was oblivious.

✅ Sticky Toffee Pudding Tea
✅ Good Book
✅ Giant Blanket
✅ Cloudy Day Bringing In Unseasonably Cool Air

This fall girl‘s heart is happy.

There‘s nothing better than a box of new books. 😍😍😍

Check out what I got in my Aardvark Book Club Box: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/08/21/aardvark-book-club-unboxing/

I think I liked this. Not too certain. It was weird and
unnerving but I think that was the point.

https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/08/18/the-bog-wife-review/

Well. That was strange. I just finished up The Bog Wife and I‘m going to have to wrap my head around this story before I review it. I don‘t know if I loved it or hated it, but I do know I‘m terribly unsettled. 😂😂😂

I didn‘t know apples could be creepy but Chuck Wendig pulled it off. This is probably one of the most unique horror stories I‘ve ever read. I didn‘t know I needed a spooky farmers market in my life but it worked. But don‘t go into this one thinking it‘s going to be a fast read because it‘s not. It‘s super slow to start, almost slice of life in the beginning, but it builds up to a terrifying conclusion. I totally recommend it for spooky season.

Gotta love book mail 😍

Does anyone else remember what‘s in your bag videos? I used to be obsessed with them. Honestly, I‘m a tad nosey. But anyhow a friend on Instagram tagged me to do my own. So here‘s what‘s in my bookish work bag. You won‘t catch me out it public without a good book. 💁‍♀️

https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/08/11/whats-in-my-bookish-work-bag/

If you haven‘t heard Tyler Childers‘ song Bitin‘ List go check out my instagram post. It‘s the soundtrack of my reading year (or entire year if I‘m being honest). But anyhow essentially the books on my biting list are books I just really did not enjoy. I usually try to mostly share positive stuff but sometimes it‘s cathartic to talk about the bad too. So with that being said, what books are on your biting list? 😂

I dnfed two of my most anticipated reads this month and it sort of sent me into a slump.

Full wrap up: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/08/04/july-2025-wrap-up/

What did you read this month?

It was a slow month for me. I read a lot but didn‘t have much progress to show for it.

https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/08/04/july-2025-wrap-up/

I‘m already planning for Halloween. Last year was a dud because I was still in a cast and heavily pregnant. This year I have a happy healthy baby and so much excitement. I need books that help set the Halloween vibe so please share some of your favorites. Mostly looking for horror but I‘m open to anything. Let me know what you‘ve got.

So excited to be participating in the #fallingforfallswap. This is the first one I‘ve been a part of in a minute. I‘m ready for all the fall fun! 🍂🍁🍂🍁

@Avanders @Chrissyreadit

Don‘t mind me. I‘m just over here trying to invoke October in hopes that I can forget about the heat advisory outside. 🥵🥵🥵

Another day. Another dnf. I think I hyped myself up too much for this one and it just didn‘t meet my expectations. It also wasn‘t exactly what I was looking for at the moment. I might give it another try later but I‘m not completely sure.

https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/07/21/dnf-diaries-the-listeners/

I want to love this book. And I want to love this author. Every synopsis I‘ve ever read from this man is so intriguing but I can‘t connect with his writing to save my life. After 24 pages of this one I thought I‘d lost all of my reading comprehension skills. I also briefly thought I might be having a stroke. But ultimately I think this one just wasn‘t for me.

https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/07/18/dnf-diaries-the-buffalo-hunter-hunter/

Gothictown was right up my alley. It does require some suspension of belief, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The town was fishy from the start. Honestly, this is a perfect example of if it‘s too good to be true it usually is. I loved everything about this but the ending kept it from being a five star. It felt a bit mundane compared to the rest of the story. But overall I had fun with it.

https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/07/14/gothictown-review/

Memorials is my perfect summer horror. It gave me all the creepy camping/roadtrip vibes I could ask for. Bonus points because it‘s set in Appalachia. As someone born and bred in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains this one hit a little too close to home and it might be a minute before I go out after dark. Seriously though I‘m going to be thinking about this one for a long time. This is easily the best book I‘ve read all year.

Y‘all. I‘m worried I‘m going to start sounding like a crotchety old lady but I‘ve just hit a streak of books that haven‘t worked for me. And I expected to love With a Vengeance. I‘ve loved every Riley Sager book to date, but this one just didn‘t work for me. There were too many plot holes, unlikable characters, and ridiculous plot twists for me to overlook. ⭐️⭐️

Full Review: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/06/23/with-a-vengeance-review/

Happy Summer Solstice! ☀️☀️☀️

It‘s been a minute since I‘ve done an anticipated releases post. Last year, I was in a horrible reading slump, so I wasn‘t interested in new releases. And at the first of this year, I tried to focus on some backlist reads. But now I‘m ready to sink my teeth into some new reads.

What books are you looking forward to this summer?

I‘m having to eat my words on my last post about The Devils. I do understand the divisiveness surrounding it now. And, honestly, I‘m a bit irritated. It was a slow character driven book but it felt like it was building to a big ending. And it tried. But it was the most obvious plot twist and I guessed it from the very beginning. It felt like it was all for nothing. And it could have been about a hundred pages shorter.

Cj left me unattended in a bookstore. Here‘s what I got. 😂

Full haul: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/06/09/2ndandcharlesbookhaul/

I‘m a little shocked to see how divisive the reviews are on The Devils by Joe Abercrombie. I‘ve noticed that a lot of the people that don‘t like it love The First Law Trilogy. One person said the characters in The Devils felt flat compared to First Law. So if that‘s the case I really need to read that series because so far I‘ve enjoyed The Devils. Granted I‘ve only made it to part three but I can‘t wait to see where it goes.

I wish I had jumped on this series sooner. I dnfed it when it first released and boy did I miss out. I ended up really loving this one. I guess the plus side to giving it another read is it‘s a now a completed series and I could use a little binge. If you need me I‘ll be in Vigrio.

My Full Review: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/05/28/the-shadow-of-the-gods-review/

Dreaming of reading in bed. Saturday can‘t get here soon enough.

Just did a post about my bookish day off routine over on Wildwood Reads if you‘re interested. Idk what it is about morning routines but I‘m obsessed with watching them, so I thought I‘d make my own

https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/04/04/my-bookish-morning-routine-day-off/

Well that wraps up March. It was an awesome reading month from the beginning. What did you read this month? Any new faves?

The Reformatory
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Empire of Silence
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

All Systems Red
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I also squeezed in a few audiobooks. You can check out my full wrap up and reviews here: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/03/31/march-2025-wrap-up/

Somebody give me a pep talk because this book is a monster. I‘ve heard that it‘s totally worth it though. I‘ve only been able to read a page or two a day so at this rate I‘ll be finished this time next year. 😂

✨Martha Wells fans I need opinions!✨

All Systems Red had one of the most relatable main characters that I‘ve ever read. His desire to procrastinate speaks to my soul. But that‘s where my excitement fell. It wasn‘t bad by any means but the world-building felt a little lacking and I didn‘t have any connection at all to the side characters. But that darn cliffhanger makes me want to continue on, so give me the pros and cons in the comments.