Bloggin 'Bout Books Blog

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman Published: June 13, 1995 Publisher: Putnam Adult Received: Borrowed from my best friend "What had she thought, that love was a toy, something easy and sweet, just to play with? Real love was dangerous, it got you from inside and held on tight, and if you didn't let go fast enough you might be willing to do anything for its sake." Sally and Gillian Owens are orphaned at a young age. They are sent to live with their aunts: two older women who are known throughout their small Massachusetts town as witches. Both girls grow up resentful of their aunts and their aunts' practice, but the girls take this resentment out in different ways. Sally doesn't believe in the aunts' power, but she's always a good girl. She takes care of Gillian, the house, and ultimately her own family. After her husband's untimely death, Sally takes her two girls and moves away from the aunts. Gillian had left years earlier. She sough...

Persuasion by Jane Austen Published: 1817 Received: Bought for my Kindle "If there is anything disagreeable going on men are always sure to get out of it." Anne Elliot is 27 years old. She's becoming an old maid, destined to live as the supporter for her father and sisters without ever managing a match of her own. Her younger (and much more annoying sister) Mary has managed to find a man and have several children. Her older sister is guaranteed to find someone soon. And all Anne wants is to remember the man with whom she was betrothed eight years ago. She seems to be getting along, when none other than that man, Captain Wentworth comes back to town.  I read this several years ago for class. It was my favorite of Austen's novels (yes, I'm that weird person), and as I reread it, I enjoyed it even more. As I'm quickly approaching Anne's age, I see both her despair and wish for her ease. I was also struck by how little has really changed. ...

I started this series in early college, and I loved it.  Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series are fun, quick, sexy paranormal romances. I think I've read every single one of them in one sitting.  Each book follows a different Lord of the Underworld. These men are each cursed with one of the escaped demons from Pandora's Box. They're living with the demons while attempting to find Pandora's Box and return the demons to it.  The series is still ongoing, and I'm a few books behind. But my favorite so far is third: The Darkest Pleasure . It's not necessary to read these books in order for each main plot, however there is an overarching plot that will be hard to follow if you read them out of order. I would recommend these books to people looking for a little bit of racy romance. The relationships so far are entirely heterosexual, just as a heads up.  My ratings vary by book, but for the series as a whole, I'd give it.....

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab is a dark, fast-paced fantasy thriller. I originally read the 130 page preview about a month ago, and I loved it. I couldn't wait for the book to come out. Then, I got tied up with life things, but I finally managed to finish it today, and oooh boy. How did I manage to split this into more than one sitting? Stupid life. A Darker Shade of Magic follows Kell -- an antari-- through three of the four Londons. Kell is one of the two people with the ability to travel through the worlds. He is owned by the royal family of Red London (although most of the time they treat him as, and he thinks of himself as, a son). When Kell stumbles upon a piece of Black London--the London that has been closed off due to magic contamination--Kell decides to take it back to Black London. But other forces make it complicated, to say the least. Schwab's characters are fantastic. They're not all perfect people; they have flaws that put them in d...

Hello Lovelies! For this tbt, I'm looking at a book I read a couple years ago at the suggestion of Rosianna . I don't often read adult books, but I'd never read anything like Ghana Must Go . It's a book I think about fairly consistently.  Here's what I wrote about it on Goodreads: Ghana Must Go is the fascinating story of one family's beginning and ending. When the father of the Sai family dies, the family is brought back together for the funeral. Through their interactions, we learn about the destruction they have survived thus far and how it has affected the family members. By the end, we hope to see them healing.  This isn't typically a novel I would have picked up, but I saw Rosianna's (missxrojas on youtube's) review of it. I'm so glad I decided to grab it.  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys people. If you find people and their problems interesting, you'd probably enjoy Ghana Must Go. While I was...

I received an advance e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Of Shadow & Stone by Michelle Muto is an interesting mix of Gargoyles and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kate Mercer has just finished filming the last installment of an action series. She's a major star. She might have just broken up with her cheating boyfriend, but everything's fine. Except she's been having weirdly vivid dreams about a castle, and about gargoyles coming to life. Now, she's been told that its her destiny to control the gargoyles and stop them from killing.  There were a lot of things I liked about this book. I loved that it used gargoyles. It reminded me of being seven and watching Gargoyles repeatedly on video cassette. That of course, also had the unfortunate side effect of me picturing the Gargoyles cast instead of real gargoyles. There's also a layer to the story where Kate is chosen because its her inheritance. One person to rule the gargoyles...

Vision in Silver is Anne Bishop's newest novel in the Others series.  *** I received a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*** I'm obsessed with Bishop's Others series. There really isn't another word for it. If you haven't read Written in Red (#1) yet, I really encourage you to go pick up a copy. Anyone who knows me or has been following my blog for awhile is aware that I rarely read non-YA books. Bishop is an author who I adore and always read.  There's a lot of great things about Vision in Silver. We learn more about Thasia and the world of the Others and the humans. The tension that was seen in Written in Red and continued to build in Murder of Crows begins to come to a head in Vision in Silver. The relationships between humans and Others continue to grow. I love seeing the Others (who are capable of destroying humans) threaten bad humans for the sake of humans they love. It's the ultimate protector of the p...

Hello Lovelies! Let me be honest, I don't read a lot of adult books. There are two things that can pull me into the land of marriages, children, divorces, and cheaters: I've either heard really good things about the books (and that usually means that the four things I mentioned aren't present) or I know and love the author (I did go through a phase in high school where I primarily read books published for adults). This week I'm going to focus on one of the few authors whose works I will automatically read even though they're published for adults. Anne Bishop is an amazing author of adult fantasy novels. She is primarily known for her Black Jewels trilogy ( Daughter of the Blood is the first in the series). She has four series and numerous short stories available. I'm currently anxiously awaiting the third book in the Others series, which will be finally available on March 3, 2015.  Bishop focused on short story writing before Daughter of th...

Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop is the second in the Others series, and a delightful read.  I'll be honest, It definitely wasn't as good as Written in Red, but it was very exciting to read. Maybe I was just too hyped up from waiting for it to come in at the library: I couldn't just buy it because I bought Written in Red in the trade paperback, and Murder of Crows is only out in hardcover, sigh. So I waited for probably four days for it to come in at the library--which is super fast! But my eagerness for the book and anticipation grew to a level that would have been super hard to measure up to.  This book sees the return of all the main characters from Written in Red, and the relationships between all of them really develop in this one. I loved the growth between Simon and Meg. It was so genuine and delightful. I want to see more of Monty and Lizzy in the next book. And I could never get too much of Henry, Vlad, Tess and Sam.  I just love the premise of th...

Written in Red by Anne Bishop is a fantastic start to her newest series (Novels of the Others (or possibly just The Others)).  Bishop is one of the few adult writers whose works I just flat out adore. Thankfully, this book was just as amazing as her others.  Meg Corbyn applies for a job at the Courtyard (a place where all the creatures that are not human are forced to live). Simon Wolfgard is the leader of the Courtyard and a Wolf. He doesn't exactly trust Meg, but he doesn't have a lot of other options.  I don't want to spoil anything but it's amazing. It is an adult book, so I'll put a few trigger warnings at the end of this review under a spoilers tag.  I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy novels. ~ * ~ * SPOILERS * ~ * ~ Trigger Warnings for: Rape Mentions, Cutting, Death