Top Ten Tuesday: Book Titles as Newspaper Headlines

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

This topic is kind of easy and kind of hard. Every title that is shown are books that I have read this year. 

Review: Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater *SPOILERS*

 I usually don't review books that I read outloud to my kids, but this one is an exception. My kids and I have been getting more into our Scottish ancestry and heritage and my oldest daughter's favorite movie is Brave. She relates to Merida so much because we butt heads all the time. I just hope one day she doesn't curse me to turn into a bear...lol. Anyways, she begged me to get this book from the library and make it a read aloud, so I did.

This takes place after the events of the movie because it is referenced multiple times. Merida has just come back home to DunBroch from traveling the world. Her triplet brothers are growing up and she has a new "sister" named Leezie who is getting ready for a Christmas wedding. Leezie is one of the housekeepers who lost her parents but she doesn't really clean or do anything that a servant is supposed to do and no one really cares. 

One night Merida hears a knock on the kitchen door and she follows this man and finds out it is the God of Ruin, Feradach and  he has come to destroy DunBroch because it is not changing for the better. Merida decides to make a bargain with Feradach and the Callieach who is the Goddess of Growth agrees to the bargain and gives Merida a year to change DunBroch and her family for the better. 

A month or two ago I started Duolingo again and started a Gaelic course. Gaelic is a Scottish language and sadly it is dying. The names of the villages and people was very fun to say and my daughters got so much enjoyment out of hearing me say it with the accent. 

Sadly this book was not a 5 out of 5 stars for me because the ending was just rushed and didn't end the way it should have. Merida wanted Feradach to ruin her because she didn't change but she did because she fell in love with him. I wanted her to be with Feradach. 

Also the cliffhanger with the knock at the end just broke me. I want a sequel. I want a freaking continuation. I don't want to come up with my own conclusion like so many authors say when they end their books on cliffhangers. That's just a cop out and lazy writing. 

Hello November// Sunday Post #58

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly from The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It is November and we all came down with colds. It either came from the kids I am babysitting from their school or my husband's new co workers at Lowes. Our Halloween plans were ruined because of rain and we were all disappointed. We would have walked if we weren't already sick because we have done it before but my husband and I just could not muster up the energy. 

The day after is usually our recovery day anyways because the neighborhood we trick or treat at is a 300 house subdivision and that is a crap ton of walking. But this year we just stayed in our pajamas and cuddled in blankets because we were still feeling crappy and the weather started to turn. It got down to 29F and that is way to cold for South Carolina in November. 

I just wish that I was able to control the weather and be able to enjoy the outside and pool time all year long. Also not a fan of the clocks going back an hour. Last year I had my first bout with seasonal depression and I am dreading the winter. Growing up I used to love it getting dark earlier and now I just want the sun to stay. 

Reading updates: I read Spy Family volume 4. Loved it. It got me a little sad and angry with how the dogs were being treated. Especially the German Shepherd. If ya'll didn't know I have 2 dogs and 4 cats. 

I also finished Frankenstein on audio and I disliked it. The audiobook narrator was not good. His voice gave me a headache and I had to listen on 2.5 speed just for it to sound normal. I understood how the monster talked, but I was not going to listen to it like that for 7+ hours. 

The next 2 books I am going to be picking up are graphic novels. The titles are The Autumnal and Sheets. They are ones that I wanted to read on Halloween and didn't get to because of sickness and work and CHILDREN! My human ones and not the furbabies, although they are little terrors when they want to be.

I am also going to be starting a non fiction read aloud with my kids. They watched the movie Hidden Figures a couple weeks ago and loved it, so we are going to be reading that. I am looking forward to it and see what didn't make it into the movie. 

I am also going to be picking up The Importance of Ernest and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde. I loved The Picture of Dorian Gray and my oldest just read The Importance of Being Ernest for her Lit and Comp class and loved it, so I have it out from the library. I am going to be listening to those on audio since they are plays and I am thinking about counting each play as one towards my Goodreads goal. It is separate audiobooks, so it's not cheating.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Blog Tour: Tagging Freedom by Rhonda Roumani

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the TAGGING FREEDOM by Rhonda Roumani Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: TAGGING FREEDOM

Author: Rhonda Roumani

Pub. Date: November 7, 2023

Publisher: Union Square Kids

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook

Pages: 288

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/TAGGING-FREEDOM 

Out of the revolutions across the Arab world, comes this inspirational story of with hope, freedom, and belonging, perfect for fans of Other Words for Home and A Good Kind of Trouble.

Kareem Haddad of Damascus, Syria, never dreamed of becoming a graffiti artist. But when a group of boys from another town tag subversive slogans outside their school, and another boy is killed while in custody, Kareem and his friends are inspired to start secretly tagmessages of freedom around their city.

Meanwhile, in the United States, his cousin, Samira, has been trying to make her own mark. Anxious to fit in at school, she joins the Spirit Squad where her natural artistic ability attracts the attention of the popular leader. Then Kareem is sent to live with Sam’s family, and their worlds collide. As graffitied messages appear around town and all eyes turn to Kareem, Sam must make a choice: does she shy away to protect her new social status, or does she stand with her cousin?  

Informed by her time as a journalist, author Rhonda Roumani's Tagging Freedom is a thoughtful look at the intersection between art and activism, infused with rich details and a realistic portrayal of how war affects and inspires children, similar to middle grade books for middle schoolers by Aisha Saeed, The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandi, or Refugee by Alan Gratz.

 

Review: coming soon

 

About Rhonda Roumani:

Rhonda Roumani is a Syrian American journalist who lived in Syria as a reporter for U.S. newspapers. She has written about Islam, the Arab world, and Muslim-American issues for more than two decades. Currently, she is a contributing fellow at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC. Rhonda lives in Connecticut with her family.

Sign up for Rhonda’s newsletter! (scroll to the bottom of the page)
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of TAGGING FREEDOM, US Only.

Ends November 14th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/30/2023	YA Books Central	Guest Post/IG Post
10/31/2023	The Momma Spot	Guest Post
11/1/2023	Two Chicks on Books	Guest Post/IG Post
11/2/2023	Callisto’s calling	IG Review
11/3/2023	Lifestyle of Me	Review/IG Post

Week Two:

11/6/2023	One More Exclamation	Review/IG Post
11/7/2023	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post
11/8/2023	Confessions of the Perfect Mom	Review/IG Post
11/9/2023	Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's	Review/IG Post
11/10/2023	The Litt Librarian	Review/IG Post

Review: Spy Family Volume 4 by Tatsuya Endo *SPOILERS*

 

All about dogs. The cover is a major spoiler for this since it was revealed at the end of volume 3 that Anya wanted a dog as her reward for getting a Stella Star. They start off by going to pet stores and Anya wanting a small dog because Yor can't keep her thoughts quiet. She thinks that every big dog is dangerous and will eat Anya. 

Lois gets called away on a mission, so he makes the excuse that every man makes when something comes up. He has to go poop. Apparently he is in there a while, when he is really trying to find a group of terrorist who are using dogs as bombs. Anya sees something that she shouldn't and gets kidnapped.

The white dog on the cover becomes her savior and he had abilities as well, but I won't spoil that bit. I did get a little upset because one of the bomb dogs was a German Shepherd and he was getting so mistreated and it also showed how the white dog gained his abilities and it was heartbreaking. It reminded me of Rocket Raccoon all over again. 

How the white dog gets his name also makes me emotional because the first cat that my husband gave me was a black kitten with white feet and I named her Socks. Her front paws looked like ankle socks and her back paws looked like knee high socks. 

This has to be my favorite volume so far because it caused me to be sad and angry while also being happy and laughing a ton. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Halloween Graphic Novel TBR

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Hapy Halloween!!!!!  

This week is a Halloween freebie and I figure I would share some spooky Halloween-y graphic novels that are on my TBR. My plan is to read a couple today to help boost my Goodreads goal. I have been behind all year long, so some of these are next to be read. If ya'll have read any of these, let me know which ones to start off with.

Review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

 

I jumped on this hype train and I am SO FUCKING GLAD I DID!!!!!!!!. I am obsessed. For the longest time, I did not care about dragons. I would look over books that had dragons because I just didn't have the interest to read about them. I gave into the hype and had a little case of fomo. Funny thing is that my husband's uncle is currently listening to this on audio book which is really brave of him...lol. I got told this after reading the first sex scene and what ran through my mind was that hopefully he is listening through headphones and not a speaker or his truck radio.

While reading this, Books a Million announced their special edition of Fourth Wing and a preorder of Iron Flame which is the sequel and I happily threw 60 dollars at them for both books. So patiently waiting for November 7th. I am going to be getting a copy of this edition because I feel like I would be betraying Adarna who is the little gold dragon.

Now onto what this book is about. We start off with our main character Violet being told by her mother who is a General of the Basgiath War College that Violet will be entering the Rider's Quadrant and not the Scribes Quandrant. Violet is shocked because she has grown up thinking that she would be joining the Scribes and she is very weak. We learn that she was born with a condition that affects her growth and joints and it has made her hair silver. She has no choice but to join the riders. 

When she arrives at the Rider's Quadrant entrance, she has to complete a task to gain entrance to the grounds. She has to do a dangrous hike/climb called the parapet. It is the first thing that first year Riders have to complete and not die. Violet makes a friend Named Rhiannon and then two enemies who hate her mother. One is a guy named Jack Barlowe who is psychotic and the other is Xaden. He is the son of the great betrayer and has the rebellion rune to mark him as a traitor's son. 

When they pass the parapet, they have classes and fight training. They also have to show no weakness when confronting the dragons or they will be burned to a crisp. Violet always has to be on the lookout because people want to kill her for being the general daughter and also being the weakest link.

The dragons are my favorite of the whole thing. I love how they are so sassy and refuse to do what the humans say and order. They love their riders and become so protective over them. One scene where a squad leader was killed, her dragon was mourning and so heartbroken that I wanted to cry.

I have seen videos of people reading this and crying at the end, but I was expecting something to have happened to one of the dragons.

I am so stoked for book 2.