Advice and Suggestions · American History · American Society · ARCs · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Book Theories · Books · Fairy Tale Retellings · Fairy Tales · Fantasy · Favorite Books · Folklore · history · Horror · Indie Books · LGBTQ · Literary Awards · Literature · Middle Grade Books · mythology · novella · Reading · Science Fiction · Sequel · Short Story · speculative fiction · Young Adult Fiction

Hello from Boskone!

Hello everyone! I apologize for another non-review post; but currently, I'm attending the Boskone 60 Convention in Boston! This is the first in-person Con I've been able to attend since before the pandemic. It's amazing when you recall how much fun these events are and why authors, writers, and fans attend them. So far, I… Continue reading Hello from Boskone!

African Influence · American History · American Society · ARCs · Asian Influence · Audiobook · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Book Review · Books · Children's Fiction · Comics · Coming-of-Age · Debut · Duology · Dystopia · Fantasy · Favorite Books · First in a Series · Folklore · Goodreads · gothic · graphic novels · Historical Fiction · Horror · LGBTQ · Literary Awards · Literature · Metaphysical Fiction · Middle Eastern Fantasy · Middle Grade Books · Middle Grade Fiction · Military Fiction · mythology · novella · Reading · Review · Science Fiction · Seanan McGuire · Sequel · speculative fiction · supernatural · Trilogy · Wayward Children · Young Adult Fiction

Why You Need to Read…My Selections for Best Speculative Fiction of 2022

And, we made it to the end of 2022! For me, it was a very busy year! Now, I'm a full-time librarian and I'm attempting to make time for even more books to read (for work and for fun). I'm still working on balancing a career and life while continuing to pursue my other goals,… Continue reading Why You Need to Read…My Selections for Best Speculative Fiction of 2022

African Influence · American Society · Audiobook · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Books · Coming-of-Age · Debut · Dystopia · Education · Family · Family Dynamics · Fantasy · Favorite Books · First in a Series · gothic · graphic novels · Historical Fiction · Horror · identity · LGBTQ · Literary Awards · Literature · Middle Grade Books · Middle Grade Fiction · mystery · Predictions · Reading · religious beliefs · Review · School · Science Fiction · speculative fiction · Young Adult Fiction

Library Reads #1

I decided to create this post about some of the books I've been reading for all of the Book Clubs I assist with at my job. The library where I work has 4 Book Clubs: Children's, Teen, Adult, and Umoja (more on that later). The Lead Librarian selects (in most cases) the book for the… Continue reading Library Reads #1

American History · American Society · ARCs · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Book Review · Book Theories · Books · Coming-of-Age · Education · Family · Family Dynamics · Favorite Books · Gender Roles · Horror · identity · Movie Spoilers · Parents and Parenting · Reading · Review · School · speculative fiction · Stephen King · Young Adult Fiction

Why You Need to Read: “The Weight of Blood”

The Weight of Blood By: Tiffany D. Jackson Published: September 6, 2022 Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Retelling             …“the Bloody Prom,” when a girl named Madison Abigail Washington nearly burned down her entire town, killing two hundred people, including the majority of her senior class, at their first racially integrated prom, (Two).             Identity is one of… Continue reading Why You Need to Read: “The Weight of Blood”

American Society · ARCs · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Book Haul · Books · Comics · Dystopia · Family · Family Dynamics · Fantasy · Favorite Books · Horror · novella · Paranormal · Reading · Seanan McGuire · Sequel · speculative fiction · Wayward Children

Book Haul: October 2022

I realized I have received A LOT of books this month. There are even more anticipated releases coming out before the end of this year. That being said, here are the books I received from the last 2 weeks. Note: These are print editions. I may or may not do a separate post about e-Galleys… Continue reading Book Haul: October 2022

African Influence · Africanfuturism · American History · American Society · ARCs · Asian Influence · Audiobook · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Book Haul · Books · Coming-of-Age · Debut · Fairy Tale Retellings · Fantasy · Favorite Books · Folklore · gothic · graphic novels · Greek and Roman Mythology · Historical Fiction · Horror · identity · LGBTQ · Literary Awards · Literature · magic realism · Middle Eastern Fantasy · Reading · Science Fiction · Sequel · speculative fiction · Stephen King · Trilogy · Young Adult Fiction

Reading Check-In: October 1, 2022

What have I finished reading recently? You can read my review of this book here. This book was AMAZING! My review of this book is forthcoming; but, I will say that it's more than a retelling of Stephen King's Carrie. I'm looking forward to reading Volume Three! What am I reading right now? I am… Continue reading Reading Check-In: October 1, 2022

Advice and Suggestions · American History · American Society · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Black History · Book Theories · Books · Children's Fiction · Education · Freedom · graphic novels · Harry Potter · history · humanity · Ideas · identity · LGBTQ · Literary Awards · Literature · Middle Grade Books · Middle Grade Fiction · Reading · Religion · religious beliefs · School · Young Adult Fiction

Banned & Challenged Books: When Society Overrides Personal Choice

***My 250th Blog Post             Banned and challenged books have become a “hot topic” in 2022; or maybe the Shutdown brought more attention to them because many people returned to reading due to the Pandemic. Yes, throughout 2020 and 2021 A LOT of attention was given to books about race and ethnic issues. Then earlier this year,… Continue reading Banned & Challenged Books: When Society Overrides Personal Choice

American Society · ARCs · Audiobook · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Book Review · Books · Dystopia · Favorite Books · Goodreads · humanity · identity · Literary Awards · Literature · mystery · Reading · Review · Science Fiction · speculative fiction · Vigilantism

Why You Need to Read: “Firebreak”

Firebreak By: Nicole Kornher-Stace                                                      Audiobook: 13 hours 42 minutes Published: May 4, 2021                                                          Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopian/Cyberpunk             Out of the twelve real SecOps operatives, only three—06, 08, and 22—are still among the living. The other nine—05, 28, 02, 33, 38, 11, 21, 42, and 17—are dead. We lost 11 and 21 earlier this year:… Continue reading Why You Need to Read: “Firebreak”

African Influence · American Society · Australia · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Books · Debut · Fantasy · Favorite Books · Goodreads · graphic novels · Horror · Indie Books · Literary Awards · Literature · Middle Grade Fiction · novella · Predictions · Reading · Science Fiction · speculative fiction · Video Games · Young Adult Fiction

Awards: The 2021 Nebulas, the 2022 Hugos, and the 2022 SCKA

Earlier this week, the 2022 Hugo Award Finalists were announced. Similar to other (literary) awards, there were surprises, the snubs and the expected among them. After noting (and congratulating) the nominees, some of us tend to do one and/or two things. One, we look over which nominees we may or may not have read or… Continue reading Awards: The 2021 Nebulas, the 2022 Hugos, and the 2022 SCKA

American Society · Authors/Writers · Award Nominee · Award Winner · Book Review · Book Spoilers · Books · Coming-of-Age · Family Dynamics · Fantasy · Favorite Books · identity · Literature · novella · Reading · Review · School · Seanan McGuire · Sequel · speculative fiction · Wayward Children

Why You Need to Read: “Where the Drowned Girls Go”

Wayward Children, #7: Where the Drowned Girls Go By: Seanan McGuire Published: January 4, 2022 Genre: Fantasy ***WARNING: SOME SPOILERS FROM PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THE WAYWARD CHILDREN SERIES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.***             “You said it was where students go when they want to believe that everything that happened on the other side of the door was just a… Continue reading Why You Need to Read: “Where the Drowned Girls Go”